VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Fantastic beasts & ways to probe them : non-linear and collective dynamics in biological systems at population, organism, & cellular scales
Keywords: Mechanical Engineering.

The animal kingdom harbours diverse examples of creatures with intriguing behaviours or phenotypes arising from non-linear, emergent, and collective phenomena. In this dissertation, I combine a variety of techniques to develop integrated experimental and analytical frameworks to highlight the role of complexity in the physiology and ecology of some fascinating organisms. At the population level, the prediction and management of mosquito-borne disease outbreaks highlights a critical need for large-scale, high-resolution data on spatio-temporal ecological dynamics, together with the fundamental limiting challenge of collecting reliable, high-throughput observations from the field. I developed novel engineering tools to probe the ecological dynamics of mosquitoes, using basic mobile phones to record wingbeat sounds for species identification and spatio-temporal mapping. I collected the largest database of sounds from various mosquito species and developed estimation algorithms to classify them, subsequently carrying out field trials to detect circadian activity rhythms, hotspots, and species segregation. With this proof-of-concept, I will outline a citizen science platform for crowdsourcing acoustic data on insects, with applications in monitoring biodiversity, invasive species, and disease outbreaks. At the scale of individual organisms, I studied water-lily beetles to show how dynamical phenomena shape behavioural adaptations through interactions within a habitat. These insects demonstrate flapping-wing flight while remaining attached to the surface of water, when moving between the floating lily pads that they eat in their environmental niche on pond surfaces. Using experimental biomechanics combined with fluid and non-linear dynamical analyses, I showed how surface tension alters this interfacial flight mode in comparison to conventional airborne flight, highlighting the emergence of chaos uncertainty at timescales that are too short to be under active neural control. At the cellular and gene level, I studied placozoans -- basal marine invertebrates comprising only a few cell types arranged in flat layers -- which provide an excellent model system for investigating the evolutionary and developmental origins of animal multicellularity. I sequenced the transcriptome of placozoans in various phenotypic states, to uncover how gene expression shapes their unique and unexplored physiology. Taken together, these phenomena highlight the role of dynamics and multi-scale hierarchical organization in biological systems, with diverse approaches at each scale to understanding their complexities.
The fantastic natural and the evolutionary imagination in nineteenth-century France
Keywords: French & Italian.

This dissertation argues that naturalism was not literature's only response to evolutionary theory. Instead, I propose that the fantastic natural, a subversive literary mode, challenged cohesive representations of evolutionary nature by paradoxically using scientific discourse to evoke supernatural figures across diverse literary genres. The fantastic natural thereby both naturalizes the supernatural and super-naturalizes the natural world. My research shows how the fantastic natural's blurring of traditional distinctions between human and animal, male and female, and organism and environment reveals anxieties about modern man's de-centered role in evolutionary history and identifies powerful implications for the evolutionary understanding of gender, sexuality, and race. Moreover, these concerns expose a new environmental and anthropocenic consciousness in both canonical and experimental texts that destabilizes traditional generic distinctions between naturalist, decadent, fantastic, and scientific fiction.
Fast, elastic storage for the cloud
Keywords: Electrical Engineering.

Cloud computing promises high performance, cost-efficiency, and elasticity --- three essential goals when processing exponentially growing datasets. To meet these goals, cloud platforms must provide each application with the right amount and balance of compute and fast storage resources (e.g., NVMe Flash storage). However, providing the right resources to applications is challenging today because server machines have a fixed ratio of compute and storage resources, remote access to fast storage leads to significant performance and cost overheads, and storage requirements vary significantly over time and across applications. This dissertation focuses on how to build high performance, cost-effective, and easy-to-use cloud storage systems. First, we discuss how to provide fast access to remote Flash storage so that the balance of compute and storage allocation is not limited by the physical characteristics of server hardware. We present ReFlex, a custom network-storage operating system that provides fast access to modern Flash storage over commodity cloud networks. ReFlex enables storage devices to be shared among multiple tenants with predictable performance. Second, we discuss how to implement intelligent allocation of storage resources. We present Pocket, a distributed storage service that combines the fast remote data access in ReFlex with automatic resource allocation for serverless analytics workloads. Finally, we discuss the potential of using machine learning to automate resource allocation decisions with a system called Selecta that recommends a near-optimal cloud resource configuration for a job based on sparse training data collected across multiple jobs and configurations.
Fast kernel evaluation in high dimensions : importance sampling and near neighbor search
Keywords: Electrical Engineering.

