VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Minority Models: An Analysis of Asian American Sentiment in Drama
Keywords:  Department of English
Department of English
digital humanities
Asian American
Asian American theater
drama
sentiment analysis
topic modeling
Thesis

This thesis explores Asian American playwrights’ resistance against Asian American stereotypes of silence and compares their rhetorical and semantic techniques to those of White American playwrights. It applies a digital humanities approach to the analysis of spoken emotions as expressed by a vast corpus of Asian American plays. Methods include a comparative topic model of the two ethnic corpuses and a sentiment analysis using a dictionary tailored to the corpus of late 20th century Asian American and White American plays using a Naïve Bayesian model. The thesis seeks to place the Asian American theater corpus in history and in American literary tradition as a piece of cultural activist resistance and community reclamation. Sentiment analyses and topic models reveal the semantic nuance to the subtle emotional activism used by Asian American playwrights.
The mirror and the senses [electronic resource] : reflection and perception in classical Greek thought
Keywords: Classics.

In contrast to glass mirrors today, which embody and signify accuracy in the creation of images, the earliest Greek mirrors were made of bronze. This dissertation looks at how this particular and very different type of reflective medium affected discourses about visual experience in ancient Greece. I focus on the material, literary, scientific, and philosophical evidence from the 6th to the 4th centuries BCE, when bronze mirrors proliferated in production and popularity. The dissertation falls into two parts. Part One (chs.1-2) focuses on the mirror as a material object. Here, my research yields an important discovery about Greek mirrors: bronze, as a reflective medium, would have produced what I term a "dynamic" perceptual experience for an ancient viewer, characterized by emission of light, contrasts in color, changes in texture, and variations in perspective. Part Two (chs. 3-4) then demonstrates how bronze mirrors influenced the intellectual work on vision and perception in this period. I argue that as Greek thinkers theorized the dynamic reflections produced on bronze mirrors, they turned discourses on vision towards issues of representation more broadly, so much so that by the 4th century BCE, the mirror emerges as a key epistemological tool for thinking about the production, perception, and the very nature of images.
Misconduct in organizations pursuing social missions [electronic resource] : three essays
Keywords: Business.

Organizations, even those pursuing social missions, occasionally engage in misconduct: they cross moral boundaries with their actions. Existing theories of misconduct, developed primarily in the for-profit and political sectors, do not explicitly consider the role of an organization's social mission in understanding the ripple effects of misconduct events. This is an important omission as features of organizations pursuing social missions -- such as the structural challenges of accountability for social performance and the different bases of valuation for these organizations -- suggest that misconduct would affect them differently. This dissertation takes a first step in assessing this claim by developing theoretical predictions for the effects of misconduct by organizations pursuing social missions and the mechanisms through which these effects unfold. I draw on research on the motivations that drive stakeholders to support these organizations from sociology, organizational behavior, behavioral economics, and psychology to construct my arguments. My review of these literatures suggests that misconduct should be especially detrimental for support of these organizations. To empirically test my arguments, I analyze two novel datasets of misconduct in the social sector. In my analyses, I focus on three targeted questions for which I expect there should be differences: 1) How are different types of external stakeholders affected? 2) How does organization performance moderate potential effects? 3) How does misconduct affect actors inside of these organizations? Surprisingly, I find the conditions under which misconduct events affect support for organizations pursuing social missions to be rather limited. I discuss some of the potential reasons for this as well as areas for future inquiry.
Mobile security and privacy [electronic resource] : attacks and defenses
Keywords: Electrical Engineering.

Smartphones are ubiquitous and hold much of our private personal data. Many smartphones are equipped with a multitude of sensors: cameras, microphones, motion sensors, magnetometers, GPS receivers and more. This dissertation explores ways in which smartphone sensors can be used for unintended applications. We show how to use the accelerometer and the microphone to obtain a robust hardware fingerprint that can be used to track a user across web sites; we show how to use the gyroscope to eavesdrop on speech; and we show how to to use the power meter to learn the location and movements of the owner. This work demonstrates that a combination of signal processing, machine learning and the physical properties of mobile hardware, can reveal unexpected information about the device and its owner. These results are intended to inform the community, and smartphone vendors, about the risks of giving sensor data to third party smartphone applications.
A model-free approach to high-dimensional inference [electronic resource]
Keywords: Statistics.

