For most Americans, the words “U.S. Farm Bill” are nearly meaningless. Unlike hot-button legislation such as the PATRIOT and Defense of Marriage Acts, the citizens of the world’s largest agricultural exporter have never been collectively convinced that this obscure, now 600-odd page law is relevant to their lives. Read More…
Sea surface temperature (SST) is one of the most important and fundamental components of Earth’s climate. Tropical SST determines the location of the Intertropical Convergence Zone where the northeast and southeast trade winds meet, and influences global moisture content, the strength of monsoons, and precipitation in the tropics. Read More…
Sociosexual orientation serves as a measure of how restricted or permissive individuals are in their sexual attitudes, behaviors, and desires. Researchers have explored how both sociosexual orientation and sensation seeking affect interpersonal attraction, but no previous research has explored these variables and their effects together. Read More…
Lots of research has been conducted on Australia’s late glacial (30,000-20,000 years ago), deglacial (20,000-10,000 years ago), and Holocene (the last 10,000 years) climate; however, few climate reconstructions exist for northwestern Australia due to a lack of data. Drivers of climate variability over these time periods are important to understand because local climate adjusts to climate forcing with different identities and scales. Read More…
In this investigation, we used computational chemistry to compare two previous research reports based on the capture of carbon dioxide. Each report used a different theoretical model: Hartree-Fock (HF) theory in one case and density functional theory (DFT) in the other. Read More…
(Presented in Spanish)
In Federico García Lorca’s La casa de Bernarda Alba, a group of young women struggle under the repression of their mother. This play examines the traditional role of women in Spain during the twentieth century through the conflict of the weight of repression and the desire for freedom. Read More…
Certain systems of molecules react when exposed to UV light via photodimerization―a process in which two molecules form chemical bonds to become one single unit. Trans-1, 2-Bis (4-Pyridyl) Ethylene (BPE) is one such molecule which exhibits a 2+2 photodimerization when co-crystallized with an appropriate molecule, otherwise known as a template. Read More…
The Catalina Schist crops out on Santa Catalina Island and underlies the southwestern California borderland, preserving a Cretaceous subduction zone environment. The Catalina Schist consists of amphibolite-facies rocks atop a suite of rocks metamorphosed at progressively lower temperatures with increasing depth. Read More…
In Paradise Lost the reader is told the story of humankind’s fall from grace. Throughout the poem the reader is constantly reminded that he or she has fallen and sinned. Yet it is not just these written reminders that tell us our distance from God. Read More…
The purpose of the present study was to examine psychophysiological reactions to state self-objectification and clothing-related distress as a function of gender. We examined negative affect, positive affect, guilt, and heart rate (HR) at 6-second and 5-minute recording intervals across baseline, non-clothing control, swimsuit (high objectification), tracksuit (low objectification), and cologne conditions in a sample of men (n=55) and women (n=57). Read More…
ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that involves the selective progressive death of motor neurons. The majority of ALS cases are sporadic with an unknown cause, but about 10-20% of the cases are familial ALS (fALS) which are caused by genetic mutations that appear to be inherited. Read More…
(Presented in Spanish)
Federico García Lorca was a writer and poet in Spain during the early 1900s. The last play Lorca wrote was “La Casa de Bernarda Alba” or “The House of Bernarda Alba”, which tells the story of Bernarda Alba and her strict control over her five daughters. Read More…
The 2011-2012 Cornell Fact Book states that in 2011, the first-year retention rate was 79%. That is, 79% of the entering cohort in 2010 remained at Cornell for their second year. Read More…
Paleoclimate records from Indonesia and the West Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) reveal that changes in global and regional climate have altered the intensity and location of Indonesian-Australian Summer Monsoon (IASM) precipitation over glacial/interglacial cycles (Magee & Miller, 2004; Griffiths et al., 2009; Mohtadi et al., 2011). Read More…
Throughout its history, the United States has been involved in many counterinsurgencies, especially since the end of the Second World War. One such conflict was the Hukbalahap Rebellion in the Philippines from 1950 to 1954. Read More…
Wagner’s work Parsifal is closely linked to antiquity and the epic tradition in its ambition and vision. While it is well-known that his Der Ring des Nibelungen was inspired in numerous ways by Aeschylus’ Oresteia, I contend that Wagner’s Parsifal has important connections with Homer, especially The Odyssey.
