Digital Commons Network^™

Influenza A And Flavivirus Manipulation Of Cell Death, Jeffrey E. Mclean

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Viruses employ a variety of strategies to manipulate cell fate and maximize their replication potential during infection. Interacting specifically with cell death pathways allows viruses direct control over the cellular decision to survive or die during infection.

Influenza A virus, of the family Orthomyxoviridae, encodes proteins that interact with the cell at several points along the apoptosis pathway to induce apoptosis. We demonstrate that caspase activation through pro-apoptotic Bax, a downstream target of Bcl-2, is a critical determinant of the nature of cell death induced by Influenza A infection. Influenza A virus cannot establish an apoptotic response without functional Bax, …

Identity And Behavior: Exploring An Understanding Of “Being” And “Doing” For Catholic Priests Accused Of The Sexual Abuse Of Minors In The United States, Brenda K. Vollman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The problem of the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests in the United States has been problematized as a phenomenon that is, in part, a distinction of the priesthood. Although it is known that there are sex offenders in the world who are not, nor were they ever, priests, this study sets forth to uncover whether or not the priests in the sample are, in fact, different on typical psychological risk factors than the at-large sex offender. More importantly, in the absence of notable differences on risk factor characteristics, this study explores the ways in which narrative structures are …

Education Policy And The Mathematics Curriculum In New York City Middle Schools, 1958 To 2002, Joseph Valley

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study investigates how mathematics education policy and curriculum in New York City changed over the period from 1958 through 2002. It looks at the events leading up to the "new math" era, the "back to basics" movement, and the Standards movement initiated by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in 1989. Since this period is bounded by two important pieces of legislation, the National Defense Education Act (NDEA), 1958, and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) 2001 an assessment of the arguments for and against the federal intervention in education is essential.

The research methodology used …

Call Of Duty: A Question Of Police Integrity, Albert O. Gamarra

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Policing is a profession linked to ideals of integrity and honor. In spite of this, the profession has not been immune to corruption within its ranks. Most research in policing has concentrated on police corruption rather than police integrity. Research studies have examined the issue of corruption but they have encountered a multitude of measurement issues, making the direct study of corruption difficult.

The goal of this research study was to replicate the seminal Klockars, Ivkovich, Harver & Haberfeld (2000) study examining police integrity within the United States. There has been a lack of research dedicated to the study of …

The Role Of Mdm2 In Estrogen-Mediated Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation, Angelika Brekman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Estrogen signaling is important in breast cancer development and progression. Mdm2, a negative regulator of the p53 tumor suppressor, is often over-expressed in estrogen receptor positive breast cancers. To study the role of Mdm2 in the estrogen-mediated breast cancer cell proliferation, we examined the effect of estrogen on the p53-Mdm2 pathway in estrogen receptor positive and p53 wild-type MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Estrogen-mediated increase in cell proliferation correlated with increased Mdm2, but no concomitant decrease in the p53 protein level. Blocking Mdm2 expression with inducible shRNA inhibited estrogen-mediated cell proliferation and colony formation in soft agar. Mdm2 knockdown in the …

The United States Of The World: Human Rights, Political Entrepreneurship, And U.S. Foreign Policy Via Affective And Rational Politics, Marriah Star

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines how Political Entrepreneurs in the United States Congress responded to human rights abuses in six countries during the 1970s and 1980s: Cambodia, El Salvador, South Africa, the Soviet Union, Taiwan, and Uganda. It presents a four-point model for approaching the study of United States human rights policy. The key element in all the cases is bonding social capital, also called affective politics. American policy towards the Soviet Union and Uganda both demonstrate the integration of international, transnational, and domestic politics. Taiwan receives special attention because U.S. Taiwan policy continues to exemplify the integration of international relations, transnational …

"... Rivalry, Hostility, And Romanita." An Ethnographic Study Of As Roma's Ultras, Mark Wayne Dyal

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This is an ethnographic study of Italian Ultras, the organized and ritualized fan organizations associated with professional soccer in Italy. It examines the relationship between their belief and behaviors, paying particular attention to their political behaviors. The study follows 15 months of anthropological fieldwork undertaken in Rome, Italy. Its goal is to assess the role that the Ultras' particular critical understanding of modernity plays in organizing and actualizing their behaviors inside and outside of sporting contexts. Part of my effort in this study is to examine local reactions to national and international issues of globalization and liberalization. In following this …

Meanings Of Old Age: A Story In Three Voices, Rivka Tenenbaum-Precel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As the population of the Western world grows older, the need to understand the meaning of this stage in life grows in importance. Psychological research into the meaning of old age is posing questions on diverse levels, from that of individual ontogenesis to those of the family, community and society at large. Traditionally, developmental psychology has investigated different aspects of aging using measures of cognition, emotion, self-concept and well- being. Other approaches have examined the meaning of old age as embedded in cultural and social relations.

