OPEC's production announcements: The effect they have on stock market returns for the United States and Texas' oil sector

The objective of the this project is to determine whether OPEC’s production announcements have a negative or positive effect on stock market returns for the United States and Texas region during Jan. 2001- Dec. 2015 and whether they can manipulate the market with these announcements. Completing this project will provide important research to add to the existing literature over event study methodology and also about the correlation between OPEC’s announcements and crude oil’s stock market returns for the US market and Texas companies. Discovering this information from my research can hopefully show the negative or positive effect from OPEC’s announcement decisions towards US and local communities during Jan. 2001- Dec. 2015. With this knowledge oil dependent community leaders can then decide if diversifying the industries the community rely on is in the best interest of the city.single semester undergraduate faculty mentored gran

Black men wanted: an instrumental case study exploring the situational factors related to the retention of African American male high school teachers.

As the nation’s high school student population becomes increasingly diverse, the declining number of minority teachers, particularly African American male teachers is becoming an area of concern. This instrumental case study of African American male high school teachers in the Fayette County Public School system in Lexington, Kentucky sought to identify the motivations for teaching, the barriers prior to and during teaching, as well as the roles these individuals are asked to fulfill in their schools. Using purposeful sampling, 10 individuals participated in semi-structured interviews aimed at providing insight to the three research questions related to motivations, barriers, and roles. Using Critical Race Theory as a theoretical framework, the interviews were transcribed and coded using both deductive and inductive coding to find emergent themes that would help to answer the research questions. The teachers’ sense of altruism served as a leading theme for their motivations while school and neighborhood pressures, awareness of minority status and isolation were found as some of the main barriers to pursuing a career as an educator. Traditional roles focused on minority students such as mentor and typecast roles, such as disciplinarian, were found as roles that may contribute to a teacher’s tenure as an educator. These themes served as a guide to inform the implications and recommendations pertaining to this research, which sought to find solutions such as programming and more intentional recruitment and retention efforts aimed specifically at African American males. A key finding from the Black male educators in this study is the importance of altruistic influencers who helped propel these men into education and their personal desire to be allies for their own students. By expanding the conversation on race and racism within the educational system, this research sought to expose the injustices that African American male teachers experience not only during their time in school, but later during their careers as educators. This research gave voice to a silenced minority and expanded on the need for further investigation into why the educational system is always asking, “Where are the Black men?

Assessing Preventative Lifestyle Interventions in the Filipino-American Population to Decrease Risk of Type II Diabetes

Background Type II Diabetes is a concerning global health issue and must be addressed. Given the unfortunate risks of T2D in the Filipino populations, prevention efforts must begin in this select population. There is strong empirical support for utilizing lifestyle interventions such as nutrition and physical exercise to prevent these diseases in adults; but it is not clear whether the same holds true for Filipino populations. Objective This thesis examines lifestyle management efforts such as weight reduction, family support, nutrition changes, and physical activity to prevent type 2 diabetes in Filipino-Americans. Methods The methods of the thesis will present a literature review of primary research relating to preventative measures to decrease risk of T2D in the Filipino population. This paper will also include articles from the National Library of Medicine, randomized control trials, cohort studies, and nursing peer-reviewed journals to supplement content for Type II Diabetes lifestyle prevention. Also, the proposal will analyze which interventions benefit the two control groups through a T-test. It will analyze the pre and post outcomes of each lifestyle intervention. Keywords: Diabetes, Risk factors, Lifestyle interventions, Filipin

Oculomotor nerve schwannoma: case series and literature review

PURPOSE: To develop an algorithm in order to establish a consensus on how oculomotor nerve schwannomas should be treated by reviewing results from reported cases in the literature. Given the rarity of oculomotor nerve schwannomas, there is no agreed upon criteria for when a surgical or a nonsurgical intervention would be indicated. By reviewing former cases of oculomotor nerve schwannomas, our study proposes a flowchart for physicians to follow for optimal management. METHODS: The review of reported oculomotor nerve schwannoma cases involved 51 cases. From the 51 cases, data was tabulated including age, patient symptoms, symptom duration, tumor size, tumor location, treatment, post operative results, and follow up time. The cases were then divided in to surgical subgroup and a nonsurgical subgroup. Each case was also grouped based on post operative oculomotor function into improved, no change, and worsened groups. Our collaboration with Tufts Medical center also yielded 4 unreported cases of oculomotor nerve schwannoma that are described and compared to the previous 51 cases from the literature review. RESULTS: The review of the 51 reported cases yielded a few statistically significance differences between the surgical and nonsurgical subgroups. The surgical subgroup was older with a mean age of 35 years than the nonsurgical subgroup with a mean age of 15.8 years. The surgical group also had larger tumors with a mean tumor diameter of 29.5 mm versus the nonsurgical subgroup's 4.5 mm mean tumor diameter. The surgical subgroup also experienced shorter symptom durations as well. The mean duration of symptoms in the surgical subgroup was 17.8 months versus the 140 month mean symptom duration for the nonsurgical cases. Finally, the majority of surgically treated cases experienced a worsening of residual oculomotor function (20/38), while the majority of nonsurgically treated cases experienced little to no change in oculomotor function (11/13). CONCLUSION: Given the high likelihood of complete third nerve palsy after surgery, this study advocates a conservative approach to oculomotor nerve schwannomas that do not present with any life threatening symptoms or acutely deteriorating symptoms. The cases that are presented in this study also corroborate previous studies' findings on the efficacy of stereotactic radiosurgery in managing schwannoma size without resorting to more invasive interventions

Sex and Age Differences in Bone Density in the Palatal Region, Analyzed using CT Scans to Aid in Oral Mini-Implant Success

Mini-implants are titanium alloy rods implanted in the bone of the hard palate to help secure dental prostheses like dentures, fixed crowns, and bridge installations. Recent research suggests pre-surgical determination of bone density quality provides increased mini-implant surgical success rates. In replication of these methods (Moon et al.), we evaluated 19 living individual CT scans from Saint Mary’s Hospital, using Osirix 8.5 imaging software. Bone density was recorded at 90 separate coordinates using Hounsfield units, measured at three millimeter intervals (mediolaterally and anteroposteriorly starting at the incisive foramen.) The data was then analyzed for age differences and average bone density throughout different regions of the hard palate. Sex differences were closely investigated in this study because prior research has indicated that women may have a higher palatal bone density than men

Mapping ‘Wordsworthshire’: A GIS Study of Literary Tourism in Victorian Lakeland

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Victorian Culture on 14/08/2015, available online: doi: 10.1080/13555502.2015.1058089This article answers the call for scholarship that models the implementation of geographic information systems (GIS) technologies in literary-historical research. In doing so, it creates a step change to the integration of digital methodologies in the humanities. Combining methods and perspectives from cultural history, literary studies, and geographic information sciences, the article confirms, challenges, and extends understanding of Victorian literary tourism in the English Lake District. It engages with the accounts of several nineteenth-century tourists, paying specific attention to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s English Notebooks and Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley’s A Coach Drive at the Lakes, which are examined alongside contemporaneous guidebooks and other commercial tourist publications. In the process, the article draws attention to a spatial correlation between the route of the Ambleside turnpike (the Lake District’s principal coach road) and the major literary sites to which Victorian Lakeland visitors were guided. Recognizing this correlation, we contend, helps to deepen our appreciation of how the physical and imaginative geographies of the Lake District region interrelate. Specifically, it helps us appreciate how the Victorian fascination with the Lakeland’s literary associations was modulated not only by interest in the region’s other attractions, but also by material conditions on the ground