Master of Science / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Amber V. Vennum / Patterns in, and quality of, early romantic relationships have been found to impact future relationship outcomes (Donnellan et al., 2005; Overbeek et al., 2007). Commitment and satisfaction with sacrifice have been cited as important constructs in relationship health and stability as they indicate investment in the relationship (Stanley & Markman, 1992; Rusbult, 1983). Little research has been done on the bi-directional relationship of these two constructs. Many authors indicate that commitment predicts sacrifice (e.g. Van Lange, Rusbult, et al., 1997), but others argue that sacrifice predicts subsequent commitment (e.g. Kelley, 1979). The purpose of this study was to explore the time-ordering of these constructs and whether a history of relationship breakup and renewal (termed cyclicality) moderated this relationship in an emerging adult population (n = 246). Using a cross-lagged model over three time points, the present study found support for a bi-directional relationship between commitment and satisfaction with sacrifice that was not moderated by a history of cyclicality. However, partners with a history of breakup and renewal did report lower dedication at Time 3, indicated by a group mean difference. Implications for theory, research, and intervention are discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Robert K. Schaeffer / Kansas police chiefs are a unique group of individuals. Because are they located throughout the various sized communities within the state, they have the potential to affect the daily lives of more people on a day-today basis than any other branch of law enforcement. The purpose of this study was to analyze how police chiefs prioritize emerging threats. In this study, using a purposeful sample, 40 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Kansas police chiefs across the state. These police chiefs were asked about their views on the biggest emerging threats they have observed within the last 10 years. They were also asked why certain threats become priorities and why others do not. Police chiefs were split on their thoughts of whether or not they believed resources should be allocated in their communities to defend against terrorism in Kansas. What was discovered during the research process went beyond learning about the process of change for threat prioritization, or what specific threats Kansas police chiefs think their communities are facing today. What was discovered was a deeper understanding of how police chiefs think when it comes to the relationship between police departments, police personnel, and community. As police chiefs addressed the processes by which they go about prioritizing emerging threats, they illuminated a unique strategy hierarchy for success that is centered on maintaining positive departmental perception. To maintain this perception, police chiefs work both officially and covertly within governmental structures and the public sphere to control how people think about their personnel and department. A prominent difference was seen in the physical proximity and accessibility of police chiefs to the community between small, medium, and large towns. In effect, to come to an understanding of the process of prioritization for emerging threats for Kansas police chiefs, it was necessary to understand these police administrators’ unique thought processes that they bring to the table when addressing important issues.

This study investigated the experiences of emerging First Nations adults in extensions of care and transitioning out of care in Manitoba. Four research questions were explored in this study: 1) What do you remember about your time in care and what was your transitioning experience out of care or upon reaching 18 years of age? 2) What challenges, barriers or opportunities have you experienced since leaving care or turning 18? 3) How have you maintained the connection to family, community and culture since transitioning out of care? 4) Do you think you have reached adulthood? These questions were discussed through two digital storytelling workshops where over the course of five days participants developed and embedded individual responses to these questions into their own digital video. Follow up interviews were conducted with the participants to get feedback on their perspectives and evaluation about the digital storytelling workshops. Digital storytelling, through the art of combining oral tradition with digital technology, is a participatory, arts-based, learner-centered approach to generating knowledge. It involves using computer software to create a three to five minute video to illustrate a personal history. The findings suggest that Indigenous emerging adults in extensions of care and transitioning from care in Manitoba continue to experience difficulties on their journeys toward adulthood. However, the findings also suggest that the participants in this study are resilient despite the fact that they are dealing simultaneously with memories of being in care, negative peer pressures and problems in getting their basic needs met as they navigate life beyond their child welfare experiences. This study enhances the understanding of First Nations young peoples’ experiences in extensions of care and as they transition out of foster care, and contributes to the growing body of knowledge that utilizes digital storytelling as a contemporary method conducive to working with Indigenous emerging adult populations. / May 2016

The first chapter of this dissertation examines the returns to frequent acquirers from emerging markets and analyzes the cross-country variations in cumulative abnormal returns. The sample consists of 5,147 transactions carried out by firms from 17 common and civil-law countries during the period of January 1985 to June 2008. I find that the cumulative abnormal returns decline over the deal order and it is more pronounced in civil-law countries than in common-law countries. There is also evidence that the premiums paid by acquirers from civillaw countries with a first successful acquisition are higher than those from common-law countries. These findings are consistent with agency problems and the hubris hypothesis, first introduced by Roll (1986). The second chapter examines the information links across futures markets in different nations, using Vector Autoregressive (VAR)-Dynamic Conditional Correlation (DCC) model. The data comprise a large set of commodity and financial futures traded in U.S., U.K., China, Japan, Canada, and Brazil during the period from August 1998 to December 2008. The primary finding is that market interactions are relatively high for commodities for which information production generally is more diverse (metal commodities), while moderate for commodities for which information is more concentrated (agricultural commodities). Furthermore, the strength and persistence of interactions among futures markets decline after excluding the most informative markets. These findings indirectly support the breadth of information being a relevant factor in the extent of information linkage. The results also indicate that the dynamic correlation in futures markets is high in most commodity and financial futures if there is a significant bi-directional return and volatility spillover. Additionally, I estimate a market’s contribution to the price discovery process. In general, the market that has a stronger price impact and a stronger volatility spillover tends to be the market that has greater contribution or leadership in price discovery.

