Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Effects Of Music Exposure On Autobiographical Memory In Alzheimer's Patients: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Gregory Vance

Honors Theses

The progression of Alzheimer’s disease is primarily characterized by a loss of memory concerning past events, as well as a lack in ability to create new memories. While this spans across many subsets of memory, such as recognition, recall, and autobiographical memory, there seems to be a lesser impact on musical memory in those with Alzheimer’s. Multiple studies have suggested that exposure to music and introduction of music therapy can even improve other aspects of memory in Alzheimer’s patients. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to examine the relationship between music exposure and autobiographical memory specifically. A pool of electronic …

Ageism, Eldercare, And Healthcare: An Examination Of Growing Old In Costa Rica, Akshaya Vijayasankar

Honors Theses

The world’s aging population and the Covid-19 pandemic have revealed the high level of ageism against older adults around the globe, which has resulted in an overall decreased quality of life for elders. Societies are now faced with the challenge of creating a suitable and equitable model of care to support their aging population. Despite the recent publication of the World Health Organization's Global Report on Ageism, there is still a large gap in the literature regarding ageism. This paper addresses the issues of institutional ageism in the eldercare and healthcare sector. I argue that Costa Rica serves as a …

Increasing Perceived Realism Of Objects In A Mixed Reality Environment Using 'Diminished Virtual Reality', Logan Scott Parker

Honors Theses

With the recent explosion of popularity of virtual and mixed reality, an important question has arisen: “Is there a way to create a better blend of real and virtual worlds in a mixed reality experience?” This research attempts to determine whether a visual filter can be created and applied to virtual objects to better convince the brain into interpreting a composite of virtual and real views as one seamless view. The method devised in this thesis is being called 'Diminished Virtual Reality'. The results found in this study show that when presented with a scene composed of a combination of …

Political Attitudes, Outward Aggression, And Self-Directed Violence, Christopher Holloway

All Student Scholarship

Violence has increased at political events and marches in the last several years, particularly during the Trump presidency and marked by the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Research has been conducted on approval of political violence, but little is known about political attitudes and how they relate to the likelihood of engaging in everyday generulized violence. Furthermore, violence against others and violence against the self, such as suicide, are usually treated and studied separately. This study hopes to identify what relationships, if any, exist between political attitudes and violence, both outward and self-directed. Participants (N : 153) completed …

Investigating The Effect Of Meaningful Relationships On Team Chemistry, Isabel N. Fairbanks

Honors Thesis

Team chemistry in sports is one of the more vital factors that potentially impacts the overall success of a team. There is increasing growth in the school of thought surrounding the use of team building in sports to develop the best teams built for success. Many programs exist in athletics and other environments that strive to promote strong team culture. This literature review examines the influence sports psychology has on the success of a sports team and current programs that exist in both the business environment and athletics, intending to improve team culture. Furthermore, the book containing the experiment on …

Why No Rallying Force? Factors Of Rassemblement National Underperformance In 2021 French Regional Elections, Amy Rhodes

Honors Theses

Marine Le Pen remains popular within national French politics. However, following the June 2021 French regional elections, her far-right party, Rassemblement National (RN), failed to win a single region. This thesis seeks to explore the factors behind the RN’s surprising lack of success through a comparative historical approach. This thesis also evaluates the applicability of the second-order model on these elections. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA) and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur (PACA) serve as case studies for this research based upon their diverse electoral results. Regional newspaper articles, national newspaper articles, and candidates’ social media posts from the election cycles serve as the data …

The Sustainability Rhetoric Among The Spanish Fashion Companies Involved In The Rana Plaza Collapse Of 2013, Keegan Lyle

Honors Theses

Over the last century, fashion has evolved to become a commodity that is rapidly changing and easily available. The processes that have led to this accessibility of fashion, however, have proven to be harmful to the environment and, most recently, proven to be potentially fatal for the people making the clothing. In 2013, a garment factory in Bangladesh, housing production for major global fashion brands, like Zara and The Children’s Place, collapsed following a series of negligence. The event has sparked years of awareness-raising in the public dialogue of fast fashion. As a part of the newly-developing research in sustainable …

