Digital Commons Network^™

How Corporations Manage Industry And Consumer Expectations Via The Csr Report, Sarah Bonewits Feldner, Kati Tusinski Berg

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

With increased stakeholder scrutiny, it is increasingly salient to consider how corporations make the case that their CSR activities are sufficient, appropriate, and successful. The CSR report is the vehicle by which organizations communicate the breadth of activities they engage in to make a difference in society. Using rhetorical analysis and surveys, we argue that the CSR report functions as a means by which corporations manage stakeholder expectations and seek to legitimate corporate behaviors. Our findings indicate that most reports are structured based on external guidelines but include the use of classic rhetorical strategies of ethos, pathos, and logos to …

Multipolarity, Intellectual Property, And The Internationalization Of Public Health Law, Sam Halabi

Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works

This Article critically examines the proliferation of international legal agreements addressing global health threats like the outbreak of infectious diseases, tobacco use and lack of access to affordable medicines. The conventional wisdom behind this trend is that a global normative shift has occurred which has caused states to regard health as “special” and less subject to the normal rules of international law making because health threats endanger all of humanity. This Article challenges that thesis, arguing that at the same time the number and scope of international health law treaties has grown, developed states have subordinated health law to intellectual …

Predictors Of Head Start And Child-Care Providers’ Healthful And Controlling Feeding Practices With Children Aged 2 To 5 Years, Dipti A. Dev, Brent A. Mcbride, Katherine E. Speirs, Sharon M. Donovan, Hyun Keun Cho

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Few child-care providers meet the national recommendations for healthful feeding practices. Effective strategies are needed to address this disparity, but research examining influences on child-care providers’ feeding practices is limited. The purpose of this study was to identify determinants of child-care providers’ healthful and controlling feeding practices for children aged 2 to 5 years. In this cross-sectional study, child-care providers (n = 118) from 24 center-based programs (six Head Start [HS], 11 Child and Adult Care Food Program [CACFP] funded, and seven non-CACFP) completed selfadministered surveys during 2011-2012. Multilevel multivariate linear regression models were used to predict seven feeding practices.Working …

Apache Ii Analysis Of A Surgical Intensive Care Unit Population In A Tertiary Care Hospital In Karachi (Pakistan), Madiha Hashmi, Ali Asghar, Saima Rashid, Fazal Hameed Khan, Hameedullah

Department of Anaesthesia

Purpose: Performance of prognostic models deteriorates over time by changes in case-mix and clinical practice. This study was conducted to describe the case-mix of a surgical intensive care unit (SICU) and assess the performance of APACHE II scoring system in this cohort.
Methodology: We analyzed 213adult patients admitted to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) of Aga Khan University Hospital, from January 2011 to December 2012 and the performance of APACHE II scoring system was assessed in this population.
Results: The mean age of patients was 46.31 years (SD ±18.43), 67.1% patients were male and mean length …

Assessing The Relationship Between Eating Disorder Psychopathology And Autistic Traits In A Non-Clinical Adult Population, Amelia Myri Carton, Alastair D. Smith

School of Psychology

No abstract provided.

Music And Acculturation: Using Culture-Focused Music Therapy To Address The Adverse Effects Of Acculturative Stress, Christopher A. Arnold

University Honors Theses

More than any other demographic in the United States, Native American populations experience the highest rate of suicide proportional to population size. This is just one of numerous statistics indicative of the overall status of Native American psychological health. There has been increasing research demonstrating that Native American suicide rate and depression is positively associated with acculturative stress, and negatively associated with traditional heritage cultural integration. Because an increased amount of acculturative stress for Native Americans is correlated with high suicide rate and occurrence of depression, while increased traditional culture integration may be linked to lower suicide rate and occurrence …

International Perspectives On Sustainable Agriculture In Cuba, B. Danielle Smith

University Honors Theses

Since the economic crisis following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba has restructured their agriculture with a greater focus on domestic production of domestically consumed produce, and a dramatic reduction of petroleum products in all aspects of food production. This overhaul has included the broad application of what is termed agroecology – agricultural practices which focus on principles of biodiversity and sustainability – and inter-farm cooperation facilitated by the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) and Campesino a Campesino. Academics and journalists from within and abroad have critically examined aspects of the novel reforms developed in the country …

