VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Defining Shariʿa: The Politics of Islamic Judicial Review

Since the Islamic resurgence of the 1970s, many Muslim postcolonial countries have established and empowered constitutional courts to declare laws conflicting with shariʿa as unconstitutional. The central question explored in this dissertation is whether and to what extent constitutional doctrine developed in shariʿa review is contingent on the ruling regime or represents lasting trends in interpretations of shariʿa. Using the case of Pakistan, this dissertation contends that the long-term discursive trends in shariʿa are determined in the religio-political space and only reflected in state law through the interaction of shariʿa politics, regime politics, and judicial politics. The research is based on materials gathered during fieldwork in Pakistan and datasets of Federal Shariat Court and Supreme Court cases and judges./nIn particular, the dissertation offers a political-institutional framework to study shariʿa review in a British postcolonial court system through exploring the role of professional and scholar judges, the discretion of the chief justice, the system of judicial appointments and tenure, and the political structure of appeal that combine to make courts agents of the political regime. Using this framework, the dissertation undertakes historical-interpretive case studies involving two puzzles. First, why the Federal Shariat Court declared the (largely symbolic) punishment of stoning for unlawful sex as un-Islamic in 1981, and why the Court reversed its ruling upon review in 1982. Second, why the Federal Shariat Court declared interest in banking, finance, and fiscal laws as un-Islamic in 1991, and why the Supreme Court upheld the ruling in 1999 but then overturned its ruling and remanded the case back to the Federal Shariat Court in 2002./nThe project shows how competing approaches to shariʿa interact with the evolving judicial politics and regime politics in authoritarian and democratic periods. While the institutional structure of constitutional courts gives the ruling regime considerable control over the direction of shariʿa review, ruling regimes often depend on religio-political forces for legitimacy. When the regime draws upon conservative religio-political movements, representatives of such movements are appointed to courts and allowed to assert traditional doctrines of shariʿa. But when the regime draws its legitimacy from a broader group of religio-political and intellectual forces, a more diverse set of judges is appointed and enabled to rethink the tradition. The study questions approaches that consider shariʿa review in post-colonial states either as a liberal or as a conservative phenomenon. In contrast, the project shows how courts are agents of the political regime and judicial outcomes are products of authoritarian and democratic political processes. The dissertation also invites scholars of shariʿa review in Arab constitutional courts to study courts as political institutions and judges as political actors.

Advisor: Feeley, Malcolm M.
Nanoscale metals and semiconductors for the storage of solar energy in chemical bonds

The transduction of electrical energy into chemical bonds represents one potential strategy for storing energy derived from intermittent sources such as solar and wind. Driving the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide using light requires (1) developing light absorbers which convert photons into electron-hole pairs and (2) catalysts which utilize these electrons and holes to reduce carbon dioxide and oxidize water, respectively. For both the light absorbers and catalysts, the use of nanoscale particles is advantageous, as charge transport length scales are minimized in the case of nanoscale light absorbers and catalytic surface-area-to-volume ratio is maximized for nanoscale catalysts. In many cases, although semiconductors and metals in the form of thin films and foils are increasingly well-characterized as photoabsorbers and electrocatalysts for carbon dioxide reduction, respectively, the properties of their nanoscale counterparts remain poorly understood./nThis dissertation explores the nature of the light absorption mode of non-stoichiometric semiconductors which are utilized as light absorbers and the development of catalysts with enhanced stability, activity, and selectivity for carbon dioxide reduction. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the state of development of methods of transducing the energy of photons into chemical bonds./nChapters 2 and 3 investigate the development of stable, active, and selective catalysts for the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide. Chapter 2 examines how copper nanoparticles have enhanced activities and selectivities for methanation compared to copper foils. Chapter 3 focuses on the development of strategies to stabilize high-surface-area catalysts to prevent surface area loss during electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction./nChapters 4 and 5 entail a fundamental understanding of the light absorption mode of nanoscale photoabsorbers used in both photoelectrochemical cells and in photovoltaics. Chapter 4 focuses on the nature of the light absorption mode of non-stoichiometric tungsten oxide, a material which has been explored as a photoanode for the photon driven oxidation of water. Chapter 5 examines the tunability of the light absorption mode of nanoscale copper sulfide, a material which has been explored as a photoabsorber for photovoltaics. An understanding of the light absorption mode of non-stoichiometric oxides and sulfides at the nanoscale is critical for the use of these materials in redox active environments.

