VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
The Making of Security Policy in China: Theory and Practice
Keywords: China
United States
security
foreign policy
trade
Center for International Security and Cooperation
CISAC
Thesis

The debate about how the United States should approach the issue of an emerging China has intensified with the rapid economic growth and increasing power of the Chinese state. Realists would argue that China seeks to increase its own power at the expense of others and that an appropriate policy response is to constrain China. Liberals would argue that China has similar goals to the United States and can be engaged as a partner in issues of international security and trade. Both sides, however, perceive China as a unitary actor with consistent interests and not as a collection of organizational interests, thereby failing to reduce “Chinese interests” to their most elemental parts. A third, more nuanced option that is not given adequate attention in the literature is that bureaucratic politics in China are a critical factor in the determination of Chinese security policy. This thesis will use the case of China’s policy towards North Korea to determine whether the unitary actor’s approach of realism or a bureaucratic politics approach better explains Chinese security policy outcomes. The findings of this thesis have great theoretical implications, as well as implications for conceptions of China, the denuclearization of North Korea, and U.S. China policy.
Transaction-Cost-Conscious Pairs Trading via Approximate Dynamic Programming
Keywords: Computer Science.
Algorithms
Dynamic programming
Investment analysis
Thesis

In this paper, we develop an algorithm that optimizes logarithmic utility in pairs trading. We assume price processes for two assets, with transaction cost linear with respect to the rate of change in portfolio weights. We then solve the optimization problem via a linear programming approach to approximate dynamic programming. Our simulation results show that when asset price volatility and transaction cost are sufficiently high, our ADP strategy offers significant benefits over the chosen baseline strategy. Our baseline strategy is an optimized version of a pairs trading heuristic studied in the literature.
uClinux on the NetFPGA Embedded System
Keywords: Computer Science.
Field programmable gate arrays
Modeling
Digital computer simulation
Thesis

This thesis will detail my role in the Stanford High-Performance Networking group working on the NetFPGA project. NetFPGA is a customizable software and hardware solution aimed at allowing students to create network hardware that most accurately simulates real-world network hardware. I am specifically working on the second-generation NetFPGA board.
Using the Oxygen Isotopic Composition of Phosphate as a Tracer for Nutrient Sources to Lake Erie
Keywords:  Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences
School of Earth Energy &amp; Environmental Sciences
Lake Erie
Thesis

Lake Erie's hypolimnion continues to undergo seasonally anoxic conditions, despite extensive efforts over the past 30 years to reduce phosphorus loads from known sources (Charleton, 1993; Charleton and Milne, 2005). In this study, I measured isotopic composition of oxygen in phosphate (d18Op) from twelve stations in and around Lake Erie in order to identify the sources of phosphorus loads in Lake Erie and constrain the cycling of phosphate within the lake. Lake Erie's West Basin has d18Op values that are strongly linked to riverine input values. Samples from the Central Basin have higher d18Op values than the West Basin, reflecting significant input from a source not measured in this study. Samples from the West Basin showed a greater degree of biological recycling than those in the Central Basin.
A Responsibility to Consult? Local Policy Ownership During Transitional Governance
Keywords:  Center for International Security and Cooperation
state-building
statebuilding
governance
democracy
development
ownership
post-conflict
reconstruction
United Nations
peacekeeping
peacebuilding
peace-building
peace operations
intervention
chapter 7
peace enforcement
Bosnia
Cambodia
East Timor
Timor-Leste
Security Council
local ownership
transition
failed states
weak states
Center for International Security and Cooperation
Thesis

This thesis explores the circumstances under which it is wise (or foolish) for international post-conflict missions to seek the advice consent of local populations in major post-conflict policy decisions. Based on field work in East Timor and three diverse case studies -- East Timor, Bosnia, and Cambodia -- the author assesses the conditions under which local policy ownership is important or unimportant during these transitions. The author advises international peace- and state-builders to assess the incentives that local parties have to support or undermine agreed plans; to estimate the consequences of handing responsibility to local actors; to determine the nature and utility of leverage over local leaders that international actors might want to maintain in the period after the completion of elections -- and, not least, to do these things in advance of deciding what balance to seek between local and international responsibilities during and after the transition.
Cenozoic Surface Elevation in Southwestern Montana and Eastern Idaho: A Stable Isotope Study
Keywords:  Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences
School of Earth Energy &amp; Environmental Sciences
Cenozoic
western United States
Thesis

