Digital Commons Network^™

The Asymmetric Information Content Of Reit Ipos, Dennis Franklin Steele

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines asymmetric information content of REIT IPOs as compared to that of industrial IPOs matched by similar asset size, underwriter reputation ranking, and partial adjustment of the offer-price from the midpoint of the original file range. The asymmetric information level is proxied by the relative bid-ask spread (RELSPREAD), adverse selection component of Glosten and Harris (GH, 1988), and the adverse selection component of Lin, Sanger, and Booth (LSB, 1995). All three measures are estimated over 45- and 60-day windows. Using a sample of 78 equity REIT IPOs and 123 Industrial IPOs for the period of January 1, 1993 …

Implementation And Impact Of A School-Based Intervention Program To Combat Obesity And Cardiovascular Disease In A Predominantly African-American High School, Brenda White Campbell Jenkins

Theses and Dissertations

This study addressed obesity of youth in a predominantly African-American school and was concerned with the implementation of a CVD intervention program, Project Health Curriculum, for high school students, focusing on early health promotion and support to children at risk of developing adult diseases. A health promotion program was implemented at a high school in Canton, Mississippi, to equip students with information to help reduce risk behaviors that could lead to health problems. This intervention was conducted in the health and physical education classes. Students were given the opportunity to report their knowledge and behaviors by participating in a pretest. …

A Partial Discharge Measurement Technique For Applied Square Pulse Voltage With 50 Ns Rise Times, Clayborne Dudley Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

During the fabrication of solid electrical insulation, small cavities known as micro voids may form in the material. As electrical stress increases in this micro void, the breakdown probability also increases. This type of electrical breakdown is commonly known as partial discharge. Magnitudes of partial discharge currents are typically small but enough to cause degradation of the electrical insulation. To study degradation for fast-rise time voltage square pulse train, partial discharge measurement is needed. In current studies, partial discharge pulse widths have been measured in the range of nanoseconds. The best approach for measurement at ultra wide band frequencies is …

Biomass Pretreatment For Increased Anhydrosugars Yield During Fast Pyrolysis, Qi Li

Theses and Dissertations

Production of liquid fuels is a high national priority to provide transporation fuels. Production of liquid biouels from biomass has been idenfied as a viable goal over the next decades. Fast pyrolysis is the rapid thermal degradation of lignocellulosic biomass in the absence of oxygen. Levoglucosan, which can be hydrolyzed and fermented into bio-ethanol, is produced during the pyrolysis process of the cellulose contained in biomass. Pure cellulose results in the production of levoglucosan of more than 50% by feedstock weight while woody biomass typically produces about 3% during pyrolysis. Researchers have performed significant research into methods to increase yields …

A Cross Cultural Validation Of Perceptions And Use Of Social Network Service: An Exploratory Study, Chengqi Guo

Theses and Dissertations

The rapid developments Social Network Service (SNS) have offered opportunities to re-visit many seminal theoretical assumptions of technology usage within socio-technical environment. Online social network is a rapidly growing field that imposes new questions to the existing IS research paradigm. It is argued that information systems research must necessarily evolve in response to the emerging trends (Lyytinen and King, 2004). Specifically, one stream of research has been heavily lacking is SNS usage prediction (Hargittai, 2007). In SNS, the form of social network is realized by computing networks where the individual assumes an identity of an “avatar”. People are merging their …

Detection Of Tick-Borne Bacterial Agents In Lone Star Ticks (Amblyomma Americanum) And Various Wildlife In Mississippi, Ashley Harris Castellaw

Theses and Dissertations

Two studies were conducted to evaluate the presence of tick-borne bacterial agents in Amblyomma americanum, lone star tick (LST), and various wildlife in Mississippi. Adult LSTs had DNA evidence of Ehrlichia chaffeensis (3.7%), E. ewingii (6.3%), and Borrelia lonestari (2.6%), while both larval (24.3%) and adult (43.5%) LSTs were positive for a Rickettsia spp. by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). White-tailed deer (WTD) were the only wildlife PCR positive for E. chaffeensis (18.8%), B. lonestari (3.1%), and Anaplasma phagocytophilum (3.1%). In addition, WTD had the highest seroprevalence to B. lonestari (19.3%) and E. chaffeensis (43.9%) antigens while raccoons had the highest …

Flow Structure/Particle Interaction In The Small Bronchial Tubes, Belabahen Soni

Theses and Dissertations

The laminar flow in the small bronchial tubes is quite complex due to the presence of vortex-dominated, secondary flows. Contributing to this complexity are the geometrical characteristics of the bronchial tubes that include asymmetric and nonplanar branching. These secondary flow fields play a crucial role in particle deposition; however, the actual mechanisms that determine the particle distributions are not fully understood. The research reported here increases understanding of this phenomenon by studying flow structure/ particle interaction in the small bronchial tubes for steady and unsteady respiratory conditions. Specifically, the effects of simultaneous nonplanar and asymmetric branching were investigated. The nonplanar …

