There has been significant research done on the impact of branding on consumer buying behaviour over the years, however, consumers at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) have been ignored and very little research has been done in the South African market. This study examines the impact of brand equity on purchase intention of Parmalat yoghurt in the South African BoP market using socio-economic status, price sensitivity and sales promotion as mediating variables. Data was collected from 289 South African BoP consumers residing in Soweto. The study tested six hypotheses using PLS- SEM. Data was analysed using SmartPLS software. The results show that of the six hypotheses tested, only three are supported, namely, the relationship between brand equity and socio-economic status, socio-economic status and purchase intention and price sensitivity and purchase intention. Socio-economic status as a mediator has the most significant impact on the relationship between brand equity and purchase intention. The findings of this study give some implications for managers and marketers of yoghurt brands. Brand equity influences on purchase intention of yoghurt products and socio-economic status has the strongest mediating influence suggesting that companies must build and maintain strong brand equity in order to create a positive influence on purchase intention for their brands. Managers need to understand the underlying reasons as to why consumers would choose a competitor’s brand. Based on this study, socio-economic status and price sensitivity are the two most influencing mediators in the purchase intention of yoghurt, thus it is imperative for managers to take this into consideration when devising and implementing branding strategies.

Although issues linked to global environmental change and its role within peace, conflict andsecurity have been subject to social and political controversy for years, they are still notsufficiently respected by energy companies, trade unions, national governments andinternational institutions alike. Through applying the tools of a single instrumental case studylinked to the application of discourse analysis I, this study explores the process of securitizationof the environment in the extraordinary case of the resistance and occupation surrounding theHambach Forest, thereby countering the widely held assumption that collective action aimedat radically changing existing structures is not possible. The particular exploratory focus is puton the way this non-conventional environmental security discourse has been created within aredefined securitization framework. By challenging the traditional focus of securitizationtheory on top-down construction through elites, this study provides a broadened, bottom-upaccount of environmental securitization stemming from local civil society actors as nonpowerholdersthat effectively proclaim their recognition of the environment’s intrinsic valuefrom a grassroots level. Consequently, it argues for the significance of securitization as creativeprocess of alerting policy makers, political leaders and the broader society to the emergency ofclimate change and global environmental degradation symbolized through the specific case ofHambach Forest.

Objective: Saliency-based theories assume that stimulus features (luminance, edges, texture) shape the hierarchy of perception. Predictions about human viewing behavior point out that highly salient objects or regions of a picture will be perceived first (e.g. Itti et al. 2001). Not much attention is paid to top-down factors such as emotion, motivation and other cognitive functions. The present study analyses the influence of the emotional status on visual perception in free-viewing tasks. Following the hypotheses of the study even in artificial contexts such as viewing neutral pictures in an experiment, top-down factors, such as emotion might influence length of fixation and the number of fixations and saccades. Approaches of visual perception and perception in general should focus more on the individual cognitive aspects of this process. Method: In an eyetracking-study 91 participants viewed neutral and emotional relevant pictures without any task. Five emotional pictures (crime, murder, babies), which were taken from the IAPS (Lang, Bradley & Cuthbert, 2005) were followed by one neutral picture (forest, grass) taken from studies of Peters et al (2005) and Einhäuser et al. (2003). Altogether the subjects viewed 130 pictures. Results: There were significant differences in viewing behavior concerning the neutral pictures subject to the emotional condition. When presented in context with emotional pictures, neutral pictures were fixated longer and less frequently in comparison to the neutral condition. There is evidence to suggest that the emotional context influenced visual attention concerning the neutral pictures in that way that attention for the neutral material was reduced in the context of highly arousing emotional pictures. This leads to the conclusion, that even in experimental setups with simple neutral stimuli the process of visual perception is influenced top-down.

