1941 research outputs found
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Transfer Pricing--Can It Effectively Be Applied To Computer Services?
Get PDF71 leaves. Advisor: David S. HabrThe problem. From a financial point of view, the
primary function of the data processing department is to maximize the benefit the firm receives from its data processing resources. Though such a goal may be generally accepted, it is not entirely clear how it is achieved. This thesis seeks to remedy this situation by applying transfer price
to computer services.
Procedure. The research procedure consisted of an
analysis of transfer price theory and its varied applications. Next, the most generally accepted methods of transfer price theory were applied to an actual computer processing site to determine if any were applicable.
Findings. Transfer pricing is most generally
applied in one of the following four alternatives: (1) market price, a price based on a competitive external market; (2) negotiated price, a price mutually agreed to by the parties involved; (3) marginal cost, a price based on costs that vary with output and; (4) full cost, price based on
variable and fixed costs of the supplying division. Three units of transfer were determined, batch processing, online processing and developmental. Given four objectives, transfer price must be equitable, reproducible,
understandable and return no profit or loss. Full cost approach was found to be the most applicable.
Recommendations. The transfer price system as developed herein be implemented in a test environment initially. Even though the full cost alternative appeared to be the "best," a hint of marginal cost was obvious. The marginal cost would be a horizontal line or a close approximation.
After a period of time, cost trends will substantiate the system or support the marginal cost approach
The Effects of Prenatally Induced Hypothyroidism of the Neural Development and Problem Solving Ability of Maturing Hypothyroid Rats
No full text36 leaves. Advisor: Robert M. KodamaThe problem. The problem was to yield neonate rats hypothyroid by treating pregnant female rats with propylthiouracil (PTU), and then to evaluate the problem solving ability and the changes in the brain of the hypothyroid offspring. Procedure. Three 8-day sperm-positive female rats were given PTU (0.01 gm/100 ml) water from day 15 of gestation until day 7 postpartum. Two 8-day sperm-positive female rates were controls which were given tap water. Offspring of these female rats were to be the object of the study.
However, high neonate mortality required that two additional groups be obtained. One, an all experimental group of 3
females, received PTU (0.01 gm/IOO ml) water from day 5 to day 21 postpartum, and the other, a group of eight 24-day old rats, served as the experimental controls. Intelligence was tested with a Y-maze at 4 weeks of age and 8 weeks of age. At 8 weeks all rats were sacrificed and brains were removed and fixed for histological study.
Findings. Experimental rats learned markedly more slowly than did the control rats. Control rats had significantly more Purkinje cells in the cerebellum than did the experimental rats.
Conclusions. When compared to controls, rats rendered hypothyroid in utero or neonatally exhibit learning retardation throughout life. The brains of hypothyroid rats show
differences in the development of the cerebellum as evidenced by histological examination.
Recommendations. Further study with smaller blocks of tissue, electron microscopy, and a different method of tissue preparation should yield data on subcellular changes of nervous tissue, if such changes exist. Another experimental possibility would be to test the motor coordination and equilibrium sense of hypothyroid neonate rats, since a
major cerebellar function is motor coordination
An Experimental Analysis of Electricity Conservation Procedures
Get PDF[16] leaves. Advisor: Margaret LloydThe problem. To determine if behavioral procedures
would be effective in lowering overall daily electricity consumption with residential consumers.
Procedure. Electricity meters were read each night
for 106 days at the homes of four experimental families. Each family experienced one or more of the following conditions. Feedback: Daily reports of electricity consumption were provided to experimental families. Monetary feedback: As well as daily reports of electricity consumption, projected monthly electricity bills were provided daily. Daily prompts: A card prompting electricity conservation was provided each day. Prompts and feedback: Both feedback and prompts were provided simultaneously. Government prompt: A personal letter from the Director of the Iowa Office of Energy was sent to the experimental families urging a reduction in electricity consumption.
Findings. Either prompting or feedback techniques
were effective in lowering total daily electricity consumption in three of four suburban families.
Conclusions. Additional research is necessary to
assess the relative effectiveness of various prompting and feedback techniques.
Recommendations. Behavioral research should be used as a resource in energy conservation programs
A Study of the Significance of a Commercial Network Broadcast Television News Program for Children
No full text41 leaves. Advisor: Dr. Bruce VennardThe problem. Are the educational children's programs presented by network broadcasting truly instructional media?
Procedures. Students were tested in groups of 100
each week over a four-week period on material presented in the CBS children's program In the News. Each week the students were divided into two groups prior to the programming. One group was instructed to view the program and one group
was not specifically instructed to do so. Test scores were derived from multiple choice type tests written to cover news events discussed in the previous Saturday's programming. The tests were scored on a basis of per cent correct. The
scores were analyzed in two sets of data. The first set of data compared the average scores of those who had viewed the program with the average scores of those who had not viewed the program. The second set of data involved comparing the
average scores of those who had viewed as a result of being instructed to view with those who viewed but had not been instructed to do so. All scores were placed in tables.
