VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Testing the Role of Heat Killed Staphylococcus aureus in Exacerbating Atopic Dermatitis-like Skin Disease and Systemic Pathology in Mice Depleted of RABGEF-1 in Keratinocytes
Keywords:  Department of Biology 2017
Biology
Pathology
Atopic Dermatitis
Atopic Eczema
Thesis

Atopic dermatitis (AD) disrupts epidermal keratinocytes and causes an impaired structural and immune skin barrier. This results in an environment favored by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S.a), which colonizes the skin of 90% of AD patients. While colonization with S.a. exacerbates the disease, the molecular mechanisms underlying AD are not completely understood. We have previously found that keratinocyte-specific deletion of the gene encoding RAB guanine nucleotide exchange factor 1 (RABGEF-1) activates the MyD88 pathway and severely impairs epidermal barrier function in mice. This induces many features of the AD phenotype. Deletion of RABGEF-1 in keratinocytes also activates the MyD88 signaling pathway, which subsequently activates transcription of inflammatory cytokines and thus contributes to the disrupted skin homeostasis. Furthermore, the Galli lab has found that the increased presence of commensal S.a., as well as clinically relevant toxin-positive and toxin-negative S.a. strains, can exacerbate the AD-like skin condition in RABGEF-1 deficient mice. We therefore hypothesized that only the cell wall of gram-positive heat-killed (HK) S.a. is sufficient to exacerbate AD-like pathology, as peptidoglycan and lipoteichoic acid—major components of such cell walls—can stimulate Toll-like Receptor 2 (TLR2), which can subsequently activate MyD88. Using a cre-inducible mouse model, we applied tamoxifen to excise the RABGEF-1 gene and induce an AD-like skin condition. We then applied heat killed (HK) S.a., which did not substantially exacerbate AD-related skin pathology in mice whose keratinocytes were depleted of RABGEF-1. However, it did increase their weight loss when compared to the corresponding mice treated with water or LPS. This revealed that HK S.a., whether acting on TLR2 or other pathogen recognition receptors, is not sufficient to exacerbate the features of AD-like skin pathology in mice whose keratinocytes are depleted of RABGEF-1; yet, HK S.a. may increase systemic effects of RABGEF-1-mediated skin disease.
Textual malleability and cultural divergence [electronic resource] : a voice-oriented philological study of the manuscripts of the Libro de Buen Amor
Keywords: Iberian and Latin American Cultures.

ABSTRACT The present dissertation is a direct philological study of the three surviving manuscripts that scholars refer to when they speak about the Libro de Buen Amor (fourteenth century Spain). It tries to lay the ground for a new philological approach that, rather than create a hypothetical hybrid of the three MSS in the tradition of the critical edition, seeks to uncover their differences and the different cultural contexts from which they emerge. Moving away from stemma-oriented philology, an approach that requires an original genealogical axis, this study directly examines the language of the manuscripts as independent texts. It seeks to uncover the multifaceted relation of textuality with voice, and points to the body of the codex as a malleable agent for expressing cultural variance. This research has led to the discovery of Sephardic undercurrents and other components from the historical contexts that have never been considered before. This study, also, presents an innovative approach to historical research that integrates the digital sciences with the study of manuscripts.
The Effect of Palm Cooling on Volume Training Response of Female Athletes
Keywords:  Department of Biology
Stanford University Department of Biology
palm cooling
exercise physiology
core temperature
strength and volume improvement
female athlete
Thesis

Athletes and coaches are constantly looking for innovative ways to expedite and enhance strength and volume training responses. Previous research demonstrated a clear correlation between increased core temperature and fatigue onset during strength and volume training. This muscle fatigue can be rapidly reversed by extraction of heat from the body core. A novel device that puts the hand in a mild vacuum and cools the palmar surface, rapidly extracts considerable heat from the core. Palm cooling applied between sets of physical exercises has shown to be effective in increasing the performance of male athletes. Since female subjects have not been specifically tested, this study investigated strength conditioning in women and whether the palm-cooling technique could enhance their performance to a similar extent as in men although both sexes have different body compositions and hormonal environments. The study involved strength exercise sessions three times a week for a period of six weeks. Every session consisted of five sets of pushups whereby per set each subject executed pushups until exhaustion. Three weeks were dedicated to baseline testing in which nine sessions were completed with three minutes of only rest without cooling in between sets and the other three weeks comprised of nine sessions with 3 minutes rest with cooling in between sets. The results confirm that palm cooling had similar positive effects on strength and endurance development of female athletes. Heat extraction through the palm could thus be a novel and effective way to improve athletic performance in females.
The Effect of Rental Assistance on Household Spending Behavior
Keywords:  Department of Economics
Stanford Department of Economics
Consumer Expenditure Survey
rent subsidy
household expenditures
Thesis