The topographic evolution of the western United States is a matter of debate because of the limited number of reliable proxies for paleoelevation and paleorelief. A better understanding of this topographic history, however, can help identify the feedbacks between topography, tectonics, and climate. This study uses oxygen isotopes from fluvial and lacustrine carbonates in southwestern Montana and eastern Idaho to examine paleotopography in this region during the Cenozoic.
Cenozoic Topography and Climate in the Rocky Mountains: A Stable Isotope Study in Central Wyoming
Keywords:  Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences
School of Earth Energy &amp; Environmental Sciences
Rocky Mountains
Wyoming
Thesis

The topographic history of the Rocky Mountain province is uncertain and currently debated. This study examines that history through a sequence of Tertiary sedimentary units exposed at the southern border of the Wind River Basin in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. Isotopic analyses of fluvial and lacustrine carbonates from these formations yielding carbonate d18O values ranged from -15.4 per mil to -10.9 per mil (VPDB). No large isotopic shifts, which would indicate periods of uplift, were observed. Instead of implying Oligocene uplift of the Rocky Mountains, these data suggest that the mountain range has existed as a prominent topographic feature at least since the early Eocene. The observed trends are best explained primarily by global temperature change and secondarily by regional climate change.
Development of a Numerical Simulation Model for Two-Phase, Cross-Sectional Flow Experiments to Test Relative Permeability Relationships
Keywords:  Department of Petroleum Engineering
School of Earth Energy &amp; Environmental Sciences
Thesis

The present understanding of the frontal instabilities associated with the multiphase displacement process in the porous media is limited. The most obvious example is the inability to predict the conditions required to initiate, to maintain and to eliminate the fingering when one phase displaces another. To overcome this inability, most laboratory experiments are constrained in rate and direction so that the results can be analyzed through known formulations. For example, the gas-liquid displacement experiments are carried out in controlled rates and in vertical direction (where gas is injected from the top) to ensure gravity stable displacement and thereby to avoid fingering of the highly mobile gas in the porous media.SUPRI has recently designed an x-z cross-sectional flow apparatus that has glass on one side to observe the displacement of fluids in porous media. With this apparatus, the displacement of oil by gas will be observed, including the gravity over-riding and the fingering of the highly mobile injected gas. The ultimate objective of the experiments is to quantify the benefits of injecting foaming agents with the gas. Yet, other than the normal measurements such as the total oil produced per injected gas, no other capability exists to enumerate the displacement processes and to quantify the benefits of foams.The intent of this work was to develop a simple numerical simulator that enables the experimenter to model the displacement process and hence verify the parameters that control the displacement, such as relative permeability relationships. Besides not being available in SUPRI, the commercial numerical simulators use the time-march method. In simplest terms, given a starting condition, certain rate or pressure constraints, they calculate the change in saturation and pressure in the model for a given time period. Using a commercial simulator, the experimenter will have to perform a history match to duplicate the frontal location by time. Should there be frontal instability in the displacement, local permeability modifications will be required to achieve the history match.Instead of using the time-march method, the simulator that was developed in this research uses the frontal location as the input data, and solves for the instantaneous injection and production rates of the fluids. Having the frontal locations available at multiple times, through one simulation run, it is possible to test the applicability of the relative permeability correlations quickly. The experimenter will have to history match only the scalar data points (injection and production rates) rather than the x-z frontal locations of the displacement at each time.The simulator is only applicable to the laboratory experiment discussed here. In its current formulation, it can only simulate the experiment until the gas breakthrough, even though modifications can be made to simulate the experiment after the breakthrough.
Microstructures of Thrombolites, Lago Sarmiento, Patagonia, Chile: Insight into growth processes
Keywords: School of Earth Energy &amp; Environmental Sciences
thrombolites
Chile
Thesis

One of the most spectacular locations of thrombolites exhibiting large macrostructures such as bowls, broccoli-shaped structures, domes, eroded-top domes, columns, overhanging domes, and pancake-shaped structures, can be seen at Lago Sarmiento, Patagonia, Chile. Microfacies and growth processes were characterized for samples taken from Lago Sarmiento to study the relationship between macro- and micro-morphologies.
Paleoenvironmental Response to Climate Change in the Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru
Keywords:  Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences
School of Earth Energy &amp; Environmental Sciences
climatic changes
Peru
Thesis

