Mental wellness is a critical component of healthy development and serves as a way to protect against stress and promote resilience against psychopathology. Emerging adulthood is an important time to foster mental wellness as individuals adjust to changing social roles, such as transitioning to college. Emotion regulation is a key mechanism for effective prevention because of its role in socio-emotional competence and its transdiagnostic significance for psychopathology. In this dissertation study, a brief, time and cost-effective emotion regulation training program for emerging adults (BERT) was developed and tested. Phase 1 focused on program development. Phase 2 utilized the brainwriting premortem method to refine program content. Undergraduate students (n = 12) attended four focus groups presenting initial program content. Four clinicians were also interviewed to determine program barriers. Qualitative analyses aggregated participant feedback to identify compliments, changes, and concerns about BERT in preparation for the pilot, and critical feedback was immediately implemented. In Phase 3, the 5-week program was pilot-tested in a college sample (N = 42) to evaluate Implementation (low attrition, high content engagement, favorable attitudes, low incidence of technical errors, costs), Reach (enrollment and completion demographics comparable to the population in which recruitment took place), and Efficacy (positive change in emotion regulation pre- to post-program). Twenty-seven participants completed at least 80% of program content. Chi-square analyses did not show any significant difference between participants who started the study and those who dropped out. Repeated measures ANOVAs exhibited significant improvements in emotion regulation, psychological distress, anxiety, stress, negative affectivity, and quality of life, suggesting promising initial efficacy. Development of BERT has high potential significance for promoting healthy development because the electronic delivery and brief nature of the program will reduce barriers to adoption and Implementation and the program development process that incorporates stakeholder feedback at multiple levels is expected to improve program Reach and Efficacy. The program development process, which incorporates stakeholder feedback at multiple levels, informs better implementation and dissemination. / Doctor of Philosophy / Mental wellness is important for healthy development and serves as a way to protect against stress and promote resilience against psychological distress. After the teenage years, emerging adulthood is an important time to foster mental wellness as individuals adjust to changing social roles, such as transitioning to college. Emotion regulation, or how one manages or responds to emotions, is important for protecting against negative psychological outcomes while fostering well-being. In this dissertation study, a brief, time and cost-effective emotion regulation training program for emerging adults (BERT) was developed and tested in three phases. Phase 1 focused on program development. Phase 2 utilized focus groups to get program feedback. Participant feedback identified compliments, changes, and concerns about BERT in preparation for the pilot, and critical feedback was immediately implemented. In Phase 3, the 5-week program was pilot-tested in a college sample. Twenty-seven participants completed at least 80% of program content. Significant improvements were found in in emotion regulation, psychological distress, anxiety, stress, negative emotions, and quality of life, suggesting promising initial efficacy. The program development process, which incorporates stakeholder feedback at multiple levels, informs better implementation and dissemination. Development of BERT has high potential significance for promoting healthy development because the electronic delivery and brief nature of the program will reduce barriers to adoption, implementation, and maintenance.

Yes / This study investigates how buyer-supplier interfirm networks with foreign affiliates affect the internationalization of local firms in developing countries. In a study of 1601 sub-Saharan African manufacturing firms, we find that foreign supply linkages positively influence firm internationalization, but this does not relate to marketing linkages. We further examine the role of absorptive capacity and find that both potential and realized absorptive capacity has positive and independent effects on firm internationalization. However, potential absorptive capacity has no moderating effect and realized absorptive capacity negatively moderates the relationship between foreign supplying networks and internationalization. Finally, implications for public policy and managerial practice are discussed.

Thesis advisor: Elizabeth Rouse / Society faces a variety of grand challenges: global problems that must be addressed through coordinated and collaborative effort such as reducing global poverty, effective management of natural resources, and balancing innovation and security in the development of emerging technologies. Management researchers have made great strides in conceptualizing what makes these challenges unique, why they are especially difficult to solve, and how organizations can help solve them. Despite this progress, we lack an understanding of the experience of the “grand challenge workers” who seek to address these problems, including the unique difficulties they face in their work and how they overcome them. Through a qualitative, inductive study of workers seeking to ensure the safe development of artificial intelligence and biotechnology, I explored the pressures and worrying thoughts that lead these workers to experience work performance anxiety. I show how, in response to this anxiety, workers engage in various bounding and reframing practices to limit the demands their work places on them and expand their sense of the resources available to them. I also illustrate how these workers relate to grand challenge communities: groups focused on coordinating efforts to address the grand challenge. I build theory around the contextual factors that lead workers to rely heavily on these communities and subsequently adopt an exclusive solidarity approach to addressing the grand challenge. I show how these workers recognize the threats this approach poses to their judgment, well-being, and effectiveness, and how they shift toward an expansive solidarity approach. Practically, this research provides insights into how these workers respond to the challenges they face in ways that enable them to address the grand challenge while also preserving their well-being. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Management and Organization.

