1287 research outputs found
Sort by
The Dodd-Frank Act and its Impact on Community Bank Mortgage Lending
Get PDFI investigate the impacts of additional regulatory burdens on community bank mortgage lending due to the Dodd-Frank Act. The Dodd-Frank Act, which was signed into federal law by President Barack Obama on July 21, 2010, was intended to protect consumers, promote financial stability, and reduce the risk associated with larger banks being “too-big-to-fail.” However, one criticism of the Act is that the increased regulations and compliance costs under the Act have made it increasingly difficult for smaller banks to survive. As a result, an unintended consequence of the Dodd-Frank Act is that smaller banks may issue fewer loans than they would in the absence of increased compliance costs.
In this thesis I analyze the effect of the Dodd-Frank Act on mortgage lending by community banks before and after the Dodd-Frank Act to determine whether or not this legislation has negatively impacted community banks. I use online public data provided by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) for a sample of community banks in Mississippi and Alabama. In addition, I evaluate the effect Dodd-Frank has had on small commercial banks’ return on average assets using national data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. My hypothesis is that the average number of mortgage applications received, the average percentage of mortgage applications approved, the average value of mortgage applications received, the average value of mortgage applications approved, the average percentage of mortgage value approved, and the return on average assets for small commercial banks have all decreased in the years following the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act compared to years preceding the legislation. In accordance with my hypothesis, I find that all six variables decreased after the Dodd-Frank Act was enacted, thus providing evidence that community banks were adversely affected by the Dodd-Frank Act
CM-DiI and MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cell Responses to Chemotherapeutic Agents
Get PDFCM-DiI is a lipophilic, red fluorescent dye used for staining and tracking the migration of cells. CM-DiI makes it possible to visualize cells in histological regions and can therefore be very useful for the tracking of cancer cell proliferation and metastasis in vivo. The ability to track and quantitate cancer cell proliferation in vivo is essential for cancer drug discovery. If CM-DiI labeled cancer cells respond to chemotherapy agents similar to unlabeled cancer cells, it facilitates screening of potential anti-cancer compounds using CM-DiI labeled cells in a xenotransplanted, transgenic zebrafish model (Danio rerio). To investigate whether CM-DiI labeling would affect cancer cells’ sensitivity when treated with established chemotherapeutic agents, the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 was used. The chemotherapeutic agents used were doxorubicin, 4-hydroxytamoxifen, and paclitaxel. We hypothesized that CM-DiI would have no effect on the cells’ viability and sensitivity when treated with the chemotherapeutic drugs. Both labeled and unlabeled MCF-7 cells were seeded and after 24 hours each plate was treated with one of ten concentrations ranging from 0.05 µM to 1 mM of a chemotherapy compound. After incubating for 72 hours, cell viability was determined using a colorimetric MTS assay. Cell viability was not significantly different between labeled and unlabeled cells following exposure to doxorubicin and 4-hydroxytamoxifen. The results for paclitaxel, however, were inconclusive. These results provided evidence to support future aims wherein CM-DiI stained breast cancer cells will be injected into transparent zebrafish that possess green fluorescent protein labeled vasculature enabling the tracking of cells’ growth and migration while in the presence of potential new anti-cancer drugs
What’s the Payoff? Parental Well-being in Relation to Attachment, Interpersonal Goals and Parenting Style
Get PDFCertain relational frameworks such as attachment, interpersonal goals, and parenting styles
either found their roots in or have been studied in terms of the parent-child relationship.
