Thesis advisor: Ricco Siasoco / Hodge-Podge: A Collection of Literary Claptrap and Fictive Nonsensery is a collection of eight short stories. The stories are unrelated in terms of subject matter or style, but all fall within the broad confines of the author's world, conveniently. Titles: "The Kill"; "Hot Breath"; "Sorcery"; "A Failure of Understanding"; "Currency"; "Deserter's Execution"; "The Box"; "Commencement". / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2007. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: English. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Thesis advisor: Donald Fishman / This thesis examines the role of culture in international business communication through case studies of several multinational corporations. The first case looks at Coca-Cola's product recall crisis in Belgium in 1999, which exhibited an uncharacteristic deviation from the company's well-known brand marketing brilliance. The second case deals with problems that Disney encountered as it tried to establish its first theme park in Europe in the 1990s and found itself facing a culture as proud and protective as Disney itself. At the heart of these cases were outdated international strategies and an attitude of arrogance that assumed that an American business approach could easily be transferred to a different country and culture. The thesis concludes with an analysis of Google as a case study for the future followed by suggestions for successful international strategies and final thoughts on globalization's effect on culture and corporations. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2007. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Communication. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Thesis advisor: Sarah Beckjord / This thesis examines the motivations for English language acquisition among Latino immigrants currently residing in the United States. By interviewing 34 adult students enrolled in ESOL classes in the Boston area, the author attempts to determine whether their desire for language acquisition is motivated by integrative or instrumental factors. These results are analyzed in light of the current debate on the assimilation of Latino immigrants, ultimately concluding that this segment of the population is indeed desirous of integration into the mainstream U.S. society. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Romance Languages and Literature. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Thesis advisor: Robert Capalbo / The Presidential Scholars Program is a full tuition scholarship program offer to the 15 most outstanding applicants to Boston College each year. It involves three summer programs: a summer of service, an international summer experience, and a career development internship. The Program is funded by the Wall Street Council's Tribut Dinner to Boston College. During the first decade and a half of its existence, the Program has successfully fulfilled its mission to increase the intellectual standing of the University. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2007. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Art South Africa is currently the leading, professionally published art magazine in South Africa. The magazine plays an important role in the dissemination of art discourse and art news and is the only ongoing, printed forum devoted exclusively to South African contemporary art. In this paper I will be looking at Art South Africa to describe the type of art texts it presents and the particular position it has taken in the contemporary art world of South Africa. In doing this I will be analysing the magazine to register the types of writing and other information in formats such as art news, exhibition reviews, artist bios, interviews and even advertising. This paper will also be analysing selected texts to determine the key issues that are represented and the way those issues have been represented with a critical position. Looking at Art South Africa from many angles will show that criticality is one of the magazine’s ideological aims and though the magazine’s format changes over time, it has continually sought to engage its readers in critical discourse.