Hate Crimes: A Statistical Comparison Of Reported Hate Crimes And Victimizations During The Obama And Trump Administrations, Daniel Ramsey

Honors Theses

This thesis attempts to study and assess potential trends in reported hate crime statistics under the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program database along with hate crime victimizations under the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) during President Obama’s first term (2009-2012) and President Trump’s term (2017-2020). The research question addressed in this study includes: a) What trends are evident during the Obama and Trump administrations regarding hate crimes? To assess potential trends in hate crimes and victimizations, a series of charts and tables were compiled that contain the total number of hate crimes …

To Be Or Not To Be: An Assessment Of Latin American Airport Infrastructure And The Creation Of An Airport Infrastructure Index, Jess Elisha Cooley

Honors Theses

Latin American transport infrastructure underperforms the global standard across the board, and previous research indicates that deficient infrastructure deters economic and social development (Fay 2007). Using multiple research methods, this thesis explores how transport infrastructure relates to the economic global competitiveness of a nation. More specifically, the quantitative research includes regression analyses with quantity of varying infrastructure types (airports, roadways, railways, and navigable waterways) and the creation of an airport infrastructure index. The index attempts to determine what dimensions of airport infrastructure truly reflect “good infrastructure” because Latin America has a relatively large quantity of airports. As infrastructure mechanisms are …

The Politics Of Migration In América: A Comparative Analysis Of Federal Immigration Policy And Local Impacts In The United States And Ecuador, Hayden Williamson

Honors Theses

This study addresses the hemispheric politics of migration through the cases of the United States and Ecuador. It first reviews the scholarly literature regarding globalization and the politics of migration in the United States and Ecuador. Next, it analyzes the politics of migration of the Trump and Biden administrations in the United States and their local impacts. The subsequent chapter analyzes the impacts of the Moreno and Lasso administrations in Ecuador. The central argument of this thesis is based on criminalization rhetoric, arguing that criminal securitization discourses have become vital to how center and peripheral countries in the Americas are …

Effective Green Marketing Strategies On Social Media: Selling Companies And Their Consumers On Investing In Carbon Offsetting And Solar Energy In 2021, Melvin Richard Springer Iv

Honors Theses

In a digital world where consumers and businesses alike care significantly about sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR), the success of startup companies hinges on constant, clear, and thoughtful communication. Through my research into successfully marketing such concerns on social media as well as my internship at Clearloop, I discovered some of the best ways to convince both companies and consumers that preserving the planet should be a primary concern for every environmentally conscious company. Companies that ignore their impacts on the environment are synonymous with companies doomed to fail in the 21^st century. Clearloop’s model of partnering with …

Delineating The Source And Implications Of Social Polarization, Logan Kohan

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research was to examine the causes and consequences that meta-perceptions of polarization in the United States entails. The survey used in this study assessed respondents demographic and political information prior to questions regarding polarization. This study found that the polarization in the United States results from a multitude of variables, including: the intrusion of partisan cues into everyday life, social sorting, polarization’s implicit effect, and differences in moral concern. Moreover, polarization encompasses and variety of ramifications that include disease, amplified interparty animosity, biased policy evaluation, reduced governmental efficiency, intraparty polarization, tribalism, and the quest to achieve …

Traumas Of German Unification And Weakness Of Civil Society: Contributing Factors To The Disproportionate Strength Of Populist Parties In Eastern German States, John Bethea Iii

Honors Theses

While East and West Germany reunified into one country in 1990, populist parties have done better in the former GDR than in the “old lands”. This paper draws on the political science literature on populism performing better in the absence of robust civil society, as well as the specific history of the region. I argue that because the GDR had not permitted the development of robust civil society, when the unexpected economic difficulties of unification arose, they were compounded by resentment over the necessity of importing more experienced western politicians to help run western institutions and that the lack of …

Psychological Trauma Alters T-Lymphocyte Inflammation And Redox Through Sympathetic Mechanisms, Safwan K. Elkhatib

