Enrollment in degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the U.S. is increasing, as are the numbers of students entering academically underprepared. Students in remedial mathematics represent the largest percentage of total enrollment in remedial courses, and national statistics indicate that less than half of these students pass all of the remedial math courses in which they enroll. In response to the low pass rates, numerous studies have been conducted into the use of alternative modes of instruction to increase passing rates. Despite myriad studies into course redesign, passing rates have seen no large-scale improvement. Lacking is a thorough investigation into preexisting differences between students who do and do not take remedial math. My study examined the effect of taking remedial math courses in college on degree attainment and college GPA using a subsample of the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002. This nonexperimental study examined preexisting differences between students who did and did not take remedial math. The study incorporated propensity score matching, a statistical analysis not commonly used in educational research, to create comparison groups of matched students using multiple covariate measures. Missing value analyses and multiple imputation procedures were also incorporated as methods for identifying and handling missing data. Analyses were conducted on both matched and unmatched groups, as well as on 12 multiply imputed data sets. Binary logistic regression analyses showed that preexisting differences between students on academic, nonacademic, and non-cognitive measures significantly predicted remedial math-taking in college. Binary logistic regression analyses also indicated that students who did not take remedial math courses in college were 1.5 times more likely to earn a degree than students who took remedial math. Linear regression analyses showed that taking remedial math had a significant negative effect on mean college GPA. Students who did not take remedial math had a higher mean GPA than students who did take remedial math. These results were consistent across unmatched groups, matched groups, and all 12 multiply imputed data sets.

This thesis examines the performance of portfolios sorted by gross-profit-to-asset (GPA) as a quality investing on the Swedish stock exchange. It constructs long-only portfolios and long-short portfolios sorted by GPA, book-to-market (B/P) and earnings-per-price (E/P). Thus, the thesis includes quality and value investing. The thesis compares separately the constructed long-only and long-short portfolios among each other. The long-only strategies are additionally compared to the market index. The study further examines a combined portfolio, sorting for GPA and B/P in order to test Novy-Marx’s findings. He reports, that the average return improves, while the standard deviation remains at the same level for a combined portfolio sorting for GPA and B/P. This requires a negative correlation. The comparison is based on different portfolio measurements as i.e. s.d. The asset pricing models CAPM and 5-Factor Model are applied. In addition, actual returns, excessive return over the risk-free rate and over the market index as a benchmark are assessed for the portfolio. The analysis is conducted for the time period 1994-2013 and separately for downturns, considering 2000-2003, 2007-2009 and 2010. The results show a great applicability of the gross-profitability ratio on the Swedish market. This quality strategy convinces not only during normal times with the portfolios GPA-h (long-only) and GPA-hl (long-short) but also in stressed times. GPA-h reports positive (abnormal) returns GPA-h during downturns. The long-only and long-short portfolios based on GPA outperform the market in both time periods. GPA-sorted portfolios perform in general better and the two value strategies during normal times and downturns, based on the annual average return. Examining the two value strategies EP-sorted portfolios are superior over BP-sorted portfolios. EP-portfolios achieve better performance during downturns, regarding Jensen’s alpha. It can be derived, that EP is countercyclical. The combined portfolio generates high return and has a high standard deviation. The assessed statement of Novy-Marx cannot be confirmed for the Swedish stock market. It has to be stated that we detected positive correlation instead of negative correlation. It can be derived, that GPA ratio is applicable on the Swedish market, considering the assumptions and limitations of this study. EP-based portfolios show a good performance during downturns. BP- based portfolios do not perform well on the sweidish market in the assessed time frame. The combined portfolio GPABP-hh does increase returns with constant standard deviation, referred to BP-h. Our findings show, that both value strategies do not outperform the market index. The EP-based value portfolios outperform BP-based portfolios. EP-h performs better during downturns considering Jensen’s alpha.

