Digital Commons Network^™

High-Pressure Coal Pyrolysis In A Drop Tube Furnace, Koichi Matsuoka, Zhi-Xin Ma, Hiroyuki Akiho, Zhan-Guo Zhang, Akira Tomita, Thomas H. Fletcher, Marek A. Wojtowicz, Stephen Niksa

Faculty Publications

To obtain useful and reliable pyrolysis data under high pressures, continuous pyrolysis experiments were carried out using a drop tube furnace. To ascertain the reliability of data, a mass balance during pyrolysis was carefully checked. The pyrolysis data obtained in this equipment was compared with previous results, and it was found that the weight loss observed in the drop tube furnace was somewhat larger than those obtained with other apparatuses. The experimental results were compared with those predicted by three pyrolysis models. Although discrepancies between predictions and experimental results were observed under a certain condition, the agreement between the experimental …

High-Pressure Intrinsic Oxidation Kinetics Of Two Coal Chars, William C. Hecker, Peter M. Madsen, Michael R. Sherman, Jared W. Allen, Rebecca J. Sawaya, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

Chars were produced from two coals (North Dakota lignite and Pittsburgh No. 8 hva bituminous coal) in a flat flame burner at atmospheric pressure. Intrinsic char reactivities to oxygen were then measured in a high-pressure thermogravimetric analyzer as a function of temperature, total pressure, and partial pressure of oxygen. Care was taken to avoid mass transfer effects. Reactivities were normalized by the available mass of char at any given time (g/(gavailâs)). Reactivity data were obtained over a wide range of char burnout and were found to be independent of burnout level between char burnouts of 20 and 60%. Data were …

Israel, Historical Background Of, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

Israel, historical background of Familiarity with the historical background of ancient Israel is beneficial, even essential for students of the Book of Mormon for many reasons , including the following: (1) so readers can appreciate the historical context in which the Lehites and Mulekites originated ; (2) because the Book of Mormon prophets presupposed that their people (and latter-day readers of their records) were familiar with the Hebrew scriptures (the Ch1istian Old Testament) and Israelite. history as they refer to the Israelite Exodus from Egypt, the existence of ten "lost tribes" of Israel, and so on 1 Ne. 17) ;

Effects Of Concurrent Motor, Linguistic, Or Cognitive Tasks On Speech Motor Performance, Christopher Dromey, April Benson

Faculty Publications

This study examined the influence of 3 different types of concurrent tasks on speech motor performance. The goal was to uncover potential differences in speech movements relating to the nature of the secondary task. Twenty young adults repeated sentences either with or without simultaneous distractor activities. These distractions included a motor task (putting together washers, nuts, and bolts), a linguistic task (generating verbs from nouns), and a cognitive task(performing mental arithmetic). Lip movement data collected during the experimental conditions revealed decreases in displacement and velocity during the motor task. The linguistic and cognitive tasks were associated with increased spatiotemporal variability …

An Imaging System Correlating Lip Shapes With Tongue Contact Patterns For Speech Pathology Research, Christopher Dromey, Daniel Bates, Xiaoqian Xu, Sameer Antani, D J. Lee

Faculty Publications

In this research, an imaging system was built to work with a newly developed electronic device to help people produce sounds correctly. The system consists of two parts, the internal tongue contact pattern data collection and the external lip shape information analysis. The tongue position information was gathered using the palatometer, an innovative tongue contact pattern-tracking device invented by Dr. Samuel Fletcher. The lip shape information was collected by processing images taken from people articulating different sounds. We developed an efficient color image segmentation technique to extract lip contour points and form a closed curve for shape analysis. The geometry …

A Vision System Performing Lip Shape Analysis For Speech Pathology Research, Christopher Dromey, D J. Lee, Daniel Bates, Xiaoqian Xu

Faculty Publications

We have built a machine vision system to perform lip shape analysis and recognition and to generate 3.D lip models for speech pathology research. The system employs two color cameras that are synchronized to capture image video pairs simultaneously. A novel color segmentation technique that converts the RGB color components to linear color space has been developed to extract lip shape contours. Lip shape of the viseme, the smallest visibly distinguishable unit of speech, is used to identify its corresponding image frame in the recorded image sequences. It is also used to reconstruct the 3-D lip shape model as a …

Parent And Child Perspectives Of Family Leisure Involvement And Satisfaction With Family Life, Ramon B. Zabriskie, Bryan P. Mccormick