Theses & Dissertations

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a devastating psychiatric disorder characterized by distinctive symptom clusters, including intrusive memories (i.e., flashbacks), avoidance of related stimuli, affective changes, and hyperarousal. Strikingly, patients with PTSD face a significantly increased risk for a number of inflammation-driven pathologies, ranging from cardiovascular to autoimmune disease. Yet, the exact etiology of this increased risk remains unknown. The immune system is known to be strongly influenced by the sympathetic nervous system, and sympathetic overactivity is a hallmark of PTSD. Lymphoid organs, such as the spleen, are richly innervated by sympathetic nerve fibers which terminate near adaptive immune …

Draft Legislation: A Novel Policy System Of Income & Refundable Property Tax Credits For Sustainable Use Of “Keystone” Stillage And Spent Grain Wastes To Stop Pollution And Surge Business Growth, Samuel C. Kessler

Commonwealth Policy Papers

This draft bill originally formatted by the KY Legislative Research Commission is the minimum text necessary to enact the policy described in the CPP whitepaper publication "Support New Business to Solve Old Problems with Kentucky’s Keystone Waste from Bourbon & Brewing". This publication is also known by the subtitle " A novel policy system of income & refundable property tax credits for sustainable use of Kentucky’s “keystone” wastes – stillage and spent grain - designed to stop pollution risk and surge business growth across the Commonwealth".

Any and all legislative bodies are encouraged to use the attached legislation as the …

The Understanding Of Mycorrhizae Networks: A Historical Approach, Jake Sun

The Confluence

The growth of mycorrhizal fungi into plant roots used to be viewed as a parasitic relationship between plants and fungi, where the fungal symbiont benefits and the plant host is harmed. Current research elucidates a mutualistic relationship. The mycorrhizae network assists the plants by increasing the capabilities for nutrient absorption in the soil. In exchange, the fungi receive carbon supply from the photosynthetic plants for growth. Our scientific understanding of other topics like species specificity, seed germination, and co-evolutionary influence of mycorrhizae and plants has also progressed. Additionally, we now understand that the mycorrhizal mutualism is not limited to the …

Postscript, Arthur C. Nelson

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Afterword - It Has Been A Good Ride, Julian Conrad Juergensmeyer, James Nicholas

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Our Cities, Ourselves, Nan Ellin

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

Just as we are what we eat, we are where we live. We breathe the air, drink the water and inhabit the built and natural landscapes. We make our places and they, in turn, make us. While great places nourish body and soul, poor environmental and urban quality challenges us physically as well as emotionally. How might we heal our places, so that they sustain us, rather than strain us?

On The Restorative Power Of Nature, Or Why Every Neighborhood Needs A Public Japanese Garden, Mira Locher, Keith Bartholomew

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

In celebration of Professor Arthur C. “Chris” Nelson’s illustrious career and our shared ambles in academia and in gardens in Japan, we offer this essay on public health and public gardens, namely gardens in the traditional Japanese style and how they could play an important role in addressing pressing public health issues in urban areas in the U.S. (and elsewhere).

Stewardship Of The Built Environment In A Changing World, Robert A. Young

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

Stewardship of the built environment emerged in the mid-1990s (Young 1994) when preservationists and conservationists needed to broaden their qualitative emotion-based arguments and adopt quantitative environmental and economic evidence to counter proposals that threatened the viability of both the built and natural environments. Social, environmental, and economic (SEE) concerns at the turn of the twenty-first century formed the triptych of the metrics found within the philosophy which: “…recognizes that the preservation, rehabilitation, and reuse of existing older and historic buildings contributes to sustainable design; respects the past, present, and future users of the built environment; and balances the needs of …

Becoming Henderson: How A "Boomburg" Used A Future-Focused Strategic Plan To Become A True Urban Place, Debra March, Stephanie Garcia-Vause, Lisa Corrado

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

Since its incorporation in 1953, the City of Henderson, Nevada has grown from a sparsely populated, one-industry town into a “boomburb” comprised of numerous nationally recognized master-planned communities with an over-arching, future-focused strategic plan. This article is a case study of how this boomburb took advantage of its position in the American suburban landscape to become a true urban place. It also offers a checklist for other communities to consider as they plan for their own futures.

