Thesis (Ph. D.)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2006. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Mark L. Taper. Includes bibliographical references.

Dissertation--Oslo, 1997. / Bibliogr. p. 361-395.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1994. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-161). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) are globally distributed top predators that play an important ecological role within coastal marine communities. However, little is known about how the spatial and temporal scales of their habitat use are associated with their ecological role. In this study, a population of sub-adult and adult bull sharks were investigated within a remote subtropical marine community in the southwest Indian Ocean off the coast of southern Mozambique. The main objectives of the study were to test a minimally invasive remote biopsy sampling method; to investigate the feeding ecology of bull sharks; and to investigate the temporal and spatial scales of bull shark residency patterns and migration dynamics. Biopsy tests on free-swimming bull sharks showed that the devised sampling technique provided a minimally invasive and consistent method (biopsy retention rate = 87%) to obtain muscle tissue samples sufficiently large enough (310±78mg, mean ± SD) for stable isotope analysis. Results from the stable isotope analysis showed that adult bull sharks appeared to exhibit a shift towards consistentlyhigher trophic level prey from an expanded foraging range compared to sub-adults, possibly due to increased mobility linked with size. Additionally, bull sharks had significantly broader niche widths compared to top predatory teleost assemblages with a wide and enriched range of δ13C values relative to the local marine community, suggesting that they forage over broad spatial scales along the east coast of southern Africa. Results from the passive acoustic telemetry investigation, conducted over a period between 10 and 22 months, supported these findings showing that the majority of tagged adult sharksexhibited temporally and spatially variable residency patterns interspersed with migration events. Ten individuals undertook coastal migrations that ranged between 433 and 709km (mean = 533km) with eight of these sharks returning to the study site. During migration, individuals exhibited rates of movement between 2 and 59km.d-1 (mean = 17.58km.d-1) and were recorded travelling annual distances of between 450 and 3760km (mean = 1163km). These findings suggest that adult bull sharks are not the sedentary species once thought to be but rather, consistently move over broad spatial scales on the east coast of southern Africa and play an important predatory role shaping and linking ecological processes within the southwest Indian Ocean.

Denna uppsats ämnar utreda vad det är som gör att Red Bulls konsumenter uppfattar Red Bull som unikt i jämförelse med andra energidrycker. Red Bull är idag marknadsledande i Sverige inom energidryckesmarknaden. De har en marknadsandel på 31 procent samtidigt som de har ett pris-premium på sina produkter. För att utreda Red Bulls unicitet har uppsatsen utgått från en teoretisk modell beståendes av fyra påverkande faktorer som alla bidrar till uppfattad unicitet. Dessa faktorer är uppfattad kvalité av varumärket, medvetenhet om varumärket, associationer till varumärket och lojalitet till varumärket. Med hjälp av en kvantitativ undersökning som genomförts med konsumenter till Red Bull kunde det konstateras att den avgörande faktorn till Red Bulls unicitet var konsumenternas medvetenhet om Red Bulls varumärke. En starkt bidragande orsak till den höga medvetenheten är förmodligen att Red Bull väljer att lägga 40 procent av sina intäkter på marknadsföring och med hjälp av denna strategi skapat sig en unik ställning på den svenska energidryckesmarknaden.

