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Articles 4741 - 4770 of 8231

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Kingdom Of Tonga And The Unwritten Order, Doug Farr Sep 2013

The Kingdom Of Tonga And The Unwritten Order, Doug Farr

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In this paper I will address the unwritten order that exists in the highly stratified society of the Kingdom of Tonga. The relationship between power and rank in Tonga has created informal laws that govern the people. These informal laws, as well as a struggle for power, have created a division between the elite class and the powerless class, and this division is generating an uprising of the powerless class. I argue that the powerless class may win independent battles against the informal laws, however they will not defeat it completely, as this system has proven to be a testing …

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Lost In Translations: Defining Us Foreign Policy In China, Katherine Chipman, Eric Hyer Sep 2013

Lost In Translations: Defining Us Foreign Policy In China, Katherine Chipman, Eric Hyer

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The time period from 1947 to 1949 presented a unique turning point in Sino-American relations. Harry S. Truman had the opportunity to formalize relations with the emerging Communist Chinese State but choose not to. In the following time span of 20 years, the US faced intense conflict with the Chinese including the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Spartly Island incident. Today Taiwan is still a major point of contention between the US and China and no doubt would lead these two nations to war if tension escalated. These and other conflicts might have been avoided had Truman not …

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Investigation Of Child Headed Households In Mozambique, Africa, Gerald Cochran, Jini Roby Sep 2013

Investigation Of Child Headed Households In Mozambique, Africa, Gerald Cochran, Jini Roby

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Child headed households (CHHs) are homes lead by “…children [who] live alone and manage the household without guidance and economic support from adults” (Aspaas, 1999, p. 202). This definition may or may not exclude adults as residents of the home. Some CHHs have adults residing in the home, but the child most certainly is the leader and the responsible one of the home. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has spread across the African continent causing children to be left as orphans and/or left to care for themselves and others (Foster, Shakespeare, Chinemana, Jackson, Gregson, Marange, & Mashumba, 1995). However, HIV/AIDS is not …

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Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights And Economic Growth, Joseph Fitzgerald, Dr. Daniel Nielson Sep 2013

Protection Of Intellectual Property Rights And Economic Growth, Joseph Fitzgerald, Dr. Daniel Nielson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In today’s information age and the advancement of intellectual property, the United States and other rich countries have argued that a protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) is a crucial ingredient to economic growth. I decided to test the relationship that a protection of IPR would increase the economic growth of an economy.

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Shack Settlement Planning And Public Participation: Duncan Village, South Africa, David Kay, Dr. Richard Jackson Sep 2013

Shack Settlement Planning And Public Participation: Duncan Village, South Africa, David Kay, Dr. Richard Jackson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Over the last ten years, government programs have facilitated the redevelopment of many South African communities; however, for many the promise of redevelopment has been elusive. In 2002, there were an estimated 8 million people living in shack settlements in South Africa. From 1994 to 2004, the government had built over a million houses in order to provide adequate shelter for its citizens, but there are many more still in need of assistance.

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Does The Icln Protein Form Volume-Sensitive Organic Osmolytyanion Channels?, Peter Hanks Maughan, David Busath Sep 2013

Does The Icln Protein Form Volume-Sensitive Organic Osmolytyanion Channels?, Peter Hanks Maughan, David Busath

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Cells respond to swelling by releasing ions to balance osmotic pressure with their surroundings. Ions travel out of cells by means of protein channels that form or open in response to increased pressure. The study of volume-sensitive organic osmolyte-anion channels (VSOAC) is relatively new. Other ion efflux pathways have been studied, but little is known about the mechanism and regulation of organic osmolyte release from cells. It has been proposed by Kevin Strange and Paul S. Jackson from Harvard Medical School that VSOAC channels are formed by a protein dimer of the 235 amino acid protein Icln.1 It has also …

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Forsaking All Others: Marital Fidelity In Religious Couples, Nathaniel M. Lambert, Dr. David C. Dollahite Sep 2013

Forsaking All Others: Marital Fidelity In Religious Couples, Nathaniel M. Lambert, Dr. David C. Dollahite

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This study reports results from in-depth interviews with 57 highly religious middle-aged married couples from all the major Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Mormonism) from New England and Northern California. The study uses grounded theory methods to create themes and a model describing the ways that religious couples draw on their beliefs and practices to stay faithful to their marital. Couples reported that religion affects their level of faithfulness in 4 important ways: 1) Religion fortifies marital commitment; 2) Religion strengthens moral values; 3) Religion improves one’s relationship with God; 4) Religion sanctifies marriage.