The present study uses a narrative approach to elicit the particular voices and interpretations …

Re-Locating Recycling: A Contextual Analysis Of Recycling Behavior In The Usa And Germany, Tsai-Shiou Hsieh

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

While recycling remains a common research topic within environmentally responsible behavior studies, it is little known how contextual factors such as physical environments, social interactions, and cultural backgrounds influence people's attitudes and behavior. This research adopts an ecological framework and conducts a mixed-method qualitative inquiry of whether and how relocation has impacts on people's ecological thinking and behavior in their everyday life. Semi-structured interviews were conducted within two groups of people: Americans who moved to Munich and Germans who moved to New York City. Interviews were conducted in participants' homes or workplaces. Pictures were taken inside the apartments, in common …

Smoking, Drinking, And Binge Drinking: An Empirical Study Of The Role Of Price On Consumption By High School Seniors, Jorge L. Medina

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this study, I estimate time-series demand functions using Ordinary Least Squares in order to examine the effects of real cigarette and alcohol prices on their respective consumption. My targeted population is high school seniors in the United States. The data I use come from Monitoring the Future, The Tax Burden on Tobacco, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Using the Ordinary Least Squares real price coefficients, I evaluate how much of the observed change in consumption is explained by the observed change in real price during a particular period of time between 1976 and 2008. Then, I repeat the …

Mother Country: Reproductive Tourism In The Age Of Globalization, Lauren Jade Martin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Mother Country is a multi-sited, qualitative study of the United States fertility industry. I analyze the industry in two dimensions: as a particularly American institution and nascent profession, and as a destination for "reproductive tourism." The United States fertility industry, buttressed by lax federal regulation, free market principles, and high technology resources, is organized to benefit certain classes of American citizens and foreign nationals in their quest to have children. As such, the United States has become a prime destination for people seeking assisted fertility services such as commercial surrogacy, egg donation, and sex selection, which are unavailable, inaccessible, or …

Personal Narratives Of Women's Leadership And Community Activism In Cherkasy Oblast, Martha Kichorowska Kebalo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Ukraine's women's movement is part of a complex social field characteristic of formerly Soviet countries, but it also emerges from its own specific political history. Post-Soviet period, (neo-) nationalism, feminism and (neo-) socialism are significant forces shaping women's collective behavior. Their activism resonates with the pre-Soviet liberation struggle while it is shaped also by practices from the recent Soviet past. It also is sensitive to external pressures, including the agendas of Western aid and the Ukrainian diaspora.

This study accepts the emergence of non-state women's organizations as indicative of an incipient movement and examines this field of social activism in …

Phenolic Constituents From Garcinia Intermedia And Related Species, Ulyana Muñoz Acuña

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Antioxidants from plants scavenge free radicals and prevent reactive oxygen species from having damaging effects in common ailments such as inflammation, atherosclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease. As part of our ongoing studies of antioxidants from tropical edible fruits, we have studied Garcinia intermedia (Pittier) Hammel [synonym: Rheedia edulis (Seem.) Planch. & Triana], native to Central America. In the fruits the following compounds were identified: guttiferone A, guttiferone E, xanthochymol, fukugetin, volkensiflavone and fukugeside. A new compound was tentatively identified in the fruits of this species. The antioxidant activity of guttiferone A in the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay was IC50 = 46 μM. …

Experiences With Infant Mortality As Reported By Middle Class Black Women In Their Own Words, Lisa Paisley-Cleveland

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Black Middle-Class Women and Pregnancy Loss: A Qualitative Inquiry is the first qualitative research case study of its kind on Black Infant Mortality (BIM) to focus on a target group of black American-born middle-class professional married women who have all lived through the experience of infant loss. This target group allows Lisa Paisley-Cleveland to examine the BIM phenomenon outside the poverty paradigm and issues attached to teenage pregnancy, as well as to explore contributing factors attached to the persistent black and white disparity in infant mortality rates, which according to CDC’s January 2013 report are 12.40 and 5.35 respectively.

