As a method of marketing communications between companies and consumers, packages serve as a ¡§spokesperson¡¨ of the product on the point-of-sale. These may have significant impacts on the process of consumers¡¦ purchase decisions. Consumers also make inferences from the products packages, and the location of the product image on a package facade was one of the factors that influences consumers¡¦ perceptions of the visual heaviness of the product and evaluations of the package, which is called ¡§product image location effect.¡¨ Based on previous studies on the product image location effect, this study distinguished the product image locations into two places: perceived as heavy or light. Furthermore, three types of sensation cues (¡§vision-only¡¨, ¡§vision and touch simultaneously¡¨, and ¡§vision then touch¡¨) are considered in this study in order to understand how the product image location effect works. In addition, individual differences in need for touch (NFT) is also incorporated into this research to examine how it may sway the results of product image location effect and consumers¡¦ confidence when judging products. The present study employed an experimental design to investigate the effects of product image location (bottom-right vs. top-left), the type of sensation cues (vision-only vs. vision and touch simultaneously vs. vision then touch), and autotelic need for touch (low vs. medium vs. high) on consumers¡¦ evaluation of perceived product heaviness and confidence in product judgments. A 2x3x3 factorial design was conducted. Six different scenarios were established through virtual packages and different sensation inputs. A quantile method was used to distinguish consumers into low, medium and high autotelic NFT. Consumers¡¦ evaluation was measured by perceived product heaviness and confidence in product judgments. The results indicated that when there was a tactile input, the product image location effect would disappear. Besides, compared to those who were medium and high in autotelic NFT, product image location effect was more influential on those who were low in autotelic NFT. In addition, in vision-only condition, location of the product image influenced consumers¡¦ confidence in product judgment. According to these findings, this research contributes to the further understandings of product image location effect and provides implications for researchers and marketers on package design.

