Literary and stylistic devices in French fashion advertising

Nichols, Karen Nichols The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2000 해외박사(DDOD)

Since the late 1970s and through the 1980s French advertising has emerged as a distinct entity. The present study shows how the French emphasis on esthetics aids in establishing communication between fashion advertising and consumer. Esthetics and establishing communication have long been of concern to the literary and art critic. French advertising may be analyzed with the same literary and stylistic tools used in studies of literature and other artistic genres. After a brief Introduction to modern French advertising and its position in the world, Chapter Two begins with a stylistic analysis of the written portion, the slogans, of an ad. Riffaterre's work in this field, especially in the area of the cliché, is extremely useful. Barthes' essay on “Rhétorique de l'image” and Durand's article “Rhétorique et image publicitaire” establish a pattern for the interpretation of the image, and for analyzing a combination of text and image (Chapter Three). Throughout both chapters, we see that the ad creator relies heavily on literary devices and doctrines and freely uses literary allusions. Chapter Four gives a specific case in point to illustrate the interplay between French fashion advertising and an extremely influential literary and artistic movement—Surrealism. Examples of the effects of Surrealism on advertising are numerous and continue to manifest themselves in the ad creator's approach, in the shocking visuals and in the wordplay found in many slogans. To better explain the effectiveness of using Surrealist doctrine and images in French fashion advertising, Riffaterre's forme conventionelle is used. With European unification and the desire to spread out into the global market, the advertising industry has begun to shift emphasis to ads that may appear in several different countries—ads that have a more universal appeal and fewer literary and cultural allusions unique to a single culture. French fashion ads therefore, now become less likely to be so intricate in their verbal slogan. The visual aspect, while still striking, is not so apt to harbor subtle literary or artistic allusions. Even though many of the elements unique to French advertising no longer appear so evidently on the international scene, the pride and pleasure taken in creative advertising remains present in today's French culture.

Mechanisms of CD8 T cell self-tolerance for the melanocyte antigen, tyrosinase

Nichols, Lisa Ann University of Virginia 2007 해외박사(DDOD)

In the development of tumor immunotherapies, a number of melanoma antigens have been identified as relevant in vivo targets of the immune response. These tumor-associated antigens are most often derived from normal melanocyte differentiation proteins (MDP), and as such, are subject to immunological self-tolerance. However, despite the wide use of these antigens in clinical trials, the impact of tolerance is difficult to assess in humans. Thus, mechanisms responsible for initiating and maintaining CD8 T cell tolerance to these antigens are largely unknown. We, have previously developed a murine model in which we demonstrated that for the MDP, tyrosinase, endogenous expression of this protein profoundly inhibited the ability to elicit CTL responses in vivo. The current work extends those studies and utilizes a newly generated TCR transgenic mouse to establish the basis of tolerance for this clinically relevant antigen. We show that despite expression of tyrosinase transcripts in the thymus, central deletion does not shape the tyrosinase-specific CD8 T cell repertoire. Instead, this endogenously-expressed melanocyte antigen is constitutively presented in both peripheral and mesenteric lymph nodes, leading to abortive activation and deletion of tyrosinase-specific CD8 T cells. Importantly, this antigen is not presented by either radio-sensitive dendritic cells, or by radio-resistant Langerhans cells as predicted by other models of peripheral tolerance. Instead, we find tyrosinase mRNA expression in lymphoid compartments where CD8 T cell deletion occurs. This suggests that direct presentation of tyrosinase by radio-resistant lymph node resident cells is entirely responsible for tolerance to this endogenous melanocyte differentiation antigen. Additionally, we have characterized the development of spontaneous vitiligo in TCR transgenic mice in which the majority of peripheral CD8 T cells express a tyrosinase-specific TCR. We have shown that induction of epidermal vitiligo is a distinct phenomenon from the depigmentation of hair observed in other marine vitiligo models and have proposed a new experimental model in which both additional immunoregulatory mechanisms, and T cell trafficking to the epidermis can be addressed.