The main goal of the present thesis is to contribute to the study of overt visual attention under natural conditions. All publications included in the thesis employ eye-tracking methodology and local image feature analysis. The particular scientific question posed, if all parts of the thesis are considered together, can be formulated as: What experimental (i.e. experimenter controlled) and pseudo-experimental (e.g. demographic characteristics such as age) variables define, quantify and set limits for bottom-up determinants of fixation election? In this summary, I will bring together the answers to this question obtained during the course of the thesis and try to elucidate their significance in relation to the puzzles and riddles of eye movement research. After presenting an overview of the field, I will show how and to what extent fixation selection is altered as a function of age and as certain stimulus components are modified. Finally, I will argue that visual attention involves varying degrees of reliance on bottom-up cues according to the attending agent’s knowledge that is relevant in a given context.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master’s in the Department of Anthropology and Development Studies at the University of Zululand, 2015 / According to the Constitution, Act No.108 of 1996 of the Republic of South Africa, every person has the right to clean water. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry’s Community Water Supply Programme was established in 1994 to achieve this objective. Access to safe drinking water is the basic need to human life and wellbeing, and is a key to public health issues. The UGu District Municipality is the water distributor to the Umzumbe Local Municipality residents. The study area for this research is the Umzumbe Local Municipality, which is the second largest municipality under the UGu District Municipality. Communities, especially in rural areas under the Umzumbe Local Municipality, are still unable to access adequate safe drinking water which meets the national standards for protecting human health. The main concern of this research was to assess water access and provisioning in the Umzumbe Local Municipality, under the UGu District Municipality. The research assessed the water supply system in the UGu District Municipality by engaging with all the stakeholders involved in water provision to verify their roles in the water supply and development of water service delivery projects. The study was predicated on three theories which were assumed to explain water provisioning. The first theory is the top-down and bottom up approach to service delivery. The second approach is the privatisation concept which is based on neo-liberalism. This explains that buying what could hinder efficient delivery, mostly in poor environments. The final theory of the study deals with project management. This theory asserts that the way a project is packaged and commissioned will have implications in the delivery of services, in this case, water delivery. The research employed mixed a methods research design. The reason for employing both qualitative and quantitative methods is because the research sought to obtain a comprehensive interpretation of the occurrences in the research area. The adoption of qualitative data alone is likely to provide limited vision which would not be sufficient for the research without the inclusion of quantitative data. The population for the research consisted of the Umzumbe Local Municipality residents, both males and females from twenty one years of age, upwards. Seventy participants were chosen for the research. Interview schedules and survey questionnaires were used as data collection instruments. vii The findings showed that the UGu District Municipality infrastructure does have some challenges, which come in the form of skills challenges, and capacity challenges. Other challenges that the study identified include inability to access municipality’s infrastructure grant (M.I.G) and bulk infrastructure grant (B.I.G). The UGu District Municipality areas that are far inland are likely to have water, and also the problems because of the low capacity of engines that are used to pump water also the problem is exacerbated by power failures. The findings further indicated that unskilled contractors could be the cause of water outage in the Umzumbe Local Municipality. It has been established that contractors who are hired to run projects have a tendency of abandoning projects that have not been completed. The findings presented that the UGu District Municipality does not consider the involvement of community members when they take decisions on project matters. The research established that water tankers do not provide community with adequate water and the utilization of water tankers is an expensive option that can cause community not to be served. The findings also indicated that some of the water infrastructure is old and it can be the cause of water shortage. Lastly, the findings showed that the Umzumbe Local Municipality has low income opportunities, causing its inhabitants to be unable to pay for water services. On the basis of the findings the study recommends that the UGu District Municipality needs to adhere to the principles of monitoring and evaluation of all activities and projects that relate to water provisioning. At a broader scale the study suggests that further research be done to determine whether the Department of Water and Sanitation can consider the construction of water reservoir in UMzimkhulu River. The reservoir should be linked with the Umgeni Water Board to provide water to communities during water outage.