Advisor: Alivisatos, A. Paul
Maboudian, Roya
Edmund Burke and the British Empire: Slaves, Savages, and Subjectship in Eighteenth Century Political Thought

This dissertation broadens and complicates scholarly understandings of Edmund Burke’s anti-imperialism by examining how his aesthetics and progressive historiography shaped his criticisms of imperial institutions. This project pursues one of the lines of inquiry opened by scholarship on Edmund Burke and eighteenth century anti-imperialism: the place of slavery and Amerindian dispossession in anti-imperial thought. It provides the reader with greater clarity of the complexities and the tensions in Edmund Burke’s political thought concerning the British Empire./nThe dissertation argues that Edmund Burke’s anti-imperial thought is ambivalent in that certain exploitative and destructive institutions in the British Empire are subjected to scathing, passionate, and sustained public criticism, while others are either publicly defended or ignored. This arises because the moral and aesthetic frameworks that motivate Burke’s criticisms of colonialism are accompanied by a progressive historiography that distinguishes between civilized and savage human beings. The distinction between the civilized and the savage result in divergent commitments to reforming unjust and exploitative imperial institutions. Most notably, the divergence between Edmund Burke’s sustained commitment to promoting justice in India, and his support of Amerindian dispossession and chattel slavery in the Americas./nThis dissertation also gives consideration to Ottobah Cugoano’s anti-imperial thought as a complement and challenge to Edmund Burke’s anti-imperial thought.

Advisor: Brown, Wendy L.
Understanding Naphthenic Acid Corrosion in Refinery Settings

Naphthenic acid corrosion has plagued refineries for nearly a century. However, the vast majority of naphthenic acid corrosion research to date is solely focused on remediation, and not understanding the fundamental mechanism of corrosion. To further the current state of understanding in order to mitigate corrosion, experiments were performed to address the corrosion mechanism of iron, as well as of the ferrous alloying elements. In addition, electrochemical methods were used to determine the presence of acids within nonpolar solvents, such as a crude. The structure of the acids in solution was studied with FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy to understand how the acids self-associate as a function of temperature, concentration and presence of a metal. The results have yielded that iron corrodes via an etch pitting mechanism. In addition, this work has determined that the mechanism of resistance of chromium and molybdenum are their passive films, and that these metals are susceptible to naphthenic acid attack if the passive films break down. The mechanism of resistance of these elements provides insight into the failure mode of 304 and the 400 series stainless steels in naphthenic acid service. A particular result of interest is that nickel catalytically decomposes naphthenic acids at high temperatures (e.g. 270°C) via a catalytic mechanism. Finally, a palladium hydride reference electrode was developed that functions in aprotic solvents, and an ionic liquid was synthesized that allowed for the electrochemical detection of naphthenic acids in toluene.

Advisor: Devine, Thomas M
Single Layer Nanomaterials: The Chemical Vapor Deposition Synthesis and Atomic Scale Characterization of Hexagonal Boron Nitride and Graphene

The design of novel nanomaterials with tunable geometries and properties has transformed chemistry and physics in recent years. In particular, recent advances in the isolation of two-dimensional films have inspired the exploration and development of stable, self-supporting single layer systems. Most notably graphene, a single layer of hexagonal sp2 carbon, has attracted interest due to intriguing electronic, optical, and mechanical properties. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is a closely related two- dimensional material, isoelectronic with graphene but often exhibiting very different electronic characteristics. The production of these monolayer materials has revealed exciting new properties that arise due to constrained geometry at the nanoscale./nThis dissertation explores the atomic scale properties of low-dimensional hexagonal nanomaterials, with a particular focus on hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), graphene, and related materials. The synthesis processes for hexagonal boron nitride, graphene, nanotubes and nanoribbons will be discussed, with a particular emphasis on chemical vapor deposition. By controlling the number of layers in two-dimensional materials, we can tune their properties for new applications. The fabrication, characterization, and functionalization of additional low-dimensional nanomaterials including nanoribbons, nanotubes, and the composite materials that contain them will also be introduced./nIn nanoscale systems, material properties are heavily influenced by atomic structure and defects. This dissertation will discuss the investigation of h-BN and graphene at the atomic scale, with a particular emphasis on defects studied by atomic resolution transmission electron microscopy. Further probing the dynamics of these atomic defects includes in situ imaging and heating from room temperature up to 1000°C. Under these extreme conditions, novel defect structures and dynamics have been observed./nIn the coming years, these materials will continue to revolutionize the way we think about nanoscale materials, and are likely to be implemented into a variety of new and emerging technologies.