The first part of this dissertation examines the impact of financial development on different countries holdings of U.S securities. The difference between the US weight in the global market capitalization and the US weight in developed and developing countries is tested through a panel data analysis. We find that most countries tend to overweight their US debt portfolio which is strongly related to their financial market development. When holdings of US debts and equity are low, financial market development is high; in developing countries, holding less US equity in their portfolio causes country to get better financial development. In developed countries there is no causation effect; a simple negative relation between financial development and countries holding of US securities is observed and countries tend to hold relatively less US securities through years. The second part of this dissertation examines whether economic conditions, affect carve-outs frequency and returns. This paper investigates the effect of expansion and recession, and industry sectors on carve out issued in the US over 1982 to 2009. We find that the number of carve-outs is higher in expansion than recession. However, the cumulative abnormal returns are higher during recession which is explained by the higher adverse selection during this period. Further, we find that the difference of abnormal returns between expansion and recession is significant and we also observe that high-tech or non-high-tech industries that undertake carve-out have positive higher abnormal return during recession. Therefore, within a same industry sector, carve-out abnormal returns are impacted by the economy cycle. However difference of abnormal returns between industry sector, high-tech and non-high-tech industries, is not significant.

La mucoviscidose est une maladie génétique autosomique causée par une mutation dans le gène CFTR (Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator). Mon travail s’est décomposé en deux parties principales : d’une part j’ai réalisé une revue de la littérature sur l’analyse des génomes bactériens isolés de patients mucoviscidosiques comparativement aux génomes des mêmes espèces isolées dans d’autrescontextes et d’autre part j’ai analysé les génomes de trois espèces bactériennes (Microbacterium yannicii, Chryseobacterium oranimense et Haemophilus parahaemolyticus). L’analyse exhaustive des génomes bactériens issus de patients atteints de mucoviscidose a révélé une extraordinaire évolution de ces génomes en fonction du temps et des traitements reçus par ces patients qui témoigne de la capacité qu’ont ces bactéries à s’adapter à leur écosystème notamment par l’acquisition de nouveaux gènes par transfert latéral de gènes. Ce travail montre l’extraordinaire plasticité des génomes bactériens dans un milieu donné et à ce titre le poumon de patients atteints de mucoviscidose représente un modèle unique pour comprendre l’évolution des génomes bactériens. De plus, notre travail a permis d’identifier leurs mécanismes moléculaires de résistance aux antibiotiques. Les travaux à venir sur l’étude des métagénomes de prélèvements chez ces patients pourrait permettre de répondre à ces questions dans le futur. La découverte de nouvelles espèces et / ou émergentes va nous permettre d’avoir une image plus complète de la mucoviscidose qui pourrait conduire à une meilleure connaissance de la maladie et donc à une meilleure prise en charge thérapeutique. / Cystic fibrosis is an autosomal genetic disorder caused by a mutation in the CFTR (Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator) gene. Pulmonary infection is the major problem faced by patients with cystic fibrosis. My work is divided into two main parts: first I made a review of the literature on the analysis of bacterial genomes isolated from CF patients compared to the genomes of the same species isolated in autrescontextes and other part I analyzed the genomes of three species of bacteria (Microbacterium yannicii, Chryseobacterium oranimense and Haemophilus parahaemolyticus). The comprehensive analysis of bacterial genomes from cystic fibrosis patients revealed an extraordinary evolution of these genomes with time and treatment received by these patients reflects the ability of these bacteria to adapt to their particular ecosystem the acquisition of new genes by lateral gene transfer. This work shows the extraordinary plasticity of bacterial genomes in a given environment and as the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis represents a unique model for understanding the evolution of bacterial genomes. In addition, our work has identified their molecular mechanisms of resistance to antibiotics. Future work on the study of metagenomes sampling in these patients could help to answer these questions in the future. The discovery of new species and / or emerging will allow us to have a more complete picture of cystic fibrosis which could lead to a better understanding of the disease and thus a better therapeutic management.