The Value Of Well-Being: Advancing Urban Blue Infrastructure With Holistic Metrics, Lisa Marie White

University Honors Theses

The design of urban infrastructure has emerging, documented impacts on the environment, local economy, and public well-being, yet conventional design and policy goals fail to account for these emergent properties. These impacts also lack consistent quantifiable metrics and classification in the realm of city planning. Without adequately holistic cost-benefit analyses, the true value of infrastructure projects fails to be ascertained, preventing consideration of design that provides additional benefits not yet incorporated into city policy and metrics. With more people living in cities than ever before, the built environment of cities has become an increasingly important area of study, and the …

Perceptions Of Local Hospitals And Food Producers On Opportunities And Barriers To Implementing A Farm-To-Hospital Program, Allison Perline

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study was to explore current perceptions and attitudes of local food producers and hospital staff towards incorporating locally-sourced foods into hospital food service programs. Perceived opportunities and challenges to procuring and using local products in the hospital setting were identified. Additionally, perceived enablers and barriers of local producers were identified around working directly with institutions. The goal of this study was to integrate perceptions of producers and hospital staff to develop locally relevant suggestions for strengthening producer-hospital relationships and increase the amounts of local foods in hospital food service programs. Qualitative data was collected by conducting …

Childhood Obesity As Child Abuse: Criminalizing Parents For Raising Obese Children, Lizet Dominguez

Child and Family Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Internet Search Strategies Employed By Library And Information Science Students Of University Of Nigeria, For Research., Helen Nneka Eke Mrs, Charles Obiora Omekwu Prof., Juliet Agbo Miss

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study examined Internet Search Strategies employed by undergraduate students of Library and Information Science (LIS), University of Nigeria, Nsukka for research. The study was guided by five research questions. 100 students were randomly selected from the undergraduate students of LIS, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Questionnaire was used as the main instrument for the gathering of data. Data collected were analyzed using simple frequency tables and mean. The study revealed that most of the students were using the Internet to search for materials for writing term papers, projects and other assignments in other to enhance their academic work. The study …

Effects Of Induced Plant Resistance And Potassium Fertilization Rates On Soybean Looper (Chrysodeixis Includens) Development In Soybean, Xuan Chen

LSU Master's Theses

Soybean looper, Chrysodeixis includens (Walker), is one of the most destructive pests of soybean in the southern U.S. It is highly resistant to most insecticides. Induced host plant resistance and cultural control are sought as alternative control tactics. In this study, effects of induced resistance by exogenous application of elicitors were estimated on soybean looper development in soybean. Three different known elicitors of SAR (systemic acquired resistance), Actigard 50WG (acibenzolar-S-methyl), Regalia (extract of Reynoutria sachalinensis) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA), were applied to soybean plants at R2 and R5 stages to determine if these chemicals could induce plant resistance and lower …

Experience Of Occupational Therapists Practicing In Rural Kenya, Picoty Cherotich Leitich

Online Theses and Dissertations

In Kenya, occupational therapy, which is slowly gaining attention, is still concentrated in the cities with a very small number working in rural areas. Occupational therapy practice in rural areas is impacted by various factors that are naturally occurring in rural settings such as poor infrastructure, cultural beliefs and values, language barriers, economic statuses, lack of resources, geographical barriers, lack of transportation and limited number of occupational therapists. In this study, three occupational therapists were interviewed as well as photographs of the resources used in these rural settings were collected in order to understand the nature of their work in …

Landsat Evaluation Of Trumpeter Swan Historical Nesting Sites In Yellowstone National Park, Laura Elizabeth Cockrell

Online Theses and Dissertations

The trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator) has historically nested in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Declines in habitat quality may be limiting the growth of the Tri-State Flock. The purpose of this study was to map historical nesting areas for trumpeter swans in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) and evaluate Landsat images for changes to habitat. Historical nesting sites were evaluated through image classification and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and compared to field conditions. Swan nesting records were analyzed in comparison to drought index and human visitation rates to determine if these factors may contribute to the …

Identification And Functional Analysis Of New Conserved Micrornas And Their Targets In Potato (Solanum Tuberosum L.), Muhammad Din, Muhammad Younas Khan Barozai, Iftekhar Ahmed Baloch

