VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Diversity to Deradicalize

For the past 40 years, the constitutionality of affirmative action has rested on a central idea: racial minorities have unique perspectives, and without including those perspectives, universities are limited in their ability to expose students to a “robust exchange of ideas.” This idea has prevailed in large measure because elite universities have consistently argued to the courts that underrepresented minorities add vital racial perspectives that enrich the education of their peers. This dissertation answers two key questions: one focuses on the Court’s initial embrace of the diversity rationale, the other aims to see how the diversity rationale plays out in practice today./n1. How did “the diversity rationale” become the primary—and for practical purposes, the only—justification that the Supreme Court has deemed sufficiently compelling to uphold affirmative action?/n2. How do black students interpret and respond to the expectation embedded in the diversity rationale that they are to contribute unique intellectual insights that emerge from, as the Supreme Court has said, “being a racial minority in a society, like our own, in which race unfortunately still matters”?/nTo answer these questions, I rely on both archival research and interviews with graduate students at both a predominantly white and historically black university. As I uncover in this dissertation, the origins of the Court’s embrace of diversity are rooted in an effort to mold the ideological orientation of college students by policing the kinds of ideas that were present on campus. In line with that goal, black students attending predominantly white institutions today express a belief that despite their university’s outward embrace of intellectual diversity, that their racial viewpoints are devalued and, through subtle mechanisms, policed. Ultimately, this is a dissertation about race, intellectual freedom, and social control.

Advisor: Albiston, Catherine
Confucian Terrorism: Phan Bội Châu and the Imagining of Modern Vietnam

Abstract/nConfucian Terrorism: Phan Bội Châu and the Imagining of Modern Vietnam/nby/nMatthew A Berry/nDoctor of Philosophy in History/nUniversity of California, Berkeley/nProfessor Wen-hsin Yeh, Chair/nThis study considers the life and writings of Phan Bội Châu (1867-1940), a prominent Vietnamese revolutionary and nationalist. Most research on Phan Bội Châu is over forty years old and is contaminated by historiographical prejudices of the Vietnam War period. I seek to re-engage Phan Bội Châu’s writings, activities, and connections by closely analyzing and comparing his texts, using statistical and geographical systems techniques (GIS), and reconsidering previous juridical and historiographical judgments. My dissertation explores nationalism, modernity, comparative religion, literature, history, and law through the life and work of a single individual. The theoretical scope of this dissertation is intentionally broad for two reasons. First, to improve upon work already done on Phan Bội Châu it is necessary to draw on a wider array of resources and insights. Second, I hope to challenge Vietnam’s status as a historiographical peculiarity by rendering Phan Bội Châu’s case comparable with other regional and global examples./nThe dissertation contains five chapters. The first is a critical analysis of Democratic Republic of Vietnam and Western research on Phan Bội Châu. I challenge claims that Phan Bội Châu should be interpreted solely as a ‘transitional figure.’ The second chapter investigates Phan Bội Châu’s near-obsession with martyrdom. In it, I explore how Phan weaves together narrative and symbolic strands from Confucian and Catholic repertoires to justify martyrdom on behalf of the Vietnamese nation. The third and fourth chapters provide a detailed account of the famous trial of Phan Bội Châu by the Criminal Commission of Hanoi in 1925. By evaluating the case against Phan Bội Châu in comparison with the research agendas presented in chapter one, I show that both history and law offer flawed ways of interpreting the legacy of a national hero. The fifth chapter presents Phan Bội Châu’s 760-page commentary to the Book of Changes, a classical Confucian text that Phan Bội Châu re-interprets as a structural framework for understanding time, morality, and the inevitability of revolution.

