Functional PCA for Remotely Sensed Lake Surface Water Temperature Data

Functional principal component analysis is used to investigate a high-dimensional surface water temperature data set of Lake Victoria, which has been produced in the ARC-Lake project. Two different perspectives are adopted in the analysis: modelling temperature curves (univariate functions) and temperature surfaces (bivariate functions). The latter proves to be a better approach in the sense of both dimension reduction and pattern detection. Computational details and some results from an application to Lake Victoria data are presented

Within Lake Clustering of High Resolution Satellite Retrievals: A Functional Data and Clustering Approach

No abstract available

The Miller Ratio: Is It Really This Simple?

The implication of the study of the Miller Ratio (MR), given the simplicity of its computation, is the possibility of the MR being both a beneficial and easy to use tool for practitioners and regulators to detect for the possibility of earnings management (EM). The previously studied models, particularly the Modified Jones Model (MJM), were not designed to be utilized on a case-by-case basis since they were studied using large samples of firms in an attempt to make generalized statements about the effectiveness of the models. The MR, designed to be utilized on a case-by-case basis, is easily computed. If corporate managers become aware of this simple, easy-to-use tool to detect EM, they may be more cautious about engaging in this activity. Essentially, the MR could assist practitioners and regulators in prioritizing their work load of companies to analyze. It can be another tool in their arsenal to assist them in their regulatory and auditing duties. The simplicity and benefit of the MR is discussed in this study

The Bully Pulpit and The Pulpit Bully: A Comparison of How Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Donald Trump Used the Media To Propel Their Careers and Political Agendas.

This thesis compares and contrasts how two of the more media savvy American presidents, Theodore Roosevelt and Donald Trump, utilized the press/media to advance their careers and promote their agendas. Both men’s ascent to power coincided with and benefited from the rise of new media outlets; Roosevelt’s with the newspaper revolution and Trump’s with the social media/networking explosion, specifically that of Twitter. Their groundbreaking mastery of these and other media formats share several common devices including trial balloons, manipulating news cycles and creating news distractions. However, a deeper dive reveals distinct differences as well. Relying heavily on primary resources, including letters, speeches, autobiographies, and tweets, this historical analysis will show that though both men shared similar tactics, their aims and tones were worlds apart. While presidents before him were wary of the press, President Theodore Roosevelt aggressively pursued a relationship with newspapermen, seeing them as a valuable ally to disseminate information with the chief purpose of unifying public support around his policies to improve the country. During his time in office, President Trump has forcefully obstructed and attacked the mainstream media, viewing them not as an ally but an enemy. He has repeatedly used communication tools to divide, pitting his core base against those whom he perceives as against him. The main focus of his bully pulpit has been to protect and promote his “brand,” not to advocate his agenda

An Empirical Investigation Of The Impact Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act Of 2002 On Agency Costs

Drawing upon the long established stream of agency theory literature, this research investigates the effect the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) on the moderating effect of corporate governance mechanisms on the agency problem. Significant attention has been given to the costs associated with SOX, yet there is no notable research which examines the benefits derived therefrom. The purpose of this research is to fill the void in the current literature and complement its focus on costs with a serious investigation into whether benefits are being realized from this legislation. Investigating domestic, manufacturing firms listed on the New York Stock Exchange, this research illustrates that SOX caused these governance mechanisms to effectively moderate agency conflict in a post-SOX environment for this sample when they did not do so in a pre-SOX environment. Additionally, it concludes that in a model that includes audit fees, SOX improved the effectiveness of these governance mechanisms in the reduction of agency costs more predominantly with more robust results. Therefore, this research is the first to provide evidence that there are measureable benefits that flow from the passage of SOX

Governance Mechanisms As Moderators Of Agency Costs In A Pre-SOX Environment

Drawing upon the long established stream of agency theory literature, this research investigates the effect of corporate governance mechanisms on agency costs before the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, thus questioning the rationale and assumptions made in this legislation. Investigating domestic, manufacturing firms listed on the New York Stock Exchange, this research concludes that many governance controls long held to temper agency conflict did not do so in a pre-SOX environment. Therefore, it is incumbent upon researchers to determine what caused these mechanisms to fail before the passage of SOX. If researchers do not learn from the mistakes of the past and help business understand how they occurred, these mistakes will repeat themselves

Ultraviolet/X-ray variability and the extended X-ray emission of the radio-loud broad absorption line quasar PG 1004+130

We present the results of recent Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Hubble Space Telescope observations of the radio-loud (RL), broad absorption line (BAL) quasar PG 1004+130. We compare our new observations to archival X-ray and UV data, creating the most comprehensive, high signal-to-noise, multi-epoch, spectral monitoring campaign of a RL BAL quasar to date. We probe for variability of the X-ray absorption, the UV BAL, and the X-ray jet, on month-year timescales. The X-ray absorber has a low column density of $N_{H}=8\times10^{20}-4\times10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$ when it is assumed to be fully covering the X-ray emitting region, and its properties do not vary significantly between the 4 observations. This suggests the observed absorption is not related to the typical "shielding gas" commonly invoked in BAL quasar models, but is likely due to material further from the central black hole. In contrast, the CIV BAL shows strong variability. The equivalent width (EW) in 2014 is EW=11.24$\pm$0.56 \AA, showing a fractional increase of $\Delta EW / \langle EW \rangle$=1.16$\pm$0.11 from the 2003 observation, 3183 days earlier in the rest-frame. This places PG 1004+130 among the most highly variable BAL quasars. By combining Chandra observations we create an exposure 2.5 times deeper than studied previously, with which to investigate the nature of the X-ray jet and extended diffuse X-ray emission. An X-ray knot, likely with a synchrotron origin, is detected in the radio jet ~8 arcsec (30 kpc) from the central X-ray source with a spatial extent of ~4 arcsec (15 kpc). No similar X-ray counterpart to the counterjet is detected. Asymmetric, non-thermal diffuse X-ray emission, likely due to inverse Compton scattering of Cosmic Microwave Background photons, is also detected.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap

Injustice perceptions about pain: parent–child discordance is associated with worse functional outcomes

Pain is experienced within and influenced by social environments. For children with chronic pain, the child–parent relationship and parental beliefs about pain are particularly important and may influence pain outcomes. Pain-related injustice perceptions have recently been identified as an important cognitive–emotional factor for children with pain. The current study aimed to better understand the pain-related injustice perceptions of children with chronic pain and their parents. The sample consisted of 253 pediatric chronic pain patients (mean age = 14.1 years, 74% female) presenting to a tertiary pain clinic. Patients completed measures of pain intensity, pain-related injustice perceptions, stress, functional disability, and quality of life. Parents completed a measure of pain-related injustice perceptions about their child's pain. Child–parent dyads were categorized into 1 of 4 categories based on the degree of concordance or discordance between their scores on the injustice measures. One-way analysis of variances examined differences in pain intensity, stress, functional disability, and quality of life across the 4 dyad categories. Our findings indicated that both the degree (concordant vs discordant) and direction (discordant low child–high parent vs discordant high child–low parent) of similarity between child and parent injustice perceptions were associated with child-reported pain intensity, stress, functional disability, and quality of life. The poorest outcomes were reported when children considered their pain as highly unjust, but their parents did not. These findings highlight the important role of parents in the context of pain-related injustice perceptions in pediatric chronic pain