High-dimensional datasets arise in a multitude of ways: naturally, due to the need to represent complex objects (images, audio), and synthetically, due to the need to represent complex relationships between objects through vector embeddings (e.g. GloVe, ImageNet). At the same time, these datasets are of massive scale on the order of million or billion points and even executing simple computational tasks, like evaluating a predictive model, for all points in the dataset can be time-consuming. These considerations along with the fact that such computational primitives are building blocks for applications that are becoming ubiquitous in everyday life raise the need for efficient and reliable algorithms. We study the problem of fast kernel evaluation that underlies kernel-based predictive models. Given a kernel function k(x, y), that takes as input two vectors and outputs a number in [0,1], we ask the question of how fast we can output an approximation to the average value of the kernel function (kernel density) between a query vector and all points in a dataset. This problem has a long history of study in Scientific Computing but before our work under worst case assumptions all methods either run in time exponential in the dimension (curse of dimensionality) or linear in the number of points in the dataset. In this thesis, we lift the curse of dimensionality from the problem of Kernel Density Evaluation for a wide range of kernels through a variety of new techniques at the core of which lie Randomized Space Partitions. Using randomized space partitions in an increasingly sophisticated manner, we obtain the first data structures that under worst-case assumptions provably approximate the kernel density at arbitrary query points in time polynomial in the dimension and sub-linear in the number of points. In the process, we draw ideas from Approximation Theory, Dimensionality Reduction, and Near Neighbor Search
Fate and danger in the Babylonian Talmud : rabbinic engagements in a Sasanian context
Keywords: Religious Studies.

The Babylonian Talmud, or Bavli, is a pivotal corpus in the history of Judaism, consolidating centuries of Babylonian -- and Palestinian -- rabbinic culture, law, and hermeneutics; and from the early Islamic period onward, serving as the basis of rabbinic Jewish tradition throughout the world, through to the present day. Expanding on recent scholarly advances in the study of rabbinic literature and related fields, my dissertation highlights the relationship between Babylonian rabbinic literary productions and those of neighboring Sasanian communities of Zoroastrians, Mandaeans, Syriac-speaking Christians, and Manichaeans. I also note the religious syncretism evident in contemporaneous material artifacts like amulets and incantation bowls -- which illustrate how ideas and practices were borrowed, combined, and reconfigured across these religious traditions. Focusing on shared concerns about the myriad forms of danger that Sasanian communities perceived as pervading their world, I describe how the Babylonian rabbis constructed sustained discourses around these subjects, in notable contrast to their Palestinian counterparts in the Roman Empire. And I illustrate how their strategies of identification, avoidance, prevention, and remedy bespeak their engagement with linguistic and conceptual vocabularies prevalent throughout Mesopotamia and the broader Sasanian Empire. I demonstrate how the producers of the Babylonian Talmud balanced the need to offer effective and compelling solutions to urgent problems with the desire to assert their own apotropaic and interpretive prowess. Throughout, I argue that greater attention to these common, quotidian dimensions of Sasanian religious life and literature affords novel insights into this monumental, albeit enigmatic, period of Jewish history.
Fear of the disability con : public perceptions of abuse of disability rights
Keywords: Law.

Americans with disabilities nowadays enjoy legal protection and acknowledgment of their status as a discrete and insular minority. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides for accommodations and rights to allow people with disabilities to navigate civic life and end their historic exclusion from society. As Law & Society scholarship has demonstrated, however, there is a gap between the law on the books and the law in action. Thus, the grant of disability rights comes at a price as they are viewed as "special rights" prone to abuse. People who park in disabled parking spots, use service dogs, move to the front of lines, receive Social Security benefits, or request academic accommodations are often viewed as faking disabilities and abusing the law. I refer to the moral panic about abuse of disability rights as the "fear of the disability con." This disability con stereotype affects the lives of members of the disability community by influencing the ways they negotiate their rights. It also impacts the legitimacy of disability law in the eyes of the public that enforces the policies in everyday situations and decision-making processes by policymakers. Despite its importance, this stereotype has yet to be addressed in legal scholarship, and prior articulations of the issue by members of the disability community have been based on individual anecdotes, making it difficult for policymakers and advocates to understand its scope and the psychological mechanism that drives it. This three-part dissertation comes to fill this gap using a mixed methods approach that includes an observational survey, a series of survey experiments, qualitative interviews, and legal analysis of case law and legislation.
The fear within : apprehension in 16th-century French literature
Keywords: French & Italian.

