Digital Commons Network^™

Investigating Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure By Banks From Institutional Theory Perspective, Wafaa Salah, Iman Mohamed Arafa

Business Administration

Previous research on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has mainly focused on the companies operating in different industry 􀏐ields. Yet, a limited number of research has investigated the CSR practices at the banking sector. Accordingly, this study attempts to add further knowledge to this domain by measuring and comparing the extent and quality of CSR practices and its components which are: Employees, Community, Environment and Corporate governance at a larger geographical scale. Moreover, the relationship between institutional environment and the CSR and its components will be empirically examined. Secondary data provided by CSRHUB database is used for a sample of 231 …

A Quantitative Analysis For The Correlation Between Corporate Financial And Social Performance, Wafaa Salah, Mostafa Salama

Business Administration

Recently, corporate social performance (CSP) is not less important than corporate financial performance (CFP). Debate still exists about the nature of the relationship between the CSP and CFP, whether it is a positive, negative, or a neutral correlation. The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports and CFP. The study uses the accounting-based and market-based quantitative measures to quantify the financial performance of seven organizations listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange in 2007-2014. Then uses the information retrieval technologies to quantify the contribution of each of the three dimensions of the corporate …

Coordination Of Monetary And Fiscal Policies: The Case Of Egypt, Sahar M. Abdel-Haleim

Business Administration

Coordination is defined as the necessary arrangements that assure that the decisions taken by monetary and fiscal authorities are not contradictory. The need for effective coordination of policies becomes pressing with the increasing independence of both authorities to implement their objectives. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the extent of coordination between monetary and fiscal policies in Egypt over the period (1974-2015). Quantifying the extent of coordination depends on the appropriate policy mix that responds effectively to different shocks. The results confirm that coordination of policies was absent or weak during most of the period under study, while …

Determinants Of Fdi Flows To Developing Countries: An Empirical Study On The Mena Region, Dalia Ahmed Elmosalamy, Sherif M. Abbas

Business Administration

Many studies have provided evidence that foreign direct investment (hereafter FDI) can convey great advantages to host countries and can have important positive effects on their development efforts and economic growth. This paper contributes to the extant literature by providing evidence on the main determinants of FDI inflows and exploring the hindering factors that may have a negative influence on FDI and consequently economic growth. Our focus is the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region over the period 2006 to 2013, a period of great economic and political turbulence and uncertainty. To conduct this study, regression with time series …

Composite Model Representation For Computer Aided Design Of Functionally Gradient Materials, Fangquan Wang

Masters Theses

"Functionally Gradient Materials (FGMs) feature smooth transition from one material to another within a single object. FGMs modeling is considered to be one of the new challenges in Computer Aided Design (CAD) area. To overcome this challenge, this thesis presents a composite approach to model FGMs. The input in STL format can be meshed and voxelized in FGMs modeling system. The material composition in each voxel can be generated from multiple different types of control features. And LTI filters including Gaussian Filter and Average Filter are applied to blur default material features in order to generate FGMs inside models. The …

Effect Of Timing And Source Of Online Product Recommendations: An Eye-Tracking Study, Qing Zeng

Masters Theses

"Online retail business has become an emerging market for almost all business owners. Online recommender systems provide better services to the consumers as well as assist consumers with their decision making processes. In this study, a controlled lab experiment was conducted to assess the effect of recommendation timing (early, mid, and late) and recommendation source (expert reviews vs. consumer reviews) on e-commerce users' interest and attention. Eye-tracking data was extracted from the experiment and analyzed. The results suggest that users show more interest in recommendation based on consumer reviews than recommendation based on expert reviews. Earlier recommendations do not receive …

Bridging The Gap Between Supply Chain And Consumer Experience, Cui Zou

Masters Theses

Many researchers agree that supply chain management is at the root of addressing customer values and increasing customer satisfaction. However, in reality the route to accomplishing these goals is not so clearly defined. The studies herein attempt to shed some insight on a special perspective to bridge the gap between supply chain and customer experience. The ideas behind these studies explore the notion that customer experience can be impacted by a vast spectrum of factors from suppliers to even the specific mobile commerce (m-commerce) tools they use.

