Showing papers by "Nicholls State University published in 2009"

Active versus passive teaching styles: An empirical study of student learning outcomes

Abstract: This study compares the impact of an active teaching approach and a traditional (or passive) teaching style on student cognitive outcomes. Across two sections of an introductory business course, one class was taught in an active or nontraditional manner, with a variety of active learning exercises. The second class was taught in a passive or traditional manner, emphasizing daily lectures. Although the active learning approach does not appear to have improved overall mastery of the subject, we did find evidence that active learning can lead to improved cognitive outcomes in class-specific materials. The discussion emphasizes the role of delivery style on learning outcomes.

Supply chain agility: scale development

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop an instrument to measure supply chain agility.Design/methodology/approach – The development of this supply chain agility scale utilizes an examination of supply chain agility literature, experience surveys, and expert judges. The result is a 12‐item instrument with six dimensions.Findings – The instrument has been rigorously tested and validated, which generates a high degree of confidence in the scale's validity and reliability.Originality/value – This paper fulfills an identified need for the development of an empirically validated instrument to measure supply chain agility. This reliable and validated instrument enables and facilitates future studies in the supply chain agility research stream.

The Development of Successors From Followers to Leaders in Small Family Firms: An Exploratory Study

Abstract: The purpose of this exploratory study was to better understand the development of successors in the small family business, including their approach to the leadership of the firm. It examined variab...

Floodplain geomorphic processes and environmental impacts of human alteration along coastal plain rivers, usa

Abstract: Human alterations along stream channels and within catchments have affected fluvial geomorphic processes worldwide. Typically these alterations reduce the ecosystem services that functioning floodplains provide; in this paper we are concerned with the sediment and associated material trapping service. Similarly, these alterations may negatively impact the natural ecology of floodplains through reductions in suitable habitats, biodiversity, and nutrient cycling. Dams, stream channelization, and levee/canal construction are common human alterations along Coastal Plain fluvial systems. We use three case studies to illustrate these alterations and their impacts on floodplain geomorphic and ecological processes. They include: 1) dams along the lower Roanoke River, North Carolina, 2) stream channelization in west Tennessee, and 3) multiple impacts including canal and artificial levee construction in the central Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana. Human alterations typically shift affected streams away from natural dynamic equilibrium where net sediment deposition is, approximately, in balance with net erosion. Identification and understanding of critical fluvial parameters (e.g., stream gradient, grain-size, and hydrography) and spatial and temporal sediment deposition/erosion process trajectories should facilitate management efforts to retain and/or regain important ecosystem services.

The impact of entrepreneurial orientation on firm performance: the role of CEO position tenure and industry tenure

Abstract: The relationship between Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) and firm performance, despite generating significant scholarly interest, has remained mixed. These results may be attributed, at least in part, to the failure to sufficiently examine the potential impact of top management characteristics. The present study investigates how CEO characteristics (i.e. CEO industry and position tenure), impact the relationship between EO and firm performance within a sample of 579 US banks. As predicted, some support for a positive EO to performance relationship was found. In addition, the results strongly support, as posited, that CEO industry tenure positively moderates, and CEO position tenure negatively moderates, the EO to performance relationship. We also report evidence supporting the effect of EO, configured with CEO position tenure and industry tenure on firm performance. Our study suggests the EO–performance relationship is more complex than previous studies indicate. Implications for future research and prac...

Authentic leadership as a pathway to positive health

Abstract: We propose to bridge the domains of positive health and leadership. We suggest that a “positive” health model helps explain highly effective leadership. The leader must strive for health and facilitate health in his/her followers. We look at leadership through this new and positive lens, that of “positive” health promotion. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Influence of an Extensive Inquiry-Based Field Experience on Pre-Service Elementary Student Teachers’ Science Teaching Beliefs

