Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Ehearsay, Jeffrey Bellin

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Transformative Engagement In Deliberative Democracies: Exploring A Framework For Engagement Using A Creative, Braided Approach, Janell C. Walther

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Policymakers, scientists, academics, and organizational leaders have long been interested in the best way to engage, persuade, and educate stakeholders, no matter the topic (e.g., Mazer, 2013; Bell et al, 2013). While exploration of information dissemination and presentation is growing (Jones, 2013; Gutkind, 2005), particularly within highly mediatized networked societies (Castells, 2008), the necessity for engaging, persuading, and educating citizens in the public sphere through diverse approaches is increasingly obvious. In particular, it is important and relevant to creatively engage stakeholders and decision-makers in an interactive dialogue to allow for fuller understanding about complex topics, especially in the realm of …

Dna Testing Is The Most Effective Procedure To Solve Crimes, Son Nguyen

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

There are several different techniques to solve crimes. Fingerprinting has been used as an investigative tool to help law enforcement find suspects. By using the fingerprints obtained at a crime scene, investigators can try to find a match within the fingerprint database. Since fingerprints are truly unique, there are better technological advances that will aid law enforcements and forensic scientists confirm a suspect was at the crime scene. By using DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, technology, established in 1985 but was first used in 1987 in law enforcement, as the main investigative tool, several different crimes can be solve by analyzing the …

Saving Lives Or Raising Revenue: Analysing Media Coverage Of The Alcopops Tax In Light Of The Evidence On Its Effects, Sandra C. Jones, Laura Robinson

Sandra Jones

The Australian Government increased the tax on ready-to-drink (RTD) alcohol beverages in 2008, in order to address concerns about increasing alcohol consumption among young people. This decision resulted in significant debate and discussion in the media, and in academic circles. The aim of the current study was to examine media coverage of the debate – and particularly the arguments posed in favour of and against the tax – now that we have objective evidence of its impact. We find that business owners and industry groups were vocal in the media, raising a number of arguments in opposition to the tax; …

Improving Sun Protection Behaviour Through Evidence-Based Campaigns, Anita Tang, Lyn J. Phillipson, Sandra C. Jones, Keryn M. Johnson

Sandra Jones

No abstract provided.

Macroeconomic Determinants Of Corporate Performance And Failure: Evidence From An Emerging Market The Case Of Jordan, Rami Zeitun, Gary Tian, Steve Keen

Gary Tian

This study investigates the impact of aggregate economic risk on a company’s performance and failure in a panel estimation using 167 Jordanian companies during 1989-2003. Our finding shows that unanticipated changes in interest rate negatively and significantly affect firms’ performance measured by ROA, which suggests that an interest rate rise increases the cost of borrowing and then further negatively affects a firm’s profit. We also found that both the production manufacturing index and Islamic credit facilities positively and significantly affect a firm’s performance. The positive and significant impact of Islamic credit facilities reflects the importance and the significance of the …

Do Migrants Rob Jobs?: New Evidence From Australia, Gary Gang Tian, Jordan Shan

Gary Tian

This study contributes to the recent debate on immigration and unemployment in Australia by investigating the causal linkage between immigration and unemployment. The question of whether `immigrants rob jobs' is examined by identifying the sources of unemployment through causal linkages between unemployment and other key variables such as immigration. The research finds no Granger causality between immigration and unemployment, but does run from industrial structural change to the high unemployment rate in Australia. This research also finds that both GDP growth and immigration inflow reinforce each other in the course of economic development in Australia.

