VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The origins of a sixteenth-century "in-between" generation and the long shadow of early twentieth-century German historiography
Keywords: Music.

This dissertation takes as its point of departure a problematic historiographical tradition. Even while recognizing that the death of the famous composer Josquin des Prez (1450--1521) marked a stylistic turning point, scholars working in Germany in the early twentieth century characterized the decades that followed, ca. 1520--50, as an aesthetic retrenchment, overstating Josquin's influence and unwittingly lumping into the same generation sixteenth-century musicians who in fact worked at different times and in different stylistic idioms. Relying on research in approximately thirty archives, this study reveals how a problematic narrative arose owing to nationalism, religious politics, interpersonal politics, the state of the field at the time, and the inaccessibility of primary source materials. The dissertation revisits composer biographies and the datings of central musical sources. And it uses comparative stylistic analyses of sacred polyphony to pinpoint how, when, and where a new style emerged ca. 1520. Placing writings that launched the modern historiographical tradition in dialogue with musical repertories central to the early history of musicology, the dissertation aims to give appropriate weight to a decisive shift in the history of music while also revealing the enduring influence of early German scholarship on the discipline as a whole
Outcomes of Hispanic and non-Hispanic White pediatric and young adult patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia after commercial tisagenlecleucel
Keywords: Cellular therapy
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Thesis

Population-level data show significantly inferior outcomes for Hispanic children, adolescents, and young adults (CAYA) diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) relative to non-Hispanic White (NHW) patients, even after adjusting for disease prognosticators and socioeconomic status. Here, we compare outcomes between Hispanic and NHW CAYA patients with relapsed and/or refractory (R/R) B-cell ALL (B-ALL) receiving tisagenlecleucel, a CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy. We used data from the Pediatric Real World CAR Consortium (PRWCC) retrospective cohort of 200 patients who underwent cell shipment to Novartis for standard-of-care tisagenlecleucel between August 2017 and March 2020 at 15 US institutions. Baseline factors, efficacy outcomes, and safety outcomes were characterized for Hispanic and NHW infused patients. With respect to baseline factors, Hispanic patients were significantly older at diagnosis and had significantly shorter time from diagnosis to infusion. Hispanic and NHW patients did not significantly differ across sex, age at CAR infusion, leukemia type, number of prior lines of therapy, receipt of prior CD19-directed therapy, disease burden pre-infusion, number of relapses pre-infusion, or initial cytogenetic risk. With respect to efficacy outcomes, Hispanic and NHW patients did not significantly differ across day 28 complete response (CR) rate, 6-month overall survival (OS), 1-year OS, 18-month OS, 6-month event-free survival (EFS), 1-year EFS, 18-month EFS, 6-month duration of response (DOR), 1-year DOR, 6-month duration of B-cell aplasia (DBA), or 1-year DBA. Univariate and multivariate analyses did not associate Hispanic ethnicity with a change in OS, EFS, DOR, or DBA. With respect to safety outcomes, Hispanic and NHW patients did not significantly differ across cytokine release syndrome (CRS), maximum CRS grade, tocilizumab use, steroid use, neurotoxicity, maximum neurotoxicity grade, grade 4 neutropenia, tumor lysis syndrome, number of infections post-infusion, or length of pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) stay. Both efficacy and safety outcomes were similar between Hispanic and NHW CAYA R/R B-ALL patients receiving tisagenlecleucel in the real-world setting. Increasing access to CAR therapy among Hispanic patients could help mitigate population-level disparities in outcomes.
Outpatient Gastroenterology follow-up reduces GI-specific readmissions among patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis
Keywords: Inflammatory bowel diseases
Ulcerative colitis
readmission
follow-up
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Thesis