AA análise multivariada e um conjunto de técnicas que são adequadas para situações onde varias variáveis correlacionadas estão envolvidas. Dentre essas técnicas temos as componentes principais e a analise fatorial. A técnica dos componentes principais reduz a dimensão de uma matriz de dados originais através de combinações lineares facilitando a interpretação desses dados e a analise fatorial que e o nome dado a uma classe de métodos estatísticos paramétricos (e não paramétricos) multivariados que correspondem a um grande numero de métodos e técnicas que utilizam simultaneamente todas as variáveis do conjunto na interpretação do inter-relacionamento das variáveis observadas (COSTA, 2006). O objetivo da analise fatorial e descrever as relações de covariância entre algumas variáveis em algum termo subjacente, mas não observável, de quantidades aleatórias chamadas fatores (JOHNSON e WICHERN, 1998). Biplot e um gráfico estático, desenvolvido por Gabriel (1971), que representa no mesmo gráfico as variáveis o as observações com o intuito de demonstrar graficamente as relações existentes entre variáveis, entre observações e entre variáveis e observações. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo inserir a metodologia de analise biplot tridimensional na técnica de analise fatorial multivariada. Foi usado o software SAS para a realização da analise fatorial e a construção do gráfico biplot e um conjunto de dados para a aplicação do mesmo. O estudo mostra que o gráfico Biplot e um método de analise multivariada de suma importância quando inserido na analise fatorial facilitando e complementando a interpretação dos resultados / Multivariate analysis is a set of techniques that are appropriate for situations where several correlated variables are involved. Among these techniques have the principal components and factor analysis. The technique of principal components reduces the size of an array of original data through linear combinations facilitating the interpretation of these data and factor analysis that is the name given to a class of parametric statistical methods (non parametric) multivariate corresponding to a large number of methods and techniques that use simultaneously all the variables set in the interpretation of the interrelationship of the observed variables (COSTA, 2006). The goal of factor analysis is to describe the covariance relationships between variables in any term underlying, but unobservable, random quantities called factors (Johnson and Wichern, 1998). Biplot is a statistical graph, developed by Gabriel (1971), which represents the in same graph the variables to the observations in order to demonstrate graphically the relationship between variables, between observations and between variables and observations. This paper aims to insert the biplot analysis methodology in three-dimensional technique of multivariate factor analysis. Was used SAS software to perform the factor analysis and construction of the biplot graph and a set of data for the application. The study shows that the graph Biplot is a method of analysis of the utmost importance when inserted in the factor analysis, facilitating and complementing the interpretation of results.

Thesis advisor: Susan A. Michalczyk / Malaria is a curable, preventable disease which has been around for millennia. Unfortunately, in this time of unprecedented growth and resources, the world has yet to prevent malaria from continuing its vicious cycle, taking the life of a child every thirty seconds. This project is an interdisciplinary creative writing exploration of the underlying biological, sociological, and theological reasons for this failure to eradicate an avoidable illness. Aside from the biological difficulties involved in creating vaccines for the complex strains of the malaria parasite, the deeper cause of malaria's persistence within the bloodstream of humanity is the narcissism to which all people are prone, especially when self-interest is upheld as the highest virtue of Western capitalistic society. Literature, sociology, and theology, among other fields, each point to the answer of humility and love as solutions to the global problem caused by the fact that, ultimately, there is something far worse than malaria plaguing everyone from within. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2007. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

Thesis advisor: Thomas Kaplan-Maxfield / We remember childhood injustices for the rest of our lives. They are thorn-like memories, piercing and immediate, affecting us long after we have matured and moved on with our lives. The wounds of childhood have been written about by some of literature's greatest writers, including most notably James Joyce, in his masterpiece A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. In this creative work I try to investigate, through the voices of children, the role of wounds in the growing character of a child. Wounds both literal and metaphorical dominate the narrative, which is told from a variety of perspectives as one group of friends from one neighborhood advance through elementary school. My goal in this work is to portray the painfully observant nature of children — to show how much they absorb in the early years of their lives, the scope of which adults might not realize. I also try to capture the humor and tragedy of children's voices, and to create a whole world as seen through the eyes of children. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2007. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: English. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

