VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Visions of democracy in the information society : the theories of Daniel Bell, Manuel Castells, and Yochai Benkler
Keywords: Communication.

In this dissertation, I unearth the common threads and subtle evolution of democratic ideals in mainstream theories of the information society that span over thirty years. I apply the lens of democratic theory, with a primary focus on liberal and republican traditions, to perform a close reading of seminal works such as Daniel Bell's (1973) Post-Industrial Society, Manuel Castells' (1996; 1997; 1998) Information Age trilogy, and Yochai Benkler's (2006) Wealth of Networks. Through a comparative analysis, I expose the democratic canvas upon which these scholars paint their images of a rising social organization that is structured around flows of information and knowledge. Two democratic axioms stand at the center of an emergent model of information democracy. The first axiom prescribes the ideal democratic subject with the affective trait of social awareness; this model of democracy, I argue, presumes that its citizens are always ready and willing to understand, to share, and to empathize with others in their community. The second axiom refers to the idea that technologically facilitated communication can help deliver, grow, and sustain the individual citizens' capacity for social awareness. Flows of information operate as the democratic citizens' eyes and ears into the lives of others, facilitating mutual understanding. Thus, democracy in the information society realizes the common good through the affective orientation of each and every individual towards the social other, and through flows of information and knowledge that support such an orientation. The presence of these two axioms allows these scholars, in turn, to weld two ideals usually considered antithetical to each other -- the liberal ideal of individual freedom and the republican ideal of the common good
Visual agency in Euclid's elements : a study of the transmission of visual knowledge
Keywords: Classics.

Through investigation of diagrams in Euclid's Elements, this dissertation aims to study how visual knowledge has been transmitted. In the study of the history of the Elements, there has been an assumption that the text and diagrams in the work were both conveyed together. Upon this conventional assumption, the diagrams were regarded as static or subordinate to the text. This dissertation questions the supposed diagrams' dependence on the text, and argues that we should study the transmission of diagrams as their own process. Visual agency will be explored as an autonomous function of diagram makers to draw according to their discretion. According to the history of the Elements, I classify diagram makers who held visual agency into four groups: scribes, translators, readers, and printing presses. These four types of visual agents interpreted and reinterpreted diagrams over time: 1) scribes corrected diagrams mathematically and systematized them visually; 2) translators filtered the variants of diagrams and invented derivatives of diagrams; 3) readers expanded and proofread mathematical ideas through diagrams; 4) printing presses standardized diagrams and enhanced pedagogical value of them. This analysis of visual agencies leads us to a more comprehensive understanding of the transmission of diagrams. While past scholarship only understood the transmission of diagrams as a perceptual process (conducted through textual instruction and archetype diagrams), this dissertation examines both the perceptual process and the conceptual process (through visual agency). This work reveals the characteristics of the transmission of diagrams as an autonomous and knowledge-conducive process. Indeed, Euclid's diagrams have been the space where the continuous birth of mathematical ideas was invited. The discussion of the visual agency in Euclid's Elements reaches beyond the transmission of mathematical diagrams. The patterns of changes found in the transmission of mathematical diagrams may be compared with those of all sorts of other diagrams such as schematic maps, astronomical diagrams, and theological diagrams. This comparison tells us whether and how mathematical diagrams were different from other diagrams in terms of transmission. In this way the project serves to explore the complex transmission of visual knowledge latent beneath the surface of textual transmission
Water quality in dynamic redox environments : coupled hydrologic-biogeochemical controls on metal contaminant mobility
Keywords: Earth System Science.

Rising population and changing climate threaten to amplify the risks posed by metal contaminants to our freshwater resources. Altered hydrologic cycles and increased demand for freshwater will shift biogeochemical conditions in soils and sediments, potentially transforming metal contaminants from stationary (solid) phases to mobile forms, which are subject to transport and human consumption. Often, redox processes control partitioning of metal contaminants, whether by changing the redox state of the metal itself, or by transforming the metal host(s). In soils and sediments, these redox processes are commonly driven by hydrologic conditions. My research seeks to understand how redox-associated biogeochemical processes arising from and coupled to hydrologic conditions impact metal contaminant partitioning and mobilization. I employ a combination of experimental, spectroscopic, field and modeling approaches to study the partitioning of U, Pb and Cd to solid and dissolved phases in dynamic redox environments. In my first chapter, I find that the calcium-uranyl-carbonato species kinetically limit U(VI) reduction by Fe(II)(aq), thereby impeding transformation of U from a soluble form to an insoluble form. In my second chapter, I show that the stability of Pb in a range of bonding environments limits dissolved Pb concentrations in contaminated floodplain sediments, despite redox-driven dissolution of Pb hosts. In my third chapter, I reveal that soil redox conditions influence the metal-binding properties of dissolved organic matter, leading to increased complexation of Cd by soft ligands in reduced environments. Finally, in my fourth chapter, I find that the impacts of beaver dams on hyporheic biogeochemical activity dwarfs that of seasonal hydrologic dynamics. Overall, my work both furthers our understanding of the biogeochemical cycles of U, Pb, and Cd and deepens our understanding of how changes in hydrology couple with biogeochemical redox processes to determine water quality
“We all have our feet in the same Basque soil”: The Depoliticization of Basque Cuisine in American Media from 1980-2010
Keywords: Science Technology and Society
Basque
media
Basque cuisine
food journalism
travel journalism
content analysis
Thesis

