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Humans have dramatically increased phosphorus (P) availability in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. As P is often a limiting nutrient of primary production, changes in its availability can have dramatic effects on ecosystem processes. I examined the effects of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) deposition, which can lower P concentrations via coprecipitation of

Humans have dramatically increased phosphorus (P) availability in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. As P is often a limiting nutrient of primary production, changes in its availability can have dramatic effects on ecosystem processes. I examined the effects of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) deposition, which can lower P concentrations via coprecipitation of phosphate, on P availability in two systems: streams in the Huachuca Mountains, Arizona, and a stream, Río Mesquites, in Cuatro Ciénegas, México. Calcium carbonate forms as travertine in the former and within the microbialites of the latter. Despite these differences, CaCO3 deposition led to lowered P availability in both systems. By analyzing a three-year dataset of water chemistry from the Huachuca Mountain streams, I determined that P concentrations were negatively related to CaCO3 deposition rates. I also discovered that CaCO3 was positively correlated with nitrogen concentrations, suggesting that the stoichiometric effect of CaCO3 deposition on nutrient availability is due not only to coprecipitation of phosphate, but also to P-related constraints on biotic nitrogen uptake. Building from these observations, bioassays of nutrient limitation of periphyton growth suggest that P limitation is more prevalent in streams with active CaCO3 deposition than those without. Furthermore, when I experimentally reduced rates of CaCO3 deposition within one of the streams by partial light-exclusion, areal P uptake lengths decreased, periphyton P content and growth increased, and periphyton nutrient limitation by P decreased. In Río Mesquites, CaCO3 deposition was also associated with P limitation of microbial growth. There, I investigated the consequences of reductions in CaCO3 deposition with several methods. Calcium removal led to increased concentrations of P in the microbial biomass while light reductions decreased microbial biomass and chemical inhibition had no effect. These results suggest that CaCO3 deposition in microbialites does limit biological uptake of P, that photoautotrophs play an important role in nutrient acquisition, and, combined with other experimental observations, that sulfate reduction may support CaCO3 deposition in the microbialite communities of Río Mesquites. Overall, my results suggest that the effects of CaCO3 deposition on P availability are general and this process should be considered when managing nutrient flows across aquatic ecosystems.

ContributorsCorman, Jessica R. (Author) / Elser, James J (Thesis advisor) / Anbar, Ariel D (Committee member) / Childers, Daniel L. (Committee member) / Grimm, Nancy (Committee member) / Souza, Valeria (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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Description
In riparian ecosystems, reptiles and amphibians are good indicators of environmental conditions. Herpetofauna have been linked to specific microhabitat characteristics, microclimates, and water resources in riparian forests. My objective was to relate herpetofauna abundance to changes in riparian habitat along the Virgin River caused by the Tamarix biological control agent,

In riparian ecosystems, reptiles and amphibians are good indicators of environmental conditions. Herpetofauna have been linked to specific microhabitat characteristics, microclimates, and water resources in riparian forests. My objective was to relate herpetofauna abundance to changes in riparian habitat along the Virgin River caused by the Tamarix biological control agent, Diorhabda carinulata, and riparian restoration.

During 2013 and 2014, vegetation and herpetofauna were monitored at 21 riparian locations along the Virgin River via trapping and visual encounter surveys. Study sites were divided into four stand types based on density and percent cover of dominant trees (Tamarix, Prosopis, Populus, and Salix) and presence of restoration activities: Tam, Tam-Pros, Tam-Pop/Sal, and Restored Tam-Pop/Sal. Restoration activities consisted of mechanical removal of non-native trees, transplanting native trees, and introduction of water flow. All sites were affected by biological control. I predicted that herpetofauna abundance would vary between stand types and that herpetofauna abundance would be greatest in Restored Tam-Pop/Sal sites due to increased habitat openness and variation following restoration efforts.

