Digital Commons Network^™

Examining The Impact Of Offshoring And Level Of Preparer Judgment On The Audit Review Process, Kristen Kelli Saunders

Theses and Dissertations

Offshoring audit tasks is becoming common among international accounting firms. Although tasks currently performed offshore require preparers to exercise little or no professional judgment, firms are poised to expand the volume and scope of procedures performed offshore. While critics argue that offshoring results in reduced audit quality, advocates maintain that offshored procedures are reviewed and supervised by U.S. auditors, and that offshoring may actually improve audit quality. However, little is known about how offshoring impacts reviewers and the review process. This study explores how offshoring interacts with varying levels of preparer judgment to influence reviewers’ judgments. Because firms plan to …

Fate And Behavior Of Silver Nanoparticles To The Estuarine Organisms, Prorocentrum Minimum And Crassostrea Virginica, Shelby Victoria Butz

Theses and Dissertations

Nanoparticles are known to be entering the environment and are shown to have adverse effects on aquatic organisms (Fabrega et.al. 2011, Lapresta-Fernandez et.al. 2012, Matranga and Corsi 2012, Moore 2006). The purpose of this study was to quantify the uptake of AgNPs by two estuarine organisms and determine the associated toxic effects of accumulation. There are multiple procedures for nanoparticle (NP) synthesis that involve various core and surface materials, which result in various characteristics such as size, shape, and surface coating. In this study silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized by a chemical reduction of silver salts and characterized in stock …

Sleep Extension And Stable Sleep Schedules In Older Adults, Alexandria M. Reynolds

Theses and Dissertations

There is consistent evidence demonstrating a “U-shaped” association between sleep duration and mortality, as well as several morbidities, such as increased systemic inflammation, decreased cognitive performance, and mood disturbances. Much of the information on long sleep is epidemiological in nature. The present study examined the associations between sleep duration and extension on mood, inflammation, and cognition. Ten (50-79 y) healthy adults who report sleeping 6-8 h were assessed on cognitive, emotional, and inflammatory measures in a cross-over design. Following a baseline week, participants were randomized to one of two three-week treatments: (1) a control treatment of habitual time in bed; …

The Syntax-Space Effect, Timothy W. Boiteau

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has linked the concept of number and other ordinal series to space via a spatially-oriented number line. Other researchers have shown that language as well may have an underlying spatial representation, though this seems to be tied to visual scene recognition and production and is potentially an idiosyncratic effect of a limited set of concrete verbs. In this dissertation, employing a novel method that measures the underlying spatial biases of actors in transitive sentences, I show that findings from previous studies showing a relationship between transitivity and space reflect an interaction between word order in the sentence, order …

The Relationship Of The Mediterranean Diet And The Dietary Approaches To Stop Hypertension (Dash) Style Diet With Cardiometabolic Health, Yong-Moon Park

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Much evidence shows that the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) style diet are associated with risk reduction of cardiometabolic disease as well as lower risk of all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer mortality. A subgroup of obese individuals (metabolically healthy obese (MHO) phenotype) and normal weight individuals (metabolically obese normal weight (MONW) phenotype) have been identified to have different cardiometabolic risks compared with their counterparts in the same category of body mass index (BMI). Scarce evidence exists demonstrating a relationship between adherence to Mediterranean diet or DASH style diets with MHO and MONW …

Middle School Students' Perceptions Of Fairness And Trust In Assessment Scenarios, Corinne Elaine Jimenez

Theses and Dissertations

Fairness in assessment practices is an elusive concept which has been explored in some detail at the university level, but rarely with students in middle school. This study examines students’ perceptions of fairness on nine classroom assessment practices. It also studies if students’ perceptions of fairness, as well as student gender, could predict their levels of trust. Students were able to discern fair practices, as defined by alignment to best assessment practice literature, from unfair practices for most scenarios. They were more inclined to recognize interactional fairness deviations or promotions. The student’s ability to identify a fair or unfair situation …

Trees, Partitions, And Other Combinatorial Structures, Heather Christina Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contains work on three main topics.

