VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Pushing Peace: The Relationship Between the Taliban’s Strength and Its Openness to Negotiations
Keywords: Center for International Security and Cooperation
Stanford University
Taliban
Afghanistan
negotiation
insurgency
counterinsurgency
territory
leadership
public support
Thesis

Since 2009, the United States has worked to push the Taliban into negotiating a peaceful end to the conflict in Afghanistan. However, U.S. policymakers have consistently struggled to strike an appropriate balance between degrading the Taliban’s operational capabilities through the use of military force, and encouraging its diplomatic cooperation by exercising restraint. The question of whether an insurgent group is more open to negotiations when it is weak or when it is strong is central to literature on conflict resolution and counterinsurgency warfare. Similarly, U.S. strategy in Afghanistan begs the question—does the Taliban make a better partner for peace when it is weak or when it is strong? In order to answer this question, I chose to measure the Taliban’s strength over time, charting it against changes in its attitude toward negotiations. In order to do this, I analyzed three variables that are closely related to an insurgent group’s ability to operate effectively: extent of territorial control, continuity and cohesion of leadership, and access to public support. The results from my two case studies on the Taliban (Pre-2013 and Post-2013) suggest that the Taliban was more willing to negotiate when its territorial holds and perceived public support were weak, and when its central leadership was strong. These findings are significant, because they challenge the idea that weakening the Taliban on all fronts is most conducive to encouraging peace talks. Rather, they suggest that the United States will be most successful in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table if it limits the Taliban’s territorial control and public support, while preserving the continuity and cohesion of its top leaders and diplomatic decision-makers.
Quality of what? Merit-based selection and the demands of justice
Keywords: Political Science.

Many people believe that colleges should admit students on the basis of merit: highly-qualified students should get to go to resource-rich, selective schools. Yet enacting this "merit principle" is challenging because we live in a society marked by persistent group-based inequality along the lines of race, class, nationality, sexuality, ability status, and gender. As I demonstrate in chapters one through three of this dissertation, merit is a fraught foundation for distributing educational opportunity because merit itself is endogenous: it is often constructed and evaluated in ways that reflect the biases, beliefs, and backgrounds of this with preexisting power. Given this pattern, how should selective colleges structure their admissions procedures? In chapter four, I argue that universities should create independent Merit Committees, inclusive of representatives from previously-excluded groups, that work together to define merit and determine background-sensitive proxies for measuring merit in applicants from a broad range of backgrounds. I outline three further normative principles to address concerns about background inequality and merit endogeneity: the institution-dependent merit definition principle, the adequacy principle, and the teachability principle. Guided by these principles, the Merit Committee is tasked with establishing a university-specific adequacy threshold. In chapter five I argue that colleges should randomize admission amongst all applicants who cross this adequacy threshold.
Quantitative analysis of Listeria monocytogenes invasion and spread in epithelial cells
Keywords: Biochemistry.

Together, epithelial cells create the intestinal epithelium, a selectively permeable barrier that is the home and target of many microbes. One such microbe is the ubiquitous foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes, which breaches the intestinal epithelium during an oral infection. L. monocytogenes first invades the cytoplasm of a host epithelial cell, which allows the bacterium to polymerize actin and create comet tails to drive its own motility and spread to neighboring epithelial cells. In this work, we focus on two steps of the L. monocytogenes intracellular life cycle: invasion and cell-to-cell spread. First, we demonstrate that the canonical receptor E-cadherin, which creates a physical link between the bacterium and filamentous actin, serves primarily as an adhesive to mediate invasion. Indeed, the minimum requirement for bacterial invasion is the presence of the extracellular domain of E-cadherin. Next, we show by simulation and live microscopy that L. monocytogenes cell-to-cell spread is heterogeneous as it proceeds by way of two populations: local spreaders and pioneers. Our data support the model that pioneers spread directly to non-neighboring cells via long bacterial-mediated host cell protrusions tens of microns long. We also use simulations to show that the combination of local spreaders and pioneers allows L. monocytogenes to more successfully create a persistent infection in the intestinal epithelium. Finally, we explore the use of human intestinal enteroids as a new model system to study L. monocytogenes pathogenesis in intestinal epithelial cells. Specifically, we show that L. monocytogenes can invade human enteroids via a mechanism independent of E-cadherin/internalin A, which differs from findings made in transformed epithelial cell lines.
Quantum error correction and spacetime
Keywords: Physics.

