Texas A&M International University: Research Information Online (RIO)
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Six Short Stories from Juan Maya Avila\u27s La venganza de los aztecas (mitos y profecias) in English Translation with Translator\u27s Commentary
Get PDFThis thesis encompasses an English translation of six short stories from the collection titled La venganza de los aztecas (mitos y profecias) [The Vengeance of the Aztecas (Myths and Prophecies)] by Juan Maya Avila. Each of the stories can be read to entertain the reader but also to gain insight into many interesting aspects of Mexican history as historical events and people have been fictionalized. The thesis, however, does not provide a literary analysis of the stories, but rather a translation analysis of the challenges faced by the translator during the translation of the six stories. In addition to the translation and analysis, the translator\u27s methodology, a summary of the history of translation, and translation theories relevant to the translation are included. The translation of a literary work involves countless revisions, corrections, and alternate decisions as part of the translation exercise. Despite this effort, numerous challenges can arise for the translator as they did in this instance for this thesis. Issues as varied as translating the humor of the author\u27s culture, ambiguities in the source language, and how exactly untranslateables fit into the translation vexed the translator. The author has supplied his artistry to the work. It is the translator\u27s job to re-create the text in another language and to provide accessibility to the readers who do not know the author\u27s language but would still like to be able to enjoy his work. These stories stem from Juan Maya Avila\u27s language and culture; therefore, to gain a better understanding of the relationship between the author\u27s culture, his beliefs, and his short stories, it is important to incorporate a short biography of the author as well
The effect of micro-level disorder incidents on public attitudes toward the police
No full textPurpose: Drawing upon the police accountability model, the purpose of this paper is to advance the research on public attitudes toward the police (PATP) by examining the effects of reported disorder incidents at the micro level on the two dimensions of PATP. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses two waves of random sample telephone survey of 2,393 residents in Houston, Texas. The disorder data were provided by the Houston Police Department. Disorder incidents surrounding each respondent’s residence were extracted by using geographic information systems technology. Structural equation modeling was used for the analysis. Findings: The main findings suggest that while the observational measure of disorder exerts no direct impact on residents’ general attitudes toward the police; it has a significant impact on specific attitudes toward the police measured by using the neighborhoods as the principle geographical context. In addition, documented disorder incidents are found to be a robust predictor of perceptions of disorder in both models. Originality/value: The measurement of PATP was ambiguous in the research literature and scholarly attention to the observational factors such as reported disorder incidents has been lacking. This study fills the gap of the relevant literature by measuring PATP as a two-dimensional concept and incorporating reported disorder incidents into the analysis
Resting cardiac autonomic activity and body composition following a 16-week high-intensity functional training intervention in women: A pilot study
No full textHigh-Intensity Functional Training (HIFT) is an increasingly popular mixed modal high-intensity training style with little empirical evidence regarding adaptations. The objective of this study was to examine alterations in resting cardiac autonomic activity through the measurement of heart rate variability (HRV) and body composition in women following 16-weeks of HIFT. Nine apparently healthy females (35.8 ± 9.3 years old) participated in this study. Resting heart rate (RHR), HRV, and body composition measures were collected pre and post 16-weeks of the HIFT intervention. The markers of HRV used were the Root Mean Square of Successive Differences (RMSSD) and High-Frequency (HF) power. Body composition markers used were body fat percentage (BF%) and body mass (BM). A natural log transformation (ln) was applied to HRV markers prior to analysis. Paired sample t-test showed significant reductions in post RHR (p = 0.018) and BF% (p = 0.012). However, no significant changes were observed in post lnRMSSD (p = 0.501), lnHF (p = 0.760), or BM (p = 0.285). 16-weeks of HIFT was not sufficient to alter makers of HRV. Importantly, the participation in 16-weeks of HIFT elicited improvements in basic health measures (RHR and BF%) in recreationally active females
Distressed Chinese firm prediction with discretized data
No full textPurpose: The authors develop a framework to build an early warning mechanism in detecting financial deterioration of Chinese companies. Many studies in the financial distress and bankruptcy prediction literature rarely do they examine the impact of pre-processing financial indicators on the prediction performance. The purpose of this paper is to address this shortcoming. Design/methodology/approach: The proposed framework is evaluated by using both original and discretized data, and a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) selection technique for choosing an appropriate subset of financial ratios for improved predictive performance. The financial ratios are then analyzed by five different data mining techniques. Managerial insights, using data from Chinese companies, are revealed by the methodology employed. Findings: The prediction accuracy increases after we discretized the continuous variables of financial ratios. A better prediction performance can be achieved by including fewer, but relatively more significant variables. Random forest has the highest overall performance following closely by SVM and neural network. Originality/value: The contribution of this study is fourfold. First, the authors add to the literature on defaults by showing variable discretization to be an essential pre-processing step to improve the prediction performance for classification problems. Second, the authors demonstrate that machine learning approaches can achieve better performance than traditional statistical methods in classification tasks. Third, the authors provide the evidence for the adoption of C5.0 over other methods because rules generated with C5.0 provide managerial insights for managers. Finally, the authors demonstrate the effectiveness of the LASSO technique for identifying the most important financial ratios from each category, enabling one to build better predictive models
Investigating e-business models’ value retention for start-ups: The moderating role of venture capital investment intensity