Results from trapping indicated that Restored Tam-Pop/Sal sites had three times more total lizard and eight times more Sceloporus uniformis captures than other stand types. Anaxyrus woodhousii abundance was greatest in Tam-Pop/Sal and Restored Tam-Pop/Sal sites. Visual encounter surveys indicated that herpetofauna abundance was greatest in the Restored Tam-Pop/Sal site compared to the adjacent Unrestored Tam-Pop/Sal site. Habitat variables were reduced to six components using a principle component analysis and significant differences were detected among stand types. Restored Tam-Pop/Sal sites were most similar to Tam-Pop/Sal sites. S. uniformis were positively associated with large woody debris and high densities of Populus, Salix, and large diameter Prosopis.

Restored Tam-Pop/Sal sites likely supported higher abundances of herpetofauna, as these areas exhibited greater habitat heterogeneity. Restoration activities created a mosaic habitat by reducing canopy cover and increasing native tree density and surface water. Natural resource managers should consider implementing additional restoration efforts following biological control when attempting to restore riparian areas dominated by Tamarix and other non-native trees.
ContributorsMosher, Kent (Author) / Bateman, Heather L (Thesis advisor) / Stromberg, Juliet C. (Committee member) / Miller, William H. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
Stream flow permanence plays a critical role in determining floristic composition, abundance, and diversity in the Sonoran Desert, but questions remain about the effects of stream flow permanence on butterfly composition, abundance, and diversity. Understanding the effects of flow permanence on butterflies and relevant subsets of butterflies (such as butterflies

Stream flow permanence plays a critical role in determining floristic composition, abundance, and diversity in the Sonoran Desert, but questions remain about the effects of stream flow permanence on butterfly composition, abundance, and diversity. Understanding the effects of flow permanence on butterflies and relevant subsets of butterflies (such as butterflies whose host plants are present) and comparing them to these same effects on plants and relevant subsets of plants (such as butterfly nectar plants and larval host plants) provided insight into pollinator and riparian conservation and restoration.

I surveyed four Sonoran desert stream sites, and found significant relationships between flow permanence and plant and butterfly species richness and abundance, as well as strong relationships between plant and butterfly abundance and between plant and butterfly species richness. Most notably, my results pointed to hosted butterflies as a break-out category of butterflies which may more clearly delineate ecological relationships between butterfly and plant abundance and diversity along Sonoran Desert streams; this can inform conservation decisions. Managing for hosted (resident) butterflies will necessarily entail managing for the presence of surface water, nectar forage, varying levels of canopy cover, and plant, nectar plant, and host plant diversity since the relationships between hosted butterfly species richness and/or abundance and all of these variables were significant, both statistically and ecologically.
ContributorsButler, Lane (Author) / Stromberg, Juliet C. (Thesis advisor) / Makings, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Pearson, David L (Committee member) / Boggess, May (Committee member) / Buchmann, Stephen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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Description
This dissertation offers three essays that investigate consumers’ health-related food choices and behaviors from three different, yet complementary, angles. The first essay uses an eye-tracking experiment to examine consumers’ visual attention to the Nutrition Facts Panels for healthy and unhealthy products. In this essay, I focus on how involvement and