Turkish Journal of Botany

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are tiny, endogenous, nonprotein-coding, and functionally negative regulators of posttranscriptional gene regulation. Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a starchy and tuberous crop that is also important for its potassium and vitamin contents. Though potato is the world's fourth largest food crop, its miRNAs and their targets have not been well studied. Here we report a comparative genomics approach that was applied to explore miRNAs and their targeted proteins in potato. A total of 120 new miRNAs from 110 families were identified and characterized from the expressed sequence tags. All 120 miRNAs were observed, along with stable stem-loop precursor …

Study Of Beef Blade Muscles' Differentiation Depending On Conformation And Fat Class, Dominika Guzek, Dominika Glabska, Ewa Lange, Krzysztof Glabski, Agnieszka Wierzbicka

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The object of this study was to identify variation of the intramuscular fat and connective tissue content in different blade muscles in carcasses characterized by various quality grades. It was found that there is a cumulative impact of muscle and conformation class on intramuscular fat in blade muscle (P = 0.0330), as well as type of muscle and fat class (P = 0.0424), but there is no cumulative impact of conformation class and fat class (P = 0.1788). There is no cumulative influence of muscle type, conformation class, and fat class on amount of connective tissue in blade muscle, but …

The Influence Of Pomegranate-Peel Extracts On In Vitro Gas Production Kinetics Of Rumen Inoculum Of Sheep, Mohammad Javad Abarghuei, Yousef Rouzbehan, Abdel-Fattah Salem

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Different levels of pomegranate peel extracted by either water (PEH) or solvent mixture (PEM) were evaluated for their effect on in vitro gas production and ruminal fermentation patterns. Two levels of PEH or PEM (15 and 30 mg total phenolics (TP)/g DM of basal diet) were compared to a control (0) level. Ruminal fermentation parameters such as 24-h partitioning factor (PF_{24}), gas yield (GY_{24}), in vitro organic matter disappearance (IVOMD), metabolizable energy (ME), and microbial protein (MP) were calculated. The addition of PEH or PEM had no effect (P > 0.05) on asymptotic gas production, apparent degraded substrate (ADS), IVOMD, ME, …

Sequencing-Based Polymorphism In Leptin Receptor Gene And Lack Of Association With Postpartum Anestrus In Murrah Buffaloes, Rajesh Kumar, Meenakshi Gupta, Syed Shafiq, Ashok Kumar Balhara, Sadeesh Em, Mayukh Ghosh, Inderjeet Singh

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

In order to detect polymorphism in exon 20 of the leptin receptor (LEPR) gene and its possible association with postpartum anestrus (PPA), peripheral blood samples were obtained from 40 Murrah buffaloes including 20 PPA (>120 days after parturition) and 20 normal cyclic (

Reducing Visual Deficits Caused By Refractive Errors In School And Preschool Children: Results Of A Pilot School Program In The Andean Region Of Apurimac, Peru, Sergio Latorre-Arteaga, Diana Gil-Gonzalez, Olga Enciso, Aoife Phelan, Angel Garcia-Munoz, Johannes Kohler

Articles

Background

Refractive error is defined as the inability of the eye to bring parallel rays of light into focus on the retina, resulting in nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (Hyperopia) or astigmatism. Uncorrected refractive error in children is associated with increased morbidity and reduced educational opportunities. Vision screening (VS) is a method for identifying children with visual impairment or eye conditions likely to lead to visual impairment.

Objective

To analyze the utility of vision screening conducted by teachers and to contribute to a better estimation of the prevalence of childhood refractive errors in Apurimac, Peru.