In order to make informed and useful policy decisions regarding climate change, it is necessary to understand not only the Earth's climate history, but how the environment responds to climate change. Paleolimnology is becoming an increasing popular way of accessing terrestrial paleoenvironmental data, and can be used to reconstruct paleoecology and lake dynamics. In this study, the results of elemental and isotopic analyses of lacustrine sediments from two sites in the Sibinacocha watershed of the Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru, are compared to climatic data from the Quelccaya ice core to better understand the relationship between climate change and vegetative response.
Radio frequency station-beam dynamics interaction in circular accelerators [electronic resource]
Keywords: Electrical Engineering

The longitudinal beam dynamics in circular accelerators is mainly defined by the interaction of the beam current with the accelerating Radio Frequency (RF) stations. For stable operation, Low Level RF (LLRF) feedback systems are employed to reduce coherent instabilities and regulate the accelerating voltage. The LLRF system design has implications for the dynamics and stability of the closed-loop RF systems as well as for the particle beam, and is very sensitive to the operating range of accelerator currents and energies. Stability of the RF loop and the beam are necessary conditions for reliable machine operation. This dissertation describes theoretical formalisms and models that determine the longitudinal beam dynamics based on the LLRF implementation, time domain simulations that capture the dynamic behavior of the RF station-beam interaction, and measurements from the Positron-Electron Project (PEP-II) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that validate the models and simulations. These models and simulations are structured to capture the technical characteristics of the system (noise contributions, non-linear elements, and more). As such, they provide useful results and insight for the development and design of future LLRF feedback systems. They also provide the opportunity to study diverse longitudinal beam dynamics effects such as coupled-bunch impedance driven instabilities and single bunch longitudinal emittance growth. Coupled-bunch instabilities and RF station power were the performance limiting effects for PEP-II. The sensitivity of the instabilities to individual LLRF parameters, the effectiveness of alternative operational algorithms, and the possible tradeoffs between RF loop and beam stability were studied. New algorithms were implemented, with significant performance improvement leading to a world record current during the last PEP-II run of 3212 mA for the Low Energy Ring. Longitudinal beam emittance growth due to RF noise is a major concern for LHC. Simulations studies and measurements were conducted that clearly show the correlation between RF noise and longitudinal bunch emittance, identify the major LLRF noise contributions, and determine the RF component dominating this effect. With these results, LHC upgrades and alternative algorithms are evaluated to reduce longitudinal emittance growth during operations. The applications of this work are described with regard to future machines and analysis of new technical implementations, as well as to possible future work which would continue the directions of this dissertation.
Rapid prototyping of reel-to-reel compatible microsystems [electronic resource]
Keywords: Electrical Engineering

This thesis develops tools and techniques for rapidly prototyping reel-to-reel compatible MEMS devices. Laser printing is advanced as an alternative to photolithography for depositing and patterning thin polymer layers on both rigid and flexible substrates. These polymer layers are shown suitable for etch mask and liftoff patterning of underlying thin films for the production of electronic devices, and as magnetically actuated microstructures. Micromilling is used as a mask-free patterning and etching technique for polymer layers, enabling the rapid development of interconnect-free on-chip microfluidic devices. By combining these two techniques, capacitive accelerometers and electromechanical pixels can be designed, fabricated, and tested, demonstrating the capabilities of laser printing and micromilling for prototyping devices which could be inexpensively mass produced using full-scale reel-to-reel fabrication processes.
The Survival of Unrecognized States in the Hobbesian Jungle
Keywords: Center for International Security and Cooperation
CISAC
Stanford University
sovereignty
Recognition International law
Thesis

Unrecognized states have been a consistent feature of the international system, at least since 1945, but have not received much attention from the scholarly and policymaking community. This thesis examines various factors that could determine the survival of unrecognized states. It compiles and analyzes a data set consisting of 36 cases that have existed at some point in time since 1945. The results of the data analysis find that foreign military support received by the unrecognized state, prior autonomous status, and the presence of third- party intervention all positively affect unrecognized state survival. Moreover, the data discovers a dramatic increase in the number of unrecognized states born after 1991 as opposed to the period between 1945 and 1991. Lastly, the data reveals that an unrecognized state born from administrative actions is likely to die the same way, while an unrecognized state born from a secessionist war is likely to die by military defeat. These findings call into question the assumption made by scholars and policymakers that broadly defined foreign support is the sole factor determining the survival of unrecognized states, and calls for a rigorous and new look at this phenomenon of the international system, how it survives, and how sovereign states should address it.
Young Volcanism within the Long Valley Caldera/Mammoth Mountain/Inyo Craters Magmatic System: (1) Temporal Implications of the Java Islet Eruption at Mono Lake; (2) Linking Rhyolitic Eruptions and Basaltic Intrusions
Keywords:  Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences
School of Earth Energy &amp; Environmental Sciences
volcanism
Thesis

