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The MACCIH Monitor: Independent update and analysis of the OAS Mission to support the fight against corruption and impunity in Honduras
No full textPublished as: “American University Center for Latin American & Latino Studies, The MACCIH Monitor, Issue 2, December 31, 2017.
Eve and the Female Serpent
No full textResearch paper submitted to American University in partial fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Arts; approved as non-thesis optio
Female Still Life Artists of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries and How Their Works Differ From Their Male Counterparts
No full textResearch paper submitted to American University in partial fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Arts; approved as non-thesis optio
Distributed processing of reward information by the medial and orbital frontal cortices
No full textOptimal value-based decision making requires processing outcomes based on feedback that inevitably leads to a continuation or adaptation of future behavior. In many behavioral neuroscience studies, appetitive food rewards are used as the outcome or feedback given to a subject. Within appetitive decision-making, reward collection, consumption, and evaluation are crucial parts of the decision making process that drive behavior. Two cortical brain regions have been implicated in having a role in reward: the medial frontal cortex (MFC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). However, the behavioral and neurophysiological mechanisms behind reward signaling are unclear. Through performing paired electrophysiological recordings of local field potentials (LFPs) as rats participated in simple behavioral licking tasks, we examined the role of MFC and OFC in signaling information about fluid rewards. We found a locally generated 4-8 Hz theta rhythm that is entrained to licking. Specifically, the strength of LFP phase-locking to licking was dependent on the value of the reward, and did not differ with manipulations of reward type (size or concentration). Behavioral results revealed contrast effects and allude to rats expressing reward value in a relative manner, but neural correlates in MFC and OFC suggest mixed results. We found subtle differences in MFC and OFC LFP activity; specifically, MFC phase-locking most closely reflected the rat’s licking behavior. Additionally we assessed functional connectivity of both regions through directed coherence measures and found a driving influence of rostral MFC activity on OFC activity. These results provide additional information on MFC and OFC function with respect to appetitive behavior and evaluating consummatory rewards, and provide a framework for investigating exactly how rewards are interpreted by cortical regions during value-based decision making.Neuroscienceselectrophysiology, prefrontal cortex, rat, reward, valuePsychologyDegree Awarded: Ph.D. Psychology. American Universit
Gender wage equality and investments in care: Modeling equity and production
No full textCare Work and the Economy Project
CWE-GAM Working Paper Series: 20-10
Program on Gender Analysis in Economics (PGAE
Incentivizing supplemental nutrition assistance program purchases with fresh produce in corner stores to reduce food inequity in underserved areas of Washington DC
No full textHealth Equity, Volume 4, Issue 1, 1 September 2020, Pages 386-393.Purpose: Maintaining a healthy eating pattern plays a key role in ensuring optimal health outcomes, yet, in areas considered "food deserts"and lower-income neighborhoods where the accessibility of healthy foods and beverages is limited, the pursuit of adequate nutrient intake is rendered cumbersome. This pilot program aims to improve access to healthful foods by supporting corner stores in stocking and promoting the purchase of produce. Methods: DC Central Kitchen's Healthy Corners program in Washington, DC piloted a nutrition incentive model in 17 corner stores that were upgraded to stock an increased variety and quantity of fresh produce. This program, entitled "5-for-5,"provided a 5 or more with SNAP benefits. Results: Evaluation based on store owner buy-in and customer intercept surveys indicated overall satisfaction in program offerings with 77% of SNAP shoppers polled indicating an increase in produce consumption as a direct result of the program. Coupon distribution data indicated that in the 5-for-5 program's first year, 76.5% of all 57,989 distributed coupons were redeemed, amounting to $221,770 worth of incentivized fresh produce sales. Conclusion: The results of the incentive program were promising with increases in the amount of produce purchased as a result of the program. Lessons learned concerning the use of a financial incentive to encourage the purchase of produce at corner stores is explored, as well as the feasibility of the corner store as a sustainable venue to increase produce consumption in underserved communities
Localizing Global Environmental Norms: Agency and Structure in the Republic of Korea
No full textThe emergence of global environmental norms (GENs) in the international community has influenced states’ efforts toward governing its environmental problems. The application of the GENs to the domestic context is up to each country, and for developing countries whose attention to the environment came relatively later looked to the international experience to create its own response to the issue. Early norm diffusion literature has often portrayed developing, non-Western states to be passive in this process. However, developing countries can be active norm-takers, and further, norm-makers as exemplified by the case of the Republic of Korea. Against this background, this project asks what domestic factors led Korea to shift from initial resistance to actively localizing GENs. By utilizing an adapted localization framework, focusing on local actors and domestic political structure, the project process-traces the diffusion of two comprehensive norms of environmental protection and sustainable development, and three specific norms of polluter-pays principle, precautionary principle, and public participation into Korea from the 1960s to current. This project’s main findings are: 1) cognitive prior and congruence building processes by the local actors are key to explaining Korea’s localization of sustainable development into green growth, through notably President Lee, Myung-bak’s modification of the external norm to fit the domestic value given to economic growth. This locally constructed idea of green growth was further exported back to the international level; 2) regime type, from authoritarian to democratic, shifted domestic conditions to one that is more conducive for localization; and 3) comprehensive GEN of sustainable development involved hard-localization in which the content of the external norm was modified, and specific GENs involved soft-localization in which the institutional measures to implement the norms were created, selected and advanced to fit the domestic context.International relationsEnvironmental studiesSchool of International ServiceDegree Awarded: Ph.D. School of International Service. American Universit
View of the Daily Rider bike shop on H Street NE
No full textView of the Daily Rider bike show with signs posted on the door with instructions to customers on how to contact staff and obtain services. A table has been placed in front of the store