The Effect of FDI on Child Labor

This paper examines the extent to which foreign direct investment (FDI) affects child labor. Using 1995 data for 145 countries, we find that, contrary to common fears, FDI is negatively correlated with child labor. This effect, however, disappears when controlling for per capita income. After doing so, we find no robust effect of either FDI or international trade on child labor. This result is robust to corrections for the endogeneity of FDI, trade, and income. Furthermore, this result is confirmed when using data from earlier years and when using fixed effects. This suggests that the impact of FDI and trade on child labor, if any, is the increases in income they generate.Child Labor, Foreign Direct Investment, International Trade

Strict Photo ID, Voter Turnout, and Race

Everett Dirksen, the senator who introduced the Voting Rights Act, once said: the right of a free citizen to vote is somehow a battle that is never quite fully won in any time or generation. So far, he seems to have been right. In recent years, a push across many states to enact stricter voter identification laws has received widespread attention. This issue and its ramifications are often discussed in the media, but without much empirical evidence. In 2007, Alvarez, Bailey and Katz assembled a working paper titled The Effect of Voter Identification Laws on Turnout, which was recently referenced in the federal case between Texas and the Justice Department over whether the state\u27s new voter ID law was in violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. This paper, the only piece of social science evidence the Judges gave significant consideration to in the Texas case, is the basis for mine. I use a similar methodology, but update my data to include survey results from the 2008 and 2010 elections, and focus only on strict photo ID laws rather than every category of voter identification. The results are astounding: a state enacting a strict photo ID voting requirement is associated with a white citizen being 7% less likely to vote, and a Hispanic citizen being 27% less likely to vote. I believe this disparate effect across both ethnicity and language group shows that strict photo ID laws are in effect in violation of the Voting Rights Act

The Locked Gates to Tension City: The Commission on Presidential Debates, the FEC, and the Two-Party System

Since John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon walked into a Chicago television studio for the first general election presidential debate in 1960, candidate debates have been a fundamental aspect of presidential campaigns and have had broader effects on society at large. The Commission on Presidential Debates (“CPD”) has been in charge of organizing the general election debates since it was created in 1987 by the Democratic and Republican parties. In its tenure, the CPD has restricted its massive platform almost every election to the Republican and Democratic candidates through the use of criteria that seemingly follow the law’s requirement of being pre-established and objective. But the CPD’s criteria is neither truly objective nor nonpartisan; it is effectively bipartisan. By ignoring and dismissing complaints about the CPD’s exclusion of third-party and independent presidential candidates, the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”), which is itself based on a bipartisan structure, reinforces the power of the partisan duopoly in American presidential elections. There is a strong argument that the FEC should hold the CPD to the legal requirement of non-partisan access to is debates. The spirit of the law points in this direction. But in this, the law is wrong. Rather than commit to the pretense of entirely open access in the elections, the FEC should revise its regulations to reflect the reality: American politics is run through a two-party system

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationFalls are one of the most disabling features of aging and are increasingly common in persons with balance-impairments such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Falls can cause physical injuries such as fractures and/or head injuries leading to functional incapacity, increased risk of nursing home admission, and higher mortality rate. Acute muscle fatigue has been shown to exacerbate fall-correlated end-points such as postural control in healthy young and elderly individuals. The majority of studies investigating these effects, however, have focused on static stance postural control, or tasks that fail to incorporate more functional movements such as those requiring components of anticipatory and reactive postural control. The purpose of this study was to document the effects of acute lower extremity muscle fatigue on anticipatory and reactive postural control in persons with PD and to compare those results to the impact of fatigue on healthy elderly and young populations. Additionally, this investigation sought to gain insight into the chronology for postural control recovery following acute muscle fatigue. This dissertation has yielded a background on acute muscle fatigue, followed by a systematic review of the evidence on the effects of muscle fatigue on anticipatory and reactive postural control in healthy older individuals. The focus of the paper then shifts to components of an experimentally designed cohort study examining the effects of acute muscle fatigue on a centrally initiated movement task and a peripherally directed lean-induced fall in persons with PD and neurologically healthy adults. Results indicated that both anticipatory and reactive postural control are altered following acute muscle fatiguing exercise in neurologically healthy young and older adults. Amelioration of fatigue effects is extended beyond 30 minutes for most measures. Recovery occurs more readily for reactive postural control than anticipatory postural control. No statistically significant results were found from fatigue effects on postural control in the full cohort of persons with PD. However, a supplementary analysis revealed that postural control is altered in persons with PD who exercised beyond a minimal threshold of energy expenditure. More research is needed with larger sample sizes and improved construct validity for muscle fatigue in this cohort. The results of this study should serve to heighten awareness regarding the potential negative effects of acute muscle fatigue, including the possibility of falls in clinical and community based exercise settings for older adults at risk for falls