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that is characterized by pathologic inflammation and ulcerations in the colon resulting in bloody bowel movements, anemia and malnutrition with a relapsing and remitting course. Hospitalization for disease flares is common in cases with a severe phenotype and requires intensive monitoring and intravenous therapies; readmission within 30 days occurs in up to 18% of patients, for which the most common indication is disease flare. Readmissions are associated with increased morbidity, mortality, as well as costs, but the importance of post-discharge follow-up with a gastroenterology specialist as well as the optimal interval are unknown. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 223 patients with medically-managed ulcerative colitis who were admitted to the Stanford University Hospital between 2010 and 2020. We included adult patients with UC who were admitted for a UC flare. Patients with a colectomy by time of discharge or who were diagnosed with Clostridium difficile infection at the index hospitalization were excluded. The primary outcome was time to readmission for a GI-related indication, and the primary predictor of interest was follow-up with a gastroenterology provider. Patients were censored 180 days after discharge. At the index hospitalization, 60.9% had pan-colitis, and 87.9% had moderate-to-severely active endoscopic disease. Follow-up occurred within 7 days in 65 patients (29%), within 30 days in 153 patients (68.7%), and within 180 days in 198 patients (89%). Readmission occurred in 57 patients (25%); 31 happened within 30 days for a 30-day readmission rate of 13.9%. In the Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for age, sex, and albumin level using follow-up with a gastroenterology provider as a time-dependent predictor, follow-up was associated with fewer readmissions (hazard ratio 0.42, 95% confidence interval 0.22-0.81, p=0.009). In particular, follow-up within 7 days after discharge (occurred in 65 patients) was strongly associated with reduced risk of subsequent readmission (HR 0.24, 95% CI 0.09-0.69, p-0.008). Via the log-rank test for trend, earlier follow-up was found to be associated with fewer less readmissions (p<0.0001). Our analysis demonstrates the benefits of early post-discharge follow-up in patient, which may represent an important approach to reduce the burdens of readmissions in this patient group.
Overexposed? The Effects of Prenatal Pesticide Exposure on Educational Outcomes
Keywords: Prenatal influences
Pesticides
Academic achievement
School attendance
Special education
Fresno Unified School District
organophosphate
Proposition 65
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Thesis

This thesis aimed to investigate the potential connection between prenatal exposure to two specific types of pesticides (organophosphates and proposition 65 chemicals) and academic outcomes, including both standardized test scores and behavioral measures. The sample was drawn from students enrolled in the Fresno Unified School District in the 2015–16 school year who were born in the state of California. The sample was majority Hispanic (n = 16686) and included slightly more females (n = 14855) than males. Organophosphate exposure had a significant negative effect on standardized test scores (but notably not on behavioral outcomes) in unadjusted analyses, but these effects disappeared after adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Proposition 65 chemical exposure did not have a significant effect on any of the outcomes of interest in either the unadjusted or adjusted analyses. In conclusion, it seems unlikely that prenatal pesticide exposure (at the level it currently exists in California) has a significant effect on school-aged children beyond the effects of the demographic factors it is associated with.
Oxygen activation by mononuclear non-heme iron enzymes
Keywords: Chemistry.

Non-heme iron (NHFe) enzymes are in critical in Nature, playing significant roles in bioremediation, the biosynthesis of natural products, DNA repair and human health. These metalloenzymes utilize an Fe cofactor to activate dioxygen for reaction with organic substrates in a wide variety of chemical transformations including: H-atom abstraction, hydroxylation, halogentation, aromatic ring cleavage, aliphatic ring expansion/formation, electrophilic aromatic substitution and sulfur oxygenation/oxidation. Elucidating the mechanisms of these diverse catalysts requires defining the geometric and electronic structure of key Fe-O2 intermediates along the reaction cycle. An ideal tool for the interrogation of these Fe-O2 intermediates is nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy (NRVS), a synchrotron-based technique that observes the vibrational side-bands of the Fe-57 Mossbauer transition, making it a site-selective probe of all normal modes containing Fe displacement. Interpretation and analysis of NRVS spectra by correlation to quantum mechanical simulations (via density functional theory), allows for assignment of Fe vibrations and crucially geometric structure. In this thesis, NRVS is applied to the Fe-O2 intermediates in the extradiol dioxygenase, homoprotocatechuate 2,3-dioxygenase (HPCD-HPCA-Int-1) and the intradiol dioxygenase, protocatechuate 3,4-dioxygenase (PCD-4FC-Int-1), the pre-Fe(IV)=O intermediate in the pterin-dependent hydroxylase, tryptophan hydroxylase, and intermediate Q in methane monooxygenase (included in the appendix), while the ETHE1 sulfur oxidase versus oxygenase and the alpha-KG-dependent DAOCS concerted versus sequential DAOCS mechanistic studies utilize a combination of spectroscopic methods
Parched plants to flaming forests : understanding tree mortality and wildfires with microwave remote sensing of vegetation water stress
Keywords: Earth System Science.

