Library Research Prize

Many international ethical dilemmas seek to protect human rights, while respecting cultures and traditions. The issue of female genital mutilation (FGM) is no different. FGM is practiced through much of Northern Africa, and parts of the Middle East, and is a deeply entrenched cultural tradition. However, this cultural tradition is not present within certain religious, ethnic, class, or racial lines; rather, the practice spans all sorts of demographic divisions. This creates a uniquely difficult problem to solve, as the origin of FGM is not easily identifiable.

In the past century, the world has seen the economies and institutions of some major oil-exporting countries falter and fail because of an increasing reliance on oil revenues to run the nation. This inverse relationship between dependence on natural resource exports and the economic growth rate of a region is known by many names, including the paradox of plenty, the "devil's excrement," and the resource curse. Though its impacts can be devastating on the economies and livelihoods of oil-exporting nations, the resource curse does not affect every single oil producing country in the world.

Gene therapy is a major area of current and potential medical treatment and has exploded into recent technological advances. Serving as the basis for many technological start-up companies as well as an increasingly dependable treatment method for major illnesses like cancer, gene therapy is fast evolving and multidimensional. With that evolution comes a considerable amount of controversy centered mostly on the safety and ethical concerns about research including germline gene therapy and embryonic stem cell use, health risks in clinical studies, and vector delivery methods.

Despite overall survival rates of in the high 80s and 90s, current treatments for Hodgkin's lymphoma are not yet optimized (Ansell, 2012). High incidence of relapse, secondary malignancies, and long-term toxicity threatens survivors of this disease, especially in the young population. In this study an analysis of current and emerging treatments for various subtypes of Hodgkin's lymphoma was conducted, including potential side effects and controversies among health care professionals regarding standard of care.

Tajikistan is one of the most impoverished countries in the world today, with low rates of human development as well as inadequate social services. The state currently faces several development challenges, beginning with inhospitable geography that severely limits the expansion of an agricultural sector and prevents the development of adequate transportation capabilities. Tajikistan has a legacy of colonialism that was characterized by repression and stagnation, and ultimately assisted the development of poor institutions that continue to plague Tajikistan's governance today.

Modern geneticists have made great strides in identifying the genetic factors underlying nutritional disorders. In the context of the nutritional disorders that affect Native American groups, this paper explores the potential of archaeogenetics in identifying the extent to which these genetic markers are preserved in ancient DNA and the subsequent information that they can provide regarding the etiologies and dispersal patterns of such disorders.

For more than 150 years, the Central Park Zoo has been a dynamic institution which has become ingrained into the fabric of New York City's social, economic, and cultural life. For many of its visitors, it has provided a respite from the tumultuous urban life which has surrounded Central Park since 1858. Rather than an institution which has remained isolated from the surround city, however, the Central Park Zoo has, since the late 1850s, reflected the various influences and movements shaping greater New York City.

As a developing nation, Peru is plagued by its persistent and sizeable informal economy, which is linked with high levels of poverty, decreased economic growth, income inequality, and poor employment conditions. This article analyzes the key drivers of informal activities in Peru, suggests ways to reduce the size of the informal economy, and examines the impact this may have on future economic growth.

In the modern era, rule of the Caspian Sea has mainly been shared between two countries, the Soviet Union and Iran. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, three newly independent states claimed territorial borders extending out into the Sea: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. These new countries sought the wealth that could raise them out of infancy from the Sea's oil and natural gas resources. Yet, these claims were not without dispute. Over the past two decades states have debated for their regime preferences and nearly come to military confrontation over disputed fields.

Advances in robotics and artificial intelligence introduce increasingly capable robots to society. Such skilled robots bring into question the importance of an object's capabilities in determining its animacy. This is particularly salient among children, who make the most mistakes in distinguishing animate and inanimate objects. It is common for children to give inanimate objects animate traits; in this way, able-bodied robots could become "animate".

The term human dignity in often used in attempts to shape public discourse. Individuals and groups whose beliefs range across the spectrum will claim that their propositions in regards to the issue are upholding human dignity while their opponents' fail to do so. Religious traditions give a certain interpretation of the term, and many fear that religious beliefs are being imposed through the common invocation of the concept. By examining religious and secular definitions of human dignity, this research paper finds that dignity is not an inescapably religious concept.

As a result of its recent financial crisis, Portugal was forced to request external financial support; and its subsequent international bailout was accompanied by an economic adjustment program, which mandated various austerity measures and structural reforms. This article reviews the origins of the financial crisis in Portugal, provides an overview of the program and its short-term impacts, and analyzes the program's benefits.

This paper seeks to present and explain the observations and the results of a set of two experiments EK1 and EK 2, which were carried out to investigate the electrokinetic behavior of two clay soil cells that were purposely contaminated by refrigeration oil and natural oil respectively. Both soil formations were made from mixtures of clay silt and sand in the ratio of 2:2:6; however EK1 cell was measured to have 19% initial oil content, while EK2 was measured to have an initial oil content of 10.5%.

Medicalization in the United States has created more consistent classification and treatment guidelines for disorders and diseases nation-wide. However, the concept may foster a tendency toward premature diagnosis. The same can be said about pharmaceuticalization and quickness to medicate. Drug innovation and administration can be integral to quality of life, but how does this relationship shift when health becomes a commodity? How can the business end of medicine and pharmacy conflict with ethical responsibilities to patients?

In research on fertility in developing countries, it is often assumed that lack of access to a method of affordable contraception is a significant determinant of high levels of fertility. As a result of this lack of access, actual family size exceeds desired family size. This study examines the relationship between fertility and contraception access in Bududa, an impoverished district in Uganda, which is experiencing rapid population growth. Quantitative data is combined with a series of intervals of women of childbearing age.

Cohesins were first identified based on their role in chromosome segregation. The products of chromosome replication must be identified from S phase until anaphase onset in mitosis to ensure high fidelity chromosome segregation. Cohesin complexes tether together sister chromatids to maintain identity over time. More recently, cohesins were found to play numerous roles in transcription regulation and other forms of DNA metabolism, including the firing of clustered DNA replication forks, insulator function, and replication fork restart.