The trend in personal finance and retirement planning has changed, more and more investors have focused on the popular issue of wealth allocation across asset classes and specific investments. As a result, mutual fund investment companies have become an increasingly effective conduit for current income generation, capital appreciation, and the benefits derived through diversification. As time goes by, the amount of offshore funds introduced in Taiwan is increasing. We investors always want to ask which one could perform well and bring the investors a good return based on the past performance information. Thus the purpose of this paper is to give an overview and performance persistence of the largely unexploited Taiwan offshore and international American, European, Japanese, and Global equity mutual funds compared to Taiwan equity mutual funds and the Information Technology equity mutual funds. To do this, we evaluate fund performance applied for the Composite Index to cooperate the highly cooperate the colinearity problem of the performance indices which is introduced from Lee (2007) and Chou (2007). We focus on 6 biggest off-shore mutual fund market in Taiwan which are American, European, Global, Taiwan, Japan and Information Technology. All the performance information and fund characteristic are from Lipper. We restrict our sample to pure equity funds with at least 36 months of data. Performance details and specific fund characteristics are collected by the end of 2006. We develop the Composite Index component weights by factor analysis from January 2003 through December 2004 and rank the funds by the Composite Index score to exam the performance persistence through January 2005 through 2006. All returns are almost in local currency. We have the conclusion which all the difference in performance of the top 10% and the bottom 10% in each market is significant from zero except for the Information Technology industry. We find the effect of the Composite Index would depend on the maturity, variety, and the characteristic of the market. The more mature the market is, the less significant the performance between top deciles and bottom deciles, American mutual fund is the best supportive evidence. All the return-based indices are not adding value to select funds. Though the performance of the Composite Index is better than the other index, the raw annual return is not so high to be applied. As to the variety, the different categories and the range of the distribution of monthly return in the market have the effect to the significance of the difference in performance between the top 10% and the bottom 10%, markets of European, Global, Japan, and Taiwan are the best explanations. Finally, the higher the risk is the better the fund perform is the one special rule selecting fund in the market of Information Technology.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 167-176). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

The purpose of this treatise was presented in three parts; 1) to identify and understand the perceived factors that aid in the persistence of African-American female transfer students, 2) to access how the college environment is perceived to influence their success, and 3) to determine how the factors of intersectionality: race, class, and gender influence the persistence of this student sub group. All obtained information will be used to guide program development and the implementation of services to the chosen site institution. Through the use of qualitative methods and a case study design, this study explored the responses of nine individuals currently affiliated with the chosen four-year institution. Three of the participants in the study were faculty advisors and the remaining six were African-American female students who were also identified as transfer students as well. Semi-structured interview protocols were separately collected from both students and faculty. Findings revealed that four factors were perceived to aid in the persistence of African-American female transfer students. They were: strong support systems that involve both fictive and kinship networks, possessing and developing internal locus of control, the ability to see and be effective role models, and to exhibit strong commitment behaviors for school. Implications are presented with the intent to add to the limited scholarly literature regarding the persistence of African-American female transfer students. Recommendations include the creation of a Transfer Student Taskforce, establishing a charter chapter of Tau Sigma, which is a national Honor Society for Transfer Students, and the creation/implementation of a campus climate survey. / text

Once considered the "heart of the university," many academic libraries are facing heightened pressures to prove their relevance and value to administrators, faculty, and students, especially during these times of constrained resources and greater calls for accountability and productivity in higher education. At the same time, colleges and universities are continually striving to understand how their institutional environments affect undergraduate engagement, persistence and, ultimately, degree attainment. As a fundamental co-curricular resource, it is time for academic libraries to start systematically assessing how they affect, either directly or indirectly, their parent institutions' goals of student engagement and persistence. This quantitative study investigated the relationship between the use of an academic library, its physical resources and spaces, and student engagement and persistence at a large, public, research university. This unique study combined institutional and library data sources for analysis, including the results from a large-scale student experience survey with over 13,000 respondents, data from the student information system, and library use data from a variety of library data systems. Descriptive statistics as well as correlations, linear regressions, and logistic regressions were conducted to investigate the relationship between the library-use variables and variables representing sense of belonging and satisfaction, academic engagement, academic disengagement, and persistence. The study found many practically significant, as well as statistically significant, correlations and predictive relationships between the library-use variables and the student outcome variables for engagement and persistence, although most of the effect sizes were small. The small to medium effect sizes re-presented in the results suggest that there a complex relationships between the variables and indicate the need for further research. This study contributes to an area of the literature that has received little attention from previous researchers and demonstrates one approach to creating a unique student-level dataset by combining student experience survey data with institutional data and library use data in order to investigate how the use of library resources and spaces may affect student success outcomes. / text