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between family leisure involvement and satisfaction with family life. The sample consisted of 179 families. Data were analyzed at the parent, child, and family level. Findings indicated that family leisure involvement was the strongest multivariate predictor of family satisfaction from the parent perspective, but was not a significant multivariate predictor from the child's perspective. At the family level of measurement, only the block including Core and Balance family leisure variables explained a significant portion of the variance in family satisfaction. History of divorce was a negative multivariate predictor of family …

Some Loans Are More Equal Than Others: Third-Party Originations And Defaults In The Subprime Mortgage Industry, William P. Alexander, Scott D. Grimshaw, Grant R. Mcqueen, Barrett A. Slade

Faculty Publications

We show how agency problems between lenders (principals) and third-party originators (TPO; agents) imply that TPO-originated loans are more likely to default than similar retail-originated loans. The nature of the agency problem is that TPOs are compensated for writing loans, but are not completely held accountable for the subsequent performance of those loans. Using a hazard model with jointly estimated competing risks and unobserved heterogeneity, we find empirical support for the TPO/default prediction using individual fixedrate subprime loans with first liens secured by residential real estate originated between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 1998. We find that apparently equal …

A Comparison Of Partially Adaptive And Reweighted Least Squares Estimation, Brian H. Boyer, James B. Mcdonald, Whitney K. Newey

Faculty Publications

The small sample performance of least median of squares, reweighted least squares, least squares, least absolute deviations, and three partially adaptive estimators are compared using Monte Carlo simulations. Two data problems are addressed in the paper: (1) data generated from non-normal error distributions and (2) contaminated data. Breakdown plots are used to investigate the sensitivity of partially adaptive estimators to data contamination relative to RLS. One partially adaptive estimator performs especially well when the errors are skewed, while another partially adaptive estimator and RLS perform particularly well when the errors are extremely leptokurtotic. In comparison with RLS, partially adaptive estimators …

Concealing And Confounding Adverse Signals: Insider Wealth-Maximizing Behavior In The Ipo Process, James S. Ang, James C. Brau

Faculty Publications

We study a known negative signal, the sale of insider shares in an IPO and find that insiders adopt two concealment strategies consistent with wealth-maximizing behavior. First, insiders underreport the number of personally owned shares in the prominent original prospectus and use an obscure amendment to communicate the true higher level of shares to be offered. Second, when insiders increase shares in a later amendment, they tend to either increase secondary shares disproportional to primary share increases, or to reduce primary shares to wholly or partly conceal the increase in secondary shares offered. Insiders confound the negative secondary share signal …

Efficient Estimation Of Conditional Asset-Pricing Models, Douglas J. Hodgson, Keith Vorkink

Faculty Publications

A semiparametric efficient estimation procedure is developed for the parameters of multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity-in-mean models when the disturbances have a conditional distribution assumed to be elliptically symmetric but otherwise unrestricted. Under highlevel assumptions, the resulting estimator achieves the asymptotic semiparametric efficiency bound. The elliptical symmetry assumption allows us to avert the curse of dimensionality problem that would otherwise arise in estimating the unknown error distribution. This framework is suitable for the estimation and testing of conditional asset-pricing models, such as the conditional capital asset-pricing model. We apply our procedure in an empirical study of stock prices, with Monte …

Return Distributions And Improved Tests Of Asset Pricing Models, Keith Vorkink

Faculty Publications

We compare and contrast some existing ordinary least squares (OLS)- and generalized method of moments (GMM)-based tests of asset pricing models with a new more general test. This new test is valid under the assumption that returns are elliptically distributed, a necessary and sufficient assumption of the linear capital asset pricing model (CAPM). This new test fails to reject the CAPM on a dataset of stocks sorted by market valuations, whereas similar tests constructed from OLS and GMM estimation methods reject the linear CAPM. We also find that outliers reduce the OLSestimated mispricing of the linear CAPM on monthly returns …

Testing Forward Exchange Rate Unbiasedness Efficiently: A Semiparametric Approach, Douglas J. Hodgson, Oliver Linton, Keith Vorkink

Faculty Publications

We apply semiparametric efficient estimation procedures for a seemingly unrelated regression model where the multivariate error density is elliptically symmetric to study the efficiency of the foreign exchange market. We consider both cointegrating regressions and standard stationary regressions. The elliptical symmetry assumption allows us to avoid the curse of dimensionality problem that typically arises in multivariate semiparametric estimation procedures, because the multivariate elliptically symmetric density function can be written as a function of a scalar transformation of the observed multivariate data. We test the unbiasedness hypothesis on both weekly and daily exchange rate data and strongly reject unbiasedness at the …