"You're more poor": Squatter efforts to shape urban space, housing, and informal work in Windhoek, Namibia

Nichols, Clinton, III Northwestern University 2007 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation investigates whether residents of Windhoek's squatter settlements are changing urban space through their efforts to secure housing and to conduct remunerative work from their dwellings. Studies about the informal economy have moved from analysis of it as a distinct sector to the social and political processes that create informality. The city emerges from the interface between formal and informal processes which entail the everyday practices of residents, the conception of the city in planning documents, and the alternative uses of services and dwellings. Research methods involved the examination of archival documents, surveying and interviewing twenty small-scale enterprise operators in one squatter settlement, and the analysis of meetings between residents and town planners. African residents conducted paid work from their dwellings in the first decades of South African occupation which influenced the development of their residential area and the institutionalization of town planning in Windhoek. The extension of apartheid policies forced the disappearance of home-based enterprises and restricted the production of housing for African residents. The repeal of apartheid legislation initiated migration to Windhoek, the municipality's withdrawal from the provision of housing and the rise of self-help housing organizations. Consequently informal work and self help housing organizations have grown in importance since political independence. Observing how squatters run their small-scale enterprises challenges the dominant image of home-based paid work. Dwelling occupants were not always the owner of either the shelter or the business. Squatters attempted to capitalize on location within the settlement and they adopted flexible ways to gain illegal access to services. However the work provided little more than the means for daily survival. Two case studies about self-help housing groups indicate the invisibility of home-based enterprises in the planning process. Relocation to a marginal land parcel destroyed trading opportunities for one group. For another group, a focus on home-based enterprises would have questioned the eviction of fellow squatters. While home-based enterprises have the potential to reform Windhoek's urban space, it is unlikely this change will happen unless planners and savings groups take concerted effort to focus on interventions that promote flexibility and improved access to service infrastructure.

Spatiotemporal modeling of positron emission tomography

Nichols, Thomas Edgar Carnegie Mellon University 2001 해외박사(DDOD)

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a method for imaging the function of living tissue. A single PET dataset measures the spatial distribution of a radioactive tracer introduced into the body; for a typical PET scanner, the raw data consist of an 80 million element observation of discrete counts, though most elements are zero. In this work we use “list mode” PET data, which provides millisecond time resolution and results in an enormous data space for even relatively short (10 minute) acquisitions. We unwrap space into one-dimension and consider two-way tables of counts, where one dimension is time, the other space. We fit these spatiotemporal tables with an association model, a log-linear model of an independence effect plus structured dependence effects, or association effects. The association effects are defined by partitioning time-space based on the local lack-of-fit of an independence model. Assessing the lack-of-fit at each cell, however, is problematic dale to the sparseness of the data; none of the standard goodness-of-fit measures follow their (high-rate) asymptotic distributions under such low rate conditions. We use Monte-Carlo simulations to evaluate six standard individual-cell goodness-of-fit measures; we find that Pearson's residuals have the most stable first and second moments as cell rate decreases. After exploratory data analysis on a number of datasets to confirm the Poisson nature of the list mode data, we fit our model to a blood flow data set of a human brain and demonstrate the sensitivity of our method to a known physiological effect.

Simulation and stability analysis of jet diffusion flames

Nichols, Joseph W University of Washington 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

This dissertation is an investigation of jet diffusion flames by means of direct numerical simulation (DNS) and linear stability analysis. A motivation of this research is the apparent inconsistency of laboratory observations of jet diffusion flame behavior in microgravity. Therefore, the effect of buoyancy on the stability properties of jet diffusion flames is of primary interest. A state-of-the-art massively parallel DNS code is developed, which solves the low Mach number equations on a staggered mesh in a cylindrical domain which is open at the lateral and outflow boundaries. To complement DNS results, the spatial branches of the transformed linearized low Mach number equations are solved using a matrix method to obtain a complete spectrum of eigenvalues and corresponding eigenfunctions. While the air-to-fuel density ratio (S1) is found to be the most important parameter determining a jet's stability properties, buoyancy influences them indirectly by causing a faster, more intense transition to turbulence. The effect of reaction is isolated by comparing results from reacting jets to those from non-reacting, variable-density jets.

