Pediatric asthma disproportionately affects racial/ethnic minority children and children living in low-income, urban areas. Many families living in low-income, urban areas experience a number of stressors that can place children/adolescents at risk for worse asthma outcomes. This study examined the impact of a cumulative risk model of stressors (e.g., ED visits, quick-relief medication use, lung function, asthma control, QOL) in urban children (7-12 years) with persistent asthma. This study further aimed to examine both the original cumulative risk model and an adolescent-specific cumulative risk model as predictors of asthma outcomes in a sample of 60 adolescents (13-17 years). Asthma-related caregiver support was examined as a potential buffer in the association between stress and asthma outcomes. Secondary data analyses were completed on sixty-one caregiver and child dyads (7-12 years old). Data were collected from a separate sample of 60 urban families of adolescents with asthma (13-17 years old). The two cohorts were also combined for analyses. The original cumulative risk model developed for the younger children (7-12 years) was a predictor of child QOL in the younger cohort, and QOL and asthma control in the adolescent cohort. However, this finding in the younger cohort (7-12 years) was not supported in pooled data analyses. The original cumulative risk model predicted QOL, asthma control, and quick-relief medication use in the combined cohort analyses (children 7-17 years). The adolescent-specific cumulative risk model was a significant predictor of adolescent QOL and asthma control. Asthma-related caregiver support was only a significant moderator of the association between cumulative risk and asthma control among adolescents. Child age did not moderate associations between cumulative risk and asthma outcomes in the combined cohort. Overall, findings suggest that the accumulation of stress can have a negative impact on asthma outcomes, especially for urban adolescents with asthma. Further research is needed to determine the most central sources of stress that urban school-aged children with asthma experience and to replicate findings for adolescent with asthma. The buffering role of asthma-related caregiver support in the association between cumulative stress and asthma outcomes needs to be examined further in children and adolescents with asthma.

Water quality is a critical component of aquatic ecosystems, and impairments caused by the cumulative effects of human activities can threaten water security, ecosystem health and biodiversity, and ecosystem services that support human livelihoods, health, and well-being. Protecting water quality and managing the human activities that can contribute to cumulative effects remains the most important, though poorly understood and under-researched problem facing sustainable water quality management in Canada (Johns & Sproule-Jones, Schindler & Donahue, 2006) and around the world (Patterson, Smith, & Bellamy, 2013; UN-Water, 2011). For decades, federal and provincial governments in Canada have introduced, and experimented with, policy tools that are intended to assess and manage cumulative effects, yet, point source management approaches remain by far, the preferred policy tool. The results of this study indicate that part of the reason why cumulative effects assessment and management approaches have not evolved is because policy tools intended to address questions about environmental governance are being implemented as environmental management tools. Questions of environmental governance should be inclusive and focused on how the environment is used now and in the future for societal benefits. Conversely, management questions are narrower in scope and serve to operationalize these goals. This research highlights the challenge with identifying and developing critical relationships between the array of agencies and institutions responsible for governing and managing water quality, as well as the need to devise strategies to ensure these relationships are maintained over time if progress towards managing cumulative effects to water quality can be achieved. / Graduate

Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / Dance movements requires explosive power, sustained effort and both local and general endurance. Musculoskeletal injuries (MSI) are the most frequent medical problems among dancers in ballet, which is partly owing to inadequate training and dancers not being properly prepared for the demands of the dance performance. The purpose of the present study was to determine the cumulative incidence of musculoskeletal injuries amongst student dancers at TUT. The study used a prospective, cohort design. A total of 49 student dancers at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) were followed up over 16 weeks in the 2007 academic year. The student dancers completed a questionnaire about previous injuries, and factors influencing injuries. Of the 49 student dancers, 41 (83%) consent to participate. There were 10 cumulative injuries incurred by 41 student dancers over 16 weeks period i.e. 7.1 %, 0.06 injuries incurred per student month at risk.The main limitations to this study were small sample size and possible reporting biases. Further research should aim to standardize injury definitions and classifications.

This study investigates the determinants of divestitures, the impact of divestitures on shortterm firm value and the determinants of divestiture returns in South Africa. The study is based on a sample of 46 non-financial firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) between 2000 and 2014. Logit regressions found CEO Turnover, a measure of corporate focus and Return on Assets (ROA), a measure of corporate efficiency, to be the only statistically significant determinants of divestitures in South Africa. However, Sales growth, Return on Equity (ROE), Debt to Total Assets (D-t-A), Debt to Equity (D-t-E), the current ratio, and the interest coverage ratio did not possess statistical significance as determinants of divestitures in South Africa. The study also investigated the impact of divestitures on short-term shareholder wealth and found that divestitures have a statistically significant positive impact on short-term firm value in South Africa. Finally, the study also investigated the determinants of divestiture returns. Cross-sectional regressions conducted on the full sample of divesting firms found that leverage has a statistically significant effect on divestiture returns in South Africa; however, firm size and efficiency do not have a statistically significant effect on divestiture returns. In order to further understand the determinants of divestiture returns in South Africa the study also separated the portfolio of divesting firms into subsamples. The study found that larger firms report superior abnormal returns than smaller firms, firms with lower levels of efficiency report superior abnormal returns than firms with higher levels of efficiency, and highly-levered firms report superior abnormal returns than lower-levered firms in South Africa.