The Basque Country in Spain rose to global prominence in the post-Franco area for two very different reasons: for its culinary explosion and excellence and for the terrorist activities of the Basque separatist group, E.T.A. American media covered both movements, but used divergent rhetorical methods to do so, effectively creating two versions of the Basque Country in the American imagination: one highly political, and one seemingly apolitical, sometimes even appearing just pages apart from each other. However, previous research has found that food served as a vehicle by which to preserve Basque nationalism in the face of Franco’s oppression, as food is deeply embedded in and important to the Basque culture. Through this research, I seek to answer the question of how this sharp line between culture and politics was created in American media, exploring how journalism, especially related to food and travel, handles times political strife in areas that are otherwise alluring to their audience. Through a content analysis of newspaper articles from major American media outlets from 1980-2010, I found that the rhetorical methods used by the American media effectively depoliticized Basque food and culture, ensuring that the political tension never complicated the cultural appeal, despite the centrality of Basque culture in the political struggle. Each decade accomplished this through strategies that built on the previous: first, by rigorous separation of food and politics, then by focusing on worldwide cultural markers to overshadow any mentions of politics, and finally, by using the voice of Basque chefs to cultivate the image of the apolitical Basque person. This resulted in an incomplete picture and understanding of the Basque Country from either perspective.
Wearable multi-analyte sweat sensor and novel sweat rate sensor using novel resonance-based static pressure piezoelectronic sensor
Keywords: Electrical Engineering.

Personalized Medicine is the future of health care and requires continuous monitoring of various physiological parameters for making medical decisions. Sweat is an important means of non-invasive continuous monitoring of such physiologically important molecules and proteins. In this thesis, I present technologies which are significant steps in the making of a wearable sweat measuring device which can work on a population. I present three technologies: 1. A wearable sweat sensing platform which allows non-invasive real-time monitoring of glucose, lactate, sodium and potassium in sweat and skin temperature. 2. A novel sweat rate sensor based on hygroscopic amplification and piezoelectric transduction and 3. Novel Piezoelectric static pressure sensors based on resonance which are used in the sweat rate sensor. Typically, piezoelectric sensors are said to not be able to measure static pressures, but here I demonstrate that it is possible using resonance coupling
The welfare Eeffects of macroeconomic trends in markdowns and technology
Keywords: Economics.

This dissertation consists of three essays on market power and technology. The first chapter assesses how changes in market power and technology have contributed to the decline of the share of national income paid out to workers. In particular, I jointly quantify the impact of markups, markdowns, and technology on the decline of the German labor share. I find that markdowns have steepened significantly over the last two decades. The estimated markdown trend explains more than half of the observed decline of the German labor share. A downward trend in the production elasticity of labor, consistent with factor substitution away from labor, accounts for the remainder. I find that markups have remained stable over the last two decades. I assess the welfare consequences of the observed markdown trend using a heterogeneous firm general equilibrium model. I find that the growing markdown wedge has been associated with consumption equivalent welfare losses of 2.9%. The second essay examines the economic implications of one particular technology, namely the technology to sell goods and services online. This chapter is jointly written with Liran Einav, Pete Klenow, Ben Klopack, Jon Levin, Larry Levin and Wayne Best. E-commerce represents a rapidly growing share of consumer spending in the U.S. We use transaction-level data on credit and debit cards from Visa, Inc. between 2007 and 2017 to quantify the resulting consumer surplus. We estimate that e-commerce spending reached 8% of consumption by 2017, yielding consumers the equivalent of a 1% permanent boost to their consumption, or over $1,000 per household per year. While some of the gains arose from avoiding travel costs of buying from local merchants, most of the gains stemmed from substituting to merchants available online but not locally. Higher income cardholders gained more, as did consumers in more densely populated counties. The third essay contributes to the methodological literature on the estimation of production technology. I assess the identification of Cobb-Douglas production functions in the presence of cross-sectional input price heterogeneity. I show that identification depends crucially on i) whether input prices are observed and ii) whether firms are price takers in the input market. I derive sufficient conditions for identification in the different environments and discuss when prices and lagged quantities are valid instruments. I find that lagged input quantities are generally not valid instruments for current quantities, even in the presence of cross-sectional price variation. Identification is especially challenging when prices are not observed, but can be restored if the exact input price process is known
"What do you wonder?" Developing and exploring the construct of teacher-curiosity about young children's mathematical thinking
Keywords: Education.

