Student-Faculty Research Projects

Globalization, Urban Planning and Cosmopolitanism in Shanghai, China (1978-2004)

Lien-Feng Wong — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 11:30:30 PST

My research topic started with an umbrella question: What is the nature of modern urban development in China, especially in the major cities, and its potentially destabilizing effects on Chinese society? The focus of my research involved the exploration of the nature of modern Chinese urban development vis-a-vis the effect of participation of businesses (namely MNCs), governments (various levels, from central to municipal), and finally the public (in China, popularly known as the common folk). This project took me to Shanghai, China in summer 2005. My methodology, admittedly unrefined, was to explore academic literature (especially primary sources in Shanghai), and to explore the urban landscape of Shanghai where I spoke with locals so as to gather a more well-rounded understanding of the situation. Through compounding and analyzing statistics, I found that the pace of urban development, guided by Chinese government and corporate collaboration, often led to the exclusion of the greater public in decision-making, thereby contributing to a growing resentment that was concealed through media censorship and control of immigration. However, this potentially destabilizing force was somewhat offset through government actions, sometimes in the form of economic relief and other times, through brute force.

Since the topic covers an extensive range of possible areas for further exploration, it was extremely difficult to obtain all the required information to fully substantiate this thesis in the time given (i.e. Summer 2005). I fully intend to use this project as a springboard for a future research in my graduate studies. Furthermore, having graduated from Pace, I am now employed and have recently been assigned to my company's office in Beijing. I am now formulating other views and perspectives that will be useful to refining my thesis. In brief, I have contemplated using the transformation of the Chinese city, from 1st to 2nd tier cities and from old neighborhoods into private, luxury residences, to symbolize the emergence of new "class boundaries" within the socialist system. To aid this analysis, I may also perform a brief exploration into the importance of land ownership across cultures.

Due to the scale of the topic I intended, and still intend, to research, I often found myself overwhelmed and obstructed by various agents, including unfamiliarity with the chinese archival and academic system and the red tape that had to be circumvented to obtain information. This was not only frustrating, but also obstructive to the progress of my research. Needless to say, there was somewhat of a learning curve involved. However, due to Dr. Joseph Lee's presence on-site in Shanghai, I received invaluable assistance and guidance through my two months in China. Furthermore, I was able to establish relations with several Shanghainese professionals, mostly through Dr. Lee's introduction. Back in New York, I also received significant assistance and guidance from Dr. Salerno. who helped me hone my ideas and refine my methods of analysis. I found his book, "Landscape of Abandonment," particularly useful and may use it to reinforce some of my theories behind the process of urban development in China. Overall, my experience with this paper reinforced my desire to continue with my graduate studies in Urban Planning. Thanks to the efforts and contributions of my faculty mentors as well as various individuals I have met through the course of this project plus the Presidential Grant Committee at Pace, I believe that I will be able to execute this undertaking successfully.

Can Gene Silencing of PNUTS Inhibit Cancer Growth

Tara Sherry — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 11:23:09 PST

In cancer, cells divide and proliferate in an uncontrolled manner. Thus, the investigation of the molecules that control cell dividison may lead to information needed to understand cancer cell development and growth. This project was designed to study the function of a protein called PNUTS which is proposed to be an activator of cell proliferation in breast cancer. We found that blocking the expression of the PNUTS protein by RNA interference stops breast cancer cells from proliferating. This may lead to the development of a new therapy to treat breast cancer.

Predictive Robot Vision

Thomas Achtemichuk — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 11:18:48 PST

Professor Benjamin and I designed and implemented a fast predictive vision system for a mobile robot, as part of a multi-year research project with two other universities: Brigham Young University and Fordham University. The vision system represents the robot's environment with a 3D gaming platform. Our system uses two Firewire cameras mounted in a pan-tilt base. I personally designed and built the pan-tilt mechanism, and wrote driver software in C to control it.The complete description of the system and its components is given online at: https//robotlab.csis.pace.edu/robotlab/wiki/Eyes which includes a short video showing the camera looking around. The development of this inexpensive vision system brings stereo color vision within the budgets of a much larger part of the research community.

The project presented many challenges and opportunities that students are not typically exposed to in Pace's computer science curriculum: programming in the C and C++ languages, fabricating and working with computer-controlled hardware, programming and using software libraries in a UNIX environment, and exploring and applying the theory and algorithms of computer vision.

