Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Imperialism: A Case Study Of America's Neorealist Domination Of Power, Hannah Daniels

University Honors Theses

The international policy of the United States has been historically characterized by the promotion of democracy and freedom. However, historical analyses of U.S. policies and intervention in countries such as Iran, Chile, Guatemala, Syria, Brazil, and Nicaragua demonstrate that American aid more often than not ends in a military dictatorship replacing a democracy. This paper investigates the discrepancies between these values that the United States claims to uphold and the actual operation efforts carried out, proposing that U.S. international politics are defined by a neorealist framework rather than the liberal structure that is commonly thought of as the basis for …

A Population-Based Investigation Of Health-Care Needs And Preferences In American Adults With Multiple Sclerosis, Chungyi Chiu, Malachy Bishop, Bradley Mcdaniels, Byung-Jin Kim, Lebogang Tiro

Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education Faculty Publications

Background: Comprehensive and effective multiple sclerosis (MS) health care requires understanding of patients’ needs, preferences, and priorities. Objective: To evaluate priorities of patients with MS for their MS care. Methods: Participants included 3003 Americans with MS recruited through the National MS Society and the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis patient registry. Participants completed a comprehensive questionnaire on aspects of their health-care experiences. Results: Participants identified the top 3 health-care priorities as (1) the affordability of MS health care, (2) ensuring that non-MS health-care providers have more education about MS and how it can interact with other conditions, and …

Provider Behavior Change Approaches To Improve Family Planning Services In The Ouagadougou Partnership Countries: A Landscaping Review, Kathryn Spielman, Elizabeth Tobey, Martha Silva, Leanne Dougherty

Reproductive Health

This landscaping review summarizes available evidence (as of 2020) on the effectiveness of provider behavior change interventions for improving family planning services in Ouagadougou Partnership countries and presents current or recent provider behavior change interventions not formally evaluated. The findings are summarized along with reflections about possible research and programming investments to address challenges and opportunities.

Mechanical Improvised Explosive Device Removal In The Urban Environment, David Parry

Global CWD Repository

The safe removal and disposal of conventional weapons from civilian populated areas in a post conflict scenario is fraught with dangerous, complex and wide-ranging challenges. The worldwide proliferation of improvised explosive devices has added to the existing burden of landmine clearance already being undertaken by various organizations. Part of the solution to these challenges is to remove improvised explosive devices using mechanical methods to reduce the likelihood and consequence of the risks that personnel face when carrying out this extremely hazardous task.

The mechanical removal of improvised explosive devices is an emerging methodology that is based on an established model …

Patterns Of Participation In Multilateral Disarmament Forums, Npa

Global CWD Repository

Who participates in multilateral disarmament meetings? Building on recent studies, this report investigates patterns of participation in disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control forums. In addition to overall levels of participation, we look at two indicators in particular – the gender balance of meeting delegations and the development status of the states these diplomats represent. We also examine the link between those two indicators: to what extent gender balance of diplomatic forums is associated with the socioeconomic composition of the group.

Designing The Special Pilot Economic Zone: An Alternative Approach To Revitalize Livelihoods On Peatlands, Ibnu Budiman, Rizky Januar, Willy Daeli, Rahmah D. Hapsari, Eli Nn Sari

Jurnal Geografi Lingkungan Tropik (Journal of Geography of Tropical Environments)

Peatland restoration projects in tropical countries could prevent environmental disasters such as peat fires. In Indonesia, one of peatland restoration activities is the revitalization of the livelihoods of communities around peatlands. Nevertheless, this activity is still lacking in reducing the environmental pressures from the communities on peatland. We aim to find a comprehensive strategy to design a sustainable bioeconomy on peatlands. This study draws on spatial, qualitative, and quantitative data from the literature, project and policy documents, open-source web application, observations from the field and meetings; and interviews with key stakeholders at national level and three Indonesian provinces. We found …

Spatial Distribution Patterns Analysis Of Hotspot In Central Kalimantan Using Fimrs Modis Data, Adisty Pratamasari, Ni Ketut Feny Permatasari, Tia Pramudiyasari, Masita Dwi Mandini Manessa, Supriatna Supriatna

Jurnal Geografi Lingkungan Tropik (Journal of Geography of Tropical Environments)

One of the ways to observe the hotspot created by forest fires in Indonesia is through Remote sensing imagery, such as MODIS, NOAA AVHRR, etc. Central Kalimantan is one of the areas in Indonesia with the highest hotspot data. In this research, MODIS FIRMS hotspot data in Central Kalimantan collected from 2017 – 2019, covering 13 districts: South Barito, East Barito, North Barito, Mount Mas, Kapuas, Katingan, Palangkaraya City, West Kotawaringin, East Kotawaringin, Lamandau, Murung Raya, Pulang Pisau, Seruyan, and Sukamara. That is four aspects that this research evaluated: 1) evaluating the spatial pattern using the Nearest Neighbor Analysis (NNA); …