A la quantité limitée de l’eau disponible au Liban, vient s’ajouter un nouveau problème, la dégradation de la qualité des eaux superficielles menacées continuellement par la pollution et la salinisation. Les utilisations agricoles et industrielles et l’augmentation de la population génèrent des pollutions des cours d'eau qui posent des problèmes environnementaux et sanitaires. Afin de limiter et d'anticiper ces pollutions, il est nécessaire de disposer de méthodes d'évaluation des effets des systèmes de culture sur la pollution des eaux de rivière. Pour cela, nous avons sélectionné la rivière Litani qui est la plus longue rivière et la plus importante au Liban, sur laquelle deux dispositifs de suivis ont été mis en œuvre entre 2010 et 2013. En raison de l'absence de données sur la qualité de l'eau, nous proposons dans cette étude de vérifier les paramètres de pollution du bassin supérieur qui constitue la majorité de surface du bassin. L’objectif de ce projet est de réaliser une étude prospective sur la qualité de la ressource en eau du bassin supérieur du Litani en incluant le lac de Qarraoun, de comprendre la relation entre la recharge et la consommation d’eau et, si pertinent, de proposer des solutions pour une meilleure gestion des eaux polluées. L'étude porte sur l'interprétation des sources de pollution en mesurant de nombreux paramètres physicochimiques (pH, T °, TDS, Ec), chimiques (Na, Ca2, Mg2, Cl-, SO2-4, NH3, NO-3, PO2-4, K, DBO5 et DCO), les métaux lourds (Fe, Ni, Zn, Cu, Cr, Al, Ba, Pb, Mn) et des paramètres microbiologiques de l'eau et les sédiments de la partie supérieure du bassin Litani et dans le lac. Des échantillons ont été prélevés au cours des trois saisons d’hiver (Février), du printemps (mai) et d’été (Septembre) en 2010-2013. Les analyses microbiologiques et physico-chimiques sont effectuées en conformité avec les méthodes standards européennes et méthode standard (OMS). Des méthodes statistiques multi-variées (analyse hiérarchique de la concentration : HAC, et de l'analyse en composantes principales : PCA) et la corrélation de Pearson ont ensuite été appliquées pour déterminer l'influence des polluants dans le lac et la rivière / Lebanon has abundant water, but its river is polluted. The Litani River is the largest one, draining from north to south in the central core of the country (Bekaa Valley) before turning west to the sea. It crosses down a rather deep valley and passes by several urban agglomerations and industrial zones, which use its water as a discharge system of their waste. This study shows the impact of the anthropic activities on the water quality of this river. Physical (pH, T°, TDS, Ec), chemical (Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl?, SO2?4, NH3+, NO?3, PO2?4, K+, BOD5 and COD), heavy metals (Fe, Ni, Zn, Cu, Cr, Al, Ba, Pb, Mn) and microbiological parameters of water quality assessment and sediment for the Upper Litani River Basin was performed. They were investigated during three seasons of rainy, mid-rainy spring and wet season, during the years 2010-2013 to determine correlation between chosen chemical water parameters and bottom sediments parameters. Microbiological and physico-chemical analyses are performed in accordance International methods (e.g. European Standard Methods, WHO). In addition, Multivariate statistical methods (Hierarchical Clustering Analysis: HCA, and Principal Component Analysis: PCA) and Pearson’s correlation were applied to figure out the influence of pollutants disposal in the Lake and the River as well. Sediments were characterized by a set of chemical analyses, cations exchange capacity, mineralogical X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). To assess metal contamination in sediments, Consensus-Based Sediment Quality Guidelines of Wisconsin (CBSQG) were applied. The metals contamination in the sediments was also evaluated by contamination factor (Cf), and the results showed that the effect of seasonal variations was important in the Upper Litani River Basin and the degree of contamination was increased in dry season. All the sites are characterized by moderate to highly microbial polluted range and some site was highly polluted and contaminated

Business leaders often leave more than half of the world's population the bottom of the pyramid (BOP), a $5-trillion market of potential consumers untapped for products and services on account of failing to see BOP markets as profitable for business, yet business leaders who have managed inclusive BOP marketing in Nigeria have experienced profit margins as high as 120%. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies of business leaders who market to BOP consumers in Nigeria and maintain a profit. The study population consisted of 3 business leaders in the Dallas and Fort Worth metropolitan area who marketed to BOP consumers in Nigeria and maintained a profit. The conceptual framework that grounded the study was BOP marketing theory. Data were collected through semistructured in-depth interviews and company documents, with member checking implemented to strengthen creditability and trustworthiness. Based on the methodological triangulation of the data sources collected, 3 emergent themes were identified following 5 stages of data analysis. The themes were (a) maintain low profit margins in marketing essential items to the BOP in Nigeria, (b) maintain high profit margins in marketing to the non-BOP in Nigeria, and (c) market scaled-down products to the BOP in Nigeria. The findings from this study may contribute to social change by providing insights and strategies for business leaders seeking to prepare for and sustain profitability. The data from this study may contribute to higher profit margins for business leaders as well as job placement and entrepreneurship opportunities for the communities of Nigeria.