Digital Commons Network^™

Evidence For Respiratory Neuromodulator Interdependence After Cholinergic Disruption In The Ventral Respiratory Column, Clarissa Muere, Suzanne Neumueller, Justin Robert Miller, Samantha Olesiak, Matthew Hodges, Lawrence Pan, Hubert Forster

Physical Therapy Faculty Research and Publications

Reverse dialysis of the muscarinic receptor antagonist, atropine (ATR, 50 mM), into the pre-Bötzinger Complex region of the ventral respiratory column (VRC) of awake and sleeping goats increases breathing frequency and serotonin (5-HT), substance P (SP), glycine, and GABA concentrations in the effluent dialysate. Herein, we report data from goats in which we reverse dialyzed 5 mM ATR or specific antagonists of M2 or M3 muscarinic receptors into the VRC. The effects on frequency of all three antagonists were not significantly different from time control studies. 5 mM ATR and the M3 antagonist increased SP sevenfold less than 50 mM …

Normative And Standardized Data For Cognitive Measures In The Mexican Health And Aging Study, Silvia Mejia-Arango, Rebeca Wong, Alejandra Michaels-Obregón

School of Medicine Publications

Objective: To describe the cognitive instrument used in the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) in Mexican individuals aged 60 and over and to provide normative values for the Cross Cultural Cognitive Examination test and its modified versions (CCCE).

Materials and methods: The CCCE was administered to 5,120 subjects as part of a population-based sample free of neurologic and psychiatric disease from the MHAS 2012 survey. Normative data were generated by age and education for each test in the cognitive instrument as well as for the total cognition score. Pearson correlations and analysis of variance were used to examine the …

"If You Is White, You's Alright....": Stories About Colorism In America, Kimberly Jade Norwood

Scholarship@WashULaw

This Article examines the inefficiencies of Missouri municipal courts that came into sharp focus following the killing of Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Norwood details and expands on her lone dissent in the Final Report of the Municipal Division Work Group—a group created by the Missouri Supreme Court to address the alleged abuses of black and poor residents in Missouri. Norwood argues for consolidating failing municipal courts to create larger, more functional, and just courts.

The Value Of Luxury Brand Names In The Fashion Industry, Tricia Wang

CMC Senior Theses

Brand names in the Fashion industry are often times perceived as overpriced and unreasonable. Nevertheless, the success of well-known luxury brands in the industry has been growing domestically and internationally at a breakneck pace. Forbes publishes an annual list on the top 100 most valuable brands annually using a formula of their own making. 8 out of these 100 brands are luxury fashion brands. Why are luxury fashion brands so coveted? It can’t only be because of humans’ desires to own superior goods or even for the sake of their egos. In this paper I will delve into the hidden …

Whose Identity? An Argument For Granting Authority Of Identity To The Individual, Demetrius A. Lalanne

CMC Senior Theses

Who are you? And did you have any say in choosing who you are? Identity is a complicated issue, it is both individualistic and necessarily relies on your environment and peers. I believe that as it stands, your identity may be a result of both solitary and societal thinking. However, I think that society and government act as the sole authenticators of an individual’s identity. I do not believe this is how an individual’s life ought to be treated. Thus, I am arguing in this thesis that the individual has the capacity to choose their own identity, and that society …

Increasing The High School Graduation Rate Of Native American Students In Public Schools, Sierra M. Gibson

CMC Senior Theses

Native American students obtain the lowest on-time high school graduation rate among all races and ethnicities in the United States. Through an analysis of previously published literature and seven interviews conducted by the author, this paper sets out to identify the key barriers Native students face when working toward their high school diploma. This paper will argue that, together, a history of abusive educational tactics and an institutionally racist policies and practices adopted by the U.S. Department of Education have made it challenging for Native students to complete high school on time.

South Korean Men And The Military: The Influence Of Conscription On The Political Behavior Of South Korean Males, Hyo Sung Joo

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis evaluates the effects of compulsory military service in South Korea on the political behavior of men from a public policy standpoint. I take an institutional point of view on conscription, in that conscription forces the military to accept individuals with minimal screening. Given the distinct set of values embodied by the military, I hypothesize that the military would need a powerful, comprehensive, and fast program of indoctrination to re-socialize civilians into military uniform, trustable enough to be entrusted with a gun or a confidential document. Based on the existence of such a program and related academic literature, I …

The World According To Frank Underwood: Politics And Power In "House Of Cards", Lindsey E. Davidson

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis, argues that House of Cards portrays an embellished reality of our government through a Machiavellian lens, particularly looking at the politics of scandal through the 25^th Amendment and impeachment, as well as the role of political spouses. It also address the underlying question of appointing someone as controversial as Frank Underwood to the vice presidential position knowing his manipulative nature, and will analyze his schemes from a realistic perspective.