In the Tampa Bay region, increasing population and changing demographics have begun to alter the characteristics of established neighborhoods. An increase in suburban growth has triggered a shift in the location and profitability of food establishments in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods. Supermarket closures have garnered attention from public health officials who are concerned with the overall availability of fresh food throughout Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties. Unfortunately, there has been little research surrounding the quality of food sold at establishments in both the Tampa Bay region and abroad. Instead, many geographic studies have chosen to group both fresh and prepared food establishments into a singular category for analyses. While helpful for a generalized understanding of food access overall, these methods do little to convey access to fresh foods which are essential for a balanced diet. This study offers a different perspective from traditional food access studies by categorizing food stores into fresh and prepared categories. For each food category, the Cumulative Opportunity Measure (COM) was first applied to measure food accessibility at the census block group level; a descriptive analysis was then employed to examine the relations between food accessibility and socioeconomic variables. In order to provide a meaningful comparison, these same steps were taken to emulate the results of the combined model (fresh and prepared) that is often utilized in previous studies. Finally, a map displaying the COM ratio of fresh to prepared food by block group was created to highlight areas with disproportionately more fresh (or prepared) food opportunities. Results indicate that rural may be at a disadvantage with respect to fresh food accessibility. Also, a discrepancy between the fresh model and the prepared and combined models, in relation to female headed households, may indicate that food establishment classification has a significant effect on food accessibility. Overall, positive relationships were observed between factors relating to minority status, no GED, room occupancy, public assistance, limited English, poverty, and lack of vehicle ownership for the fresh, prepared, and combined food accessibility models. Finally, the ratio of fresh to prepared food establishments could explain why some populations exhibit higher rates of obesity even when in direct proximity to fresh food opportunities.

This dissertation investigates the effect of education on the chances and age of marriage during the transition from adolescence into young adulthood among Kenyan women age 15-22. Women who receive more education are more likely to delay marriage. The literature suggests that occupation and age at sexual debut are also significantly associated with age of marriage. This study considers how these and other factors may possibly affect the life course of women in Kenya over a period of time and increases our understanding of marriage predictors. Data comes from the 2003 and 2008 Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys. Binary logistic and OLS regression models are used to analyze and compare the data. The results imply that while education has a statistically significant and strong positive effect on a woman's marital status as well as age of marriage, the effect of education on age of marriage has not changed since the introduction of Kenya's free primary education program.

This study is concerned with the design of cumulative sum charts based on a minimum cost criterion when there are multiple assignable causes occurring randomly, but with known effect. A cost model is developed that relates the design parameters (i.e. sampling interval, decision limit, reference value and sample size) of a cusum chart and the cost and risk factors of the process to the long run average loss cost per hour for the process. Optimum designs for various sets of cost and risk factors are found by minimizing the long run average loss-cost per hour of the process with respect to the design parameters of a cusum chart. Optimization is accomplished by use of Brown's method. A modified Brownian motion approximation is used for calculating ARLs in the cost model. The nature of the loss-cost function is investigated numerically. The effects of changes in the design parameters and in the cost and risk factors are also studied. An investigation of the limiting behavior of the loss-cost function as the decision limit approaches infinity reveals that in some cases there exist some points that yield a lower loss-cost than that of the local minimum obtained by Brown's method. It is conjectured that if the model is extended to include more realistic assumption about the occurrence of assignable causes then only the local minimum solutions will remain. This paper also shows that the multiple assignable cause model can be well approximated by a matched single cause model. Then in practice it may be sufficient to find the optimum design for the matched. single cause model. / Ph. D.

Since the advent of keyboards into the workplace, workers began to experience disorders of the tendons and nerves of the upper extremities, referred to as cumulative trauma disorders, due to the repeated exertions and excessive movements. One of the major research voids in the study of occupational injuries to the wrist is the lack of understanding of the kinematic nature of the wrist during keying tasks. Changes in wrist position were measured on 9 males and 9 females while keying, in the flexion/extension and radial/ ulnar planes. This information was then used to determine the wrist dynamic characteristics, then wrist accelerations were derived. The effects of Gender, Keyboard Height (5 cm below sitting elbow height, at sitting elbow height, 5 cm above elbow height), Keyboard Angle (-30 degrees from horizontal, horizontal, +30 from horizontal), and Keying Rate( 110 and 90 percent of the individual's average typing rate) on wrist accelerations were scrutinized. The results of this study indicated that, throughout the keying task, there were a significant changes in wrist position (p < 0.05). Keyboard Height was the only significant variable (p < 0.05) on the magnitude of mean peak wrist acceleration. The lowest magnitude of wrist acceleration occurred when the keyboard was positioned 5 cm below the user's sitting elbow height From these findings it appears that the methods used were effective in determining the kinematic nature of the wrist during a keying task. Specifically, the technique employed is adequate for measuring the accelerations of the wrist, but future research is needed to more accurately define the factors that influence the magnitude of wrist accelerations. / Master of Science

Isotopic abundances of the elements xenon, cesium, barium, cerium, neodymium, samarium, rubidium and strontium formed in the fast (fission spectrum) neutron fission of u^238 have been measured using the mass spectrometric method. These ratios were normalized 'With respect to each other through isobaric nuclides and isotope dilution to obtain the relative yields of isobaric chains in the heavy mass region. By normalizing the heavy mass yields to 100%, the absolute fission yields of twenty-one isobaric Chains in the 130 - 154 mass range were determined. The origin of the fine structure in the cumulative yield versus mass curve is discussed. It has been concluded that, while most of the fine structure arises from the variation in neutron emission probabilities, some of it could be the result of the shell effect in the fission process itself. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Research examining Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) has mostly focused on the long-term effects of these experiences on adult mental and physical health. Less attention has been focused on the impact of ACEs on college student satisfaction, dropout rates, and major choice. The overarching questions for the current study sought to further research by (1) assessing if there is a relationship between the ACE scores of college students and their mental and physical health, (2) if ACEs play a role in student satisfaction or desire to drop out, and (3) determining if there is a connection between students with high ACE scores and their major choice. Survey data was collected from a sample of East Tennessee State University students. Findings serve to improve our understanding of the topic and promote research for the future.