Submitted by Nathália Faria da Silva (nathaliafsilva.ufv@gmail.com) on 2017-07-26T11:12:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 849307 bytes, checksum: 894ee0d57dd8a71c4ea447e53142bb8b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-26T11:12:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 849307 bytes, checksum: 894ee0d57dd8a71c4ea447e53142bb8b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004-05-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O experimento foi conduzido em casa de vegetação não-climatizada, com o teto tipo cobertura em arco, coberta com um filme polietileno, com a maior dimensão no sentido leste-oeste, na área experimental da Meteorologia Agrícola, da Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Minas Gerais, em 2003. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram: a) avaliar o ajuste de modelos de crescimento para alface cultivada em sistema hidropônico do tipo NFT sob diferentes níveis de condutividade elétrica (CE); b) caracterizar as condições ambientais no interior de uma casa de vegetação não- climatizada sob um sistema hidropônico do tipo NFT, e c) estimar, para um dia típico de verão, a influência do ambiente na CE da solução nutritiva. O sistema hidropônico do tipo NFT é uma técnica de escoamento laminar da solução nutritiva. A técnica consiste em circular, de forma intermitente, um fluxo laminar de solução nutritiva através do sistema radicular da planta. Foi estudado a cultivar de alface Grand Rapids mantida sob três diferentes níveis de condutividade elétrica (CE) da solução nutritiva (0,5, 1,5 e 2,5 dS m^-1). A semeadura foi realizada em 15 de janeiro, o transplante para as bancadas definitivas em 05 de fevereiro de 2003. O delineamento experimental foi inteiramente casualizado, com três tratamentos com diferentes níveis (CE), e duas repetições. Efetuou-se cinco amostragens em intervalos de três dias e a colheita foi feita aos 28 dias após o transplantio. Ao final do cultivo foi observado um total de 612,47°C graus-dia (GD) acumulados. Foram pesadas matérias frescas e secas (folha e caule), as medições de comprimento e largura das folhas e área foliar. O crescimento da alface foi modelado por meio dos modelos expolinear, logístico e Gompertz usando como variáveis independentes dias após o transplantio (DAT), graus-dia (GD) e graus-dia efetivo (GDE). As análises de crescimento, os níveis de CE permitiram verificar diferenças estatísticas significativas com relação à matéria fresca final (MF) e a matéria seca final (MS), entre os níveis de CE 0,5 dS m^-1 com as CE 1,5 e 2,5 dS m^-1, para MF, foi de 64,5 e 62,5% respectivamente, e para a MS foi de 74,7 e 70,7%, respectivamente. Com relação à área foliar (AF) houve diferença estatística entre a CE 0,5 dS m^-1 com as CE 1,5 e 2,5 dS m^-1, 85,6 e 71,7%, respectivamente, mostrando que a alface sob a CE 0,5 ds m^-1 necessitou de uma área foliar menor para a produção de MS. Para o índice de área foliar (IAF) a diferença estatística foi entre a CE 0,5 dS m^-1 e a CE 2,5 dS m^-1, 71,70%. Os modelos de crescimentos (expolinear, logístico e Gompertz) foram capazes de simular muito bem o acúmulo de matéria seca depois do transplantio da alface. Os valores dos coeficientes de determinação ajustados foram acima de 0,98 para os modelos avaliados. O índice de área foliar ajustou-se muito bem ao modelo proposto por GOUDRIANAM & MONTEITH (1990), tendo graus-dia (GD) acumulados como variável independente. Os coeficientes de determinação ajustados foram de 92,74, 91,70 e 99,68 % para os tratamentos de CE 0,5, 1,5 e 2,5 dS m^-1, respectivamente. Os resultados de simulação mostraram que a CE da solução nutritiva sofre oscilações da ordem de 30% nos horários de maior evapotranspiração. Portanto, a CE do reservatório de armazenamento da