Experimental investigations into charge and spin carriers in polyaniline.

Conductivity and electron spin resonance measurements have been performed on solution doped polyaniline (PANi). It is proposed that both camphor-sulphonic acid (CSA) and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-l-propanesulphonic acid (AMPSA) doped PANi can be described by the same model. It is suggested that the polyaniline materials are composed of differently ordered layers, a highly ordered region forming the core of the crystallites. The core of the crystallites are believed to be encapsulated within a semi- ordered region, with the crystallites themselves being dispersed in an amorphous polymer matrix. The conductivity measurements and ESR results described in this work support the proposal that within the highly ordered region of doped polyaniline crystallites, a polaronic lattice exists. The polaronic lattice facilitates "free" carriers which are responsible for "metallic" conduction within the crystallites. Encapsulating the polaronic lattice is a semi-ordered region in which (partially) mobile polarons (and possibly bipolarons) are present. The highly conductive crystallites are randomly dispersed in a less conductive polymer matrix. Charge transport within this heterogeneous system is well described by a heterogeneous metal - fluctuation induced tunnelling (FIT) model. The differences in the temperature dependent conductivities of the PANi-CSA and PANi-AMPSA materials are attributed to the systems having layers of different relative sizes (in the above model). AMPSA doped polyaniline films had a maximum room temperature conductivity of ~100 Scm(^-1). This material also showed potential for use as an electrode layer in polymer LEDs, to replace ITO coated glass. The conductivity of PANi-AMPSA was measured to be 50 ± 10 Scm(^-1) at thickness' of ~30nm. Layers of this thickness provide >90% optical transmission between 450 and 675 nm (most of the visible spectrum). Faraday rotation measurements have shown that the recently reported large Faraday rotation of polyaniline can not be reproduced. The limited results of the Faraday rotation experiments described in this work provide support for the theory that charge carriers in polyaniline have an effective mass of at least 100 times that of a free electron. It has also been shown that the claims of a polyaniline derivative (namely the Marcoussis polymer) being an entirely organic ferromagnet are unsubstantiated, despite intense investigation

Exploring Place-Based Pedagogy as Entrepreneurship Accelerator

This paper proposes a framework to create a small business and entrepreneurship accelerator designed based on prior work in evolving traditional place-based pedagogy to a more critical pedagogy of place. The proposal is crafted to utilize the built-in resources of a university as the core components in providing necessary resources for success including expert-level technical assistance and a safe, empowering third space for collaboration. The included case is focused on a suburban/urban campus located near several historically underserved geographies. This is important as the proposed small business and entrepreneurship accelerator will have a special focus on educating and guiding local populations – including high school students – in growing their businesses. The proposal in this paper brings together university resources, local community elements, small business owners, social entrepreneurs, and high school students by activating a critical pedagogy of place rooted in improving economic and social issues

An Endowment, Commodity, and Prospect Theory Perspective on Consumer Hoarding Behavior

This study investigated the preconditions that drive hoarding behaviors when consumers perceive a shortage in supply and are faced with other marketing stimuli indicating product scarcity. Pat research shows that hoarding behaviors exists due to the acknowledgement of the scarcity of products that previously had been in excess, and consumer response to such scarcity. Endowment Effect, Commodity Theory, and the Prospect Theory were used as the basis for our conceptual framework. Data was obtained from a random sample of 297 individuals and subjected to statistical analyses. Our findings indicated that perceived perishability and scarcity of items that are valued, elicit a reaction in consumers who have an aversion to risk due to the prospect of losing an item of value. Losses were intensified when perceived perishability and scarcity were established through urgency in advertising resulting in higher buying rates. Our findings can help marketing managers acquire more knowledge of purchase motives, satisfaction, and feelings of uniqueness gained through hoarding. Furthermore, once an understanding of what motivates consumers to accelerate their purchase behavior under perceived perishability and scarcity conditions is obtained, pricing and inventory strategies (indeed the entire marketing mix) can be strategically designed to meet the needs of the customer

Responsiveness As Antecedent Of Satisfaction And Referrals In Financial Services Marketing: Empirical Evidence From An Emergent Economy