Interactions Among China-Related Stocks: Evidence From A Causality Test With A New Procedure, Gary Gang Tian, Guang Hua Wan

Gary Tian

The purpose of this study is to investigate a causal relationship among five different indices of shares issued by Chinese firms, A-, B- and H-shares listed in China and Hong Kong. This paper re-examines the interactions among these China-related stocks using daily time series data by constructing a vector autoregresion (VAR) model. A new Granger no-causality testing procedure developed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) was applied to test the causality link among these five stock indices. The results emerging from our research indicate that there are "closed" relations within A-share (as well as within B-share) between Shanghai and Shenzhen markets …

Aeolian-Fluvial Interaction: Evidence For Late Quaternary Channel Change And Wind-Rift Linear Dune Formation In The Northwestern Simpson Desert, Australia, Gerald C. Nanson, Brian G. Jones, David M. Price, Tim Pietsch, C Bristow, Cameron B. Hollands

B. G. Jones

In central Australia the most easterly extent of the MacDonnell Ranges borders the northwestern Simpson Desert where widely spaced strike ridges intercept the regional linear dunefield. Topographic basins have disrupted regional drainage lines and isolated dune sets from the main dunefield. In the western part of Camel Flat basin large, red coloured linear dunes of fine sand, ~ 74 ka and older, are oriented almost due north. Through gaps in the ranges the Todd River traversed the eastern part of the basin until ~25 ka when it apparently avulsed ~25 km eastwards to its present position. Subsequently, linear dunes, smaller, …

Alluvial Evidence For Major Climate And Flow Regime Changes During The Middle And Late Quaternary For Eastern Central Australia, Gerald C. Nanson, David M. Price, B. G. Jones, Jerry C. Maroulis, Maria Coleman, Hugo Bowman, Timothy J. Cohen, Tim Pietsch, Joshua R. Larsen

B. G. Jones

As a low-gradient arid region spanning the tropics to the temperate zone, the Lake Eyre basin has undergone gentle late Cenozoic crustal warping leading to substantial alluvial deposition, thereby forming repositories of evidence for palaeoclimatic and palaeohydrological changes from the Late Tertiary to the Holocene. Auger holes and bank exposures at five locations along the lower 500 km of Cooper Creek, a major contributor to Lake Eyre in the eastern part of the basin, yielded 85 luminescence dates (TL and OSL) that, combined wit a further 142 luminescence dates from northeastern Australia, have established a chronology of multiple episodes of …

Controlling Shareholders Expropriation And Firms Leverage Decision: Evidence From Chinese Non-Tradable Share Reform, Qigui Liu, Gary Tian

Gary Tian

This paper examines the effect of excess control rights on the leverage decisions made by Chinese non-SOEs before and after the Non-tradable share reform (NTS reform). We find that firms with excess control rights have more excess leverage and their controlling shareholders use the resources for tunneling rather than investing in positive NPV projects. We also find that excess leverage in firms with excess control rights decreases and the market reaction to announcements of related party transactions are more positive after NTS reform. This confirms that tunneling by the controlling shareholders actually reduced. We argue that in emerging markets where …

Disproportional Ownership Structure And Pay-Performance Relationship: Evidence From China's Listed Firms, Jerry Cao, Xiaofei Pan, Gary G. Tian

Xiaofei Pan

This paper examines the impact of disproportional ownership structure on the pay-performance relationship in China’s listed firms. We find that the cash flow rights of the ultimate controlling shareholder have a positive effect on this relationship while a divergence between the control rights and cash flow rights has a significantly negative effect. By dividing our sample into state owned enterprises (SOE), state assets management bureaus (SAMB), and privately controlled firms, we find that cash flow rights in SOE controlled firms have a significant impact on accounting based pay performance and cash flow rights in privately controlled firms also affect the …

Death And Politics: The Role Of Demographic Characteristics And Testimony Type In Death Penalty Cases Involving Future Dangerousness Testimony, Amy Magnus, Miliaikeala Heen, Joel D. Lieberman

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Past research examining expert future dangerousness prediction testimony in death penalty cases and civil confinement hearings for sex offenders has found that jurors tend to be more persuaded by less scientific “clinical” testimony and less influenced by “actuarial” based testimony. Jurors demonstrate greater receptivity for clinical testimony despite the fact that actuarial testimony has been shown to be a better predictor of future dangerousness. Research in this area has focused on identifying cognitive factors that can potentially be manipulated during a trial to increase the effectiveness of actuarial testimony on jurors. A mock jury study was conducted to extend these …

