This master’s thesis investigates the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce (SACC) in Chicago, a non-profit organization, in order to aid it with customer defection. The chosen literature contributes to a better understanding of customer behavior, and thus, customer defection, by examining customer retention, customer defection, switching behaviors, and different gaps that can occur in the relationship between a service supplier and its customers. Through a systematic combining approach and empirical findings gained through semi-structured interviews with both executives and defected customers, this study reveals that the main reason for customer defection is a perceived lack of value in their membership to the SACC, along with the sentiment that their business-oriented expectations are not being met. As for the SACC, the Board members have a varied range of views as to the value of defected customers, though overall, acquisition is prioritized over customer defection strategies.

How behaviors are generated by neural circuits is one of the central questions in neurobiology. Under standard culture conditions, Caenorhabditis elegans travel by propagating sinusoidal waves, moving primarily forward, punctuated by brief runs of backing. How these behaviors are generated and altered is not well understood. Using a combination of behavioral analyses and neuronal imaging, I reveal that an activity imbalance between cholinergic A- and B-motoneurons is the key determinant of directional locomotion. Furthermore, heterotypic gap junctions that couple command interneurons and motoneurons of the backward motor circuit, mediated by innexins UNC-7 in AVA and UNC-9 in A-motoneurons, respectively, establish the B>A activity pattern required for forward movement. Loss of this coupling results in both the hyperactivation of AVA backward interneurons revealing the unregulated, endogenous activity of A-motoneurons. With equal A-motoneuron activity levels as B-motoneurons, innexin mutant animals exhibit irregular body bending (kinking) instead of executing forward motion, as well as increased backing. Through a genetic screen, I identified two stomatin-like proteins as regulators of innexin UNC-9 activity that affect C. elegans’ directional movement. The loss of function of stomatin-like unc-1 leads to the same kinker phenotype as unc-7 or unc-9 mutants. Like UNC-9, UNC-1 functions primarily in the A-motoneurons to allow forward motion, suggesting that UNC-1 is required for effective UNC-7-UNC-9 coupling between AVA and A-motoneurons. Dominant mutations in UNC-1, and another stomatin-like protein STO-6, exhibit genetic interactions with these innexin mutants. These mutations partially restore the forward movement of unc-7 mutants, in an UNC-9-dependent manner, indicating that they regulate UNC-9 channel activity in motoneurons to re-establish the B>A-motoneuron activity pattern in the absence of heterotypic gap junctions between interneurons and motoneurons. These studies describe a role of gap junctions as regulators of circuit dynamics by establishing an imbalanced motoneuron activity pattern that favors forward motion, which can be modulated by upper layer inputs. This study also identifies stomatin-like regulators of innexin hemichannel and gap junction function. Future work will focus on understanding mechanisms through which these stomatins regulate the activity of specific innexin channels in C. elegans motoneurons, as well as their contribution to the dynamic output of the C. elegans motor circuit.

Abstract The aim of this thesis is to show how numerous organizations such as CGI Consultant attempt to introduce BI-Solutions through IT and other operational methods in order to deal with large companies, which want to make their competitive market position stronger. This aim is achieved by Gap Analyzing in the BI roadmap and available Data Warehouses based on one of the company projects which were handed over to CGI from Lithuania. The fundamentals in achieving the BI-Solutions through IT, which has built the thesis methodology by research are, data warehousing, content analytics and performance management, data movement (Extract, Transform and Load) and CGI BI methodology, business process management, TeliaSonera Maintenance Management Model (TSM3) and AM model of CGI in the high level. The part of the thesis basically requires some research and practical work on Informatica PowerCenter, Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio and low level details such as database tuning, DBMS tuning implementation and ETL workflows optimization.   Keywords: BI, ETL, DW, DBMS, TSM3, AM, Gap Analysing

Organelles within the endomembrane system of all eukaryotic cells exchange membrane lipids and proteins using membrane-bound transport vesicles. This highly conserved vesicular transport process is essential for life and is highly regulated. Much of this regulation is provided by small monomeric GTP-binding proteins such as Arf and Arl that act as molecular switches, cycling between inactive GDP-bound and active GTP-bound states. This cycle of GTP binding and hydrolysis is controlled by guanine-nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) and GTPase activating proteins (GAPs), respectively. I have investigated regulatory interactions involving two ArfGAPs, Age1 and Gcs1, involved in post-Golgi vesicular transport in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In yeast, the Age2 + Gcs1 ArfGAP pair is essential and facilitates post-Golgi transport. I found that overexpression of either the poorly characterized ArfGAP Age1 or the Sfh2 phosphatidylinositol-transfer protein can bypass the requirement for Age2 and Gcs1. Indeed, endogenous Age1 is required for efficient Sfh2-bypass. Moreover, the yeast phospholipase D protein, Spo14, which is activated by Sfh2 and regulates membrane lipid composition, is required for Age1 to effectively alleviate the deleterious effects of defective Age2 + Gcs1 function. My findings suggest that Age1 is regulated by membrane lipid composition and can provide ArfGAP function for post-Golgi transport. Gcs1 is involved in multiple vesicular transport stages, is a dual-specificity GAP for both Arf and Arl1 proteins and, as shown here, also has functions independent of its GAP activity. The absence of Gcs1 causes cold sensitivity for growth and endocytic transport. The cold sensitivity of cells lacking Gcs1 is alleviated by the elimination of either the Arl1 or Ypt6 vesicle-tethering pathway at the trans-Golgi, or by overexpression of Imh1, an effector of the Arl1 pathway. I found elimination of the Ypt6 pathway also prevents Arl1 activation and membrane localization, that Arl1 binding by Imh1 is necessary and sufficient for alleviation, and that the Gcs1 function required for growth and transport in the cold is independent of any GAP activity. My findings suggest that in the absence of this GAP-independent function of Gcs1 the resulting dysregulated Arl1 causes the gcs1? defects through the sequestration of a yet-to-be-determined cellular factor.

