Fertility levels are investigated in the thesis because significant changes have occurred recently in the fertility levels in Turkey. It is necessary to understand the factors related to fertility level declines to determine how people behave with regard to their fertility in Turkey. It is only after understanding people&rsquo / s behavior then it is possible to develop appropriate social and governmental policies. It is possible to evaluate the fertility level declines from different points of view. There are two opposite approaches when evaluating fertility level declines. One of the approaches explaining fertility level declines is the demographic transition theory which uses &ldquo / modernization&rdquo / as the cause of fertility level declines. The &ldquo / other&rdquo / approach is the opposite approach to the modernization theory. Both of these approaches are acceptable approaches from different views. However / this thesis is not written to prove either one of these approaches. The demographic transition or the modernization perspective is used as a tool to determine the variables which cause fertility levels to decline in Turkey. The aim is to provide an understanding of the determinants of fertility levels in Turkey by constituting an econometric model of fertility across the provinces of Turkey by using the panel data estimation. Data for the variables can be found in years from 1980 to 2000. One of the purposes of this thesis in investigating the fertility level declines is to identify which changes occurred in Turkey related to fertility levels between the years 1980-1985, 1985-1990 and 1990-2000. It is found that urbanization gained importance in effecting fertility level declines in the 1985-1990 period as compared to the 1980-1985 period. The other purpose of this thesis is to investigate how different are the fertility levels in the Provinces Prioritized in Development from the &ldquo / other&rdquo / provinces. Although contraception usage is important in effecting fertility levels in the &ldquo / other&rdquo / provinces, this factor is not important in effecting fertility levels in the Provinces Prioritized in Development.

Some collision cascades, induced by keV polyatomic projectiles, result in the emission of multiple secondary ions. Such co-emissions imply that the ejecta originate from molecules co-located within the nano-volume perturbed by a single projectile impact. The relevance for the chemical analysis of nano-domains depends on the effectiveness of the projectile to cause co-emission of two or more secondary ions. This research examines how projectile characteristics, i.e. the energy and number of constituent atoms in the projectile, influence multiple secondary ion emission, or "superefficient" events. In addition we examine the relevance of this technique for nanostructure investigation. Yields have been measured for multi-ion emission events as a function of projectile characteristics. The data show that some collision cascades are "superefficient". For example, in a four-ion emission event, the yield for the phenylalanine quasi-molecular ion is two orders of magnitude larger from Au4+ impacts than from equal velocity Au+ projectiles. Yields for the co-emission of two phenylalanine quasi-molecular ions from "super-efficient" events have been measured. This case is particularly productive in that the detection of two analytically significant ions is recorded from a single event. Large increases (one to two orders of magnitude) in co-emitted ion yields were observed with increasing projectile energy and complexity. Correlation coefficients were calculated for the co-emission of two Ph ions, their behavior suggests differences in emission pathways for bombardment by atomic and polyatomic projectiles. Finally, we use this methodology to investigate surface structural effects on the occurrence of "super-efficient" events. The results indicate that it is possible to distinguish between two phases of a chemical compound although the stoichiometry remains the same. These results confirm previous predictions concerning the chemical nature of these "super-efficient" events. Also shown is that they are sensitive to the surface nanoenvironment. This approach extends the technology of Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry by providing a methodology for probing surface nano-domains at the sub100 nm level.

This dissertation includes two topics. For the first topic about the housing price jump risk, we use EM gradient algorithms to estimate parameters of the jump diffusion model and test whether the US monthly housing price have jump risk during 1986 to 2006. Then, in order to obtain a viable pricing framework of mortgage insurance contracts, this paper uses the jump diffusion processes of Merton (1976) to model the dynamic process of housing price. Using this model, we investigate the impact of price jump risk on the valuation of mortgage insurance premium from jump intensity, abnormal volatility of jump size and normal volatility. Empirical results indicate that the abnormal volatility of jump size has the most significant impact on the mortgage insurance premium. For the second topic about the catastrophe risk, we investigate that, for catastrophic events, the assumption that catastrophe claims occur in terms of the Poisson process seems inadequate as it has constant intensity. We propose Markov Modulated Poisson process to model the arrival process for catastrophic events. Under this process, the underlying state is governed by a homogenous Markov chain, and it is the generalization of Cummins and Geman (1993, 1995), Chang, Chang, and Yu (1996), Geman and Yor (1997) and Vaugirard (2003a, 2003b). We apply Markov jump diffusion model to derive pricing formulas for catastrophe insurance products, included catastrophe futures call option, catastrophe PCS call spread and catastrophe bond. We use the data of PCS index and the annual number of hurricane events during 1950 to 2004 to test the quality of the fitting under the Markov Modulated Poisson process and the Poisson process. We reach the conclusion that the Markov Modulated Poisson process is fitter than the Poisson process and Weiner process in modeling the arrival rate of hurricane events when pricing three insurance products. Hence, if different status of climate environment has significant different arrival intensity in real economy, using jump diffusion model to evaluate CAT insurance products could cause significant mispricing.