Advisor: Zettl, Alex
Alivisatos, Paul
Transcription Activator-Like (TAL) Effectors of the Cassava Bacterial Blight Pathogen Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis

Cassava is an essential food crop relied on by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. manihotis (Xam) is the causal agent of cassava bacterial blight (CBB) and the leading destructive bacterial pathogen of cassava. Xam utilizes a unique class of type three effectors known as transcription activator-like (TAL) effectors (TALEs) to activate specific host genes that contribute to virulence and bacterial growth. In Xam, TALEs are often localized to plasmids. TALE-containing plasmids of other Xanthomonas ssp. have been shown to be conjugative, providing a mechanism for the horizontal transfer of TALE virulence components. Here, I characterize the two-TALE containing plasmid pXam46 of Xam isolate CIO151, providing a full draft sequence, TALE virulence assays, and evidence for its mobilizing ability. The potential horizontal transfer of TALEs suggests that TALEs which confer a strong virulence phenotype may be well conserved amongst Xam communities. I screened a subset of 22 global Xam isolates spanning 28 years of evolution from 5 countries over 3 continents for their TALE repertoires. I identified one pair of highly conserved TALEs, including a single repeat variable diresidue (RVD) variant of a pXam46 localized TALE, and 3 additional well-conserved TALEs. Of the two highly conserved TALEs, both contribute to bacterial growth in planta and one is associated with a water soaking disease phenotype. The remaining 3 well-conserved TALEs did not show any measurable contributions to virulence. Some plants contain an evolutionary mechanism to defend against TALEs, carrying executor resistance (R) genes containing TALE binding elements upstream of disease resistance genes. I found that the highly conserved TALE of pXam46 triggers a specific, transcriptionally dependent HR-like phenotype in the non-host Nicotiana benthamiana. Employing RNA-seq, I have identified a list of candidate TALE-upregulated genes that may be involved in the defense response of N. benthamiana. Identifying TALE-triggered R genes as well as conserved TALEs and their susceptibility targets can assist in the design of durable resistance strategies against Xam. Successful strategies may include stacking promoters of multiple conserved TALEs in front of R genes or modifying cassava susceptibility gene promoters to abrogate TALE binding. It is my hope that the basic biology described herein may assist in those efforts.

Advisor: Staskawicz, Brian J
Discontinuous Galerkin Methods on Moving Domains with Large Deformations

We present two different numerical approaches for solving compressible flows on moving domains with high-order accuracy. The approaches are base on discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods and are particularly designed for addressing the large deformation problems as the domain moves./nA moving-mesh technique is first introduced to improve the mesh quality with the domain deforming. The technique moves the mesh nodes by DistMesh algorithm and locally changes the mesh topology by flipping edges or faces, which can be applied in both 2D and 3D. Moreover, some local density control operations are also developed to add or remove the mesh nodes to change the mesh adaptivity./nOur first numerical scheme is formulated on a space-time framework using a nodal DG discretization on space-time domains with appropriate numerical fluxes for the first and the second-order terms, respectively. The scheme is implicit, and we solve the resulting non-linear systems using a parallel Newton-Krylov solver. Along with the numerical scheme, two efficient algorithms for constructing globally conforming space-time slab meshes are given, based on our moving-mesh technique./nThe second approach employs DG discreatization with arbitrary-Eulerian-Lagrangian (ALE) framework by solving equations based on smooth mappings. An efficient local L2 projection is used for transferring solutions when mesh topology change happens./nWe test our two approaches by a number of numerical cases in both 2D and 3D. The tests involve convergence tests as well as simulations of laminar flows, which shows that the proposed methods achieve high-order accuracy and are able to handle problems with complex geometric motions.

Advisor: Persson, Per-Olof S
Predictability in Strategic Air Traffic Flow Management

This dissertation investigates predictability in strategic air traffic management with a focus on ground delay programs (GDPs). Through a survey of flight operators, we confirm the proposition that flight operators care about predictability. We then develop models that incorporate predictability into GDP cost optimization after failing in finding an existing model that can serve this purpose. This is accomplished by modifying traditional GDP delay cost functions so that they incorporate predictability, and determining the sensitivities of the optimal planned capacity recovery time and associated cost to the unpredictability premiums included in the cost functions. To do this, we develop two stochastic GDP models: a GDP no-revision, or static, model; and a GDP revision, or dynamic, model considering one GDP revision. GDP scope, which matters only in the revision model, is also considered. The optimization results from the case study show that the cost of unpredictability clearly matters, particularly in the more realistic case where GDP revision is allowed. Of the two unpredictability cost parameters, the one for unplanned delay has a stronger impact than the one for planned un-incurred delay. The insights from this analysis might eventually be used to develop a decision support tool that air traffic managers could use in determining what the planned end time should be for a GDP in a manner that reflects the importance of predictability to flight operators.