The object of this research is to assess the effects of Ontario’s new immigration policy on young non-permanent residents. In particular, it is to evaluate how the wage gap between young non-permanent residents and young Canadian citizens has changed in the labor market of Ontario from 2001 to 2006 to demonstrate influences of new policy. On November 21, 2005, the governments of Ontario and Canada signed the first Canada-Ontario immigration agreement that relaxed several requirements for temporary workers to apply for permanent residency. This paper selected data from the 2001 and 2006 population census to conduct a linear regression to analyze the wage gap and the effects of immigration policy. By using the difference-in-difference approach, this paper found that there was no significant positive effect of the new policy on the entry earnings of non-permanent residents in Ontario.

Vasomotion is the spontaneous oscillation of vascular tone, occurring due to synchronization of internal calcium fluctuations between multiple vascular smooth muscle cells by gap junction and electrical communication. Although altered vasomotion has been observed in a variety of pathological situations, characterization of these alterations has been lacking. Using a novel method of spectral quantification, and two experimental models known to have altered vascular structure, the present thesis was designed to evaluate whether vasomotion characteristics could be correlated with altered vascular structure. Rats with perinatal iron deficiency (PID) have previously been shown to possess altered vascular structure. When phenylephrine-mediated contractile and acetylcholine-mediated dilatory responses were investigated in PID animals, they both displayed blunted relaxation as compared to control vessels. When vasomotion characteristics were quantified, vessels taken from PID animals exhibited a decreased power in the very low frequency window (VLF <0.2 Hz). Changing vessel oxygenation to 10% O2 from 95% O2 did not result in significant alterations of vasomotion characteristics. The primary frequency of oscillation was investigated with a peak finder, and found to be significantly different compared to control in both the aorta and renal arteries obtained from PID animals. To investigate the effect of antihypertensive treatment (enalapril and hydrochlorothiazide) on gap junction communication, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were subject to a 2-week intensive angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor treatment. This treatment resulted in significant vascular structural regression. All vessels (aorta, renal, mesenteric) from treated animals had greater proportions of power in the VLF window, with both the mesenteric and renal vessels exhibiting a primary peak of oscillation around 0.2 Hz; whereas the aorta had a primary peak at 0.12 Hz. Investigating altered gap junction communication with the gap junction blocker 18-α glycyrrhetinic acid, revealed that vascular bed location was the determining factor of vasomotion response. Immunoblotting did not indicate differences in connexin 43, a major gap junction protein in the vascular smooth muscle. These studies suggest that vasomotion characteristics can be used as a method of vascular phenotype investigation; vasomotion characteristics were significantly different in vessels taken from PID and hypertensive animals as compared to control and antihypertensive-treated animals, respectively. / Thesis (Master, Pharmacology & Toxicology) -- Queen's University, 2008-09-26 11:39:44.043

How behaviors are generated by neural circuits is one of the central questions in neurobiology. Under standard culture conditions, Caenorhabditis elegans travel by propagating sinusoidal waves, moving primarily forward, punctuated by brief runs of backing. How these behaviors are generated and altered is not well understood. Using a combination of behavioral analyses and neuronal imaging, I reveal that an activity imbalance between cholinergic A- and B-motoneurons is the key determinant of directional locomotion. Furthermore, heterotypic gap junctions that couple command interneurons and motoneurons of the backward motor circuit, mediated by innexins UNC-7 in AVA and UNC-9 in A-motoneurons, respectively, establish the B>A activity pattern required for forward movement. Loss of this coupling results in both the hyperactivation of AVA backward interneurons revealing the unregulated, endogenous activity of A-motoneurons. With equal A-motoneuron activity levels as B-motoneurons, innexin mutant animals exhibit irregular body bending (kinking) instead of executing forward motion, as well as increased backing. Through a genetic screen, I identified two stomatin-like proteins as regulators of innexin UNC-9 activity that affect C. elegans’ directional movement. The loss of function of stomatin-like unc-1 leads to the same kinker phenotype as unc-7 or unc-9 mutants. Like UNC-9, UNC-1 functions primarily in the A-motoneurons to allow forward motion, suggesting that UNC-1 is required for effective UNC-7-UNC-9 coupling between AVA and A-motoneurons. Dominant mutations in UNC-1, and another stomatin-like protein STO-6, exhibit genetic interactions with these innexin mutants. These mutations partially restore the forward movement of unc-7 mutants, in an UNC-9-dependent manner, indicating that they regulate UNC-9 channel activity in motoneurons to re-establish the B>A-motoneuron activity pattern in the absence of heterotypic gap junctions between interneurons and motoneurons. These studies describe a role of gap junctions as regulators of circuit dynamics by establishing an imbalanced motoneuron activity pattern that favors forward motion, which can be modulated by upper layer inputs. This study also identifies stomatin-like regulators of innexin hemichannel and gap junction function. Future work will focus on understanding mechanisms through which these stomatins regulate the activity of specific innexin channels in C. elegans motoneurons, as well as their contribution to the dynamic output of the C. elegans motor circuit.