Quantum error correction (QEC) is a branch of quantum information theory, originally invented to protect hypothetical quantum computers against realistic sources of noise. QEC has enjoyed significant success within the paradigm of computation, but the ideas and techniques of quantum error correction have also been effective in tools many fields of physics. In this thesis, we will shed light on the way in which QEC manifests outside of the usual computational paradigm and informs other areas of physics. We'll focus on the role of QEC in quantum gravity, spacetime, and high energy theoretical physics. We start with the general problem of quantum information replication in spacetime, and we show that information replication is possible if and only if transmission of the quantum information does not result in cloning of quantum information or faster-than-light communication. We then study the role of quantum error correction in quantum gravity, specifically within a gauge-gravity duality known as AdS/CFT. We establish a new formula for mapping observables on either side of the duality, showing that the so-called bulk-to-boundary map defines an approximate quantum error correcting code. Motivated by the study of entangled states dual to multi-boundary wormholes in AdS/CFT, we then turn our attention to characterizing the states that can arise from the euclidean path integral in three-dimensional Chern-Simons theories. We study U(1) level k and SO(3) level k Chern-Simons theories on euclidean 3-manifolds with torus boundaries. For the abelian U(1) theory, we find that the set of states that can be prepared exactly coincides with the set of stabilizer states, which are characterized by quantum error correcting codes. For the non-abelian SO(3) theory, we find that any state can be prepared to arbitrary precision, giving rise to a notion of state universality. We conclude with some final observations to support the idea that entanglement gives rise to the connectedness of spacetime. We study the partial transpose of the thermofield double (TFD) state geometrically, and we demonstrate that local time reversal (which is unitarily equivalent to partial transpose) leads to inconsistencies in the connected spacetime dual to the TFD state.
Racial disparities in school funding, academic achievement, and teacher perceptions of student behavior
Keywords: Education.

In this dissertation, I examine the role of segregation and racial congruence between teachers and students on three different educational outcomes. The first paper examines teacher perceptions of student behavior as a function of racial similarity between teachers and students. The second paper estimates partial associations of between-district segregation and racial disparities in school district revenue. The third paper studies the effect of within-district segregation on racial disparities in academic achievement. Together, these papers deepen our understanding on the causes and correlates of racial disparities in education.
Radiation absorption by inertial particles in a turbulent square duct flow [electronic resource]
Keywords: Mechanical Engineering.

Particle-based solar receivers pose an interesting engineering challenge because of the coupled interactions between particle motion in a turbulent flow, radiation transmission and absorption through a random media, and convective heat transfer between the gas and solid phases. In a particle solar receiver, the absorbing wall of a conventional receiver is replaced with a transparent window and small particles dispersed within the working fluid absorb the radiation. This can increase the surface area available for heat transfer to the fluid, reduce radiation losses, and improve system efficiency. However, nearly all studies on particle solar receivers ignore the effect of particle clustering on radiation absorption and the gas temperature rise. In this work, the radiation absorption by preferentially concentrated particles in a turbulent square duct flow was studied experimentally. The turbulent flow of air was laden with small Nickel particles and exposed to monochromatic, infrared radiation over a streamwise length of several duct widths. Measurements were made of the particle phase statistics, mean and fluctuating radiation transmission, and mean and fluctuating gas temperature rise. Simplified heat transfer and radiation transmission models were also developed to understand the basic physical principles and to provide comparisons to the experimental results.
Rain, Want, and War: Exploring the Conditions Under Which Desertification and Drought-Induced Scarcity Lead to Violent Conflict in the Sahel
Keywords: Center for International Security and Cooperation
Thesis

Scholars have postulated that in sub-Saharan Africa, rapid population growth and increasingly frequent drought events induced by climate change may conspire in driving scarcity-based conflicts. Whether or not this actually occurs, and how, are particularly salient questions to answer in order to better predict and prevent such wars, as deleterious shifts in the global climate threaten to complicate and create a variety of social, political, and economic problems. This paper employs the comparative case study method in examining three Sahelian states that have suffered similar levels of drought over the past 60 years, yet varying degrees of conflict, in order to better understand under what conditions scarcity results in violence in the region. The cases, selected for their similarity in a variety of macro-level factors, are analyzed individually using elements of process tracing, and the findings are synthesized in the concluding chapter. Ultimately, this study finds that scarcity can be a strong factor contributing to the outbreak and perpetuation of conflict in these states, but has never led to organized and widespread fighting where few elements of conflict had previously existed. It is particularly when the political consequences of drought compound preexisting grievances in an environment of strong ethnic affiliation, with few religious and geographic cross-cutting cleavages, that there is the potential for drought-induced scarcity to drive war. The paper concludes by calling for a departure away from studying the climate-conflict nexus through the lens of large-n statistical studies seeking generalizable theories, which disregard local nuances that are critical to understanding a country’s individual circumstances and trajectory.
Rational and combinatorial approaches to engineering a multi-epitopic antagonist of the urokinase receptor
Keywords: Bioengineering.