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Motorcycles And Development In Southeast Asia, John Hustedt, Dr. Ralph Brown Sep 2013

Motorcycles And Development In Southeast Asia, John Hustedt, Dr. Ralph Brown

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Over the past twenty years, motorcycles have proliferated across Southeast Asia (Hsu, 2003). Consequently, I wanted to examine some of the social consequences of this heavy adoption of motorcycles specifically in Vietnam. I examined the reasons people have begun to purchase motorcycles at an increasing rate, and some of the ways in which motorcycles affect their daily lives. Additionally, I examined the various elements of Vietnamese families’ transportation strategies; for example, at what point do they purchase an additional motorcycle or switch to a car or opt for more public transportation? I also looked at what effect those choices have …

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Correlation Between Electrically-Coupled Gaba Neurons And Arousal-Related Electocortical Activity, Marc Jones, Dr. Scott Steffensen Sep 2013

Correlation Between Electrically-Coupled Gaba Neurons And Arousal-Related Electocortical Activity, Marc Jones, Dr. Scott Steffensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In order to evaluate potential correlations between VTA GABA neurons and electrocortical activity, we studied electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in freely-behaving rats during different stages of their sleep-wake cycle.

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Discharge Activity Of Ventral Tegmental Area Gaba Neurons During Alcohol Self-Administration, Adam Bevan, Dr. Scott Steffensen Sep 2013

Discharge Activity Of Ventral Tegmental Area Gaba Neurons During Alcohol Self-Administration, Adam Bevan, Dr. Scott Steffensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In today’s world addiction is pandemic. So many people are slaves to these controlling chemicals, from alcohol and street drugs to the more mild substances of coffee or over-thecounter medications. All these substances tend to influence brain chemistry, and the aim of our ongoing project is to uncover the effect of alcohol, cocaine and their anologues on midbrain circuitry. We believe that gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons are primarily involved in addiction to these substances.

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The Resurgence Of Tuberculosis: Its Alliance With Hiv/Aids And The Challenges Faced By Health Care Practitioners And Governments As They Strive To Combat The Effects Of This Deadly Duo, Sheila Bibb, Dr. William C. Olsen Sep 2013

The Resurgence Of Tuberculosis: Its Alliance With Hiv/Aids And The Challenges Faced By Health Care Practitioners And Governments As They Strive To Combat The Effects Of This Deadly Duo, Sheila Bibb, Dr. William C. Olsen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Tuberculosis has long been a scourge throughout the world but in the 1950’s medical developments enabled most countries to bring this insidious air-borne disease under control and it was firmly believed that by the end of the century tuberculosis would be eliminated worldwide. The reality is that since the 1990’s tuberculosis rates have increased dramatically and seem set to continue this upward trend. It has been noted that this upsurge often coincides with an increasing rate of HIV/AIDS. Most of the affected areas occur in sub-Saharan Africa, and I choose to investigate the situation in the Mampong-Ashanti area of Ghana.

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Risk Aversion In Ceo Compensation, Brandon Bates, Dr. Richard Butler Sep 2013

Risk Aversion In Ceo Compensation, Brandon Bates, Dr. Richard Butler

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Chief executive compensation is a topic of great interest for the general public. Such widespread fascination with the topic likely stems from a predilection for subjects involving extravagance and luxury. Of course, CEO compensation holds an additional dimension of interest for economists. That the CEO does not own the company he runs provides a classic example of the principal agent problem. In this application of the principal agent framework, if the compensation committee were to pay a CEO exclusively with a base salary, the executive would have an incentive to shirk or maintain the status quo. Offering a mixture of …

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Benefits Of Religious Education Experiences In High School, David Hales, Dr. Mikaela Dufur Sep 2013