To gain insight into the supplier dimension of the supply chain, a survey …

Using Eye-Tracking To Understand User Behavior In Deception Detection System Interaction, Prashanth Kumar Lakkapragada

Masters Theses

"This research presents the analysis of data collected using eye-tracking devices on user interaction with a deception detection system. The differences between two groups of subjects, namely Innocent and Guilty, were compared, where Innocent subjects did not carry any explosive and hence, had nothing to hide in declaring objects that they were carrying whereas Guilty subjects had to lie to deceive the system. The results indicate that there is no significant difference in pupil dilation between the Innocent and Guilty subjects. However, the amount of fixations on the empty spaces of slides containing an explosive image can be used to …

Mechanistic Understanding Of Water-Rock Interactions During High-Salinity Water-Flooding Of Carbonate Reservoirs, Pu Han

Masters Theses

"Chemically tuned water-flooding provides a relatively cheap method of enhanced oil recovery from carbonate and sandstone reservoirs. Several possible recovery mechanisms such as mineral dissolution, multi-component ion exchange, double-layer expansion, adsorption/desorption from rock surface, reduction in interfacial tension, and fines migration that have been proposed are widely debated. The combination of these processes may result in wettability alteration that increases sweep efficiency of water-flooding. Here, wettability alteration due to water-rock interactions will be examined numerically.

To evaluate the wettability alteration, separation between breakthrough curves of the non-reactive component and the cations based on the chromatographic separation will be used due …

A Study On Non-Metallic Inclusions In Foundry Steel Process, Marc Leonard Harris

Masters Theses

"The effects of sample area and automated SEM/EDS feature analysis parameters (step size, magnification and threshold) on nonmetallic inclusion characterization results has been investigated and optimized. A post-processing program was developed to automatically determine average inclusion chemistry, total element concentrations within inclusions, and for generating joint ternary diagrams with size visualization for representing nonmetallic inclusion populations. Using these tools the evolution of nonmetallic inclusions was examined for 4320 steel at a participating industrial steel foundry. The steel was sampled throughout electric arc furnace melting through ladle refining to the final casting where an in-mold sampling procedure was developed to procure …

El Matrimonio, ¿Todavía Importa?: Una Evaluación De La Convivencia A La Luz De La Biblia, Richard M. Davidson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Late Ordovician Tectonism In The North American Midcontinent: Constraints From U-Pb Detrital Zircon Geochronology, Daniel Nathan Meehan I

Masters Theses

"Numerous sandstone filled depressions hosted in upper Cambrian to Middle Ordovociain dolostones in south-central Missouri have historically been identified as Pennsylvanian paleokarst structures. U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology is at odds the time of formation and sedimentological evidence challenges their classification. "Filled sink" deposits yield primary zircon age populations of 2.8-2.6 Ga (~50% of all analyzed grains), 1.2-1.1 Ga (~25%), 1.8-1.6 Ga (~15%) and 1.5-1.3 Ga (~10%). These zircon populations most likely originated from the Superior Craton and Midcontinent Rift and/or Grenville orogen, respectively. The Warrensburg and Moberly channel-fill sandstones of central Missouri were identified as good candidates for Pennsylvanian aged …

A Comparison Of Macrofaunal And Algal Communities In Oyster Aquaculture Gear, An Eelgrass Bed, Oyster Reef, And A Mudflat In Great Bay, New Hampshire, Megan Elizabeth Glenn

Master's Theses and Capstones

Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and eelgrass (Zostera marina) are important ecosystem engineers in Great Bay, NH, however despite restoration efforts they have been in decline. In addition to loss of the resource, this degradation results in loss of associated ecosystem services such as habitat provision. It is possible that the recent increase in oyster farming in Great Bay could help mitigate habitat loss. My research objective was to quantify the biotic communities present in three natural habitats (eelgrass beds, oyster reefs and mudflats) in Great Bay NH and compare those to communities living on the type of gear (“racks and bags”) …

Utah Air Quality: Pm 2.5, Randy Martin, Roger Coulombe, Roslynn Brain

All Current Publications

Particulate matter two-point-five (PM_2.5) is a tiny suspended particle of air pollution that can penetrate deeply into our lungs and potentially enter the bloodstream. The 2.5 unit means that the particles are smaller than 2.5 micrometers (a micrometer is one millionth of a meter). In Cache Valley and along the Wasatch Front, these tiny particles form and accumulate to unhealthy levels when air is trapped in the bottom of the valley during cold winter days.

