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INDUSTRY EXPERT AUDITORS, FINANCIAL REPORTING QUALITY, AND FIRM LIFE CYCLE
No full textIn this study, I investigate how a firm’s life cycle stage (introduction, growth, maturity, shakeout, and decline) influences the selection of a high-quality, industry-expert auditor. Theory suggests that auditor selection serves as a signal of financial reporting quality and plays a role in mitigating agency costs. In my first hypothesis, I predict that firms in the growth and mature stages are more likely to engage high-quality auditors. The results support this prediction relative to decline stage firms, although the likelihood of engaging an expert auditor is not significantly different between growth and introduction or shakeout firms, nor between mature and introduction or shakeout firms. These results align with signaling theory, as growth and mature firms are more inclined to invest in top-tier auditors to signal their quality. In my second hypothesis, I examine whether financial reporting quality, proxied by performance-adjusted abnormal accruals, varies across life cycle stages when an expert auditor is engaged. The results show meaningful differences in reporting quality across stages under expert auditor engagement. When comparing expert and non-expert auditor engagements within each life cycle stage, the association with stronger reporting quality appears most evident for growth and mature firms. Additional robustness tests, using alternative measures of auditor expertise and different accrual-based proxies of financial reporting quality, further support these findings. The findings in this paper suggest that audit committees should consider the life cycle stage in the auditor selection process. Audit firms can use these findings in client acceptance and continuance decisions
THE IMPACT OF THE IMSD MENTORSHIP PROGRAM ON STEM DOCTORAL GRADUATION RATES: AN APPLICATION OF ELITE THEORY
Full text linkDisparities in doctoral STEM completion rates among underrepresented groups raise questions about institutional power and access in higher education. This dissertation investigates graduation rates among minority doctoral students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, comparing results at public and private universities through the lens of elite theory. Elite theory asserts that power is concentrated within small groups or institutions that influence national and institutional outcomes. Although public administration literature addresses elite power structures in universities, less research has examined how these dynamics influence graduation for underrepresented groups in doctoral STEM disciplines.
This study applies elite theory to explore disparities in doctoral completions and examines the impact of public policies, institutional resources, and governance structures on minority student success. Mentorship is recognized as a policy intervention that can address inequities by helping underrepresented students navigate educational challenges. However, effective mentorship requires university commitment through funding mechanisms, mentorship infrastructure, and diverse representation. This study evaluates the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) mentorship program’s impact on minority doctoral graduation outcomes, using both fixed effects and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models. The analysis utilizes institutional-level data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to examine public or private sectoral differences affecting mentorship initiatives’ effectiveness.
Ultimately, the dissertation contributes to public administration by integrating elite theory into discussions of educational equity and providing empirical evidence on the relationship between the IMSD mentorship program and graduation rates of underrepresented biomedical doctoral students. It conceptualizes governance structures and institutional autonomy within universities, applying variables that reflect institutional capacity and resource intensity to determine their effect on minority biomedical doctoral students. This work underscores the importance of targeted policies supporting underrepresented groups to enhance our understanding of higher education dynamics influencing student achievement
IMPLEMENTING PRIMARY CARE FALL PREVENTION WITH THE STEADI ALGORITHM TOOLKIT
No full textFalls among older adults remain a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in underserved populations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed the Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries (STEADI) toolkit to help providers systematically identify and address fall risks. The purpose of this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project was to implement and evaluate integration of the CDC STEADI toolkit within primary care at Palm Beach Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) Greenacres. The aim was to train the interprofessional leadership team to use the STEADI program to enhance knowledge, confidence, screening, and implementation of fall reduction strategies to promote practice change. This was a quality improvement project conducted with 12 interprofessional PACE leaders. Pre- and post-intervention surveys measured changes in knowledge, confidence, and fall prevention practices. Fall prevention screenings and reported falls were documented over a three-month period. Results included successful Leadership training, positive knowledge gain and effective learning among participants using he STEADI toolkit and a stable fall frequency. Leadership elected to maintain current use Tinetti fall model as the primary framework and incorporated selected STEADI components to support and strengthen current practices. The implications for practice include adapting evidence-based fall prevention programs within existing systems that enhance fall risk management in community-dwelling older adults. Combining two tools, Tinetti and STEADI models, could optimize risk outcomes, promote safety, and guide future practice and research in fall prevention among older adults. This supports Healthy People 2030 objectives IVP-06 and IVP-08 focused on reducing fall-related deaths and reduce emergency department visits due to fall (ODPHP, 2023)
ANALYZING FLEXIBLE FILLERS FOR ENHANCED PROTECTION IN POST-TENSIONED BRIDGES
No full textFlorida’s extensive coastline, dense network of bridges, and highly aggressive environmental conditions make corrosion a critical concern for the durability of bridges infrastructure. To minimize corrosion in bridge structures that use unbonded post-tension tendons, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is using flexible fillers as an alternative material to cementitious grout. This study evaluated the performance of five flexible fillers under sodium chloride (NaCl) exposure using NaCl solutions at concentrations of 10mM, 100mM and 1M over an 8-month period. Visual inspections revealed that filler composition and pre-existing cracks and voids in the filler samples significantly influenced degradation behavior. The samples containing only Sonneborn and Trenton fillers were among the last to exhibit visible changes, while samples containing only Civetea, or Civetea combined with a second filler, showed early signs of deterioration.