The Efficacy Of Online Advertising Modalities: A Prescriptive Model, Marissa Suehiro

CMC Senior Theses

With the surge of technological advancements in the 21^st century, online advertising and marketing has transformed into a multi billion-dollar industry. Nowadays, it is very likely that a company’s success is dependent on the effectiveness of its online marketing strategy. When developing an advertising plan, companies must decide what their unique advertising needs are and use appropriate advertising formats that are most effective in achieving them. Unfortunately, companies often have very little guidance about how to choose modalities for specific advertising goals. The purpose of this paper is to examine the six most widely used online advertising modalities and …

The Effects Of Forestry Regulations On Rural Communities And The Urban-Rural Divide In Oregon, Jennifer Sitton

CMC Senior Theses

This senior thesis is a study of federal forestry policy in Oregon and its effects on rural communities and the urban-rural division in the state. Looking specifically at the “Timber Wars” of the early 1990s, it delves deeper into the controversy over the protection of the northern spotted owl, the Northwest Forest Plan, and President Clinton’s efforts to solve the conflict between grassroots environmental activists and those with a vested interest in the timber industry. It also analyzes the federal timber payment system created by Congress to solve the problems for rural communities caused by forestry regulations. Lastly, it looks …

Coastal Environmental Policies And Water: Environmental Values In Ghana And Senegal, Molly R. Loftus

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis provides a comparative analysis of the environmental values present in Ghana’s and Senegal’s coastal regions, and the implications that those have for the surrounding environment. The countries approaches to urban farming, mining and oil and gas extraction, fishing, marine debris and municipal waste management are assessed in order to reach a greater understanding of these environmental issues. In undertaking this thesis, I attempted to draw a correlation between the handling of these issues and how people perceive their environment. Through the comparison of environmental degradation and the level of effort to achieve a more sustainable developmental framework in …

Magic Wood, Nadia Stosija Barulich

CMC Senior Theses

This project is a translation of Liu Qingbang's novella 'Shénmù' from Chinese into English. It is also accompanied by an analysis of the text and Li Yang's movie 'Blind Shaft', which was based on the novella.

Exploring How J. David Velleman’S Theory Of Mutual Interpretability Affects Our Personal Identity And Self-Understanding, Felipe A.Z. Peterson

CMC Senior Theses

How do we understand ourselves? How do we relate with others? How do we build communities? These are some questions David Velleman’s theory of mutual interpretability appears to answer. In Foundations For Moral Relativism, Velleman argues that self-understanding is interlinked with one’s ability to understand others; in other words, with one’s ability to be mutually interpretable. However, being mutually interpretable requires that a person share some set of beliefs or a perceptional framework with another person that would allow the two to interact successfully with one another. Thus, communities are simply a collection of individuals whose shared beliefs …

The Tragedy Of American Supremacy, Dante R. Toppo

CMC Senior Theses

Why has the United States, given its status as the sole remaining superpower following its Cold War victory, been unable to translate its preponderance of power into the outcomes it desires? The system established by the United States over the course of the Cold War does not effectively translate its power into influence in the post-Cold War world. In fact, the way US-Soviet competition shaped global affairs created systemic problems, weak and failing states, terrorism, autocracy and human rights abuse, that cannot be solved by the mechanisms of influence the US relied upon to win the Cold War. However, precisely …

What Makes A Good Ted Talk?, Jack R. Grodahl

CMC Senior Theses

Have you ever listened to a speech, seriously attempted to discern the speaker’s message, then realize you have forgotten most of, if not, the entire message moments after the speech is finished? Far too often audiences sit through a presentation focusing as best as they can, only to have the speaker craft a message in a way that is nearly impossible for the audience to remember. The best speakers not only deliver a memorable message, but also one that inspires their audience to action or change of mindset. Speakers at Ted Conferences are faced with a difficult challenge: they are …

A Promise Is A Promise: The Ethical Implications For Ceo’S Acting Socially Responsible Within A Corporation, Alexandra Sonett

CMC Senior Theses

The prevalence of corporate social responsibility has been continually increasing over recent years. The debate of whether a business should act in a manner that furthers societal needs or if they should simply focus their efforts on maximizing shareholder value is of popular interest since it affects the fundamental structures of how a business will operate. One of the major influencing theories in favor of social responsibility is the stakeholder theory. The opposing viewpoint is the shareholder theory, which highlights that the sole responsibility for a corporation is to act in a way that maximizes profits. This thesis will outline …