Vegetation water stress is a key driver of several critical processes in the Earth system. The amount of water stress an ecosystem can tolerate affects stomatal closure and thus its ability to sequester carbon dioxide (including anthropogenic emissions), and transpire water vapour. High amounts of vegetation water stress can also deplete water stored in vegetation, leaving them flammable and vulnerable to wildfires. Further, prolonged water stress in vegetation can lead to hydraulic failure in the xylem, eventually leading to drought-driven mortality. Both mortality and wildfires can lead to permanent changes in vegetation cover, and also impact ecosystem services such as air and water quality, recreation, and timber. However, despite its importance, we lack accurate, real-time, scalable measurements of vegetation water stress. In this dissertation, I first introduce three methods to estimate vegetation water stress with microwave observations ranging from plot-scale to global scale. I then show that vegetation water stress can predict drought-driven tree mortality in California, and wildfire hazard in the western US. In Chapter 2, I introduce a P-band side-facing radar measurement system to measure vegetation water stress in $\approx$ 100 m scales. In Chapter 3, I derive a new method to estimate vegetation water stress using an X-band satellite radiometer, and show that it is the best predictor of drought-driven forest mortality in California as compared to all existing metrics. In Chapter 4, I design a physics-guided deep learning algorithm to map live fuel moisture content- the percentage of vegetation water per unit dry biomass across the western US using several satellite measurements, including a C-band synthetic aperture radar. Using the resulting live fuel moisture content maps, in Chapter 5, I show that plant sensitivity to water limitation regulates the rise in burned area under a warming climate. In Chapter 6, I use the same maps to quantify the effect of live fuel moisture content on wildfire ignition probability using a causal inference framework. Together, this research provides the tools and data to estimate vegetation water stress across scales, and also shows its impacts on tree mortality and wildfire hazard
Partial reprogramming of the aging neurogenic niche as a potential rejuvenation strategy
Keywords: Biology.

Aging is associated with a decline in function of cells and tissues, accompanied by a dramatic increase in the incidence of many diseases including neurodegenerative diseases and cancers. Importantly, the accumulation of age-associated changes is not inevitable. Understanding how to slow down or potentially even reverse the process of aging in different cell types is critical to the goal of preserving tissue function and organism health during aging. One interesting strategy to reverse aging is reprogramming, through the forced expression of the Yamanaka reprogramming factors OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, and c-MYC (OSKM). Reprogramming of somatic cells by constant expression of OSKM results in embryonic stem cell-like cells and erases many hallmarks of aging in vitro. However, the impact of OSKM expression on cell function and heterogeneity in specific cell types in old animals is not fully known. In this dissertation, I present my work on aging and reprogramming. First, I discuss several categories of rejuvenation strategies that have recently been studied in mice, including soluble blood factors, manipulation of diet and metabolism, killing of senescent cells, and reprogramming. Next, I explore how partial reprogramming affects the subventricular zone (SVZ), a conserved neurogenic niche in mammalian brains. Partial reprogramming, achieved by expression OSKM in a time- or cell-restricted manner, has been shown to improve function in a variety of cell types from aging mice without permanent loss of cell identity. But the impact of partial reprogramming on the aging brain is largely unknown. I focus on the SVZ, a neurogenic niche which holds intrinsic regenerative potential, as neural stem cells from the SVZ can give rise to newborn neurons and astrocytes throughout adulthood. Lastly, I examine the impact of aging and heterogeneity on reprogramming of fibroblasts, the most commonly used cell type for reprogramming to pluripotency. Together, these studies demonstrate the complex interplay between aging and reprogramming, and the potential for reprogramming to be applied as a tool to counteract age-related decline
Partitioning solidarity : Palestine and the British left, 1923-48
Keywords: History.

"Partitioning Solidarity" reconstructs the debate over Palestine among the British left between 1923 and 1948, the years of the British Empire's Mandate for Palestine. it reveals that contrary to the standard narrative—that the British left at first supported Zionism before "divorcing" Israel after the 1967 Arab-Israeli—in truth the "problem of Palestine" was a source of conflict within the British left from the very beginning. There was no clear "leftist position" in these formative years; rather, individual leftists debated, negotiated, and agonized over which group in Palestine to stand in solidarity with. Driven by the particularity of events in Palestine, and of Palestine's place in the British cultural imagination, these leftists presented new possibilities for solidarity, both between the metropole and the Empire and within the British left itself. By the end of Britain's Mandate for Palestine, however, this moment had closed. This dissertation thus provides a new "origin story" for the Arab-Israeli Conflict's divisive place in the history of the British left. At the theoretical level, it argues for a renewed engagement with solidarity as an analytic historical category. Recent research on the culture of the British Empire has focused on the pervasive power of Empire in shaping the minds of Britons to view colonial subjects as "Others." While important, this body of work has made imperial power seem impenetrable and resistance to it futile. Examining how some Britons were able to form international bonds of solidarity with people whom their culture declared unknowable Others, even in the face of the culture of imperialism, allows us to probe the weaknesses of imperial discourse rather than emphasize only its power
Pediatricians’ Knowledge, Practice Patterns, and Barriers in Treating Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: A Qualitative Study
Keywords: Medicine
Pediatricians
Lower urinary tract symptoms
Bowel and bladder training
Urotherapy
Urinary incontinence in children
Urinary incontinence
Primary care (Medicine)
Pediatrics
Barriers and Facilitators
Pediatricians' beliefs
Pediatricians > Attitudes
Qualitative research
Focus groups
Community Health and Prevention Research
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Thesis