La sécurité juridique recherchée par le droit OHADA à travers les actes uniformes est mise à rude épreuve. Dans le recouvrement des créances, matière qui fait partie du droit des affaires tel que défini par le Traité de Port Louis, la protection des personnes garantes et l’imparfaite adéquation des sûretés réelles, n’assurent pas aux créanciers une situation confortable dans la prévention de l’impayé. En outre, les défauts substantiels du droit et la grande considération de la personne du débiteur soit par des mesures compassionnelles, soit par des considérations tirées de l’intérêt général, s’ajoutent aux obstacles matériels pour conduire les procédures individuelles d’exécution sur les voies de l’ineffectivité. Par ailleurs, et alors qu’elles ont fait l’objet d’une récente réforme saluée par les praticiens, les procédures collectives restent handicapées par une inconséquente gestion du temps. Toutefois, en repensant la théorie des garanties personnelles et en prenant en compte la situation des créanciers modestes d’une part, et en réduisant les obstacles juridiques tout en opérant une meilleure intégration du titre exécutoire d’autre part, le droit OHADA du recouvrement des créances pourrait entrevoir des lendemains meilleurs. C’est tout l’objet de la présente étude qui appelle à une refonte d’envergure de la doctrine de la protection de la personne du débiteur. / The OHADA law on juridical security through uniform acts has seriously been tested. Notably in the matter of debts recovery, which is part of the business law as defined by the Port Louis Treaty. The guarantors’ protection as well as the imperfect adequacy of the real securities, do not guarantee the creditors a comfortable position in regards to liabilities. Moreover, the numerous deficiencies of the law and the interest shown to the borrower through compassionate measures or by considerations of each party’s general interest, are also issues that are added to the already existing material obstacles that are hindering the execution of individual enforcement proceedings. Moreover, and while they have been the subject of a recent reform praised by practitioners, collective procedures remain ineffective due to an inconsistent time management. However, by reorganizing the theory of personal guarantees and taking into account the situation of small creditors on the one hand, and the reduction of legal obstacles and a better integration of the enforcement order on the other hand, the OHADA law on debt recovery could know a better future. This is the focus of this study which calls for a major overhaul of the debtor's protection doctrine.

O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar, através de ensaios de tração, os efeitos do desenvolvimento de miopatia metabólica secundária a administração de corticosteróide sobre propriedades biomecânicas dos músculos diafragma e gastrocnêmio medial de coelhos. Foram estudadas 30 coelhas albinas adultas da raça Nova Zelândia, divididas em dois grupos de 15: Grupo Experimental (GE), que recebeu injeções subcutâneas de succinato sódico de 21 metil-prednisolona (Solumedrol Ò; Pharmacia - Up John N.N. / S.A. – Puurs - Bélgica) nas doses de 2 mg/kg/dia, e Grupo Controle (GC) que recebeu soro fisiológico a 0,9% por via subcutânea em volumes proporcionais. Ambos os grupos foram tratados durante 21 dias consecutivos. Os ensaios de tração foram realizados utilizando uma Máquina Universal de Ensaios do Laboratório de Bioengenharia da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto - USP. Para o hemi-diafragma esquerdo foram feitos 24 ensaios, 12 para o GE e 12 para o GC e excluídos 3 animais de cada grupo devido a problemas técnicos. Para o gastrocnêmio medial esquerdo foram feitos 30 ensaios, sendo 15 no GE e 15 no GC. A análise histoenzimológica dos músculos hemi-diafragma e gastrocnêmio medial direitos foi feita em 3 coelhos do GE e 3 do GC. O peso médio final dos animais no GE foi 3,6 Kg e no GC 4,0 Kg. A variação média percentual de peso final no GE foi - 8,4% e no GC 3,1%. O valor médio de peso final do gastrocnêmio no GE foi 5,6g e no GC 7,0g. Os valores médios de área, largura e espessura do gastrocnêmio no GE foram 2,4 x 10-4 m 2, 21,7 mm e 5,4 mm, respectivamente e no GC 2,8 x 10-4 m 2, 24,1 mm e 6,7.mm Nos diafragmas os valores médios de tensão e deformação do limite máximo, tensão e deformação do limite de proporcionalidade e módulo de elasticidade no GE comparado ao GC utilizando o