The urokinase receptor (uPAR) has been established as a key driver of cancer metastasis, and an attractive target for therapeutic intervention of disease progression. Various uPAR antagonists have been developed and tested in pre-clinical models of cancer. However, they demonstrated limited efficacy due to their relatively low binding affinity and partial inhibition of uPAR function. To address these limitations, we applied rational and combinatorial engineering methods to generate a high-affinity antagonist capable of simultaneously inhibiting multiple cancer-promoting functions of uPAR. The resulting protein demonstrates potent inhibition of uPA-uPAR binding, as well as enhanced tumor targeting in vivo as proof of concept for further therapeutic development and testing.
Reactivity of a trans-dioxo complex towards carbon dioxide and its incorportation into a new Prussian blue framework [electronic resource]
Keywords: Chemistry.

The use of well-defined molecular building blocks as a strategy to try to design the properties of a resulting extended framework has been previously employed with success in the field of metal-organic frameworks in the attempt to obtain highly porous structures. Similarly, molecular cyanide complexes have been incorporated as building units in extended frameworks in the quest for room temperature magnets, owing to the ability of cyanide ligands to form polymeric structures. In this thesis, I describe our efforts to confirm the reactivity of a molecular cyanide complex, trans-tetracyanomolybdate, with atmospheric CO2, as well as those undertaken to characterize the extended framework obtained using this complex as a building unit. The characterization of the resulting Prussian blue analogue showed that this material undergoes a rare example of partial linkage isomerism as well as several electron transfers during its synthesis. Although the reactivity of the molecule was not translated into the framework, the material reversibly adsorbs CO2 at room temperature and can be regenerated without appreciable capacity loss. The variability of the material resulted in the variability of its gas sorption properties.
Read Cloud Sequencing Elucidates Microbiome Dynamics in a Stem Cell Transplant Patient
Keywords:  Department of Computer Science
Metagenomics
read cloud sequencing
genome assembly
microbiome
antibiotic resistance
stem cell transplantation
Computer Science
Thesis

Low intestinal microbial diversity, often leading to domination of the intestine by a single organism, is associated with poor outcomes following stem cell transplantation. However, the process by which certain organisms achieve domination over others is not well-understood. Previously, it has been difficult to obtain genetic clues as to why the dominating organism has such high fitness in a given circumstance. This is because it has been nearly impossible to obtain near complete genome drafts of the dominating organism without isolation and culturing. Recently, we developed a metagenomic read cloud sequencing approach, which provides significantly improved genome drafts for individual organisms compared to commonly used alternative sequencing methods. Here, we apply read cloud sequencing to stool samples collected longitudinally from a stem cell transplant patient before and after heavy antibiotic exposure across four time points, during which the patient experienced a period of gut domination by E. coli as well as an E. coli bloodstream infection. Comparative genomic analysis reveals that the E. coli strain present in the gut and the E. coli strain isolated from the bloodstream infection are nearly identical (~99.97 nucleotide identity with a difference of 169 SNPs), indicating that the infection likely originated from the gut. Alignment of the pre-transplant E. coli draft genome to the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database reveals that the pre-transplant E. coli strain (prior to any antibiotic exposure) harbored 55 known resistance genes, including fluoroquinolone resistance and a multitude of multidrug efflux pumps. All other draft genomes from the pre-transplant time point contained <5 resistance genes, suggesting that the E. coli outgrowth was a result of selection after heavy antibiotic exposure. This case study highlights the application of metagenomic read cloud sequencing in a clinical context to investigate microbiome dynamics under extreme selective pressures.
Readability, profitability, and discretionary MD&A text
Keywords: Business.

