The incident, "Sanlu¡¦s poisonous powdered milk" was discovered in September in 2008. It was harmful to many baby's health and made them in risk. Thus, this event evoked the public's fears to milk products. And it also make public to pay attention to the test standard of food safety. And then Melamine derivatives out of the crisis had extended to the cream, protein powder, biscuits and other related food. It is also the most severe issue of public food safety incidents that public concern in recent years. The food safety crisis has expanded to the whole world, and caused panic across the consumer in many nations. Taiwan is also one of the countries affected by the incident. Therefore, this study intends to analyze and compare how the crisis affects consumer purchasing decisions before and after the incident, and to further explore the differences of decision factors among different groups of consumes. In this study, the "Consumer Purchasing Decision Model (EKB Model)" proposed by Engel, Kollat and Blackwell (1978) is adopted as a theoretical basis, "Information search" and "Select assessment" are selected from their third stage of "decision-making process" as two key decision objectives, then the impact of "Involvement" and "Lifestyle" to consumer purchasing decisions is analyzed. We try to collect the primary data through online and paper questionnaire surveys, and the qualified respondents are constrained to those consumers who have experience to buy melamine-contaminated milk products. Some statistical methods such as factor analysis, cluster analysis, ANOVA and T-test are used to analyze the effective survey data, and to explore the key factors that influence consumer purchasing decisions. In this study, some appropriate market segments are first determined by clustering the involvement of consumers of milk products and consumer lifestyle, and then consumer behavior characteristics are analyzed for each market segment. Some research key findings and suggestions are stated as follows. 1. In-depth understanding of the differences and needs of different market segments, and prepare different marketing activities to different types of customers. 2. To increase consumer brand reliance by tagging food compliance certification on packaging or by providing after-sales warranty. 3. In addition to advertisement on general media, consumers are more and more relied on network evaluation. Hence, we can strengthen the marketing network by taking the advantages of internet promotion.

none

Thesis (M.S. in civil engineering)--Washington State University, August 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Aug. 10, 2009). "Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering." Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

none

Thesis (Ph.D.) in Food and Nutrition Sciences--University of Maine, 2009. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-76).

No description available.

Water contaminations by many pollutants, especially heavy metals such as Pb(II), Hg(II), Cu(II), Cd(II), and Cr(VI) pose many public health and environmental concerns as reported in the list of hazardous substances compiled by the US Environmental Protection Agency due to their high toxicity, refractory degradation, and ease of entering food chain. Adsorption by chelating resins is proven to be the most effective method for the extraction of metal ions from polluted and wastewater. However, traditional absorbents such as activated carbon, activated alumina, clay, zeolite, etc., show limited adsorption abilities for these heavy metal ions. The major goal of this thesis is to develop efficient and cost-effective adsorbents for the extraction of heavy metals from wastewater. This dissertation will focus on the development of four chemically modified high surface area adsorbents with accessible chelating sites for capturing and retaining toxic metal ions from polluted water. The first adsorbent, Nitrogen Doped Carboxylated Activated Carbon (ND-CAC), is prepared by a polymerization reaction between melamine and formaldehyde to form the melamine formaldehyde resin (MF-R) followed by carbonization at 800 oC under nitrogen atmosphere to form nitrogen doped carbon (ND-C), and finally oxidation to form the ND-CAC adsorbent. The ND-CAC adsorbent shows high adsorption capacities of 750.5, 250.5, 98.2 mg/g for the extraction of Pb(II), Hg(II), and Cr(VI), respectively from aqueous solutions with a high selectivity to Pb(II). The second adsorbent, Melamine Zirconium Phosphate (M-ZrP) is prepared by a precipitation reaction between Melamine Phosphate (MP) and ZrCl4 in an aqueous solution. The M-ZrP adsorbent is used for the removal of Pb(II), Hg(II), and Cd(II) with maximum adsorption capacities of 680.4, 119.0, and 60.0 mg/g, respectively with a high selectivity to Pb(II). The third adsorbent is chemically functionalized metal organic framework (UIO-66-IT) was prepared by post-synthetic modification using the chelating ligand 2-Imino-4-Thioburit. The adsorbent was used to extract Hg(II) and (HPO4)- ions from aqueous solutions and the results revealed exceptionally high adsorption capacities toward mercury and phosphate ions of 700 and 160 mg/g, placing it among the top functionalized MOF known for the high capacity of Hg(II) removal from aqueous solutions. The fourth adsorbent, Melamine Thiourea Partially Reduced Graphene Oxide (MT-PRGO) prepared by the amidation reaction between chemically modified graphene oxide and melamine thiourea, is used for the effective extraction of Hg(II), Co(II) and Cu(II) from polluted water. The MT-PRGO adsorbent shows exceptional selectivity for the extraction of Hg(II) with a capacity of 651 mg/g, placing it among the top of carbon-based materials known for the high capacity of Hg(II) removal from aqueous solutions. Desorption studies demonstrate that the new adsorbents ND-CAC, M-ZrP, UIO-66-IT, and MT-PRGO are easily regenerated with the desorption of the heavy metal ions Hg(II), Pb(II), Cd(II), and Cr(VI) reaching 99 % - 100 % recovery from their maximum sorption capacities using different eluents. Moreover, all prepared adsorbents showed tremendous abilities to clean contaminated water from toxic heavy metals at trace concentrations. That prove the ability of using them at water contamination level when the concentration of heavy metals is very low. The new adsorbents ND-CAC, M-ZrP, UIO-66-IT, and MT-PRGO are proposed as top performing remediation adsorbents for the extraction of the heavy metals Pb(II), Hg(II), Cd(II), Cr(VI), and (HPO4)- from waste and polluted water.