This …

Doing Good By Doing Well? The Political Economy Of The Medical Biotechnology Industry In The United States, Volker Lehmann

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study is dedicated to the political economy of the medical biotechnology industry in the United States. The study combines interviews with more than 150 biotechnology actors with a historical analysis and evidence from publicly available data bases. The ascent of this new industry took place in the United States first and foremost, because there, scientific advancements coincided with the rise of supply-side economics, a policy shift that was part of a larger, neoliberal, ideological shift. Despite free-market rhetoric, specific clusters within the United States became the world's leading biotechnology clusters because of a history of targeted interventions to stimulate …

Colombian Artists In Paris, 1865-1905, Maya Jiménez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation brings together a group of artists not previously studied collectively, within the broader context of both Colombian and Latin American artists in Paris. Taking into account their conditions of travel, as well as the precarious political and economic situation of Colombia at the turn of the twentieth century, this investigation exposes the ways in which government, politics and religion influenced the stylistic and thematic choices made by these artists abroad. For those who were pensioned artists and who were restricted by a defined political agenda, their artistic experimentation was limited, while the more radical artists were typically wealthy …

Three Essays On The Determinants Of Foreign Direct Investment (Fdi), Haitao Liang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

At first, a literature review of over 150 articles on the determination of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) proposes the main determinants of FDI. A meta-analysis tests the reliability of the previous studies on FDI.

Then, a cluster analysis on FDI data reveals the necessary to segment economies, especially by income level, in FDI analysis.

A large number of studies emphasize FDI determinants but ignore the income distribution on the results, which biases the estimates. In Chapter 3, I correct for heterogeneity due to income distribution by using the Blundell-Bond System GMM (Generalized Method of Moments), which controls for endogeneity problem …

Synesthetic Landscapes In Harold Pinter’S Theatre: A Symbolist Legacy, Graça Corrêa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the light of recent interdisciplinary critical approaches to landscape and space, and adopting phenomenological methods of sensory analysis, this dissertation explores interconnected or synesthetic sensory "scapes" in contemporary British playwright Harold Pinter's theatre. By studying its dramatic landscapes and probing into their multi-sensory manifestations in line with Symbolist theory and aesthetics, I argue that Pinter's theatre articulates an ecocritical stance and a micropolitical critique.

Chapter One explains the dissertation's theoretical framework (landscape theory, Symbolist theory, ecocriticism, phenomenology, and sensory analysis), while arguing for an ecophilosophical reading of Pinter's landscapes that engages not only with spatial patterns but …

The Interaction Of Intensity And Deviance On Auditory Event-Related Potentials: Findings Using Principal Component Analysis (Pca) Of Current Source Densities (Csds), Nathan A. Gates

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Mismatch negativity (MMN) studies provide insights into the brain's ability to perceive and/or detect deviations from established sensory patterns. Clinical studies investigating the loudness-dependency of auditory evoked potential (LDAEP) have shown a relationship between the intensity of an auditory stimulus and neuro-physiological or -chemical activity of the primary auditory cortex. Unfortunately, these two bodies of literature remain disjointed. The present study integrates elements of each body of literature to a) investigate the impact of varying levels of intensity deviance on N1/P2 with a standard set of intensities used in LDAEP paradigms, and b) assess the extent to which deviance-related processes …

Madness, Sexuality, And Gender In Early Twentieth Century Music Theater Works: Four Interpretive Essays, Megan B. Jenkins

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Diagnoses of madness are inextricably entwined with social and cultural beliefs about gender and sexual behavior. The portrayal of characters in music theater as mad relies on contemporaneous understanding of mental illness, as often resulting from, or expressed in transgression of normative gender roles or heteronormativity, and this may apply either to male or female characters. Such transgressions are explored--with regard to recent reconceptualizations of madness within Disability Studies--in four works: Arnold Schoenberg's monodrama Erwartung (1924); Richard Strauss's opera Salome (1905); Kurt Weill's ballet chanté, Anna-Anna (1933), also known as The Seven Deadly Sins; and Igor Stravinsky's neo-classical …

A Critical And Cultural Poetics Of The End: Self, Space, And Volatility In Los Angeles, Pamela Albanese

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A Critical and Cultural Poetics of the End: Self, Space, and Volatility in Los Angeles delineates the correspondences between Los Angeles spaces--exterior, topographical, architectural, and imaginary--and aspects of the self--interiority, identity, experience, and desire--in fictional and non-fictional depictions of Los Angeles. Through close readings of key Los Angeles novels, essays, and films, this project emphasizes how the narrative "I" traverses urban space, focusing on the dissolution of boundaries between self and place. Los Angeles' sprawling, decentralized layout and rapidly-shifting landscape have a profound influence on narrative identity, generating a volatile and disquieting sense of self; this project also explores how …

Essays In Corporate Finance, Milos Vulanovic

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of two essays on corporate finance. In the first essay we test the pecking order theory by examining how firms finance maturing long-term debt. This allows us to accomplish three goals: resolve the issues of debt capacity and the endogeneity of financing deficit; examine the role of internal financing; and generate evidence regarding the order in which different sources of financing are used. We determine that firms use internal funds before they issue new debt to refinance maturing long-term debt. Firms with more cash on hand are less likely to issue new debt to refinance. On average, …

Music And National Identity: A Study Of Cello Works By Taiwanese Composers, Yu-Ting Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of folkloric elements in music by Taiwanese composers and to uncover the methods they treat regional materials under the influences of Western compositional techniques, hereby creating a new fusion within classical music. This study centers in the ethnic impact on modern Taiwanese music, and also provides an opportunity to probe the significance of the subject "nation" in the field of musical creativity.

