Digital Commons Network^™

The Weight Of Words: Discourse, Power And The 19th Century Prostitute, Yoshan A. Kennedy-Churnac

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis discusses discourses surrounding the urban prostitute in mid-nineteenth century Paris and London. During the nineteenth century, sexuality became a topic of increasing concern and an outpouring of literature on deviant sexuality and ways to regulate it appeared from moral commentators, social scientists, and physicians. Different historical moments saw the prevalence of different approaches taken, whether it was through the moral counsel of religious pamphlets, or through the methodological approach implemented by medical journals and social surveys. My study will trace the evolution of sexual discourses on prostitutes as well as how their authors influenced attempts to regulate these …

Football, The World's Game: A Study On Football's Relationship With Society, Dominic Lo

CMC Senior Theses

This paper looks at the way football affects society. Analysis includes a look into football in Victorian England, the notorious Glaswegian Rangers-Celtic rivalry as well as the role of football in the United States during the late 20^th century.

Policy Analysis Of Rural Development Strategy In Mexico: Creation And Management Of Infrastructure Systems, Carlton J. Rueb

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores rural development strategy in Mexico within the context of infrastructure development. It finds that although the tenants of decentralization and neoliberalism on which the strategy is based are conducive to gains in productivity, equity, and environmental sustainability in rural Mexico, the current government apparatus creates a number of market failures which limit the beneficial potential of the development strategy. Lessons learned from the Mexican experience should be applied in other contexts for development strategies.

The Effect Of Culture On Female Labor Force Partcipation, Joycelyn J. Ho

CMC Senior Theses

This article looks at the effect of culture on female labor force participation. Proxies of culture used are Globe cultural social practice dimensions, and Hofstede cultural dimensions. This article finds that globe cultural dimensions have a stronger explantory value that Hofstede cultural dimensions. It confirms that gender eglaitarianism is a predictor of female labor force participation. It also suggests that assertiveness and uncertainty avoidance are also predictors of female labor force participation.

Democratic Strength And Terrorism: An Economic Approach, Brian P. Winter

CMC Senior Theses

There has been much literature about the economic effects of terrorism in democratic countries, but this literature often considers democracy to be a binary variable. This paper sought to explore how the effects might differ depending on the strength of a democracy. In the end, I found that the numbers of attacks and the effects of those attacks do not follow a linear path. The results for autocracies and anocracies require further analysis, but democracies have revealed interesting results. It seems that democracies as a whole have more terrorist attacks, but, within this group, the more democratic a country is …

Sustainability Reporting Of Eighteen Fortune 500 General Merchandising Companies: How These Companies Address World Environmental And Social Issues, Jaclyn D'Arcy

CMC Senior Theses

Climate change affects the health of people and the environment.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published research that explains the danger of greenhouse gas emissions on humans, wildlife, and the planet.  Initiatives and policies are enacted every day to counter the harm that is done to the environment.  Many companies now publish environmental impact reports or Corporate Sustainability Reports (CSR) to promote industry transparency.  Participating in environmental and social initiatives is also a competitive advantage for these Fortune 500 companies.  Customers can support a company based on their environmental friendliness or social responsibility.  Companies are then encouraged to …

Work Attribute Importance And Loyalty Intention: Millennial Generation Psychological Contract, Laura M. Bottorff

CMC Senior Theses

This study investigated the importance that junior and senior job-seeking undergraduates (Millennial generation members) place on transactional and relational work attributes; how ratings vary by gender, experiences with layoff, and intended loyalty; and how well ratings match with actual attributes offered by organizations. Results are discussed in context of psychological contract theory. Students (n = 199) and recent graduates working full-time (n = 180) took separate online survey. Students indicated the importance of various work attributes (Ng, Schweitzer, & Lyons, 2010), loyalty intentions, and other related questions. Graduates answered only work attribute questions related to their current employer. Work attributes …

The Next Catalyst For Change: How Corporate Shared Value Is Reshaping Capitalism, Emily Davenport

CMC Senior Theses

Both corporations and their global conglomerates are looking into the face of an evolving idea of capitalism.  As businesses become more intertwined with society, this special relationship is becoming increasingly deterministic of the condition of the world.  This paper explores the possibility that if businesses integrate shared value -- a way to combine economic and social value -- into their long-term business plans, that not only will society be better off, but the businesses themselves may be able to explore previously unrecognized potential for profits.