Chapters 1 through 4 provide complexity results for the single cut-or-join model for genome rearrangement. Genomes will be represented by binary strings. Let S be a finite collection of binary strings, each of the same length. Define M to be the collection of medians – binary strings μ which minimize Sigma v belongs to S H(μ,v) where H is the Hamming distance. For any non-negative function f(x), define Z(f(x), S) to be (Sigma μ belongs to M) (Pi v belongs to S)f(H(μ,v)). We study the complexity of calculating Z(f(x), S), with respect …

Factors Influencing Level Of Implementation Of Physical Activity Interventions In Youth-Serving Organizations, Yuen Yan Lau

Theses and Dissertations

In the past decade, numerous interventions have been developed and tested to increase physical activity in children and adolescents. Among these interventions, those that reported higher levels of program implementation appear to have better program outcomes. However, relatively little is known about the specific factors that contributed to successful implementation in youth physical activity interventions. The overall purpose of this dissertation was to identify a set of core factors that are most important in explaining implementation of physical activity interventions in youth-serving settings. Three studies, an expert panel study and two prospective observational studies, were conducted to address the purpose …

Correlations Between White Matter Integrity, Structural Connectivity, And Upper And Lower Extremity Motor Function In Individuals With Chronic Stroke, Denise M. Peters

Theses and Dissertations

Great variability is seen in the clinical manifestation of and recovery from stroke. Structural abnormalities often extend beyond the infarction site, indirectly affecting nonlesioned areas which can further contribute to motor deficits. Advances in neuroimaging have enabled the examination of white matter integrity and anatomical connectivity within the brain. Evidence is limited, however, regarding the relationship between the structural integrity and connectivity of primary and secondary motor tracts/brain regions and chronic upper and (especially) lower extremity motor impairments post-stroke. Therefore, the current study examined the relationship between upper/lower extremity motor impairments and structural integrity (Aim 1) and connectivity (Aim 2) …

The Development Of Efficient Geminal-Based Methods For Quantum Chemical Calculations, Brett Allen Cagg

Theses and Dissertations

Incorporation of electron correlation to improve the accuracy of computations remains a driving force in quantum chemical method development. Traditionally, electron correlation effects are divided into static and dynamic correlation parts, and the inclusion of both results in methods that are impractical for large chemical systems. The goal of this doctoral research is to develop a method that efficiently accounts for both components of electron correlation in a separate but balanced manner. The approach focuses on combining a geminal method, called the antisymmetrized product of singlet-type, strongly orthogonal geminals (SSG), with dynamic correlation by either density functionals or a recently …

Anxiety And Autism Symptomology On Social Skills In Young Boys With Fragile X Syndrome, Debra L. Reisinger

Theses and Dissertations

Children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) are at high risk for developing several comorbid disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and anxiety, that can substantially impart their social skills. However, to date, there are no studies that examine complex social skills within boys with FXS and the effects of emerging autism and anxiety symptoms on the development of their social skills. The current study examines social skills at the composite and subdomain level in young boys with FXS in contrast to typically developing (TD) boys and in relation to age, adaptive behavior, anxiety symptoms and autism symptomology. The study consisted …

Representation Of Affect From Fmri Data As A Function Of Stimulus Modality And Judgment Task, Jongwan Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The theory of core affect posits that the neural system processes affective aspects of stimuli encountered by the organism quickly and automatically, resulting in a unified affective state described along the dimensions of valence and arousal. Core affect theory posits two functional subsystems that guide affective processing: a sensory integration and a visceramotor network. The proposed study investigates how the representation of affective dimensions depends on sensory modality, features of the task, and brain regions. A series of behavioral studies was run to develop an experimental stimulus set of silent videos and musical clips that met requirements of equating valence …

Negotiating The Interconnections Of Sociality, Identity, Fan Activism And Connectivity Within The Twilight Community, Amy A. O’Brien