C was used to write the driver for the custom pan-tilt unit, and much of the vision code was written in C++ vision libraries such as OpenCV and ERVsion. All development took place on Linux and UNIX systems and much effort was put into configuring a standardized Linux installation that would support research in the robotics lab for years to come. Though not typically a focus of computer science, the opportunity to design and build a low-cost alternative to the expensive stereo vision proudcts currently on the market was a welcome one. With a simple design and commodity parts, a stereo vision solution tailored to our needs, and the needs of other researchers was developed for a fraction of the cost of commercial solutions. During the execution of this project it was necessary to evaluate many commercial and open source computer vision libraries and determine the combination that met the requirements of the project. Systems from Intel, Evolution Robotics, Videre, VXL and others were evaluated in order to find an efficient solution that would provide the required features: image segmentation, stereo disparity, optical flow, and object recognition. The open-source, Intel OpenCV library was chosen to perform the brunt of the vision processing, and the Evolution Robotics vision package was chosen for its object recognition capabilities.

South African Democracy and Prospects for Israel/Palestine: The Role of Marketing Politics"

Rima Abdelkader — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:12:16 PST

Very few researchers have examined how states and nonstate entities market not only their political culture and recreational activities to attract buyers but more fundamentally their policies and their identities in order to bolster nationalism and political legitimacy. Thus our research problem was threefold: 1) how do political players market their agendas in the Israel-Palestinian conflict; 2) given that political players marketed their strategies in order to bring about the end of apartheid in South Africa, and that analysts draw parallels between the South African and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, are the marketing strategies similar; and 3) do current "marketing" tactics in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict foreshadow peace or conflict? As a methodological note, we consulted and used content-analysis of newspaper articles, accessed archives of South African, pro-Israeli, and pro-Palestinian activist campaigns, and we conducted open-ended interviews of involved activists and government officials. Results thus far indicate that most activists are learning from the South Aftican case and are carefully repackaging their strategies so as to promote peace and interdependence rather than encouraging divisions between religions, ethnicities, genders, etc. However, some activists market their agendas in a way that requires the marketing of the "Other" in a dehumanizing or deligitimizing way. Those particular activists have a strong pull, financially and politically, within the United States and/or draw the most media attention. As such while the prospects for peace "on the ground" and within transnational networks are strong, some in the United States and some members of the international community are actively contributing to the conflict because they have been captivated more by the conflict-based rather than intersubjective/peace-based marketing strategies. The implications are that activist groups with fewer resources or those that are less appealing to media sources must leverage funding and media in a different way in order to promote their marketing strategies. We propose that our theoretical framework might be useful in investigating the prospects for peace in other conflict zones.

Studies of the Ammonium in the Biochemistry, Metabolism, and Host Cell Interactions of Trichomonads

Yekaterina Kleydman — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 10:30:25 PDT

Under the Eugene M. Lang student/faculty research fellowship, I pursued studies in the significance of arginine and ammonium to the metabolism of trichomonads, Trichomonas foetus, a cattle strain and Trichomonas vaginalis, a human strain. Both parasites obtain energy by metabolizing arganine to ammonia in the arginine dihydrolase pathway. I demonstrated for the first time that the rate of metabolite flow through the arginine dihydrolase pathway can be determined by the measurements of ammonium ions or volatile ammonia production by cells. The specific mechanism of production ammonia remains to be determined. Our studies demonstrated that trichomonads thrive in high concentrations of ammonium that would be toxic to the tissues of their mammalian hosts.

User Identification System (UIS) Module for Personal Virtual Assistant

Oleg Yunakov — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 10:09:36 PDT

For most successful professionals, everyday business life is already extremely busy. We decided to research a solution for some of the overload fo the individual's schedule with unnecessary trivial daily tasks that do not require their own expertise. Instead of passing all the tasks that the supervisor isn't required to perform personally on to an administrative assistant so that they will have more time to concentrate on the more important things, the Personal Virtual Assistant (PVA) is an innovative, inexpensive, and reliable virtual secretary. The foundation for this project came from research previously conducted in computer vision. The system offers communication and other solutions to users. This system can be implemented in various fields. Current prototype has the basic working functionality and allows expanding it further to achieve even better results.

Plato and Xenophon on Socrates' Defense: Σωφροσυνη and Philosophy

Michal Klincewicz — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 10:59:09 PST

As a student with a dual major in Philosophy and Religious Studies and in Computer Science, Michal had a natural interest in classical languages. He took a total of four courses in Classical Greek. The third and fourth courses were devoted to a close reading, study and translation of Plato's Apology of Socrates, and Xenophon's dialogue The Defense of Socrates. The research involved an in-depth comparison of the Trials of Socrates according to Plato and Xenophon, and the researchers generated a paper that was read at the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy annual meeting at SUNY Binghampton Fall 2001. This is an extremely prestigious conference at which scholars from North America, Europe and, this year, one from Australia, meet to read their work and comment on the work of others. The presentation of the paper was extremely successful, as was the conference.