This dissertation offers three essays that investigate consumers’ health-related food choices and behaviors from three different, yet complementary, angles. The first essay uses an eye-tracking experiment to examine consumers’ visual attention to the Nutrition Facts Panels for healthy and unhealthy products. In this essay, I focus on how involvement and familiarity affect consumers’ attention toward the Nutrition Facts panel and how these two psychological factors interact with new label format changes in attracting consumers’ attention. In the second essay, I demonstrate using individual-level scanner data that nutritional attributes interact with marketing mix elements to affect consumers’ nutrition intake profiles and their intra-category substitution patterns. My findings suggest that marketing-mix sensitivities are correlated with consumers’ preferences for nutrient attributes in ways that depend on the “healthiness” of the nutrient. For instance, featuring promotes is positively correlated with “healthy” nutritional characteristics such as high-protein, low-fat, or low-carbohydrates, whereas promotion and display are positively correlated with preferences for “unhealthy” characteristics such as high-fat, or high-carbohydrates. I use model simulations to show that some marketing-mix elements are able to induce consumers to purchase items with higher maximum-content levels than others. The fourth chapter shows that dieters are not all the same. I develop and validate a new scale that measures lay theories about abstinence vs. moderation. My findings from a series of experiments indicate that dieters’ recovery from recalled vs. actual indulgences depend on whether they favor abstinence or moderation. However, compensatory coping strategies provide paths for people with both lay theories to recover after an indulgence, in their own ways. The three essays provide insights into individual differences that determine approaches of purchase behaviors, and consumption patterns, and life style that people choose, and these insights have potential policy implications to aid in designing the food-related interventions and policies to improve the healthiness of consumers’ consumption profiles and more general food well-being.
ContributorsXie, Yi (Author) / Richards, Timothy (Thesis advisor) / Mandel, Naomi (Committee member) / Grebitus, Carola (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
This article can be divided into six parts.

The first chapter analyzes the background, theatrical and particle reasons of this research. The author argues that the management of law firm needs a set of good system. The first one is operating the law firm in scale, and the other on

This article can be divided into six parts.

The first chapter analyzes the background, theatrical and particle reasons of this research. The author argues that the management of law firm needs a set of good system. The first one is operating the law firm in scale, and the other on is corporate management model, which shall be constructed in detail in the paper and will be put into practice by the law firm in which the author is worked.

The second chapter will introduce modern management theory, combining the situation of management in our law firm to analyze, raising some reasonable suggestions and instructions to promote our law firm to achieve the corporate management.

In the third chapter, the first chapter, starting with the review of the development process of foreign and our law firms, listing the organizational forms and the characteristics of our law firm, analyzing the situation and the drawbacks of the law firm management.

The fourth and fifth chapter introduce he background, the connotation of the corporate management model, listing the development and successful experience of some typical cases in respect of corporate management.

In the last chapter, the construction of corporate management model will be introduced in terms of organization form, human resource management and informationizing development.

The corporate management model is not mature in china. Though it is not easy to reform the existing model, but it should be believed that the development benefiting the legal industry will be achieved.
ContributorsZhu, Ping (Author) / Gu, Bin (Thesis advisor) / Chang, Chun (Thesis advisor) / Zhu, Ning (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
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Description
Due to the booming young mothers and fathers in the new era as well as the changes in the concept of parenting and the favorable liberalization of China's second child policy, the maternal-baby nursing market continues to grow, and it has become a must for businesses nowadays. In 2020, the

Due to the booming young mothers and fathers in the new era as well as the changes in the concept of parenting and the favorable liberalization of China's second child policy, the maternal-baby nursing market continues to grow, and it has become a must for businesses nowadays. In 2020, the size of the maternal-baby nursing market will reach 3.6 trillion. (Data: Yibang Power China's Maternal and Child Industry White Paper 2017).

The rapid development of mobile Internet, highly transparent information, consumers grasp the sovereignty, along with the rise of the middle class, consumption increase encouraged personalized, customized needs. The boundaries between online and offline are becoming increasingly blurred. Consumers are more inclined to choose multi-category with service channel providers. If the retailers still rely on good market resources, and the difference between the sales and purchase of commodities, they will face a huge challenge of the decrease in passenger flow and a decline in performance.

The paper takes the relationship between maternal-baby nursing retailers and targets customers as the study object, based on customer service of maternal-baby nursing retailer data, empirical studies, we found that this particular group, mothers and babies, especially value safety, quality, public praise and community review. If the retail enterprise attaches importance to establishing relationships with customers and enhances the relational viscosity through mutual trust, emotional formation and spread of public praise, it will help to increase the traffic volume and increase the output value of single customers.