Additionally, samples with exposed steel strands (thin filler coating) tended to exhibit visible changes earlier, indicating that direct exposure of the steel surface significantly accelerates the initiation and progression of corrosion. These results emphasize that effective corrosion prevention relies not only on appropriate material selection (the choice of flexile filler) but also on proper sample preparation
INVITED BUT NOT WELCOME: ASSIMILATION, EMOTIONAL LABOR, AND THE LIMITS OF BELONGING FOR MIDDLE-CLASS HAITIANS
No full textThe problem of the 21st century is not simply that of the “color line,” but rather of how diverse groups of Blacks (Americans and immigrants alike) experience the “color line.” This interview-based dissertation project addresses this problem by examining how thirty-eight first-, 1.5-, and second-generation middle-class Haitian immigrants engage with and reconcile the color line in their lives. This dissertation finds that these immigrants “performatively assimilate” to access privileged middle- and upper-class spaces. Through strategies of strategic ethnicity, code switching, and signifying Haitian exceptionalism, they are able to achieve stable and fulfilling careers and financial security. This dissertation proposes a new framework for examining assimilation patterns of marginalized groups and examines the lives of Haitians through this framework. Performative assimilation is defined as the ongoing emotional labor that marginalized groups must perform to achieve provisional and temporary access to privileged spaces. While the mechanisms and strategies of assimilation may change, the need to engage in performative assimilation does not. Performative assimilation, as a framework, provides tools to examine the assimilation of marginalized groups through an intersectional lens, showing how race, migration status, gender, and class combine to create particular experiences and practices of assimilation. Without this intersectional lens, we are at risk of universalizing one group’s experiences. This case of middle-class Haitians tells us that not all Haitians, let alone all immigrants or marginalized groups, have the same experience of assimilation. By calling attention to the contingent and ongoing practices of accessing dominant spaces in the US, performative assimilation provides tools necessary to holistically and intersectionally examine those experiences. This dissertation shows how concepts developed by other scholars, including strategic ethnicities, codeswitching, and Haitian exceptionalism, are deployed as strategies and mechanisms of performative assimilation that enable middle-class Haitians to access privileged spaces. This study demonstrates that despite the best efforts of middle-class Haitians, they remain only provisionally accepted in privileged middle- and upper-class white spaces
HOW TO NOT LOSE A BLACK DAUGHTER
No full text“How to Not Lose a Black Daughter” is a collection of documentary poems about people who lost their lives due to police violence and racism. This thesis weaves golden shovels, persona, and narrative to record the lives of those who could easily be forgotten when the Black Lives Matter Movement becomes less noisy. Israel blends historical and contemporary poems that shows the reality of the challenges of what black people are faced with living in America. Despite the facts and trauma, “How to Not Lose a Black Daughter” also embraces motherhood, how it can uplift, and heal one’s inner self. These poems not only serve as an ode to remembrance of the lives lost but a remembrance to love oneself and how being black has its own privileges and honor
THE WEAPON FOCUS EFFECT: EXAMINING ATTENTION AND MEMORY FOR WEAPONS AND THEIR ACTIONS
No full textDecades of eye-tracking and memory research support the weapon focus effect, that weapons attract visual attention during criminal events which leaves less attention to focus on other event features. Relevant memory tests, however, typically only evaluate recognition of the perpetrator committing a crime. Rarely, if at all, do researchers use direct tests of memory for the weapons. Therefore, it is less understood if viewers are simply attending to objects or if they are encoding their details. In the present studies, we successfully replicated the attentional weapon focus effect with newly filmed stimuli of criminal and neutral events. The second experiment evaluated feature and associative memory for weapons, their actions, and actors. Results display increased recognition for weapons compared to neutral objects; however, this finding might be explained by differences in the objects’ visual similarity. We then tested participants’ memory for weapons and actors using object and person lineups. Results demonstrated worsened accuracy for weapons compared to neutral objects, indicating that participants struggle to discern between the weapon they saw and others that match the same general description but differ in fine-grain details. Therefore, participants may not be encoding the specific details of a weapon when it is present but may be categorizing the object as life-threatening
CONTROLLING THE SIZE AND SURFACE CHEMISTRY OF NICKEL NANOPARTICLES VIA A MODIFIED POLYOL METHOD