Design

A pilot vision screening program in …

Socioeconomic Differentials In The Immediate Mortality Effects Of The National Irish Smoking Ban, Patrick J. Goodman, Sericea Stallings-Smith, Ariana Zeka, Z. Kabir, Luke Clancy

Articles

Background: Consistent evidence has demonstrated that smoking ban policies save lives, but impacts on health inequalities are uncertain as few studies have assessed post-ban effects by socioeconomic status (SES) and findings have been inconsistent. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of the national Irish smoking ban on ischemic heart disease (IHD), stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mortality by discrete and composite SES indicators to determine impacts on inequalities. Methods: Census data were used to assign frequencies of structural and material SES indicators to 34 local authorities across Ireland with a 2000–2010 study period. Discrete …

Economic Valuation Of The Mortality Benefits Of A Regulation On So2 In 20 European Cities, Olivier Chanel, Susann Henschel, Patrick J. Goodman, Antonis Analitis, Richard W. Atkinson, Alain Le Tertre, Ariana Zeka, Sylivia Medina

Articles

Background: Since the 1970s, legislation has led to progress in tackling several air pollutants. We quantify the annual monetary benefits resulting from reductions in mortality from the year 2000 onwards following the implementation of three European Commission regulations to reduce the sulphur content in liquid fuels for vehicles. Methods: We first compute premature deaths attributable to these implementations for 20 European cities in the Aphekom project by using a two-stage health impact assessment method. We then justify our choice to only consider mortality effects as short-term effects. We rely on European studies when selecting the central value of …

Melatonin And Other Factors That Promote Rooting And Sprouting Of Shoot Cuttings In Punica Granatum Cv. Wonderful, Eirini Sarrou, Ioannis Therios, Kortessa Dimassi-Theriou

Turkish Journal of Botany

The agricultural and medicinal plant pomegranate (Punica granatum L. cv. Wonderful) was studied to examine the effects of wounding of cuttings and to test the effects of different concentrations of indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), gibberellic acid (GA_{3}), hydrogen peroxide (H_{2}O_{2}), melatonin (MEL), and ascorbic acid (ASC) on rooting of the shoot cuttings under mist. The data indicated that IBA had a positive influence on the rooting percentage in wounded and nonwounded cuttings. The best rooting was achieved with very thin cuttings (3-4 mm in diameter). The percentage of rooting (100.0 ± 0.0) and the number of roots per plant (15.2 ± …

Protein Mobilisation And Proteolytic Activities In Root Tubers Of Asphodelus Aestivus, Serap Kirmizi, Gürcan Güleryüz, Hülya Arslan

Turkish Journal of Botany

We studied protein mobilisation in Asphodelus aestivus Brot. (Liliaceae) during a 1-year period. The activities of 3 proteolytic enzymes, endopeptidase (EP), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), and carboxypeptidase (CP), together with soluble protein levels and total nitrogen and water content in root tubers were investigated. We found that protein mobilisation continued throughout the year. The highest levels of the 3 proteolytic enzymes were found in different months: LAP in December (1.19 ± 0.19 µmol pNA/g FW), CP in February (14.19 ± 1.13 µmol Leu/g FW), and EP in May (5.18 ± 0.12 U/h). Activities of LAP and CP generally reached their higher …

Treatment With 24-Epibrassinolide Mitigates Nacl-Induced Toxicity By Enhancing Carbohydrate Metabolism, Osmolyte Accumulation, And Antioxidant Activity In Pisum Sativum, Muhammad Adnan Shahid, Rashad Mukhtar Balal, Muhammad Aslam Pervez, Francisco Garcia-Sanchez, Vicente Gimeno, Tahira Abbas, Neil Scott Mattson, Atif Riaz

Turkish Journal of Botany

A pot culture study was performed to evaluate the differences between salt-stressed pea (Pisum sativum L.) plants of tolerant (Climax and Samarina Zard) and sensitive (Ambassidar and PF-400) genotypes, and to determine whether treatment with 24-epibrassinolide (EBL) could enhance the accumulation of osmolytes and antioxidant activity and thereby induce tolerance in salt-stressed plants. Three-week-old seedlings were subjected to +NaCl (5 dS m^-1) and -NaCl conditions (0 dS m^-1). After 4 days of salt stress, the plants were sprayed with Milli-Q water or EBL (0.125 mg L^-1). The plants were sampled at 32 days after sowing and at the final maturity …

Molecular Variability Of Plantain Ecotypes From The Genus Musa (Musaceae), Rakeshkumar Choudhary, Raghunath Keshavachandran, Rema Menon, Ganesh Khalekar, Nirbhay Singh, Divya Maruthiyottu