Application Of Forest Canopy Density (Fcd) Model For The Hotspot Monitoring Of Crown Fire In Tebo, Jambi Province, Muhammad Attorik Falensky, Anggieani Laras Sulti, Ranggas Dhuha Putra, Kuswantoro Marko

Jurnal Geografi Lingkungan Tropik (Journal of Geography of Tropical Environments)

Indonesia is one of the owners of the 9th largest forest area in the world. Forest area in Indonesia reaches 884,950 km2 . Tebo Regency is a regency in Jambi Province which has a wide forest area of 628,003 Ha. However, this forest area has been reduced due to the conversion of functions of Industrial Plantation Forests (HTI), oil palm plantations, and forest clearing activities for both settlements and plantations which led to the phenomenon of forest and land fires (karhutla). This study aims to get a better knowledge of crowns of fire potential locations in forest areas using remote …

The Dual Nature Of Displacement: Dam-Induced Displacement In Southeastern Turkey, George Edgar Dissinger

Senior Theses

Dam-induced displacement is a formidable practical and theoretical challenge for development projects and their proponents. The development projects contained within the Southeastern Anatolia Project in Turkey are debated widely in academic literature because of the factor of human displacement from large dam projects. A key dichotomy in the debate is about whether human displacement ought to be treated as an incidental harm to be mitigated, or as an illustration of a development project’s misguided purpose. In this thesis I examine how Turkish authorities approached human displacement in two dam projects: the Atatürk and Ilısu Dams. These case studies demonstrate how …

Frontmatter (Volume 40, No.1), Paul B. Mojzes

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Recording Studios Since 1970, Eliot Bates

Publications and Research

Like many other specialty, purpose-built spaces, we tend to think of recording studios in instrumental terms, meaning that the space is defined in relation to the nominal type of work that the space is instrumental towards. While audio recordings have been made in spaces since 1877, not all of these spaces tend to be regarded as recording studios, partly since so many recordings were made in environments designed for other types of work; indeed, much of the first seventy years of US and UK recorded music history transpired at radio stations, concert halls and lightly treated mixed-use commercial spaces (e.g. …

Inflation Targeting And Exchange Rate Volatility In Emerging Markets, Rene Cabral, Francisco G. Carneiro, Andre V. Mollick

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

The paper investigates the exchange rate on the reaction function of 24 emerging markets economies’ (EMEs) central banks from 2000Q1 to 2015Q2. This is done by first employing fixed-effects (FE) ordinary least squares and then system generalized methods of the moments techniques. Under FE, the exchange rate is important in the reaction function of EMEs. Allowing for the endogeneity of inflation, output gap, and the exchange rate, the exchange rate remains positive and statistically significant (but quantitatively less) across inflation targeting countries. When the sample is partitioned into targeting and non-targeting countries, the exchange rate remains relevant in the reaction …

Therapist Mentalization And Patient Outcomes In The First Year Of Psychotherapy, Michael Palumbo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examined associations between therapist mentalization and patient outcomes in the first year of psychotherapy. Mentalization is the implicit and explicit consideration of mental states—one’s own as well as others’—and how such states mediate a person’s experiences in the world. It is conceptualized as existing on a scale of increasing complexity. This study sought to extend developmental research that has illustrated the positive influence of a parent’s mentalization on a child’s emotional well-being. Specifically, it was proposed that psychotherapy cases with high levels of therapist mentalization would have better patient outcomes than those with low levels of therapist mentalization. …

Global Corporate Social Responsibility And Policy Evolution In The Garment Industry: A Case Study From Bangladesh Using A Multiple-Streams Approach And Punctuated Equilibrium Theory, Tamar Maisashvili

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research offers a new way to show how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy decisions are made in complex international settings. A theoretical framework based on Baumgartner and Jones’ Punctuated Equilibrium Theory and John Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Approach is used to explore the development of the Accord on the Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh as a proposed independent and legally binding agreement governing garment factory conditions in that country. The Accord led to a series of audits aimed at reforming a large part of Bangladesh’s garment industry, hence there has been a shift in a working environment ensuring the …

Essays On Anomalies In International Equity Markets, Xiao Cheng

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of three chapters related to empirical asset pricing in the international stock market.

