Thesis (MPsy(Specialisation))--University of South Australia, 2002.

Bibliography: leaves 194-220. / xv, 220 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychology, 1995?

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This study aims to add a new dimension to research in Australia on the use of accounting ratios to predict corporate failure. Previous studies have used the statistical technique of discriminant analysis to derive models for predicting whether a firm will or will not fail. This study will use the same statistical technique but with three differences: / (a) The ratios to be used in the discriminant analysis are selected by a method which ensured that no arbitrary limit is placed on their number. / (b) Because the significance of accounting ratios can vary from industry to industry, four industries are separately analysed: manufacturing, retail, property, and finance. / (c) The statistical probabilities yielded by the analysis are used to measure a firm’s current level of insolvency risk. / The extra dimension is added by interpreting the characteristic patterns of insolvency risk which emerge: an analysis of the factors causing the differences in these patterns throws new light on the causes, symptoms, and remedies of financial distress.

Thesis (MPsy(Specialisation))--University of South Australia, 2002.

There has been an increase in reports of male reproductive disorders that include male infertility and testicular cancer worldwide. It has been suggested that agents such as xenoestrogens could be responsible. Xenoestrogens are chemical compounds that mimic the action of estrogens by binding to the estrogen receptors (ERs). The response ofa testicular cell line to estrogenic pesticides was examined. The effect of estrogenic pesticides on the growth and protein levels of ERα and ERβ of mouse Sertoli cells was investigated. Pyrethroids are widely used insecticides due to their insecticidal potency and low mammalian toxicity. In this study, the estrogenicity ofpyrethroid chemicals were tested using the yeast estrogen screen (YES) assay. The toxic effects of the pyrethroid compounds cypermethrin, 3-(4-hydroxy-phenoxy)benzyl alcohol (metabolite of permethrin), and the commercial product (Ripcord Plus) were evaluated. The Sertoli cells were exposed to pyrethroids at concentrations of 0.36 nM and 36 µM (cypermethrin and Ripcord Plus), and 0.69 nM and 69 µM (metabolite) for 100 h. The expression of the ERs was analysed through the use of Enzyme Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) experiments. The most toxic pyrethroid was the metabolite, followed by Ripcord Plus then cypermethrin. Overall the exposure of the cells to cypermethrin (36 µM), Ripcord Plus (36 µM) and the metabolite (69 µM) caused a significant decrease (p<0.05) in ERα levels. In the cultures exposed to the metabolite (69 µM), there was also a significant increase in ERβ levels. There appears to be a relation between cell toxicity and an increase in ERβ levels, which supports the theory that ERβ promotes apoptosis. Pyrethroids are rapidly excreted from the body, and it is unknown if there is accumulation in the male testes. Male fertility could be affected through molecular mechanisms involving the ERs, should cells in the male testes be exposed to these pyrethroids at physiologically relevant concentrations.

[Truncated abstract] Intelligence in children increases with age until adult levels of performance are achieved. Dempster (1991) proposed that developmental changes in inhibitory processes underpin these changes in the development of intelligence. The evidence Dempster presented to support this thesis typically takes the form of noting changes in inhibitory performance that occur in the same time frame as changes in psychometric intelligence (Dempster, 1991, 1992, 1993; Dempster & Corkill, 1999). He also provides correlational evidence from studies in which intelligence scores are correlated with various inhibitory measures. One problem with much of the evidence presented by Dempster is that it does not distinguish between developmental and individual differences in inhibition and/or intelligence. Developmental differences are differences in performance between children at different ages. Individual differences are differences in performance between children of the same age. The majority of evidence Dempster provides concerns individual differences in inhibition and the relationship of these differences to intelligence rather than the relationship of any developmental differences to intelligence. Anderson (1987) suggests that the processes underpinning these two types of differences are not necessarily the same. For example, individual differences may be related to speed of processing, while developmental differences may be related to changes in inhibitory ability. Therefore, a more accurate test of Dempster’s thesis is to assess whether developmental changes in inhibition are related to developmental changes in intelligence, rather than whether individual differences in inhibition are related to intelligence. This was the primary goal of this thesis. A secondary goal was to address whether or not any developmental changes seen were primarily due to changes in inhibition or could be accounted for by changes in speed of processing. Measures which utilise difference score reaction time (RT) measures as inhibitory indices such as the stroop task do not typically account for this potential confound. A number of researchers have addressed this problem of difference score measures and proposed alternative analytic techniques (Christ, White, Mandernach, & Keys, 2001; Christ, White, Brunstrom, & Abrams, 2003; Faust, Balota, Spieler & Ferraro, 1999). Each inhibitory measure used in the current study will attempt to control for group and individual speed differences, either by utilising one of these alternative techniques or using regression analysis to identify the contribution of speed to the developmental shift in intelligence.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. [100]-109).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Baylor University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 94-111).