Juror Typologies And Dna Comprehension:Who Benefits From Jury Trial Innovations?, Mari Sakiyama, Joel D. Lieberman

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

When DNA evidence is presented in the courtroom, it is typically accompanied by complex testimony conveying information such as the method of generating population frequencies, match criteria and probabilities, as well as laboratory errors and error rates. Although this evidence may have high probative value, the legal community has expressed growing concern regarding jurors’ ability to comprehend it. However, courts have implemented a variety of jury trial innovations to facilitate jurors’ ability to process complex information. Although these innovations may have a positive effect on comprehension of complex trial evidence, it is unclear whether some jurors are more likely to …

Public Health Roi: Evidence, Experience And Remaining Questions, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

Expanding the delivery of efficacious public health and prevention strategies holds considerable potential for improving health outcomes and constraining costs across the U.S. health system. Unfortunately, lingering certainties about the costs required to expand public health delivery systems and about the health and economic effects of such expansions has muted private and public support for increased public health expenditures. This lecture examines recent evidence from public health services and systems research studies that examine the health and economic value of public health delivery, and identifies remaining research needs for the field.

Are People Probabilistically Challenged? Book Review Of Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast And Slow (2011), Alex Stein

Alex Stein

Daniel Kahneman’s recent book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, is a must-read for any scholar and policymaker interested in behavioral economics. Thus far, behavioral economists did predominantly experimental work that uncovered discrete manifestations of people’s bounded rationality: representativeness, availability, anchoring, overoptimism, base-rate neglect, hindsight bias, loss aversion, and other misevaluations of probability and utility. This work has developed no causal explanations for these misevaluations. Kahneman’s book takes the discipline to a different level by developing an integrated theory of bounded rationality’s causes and characteristics. This theory holds that humans use two distinct modes of reasoning, intuitive (System 1) and deliberative (System …

Controlling Shareholders Expropriation And Firms Leverage Decision: Evidence From Chinese Non-Tradable Share Reform, Qigui Liu, Gary Tian

Qigui Liu

This paper examines the effect of excess control rights on the leverage decisions made by Chinese non-SOEs before and after the Non-tradable share reform (NTS reform). We find that firms with excess control rights have more excess leverage and their controlling shareholders use the resources for tunneling rather than investing in positive NPV projects. We also find that excess leverage in firms with excess control rights decreases and the market reaction to announcements of related party transactions are more positive after NTS reform. This confirms that tunneling by the controlling shareholders actually reduced. We argue that in emerging markets where …

Development Of Micro Volume Dna And Rna Profiling Assays To Identify The Donor And Tissue Source Of Origin Of Trace Forensic Biological Evidence, Brittany Morgan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In forensic casework analysis it is necessary to obtain genetic profiles from increasingly smaller amounts of biological material left behind by perpetrators of crime. The ability to obtain profiles from trace biological evidence is demonstrated with so-called ‘touch DNA evidence’ which is perceived to be the result of DNA obtained from shed skin cells transferred from donor to an object or person during physical contact. However, the current method of recovery of trace DNA involves cotton swabs or adhesive tape to sample an area of interest. This "blindswabbing" approach may result in the recovery of biological material from different individuals …

Technology Corner Visualising Forensic Data: Evidence (Part 1), Damian Schofield, Ken Fowle

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Visualisation is becoming increasingly important for understanding information, such as investigative data (for example: computing, medical and crime scene evidence) and analysis (for example: network capability assessment, data file reconstruction and planning scenarios). Investigative data visualisation is used to reconstruct a scene or item and is used to assist the viewer (who may well be a member of the general public with little or no understanding of the subject matter) to understand what is being presented. Analysis visualisations, on the other hand, are usually developed to review data, information and assess competing scenario hypotheses for those who usually have an …

Technology Corner: Visualising Forensic Data: Evidence Guidelines (Part 2), Damian Schofield, Ken Fowle