Abstract: This study examined the effects of an extensive inquiry-based field experience on pre service elementary teachers’ personal agency beliefs, a composite measure of context beliefs and capability beliefs related to teaching science. The research combined quantitative and qualitative approaches and included an experimental group that utilized the inquiry method and a control group that used traditional teaching methods. Pre- and post-test scores for the experimental and control groups were compared. The context beliefs of both groups showed no significant change as a result of the experience. However, the control group’s capability belief scores, lower than those of the experimental group to start with, declined significantly; the experimental group’s scores remained unchanged. Thus, the inquiry-based field experience led to an increase in personal agency beliefs. The qualitative data suggested a new hypothesis that there is a spiral relationship among teachers’ ability to establish communicative relationships with students, desire for personal growth and improvement, ability to implement multiple instructional strategies, and possession of substantive content knowledge. The study concludes that inquiry-based student teaching should be encouraged in the training of elementary school science teachers. However, the meaning and practice of the inquiry method should be clearly delineated to ensure its correct implementation in the classroom.

Differential modulation of eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) disease parasites by the El-Niño-Southern Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation

Abstract: The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is affected by two protozoan parasites, Perkinsus marinus which causes Dermo disease and Haplosporidium nelsoni which causes MSX (Multinucleated Sphere Unknown) disease. Both diseases are largely controlled by water temperature and salinity and thus are potentially sensitive to climate variations resulting from the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which influences climate along the Gulf of Mexico coast, and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), which influences climate along the Atlantic coast of the United States. In this study, a 10-year time series of temperature and salinity and P. marinus infection intensity for a site in Louisiana on the Gulf of Mexico coast and a 52-year time series of air temperature and freshwater inflow and oyster mortality from Delaware Bay on the Atlantic coast of the United States were analyzed to determine patterns in disease and disease-induced mortality in C. virginica populations that resulted from ENSO and NAO climate variations. Wavelet analysis was used to decompose the environmental, disease infection intensity and oyster mortality time series into a time–frequency space to determine the dominant modes of variability and the time variability of the modes. For the Louisiana site, salinity and Dermo disease infection intensity are correlated at a periodicity of 4 years, which corresponds to ENSO. The influence of ENSO on Dermo disease along the Gulf of Mexico is through its effect on salinity, with high salinity, which occurs during the La Nina phase of ENSO at this location, favoring parasite proliferation. For the Delaware Bay site, the primary correlation was between temperature and oyster mortality, with a periodicity of 8 years, which corresponds to the NAO. Warmer temperatures, which occur during the positive phase of the NAO, favor the parasites causing increased oyster mortality. Thus, disease prevalence and intensity in C. virginica populations along the Gulf of Mexico coast is primarily regulated by salinity, whereas temperature regulates the disease process along the United States east coast. These results show that the response of an organism to climate variability in a region is not indicative of the response that will occur over the entire range of a particular species. This has important implications for management of marine resources, especially those that are commercially harvested.

A comparison of the effectiveness of sandstone and limestone as cultch for oysters, crassostrea virginica

Abstract: Field studies were conducted to compare quartzitic sandstone to siliceous limestone in its ability to collect oyster spat, and to determine if sandstone is a suitable cultch for oysters. Thirty bags of sandstone and 30 bags of limestone were placed on each of 3 sites in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana–South Sister Lake (SSL), North Sister Lake (NSL), and Bay Junop. The bags were deployed in late May and retrieved in early to mid July. (The Bay Junop bags were missing upon retrieval.) All recruits to the substrate (live spat, articulated dead shells and single shells) were counted as spat. South Sister Lake had higher salinities and higher spatfall than did NSL. The mean number of oyster spat per bag at SSL was 2156.5 for limestone and 338.5 for sandstone; at NSL mean number of spat per bag was 315.3 for limestone and 16.8 for sandstone. The difference between sandstone and limestone was highly significant (P < 0.0001) at both sites. There was thus a clear preference of oyster larvae for limestone at...