Jessika Castillo-Rivera, ’14
Munster, IN
Majors: Classical Studies, History
Sponsor: James Martin
This presentation will illustrate the policies and practices that have affected children with limited English-speaking abilities in U.S. classrooms in general and Iowa schools in particular. In 2005 immigrants from non-English speaking countries made up 12.4 percent of the total United States population and that number is only growing (U.S Census Bureau, 2010). Read More…
Corsets have been an integral part of women’s fashion for many centuries, and as the fashions have changed, the shape and construction of the corset has also changed. Aside from providing support and sometimes completely altering a woman’s body, the corset is one of the most fashionable and decorative undergarments. Read More…
Nucleotide-binding domain leucine-rich-repeat-containing receptor 10 (Nlrp10) is an innate immune receptor. It belongs to a family of cytosolic receptors involved in the production and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines as well as cell migration. Read More…
The forces of globalization have created a growing interdependence of the world’s economies. This trend is accompanied by an increase in interaction between states that are highly diverse in terms of geographic and demographic dimensions. Read More…
The last two decades have seen a drastic rise in the prevalence of so-called “third-wave therapies.” These new psychological therapies build on and/or reject entrenched therapies, in particular Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy (CBT), the most common psychological therapy today. Of these “third-wave therapies,” the one that has received the most attention is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Read More…
Film narratives are notoriously homogenous. Antagonists are good guys, protagonists are bad guys. However, sometimes these roles are challenged. The film Ran (1985) by legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa is a film that challenges these roles. Read More…
In the past five years, Iowa has experienced weather extremes with records or near-records set for spring flooding in 2008, summer rainfall in 2010 and drought in 2012. To determine whether these weather events affected growth or body condition in ornate box turtles (Terrapene ornate ornata), we analyzed the changes in shell morphology and mass/volume ratio during their active season of May to August of 2005-2006 and 2008-2012. Read More…
The Middle Ages span from the seventh to the fifteenth century and remains infamous as one of the most exciting and bloodthirsty periods in European history. Stories of torture and executions have peppered this time and flavored it with a reputation for the barbaric. Read More…
IOWATER is a volunteer water quality monitoring program for Iowa, created as a cooperative effort with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The program’s goal is to use the efforts of volunteers to help identify problematic sites on rivers and other bodies of water, which could pose risks to the environment and human health. Read More…
The ornate box turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata, is threatened in Iowa, as the species’ prairie habitat has mostly been converted into agricultural land, reducing and fragmenting natural habitat and increasing contact with motor vehicles, farm implements, and mesopredators. Our project strives to understand the ecology and natural history of T. ornata in Iowa for conservation purposes. Read More…
Queen conch, Strombas gigas, is a large marine gastropod, indigenous to the The Bahamas and wider Caribbean. Queen conch populations support a substantial commercial fishery throughout the Caribbean region; however, populations have been severely depleted due to high human consumption demands. Read More…
Global environmental change poses several risks, including the possibility of increased frequency and strength of severe weather events. Though extreme weather events are difficult to define precisely, they include, but are not restricted to, tropical cyclones (a.k.a. hurricanes and typhoons) and particularly intense rainfall episodes within summer monsoons. Read More…
This essay focuses on the film Ran and its connections with the Jidaigeki genre of Japanese film. Ran is most commonly known in the West as an adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, but this does not do the highly noteworthy film justice. In addition to its Shakespearean influences, Ran also possesses a unique connection to the Jidaigeki genre. Read More…
Political propaganda in the age of Napoleon Bonapart has long been of interest to historians; however, the investigation largely has been limited in scope to the two dimensional works of art commissioned by this notorious figure. In this discussion, I will extend the examination to include some of the critical architectural works built and commissioned by Napoleon, particularly those lining the Champs Elyseés. Read More…
Throughout the Roman Empire, victorious Roman armies marched along the Triumphal Way in celebration, passing important monuments, like the triumphal arches specifically dedicated to victory. The arches were, however, much more than symbols of victory. Read More…
Whereas most prominent scholars, such as Fabio Benzi, Paolo D’Ancona, and Julian Kliemann have indicated that the decorations of Rome’s Villa Farnesina were painted in honor of banker Agostino Chigi’s passionate love for his wife and in celebration of their wedding, I will prove otherwise. By looking in depth at the frescoes decorating two rooms, the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche and the Hall of the Perspective Views, we may find a new interpretation or explanation for the subject matter that links the two spaces and celebrates the rising social status of the banker instead of matrimonial bliss. Read More…