Movements, Relatedness And Modeled Genetic Manipulation Of White-Tailed Deer, Stephen Lance Webb

Theses and Dissertations

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have been intensively studied across their range. However, many aspects of the white-tailed deer’s ecology have not been studied or are difficult to study. The advent of global positioning system (GPS) collar technology and molecular genetics techniques now allows researchers to collect fine-scale and cryptic phenomena. In addition, selective harvest of male white-tailed deer, based on antler size, has not been critically evaluated. Thus, development and use of quantitative genetics models will be useful for elucidating the effects of selective harvest on mean population antler size. I used GPS collar technology to further understand white-tailed deer …

Optimization Of The Production Of The Lantibiotics Mutacin 1140 In Modified M9 Media, Neeti Dahal

Theses and Dissertations

Mutacin 1140, a class 1 bacteriocin, is produced by Streptococcus mutans and belongs to the type A lantibiotic family. Experiments were done to optimize production of mutacin 1140 in minimal media enabling a more cost efficient downstream purification method. The development of a small volume fermentation method enabled a rapid screen of several variables in a standard shaking incubator. This method provided a fast approach for determining components that promote mutacin 1140 production in minimal media broth. Lactose was determined to be the optimal carbon source for mutacin 1140 production. High concentrations of CaCl2 (0.3% w/v) and MgSO4 (0.77% w/v) …

Pathogen Entrance And Development Of Disease During Infection Of The American Channel Catfish Ictalurus Punctatus By The Enterobacterium Edwardsiella Ictaluri, Simon Menanteau-Ledouble

Theses and Dissertations

Since being first reported in the late 1980ies, the Enterobacterium Edwardsiella ictaluri has rose in prevalence to become one of the two most damaging pathogens affecting the channel catfish industry. Despite this significance of the pathogen, understanding of the development of the disease, especially its route of entry into the host and the earlier stages of the infection, is still incomplete. A series of challenges were conducted using bioluminescent E. ictaluri either by infecting fish through immersion or topical application of the bacteria directly on the intact or abraded epithelium. This showed that abraded fish developed septicemia and died faster …

Faunal Communities Of Temporary Wetlands Of Upland And Floodplain Public Forested Lands In North Mississippi, Katherine E. Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

I conducted surveys of amphibian, reptile, and small mammal communities surrounding 4 isolated, upland and 6 stream-connected temporary wetlands on Tombigbee National Forest and Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in north Mississippi from May 2001 - March 2006. Trap captures yielded 17 amphibian species (n = 11,142), 21 reptile species (n = 541), and 10 small mammal species (n = 472). Upland pools supported greater diversity of Ambystomatid salamanders, anurans, lizards, and mice (Peromyscus spp.), than floodplain pools. Factors including landscape position of pools, proximity to alternate water sources, and barriers to dispersal potentially influenced faunal communities of temporary wetlands. Infrared-triggered …

Labrat™: Miniature Robot For Students, Researchers, And Hobbyists, Paul Robinette, Ryan Meuth, Ryanne Dolan, Donald C. Wunsch

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

LabRat™ is an autonomous, self-contained mobile robot kit with batteries, motors, two bumper whisker sensors, and three infrared proximity sensors that double as channels for "Rat-to-Rat" communication. the vehicle determines its position with an optical sensor that detects movement in both lateral directions. the LabRat™ design is completely open source, including software examples and libraries. LabRat™ is designed to fit inside the body of a computer mouse and has applications in the classroom, the lab and the home. the device has been successfully used in an undergraduate robotics class. © 2009 IEEE.

Examining Family Child Care Quality From A Business Perspective, Mccormick Center For Early Childhood Leadership

McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership Publications

Research has demonstrated that center-based early childhood programs that have sound administrative practices are more apt to promote high-quality learning environments and positive development outcomes for children. There is a growing concensus that sound business practices are equally important in family child care settings. While there are several instruments that measure the quality of provider-child interactions and the quality of the learning environment in family child care, there has not been a valid and reliable measure of business and professional practices of family child care. With this in mind, the Business Scale for Family Child Care (BAS) was developed to …

Around The Web: Janus-Faced Links

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

As December moves on, assessing the highs and lows of 2009 takes up more and more of our time — and this year, we have the added task of summing up the entire “00” decade. Below, some recent stories that say goodbye to 2009 (a little bit early), and one that says hello to 2010 (also a bit early).

1. We’ve recently seen several “best books of the year” lists, but not many of their selections have links to China — reflecting the fact that 2009 was something of an off-year in the China-related publishing field (especially compared to the …

The Statesman, V. 53, I. 25, Stony Brook University

Stony Brook Statesman-Sucolian

v. 53, i. 25

The Setonian, December 10, 2009, Seton Hall University

2009

No abstract provided.