The maternal-baby nursing retailers form a strong relationship between enterprises and customers by establishing a strong relationship between products and customers, employees and customers, and customers to customers. Maternal-baby nursing retailers operate single-customer value deeply, build a heavy membership system and manage customer assets, thereby enhancing their brand and performance.

The research on the method of establishing the strong tie can be considered as an analysis of feasibility. The research results of this paper will help to improve the overall customer service experience and satisfaction of the mother and infant retail industry, enhance the development of the whole industry and draw significance lessons from other service industries.
ContributorsWang, Jianguo (Author) / Gu, Bin (Thesis advisor) / Chen, Hong (Thesis advisor) / Cui, Haitao (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
This study examines the 3 key questions of media budget allocation, to find our a better invest model. Including spending share of traditional media and digital media, program selection strategy and duration mix optimization to analyse the trend of sample A (a global cosmetic brand) . Based on every test

This study examines the 3 key questions of media budget allocation, to find our a better invest model. Including spending share of traditional media and digital media, program selection strategy and duration mix optimization to analyse the trend of sample A (a global cosmetic brand) . Based on every test media campaign, we do research of media performance and sales volumn, add youth consumer behavior result, to develop a media investment ROI model for this brand. Create the evaluation system according to past big data and find the learnings of different length TVC usage. Of course all relavant findings and implications will be summarized after every section.
ContributorsXu, Jin (Author) / Gu, Bin (Thesis advisor) / Chen, Xinlei (Thesis advisor) / Shao, Benjamin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
Most advanced economies have evolved into service economies with the majority of their activity and jobs being in the service sector. The manufacturing sector is also going through a similar shift towards services. Manufacturers are increasingly complementing their products with new services in order to satisfy a broader array of

Most advanced economies have evolved into service economies with the majority of their activity and jobs being in the service sector. The manufacturing sector is also going through a similar shift towards services. Manufacturers are increasingly complementing their products with new services in order to satisfy a broader array of customer needs and increase the value of their offerings. This shift has offered significant opportunities to the sector and the success of major firms such as IBM, Caterpillar, and Rolls-Royce in competing through services has been remarkable.

Despite the increased importance of services in the manufacturing sector, the academic literature is yet to investigate the many questions that arise under this new manufacturing paradigm. Perhaps for the same reason study of servitization is listed as a research priority in recent publications both in the field of service operations management and in the field services marketing. This dissertation covers three essays aimed at disentangling multiple aspects of the role of services in the manufacturing sector. The literature on the drivers and implications of transition towards services in manufacturing firms is limited. The three studies in this dissertation aim at shedding light on this issue.

Specifically, the first essay looks at the innovation benefits of service transactions with customers. This paper demonstrate the value of services in getting manufacturers closer to customers and allowing them glean useful information from their service interactions. The second essay investigates the antecedents of service strategy adoption. We suggest that the extant diversification theory does not fully explain servitization and this phenomenon represents a unique type of diversification, which is likely driven by different factors. Through econometric analysis of financial data over a 27-year period, this study explores characteristics of product, firm resources, competition, and industry that encourage adoption of service strategies in manufacturing sector. Finally, the third essay takes a deeper dive and focuses on dealerships, as service centers, in the automobile industry. It investigates the role of dealerships in the success of automakers and explores dealership traits that are critical for market success of an automobile brand.
ContributorsGolara, Sina (Author) / Dooley, Kevin J (Thesis advisor) / Rogers, Dale (Committee member) / Kull, Thomas (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description近20年,中国品牌零售业的快速发展使其成为全球第三大零售市场。消费者的需求量在大幅增长,对于本土企业来说,机遇与挑战并存。

对于连锁型品牌零售企业,员工是其产品和服务的载体。而如何做好不同层次的人员的激励体系,并得以踏实的落实和执行,是企业经营中非常关键的环节,也是品牌零售企业在竞争中获取优势的根本保证。另外,由于连锁零售企业基层员工流动性大、总体素质较低,如何对这部分员工实施有效的绩效考核,成为很多连锁零售企业管理人员面临的一个难题。