Psychologists suggest that development early in life is related to the behaviors and personality that each individual exhibits later in life. Research shows that development continues into adulthood and throughout an individual's lifetime. In fact, human development is related to the environment around the individual as well as the individuals' interactions with others, especially individuals' primary caregivers (Bowlby 1988). These relationships can be seen in attachment. Attachment behavior is any form of behavior that one individual uses to maintain an attachment to another individual who is believed to be better able to cope with the world. This research project examines the associations among these early experiences in emerging adults' lives in the context of their attachment styles, their attributions, and their current relationships with romantic partners and peers. One hundred thirteen undergraduate female students in Psychology courses at the University of Central Florida between the ages of 18- to 25-years completed a packet of questionnaires assessing these variables. All participants indicated that they were involved in a relationship at the time of the study. Results of this study indicate that emerging adults' attachment to their parents, their perceptions of their parents, their attributions about their romantic partners, and their attachment to their partners and their peers are related significantly. These findings emphasize the importance of research investigating the relationships among attachment to parents and relationships during emerging adulthood.

The global disease scape is constantly shifting, influenced by demographic transitions, altering the balance of the burden of infectious and non‐communicable diseases. The epidemiological transitions can be divided into three stages: the first, an increase in infectious disease burden as populations settled, then grew into towns and cities providing conditions for infectious agents to maintain spread; the second transition follows industrialisation, changes in lifestyle, diet and improved sanitation whereby infectious diseases are reduced and non‐communicable disease (NCD) prevalence increases; the third transition describes the re‐emergence of infectious diseases as the AIDS epidemic and other emerging and re‐emerging disease outbreaks lead to an increasing burden of infectious diseases, particularly in developing countries. Analysis of the disease‐scape has been carried out using WHO Global Burden of Disease data and correlation to demographic factors calculated using World Bank Development Indicators. The balance of chronic NCDs and infectious diseases can be represented numerically as the unit rate of infectious to non‐communicable diseases. The rate, which indicates at which end the continuum lies can then be correlated to these demographic development indicators to assess the factors which are influential to the continuum. As the balance of infectious and non‐communicable diseases around the world alters, the focus of the advocacy at the global health level has been examined to assess if the trends follow that of the shifting continuum. This has been carried out through an assessment of the WHO World Health Assembly (WHA) resolutions adopted annually between 1948 and 2013 on the subject of infectious and/or non-communicable diseases. The principle of International health stemmed from the need to contain the international spread of communicable diseases, so it is not surprising that in the first decade of the WHO, 88% of the resolutions adopted for infectious and non‐communicable disease were adopted for infectious diseases. In the latest ten years of the WHO, 72% of the Assembly resolutions for infectious and non‐communicable diseases were focused on infectious diseases; this indicates that while there has been a shift in the balance, the adopted resolutions still focus heavily on infectious diseases. An example of how advocacy can elevate diseases to a higher position on the global health agenda is that of the Neglected Tropical Diseases. Following the Millennium Development Goals, this group of seventeen diseases has been highlighted as being “neglected” in terms of funding, research and political will. A review of the campaign to highlight this shows how global health advocacy can elevate diseases to a prominent position on the global health agenda. With this in mind, the advocacy for a sub‐group of Neglected Zoonotic Diseases has been examined at the WHA level. The results highlight the sporadic nature of support to control these diseases, and that activism for control of some of the major zoonotic diseases remains lacking. Rabies is explored as an example of a disease for which there are recommendations and support at the global level for the control and elimination of the disease, but for which barriers to control exist locally in endemic countries. The advocacy for diseases at the global health level has the possibility to impact the priorities of health care within individual nations. However the advocacy at this level may take time to reflect the changes within the disease‐scape. The impact of such advocacy is also limited by local political will, availability of resources and local cultural implications. Therefore there is a need to ensure that efforts to control diseases are tailored to specific populations and that resources are made available to support the advocacy.