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Physical Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2006. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references. / Ocean surface infragravity waves (periods from 20 to 200 s) observed along the southern California coast are shown to be sensitive to the bottom topography of the shelf region, where propagation is linear, and of the nearshore region, where nonlinearity is important. Infragravity waves exchange energy with swell and wind waves (periods from 5 to 200 s) via conservative nonlinear interactions that approach resonance with decreasing water depth. Consistent with previous results, it is shown here that as waves shoal into water less than a few meters deep, energy is transfered from swell to infragravity waves. In addition, it is shown here that the apparent dissipation of infragravity energy observed in the surfzone is the result of nonlinear energy transfers from infragravity waves back to swell and wind waves. The energy transfers are sensitive to the shallow water bottom topography. On nonplanar beach profiles the transfers, and thus the amount of infragravity energy available for reflection from the shoreline, change with the tide, resulting in the tidal modulation of infragravity energy observed in bottom-pressure records on the continental shelf. The observed wave propagation over the shelf topography is dominated by refraction, and the observed partial reflection from, and transmission across, a steep-walled submarine canyon is consistent with long-wave theory. A generalized regional model incorporating these results predicts the observed infragravity wave amplitudes over variable bottom topography. / by James M. Thomson. / Ph.D.

Thesis: S.M., Joint Program in Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2018. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 97-103). / The presence of superimposed bedforms, where smaller bedforms exist on larger bedforms, is ubiquitous to energetic tidal environments. Due to their wide range in scale, it is difficult to simultaneously observe these features over tidal timescales. This thesis examines the morphological response of superimposed bedforms to a tidally reversing flow using novel instrumentation and platform systems. A method is outlined in chapter 2 to expand the functionality of low-mounted sidescan sonars by utilizing sonar shadows to estimate bedform height and asymmetry. Empirical models are generated to account for realistic variability in the seabed and the method is validated with bathymetric observations of wave-orbital ripples and tidally reversing megaripples. Given the high temporal and spatial resolution of seafloor frame mounted rotary sidescan sonars, the dynamics and evolution of the bedforms over an approximately 40 m x 40 m area can be resolved. In chapter 3 the method is applied to data of superimposed bedforms at Wasque Shoals, an ebb delta off the southeast corner of Martha's Vineyard, MA. These data reveal the small, superimposed bedforms reversing their asymmetry with the flow while the larger bedforms on which they reside remain oriented in the direction of the dominant flow. Similar bedform dynamics are observed at Nauset Inlet, a dynamic inlet system, on Cape Cod, MA using an autonomous jet-powered kayak, the Jetyak, equipped with a bathymetric swath sonar. The time needed for bedform asymmetry to reverse in the presence of a tidal flow was estimated with a geometric bedform model that incorporates an empirical sediment transport rate. The morphological lag time from the observations agree well with the geometric model with larger bedforms and slower flows resulting in a longer lag time. Finally, the migration of these superimposed bedforms is considered in chapter 4. Data from the rotary sidescan sonar at Wasque Shoals capture the interaction of smaller bedforms, or megaripples, with a dune. The net convergence of megaripples on the tidally dominate lee face of the dune suggests that the smaller bedforms serve as an intermediate step between grain-scale transport processes and larger scale dune migration. / by Katie Renae Jones. / S.M.