Raising the cost of rebellion: the role of third‐party intervention in intrastate conflict

Abstract: This paper presents a simple model to characterize explicitly the role that an intervening third party plays in raising the cost of rebellion in an intrastate conflict. Extending the Gershenson‐Grossman (2000) framework of conflict in a two‐stage game to the case involving outside intervention in a three‐stage game as in Chang et al. (2007b), we examine the conditions under which an outside party optimally intervenes such that (i) the strength of the rebel group is diminished or (ii) the rebellion is deterred altogether. We also find conditions in which a third party optimally intervenes but at a level insufficient to deter rebellion. Such behavior, which improves the incumbent government’s potential to succeed in conflict, is overlooked in some conflict studies evaluating the effectiveness of intervention. One policy implication of the model is that an increase in the strength of inter‐governmental trade partnerships increases the likelihood that third‐party intervention deters rebellion.

Pool Revenue Sharing, Team Investments, and Competitive Balance in Professional Sports A Theoretical Analysis

Abstract: Using a contest model of a professional sports league, we show that pool revenue sharing has a negative effect on total expenditure for player talent. There are ``moral hazard'' problems with lower revenue teams in that they may pocket the money they receive from the pool without increasing talent investments. Based on four alternative measures of competitive balance, we find that pool revenue sharing increases the variance of expected winning percentages for a match and thus reduces the degree of competition in the league. Policy recommendations that combine pool revenue sharing with the requirement of a minimum payroll on players are shown to be procompetitive.

Impacts of molt-inhibiting organochlorine compounds on epidermal ecdysteroid signaling in the fiddler crab, Uca pugilator, in vitro.

Abstract: Because of their chemical stability and lipophilicity, many organochlorine compounds (OCs) can readily accumulate in fatty tissues of crustaceans. Several OCs have been reported to inhibit crustacean molting. To determine whether the disruption of crustacean molting by these OCs involves interference with ecdysteroid signaling in the epidermis, the impacts of five molt-inhibiting OCs on the level of N -acetyl-β-glucosaminidase (NAG, EC 3.2.1.30) mRNA in cultured epidermal tissues from the fiddler crab, Uca pugilator , were investigated using quantitative real-time PCR. The NAG mRNA was found to be inducible by 20-hydroxyecdysone (20-HE) in cultured epidermal tissues. The inducibility of NAG mRNA in cultured epidermal tissues by 20-HE is not only further direct evidence that epidermal expression of NAG gene in U. pugilator is controlled by the molting hormone but also validates the use of the NAG mRNA as a biomarker for epidermal ecdysteroid signaling. When Aroclor 1242, 2,4,5-trichlorobiphenyl (PCB29), endosulfan or kepone was administered alone, the expression of NAG gene in cultured epidermal tissues was upregulated, while heptachlor had no effects. Under binary exposure to both 20-HE and an OC, a condition similar to the natural hormonal milieu of epidermal tissues of animals impacted by OCs, both Aroclor 1242 and endosulfan were found to be capable of antagonizing ecdysteroid signaling in cultured epidermal tissues. This antagonizing effect on epidermal ecdysteroid signaling can at least partly explain the inhibitory effects of these two agents on crustacean molting. PCB29, when given together with 20-HE, produced an additive effect on epidermal ecdysteroid signaling but such an additive effect was not observed when kepone was combined with 20-HE.

Ethics Education in Accounting Curricula: Does it Influence Recruiters' Hiring Decisions of Entry-Level Accountants?

Abstract: Recently, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) has focused its attention on mandating specific ethics coursework within the 150-hr requirement for eligibility to sit for the uniform CPA examination. This push for ethics education heightened attention toward ethics in the accounting curriculum and is the basis for the present study. The primary objective of the present research study is to test the hypothesis that ethical coverage in accounting programs is an important factor in recruiting decisions for entry-level accounting positions. The research was conducted in two phases. The first phase employed an experimental design to test whether ethical coverage in accounting programs is an important factor in recruiting decisions for entry-level accounting positions. The second phase employed a survey, allowing recruiters to self-report which criteria they value most in recruiting for entry-level accountant positions. The results from both phases suggest that ethical coverage in acco...

