Browsing by Subject "monitoring"
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Citizen Watch in the Accounting Department? Tax and Financial Reporting Responses to Employee Whistleblowing Allegations(2013-07-01) Wilde, Jaron HThis study examines the relation between employee whistleblowing allegations and firms? subsequent tax and financial reporting behavior. I draw on economic theory to develop expectations for and test firms? tax and financial reporting responses to whistleblowing reports of corporate financial misconduct. I employ a difference-in-difference research design to test whether firm?s subject to employee whistleblowing allegations related to financial misconduct exhibit significantly less misreporting risk and tax avoidance in the period following the allegations relative to a control group of firms not subject to whistleblowing allegations. Using a unique sample of whistleblowing cases obtained from the U.S. government, I find that firms subsequently engage in significantly less aggressive financial reporting behavior and have significant increases in their effective tax rates following whistleblowing allegations. This study contributes to the literature by providing evidence on firms? tax and financial reporting responses to employee whistleblowing and by highlighting the role that employees play in both tax and financial reporting oversight. In light of regulators? recently heightened emphasis on whistleblower programs, the results of this study should be of interest to regulators, researchers, auditors, and investors.Item Evaluating success of oyster reef restorationBlomberg, Brittany NicoleItem Noninvasive optoacoustic monitoring of blood oxygenation in large blood vessels(2007-09-19) Hans-Peter Franz Brecht; Rinat Esenaliev; Stanislav Emelianov; Massoud motamedi; Harvey Fishman; Gracie vargasContinuous monitoring of cerebral blood oxygenation is critically important for successful treatment of patients with severe traumatic brain injury and patients undergoing cardiac surgery. At present, the techniques for monitoring blood oxygenation are invasive. We propose the noninvasive monitoring of cerebral venous blood hemoglobin saturation (SvO2) by optoacoustic probing of blood circulating in the internal jugular vein (IJV). This thesis describes the tests of the optoacoustic system with three different probes in phantoms, in vitro, and in vivo in sheep along with different data processing algorithms. A LabView®-based scanning system, that automatically moves the optoacoustic probe across the IJV while continuously taking measurements, was developed and used for testing the optoacoustic probes. Automatic signal processing determined the signal with the best probe-vessel alignment which was then used for further processing. The scanning system was tested in phantoms using solutions with different absorption coefficients and with blood at various levels of hemoglobin saturation (SO2). Amplitudes and profiles of the optoacoustic signals recorded from the phantoms closely followed the SO2 changes in accordance with blood optical properties. These data indicate that the scanning system is capable of improving the accuracy of noninvasive monitoring of hemoglobin saturation by minimizing errors associated with lateral misalignment of the probe with respect to blood vessels.Item Reservoir characterization, performance monitoring of waterflooding and development opportunities in Germania Spraberry Unit.(Texas A&M University, 2005-08-29) Hernandez Hernandez, Erwin EnriqueThe Germania Unit is located in Midland County, 12 miles east of Midland, Texas and is part of the Spraberry Formation in the Midland Basin which is one of the largest known oil reservoirs in the world bearing between 8.9 billion barrels and 10.5 billion barrels of oil originally in place. The field is considered geologically complex since it comprises typically low porosity, low permeability fine sandstones, and siltstones that are interbedded with shaly non-reservoir rocks. Natural fractures existing over a regional area have long been known to dominate all aspects of performance in the Spraberry Trend Area. Two stages of depletion have taken place over 46 years of production: Primary production under solution gas drive and secondary recovery via water injection through two different injection patterns. The cumulative production and injection in Germania as of July 2003 were 3.24 million barrels and 3.44 million barrels respectively and the production level is 470 BOPD through 64 active wells with an average rate per well of 7.3 BOPD and average water cut of 60 percent. This performance is considered very low and along with the low amount of water injected, waterflood recovery has never been thoroughly understood. In this research, production and injection data were analyzed and integrated to optimize the reservoir management strategies for Germania Spraberry Unit. This study addresses reservoir characterization and monitoring of the waterflood project with the aim of proposing alternatives development, taking into account current and future conditions of the reservoir. Consequently, this project will be performed to provide a significant reservoir characterization in an uncharacterized area of Spraberry and evaluate the performance of the waterflooding to provide facts, information and knowledge to obtain the maximum economic recovery from this reservoir and finally understand waterflood management in Spraberry. Thus, this research describes the reservoir, and comprises the performance of the reservoir under waterflooding, and controlled surveillance to improve field performance. This research should serve as a guide for future work in reservoir simulation and reservoir management and can be used to evaluate various scenarios for additional development as well as to optimize the operating practices in the field. The results indicate that under the current conditions, a total of 1.410 million barrels of oil can be produced in the next 20 years through the 64 active wells and suggest that the unit can be successfully flooded with the current injection rate of 1600 BWPD and pattern consisting of 6 injection wells aligned about 36 degrees respect to the major fracture orientation. This incremental is based in both extrapolations and numerical simulation studies conducted in Spraberry.Item Wireless Sensor Network for Monitoring of Historic Structures under Rehabilitation(2012-02-14) Samuels, Julie MarieThe use of a wireless sensor network (WSN) to monitor an historic structure under rehabilitation is the focus of this research. To thoroughly investigate the issue, two main objectives are addressed: the development of a reliable WSN tailored for use in historic structures, and the implementation of the monitoring system in the field to test the feasibility of the WSN and its applicability for structural health monitoring (SHM). Three field studies are undertaken in this research. The Frankford Church, an historic wooden church which required foundation replacement, is the first field study. Sensors monitor tilt of the church?s walls throughout construction. During the construction process, the entire floor of the church is removed and the tree stump foundations are replaced by concrete masonry unit (CMU) blocks and steel pedestals. The tilt in the walls is correlated to the construction process. St. Paul Lutheran, an historic masonry church with timber-framed roof, constitutes the second field study. In this structure, the foundations along the exterior walls are underpinned and the floors are removed and replaced with a floating concrete slab. Detected movements are also correlated to the construction efforts. The Johanniskirche, an historic masonry church with moisture problems, is the final field study case. Real-time and past measured WSN climate data is used to determine the most appropriate solution for the humid climate and resulting condensation problems in this structure. From these results, a moisture migration risk analysis protocol is created for use with a WSN to address condensation issues. The results of the tilt monitoring indicate that the approach is realistic to monitor tilt in the walls of historic structures. For future research, it is recommended to implement motes with higher tilt sensitivity. Also, further development of energy saving algorithms and energy harvesting methods will improve the WSN?s performance. Climate monitoring results show it is feasible to monitor climate conditions of historic structures. The moisture migration protocol provides a basis for further improvement. Implementation of this tool will help predict condensation events and prevent future damage to the historic structure.