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The Reconstitution of the Eurasian Idea
No full textLike Germany in the decade after Versailles, the 1990s for Russia have seen not only the implosion of the Soviet State and its sustaining idea but also the failure of the original democratic impulse that gave birth to Yeltsin’s federation as well as the subsequent dissolution, if not outright collapse, of the democratic-federative idea at its core. With the economic collapse in 1998 and the ascension to power of Vladimir Putin in 1999, Russian political elites were desperately searching for an alternative political philosophy to what they saw as an increasingly corrupt and emasculating situation. In the words of one commentator, many in Russia saw Putin’s official election in 2000 as marking, “… a clear watershed dividing the different historical epochs. In their search for an ideological framework for the future, many in Russia are looking to the past.
Quantifying Pain: A Ratio of Cortisol, Substance P, and Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptide as Biomarkers for Pain in Animal Cruelty and Neglect
No full textUnderstanding the relationship between cortisol, Substance P, and PACAP during experienced pain and recovery, as well as the contrast between expression levels and serum levels, will provide an objective measure of pain and suffering to aid in the prosecution of animal cruelty and neglect cases.
There is no consensus at this time as to a recognized biomarker for pain experienced by an animal. Cortisol, Substance P, and Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Peptide (PACAP) have been investigated separately in various animal and human studies with regard to stress, pain, and injury. Cortisol is a steroid hormone in the glucocorticoid class that has been utilized as a quantitative measure of stress in many species. Substance P is a neuropeptide from the tachykinin family that evokes sensory neurons that are responsible for recognizing damaging stimuli. Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Peptide (PACAP) is a neurotransmitter, neuromodulator, and neurohormone that is necessary for the regenerations of nerves after an injury has been sustained. Cortisol, Substance P, and Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Peptide have shown to be upregulated during either chronic pain or a stand-alone experienced pain event.
The main focus of interest is to develop a qPCR-based cortisol, Substance P, and PACAP isozyme detection assay to establish a baseline expression level of each within healthy canines compared to injured canines. Furthermore, comparing the expression levels to corresponding serum levels of cortisol, Substance P, and PACAP via ELISA Assay Kits for each. Based on their biochemical functions and previous research, it is expected that cortisol and Substance P will be expressed at increased levels during the experienced pain event and PACAP will be expressed at increased levels during the reparative process post pain event
Evaluating the Panoptic Deterrent Effect of Skywatch Surveillance Towers: A Mixed Methods Analysis
Get PDFThe internalization of an all-seeing gaze is an important component of crime control, whether in the form of suitable guardians, place managers, or meticulous surveillance ceremonies. Specifically, panoptic technologies have the potential to “normalize” behaviors through visible yet unverifiable surveillance. Although marketed as a technology that deters crime, SkyWatch surveillance towers’ actual deterrent effect has never been empirically evaluated. Such an assessment is critical not only from a crime reduction perspective, but also one of cost-effectiveness as these towers cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Utilizing a sequential triangulation mixed method procedure, information from 21 semi-structured interviews was combined with the analysis of crime rates from five different jurisdictions with 23 locations of SkyWatch towers across the United States, to fill a gap between anecdotal stories of these surveillance towers’ deterrent capabilities and absent statistical data. Utilizing the daily average number of calls for service as a proxy for criminal activity, statistical analysis was conducted in a quasi-experimental pre- and post-experimental design with follow-up to assess the towers’ deterrent effect within the five jurisdictions. Analysis of calls for service specifically relating to property crimes, crimes against persons, thefts of motor vehicles, and thefts from motor vehicles when a tower was deployed versus when one was not, were also conducted.