Advisor: Yeh, Wen-hsin
Deficit or Difference? Assessing Narrative Comprehension in Autistic and Typically Developing Individuals: Comic vs. Text

Notions of accessibility bring to question the perceived deficits in narrative comprehension for autistic people. This deficit has been positioned as having a cognitive processing disposition towards local coherence, rather than global coherence. Rather than a unitary deficit in the individual, reduced performance on inferential narrative comprehension tasks may be an issue of modality. This dissertation adds to research that challenges this unitary deficit assumption, by situating cognitive processing dispositions in different narrative modalities. Furthermore, this project unifies several prominent inferential frameworks, conceptualizing inferential thinking as a continuum of integration, rather than a set of discrete skills. Repositioning Kintsch’s (1988) construction-integration theory as an ordinal continuum provides a basis for integrating other inferential-thinking frameworks, and thus theorizing a new cognitive processing disposition. The Integrated Inferential Reasoning (IIR) continuum is anchored by Pearson and Johnson’s (1978) text-implicit questions-answer relations (QARs; local), and script-implicit QARs (global). Building off of the idea of degrees of integration, a new level of QAR is introduced, in which the local and global clauses are integrated into one cohesive inferential response. In this study, the impact of narrative modality (comic plus text versus text-only) on inferential reasoning is compared between and among autistic (n=18) and neurotypical adolescents (n=112). Although the autistic respondents presented deficits in IIR when answering inferential reasoning items following narratives in a traditional text-only format, the situation with the comic plus text format was more nuanced. Considering format alone, the comic plus text did not promote IIR. However, autistic respondents with the highest level of self-rated comic experience performed comparably to their neurotypical peers on both formats. This is consistent with viewing comics not just as a format, but as a literacy. I present evidence that cognitive processing disposition varies as a function of context. Autistic respondents had a different experience when engaging with narratives in either the comic plus text and text-only format. This line of research provides alternate frameworks for thinking about autism and narrative meaning making. The work suggests that deficit explanations may not be as powerful as a neurodiversity lens in characterizing the experiences of neurotypical and autistic adolescents when they grapple with narrative accounts of social experiences.

Advisor: Pearson, P David
Wolfberg, Pamela
Monodromy of Fukaya-Seidel categories mirror to toric varieties

Mirror symmetry for a toric variety involves Laurent polynomials whose symplectic topology is related to the algebraic geometry of the toric variety. We show that there is a monodromy action on the Fukaya-Seidel categories of these Laurent polynomials as the arguments of their coefficients vary that corresponds under homological mirror symmetry to tensoring by a line bundle naturally associated to the monomials whose coefficients are rotated. In the process, we introduce a new interpretation of the Fukaya-Seidel category of a Laurent polynomial on (C*)^n, which has other potential applications, and give evidence of homological mirror symmetry for non-compact toric varieties by computing certain Floer-theoretic natural transformations.

Advisor: Auroux, Denis
The Effects of Neurosteroids, such as Pregnenolone Sulfate and its receptor, TrpM3 in the Retina.

Pregnenolone sulfate (PregS) is the precursor to all steroid hormones and is produced in neurons in an activity dependent manner. Studies have shown that PregS production is upregulated during certain critical periods of development, such as in the first year of life in humans, during adolescence, and during pregnancy. Conversely, PregS is decreased during aging, as well as in several neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative conditions. There are several known targets of PregS, such as a positive allosteric modulator NMDA receptors, sigma1 receptor, and as a negative allosteric modulator of GABA-A receptors. Recently a transient receptor potential channel, TrpM3 has been shown to be activated by PregS. TrpM3 is a heat sensitive (between 33-40oC), non-selective cation channel that is outwardly rectifying. PregS has been shown to increase the frequency of post-synaptic currents in the hippocampus and developing cerebellum, induce calcium transients in a subset of retinal ganglion cells, and enhance memory formation in rodents. Furthermore, PregS mediated TrpM3 activation induces calcium dependent transcription of early immediate genes, suggesting that activation of this channel may produce lasting effects on cells and systems in which it is activated. Because PregS is abundant during critical periods of development, we hypothesized that it may play a significant role during development. Furthermore, the role of PregS or its receptor TrpM3, has not previously been well characterized in the retina. To address this question, in this dissertation, we examine the role of the neurosteroid PregS and its receptor, TrpM3, on retinal waves, which are characteristic of specific stages of synaptic development and connectivity. Briefly, we show that PregS induces a TrpM3 dependent prolonged calcium transient, which is absent in the TrpM3-/- animals and increases the correlation of cell participation in waves. We also show that TrpM3 increases the frequency of post-synaptic currents, indicating a mechanism of action presynaptic to retinal ganglion cells, but that TrpM3 is expressed primarily in RGCs and Müller glia. Taken together, our results indicate that both PregS and TrpM3 are important in modulating spontaneous synaptic activity during development.

