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DECODING THE FASHION QUOTIENT AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF KEY FACTORS INFLUENCING GENERATION Z’S PURCHASE INTENTION TOWARD FAST FASHION
Get PDFWith a reputation for offering stylish and on-trend clothing at pocket-friendly prices, fast fashion brands resonate with the economic realities faced by many Generation Z consumers. Generation Zers are not just a target consumer market but are a driving force shaping the future of the fashion industry. Their preferences, values, and behaviors impact trends, reshape retail practices, and influence the overall trajectory of the fashion landscape. The evolving discourse surrounding sustainability and conscious consumerism suggests that the future may see a recalibration of the fashion landscape, with Generation Zers at the forefront of demanding more responsible and transparent practices from the fashion industry. Therefore, this study aims to identify the factors significantly influencing U.S. Gen Z consumers’ intention to purchase fast fashion. Building on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), a research model for understanding Gen Z consumers’ intention to buy fast fashion products is proposed. Attitude, subjective norms(SN), perceived behavioral control (PBC), environmental knowledge (EK), need for uniqueness (NFU), materialism (M), and fashion leadership (FL) are investigated as predictors. In addition, attitude is proposed as a mediator between environmental knowledge (EK), need for uniqueness (NFU), materialism (M), and fashion leadership (FL) and Gen Z consumers’ intention to purchase fast fashion products. Through a Qualtrics online survey, 528 eligible responses were gathered for analysis. The psychometric properties of the proposed model were examined, and the multiple regression method was applied to test the hypotheses. Attitude, perceived consumer effectiveness, environmental knowledge, and fashion leadership significantly affected Generation Z consumers’ intentions to shop fast fashion. Attitude plays a mediating role between Generation Z consumers’ environmental knowledge, need for uniqueness, fashion leadership, and their intention to shop fast fashion. The proposed research model exhibited good explanatory power, accounting for 68.9% of the variance in Generation Z consumers’ purchase intention toward fast fashion
Impact of Warmth and Competence on Job Candidates Racial Stereotype Management Strategies for Asian Americans on Social Media
Get PDFThis study investigated the online stereotype management strategies utilized by Asian Americans during the job application process when seeking employment with Caucasian employers. Guided by the Stereotype Content Model, this study aimed to assess how visual cues related to warmth and competence in social media profiles influence the likelihood of Asian Americans of different gender and racial subgroups being hired. Toward this goal, this study posed nine research questions covering a variety of factors that may influence hiring decisions. The findings provide valuable insights into the complex role of social media in the hiring process, as well as the impact of political ideology and beliefs about COVID-19 on hiring intentions. By delving into these nuances, this study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges Asian Americans face in the job market and the strategies they employ to address them
THE ECONOMICS OF COMPLIANCE CAP-AND-TRADE AND LOW CARBON FUELS PROGRAMS FOR WASHINGTON STATE’S DAIRY INDUSTRY
Get PDFCompliance cap-and-trade and low carbon fuels programs may offer dairy industry a unique opportunity to generate additional revenue while curbing emissions from their manure management systems through the installation of an anaerobic digester. In 2023, Washington state implemented historic climate laws and programs, creating financial incentives and cost-share funding for dairies within the state, enabling them to voluntarily participate either by generating renewable fuels or developing “offset” projects through installing an anaerobic digester.Due to the price volatility and risk common to these markets and economies of scale traditionally needed for dairy anaerobic digesters (AD) to be profitable within them, it’s unclear if adoption of AD within the state will occur, even in the face of historic levels of incentives. In this paper I use three economic indicators: net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR) and modified internal rate of return (MIRR) to assess digester project feasibility in the state of Washington using costs associated with the three common types of digesters used on dairies under each compliance pathway. I utilize existing data on Washington state dairy farm sizes to determine the proportion of dairies in the state where anaerobic digester projects may be economically viable depending on which compliance program they participate in
BEHIND THE PRICE TAG EXAMINING CONSUMER PERCEPTIONS AND BEHAVIOR IN RESPONSE TO COST TRANSPARENCY IN THE APPAREL INDUSTRY