In this dissertation, the discussion includes the development of traditional and Western music in Taiwan including the historical and cultural background, how music serves as an emblem of …

Essays On Economic Policy: Income Inequality And Health Insurance, Eric Doviak

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation contains economic analyses of two critical social issues facing the United States at the dawn of the 21st century: income inequality and the affordability of health insurance.

The chapter on income inequality uses the Solow Model of economic growth to model the evolution of inequality over time. In steady state, differences in household saving rates generate differences in household capital income. Households that save more accumulate more capital and have higher steady-state income. Tax policy affects the distribution of income through its influence on household saving rates. Increasing the tax rate on labor income causes a greater percentage …

The Impact Of Mood Disorders On Cognitive Function In Post-Menopausal Women Undergoing Treatment For Early-Stage Breast Cancer, Margery E. Frosch

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

PURPOSE: Many post-menopausal women who are treated for early-stage breast cancer report experiencing cognitive difficulties following adjuvant chemotherapy. However, the generalizability of the results of a number of studies that have attempted to document the association between adjuvant chemotherapy and cognitive dysfunction has been limited due to inconsistencies in the investigative methods used, thus introducing the possibility that other factors are contributing to reports of cognitive problems. The current study examines the possibility that a history of mood disorders in post-menopausal breast cancer patients predisposes them to cognitive difficulties following adjuvant treatment. METHODS: Sixty-five postmenopausal women with non-metastatic breast cancer …

Default Risk, Zeynep Topaloglu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The hazard rate models used in recent bankruptcy literature assume censoring and default are two independent events, which means the censored company will eventually default. However we believe there will be a portion in the censored group that will be long-term survivors and we propose a mixture model of survivors and risky companies. Moreover this dissertation models the event and the timing of default incident at the same time. For the event of default and the timing of default we utilize a logistic regression. The results have justified the advantage of our model over the standard hazard rate models and …

Modern Time: Photography And Temporality, Kris Belden-Adams

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores the fluid relationship of photography to time. Many theorists have noted that photography has a distinctive manner of representing temporality. Roland Barthes, for example, wrote that the photograph has a peculiar capacity to represent the past in the present, and thus to imply the passing of time in general. As a consequence, Barthes argued, all photographs speak of the inevitability of our own death in the future. Moreover, he linked photography's peculiar temporality to its capacity for a certain kind of realism: "false on the level of perception, true on the level of time." Barthes's analysis poses …

"Because I'M Neither Gringa Nor Latina, Because I Am Not Any One Thing": Children Of Colombian And Dominican Immigrants Negotiating Identities Within (Trans)National Social Fields, Debora Upegui-Hernandez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores how Colombian and Dominican children of immigrants living in New York City negotiate multiple identities, selves, cultures, and histories within transnational social fields. In other words, children of immigrants grow up in the midst of multiple cultures and juggle multiple sets of cultural norms, values, and expectations, their parents' and those of mainstream `American' culture, while they maintain transnational ties to the home country of their parents. This study contributes to the social psychological literature about Dominican and Colombian children of immigrants by introducing a transnational framework to understand their experiences growing up in-between cultures and borders. …

Design And Performance Analysis Of Genetic Algorithms For Topology Control Problems, Cem Safak Sahin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, we present a bio-inspired decentralized topology control mechanism, called force-based genetic algorithm (FGA), where a genetic algorithm (GA) is run by each autonomous mobile node to achieve a uniform spread of mobile nodes and to provide a fully connected network over an unknown area. We present a formal analysis of FGA in terms of convergence speed, uniformity at area coverage, and Lyapunov stability theorem.

This dissertation emphasizes the use of mobile nodes to achieve a uniform distribution over an unknown terrain without a priori information and a central control unit. In contrast, each mobile node running our …

Qualitative And Quantitative X-Ray Diffraction Analysis For Forensic Examination Of Duct Tapes, Rebecca E. Bucht

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Duct tapes are an increasingly important class of forensic evidence. This research has studied the value of using x-ray diffraction (XRD) to extend the ability of evidence examiners to gain additional information about a duct tape specimen.

Duct tapes are composed of five different layers. Starting from the non-adhesive side, these layers are the release coating, backing, scrim, primer and adhesive. The release coating assists in reducing unwind tension and preventing the tape from sticking to itself when on a roll. The backing layer serves as a support for the adhesive, and is usually based on polyethylene. The scrim is …