It has been 30 years since research has tried to determine how adults decide if an infant is male or female (Seavey et al., 1975; Sidorowicz & Lunney, 1980), with research at that time indicating that participants tended to label infants as male. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether adults today can identify infant gender above chance, and what tools adults use to assign gender labels to babies. I hypothesize that females, social science majors, students who frequently interact with children, and students who are very confident will all assign gender labels more accurately than their counterparts. I showed a video to University students featuring five sets of parents playing with their infants. The video featuring three male and two female babies was edited to remove any gender identifying information. Students were asked to guess whether each of the infants was male or female, and to explain how they came to that conclusion. One sample t-tests revealed that students overall were able to correctly identify infant gender significantly more than what would be expected due to chance for 4 out of 5 infants. The results did not support my hypothesis that social science majors or people who frequently interact with children are better at assigning gender labels. This study did find a significant correlation between confidence and accuracy. When asked to explain how participants assigned infant gender labels, I found a significant correlation between infant physical movement and correct students labeling the infant as male. There was also a significant relationship between parental voice being and participants labeling infants as female whether the infant was actually female or not. Unlike research from the late 1970's and early 1980's, college students today can accurately assign gender labels to infants. This suggests that either the conceptualization of gender in the U.S. culture has changed enough since previous research over 3 decades ago, that there is something about parent-baby play that helps people correctly identify infant gender, or both.

Identifying associations between genotypes and gene expression levels using next-generation technology has enabled systematic interrogation of regulatory variation underlying complex phenotypes. Understanding the source of expression variation has important implications for disease susceptibility, phenotypic diversity, and adaptation (Main, 2009). Interest in the existence of allele-specific expression in autosomal genes evolved with the increased awareness of the important role that variation in non-coding DNA sequences can play in determining phenotypic diversity, and the essential role parent-of-origin expression has in early development (Knight, 2004). As new implications of high-throughput sequencing are conceived, it is becoming increasingly important to develop statistical methods tailored to large and formidably complex data sets in order to maximize the biological insights derived from next-generation sequencing experiments. Here, a Bayesian hierarchical probability model based on the beta-binomial distribution is proposed as a possible approach for quantifying allele-specific expression from whole genome (WGS) and whole transcriptome (RNA-seq) data. Pipeline for the analysis of WGS and RNA-seq data sets from ten samples was developed and implemented, while allele-specific expression (ASE) was quantified from both haplotypes using individuals heterozygous at the tested variants utilizing the described methodology. Both computational and statistical framework applied accurately quantified ASE, achieving high reproducibility of already described allele-specific genes in the literature. In conclusion, described methodology provides a solid starting point for quantifying allele specific expression across whole genomes.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBMs) is the most prevalent brain tumor type and causes approximately 40% of all non-metastic primary tumors in adult patients [1]. GBMs are malignant, grade-4 brain tumors, the most aggressive classication as established by the World Health Organization and are marked by their low survival rate; the median survival time is only twelve months from initial diagnosis: Patients who live more than three years are considered long-term survivors [2]. GBMs are highly invasive and their diffusive growth pattern makes it impossible to remove the tumors by surgery alone [3]. The purpose of this paper is to use individual patient data to parameterize a model of GBMs that allows for data on tumor growth and development to be captured on a clinically relevant time scale. Such an endeavor is the rst step to a clinically applicable predictions of GBMs. Previous research has yielded models that adequately represent the development of GBMs, but they have not attempted to follow specic patient cases through the entire tumor process. Using the model utilized by Kostelich et al. [4], I will attempt to redress this deciency. In doing so, I will improve upon a family of models that can be used to approximate the time of development and/or structure evolution in GBMs. The eventual goal is to incorporate Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data into a parameterized model of GBMs in such a way that it can be used clinically to predict tumor growth and behavior. Furthermore, I hope to come to a denitive conclusion as to the accuracy of the Koteslich et al. model throughout the development of GBMs tumors.

Civil society, when taken as a whole, is a complex phenomenon that incorporates several movements and can be accompanied with international support. For instance in 1987, 40 NGOs (non-governmental organizations) were registered by the government, and within 25 years, the number has increased to 300,000 in the present day Russian Federation. These numbers only include registered organizations, and do not count unregistered organizations, as approved under article 3 "Public organizations...can function without state registration and acquiring of the rights of registered legal body," or organizations that have been refused registration, such as the "Marriage Equality Russia" NGO that was denied registration in 2010. Thus the total amount of NGOs is significantly higher than 300,000. Every one of these NGOs "contribute to Russia‘s economic, political and social life in numerous ways and provide opportunities for citizens to help create better communities and elevate their voices" ("USAID in Russia"). With hundreds of thousands of organizations attempting to make a better society, they are creating a Russian civil society, one that could use the experience of countries with already well-established civil societies (Walzer). Walzer, however, notes the importance for civil society of political engagement with the state (317). In this thesis, I argue that the LGBT movement in Russia today has set an important example for other groups in civil society through its willingness to take on the Russian state through demonstrations and to use the state through the EU Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The deficiency of American primary and secondary schools as compared to schools worldwide has long been documented. The Teaching Gap highlights exactly where our problems might lie, and lays out a plan for how to deal with it. Progress would be slow, but tangible. Our country, however, seems to prefer vast and immediate overhauls that have historically failed (see: New math, etc.). If we had implemented the changes in The Teaching Gap in the decade in which it was written, we would be seeing results by now. Instead, every change we make gets reverted. The Common Core State Standards will prove over the next few years to be either another one of these attempts or a large step in the right direction. It might finally be the latter, as its creation was informed by practices that work best in every state in the US, as well as high- performing countries around the world.