Theses and Dissertations

In my dissertation, “Negotiating the Interconnections of Sociality, Identity, Fan Activism and Connectivity within the Twilight Community”, I examine the ways in which women employed a shared interest in a cultural text to establish meaningful social relationships with other fans. Rather than focusing solely on consumptive pleasure, these fans of the Twilight series utilized the intense popularity of the franchise to engage in charitable activities. Through these common threads of identity, community, virtual technologies, and charity, I contend that the Twilight fandom represents a new form of fan community, which is trending upward and creating an impact beyond the traditional …

The Meaning Of Place Recovery On The Mississippi Gulf Coast, Ronald L. Schumann, Iii

Theses and Dissertations

Recovery is a post-disaster period of adjustment when individuals, households, neighborhoods, and communities work to overcome the effects of a disaster and regain functionality. Recovery is a multi-scalar process whose outcomes are manifested in the physical landscape; however, assessments of the meaning, progress, and outcomes of recovery are specific to individuals who view the landscape from an embodied perspective within the local social hierarchy. Common recovery measurement techniques used by emergency managers, planners, local leaders, and hazards scholars approximate recovery with reconstruction of physical infrastructure or repopulation of residences. These longitudinal quantitative proxies may claim to represent the status of …

Principals’ Preparedness For, And Experiences Of, Crisis Events At School, Patricia Daughtry

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, principals in the low country region of South Carolina were surveyed to assess their perceived preparedness for, and experiences of, crisis events in their schools. This study replicated a study, conducted by Adamson and Peacock (2007), which was presented in an article entitled Crisis Response in the Public Schools: A Survey of School Psychologists’ Experiences and Perceptions. Although their research was important, the population was limited to school psychologists. A literature review revealed no research on lessons learned from school principals. Since principals are responsible for managing the school from the moments following a crisis through the …

Avoiding Doubled Words In Strings Of Symbols, Michael Lane

Theses and Dissertations

A word on the n-letter alphabet is a finite length string of symbols formed from a set of n letters. A word is doubled if every letter that appears in the word appears at least twice. A word w avoids a word u if there is no non-erasing homomorphism h (a map that respects concatenation) such that h (u) is a subword of w. Finally, a word w is n-avoidable if there is an infinite list of words on the n-letter alphabet that avoid w. In 1906, Thue showed that the simplest doubled word, namely xx, is 3-avoidable. In 1984, …

Ethnic Discrimination: Measurement And Associations With Smoking-Related Outcomes Among Arab Male Current And Former Smokers In Israel, Amira Osman

Theses and Dissertations

We evaluated the psychometric properties of two instruments used to assess ethnic discrimination among Arabs in Israel. The “Experiences of Discrimination” (EOD) scale was adapted to assess interpersonal ethnic discrimination (EOD-A) and a new measure was developed to assess perceptions of institutional group discrimination (IGD) against Arabs as an ethnic group. Then, we examined the association between each form of ethnic discrimination (interpersonal and institutional) and smoking outcomes among Arab men from Israel, and whether social support and coping efficacy moderate these associations. Data were analyzed from a cross-sectional study of Arab male current and former smokers, aged 18-64. A …

Chemical Processes Governing The Equilibrium Between Organic And Inorganic Carbon: Probing The Mechanisms Of Iron Catalyzed Reactive Oxygen Species Production, Joy Kelechi Ihekweazu

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the oxidation of organic carbon that occurs concurrently with the autoxidation of Fe(II) to determine the role that geochemical constituents have on both the autoxidation of Fe(II) and subsequent ROS production. The reaction between reduced carbon and oxygen is thermodynamically favorable, but kinetically proceeds slowly. Fe(II) facilitates the equilibration of reduced carbon and oxygen. This equilibration occurs naturally in saline estuaries, where oxygen rich seawater mixes with anoxic groundwater. We characterized a saline estuary at the Baruch Institute and used those characterizations to recreate natural water conditions in the lab. Using simulated natural water we then examined …