The overall objective of this thesis was to evaluate the effects of apoptosis-like membrane and DNA changes in bull sperm, and to relate these changes to a bull’s fertility potential. This thesis hypothesis is that apoptosis-like changes occurring in fresh or cryopreserved bull sperm have a negative effect on a bull’s fertility potential. Two studies were conducted, the objectives of study 1 were to confirm the relationship of apoptosis-related membrane and nuclear changes in bull sperm with fertility, to predict the fertility of beef bulls used for natural mating; and to evaluate the effect of sperm with nicked-DNA on cleavage and blastocyst formation in vitro. In Experiment 1, phosphatidylserine (PS) translocation, from the inner to the outer plasma membrane, and DNA nicks in the sperm from 50 dairy bulls were determined using Annexin-V/PI and TUNEL assays, respectively. Relationships between the parameters of the assays and the known fertility levels of the bulls were calculated. In Experiment 2, fertility levels of 15 beef bulls used for natural mating were estimated using a regression model of DNA nicks developed in Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, the effect of DNA nicked sperm on cleavage and blastocyst rates were evaluated in in vitro produced embryos, using high and low sperm concentrations (30,000 and 300,000 sperm per IVF droplet) to fertilize the mature oocytes. In Experiment 1, there were significant relationships of fertility with live sperm (P<0.05) and necrotic sperm (P<0.01) (Annexin-V/PI assay), and with DNA-nicked sperm (P<0.001) (TUNEL assay). In Experiment 2, the fertility level of bulls used for natural breeding was estimated and ranged from -7.3 to 2.4. In Experiment 3, the cleavage rate was significantly affected by the number of sperm with nicked DNA, regardless of sperm concentration. At the low sperm concentration, blastocyst rate was significantly lower when higher DNA nicked sperm were used (51% vs 32%; high vs low DNA nicks) (P<0.05). Blastocyst rate was non significant at the higher sperm concentration regardless of DNA nicks. The second objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of apoptosis inhibitors added to post-thaw sperm samples on their longevity, to increase the availability of viable sperm to oocytes for fertilization. Frozen semen from seven bulls was used; six straws from each bull were pooled. Samples included, untreated control (sperm remaining in extender), treated control (washed sperm), and four treatments (inhibitors) each at two concentrations. Apoptosis inhibitors assessed included; Bax channel blocker, z-VAD-FMK, Coenzyme Q10, and XIAP. Motility related characteristics were evaluated using computer assisted sperm analysis (CASA). Membrane intactness and normal acrosomes were evaluated using fluorescein isothiocyanate-peanut agglutination (FITC-PNA)/propidium iodide (PI) assay. Mitochondrial membrane potential was evaluated using Mitotracker Deep Red (MtDR). Sperm parameters were evaluated at 0, 3, 6, and 12 hours of incubation. Our results showed, no significant effect of apoptosis inhibitors on post-thaw sperm motility and structural characteristics. The decline in sperm motility and structural characteristics at 6 h of incubation was lower (P<0.05) in treated control and treatment groups than untreated control group. In conclusion, the presence of nicked DNA in sperm may be used as an estimate of the fertility level of a breeding bull. The levels of sperm with DNA nicks have a negative effect on cleavage rates and subsequent blastocyst development. The second conclusion indicates that the addition of an apoptosis inhibitor post-thaw to semen samples does not improve longevity or fitness, in any of the parameters evaluated. The simple removal of extender showed to be beneficial to sperm longevity and fitness. Further studies are needed to evaluate the cleavage and blastocyst rate of embryos fertilized with a single sperm known to carry DNA nicks. As well, the effect of the addition of apoptosis inhibitors before cryopreservation of bull semen needs to be evaluated.

California’s approximately 660,000 head of beef cattle are highly dependent on range bulls used to produce offspring that can perform across the state’s diverse ecological regions. While knowledge of bull breeding behavior and the technology used to monitor cattle movement and behavior is critical to maximize conception rates and the overall efficiency in natural service sires on rangelands. Bulls need to be functional on rugged coastal landscapes, rolling foothills, deserts, and in high-elevation terrain. Few data exist that indicate factors related to selection, maintenance, and longevity of bulls used in rangeland landscapes. Objectives herein, were to assess factors influencing bull purchasing, management, and culling decisions of California beef producers. Another objective was to examine the relationship between activity level and the number of offspring born from a breeding season. Surveys were mailed to the California Cattlemen’s Association membership (n = 1,410) with ~ 16% response rate (n = 227). Mean age and years of bull selection experience of respondents was 61 ± 1 years and 27 ± 1 years, respectively. Respondents managed cattle on a total of 694,949 ha of owned, private leased, and leased public rangelands in California and surrounding states. Cow-calf herd size was 333 ± 92 head and bull battery averaged 18 ± 2 head with average bull longevity of 5 ± 1.3 years. The average price paid for bulls in the last 2 years was $5007 ± 163.33, while the highest price paid in the last 5 years was $7291 ± 335.40. Survey responses were used to define current factors driving management after purchase and for subsequent breeding seasons. After bull purchase, 48% of producers turned bulls out directly with females, while 52% held bulls until the following breeding season. Additionally, most producers (70%) did not manage bulls to reduce condition after purchase. Semen quality analysis, a major component of a breeding soundness exam, was evaluated annually by 45% of respondents, while 20% of respondents never evaluated semen quality. Respondents indicated bull age (35%) and structural soundness (29%) as the most common factors for culling bulls. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) units were affixed to bulls prior to the start of the breeding season and distance traveled was determined. Additionally, calf tissue samples for DNA parentage were collected and DNA was processed by Neogen’s SireSeek program. Changes in carcass traits, such as intramuscular fat (IMF), marbling (MARB), ribeye area (REA), and rib fat (RIBFAT), were significant in the ranch*year interaction (P < 0.05). This highlights the fact that carcass traits were the most influenced by the ranch location they had per year. While the survey research shows that despite the variability in operation demographics, there were similarities in beef bull selection and management across the state. Additionally, these data suggest the need for additional research focused on bull selection and management to maximize producer investment in reproduction.

