2206 research outputs found
Sort by
An Evaluation of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filings in a Competing Risks Framework
No full textAn important strand of research on corporate bankruptcies via Chapter 11 in the United States has appropriately focused on the firm characteristics associated with emergence as viable business entities. This necessarily involves considering factors (such as management changes) that arise during the restructuring process. We consider a narrower question - which ex-ante factors are important in influencing the bankruptcy court’s decision in a Chapter 11 application: approval of the reorganization plan or dismissal culminating in the firm’s liquidation. We use a competing risks model and find that while financial attributes such as firm size matter, the formation of a creditors committee, debt prepackaging prior to filing, and judicial experience significantly impact the outcome as well as the duration of the legal process. The latter is important because it clearly influences the direct costs of bankruptcy and has also been used in the literature as a useful proxy for harder to measure indirect costs. We believe our approach which explicitly captures the time dimension provides a useful input to the cost-benefit considerations associated with a Chapter 11 filing
The Power of Love: A Transformed Heart Changes the World
No full textThe Power of Love is an inspiring chronicle of life-changing encounters, personal transformation and a vision of love that transcends the everyday definition, to embrace universal kindness and compassion, based on the knowledge that all beings are one family and that our capacity to love is one of the world’s most hidden yet powerful resources. The book is groundbreaking in its affirmation of love as a pathway for people of widely differing viewpoints.https://inspire.redlands.edu/oh_books/1061/thumbnail.jp
Habitat Recovery GIS Toolbox for the Cleared Minefields of the Falkland Islands
Full text linkThe conclusion of the Falklands War of 1982 left behind minefields scattered across the Falkland Islands. Clearance activities began in 2009 to remove the mines from these minefields. Despite most of the minefields in the Falkland Islands having been cleared of active landmines, the Falkland Islands Government has decided to keep the fences standing around the cleared minefields over concern for the recovery of the vegetation. The Falkland Islands Government needs to continue assessment until the recovery reaches an optimal point to remove the fences and reincorporate the cleared minefields into the commons of the Falkland Islands. The purpose of the project involved the development of a toolbox containing Python script tools functional in ArcMap to analyze the vegetation health and recovery process of the cleared minefields in the Falkland Islands. The purpose of the toolbox is to utilize GIS and remote sensing techniques to provide information to the Falkland Islands Government about each cleared minefield. Using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) analysis on multispectral images, the toolbox would provide information regarding the amount of healthy vegetation contained within the cleared minefields and details on the process of recovery by comparing NDVI analyses performed on multispectral images taken at different dates. From the assessment provided by the Habitat Recovery Toolbox, the Falkland Islands Government can understand if a cleared minefield can have the fences removed, or if the cleared minefield still requires time to recover to an optimal point of healthy vegetation recovery
The Relationship between Childhood Onset Illness and Social Development
Full text linkThe purpose of this study is to look at the relationship between childhood onset illness and social development success. Social development was operationalized as occupational, educational, economic, social and romantic relationship success. Participants were recruited via online support groups, randomly chosen interest groups, and the general Facebook population. It was predicted that individuals who suffered from a childhood onset illness would have more difficulties (or less success) in social, occupational, educational, economic, and romantic relationship areas during their adult years compared to the healthy comparison group. It was found that individuals with childhood onset illnesses had lower friendship quality in both childhood and adulthood than the healthy comparison group. There were no differences found between those with a childhood onset illness and the healthy comparison group in occupational, educational, economic, and romantic relationship success. By understanding how childhood onset illness effects social development success, it can help guardians and practitioners to properly assist ill children in having meaningful social interactions
Online and On-Campus: Student Navigations of Activism in an Age of Social Media
Full text linkThis research explores how student activists at a liberal arts campus in Southern California navigate online and in-person spaces in the context of their activism. While existing literature emphasizes that online spaces are being used as alternative “counterspaces” for activism, this study reveals that students’ social lives are entangled in the interactions that occur in both spaces, and their online activism is directly informed by the particulars of the university space itself. This study reimagines and utilizes the theoretical framework of a counterspace to include a more dynamic, fluid approach to how social space is constructed in the lives of students. The three methods of data gathering included individual and group interviews, participant observation, and social media data. Themes—(a) being an ‘activist’ (b) ‘othered’ bodies (c) cultivating allyship (d) educational opportunities—explore how online actions can be described as a reimagined ‘counterspace’ that allows students to enhance their practices of activism in some cases
The Value of Care Labor
Full text linkThis research examines the ways in which the value of care labor has fluctuated over time and the patterns of devaluation, resistance, and organizing that have persisted. A multi-pronged approach is necessary in order to restructure and value care. We must think of carework as embedded in discriminatory history, as increasingly global labor, and recognize the symbiotic relationship between those who give and receive care. This capstone analyzes the relationship between carework and “women’s work”, slavery, and immigration because the devalued status of care labor largely stems from race, gender, class, and nationality dynamics. The development and impact of the domestic worker movement in the United States and its relationship to care labor’s value is also examined. The current domestic worker movement has developed into a groundbreaking feminist model of worker and labor rights, as they build from past obstacles and successes to find inclusive, sustainable models of organizing that elevate all workers. Domestic workers center their organizing around community, dignity, and protections. They are fighting to gain material protections while challenging and rebuilding perceptions and understandings of care. As the demand for caring labor increases in the USA, it is critical to think about how to create reciprocal respect, dignity, and protection for both the receivers of care and care givers. The limitations of this work include a lack of interviews and reliable data around organization membership and involvement and the enforcement and effectiveness of laws around domestic worker rights
