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As climate change worsens, it is imperative that we make drastic changes to how our buildings are designed. We need to create building systems that work with and enhance the surrounding ecosystem. Many of these types of systems were developed and tested during the back to land and environmentalist movements of the 1970’s. What is needed now is to synthesize these systems into packages that can be more easily adopted by the mainstream culture. By paying special attention to what people are willing to invest into their home’s system maintenance and adapting the sustainable systems to meet those needs, we can craft truly sustainable and environmentally regenerative buildings and building systems to meet the needs of all people. Design strategies will be developed to engage the inhabitants with the building and its systems, prompting them to maintain those building systems with care instead of as drudgery. A 10-unit co-housing project will be designed with real clients to demonstrate the applicability of researched systems and design strategies. This thesis restricts its focus to systems applicable to residential building types, single family through multifamily, and to the New England climate.

The primary purpose of this study is two-fold. First, this study proposes a model to explain the factors predicting consumers' intention to co-create based on the theory of planned behavior. More specifically, this study investigates how perceived benefits, perceived costs, subjective norms, and ability to co-create influence consumers' behavioral intentions toward tourism co-creation. Second, this study seeks to examine differences in the relationships among different constructs in the models in accordance with different contextual settings. To gain a richer understanding of consumers' co-creation behaviors, the study examines the impacts of different co-creation settings as moderating effects among the model's constructs. By using 2 X 2 factorial between-subjects design, two co-creation scale categories (radical and incremental) are matched with two co-creation intensity categories (high involvement and low involvement). The results of this study suggest that proposed antecedent constructs (perceived benefits, perceived costs, subjective norms, and abilities to co-create) are strong indicators to predict consumers' intention to co-create. The study also finds that different co-creation settings have strong moderating effects on the relationships among constructs in the co-creation intention model. The insights from the study results are discussed and important practical implications and subjects for further future research are presented. / Tourism and Sport

This dissertation centers on the study of brand appropriation, the altering of brand meaning by non-target market consumers who belong to a subculture. Although oftentimes referenced within the social sciences, appropriation is a scantily explored construct within the context of marketing, and specifically branding. Using a multi-method approach, this research establishes a conceptual framework for brand appropriation, develops an in-depth understanding of why and how it occurs, and examines its effect on consumers and their relationships with brands. Overall, this work builds a theoretical foundation for this phenomenon, contributing to literature involving the role of brands within subcultures, the process and effects of non-target market adoption, and gives consideration to uninvited co-creation behavior. Furthermore these studies gives insight for firms which encounter this unexpected consumption behavior, providing understanding that can help inform strategic response. / Business Administration/Marketing

The mangrove ecosystem is a marginal and complex ecosystem. Mangrove trees can tolerate heat, desiccation, high salinity, radiation, and anoxic conditions. The physiological features of mangroves help them tolerate these stressors, but their relationship with prokaryotic communities also plays a role in a productive mangrove ecosystem, mainly in nutrient cycling and biogeochemical transformation. In Saudi Arabia, a few studies were conducted to understand the microbial communities residing in the mangrove ecosystem. Most of the studies were focused on the sediments or rhizosphere of the most dominant species in the kingdom, Avicennia marina. In this study, the bacterial composition of two mangrove species (Avicennia marina and Rhizophora mucronata) and the relationship between them was explored using next generation amplicon sequencing of the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA. In both species, samples from four compartments were collected (sediments, rhizosphere, roots, and leaves). Both species had a similar microbial composition, with Proteobacteria and Chloroflexi being the most dominant phyla in all compartments. The lack of difference in alpha diversity measures (number of ASVs and Shannon-diversity index) between species highlights the symbiotic relationship between the trees. Previous studies have reported that A. marina has a more diverse microbial community than R. mucronata, however this difference was not significant in our samples. The multivariate analysis showed us that the microbial composition of the leaf and root samples was grouped separately from the microbial composition of sediment and rhizosphere samples, highlighting the specific microbial composition of each compartment. In addition, the enriched strains in each cluster were explored and related to the surrounding environment of the mangrove ecosystem, followed by the exploration of unique strains in each compartment using SIMPER analysis. In conclusion, this study provides the first information on the Red Sea Northern mangrove (Al-Wajh region) tree microbiomes, encompassing roots, leaves, rhizosphere, and sediments. Furthermore, by showing that some bacteria can colonize different plant compartments we contribute to disentangling their propagation channels within plants.