Get PDFBy applying the Signaling Theory and Schema Congruity Theory, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of disclosure of cost transparency on consumer’s brand perceptions and behavioral responses toward the brand. Additionally, it examines the moderating effect of fashion model types (slow versus fast) on the relationship between cost transparency and brand trust. Consumers’ perceptions and behavior towards cost transparency under different scenarios (fast fashion vs slow fashion) are compared to see how the effect differentiates under two conditions. This study entails four experimental scenarios, where the effects of cost transparency disclosure and fashion business strategy are manipulated through hypothetical online shopping web page scenarios. 402 eligible survey responses from U.S. consumers through Prolific were gathered for data analysis and hypothesis testing. The findings suggest that disclosure of cost transparency information on a product's webpage does not elicit brand trust, nor does the type of fashion business model (fast fashion or slow fashion) moderate this relationship. Results indicate that the disclosure of cost transparency does not affect consumers’ brand perceptions and behavioral responses toward the brand. Additionally, the fashion business model, fast fashion or slow fashion, does not positively moderate the relationship between cost transparency and brand trust. However, brand equity positively mediates the significant relationship between brand trust and purchase intention, resulting in a partial mediating effect. The findings of our study pave the way for apparel brands who want to focus their efforts on the signaling mechanisms of brand trust and brand equity to leverage their cost transparency better. The limitations of the research are stated, along with suggestions for future research
Sampling and management of X-disease phytoplasma and vectors
Get PDFX-disease critically impacts stone fruit across the United States, causing fruit to be small, bitter, and poorly colored. X-disease is caused by a phloem-limited pathogen, ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma pruni’ that infects trees, notably sweet cherry (Prunus avium) and other stone fruit, and non-Prunus weedy hosts in groundcover. ‘Ca. P. pruni’ spreads through grafting infected plant material or feeding by leafhopper vectors (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae). X-disease management strategies include tree removal, use of clean plant material during grafting, control of insect vectors, and control of weedy host reservoirs. This thesis focuses on the sampling and management of X-disease phytoplasma and its primary vectors in Washington state, Colladonus montanus reductus (Van Duzee) and Colladonus geminatus (Van Duzee). First, I evaluate three common methods for sampling leafhoppers in orchards (i.e., sticky traps, sweep nets, and vacuum tools) and describe each method, its advantages, and disadvantages to improve decision making. Next, I present the development and analysis of a mathematical model that predicts the acquisition and transmission rate of X-disease in leafhoppers, broadleaf weeds, and trees, and evaluates disease spread under three management strategies: control of weeds, control of immature leafhoppers, or control of adult leafhoppers. In my model simulations I observed the greatest preservation of uninfected trees (i.e., slowest X-disease spread) when insecticides were applied when leafhopper populations first transitioned from nymph to adult. Finally, I sampled 90 cherry trees and broadleaf weeds in the adjacent groundcover in Washington and Oregon from May to October 2023 to understand the distribution of ‘Ca. P. pruni’ in host plants over space and time. I found ‘Ca. P. pruni’ is non-uniformly distributed in cherry trees and visual symptoms were related to titer in wood and leaf tissues on the same limb although titers in leaf tissues were more variable. I observed a correlation between tree titer and the number of infected weeds in the surrounding groundcover. These findings are already being used to improve the monitoring of leafhopper vectors, optimize the chemical control of vectors and weedy hosts, and enhance the sampling of plant tissues for X-disease testing
Bioinformatic predictions of the Anaplasma phagocytophilum Type-4 Effectome
Get PDFBacteria have evolved distinct secretion systems capable of transporting substrates across the bacterial outer surface. The Type III and Type IV Secretion Systems (T3SS and T4SS) are employed by pathogenic bacteria to secrete effector proteins into the host cell. Effector proteins function to as virulence factors and can have a variety of different functions. Identification of bacterial effectors remains challenging across different species of bacteria as effector proteins are not conserved across species, and the molecular signatures defining what an effector protein is, are not well understood. Several T4SS effector prediction algorithms have been developed; however, the output of these programs does not overlap well. Our group has developed a machine learning algorithm, OPT4e, that has performed well in de novo predictions of Legionella pneumophila effectors. We have used this program to predict effectors for Anaplasma phagocytophilum, a tick-borne zoonotic pathogen. By examining the predicted T4 effector repertoires for strains that have been sourced from a divergent set of hosts and geographic regions, we can begin to see a core set of effectors predicted in all strains of A. phagocytophiulm, as well as effectors that are unique to some strains. To our knowledge this is the first multistrain analysis of the effectome of A. phagocytophilum
QUANTUM STATISTICAL PHYSICS OF WEAKLY COUPLED CHAOTIC SYSTEMS PERTURBATION THEORY, ENTANGLEMENT, QUANTUM COHERENCE, EQUILIBRATION, AND THERMALIZATION
Get PDFA bipartite system whose subsystems are quantum chaotic and coupled via an entangling interaction with a tunable strength is a paradigmatic model to explore nonequilibrium phenomena. Using this generic model various interesting problems are explored in this thesis research.Conventional entanglement measures for bipartite systems can be expressed in terms of Schmidt eigenvalues. A perturbation theory for computing the Schmidt eigenvalues and associated eigenvectors of Floquet and Hamiltonian systems can be derived in the spirit of standard Rayleigh-Schrödinger approach, including a regularization to handle small Schmidt eigenvalue denominators.It is found that the quantum coherence of the initial state relative to the preferred subsystem eigenbases — quantified by the off-diagonal elements of the subsystem density matrices — acts as a resource for equilibration and thermalization as embodied by the entanglement generated