Testing Multivariate Alteration Detection for Tropical Deforestation using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Drone Imagery in Mamomi Valley, Panama
Full text linkMonitoring tropical deforestation poses a juxtaposition of urgency and difficulty. Because of nearly constant cloud cover in the tropics, heavily studied and widely implemented methods using multispectral satellite imagery to do large-scale land monitoring are not possible. Being an active sensing system that can penetrate through clouds, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) solves this issue, making it one of the best opportunities for tropical forest change in the tropics. In Mamoní Valley, Panama, Multivariate Alteration Detection (MAD) analysis was used with SAR Ground Range Detected imagery from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sentinel 1 satellite to test its viability for detecting forest changes. Multispectral Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery was used and tested for its viability to provide validation of the change detection analysis. Results of the methodology showed correlation between the SAR MAD results and various land cover types observed in the UAV imagery, though distinct multitemporal changes resulting from the analyses did not appear to correlate with changes shown in the UAV imagery. A comparison with Principal Component Analysis showed similar results, leading to the conclusion that the MAD method implemented was sound, but GRD SAR data may not be most suitable for this method. The results of the analyses can be used to focus future UAV mapping sites which may further develop the accuracy and implementation of SAR for tropical change detection
GIS- Driven Translations of Film Narratives: A Space-Time Cube of Christopher Nolan\u27s Dunkirk
Full text linkSpace-time cubes are a form of 3D cartography ideal for the synthesis of temporal and spatial data, and have thus been used to construct qualitative narratives that map the pathways of stories and life histories over time. This project extends this methodology into the realm of filmmaking by translating Christopher Nolan’s 2017 film Dunkirk into a space-time cube. In doing so, this project in turn offers a synthesis of GIS and digital humanities. Through deliberate cutting across multiple characters’ perspectives, Dunkirk tells a tripartite narrative that is emotionally gripping yet logistically confusing. This project transforms Dunkirk’s non-linear narrative into a space-time cube for the purpose of chronological elucidation in a GIS environment. Multiple sets of temporal and spatial data were derived through the study of Dunkirk’s fictional plot and research of true historical events. The data were then mapped in a space-time cube in linear chronological order. The results of this project analyze the proficiency of GIS in translating stories from the medium of film into 3D cartographic space, as well as the wider application of spacetime cubes in film narrative storyboarding
The Hyperwall: A Geospatial Education Exhibit for the Science Museum of Virginia
Full text linkModern museums rely on technologically advanced platforms to attract visitors and convey information. The Science Museum of Virginia (SMV) proposed a new interactive geospatial education exhibit called the EarthLab Data Hyperwall to support their mission statement of “inspiring Virginians to enhance their lives through science.” A hyperwall/video wall is a visualization tool composed of a large screen array used for education and collaborative work. The SMV’s Hyperwall Exhibit consists of a high resolution video wall controlled by a connected, visitor-accessible touchscreen. The exhibit educates visitors on several environmental and climatic topics using interactive maps to increase comprehension. This project produced a .NET Framework application that accesses the datasets and maps for each topic by implementing Esri’s ArcGIS Runtime SDK for .NET. The Museum needed the Hyperwall platform to display the underlying data through an interactive and accessible User Interface. The system’s design considered Museum visitor’s varied demographics and recent educational theory relating to cognition and spatial literacy. The educational goals of the exhibit are: teach visitors about the Museum’s research into heat illness risks related to urban heat islands, improve visitor’s wayfinding and overall spatial literacy, and educate visitors on environmental conditions and the changing climate locally and the world over
Literacies: Examining Teachers’ Perception of Meaning-Making in Literacy for English Learners and LTELs
Full text linkThe objective of this study was to gather teacher voices in order to examine the perception of teachers in teaching meaning-making in literacy to Long-term English learners (LTEL). This study focused on how meaning-making in literacy instruction is facilitated to English learners from kinder through sixth grade. The goal of this study was to understand how English learners at the elementary level become Long-term English learners. The purpose was to gather data that informs how meaning-making in literacy is taught to this student group; guided by social semiotic theory, data was gathered. In order to guide the development and implementation of sustainable systems that support meaning-making in literacy among LTELs, teachers’ voices need to be heard and used as the primary source of guidance. To allow for an in-depth investigation of the meaning given to the experiences of the small participant population, narrative inquiry was used. Through storytelling, this study attempted to shed light on teachers’ methodologies that are currently used in the classroom to support meaning-making in literacy. The goal of this study was to answer the following questions: How does teacher’s perception of meaning-making in literacy and the goals set for students drive the delivery of literacy instruction for English learners and Long-term English learners? How do teachers provide opportunities to develop strong meaning-making skills in literacy instruction for Long-term English learners? To what extent does the teacher’s perception of reading, delivery of instruction, and planning reflect meaning-making for English learners and Long-term English learners? What recommendations can be made to educators and administrators who are responsible for professional development in regard to providing a strong literacy program intended to empower Long-term English learners in developing their meaning-making abilities