VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
A Late Magdalenian Landscape: Spatial and Technological Production at Les Eglises

This study examines the spatial and technological practices of hunter-gatherers in the Late Magdalenian period at the central Pyrenean cave site of Les Eglises (c. 11,800 BP). The site is a palimpsest of four main stratigraphic levels for this period of occupation and is thought to represent a relatively short time span for a Paleolithic site (years or possibly decades). Because excavation was carried out in the 1960s and 1970s and spatial coordinates were noted for many of the finds, the site provides an opportunity for fine-grained spatial analysis. It also has the potential to inform with regard to the technological practices associated with stone tool production and whether those may have changed over a probable narrow period of time. In order to explore the technological side, an analysis of the majority of stone tools was carried out and is presented here. The spatial data are analyzed using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and a method used to identify clustering called Kernel Density Estimation. In theoretical terms, my concern here is to link the production of technology and space with the practices that produced them, in part by drawing on the spatial theory of Henri Lefebvre, the practice theory of Pierre Bourdieu, as well as the work of André Leroi-Gourhan and of Actor-Network Theory./nLes Eglises is typically considered to be a specialized ibex hunting camp, but much less attention has been paid to the fact that the Magdalenians hunted other species – primarily birds and fish – and what that might imply about the occupants of the site and the specific composition (age/gender of individuals) of the group or groups who visited it. Additionally, the areal extent of the occupation changed between the stratigraphic levels and at times those changes were relatively dramatic./nIn service of the goal of providing a more nuanced account of the site, special attention is paid to the small scale practices of manufacturing stone tools, their spatial clustering, and their relation to the location of faunal remains, as well as the location of “formal tools” made of both stone and bone. Based on multiple lines of evidence, it is argued that the site is in fact more complex than generally assumed, and that at least in the most spatially extensive stratigraphic level, was an aggregation site, even if a smaller example of such a site. On a higher level, for mobile hunter-gatherers like the Magdalenians at Les Eglises, every site implicates the wider landscape in that it aggregates materials that include both humans and non-humans (e.g. raw materials for stone tools, gathered plants, and hunted animals) from localities near and far, drawing disparate elements into close association and thus producing new spaces.

Advisor: Conkey, Margaret W.
Attitude Control and Estimation

The attitude control problem, or the control of a spacecraft's orientation with respect to a frame of reference, is a challenging problem in space missions and has attracted much attention as it involves highly nonlinear characteristics of the governing equations. The attitude control task requires an estimation algorithm that deduces the attitude from strapdown sensor inputs and a control algorithm that computes the necessary torques so that the vehicle can follow a desired attitude./nFrom the perspective of control, feedback control laws are sought for the purpose of asymptotic trajectory tracking, with the ability to reject unexpected external disturbances, and be insensitive to parameter variations. An adaptive sliding mode spacecraft attitude controller that fulfills those requirements is discussed in this dissertation. Unit quaternions and Rodrigues parameters are used to parameterize attitude. Lyapunov stability theory is used to prove the stability of the closed-loop system./nFor attitude estimation with increased accuracy, strap-down gyroscopes and vector measurements are fused together. Because of the nonlinear nature of the attitude kinematics equation and the measurement model, the problem becomes a nonlinear state estimation problem, which is typically tackled by Bayesian inference. In this dissertation we discuss a marginalized particle filtering algorithm, to possibly increase the estimation accuracy and reduce the computation load compared with other non-parametric methods. We exploit the linear-substructure and further show that the linear state evolution is completely independent of the nonlinear partition./nWe have also investigated a computationally efficient and easy-to-tune sensor fusion algorithm, based on the complementary filter and the TRIAD algorithm. It is beneficial to use a complementary filter because rate and angle sensor possess benefits and drawbacks in different frequency regimes. The proposed algorithm shows comparable performance to the EKF but with less computational burden. It aims to be implementable on a small portable platform. In applications of mobile robots, the cutoff frequency can be adapted based on a fuzzy logic in real-time to adjust trust to different sensors, to cope with problems such as motion accelerations and magnetic distortions.