Statewide Scale-Up Of Group Prenatal Care In South Carolina, Kristin M. Van De Griend

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Poor birth outcomes and racial disparities in birth outcomes in South Carolina are widely recognized problems. To improve maternal and child health outcomes, especially among vulnerable groups, universal access to timely, appropriate, and effective care should remain a priority through increased availability and accessibility. An interagency collaborative in South Carolina expanded CenteringPregnancy (CP) from two to five medical practices throughout the state. CenteringPregnancy is associated with improved birth outcomes and reduced rates of racial disparities in preterm birth throughout the United States. Important questions in the literature remain about strategies and determinants of scaling up sexual and reproductive …

Supporting Fourth Grade Reading Students Using Retrospective Miscue Analysis As A Response To Intervention Model, Michelle Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Despite extensive research on Response to Intervention and Retrospective Miscue Analysis, students in fourth and fifth grade are still reading below grade level. This case study investigated how Retrospective Miscue Analysis (RMA) implemented during Response to Intervention (RTI) assists students in learning to apply new reading strategies that increase comprehension. Over a twelve week period, data were collected in four contexts. First, orally administered pre/post-Burke Reading Inventory. Secondly, computer generated STAR assessment for screening and progress monitoring. Thirdly, one-on-one Dominie. Finally, audio recording of student read aloud, retelling and follow-up discussion. Students’ responses on pre-Burke Inventory indicated students think reading …

Assessing The Magnitude And Impact Of Seawater/Pore Water Exchange In Salt Marsh Systems, Carrie Lee Milliken

Theses and Dissertations

Submarine groundwater discharge is a hydrological process that is important to study and understand as it impacts biogeochemical processes and hydrological cycles. Particularly in coastal salt marsh systems, it is an important process to analyze as these systems serve as crucial interfaces between terrestrial and marine waters and particulates. There is evidence that these systems, typically thought to have little exchange across the interface due to impermeable sediments, could actually allow for significant flow of water and particulates at shallow depths. In order to measure and quantify this flow, a method using 224Ra as a tracer has been tested. The …

Relationships Between Law Enforcement Officer-Involved Vehicle Collisions And Other Police Behaviors, John Andrew Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

Specialization and versatility regarding officer negative outcomes have different implications for agency policies and practices. Versatility suggests interventions that address several problematic behaviors, while specialization may necessitate more targeted interventions. If officers who engage in one form of negative behavior are also more likely to be involved in other undesired outcomes than co-monitoring behaviors via early intervention systems or other mechanisms may be an effective means of identifying problematic officers. The threat posed by officer-involved motor vehicle collisions to the safety of police and the public has received increased attention from practitioners and researchers in the past decade or so. …

Commutator Studies In Pursuit Of Finite Basis Results, Nathan E. Faulkner

Theses and Dissertations

Several new results of a general algebraic scope are developed in an effort to build tools for use in finite basis proofs. Many recent finite basis theorems have involved assumption of a finite residual bound, with the broadest result concerning varieties with a difference term (Kearnes, Szendrei, and Willard (2013+)). However, in varieties with a difference term, the finite residual bound hypothesis is known to strongly limit the degree of nilpotence observable in a variety, while, on the other hand, there is another, older series of results in which nilpotence plays a key role (beginning with those of Lyndon (1952) …

The Packing Chromatic Number Of Random D-Regular Graphs, Ann Wells Clifton

Theses and Dissertations

Let G = (V (G),E(G)) be a simple graph of order n and let i be a positive integer. X_i superset V (G) is called an i-packing if vertices in X_i are pairwise distance more than i apart. A packing coloring of G is a partition X = {X₁,X₂,X₃, . . . ,X_k} of V (G) such that each color class X_i is an i-packing. The minimum order k of a packing coloring is called the packing chromatic number of G, denoted by X_p(G). Let G_{n,d …}