And the Beat Goes On: Further Evidence on Voting on the Form of County Governance in the Midst of Public Corruption

Abstract: SUMMARY ‘Operation Pretense,’ an FBI sting operation conducted in Mississippi during the 1980s, uncovered widespread corruption among the state's county supervisors. The revelations prompted the Mississippi legislature to authorize including on the November 1988 ballot a measure asking voters whether they favored switching to a more centralized ‘unit system’ of county governance or instead retaining the decentralized ‘beat system’ then in place in all but two of the state's 82 counties. We examine voters' decisions to participate in that election, in which 47 counties returned majorities for the unit system and 35 counties opted for the status quo. Controlling for participation in the 1988 presidential race and other relevant factors, we find that turnout rates for the beat-unit choice were positively correlated with supervisor corruption. We also find that the corrupt counties' higher voter turnouts were driven mainly by supporters of the corruption-prone beat system.

Biological treatment of shrimp production wastewater

Abstract: Over the last few decades, there has been an increase in consumer demand for shrimp, which has resulted in its worldwide aquaculture production. In the United States, the stringent enforcement of environmental regulations encourages shrimp farmers to develop new technologies, such as recirculating raceway systems. This is a zero-water exchange system capable of producing high-density shrimp yields. The system also produces wastewater characterized by high levels of ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and organic carbon, which make waste management costs prohibitive. Shrimp farmers have a great need for a waste management method that is effective and economical. One such method is the sequencing batch reactor (SBR). A SBR is a variation of the activated sludge biological treatment process. This process uses multiple steps in the same reactor to take the place of multiple reactors in a conventional treatment system. The SBR accomplishes equalization, aeration, and clarification in a timed sequence in a single reactor system. This is achieved through reactor operation in sequences, which includes fill, react, settle, decant, and idle. A laboratory scale SBR was successfully operated using shrimp aquaculture wastewater. The wastewater contained high concentrations of carbon and nitrogen. By operating the reactors sequentially, namely, aerobic and anoxic modes, nitrification and denitrification were achieved as well as removal of carbon. Ammonia in the waste was nitrified within 4 days. The denitrification of nitrate was achieved by the anoxic process, and 100% removal of nitrate was observed within 15 days of reactor operation.

The Spitzer c2d Survey Of Nearby Dense Cores. Vi. The Protostars Of Lynds Dark Nebula 1221

Abstract: Observations of Lynds Dark Nebula 1221 from the Spitzer Space Telescope are presented. These data show three candidate protostars toward L1221, only two of which were previously known. The infrared observations also show signatures of outflowing material, an interpretation which is also supported by radio observations with the Very Large Array. In addition, molecular line maps from the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory are shown. One-dimensional dust continuum modeling of two of these protostars, IRS1 and IRS3, is described. These models show two distinctly different protostars forming in very similar environments. IRS1 shows a higher luminosity and a larger inner radius of the envelope than IRS3. The disparity could be caused by a difference in age or mass, orientation of outflow cavities, or the impact of a binary in the IRS1 core.

Technology-Integrated Project-Based Approach in Science Education:A Qualitative Study of In-Service Teachers’ Learning Experiences

Abstract: This qualitative study examines the impact of a technology-integrated project-based approach (PBA) on the learning experiences and subsequent decision-making of inservice teachers pursuing their master’s degree who are enrolled in a science methods class. The authors employed in-depth interviews, journal reflections, observations, performance in class projects, and content of class projects as data sources. Through inductive data analysis the authors found that banter is a key factor in collaborative learning, that technology-integrated PBA fostered interdisciplinary connections in the science methods class, and that in-service elementary education teachers intended to integrate technology and PBA in their science classes as a result of their learning experiences in the science methods class.