No / Cocrystal monohydrate of nitrofurantoin (NF) with melamine (MELA) has been studied as NF is an antibacterial drug used for the treatment of urinary tract infections. The structure of nitrofurantoin-melamine-monohydrate (NF-MELA-H2O) is characterized by FT-IR and FT-Raman spectroscopy. The energies and vibrational frequencies of the optimized structures calculated using quantum chemical calculations. Supported by normal coordinate analyses and potential energy distributions (PEDs), the complete vibrational assignments recommended for the observed fundamentals of cocrystal hydrate. With the aim of inclusion of all the H-bond interactions, dimer of NF-MELA-H2O has been studied as only two molecules of cocrystal hydrate are present in the unit cell. By the study of dimeric model consistent assignment of the FT-IR and FT-Raman spectrum obtained. H-bonds are of essential importance in an extensive range of molecular sciences. The vibrational analyses depict existence of H-bonding (O-H⋯N) between water O-H and pyridyl N atom of MELA in both monomer and dimer. To probe the strength and nature of H-bonding in monomer and dimer, topological parameters such as electron density (ρBCP), Laplacian of electron density (∇2ρBCP), total electron energy density (HBCP) and H-bond energy (EHB) at bond critical points (BCP) are evaluated by quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM). Natural bond orbitals (NBOs) analyses are carried out to study especially the intra and intermolecular H-bonding and their second order stabilization energy (E(2)). The value of HOMO-LUMO energy band gap for NF-MELA-H2O (monomer and dimer both) is less than NF, showing more chemical reactivity for NF-MELA-H2O. Chemical reactivity has been described with the assistance of electronic descriptors. Global electrophilicity index (ω = 7.3992 eV) shows that NF-MELA-H2O behaves as a strong electrophile than NF. The local reactivity descriptors analyses such as Fukui functions, local softnesses and electrophilicity indices performed to determine the reactive sites within NF-MELA-H2O. In MEP map of NF-MELA (monomer and dimer) electronegative regions are about NO2 and C=O group of NF, although the electropositive regions are around NH2, N-H group and H2O molecule. Molar refractivity (MR) value of NF-MELA-H2O (monomer and dimer) lies within the range set by Lipinski's modified rules. This study could set as an example to study the H-bond interactions in pharmaceutical cocrystals.

