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I investigate whether corporate accountability reporting and assurance help protect firm value. Specifically, I examine: 1) whether corporate accountability reporting helps firms prevent the occurrence of high-profile misconduct (bribery, kickbacks, discrimination, etc.), and 2) when high-profile misconduct does occur, does prior corporate accountability reporting reduce the negative stock price reaction. Using propensity-score matching to address self-selection, I find that on average firms that report on their corporate accountability activities are less likely to engage in high-profile misconduct, consistent with the reporting process helping firms manage their operations better. Additionally, I find that when high-profile misconduct does occur, firms that have previously issued corporate accountability reports experience a less negative stock price reaction, consistent with corporate accountability reports influencing perceptions of managerial intent, which in turn influences expected punishments. Lastly, I find no evidence that external assurance of corporate accountability reports decreases the likelihood of high-profile misconduct occurring, nor does it reduce the stock price hit when high-profile misconduct occurs, consistent with concerns raised about the value of this new form of assurance.

The importance of the financial markets has constantly been increasing during the last few decades. With the increase of the importance of the financial markets the popularity and importance of financial reporting have also increased dramatically. The importance of financial reporting has logically created a need for a lot of research in the area. It is for instance important to understand the links financial reporting has with the different parts of the business and its implications on them and the business in general. Based on that the research conducted has focus on the following research issue – identify, understand and explain the implications of financial reporting on leadership’s decision making process as well as identify, understand and explain their effects on leadership’s strategic choices. The aim of the research process is to reach some general conclusions on the issue derived from a certain context – the crisis in the financial sector originating from the US subprime mortgage crisis as well as provide basis for further research on the issue.

This study focuses on the process and complexities of disclosure and decision-making amongst HIV-positive ex-offenders. In addition, this study highlights the history and circumstances of HIV infection and how this influences disclosure. The process of disclosure was explored amongst seven HIV positive male ex-offenders who fell in the African racial category. Data was collected through qualitative in-depth interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results revealed that within this target group disclosure initially occurred within prison and thereafter upon release from prison, continues depending on the contextual factors. Because disclosure initially took place within prison, the prison environment was a defining feature during the process of disclosure. Factors that enabled ex-offenders to disclose their HIV status included social support, witnessing of HIV – related deaths amongst other offenders, as well as the challenging nature of the prison environment. Factors that compromised the disclosure process included their access to treatment and a more nutritional diet. Upon release from prison, access to financial and material support and responsibility to significant others were reasons that facilitated the process of disclosure. Overall, stigma was a main barrier that contributed to non - disclosure. These findings highlight that the process of disclosure is a relational factor as it depends largely on the availability and accessibility of significant others. The conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that HIV disclosure is a process that occurs on a continuum whereby there is no clear end-point as ex-offenders weighed up the enabling factors against the barriers before disclosing. Once disclosure had occurred, ex-offenders had to integrate the outcomes and reactions from significant others into their lives. The process of HIV disclosure is also a never – ending process as there are always significant others to disclose to. It is recommended by this study that more research is conducted regarding how prison conditions influence HIVpositive offenders, how HIV-positive ex-offenders can be better re-integrated into the community and how significant others deal with the ex-offenders HIV disclosures.T / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010

This trip reporting and GPS-based prompted-recall travel survey was undertaken to provide a better understanding of (a) demographic and behavioural differences between students with a home telephone land line and students without one (b) effects of carrying a GPS device on trip reporting (c) differences in trips reported and confirmed through a prompted-recall survey, and (d) performance of the TRIPS platform. The survey was designed and conducted at the University of Toronto between November 2008 and April 2009. It targeted mostly university students and returned 90 valid interviews. Participants were required to carry a GPS device with them for the two days surveyed. They were then asked to report their trips first, and then to confirm their recorded trips through the web-based prompted-recall tool, TRIPS. Preliminary analysis was conducted based on the reported data, and improvements to the TRIPS platform have been suggested.