solução sofre um aumento gradual de até 55,0% do início da manhã ao final da tarde, resultante do processo de evapotranspiração da cultura. Assim, as principais conclusões deste trabalho na análise de crescimento foram que os parâmetros variaram de acordo com a condição ambiente e com os níveis de CE. A variação da CE, em um dia típico de verão, depende da evapotranspiração da cultura. / The experiment was carried out in a non-acclimatized and arched-covering greenhouse with its higher dimension towards West-East, which was covered with a polyethylene film, and is located at the UFV Agricultural Meteorology experimental area, Minas Gerais State. The NFT hydroponic system was used, which is a nutrient film technique of a nutritive solution. This technique consists of intermittently circulating a film flux of the nutritive solution through the plant root system. The lettuce cv. Grand Rapids was studied under three different levels of electric conductivity (EC) in the nutritive solution (0.5, 1.5 and 2.5 dS m^-1). Sowing was performed on January 15, and transplantation for the definitive crop benches on February 05, 2003, whereas the final harvest was accomplished at 28 days after transplanting. A total of 612.47°C accumulated (DDac) degree-days were observed at the end of the cropping. The objectives of this study were: a) to evaluate the adjustment of the growth models for lettuce cropped in the NFT hydroponic system at different levels of electric conductivity (EC); and b) to estimate the influence of the environment on EC in the nutritive solution for a typical summer day. The entirely randomized experimental design was used, with three treatments (EC) and two replicates (crop benches). Five samplings were made at 3-day intervals. The fresh and dry matters (leaf and stem) were weighed, and the measures of the leaf length and width and leaf area were taken. The growth of the lettuce was modeled by applying the expolineal, logistic and Gompertz models, and using the following independent variables: DAT (days after transplantation), DG (day- degrees) and effective day-degrees (EDD). For growth analysis, ECs showed significant statistical differences, relative to the final fresh matter (FM) and final dry matter (DM), among EC 0.5 dS m^-1 and ECs 1.5 and 2.5 dS m^-1, that is for FM the difference was 64.5 and 62.5%, while for DM it was 74.7 and 70.7%, respectively. Concerning to the leaf area (LA), there occurred a statistical difference among EC 0.5 dS m^-1 and the ECs 1.5 and 2.5 dS m^-1 , that is 85.6 and 71.7%, respectively. Therefore, when the lettuce was under EC 0.5 dS m^-1 it needed a lower leaf area for the DM production. For the leaf area index (LAI), the statistical difference occurred between CE 0.5 dS m^-1 and CE 2.5 dS m^-1 (71.70%). The growth models (expolineal, logistic and Gompertz) were able to simulate the dry matter accumulation after transplantation of the lettuce. The values of the determination coefficients were above 0.98 for the evaluated models. The leaf area index was well adjusted to the model proposed by GOUDRIANAM e MONTEITH (1990), using the day-degrees as the independent variables. The adjusted determination coefficients were 92.74, 91.70 and 99.68% for the treatments with ECs 0.5, 1.5 and 2.5 dS m^-1, respectively. The simulation results showed that EC undergoes oscillations of 30% at the hours with higher evapotranspiration. On the other hand, EC of the solution storage reservoir is gradually increased up to 55.0% from early in the morning to the end of the afternoon, which is a result from the crop evapotranspiration process. Thus, based on the growth analysis and EC variation, the parameters ranged according to the environmental conditions and are dependent on the climatic elements (temperature and radiation).