Information Security: A Study On Biometric Security Solutions For Telecare Medical Information Systems, Ramon Andrew Whitman

Master's Theses and Capstones

This exploratory study provides a means for evaluating and rating Telecare medical information systems in order to provide a more effective security solution. This analysis of existing solutions was conducted via an in-depth study of Telecare security. This is a proposition for current biometric technologies as a new means for secure communication of private information over public channels. Specifically, this research was done in order to provide a means for businesses to evaluate prospective technologies from a 3 dimensional view in order to make am accurate decision on any given biometric security technology. Through identifying key aspects of what makes …

Nesting Adaptations And Conservation Of A Threatened Tidal Marsh-Nesting Bird The Saltmarsh Sparrow, Bri Benvenuti

Master's Theses and Capstones

Tidal-marsh birds that nest on the marsh surface are faced with numerous reproductive challenges. Most recently, the impact of rising sea-levels threatens to reduce or eliminate reproduction in tidal-marsh nesting birds. One species most vulnerable to sea-level rise is the saltmarsh sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus), an obligate tidal-marsh breeding bird with reproduction that is strongly linked to the tidal cycle. The saltmarsh sparrow is a species of high conservation priority in the northeast United States (USDI 2008) and is globally vulnerable to extinction within the next 50 years (Bayard and Elphick 2011, Wiest et al. 2016). I combined molecular, behavioral, and …

An Objective Protocol For Movable Bridge Operation In High-Wind Events Based On Hybrid Analyses By European And American Design Code, Timothy Prescott Nash

Master's Theses and Capstones

Movable bridges play an integral role in modern transportation infrastructure. As means of passage for both vehicular and naval traffic at a single location, their reliable performance is a necessity. However, with the thousands of movable bridges in the US – which are typically located in coastal environments that are typically highly susceptible to extreme weather events – there are few objective protocols defining the environmental conditions in which they can be safely operated. In order to define such conditions, wind speed and temperature variable wind loads were developed using multiple, structural load development codes for a case study site: …

A Vulnerability-Driven Cyber Security Maturity Model For Measuring National Critical Infrastructure Protection Preparedness, Bilge Karabacak, Sevgi Ozkan Yildirim, Nazife Baykal

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Critical infrastructures are vital assets for the public safety, economic welfare and national security of countries. Cyber systems are used extensively to monitor and control critical infrastructures. A number of infrastructures are connected to the Internet via corporate networks. Cyber security is, therefore, an important item of the national security agenda of a country. The intense interest in cyber security has initiated research focusing on national cyber security maturity assessments. However, little, if any, research is dedicated to maturity assessments of national critical infrastructure protection efforts. Instead, the vast majority of studies merely examine diverse national-level security best practices ranging …

Regulatory Approaches For Cyber Security Of Critical Infrastructures: The Case Of Turkey, Bilge Karabacak, Sevgi Ozkan Yildirim, Nazife Baykal

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Critical infrastructures are vital assets for public safety, economic welfare and/or national security of countries. Today, cyber systems are extensively used to control and monitor critical infrastructures. A considerable amount of the infrastructures are connected to the Internet over corporate networks. Therefore, cyber security is an important item for the national security agendas of several countries. The enforcement of security principles on the critical infrastructure operators through the regulations is a still-debated topic. There are several academic and governmental studies that analyze the possible regulatory approaches for the security of the critical infrastructures. Although most of them favor the market-oriented …

Front Matter

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Information Needs And Information Sources Of Patients Diagnosed With Rare Cancers, Dana L. Ladd

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

INFORMATION NEEDS AND INFORMATION SOURCES OF PATIENTS DIAGNOSED WITH RARE CANCERS

By Dana L. Ladd, Ph.D., MS, SLIS

BACKGROUND: Approximately 25% of all cancers diagnosed are considered rare. Patients may face many significant challenges including difficulty obtaining information about their rare conditions. Patients often have high information needs and may seek desired information from a variety of informational sources including healthcare providers, media, print, government and non-profit organizations in order to meet their needs. Accessing reliable consumer-level information can be challenging and often information needs are unmet. Dissatisfaction with health information provision can result in negative health-related outcomes and …

The Instructional Technology Resource Teacher: A Descriptive Case Study Of Deployment, Use, And Perceptions, Mary Sepelyak

Theses and Dissertations

This case study describes one professional development approach to support technology integration at all public schools in one large county in central Virginia. Using data obtained from daily time logs, the frequency of Instructional Technology Resource Teacher (ITRT) use by classroom teachers was analyzed. Descriptive statistics were used to describe overall percentage of ITRT use, the various types of professional development requested by teachers, the consistency of those activities over time, and if the frequencies of activities varied as a function of school level, Title I status at the elementary level, or subject area taught by teachers at the secondary …