Policymakers are often interested in understanding how the receipt of a subsidy affects economic behavior. In the case of housing assistance, they may want to understand how cost savings (if they exist) from the receipt of a rental subsidy affects their spending on other goods. This paper analyzes Consumer Expenditure (CE) Survey data to investigate the relationship between rental assistance and household expenditures. In summary, I find that that for the median renter household, receipt of a subsidy is associated with a significant decrease in spending on rent and utilities. These cost savings are met with increases in expenditure on food, apparel, entertainment, and housewares. Households with relatively higher incomes experience an increase in transportation expenditures and a decrease in healthcare expenditures. Conversely, households with relatively lower incomes experience a decrease in their expenditures on transportation and an increase in their expenditures on healthcare. Taken within the context of existing research, our findings suggest that there may be a relationship between expenditure
changes and various economic outcomes.
The fate of Box City and San Francisco's enduring homeless camp epidemic
Keywords:  Department of Communication and Journalism
homelessness
encampments
San Francisco
Communications
Journalism
data journalism
narrative journalism
Thesis

An examination of San Francisco's homeless encampment epidemic seen through the lens of Box City, a shanty village that was cleared by the city in January of 2017. The eviction of Box City was part of an initiative by San Francisco's new Encampment Resolution Team to solve the tent camp crisis by offering camp dwellers a 30-day stay at the Mission Navigation Center, a progressive-minded shelter with services to help them transition off the streets.
The story follows Roland, a homeless man, from his box into the navigation center, and back out onto the streets. Figures from the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing show that nearly three-quarters of camp dwellers return to the streets after their stay at the Mission Navigation Center.
Opinions from homeless people, advocates, and city officials are voiced in order to uncover the complexities of the issue and possible solutions.
The functional roles of site-specific and tissue-specific A-to-I RNA editing events in Drosophila melanogaster
Keywords:  Department of Biology
Biology
Molecular Genetics
RNA editing
Thesis

Adenosine-to-Inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing is a biological mechanism that produces targeted modifications to the nucleotide sequence of mRNA transcripts. The functional roles of many site-specific and tissue-specific editing events are unknown and require further investigation to uncover novel editing functions. Previous work has shown that mice and flies deficient in A-to-I RNA editing undergo seizures and neurodegeneration, but these studies fail to demonstrate the more nuanced roles that this mechanism plays in neurological regulation and animal behavior. Here, CRISPR-Cas9 recombinant technology and the UAS-Gal4 RNAi knockdown system were used to perturb editing at specific sites and throughout specific tissues to assess how targeted editing events are correlated with complex behaviors and neuronal gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster. Abnormal behaviors were not found in mutants with perturbed editing at targeted sites in the genes GluClα, para, qvr, sei, and RyR. However, flies with knockdown of editing in glial cells exhibited reduced climbing activity, which provided evidence that editing at the cellular level can regulate subtle behaviors. These findings indicated that complex cellular and phenotypic responses were linked to regulation of many editing sites within a specific tissue, rather than regulation of one editing site across many tissues, providing novel insights about the roles of A-to-I RNA editing in the generation of crucial neurological processes.
The Gray Matter of Young Adulthood: Neuroscience, Social Trends, and Justice Reform
Keywords:  Program in Science
youth
young adults
emerging adults
criminal justice
neuroscience
psychology
reform
social justice
social trends
policy
reform
criminal justice reform
Stanford University
STS
science technology and society
interdisciplinary
law
Thesis

Why have recent neuroscience research findings on young adult development (age eighteen to twenty-five) not caused widespread reform for this age group in the criminal justice system? The research shows that eighteen is an arbitrary age of maturity and full criminal responsibility, but the United States continues to treat young people eighteen and older like adults. This thesis seeks to answer this question through an analysis and synthesis of scientific papers, legal cases, policy reports, and academic works. It argues that current reform efforts fail to translate scientific research into practical reform because they do not place the science within its social context, which is defined as the history and present social trends, practices, and beliefs about juvenile and criminal justice in America, including the uniquely American relationship to race and crime. This argument is grounded in a historical and theoretical discussion of the relationship between science and law. Both science and law are flexible reflections of social ideals, and both can be used as tools for social control over targeted groups. This thesis places relevant neuroscience literature on young adult development within the broader history of juvenile and criminal justice. It also puts the scientific research in conversation with the present way that young adults interact with the justice system, including in specialized young adult programs. It argues that these programs do not go far enough and that categorical reform for all young adults is necessary. This discussion concludes with a proposed model for categorical young adult reform. In short, the model suggests waiting for, being prepared for, and creating the right contextual moment for reform.
The impact of a health system strengthening initiative on the quality of healthcare in a rural district of Madagascar
Keywords:  Department of Health Research & Policy
healthcare quality
Madagascar
health system strengthening
Stanford University Department of Health Research &amp; Policy
Thesis