Chapter 1: "Loss of International Sales and Stock Performance" Using international firm-level data from 1990-2015, I show that when global firms' total international sales drop to zero, this conveys an important signal about future firm operations. An equal-weighted portfolio that sells stocks of firms that completely lost international sales and buys stocks of global firms earns up to 86 basis points per month (over 10% per year). This return predictability cannot be explained by the Fama-French international three- or five-factor models. Further examination suggests …

A Grounded Theory Investigation Of The Subjective Responses From Partners In Couples Where Infidelity Has Occurred, Malika Bhowmik

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This qualitative study investigates the subjective responses elicited by partners in long-term committed couples where infidelity has taken place. Each of these couples attended a couple therapy session in the aftermath of their experience of an affair, and the transcriptions of these therapy sessions served as the data set for this investigation. In their seeking of help, most couples articulated a broad, comparable trajectory of the issues; their post-affair understanding of their pre-affair relationship including the state of their pre-affair sex, the origins of the unfaithful partner’s ability to stray from the primary relationship, the impact of the affair on …

Phonologically-Informed Speech Coding For Automatic Speech Recognition-Based Foreign Language Pronunciation Training, Anthony J. Vicario

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Automatic speech recognition (ASR) and computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) systems used in foreign-language educational contexts are often not developed with the specific task of second-language acquisition in mind. Systems that are built for this task are often excessively targeted to one native language (L1) or a single phonemic contrast and are therefore burdensome to train. Current algorithms have been shown to provide erroneous feedback to learners and show inconsistencies between human and computer perception. These discrepancies have thus far hindered more extensive application of ASR in educational systems.

This thesis reviews the computational models of the human perception of American …

Familismo, Fafsa, And Sallie Mae: A Study Of Second Generation Latinx Student Loan Debt, Jasmine Gonsalez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As college expenses continue to skyrocket, borrowing thousands of dollars to pay for college has become a rite of passage towards achieving the American Dream. Very little has explored the problem of rising student loan debt thorough a sociologically-oriented lens, and even less work has examined the variations in the lived experiences of underrepresented student borrowers. This study focuses on second-generation Latinx students who have used student loans to pay for college. As American citizens with Latin American roots, this generation lives in a precarious situation, often straddling the lines between their traditional family-oriented values, and the more individualistic values …

The Zine Union Catalog, Lauren S. Kehoe, Jenna Freedman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Lauren Kehoe and Jenna Freedman have been working on the Zine Union Catalog, aka ZineCat or ZUC, since their Introduction to Digital Humanities course in Spring, 2017: MALS 75500, Digital Humanities Methods and Practices. ZineCat is the home of a union catalog dedicated to zines. A union catalog is a resource where libraries and other cultural institutions that collect materials can share cataloging and holdings information from their individual collections. The most familiar union catalog is probably WorldCat which is used to locate books, journals, CDs, DVDs, and other materials in the world’s libraries. ZineCat facilitates researchers' discovery of zine …

Mapping The Spatial And Temporal Dynamics Of Visual Percepts Elicited By A Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Technique, Kelly Webster

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

While many of us rely on vision to interact with and experience the world, for people with damage or disease to the eye or visual cortex, experience through this modality is extremely limited. Brain and retinal stimulation devices show exciting promise for restoring vision, but little is understood about where and when vision percepts can be induced through stimulation. Using a non-invasive brain stimulation technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), we characterized the spatial and temporal dynamics of perception induced through brain stimulation. In the first set of experiments, we explore the importance of higher visual and non-visual areas vs. …

Essays On The Application Of The Machine Learning Methods In Finance And Policy Evaluation, Olga Guska

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the age when "Big Data" is becoming almost a household word, such abundance of information in different forms and representations can be of a great help for one's decision-making let it be a trader betting on a stock, or a policy-maker assessing the potential impact of proposed regulation. Whereas traditional economic research is primarily based on the use of numerical data continuous or discrete, there is a great deal of useful information that can be extracted from text data. Such information can power novel identification strategies or help perceive solutions from a different angle, but observed volumes of such …

Parent–Child Relationship, Resting Heart Rate, And Callous–Unemotional Traits In Adolescents, Eva M. Santucci

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

An inverse correlation between psychopathic traits and autonomic nervous system responsiveness has been observed in various neuroscience and psychological studies. Past research has suggested that low resting heart rate is a robust biological risk factor for a number of psychopathic traits over the course of an individual’s lifetime. The reason for the link between heart rate and psychopathy is presently unknown, but it has been hypothesized that a number of other social, biological, or psychological factors, including parenting techniques, socioeconomic status, and peer influences, may influence the strength of this relationship. However, further study is needed to examine specific social …