<p>Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att titta närmare på vad som ligger bakom när Svenska företag beslutar om att internationalisera sig. Närmare bestämt titta närmare på vilka faktorer som är drivkraften i internationaliseringen, och varför väljer företaget det land de gör i Asien.</p><p>Metod: Jag har samlat in två typer av data för min undersökning, dessa är:</p><p>• Litteratur</p><p>• Intervjuer</p><p>Resultat & slutsats: Utlåtandet blir att Svenska företag i Asien väljer land efter vart de tror gynnar dem mest. Företagen vet att det är kulturella skillnaderna och för att minska dessa och de språkliga skillnaderna anställer de inhemsk personal. De politiska faktorerna ser företagen inte som en faktor som påverkar valet av land då det är ett problem som är snarlikt i alla länder i Asien. Företagets strategi är olika för respondenterna då de har olika avsikter med sin etablering i Asien.</p><p>Förslag på fortsatta studier:</p><p>• Det skulle vara intressant att genomföra en mer omfattande studie med fler företag, dessutom inte bara Svenska företag.</p><p>• Intressant att forska vidare hur företag som inte har lyckats i Asien av en eller annan anledning har att säga om hur viktiga de kulturella, språkliga, politiska och strategiska frågorna.</p><p>Uppsatsens bidrag: Uppsatsen ger Svenska företag en inblick i vad de behöver tänka på om de vill expandera till Asien. Vad är viktigt och vad som är av mindre vikt vid expansionen av verksamheten.</p> / <p>Aim: The aim of the thesis is to look closer what is behind Swedish companies decisions to expand internationally. More exactly look into which factors are most important for the Swedish companies when they choose country in Asia?</p><p>Method: I have collected two types of data for this study. Those are:</p><p>• Literature</p><p>• Interviews</p><p>Result & Conclusion: The conclusion is that Swedish companies that are going to expand to Asia should pick a country that gives them the most profit. The companies are aware of the cultural differences and to lower them and the language differences they need to employee domestic personnel. The political factors the companies believe that it’s the same for all Asian countries. The company’s strategy is different depending on the intention for the expansion to an Asian country.</p><p>Suggestions for future research:</p><p>• It would be really interesting to conduct a study with more companies and not only Swedish companies.</p><p>• It would also be interesting to study companies in Asia that didn’t succeed, they will most likely have a different point of view regarding Culture, language, political and strategically issues.</p><p>Contribution of the thesis: The thesis gives Swedish companies insight in what is needed to take into consideration when companies expand to Asia. What is important and what is less important for the organisation.</p>

Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att titta närmare på vad som ligger bakom när Svenska företag beslutar om att internationalisera sig. Närmare bestämt titta närmare på vilka faktorer som är drivkraften i internationaliseringen, och varför väljer företaget det land de gör i Asien. Metod: Jag har samlat in två typer av data för min undersökning, dessa är: • Litteratur • Intervjuer Resultat &amp; slutsats: Utlåtandet blir att Svenska företag i Asien väljer land efter vart de tror gynnar dem mest. Företagen vet att det är kulturella skillnaderna och för att minska dessa och de språkliga skillnaderna anställer de inhemsk personal. De politiska faktorerna ser företagen inte som en faktor som påverkar valet av land då det är ett problem som är snarlikt i alla länder i Asien. Företagets strategi är olika för respondenterna då de har olika avsikter med sin etablering i Asien. Förslag på fortsatta studier: • Det skulle vara intressant att genomföra en mer omfattande studie med fler företag, dessutom inte bara Svenska företag. • Intressant att forska vidare hur företag som inte har lyckats i Asien av en eller annan anledning har att säga om hur viktiga de kulturella, språkliga, politiska och strategiska frågorna. Uppsatsens bidrag: Uppsatsen ger Svenska företag en inblick i vad de behöver tänka på om de vill expandera till Asien. Vad är viktigt och vad som är av mindre vikt vid expansionen av verksamheten. / Aim: The aim of the thesis is to look closer what is behind Swedish companies decisions to expand internationally. More exactly look into which factors are most important for the Swedish companies when they choose country in Asia? Method: I have collected two types of data for this study. Those are: • Literature • Interviews Result &amp; Conclusion: The conclusion is that Swedish companies that are going to expand to Asia should pick a country that gives them the most profit. The companies are aware of the cultural differences and to lower them and the language differences they need to employee domestic personnel. The political factors the companies believe that it’s the same for all Asian countries. The company’s strategy is different depending on the intention for the expansion to an Asian country. Suggestions for future research: • It would be really interesting to conduct a study with more companies and not only Swedish companies. • It would also be interesting to study companies in Asia that didn’t succeed, they will most likely have a different point of view regarding Culture, language, political and strategically issues. Contribution of the thesis: The thesis gives Swedish companies insight in what is needed to take into consideration when companies expand to Asia. What is important and what is less important for the organisation.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore how emerging market firms enter more advanced markets. The aim is to identify the main challenges that the firms experience and discover how the companies operate to manage these challenges. In order to reach our purpose the thesis has implied a qualitative method as well as a multiple-case study and the empirical data of the thesis have conducted semi- structured interviews.   The literature review is divided into two main parts, whereas the first part is Entry modes which include the following theories: Choice of Entry mode, Barriers to internationalization, the Uppsala Internationalization Model and the Network Model. The second part is cultural differences and consists of the following theories: Levels of culture, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Trompenaars cross cultural studies.   In the analysis we have connected our empirical findings with the theories mentioned above. The analysis consists of a discussion between the literature review and the empirical data in order to research their consistent and to find a common pattern. The conclusion reveals that emerging market firms enter more advanced market differently depending on factors such as the purpose with the entry and previous contacts in the advanced market. The main challenges are connected to the cultural aspects, which are managed differently by the companies.