Benefits Of Religious Education Experiences In High School, David Hales, Dr. Mikaela Dufur

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The recent debate and interest in the under funding of America’s public school systems has caused an increase in the number of students who have abandoned public schooling in favor of private educational institutions. This rapid increase in enrollment in private educational institutions has changed the classroom dynamics for both students and teachers. This paper is primarily interested in the experiences of students who are enrolled in private religious educational institutions. I will attempt to understand what impact enrollment in private religious educational institutions will have on pupil’s educational experiences, spiritual growth, and deviance. Perhaps insight into these dynamics of …

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An Investigation Of Ethnographic Musical Instruments For Presentation In A Public Exhibition, Christine Echols, Dr. Marti Lu Allen Sep 2013

An Investigation Of Ethnographic Musical Instruments For Presentation In A Public Exhibition, Christine Echols, Dr. Marti Lu Allen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I used my ORCA scholarship to study a significant group of ethnographic musical instruments that were held by the Museum of Art and the Museum of Peoples and Cultures at BYU. By research and study, I was able to address questions of patterns and commonalities in rituals that required music and the use of these instruments in various tribal and indigenous cultures. These results were presented in a public exhibition which opened at the Museum of Peoples and Cultures on May 14, 2005.

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The Kingdom Of Tonga And The Unwritten Order, Doug Farr Sep 2013

The Kingdom Of Tonga And The Unwritten Order, Doug Farr

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In this paper I will address the unwritten order that exists in the highly stratified society of the Kingdom of Tonga. The relationship between power and rank in Tonga has created informal laws that govern the people. These informal laws, as well as a struggle for power, have created a division between the elite class and the powerless class, and this division is generating an uprising of the powerless class. I argue that the powerless class may win independent battles against the informal laws, however they will not defeat it completely, as this system has proven to be a testing …

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Russian Orthodox Churches In The Century Of Change: How The Soviets Affected National Identity, Jennifer Johnson, Dr. Richard Jackson Sep 2013

Russian Orthodox Churches In The Century Of Change: How The Soviets Affected National Identity, Jennifer Johnson, Dr. Richard Jackson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As a missionary in Russia, I was always told: To be Russian is to be Orthodox. What does it mean to be Russian after seventy years of Soviet rule, when atheism was religiously enforced? Walking down the streets and passing Orthodox churches in dilapidated condition, I could not help but ask myself what had happened to the church buildings during communism and what was becoming of these buildings today. If the Soviets were so intent on atheism, then it would seem that Russian national identity should also change. But despite the way the Soviets destroyed the churches, the Orthodox Church …

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Preaching To The Choir: Use Of Email In Presidential Primaries, Jared Ide, Dr. Richard Davis Sep 2013

Preaching To The Choir: Use Of Email In Presidential Primaries, Jared Ide, Dr. Richard Davis

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Over the past decade the Internet has emerged as an important tool for political communication. More and more candidates are using the Internet as a tool to reach and interact with voters. Even though the Internet has been closely studied as a political communications tool, email an important part of the Internet, has been largely left alone. Understanding email’s role in political communications will help increase the body of knowledge of political discourse. The paper investigated what candidates were trying to accomplish in their emails through a qualitative study of emails sent by Democratic candidates in the first six weeks …

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Mexican-Americans And U.S. Foreign Policy, Collins Clark, Dr. Earl Fry Sep 2013

Mexican-Americans And U.S. Foreign Policy, Collins Clark, Dr. Earl Fry

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Throughout U.S. history, ethnic-based interest groups have sought to influence U.S. foreign and national security policy. Some such groups have succeeded, including the Irish, Germans, Armenians, Greeks, and Cubans. Politically active since the 1840s, U.S. Jews are a famous example of an immigrant interest group’s influence on U.S. foreign and national security policy. They successfully pressured the U.S. to denounce the persecution of Jews, withdraw from treaties with nations that abuse Jews, help create the state of Israel, and support Israel in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. My research explores whether or not Mexican-American immigrants have a similar impact on U.S. …

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Study Of Differential Evoked Potentials In The Occipital Lobe Of The Human Cortex To Varied Spatial And Temporal Patterns, Michael A. Malstrom, Dr. Donovan Fleming Sep 2013