Financial institutions across the globe are still recovering from the meltdown of 2008 and several nations continue their struggle to stabilize national economies. However, there might be some important lessons to be learned from this debacle. Some economies, notably the emergent ones, were more resilient to this slowdown than the developed ones. In fact, the banking sector in some of these economies posted a robust growth in spite of the downturn in global banking. We report on a detailed study of a multinational bank operating in the emergent economy of India with a random national sample of over 9,000 of their customers. Our research provides valuable insights into a market driven bank’s drive for customer satisfaction and referrals and examines antecedents and consequences of such initiatives. We provide empirical evidence suggesting that responsiveness to customer enquiries and complaints might be a strong driver of customer satisfaction, irrespective of the outcome of the resolution process. Our finding that responsiveness supersedes a positive outcome in service provider-customer conflict resolution is a contribution of this research to extant literature with important strategic and managerial implications for firms

Undergraduate Research As A Fate Accompli: Innovation And Evolution Of A Student Conference In Business

The benefits of undergraduate research continue to receive academic attention and it is becoming an engaged learning practice present on many college campuses today.  As research participation grows, an opportunity exists to showcase the work being accomplished and to use this public presentation to foster a culture of undergraduate research on campus, lobby for additional funding, and increase student and faculty participation.  We describe the innovation and evolution of a student conference in business, sharing lessons learned and measureable results for the ten years this conference has been in place

Developing An Undergraduate Student Research Conference In Business: A Model

AACSB accreditation, a student-centered mission statement, and the continuous quality improvement that most educators engage in have resulted in an increase in student research projects.  This presented an opportunity to develop a venue for students to showcase their research.  The paper describes a model for a student research conference in business that has resulted in increased student engagement and an increase in student-faculty research collaboration

Effecting Consistency Across Curriculum: A Case Study

Continuous quality improvement is the clarion call across all business schools which is driving the emphasis on assessing the attainment of learning outcomes. An issue that deems special attention in assurance of learning outcomes is related to consistency across courses and, more specifically, across multiple sections of the same course taught by different professors.  This paper is intended to accomplish the two objectives.  First, identify and discuss the situational factors that are driving the need for improving quality through assessment.  The expectations of students and parents, employers and graduate programs, accrediting organizations, and faculty are examined in this situational assessment.  Second, a review of the process utilized by the School of Business at a small, private, liberal arts college to address consistency issues that adversely impact quality improvement is provided.  This process, still in the early stages of evolution, has had a significant impact on the culture of the institution as it strives to meet AACSB requirements. The process described in this paper has been utilized to address concerns and fears of faculty, and has resulted in improvements in consistency among courses in the curriculum.  Concluding remarks provide general recommendations that can be used by our peers who aspire to travel down the same path of using assessment data to improve quality

Implications of Athlete Scandals: Effects on Athlete, Team, and League

This study explores the impact of an athlete’s personal scandal on consumer perceptions of the player, team, and league. A self-administered online survey was created based on past literature. A random sample of 263 respondents was obtained. Results indicate that an athlete’s actions that are viewed as inappropriate by consumers drive a negative view of that athlete as an individual, as well as the team they are associated with. However, consumer perceptions of the league remain unaffected. Consumers who find transgressors’ behavior inappropriate and develop a negative view of an athlete post-scandal are less likely to watch an athletic event starring the athlete and purchase a product endorsed by the athlete. However, if a consumer is a fan of an athlete or the team on which the athlete is playing, transgressions do not have as significant of an impact on the consumer. Our findings lead to managerial recommendations that managers should carefully consider as they consider how brand relationships with transgressing athlete subsequently impact team and brand image

Current Status of Herbal Drugs in India: An Overview

Herbal drugs constitute a major share of all the officially recognised systems of health in India viz. Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy and Naturopathy, except Allopathy. More than 70% of India’s 1.1 billion population still use these non-allopathic systems of medicine. Currently, there is no separate category of herbal drugs or dietary supplements, as per the Indian Drugs Act. However, there is a vast experiential-evidence base for many of the natural drugs. This offers immense opportunities for Observational Therapeutics and Reverse Pharmacology. Evidence-based herbals are widely used in the diverse systems and manufactured, as per the pharmacopoeial guidelines, by a well-organised industry. Significant basic and clinical research has been carried out on the medicinal plants and their formulations, with the state-of-the-art methods in a number of Institutes/Universities. There are some good examples. Indian medicinal plants also provide a rich source for antioxidants that are known to prevent/delay different diseased states. The antioxidant protection is observed at different levels. The medicinal plants also contain other beneficial compounds like ingredients for functional foods. Hence, the global knowledge about Ayurveda and Indian herbals will hopefully be enhanced by information on the evidence-base of these plants. This will yield rich dividends in the coming years