This thesis provides an auto-ethnographically informed ‘making strange’ of the mise-en-scène of Irish working class domesticity in the North West of England as it was lived during the 1960s, 1970s and into the 1980s. The liminality of being a child of migrant parents is considered and the interstices of experience and identity in and of England and Ireland, Englishness and Irishness are explored. The first chapter of the thesis draws the reader into the initial frame of reference, the personal childhood ethnography that inspired this wider study, and considers Bhabha’s ‘shadow of the nation’ falling ‘on the condition of exile’ as one context for the development of individual identities. The second chapter examines the ways in which a performance studies approach provides a useful method for interrogating matters of place, personhood and citizenship whilst the third chapter introduces performance theory as a mechanism for exploring the ways in which quotidian and cultural performance have been harnessed as tools of negotiation. These are sometimes resistant, sometimes affirmative and sometimes celebratory acts in the construction of new identities. Ongoing performances reveal the embodied histories of individual performers, shaped in part by culture and memory, masking and unmasking to both construct and reveal layered identities. The fourth chapter, provides the most obvious example of traditional fieldwork, and draws on interview extracts to provide key insights into aspects of the diasporic context, identifying and analyzing the many rehearsal and performance opportunities provided by growing up in Irish households in England, where identities were initially formed, informed, and performed. Bridging the distinction between autoethnography, performance ethnography and the ethnography of performance, this chapter engages in discussion with a range of contributors defamiliarising the domestic mise-en-scène whilst simultaneously recognizing a commonality of experience. These interviews are themselves a celebration of Irish identity performance and form an important bridge between the theoretical framework explored in the opening chapters and the subsequent case studies. The final section of the thesis searches out a mirroring of these processes in the construction of theatrical and mediatised performance – providing opportunities to both utilize and observe performance ethnography and the ethnography of performance. It is suggested that Terry Christian provides an affirmative yet angry celebration in a complex performed response to a complex mise-en-scène. A new reading of Steve Coogan’s work then suggests three modes of performance: first, Coogan the outsider satirises British mores; second, Coogan plays sophisticated games of revealing and masking multiple versions of self; third, a searching and ultimately serious engagement with his engagement with Ireland. The application of a performance theory perspective, in the context of this fraction of the Irish diaspora, reveals a playful and generous spirited approach to complex and serious matters of identity and place in the world – to the ways in which lives are led and meanings made through and for the generation of performance.

<p><strong>Date: </strong>23^rd November, 2009</p><p> </p><p><strong>Level: </strong>Master Thesis in International Business and Entrepreneurship (EFO705), 15 credits</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Authors: </strong>Karakawat Sarasalin (830117-T255)    Thitiporn Watthanachai (831031-T124)</p><p>ksn08001@student.mdh.se                       twi08001@student.mdh.se</p><p>Title: The internationalization process of Red Bull from the perspectives of global expansion</p><p><strong>Supervisor: </strong>Jean-Charles Languilaire</p><p><strong>Problem</strong><strong> </strong><strong>Statement</strong><strong>: </strong>How did RED BULL manage to be as an important central international market player?</p><p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The purpose of this research is to describe the internationalization process of Red Bull; how Red Bull created, sustained and developed?</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Method: </strong>We mainly use secondary data and the qualitative data. Qualitative data in the form of interview questions through e-mailing. But we also use quantitative method based on documental research from books and internet.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Red Bull does not follow the standard pattern of establishment chain presented in the Uppsala model. Its establishment chain is composed of three stages: licensing ,wholly owned sales subsidiaries and jointed venture. Red Bull has developed strong market within the beverage industry network and strong bonds with its external suppliers. The expansion decisions of Red Bull have been influenced by the factors. Red Bull developed in the European market, we found that it careful consideration about both internal and external factors, Red Bull usually prefers to conquer a new market with a relevant low risk entry mode.</p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Red Bull, internationalization, network, factors</p>

George Bull was a key figure in the vanguard of the High Church party who was a staunch defender of trinitarian orthodoxy within the Restoration Church of England; yet, the doctrine of justification described in his earliest scholarly works has met with substantial criticism. Scholars continue to question the orthodoxy of Bishop Bull's views on justification and to condemn the moralism that allegedly pervades his theology. Bull argued for a forensic understanding of justification from within a covenantal context. His description of the relationship between faith and works restored earlier Augustinian emphases within the Church of England. In the process, he sought to purge the church of error by rejecting excesses intrinsic to both the Roman Catholic and Reformed traditions. His insistence that justification can never be considered sola fide sine operibus, his undisguised anti-Calvinism, and his unrelenting repudiation of the imputation of Christ's alien righteousness in justification made him a lightning rod for controversy, but this project contends that Bishop Bull's rejection of justification by faith is one of nuance and emphasis when examined within the context of the English Reformation. Chapter 1 provides a brief biographical sketch of Bishop Bull's life and ministry and outlines the methodology of the dissertation. Chapter 2 provides an exegesis and analysis of Bull's earliest scholarly publications. Chapter 3 sheds light on the content and character of the theological debates that shaped Anglican views on justification antecedent to the Restoration era. In addition to the formularies of the Church of England, this chapter contrasts Bull's thought with the teachings of a representative group of sixteenth-century English divines including Thomas Cranmer, William Tyndale, Robert Barnes, Hugh Latimer, John Hooper, and John Jewel. Chapter 4 examines Bull's teachings in contrast with those of a representative group of seventeenth-century divines who remained within the established Church of England. That group includes Richard Hooker, John Davenant, William Forbes, William Hammond, and Jeremy Taylor. Chapter 5 concludes the study and evaluates the strength of allegations that Bull was a theological innovator whose doctrine of justification deviated from the teachings of earlier English Protestants.