This study examines the effect of strategy and task uncertainty on management accounting system (MAS) design. Mas design was defined in terms of the perceived usefulness of several information characteristics which may be associated with an MAS. We collected 87 respondents by surveying 500 middle managers of public owned companies in Taiwan, and used path analysis to test our hypotheses. The findings indicated that¡G1. There is a significant positive relation between strategy and task uncertainty. Furthermore, task difficulty and task variability also have significant positive relations with strategy respectively. 2. Strategy and the perceived usefulness of broad scope MAS information have both positive direct and indirect relations through task uncertainty. Besides, through task variability, there is an indirect relation between strategy and the perceived usefulness of broad scope MAS information, but there isn¡¦t an indirect relation between strategy and the perceived usefulness of broad scope MAS information via task difficulty. 3. A direct relationship between strategy and the perceived usefulness of aggregated MAS information was not found.

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Anxiety is prevalent among 13 % of young adult college students and is associated with emotional and behavioral consequences that adversely affect their mental and physical well-being. The major challenge for implementing evidence-based interventions is the lack of a multidimensional approach for evaluating anxiety in this population. The purpose of this dissertation was to develop an evidence-based theoretical framework for studying the phenomenon of anxiety in young adult college students. Three studies were conducted to achieve this purpose. First, the psychometric properties of the 21-item shortened version of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) were evaluated in a sample of young adult college students. The results indicated that the DASS-21 is a valid and reliable instrument for distinguishing between depression and anxiety in this population. Second, the relative contributions of students’ demographics, life-satisfaction, and coping style to their anxiety levels were evaluated. Maladaptive coping style was identified as the main predictor of students’ anxiety. Particularly, coping strategies related to negative thoughts, such as self-blaming, and cognitive avoidance, such as denial, were significant predictors of anxiety. Other strategies that are related to behavioral coping such as venting and substance use were not significant predictors of anxiety. Thus, further investigation of the cognitive aspect of anxiety was necessary in the third study. In the third study, an integrated hypothetical model of the psychosocial, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions of anxiety was proposed and evaluated in this population. Using a web-based survey, 257 undergraduate students were assessed for anxiety, coping style, negative thinking, social support, life-satisfaction and demographics. Path analysis was used to examine the proposed model. Maladaptive coping and negative thinking were directly related to anxiety with negative thinking being the primary predictor of anxiety in this model. The findings from these studies suggest that the DASS-21 is a valid measure of anxiety and that interventions’ that address negative thinking and maladaptive coping should be considered in future research and practice with young adult college students.

Structures of machinery with practical importance, such as home appliances or transportation vehicles, can be considered as acoustically coupled spaces surrounded by elastic enclosures. When the structures of machinery are excited mechanically by means of prime movers incorporated into these structures through some elastic connections, generation of noise becomes an inevitable by-product. For noise control engineering purposes, a thorough understanding of emission, transmission and radiation of sound from structure is required prior to a possible and practical modeling of noise transfer mechanisms. Finally, development of a model for complete noise generation and transfer mechanisms is needed which is essential for the abatement of annoying sound generation. In this study, an experimental and analytical (finite element) methodology for the modal analysis of acoustical cavities is developed, and successfully applied to a case study. The acoustical transmission problem of the structure is investigated via vector intensity analysis. Results of this investigation are used for a noise path qualification, whereas the transfer functions between sources of noise and some relevant receiving points are obtained by use of vibro-acoustic reciprocity principle. The concept of transfer path analysis is investigated by using the multi input, multi output linear system theory for vibro-acoustic modeling of machinery structures. Finally, resolution and ranking of noise sources and transfer paths are accomplished via spectral correlation methodologies developed. The methodology can be extended to any system with linear, time invariant parameters, where principles of superposition and reciprocity are applicable.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1992. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [150]-155).

Thesis (M.Eng.) -- Memorial University of Newfoundland. 1975. / Typescript. Bibliography : leaves 102-103. Also available online.

Thesis (M.C.S.) - Carleton University, 1992. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006. / Title from title screen (site viewed April 26, 2007). PDF text: vii, 164 p. : ill. UMI publication number: AAT 3229555. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

This current study empirically tested elements of Ehlers and Clark's (2000) cognitive model of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptom maintenance using path analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM). Ehlers and Clark's model suggests that a reciprocal relationship between cognitive appraisals of the traumatic event and characteristics of the trauma memory maintain symptoms by increasing one's sense of current threat. Participants in the current study were 405 undergraduates at a Midwestern university who each reported having experienced at least one traumatic event during his/her lifetime. Path analysis was utilized to examine the possibility that one's posttraumatic cognitions may mediate the relationship between the centrality of the traumatic event to one's sense of self and one's current level of PTSD symptoms. The reverse mediation was also tested for each of the PTSD symptom clusters. Results indicate that both event centrality and posttraumatic cognitions are unique and independent predictors of current symptom level. SEM procedures were used to examine possible mediation as well as to test a reciprocal relationship between these predictors. Results are generally consistent with those from the path analysis although additional research is necessary before any firm conclusions can be stated. Overall, the results of this study support aspects of the cognitive model of PTSD; cognitive appraisals of the self and memory characteristics of the event were highly related to levels of distress. However, the current study suggests that overly integrated trauma memories lead to greater distress and not poorly integrated ones as suggested by Ehlers and Clark. The relationship between trauma memories and PTSD is in need of further study as is the role of memory and cognitions in the temporal development of PTSD.