Beyond Brownfields Redevelopment: A Policy Framework For Regional Land Recycling Planning, Joseph Schilling

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

The fields of urban policy and urban planning lack a cohesive and comprehensive framework for recycling vacant and abandoned properties. Past and present efforts to repurpose vacant land and abandoned properties were often narrow responses driven primarily by economic redevelopment policies such as urban renewal of the 1950s & 1960s, deindustrialization of the 1970s & 1980s, and the public-private partnerships featured during the 1990s & 2000s. The 2008-2015 mortgage foreclosure crisis and Great Recession put the policy spotlight on how to address the widespread impacts from thousands of vacant and/or foreclosed homes that affected diverse markets and communities across the …

Making Places Better, Arthur C. Nelson

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Four Modes Of Engagement: Positioning University Urban Design And Research Centers For The Future, Courtney Crosson

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

University urban design and research centers, which link academic pedagogy and research activities to real-world projects, have grown in number over the last several decades. As the rate of urbanization accelerates and universities’ missions become increasingly grounded in visible impact and financial self-sufficiency, these centers continue to offer an important and appealing model. This paper looks at the evolution of these centers from their beginnings in the 1950s, advancement in the 1980s, resurgence in the first decade of the 2000s, and current growing status. From a survey of over fifty centers throughout the United States, a typology is established based …

The Evolution Of Fiscal Impact Analysis And Where It Needs To Go, L. Carson Bise, Colin Mcaweeney

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

Communities need analytical tools and technical support to assess and balance multiple priorities when making land use and development decisions. For many communities, priorities to be considered regarding land use decisions include resource conservation and climate adaptation, economic development, investing in new versus existing communities, and maintaining fiscal responsibility. This article examines the historical use of fiscal impact analysis and some thoughts on where the field should go in the future.

From The Abacus To Big Data: The Evolution Of Data-Driven Planning In The U.S. And Where The Field Will Be Headed, Keuntae Kim

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

The nature of planning involves a set of decision-making processes to fulfill people’s needs and expectations of where they live, work, and play. Dealing with the nature of planning—complexity, uncertainty, and disagreement—requires specific tools to explore various aspects of the built environment as a whole. Various types of data have been extracted, transformed, and loaded to describe the past and current conditions of the built environment, and planners have developed and applied data-driven planning tools to explore the knowns and unknowns of the urban futures and transform them into a set of actions based on the goals with consensus. This …

Advances In Planning Analysis And Engagement, Arthur C. Nelson

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Adventures In Land Use Dispute Resolution: Utah's Innovative Program To Provide "Free" Legal Advice To Local Government, Neighbors, And Property Owners, Craig Call

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

Utah may have the nation’s most robust process allowing citizens to question local government land use decisions. This exists in the Office of the Property Rights Ombudsman (OPRO), created in 1997 and charged to assist in land use disputes in 2006. In three parts, this article divides an overview of the history of that office into two eras, evaluates one of the key functions of the current era—the preparation of advisory opinions (AOs), and suggests that Utah’s OPRO is a useful model for other states to consider. Most of this article focuses on the debates leading to the second era …

Saving The World Through Zoning: The Sustainable Development Code, Regeneration, And Beyond, Jonathan Rosenbloom, Chris Duerksen

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

The land use and planning community began to address sustainability at the local level in the 1990s, but in reality, state-of-the-art development codes drafted in the 1990s and early 2000s did little to address climate change, energy conservation, community health, loss of biodiversity, shifting biochemical cycles, racial justice, food supply, and other key sustainability issues. This article reviews past challenges that had to be overcome for sustainable development codes to become mainstream. The good news is that an increasing number of local governments are adopting ambitious sustainable development codes that hold great promise to not only protect the environment and …