Advisor: Tomizuka, Masayoshi
Hyaluronic Acid and Its Receptors in the Mechanobiology of Gliomblastoma Multiforme

Appreciation that the cell is involved in an intimate conversation with its microenvironment, and that biophysical inputs provide much of the backdrop to this conversation, underpins the field’s understanding of how cancer cells are able to invade healthy tissues. In particular, these processes are critical to the spread of the most malignant of all brain cancers, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), in which aggressively infiltrating glioma cells spread remarkably quickly through the brain. GBM involves not only a slew of genetic lesions in participant cells, but also a range of biochemical and biophysical changes to the extracellular matrix (ECM) in which those cells reside. Recently, much evidence has emerged that one of those ECM components, hyaluronic acid (HA), and the cell membrane receptor to which it binds, CD44, plays a key role in pro -cancer biochemical signaling./nIn this dissertation, we uncover another important characteristic of this ligand-receptor pair: that the material properties of HA can influence the signals transduced through CD44. We began with the development of an HA-based hydrogel to systematically study this ligand-receptor interaction using controlled HA density, controlled matrix stiffness, and controlled integrin conjugation. Using this platform, we then identified that HA matrix stiffness alone can instruct CD44-based cell adhesion and migration. Then, we began to investigate the underlying mechanisms which may be involved in CD44-based mechanosensing, by using genetic and pharmacological approaches to selectively inhibit potential downstream mediators in the ezrin-radixin-moesin (ERM) family proteins. While these targets did not result in changes, it narrows down the list of other potential candidates. Finally, we began to investigate how CD44 drives resistance to chemotherapy, and how this chemoresistance in turn can further enhance glioma invasiveness./nThese discoveries enhance our understanding of how matrix properties enable cancer cell invasion, and could potentially lead to uncovering new strategies for intercepting the spread of glioma. Additionally, while the field has focused almost entirely on integrin- and cadherin- based mechanisms of mechanosensing, the studies described here support the idea that more consideration should be given to other ECM components.

Advisor: Kumar, Sanjay
The Influence of Sn Orientation on the Electromigration of Idealized Lead-free Interconnects

As conventional lead solders are being replaced by Pb-free solders in electronic devices, the reliability of solder joints in integrated circuits (ICs) has become a high concern. Due to the miniaturization of ICs and consequently solder joints, the current density through the solder interconnects has increased causing electrical damage known as electromigration. Electromigration, atomic and mass migration due to high electron currents, is one of the most urgent reliability issues delaying the implementation of Pb-free solder materials in electronic devices. The research on Pb-free solders has mainly focused on the qualitative understanding of failure by electromigration. There has been little progress however, on the quantitative analysis of electromigration because of the lack of available material parameters, such as the effective charge, (z*), the driving force for electromigration. The research herein uses idealized interconnects to measure the z* of electromigration of Cu in Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) alloy under different experimental conditions. Planar SAC 305 interconnects were sandwiched between two Cu pads and subject to uniaxial current. The crystallographic orientation of Sn in these samples were characterized with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and wavelength dispersive spectroscopy (WDS) before and after electromigration testing. Results indicate that samples with the c-axis aligned perpendicular to current flow, polycrystalline, and those with a diffusion barrier on the cathode side all inhibit the growth of intermetallic compounds (IMC). The effective charge values of Cu in SAC 305 under the different conditions tested were quantified for the first time and included in this dissertation. The following research is expected to help verify and improve the electromigration model and identify the desirable conditions to inhibit damage by electromigration in Pb-free solder joints.

Advisor: Morris, John W
Host Response to Malignant Tumors in Drosophila melanogaster

Cancer is the abnormal growth of cells. This growth can kill by disrupting the normal function of its organ of residence or through long-range pathophysiological interactions with distant tissues. Despite the morbidity and mortality associated with cancer, the mechanisms underlying these lethal interactions have remained elusive./nWe have established a Drosophila tumor model to explore the poorly-understood mechanisms of tumor-host interactions. Using a classic technique, we transplanted larval tumors into adult flies and investigated the effects imposed on host tissues. We find that only 5 days post-transplantation, malignant fly tumors induce robust wasting of muscle, adipose and gonadal tissues. Interestingly, these wasting phenotypes recapitulate key characteristics of the enigmatic cancer cachexia suffered by about half of human cancer patients. We have identified the Insulin Growth Factor Binding Protein (IGFBP) homolog ImpL2 as key mediator of these cachexia-like phenotypes. This factor is secreted specifically by malignant tumors and is both necessary and sufficient for tissue wasting. Consistent with its role as an insulin antagonist, tumor-secreted ImpL2 interrupts systemic insulin signaling to induce insulin resistance, resulting in the cachexia-like wasting of peripheral host tissues./nOur work demonstrates that this Drosophila model lends itself to the dissection of complex tumor-host interactions, such as cachexia. We have also used this model to investigate other important features of tumor-host interactions, including metastasis, bloating, immune response and lethality./nThe genetic manipulability of this system has facilitated the identification of a critical factor mediating the observed cachexia-like phenotypes and can now be used to explore other contributors to the tumor-induced systemic wasting or the molecular mechanisms underlying other important tumor-host interactions.