Appeals For “One Million Belgian Children”: Understanding The Success Of The Commission For Relief In Belgium Through The Mudd Family Papers, Brian David Key

CMC Senior Theses

In response to the German occupation of Belgium in World War I, future U.S. president Herbert Hoover and a handful of his colleagues in the mining engineer industry founded the Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB). The CRB engineered one of the greatest relief movements in history partly on account of its successful public appeals; nevertheless, the success of these appeals has never been fully explained due to a remarkable dearth of scholarship on the topic. This paper seeks to fill in the gap by analyzing salient documents in the Mudd Family Papers, located in Honnold/Mudd Library’s Special Collections section. …

The Political Economy Of Environmental Justice: A Comparative Study Of New Delhi And Los Angeles, Ratik Asokan

CMC Senior Theses

Though mainstream environmentalism, both in the U.S. and India, was initially rooted in social justice, it has, over time, moved away from this focus. The Environmental Justice Movement consequently arose to reunite social and environmental activism. In this thesis, I trace the historical relationship between the mainstream environmentalism, the Environmental Justice Movement, and marginalized communities. After providing this general overview, I examine two case studies – in Los Angeles and New Delhi respectively – where marginalized communities have been involved in Environmental Justice activities. My analysis reveals that marginalized communities often act in an ‘environmentalist’ or ‘environmentally friendly’ manner, without …

Promoting Bold Investment In Renewable Energy Research And Development, Melanie C. Paty

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis discusses the potential for private investment to fund ambitious renewable energy research and development to help mitigate climate change. I begin by discussing the threat of global warming and a brief history of renewable energy development in the United States. Next, I discuss existing avenues for private investment in renewable energy, potential methods of increasing corporate participation, and the belief that businesses must maximize only financial profits. Then I perform an in-depth case study of pension funds that have incorporated a social or environmental mission, existing environmentally focused mutual funds, and liquidated clean energy mutual funds. Finally, I …

Prehistoric Earth Oven Facilities And The Pathoecology Of Chagas Disease In The Lower Pecos Canyonlands, Karl Reinhard, Adauto Araujo

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Understanding the endemic region of a disease is part of developing a concept of the disease’s natural history and its threat to human health in both ancient and modern times. Chagas disease is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and has recently been identified as an emergent disease in North America. Ancient endemicity and reemergence has been demonstrated by an examination of a mummy found on the border between Coahuila, Mexico and Texas, USA. This mummified man, who died over 1000 years ago, exhibits the gross pathology of megacolon, which is consistent with Chagas disease. We are now exploring the …

Identification Of Leishmania Spp. And T. Cruzi Parasites In Stray Felines In El Paso, Texas Through Polymerase Chain Reaction, Patricia Isabela Gonzalez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Chagas disease and leishmaniasis are considered neglected parasitic diseases, and although dogs are considered the main domestic reservoirs, infected cats have recently been found in endemic areas in several countries and became a public health concern. These diseases can be transmissible to other animals and are known to infect humans as well. Natural infection of cats by Leishmania spp. and Trypanosoma cruzi has been demonstrated in several European, Latin American, and Asian countries. A recent field study found dogs and wild animals tested positive for both Leishmania and Trypanosoma cruzi in the El Paso, Texas Region. Cats, however, have not …

Detecting Enzootic Leishmaniasis And American Trypanosomiasis In Stray Dogs In El Paso County, Texas And The Potential For Autochthonous Transmission To Humans, Evan James Kipp

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Cutaneous leishmaniasis and Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) are two vector-borne, protozoal zoonoses whose emergence into the southern United States is a public health problem of increasing significance. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is caused by several species of intracellular protozoa in the genus Leishmania and is most often characterized by the formation of large, ulcerative skin lesions that can result in considerable scarring and permanent disfigurement. Infection with Leishmania is prevalent throughout the world in tropical and sub-tropical regions and in areas where people are regularly exposed to the hematophagous sand fly vectors that transmit the disease. Chronic infection with Trypanosoma cruzi, the …

Does Low-Level Arsenic Exposure Predict Blood Pressure In Children?, Tania Angelica Mayorga

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background & Significance: Inorganic arsenic is a heavy metal naturally found in soil and human exposure to this heavy metal causes adverse effects. Exposure risks are particularly high in developing children. Arsenic is mainly found in bedrock. It is also a by-product of smelting, it is used in cement production, and historically is has been found in crop pesticides. Among other ill-effects, arsenic exposure in humans can cause respiratory diseases, peripheral neuropathy and liver fibrosis. In particular arsenic has been shown in many studies to be a contributing factor in the risk for hypertension in adults however no studies have …