Much research on mathematics teaching views the teacher as inquiring into students' thinking. It is therefore important to understand teachers' curiosity, which may guide such inquiry. This study develops a novel conceptual framework of teacher-curiosity, which is applied to a professional learning intervention for in-service TK-1 teachers, focusing on the early math activity of Counting Collections. Following the intervention participants expressed a greater desire to learn about student thinking, and their reflections helped identify multiple aspects of practice on which teacher-curiosity may have an effect. These findings suggest that teacher-curiosity may provide a generative lens for research and teacher-education to support teachers' inquiry
What is to be Done? A Landscape Analysis of Fintech Policy in Vietnam
Keywords:  Public Policy Program
Stanford University
Humanities and Sciences
Public Policy Program
FinTech
Policy
Regulation
E-payments
P2P Lending
Vietnam
Thesis

Vietnam's economy is booming. Similar to most other ASEAN nations, the majority of the population of Vietnam is still unbanked. Trying to tackle this problem, Vietnam’s FinTech industry is on the rise due to strong economic growth, rising banking penetration, and increasing internet and smartphone users. The Vietnamese government has issued regulatory initiatives to foster its FinTech ecosystem and promote a cashless society. Despite such regulatory developments, the field of FinTech does not have a full legal framework. The ambiguity, lack of transparency, and especially contradiction among different legal regulations limit FinTech growth. In order to shed light on the potential impacts of ambiguity of FinTech regulation in Vietnam's emerging market economy, this paper conducts a landscape analysis of current FinTech policy with a focus on electronic payments and lending areas. Additionally, this paper provides insights into how FinTech startup companies are currently being regulated and discusses strategies that the government might wish to pursue going forward. The growing FinTech scene in Vietnam is playing a dominant role in economic development. A deeper understanding of the role of FinTech policy frameworks can be useful to government officials, investors, financial institutions, and FinTech startup founders.
When Legislation Isn't Enough: How Systemic Underfunding and State Sanctioned Impunity Allow High Rates of Violence Against Women and Feminicide to Continue in Brazil
Keywords: violence against women
feminicide
femicide
gender-based violence
CEDAW
Belém do Pará Convention
Maria da Penha
Brazil
impunity
underfunding
government
Stanford University
Center for Latin American Studies
Thesis

In the last few decades, feminist activists and women’s rights advocates have gained much ground in the effort to combat violence against women. Significant conventions for women’s rights have been widely adopted and ratified by their target states, such as the United Nation’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence Against Women. Despite ratifying both conventions, it took the Brazilian government many years and a conviction by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to finally act on its commitments. In 2006, Brazil passed the Maria da Penha Law on Domestic and Family Violence, which typified the many forms this violence could take and created comprehensive mechanisms for its reduction and prevention. Then, in 2015, Brazil passed the Feminicide Law, which defined feminicide for the first time and recognized it as a heinous crime, consequently increasing sentences for perpetrators. Notwithstanding its adoption of such comprehensive and elaborate legislation, rates of violence against women, particularly domestic violence and feminicide, remain alarmingly high throughout Brazil. This work argues that the Brazilian State is complicit in the continued violation of women’s human rights in the country. Through its systemic underfunding and defunding of violence against women programs and organizations as well as the sanctioned culture of impunity that it creates through this underfunding, the State allows and perpetuates violence against women within Brazil.
Where have all the coups gone?
Keywords: Political Science.