What often happens, however, is that researchers focus on how these constructs may affect
child outcomes, without studying how they may impact the parents themselves. The current
study sought to apply attachment and interpersonal goals in a parenting context, examine
how they relate to the helicopter parenting style, and test all three constructs as predictors of
parental need satisfaction. Parents of incoming college freshmen (N = 122) completed a
survey comprised of the Experiences in Close Relationships-Relationship Structures scale,
Helicopter Parenting scale, Basic Need Satisfaction in Relationships scale, and an adapted
version of the Parenting Goals Questionnaire. Results reveal a significant correlational
relationship between anxious attachment and self-image goals. Multiple regression analyses
reveal insecure attachment and self-image goals to be significant predictors of helicopter
parenting. Attachment insecurity, self-image goals, and helicopter parenting are all significant
predictors of parental need satisfaction. Implications for future parent-focused research are
discussed
The Evolution of Trade and Labor Laws in China
Get PDFThis thesis investigates the long-term evolution of legislation that contributed to the shift of China from a command economy to an economic powerhouse in the capitalist world economy. Few have discussed whether the concept of neoliberalization, defined as the process of adapting fiscal conservative and expert oriented policies, explains the longer-term trend of Chinese development. Therefore, this thesis sets out to make a determination whether China is evolving towards or away from the neoliberal model. To answer this question, this thesis analyzes two areas of legislation crucial in a free market: China’s trade and labor laws since the 1970s. More precisely, this research explores, through the lens of legislation, whether a trend of convergence between Western, exemplified by the United States, and Chinese political economies exists, and how the trend itself has changed over time and why. Using interview data based on 15 interviews from foreign entrepreneurs who work in Shanghai or Suzhou, this thesis uses the entrepreneurs’ perception of Chinese trade and labor to seek out reoccurring themes. Based on the information gathered from the literature on the Chinese development of wage and labor laws and the qualitative data in the interviews, this thesis found surprising similarities in Chinese and US policies, effects of those policies that were complementary, and a clear neoliberal direction in the 1980s-1990s in the United States and China. This thesis concludes, based on the policies implemented during the 2000s and 2010s, that this neoliberal direction shifts in both countries, and a different kind of model is taking shape in both China and the US that diverges from neoliberalism
Atmospherics as a Marketing Tool: The Influence of the Student Union Dining Atmosphere and Service on Students’ Attitudes and Actions
Get PDFAtmospherics have been a focus of marketing research for decades following the research of Kotler (1971). Atmospherics research has revolved mostly around retail settings, with some research focusing on dining settings for consumers. Visual, aural, olfactory, and tactile factors of atmospherics have been studied in order to provide the best customer experience. Positive atmospherics also can relate to future buying habits.
This study focuses on the topic of dining atmospherics on a college campus. The purpose of this research was to analyze any changes in students’ opinions following the renovation of an on-campus dining option. A survey was available to a selection of students at the University of Mississippi. This survey asked questions pertaining to students’ views on various aspects of the Student Union dining area before and after the renovation. This survey pulled information and inspiration from an adapted version of the Mehrabian-Russell model (Liu, 2009).
In general, students viewed many aspects of the Student Union to be improved after the renovation. Positive feelings, negative feelings, positive atmospherics, and facilities all saw improved attitudes from students concerning the updated dining venue. These improved qualities did not result in more positive views of specific food vendors. The behavioral intentions of students for the updated Student Union were significantly positive. Students at least agreed to statements concerning their future patronage, word of mouth, and recommendations. Furthermore, all the defined clusters of this study significantly correlated with behavioral intentions. The qualitative analysis showed that students are enjoying the food vendor options, interior layout, and visual appeal of the renovated Student Union. However, crowding and long lines remain an issue for the Student Union. In a post hoc test, gender of students showed that females are more likely to agree with behavioral intention statements.
In total, the Student Union at the University of Mississippi has improved in the eyes of its students through the process of renovation. Some aspects still need attention and improvement, but the overall evaluation of the Student Union provided positive results
An Analysis of Mississippi Tax Incentives
Get PDFThe locational decisions of firms present a complex economic and political problem for State Legislatures across the United States of America. It is well known that individual states compete against one another, offering large packages of incentives to firms who open within their borders – a process popularly known as the “race to the bottom.” This thesis examines public subsidy information reported by the Mississippi Development Authority alongside wage and employment data from 1990 to 2016 in a local projection framework to examine whether or not treatment effects of local government spending are significant. I then employ the same method on targeted industries. I find no significant evidence these subsidies have measurable effects on wage or employment in Mississippi
The Construction and Characterization of Vaccines Expressing the Pre-membrane and Glycoprotein E antigens of the West Nile Virus
Get PDFThe West Nile Virus (WNV) is a positive polarity, single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the family Flaviviridae. In this family, there are several globally relevant human pathogens including dengue fever virus (DENV), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), yellow fever virus (YFV), the newly emerging Zika virus, and the West Nile Virus (WNV). WNV, like other Flaviviruses, is spread by an arthropod vector, and can cause West Nile fever and West Nile encephalitis and meningitis, and is now considered to be endemic in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. No vaccine is currently available to prevent WNV infection, and it is clear that one is needed.