Volcanologic and petrologic evolution of the Long Valley Caldera / Mammoth Mountain / Inyo Craters magmatic system is addressed through two distinct studies: one focused on the extent of a young volcanic deposit at Mono Lake, and the other focused on isotope analyses of various lavas within the Long Valley Caldera.
At Home In Our World: Evolving Ideologies in American Foreign Policy
Keywords: CISAC
Center for International Security and Cooperation
Stanford University
foreign policy
public opinion
voting records
campaign contributions
international relations
Thesis

In this thesis I consider the puzzling shift towards what many perceive as an increasingly unilateral U.S. foreign policy and ask: What accounts for the contrasting approaches that Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush adopted towards international affairs? After reviewing and refuting the most common explanations, I employ a framework devised by Walter Russell Mead to identify each president’s ideological approach to the rest of the world. I build upon Mead’s structure with a voter typology developed by the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press to create a dual-classification schema. Using this schema to analyze public opinion surveys, voting records, and campaign contribution data, I identify the unique core and empowered constituencies each politician depended upon for political and financial support. By providing examples of rhetoric and policies from the campaigns and presidential tenures of Clinton and Bush, I argue that they adopted opposing approaches to international affairs to reflect the ideology of their respective core constituencies. Furthermore, certain policy positions can be attributed to the influence of critical empowered constituencies within the American electorate. I illustrate this argument with a closer examination of two cases of multilateral cooperation – the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Kyoto Protocol – to show how each president’s words (style) and actions (strategy) demonstrate a consistence adherence to the political ideology shared by his core constituency. I conclude by considering the implications of each president’s ideological approach to foreign policy for these international institutions, for the U.S., and for the 2004 presidential election.
Attacks & Accidents Policy to Protect the Power Grid's Critical Computing and Communication Needs
Keywords: infrastructure
power grid
security
cyber attack
Stanford University
Center for International Security and Cooperation
Thesis

Critical infrastructure protection is challenging because these systems are complex, interdependent, and influenced or controlled by multiple organizations that have conflicting or ill-defined responsibilities. The power grid is critical infrastructure and its reliability and security is being degraded by the drive for increased economic efficiency which has led to increased pressure on an outdated transmission grid. This has led to the use of advanced computing and communication infrastructure to manage this pressure at the cost of new challenges posed by these technologies, including the possibility of malevolent cyber attack—a new and perhaps significant risk.
The key policy question is how to make the best decisions regarding the development, implementation, operation, and maintenance of these new technologies. Industry deregulation now underway makes corrective policy difficult because companies do not have a competitive incentive to invest in security and the current reliability oversight of the power grid is ambiguous and voluntary. This paper proposes some steps that can provide for an organizational structure to support better security policy formulation and implementation, while also preserving the current goals of deregulation.
Since no computing or communication resource can be made totally secure, it is imperative that risk analysis and policy formulation use advanced methods and be an iterative process that addresses newly discovered vulnerabilities as well as emerging technologies and threats. Additionally, this policy planning must be done without any previous experience of a cyber attack on the power grid. Therefore, policy should be directed, in the near to middle term, at improvements in reliability of both the grid's power and cyber infrastructure. This would have the concomitant effect of making the power grid more survivable against attack. Finally, a disconnect in perception must be addressed—industry insiders and policy makers view electric power as the ultimate focus of the power grid, but it is essential that this perception be shifted to accommodate the growing and almost equal importance of the power grid's critical computing and communication needs.
Cross Checking Implementations for Bugs
Keywords: Computer Science.
Computer software > Testing
Debugging in computer science
Thesis

Using static analysis to analyze large source bases for errors can be difficult because the correctness rules in the system are often numerous and undocumented. In order to check those systems, a human would have to enumerate those rules at the cost of weeks or years of effort. Engler et. al [7] introduced techniques to infer many of those rules from the source itself, saving much of the human effort. This thesis leverages some of those techniques to cross check implementations for consistency.
If there are multiple implementations of the same interface (i.e. device drivers all implement open, close, read, write), we can analyze the actions of those implementations to infer the correct behavior. For example, if most of the implementations check the first argument of open for NULL before dereferencing it, it is likely that all of the implementations should check that argument for NULL before dereferencing it. The implementations missing the checks are assumed to be in error.
To demonstrate the flexibility and capability of our technique, we use static analysis to infer the rules for four classes of bugs and apply them to the Linux kernel. We found dozens of errors with relatively little user effort in spite of the kernel's size and lack of documentation.