Institutional Resilience Along The Mississippi Gulf Coast In The Context Of Pre- And Post-Hurricane Katrina, Khai Hoan Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations

Building resilience to disasters helps reduce loss of life and property, allowing communities to recover more quickly from shocks and disruptions. Governing institutions are tasked with tremendous responsibility in terms of mitigating risks and enhancing resilience of local communities through proactive planning and policies. It is important to examine how institutional policies have changed pre- and post-disaster to determine their contribution to community resilience. Metrics and indicators can be used to quantitatively assess, establish baseline, track, and monitor resilience at the community level. Few studies have attempted to measure institutional resilience using a set of indicators and metrics, and even …

Preservice Physical Education Teacher’S Value Orientations Across The Student Teaching Semester, Heesu Lee

Theses and Dissertations

It is of interest to physical education teacher educators to prepare pre-service teachers (PTs) to promote learning based on the five National Standards for K-12 Physical Education (NASPE, 2013). These National Standards reflect value orientations. However, limited empirical evidence exists that examines what value orientations PTs endorse and how physical education teacher education (PETE) programs influence their value orientations. The purpose of this study was to 1) examine the initial value orientations of PTs at entry into the course of student teaching, 2) describe how their value orientations change/develop and/or are maintained across the course, and 3) explore factors that …

The Political Economy Of Property Rights In China: Local Officials, Incentive Structure, And Private Enterprises, Ingrid Yingxia Li

Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation tries to solve two puzzling questions in China’s economic miracle: why some private firms enjoy better property rights protection than others under similar political and economic institutional conditions. Secondly, under the incentive structure designed by the central government, why some local officials in some localities actively protected private property rights than others hence foster local economic development. Existing literature either emphasizes social networks or focuses on fiscal decentralization and personnel control system. But neither these accounts is able to systematically explain the considerable variation of private property rights protection across regions and over time.

I develop a game-theoretical …

Randomized Control Study Of Neurofeedback With College Students With Adhd, Alycia M. Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

Neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD represent a major national problem. There are increasing numbers of students in schools requiring special education services as a result of ADHD, and each of these students costs the U.S. education system approximately $5,000 per year (Robb et al., 2011). There are additional societal costs associated with the disorder, and ADHD can be debilitating for individuals with the disorder and their families (i.e., Barkley & Murphy, 2010; Ginsberg, et al., 2013). The most common treatments are stimulant medication and behavioral training (i.e., Pelham & Fabiano, 2008), but recently neurofeedback (EEG biofeedback) has been receiving a …

The Role Of Intermembrane Space Redox Factors In Glutathione Metabolism And Intracellular Redox Equilibrium, Hatice Kubra Ozer

Theses and Dissertations

The mitochondrial intermembrane space (IMS) is a unique subcellular compartment that houses key thiol-dependent redox pathways such as protein transport, mitochondrial respiration, and detoxification of ROS (reactive oxygen species). These pathways are all dependent on cysteine-rich proteins, thus maintaining thiol-disulfide balance in this organelle is crucial for cellular functions. An IMS protein import pathway called the Mia40-Erv1 disulfide relay system uses disulfide bond formation for the import and retention of substrate proteins in the IMS. Erv1 is also suggested to be involved in maturation of cytosolic Fe-S cluster proteins and regulation of iron homeostasis in S. cerevisiae. However, these studies …

Maternal Obesity, Gestational Weight Gain And Offspring’S Asthma, Kristen Polinski

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Obesity is common among women of childbearing age and intrauterine exposures may influence the development of early childhood asthma. A handful of studies have investigated pre-pregnancy obesity, but even fewer have thoroughly explored gestational weight gain as possible childhood asthma risk factors. Gaps remain in the literature and to our knowledge, none have longitudinally explored these relationships in a nationally representative sample of U.S. children.

Methods: We used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort, in which children were followed through age four (n≈5,200). Asthma was based on parent report of a physician’s diagnosis. …