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Visualisation is becoming increasingly important for understanding information, such as investigative data (for example: computing, medical and crime scene evidence) and analysis (for example, network capability assessment, data file reconstruction and planning scenarios). Investigative data visualisation is used to reconstruct a scene or item and is used to assist the viewer (who may well be a member of the general public with little or no understanding of the subject matter) to understand what is being presented. Analysis visualisations, on the other hand, are usually developed to review data, information and assess competing scenario hypotheses for those who usually have an …

How Do Dentists And Their Teams Incorporate Evidence About Preventive Care? An Empirical Study, Alexandra Sbaraini, Stacy M. Carter, R Wendell Evans, Anthony Blinkhorn

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objectives To identify how dentists and their teams adopt evidence‐based preventive care. Methods A qualitative study using grounded theory methodology was conducted. We interviewed 23 participants working in eight dental practices about their experience and work processes, while adopting evidence‐based preventive care. During the study, Charmaz's grounded theory methodology was employed to examine the social process of adopting preventive dental care in dental practices. Charmaz's iteration of the constant comparative method was used during the data analysis. This involved coding of interview transcripts, detailed memo‐writing and drawing diagrams. The transcripts were analyzed as soon as possible after each round of …

Anatomy Of Sand Beach Ridges: Evidence From Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi And Its Predecessors, Northeast Queensland, Australia, Jonathon Nott, Catherine Chague-Goff, James Goff, Craig Sloss, Naomi Riggs

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Four well-identified tropical cyclones over the past century have been responsible for depositing distinct units of predominantly quartzose sand and gravel to form the most seaward beach ridge at several locations along the wet tropical coast of northeast Queensland, Australia. These units deposited by tropical cyclones display a key sedimentary signature characterized by a sharp basal erosional contact, a coarser grain size than the underlying facies and a coarse-skewed trend toward the base. Coarse-skewed distributions with minimal change in mean grain size also characterize the upper levels of the high-energy deposited units at locations within the zone of maximum onshore …

Polycyclic Evolution Of Camboriú Complex Migmatites, Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil: Integrated Hf Isotopic And U-Pb Age Zircon Evidence Of Episodic Reworking Of A Mesoarchean Juvenile Crust, Miguel Angelo Stipp Basei, Mario Da Costa Campos Neto, Angela Pacheco Lopes, Allen Phillip Nutman, Dunyi Liu, Kei Sato

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

The Camboriú Complex is the only gneissic-migmatitic inlier within the Neoproterozoic Brusque Group supracrustal rocks, in the northernmost part of the Dom Feliciano Belt, southern Brazil. It comprises the Morro do Boi migmatites and the diatexitic Ponta do Cabeço Granite. Zircon U-Pb dating of migmatites and associated granitic neosomes shows that crustal evolution started in the Paleo- Mesoarchean (3.3-3.0 Ga), continued with events through the Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic and ended in the Neoproterozoic (0.64-0.61 Ga). Integration of zircon Hf isotopic data and U-Pb ages indicate that juvenile crustal accretion was restricted to the Archean and that afterwards intracrustal reworking predominated. …

Addressing The Deficiencies In The Evidence-Base For Primary Practice In Regional Australia - Sentinel Practices Data Sourcing (Spds) Project: A Pilot Study, Abhijeet Ghosh, Karen E. Charlton, Lisa Girdo, Marijka J. Batterham, Keith Mcdonald

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Background Chronic disease risk on a population level can be quantified through health surveys, either continuous or periodic. To date, information gathered from primary care interactions, using sentinel sites, has not been investigated as a potentially valuable surveillance system in Australia.