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), June 1990. / "April 1990." / At scale lengths less than 100 km or so, statistical descriptions of seafloor morphology can be usefully employed to characterize processes which form and reshape abyssal hills, including ridge crest volcanism, off-axis tectonics and volcanism, mass wasting, sedimentation, and post-depositional transport. The objectives of this thesis are threefold: (1) to identify stochastic parameterizations of small-scale topography that are geologically useful, (2) to implement procedures for estimating these parameters from multibeam and side-scan sonar surveys that take into account the finite precision, resolution, and sampling of real data sets, and (3) to apply these techniques to the study of marine geological problems. The seafloor is initially modeled as a stationary, zero-mean, Gaussian random field completely specified by its two-point covariance function. An anisotropic two-point covariance function is introduced that has five free parameters describing the amplitude, orientation, characteristic width and length, and Hausdorff (fractal) dimension of seafloor topography. The general forward problem is then formulated relating this model to the statistics of an ideal multibeam echo sounder, in particular the along-track auto-covariance functions of individual beams and the cross-covariance functions between beams of arbitrary separation. Using these second moments as data functionals, we then pose the inverse problem of estimating the seafloor parameters from realistic, noisy data sets with finite sampling and beamwidth, and we solve this inverse problem by an iterative, linearized, least squares method. Resolution of this algorithm is tested against ship variables such as length of data, the orientation of ship track with respect to topographic grain, and the beamwidth. This analysis is conducted by inverting sets of synthetic data with known statistics. The mean and standard deviation of the inverted parameters can be directly compared with the input parameters and the standard errors output from the inversion. The experiments conducted in this study show that the rms seafloor height can be estimated to within -15% and anisotropic orientation to within ~5* (for a strong lineation) using very short track lengths (down to 3 characteristic lengths, or -10 to 100 km), and characteristic lengths of seafloor topography can be estimated to within -25% using fairly short track lengths (down to 5 or 6 characteristic lengths, or 10's of km to -200 kin). The number of characteristic lengths sampled by a ship track, and hence the accuracy of the estimation, is maximized when the ship track runs perpendicular to abyssal hill lineation. Using the assumed beamwidth, the measured noise values, and the seafloor parameters recovered from the inversion, Sea Beam "synthetics" are generated whose statistical character can be directly compared with raw Sea Beam data. However, these comparisons are spatially limited in the athwart ship direction. A recent SeaMARC II survey along the flanks and crest of the East Pacific Rise between 130 and 15* N included sufficient off-axis topography to permit a comparison of a complete 2-D synthetic topographic field with a region of abyssal-hill terrain that has close to 100% data coverage. Synthetic data is compared to both Sea Beam swaths and SeaMARC II survey data. These comparisons generally indicate that we are successful in characterizing the second order properties of the seafloor. They also indicate the directions we will need to take to improve our modeling, including generalization of the second-order model and characterization of higher moments. The inversion procedure is applied to a data set of 64 near-ridge Sea Beam swaths to characterize near ridge abyssal hill morphology and its relationship to ridge properties. Much of the data (27 swaths) comes from cruises to the Pacific-Cocos spreading section of the East Pacific Rise between 9* and 15* N. These data provide very good abyssal hill coverage of this well-mapped and studied ridge section and form the basis of a regional analysis of the correlation between ridge morphology and stochastic abyssal hill parameters. This regional analysis suggests a strong relationship between magma supply and the character of abyssal hills. We also have data from near the Rivera (9) and Nazca (7) spreading sections of the East Pacific Rise, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (18), and the Indian- African Ridge (3). Though spotty, this constitutes a good initial data set for the analysis of correlations among covariance parameters and between parameters and ridge characteristics, especially spreading rate. A working hypothesis is introduced to explain the observations within a geological framework. This hypothesis contends 1) that the maximum size of abyssal hills is related to the lithosphere's ability to elastically support the load, 2) that fissuring and horst and graben formation dominate abyssal hill formation at fast spreading ridges, and 3) that volcanic edifice formation, modified by faulting driven by lithospheric necking, dominates abyssal hill formation at slow spreading ridges. To quantify abyssal hill characteristics such as vertical and lateral asymmetry and "peakiness" we must appeal to higher statistical moments than order two. A mathematical framework is introduced for the study of higher moments of a topographic field. This framework is built upon the concept that lower-order moment provide the groundwork for studying the higher-order moments. A simple 1-D parameterized model is proposed for moments up to order 4. This model includes two parameters for the third moment, describing vertical and lateral asymmetries, and one for the fourth moment, which describes the peakiness of topography. Initial methods are developed for estimating these parameters from bathymetric profiles. Results from the near ridge data set are presented and interpreted with regard to abyssal hill forming processes. / by John Anson Goff. / Ph.D.