Study Of Differential Evoked Potentials In The Occipital Lobe Of The Human Cortex To Varied Spatial And Temporal Patterns, Michael A. Malstrom, Dr. Donovan Fleming

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Projecting from the retina of the human eye are two information tracts that are separate but very closely tied together. They are named for the size of the cell which they follow from the retina to the brain. The tract with larger cells is called the Magnocellular pathway (M-pathway), and the tract with smaller cells is called the Parvocellular pathway (P-pathway). The M-pathway processes information quickly and without acute definition and is suited for object location and tracking—where things are. The P-pathway processes data less quickly but with more definition and higher quality, including color vision.

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White Matter Hyperintensities In The Normal Population, Callie Beck, Dr. Ramona O. Hopkins Sep 2013

White Matter Hyperintensities In The Normal Population, Callie Beck, Dr. Ramona O. Hopkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

White-matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are unidentified bright objects in the white matter regions of the brain and have been observed on magnetic resonance (MR) brain images since the mid-1980s. Numerous studies have been conducted to determine the relationship between WMHs and various pathologic conditions such as hypertension, stroke, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, brain atrophy, bipolar disorder, mania, depression, hemophilia, and following carbon monoxide poisoning. However, the etiology and mechanisms of WMHs remain unclear. A majority of the information regarding the prevalence of WMHs in normal healthy individuals comes from the control data in studies that focus on various illnesses such as bipolar …

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Depressive Rumination: A Psychometic Analysis, Robert R. Bradbury, Dr. Claudia Clayton Sep 2013

Depressive Rumination: A Psychometic Analysis, Robert R. Bradbury, Dr. Claudia Clayton

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Steven Calder, Doug Marchant, and I have been studying depressive rumination for over a year and a half. Our first study was similar in content to the current study; however, because of our two ORCA grants, the current study is much more sophisticated. Depressive rumination is the consistent recycling of negative thoughts. Researchers have begun to examine the consequences of depressive rumination on cognition and daily functioning. The effect of mild-to-moderate stressors on heart rate and other physiological responses is an important measure of daily functioning, but to date only a single study has addressed the relationship between rumination, heart …

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Changing Legislative Voting Behavior As Evidence Of Vote Buying, Taft Foster, Dr. Eric Eide Sep 2013

Changing Legislative Voting Behavior As Evidence Of Vote Buying, Taft Foster, Dr. Eric Eide

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Within the economic and political science literatures, a variety of theoretical models have been developed which attempt to describe the role of campaign contributions in the political process. These models can be separated into two groups, those which employ the assumption that campaign contributions can purchase legislative votes and those which do not. Proponents of this assumption, known as vote buying, argue that legislators reward special interest groups for their campaign contributions by voting on laws in a way that will benefit the contributor. Though widespread, the use of this assumption remains controversial despite many attempts by researchers to examine …

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Streamlining Research Planning, Data Collection And Archiving Using New Web-Enabled Tools, Andrew Arnott, Dr. Joseph Olsen Sep 2013

Streamlining Research Planning, Data Collection And Archiving Using New Web-Enabled Tools, Andrew Arnott, Dr. Joseph Olsen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Collecting research data on human subjects can be time consuming and costly. The Internet provides a new channel to survey people so that collected data is automatically added to a dataset without any possibility of human error by a data entry person. The Internet also allows a researcher to survey people who are geographically distant and on such a scale as would be extremely costly or impossible using paper and pencil.

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City Of Zion Masterplan, Stephen H. Alfandre, Dr. Richard Jackson Sep 2013

City Of Zion Masterplan, Stephen H. Alfandre, Dr. Richard Jackson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The City of Zion is something that is commonly discussed but rarely conceptualized. The only information we have pertaining to the spatial characteristics of Zion is a plat created by Joseph Smith in 1833. And although the plat revolutionized city settlement in the western United States, there are still many unanswered questions about the design relating to the overall masterplan for the City of Zion. It does not address the regional plan, open space, parks, or transportation, which are all vital to the planning and building of any city or town.