Investor Overconfidence And Trading Volume, Meir Statman, Steven Thorley, Keith Vorkink

Faculty Publications

The proposition that investors are overconfident about their valuation and trading skills can explain high observed trading volume. With biased self-attribution, the level of investor overconfidence and thus trading volume varies with past returns. We test the trading volume predictions of formal overconfidence models and find that share turnover is positively related to lagged returns for many months. The relationship holds for both market-wide and individual security turnover, which we interpret as evidence of investor overconfidence and the disposition effect, respectively. Security volume is more responsive to market return shocks than to security return shocks, and both relationships are more …

Propping And Tunneling, Eric Friedman, Simon Johnson, Todd Mitton

Faculty Publications

In countries with weak legal systems, there is a great deal of tunneling by the entrepreneurs who control publicly traded firms. However, under some conditions entrepreneurs prop up their firms, i.e., they use their private funds to benefit minority shareholders. We provide evidence and a model that explains propping. In particular, we suggest that issuing debt can credibly commit an entrepreneur to propping, even though creditors can never take possession of any underlying collateral. This helps to explain why emerging markets with weak institutions sometimes grow rapidly and why they are also subject to frequent economic and financial crises. Journal …

A Model Of Norm Development For Computer-Mediated Teamwork, Charles R. Graham

Faculty Publications

The process of establishing norms is an important aspect of group dynamics. Most, if not all, of the major models of group development incorporate norming as an important part of the process. However, little is understood and agreed on regarding how norms develop.With the increased availability and power of technology to connect people at remote sites, the popularity of computer-mediated teamwork has increased dramatically. This new communication context brings with it some dramatic differences from the traditional face-to-face context, along with a need to understand how norms develop in this environment. This study investigates the norming process engaged in by …

Blending Face-To-Face And Distance Learners In A Synchronous Class: Instructor And Learner Experiences, P. Clint Rogers, Charles R. Graham, Rus Rasmussen, J. Olin Campbell, Donna M. Ure

Faculty Publications

Like many institutions, Brigham Young University (BYU) is searching for ways to extend the reach of its programs without expanding the physical classroom and without incurring unreasonable costs. Internet supported instruction provides one alternative, with millions of students already attending Web-based classes (Gubernick & Ebeling, 1997). This case study examines the development of a class that blends distance and face-to-face students in a synchronous class. This case study focuses on how this blended learning environment was experienced by the distance and face-to-face students as well as the instructor.

The Integrated Networks Model: Explaining Resource Allocations In Networked Markets, Judy K. Frels, Tasadduq Shervani, Rajendra Kumar Srivastava

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The last decade has witnessed a shift from a focus on the value created by a single firm and product to an examination of the value created by networks of firms (or product ecosystems) in which assets are comingled with external entities. The authors examine these market-based assets in the context of network markets and propose an Integrated Networks model in which three types of networks—user, complements, and producer—add value or enhance the attractiveness of the associated focal product. The authors empirically test the proposed model by surveying information technology professionals on their resource allocation decisions regarding the Unix and …

A Transformational Model Of Legal-Claiming, B. M. Goldman, R. Cropanzano, Elizabeth Layne Paddock

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

No abstract provided.

Research Opportunities In Internal Auditing, Douglas F. Prawitt

Faculty Publications

This chapter discusses staffing and managing the internal audit function (IAF) as a component of organizational governance, and has two main purposes. First, it familiarizes interested practitioners and researchers with current trends and issues in staffing and managing the IAF. Second, it suggests questions and topics for future thinking and research among practitioners and academics. Managing and staffing an IAF is a vast and complex undertaking that remains relatively unexplored by rigorous research. The chapter contains several citations to practitioner information and academic research, but it does not attempt to include a comprehensive literature review of all relevant articles or …

An Empirical Model Of Price And Quality Effects Of E-Commerce, Scott E. Sampson, Kendall Hulet

Faculty Publications

During the e-Commerce boom of the late 1990s it was predicted that the Internet would have a significant impact on prices of various goods and services. Whether the net impact would he positive or negative was harder to forecast, there being opposing effects. We develop a model that describes some of those effects, including information asymmetry, search costs, price dispersion, trust premiums, and convenience premiums. The model is discussed, and a major portion is statistically tested with empirical data. As an exploratory gesture, the model is extended to consider product quality effects of online shopping. The final section concludes with …