El Momento En Que..., Donna Lynn Munoz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

We’ve all experienced moments that move us in some way, moments that we’ve memorized for the rest of our lives. Some we can’t ever forget, and some we wish we could. Nonetheless, these moments are ingrained in the forever of our minds. My collection, El Momento En Que… is a compilation of snapshots of the life of a fictional character named Graciela, who is fourteen and has experienced the tremendous loss of family, sense of place, and sense of self. It is a collage of moments where she questions her life, her parents’ decisions, her relationships with those around her, …

Constructing Negotiated Meaning And Knowledge For The Sol Y Agua Project's Role-Playing Adventure Game Focused On Sustainability Problems In The El Paso-Rio Grande Area, Claudia Chihiro Santiago

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Video games that address environmental sustainability issues could engage students. However, video games make simplifications and establish idealistic expectations that do not resemble real life sustainability challenges and settings. Game developers and scholars believe that depicting the complexity of the real world could help video games become effective educational tools. They call for additional procedures that incorporate information from actual settings and real life situations. Furthermore, scholars have argued that video games addressing sustainability issues can be improved or made more meaningful with the participation of youth from underrepresented populations, e.g., Latinos. The Sol y Agua project at The University …

The Effects Of Sign On Speech Segmentation In Infants, Alma Rosa Acosta

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Introduction: The ability to extract words from fluent speech (speech segmentation), perhaps one of the greatest obscure achievements for the purpose of learning language, is dependent upon imperceptible endeavors. Remarkably, infants are active participants from the moment they are born, using auditory and visual information to assist them segmenting speech. As motivated parents attempt to use baby sign to bridge communication gaps, visual information in the form of baby sign may benefit children in extracting words from speech. To examine the effects of baby sign on speech segmentation, a systematic replication of the Hollich et al. (2005) study, a within-subject …

Monolingual And Bilingual Intervention Outcomes In A Bilingual Child With Autism, Victoria Alexander

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: When treating bilingual children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the language of intervention has been a controversial topic among professionals. There is limited research on the treatment of bilingual children with ASD.

Purpose: To extend the limited research on the use of language of intervention in bilingual children with ASD. This study compared a monolingual English treatment and a bilingual English-Spanish treatment, to examine which one was more efficient.

Methods: A single-subject alternating treatment design with a baseline was used to compare the efficacy of two treatment conditions in increasing language skills in a bilingual child with ASD. The …

Restraint Stress Alters Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Expression And Increases Superoxide Dismutase In The Rat Hypothalamus And Hippocampus, Kristina Isabel Barron

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The impact of restraint stress on changes in cytokine expression and oxidative stress markers in hippocampal (Hipp) and hypothalamic (Hyp) regions of the brain, were assessed in a rat model. In addition, immune and inflammatory variables were assessed in peripheral blood. Male Wistar rats were acutely (30 min) or repeatedly (30 min/d for 14 consecutive days) exposed to a restraint stress, or maintained as non-stressed controls. At the time of sacrifice, whole blood and brain tissues enriched in Hyp or Hipp regions were collected; blood was collected with EDTA as an anticoagulant and centrifuged to yield plasma. All tissue samples …

Investigation Of The Natural Degradation Of Selected Endocrine Disrupting Compounds In Wastewater, Toni Carrick

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are a class of compounds that are of concern for their potentially adverse effects on fish, wildlife, and humans. They can cause developmental and reproductive anomalies at concentrations in the low ppb to ppt levels. Studies have shown the primary route of exposure of EDCs within the environment is through the discharge of effluent wastewater. Removal efficiencies of wastewater treatment plants have been studied extensively, however, in rural or developing areas, which often lack secondary or tertiary wastewater treatment, little is known about the stability of these compounds and the rate at which they degrade in …

Aerosol Physical And Chemical Properties Over Tropical Atlantic Ocean, Elsa Castillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The atmospheric aerosol mass size distributions, modal characteristics, and a comparative analysis of the characteristic of PM2.5 versus trace gases: CO, O3, and SO2 over tropical Atlantic Ocean have been evaluated for Nov-Dec 2013. This study took place during the IX AEROSE expedition while the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research vessel Ronald H. Brown traveled south along 23°W between 3°N and 5°S.

Aerosol mass size distributions were measured directly with a California Instruments Model PC-2H Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM). The corresponding values of average mass for accumulation, nuclei and coarse mode obtained were: 0.00124±0.00077, 0.00506±0.00254, and 0.00176±0.00114 μg/m …