Neoliberal Reform and Cartel Ascendancy in Rural Mexico: Case Studies of Michoacán and the Zapatista-Controlled Zones of Chiapas (2017)

Mexico’s economy began a process of economic liberalization in the 1980s that continued through the 90s, highlighted by the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). These neoliberal policies have contributed to the further marginalization of Mexico’s rural communities by making them dependent on foreign markets and placing their livelihood and wellbeing in the hands of foreign investors who favor deregulation, privatization, proletarian disunity, and low wages. The narcoeconomy represents to many members of these marginalized rural communities an alternative, and often more attainable, model of success. Michoacán has been hit heavily by neoliberal reforms and has concurrently seen an increase in cartel activity, whereas Chiapas, a region marked by its resistance to neoliberal incursion, has proven resistant to cartel influence. This corollary relationship is examined within the greater context of Mexico’s post-1980s economic liberalization

A Wire Position Monitor System for the 1.3 GHZ Tesla-Style Cryomodule at the Fermilab New-Muon-Lab Accelerator

The first cryomodule for the beam test facility at the Fermilab New-Muon-Lab building is currently under RF commissioning. Among other diagnostics systems, the transverse position of the helium gas return pipe with the connected 1.3 GHz SRF accelerating cavities is measured along the ~15 m long module using a stretched-wire position monitoring system. An overview of the wire position monitor system technology is given, along with preliminary results taken at the initial module cool down, and during further testing. As the measurement system offers a high resolution, we also discuss options for use as a vibration detector.Comment: 4 pp. 15th International Conference on RF Superconductivity (SRF2011). 25-29 Jul 2011. Chicago, Illinois, US

Epigenetic Biomarkers and Their Therapeutic Applications in Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most aggressive cancers worldwide and is known to develop through a stepwise process involving the accumulation of several genetic and epigenetic alterations. Furthermore, numerous studies have highlighted the significant role that certain epigenetic enzymes play in CRC pathogenesis, particularly those that govern chromatin components in the promoter regions of tumor suppressors and oncogenes. Here, we delineate the relationship between CRC-associated epigenetic marks, their modifying enzymes, and the classification of CRC into distinct molecular pathways or subtypes. Moreover, we discuss some of the most prominent methyltransferases, demethylases, acetyltransferases, and deacetylases, which have been targeted for preclinical and clinical CRC treatment. Notably, inhibitors against these epigenetic enzymes are a promising new class of anticancer drugs, with several obtaining Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the treatment of blood and solid tumors. By highlighting the epigenetic molecular pathways leading to CRC development as well as providing an update on current CRC epigenetic therapies, this chapter sheds fresh insight into new and emerging avenues for future therapeutics

Ronald Dworkin’s Criticism of Pragmatism

This is an article about ROnald Dworkin.

Phosphorylation of NF-κB in Cancer

The proinflammatory transcription factor nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) has emerged as a central player in inflammatory responses and tumor development since its discovery three decades ago. In general, aberrant NF-κB activity plays a critical role in tumorigenesis and acquired resistance to chemotherapy. This aberrant NF-κB activity frequently involves several post-translational modifications of NF-κB, including phosphorylation. In this chapter, we will specifically cover the phosphorylation sites reported on the p65 subunit of NF-κB and their relationship to cancer. Importantly, phosphorylation is catalyzed by different kinases using adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as the phosphorus donor. These kinases are frequently hyperactive in cancers and thus may serve as potential therapeutic targets to treat different cancers