The New Gatekeepers: How Blogs Subverted Mainstream Book Reviews, Rebecca E. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Book reviewing has a fraught history in the United States. Reviewers have long been accused of not being analytical enough. It should be no wonder then with the emergence of social media that online book reviewing has become increasingly popular. Online reviewers, especially book bloggers, are no literary gatekeepers in their own right, shaping the tastes of readers across the world. Book blogs in particular pay special attention to titles which have long been derided by institutions such as libraries, academia, publishers, and bookstores. These literary gatekeepers typically ignore romance, fantasy, mystery, science fiction, young adult fiction, comic books, and …

The Effects Of Tidal Forcing On Nutrient Fluxes In The Tidal, Freshwater James River Estuary, Va, Dana L. Devore

Theses and Dissertations

A 12-month study (January to December 2015) focused on the effects of tidal forcing on nutrient fluxes in the tidal, freshwater segment of the James River Estuary (JRE). Discrete sampling of nutrient chemistry and continuous monitoring of tidal discharge were used to determine the volume and timing of the tides, and differences in nutrient concentrations between incoming and outgoing tides. The goal of this study was to improve understanding of tidal influence on nutrient fluxes and their role in nutrient transport to the lower estuary. Results suggested that differences in nutrient concentrations between incoming and outgoing tides were small throughout …

Tennessee Farm Bureau News - January 2016, Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation

Tennessee Farm Bureau News

No abstract provided.

T-Duality And Double Field Theory, Nicholas T. King

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to study a symmetry of string theory known as T-duality. We focus on a particular example establishing the equivalence between a quantized string moving in a circular space of radius R and a dual string moving in a similar space of radius 1/R . We will show that this duality implies that the momentum of the string in one picture becomes the number of times the string is wound around the circle in the dual picture. We present two proofs of T-duality. The first reflects the standard interpretation of T-duality as an isomorphism of …

Valuing Natural Space And Landscape Fragmentation In Richmond, Va, Lee Wyatt Carpenter

Theses and Dissertations

Hedonic pricing methods and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) were used to evaluate relationships between sale price of single family homes and landscape fragmentation and natural land cover. Spatial regression analyses found that sale prices increase as landscapes become less fragmented and the amount of natural land cover around a home increases. The projected growth in population and employment in the Richmond, Virginia region and subsequent increases in land development and landscape fragmentation presents a challenge to sustaining intact healthy ecosystems in the Richmond region. Spatial regression analyses helped illuminate how land cover patterns influence sale prices and landscape patterns that …

Depth And Development Of The Sonic System In Deep-Sea Macrourid Fishes On The Continental Slope, Jonothan Wrenn

Theses and Dissertations

Work on sound production of deep-sea fishes has been limited to anatomy, and no sounds from identified species have been recorded on the continental slope. Here I examined the sonic muscles of six species in the family Macrouridae by depth (Coelorhincus carminatus, Nezumia bairdii, Coryphaenoides rupestris, Nezumia equalis, Coryphaenoides armatus, Coryphaenoides carapinus,). Due to increasingly limited food with depth, I hypothesized that sonic muscle development would decrease with depth. Sonic muscles were intrinsic and occurred in males and females. Swimbladder and sonic muscle dimensions increased linearly with fish size, but there were no clear differences with depth suggesting …

Understanding And Design Of An Arduino-Based Pid Controller, Dinesh Bista

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents research and design of a Proportional, Integral, and Derivative (PID) controller that uses a microcontroller (Arduino) platform. The research part discusses the structure of a PID algorithm with some motivating work already performed with the Arduino-based PID controller from various fields. An inexpensive Arduino-based PID controller designed in the laboratory to control the temperature, consists of hardware parts: Arduino UNO, thermoelectric cooler, and electronic components while the software portion includes C/C++ programming. The PID parameters for a particular controller are found manually. The role of different PID parameters is discussed with the subsequent comparison between different modes …

Wreading, Performing, And Reflecting: The Application Of Narrative Hypertext And Virtual World Experiences To Social Work Education, Linda Ayscue Gupta Phd

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation I propose the use of a new media composition of narrative hypertext, performances in a virtual world, and a dialogic process of writing to provide a continuum of learning opportunities in social work education. I suggest that the structure of the hypertext narrative, embedded with hypermedia, mirrors the dissociative aspects of traumatic memory. I argue that work with the multivocality and multisequentiality of narrative hypertext emulates the process of discovery in the clinical interview. The immersive component of work in a virtual world deepens the realism and affective impact of simulations and creates opportunities to practice and …