Absolute Dimensions Of The G7+K7 Eclipsing Binary Star Im Virginis: Discrepancies With Stellar Evolution Models, Juan Carlos Morales, Guillermo Torres, Laurence A. Marschall, William C. Brehm

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We report extensive spectroscopic and differential photometric BVRI observations of the active, detached, 1.309-day double-lined eclipsing binary IMVir, composed of a G7-type primary and a K7 secondary.With these observations, we derive accurate absolute masses and radii of M1 = 0.981 + 0.012M, M2 = 0.6644 + 0.0048M, R1 = 1.061 + 0.016R, and R2 = 0.681 + 0.013R for the primary and secondary, with relative errors under 2%. The effective temperatures are 5570 + 100 K and 4250 + 130 K, respectively. The significant difference in mass makes this a favorable case for comparison with stellar evolution theory.We find that …

Christ The Redeemer And The Best Of All Possibly Created Worlds: Using Alvin Plantinga's 'O Felix Culpa' Theodicy As A Response To William Rowe's 'Can God Be Free?' And The Underlying Evidential Argument From Evil, P. Roger Turner

Masters Theses

In his "The Problem of Evil and Some Varieties of Atheism," William Rowe famously argues that there are no God justifying goods that we know of that can excuse God's allowing the very many widespread evils and horrors there are in our world. I argue that this forms the backbone of his 2004 volume entitled Can God be Free? in which he posits two further arguments: (1) God must create the best of necessity and is thereby not free and so not praiseworthy, and (2) God cannot create a best world (since there is no best) and so always does …

The Advocate, December 10, 2009, Minnesota State University Moorhead

The Advocate

No abstract provided.

Detrital U-Pb Zircon Dating Of Lower Ordovician Syn-Arc-Continent Collision Conglomerates In The Irish Caledonides, Peter D. Clift, Andrew Carter, Amy E. Draut, Hoang Van Long, David M. Chew, Hans A. Schouten

Faculty Publications

The Early Ordovician Grampian Orogeny in the British Isles represents a classic example of collision between an oceanic island arc and a passive continental margin, starting around 480 Ma. The South Mayo Trough in western Ireland preserves a complete and well-dated sedimentary record of arc collision. We sampled sandstones and conglomerates from the Rosroe, Maumtrasna and Derryveeny Formations in order to assess erosion rates and patterns during and after arc collision. U-Pb dating of zircons reveals a provenance dominated by erosion from the upper levels of the Dalradian Supergroup (Southern Highland and Argyll Groups), with up to 20% influx from …

Report: Poverty Higher, Care Less Coordinated For Kids With Intellectual Disabilities, Beth Potier

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Daily Eastern News: December 10, 2009, Eastern Illinois University

December

No abstract provided.

Disordered, Quasicrystalline And Crystalline Phases Of Densely Packed Tetrahedra, Rolfe G. Petschek

Faculty Scholarship

All hard, convex shapes are conjectured by Ulam to pack more densely than spheres, which have a maximum packing fraction of Ø /18 0.7405. Simple lattice packings of many shapes easily surpass this packing fraction. For regular tetrahedra, this conjecture was shown to be true only very recently; an ordered arrangement was obtained via geometric construction with Ø= 0.7786 (ref. 4), which was subsequently compressed numerically to Ø= 0.7820 (ref. 5), while compressing with different initial conditions led to Ø= 0.8230 (ref. 6). Here we show that tetrahedra pack even more densely, and in a completely unexpected way. Following a …

Jakarta Official Defends Bailout, Tom Wright

Documents

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 10, 2009, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

Washington University Record, December 10, 2009

Washington University Record

No abstract provided.

Youth Perspectives On Meaningful Participation In Community Based Programs: A Qualitative Assessment, Sherer Royce

Journal of Youth Development

Allowing the voiceless to have a voice is a tenet of empowerment. This paper highlights research that employed a participatory action research framework to gain a better understanding of young people’s perceptions about youth empowerment and acquire their perspective (voice) about the meaningfulness of participation in out-of-school advocacy and volunteer program activities. Using Photovoice, the research provides a missing point of view in youth empowerment model development. Results indicate that the quality of a youth’s participation in a community-based program is determined by 1) youth expressing themselves without censorship, 2) occasions for youth to expand their social networks with youth …

The Cowl - V. 74 - N. 12 - Dec 10, 2009

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Volume 74 - Number 12 - December 10, 2009. 32 pages.

Cocaine And Mefloquine-Induced Acute Effects In Ventral Tegmental Area Dopamine And Gaba Neurons, David Wilbanks Allison

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of the two studies presented here was to evaluate the effects of cocaine and mefloquine (MFQ) on γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and dopamine (DA) neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Cocaine: In vivo, lower doses of intravenous cocaine (0.25-0.5 mg/kg), or methamphetamine (METH), enhanced VTA GABA neuron firing rate via D2/D5 receptor activation. Higher cocaine doses (1.0-2.0 mg/kg) inhibited their firing rate. Cocaine and lidocaine inhibited the firing rate and spike discharges induced by stimulation of the internal capsule (ICPSDs) at dose levels 0.25-2 mg/kg (IC50 1.2 mg/kg), but neither DA nor METH reduced ICPSDs. In VTA …

Vista: December 10, 2009, University Of San Diego

USD Vista (1965-)

No abstract provided.