No full textBusiness models help firms to set a right path to create, grow and retain their business value. While previous research shows that business model affects the performance of entrepreneurial firms, there is still limited understanding about how likely different business model selections of Internet of Things (IoT) startup firms retain their value and whether the venture capital investment intensity does play any role in the business model\u27s value retention process. In this study, we suggest that the e-business model selections (i.e. novelty, efficiency, lock-in and complementarity) of an IoT mobile Application (App) may affect its value retention. Based on contingency theory, an organization must match its structure and decisions to its external environments. We propose that the venture capitalist\u27s involvement may moderate the strength of the relationship between e-business models and an IoT mobile App\u27s’ value retention. We have collected data from 470 start-ups in China. The results show that efficiency-centred and complementarities-centred e-business models increase while lock-in centred e-business model reduces the IoT mobile App\u27s value retention. Furthermore, our findings also indicate that the venture capitalist\u27s involvement does not help all types of e-business model\u27s value retention. The relationship between novelty centred e-business model and value retention is positively only when venture capital investment intensity is high. In contrast, the relationship between efficiency centred e-business model and value retention is positive only when venture capital investment intensity is low. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed, and some limitations and future research directions are proposed
The control-Ownership wedge and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from Korean business groups (Chaebols)
No full textWe examine the effect of the control-ownership wedge (the difference between voting rights and cash flow rights) in Korean business groups (Chaebols) on corporate social responsibility activities. The results of our analyses show that on corporate social responsibility activities decrease as the control-ownership wedge increases. This result remains consistent when on corporate social responsibility scores are used. This study provides evidence that a greater control-ownership wedge decreases engagement in corporate social responsibility activities in the context of Korean business groups (Chaebols), with their unique ownership structure
E-collaboration at Celadon trucking services
No full textTechnology has influenced industries around the world. Not only is the use of technology essential to the success of a business, but the continuous improvement of technology is a determinant factor in obtaining a competitive advantage. Electronic collaboration (e-collaboration) has made a presence in the supply chain of international trade. The logistics industry, in particular the area of trucking, has to continuously improve their technology and use e-collaboration in order to continue having a profitable advantage in a highly regulated and competitive arena. Some methods of e-collaboration used by a particular trucking company along the U.S.-Mexico border will be discussed
Employment probability of college graduates: The role of college and student factors
No full textThe empirical analysis of factors that affect college graduates\u27 employment is necessary not only to provide practical information for students and universities, but also to assist policymakers in making decisions about educational and human resource policies. In this study, we examine contributing factors that affect college graduates\u27 likelihood of being employed. In particular, we estimate the degree of variance in college graduates\u27 employment that can be attributed to college-level factors using multi-level data provided by EduData Service System (EDSS) in Korea. Findings indicate that male students majoring in the areas of medicine or engineering and who obtain state-authorized certificates and have study-abroad experiences have a higher probability of being employed. The estimation of intra-class correlation coefficient also indicates that 23.3 percent of the probability of college graduates\u27 employment can be attributed to college factors. When unobserved college factors alone, such as colleges\u27 efforts to support their students\u27 employment, are taken into account, 14.8 percent of employment is still attributable to college-level factors. These findings have clear implications for the role of colleges in improving their graduates\u27 job market performance
Dentin sialoprotein is a novel substrate of matrix metalloproteinase 9 in vitro and in vivo
No full textDentin sialoprotein (DSP) is essential for dentinogenesis and processed into fragments in the odontoblast-like cells and the tooth compartments. Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) is expressed in teeth from early embryonic to adult stage. Although MMP9 has been reported to be involved in some physiological and pathological conditions through processing substrates, its role in tooth development and whether DSP is a substrate of MMP9 remain unknown. In this study, the function of MMP9 in the tooth development was examined by observation of Mmp9 knockout (Mmp9-/-) mouse phenotype, and whether DSP is a substrate of MMP9 was explored by in vitro and in vivo experiments. The results showed that Mmp9-/- teeth displayed a phenotype similar to dentinogenesis imperfecta, including decreased dentin mineral density, abnormal dentin architecture, widened predentin and irregular predentin-dentin boundary. The distribution of MMP9 and DSP overlapped in the odontoblasts, the predentin, and the mineralized dentin, and MMP9 was able to specifically bind to DSP. MMP9 highly efficiently cleaved DSP into distinct fragments in vitro, and the deletion of Mmp9 caused improper processing of DSP in natural teeth. Therefore, our findings demonstrate that MMP9 is important for tooth development and DSP is a novel target of MMP9 during dentinogenesis
A Family-Centered Preventive Intervention Within Pediatric Oncology: Adapting the FOCUS Intervention for Latino Youth and Their Families
No full textPediatric cancer can disrupt the behavioral and emotional well-being of youth and their families, representing a potential psychological health risk for the entire family. Among ethnic minority families, cultural factors such as acculturation and language competency may affect the experience of this illness, which can, in turn, affect overall functioning. Integrating psychological health services within medical care settings is one method to enhance engagement in psychological health services and reduce barriers, including access and stigma. Given the paucity of evidence-based screening procedures and trauma-informed preventive interventions delivered within pediatric settings, the FOCUS consultation model was implemented within an outpatient pediatric oncology clinic. A case illustration is described to highlight the modifications made to the FOCUS consultation model to provide culturally sensitive and responsive treatment to Latino families. The article includes implications for future research on integrating culturally relevant, family-centered prevention approaches for reaching ethnic minority families