Wine survey analysis has been utilized in previous research to assess a myriad of applications in the wine industry. These surveys typically evaluate the consumer bases within the wine industry and examine their perceptions, tendencies, and habits. This research aims to further supplement data in this context and surveyed consumers from across the world from a wide range of consumer types. By utilizing market segmentation, this vast consumer base can be separated into smaller groups which are more telling of how various segments differ from each other. This study evaluated consumer perceptions of red and white wine, wine closure type, wine label information, and wine serving temperature. Furthermore, an examination of how consumers treated their wine allowed us to identify differences in refrigeration preference, temperatures commonly used to store wine, how quickly the wine is consumed after opening, and how frequently the consumer drank wine. Chi-square analysis demonstrated numerous significant results across multiple segments. Firstly, the question of knowledge appeared to be one of the most enlightening questions, as this seemed to connect with underlying motivations for consumer’s habits and perceptions. Those that were more knowledgeable tended to be slightly older, more frequent consumers, were more interested in wine information, and more likely to own niche wine products such as wine refrigerators and wine preservation devices. Those that were not as knowledgeable about wine were the opposite, where they were less frequent consumers, less interested in wine information, and less likely to own niche wine products like wine refrigerators and wine preservation devices. Regionally there were not many differences observed. Most regions that were evaluated were fairly consistent with each other. However, some regions like South Africa and the U.S. appear to show a higher preference for red wine compared to other regions. When considering price, South Africa seems to pay a fairly low price for wine compared to other regions. Australia was also observed to pay a considerably higher price for red wine. European consumers also appeared to spend less on wine than those in the U.S. and also seemed to be less biased towards certain wine attributes than those in the U.S. Overall, this study successfully demonstrated many significant differences among wine consumers, and further demonstrated the need to fully understand these different segments. By knowing the differences in these habits, the wine industry can more aptly anticipate wine consumer demands and tendencies. This information can help inform these decisions and alleviate the complexity in this vast consumer market.

Branched elastic rod structures are abundant in engineering and nature, in applications ranging from MEMS devices to human spine models. While buckling is well-understood for problems of this type, stability is often difficult to assess, especially when the model is derived from a nonlinear rod theory. The purpose of this research is to establish criteria for determining nonlinear stability, based upon the minimization of an energy functional. By utilizing variational principles, and Legendre's

classical work in particular, a new necessary condition for stability featuring the existence of bounded solutions to a set of Riccati differential equations is established. For a single rod, building on classical results, this condition is also shown to be sufficient for stability.

The stability criteria are demonstrated on a number of examples using a simple, planar rod theory. These examples range from a classical strut under axial load to a branched tree-like structure composed of several rods. In the branched model, the stability analysis consists of finding bounded solutions to a set of Riccati equations, which are coupled at branching points. The number of Riccati equations corresponds to the number of rods in the structure. The resulting condition is only necessary for stability of a branched structure, as a sufficient condition could not be established. However, this is the first instance of a stability criterion for branched structures that is based on the second variation of the total energy. The advantage is that this method provides a systematic means of identifying unstable, and therefore physically unrealizable, configurations of a branched structure. Finally, an extension of the stability criteria to other rod theories is discussed.