Accounting Administrators' Cost/Benefit Assessment of Their 150 Hour Program: A National Survey

Tracy L. Magann — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 14:45:25 PST

The 150-hour education requirements established by the American Institute of Certified Public Acccountants (AICPA) as the minimum qualification to take the CPA examination has been blamed as a reason for the steady decline in student enrollment in Accounting Programs nation-wide. The 150-hour requirement, in a very general way, is believed to impose additional costs on students, accounting educational institutions, and public accounting firms and their clients. In her research, Ms. Magann and Professor Lee surveyed accounting program administrators using a questionnaire containing six questions compiled to assess the costs and benefits of the 150-hour program. Whether administrators were influenced by the sheer number of other schools adopting, or likely to adopt, a 150-hour program is also examined. Responses to the project were overwhelming from hundreds of universities nationwide. There is a statistically significant, positive correlation between pre-adoption assessments and post-adoption assessments overall.

Effect of Cellular Stress on the Cancer Protein, Retinoblastoma

Vivienne Tedesco — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 14:11:46 PST

Under the Eugene M. Lang Student/Faculty research fellowship, Biology major Vivienne Tedesco and her Professor, Dr. Nancy Krucher, engaged in cancer research that focused on cell cycle controls. The cell cycle is a highly regulated process that is controlled by many different types of proteins. Related proteins that are mutated or dysfunctional can lead to uncontrolled proliferation, a hallmark of cancer cells. Their focus was the pRb, a growth suppressive protein involved with a major checkpoint in the cell cycle. pRb binds to various entities throughout the cell cycle and is modulated by a vast array of proteins.

Interaction of Copper(I) and Nickel(II) Phosphine Complexes with The Hexaborate Anion

Paul Markel — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 15:29:26 PST

Copper(I)triphenylphosphine has exhibited various modes of bonding to boron hydrides and their anions. Of interest to this study is the copper(I) derivative chemistry of the colso-hexaborate anion (B6H62), and the electronic and steric effects on the stability of this class of compounds. A general synthetic route has been developed for the synthesis of a series of copper(I)phosphine-hexaborate derivatives, which have been isolated and characterized by spectroscopic means. The preparation of these compounds and the determination of their structures will be presented. Comparison between experimental results and those expected based on electron-density calculations will be discussed.

Inhibition of Cancer Cell Growth by Activation of the PP1 Phosphatase

Eshwar Udho — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 15:11:43 PST

The research I performed with support from the Eugene M Lang Foundation was the culmination of 2 years of work in the area of cancer research performed under Dr. Krucher's supervision. We are interested in how cells divide, and how the process goes awry in the development of cancer. My focus was to elucidate the mechanism by which a "cancer gene", Rb, gets activated. Our work involved several techniques utilitized in Cell and Molecular Biology such as cell culture, western blotting, immunoprecipitation and enzyme assays. Our results were that we determined at least one function of a newly identified protein, and its role in cell division control. The work I performed serves as the basis for future work of Dr. Krucher and her students in the development of a novel way to stop cancer cells from growing. I learned an enormous amount in the research lab including cell and molecular biology techniques, experimental design, interpretation of results, and completion of a research project through oral presentation and publication. My experience at Pace allowed me to acquire the opportunity to participate in the sumer research program at Albert Einstein School of Medicine and has only strengthened my career goal of pursuing a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and/or Cell and Molecular Biology.

Spirituality and the Beat Generation

Caroline Pomietlarz — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 14:13:15 PST