when time evolved. Based on the entangling interaction strength, four distinct perturbation regimes can be conceived: ultraweak, weak, intermediate, and strong. In addition, hinging on the quantum coherence endowed by an initial state, various initial state ensembles are considered. A universal timescale involving the interaction strength valid for any initial state is identified, enabling one to cast the theory in a universal form. For initial states with vanishing coherence, it was found that the average entanglement generated is negligibly small for weak regimes, and system fails to equilibrate. However, in the limit of maximal initial state coherence, the average entanglement generated becomes maximal, and the system thermalizes, even when the interaction between the subsystems is ultraweak. This is a remarkable result, given that the eigenstates are not all thermal-like, providing an alternative path to thermalization than from the famous eigenstate thermalization hypothesis. In addition, in the ultraweak regime, the initial states with maximal coherence show a dominant quadratic-in-time entanglement growth, in contrast to widely observed linear-in-time behavior
PERFORMATIVITY BASED CRITICAL LITERATURE PEDAGOGY A PEDAGOGICAL METHOD FOR READING
Get PDFIn an era marked by dynamic shifts in social identities, literature emerges as a conduit for cultivating understanding, empathy, and self-awareness. This dissertation is a transformative exploration of Critical Literature Pedagogy (CLP) and the concepts of ‘performativity’ and ‘trans identity’ within queer theory. With a focus on fostering inclusive learning environments, this study employs CLP as a lens to explore the notion of performativity in texts and education. Central to this dissertation is the development of a pedagogical framework created to analyze texts, encompassing both written and multimedia formats, through the lens of performativity and trans identity. The developed pedagogical method uses science fiction as a primary example for illustrating functionality. However, the method’s adaptability across genres, medias, and subjects is underscores its broad applicability. Through the pedagogical approach, students are then empowered to engage critically with texts, gaining insight into the construction of meaning and the interplay of identity markers. This dissertation not only advances pedagogical scholarship but contributes to the broader discussion on inclusivity, representation, accessibility, and identity within educational contexts. By bridging theory with practice, the developed method offers a roadmap for educators to navigate the complexities of contemporary society through critical engagement with literature
THE DUAL ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN EARWIG IN TEMPERATE TREE FRUIT ORCHARDS
Get PDFThe European earwig, Forficula auricularia L., is an omnivorous generalist insect commonly found in agricultural ecosystems. In temperate tree fruit crops, earwigs are considered a pest in stone fruit, but are a key natural enemy in pome fruit. While in stone fruit (e.g., cherries, peaches), earwigs can damage the fruit and cause economic damage, in pome fruit (e.g., apples, pears), earwigs rarely damage the fruit and feed on multiple key pests, such as codling moth, pear psylla, and woolly apple aphids. This dissertation explores ways to develop and implement a trap-and-move strategy for earwigs in tree fruit in order to reduce damage in stone fruit while improving pest control in pome fruit. In the first chapter, I present a systematic review on augmentation biological control in temperate tree fruit crops and vineyards. I highlight how orchards, as perennial crops, offer an ideal system for biological control to thrive. However, growers still lack key information to adopt such strategies, including the rates and timing of biocontrol agent releases, and the cost-benefit of releases compared to conventional pesticide programs. In the second chapter, I explored possible improvements to corrugated cardboard traps, the standard way to monitor and trap earwigs. Standard cardboard traps, without any additional components or enhancement, were the best way to mass trap and remove earwigs from stone fruit orchards in the Pacific Northwest, USA. In the third chapter, I tested a trap-and-move protocol for earwigs, moving earwigs from stone fruit to pome fruit orchards. Removing earwigs from stone fruit did not reduce their abundance or possible fruit damage over two years but provided large amounts of earwigs for releases in pome fruit. Earwig augmentation in apples and pears improved suppression of woolly apple aphids and pear psylla in the second year of releases. To further improve successful earwig augmentation and conservation in pome fruit, in the fourth chapter, I investigated the nontarget effects of pesticides commonly used in orchards on earwigs. Currently used selective insecticides were mostly harmless to earwigs, except spinetoram, and to a lesser extent, spinosad. Herbicides, particularly paraquat and glufosinate, were also acutely toxic to earwigs, and their use should be avoided or carefully planned. Lastly, in the fifth chapter, I investigated earwig diet through gut content analysis using universal barcoded primers. There were no sequence reads for other natural enemies or pests in earwigs’ guts, likely due to earwig DNA having a higher affinity for the primers used. This was noticeable as possible prey DNA was only detected at unrealistic amounts of prey:earwig DNA in our positive controls. However, I found multiple sequence reads for the earwig parasitoid Triarthria setipennis in earwigs from all three crops, highlighting their distribution and presence throughout the season. The results presented in this thesis provide tree fruit growers in the Pacific Northwest with a new tool to improve sustainable pest control while reducing the use of harmful pesticides