A formulation of a dropout monitoring system

Nichols, Joe Baylor University 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

A theoretical framework is created in an effort to assist operational personnel [principals and teachers] within secondary public schools in identifying potential leavers so that retaining strategies for each individual student, teacher, and principal could be prescribed, initiated, and monitored within the environment by operational personnel. Multivariate classification theory and logistic regression were used to create theoretical and mathematical methods and models to discern and predict rates, numbers, and primary contributing factors [functions of the original data] related to holding power and exodus with respect to primary participants [students, teachers, and principals] in secondary schools. Schools' data of various forms accumulated daily previously believed to be copious and untenable is used to estimate and predict the likelihood of dropping out versus the likelihood of staying and the probabilities related to these events computed for primary participants. Additionally, methods to reduce high dimension data to lower dimensions thereby creating a more tenable situation for operational decision-makers or individuals working on their behalf in formulating a time varying technology based monitoring system without increasing; (1) the probability of misclassification through the appropriate classifier or (2) time and effort commitments from operational personnel. Consequently, the formulation and eventual implementation of a quality control, time varying, information delivery, decision assistant monitoring system related to casualties, survivors and other relevant organizational measures of effectiveness and efficiency could prove a positive disruptive differentiator with respect to issues related to current practices found in various secondary schools.

Effects of corn processing, ethanol and sugar beet byproducts, and dietary sulfur on feedlot health and finishing performance

Nichols, Cody A The University of Nebraska - Lincoln 2012 해외박사(DDOD)

Four finishing studies were conducted to optimize the use of ethanol and sugar beet byproducts in finishing diets containing dry rolled corn (DRC), steam flaked corn (SFC), or a combination of both. Data are limited for feeding combinations of corn processed by different methods (DRC and SFC) fed with wet distillers grains with solubles (WDGS). Also, limited data are available for feeding different levels of beet pulp in corn based adaptation and finishing diets. Lastly, the relationship between dietary fiber and sulfur (rumen degradable; RDS and rumen undegradable) and their impact on feedlot health is not well understood. Therefore, our objectives were to 1) determine the effects of feeding different ratios of DRC and SFC in diets that contain 35% (DM) WDGS on finishing performance and carcass characteristics 2) evaluate the effects of feeding different levels of beet pulp in combination with DRC or SFC, 3) compare grain adaption programs using beet pulp to a traditional grain adaption program with alfalfa hay on finishing performance and carcass merit and 4) determine the relationship between dietary S (rumen degradable and rumen undegradable), neutral detergent fiber and polioencephalomalacia (PEM). A WDGS x corn processing ratio interaction (P = 0.03) was observed for G:F. Cattle fed diets containing no WDGS with SFC as the sole source of corn had 11% greater G:F (0.189, P < 0.01) compared to steers fed all DRC diets with no WDGS (0.170). As SFC replaced DRC in diets containing no WDGS, G:F increased quadratically (P < 0.01). A positive associative effect in G:F was observed as SFC replaced DRC in diets with 0% WDGS; however G:F was not impacted by corn processing in diets containing 35% WDGS. Final BW, DMI, and ADG decreased linearly (P < 0.01) with increasing levels of beet pulp in both DRC and SFC diets, however, G:F was not different (P = 0.49) among levels of beet pulp in the finishing diet. Gain and G:F were not different (P > 0.19) among different grain adaptation methods in a separate study where beet pulp was used to adapt steers to the finishing diet. An interaction between concentration of dietary sulfur and forage NDF (P = 0.07) affected the incidence of PEM cases. As level of RDS increased in the diet, the incidence of PEM increased. Unlike total dietary sulfur, there was no interaction between RDS and forage NDF ( P > 0.10). These data indicate that RDS may be a better measure of PEM risk than dietary sulfur because it only includes the rumen degradable forms of sulfur which pose a greater risk of inducing PEM.