This thesis aims to provide significant, relevant background information, pathophysiology, epidemiology, and highlight various vaccination strategies that have been attempted or are currently being researched to combat WNV. Furthermore, this paper aims to provide a plausible solution to WNV with two different vaccines that were created: a DNA and recombinant Varicella Zoster Virus (rVZV) vaccine, both expressing the pre-membrane and glycoprotein E antigens of the virus. The DNA vaccine achieved successful transfection and expression in Vero cells
Assembly of a Protein-based Hydrogel as a Vehicle for In Situ Drug Delivery
Get PDFThe goal of this work is to develop a self-assembling, protein-based gel to deliver drugs at the site of chronic inflammation. There are two engineered protomers that comprise the gel; calmodulin- and M13- are their critical components. Numerous enzymes have been shown to undergo calcium-dependent regulation by calmodulin, an intracellular protein highly resilient to its chemical environment. One of these enzymes, myosin light chain kinase, contains a remarkable 26 residue portion known as the M13 peptide that has been demonstrated to bind to calmodulin in the presence of calcium through hydrophobic interactions. Because the extracellular space in vivo constitutes an environment rich in calcium, mixtures of engineered proteins with M13 (called PMSP) and calmodulin (called CMSP) will form a network. These engineered protein mixtures can be functionalized with drugs for delivery to the extracellular space at sites of chronic inflammation. This two component binding system can be tuned to modify the affinity and cooperativity with which self-assembly occurs, thus making it the perfect vehicle for in situ drug delivery. The purpose of the work reported here is to study the M13 peptide-containing protomer, PMSP. Since this is a novel construct, this thesis reports basic studies of the bacterial expression, solubility, interactions with calmodulin, and evidence that it forms a gel with CMSP. In order to obtain PMSP sufficient for hydrogel formation, we have bacterially expressed the protein. We have found PMSP to express poorly, with yields increased upon expression from freshly transformed cells. Further, PMSP has limited solubility in aqueous solutions, requiring the addition of Guanidine HCl or DMSO to solubilize it. Once in solution, we found that the aqueous solubility of PMSP increased in the presence of free calmodulin implying that PMSP bound calmodulin. Secondly, PMSP appeared to bind to CMSP in the presence of calcium and to form a viscous solution. We are actively working to develop spectroscopic methods to support the apparent calmodulin-PMSP binding data. Finally, we will report our first attempts to measure the viscosity of the PMSP and CMSP mixture
The Effects of Hearing Loss on Literacy Skills in Down Syndrome: Assessing Parents’ Knowledge
Get PDFPurpose: Although hearing loss (HL) is prevalent in individuals with Down syndrome (DS), there has been little research investigating the effects of HL on language and literacy skills in this population. The purpose of this study is to document the frequency of HL in DS, as well as language and literacy outcomes, and to determine if there is a difference in language and literacy outcomes for children with DS with HL and those without HL. Parental knowledge of HL and language development was also measured.
Method: A five-part survey was distributed to 77 members of DS-Connect, a National Institute of Health registry of parents and families with an individual with DS, targeting those with a child with DS between the ages of 5 and 10. The survey measured participants’ demographics, experience with ENTs and audiologists, experience with Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs), knowledge on HL and hearing health, and child’s language and literacy skills.
Results: Results indicated a high prevalence (48%) of HL in DS. However, the data indicated no difference in language and literacy outcomes for individuals with DS with HL and those without HL. Further, parents were generally knowledgeable regarding the signs of HL and items that can cause harm to the hearing system.
Discussion: Our results are consistent with previous research suggesting high rates of HL in DS, indicating early assessment and intervention is important for this population. However, the lack of differences in language and literacy outcomes between those with and without HL paired with the reported regular audiology checkups suggests that not only are individuals with DS with HL being identified and treated early, HL is not negatively impacting their communication outcomes. However, these results should be interpreted with some caution as we do not have a measure of the severity of HL, which could compact the results. Finally, parent knowledge of HL appears sufficient and may be tied to their experiences with ENTs and audiologists
Understanding the Basic Principles of Accounting: A Case-by-Case Application
Get PDFThis paper presents a range of solutions to twelve separate case studies that explore the basic principles of accounting. Each case study introduces a key topic of financial reporting that relates to a specific company or industry. The solutions were created in response to problem sets in each case that guided the analysis of the topic at hand. These problems required a basic understanding of accounting concepts and U.S. GAAP. The cases are independent of each other and require an assortment of skills including the preparation of journal entries, T-charts, and financial statements, along with a general comprehension of accounting concepts, financial analysis, and various calculations