Alzheimer’s disease is a debilitating, progressive neurodegenerative disorder in the elderly, characterized by severe loss of memory and higher cognitive functions. In the hundred years since its discovery, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has traversed from the status of a ‘rare neurological oddity’ to one of the greatest challenges faced by healthcare and medicine in this millennium. A reported 44 million people currently suffer from AD but only 1 in 4 people have been diagnosed. Although AD has been an area of intense research for almost 50 years now, most studies have focused on the end stage disease. Years of study on the pathological cause underlying AD; have conclusively shown that the accumulation of the sticky peptide, Aβ, is one of the major triggers of AD pathogenesis. However, after the initial Aβ trigger, multiple processes contribute to disease progression, so that by the time a patient is diagnosed on the basis of overt behavioral phenotypes, it is difficult to understand and differentiate between the causative mechanisms and the consequential effects of the disease. It is, perhaps, because of this, that we are still struggling to find therapies for AD which will stop or at the very least slow the course of the disease. In the 2015 report on AD, issued by the Alzheimer’s association, much emphasis has been placed on the early diagnosis of AD and the revision of the diagnostic criteria for AD. According to the new guidelines proposed in 2011, AD has been divided into three stages where the first stage occurs before the appearance of overt behavioral symptoms such as memory loss, whereas by the 1984 guidelines, cognitive disabilities must have already occurred for diagnoses of AD. This proposed preclinical stage of AD has been defined, reflecting the current belief that AD pathogenesis begins almost 20 years before the occurrence of behavioral dysfunction. However, no diagnostic criteria are currently available to establish this stage. Hence, there is a need to understand the early pathogenic mechanisms of AD, which will yield early therapeutic targets as well as early diagnostic markers of AD. One of the earliest documented events in AD pathogenesis is synaptic dysfunction, which is later manifested as loss of dendritic spines. Deficits in long term potentiation (LTP) has been demonstrated in Aβ exposed hippocampal slices as well as in mouse models of AD, much before the appearance of pathological hallmarks such as plaques and tangles as well as overt behavioral phenotypes. While these and other studies indicate clearly that elevated levels of soluble Aβ peptide leads to impairment of synaptic function, the underlying molecular mechanisms are yet to be elucidated. One of the purported mediators of Aβ induced dysfunction is oxidative stress. The Aβ peptide, especially the Aβ42, is a self aggregating peptide with a propensity to form peptidyl radicals. Interaction of the peptidyl radicals with biomolecules leads to the generation of more free radical species via cascading chain reactions. Additionally, Aβ peptide has also been demonstrated to have synaptotoxic effects via its effect on NMDA receptors and calcium influx leading to deregulated reactive oxygen species (ROS) production as well as excitotoxicity. Hence, with a view to understanding Aβ mediated early synaptic dysfunction in AD, we studied early signaling changes in the synaptosomes derived from the cortex of APP/PS1 mice model of AD at various ages. The APP/PS1 model contains a mouse/human chimeric APP gene bearing the KM670/671NL Swedish mutation and the human PS1 gene with an exon 9 deletion. These mice exhibit behavioral deficits from 7 months of age while plaque deposition and gliosis become apparent by 9 months of age. We chose to study both pre-symptomatic ages (1 and 3 months old) as well as post symptomatic (9 months old) mice. Post nuclear supernatant (PNS) as well as synaptosomes were isolated from the cortex of APP/PS1 and age matched control mice. We assayed the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the PNS and the synaptosomes of post symptomatic 9 months old APP/PS1 mice and age matched controls. In contrast to reports of enhanced oxidative stress markers in the brains of AD patients, we did not find any increase in the levels of ROS in the PNS of post symptomatic APP/PS1 mice compared to age matched controls. However, synaptosomes from the cortex of these animals exhibited a significant increase in ROS levels in APP/PS1 mice compared to controls. We further found that there was significant increase in the ROS levels in synaptosomes, but not PNS, of very young asymptomatic 1 and 3 months old APP/PS1 mice. This is a first demonstration of synapse specific increase in oxidative stress in AD mice, as young as 1 month of age, indicating that disease specific mechanisms operate at the synapse much before the appearance of any overt cellular or behavioral symptoms. The increase in synaptic ROS levels correlated with a small but significant increase in the levels of Aβ42 in the brains of APP/PS1 mice compared to controls. We also found a concurrent change in the redox status of the cytoskeletal protein, actin, at the synapse. As early as 1 month of age, there was a significant decrease in the protein level of reduced actin indicating that there is an increase in the level of oxidized actin at the synapse. This loss of reduced actin was specific to the fibrillar pool of actin while no significant change was observed in the redox status of the monomeric globular pool of actin. Oxidation of actin has been demonstrated to lead to its depolymerization. Concurrently, we found a significant loss of fibrillar actin in the synaptosomes of APP/PS1 mice. Actin is the major cytoskeletal protein at the synapse. Changes in the globular to fibrillar actin ratio at the synapse at early pre-symptomatic ages in APP/PS1 mice will likely lead to structural and consequent functional changes at the synapse. This could potentially be one of the triggers of synaptic dysfunction in AD. Furthermore, changes in the Akt-mTOR signaling pathway was also observed in the synaptosomes of 1 month old APP/PS1 mice, which is sustained at 9 months. There was a significant loss of the mTOR-pS6K-4EBP1 axis in the synaptosomes, but not PNS, of APP/PS1 mice. We found that loss of Akt signaling, as evinced by loss of Akt phosphorylation, Akt kinase activity as well as loss of phosphorylation of downstream effector GSK3β, potentially underlies the loss of mTOR signaling. Further, the loss of Akt signaling is mediated by synapse specific redox modification of Akt and consequent interaction with the protein phosphatase PP2a. Loss of the Akt-mTOR signaling at the synapse is indicative of deficits in local protein translation. Loss of this essential synaptic function, which plays critical roles in synapse maintenance as well as synaptic plasticity during learning and memory, at an early age, will have long ranging impact on synaptic function such as long term potentiation (LTP) in APP/PS1 mice. Our study is the first demonstration of oxidative stress and consequent signaling changes which occur specifically at the synapse of very young 1 month old APP/PS1 mice. These changes occur much before the appearance of overt phenotype such as plaque deposition and behavioral dysfunction but sustain till the appearance of classical pathological hallmarks. Hence, the study demonstrates that disease progression starts much before previously thought and provides us a critical time window during which therapeutic strategies designed to delay or stop these changes might change the course of AD.