teste t de Student e teste de Mann Whitney, não mostraram diferenças estatísticamente significantes. Nos gastrocnêmios os valores médios de carga máxima, carga e deformação do limite de proporcionalidade e rigidez no GE comparado ao GC, pelo teste t de Student não mostraram diferença estatística significante. Porém, o valor médio de deformação máxima no GE foi 26,63 x10-3 m e no GC 32,33 x10-3 m, mostrando significância estatística entre os grupos através do teste t de Student. Quanto aos locais de ruptura, no GE, 9 foram no ventre muscular, 2 na porção miotendínea distal e 4 na origem e no GC 8 ocorreram no ventre muscular, 5 na porção miotendínea distal e 2 na origem. Do ponto de vista histopatológico observamos que: a miopatia metabólica apresentou-se mais evidente nos diafragmas do GE; houve alterações metabólicas leves nos gastrocnêmios do GE e ocorreu aumento da succinato de desidrogenase (SDH) e Tricrômicro de Gomori modificado nos diafragmas do GC. Diante disto, concluímos que: 1) Os diafragmas não mostraram alterações de suas propriedade biomecânicas, nas fases plástica e elástica, apresentando a mesma capacidade de alongamento em ambos os grupos, suportando cargas semelhantes; 2) O músculo gastrocnêmio medial manteve suas características e capacidade de alongamento na fase elástica. Entretanto, o tratamento com esteróide, na fase plástica, levou a uma significativa redução do seu limite máximo de deformação, apresentando uma menor capacidade de alongamento, embora com mesma carga máxima do controle. / The aim of this study was to assess, using traction assays, the effects of the metabolic myopathy secondary to corticosteroids on biomechanical features of the diaphragm and the medial gastrocnemius muscles of rabbits. The study was composed of 30 albino adult rabbits of the New Zealand breed, which were divided into 2 groups of 15: Experimental Group (EG), which received subcutaneous injections of sodium succinate of 21 methil-prednisolone with doses of 2mg/Kg/day, and the Control Group (CG) which received subcutaneous Saline in proportional volumes. Both groups were treated during 21 consecutive days. The traction assays were performed by applying the Universal Machine of Assays from the Bioengenering Laboratory at the Medical School of Ribeirão Preto - USP. For the left hemi-diaphragm, 24 assays were performed, 12 for EG and 12 CG. Three animals from each group were excluded due to technical problems. For the left medial gastrocnemius, 30 assays were done, 15 for the EG and 15 for CG. The histoenzymologic analysis of both the hemi-diaphragm muscles and the right mild gastrocnemius were performed in three rabbits of the EG, and 3 of the CG. The final average weight for the animals in EG was 3,6Kg, and in the CG was 4,0Kg. The average percentage variation from the initial to the final weight for the EG was -8,4% and for the CG 3,1%. The final average weight of gastrocnemius was 5,1g in the EG and 7,0g in the CG. The average value of the area width and thickness of the EG was 2,4 x 10 -4 m 2, 21,7 mm and 5,4 mm, respectively, and for the CG 2,8 x 10-4 m 2, 24,1 mm and 6,7mm. In the diaphragms, the average values of the tension and deformity in the maximum threshold, tension and deformity at the proportional threshold and elasticity module in the EG compared to the CG, through the Student t Test and the Mann Whitney test, presented no significant statistical differences. In the gastrocnemius, average values of the maximum load, load and deformity within the threshold of proportions and stiffness in the EG compared to the CG, according to the Student t test, did not present a significant statistical difference. However, the average values of maximum deformity were 26,63 x10 -3 m in the EG and 32,33 x10-3 m in the GC, showing statistical significant difference between groups. Concerning the locations of the rupture in the EG, 9 were in the muscle belly, 2 in the miotendinous distal junction, and 4 in the origin; in the CG the rupture ocurred 8 times in the muscle belly , 5 in miotendinous distal junction and 2 in the origin. From a histopathological view, we have observed that metabolic myophaty was presented clearly evident in the diaphragms of the EG; there were slight metabolic alterations in the gastrocnemius of the EG, and there was an increase of the succinic dehydrogenase (SDH) and modified Gomori Trichrome in the diaphragms of the CG. In this manner, we conclude that: 1) The diaphragms didn´t show alterations of their biomechanical properties, in elastic and plastic phases, showing the same elongation capacity in both groups, with equal loads; 2) The medium gastrocnemius muscles, kept their biomechanical features and elongation capacity in elastic phase. However, the steroid treatment lead to a significant decrease of the elongation capacity in the plastic phase, with maximal loads similar to the control group; 3) It was not found a relationship between histological evidences of metabolic miopathy and changes in the biomechanical properties of the studied muscles.