Advisor: Hansen, Mark
Sonic Negations: Sound, Affect, and Unbelonging Between Mexico and the United States

This dissertation uses the concept of auditory cultures to trace how Mexican and U.S. Latina/o subjects use sound and music to articulate political dissent. “Sonic Negations: Sound, Affect, and Unbelonging Between Mexico and the United States” brings together the fields of performance and sound studies to show how the sonic presents a contested political arena through which transnational Latina/o artists, musicians and listening publics construct alternative sensory realms detached from national forms of belonging. I contend that non-culturally dependent forms of sound—noise, metal, punk, and 80s British music—allow individuals to approach negative affects, such as melancholia, despair, and idleness. Drawing from recent work in performance studies and queer theory on the political potentialities of negative affects, the study argues for the importance of attending to the political critiques inherent in auditory cultures and practices within both Latina/o and Latin American contexts./nThe first chapter analyzes Mexico City-based artist Iván Abreu’s series M(R.P.M), in which he creates playable ice-records of nationalist Mexican songs. I investigate how the pieces invite listeners into the complex history of ice in the Latin American imaginary to question contemporary calls for Mexican nationalism. The second chapter contemplates the early performances of Mexican artist collective SEMEFO and the work of underground Tijuana-based musician María y José. I argue for the ways these artists use aggressive sound to confront the unending violence that has plagued Mexico over the last few decades. My third section concentrates on performance artist Nao Bustamante and her “mariachi-punk” band Las Cucas to consider the lesbian punk scream as an ethical rejection of normative Latina and queer identity. The final chapter contemplates the phenomenon of the Latina/o fan culture around British rock star Morrissey. I show how Latina/o listening publics turn to melancholia and depression as affects that force us to reconsider relationality by questioning the nation as the site of inclusion.

Advisor: Catanese, Brandi W
Rodríguez, Juana M
Black Power of Hip Hop Dance: On Kinesthetic Politics

The significance of dance improvisation in the black radical tradition has yet to receive close attention within the fields of performance, black studies and dance—especially as a youth culture based in California. This dissertation contributes to building a new archive of vernacular styles, innovated in the greater Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay Areas between 1965-1985 and foundational to hip hop’s widely cited emergence in New York. At the height of black power, funk music and gay liberation movements, these dances were generally prohibited from formal study within the protected institutional space of private dance studios and concert stages, giving rise to the umbrella term “street dance.” Street dancers studied street movements, experimenting with dance in non-studio spaces—city streets, neighborhood house parties, playgrounds, parks, school gyms, private and underground social clubs. I argue that street dance draws theoretical force from this informal status that challenges assumptions of where and how the study of dance happens, retaining in its practices and politics an alliance with a discourse of the street. I theorize the relation of aesthetics and politics through kinesthesia, the body’s “sixth” sense of motion historically devalued by Cartesian dualism, to argue that key principles of street dance break down conceptual divisions of collective/individual, innovation/tradition, sound/movement, and choreography/improvisation. I use the idea of (kin) aesthetic politics to ask how street dance might imagine alternative modes of relating that define performances of being connected and dislocated, belonging and dispossession, escape and capture. I create a vocabulary for the theoretical study of street dance, using oral history and performance ethnography to draw on the discourse and lived practices of street dancers and informed by my own experiences as a street dancer since the early 1990s.

Advisor: Wilkins Catanese, Brandi
Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission: Predictors of Utilization & Future Policy Implication

Despite the availability of highly efficacious antiretroviral drug regimens for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT), transmission rates remain higher than those achieved in clinical trials. Access to these efficacious drug regimens continues to expand rapidly in countries most affected by HIV. Such expansion is an important first step in dramatically reducing mother-to-child HIV transmission rates. However, beyond access to drug regimens, programs must also identify and address individual and structural factors impeding the utilization of and adherence to PMTCT services by the women they are designed to serve. Additional research into factors both positively or negatively associated with PMTCT service utilization could help improve PMTCT programs to further reduce transmission rates./nEach of the three papers included in this dissertation examined different factors of PMTCT service utilization. The first two papers analyze secondary data from a large-scale impact evaluation of Zimbabwe’s PMTCT program. Specifically, the first paper explores the association between costs (service costs, travel time, and transportation costs) and utilization of all recommended PMTCT services. The second paper explores the relationship between the timing of a pregnant woman’s HIV-positive diagnosis, either prior to pregnancy or during antenatal care, and her utilization of PMTCT services. The hypotheses was that women who were diagnosed prior to pregnancy, having had more time to cope with their diagnosis, would complete more of the recommended PMTCT services. The final paper utilizes policy analysis methodology to examine two different implementation strategies Malawi could consider to improve lifelong adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among women living with HIV who initiate treatment during pregnancy or breastfeeding. The two strategies proposed were: 1) for all pregnant/breastfeeding women to initiate and indefinitely receive treatment at maternal and child health clinics rather than be transferred to an ART specialty clinic, and 2) to expand access to lifelong ART, regardless of stage of disease, to any individual living with HIV in the pregnant/breastfeeding woman’s household.

Advisor: Bertozzi, Stefano M