本文将长期和短期激励作为主要的研究内容。从整体国内企业来看,运转良好的绩效考评体系并不多,大部分企业的绩效考评体系只注重短期激励而忽视了长期激励的作用,绩效考评关注的是目标的实现,与员工的发展相脱节。因此,如何做好品牌企业的激励体系,如何在人才竞争中取得先机,并最大化企业利润,是本文研究的重心。

目前的研究空白在于对连锁型店铺的激励绩效。而考虑到品牌零售中的连锁经营往往涉及到成百上千家门店,涉及到的从业人数较多,因而对门店的激励绩效的成败是关系到企业整体激励绩效好坏的关键。

本文对激励绩效方案的相关理论进行回顾、分析与总结,从委托代理理论、激励理论、交易成本理论和产权理论入手,分析连锁型品牌零售企业的激励绩效特点。连锁型品牌零售企业合伙制本质上与特许经营精神及设计理念一致,而想要改进的正是特许经营中加盟店与总部的博弈与消耗,形成利益共同体,达到企业价值最大化的目标。

通过连锁型品牌零售企业绩效激励的真实案例(永辉超市合伙人制度、拉夏贝尔店铺合伙人制度、康奈零投入型与交股金型两种店铺合伙人制度)分析得出风险共担、超额利润分成的合伙人制度在连锁型品牌零售企业激励绩效方案设计中的可行性及意义,并从中发现了已有实践存在的问题,并提出建议。

店铺合伙人制度激励店长、提高单店销售业绩、减少交易成本、提高管理效率的正向作用毋庸置疑,建议在实践中积极推行与完善。
ContributorsZheng, Laili (Author) / Pei, Ker-Wi (Thesis advisor) / Chen, Xinlei (Committee member) / Zhu, Hongquan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description冷链物流主要是指食品在生产到消费者食用前始终处于适宜的温度环境,以保障食品品质、降低流通过程中的损耗。冷链物流相比于传统物流而言是一项更复杂的系统性工程,受到政策和市场需求的影响呈现迅猛发展态势。但是,冷链物流企业长期以来因规模小、固定资产少、服务范围窄、服务规范性弱而发展困难重重,核心问题是资金的问题。政府引导和鼓励打造冷链物流产业园,推动产业园投资和建设主体打造平台,实现对园区内冷链企业的聚集效应并通过金融服务解决企业发展的资金问题。通过产融结合助力冷链物流企业发展,成为目前冷链物流行业发展的主要方式和未来趋势。

本研究聚焦冷链物流产业园金融服务助力冷链物流企业发展问题,主要研究内容包括:第一,基于产融结合理论,梳理冷链物流企业与产业园之间关系,从供需两侧探索冷链物流企业和产业园的金融服务的范围、类型和特点。第二,基于平台理论,构建冷链物流企业采纳产业园金融服务的研究模型,探索金融服务影响冷链物流企业的经营因素,分析冷链物流企业采纳产业园金融服务的因素和途径。第三,基于信息不对称理论,关切信息技术支持和知识分享在冷链物流企业采纳产业园提供金融服务过程中的调节作用。同时,梳理产业园提供金融服务可能面临哪些风险,制订冷链物流企业入驻园区的标准,防范风险。

本文运用实证研究方法,通过对国内18家冷链物流相关的产业园、物流园、冷链物流、商贸流通、金融等企业实地考察和专家访谈基础上,拟定问卷并对268家企业进行调查收集数据,使用结构方程模型进行假设检验。研究发现:金融服务的有形性、可靠性、移情性、经济性对冷链物流企业采纳产业园金融服务影响显著,而响应性的影响不显著。同时

信息技术支持和知识共享的调节作用不显著。最后,针对产业园吸引冷链物流企业提供金融服务、冷链物流企业采纳产业园金融服务的风险,提出防范策略措施。
ContributorsYang, Su (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Chen, Xinlei (Thesis advisor) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019