Les triarylamines sont de petites molécules largement utilisées comme porteurs de charges dans le domaine de l'électronique organique, car elles présentent des mobilités de transport de trous élevées. En 2010, notre groupe a démontré pour la première fois que les molécules de triarylamine décorées avec des groupements amide subissent une polymérisation supramoléculaire. D'autre part, les propriétés de reconnaissance des résidus de nucléobases ont été largement utilisées au cours des 25 dernières années pour déclencher des processus d'auto-assemblage de polymères ou de petites molécules en polymères supramoléculaires bien définis. Dans cette thèse, une série de molécules triarylamine décorées avec des amides sur leurs chaînes latérales avec différentes nucléobases comme la guanine, la thymine et la cytosine ont été synthétisées. Nous avons démontré que les monomères de triarylamine conservent leurs propriétés d'auto-assemblage dans les solvants chlorés lors de l'irradiation lumineuse, à condition que le résidu de la nucléobase n'affecte pas les interactions non covalentes nécessaires pour l'auto-assemblage du cœur de triarylamine. En outre, nous avons démontré que la présence d'amines primaires sur le résidu de la nucléobase interdit la formation de structures auto-assemblées dès qu'elles ne sont pas incorporées dans des réseaux de liaisons hydrogène. Dans un deuxième chapitre, nous avons ensuite étudié les auto-assemblages de nos molécules triarylamine-nucléobase dans des solvants organiques en utilisant des ions ou de petites molécules comme matrice. Tout d'abord, la polymérisation supramoléculaire de la triarylamine-monothymine à l'aide de mélamine dans divers solvants a été étudiée. Par ailleurs, l'influence sélective des ions de mercure sur les propriétés sensibles légères de triarylamine-monothymine a été soigneusement analysé. Enfin, les polymères supramoléculaires hybrides de triarylamine-monoguanine conjugué en absence et en présence d'ions potassium ont été obtenus. En particulier, nous avons décrit le premier exemple de polymères supramoléculaires construits à partir de mélamine dans des solvants organiques. Dans l'ensemble, l'impact de ce travail est triple: a) il conduit à une meilleure compréhension du comportement d'auto-assemblage des conjugués de triarylamine, b) il influence la conception des structures de triarylamine auto-assemblées et c) il offre de nouvelles approches pour l'auto-assemblage des molécules de triarylamine. / Triarylamines are small molecules widely used as charge carriers in the field of organic electronics as they display high hole-transport mobilities. In 2010, our group demonstrated for the first time that chemically-tailored triarylamine amide molecules undergo supramolecular polymerization. On the other hand, the recognition properties of nucleobase residues have been widely used in the last 25 years to trigger self-assembling processes of polymers or small molecules into well-defined supramolecular polymers.In this thesis, a series of triarylamine amide molecules decorated on their side chains with various nucleobases such as guanine, thymine and cytosine have been synthesized. We have demonstrated that the triarylamine monomers retain their self-assembling properties in chlorinated solvent upon light irradiation, provided that the nucleobase residue does not affect the non-covalent interactions necessary for the self-assembly of the triarylamine core. In addition, we have demonstrated that the presence of primary amines on the nucleobase residue prohibit the formation of self-assembled structures, as soon as they are not embedded in hydrogen bonding arrays. In a second chapter, the templated self-assemblies of our triarylamine-nucleobase molecules in organic solvents were studied. Firstly, templated supramolecular polymerization of triarylamine-monothymine using melamine in various solvents was investigated. Besides, selective influence of mercury ion on the light responsive properties of triarylamine-monothymine was analyzed carefully. At last, hybrid supramolecular polymers of triarylamine-monoguanine conjugate in absence and in presence of potassium ion were obtained. In particular, we have described the first example of supramolecular polymers build from melamine in organic solvents. Overall, the impact of this work is three-fold: a) it leads to a better understanding of the self-assembly behavior of triarylamine conjugates, b) it influences the design of self-assembling triarylamine structures and c) it offers new approaches for the self-assembly of triarylamine molecules.