Forest Policy And Community-Based Conservation In Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Brittany N. Taylor

CMC Senior Theses

Review of forestry policy and deforestation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a look at REDD, national parks, forest certification systems, non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and a focus on community-based conservation.

Tie The Knot Or You Tighten The Noose? The Current Effect Of Pre-Marital Cohabitation On Marriage Survival Rates, Matthew D. Beienburg

CMC Senior Theses

Pre-marital cohabitation has become a mainstream practice among couples in the United States, yet initial empirical evidence demonstrated significant correlations between cohabitation and subsequent marital instability. Later studies disputed a causal relation and have attempted to show a weakened connection over time, but have themselves suffered from the use of exclusively older and/or unreliable data. This paper uses figures from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997-08) and the National Survey of Family Growth (2006-08) to provide an updated analysis of cohabitation’s effect on marriage over the past decade. Using proportional hazard and competing risk models, this paper confirms a …

The Impact Of Terrorism On Foreign Direct Investment: Which Sectors Are More Vulnerable?, Shivani Agrawal

CMC Senior Theses

The impact of conflict and violence on foreign direct investment (FDI) is not a topic that has been done justice by the literature, and what few studies exist have contradictory results. This paper studies the impact that transnational terrorism has on FDI inflows by economic sector, in developed countries. Results indicate a statistically significant negative correlation between terrorist events and total FDI inflows. Amongst a list of 12 broad industrial sectors, FDI inflows for manufacturing, trade and repair, and construction were found to have a statistically significant negative correlation with terrorist events.

Neurorehabilitation Of The Hand Using The Cybergrasp[Tm] And Mirror Image, Amy Frances Boos

Theses

In recent years, researchers have explored the use of a mirror image as a means of rehabilitation for individuals suffering from hemiparesis. Through neuroimaging and functional testing, neurological improvement has been demonstrated in those that engage in mirror therapy. Bilateral training, or simultaneous movement of both sides of the body, has also been studied as a treatment method to improve function after cerebral vascular accident. The development of robotic systems to assist movement of the human body has played a major role in the fabrication of bilateral training devices.

In this experiment, the CyberGrasp™ robotic exoskeleton was used to assist …

Spider Cognition, Robert R. Jackson, Fiona R. Cross

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Spiders, having minute brains, were once considered simple, instinct-driven automatons, but research on spider biology is revealing increasing evidence of their cognitive abilities. In this review, we discuss the complex, flexible behaviour of spiders, especially salticids, and highlight how sometimes the cognitive character of spider behaviour closely parallels that of much bigger animals. This includes the use of selective attention (both visual and olfactory) and the use of planned detours. The implications of these findings, and how they relate to bigger issues traditionally associated with big-brain animals, such as 'representation' and 'mind', are discussed. Also discussed are issues relating to …

Construction Of A Ssr-Based Genetic Map And Identification Of Qtl For Domestication Traits Using Recombinant Inbred Lines From A Cross Between Wild And Cultivated Cowpea (V. Unguiculata (L.) Walp.), Mebeaselassie Andargie, Remy S. Pasquet, Bhavani S. Gowda, Geoffrey M. Muluvi, Michael P. Timko

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is a grain legume commonly grown and consumed in many parts of the tropics and subtropics. A genetic linkage map was constructed using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and a recombinant inbred (RI) population of159 individuals derived from a cross between the breeding line 524B, a California Blackeye, and 219-01, a perennial wild cowpea from Kenya. Out of 912 primer combinations predicted to amplify SSRs in cowpea, 639 reliably produced amplification products in PCR assays and 202 (31.6%) were polymorphic between the two parents. These polymorphic SSRs were used to construct a genetic map consisting …

Will The Convention On Biological Diversity Put An End To Biological Control?, Joop C. Van Lenteren, Matthew J.W. Cock, Jacques Brodeur, Barbara I.P. Barratt, Franz Bigler, Karel Bolckmans, Fabian Haas, Peter G. Mason, José Roberto P. Parra

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Will the Convention on Biological Diversity put an end to biological control? Under the Convention on Biological Diversity countries have sovereign rights over their genetic resources. Agreements governing the access to these resources and the sharing of the benefits arising from their use need to be established between involved parties. This also applies to species collected for potential use in biological control. Recent applications of access and benefit sharing principles have already made it difficult or impossible to collect and export natural enemies for biological control research in several countries. If such an approach is widely applied it would impede …