Transverse zones cross strike of thrust-belt structures as large-scale alignments of cross-strike structures. The Transylvania fault zone is a set of discontinuous right-lateral transverse faults striking at about 270º across Appalachian thrust-belt structures along 40º N latitude in Pennsylvania. Near Everett, Pennsylvania, the Breezewood fault terminates with the Ashcom thrust fault. The Everett Gap fault terminates westward with the Hartley thrust fault. Farther west, the Bedford fault extends westward to terminate against the Wills Mountain thrust fault. The rocks, deformed during the Alleghanian orogeny, are semi-independently deformed on opposite sides of the transverse fault, indicating fault movement during folding and thrusting. Palinspastic restorations of cross sections on either side of the fault zone are used to compare transverse fault displacement. The difference in shortening corresponds to the amount of displacement on either side of the transverse fault. The palinspastic restoration indicates a difference in the amount of shortening that will balance farther to the west in the Appalachian Plateau province.

The aim of the study is to investigate the glass ceiling and the gender wage gap and reasons behind gender inequality in the banking sector of Sweden and Pakistan. / <p>Please find the attached master thesis pdf file.</p>

<p>The focus of this dissertation is on the dynamics of electromagnetic systems for energy harvesting and filtering applications. The inclusion of magnets into systems generates nonlinearity due to the nature of electromagnetic interactions. In this work, magnetic nonlinearity manifests in tip interactions for cantilever beams, coupling effects for electromagnetic transduction, and bistable potential wells for a two beam system. These electromagnetic interactions are used to add non-contact coupling effects for the creation of bistable oscillators or arrays of coupled beams for energy filtering.</p><p>Nonlinearity at the tip of cantilever beams acts to change the dynamic and static behavior of the system. In this dissertation, these interactions are analyzed both with and without the nonlinear tip interactions. A linear analysis of the system without the tip interaction first provides insight into the shifting frequencies of the first four natural oscillation modes when considering a rigid body tip mass with rotational inertia and a center of mass that is offset from the tip of the beam. Then, the characterization of the nonlinearities in the beam stiffness and magnetic interaction provide insight into the static and dynamic behavior of the beam. The analytical and numerical investigations, using Rayleigh-Ritz methods and an assumed static deflection, are shown to be consistent with experimental tests. These methods provide a framework for theoretically establishing nonlinear static modes and small-amplitude linear modes that are consistent with physical behavior.</p><p>In electromagnetic coupling, the role of nonlinearity can have a detrimental or beneficial effect on energy harvesting. This work includes an investigation of the response of an energy harvester that uses electromagnetic induction to convert ambient vibration into electrical energy. The system's response behavior with linear coupling or a physically motivated form of nonlinear coupling is compared with single and multi-frequency base excitation. This analysis is performed with combined theoretical and numerical studies.</p><p>The ability of magnets to add nonlinearity to a system allows for the expansion of the phenomenological behavior of said system and potential advantages and disadvantages for energy harvesting. This work studies a two beam system made up of carbon fiber cantilever beams and attached magnetic tip masses with a focus on energy harvesting potential. Numerical and experimental investigations reveal an array of phenomena from static bifurcations, chaotic oscillations, and sub-harmonic orbits. These features are used to highlight the harvesting prospects for a similarly coupled system.</p><p>Beyond nonlinearity, the non-contacting coupling effects of magnets allow for the hypothetical creation of energy filtering systems. In this work, the band structure of a two dimensional lattice of oscillating beams with magnetic tip masses is explored. The focus of the wave propagation analysis is primarily on regions in the band structure where propagation does not occur for the infinite construction of the system. These band gaps are created in this system of 2 x 2 repeating unit cells by periodically varying the mass properties and, for certain configurations, the frequency band gaps manifest in different size and band location. Uncertainty in these regions is analyzed using potential variations associated with specific physical parameters in order to elucidate their influence on the band gap regions. Boundary effects and damping are also investigated for a finite-dimensional array, revealing an erosion of band gaps that could limit the expected functionality.</p> / Dissertation