Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1974.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1974.

<p>Previous studies, as well as market sales data, show some consumers are willing to pay a premium for redundant or superfluous food labels that carry no additional information for the informed consumer. Some advocacy groups have argued that the use of such redundant labels is misleading or unethical. To determine whether premiums for redundant labels stem from misunderstanding or other factors, this study seeks to determine whether greater knowledge of the claims - in the form of expertise in food production and scientific literacy - decreases willingness to pay for redundant labels. We also explore whether de-biasing information influences consumers’ valuations of redundant labels. An online survey of 1,122 U.S. consumers elicits willingness-to-pay premiums for three redundantly labeled products: non-GMO sea salt, gluten-free orange juice, and no-hormone-added chicken breast. Respondents with farm experience report lower premiums for non-GMO salt and no-hormone-added chicken. Those with higher scientific literacy state lower premiums for gluten-free orange juice. However, provided information about the redundancy of the claims, less than half of respondents who were initially willing to pay extra for the label are convinced otherwise. Over 30% of respondents counter-intuitively increase their premiums, behavior that is associated with less <i>a priori</i> scientific knowledge. The likelihood of “overpricing” redundant labels is associated with willingness-to-pay premiums for organic food, suggesting at least some of the premium for organic is a result of misinformation. </p>

1 Abstract The goals of the thesis were to synthesise novel fluorescently labelled nucleotides and the corresponding nucleic acids for bio-analytical applications as well as their delivery into cells. The thesis also aimed at the development of an effective method to inhibit non-templated incorporation of nucleotides. The problematic non-templated enzymatic incorporation of nucleotides is addressed by using several commercially available 5'-modified-oligonucleotides. The oligonucleotides (ONs) that we tested bore ortho twisted intercalating nucleic acid (oTINA), a trityl group, or biotin at the 5'-end. The modified ONs were used as templates in the enzymatic primer extension (PEX) experiments in the presence of either modified nucleotides or only natural deoxynucleoside triphosphates (dNTPs). The oTINA templates underwent PEX reaction using natural dNTPs and different DNA polymerases of the A or B family. In parallel, two types of fluorescent nucleoside derivatives were independently designed and synthesised. Firstly, we envisaged new fluorescent nucleotide tags containing the hexamethylated BODIPY moiety as a bright fluorescent label. Conversely, we focused on the improvement of fluorescent nucleotide probes sensitive to the viscosity or polarity. The fluorescently labelled methylated BODIPY nucleotides...

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Because label-free liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) shotgun proteomics infers the peptide sequence of each measurement, there is inherent uncertainty in the identity of each peptide and its originating protein. Removing misidentified peptides can improve the accuracy and power of downstream analyses when differences between proteins are of primary interest. In this dissertation I present classCleaner, a novel algorithm designed to identify misidentified peptides from each protein using the available quantitative data. The algorithm is based on the idea that distances between peptides belonging to the same protein are stochastically smaller than those between peptides in different proteins. The method first determines a threshold based on the estimated distribution of these two groups of distances. This is used to create a decision rule for each peptide based on counting the number of within-protein distances smaller than the threshold. Using simulated data, I show that classCleaner always reduces the proportion of misidentified peptides, with better results for larger proteins (by number of constituent peptides), smaller inherent misidentification rates, and larger sample sizes. ClassCleaner is also applied to a LC-MS/MS proteomics data set and the Congressional Voting Records data set from the UCI machine learning repository. The later is used to demonstrate that the algorithm is not specific to proteomics.

Labeling of consumer products is not only required by regulatory bodies for product identification, but it also serves as a symbol of product quality and prestige. Bubbles under the label are unsightly and impact customer satisfaction. Pressure Sensitive Adhesive (PSA) labels currently make up more than eighty percent of all labels in the market today, yet little research could be found addressing causes of bubbling in an industrial setting. A root cause analysis for bubble development included four aspects: label application, environmental conditions of shipping and storage, defects in glass bottle geometry, and oil contamination. The most significant findings from each area were as follows: Label Application. Force and contact time were confirmed to be significant factors in reducing label bubbling. The equipment settings directly related to these factors should be controlled and monitored. Environmental Conditions. None of the environmental conditions caused growth or appearance of additional bubbles as was the hypothesis. All 4 test conditions had a significant Paired T-test but in the reduction of bubble size. Glass Defects. A random sample of bottles showed very poor capability of the bottle dimensions. However, low capability to produce within specification limits does not necessarily lead to bubbling. A direct comparison test was done to compare diameters and variation from bubbled bottles to non-bubbled. No measurements that could reasonably be related to bubbles caused by glass defectiveness were statistically different. Oil Contamination. Initial data analysis showed that certain oil types had a higher chance of causing bubbling. However, after a controlled experiment was performed, the results were inconclusive that oil contamination pre or post-labeling could cause bubbling in isolation. The experiment did confirm the importance of sufficient pressure in the label application process.