Asians Applying For Postsecondary Success: Students, Schools, And Socioeconomic Status, Avery M.D. Davis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Higher education recruitment rates are rapidly declining as schools are stymied by dynamic demographic shifts and a competitive ecosystem. Despite the constant realities of this challenge for tertiary institutions, the complexities of the interplay for demographics, student motivation, parental influences, and school environments during the postsecondary education application process is often overlooked. This thesis analyses how these four domains impact Asian American students within the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) in terms of the number of postsecondary schools to which they apply? This study examines a sample (N = 662) of the ELS by employing multivariate regression analysis on the number …

The History Of Martha J. Lamb: Her Origin, Rise, And Progress., Mary Collins

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

On June 16, 1883, Harper’s Weekly ran a story foreshadowing the transformation of the City of New York from the island of Manhattan to a massive metropolis, the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. Another article on the page announced that Martha J. Lamb “has become editor of the ‘The Magazine of American History.’” It does not mention that she was also president of the company purchasing the journal. Ten years later, just a few months after her death, Mrs. Lamb’s great work, her History of the City of New York: Its Origin, Rise, and Progress, was included in …

The U.S. Approach To Peacebuilding In Afghanistan: A Comparative Analysis Of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, And Donald Trump Administration Policies In Afghanistan, Mohammad Rasouli

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research paper addresses the efforts of the U.S. to achieve some level of reconciliation with the Taliban after more than 18 years of war in Afghanistan. It deals with the history of U.S.-Taliban negotiations and the U.S. initiatives to engage with the Taliban, as well as outlining the challenges to these initiatives and determining how effective they have been. In addition, the prospects of the U.S.-Taliban peace talks are assessed.

Since the 2001 U.S. intervention in Afghanistan, the first two U.S. administrations under consideration—those of George W. Bush and Barack Obama—justified intrusive interventions into the political, economic, and social …

Nutritional Strategy And Social Environment In Redtail Monkeys (Cercopithecus Ascanius), Margaret Bryer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

An animal’s nutritional strategy involves the complex interplay between its dynamic physiology and its environment, an environment that includes a landscape of foods that vary in nutritional composition as well as a social environment of other feeding individuals. Social behavior—cooperative or competitive, with conspecifics or with other sympatric species—influences individual feeding behavior. Investigation of social feeding by estimating individual intake of multiple nutritional components, sometimes referred to as “social nutrition,” can give insight into how social variables may lead to shifts in nutritional niche.

In this study, I examined the effects of temporal shifts in diet, reproductive status and conspecific …

Beyond Exposure: Markers Of English Proficiency In School-Aged French–English Bilinguals, Erin Quirk

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Bilingual children show more variation in their language development than monolingual children, a fact that has been linked to their experience with their languages. Bilingual language experience also varies more than monolingual children's, both in terms of how much they hear the language spoken around them (exposure) and how much they speak the language themselves (production). This dissertation investigates the following aspects of the relationship between bilinguals’ language experience and development which are not well-understood: how children’s language production relates to their proficiency in that language, how children’s language exposure relates to receptive versus expressive and lexical versus grammatical skill, …

Breast Dressing: A Critical Review Of Post-Surgical Bras, Adi Sieradzki

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Breast cancer is acknowledged in the United States as a phenomenon. With more than 3 million women either diagnosed or treated for it as of 2019, it is a seminal part of the American healthcare map. However, the market for the kinds of bras and bandages patients have to wear after surgery remains mostly overlooked and outdated. This thesis aims to explore what it means to bandage or dress a breast that has been altered either in combative or cosmetic procedures. Why post-surgical wound care for breasts still mostly looks like a sports bra? How do breast cancer patients rehabilitate …

Computational Approaches To The Syntax–Prosody Interface: Using Prosody To Improve Parsing, Hussein M. Ghaly

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Prosody has strong ties with syntax, since prosody can be used to resolve some syntactic ambiguities. Syntactic ambiguities have been shown to negatively impact automatic syntactic parsing, hence there is reason to believe that prosodic information can help improve parsing. This dissertation considers a number of approaches that aim to computationally examine the relationship between prosody and syntax of natural languages, while also addressing the role of syntactic phrase length, with the ultimate goal of using prosody to improve parsing.

Chapter 2 examines the effect of syntactic phrase length on prosody in double center embedded sentences in French. Data collected …

Goals, Power, And Culture: The Effects Of School Organizational Features On Parental Involvement, Vandeen A. Campbell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Drawing on organizational theory and the school effectiveness literature, this project incorporates new methodological approaches to the analysis of a national longitudinal data set (ECLS-K: 2011) in order to investigate ways in which school goals around parental involvement, distribution of power, and culture affect parental involvement in children’s education, especially in schools serving large proportions of lower socioeconomic status families.

Parental involvement is widely accepted among researchers and policymakers to be essential for students’ academic success; however, parents with lower socioeconomic status exhibit less participation in both home-based and school-based activities compared to those of higher socioeconomic backgrounds.

Many recent …