The sprituality and religion of the Beat Generation, including Black Mountain School and San Francisco Poetry Renaissance authors is a vast topic. I'm not quite sure a lifetime of research could truly envelope the mystique of Gary Snyder's study of Buddhism in Japan with Joanne Kyger; Allen Ginsberg's evolution through Judaism, Hinduism, and Tibetan Buddhism; Kerouac's passion for both Christianity and Mahayana Buddhism; Diane di Prima's development from Zen to Tibetan Buddhism, with western magical practices too; and Michael McClure's relationship with both the visionary and scientific, and Zen Buddhism. The field is enormous, and sadly--or, fortunately for the young scholar--disregarded in most literary criticism and theory. The study of religion in the post-World War era, when much of America was booming financially but deprived culturally, is one of the most important influences on American poets at that time. As mentioned, little has been published on the topic of the Beat Generation's involvement with Eastern and Occult Religions. I was lucky to have found a few obscure dissertations from various mid-western colleges, and a smattering of articles published by the authors of the movement. What little there was to read on the subject left the wonderful opportunity to interview some of the surviving members of the San Francisco Poetry Renaissance and the Beat Generation. Spending time in San Francisco allowed me to speak to Michael McClure, an integral part of the famous reading at Gallery 6 where Ginsberg's Howl was first recited, and author of Scratching the Beat Surface and many volumes of poetry. Thanks to a stroke of lucky scheduling and a few pulled strings by another great mentor of mine, Robert Creely, I also was able to interview Diane di Prima, a lesser known poet, but very well established as a San Francisco Renaissance figure and political revolutionary in the 1960s. Finally, I was able to meet John Cassady, the son of the late Neal Cassady--the subject for Kerouac's Dean Moriarty in On the Road, who was able to reflect on his father's relationship with Kerouac, and his memories of Kerouac's Buddhist practice. On the East Coast, I attended the "Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!" Conference in Lowell, Massachusetts, where Kerouac was raised, in which I was able to confer with many other scholars of the Beat Generation, and speak with David Amram, a Close friend of Kerouac's in the 1950s.

Strategic Responses to Business Slowdown Due to the 9-11 Terrorist Attack

Lynn M. Liotta — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 13:41:56 PST

The purpose of this project was to analyze the business slowdown in New York City following the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. In a three-phase project we focused first, on the restaurant industry and, later, on hotels and Bed & Breakfasts. We sought to record responses to the dramatic drop in business and to identify creative approaches employed to maintain economic viability. We hope that the lessons learned in New York might help the tourism industry in other locations around the world if affected by similar dramatic circumstances.

The Russian Dreiser: A Faculty-Student Research Project on Russian Attitudes Toward an Important American Social Protest Novelist

Jeanna Engelman — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 14:25:00 PST

This faculty-student research project focuses on the literary naturalist, Theodore Dreiser (1871-1946). Author of numerous novels including An American Tragedy (1925), Dreiser remains the subject of controvery both in the United States and in the former Soviet Union, two of the many venues where he was ardently read in the years following the Russian Revolution and beyond. The student in this project - Jeanna Engelman - bring a very special perspective to this analysis of Dreiser for she first encountered Dreiser as a young girl growing up in the former USSR. Attending the Cherkassay #19 High School in the Ukraine, Jeanna studied Dreiser as a "proletarian" author. Since coming to the U.S. in 1990 and now studying at Pace University, Jeanna's project was to revisit this key American social protest writer - this time from a new perspective gained through life in the U.S., her mature reflections on life in the former Soviet Union, her understanding of family dynamics (she's a wife and mother), and her major studies in the area of speech pathology and language.

Mother-Toddler Language Interactions in Dominicans In New York City: A Comparison of Dominican and American Mothers' Input to Toddlers During Play

Erin J. Oyster — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 14:08:49 PST

Five mother-toddler dyads were videotaped in a non-structured play situation using a consistent set of unfamiliar toys provided by the examiners. Transcripts were analyzed to describe the nature of the maternal linguistic input that characterized this population. Results were compared to those of a population of five Dominican mothers previously tested in the Dominican Republic. Significant differences were found in the use of directives, demonstrations, questions, modeling, and terms of endearment.

Living the 'American Dream': Korean War Brides in Suburban New York

Amy Lee — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 09:34:23 PST

Under the supervision of Professor Joseph Lee (History, PNY), my research consisted of extensive interviews with several Korean military brides in a small Korean-American community in the premominantly white middle-class Newburgh, New York. From these interviews, conducted in the Korean language, I used five case studes to illustrate the experiences of these military brides, focusing on their association with the American military bases and prostitution in South Korea to their struggles and cultural adjustmenht in interracial marriages in the United States.

The main argument is that these Korean military brides came from diverse social backgrounds and chose to associate with the U.S. military camptowns and marry American servicemen for very complex reasons. What these women have in common is that they had employed marriage as a survival strategy in poverty-stricken Korea. Upon their arrival in the United States, these women sought to assimilate into mainstream society and fulfill the expected roles as housewives and mothers within an American middle-class family. Place in the wider contexts of Korean-U.S. relations, their stories provide us with a unique lens through which to explore the complexities of social, cultural and economic interactions between Korea and the United states in the late twentieth century.

