Are Investment Banks Helpful or Hurtful? An Analysis of Intraday Volatility in the Direct Listing Process as Compared to Investment Bank-Involvement in Traditional IPOs

In this paper, I carry out an empirical analysis of the pricing volatility of direct listings as compared to traditional IPOs. Direct listings solve an efficiency problem in the US going-public market, in which well-funded, late-stage firms lack incentives to pursue a public listing, which would create liquidity for preexisting shareholders and allow for a more diverse body of public shareholders. Direct listings have been allowed on the New York Stock Exchange since early 2018, and four firms, Spotify, Slack, Asana, and Palantir, have gone public through this new listing mechanism. While underwriters are heavily involved in the IPO process, serving the role as price stabilizers after the issue goes public, direct listings do not require a formal underwriter. Investment banks are often regarded as a necessity for stabilization in the going-public process, but this paper analyzes whether or not the overallotment option and lockup agreement in traditional IPOs actually leads to greater swings in price volatility for the first 60 days after an issue goes public

In-Process R&D (IPRD) Write-off Misclassifications In Compustat: An Econometric Evaluation

Over the period 1994-1999, for a sample of 57 firms, in-process research and development (IPRD) costs write-offs were reported in the 10-Ks of approximately 12% of the observations. The IPRD amounts ranged from $230,000 to over$16 7 million. In 38% of these cases, Compustat overstated R&D expense by including the IPRD write-off Comparative econometric estimates obtained show larger parameter coefficients when the Compustat\u27s R&D expense data was used. This suggests prior research on R&D tax credit effectiveness based on Compustat data may have been upwardly biased, overstating the tax credit\u27s incentive effects. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed

Cognitive Feedback Theories and Artificial Intelligence: A Case for A Grammarly of UI/UX Design

This thesis is concerned with utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) techniques and cognitive theories of feedback to enhance learning outcomes in the field of user interface and user experience (UI/UX) design. The capabilities of AI/ML have expanded immensely over the past several years, and it is now being effectively used in software programs like Grammarly, a tool that provides intelligent feedback on writing skills including grammar, tone, and clarity. Grammarly has been uniquely successful as a feedback tool because it relies on lessons from cognitive science regarding student feedback and learning outcomes. Currently, there is no comparable software available for UI/UX, making it a uniquely untapped area for effective learning tools. The question that this thesis attempts to answer, therefore, is: How can the successes of Grammarly and established cognitive feedback principles inform the design of an AI/ML-based feedback tool for UI/UX design? To answer that question, this thesis explores previous work on AI/ML techniques, cognitive feedback theories, structural similarities between grammar and design, and design heuristics in order to ultimately define the theoretical groundwork for a “Grammarly for UI/UX design.

Redpilling Normies: An Ethnography of Alt-Right 4chan Discourse

The alt-right is an ever-growing presence in American society yet little is known about their strategies for political organizing and engaging and growing their following. Through the popularization of the internet, individuals\u27 ability to access far-right ideology and form communities around it has become increasingly easy. While there have been many attempts to limit alt-right rhetoric online, no such attempts have been made on 4chan.org. That paired with the level of anonymity present on the platform has allowed alt-right rhetoric to flourish with no repercussions. This project takes an ethnographic approach to examine redpill discourse on 4chan’s /pol/ board to better understand group behavior in alt-right digital spaces. Analyzing redpill discourse provides a unique perspective as the term redpill both serves as a verb to describe the recruitment process and as a noun to describe a piece of alt-right ideology. This analysis of redpill discourse provides key insights into community building, ideology construction, and recruitment strategies of the alt-right on 4chan. Better understanding the behavior and beliefs of the alt-right is a critical step to effectively counteract the movement and the hate they propagate

Cerebral aneurysm treatment: modern neurovascular techniques.

Endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysm continues to evolve with the development of new technologies. This review provides an overview of the recent major innovations in the neurointerventional space in recent years

Socializing Girls Whose Bodies May Not Align with Contemporary Ideals of Thinness: An Interpretive Study of Mothers

We sought to understand how mothers of young adolescent girls who are perceived as overweight or at risk for becoming so and whose body mass indices are at the 70th percentile or higher socialize their daughters about body, weight, diet, and health. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 mothers. Data were analyzed using constant comparison processes. Findings revealed that mothers adopted a variety of strategies – including teaching, modeling, managing, avoiding, and comforting – to achieve varied socialization goals for their daughters. Specifically, mothers sought to help their daughters to accept the self, reject the hegemonic ideal, maintain a healthful diet, avoid overeating/police the self for over-eating, engage in regular physical activity, and navigate stigmatizing social situations. Mothers\u27 sometimes experienced ambivalence as they socialized their daughters about the body; this conflict seemed to stem from anxiety about how to parent their daughters within a culture laden with discourses stigmatizing larger bodies

The relationship among weight controllability, weight-based stereotypes and attitudes, and weight loss behaviors

Beliefs about personal control over body weight and attitudes about persons who are overweight may be related to one’s own body esteem (Schwartz, Vartanian, Nosek, & Brownell, 2006). In addition, body esteem has been found to be related to adoption of weight loss behaviors in a variety of studies (e.g., Stice & Shaw, 1994). We explored multidimensional relationships among perception of weight controllability, negative stereotypes about obese persons, body esteem, and weight loss behaviors to examine connections among all variables. Five hypotheses were derived from previous research and informed by Bandura’s discussion of self-efficacy connecting perceptions of control to behavior (1982): H1: Beliefs about weight control are positively related to body esteem; H2: Beliefs about weight control are positively related to obesity stereotypes; H3: Anti-fat attitude is positively related to obesity stereotypes; H4: Body esteem is positively related to weight loss behaviors; And H5: Obesity stereotypes are positively related to weight loss behaviors

Evaluating the Outcomes of Fashion FUNdamentals: A STEM Education Program for Middle School Girls

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the outcomes of Fashion FUNdamentals, a youth enrichment program that invokes fashion as a catalyst to ignite middle school girls\u27 interest in STEM learning. FF is a two-week, no-cost, summer program (M-F, 9 am-5 pm) that targets underserved middle school girls (aged 11-14). The program addresses the multifaceted educational and developmental needs of middle school girls through both technical programming (i.e., STEM-based education in fiber/textile science; digital textile printing; apparel engineering; and apparel costing and pricing) and social programming (i.e., esteem-based education in body image/media literacy, nutrition, physical activity, anti-bullying, and Internet safety). Findings provide evidence that Fashion FUNdamentals has the potential to build girls\u27 interest in math and science as well as their self-esteem. Girls who enter the program with either low or high self-esteem may benefit from participation relative to increased interest as an outcome