Importance: Pediatric lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are common experiences among school-aged children, with prevalence rates reaching as high as 20%. Pediatricians are first-line stakeholders in providing treatment for these bothersome symptoms, yet little knowledge exists about the treatment of LUTS by primary care providers. Evaluating pediatricians’ knowledge, beliefs, and practice patterns toward LUTS is an important step in developing resources to help clinicians treat LUTS and facilitate LUTS treatment at the primary care setting instead of the subspecialty care setting.
Objective: To explore pediatricians’ perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to providing care for children with LUTS and to identify their practices, knowledge, and beliefs about LUTS.
Design: This qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured key informant focus groups of pediatricians from Northern and Central California. A moderator guide was developed based on the social-ecological model, previous literature, and feedback from pediatricians and urology providers. Thematic analysis was performed using deductive and inductive approaches.
Participants: English-speaking pediatricians from Northern and Central California caring for children with or without LUTS.
Results: 15 pediatricians were interviewed. Participants were between the ages of 30-69 years and two were men. Practice types included general outpatient settings, hospital-based/inpatient, and subspecialty. Pediatricians believe pediatric LUTS is a common problem that can significantly impact a child’s well-being. In practice, pediatricians do not actively screen for LUTS beyond the potty training period due to limited clinic visit time and competing healthcare demands. Pediatricians feel limited in their ability to influence behavioral change in the home setting. Referrals to subspecialists are driven by parental mistrust and expectations. School-level factors are identified as barriers to bladder health. Pediatricians wish they had clear guidelines and additional residency education. They also recommend the development of resources for parents and teachers.
Conclusion and Relevance: This information may help develop and implement education tools for the primary care setting, which can be used prior to the onset of LUTS, shifting the focus from treatment to prevention.
A penny-sized wearable wireless EEG recorder
Keywords: Electrical Engineering.

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a test to record electrical activity in the brain by small electrodes through signals on the scalp. Due to its non-invasiveness, EEG recording has been widely used in a variety of applications, including sleep study, mental health monitoring, brain-computer interface, etc. However, mainstream clinical recording systems are still tethered with wet electrodes that require special preparation, limiting the setup to well-equipped labs and preventing the collection of longitudinal data. In this thesis, we summarized the special characteristics of EEG signals and presented a distributed recording system based on a penny-sized 1.2-gram (battery included) wearable wireless EEG recorder for long-term non-intrusive mental health monitoring. The core of the wearable EEG recorder is a custom designed chip, each with two signal-acquisition front-ends and a frequency-division multi-access (FDMA) transmitter. The signal-acquisition circuit is based on a direct recording 2nd-order ΣΔ ADC, which has an input-referred noise of 0.82 μVrms, a peak ENOB of 9.4 bits and an auto-ranging and fast-settling algorithm to cope with large instantaneous artifacts and interferences. The FDMA transmitter uses OOK modulation and supports in total 32 concurrent data telemetry channels, 12 of which are in the 915-MHz ISM band. This enables in total 24 concurrent recording sites in ISM band, and 64 sites if the experiment is in an isolated environment outside of FCC regulation. System functionality is also validated by comparing it to a clinical-grade instrument in two common EEG experiments, eye-closed alpha wave test and visual event-related potential (ERP) measurement. Similar performance has been observed between the two setups, proving our new system's potential to transform EEG measurement from uncomfortable tethered setup in the clinic, to non-intrusive long-term mental health monitoring at home
Performance optimization of MEMS gyroscopes and their shock survivability
Keywords: Mechanical Engineering.

In recent times, MEMS gyroscopes have become more integral to the way we perceive the world. Recent MEMS gyroscopes address the size, cost, and power consumption considerations that have previously limited gyroscope applications. Of particular interest to this work is the MEMS version of the Disc Resonating Gyroscope (DRG). This design is compatible with wafer-scale manufacturing while also offering improvements such as reduced drift and high signal/noise. If this device is going to be used in wider applications, the quality factor and shock performance need to be examined. In this work, we show that the performance of DRGs can be improved if we alter the traditional structure into a serpentine ring structure. This serpentine ring structure or springy DRG (SRG) shows great potential to have a higher quality factor. We see improvements on the order of 2.5X as well as interesting opportunities for further improvement once the design is parameterized. We find DRG designs that depart from the "Zener curve" for ring resonators, showing greater potential for high-performance applications. On the flip side is that these new applications may also be subject to strong shocks. As MEMS gyroscopes are being used in more applications, understanding their survivability is of paramount performance. We explored the shock survivability profile of over ten DRGs and determined consistent survivability over 50,000g. Even more interesting is the variety of responses to the shocks of the devices. As expected, we see that the quality factor and resonant frequency are affected for some of these devices at these high shock levels. We also see that the frequency tuning curve of these devices had an unpredictable response to great shock. In this work, we find that through shock testing of these devices and parametric optimization of disc resonating gyroscopes, we can have a path to improved performance and gain a more in-depth understanding of shock survivability