Between 1960-1980, the world saw at least ten coups a year, but today coups are extremely rare, shocking events. Why have military coups been facing a global decline? While a rich existing literature on civil-military relations provides numerous explanations for why hostilities might arise between a government and its military, these studies fail to account for why there might be changes over time. Using a multi-methods approach, my dissertation examines how both international and domestic factors explain this dramatic change. I begin by drawing on findings from the existing coup literature to explore conventional explanations for this phenomenon. Conventional explanations are those that might plausibly explain the decline given what is already known about the conditions that lead to coups. These include hypotheses pertaining to the end of the Cold War, democratization, decolonization, and coup-proofing. Upon demonstrating that these conventional explanations are insufficient for explaining the global temporal trend, I introduce two original theories. I first examine changes to covert intervention via coups by the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and argue that both major powers' decisions to move away from supporting coups in part explain the decline. Second, I look at how changes in the domestic political system and civil-military relations has led to changes in the manner by which autocrats exit from office — away from coups and in favor of negotiated settlements with the military and other elites. These findings taken together suggest that the decline in coups does not necessarily indicate improved civil-military relations
Who “Speaks” For Autism and Who is “M[I]SS[I]NG”? Examining Autism Narratives and Advocacy in the Era of Genomics
Keywords: Science Technology and Society
Disability
Autism
Narrative
Precision Medicine
Medical Anthropology
Disability Studies
Autism Genomics
Autism Genetics
Autism Advocacy
Autism Representation
Thesis

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neuropsychiatric diagnosis defined by social and behavioral traits. The geneticization of ASD is connected to the historical developments of advocacy and biotechnology that collectively led up to the present era of autism genomics in the United States. Divisions within the autism community have evolved from the vast diversity of the autistic experience, including the emergence of the Neurodiversity movement spearheaded by self-advocates challenging autism genomics research and neurotypical representations of autism. This thesis addresses two key questions: (1) How do non-autistic persons develop their lived experiences into “autism narratives” that inform their understanding of autism as a medical impairment and/or personal identity? (2) How do these autism narratives shape their perceptions of autism genomics and neurodiversity? To collect primary data to construct these narratives, I conducted semi-structured interviews with individuals occupying at least one of three roles in the autism community: researchers, family members, and/or service professionals (n = 14). Data were thematically analyzed using the analytic frameworks offered from James Baldwin’s insights on identity, representation, and privilege, which I call “reflexivity.” This thesis builds upon scholarship in medical anthropology, disability studies, and science and technology studies to conceptualize autism advocacy and autism genomics research. Autism narratives form spectrums of their own, reflecting neurotypical participants’ views on the perceived utility of autism genomics research as well as their experiences occupying specific personal and professional roles in the autism community. Furthermore, autism narratives create spaces positioned between the social and medical models of disability by operating at the junctions of precision medicine, medical needs, and social perceptions.
Wireless control of small electronic tags using air-coupled ultrasound
Keywords: Electrical Engineering.

In the more than 130 years since the first experimental confirmation of radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic waves, RF waves have been used with increasing effectiveness to improve wireless connectivity. In fact, the total number of wirelessly connected devices is now greater than the total human population, suggesting that people-to-people connectivity is no longer the chief driver of advances in wireless systems. Instead, there is now an assortment of niche applications that, when combined, are going to be increasingly important if the upward trend in the number of wireless systems is to continue into the trillions of devices. To enable this trend to continue, the design of wireless devices will need to be fundamentally rethought; there will need to be a new class of devices that are centimeter-sized or smaller, wirelessly controlled, and either rechargeable or battery-free. In this work, we present the use of air-coupled ultrasound for the control of small wireless devices that meet the criteria given above. The primary advantages of ultrasound over RF derive from its low wave speed in air (allowing operation at low frequencies and small wavelengths simultaneously), while secondary advantages stem from how the emission of ultrasound is regulated (a single intensity limit without transmitter power or gain restrictions). We describe three proof-of-concept projects in which we have leveraged these advantages to build state-of-the-art wireless systems. Common to these projects is the use of a millimeter-sized charge-biased ultrasonic transducer first reported in 2012 that allows for self-sufficient high-sensitivity operation in a small form factor. The first project we describe is an exploration of ultrasonic wireless power delivery to millimeter-sized tags. Our simulation-based case study, validated by measurements of wireless power recovery, shows that ultrasound is effective for transferring small amounts of power to small tags out to several meters away from a reader. Next, we detail the design of our ultrasonic wake-up receiver, which leverages a custom CMOS chip to achieve competitive sensitivity and power consumption while having the smallest footprint among all published RF and acoustic solutions. Finally, we present our work on the combined use of RF and ultrasound for the localization of small, battery-free tags; measurements with a proof-of-concept system show sub-decimeter accuracy out to several meters away from a reader, with future work predicted to achieve sub-cm accuracy for cm-sized tags over the same range. Overall, this work demonstrates that air-coupled ultrasound can be effectively harnessed to move toward a trillion-device reality