This quasi-experimental study examined the impact of living-learning communities on GPA and fall-to-fall retention rates for college freshmen at Regional University (RU). The specific focus of this study was the effect of these communities on students of different ethnic groups and on the potential of these communities to reduce the academic performance gap. RU was a small public university that offered both undergraduate and graduate degree programs. RU required all freshman students to live on campus in living-learning communities beginning with the 2007-2008 academic year. This study utilized the 343 student freshman cohort class of 2008 in the living-learning communities as the treatment group. This treatment group was compared against the 193 student freshman cohort class of 2008 living off campus and against the 643 student freshman cohort class of 2006 living on campus prior to the implementation of living-learning communities. In addition, the statistics were analyzed by ethnicity to examine the impact of these communities on White, Hispanic, African American, and Native American students and their ability to reduce the academic performance gap. The research revealed that the communities implemented at RU were not statistically significant at improving academic performance or at reducing the achievement gap. The results of this study were not consistent with the literature available on living-learning communities. Current research identifies six fundamental factors critical to the success of living-learning communities: positive working relationship between academic affairs and student affairs, involvement of faculty in the residence halls, appropriate funding, assessment strategies, university wide buy-in to implementing these communities, and commitment from institutional leadership. Examination of the inputs and processes on which these learning communities developed and operated indicated that the majority of these were not well developed to sustain these communities. The divergence of these findings from the literature may be attributed to key departures from the literature regarding the set-up and operation of these communities at RU.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was any relationship between student success as defined by grades in earned in basic sciences of anatomy and physiology as well as overall college grade point average with the score on the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) for Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) students. This pilot study examined the first two cohorts of PTA students at the College of the Sequoias from 2012 and 2013. Correlations and multiples regressions were the primary quantitative methods used to determine which prerequisites were most likely to predict passing the NPTE. Demographic information of ethnicity and age, did not show any significant correlation with score on the NPTE-PTA. Further analysis determined that both anatomy and overall grade point average had statistical correlations. However, overall college grade point average was the only variable that contributed significantly to the NPTE score. Therefore, overall grade point average was used to develop a predictive admission formula that can be used for further research and analysis. The procedures for this pilot study can be used to duplicate the study on a larger scale and continue to build a predictive admission formula that has the potential for establishing a consistent admission criterion for PTA programs. The long range goal of this study has been to help identify students who have the greatest potential to pass the NPTE and become employed as a PTA.

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There are numerous ways to measure or estimate parental attachment, from which can be deduced a positive, neutral, or negative relationship between adult child and parent. A standardized measure of parental attachment was administered to participants in this study, in order to determine a rating scale that can be worked with statistically to determine possible connections between the attachment measure and GP A. To that end, this study used the Revised Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, (IPPA-R). The relationship between parent and child has profound effects on an individual throughout their life. Even in adulthood, the attachment of adult children to their parents affects their attitudes and achievement. It is a relationship common to all. Even if the person is orphaned or abandoned, if this relationship between parental attachment and adult achievement can be demonstrated statistically, it may lead the way in learning to focus the positive power of parental attachment into measurable achievement for the adult child. It is hoped that this research may lead to further study about parental attachment and the impact it may have on academic achievement, and perhaps extrapolated to increasing achievement in other areas. The goal of this study was to measure the influence of parental attachment upon the academic achievement of adult children, measured by the Revised Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA-R) developed by Amsden and Greenberg (2009). The IPPAR is a revision to the original Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, first developed by Amsden and Greenberg in 1987. The original version had questions that were directed toward both parents together, such as "My parents respect my feelings ... " (Amsden & Greenberg, 1987). In the IPPA-R, the same question was broken down into questions for both father and mother. The same question in the IPPA-R would be, "My mother respects my feelings ... " and "My father respects my feelings ... " (Amsden & Greenberg, 1987). Participants for this study were recruited from a junior level Psychology class at the University of Central Florida. Extra credit was awarded for participation. A total of 106 students participated in this study. Of the total 106 surveys submitted, 3 surveys were incomplete, thereby reducing the number of participants to 103. Informed consent was provided by participants at the beginning of the survey. Along with the mother and father sections of the IPPA-R, the questionnaire included demographic inquiries, such as race, age and gender. Along with these questions, the request for grade point average (GPA) was included. Academic achievement was measured by GPA at the university level. GPA was recorded on a 1-4 scale, using 2 decimal points. The independent variable in this study was parental attachment with seven levels. GPA served as the dependent measure. Data were analyzed using a one way between subject Analysis of Variance, (ANOV A). GPA did not significantly differ as a function of parental attachment, F(6,97)= 1.758, p=0.116. Previous research using the IPPA-R as a psychometric tool has shown significant effects when parental attachment is compared to psychological well-being (Gullone & Robinson, 2005), as well as other, more diverse variables, such as tendencies toward drug abuse among female teenagers (Renes & Strange, 2009) and commitment to career choices (Ward, 2003). This study made use of the IPPA-R measure, as the above mentioned research did, but the dependent variable of GPA was different than other research using the IPPAR. Most research with the IPPA-R seeks to measure psychological well being, or some aspect of it. The present research differed from previous studies in that this project used academic achievement as the dependent variable. Academic achievement at the university level can be extremely important to life and career directions adult children may choose. Despite the lack of statistical evidence, several interesting issues were raised. These issues, as well as possible directions for future research, are discussed.