La creciente demanda energética por el crecimiento demográfico y el desarrollo de países antes no industrializados, ocurrido en las últimas décadas, ha derivado en la imperiosa necesidad de obtener combustibles nuevos, limpios y eficientes. En esta búsqueda ha surgido el hidrógeno como potencial vector energético para el futuro. Es conocida ya la alta eficiencia del hidrógeno como recurso energético, como así también la baja contaminación ambiental que el mismo produce. Sin embargo, su utilización como combustible todavía conlleva dificultades técnicas no resueltas. Por ello es conveniente pensar en un combustible alternativo, versátil, y de fácil aplicación en su uso cotidiano, como lo es el metanol, para así disminuir el consumo de combustibles derivado de los hidrocarburos. En esta tesis se estudian, por un lado, todos los pasos para la síntesis de metanol a partir del gas CO en superficies catalíticas de óxidos de Cerio, Galio y Zinc. Complementariamente, se desarrolla una metodología teórica que puede ser extendida al estudio y análisis de otras reacciones superficiales. En los primeros capítulos se estudia la adsorción y reactividad de las moléculas de CO, CO2 y H2 sobre las superficies de CeO2 con cortes (111) y (331), Ga2O3(100) y ZnO(0001), perfectas y con vacancias de oxígeno. Las mismas reacciones se estudian en las superficies soportadas ZnO/CeO2(111) y Ga2O3/CeO2(111), como modelado del crecimiento epitaxial de una monocapa de ZnO y Ga2O3, respectivamente. Luego se estudia la síntesis de metanol a partir de reacciones de hidrogenación progresiva de CO. Se calculan las barreras de activación en cada paso de la síntesis y se describen también las posibles direcciones de cada reacción. Se concluye que la metodología de estudio es óptima para reacciones similares en un conjunto de óxidos. / The growing demand for energy due to population growth and development of non-industrialized countries in recent decades has led to the urgent need for new, clean and efficient fuels. In this search hydrogen an energy vector potential for the future. It is already known the high efficiency of hydrogen as an energy source is widely known, as the well as low environmental pollution it produces. However, its use as a fuel has difficulties still unresolved. Therefore it is convenient to think of an alternative fuel, versatile, and easy to apply in daily use (such as methanol) to reduce the consumption of oil-derived fuels. In this thesis, studies- on the one hand, all the steps for the synthesis of methanol from CO gas in catalytic surfaces of oxides of cerium, gallium and zinc; and on the other hand, it develops a theoretical methodology that can be extended to the study and analysis of other surface reactions. The early chapters, study the adsorption and reactivity of molecules of CO, CO2 and H2 on surfaces CeO2 with cuts (111) and (331), Ga2O3(100) and ZnO(0001)-perfect and with oxygen vacancies. The same reactions are studied on surfaces supported ZnO / CeO2 (111) and Ga2O3 / CeO2 (111)as a modeling of epitaxial growth of a monolayer of ZnO and Ga2O3, respectively. Then, the methanol synthesis is studied from reactions of progressive hydrogenation of CO. Activation barriers at each step of the synthesis are calculated the possible directions of each reaction are describe. In conclusion, the methodology used in this thesis is appropriate for similar reactions in a set of oxides.

The purpose of this study was to examine the survey responses of participants of collaborative models of instruction in order to determine the existence of constructs determined through the literature to be effective aspects of collaborative models. Further, the purpose of this study was to examine the participants' perceptions of their own readiness to participate in their roles as collaborative educators and supervisors as prepared by their professional preparation programs. This mixed methods study used both quantitative methods to evaluate graduation data and qualitative methods to analyze open ended survey questions to describe experiences of teachers and administrators in three high schools in public schools in Virginia. Participating districts were chosen based on graduation data for school year 2009, in which participating schools were in the three districts with the highest graduation rates for students with at least a standard diploma. Teachers participating were a collaborative teaching pair from one school within each district chosen by the participating school's principal. Data were collected from open ended surveys from participants and graduation data from the Virginia Department of Education Website. Results are presented in descriptive form from participants and graduation data. / Ed. D.