Consider trying to understand the genetic basis of a disease. A natural first step would be to sequence the genomes of a large group of people and note whether each person has the disease or not. With such a data set one might hope to answer questions such as which mutations make the disease more likely, or how much all the mutations together explain disease contraction as opposed to environmental factors. Unfortunately, due to the large number (hundreds of thousands or more) of locations on the genome with potential mutations, classical statistical techniques cannot be used to answer such questions. Similar problems with a response variable of interest and many potential explanatory variables (known as 'high-dimensional' problems) abound in modern statistical applications, including in medicine, political science, advertising, and many more. The driving force behind the recent surge in such high-dimensional problems is that it has become easier and less expensive to collect, store, and process increasing amounts of information about individuals such as entire genomes, medical records, or online behavior. The limitations of classical methods in high-dimensional settings demand innovation in the statistical field of high-dimensional inference. In addition to requiring creative mathematical insight, most high-dimensional inference problems are non-starters without some further assumptions about the underlying process generating the data. As such, a constant challenge and source of debate regards the best way to make assumptions that are realistic, verifiable, and allow for fast and powerful methods. This thesis contributes to the discussion by surveying existing methods along with their assumptions, proposing a different perspective on how assumptions are made, and highlighting the benefits of that perspective by detailing two novel methods (developed jointly by the author and his collaborators) for high-dimensional inference that embody it.
Modeling and simulation of non-ideal combustion [electronic resource]
Keywords: Mechanical Engineering.

Non-ideal combustion can yield destructive processes such as thermoacoustic coupling and engine knock. These processes can be quite prevalent and pernicious in certain regimes and can depreciate the measurements of nominally ideal combustors such as shock tubes and rapid compression machines. These experimental devices are designed to isolate chemical kinetic phenomena from other complex processes that occur within the combustion chamber during engine operation such as spray breakup, fuel evaporation, and mixing. However, shock tube and rapid compression machine experiments can be susceptible non-ideal interaction of the gas dynamics with the ignition chemistry; for example, under certain test conditions in a shock tube experiment, a bifurcation structure may appear leading to the contamination of the test gas and a non-ideal ignition modality. Additionally, residual turbulence in a rapid compression machine may yield a deflagrative ignition event. These alternative ignition modalities obfuscate reaction-kinetic experiments and are best avoided. Hence, this dissertation will focus on studying the non-ideal combustion inherent in these configurations using an array of approaches: detailed simulation, low order modeling, and a data-driven methodology. It is found through detailed simulation that the chemical model sensitivities can yield a pronounced difference in the prediction of non-ideal combustion in shock tubes; furthermore, the effect of shock-boundary-layer interaction on ignition in shock tubes is found to be principally determined by the relative magnitude of the chemical and gas dynamic time scales. In rapid compression machines, it is argued through scaling analysis that temperature gradients produced during the compression stroke can significantly alter the character of the combustion. Finally, a data-driven analysis of irregular combustion in shock tubes, rapid compression machines, and detonations shows that disparate induction and heat release time scales strongly correlate to irregular combustion.
Modeling for decision making under uncertainty in energy and U.S. foreign policy [electronic resource]
Keywords: Management Science and Engineering.

Mathematical models of the energy system are very successful tools for domestic policy analysis. However, these models have not been widely used to support decision making at the intersection of energy and U.S. foreign policy. This dissertation argues energy modeling must adapted to be relevant in this unique context including making greater use of uncertainty analysis. Criteria are identified to contrast four approaches to uncertainty analysis: predictive scenario analysis, Monte Carlo analysis, decision analysis, and exploratory modeling and analysis. Using an optimization and simulation model of the energy system, each approach to uncertainty analysis is used to analyze a current U.S. foreign policy problem: Should the United States provide incentives to promote natural gas in the electricity mix of low income countries? The results of the analysis are used to make a recommendation about U.S. policy and about the approach to uncertainty analysis that is most appropriate for energy and foreign policy decision making. Based on the approaches contrasted, decision analysis and exploratory modeling and analysis used together are found to have the greatest potential as a tool for energy and foreign policy analysis. When combined, these approaches have the most suitable implications for encoding uncertain variables, conducting broad policy search, quickly providing updated results, producing results that can be correctly interpreted by decision makers to provide direction and intuition, and directing the collection and integration of new information. In combination these approaches shift the burden of probabilistic reasoning away from the decision maker, while providing insights into the energy system that a decision maker can integrate with other types of policy judgment.
Modeling radiation transport in turbulent particle-laden media [electronic resource]
Keywords: Mechanical Engineering.