Sketching the Elephant – Using IRS Data to Investigate the Sensitivity of Nonprofit Organizations’ Donors to Efficiency Ratios

Kamini Mankaney — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 14:50:19 PST

The problem that we were trying to research was the effect on donations to non-profit organizations of certain reported financial information. Specifically, we examined the ratio of the administrative expenses to total expenses. I spent about a quarter of the time on background research of prior literature on the world of non-profit accounting, and the other three-fourths of my time was empirical work using statistical software to analyze large databases of regulatory reports. We identified two different prior studies on the impact of administrative ratios on donations. The two prior studies came to different conclusions. By replicating the studies on three different large data sets, and testing a variety of empirical models and sample specifications, we tried to reconcile the findings of these prior studies, and identify the possible reasons for their differing conclusions. We found that the relation between administrative ratios and donations is partially dependent upon certain characteristics of the organization. We also found that certain features of the empirical models affect the ability of researchers to detect the relation. The findings will be of interest to non-profit administrators and to future researchers in the field.

The Structural Change in the U.S. Banking Industry

Andrey Androshchuk — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 14:39:45 PST

Our research set out to explore the changing structural conditions in the U.S. commercial banking industry. We studied and documented the changing number of banking institutions as well as the changing amounts of capital resources at their disposal. This is a significant area of study because of the dynamic changes taking place in the banking industry. Evaluating these changes can serve as the basis for evaluating future banking developments and the possible impact on society. We obtained our research materials by navigating through publicly available online resources as well as published texts and academic papers. Our research showed that the banking industry is rapidly consolidating due to changes in legislation. This means that the number of banks is shrinking while the amount of capital resources they control is increasing. Whether this is a good or a bad trend is uncertain. The impact of consolidation on the overall economy and society is an important topic that deserves further study.

From Racial Contract to Social Contract: A Comparative Study of Post-Jim Crow America and Post-Apartheid South Africa

Ethan Phillips — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 09:27:32 PST

Our objectives were to investigate and decipher similarities and differences between Jim Crowe segregation found in the Southern United States and Apartheid South Africa. While assessing the cultural, political, and institutional ramifications of ascribed racial classifications and racial separation, both Dr. Christopher Malone and I visited post-Apartheid South Africa during our studies. I attended the University of Stellenbosch for a nine-month exchange period. Dr. Malone visited the nation during a classroom exchange through a global service course. These first-hand experiences in South Africa gave us a better understanding of South African society both from a historical and present-day perspective. Our inquiry not only provided us with a better understanding of a racist and power-driven society, but also brought to light the corruption of political gerrymandering and the despicable aspects of discrimination and disfranchisement. The comparative study we conducted has benefited me greatly as I plan to study racial relations and other variables that influence the electoral and democratic process. I thank the committee and Dr. Malone for allowing me to conduct this research and for allowing me to travel to such an amazing continent.

Preparation and Investigation of Antimicrobial Alginate Wound Dressings

Jasmine Escalera — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 15:28:23 PST

In our everyday lives we come into intimate contact with surfaces covered with bacteria (i.e. doorknobs, desktops, children’s toys, etc.). Attachment of a polycationic species with proven bacteriocidal activity onto the target surface may render it antiseptic and therefore unable to transmit bacterial infections. Prior endeavors in our laboratory have been directed toward the preparation of antibacterial/antifungal porous surfaces (i.e. cotton cloth, wood, cork, silk and wool). These have resulted in the discovery and development of a general methodology for the synthesis of porous carbohydrate and protein-based surfaces that exhibit antibacterial and antifungal characteristics which are permanent (i.e. are not removed from the surface by physical means such as washing) and are continuing in their action (i.e. are not consumed by their action against bacteria and/or fungi). In the current proposal we continue to develop this technology toward applications such as wound dressings focusing on maximization of its action and toward control of a variety of organisms. Our work, in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Wound Management Division, initially involved the modification of alginate wound dressings. During the course of the work we have since geared our efforts to the synthesis of a new type of antibacterial/antifungal surface based on chitosan. The newly synthesized material has been tested (in collaboration with a biologist, Dr. Karin Melkonian, LIU, C.W. Post) and it has proven to kill fungi and bacteria on contact. We continue our efforts towards developing this new chitosan material into a smooth surface so that it may be used as a wound dressing. This project has involved synthetic work as well as molecular identification and characterization techniques. Collaborative efforts play a major role in our new technology. Our organic team works with a biological team and a variety of private companies that are interested in using our technology. To date, we have licensed out a part of our technology for the use of fabrics (woven and non woven) and are working on yet another agreement with a cosmetic applicator company on manufacturing antibacterial/antifungal brushes, applicators, and wigs. We are continuing our work towards the production of antimicrobial wound dressings. It is our hope that our technology may aid a variety of people in a variety of ways.