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Links Between Childhood Physical Abuse And Psychosocial Adjustment In Adulthood, Jennifer Killpack, Dr. Christopher M. Layne Sep 2013

Links Between Childhood Physical Abuse And Psychosocial Adjustment In Adulthood, Jennifer Killpack, Dr. Christopher M. Layne

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Childhood physical and sexual abuse (CA) is associated with a greatly increased risk for problems in adulthood (Rumstein-McKean, & Hunsley, 2001). Prevalence rates of depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, interpersonal difficulties, and adult victimization are higher among women with a history of CA (Ornduff, Kelsey, & O’Leary, 2001). Social support is theorized to mediate the relationship between CA and adult psychosocial adjustment (Brewin, Andrews, & Valentine, 2000). Women who experienced both CA and adult sexual assault experience clinically significant levels of interpersonal problems unlike women who experienced adult assault but not CA, or women who had never been assaulted (Cloitre et …

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Verbal History Of The 1999 Floods In Teziutlan, Mexico From The Lds Perspective, Amanda Barden, Lynn England Sep 2013

Verbal History Of The 1999 Floods In Teziutlan, Mexico From The Lds Perspective, Amanda Barden, Lynn England

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The time I spent in Teziutlan researching and learning about the 1999 floods there was uplifting but also scientifically frustrating. The goal of this project was to learn about what kind of impact the floods had on the members of the church there, what kind of influence the church may have had on the community during this disaster, and how the help that the church offered may have influenced missionary efforts. I should mention that this is a small departure from my original proposal, as one must adjust his/her research question while this kind of qualitative research develops.

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Framing Caste Tracing The Interrelationship Of Caste And Identity In India, Scott Albrecht, Dr. Ralph Brown Sep 2013

Framing Caste Tracing The Interrelationship Of Caste And Identity In India, Scott Albrecht, Dr. Ralph Brown

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I posit here that three variables must be considered when discussing the devolvement of caste as the dominant element of Indian society: economic organization, the secularization of caste identities, and the disproportionate distribution of power as a remnant of the traditional economic arrangement. By tapping into the rationality of caste in terms of the human experience we can better understand the interrelationship of these variables and caste. I further argue that because caste roles and caste identities are essentially unique phenomena, caste identities may be perpetuated indefinitely where caste roles have become antiquated and unenforceable.

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Isaiah In The Book Of Mormon And Old Testament: A Comparison In Language Usage, John Larsen, Dr. Allen Manning Sep 2013

Isaiah In The Book Of Mormon And Old Testament: A Comparison In Language Usage, John Larsen, Dr. Allen Manning

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The similarities between the Bible and the Book of Mormon have often been pointed out by Scholars and critics alike. My research was to compare language similarities in the two texts linguistically. For twelve chapters in the Book of Mormon the text runs almost exactly parallel to that in the book of Isaiah. I intended to isolate directly the differences in the two texts and attempt to classify them linguistically. Through this classification I hoped to discover possible explanation and any symmetry or system to the changes. The changes would also be analyzed in terms of period language usage to …

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Provenance Of Mortuary Hematite Artifacts At Petra, Jordan, Alvin D. Anderson, Dr. David Johnson Sep 2013

Provenance Of Mortuary Hematite Artifacts At Petra, Jordan, Alvin D. Anderson, Dr. David Johnson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During a BYU archaeological excavation of Nabatean tombs at Petra, Jordan, Dr. David Johnson discovered hematite nodules that, he claims, contain the carved images or figures of several deities. These effigies were possibly ceremonial objects that served to protect the dead.

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Geometry And Art In Syrian Pearl Inlaid Furniture, Amanda Larsen, Dr. Cynthia Finlayson Sep 2013

Geometry And Art In Syrian Pearl Inlaid Furniture, Amanda Larsen, Dr. Cynthia Finlayson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I used my ORCA grant to aid in my research of Syrian pearl inlaid furniture from the Ottoman era. The money paid for part of my plane ticket to Amman Jordan. From Amman, I accompanied Dr. Cynthia Finlayson to Damascus, Syria. I was with a small group of students. We each had separate research projects, but we also all were there to help with conservation, cataloging and display in the Azem Palace in Damascus.

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