Particle-based solar receivers are a promising device for efficient renewable energy systems. In these systems, an array of mirrors focuses sunlight onto a falling curtain of particles that absorbs the light. The heated particles are stored for later energy extraction. In this work I consider a design concept in which the particles and air are in a co-flowing configuration; as the particles are heated they conduct the energy to the surrounding air, which may be used directly in a power plant. The formulation of the governing equations to encompass the full physics of the problem will be presented. The impact of turbulence on the opacity of the particle cloud is analyzed. Using results from direct numerical simulations of particle-laden turbulence and ray tracing, this work will demonstrate that turbulence can substantially decrease the opacity of a particle cloud. The homogenization of the particles to a concentration field recovers an acceptable representation of radiation transport with the caveat that over-refining the grid can lead to numerical artifacts. The particle homogenization technique is then applied to a novel simulation of a particle-laden turbulent duct flow exposed to high intensity radiation to parallel ongoing experiments of a lab-scale solar receiver. These simulations provide design guidelines by examining the thermal efficiency and flow physics in particle-based solar receivers. The choice of radiation model to capture the heat transfer in the simulations can have a substantial impact on the computed temperature profiles. Initial comparisons between the computations and experiments at higher Reynolds number are also discussed. Finally, the application of the multi-fidelity Monte Carlo method for uncertainty quantification to radiation transport will be shown, along with a method for evaluating effective variance reduction techniques and its use for treating the uncertainty in the particle radiative properties.
Modern police tactics, police-citizen interactions and the prospects for reform [electronic resource]
Keywords: Political Science.

This thesis examines the intersection of bureaucratic politics and political behavior, and demonstrates the causes and wide-ranging consequences of government action on public perceptions of institutions and the social world. I devote particular focus to law enforcement agencies which, despite their normative importance as one of the most visible and powerful public bureaucracies, have received relatively scant attention from political scientists to date. This dissertation consists of three papers. In the first paper, I develop and test a theory of how citizens infer the status of social problems by taking cues from the actions of government agents. Using an original data set on SWAT team deployments by local law enforcement agencies alongside a series of survey experiments, I show that when bureaucrats publicly display new tactics, they can unintentionally skew perceptions of the social problems they are tasked with addressing, and undermine their agency's political goals (e.g. securing increased funding), findings with far-reaching implications for the study of bureaucracy, representation and policy development. The second paper, coauthored with Jane Esberg, demonstrates the prevalence, causes and consequences of public misperceptions of social conditions, including crime and unemployment rates. This study first uses over a decade of polling data to show that existing techniques for measuring public misperceptions produce results that are vulnerable to researcher discretion during analysis. After developing an improved technique, we show in a series of survey experiments that providing corrective information on social conditions can lead to massive improvements in the accuracy of public perceptions. We further show that elites who attempt to undermine these corrective facts have only a limited ability to do so. In the third paper, I test the effectiveness of a procedural reform to a highly controversial police tactic, ``Stop, Question and Frisk." Using millions of records of police-citizen interactions alongside officer interviews, I evaluate the impact of a change to the protocol for stopping criminal suspects on police performance in New York City. An interrupted time series analysis shows the directive produced an immediate increase in the rate of stops producing evidence of the suspected crime which motivated these stops. Interviewed officers said the order signaled increased managerial scrutiny, leading them to adopt more conservative tactics. Procedural changes can quickly and dramatically alter officer behavior, suggesting a reform strategy sometimes forestalled by psychological and personality-driven accounts of police behavior.
Modular forms in enumerative geometry [electronic resource]
Keywords: Mathematics.

Let X be an elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefold given by a very general Weierstrass equation over the projective plane. In this thesis, we answer the enumerative question of how many smooth rational curves lie on X over lines in the base plane, proving part of a conjecture by Huang, Katz, and Klemm. The key inputs are a modularity theorem of Kudla and Millson for locally symmetric spaces of orthogonal type and the deformation theory of A-D-E singularities.
Modular Koszul duality for Soergel bimodules [electronic resource]
Keywords: Mathematics.