Throughout, the theoretical underpinnings of deterrence theory and routine activities theory were utilized to analyze whether deployment of SkyWatch towers had a deterrent effect. Findings from the qualitative phase demonstrated a strong law enforcement personnel belief in the SkyWatch tower being an effective crime prevention strategy, however the quantitative results were mixed and varied across the five jurisdictions evaluated. Areas for future research, particularly at a single jurisdictional level with a more nuanced analysis of tower-by-tower deployment, are suggested. Additionally, policy implications relating to the visibility of police, crime reduction, and cost-efficiency among others are outlined
Analysis of Latent Fingermark Depletion Series Using 3D Imaging
No full textThe purpose of this study was to determine the pattern of ridge height and volume loss of latent fingermarks in a depletion series using 3D imaging in combination with a 2D traditional approach. The study also explored if any pattern of height and volume loss was consistent across twelve individuals and correlated with decreasing visual qualities of the fingermarks in 2D. A series of nine consecutive fingermarks were deposited in triplicate on a glass substrate by each volunteer. Each deposition was analyzed using a 3D Optical Profilometer microscope to collect data on the ridge height and volume across the depletion series. After data acquisition in 3D, the fingermarks were visualized with magnetic powder, photographed, and quantitative data, including morphometric data, collected by the Universal Latent Workstation (ULW) software to compare the two sets of data (3D vs. 2D). This research revealed that the patterns of height and volume loss and the decline of visual ridge quality was statistically significant from the beginning to the end of the depletion series, though it was detected that the pattern of height and volume loss was much more drastic than that of visual quality
Investigating DNA Degradation of Blood Deposits by Raman Spectroscopy
No full textThis experiment investigated if whether Raman spectroscopic analysis of a blood deposit degraded the DNA contained within. This research also investigated whether there is a difference in DNA degradation between a benchtop Raman and a portable Raman instrument, and also between blood deposits on different substrates (an aluminum foil control, white cotton, blue denim, and white polyester. Preliminary results showed that using Raman spectroscopy on the foil control and the organic fiber substrates did not appear to degrade DNA, while using benchtop Raman spectroscopy on polyester did degrade DNA. The portable Raman spectrometer did not degrade the polyester DNA much, with only one locus being impacted and had a peak height ratio below 0.65, the minimum ratio for a balanced DNA profile from a single donor. The data from this experiment gave us preliminary results because only nine samples were amplified and generated profiles using capillary electrophoresis. Further testing with larger-scale experiments is needed to confirm the results from this study
How Do Consumers in General Evaluate, Judge, and Act toward Shoplifting? The Moderating Effects of Personal Characteristics and Motives
Get PDFDespite the seriousness of shoplifting, consumers’ evaluations, judgements, and intentions toward shoplifting remain underexplored by scholars from business ethics, marketing, retailing, and consumer behavior. We propose a new shoplifting ethics model, which integrates Hunt and Vitell’s theory of ethics with Nadeau, Rochlen, and Tyminski’s typology of shoplifting, by incorporating the moderators of consumers’ personal characteristics (i.e., age, gender, marital status, income) and shoplifting motives (i.e., social, experiential, economic, emotional) onto the relationships among deontological evaluation, teleological evaluation, ethical judgment, and intention. Based on a two-by-two randomized experimental design, two shoplifting cases (i.e., swapping price tags, stealing products) are investigated in four scenarios (i.e., deontologically unethical condition with positive consequences, deontologically unethical condition with negative consequences, deontologically ethical condition with positive consequences, deontologically ethical condition with negative consequences). We discover that age, marriage, and income enhance the relationship between consumers’ deontological evaluations of shoplifting and ethical judgments of shoplifting; that employment strengthens the relationship between the ethical judgments of shoplifting and shoplifting intentions; and that marriage enhances the relationship between consumers’ teleological evaluations of shoplifting and shoplifting intentions. Nevertheless, the economic factor weakens the relationship between consumers’ deontological evaluations of shoplifting and ethical judgments of shoplifting. We find that ethical judgments of shoplifting mediates the relationship between consumers’ deontological/teleological evaluations of shoplifting and shoplifting intentions. The results imply that younger, single, unemployed, and low-income consumers engage in more shoplifting activities compared to their older, married, employed, and high-income counterparts. Moreover, even though acknowledging the inherent wrongness of shoplifting and its negative consequences, consumers can still be impelled by economic reasons to participate in shoplifting. We contribute to the ongoing debate on whether economic reasons change consumers’ ethical judgments of shoplifting and whether economic disadvantage motivates consumers to shoplift. Contrary to conventional wisdom, negative consequences and punishment do not fully deter consumers from shoplifting. Under the contingencies of personal characteristics and shoplifting motives, shoplifting intention is influenced directly by ethical judgment and indirectly by deontological and teleological evaluations. Theoretical and practical insights are discussed to help policy makers and store managers prevent shoplifting behavior
Oil Price Volatility, Organization Capital, and Firm Performance