No full textThis study presents a detailed exploration of the synthesis, morphological tuning, and physicochemical characterization of nickel nanoparticles (NiNPs) engineered for catalytic applications in aqueous environments. Using a modified polyol method adapted from Couto et al., nanoparticles were synthesized under controlled thermal and chemical conditions with nickel chloride hexahydrate, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), and sodium borohydride in ethylene glycol according to a modified version of this synthesis protocol.1 The reaction temperature and reactivity of the reducing agent were found to significantly influence particle size. Reaction temperatures were varied between 120° C and 170° C, resulting in nanoparticle sizes between 23 ± 7 nm and 13 ± 4 nm. Potent NaBH₄ enabled rapid burst nucleation, yielding uniform NiNPs in \u3c 25 nm size range. Post-synthesis processing included rigorous washing and sonication to minimize residual contaminants and enhance colloidal stability. The morphological and chemical characterization of NiNPs was conducted using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potentials, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), alternating gradient magnetometry (AGM), and high-angle annular dark field (HAADF) scanning TEM imaging. DLS and zeta potential measurements confirmed the role of surface charge in providing nanoparticle stability2. STEM-EELS mappings was used to quantify the level of surface oxidation occurring at various reaction temperatures, which can affect the catalytic activity of NiNPs. It was found that surface oxidation increased with the reaction temperature. AGM was used to obtain hysteresis curve measurements to quantify the magnetic properties of the NiNPs. The saturation magnetization was found to increase with the reaction temperature. The findings provide a systematic foundation for engineering nanoparticle synthesis and surface chemistry towards CO2 remediation in freshwater and saltwater, an environmentally relevant aqueous-phase application. The work highlights the importance of surfactant selection and reaction temperature as controllable levers for engineering size, dispersion, stability, and magnetic recoverability — critical factors for future integration into aqueous-phase systems and nanomaterial-based environmental technologies
THE INTERACTION OF TEMPORAL AND STRUCTURAL ABSTRACTIONS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON BEHAVIOR
Full text linkThe prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a crucial role in complex behaviors such as planning, decision-making, and adaptive problem-solving, which require integrating new information over time. Research has shown that information related to these behaviors is organized along a hierarchical rostro-caudal abstraction gradient in PFC, with abstract information represented in rostral (anterior) regions and concrete relationships in caudal (posterior) regions. Abstraction involves generalizing information by emphasizing broader concepts over specific details and can be understood more specifically by the context its applied to. However, past studies often confound different forms of abstraction, making it unclear how these different types of abstraction may uniquely shape internal representations. In this dissertation, I examine how structural and temporal abstraction interact in shaping behavior by manipulating the presentation order of informational cues. In agreement with computational models of PFC, I find that behavior is governed by temporal abstraction, with behavioral differences further influenced by the order in which structurally abstract information is presented. Furthermore, by selectively manipulating the salience of information presented immediately prior to a response deadline relative to preceding information, I demonstrate how learning to integrate information sources more efficiently proceeds in a bottom-up fashion. Finally, I show how the insights derived from laboratory experiments can be applied in the real-world context of health decision-making. Consistent with prior findings, participants’ decisions are influenced by information encountered immediately before the choice, while changes in the salience of health outcome information immediately prior to a response suggested differences in how subjects processed quality of life vs lifespan information. Overall, this work suggests that internal representations in learning and decision-making are governed by temporal abstraction, with improved learning and behavioral outcomes observed when different forms of abstraction align. The overall approach of manipulating temporal and structural abstraction is a valuable approach for assessing how information is integrated and decisions are made under time-restricted conditions, with applications for understanding how individuals make decisions in real-world contexts with time pressure
META’S AI BIAS TO WHAT EXTENT DO META\u27S ALGORITHMIC PROCESSES FOR CLASSIFYING AND PROCESSING INFORMATION RELATED TO ACTS OF RACISM IMPACT FAIRNESS, BIAS, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ACROSS ITS PLATFORMS?
Full text linkAlgorithmic processing and classification of racism-related content have become increasingly prevalent across Meta\u27s platforms. While these algorithms aim to create safer online environments, their effectiveness and impact on fairness remain understudied. This research examines how Meta\u27s algorithmic processes for classifying racist content affect fairness, bias, and social justice across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Using qualitative research methodology, the study conducted focus groups with diverse platform users to understand their experiences with content moderation. The research also analyzed theoretical frameworks related to algorithmic bias, fairness metrics, and social justice in digital spaces.
Key findings revealed significant variations in algorithmic effectiveness across different languages and cultural contexts, with implications for fairness and user experience. The study identified patterns in false positives and negatives, transparency issues, and challenges in handling intersectional content.
These findings will add to the increasing research base on algorithmic fairness and provide recommendations for improving content moderation systems. The findings offer valuable insights for technology companies, policymakers, and civil rights advocates working to create more equitable digital spaces