This trip reporting and GPS-based prompted-recall travel survey was undertaken to provide a better understanding of (a) demographic and behavioural differences between students with a home telephone land line and students without one (b) effects of carrying a GPS device on trip reporting (c) differences in trips reported and confirmed through a prompted-recall survey, and (d) performance of the TRIPS platform. The survey was designed and conducted at the University of Toronto between November 2008 and April 2009. It targeted mostly university students and returned 90 valid interviews. Participants were required to carry a GPS device with them for the two days surveyed. They were then asked to report their trips first, and then to confirm their recorded trips through the web-based prompted-recall tool, TRIPS. Preliminary analysis was conducted based on the reported data, and improvements to the TRIPS platform have been suggested.

Į baigiamojo darbo sudėtį įeina SQL Server 2005, Reporting Services, bei kitų numatomų instrumentinių priemonių ir technologijų analizė, reikalavimų sistemai išgavimas, taip pat sistemos modulių projektavimas bei apjungimas ir realizacija. Sistema supruojektuota ir realizuota remiantis sudaryta specifikacija. Sistemos realizacijai naudojami Microsoft SQL Server 2005 bei Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 programavimo paketai. Taip pat pateikiama, jau realizuotos sistemos testavimo rezultatai ir išvados. / This final work includes SQL Server 2005, Reporting Services and other instrumental tools or technology analysis, requirement for the system extraction and also modules of the system projection, integration to one unit and realization. The system was designed and implemented in accordance with specification. To implement the system was used Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 programming packages. Also there are the testing results of the system and final conclusions.

Sverige har en lagstadgad anmälningsplikt som är obligatorisk för alla som i sitt arbete kommer i kontakt med barn. Lagen är tydlig med att alla misstänka missförhållanden skall anmälas. Forskning visar att anmälningsplikten inte alltid fungerar och att det bara är en liten del av de barn som riskerar att fara illa som kommer till socialtjänstens kännedom. Vidare forskning visar att få anmälningar kommer från hälso- och sjukvården. Syftet var att beskriva sjuksköterskans erfarenheter i mötet med barn som far illa eller riskerar att fara illa. Litteraturstudien genomfördes med kvalitativ design och sökningar har gjorts i CINAHL, MEDLINE och PsycINFO. Åtta artiklar ansågs relevanta. Under analysen framkom tre teman: en emotionell utmaning, att känna sig begränsad och att våga agera. Resultatet visar att sjuksköterskan blir berörd i mötet med barn som far illa. Vidare beskriver sjuksköterskan osäkerhet, bristande kunskap och brister i organisationen. Sjuksköterskans professionella trygghet beskrivs utifrån kunskap och förvärvad erfarenhet. Det är angeläget att sjuksköterskans yrkeskompetens upprätthålls samt att det finns stöd att tillgå för att utveckla omvårdnaden kring barn som far illa. / In Sweden, everyone who comes in contact with children through their work has a statutory obligation to report child abuse. The law clearly states that any suspected child abuse must be reported. Research shows that the reporting does not always work. Only a small proportion of the children who might be victims of abuse come to the knowledge of Social Services. Further research shows that few notifications come from individuals within the health care system. The aim of this literature review was to describe nurses’ experiences of encounters with chil-dren who are victims of abuse or who are at risk of being abused. A qualitative design was used. CINAHL, MEDLINE and PsycINFO were used to select the articles, eight of which met the selection criteria. During the analysis, three themes emerged: An Emotional Challenge, Feeling Limited, and Daring to Act. The results show that the nurses are emotionally affected by their contact with abused children. The nurses also describe feelings of insecurity, a lack of knowledge, and organizational deficiencies. The nurses’ professional security is described as stemming from knowledge and experience. It is very important that the nurses’ professional competence is maintained and that there is support available in order to develop the care of abused children.