This dissertation investigates the relationship between knowledge and fear in 16th century French literature, by studying the semantic and conceptual evolution that the word "appréhension" underwent at that time: from perception to prospective fear, from the realm of cognition to the one of emotion. It argues that this evolution was symptomatic of a conflict between competing epistemological frameworks: the one of institutionalized knowledge and the one of direct experience.
Female Political Representation and Labor Force Participation in India
Keywords: Department of Economics
female labor supply
political representation
gender equality
gender quotas
female empowerment
labor force participation
Thesis

Female participation in the labor force in India has been declining since the 1980s despite lower fertility rates, higher female educational attainment, and strong economic growth of the country. The most recent estimates suggest that only 27 percent of women in India are in the labor force, as compared to 56 percent of women in the United States. This study investigates the effect of a government policy of mandated female political representation on female labor force participation in India. I find that an additional year of district-level female chairperson has a small but significant negative effect on female labor force participation. The effect is more pronounced for rural, low-caste women. The decrease may be due to a wealth increase in which women decide to leave the labor force who previously had no choice but to work. I find small but significant increases in household-level monthly consumer expenditure and land owned, which support the hypothesis of a wealth increase. Although the policy’s effect on female labor force participation is concerning, the increase in household wealth makes it difficult to discern the policy’s overall impact on female welfare. Female labor force participation has been shown to be important for women’s empowerment and overall economic growth, but further investigation into the nature of women’s employment and the factors affecting women’s decisions to enter the labor force will provide a clearer understanding of the policy’s effect on women.
The few who persist : supporting the development of science interest in adolescent girls
Keywords: Education.

Nurturing the development of science interest in adolescents has been identified as a key concern of educators, policy-makers, parents, and employers. Research has suggested that out-of-school experiences may be uniquely able to support the development of interest in science for students who may be disengaging from school science in disproportionate numbers, such as girls or non-majority status students. This series of studies sought to explore factors that influence adolescent girls' participation in extracurricular science activities. In Study One, four focus group discussions were held with Bay Area high school girls who participated in extracurricular science. Study Two explored patterns revealed in Study One through a six-month, ethnographic examination of the motivational and environmental factors associated with six girls' experiences as they engaged in science outside school in the Bay Area. Analysis from Study Two clarified and expanded upon patterns identified in Study One and informed the design of a survey instrument with which to test the constructs and associations of the proposed new model of adolescent girls' interest development in science in Study Three. Contributions to the literature and implications for designers of out-of-school science programs and scholars of adolescent girls' interest development are discussed.
Film Franchise Strategy In the Age of Intellectual Property
Keywords:  Department of Communication
Stanford University Department of Communication
Disney
Film Studies
Thesis

This thesis aims to discuss the presence and power of franchises at a time when consumers have different mediums to access film and TV as well as a growing amount of entertainment options to choose from. For studios to be even more successful in an economy where consumers are shifting away from a transactional service good and more towards experience goods, a studio should aggressively extend their films outside the theaters into as many aspects as possible of consumers’ daily lives in order to immerse the consumer in the story and capture the connective tissue between a film, its experiential marketing, merchandising, pop-up experiences, and more. These studios may each have their own recipe for success and should be introspective, but they should be studying what their competitors are doing well to integrate those ideas into their own strategies. Should they want audiences to return for sequels, spin-offs, and cinematic universes, their franchises must maintain a presence in a consumer’s life outside of the theater. My point will be made by discussing the evolution of the exhibition space as well as how and why audience habits have shifted in recent years; analyzing three different studios and their approach to franchise films; and discussing the different spaces a franchise should aim to occupy in the future. NBCUniversal will provide an example of a studio whose franchises are easily transportable overseas, increasingly becoming eventized, and have improved the company’s licensing and merchandising presence. Sony is an example of a studio whose filmmaker and artist-driven model is no longer sufficient at a time when brands and franchises dwarf a celebrity’s status. Disney will illustrate the rise of “event films”, the importance of intellectual property (IP), and how its acquisition of Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm has enabled Disney to have an increased presence in theaters, merchandising, and theme parks.
Finding someone like me : the strategic pursuit of co-ethnic peers on a college campus
Keywords: Education.