Advisor: Feller, Marla B.
Alpine sensor network system for high-resolution spatial snow and runoff estimation

Monitoring the snowpack is crucial for water management, flood control and hydropower optimization. Traditional regression methods often result in low accuracy runoff predictions.Existing ground-based real-time measurement systems are in majority installed at low elevations with poor physiographic representation. This thesis presents a system for better Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) and runoff estimation. The autonomous end-to-end Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) that leverages the Internet of Things (IoT) technology provides mountain hydrology measurements in near real-time. At its core lies an ultra-low power, radio channel-hoping, and self-organizing mesh secured with a rugged weather-sealed design, data replication and remote network health monitoring. Three WSNs are installed throughout the North Fork of the Feather River in Northern California upstream of the Oroville dam. Elevation, aspect, slope and vegetation determine network locations. Data show considerable spatial variability of snow depth, and that existing operational autonomous systems are non-representative spatially, with biases reaching up to 50%. Combined with existing systems, WSNs better detect precipitation timing and phase, monitor sub-daily dynamics of infiltration and surface runoff, and inform hydro power managers about actual ablation and end-of-season date across the landscape. A wet and dry year exhibit strong multi-scale inter-year spatial stationarity with major rank conservation. Elastic Net regression shows that dominant features at the sub-km2 scale are site-dependent and differ from the watershed scale. Based on the Nearest Neighbor (NN) with a Landsat assimilated historical product, explanatory variables consistently explain up to 90% of the variance in the watershed-scale SWE for both years. Lagged cross correlation of snowmelt with stream flow measurements show improvement of up to 100% compared to existing systems. Ensemble Optimal Interpolation (EnOI) update of background SWE fields from Landsat and LiDAR products provide accurate high resolution estimates of spatial SWE for areas with parsimonious sensors. Results show a minimum RMSE of 22% and 30% at 90 m and 50 m resolutions respectively. Compared with SNODAS, reduction in error is up to 55% and 80%, with LiDAR as reference.

Advisor: Glaser, Steven D.
Discovering regulators of ER autophagy using CRISPR screening

Autophagy, the process by which cellular contents are degraded via the lysosome, is critical for cellular homeostasis and regulation. ER autophagy (ER-phagy) is the process by which pieces of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) are degraded by the lysosome. This process was only recently discovered to occur in mammalian cells, and it has been suggested that misregulation manifests in neuropathy conditions. In order to understand this process, we developed genome-editing tools to aid in uncovering regulators of ER autophagy (ER-phagy)./nWe developed and improved multiple genome-editing tools. In chapter 2, I describe how to use CasRNPs (ribonucleotide proteins) to genome edit cell lines. This protocol is ideal for individual desired edits or to genome-edit in arrayed screening fashion. This chapter details how to make single guide RNAs (sgRNAs), how to purify Cas proteins, and how to use those reagents to edit a cell line./nIn chapter 3, we used various genome-editing tools (including the protocols described in chapter 2) to uncover regulators of ER autophagy. We conducted a genome-wide screen to identify factors that inhibit or enhance ER-phagy when knocked down. Our screen yielded 200 high-confidence hits. We mechanistically followed up on two pathways: mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) and ER-localized DDRGK1 and UFMylation. This work advances our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of ER-phagy, and my hope is that the CRISPR tools and ER-phagy tools we generated will allow the ER-phagy field to progress quickly.