Get PDFWe examine the relationship between oil price volatility and firm performance, and the moderating role of organization capital on this relationship. Using U.S. firm-level data during the period of 1986-2017, our analysis reveals several key findings. Consistent with the real option theory, we find that oil price volatility negatively affects firm performance. However, this adverse effect of oil price volatility is reduced for firms with high levels of organization capital. Interestingly, this moderating effect of organization capital is more pronounced for firms with large cash holdings. Overall, our findings substantiate the idea that firms with high levels of organization capital can hedge oil price related volatilities effectively. Findings from several robustness tests support our key results
Why Do Women Watch Esports? A Social Role Perspective on Spectating Motives and Points of Attachment
No full textGuided by social role theory and the extant literature, the purpose of this investigation was to examine the gender differences in esports spectating motives and points of attachment. A questionnaire was developed to survey fans (N = 479) of the Houston Outlaws, a professional team in the Overwatch League. Findings indicate gender differences across five motivational factors: women seem to be more motivated to watch Overwatch for social opportunities, interest in player, and (player) physical attractiveness; men appear to be more motivated to watch for enjoyment of aggression and entertainment value. Our results also suggest how perceived social roles may influence gender differences in attachment to the athlete and its relationship with spectating motives. Theoretical, managerial, and social implications, as well as future research recommendations, are discussed
Effect of Borrelia Burgdorferi on MicroRNA Expression Levels in Normal and Breast Cancer Cell Lines
No full textBorrelia burgdorferi is a bacterial species that causes a multisystemic, vector-borne disease known as Lyme Disease. B. burgdorferi is capable of invading host dermal tissues, wherein it can disseminate throughout the body and invade various tissues and organs. B. burgdorferi DNA has even recently been found in several breast cancer tissue types, and its presence has been associated with poor prognosis. Studies performed by our research group have found that B. burgdorferi is indeed capable of infecting normal and neoplastic mammary epithelial cells and can increase the invasiveness of breast cancer cells. This information, coupled with the knowledge that approximately 15-20% of all cancers have infectious origins, raises the question of whether B. burgdorferi might play a causative role in the development and/or progression of breast cancer. To explore the association between B. burgdorferi infection and breast cancer tumorigenesis on the molecular level, we aimed to identify biomarkers that are affected in infected breast cancer cells such as noncoding microRNAs. Numerous previous studies demonstrate that some of the same miRNAs are dysregulated in breast cancer tissues and bacteria-infected tissues, including those infected with B. burgdorferi. This suggest that miRNAs may play a role in cancer development as a result of B. burgdorferi infection. In this Thesis, the expression of miRNAs that have been associated with both breast cancer and bacterial infection were measured in various normal and cancerous breast cell lines infected with B. burgdorferi using a quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) approach. MiRNA expression levels in infected cells were compared to expression levels in uninfected control cells to identify any differential expression. Our research group also conducted total RNA sequencing on B. burgdorferi-infected and uninfected MDA-MB-231 cells to check for any differential expression of non-coding RNAs. We found multiple miRNAs, including miR-146a, miR-206, and miR-155 were differentially expressed in certain breast cell lines after being challenged with B. burgdorferi. That said, only the change in miR-146a expression in MDA-MB-231 cells was determined to be statistically significant. RNA sequencing of infected and uninfected MDA-MB-231 cells also uncovered that the MIR3142 host gene, which encodes miR-146a, is differentially expressed in infected cells, further supporting our findings. miR-146a has known roles in breast cancer tumorigenesis and has also been found to be upregulated in response to B. burgdorferi infection. This study acts as a starting point for future research aimed at identifying miRNAs that may be dysregulated in B. burgdorferi-infected breast cells and evaluating whether this dysregulation may impact breast carcinogenesis and cancer progression
Volatility Spillovers and Nexus across Oil, Gold, and Stock European Markets
Get PDFThis paper utilises a trivariate VAR-BEKK-GARCH model to investigate the dynamic relationships between global oil price, gold price, and European stock markets. This paper observes weak return spillover effects from the oil market to 6 European stock markets (Netherlands, Lithuania, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, and Slovenia) and from gold to Iceland, while there is no evidence of return spillovers from stock markets to oil and gold. The non-existence of return linkages between gold and stock (oil) suggests that the gold market plays a haven role. With reference to volatility spillovers, the results show obvious asymmetric bidirectional volatility interaction between the European stock markets and the global oil/gold markets. Stronger shock and volatility contagions from the European stock market to both oil and gold markets are observed compared with the opposite direction. For the volatility nexus between oil and gold, weak and moderate evidence of shock and volatility transmission from gold to oil markets is reported. Additionally, the study documents important and effective empirical implications for portfolio management and investment hedge strategies: firstly, adding European stock markets to a diversified oil/gold portfolio can achieve the expected returns while reducing risk; and secondly, the European investors can use the gold and oil markets to hedge against their stock market portfolio