This study looks at the economic disincentive for states to switch to the proportional electoral voting system. Every four years during the presidential campaign, both campaigns spend a considerable amount of money in the battleground states. Switching from “winner takes all” voting system to “proportionality voting” will lead to economic consequences. Read More…
This paper considers an economic mechanism that explains “Your Friends Make You Fat” – the contagious phenomenon of obesity first addressed by sociology and medical scholars (Christakis and Fowler, 2007). Consumers choose between slow food and fast food. Eating the same food with friends has social values, thus lifting fast food’s value, in addition to its merit of convenience. Read More…
The diplomat and painter Rubens identified with the allegorical figure Hermathena, a figure formed from a synthesis of Hermes and Athena. Sculptures of the two Greco-Roman gods stood above the tripartite entryway to his home in Antwerp and their prominent locations call for a cohesive explanation. Read More…
As the capstone to my B.S.S. in Theatre, Religion, and Performance Studies, I directed and set designed my own adaptation of Euripides’ Medea. The production was intended to synthesize the three components of my degree into a tangible piece of art. Read More…
Online voting offers many potential benefits over the current voting system used for U.S. elections. It can be easier, cheaper, and even more secure. However, it also comes with numerous risks that must be overcome. Read More…
The Real Food Challenge, a non-profit organization, posits that the current food system is broken and that college/university food spending can help to fix this system by shifting buying toward “Real Food.” How could a shift to Real Food be beneficial to Cornell students as well as the broader community? Read More…
Although the aims of U.S. foreign policy towards North Korea have developed over time, the economic policies enacted to pursue those aims have remained stagnant since the Korean War in 1950. This project examines the elements that have contributed to the failure of economic sanctions to curb North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Read More…
In this study, the researchers analyzed the age preferences of approximately 480 heterosexual Match.com members. It was predicted that males would seek females who were younger than themselves and females would seek males who were older than themselves. Read More…
One of Richard Wagner’s greatest and most controversial characters is that of Kundry from his final opera, Parsifal. He gives her great psychological depth and, therefore, complex narrative and symbolic power through her own actions as well as through the way other characters talk about her. Read More…
Mitochondria are organelles that are the major source of ATP in aerobic metabolism in a cell. Mitochondria undergo processes of fusion and fission. A-Kinase Anchoring Protein 1 (AKAP1) is a mitochondrial protein that targets Protein Kinase A (PKA) to the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM). Read More…
The classical Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process for conversion of syngas to hydrocarbons calls for the use of a metal catalyst combined with a support. Development of a robust alkane dehydrogenation catalyst is highly desirable for the potential to upgrade the FT product stream, leading to more efficient production of transportation fuels. Read More…
Despite the Indian government’s clear efforts to move towards gender equality, the actual status and lived experiences of men and women are far from equal. Two particular manifestations of this inequality are the divided and hierarchical labor roles that Indian men and women assume, as well as the unequal property rights afforded to men and women. Read More…
Within the Spanish-speaking world, Alfonsina Storni (1892-1938) is easily recognized as an important modernist poet from Argentina. Why is it, then, that good English translations of Storni’s works are so hard to find? I assert that it is because readers have been, to date, more interested in her illustrious life than in her poems—Storni is so often reduced to the mythos surrounding her death. Read More…
Postpartum breast cancer is defined as breast cancer diagnosed within 5-10 years of a recent pregnancy. Mammary gland involution, or the regression of the gland to its pre-pregnant form after pregnancy/lactation, is a major physiological change within the breast that may account for increased breast cancer risk postpartum. Read More…
In India’s northwestern state of Rajasthan, poverty is present in 62.8% of the population according to the multidimensional poverty rate. However, the rate of poverty in India has been gradually decreasing, meaning that certain households are leaving poverty and becoming middle-class. Read More…
It is well-known that Algeria, despite its elections and constitution, is not a democratic country. The Economist Intelligence Unit has given Algeria a rank of 3.44 out of 10 in their 2011 Democracy Index. This ranking categorizes Algeria as an authoritarian country. Read More…
For the heart to contract properly, every heart cell must be triggered to contract by a transient increase in the intracellular concentration of calcium ions (Ca2+). This transient increase in Ca2+ is known as a “calcium signal”, and this signal is altered in essentially every cardiac disease. Read More…
As a summer Cornell Fellow at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, I synthesized a calcium indicator whose electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum changes as a function of changes in calcium ion (Ca2+) concentration. Such an indicator would enable us to visualize Ca2+ signaling in living tissue (e.g., the heart) in an animal by EPR imaging. I returned to Maryland during Block 4 to complete my work with the indicator. Read More…