This dissertation demonstrates the agentic processes involved in forming ethnic-minority friendships on predominantly White campuses. Through the quantitative survey data (paper A), I demonstrate that students of varying ethnicities (Asian/Asian-American, Black/African-American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American/Pacific Islander, and White/Caucasian) engage in fewer cross-race friendships than expected according to the baseline demographics of the university. Through the interviews (papers 2 and 3), I show how ethnic-minority students seek out their ethnically-similar peers and determine if they have a rightful claim to certain ethnic identities. Together, these three papers highlight the role of individual agency in the process of friendship formation while in the pursuit of ethnic homophily on a predominantly White campus.
First principles modeling of the electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction : from electronic structure to kinetics
Keywords: Chemical Engineering.

The efficient storage of intermittent, renewable energy in the form of chemical bonds is critical to successfully transition away from fossil-derived fuels and chemicals. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) plays a central role in many of these storage technologies by splitting water molecules to supply reactive protons and electrons. The activity of OER electrocatalysts directly influences the efficiency of these technologies by reducing the overpotential required to achieve reasonable production rates. Density functional theory (DFT) is a useful tool for investigating potential OER catalyst active sites at the atomic scale in an effort to either explain experimental observation or suggest new experiments to perform. Such theoretical studies are popular for a variety of electrochemical and thermochemical reactions, but OER catalysts are particularly challenging to model because of the highly oxidizing conditions at which they operate, leading to corrosion via oxidation and dissolution of the catalyst surface. In the first part of this thesis, we examine two state-of-the-art OER catalysts, SrIrO3 and RuO2, that are known experimentally to dissolve under reaction conditions and use DFT to explore possible active sites that might form. In the case of SrIrO3 we consider various Sr-deficient surface structures, while for RuO2 we consider defect motifs such as Ru-vacancies, steps, and kinks, and in both cases we identify sites with higher theoretical activities than the ideal, defect-free surfaces. These studies are computationally expensive because they require individually probing the activity of possible active sites by calculating the stability of OER intermediates OH*, O*, and OOH* at each site. Towards circumventing these calculations, we identify an electronic structural descriptor, namely the average 2p-state energy of adsorbed atomic oxygen, that correlates strongly with the theoretical OER activity and allows for screening multiple active sites at once with a single DFT calculation. In the second part of this thesis, we attempt to move beyond the conventional thermodynamic analysis of theoretical OER activity with microkinetic modeling, which allows for a more direct comparison to experimental results. This involves explicitly modeling the aqueous-solid electrochemical interface and computing kinetic barrier heights for reactions that involve charge transfer across the interface. We find that the intrinsic barrier height for one elementary step in particular, OOH* formation, is significantly higher than the others for rutile (110) surfaces and directly accounts for the non-negligible OER overpotential observed experimentally. The resultant microkinetic model, which assumes OOH* formation to be the sole rate determining step, is analyzed in the context of experimental observations including Tafel behavior and is used to construct an OER volcano consisting solely of experimental data.
Flight dynamics and control of two autonomous helicopters carrying an external slung load
Keywords: Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Cargo missions of the near future will require transportation of increasingly heavy loads to remote locations that are at distances farther, and at altitudes higher, than what can be accomplished by current helicopters. Using two helicopters to carry a single load, termed dual lift, provides heavy lift on demand and avoids the very costly design and development of a special purpose heavy lift helicopter. The dual lift benefits of increased lifting capability, increased range, and flight at higher density altitudes, are contingent on equal load distribution between the helicopters. In other words, each helicopter must lift an equal portion of the external payload. Furthermore, to maximize these benefits, the helicopters must operate close to their maximum power available, leaving little room for unequal load distribution. This research focuses on gaining a fundamental understanding of the dynamic behavior of a dual lift system and the associated flight control challenges. A detailed stability and control analysis of the dual lift system has been conducted and the unique multi-body modes and their effects on the development of an attitude control system has been quantified. With the identified control challenges as a foundation, a multi-objective parametric optimization approach has been used to design an attitude control system that meets a comprehensive set of stability and performance specifications. In addition, a guidance and control strategy that ensures equal load distribution between the helicopters has been developed. The guidance strategy computes an optimal trajectory for the system to fly using nonlinear programming and incorporates a feedback controller that commands an additive height change for the trail helicopter to account for un- modeled dynamics and disturbances. The developed concepts, models, and guidance strategies have been validated and assessed via flight test experiments on two medium-sized, autonomous RMAX helicopters (10 ft rotor diameter). This was the first time that two autonomous helicopters have been flown in the pendant configuration and with a control system that equalized the two helicopter loads.