Increasing national emphasis on college completion and affordability has prompted institutional efforts to focus on increasing efficient degree attainment within four-years. Traditional predictors of four-year graduation, Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) scores and high school grade point average (GPA) may disproportionately negatively impact the enrollment of African American and Latino students who are more likely to receive lower scores on these metrics. This study sought to identify quantifiable non-academic metrics that can assist to predict bachelor's degree attainment in four years for African Americans and Latinos who do not meet typical standardized testing and scoring predictors. A regression analysis was performed on CIRP Freshmen Survey data for University of Texas at Austin students first enrolled in fall 2008 to assess the strength of Freshmen Survey constructs and student-level financial aid to predict graduation within a four-year timeframe. The results showed that the combined consideration of select variables increased the accuracy of prediction by over seven percentage points; moreover, two factors, holding a positive self-concept and likelihood of college involvement, demonstrated statistical significance within the model. While there are several study limitations, the findings offer support for further exploration of a model for predicting four-year graduation that considers non-academic data elements. / text

This study evaluated the epidemiological relationship between diabetes and incident depression, as well as antidepressant medication utilization among indigent care patients diagnosed with diabetes. Medical data for 2,886 subjects receiving care in a public indigent care provider network were utilized for this study. Diagnoses of diabetes, depression, and other comorbid medical conditions were identified from the electronic medical record. Prescription claims data from the clinic pharmacy network were used to evaluate medication-taking behaviors. Clinical laboratory data were extracted, as available, from the electronic clinic records. After controlling for the influence of age, gender, race/ethnicity, marital status classification, and Charlson score, a diagnosis of diabetes was associated with a 42 percent reduction in odds of new-onset depression (p = 0.021). In the a priori analysis of factors associated with new-onset depression among diabetic patients, none of the risk factors evaluated were associated with incident depression at a statistically significant level. Post-hoc exploratory analyses revealed that female gender and White non-Hispanic race/ethnicity were associated with increased odds of a prevalent diagnosis of depression among diabetic patients. Patients with diabetes were more likely to be prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) as their initial antidepressant medication compared to non-SSRIs. Diagnosis of diabetes was not associated with antidepressant switch, discontinuation, or 6-month antidepressant adherence; however, diagnosis of diabetes was associated with a higher level of 12-month antidepressant adherence (p = 0.024). Diagnosis of diabetes was also associated with a higher level of 3-month antidepressant persistence (p = 0.004), but not 12-month persistence. There were no statistically significant relationships observed between initial class of antidepressant medication prescribed and any of the medication-taking behaviors evaluated. For subjects with available data (n = 106), glycemic control was evaluated in terms of hemoglobin A1c. Increased antidepressant medication adherence was associated with higher hemoglobin A1c values during follow-up. Results suggest that prevalent diabetes is associated with a reduced risk of diagnosis of new-onset depression in indigent care patients. Further research is necessary to evaluate the effect that chronic comorbid medical conditions such as diabetes may have on antidepressant medication-taking behaviors, and the relationship between antidepressant exposure and glycemic control. / text

The rate of persistence among low-income college students continues to lag far behind that of high-income college students (Engle & Tinto, 2008; Mortenson, 2007). Research cites academic and social integration along with economic, social, and cultural capital affect college students’ ability to persist (Bourdieu, 1986; Tinto, 1993). Low-income college students possess lower levels of capital and are six times less likely to persist than their high-income peers (Mortenson, 2007). This qualitative study explored the experiences of low-income college students who have forged a path to success through their persistence. The role of resilience was explored as resilience aids individuals in overcoming adversity. Through an interpretivist lens and a conceptual framework based on social, cultural, and economic capital, this study used phenomenology to add to the literature on student persistence by researching low-income college students and the role of resilience in their lives. / text