A crescente demanda por novos compostos químicos sintéticos para atender as necessidades médicas, agrícolas e industriais da população resultou no surgimento de novos contaminantes, denominados emergentes. Com a intensa utilização destes compostos em diversos produtos e o consequente aumento da concentração destes no meio ambiente, a população passou a estar exposta e sujeita aos seus possíveis efeitos deletérios. Os disruptores endócrinos fazem parte do grupo de contaminantes emergentes que tem a capacidade de interferir na ação natural dos hormônios por diferentes mecanismos, podendo agravar o quadro de doenças pré-existentes e causar diversos outros danos à saúde humana. Apesar de serem largamente utilizados na vida cotidiana, a regulamentação do uso desses compostos ainda é quase inexistente, aumentando a preocupação quanto à sua segurança. Comumente, os estudos de biomonitoramento humano para avaliar a exposição da população em geral são realizados utilizando amostras de sangue e urina. Neste sentido, o presente estudo teve como objetivo desenvolver um método alternativo para determinação simultânea de 17 compostos classificados como disruptores endócrinos: bisfenóis, parabenos, benzofenonas e triclocarban em saliva, empregando a microextração líquido-liquido dispersiva (DLLME) no preparo da amostra e cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência acoplada à espectrometria de massas (LC-MS/MS) para a determinação. Os seguintes parâmetros foram avaliados na otimização da DLLME: volume e tipo de solvente extrator e dispersor, força iônica, pH e agitação. Após a otimização, o processo de extração foi realizado adicionando-se 500 ?L de água deionizada à 500 ?L da amostra de saliva. Os solventes extrator e dispersor selecionados foram triclorometano e acetona, respectivamente (volume de 2 mL da mistura na proporção 1:3). Foi adicionada a etapa de agitação manual por dez segundos. As curvas de calibração de todos os analitos apresentaram linearidade, com coeficiente de correlação superiores a 0,99 no intervalo de concentração de 1-20 ng mL-1. O coeficiente de variação (CV) intra e interdias foram inferiores a 20% para o primeiro ponto da faixa linear e inferiores a 15% para as demais concentrações. O erro padrão relativo intra e interdias foram inferiores a 20% para o primeiro ponto da faixa linear e inferiores a 15% nas demais concentrações. Os limites de detecção (LOD) e de quantificação (LOQ) encontrados variaram de 0,01 - 0,15 ng mL-1 e 0,05 - 0,40 ng mL-1, respectivamente. Para avaliar a aplicabilidade do método, dez amostras de saliva foram analisadas e apresentaram concentrações detectáveis de bisfenol S (BPS), bisfenol AF (BPAF) e propilparabeno (PrP) ( <LOQ). O bisfenol A (BPA) e a benzofenona-3 (BP3) foram encontrados em concentrações que variaram entre 1,01-3,14 e 1,00-2,50 ng mL-1, respectivamente. O metilparabeno (MeP) foi detectado em todas as amostras, atingindo, nos níveis quantificáveis, a concentração de 17,8 ng mL-1. Portanto, o método aqui proposto é uma alternativa simples e rápida para estudos de biomonitoramento humano, capaz de determinar 17 analitos multi-classes simultaneamente com uso de baixo volume de solventes. / The growing demand of new synthetic chemical compounds to attend the medical, agricultural and industrial needs of the population has resulted in the emergence of new contaminants, known as emerging contaminants. The presence of these contaminants in several products, and its consequent concentration increase in the environment, exposed the population and subject them to possible deleterious effects. Endocrine disruptors are a group of these contaminants that have the ability to interfere at the natural action of hormones by different mechanisms, wich can worsen preexistent diseases and cause other damages to humam health. Despite the widely utilization of these compounds in everyday life, regulation of its use is almost non-existent, raising concerns about their safety. Mostly human biomonitoring studies to assess the exposure of the population are performed in urine and blood samples. In these sense, the present study aimed to develop an alternative method for simultaneous