The impact of musical theatre in the United States calls attention to its role in our cultural heritage. Art in all its forms has always been considered to be something of an ongoing history of a society's culture. Musical theatre has been very successful in synthesizing several different aspects of American culture and establishing historical markers in areas of music, drama, social issues, and even technology. The plethora of issues challenged by pieces of music theatre has created a large canon of works that contribute greatly to our culture, both artistically and socially. These works are the result of many centuries of artistic performance and the evolution that these works have gone through over time. Tracing back through vaudeville, Follies, and into the works of European opera: musical theatre has a rich and extensive background in production styles that still inform its presentation today. These styles allow for a dynamic presentation of the ideas and issues that music theatre wishes to address and challenge. When the production style and content of musical works are drawn from these past sources, the oral traditions and storytelling aspects of these works gain renewed prominence. Music theatre as a new frontier of literary study warrants further investigation into its literary merit.

Religion and the belief in supernatural agents have been assumed to play an important role in encouraging prosocial behavior. However, different studies conducted have shown a complex relation between religion and prosociality. For example, Darley & Batson (1973) found that religious people do not always help strangers. In the present study, Christian participants were primed with benevolent commandments attributed to either the Bible or past historical figures or secular, non-benevolent quotes (control). I then measured their willingness to help pick up envelopes dropped by either a Muslim (wearing a hijab) or non-Muslim confederate woman. The results show that subjects primed with Bible or presidential quotes about benevolence were more likely to be helpful to the Muslim confederate than those in the control group. Differences between the Bible and presidential condition were not significant. I conclude that an authority, whether it be a president or God, promoting benevolence can increase prosocial behaviors toward out-group members.

The aim of this thesis was to explore whether major life changes can have a visual, perceptible impact on facial changes. The proposed mediation model suggested that changes in personality serve as a mediating factor between life experiences and facial changes throughout the lifetime. The proposed model was tested by examining (1) perceived personality changes, (2) perceived physical changes, and (3) major life changes in photos of individuals' old-aged faces compared to their respective younger faces. Participants in the current study viewed old and young photos of 29 Miss America pageant winners and rated how much each older face changed from its respective younger face on the following criteria: age change, overall change, personality change, and physical change. Responses were aggregated across participants for each target, and personality and physical items were separately composited into single measures of overall perceived personality change and overall perceived physical change. Results did not support the proposed model; however, some marginally significant correlations were found between the number of times the targets experienced a change in marital status and the appearance of being calm, feminine, and less changed in older age. However, these correlations were in the reverse direction from what was expected; further research is needed to understand how marital changes influence, and are influenced by, personality and physical changes. As a form of face perception, the processes underlying the proposed model are discussed in terms of possible social consequences. Further research is needed to explore whether changes in life events, such as the ones presented here, are related to specific facets of personality and physical changes, and how these perceptions translate to important social outcomes. Suggestions for future research pertaining to these issues are discussed.

Walt Disney dove into his first theme park project in 1955 with Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California in order to have a safe, clean place he could enjoy with his daughters. However, he knew to make his park a success, he would need to do so without sacrificing the elements of storytelling that made him famous. What sets Disneyland apart from other theme parks such as Six Flags Magic Mountain or nearby Knott‟s Berry Farm is an intense attention to detail for storytelling and the creative integration of the most innovative, immersive interactions possible for the guests. The key to the overall company‟s success is storytelling, therefore the key to Walt Disney Parks and Resorts lies in their dedication to providing the best overall experience for their guests by immersing them into a story they can easily engage in. The Walt Disney Company has, in recent years, made extra efforts to make the experience of the guests more interactive (Malmberg 144). The demand for this type of interactive experience has increased since such media forms as contemporary commercialized video games became popular to the mainstream, acclimating audiences to more engaging experiences. Park visitors now desire the freedom to move within a certain setting in order to create their own story and to have forms of control over their interactions with the environment.

This project aims to provide a contextualized history of the Sky Harbor Neighborhood Association‟s community collective action efforts. The Sky Harbor Neighborhood (SHN) of East Phoenix is bounded on the West by 24th St., on the East by 32nd St., on the North by Roosevelt St., and the South by Washington Street. SHN is a majority Latino, low-income, working class community (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010) that faces a variety of challenges including low walkability due to inadequate pedestrian infrastructure, low tree coverage, and crime. East Van Buren St., which has a reputation for being one of Phoenix‟s red-light districts, splits the neighborhood in two. In addition, the SHN lacks some key amenities such as grocery stores and is partly considered a food desert by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA Economic Research Service, 2012).