Assessing the effectiveness of a healthcare delivery program in a quantifiable and comprehensive manner is a challenge that most health system strengthening (HSS) organizations face continuously given the wide-range of contributors to effective care. While past studies predominantly focused on measures of access to care, the World Health Organization has urged in the last decade for an increased emphasis on measures of care quality, including its safety, timeliness, equity, and patient-centeredness. Here, we present one of the first studies to evaluate the impact of an HSS intervention on the content of healthcare, a proxy for quality, at the population-level; we deem care to be effective when it is appropriately delivered to all people in need of medical attention, not just those able to attend a health center. We conducted a longitudinal cohort study examining changes in the content of care (including medications prescribed, diagnostic tests performed, and patient counseling) provided to Malagasy pregnant women and ill children during the first two years of the joint Ministry of Health and non-profit PIVOT’s HSS intervention in Ifanadiana, a rural district of Madagascar. This work was based on responses from an independently-conducted, district-wide survey of 1600 randomly sampled households, with an intervention and control group, that was administered at baseline in 2014 and again in 2016. Our analysis revealed that as access to a public healthcare facility (PHF) increased by 10-20 percentage points over the study period in the intervention group, so too did the content of appropriate care increase by similar levels, while there were minimal changes for the control group. Notably, there was a significant increase in the percent of children ill with diarrhea who were given oral rehydration therapy at a PHF and in the percent of women whose babies were examined by a health professional soon after delivery. Conversely, we identified several indicators that remained low in the intervention group throughout the study period, particularly in the content of antenatal care for pregnant women. In addition to helping quantify the impact of the intervention in Ifanadiana and identifying aspects of care that need further improvement, this study establishes a new method of measuring the quality of health care in a population, although further validation of this method is needed. Thus, this work provides essential insights into the creation of an evidence-based healthcare delivery system, which could be applied to future HSS initiatives outside of Madagascar.
The Impact of Short Interest on the Performance of Tech Initial Public Offerings in the U.S
Keywords:  Department of Economics
Stanford Department of Economics
short selling
initial public offerings
technology sector
Thesis

This paper shows that short selling is an important component in the trading
of initial public offerings. The finding goes against conventional wisdom in the IPO
literature. Short sellers are informed traders who trade on negative information. Since their trades provide signals to the market, the short interest ratio serves as an indicator of subsequent low returns on a stock. This paper studies data on IPOs in the
technology sector issued on the Nasdaq and NYSE between October 2007 and
December 2015. The multiple regression analysis in this paper evaluates the
performance of returns on tech IPOs based on many variables, including book-to-market ratio, market premium, and firm size. The results provide evidence that the
average tech IPO exhibits a negative relationship between short interest ratio and
abnormal monthly returns during the first year of trading.
The Impact of the Philippine ISP Duopoly on Mobile Broadband Adoption
Keywords:  Department of Economics
Philippines
Internet
Duopoly
Market Structure
Innovation
Mobile
Broadband
Stanford Department of Economics
Thesis

The Philippine telecommunications market is dominated by two firms. Despite this duopoly structure, the country has been a fast adopter of mobile broadband and is home to one of the largest connected populations in the world. This paper tests and provides evidence to confirm the hypothesis that the Internet Service Provider (ISP) duopoly has not hindered Mobile Broadband Adoption. Telecommunications market consolidation does not appear to have a statistically significant effect on the Philippine’s rapid adoption of mobile broadband devices. This paper then studies key innovations that may have allowed the Philippine market to overcome the ISP duopoly and continue broadband adoption. Empirical analysis suggests that the diffusion of foreign innovations is a significant driver of increased mobile broadband use.
The Implications of Changing Immigration Policy: Effects of Australia’s Immigration Policy Change Simulated on the United States
Keywords: Fisher Family Honors Program
Democracy
Development and the Rule of Law
CDDRL
immigration
immigration policies
family-based immigration
merit-based immigration
GDP
wages
unemployment
United States
Australia
Thesis