Sex Pheromone Composition And Reproductive Isolation In Two Busseola Species (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) In Kenya, A. E. Félix, P. A. Calatayud, B. Le Ru, J. F. Silvain, B. Frérot

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Closely related species provide an interesting and useful model to understand mate communication diversification. Pre-mating isolation is the result of selection processes and is achieved by utilization of different sex pheromones, but also by different ecological and life traits such as geographic distribution, host-plant specialization and allochrony of sexual behavior. Here, we report sex pheromone identifications and pre-mating isolation of two closely related species of stemborers: Busseola segeta and the yet undescribed Busseola nov. sp., developing on different host-plants and in different geographical locations in Kenya. GC-MS analyses showed that the two species produced the same pheromone components, but in …

The Flight Activity Of Prostephanus Truncatus (Horn) (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) And Teretrius Nigrescens Lewis (Coleoptera: Histeridae) In Kenya, Bonaventure Aman Omondi, Nanqing Jiang, Johnnie Van Den Berg, Fritz Schulthess

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The invasive storage pest, the larger grain borer (LGB) Prostephanus truncatus (Horn), was introduced into the maize-deficit, semi-arid areas of the eastern region in Kenya in the early 1980s. In spite of containment efforts and the introduction of the predator Teretrius nigrescens Lewis from Mexico, LGB has spread to the main maize production zone in western Kenya during the past five years. The present work presents results from a 28-month monitoring effort of LGB and its predator, using pheromone traps at five locations along an east-west transect across Kenya. LGB occurred in all regions with highest trap catches in the …

Repellent Activity Of Catmint, Nepeta Cataria, And Iridoid Nepetalactone Isomers Against Afro-Tropical Mosquitoes, Ixodid Ticks And Red Poultry Mites, Michael A. Birkett, Ahmed Hassanali, Solveig Hoglund, Jan Pettersson, John A. Pickett

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The repellent activity of the essential oil of the catmint plant, Nepeta cataria (Lamiaceae), and the main iridoid compounds (4aS,7S,7aR) and (4aS,7S,7aS)-nepetalactone, was assessed against (i) major Afro-tropical pathogen vector mosquitoes, i.e. The malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae s.s. and the Southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, using a World Health Organisation (WHO)-approved topical application bioassay (ii) the brown ear tick, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, using a climbing repellency assay, and (iii) the red poultry mite, Dermanyssus gallinae, using field trapping experiments. Gas chromatography (GC) and coupled GC-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of two N. cataria chemotypes (A and B) used in the repellency assays …

Leading The Multiethnic Church: Help From New Metaphors And The Leadership Challenge, Elizabeth Childs Drury

Great Commission Research Journal

Success in leading the multiethnic church (MEC) eludes assessment because of the variety of congregational configurations and the unique intercultural environment. This article describes how leadership in one MEC harmonizes with and differs from basic cultural standards as expressed in James Kouzes and Barry Posner’s The Leadership Challenge. It follows an earlier case study (published in the Summer 2010 issue) about weaknesses that emerged at a DC-area MEC when Dan, the beloved pastor, resigned. Three new categories describe designs: the mall, the cinema, and the blend. Six new metaphors describe relationships among different cultural groups: renters, investors, neighbors, coworkers, siblings, …

Defining The Phenotypes Of Sickle Cell Disease., Samir K. Ballas

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

The sickle cell gene is pleiotropic in nature. Although it is a single gene mutation, it has multiple phenotypic expressions that constitute the complications of sickle cell disease. The frequency and severity of these complications vary considerably both latitudinally in patients and longitudinally in the same patient over time. Thus, complications that occur in childhood may disappear, persist or get worse with age. Dactylitis and stroke, for example, occur mostly in childhood, whereas leg ulcers and renal failure typically occur in adults. It is essential that the phenotypic manifestations of sickle cell disease be defined accurately so that communication among …

Update On Pain Management In Sickle Cell Disease., Samir K Ballas

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

Acute pain is the hallmark of sickle cell disease and is the most common cause of hospital admissions. Tissue damage due to vaso-occlusion releases numerous inflammatory mediators that initiate the transmission of painful stimuli that culminate in the perception of pain. The acute sickle cell painful crisis evolves along four phases. Each phase is coupled with changes in certain markers of the disease. Hospital readmission occurs within 1 week in about 16% of discharged patients and within 1 month in about 50% of discharged patients. Failure to treat acute pain aggressively may lead to chronic pain syndrome which, in turn, …