Reproducibility in human cognitive neuroimaging: a community-driven data sharing framework for provenance information integration and interoperability

Nichols, Boyce Nolan, III University of Washington 2014 해외박사(DDOD)

Access to primary data and the provenance of derived data are increasingly recognized as an essential aspect of reproducibility in biomedical research. While productive data sharing has become the norm in some biomedical communities, human brain imaging has lagged in open data and descriptions of provenance. The overarching goal of my dissertation was to identify barriers to neuroimaging data sharing and to develop a fundamentally new, granular data exchange standard that incorporates provenance as a primitive to document cognitive neuroimaging workflow. For my dissertation research, I led the development of the Neuroimaging Data Model (NIDM), an extension to the W3C PROV standard for the domain of human brain imaging. NIDM provides a language to communicate provenance by representing primary data, computational workflow, and derived data as bundles of linked Agents, Activities, and Entities. Similar to the way a sentence conveys a standalone thought, a bundle contains provenance statements that parsimoniously express the way a given piece of data was produced. To demonstrate a system that implements NIDM, I developed a modern, semantic Web application platform that provides neuroimaging workflow as a service and captures provenance statements as NIDM bundles. The course of this work necessitated interaction with an international community, which adopted and extended central elements of this work into prevailing brain imaging software. My dissertation contributes neuroinformatics standards to advance the current state of computational infrastructure available to the cognitive neuroimaging community.

Aligning the needs of colleges with technology plans

Nichols, John David Purdue University 2011 해외박사(DDOD)

Colleges within a university setting exhibit a unique learning environment. Universities often focus their technology plans in terms of replacement cycles. It may be beneficial to compare different College's faculty to gain a perspective on important aspects of technology at the University that could lead to better allocation of equipment, funds and support. This Delphi study investigated how faculty in two different Colleges in a Midwestern university: the College of Business and the College of Education use technology in their learning environments. Round one was a collection of open-ended questions developed from a previously administered University-wide survey. In the survey, participants provided insight into how technology is used by faculty and students as well as how it compares to the use of technology in their respective professions. For example, most College of Education students are preparing to become K-12 teachers which would result in the students using technology similar to what they would be exposed to in K-12 classrooms; College of Business students may be in a professional work environment that relies more on individualized report generation through the use of Microsoft products. Specific areas of emphasis on the survey were technology, teaching and learning with respect to student engagement, students as independent learners, assessing teaching, professional development, barriers to progressing, and teaching and communicating effectively. The feedback generated themes that were the basis of the Round two surveys. Round two allowed the participants to rate how important they perceived technology such as computers, software, equipment and learning management systems to be within their course learning environment. This round provided insight into the connections between how technology is used in the classroom and in the professional arena. Round three used the themes from the previous round and required the participants to prioritize them. The open-ended questions resulted in 29 common elements coded from the response data from round one. The participants evaluated the level of importance of each of the elements as it pertains to the individual Colleges. The prioritization, then, of round three created a snapshot of the focus of each College's technology usage in the learning environment. The median scores from the round two data segmented the data to 14 important common elements that were similar between the two Colleges. Discussion focuses on the similarities and differences between the colleges as they pertain to technology in teaching and learning. Because each College's results indicated a different technology use in their profession, the need to identify and prioritize technology elements was evident.

A partial explanation for post-earnings-announcement drift: Autocorrelation risk in earnings

Nichols, D. Craig Indiana University 2005 해외박사(DDOD)

In this paper, I examine autocorrelation risk in earnings as a partial explanation for post-earnings-announcement drift. Autocorrelation risk refers to temporal variation in the autocorrelation structure of seasonally-differenced earnings (SDE) that is common (i.e., systematic) across firms. Rational investors should impound earnings information into price as if they adjust autocorrelation coefficients to certainty equivalents to reflect any systematic temporal variation in SDE autocorrelation. I demonstrate that the use of certainty-equivalent-adjusted autocorrelation coefficients could produce drift in future size- or market-adjusted returns related to current SDE and the appearance of biased autocorrelation coefficients impounded into price. This is important because it provides one possible explanation for the results in papers such as Ball and Bartov [1996]. I provide evidence that SDE autocorrelation is systematic in that it varies with future economic growth and contains temporal variation that is shared across sample firms. In addition, SDE autocorrelation coefficients vary with a proxy for investors' intertemporal marginal rate of substitution for consumption. Consistent with the autocorrelation risk model's predictions, I find that an element of risk in equity returns depends on the sign and magnitude of current SDE, the very partitioning variable used in prior literature to document drift. Overall, the evidence suggests that systematic temporal variation in SDE autocorrelation leads to risk differences across portfolios formed on the basis of extreme SIDE. In this paper, I estimate that 20% to 25% of the average returns associated with the SDE strategy arise from risk.