A Molecular Biomarker for Disruption of Crustacean Molting: The N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase mRNA in the Epidermis of the Fiddler Crab

Abstract: Several environmentally persistent chemicals have been found to be capable of disrupting crustacean molting. Considering the importance of molting in the life of crustaceans, there is a need to develop a molecular biomarker that can reflect the disrupting effects of contaminants on ecdysteroid signaling in crustaceans. N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase (NAG) is a chitinolytic enzyme found in crustacean epidermis. The results of the present investigation show that the transcription of NAG gene in the epidermis of the fiddler crab, Uca pugilator, is inducible by the molting hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone, which validates the use of NAG mRNA as a biomarker for molt-disrupting effects of xenobiotics.

A Multiattribute Optimization Model for Strategic Investment Decisions

Abstract: Strategic investment decisions entail intertemporal resource allocation. Given relative resource availability and favourable environmental dynamics, effective strategic investment planning is a major determinant of overall corporate financial performance. This paper advances a methodology for optimizing intertemporal investment decisions through a consensus-oriented process. This process entails identifying the strategic investment factors, their relative importance, and their assumed values relevant to the timing of each investment program. The paper also provides a methodology for determining the system's priority formulation as the model's objective function. This information generates an optimization matrix designated by investment programs and time. This matrix is then optimized through a hierarchical goal-programming model that maximizes overall strategic investment decisions. The model was applied to a major capital investment program in the state of New York. Strategic investment planning entails the in-depth and comprehensive assessment and integration of the internal and external factors and forces that impact longrange institutional performance. Strategic investment decisions are referred to as those decisions that entail the organization's comprehensive long-range financial perspective, grounded upon its mission and strategic objectives. The hypothetical case of a strategically diversified company considering the financing of a number of projects P1, P2, P3, Pn over the next several years is a case in point. While the feasibility of each project should be closely scrutinized and evaluated on its merits, the organization may wish to consider these investment undertakings in a way that will enhance its overall multiperiod investment performance. Due to the scarcity of resources that confronts all organizations, not all desired projects can be implemented simultaneously. Some projects may have to be postponed pending resource availability, or when their utility becomes timely. Other projects may have to be accelerated to be more beneficial. The question is, then, on what basis should such decisions be made so that the organization's overall financial performance is maximized? In the absence of any current methodology to optimize a multiattribute investment decision over a multiperiod horizon, this paper advances a methodology for achieving goal optimization, using a heterogeneous group decision process, in the face of incongruent or competing goals. Before developing any modelling framework for optimizing decisions, the authors studied the structure of the problem. Parallel to Kooros (1994), our studies led to several conclusions on the feasibility of 1. Identifying the corporate strategic investment performance factors (SIFs) that inherently affect the organization's decision making and its overall product planning and financial strategy; 2. Determining objectively the relative importance of these factors, whose sum constitutes the decision preference, or the model's objective function; 3. Identifying conditions under which these factors are affected, with time as the common denominator; and 4. Structuring an appropriate modelling framework capable of optimizing investment strategies, i.e., determining which investment project should be considered in a specific time frame in order to maximize the overall financial performance. In our study of the literature, which included a comprehensive review of the empirical and theoretical literature on manufacturing investment evaluation by Proctor and Canada (1992) and other scholars, we found very little treatment of intertemporal investment optimization. This paper deals with two fundamental concepts, (a) the development of a modelling framework to optimize investment decisions over time, and (b) the utilization of a group decision system to quantify and test the model. Its contribution is the development of a decision analysis, its quantification of judgmental decision parameters, and its application to an optimization model to aid consistent and rational decision making through a structured multiattribute decision process. …

Effects of hypoxia and sedimentary naphthalene on the activity of N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase in the epidermis of the brown shrimp, Penaeus aztecus.

Abstract: The brown shrimp, Penaeus aztecus, is subject to dual stresses of environmental hypoxia and contamination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The effects of hypoxia and sedimentary naphthalene, administered alone and in combination, on epidermal activity of N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase (NAG), a biomarker for molt-interfering effects in P. aztecus, were investigated. It was found that hypoxia and sedimentary naphthalene, when given simultaneously, significantly inhibited epidermal NAG activity, suggesting that these two environmental stressors together can have adverse effects on molting of the brown shrimp. The results of this study also show that sedimentary naphthalene potentiates hypoxia effects on epidermal NAG activity.