Findings. Students who had viewed the program In
the News prior to the testing scored higher than those who had not viewed the program. Further, those students who had been instructed to view the program and did so scored higher than those who had viewed the program but had not been instructed to view
The John Slidell Mission : Mexico 1845-1846
Get PDF101 leaves. Advisor: Charles NelsonThe problem. Controversy has long existed regarding the diplomatic mission of John Slidell to Mexico in the period before the outbreak of the Mexican War. Sent by
President James K. Polk, Slidell ostensibly had a dual purpose: to repair the damage to U.S.-Mexican relations created by the annexation of Texas, and to purchase a large portion of what is now Southwest U.S. from Mexico. Polk enjoyed an initial period of praise from historians for his actions in
the matter. In the past few decades, however, a large number of historians have accused the American President of deliberately provoking a war with the nation's southern neighbor in
order to obtain territorial concessions. This thesis examines the controversy and presents evidence to support its conclusions.
Procedure. The first step in the construction of the thesis involved a thorough review of secondary sources written since the time of the mission. After this primary sources
were carefully consulted. A great deal of attention was paid to works of the principal participants themselves. Finally,
correspondence between Slidell and Washington was examined and relied on heavily. Notes from these works were placed on cards and the paper was then written from these.
Findings. It is the conclusion of this writer that President Polk did not deliberately act about to provoke a war with Mexico. Rather it was his intention to sincerely seek a negotiated settlement. The terms proffered by the President, however, precluded the possibility of any such settlement. In addition, the internal situation in Mexico
was such that the mission was for all practical purposes doomed to failure from its inception
Problems and Implications of Outlawing Aggressive War : An Examination of the Charter Resulting from the London Conference, August 8, 1945
Get PDF85 leaves. Advisor: C. Walter ClarkThe problem. The International Military Tribunal
which tried Nazi Germany's leaders after the Second World War was predicated on the Allied nations' signing of the London Charter, which provided the law and procedures for the
Nuremberg war-crime trials. The Charter is something of a landmark, both as a substantive code outlawing crimes against the international community and as an instrument establishing
a procedure for prosecution and trial of such crimes before an international court. The focus of this paper will be on the category in the charter that deals with crimes against peace, which consist of conspiring to wage, initiating, or waging a war of aggression.
Procedure. Examination of relevant documents and
written analyses, which are available in the Drake Cowles and Law School libraries.
Conclusions. At the London Conference aggressive
warfare was declared to be an international crime. Whether the conferees were codifying a principle generally accepted internationally or creating ex post facto legislation remains
a question of substantive process.
The principle of outlawing aggressive warfare was incorporated into the charter of the United Nations. It appears doubtful that the United Nations can enforce this principle based on the considerations that the United Nations has been awarded weak coercive powers; the superpowers
are regionally aligned and have established the
practice of "collective self-defense" within their respective regions; any consensual definition of a nation-state is
lacking, especially with regard to emerging nations; and, the nation-states or aspiring nation-states have the universally confirmed right to engage in wars of self-determination.
Overtime if world organization becomes functionally oriented, this may provide the key to reordering the nationstate system and, as a consequence rather than a declared goal, end aggressive warfare
The Development of a Self-Analysis Instrument to Aid the Counselor in Prerelease Counseling of Prison Inmates
No full text66 leaves. Advisor: Dr. Stuart C. TiedemanProblem: Frequently inmates of penal institutions are not equipped to deal with the stress of marital, family or community life upon release. There appears to be, as well, a
severe shortage of counseling tools directed specifically toward the soon-to-be-released individual.
Procedure: Therefore, a research project was designed to investigate what counseling methods are currently practiced and what problems are actually faced by the newly-released individual.
Findings: This investigation culminated in the development of a self-analysis instrument to be completed by the inmate and his spouse/parent/or other person significant to
him. The completed instruments would then be used in a confrontational three-way counseling session that would ultimately provide the inmate and the other significant individual with a realistic view of his own assets and liabilities, his alternatives for the future, and his expectations for himself and others within the community.
Conclusions: Upon the basis of the data accumulated in this study it is concluded that: (1) little has been done specifically in prerelease counseling practice or research,
(2) what counseling that does take place usually takes the form of group counseling or psychotherapy, and that (3) any counseling received in prison is preferable to no counseling at all in helping the inmate to make a successful life outside prison. The most common problems faced by the newly-released individual were found to be those involving: (1) alcohol and drugs, (2) a low self concept on part of releasee, (3) family
communication difficulties, (4) employment, and (5) finances.