We generalize the modular Koszul duality of Achar-Riche to the setting of Soergel bimodules associated to any finite Coxeter system. In characteristic 0, our result together with Soergel's conjecture (proved by Elias-Williamson) imply that our Soergel-theoretic graded category O is Koszul self-dual, generalizing the result of Beilinson-Ginzburg-Soergel.
Modulating the activation and inhibition of the met-hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) signaling axis using engineered proteins [electronic resource]
Keywords: Bioengineering.

Complex cell signaling pathways are ubiquitous and essential in nature. Extracellular signaling events often rely on interaction of a growth factor ligand with its cognate receptor, which in turn stimulates a cellular response. The themes of this dissertation are centered on a signaling axis comprised of the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) ligand and the receptor tyrosine kinase, Met. Activation of this biochemical pathway is associated with wound healing and embryonic development. Conversely, dysregulation of Met-HGF signaling can lead to uncontrolled tumor growth and eventual metastasis of many common human cancers. Thus, there has been great interest in the development of therapeutic agents that can either stimulate or inhibit Met activation for tissue regeneration or cancer therapy, respectively. An alternative component of the Met-HGF signaling axis is a protease, known as matriptase, capable of cleaving inactive pro-HGF into active HGF. Matriptase has been shown to significantly contribute to human disease progression through dysregulated activity. In this thesis, rational and combinatorial protein engineering techniques were applied to develop novel therapeutics and molecular tools capable of restoring control and furthering the understanding of the Met-HGF signaling system. First, through blockade of matriptase activity with a high affinity engineered protein, reduced pro-HGF activation and subsequent inhibition of cancer cell invasion were demonstrated. Additionally, a novel biosensor was developed that enables characterization of matriptase activity and inhibition to provide a new approach to understanding matriptase activity and inhibitor engineering. Next, to stimulate HGF-mediated Met activation, biomaterials based approaches were used to deliver an engineered HGF mimic post myocardial infarction to provide greater regenerative outcomes in preclinical disease models. This dissertation will describe the protein engineering techniques and outcomes of each of these novel approaches for characterizing and modulating the activity of the Met-HGF signaling axis.
Modulating the microbiota [electronic resource] : engineering tools for the abundant gut commensal genus, bacteroides
Keywords: Microbiology and Immunology.

The gut microbiota is a unique ecosystem, hallmarked by the extreme density of microbes coexisting and competing for nutrients. This microbial organ plays an important role in human health, influencing host functions as diverse as metabolism, the immune system, and the brain. Given its extensive interaction with the host and its natural position as a malleable portion of the host's genetic makeup, the gut microbiota is an ideal place for the deployment of engineered cell-based therapeutics. There are many hurdles associated with engineering gut bacteria for therapeutic purposes, and the work described herein centers on solutions to some of those problems. As a foundation, we focus on the Bacteroides genus for tool development given the abundance of these organisms in the average American gut, as well as their highly evolved, gut-specific sense and response systems. First, we describe the discovery of a strong, constitutive promoter that functions across the Bacteroides genus. We characterize this promoter at the nucleic acid level, and develop a set of reliable, predictable, and generalizable promoters for gene expression in the Bacteroides. We use this set of promoters to discover new biogeographical information about crypt occupancy in the distal gut, and posit usefulness of this promoter set in engineering therapeutic Bacteroides. Second, we discuss the development of a system that enables reliable integration and population control of an exogenous Bacteroides strain into a pre-existing microbiota. This tool relies on administration of a privileged nutrient source to the strain of interest, and demonstrates the dominant role of nutrient access to establish a population in the gut. The ability to integrate and control a strain of interest across diverse microbiotas will be critical to success of engineered therapeutic cells in people, and this system sets the stage for this strategy. Third, we describe the development of a system to secrete protein cargo of interest from members of the Bacteroides genus. We discover a novel secreted protein in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, and develop a method to secrete peptide cargo that is released from the carrier protein upon exposure to gut proteases. The ability to secrete proteins of interest will be an important tool for designing iv cell-based therapeutics that interact with host receptor proteins, or with other bacterial cells in the gut, and the work here presents one solution. In sum, this work puts forth a toolbox for designing and engineering Bacteroides cells. These tools can be utilized both to investigate and discover new biology in the gut microbiota, and can also be applied to making cell-based therapies, an important new direction in medicine.