Clark Honors College
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/7557
2024-03-29T04:59:28ZThe Prevalence and Characteristics of Psychological Disturbances among War-Affected Children: Looking to the Voices of Cambodian Children
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/29266
The Prevalence and Characteristics of Psychological Disturbances among War-Affected Children: Looking to the Voices of Cambodian Children
Kovensky, Rachel A.
Millions of children around the globe have been killed, maimed, disabled, or orphaned as
a result of armed conflict. Children have been exposed to brutal death, dangerous escape
or flight; violence; physical injury; mutilation; rape; starvation; loss of family, friends,
community, or home; and other war-related trauma. This exposure can have a significant
and long-lasting psychological impact such as the development of PTSD symptoms. The
development of psychological disturbances is largely determined by each individual
child's set of risk and resiliency factors. Cambodian children, who grew up under the
Khmer Rouge, provide an excellent illustration of children who have been affected by
war. Their primary accounts shed light on the horrific experiences of children amid
armed conflict, the psychological symptoms endured, and the risk and resiliency factors
that influenced each child's likelihood for developing psychopathology. These accounts
further illuminate the need for developmentally appropriate and culturally competent
prevention and intervention methods.
105 pages
2008-06-01T00:00:00ZThe Tweedie Index Parameter and Its Estimator: An Introduction with Applications to Actuarial Ratemaking
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/29040
The Tweedie Index Parameter and Its Estimator: An Introduction with Applications to Actuarial Ratemaking
Temple, Seth David
Tweedie random variables are exponential dispersion models that have power unit
variance functions, are infnitely divisible, and are closed under translations and scale
transformations. Notably, a Tweedie random variable has an indexing/power param-
eter that is key in describing its distribution. Actuaries typically set this parameter to
a default value, whereas R's tweedie package provides tools to estimate the Tweedie
power via maximum likelihood estimation. This estimation is tested on simulations
and applied to an auto severity dataset and a home loss cost dataset. Models built
with an estimated Tweedie power observe lower Akaike Information Criterion rela-
tive to models built with default Tweedie powers. However, this parameter tuning
only marginally changes regression coefficients and model predictions. Given time
constraints, we recommend actuaries use default Tweedie powers and consider alter-
native feature engineering.
87 pages
2018-06-01T00:00:00ZBayley Scales of Infant Development III and Mullen Scales of Early Learning in Nutrition and Supplement Studies: A Pilot Systematic Review
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/29039
Bayley Scales of Infant Development III and Mullen Scales of Early Learning in Nutrition and Supplement Studies: A Pilot Systematic Review
Wilkinson, Natalie
Thiamine (vitamin B1) is a micronutrient essential to both metabolic functioning and development. It helps the body to take energy from the nutrients it takes in. Due to a diet heavily reliant on polished white rice in some areas of the world like Cambodia, deficiency is common. This can affect brain and cognitive development in children and even become a life-threatening medical emergency. A new clinical trial in the design phases aims to test the efficacy of preventing thiamine deficiency at the population level by fortifying salt with thiamine, as is done with iodine. My thesis provided a pilot systematic review to assist in the design of this new clinical trial. The pilot review focused on two neurocognitive tasks, the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development III (BSID III) and the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL). I analyzed the available evidence in a pilot subset of published articles regarding the effectiveness of these two tasks for measuring cognitive effects in nutrition studies. Inclusion criteria included nutritional research and neurocognitive studies involving the two tasks that took place in lower- and middle-income countries. The participants were between infancy and age 5, and articles were published between 2013-2023. Of the 657 articles resulting from a search of APA PsyNet and PubMed, twenty-one articles were selected for review, involving 25,486 infant participants. The majority of selected studies showed neurodevelopmental effects using either the MSEL or BSID III. Limitations included a lack of assessment of bias within articles and involvement of just one coder. The results of the pilot review showed that both MSEL and BSID III tasks appear to be sensitive to nutrition-related neuro-cognitive effects in infants and toddlers in lower- and middle-income countries.
44 pages. This submission includes the author's thesis as well as supplemental, labeled respectively.
2023-09-01T00:00:00ZThe Spark of Sustainability: Analyzing the Energy Market's Response to Climate Disclosure Frameworks
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/29038
The Spark of Sustainability: Analyzing the Energy Market's Response to Climate Disclosure Frameworks
Yoo, Michael
This study investigates current climate disclosure practices within the U.S. oil and gas (O&G) industry by analyzing the annual sustainability reports published by nine publicly listed companies in the industry. By centering on the four thematic areas of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) performance outlined by a leading climate disclosure framework, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, this research will evaluate the O&G industry’s exposure to ESG-related risks and opportunities. By analyzing existing global climate disclosure frameworks, and contextualizing it with the disclosure proposals posed by the United States Securities Exchange Commission, this study highlights the urgent need for standardization in ESG reporting within the industry and points to future research opportunities in analyzing regulatory changes in climate disclosure.
33 pages
2023-06-01T00:00:00Z