determination of 17 endocrine disrupting compounds: bisphenols, parabens, benzophenones and triclocarban in saliva, using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) at sample preparation and high performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for determination. The evaluated parameters in the optimization of DLLME were: volume and type of extraction and disperser solvents, ionic strength, pH and agitation. After the optimization, the extraction procedure was performed by adding 500 ?L of deionized water to 500 ?L of saliva sample. The extraction and disperser solvents selected were trichloromethane and acetone, respectively (2 mL of the mixture in 1:3 ratio). The manual agitation for ten seconds. The matrix-matched calibration curves of all analytes were linear, with correlation coefficients higher than 0.99 in the range level of 1 - 20 ng mL-1. The intra and interday coefficient of variation (CV) was less than 20% for the first point of the linear range and less than 15% for the other concentrations. The intra and interday relative standard deviation (RSD) was less than 20% for the first point of the linear range and less than 15% for the other concentrations. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) ranged from 0,01 - 0,15 ng mL-1 and 0,05 - 0,4 ng mL-1, respectively. To evaluate the applicability of the method, ten saliva samples were analyzed, showing detectable concentrations (<LOQ) of bisphenol S (BPS), bisphenol AF (BPAF) and propylparaben (PrP). Bisphenol A (BPA) and benzophenone-3 (BP3) were found in ranging concentrations from 1,01 - 3,14 and 1,00 - 2,50 ng mL-1, respectively. Methylparaben (MeP) was detected in all samples, reaching, at the quantifiable levels, the concentration of 17,8 ng mL-1. Thus, the proposed method is a simple and fast alternative for human biomonitoring studies, capable of determining 17 multi-class analytes simultaneously using low volume of solvent.

A new complex aspect in the matter of water quality is the occurrence of emerging organic pollutants and contaminants in waste water. The currently low extent to which treatment of waste water is performed in Brazil, and in the world as a whole, there is a considerable need for development of cheap and accurate in-situ sampling methods for far-reaching studies of surface water quality. The lack of such methods today makes the maintenance and establishing of sanitary safety difficult. This diploma work gives a brief introduction to the basic principles of the passive sampling method known as Diffusive Gradient in Thin-films (DGT). A method that could be useful for such monitoring of quality in water bodies world wide. The aim of this study is to develop a method, for the detection of organic emerging pollutants and contaminants – i.e. compounds, which usually are present at very low concentrations when found in the environment as a result of human activity. More specifically, this work investigates the potential and usefulness of the application of DGT devices in detection of organic compounds that can affect human health and ecosystems, even at low concentrations, however, their effects still are in need of further investigations. This study focuses on both purely technical as well as practical points of views. The efficiency of organic DGT (o-DGT) with biochar as the adsorbing agent is examined targeting the detection of organic pollutants and contaminants in surface water. In this sense, the specific aim of the work is to evaluate the performance of biochar as adsorbing agent. This work showed that the performance of biochar as the adsorbing agent in binding layers in o-DGT sample devices can be considered as satisfactory since all compounds of interest in this study was successfully detected, quantified an identified. Further investigations in the future are needed to determine the effects of varying pH, temperature and ion concentration in the deployment media, as well as the properties of the binding layer in relation to concentration of biochar and the thickness of the layer. These in order to optimize the method for in-situ water sampling, aiming conventional use of biochar as the adsorbing agent in the future.