Advisor: Corn, Jacob
Mapping the passions: Toward a high-dimensional taxonomy of emotional experience and expression

What are the emotions? For 50 years, scientists have sought to map emotion-related experience, expression, physiology and recognition in terms of the “Basic 6” emotions– anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. Claims about the relationships between these six emotions and prototypical facial configurations have provided the basis for a longstanding debate over the diagnostic value of expression. Here, building upon recent empirical findings and methodologies, I offer an alternative conceptual and methodological approach that reveals a richer taxonomy of emotion. Dozens of distinct varieties of emotion are reliably distinguished by language, evoked in distinct circumstances, and perceived in distinct expressions of the face, body, and voice. Traditional models – both the Basic 6 and affective circumplex (valence and arousal) – capture a fraction of the systematic variability in emotional response. In contrast, emotion-related responses (e.g., the smile of embarrassment, triumphant postures, sympathetic vocalizations, blends of distinct expressions) can be explained by richer models of emotion. Determining the full extent of what emotional expressions can tell us, marginally and in conjunction with contextual cues, will require mapping the high-dimensional, continuous space of facial, bodily, and vocal signals onto richly multifaceted experiences using large-scale statistical modeling and machine learning methods.

Advisor: Keltner, Dacher
Observation of the electroweak production of two W bosons with the same electric charge in association with two jets in pp collisions at sqrt{s}=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This dissertation presents the observation of same-sign WW electroweak production in proton-proton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider using the ATLAS detector. The W bosons are required to decay leptonically, giving a signature of two leptons (electrons or muons) with the same electric charge, two jets with a large invariant mass and rapidity separation, and missing transverse energy. The same-sign WW electroweak fiducial cross section is measured using 36.1 fb^{-1} of data recorded in 2015 and 2016. A total of 122 candidate events are observed with a fitted background of 69 +/- 7 events, corresponding to an observed signal significance of 6.5 standard deviations. The measured fiducial cross section is 2.89 +0.51 -0.48 (stat) +0.29 -0.28 (syst) fb and is in agreement with Standard Model predictions.

Advisor: Shapiro, Marjorie
Next Generation Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) Design and Integration with Gratings

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are key optical components used in optical communication, datacom, and many other applications. Recently, as 3D sensing technology has become more popular, VCSEL arrays have attracted more attention. As a result, VCSELs with more advanced and improved performance are needed to satisfy the increasing trend. This is very hard to achieve by traditional VCSELs alone. Therefore, it creates an opportunity for VCSELs to integrate with other optical elements./nGrating is such a traditional optical element but with many unique properties. It has been studied by researchers for a long time. There are many reasons why grating is an ideal candidate for such integration. Besides its various optical properties, its fabrication is usually very simple as well. Therefore, this thesis will focus on different ways that gratings can be integrated with VCSELs to bring novel and unique properties./nFirst, we will introduce a design toolbox we developed to model such grating structures. With this toolbox, we will demonstrate a novel wavelength tunable VCSEL design. By replacing the traditional VCSEL top mirror by high-contrast grating (HCG) and changing the cavity design, the laser tuning range can be greatly extended. Second, we will discuss a more compact HCG VCSEL architecture by incorporating a low-index oxide spacer. By carefully optimizing HCG design, the highest efficiency HCG VCSEL has been demonstrated. Finally, we will introduce a two-step growth method to fabricate a new grating aperture VCSEL. By replacing the traditional oxide aperture by a grating, large-aperture, single-mode laser can be achieved. In addition, polarization selective emission is also possible. With these three examples, we hope to show the capability of integrating grating structures to VCSELs and pave the road for future VCSEL design.