This study examines the relation between profitability and disclosure readability. Prior research finds that less profitable firms have less readable disclosures, which is consistent with obfuscation. However, this research does not distinguish text that is non-discretionary, i.e., required disclosure or standard language given the economic environment, from text that is discretionary, i.e., voluntary disclosure or required disclosure written in a non-standard way. I measure discretion in Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A) sentences based on their commonness relative to sentences from firms with similar profitability. I assume that sentences that are less (more) common among firms with similar profitability contain more (less) discretion. I find that less profitable firms have less readable non-discretionary text but more readable discretionary text, and this discretionary text is even more readable when firms have stronger incentives to garner a reputation for clear disclosure. My results imply that less profitable firms have less readable disclosures because of their economic environment, yet exercise discretion by increasing readability, rather than obfuscating.
Reading for the anthropocene : humanimality as resilience
Keywords: Comparative Literature.

In this dissertation, I investigate what role literary thinking can have in helping to cultivate human resilience during the geological era known as the Anthropocene, a concept that designates the global environmental devastation that human systems have wrought. My particular focus is anthropogenic global warming, which I conceive of as a philosophical and physical existential crisis that demands a human response. My research participates in a multidisciplinary conversation that considers how to find ways to adapt to life and death on a changing planet. Literary thinking encompasses both a textual mode of creative production and a way of reading. I develop an ecologically attuned hermeneutic that decenters the human and pays attention to the ethical dimensions of scale and of the materiality of the humanimal body. I practice this hermeneutic, what I refer to in the title as "Reading for the Anthropocene, " on texts produced during what the environmental journalist Elizabeth Kolbert suggests we call the Age of the Emissions. My corpus begins in the Global North, with Friedrich Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy (1872) and Louis-Ferdinand Céline's Voyage au bout de la nuit (1932), and then moves to the Global South, with Cronwell Jara's Montacerdos (1981-2006) and Junot Díaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar (2007). Although diverse in their genres, languages, and times and places of production, these texts all register a crisis of the human and respond to that upheaval in different ways. On one end, there is a denial of new relationality with more-than-human life because of the changes that relationality would require of and in the human; on the other end, there is an acceptance of material intra-action with more-than-human life accompanied by the cultivation of multispecies flourishing. Motivated by the belief that it matters how we tell ourselves the multidimensional stories of our past and future environmental impacts, the goal of this dissertation is to examine the way humanimality and other-than-human animalities have been described from the inception of modernity-coloniality and global warming to the twenty-first century. Utilizing decolonial, feminist materialist, and environmental humanities methodologies, I contend that literary thinking can teach us resilience by displaying how to reimagine the narratives of what humanimals can be and what humanimals can do in relation to our shared planet and our more-than-human neighbors who also live on it.
Reading nature : empiricism and literary imagination in Friedrich Schelling's naturphilosophie, 1797-1800
Keywords: German Studies.

Concepts of reading and literary interpretation pervade Friedrich Schelling's Naturphilosophie (1797-1801). Schelling sees objects and systems in nature, such as eddies in a river, thunderstorms, the geomorphology of mountains and volcanoes, and (especially) the diachronic development of animal physiology, as susceptible to a particularly literary kind of interpretation. All of these systems, Schelling holds, arise from moments of radical novelty and are expressions of nature's own freedom. Natural objects, then, cannot be explained merely by analyzing and recreating a chain of causal events. In order to understand the appearance of radically new levels of complexity, natural evolutions on vast time scales, and their relationship to the symbolic representations that govern human life we need the tools of the reader. A particular sensitivity to metaphor, metonymy, and narrative was, Schelling thought, essential for the Naturphilosoph. By way of close reading, the Naturphilosoph could discover complex interactions of literary, symbolic and aesthetic forms with the material forms of nature. Schelling's account of nature is an explicitly relational account: the diachronic and synchronic forms of the physical world are always in communication with the symbolic representations of human thought. Moments of radical novelty in nature, such as the arising of self-sustaining life forms from general chemical processes, , introduce the need for a type of interpretation that is not exclusively empirical, because empirical descriptions are designed to establish continuous chains of causality. Schelling's claim that nature is a text to be "read" challenges standard views of nature, including the budding empirical life sciences of the late eighteenth century. It also calls into question ideas of reading as a purely internal endeavor that is passive, detached, and without material consequences. He takes up a Romantic discourse around hermeneutics, which holds interpretation to be balanced grasping the whole of a symbolic representation and relating it to detailed analysis of its parts, and extends this style of interpretation to the natural world. In a bold departure from Kantian transcendental philosophy as well as the empirical sciences, Schelling charts a path for "reading nature" that requires us to rethink "reading" as a creative—and potentially destructive—activity, deeply tied to body as well as mind.