Immigration policy has emerged as one of the most contentious issues all over the developed world. Over the past few years, there has been a proliferation of advocacy towards reforming the U.S. immigration policies towards one that is more conducive to economic growth citing merit-based immigration policies as the solution. Australia changed its immigration policy to a primarily merit-based system during the 1997-98 fiscal year and is often cited as an example of what the United States should do. This thesis studies the economic effects of the policy change in Australia and discerns changes the Untied States might benefit from by changing its own immigration policies. The economic effects (GDP per capita, wages, and unemployment) are analyzed through a difference-in-differences regression and findings are further supported through a qualitative case study approach of California and New South Wales. The results demonstrated that having a primarily merit-based immigration system is not a necessary condition to having positive economic outcomes. Additionally, merit-based immigration is incorrectly conflated with purely “high-skilled” immigration and often overlooks other occupations that would meet labor demanded. Based upon the evidence presented in this study, policymakers should focus on creating a more flexible immigration system that is more responsive to market demands, regardless of skill level, and expand all types of visas.
The Inhibition of Calcineurin by C16orf74
Keywords:  Department of Biology
calcineurin
c16orf74
calcium
calmodulin
phosphorylation
phosphatase
cell signaling
inhibition
Department of Biology
Thesis

Calcineurin (CN) is a highly-conserved serine/threonine phosphatase that is projected to interact with at least 300 proteins in the human proteome, only 27 of which have been experimentally confirmed to date. These proteins are known to interact with CN via at least one of two well-characterized amino acid binding motifs: the PxIxIT and the LxVP. C16orf74 is an uncharacterized protein that contains a candidate PxIxIT motif and which has been identified as a potential CN substrate by several independent screening techniques, including yeast two-hybrid, phage display, and computational methods. While previous work has established a correlation between C16orf74 expression and various cancers, little has been done to characterize this protein’s interaction with CN or to explore the implications of that interaction. To isolate the most essential residues in the C16orf74 PxIxIT motif, we created several versions of C16orf74 with strategically placed alanine mutations. We used these C16orf74 mutants to conduct in vitro and in vivo binding assays to quantify the strength of the CN-C16orf74 interaction. A luciferase reporter assay that uses NFAT-activated transcription as a proxy for CN activity was used to measure the effect of C16orf74 expression on CN function in HEK293 cells. This data combined with previously published information about C16orf74 localization from immunofluorescence microscopy suggests that C16orf74 is an inhibitor of CN that acts through the PxIxIT binding motif at the plasma membrane. This discovery expands our knowledge of CN signaling networks in humans, a network which is already known to be critical for T-cell activation, heart-valve development, and some aspects of learning and memory.
The Intersection of the Classroom and the Home: Parent-Teacher Relationships of Low-Income Preschool Children
Keywords: preschool
parent-teacher relationship
low-income preschools
parent-teacher communication
graduate school of education
interview
qualitative research
preschool
preschool children
Thesis

The education and care for young low-income children in the United States is a collaborative effort between school administrators, teachers, and parents. The parent-teacher relationship in particular can be a significant partnership that is not well understood for low-income, ethnically diverse families of preschool children. To better understand this relationship, this study explored with twelve parents and three teachers the factors they perceive as contributing to or impeding productive and amiable parent-teacher relationships. Communication, connectedness with the school, and perceptions of the teacher emerged as major themes for this relationship. Although limited to fourteen participants in an urban area, the results suggest preschools for low-income children would benefit from focusing on personalized and consistent methods of communication with parents, more opportunities for parent-teacher interaction, and ongoing discussion of teacher expectations.
The Rise and Fall of Secular Politics in Iraq
Keywords:  Center for International Security and Cooperation
Center for International Security and Cooperation
governance
security
Iraq
state-building
American foreign policy
Thesis

What explains the political success and failure of secular politics in Iraq? A conventional account would suggest that Iraqis, divided by sectarian conflict, would be unable to organize politically around issues rather than identities, with negative implications for democratic consolidation. I document the history of secular political organization in Iraq in the pre-Ba’thist period to demonstrate that non-sectarian forms of political organization did in fact exist but did not consolidate because of avoidable errors that Great Britain made in building Iraqi institutions. Next, I discuss the electoral process in Iraq after the 2003 US invasion. While Iraq’s leading secular coalition, Iraqiyya, won a plurality of seats in the 2010 parliamentary election, secular parties lost drastically in the 2014 elections. Why? In addition to coalition weakness and lack of external support, I empirically show that sectarian violence suppressed voter turnout among secular voters. While sectarian Shia parties had Iranian-backed militias to protect their constituents, secular parties did not with the effect of disincentivizing political participation. My results suggest that democratic consolidation is not possible in without a minimum threshold of security. Without a secure environment, cycles of ethnic violence can persist, inhibiting the creation of a secular political culture. Tailored electoral systems and an even playing field are also essential to encouraging cross-sectarian outreach. If we believe that issue-based politics are good for consolidating democracy, this research helps to explain why post-2003 Iraq failed to achieve the aspirations of American democracy promoters and how the consequences are still affecting US security today.