Turkish Journal of Botany

Twelve plantain ecotypes were characterized for molecular variability using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers. Out of the 60 RAPD and 40 ISSR primers tested, 16 RAPD and 14 ISSR primers were found polymorphic, and were used for molecular profiling of the plantain ecotypes. The average number of bands per primer, average number of polymorphic bands per primer, mean polymorphic information content (PIC) value, resolving power (Rp), and marker indices (MI) for RAPD primers were 8.63, 3.25, 0.87, 15.49, and 2.86, whereas the respective values for the ISSR assay were 7.93, 4.14, 0.85, 12.49, …

Exogenous Proline And Proline-Enriched Lolium Perenne Leaf Extract Protects Against Phytotoxic Effects Of Nickel And Salinity In Pisum Sativum By Altering Polyamine Metabolism In Leaves, Muhammad Adnan Shahid, Rashad Mukhtar Balal, Muhammad Aslam Pervez, Tahira Abbas, Muhammad Anjum Aqeel, Muhammad Mansoor Javaid, Francisco Garcia-Sanchez

Turkish Journal of Botany

Pea plants (Pisum sativum L.) were exposed to NaCl and/or NiCl_2 stress to investigate whether pure proline and Lolium perenne L. (LP) leaf extract could efficaciously protect against the phytotoxicity generated by nickel and/or salinity stress in pea. Both stress factors (salinity and nickel) significantly inhibited growth, total chlorophyll content, photosynthetic activity, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO_2 level, relative water content (RWC), and membrane stability index (MSI). However, superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, proline, glycine betaine, total free amino acids, total soluble sugars, total phenolic compounds, tocopherol contents, lipid peroxidation, and electrolyte leakage were significantly increased. Similarly, free, soluble-conjugated, and insoluble-bound polyamine contents …

Humidity And Gravimetric Equivalency Adjustments For Nephelometer-Based Particulate Matter Measurements Of Emissions From Solid Biomass Fuel In Cookstoves, Sutyajeet Soneja, Chen Chen, James M. Tielsch, Joanne Katz, Scott L. Zeger, William Checkley, Frank C. Curriero, Patrick L. Breysse

Global Health Faculty Publications

Great uncertainty exists around indoor biomass burning exposure-disease relationships due to lack of detailed exposure data in large health outcome studies. Passive nephelometers can be used to estimate high particulate matter (PM) concentrations during cooking in low resource environments. Since passive nephelometers do not have a collection filter they are not subject to sampler overload. Nephelometric concentration readings can be biased due to particle growth in high humid environments and differences in compositional and size dependent aerosol characteristics. This paper explores relative humidity (RH) and gravimetric equivalency adjustment approaches to be used for the

pDR-1000 used to assess indoor PM …

Multimorbidity, Management Of Copd And Health Outcomes Among Medicaid Beneficiaries, Mayank Ajmera

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is characterized by persistent and progressive airflow limitation caused due to chronic inflammation in the lungs. Approximately 15 million adults in the United States (U.S.) are estimated to be diagnosed with COPD and an equal number may have undiagnosed COPD. Challenges to COPD management include high prevalence of inflammation-related multimorbidity among individuals with COPD. The association between multimorbidity, existing COPD management and role of novel therapies with anti-inflammatory properties (e.g. statins) in improving COPD-specific outcomes is not well researched. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to use real-world observational data to provide a comprehensive …

Greater Sage-Grouse Response To Season-Long And Prescribed Grazing., Seth J. Dettenmaier, Terry A. Messmer

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Association Between Latent Toxoplasmosis And Major Depression, Generalised Anxiety Disorder And Panic Disorder In Human Adults, Shawn D. Gale, Bruce L. Brown, Andrew Berrett, Lance D. Erickson, Dawson W. Hedges

Faculty Publications

Latent infection with the apicomplexan Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) has been associated with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and self-harm behaviour. However, the potential relationship between T. gondii immunoglobulin G antibody (IgG) seropositivity and generalised-anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder (PD) has not been investigated. The associations between serum reactivity to T. gondii and major depressive disorder (MDD), GAD and PD were evaluated in a total sample of 1 846 adult participants between the ages of 20 and 39 years from the United States Center for Disease Control's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Approximately 16% of the overall …