This thesis deals with the history of a method of plants cultivation without original substrate. The method is hydroponics and its subsequent development is called aeroponics. This work outlines the design of the whole aeroponic system including a control unit. The control unit has been designed to control the injection of nutrient solution, which is essential to the life of plants.Further, the control unit performs the control of lighting period, temperature, air flow and also regulation of nutrient solution pH. The control unit also keeps records of all data necessary for the monitoring process and for the evaluation of time differencies in the system.

This thesis deals with the history of a method of plants cultivation without original substrate. The method is hydroponics and its subsequent development is called aeroponics. This work outlines the design of the whole aeroponic system including a control unit. The control unit has been designed to control the injection of nutrient solution, which is essential to the life of plants.Further, the control unit performs the control of lighting period, temperature, air flow and also regulation of nutrient solution pH. The control unit also keeps records of all data necessary for the monitoring process and for the evaluation of time differencies in the system.

No description available.

It has become possible to say that the metaverse is a great opportunity for investment and trade, as it provides massive financial returns. The metaverse is the next evolution in social connection and the successor to the mobile internet. Non-fungible tokens represent the ownership of unique items in the metaverse and allow the creator to tokenize things like art, real estate, and collectibles. Trading NFT in the metaverse faces challenges, including security, fraud, and scams. Those challenges have negatively affected the stability of this market. “How can NFT trading in metaverse be improved?” is the main question of this thesis to overcome the challenges. The author performed a systematic literature review to survey and explore the possibility of using technologies to reach the ideal use of NFT in the metaverse. The systematic literature review will guide the researcher to gain more information to evaluate it in the research area. Furthermore, Pointing and identifying the gaps and knowledge needed between the research elements. Three main challenges are presented (identity verification, fraud, and ownership) in areas in which technologies that can provide (flexibility, reliability, accuracy, and performance) can apply. Three dominant solutions, smart contracts, oracle nodes, and blockchain are the study and analysis results to realize the research question and identified problem. The elected technologies show an ability to address challenges in different ways and thus maintain the security and effectiveness of trading operations. Also, the result section mentions other solutions not counting on the dominant solutions. Open issues which provide a ground for future research with practical implementations are also discussed.

NFT-teknologin blir mer och mer populär för varje år som går, och under det senaste året hardet mer än dubblerat sitt marknadsvärde från ungefär 22 miljarder dollar till 44 miljarder dollar.Teknologin har applicerats på olika områden och vissa forskare förutspår att teknologinkommer att vara en stor del av Web3 och framtidens internet. Som de flesta andra teknologierfinns det hinder som kan hindra utvecklingen och appliceringen av teknologin. Det är viktigt attidentifiera vilka hinder som teknologin står framför samt få en förståelse för hur dessa hinderfungerar och påverkar.Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka hinder som finns för utvecklingen avNFT-teknologi. Detta görs med en multimetod som kombinerar en intervjustudie och enlitteraturstudie. Intervjustudien genomfördes med fyra semi-strukturerade intervjuer med fyrarespondenter som alla arbetar med NFT. Litteraturstudien undersökte två databaser ochresulterade i 18 artiklar som analyserades. Resultatet från de båda metoderna analyseradessedan med metodtriangulering. Resultatet av studien blev att det identifierades 12 unika hindersom presenteras och analyseras.

The thesis investigates OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace on whether it promotes the decentralization of the visual art market and lowers the entry barriers of the market for artists to connect with potential collectors and thus promoting diversity and equality to the market.  The success of an artistic career requires connections with art dealers and high cultural institutions, because art professionals act as the gatekeepers of the art market by evaluating the value of artworks and artists (Prinz, 2022). It has long been criticized that the gatekeepers highly favour white men and are inclined to promote west- ern culture instead of other culture, causing the lack of diversity and equality in the art market (Glauser et al., 2020). Even with the promotion of digital democracy due to the advancement of Internet, the high cultural institutions were still unenthusiastic in changing the current unspoken rules of networking (Habelsberger and Bhansing, 2021), until the emergence of NFT. Because of its high accessibility and digital ownership, NFT is likely to lower the barrier of participating in the art market. Therefore, this study investigates the case of the biggest NFT marketplace OpenSea to analyse whether it enables a more diverse and equal art world by Platform Analysis introduced by van Dijck (2013). Moreover, artists were interviewed to further investigate their user experiences and their views on whether NFT brought advantages to their career. The results reveal that OpenSea still upholds the value of winner-take-all and hierarchy with its ranking and verification system. It tends to favour experienced artists or artists who have influences on social media. Therefore, OpenSea is a business-oriented platform with great improvements on diversity and equality. Further research concerning different actors such as art curators, collectors and the role of NFT in the high-end art market is suggested to be conducted.

The aim of this essay is to determine why some specific NFT’s in large collections are sold for much greater sums than others. By analyzing the top five most expensive NFT’s out of  the NFT collection Board ape yacht club, I hope to find the common aspects among these that might be  determining factors for their high valuation. Specific traits of the NFT’s and their rarity will be showcased and analyzed. The analysis is done through the means of visual analysis focusing on connotations of each NFT. The result shows that the primary cause for high valuation is rarity which makes NFT’s and other collectables more desirable. Unique esthetics may also play a role by representing traits the potential owner of an NFT may want to associate with.