Methods A pilot study was conducted in a single General Practice in a regional area of New South Wales, Australia to assess the feasibility of accessing data obtained through a computerised chronic disease management program that has been designed for desktop application (Pen Computer Systems (PCS) Clinical Audit Tool: ™ PCS CAT). Collated patient data included information on chronic …

Beyond The Levant: First Evidence Of A Pre-Pottery Neolithic Incursion Into The Nefud Desert, Saudi Arabia, Remy Crassard, Michael D. Petraglia, Adrian G. Parker, Ash Parton, Richard G. Roberts, Zenobia Jacobs, Abdullah Alsharekh, Abdulaziz Al-Omari, Paul Breeze, Nick A. Drake, Huw S. Groucutt, Richard Jennings, Emmanuelle Regagnon, Ceri Shipton

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Pre-Pottery Neolithic assemblages are best known from the fertile areas of the Mediterranean Levant. The archaeological site of Jebel Qattar 101 (JQ-101), at Jubbah in the southern part of the Nefud Desert of northern Saudi Arabia, contains a large collection of stone tools, adjacent to an Early Holocene palaeolake. The stone tool assemblage contains lithic types, including El-Khiam and Helwan projectile points, which are similar to those recorded in Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B assemblages in the Fertile Crescent. Jebel Qattar lies ~500 kilometres outside the previously identified geographic range of Pre-Pottery Neolithic cultures. Technological analysis of the …

Molecular Evidence Of N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Hypofunction In Schizophrenia, C S. Weickert, S J. Fung, V S. Catts, P R. Schofield, K M. Allen, L T. Moore, Kelly A. Newell, D Pellen, Xu-Feng Huang, S V. Catts, T W Weickert

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) produces behavior in healthy people that is similar to the psychotic symptoms and cognitive deficits of schizophrenia and can exacerbate symptoms in people with schizophrenia. However, an endogenous brain disruption of NMDARs has not been clearly established in schizophrenia. We measured mRNA transcripts for five NMDAR subunit mRNAs and protein for the NR1 subunit in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of schizophrenia and control (n=74) brains. Five NMDAR single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) previously associated with schizophrenia were tested for association with NMDAR mRNAs in postmortem brain and for association with cognitive ability in an antemortem cohort …

Practice Based Evidence: What Determines Clozpapine Prescribing Practice?, N B. Pai, S C. Vella

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Abstract of poster that presented at the 15th ISAM Annual Meeting: Managing Addiction through Evidence-Based Medical and Psychosocial Interventions, 21-23 November 2013, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Energy In-Equivalence In Australian Marsupials: Evidence For Disruption Of The Continent's Mammal Assemblage, Or Are Rules Meant To Be Broken?, Adam J. Munn, Craig Dunne, Dennis W.H Muller, Marcus Clauss

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

The energy equivalence rule (EER) is a macroecological hypothesis that posits that total population energy use (PEU) should be independent of species body mass, because population densities and energy metabolisms scale with body mass in a directly inverse manner. However, evidence supporting the EER is equivocal, and the use of basal metabolic rate (BMR) in such studies has been questioned; ecologically-relevant indices like field metabolic rate (FMR) are probably more appropriate. In this regard, Australian marsupials present a novel test for the EER because, unlike eutherians, marsupial BMRs and FMRs scale differently with body mass. Based on either FMR or …

Treated Differently? Evidence Of Racism And Discrimination From A Local Perspective, Patricia Kennedy

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

One of the key findings of this study is that as many as 80% of those who experienced racism or discrimination do not report it. The report shows that racism and discrimination are happening in Limerick but victims and witnesses are reluctant to turn to the authorities for assistance. While this particular study documents local manifestations of racism and discrimination, the issues are of global, national and regional significance.

Challenges To Getting Evidence Into Practice: Expert Clinician Perspectives On Psychotherapy For Personality Disorders, Kye L. Mccarthy, Phoebe E. Carter, Brin F. S Grenyer

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Background No known recent studies have investigated service provision for personality disorder in Australia, despite international studies suggesting provision of such services is sub-optimal. Aims This study aimed to gain insight into psychotherapy provided for personality disorders, treatments considered optimal by clinicians and opinions of clinicians on the current levels of care. Methods The views of 60 experienced clinicians working with personality disorders were sampled. Results Data showed significant gaps between current practices for the treatment of personality disorders provided by clinicians compared to their perceptions of optimal treatment practice. Conclusions This study highlights the evidence-practice gap and the need …