Advisor: Chang-Hasnain, Constance J
Lin, Liwei
Essays On The Economics of Agriculture, Information, and Climate Change

Agricultural practices are increasingly dependent on precise, real-time weather information. Irrigation, pest management, and even strategies for climate change adaptation require adequate information inputs. This dissertation starts with a valuation of weather information in California, assessing some of the the economic gains from the California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS). This system of weather stations and information portal was intended for water saving in irrigation, but turned out to have many unexpected uses. The next chapter uses CIMIS historical information to estimate the yield response of California pistachios to warm winters. This has been an ongoing challenge in the literature, as the available yield data are scarce and noisy. Merging them with CIMIS data is essential in estimating this response, and for predicting the yield effects of winter temperatures in the future. The last builds on these predictions, and analyzes the potential gains from a technology that could deal with the challenge of warming winter days: spraying the dormant trees with kaolin clay, which reflects part of the sunlight and keeps the trees cooler. To assess the gains, I take the estimated response function, climate predictions, and other variables to market model that is solved numerically and allows for welfare gain calculations. Beyond the potential of this specific technology for pistachios, tweaking temperature distribution tails seems like a promising concept for climate change adaptation. Many temperature challenges brought by climate change are in these distribution tails, where yield responses are often non-linear. This means that small temperature adjustments, local in time and place, might suffice for cost-effective adaptation strategies. I call this concept ``Micro-Climate Engineering'', and predict that such practices will be increasingly popular with the progression of climate change.

Advisor: Zilberman, David
Lipid homeostasis is essential for endoplasmic reticulum protein quality control

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a critical organelle for protein synthesis, protein trafficking, and lipid synthesis. As such, cells have evolved a quality control system known as the ER Unfolded Protein Response (UPRER). Capable of monitoring protein folding and membrane lipid composition to preserve ER homeostasis, the UPRER is crucial for responding to cellular stress brought on by increased metabolic demand, environmental factors, and aging. In this study, we have identified let-767 as an essential gene for ER homeostasis. Through an RNAi screen of lipid droplet associated genes, we found that knockdown of let-767 resulted in reduced lipid droplets, aberrant ER morphology, and compromised UPRER induction, which impacted growth and lifespan. We found that these deficiencies in ER quality were independent of let-767’s previously characterized function in mono-methyl branched chain fatty acid synthesis (mmBCFAs), as supplementation of mmBCFAs did not ameliorate the detrimental phenotypes. However, supplementation of whole animal lysate was able to rescue the lipid droplet depletion, ER morphology, and animal growth, but not the UPRER function. The UPRER induction was instead rescued by reducing the let-767 pathway through knockdown of the upstream transcription factor sbp-1, suggesting accumulation of a potential toxic metabolite within the let-767 pathway. Our results indicate that let-767 may play a more significant role in lipid metabolism than has been previously described and highlight the importance of lipid homeostasis to protein quality control.

Advisor: Dillin, Andrew G
SICKLE is a putative splicing-associated protein required for normal intron lariat debranching

The Arabidopsis thaliana SICKLE (SIC) protein is proline-rich but largely uncharacterized. sic-1 mutants have a miRNA deficiency, alterations in transcript splicing, and increased intron accumulation. sic-3 mutants have global changes in transcript splicing and circadian clock defects likely caused by altered splicing of circadian clock transcripts. Here we show that 13 of 20 putative SIC-interacting proteins are splicing-associated, and that Arabidopsis SIC and DBR1 interact directly. DBR1 is the only lariat debranching enzyme in Arabidopsis and knockout mutants are embryo lethal. The weak dbr1-2 mutant accumulates intron lariats, which interfere with miRNA processing, and has morphological phenotypes similar to sic-1. Human cells deficient in DBR1 also have lariat accumulation and this causes exon skipping. Here we show that sic-1, sic-3, and a new dbr1 mutant allele, dbr1-3, accumulate lariats like the dbr1-2 mutant, and that sic-3 and dbr1-2 have similar changes in splicing, including increased intron retentions. Therefore, lariat accumulation in the sic-1 allele may be responsible for its miRNA deficiencies and related morphological phenotypes, as well as the alterations in transcript splicing. We present a unified theory for sic mutant phenotypes based on SIC-DBR1 interaction and sic intron lariat accumulation.

Advisor: Harmon, Frank