Corruption on the Court: The Causes and Social Consequences of Point-Shaving in NCAA Basketball

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the economic incentives of crime among agents within a private organization Specifically, we present a contest model of a college basketball game to identify the winners, losers, and social welfare consequences of point-shaving corruption in mens NCAA basketball as an example of participation in illicit activities It is shown that, under reasonable conditions, such activities lower the level of social welfare derived from college basketball play by reducing aggregate efforts in a game and distorting relative efforts across teams We then examine the economic incentives of a player to point-shave and discuss player-types that are at a relatively high risk of engaging in point-shaving corruption Private and public mechanisms to minimize corruption are compared in terms of efficiency, and a differential honesty premium is derived and discussed as an efficient way for the NCAA to decrease the incidence of player corruption

Leadership in Virtual Teams: The Case for Emotional Intelligence

Abstract: As the use of virtual teams has increased in organizations, there has been an increase in research focused on those settings. This study identifies factors associated with effectiveness and satisfaction at both the member and team level. Among other variables leadership characteristics and behaviors have been shown to influence virtual team outputs. However, new research in the leadership area, particularly that related to emotional intelligence (EI) has not been investigated as influencing virtual team success. Through a review of existing literature on virtual teams, leadership and emotional intelligence, we develop a research model that suggests the relationship between emotional intelligence and virtual team effectiveness and satisfaction. We then propose a research methodology to investigate this relationship.

Subchronic lead feeding study in male rats and micropigs.

Abstract: This study compared the lead uptake from contaminated test soil of known lead concentration with a soluble lead acetate standard, which was considered to be 100% bioavailable. This study also compared the lead bioavailability from this lead-contaminated soil between rats and micropigs. Harlan Sprague–Dawley rats and Yucatan micropigs were fed lead-contaminated soil as a 5% (w/w) mixture with their diet. The lead-contaminated soil was either a specific test soil of known lead concentration (1000 μg/g) or basal low concentration lead soil (∼135 μg/g), which was spiked with lead acetate to match the lead content of the test soil. The effective diet lead concentration was 50 μg Pb/g diet. Results demonstrated that rats reached steady-state concentrations of blood lead by week 2, whereas micropigs did not reach steady state until week 4. In addition, final blood lead concentrations in micropigs were four-fold higher than those in rats. In the micropigs, the final blood lead levels in the test soil study group were significantly lower than those in the lead acetate study group, although there was no significant difference between study groups in the rats. Tissue lead concentrations were significantly higher in micropigs than those in the rats, although the diet lead concentrations in both sets of animals were the same. In summary, because of the greater sensitivity in demonstrating higher tissue lead incorporation in micropigs as compared to rats, the micropig is a better animal model for demonstrating the differences in relative lead bioavailability when testing different sources of lead-contaminated soils. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 2009.

Anaerobic Metabolism and Bioremediation of Explosives-Contaminated Soil

Abstract: Nitroaromatic compounds pollute soil, water, and food via use of pesticides, plastics, pharmaceuticals, landfill dumping of industrial wastes, and the military use of explosives. Biotransformation of trinitrotoluene and other nitroaromatics by aerobic bacteria in the laboratory has been frequently reported, but the anaerobic bacterial metabolism of nitroaromatics has not been studied as extensively perhaps due to the difficulty in working with anaerobic cultures and the slow growth of anaerobes. Sulfate-reducing and methanogenic bacteria can metabolize nitroaromatic compounds under anaerobic conditions if appropriate electron donors and electron acceptors are present in the environment.

El rol de las escuelas de negocios en el desarrollo de destrezas gerenciales: análisis conceptual

Abstract: Resumen es: Este articulo revisa la literatura sobre aprendizaje y desarrollo de destrezas con el objeto de discutir el alcance de los programas de destrezas gerenci...