Design And Evaluation Of A Pdf Print Estimating System, Mengtsung Tai

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research consisted of designing and evaluating portable document format (PDF) print estimating system to commercial systems. Taking into account functionality, reliability, standardization, and integration, the conventional design method (Pressman, 1997) was used to develop the print estimating system. Considering the printer's viewpoint, added features make the system function online and offline and compatible with all common computer platforms. After the system was developed, experts and entry-level users evaluated the system for software usability (Nielsen, 2000; Shneiderman, 1998). A total of 26 experts and 38 entry-level users responded to 14 questions about usability in a personal interview survey. Statistical analysis …

Factors Associated With The Decision Not To Become 7–12 Principals By Those Holding The License, Gail Moorman Behrens

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to find out from educators who held the requisite credentials to be a secondary principal, but were not serving in that position, why fewer licensed educators are choosing to apply for secondary principal positions. This investigation was initiated because a shortage of qualified secondary principals in the state of Iowa had been indicated.

Four research questions were utilized with a quantitative research approach. A survey instrument was mailed to a sample of Iowa educators holding the Iowa 7-12 principal license but not serving 7-12 principal positions. The final sample included 131 responses which represented …

Culture From Chaos: The Formation Of Social Norms From The Dynamic Self-Organization Of Individuals' Attitudes And Behavior, Jerry G. Cullum

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Top-down models of culture provide a useful although limited understanding of cultural content, formation, and change. Previous theorizing using bottom-up models help to explain why cultures exist and explain some of their content. Dynamic social impact theory (DSIT; Latane, 1996) expands on previous bottom-up models by proposing a concise mechanism for cultural content transmission and the dynamic outcome of this process. Furthermore, the catastrophe theory of attitudes (Latane & Nowak, 1994) suggests that the level of involvement of an issue will modify attitude change and therefore modify DSIT's predictions. The present study expanded on previous research to offer a more …

An Investigation Of The Concept Of Balance In Children Ages 6–9: Logic And Protologic Identifiable In Making Mobiles, Seon Chun

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research was conducted to explore children's construction of protologic (foreshadowing of operations) in the context of experience with balance mobiles in a constructivist setting and to explore the usefulness of making mobiles in promoting children's development of the concept of balance.

The statement of the problem is (a) Can constructivist principles of cognitive development be used to understand children's progress in the course of educational activities involving balance? If so, how? What does the progressive construction of notions about balance look like in children's behaviors? and (b) Does children's understanding of balance improve after experimenting with making mobiles?

The …

Distrust Quotations In Latin, Peter Goodrich

Articles

No abstract provided.

A Brief History Of Author-Publisher Relations And The Outlook For The 21st Century, Maureen A. O'Rourke

Faculty Scholarship

The Fiftieth Anniversary Edition of the Journal of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A. provides a particularly appropriate forum in which to discuss the current state of the copyright system. By some accounts, U.S. copyright law has been fabulously successful, encouraging the growth of industries whose copyrighted products both enrich American culture and contribute significant value to the economy.

Reexamining The Posse Comitatus Act: Toward A Right To Civil Law Enforcement, Sean J. Kealy

Faculty Scholarship

The military is currently prohibited by federal statute from participating in domestic law enforcement. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 ("PCA") establishes criminal penalties for people who willfully use members of the Army or the Air Force to execute the laws. Although a product of the Reconstruction Era, this law reflects a strong American tradition against the domestic use of the military that stretches back before the founding of the nation.

Corporate Fraud: See, Lawyers, Susan P. Koniak

Faculty Scholarship

The accounting profession must bear a good deal of responsibility for the current wave of corporate scandals, as must those CEOs whose watchword was greed, lackadaisical directors, projections-for-hire investment analysts, banks selling methods designed to deceive, and institutional investors asleep at the switch. One set of villains, however, have managed thus far to float beneath the radar screen and thus escape the lion-sized portion of blame that should rightly be laid at their door: lawyers.

Does Punishment For "Culpable Indifference" Simply Punish For "Bad Character"? Examining The Requisite Connection Between Mens Rea And Actus Reus, Kenneth Simons

Faculty Scholarship

The conventional mental state or culpability categories recognized in the criminal law are purpose, knowledge, recklessness, and negligence. Should the law also recognize as an additional category some version of "culpable indifference"? Yes, according to a number of scholars; and some courts have also recognized this category, especially in the context of depraved heart murder. Culpable indifference can describe a modestly culpable mental state, sufficient for manslaughter liability (or, with respect to a circumstance element, roughly equivalent in seriousness to cognitive recklessness). It can also identify a more aggravated form of culpability, sufficient for murder (or, with respect to a …