<p>Vid marknadsföring av musik finns det en mängd olika aktiviteter att använda sig av. Den traditionella marknadsmixen med dess beståndsdelar brukar användas, men eftersom marknadsföring inom musikbranschen är komplicerad används också andra aktiviteter. Liveframträdande, radiospelaningar och framträdande i TV är några av de aktiviteter som används inom det här området.</p><p>Syftet med vår uppsats har varit att undersöka effektiviteten hos kanalerna som används för att få studenter att köpa musik. Vi ville se vilka kanaler som är effektivast, samt om det fanns några mindre effektiva kanaler vid marknadsföring av musik. Ytterligare hoppades vi på att få reda på hur ofta studenterna köper musik, samt om det fanns några anledningar till varför de inte köper mer musik.</p><p>Vi har använt oss av en kvantitativ metod där 305 studenter från högskolan i Jönköping svarade på frågor i enkätform.</p><p>Resultatet visar att respondenterna får information om nysläppt musik genom Word of Mouth, reklam och redaktionellt material i TV och radio. Den aktivitet som har störst påverkan på våra respondenter när det gäller att få information om musik och inköpsställe av musik är Word of Mouth.</p><p>Studenterna i vår undersökning köper musik i genomsnitt en gång om året. Anledningen till att de inte köper mer beror främst på att de skaffar sin musik på annat sätt samt att det är för dyrt med musik.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Open University. BLDSC no. DX215644.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 193-209).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 223-240).

Background: The development of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTS) following a traumatic event is related to significant functional impairment, diminished quality of life, and physical health issues. Yet it is not entirely clear why some traumatized individuals experience negative outcomes while others do not. The purpose of this study is to determine the role of several influential factors related to PTS severity and negative outcomes, such as diminished quality of life and physical health issues, following traumatic events. Method: One hundred and twenty-two trauma-exposed adults were recruited through the University of South Florida’s SONA system and through flyers on campus. Subjects were administered the following self-report measures in a counter-balanced manner: the PTSD Checklist-Civilian, the Trauma History Questionnaire-Short, The Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3, Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale 21, Sheehan Disability Scale, WHOQOL-BREF, and the Economic Impact Questionnaire-Revised. Results: Posttraumatic stress symptom severity was positively correlated with depressive symptom severity, chronicity of the most distressing trauma and number of traumas. Posttraumatic stress symptom severity and anxiety sensitivity were significantly related to all of the outcomes examined including three domains of disability, four domains of quality of life, burden and physical health issues. Main effects were found for PTS severity, anxiety sensitivity, and depressive symptom severity on quality of life domains. Posttraumatic stress symptom severity mediated the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and physical health issues such that the relationship between AS and physical health issues is dependent on PTS severity. Implications: This study helps clarify the role of various factors in the relationship between trauma and negative outcomes. Clinical and research implications are discussed, including early detection of PTS and an increased awareness of the relationship between PTS, anxiety sensitivity and physical health issues.

The work which follows arose from the examination of three fifth grade social studies textbooks widely adopted and accepted in the State of Texas. Within these history textbooks, seven historical events which occurred during the American Revolution were investigated to determine how primary sources are represented in each selected textbook to support a version of the historical event they accompany. The research question guiding this qualitative study was: How do fifth grade social studies textbooks present primary sources in an American Revolution unit of study. To answer this question, I analyzed the three fifth grade social studies textbooks’ American Revolution unit of study. Historical events common to the textbooks and included in the unit of study were Tax Laws, The Boston Massacre, The Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere’s Ride, Lexington and Concord, The Battle of Bunker Hill, and The Declaration of Independence. Within the textbooks’ American Revolution units of study, the following primary sources were found: quotes, written documents, photographs, cartoons, posters, maps, artifacts, paintings, and sculpture or statuary. The researcher discovered three findings related to the representation of primary sources in the fifth grade social studies textbooks. These include the conundrum of fact, monolithic representation, and verisimilitude. Suggestions for improving school history textbooks and opportunities for future research are included. / text

Depression is one of the most common psychological disorders and may be considered as one of the most prevalent forms of emotional/psychological illness among children. The prevalence of depressive disorders tends to rise dramatically during adolescence. Cognitive diathesis-stress models maintain that depression is produced through an interaction between cognitive vulnerability and negative life events. According to Beck, core beliefs are at the core of cognitive vulnerability. After the occurrence of a negative life event, the core belief is activated and influences how the individual interprets the negative life event. Beck maintains that three core beliefs are central to the development and maintenance of depressive disorders: the belief that one is helpless, unlovable, and/or worthless. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a coding system for a storytelling task could reliably assess Beck’s core beliefs. In doing so, this study sought to build upon previous research on the relations between negative life events, core beliefs, and depressive symptomatology among pre- and early adolescent females. Participants were 130 girls ranging in age from 9 to 14. All girls completed a self-report measure of life events and a projective story-telling measure that was used to assess their core beliefs. Participants also completed a semi-structured diagnostic interview, which served as the primary measure of depressive symptom severity. In support of previous research, both negative life events and negative core beliefs uniquely predicted the severity of depressive symptoms. Consistent with Beck’s cognitive model, the helpless and unlovable core beliefs uniquely predicted severity of depressive symptoms, although the worthless core belief did not. Further examination indicated that the helpless core belief was a more powerful influence on depressive symptoms than were the unlovable and worthless core beliefs. Contrary to Beck’s diathesis-stress model, however, negative core beliefs did not moderate the effects of negative life events on depressive symptomatology. For girls aged 9-11, however, a helpless core belief moderated the effects of negative life events on depressive symptom severity. Implications of these results, limitations, and future directions for research are discussed. / text