Background: The relationship between eating frequency (EF) and adiposity is surrounded by controversy. Numerous cross-sectional studies have been performed on the subject, yet the results are mixed. While some of these studies show an inverse relationship between EF and adiposity, this is likely due to underreporting of EF and total energy intake when diets are self-reported. In studies where underreporting was taken into account, EF is positively associated with both energy intake and adiposity. Intervention trials have failed to show a significant effect of EF on energy intake or weight change, but only a small number exist. Objective: In this study, we examined associations among EF, energy intake, and adiposity in free living adults consuming self-selected diets. In conducting this analysis, two common methodological problems in this research area were addressed: 1) the lack of consideration of energy balance fluctuations throughout the day, and 2) a tendency not to account for implausible reporting of energy intake. We hypothesized that individuals with higher EF would have higher BMI, percentage body fat, and energy intake. Additionally individuals with greater fluctuations in energy balance will have higher BMI, percentage body fat, and EF. Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of data collected as part of a previous study in our laboratory on diet and energy regulation (unpublished). One hundred and twenty-six participants were enrolled (62.4 % female, and 75.2% Caucasian), and one participant dropped the study due to pregnancy. Mean ±SD age, BMI, and percentage body fat of the remaining 125 participants were 29.8 ±12.2 years, 24.5±3.9 kg/m2, and 27.8±9.8% respectively. We analyzed one day of dietary intake collected using a multiple pass 24 hour recall. Energy intake was calculated by NDS (Nutrition Data System for Research, version 2011 (n=36) and version 2010 (n=89)). An eating occasion was defined as any occurrence of energy intake > 0 kcal separated by at least 1 hour. EF was defined as the number of eating occasions per day. A specifically designed spreadsheet that generates within-day energy balance was used to produce estimates of hourly energy balance. We also used total energy expenditure measured by doubly labeled water and the Huang et al. (2005)1 method to identify implausible reporters (cutoff for plausibility was reported energy intake (REI) within ±16.8% of TEE) and conducted Pearson’s correlations and regression analysis in both the total sample and a subsample in which implausible energy intake reporters were excluded from analysis. Results: We identified 59.2% of the sample as implausible reporters (n=74; 47 under-reported and 27 over-reported). Mean ±SD EF and energy intake were 4.7±1.5 and 2356±964 kcal in the total sample and 4.8±1.6 and 2371±689 kcal in the plausible sample. In the total sample EF was positively correlated to energy intake among women (r=0.244, p=0.032). No other significant relationships were observed between EF and either energy intake, BMI, or percentage body fat, in the total or plausible sample. In the total sample, maximum energy deficit > 400 kcal in a 24 hours period was significantly and positively correlated with percentage body fat (r=0.211,p=0.019) and negatively correlated with EF (r=-0.243, p=0.007) when controlling for sex and age. Separating the sample by sex we observed significant positive correlation between percentage body fat and maximum energy deficit in men (r=0.382, p=0.009) but not in women. No significant relationships between fluctuations in energy balance and percentage body fat were observed in the plausible sample. Conclusion: No evidence was found to suggest a relationship between EF and adiposity. The significant positive relationships observed between maximum energy deficit and adiposity in the total sample are consistent with previous findings. The number of implausible reporters identified in our analysis supports that over and under-reporting is a major issue associated with self-reporting of dietary intake.

This thesis uses methods of discourse analysis to examine the news coverage of poverty in New Zealand. It seeks to find the extent to which dominant discourses, those that reinforce the dominant order, are reproduced and become hegemonic in the coverage of poverty. The use of news sources and their effect on poverty coverage, as well as the news' assumption of shared values are also examined. This thesis argues that through such processes news coverage reproduces dominant discourses that elide the extent to which poverty can be seen as an important and problematic social issue in New Zealand. This thesis analyses a range of New Zealand news texts about poverty. It looks at the press coverage of a Unicef announcement about child poverty in 2005. It also includes an analysis of news stories that refer to poverty, the poor and issues of welfare over a month in 2005. The final chapter of research analyses two television documentaries, The Streetkids and Life on the Streets, that are about aspects of homelessness in New Zealand. This study finds the reporting of poverty in New Zealand to be inadequate, containing debate over poverty and reproducing the hegemony of dominant discourses.