Recommendations: Future studies could be directed toward the practical application of the Self-Analysis Instrument within the prison setting and the observation of post-release
behavior of those individuals completing the Self-Analysis Instrument
Effects of Positive Practice on Teacher-Student Positive and Negative Interactions for Preschool Teachers
No full textv, 59 leaves. Advisor: Mary Ann PowersThe problem. Thus far teacher training has not incorporated a procedure which reduces inappropriate teacher-student interactions while
at the same time increases appropriate teacher-student interactions.
Procedure. The present study required three preschool teachers in separate classrooms to engage in a Positive Practice procedure of praising four other children contingent upon each negative teacher-student interaction recorded by a
classroom observer in each classroom.
Findings. Rates and percentages of Positive teacher-student interactions were higher for the Post-Treatment conditions as compared to the Pre-Treatment condition for all teachers in all activities. Mean negative teacher-student
interaction frequencies were lower for the Post-
Treatment conditions as compared to the Pre-Treatment conditions for all Teachers. Conclusions. Positive Practice for teachers is an
appropriate training technique for acquiring an acceptable positive-negative interaction ratio in preschool olassrooms.
Recommendations. Further research using Positive
Practice in addition to self recording and fading procedures should be investigated to provide the most efficacious and parsimonious teacher training package
The Effect of an Elective Independent Reading Program on Reading Scores and Interest in Reading in the Ninth Grade at Kurtz Junior High School, Des Moines, Iowa
Get PDF65 leaves. Advisor: Dr. Stuart C. TiedemanThe problem. What Americans will do with increased leisure time in the future is a problem already under investigation by sociologists and psychologists. Many young people in today's society do not enjoy reading books as a leisure time activity, possibly because of methods of teaching or treating reading in the schools
today. Independent reading classes are an attempt to overcome resistance to reading. The purpose of this study was to determine what, if any, improvement in standardized reading scores occurred and to determine whether or not interest in reading for the sake of enjoyment increased in a ninth grade elective independent reading course at Kurtz Junior High School in Des Moines, Iowa.
Procedure. Thirty-two members of the newly-created Independent Reading Class at Kurtz Junior High School were matched on a one-to-one
basis on comprehension reading scores from the Gates-McGinnitie Reading Test given at the end of eighth grade, sex and age. A different form of the same test was given at the end of their ninth grade year as was an attitude-toward-reading opinionnaire. The attitude inventory was given to give reading teachers for item-ratings so that scores could be assigned and compared between experimental and control groups. Four sets of scores were used and t-tests using the mean difference ever the standard error of the mean difference determined the significance
of the comparisons. Tables are included for interpretation.
Findings. The study shows that even though significant differences at the .05 level of the probability distribution did not exist in
reading ability over the 1974-1975 school year in the experimental/Independent Reading Class made significant gains in their own comprehension
scores from the Gates-McGinnitie Pre and Post tests. The members of the independent reading class through written evaluations of the course expressed a positive attitude toward the class and their own reading. The warm relationships established on a one-to-one basis between the "teachers," students, and the books that they read seemed to warrent the existence and continuation of the course.
Conclusions. The findings of this study, on an objective basis, do not prove that an independent reading class at the ninth grade level increases the reading ability or improves the attitude toward reading of the students enrolled any more than for students not enrolled. On a subjective basis, however, the ninth grade students who completed a school year in an Independent Reading Class voted unanimously that self-selection had played an important role in their reading development
Effects of Early Cirrhosis on Hepatic Vascular Resistance in the Rat
Get PDFThe Problem. Increased vascular resistance in the liver is a common symptom of established cirrhosis of the liver. This investigation measured changes in resistance during induction of cirrhosis, to determine whether the
increase in vascular resistance might be part of the mechanism by which cirrhosis develops.
Procedure. Early cirrhosis was induced in rats by injections of a C Cl4 and olive oil over a 35 day period. The livers were excised and perfused with aerated Locke's solution through the hepatic portal vein, using 13 different flow rates. Portal pressures at these flow rates were recorded continuously. Resistances were calculated as the ratio of pressure to flow rate, for each of three groups of livers: those from uninjected control rats, those from rats injected with olive oil, and those from rats injected with olive oil and C Cl4.
Findings. Resistance was found to be significantly higher in livers of rats injected with olive oil or with olive oil plus C Cl4, than in livers of uninjected control rats. The difference was especially noticeable at the lower flow rates.
Conclusions. It is clear that increased vascular resistance is not merely a late side-effect of cirrhosis.
Recommendations. More detailed studies should be made to describe the changes in resistance during induction of cirrhosis, and to establish the structural basis of this increased resistance