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Environmental labels on products and services have been increasingly significant in influencing consumer purchasing and represent a crucial communication of the environmental credentials of products and companies. Yet their importance to industrial designers, who are recognised as having significant influence over the environmental impact of products, is less known. The overall aim of this research project is to investigate factors affecting the implementation of UK environmental labels by in-house industrial designers in UK Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). A review of the literature on industrial designers and environmental labels found that there was a gap in knowledge surrounding the factors affecting how and whether in-house industrial designers implement labels in their work, and what understanding they have. In response to the literature review a number of research questions were generated, which influenced the direction of this emergent, exploratory research. A Preliminary Study was set up to collect qualitative data from practicing industrial designers in UK SMEs on their recognition and use of environmental label schemes. A mock-up Resource was consequently developed that provided the information the Preliminary Study participants claimed to need. During the Main Study the Resource was used as an elicitation tool to further probe designers' understanding and use of labels. Subsequently, three Case Studies were conducted with UK SMEs who have implemented labels on their products, to identify elements of best practice. The in-house SME designers in the study appeared to have knowledge of environmental label types and schemes. Both this and designers' position within their companies especially in terms of their input on design briefs moderates their ability to implement labels. The cooperation and contribution of colleagues is also significant to the effective application including driving their use and being willing to include them in the product development process from early stages to impact on success or effectiveness. It is suggested that a whole company approach is needed. This thesis provides an original contribution to knowledge on in-house designers' capability to implement labels; understanding of designers' current knowledge and use of labels; and the role of designers in all SMEs, not just those engaged in ecodesign or using environmental labels.

Anpassa eller dö, är en kartläggning av musikaggregatorer i den svenska musikindustrin. Uppsatsens syfte är att kartlägga musikaggregatorers olika funktioner i en föränderlig musikbransch för att förstå dess olika funktioner i svensk musik industri.  Uppsatsen är forskad genom en induktiv ansats med kvalitativ forskning och ostrukturerade intervjuer samt deltagande observation, som valda metoder.  Uppsatsens slutsats har visat att musikaggregatorers primära funktion handlar om att distribuera musik till olika streamingtjänster men behöver ständigt anpassa sig i en föränderlig musikbransch för att kunna överleva.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of learning gender and age labels on toddlers' toy preferences. Many researchers (e.g., Arthur, Bigler, Liben, Ruble, & Gelman, 2008; Martin & Halverson, 1981) have suggested that the acquisition of such labels should cause increased in-group preferences, and thus, increased interest in same-category toy preferences. In this study, we used feminine and masculine toys (e.g., a purse, a hammer) to test gender typed preferences and adult and child objects (e.g., toy keys, real keys) to test age typed preferences. Forty 18-20 month old children (M = 19.1 months) from primarily upper-middle class families participated in the study. After taking pre-test measures of their children's social label understanding and toy preferences, parents were randomly assigned with their children, to one of two conditions: the age condition (in which they were asked to practice "grown-up" and "kid") and the gender condition (in which they were asked to practice "boy" and "girl"). Parents practiced the labels with their children for approximately two weeks and returned to the lab. In the post-test session, children's social label understanding and toy preferences were again assessed. Additionally, parents were asked about their attitudes about other-gender toys and behaviors and about the toys their children had at home. The results indicated an interaction between test time and comprehension of the gender and age labels. Children in the age condition's performance on the age labels in the target word comprehension task improved from pre- to post-test. Children in the gender condition's performance on the gender labels also improved from pre- to post-test. However, there were no main effects of condition at post-test. As predicted, comprehension of labels was related to toy play in the age condition. Children who were more successful on the age labels on the word comprehension task also played more with toy items than real items at post-test. Comprehension of labels was not related to toy play in the gender condition. However, at pre-test, girls in the gender condition already exhibited strong sex typed behavior, so it is possible that the manipulation was not enough to change these extant preferences. These data partially support Bigler and Liben's (2006) Developmental Intergroup Theory and work by Martin and Halverson (1981) on role of cognitive processes in the formation of social stereotypes, preferences, and prejudice. / text