The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify and explore the relationship between state appropriations and freshman to sophomore retention at public, four year institutions of higher education. Additional questions concerning the users of retention programming learning centers, summer bridge programs, and freshman seminars emerged during the analysis of the initial question. Data sources included the College Board annual survey of institutions, WebCASPAR, Barron's Profiles of American Colleges, and email surveying of the 271 institutions included in the sample for the years 1991 and 1996. The data was used in a series of multiple regressions and fixed effects regressions. The fixed effects method was viable since the same institutions provided observations for two points in time. The choice of independent variables was informed by retention theory and prior quantitative research into the retention question, as well as by the small body of literature addressing the efficacy of retention interventions. The new independent variable was the state dollars allocated per FTE student at each institution in 1991 and 1996.The multiple regression analyses confirmed that state dollars have a statistical impact on freshman to sophomore retention. In addition, the analyses suggested that summer bridge programming is the most effective of the three retention interventions considered, despite the small size of these programs relative to learning centers and freshman seminars. However, learning centers were the most numerous of the three programs and freshman seminars were the fastest growing. Descriptive statistics suggested that institutions using these three programs have higher populations of students of color and also were more selective than those institutions not using the programs.The fixed effects regressions, however, returned very different results, with freshman seminars showing a strong, negative effect on retention rates and state appropriations no apparent effect. Data limitations may have resulted in these disparate results. Implications of this work include a stronger case for institutions to lobby the states and the suggestion to implement summer bridge programming prior to the other two interventions while additional research should employ a more robust data set and focus on disaggregating state money into its primary beneficiaries.

This study examined the role of stress in the persistence intentions of nontraditional community college students by surveying 244 students and interviewing 22 students at a single campus of an urban community college in the Southwest. All participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983), and the Intention to Leave Questionnaire (DeLuca, 2004). From the survey group, 10 students reporting high levels of perceived stress and high intent to leave college, and 12 students reporting high perceived stress and low intent to leave college were selected for in-depth interviews. Interviews explored the stressors of traditional (ages 18-24) and nontraditional (ages 25 and older) students, compared ways high and low intent to leave college students differentially perceived and coped with stress, and examined participant knowledge and utilization of institutional support services.Survey results revealed significant differences in perceived stress between high and low intent to leave college students, and between female and male students. No significant differences were found between traditional and nontraditional students on the measure of perceived stress. Stressors for traditional and nontraditional community college students were found to be largely similar and related to external demands. Interviews revealed differences in the ways high and low intent students perceived and managed stress; with low intent students appraising stress as more of a challenge and coping through greater utilization of social support and problem-focused coping strategies, while high intent participants perceived stress as more of a threat and were more likely to report coping deficiencies and greater use of maladaptive strategies. Low intent students were highly committed to completing college despite their stress, whereas high intent students had weak goal commitment and considered leaving college to reduce stress and attend to external demands. Most participants had little knowledge of, or desire to utilize stress support services offered by the community college. The findings suggest the importance of considering appraisals of stress and ways of coping in research on the role of stress in persistence decisions. This study led to the development of eight propositions designed for further testing by community college researchers and practitioners.

The best predictor of future criminal behavior is past criminal behavior. At the same time, the vast majority of people who engage in crime are teenagers and stop offending with age. Explaining these empirical findings has been the main task of life-course criminology, and contributing to an understanding of how and why offenders continue their criminal careers once they have started, and how and why they stop, is also the purpose of this dissertation. To do this, the dissertation studies a number of facets of the criminal career: the importance of childhood risk factors (Paper I), the notions of turning points (Paper II) and intermittency (Paper III), and the connection between masculinities and criminal careers (Paper IV). In contrast to much life-course criminological research, the dissertation mainly relies on qualitative life history interviews, collected as part of The Stockholm Life Course Project. The findings suggest a need for increased sensitivity to offenders’ lives, and their complexity. Whereas continuity and change can be understood within a frame of age-graded social control, this perspective needs to be extended and developed further, in mainly three ways. First, the concept and phenomenon of human agency needs closer study. Second, lived experiences of various forms of social stratification (e.g. gender, ethnicity, and so on) must be integrated into understandings of continuity and change in crime, seeing as phenomena such as social control may be contingent on these in important ways. Third, this dissertation highlights the need to go beyond the transition to adulthood and explore the later stages of criminal careers. In closing, the dissertation suggests that we move toward a focus on the contingencies of criminal careers and the factors, events, and processes that help shape them. If we understand those contingencies in more detail, possible implications for policy and practice also emerge. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defence the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted</p>