Emerging infectious diseases continue to represent serious threats to global human health. Novel zoonotic pathogens are continually being recognised, and some ultimately cause significant disease burdens and extensive epidemics. Research and public health initiatives often face emerging pathogens with limited knowledge and resources. Inferences from empirical modelling have begun to uncover the factors determining cross-species transmission and emergence in humans, and subsequently guide risk assessments. However, the dynamics of virulence and transmissibility during the process of emergence are not well understood. Here, I focus on RNA viruses, a priority pathogen type because of their potential for rapid evolution. I use comparative trait-based analyses to investigate how aspects of both host and virus ecology contribute to the risk of virulence and transmissibility within human RNA viruses. To explore these questions, data were collected via systematic literature search protocols. In the first half of this thesis, I focus on viral determinants of virulence and transmissibility. I ask whether virulence can be predicted by viral traits of tissue tropism, transmission route, transmissibility and taxonomic classification. Using a machine learning approach, the most prominent predictors of severe virulence were breadth of tissue tropism, and nonvector-borne transmission routes. When applied to newly reported viruses as test set, the final model predicted disease severity with 87% accuracy. Next, I assess support for hypothesised routes of adaptation during emergence using phylogenetic state-switching models. Propensity for adaptation in small ‘stepwise’ movements versus large ‘off-the-shelf’ jumps differed between virus taxa, though no single route dominated, suggesting multiple independent trajectories of adaptation to human hosts. In addition, phylogenetic regressions showed vector and respiratory-transmitted viruses to be more likely to progress through early stages of emergence. In the second half of this thesis, I focus on how dynamics of virulence and transmissibility differ with respect to nonhuman host diversity, identity, and ecology. Using a regression framework, I observe that viruses with a broader mammalian host range exhibited higher risk of severe virulence, but lower risk of transmissibility, which may reflect potential trade-offs of host specificity. Furthermore, viruses with artiodactyl hosts exhibited lower risk of severe virulence and viruses with bat or nonhuman primate hosts exhibited higher risk of transmissibility. Next, I test hypotheses that mammal species with faster-paced life history may be predisposed to host viruses with greater virulence and transmissibility. Mammal body mass was used as an established proxy for pace of life history. In regression analyses, mammals with faster-paced life history hosted more viruses with severe virulence, though evidence for a relationship with transmissibility was limited. The broad-scale associations presented in this thesis suggest the evolution of virulence and human-to-human transmissibility during zoonotic emergence is a multifactorial, highly dynamic process influenced by both virus and host ecology. Despite this, general characteristics of high-risk emerging viruses are evident. For example, severe virulence was associated with broad niche diversity of both tissue tropisms at the within-host scale, and host species at the macroecological scale. However, risk factors for virulence and human-to-human transmissibility often did not coincide, which may imply an overarching trade-off between these traits. These analyses can contribute to preparedness and direction within public health strategies by identifying likely candidates for high-impact emergence events among previously known and newly discovered human viruses. The inherent connectivity between RNA viruses, their nonhuman hosts and the resulting implications for human health emphasise the holistic nature of emerging diseases and supports the One Health perspective for infectious disease research.

xv, 183 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Entrepreneurs seeking to commercialize science-based technologies face considerable challenges including uncertain environments, policy makers and investors' ignorance, and public opposition and ethical concerns. Most research exploring the emergence of technologies assumes the existence of accepted uses or products, despite the fact that efforts to commercialize science-based technologies often begin before specific applications exist. We have little empirical evidence of how individuals and organizations influence the earliest development of technologies. To address this gap, I conduct a real-time, seven-year, qualitative study of the nanotechnology venture investing community. The study draws on extensive archival data, participant observation of a complete series of annual nanotechnology investing conferences, and case studies of the three venture capital (VC) firms specializing in nanotechnology through the period of the study. The cases are based on semi-structured and website archives. I document the emergence of competing nanotechnology frames in the period prior to the identification of product applications. I identify three sequential activities of nanotechnology business proponents: constructing a socio-semiotic space, positioning as experts within the space, and translating scientific, opposition and futuristic discourse for a target audience. I introduce the concept of a socio-semiotic space and develop a model reflecting the three activities to explain the process through which technology proponents project a business frame to support the commercialization of science-based technologies. This dissertation contributes to our knowledge of technology evolution by focusing on the understudied period of early emergence and the sociopolitical process of technology framing. I contribute to our knowledge of how science discoveries become the basis for fields of commercial activity. The findings of this dissertation provide knowledge that can assist business people and policy makers seeking to develop science- based technologies and the fields that emerge around them. / Committee in charge: Alan Meyer, Chairperson, Management; Richard Steers, Member, Management; Richard Mowday, Member, Management; John Orbell, Outside Member, Political Science