The green peach aphid (GPA; Myzus persicae Sülzer) is a damaging pest that has a broad host range that includes plants in the Brassicaceae, Solanaceae, Cucurbitaceae, and Rosaceae families. It also vectors several important viral diseases. However, how plants perceive GPA to limit infestation is poorly understood. This study demonstrates an important role for the HOMOLOG OF RPW8 4 (HR4), which encodes a protein that contains the RESISTANCE TO POWDERY MILDEW 8 (RPW8) motif that is found in some intracellular receptor proteins that are involved in defense against pathogens. In the accession Moscow of Arabidopsis thaliana, a Brassicaceae family plant, located at the RPW8 locus on chromosome 3 are RPW8.1 and RPW8.2, which confer resistance against a broad spectrum of powdery mildew pathogens. In comparison, in the powdery mildew-susceptible accession Columbia (Col-0), RPW8.1 and RPW8.2 are replaced by the homologous HR4Col-0. HR4Col-0, but not its homologs, was found to be involved in limiting GPA infestation. The presence of HR4Col-0 adversely impacted GPA fecundity, feeding from the phloem, and host selection. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that HR4Col-0 influences biological processes such as response to chitin, amino acid metabolism, and lipid metabolism. The resistance-enhancement ability of HR4Col-0 towards GPA infestation could be transferred to the Arabidopsis accession Wassilewskija and the oil-seed crop Camelina sativa, both of which naturally lack HR4. These findings position HR4Col-0 as a promising candidate for enhancing resistance to the GPA in plants other than Arabidopsis. This research significantly advances our understanding of plant immune mechanisms against an important agricultural pest.

Le travail que j’ai effectué durant ce doctorat est dédié à l’utilisation de l’ultrason des lasers sous haute pression physique. La recherche est construite en utilisant les récentes techniques de mesure de laser ultrasonique dans une enclume de diamant, conduisant à l’exploration de la propagation du son et de sa détermination suivant la vitesse de l’onde acoustique sous ultra-hautes pressions. La diffusion Brillouin a été appliquée ici pour déterminer l’épaisseur de la glace polycristalline compressée dans l’enclume à diamant sous pressions de mégabars. La technique permet d’examiner les caractéristiques des dimensions des inhomogénéités élastiques et la texture de la glace polycristalline, de ce fait ce processus est commun pour les surfaces de l’enclume à diamant avec des sous micromètres de résolution spatiale via les mesures des variations résolues dans le temps sur la vitesse de propagation du pouls acoustique voyageant dans l’échantillon compressé. Ceci a été appliqué pour mesurer la vitesse acoustique dans du H2O à l’état de glace jusqu’à 84 Gpa. La technique d’imagerie développée contient, pour chaque cristallite (ou groupe de cristallites) dans un ensemble homogène chimique transparent, des informations utiles sur son orientation ainsi que sur sa valeur élastique modulée par rapport à la direction de la propagation du son. Cela répand les bases pour une application réussite sur la déformation de solides sous haut-développement de modèles micromécaniques sous la pression à mégabars. Pour une plus longue durée, ce genre d’expériences répandus sur les minéraux de la terre et avec des températures basses ou hautes, assurerait un progrès important dans la compréhension de la construction de la cape terrestre, son évolution ainsi que celle d’autres planètes. / This PhD research work is devoted to the use of laser ultrasound in high-pressure physics. The research is done using the recently established technique of laser ultrasonic measurements in a diamond anvil cell which allows investigation of the sound propagation and determination of the acoustic wave velocities at ultrahigh pressures. Time domain Brillouin scattering was applied here to depth-profiling of polycrystalline aggregate of ice compressed in a diamond anvil cell to megabar pressures. The technique allowed examination of characteristic dimensions of elastic inhomogeneities and texturing of polycrystalline ice in the direction, normal to the diamond anvil surfaces with sub-micrometer spatial resolution via time-resolved measurements of variations in the propagation velocity of the acoustic pulse travelling in the compressed sample. It was applied to measure the acoustic velocities in H2O ice up to 84 Gpa. The developed imaging technique provides, for each crystallite (or a group of crystallites) in chemically homogeneous transparent aggregate, usable information on its orientation as well as on the value of the elastic modulus along the direction of the sound propagation. This extends the basis for a successful application of highly developed micromechanical models of solids deformation at mbar pressure. On long term, such experiments extended to earth’s minerals and high or low temperatures would insure a significant progress in understanding of convection of the earth’s mantle and thus evolution of this and other planets.