Purpose – The purpose of this master thesis is to examine factors influencing green consumption and to explain the moderating effect of market maturity on these factors in developed and emerging markets.Design/methodology/approach – In this research the pragmatism epistemology was employed as the scientific perspective of the current research. Deductive reasoning has been selected as scientific approach. The formulation of hypotheses, the collection and analysis of the data were based on and derived from existing theories. In line with deductive approach the collected data was analyzed quantitatively within cross-sectional time horizon. SSPS program was applied to process the collected research data and present the research results. The data was collected via online survey (Google Forms) in Russia and Sweden as well as credible and reliable secondary resources.Findings – Based on correlation and multiple regression analysis it was found that factor perceived consumer effectiveness positively (Beta=0.227) and significantly (Sig.&lt;0.05) influences green consumption among young people in Sweden. Price is determined to affect negatively (Beta=-0.279) and significantly (Sig.&lt;0.05) green consumption among young people in Sweden. Perceived consumer effectiveness positively (Beta=0.225) and significantly (Sig.&lt;0.05) influences green consumption among young people in Russia. The presence of moderating effect of market maturity was not revealed within the conducted research. That means the level of development of countries (in case of Sweden and Russia) does not make a significant influence on the association between studied factors and green consumption among young people. Perceived consumer effectiveness is determined to be the main driving factor which pushes the younger generation toward sustainable consumption both in Sweden and Russia.Research limitations – the first limitation relates to the size of the sample. Although the sample of 100 respondents for each country (Sweden and Russia) was considered adequate, still a larger sample size could have provided more heterogonous findings and might have led to a different conclusion. Another limitation considers geographical and industrial boundaries. The research applies the theoretical model to the context of only two particular countries, namely, Sweden and Russia by focusing on consumption of green products from FMCG industry. With this regard, the findings of the study might not be fully suitable for other emerging and developed countries or other industries. Also, the application of non-probability sampling limited the authors to add more validity to the research. The last limitation is such a phenomena as socially desirable responding or response biases that means a tendency to choose the desirable response or the most moderate response.Practical implications – The findings ensure a better understanding of the content of moderating effect of market maturity and explain more in details how particular factors influence green consumption in emerging and developed markets. The model conceptualized by the authors is supposed to be a good basis for future researches aimed at examining moderating effect of market maturity on relationship between green consumption and factors influencing it in other emerging and developed markets besidesRussia and Sweden. In practice a special emphasis on perceived consumer effectiveness by the companies which market green products and target young consumers could helpthem to supply their products more successfully both in developed and/or emerging countries. Particularly, they need create a perception among potential consumers that buying green products contributes to sustainability and solution of environmental problems by elaborating particular strategies. As the research revealed a negative and significant relation between price and green consumption on the developed market it is important that managers consider price policy while marketing green products among young generation in developed countries.

O objetivo do trabalho será avaliar se os efeitos da crise financeira de 2008 relativizaram as características da autonomia dos bancos centrais, que são conceitualmente vinculadas à manutenção da estabilidade de preços como objetivo singular da política monetária. Devido a seu perfil institucional e seu contexto de atuação, as decisões do Banco de México (Banxico) servirão como estudo de caso. A análise busca demonstrar que, diante da severidade dos efeitos da crise, o Banxico optou por aplicar uma política monetária eclética no período, já que abandonou ocasionalmente seu mandato constitucional orientado para a estabilidade de preços, mesmo que sem prejuízos ao cumprimento das metas de inflação. Por um lado, o banco seguiu conservador na utilização da taxa de juros como principal instrumento monetário, sem recorrer à compra direta de ativos e outros mecanismos não convencionais aplicados nos países industrializados. Por outro, demonstrou sensibilidade à degradação do cenário internacional e à atividade doméstica, tanto ao manter os juros inalterados durante um longo período, como ao reduzi-los sucessivamente diante do desempenho fraco da produção entre 2013 e 2014. Assim, ao menos durante a crise, o comportamento do Banxico se afastou das definições convencionais sobre a autonomia do banco central, o que reforçou a natureza política da organização. / This article aims to evaluate if the effects of the 2008 financial crisis relativized the main characteristics of the central bank\'s autonomy, that are conceptually related to the maintenance of price stability as a single objective of the monetary policy. Due to its institutional profile and its operational context, the decisions of the Banco de Mexico (Banxico) will serve as a case study. The analysis seek to demonstrate that, despite the severity of the crisis, Banxico has chosen to apply na eclectic monetary policy in the period, as it occasionally abandoned its constitutional mandate oriented towards price stability, even without harm to the achievement of its inflation targets. On the one hand, the bank remained conservative in the use of the interest rate as the main monetary instrument, without resorting to the direct asset purchase or other non-conventional mechanisms applied by industrialized countries. On the other, the bank demonstrated sensitivity to the degradation of the international markets and domestic activity, both by keeping the interest rate at the same level for a longer period as by reducing it succesively before the poor output performance between 2013 and 2014. Thus, at least during the crisis, Banxico\'s behavior departed from the conventional definitions of the autonomy of central banks, which reinforced the political nature of the organization.