Advisor: Bilder, David
Ripples, Echoes, and Reverberations: 1965 and Now in Indonesia

In Indonesia, during six months in 1965-1966, between half a million and a million people were killed during a purge of suspected Communist Party members after a purported failed coup d’état blamed on the Communist Party. Hundreds of thousands of Indonesians were imprisoned without trial, many for more than a decade. The regime that orchestrated the mass killings and detentions remained in power for over 30 years, suppressing public discussion of these events. It was not until 1998 that Indonesians were finally “free” to discuss this tragic chapter of Indonesian history./nIn this dissertation, I investigate how Indonesians perceive and describe the relationship between the past and the present when it comes to the events of 1965-1966 and their aftermath. Do the killings and detentions still emerge in and influence daily life today? If so, how?/nThe experiences, interactions, and conversations I had and the interviews I conducted during two years of fieldwork, primarily in Yogyakarta on the island of Java, shape the form and focus of this dissertation. I examine how space and time are entangled when it comes to the events of 1965-1966 and the present day. I explore how the propaganda about these events continues to be circulated, internalized, and expressed in daily life, resulting in fear and paranoia that is managed through practices of surveillance and self-surveillance. I investigate stigmatization in the lives of my informants and the ways that stigma is assigned, transmitted, managed, and eluded. I explore the silences that weave themselves around this topic, and I focus on two case studies of ruptures in this silence that allow for new forms of voicing, authorship, and education. I explore the forms of satisfaction or justice my Indonesian informants want but do not expect to achieve. I offer a typology that reveals the complexities in the categories of “victim” and “perpetrator” when it comes to the events of 1965-1966 and their aftermath. Finally, I write about a few events that occurred after I left the field that illustrate the ongoing unfolding of this history today. Throughout the dissertation, I illuminate the ways in which the events of 1965-1966 continue to powerfully shape the subjectivities, social worlds, experiences, and identities of my informants nearly 50 years after the killings first began.

Advisor: Scheper-Hughes, Nancy
Unsupervised Analysis of Structured Human Artifacts

The presence of hidden structure in human data--including natural language but/nalso sources like music, historical documents, and other complex/nartifacts--makes this data extremely difficult to analyze. In this thesis, we/ndevelop unsupervised methods that can better cope with hidden structure across/nseveral domains of human data. We accomplish this by incorporating rich domain/nknowledge using two complementary approaches: (1) we develop detailed generative/nmodels that more faithfully describe how data originated and (2) we develop/nstructured priors that create useful inductive bias./nFirst, we find that a variety of transcription tasks--for example, both historical/ndocument transcription and polyphonic music transcription--can be viewed as/nlinguistic decipherment problems. By building a detailed generative model of the/nrelationship between the input (e.g. an image of a historical document) and its/ntranscription (the text the document contains), we are able to learn these models in a/ncompletely unsupervised fashion--without ever seeing an example of an input/nannotated with its transcription--effectively deciphering the hidden/ncorrespondence. The resulting systems have turned out not only to work well for/nboth tasks--achieving state-of-the-art-results--but to outperform their/nsupervised counterparts./nNext, for a range of linguistic analysis tasks--for example, both word alignment and/ngrammar induction--we find that structured priors based on/nlinguistically-motivated features can improve upon state-of-the-art generative/nmodels. Further, by coupling model parameters in a phylogeny-structured prior/nacross multiple languages, we develop an approach to multilingual grammar/ninduction that substantially outperforms independent learning.

Advisor: Klein, Dan
Emergent Protozones: A Genealogy of Zoning Architectures in Calabar, Nigeria

This dissertation is a historical investigation of the urban politics and mythic spaces produced in southeastern Nigeria, particularly in the port city of Old Calabar. As a city with a distinctive, and what some call “decentralized” and fragmented urban geography, this project draws connections between contemporary zoning strategies and these historical socio-spatial constructs, or “protozones”. These protozones, which were loosely tied together by secretive juridical systems and cultural codes, can be seen as a precursors and potential anticipatory diagrams for the splintering forms of urbanism emerging globally today. Borrowing the concept of “paradigmatic spaces”, this dissertation is organized around a series of spatial designations, or diagrams of spatial relationships that were exemplary during a given time period in Old Calabar’s urban history. This dissertation employs four spaces as representative of particular socio-historical relationships in Old Calabar—the compound, the masquerade, the offshore, and the zone. The historical imbrication of these four models combined with a flexible application of their spatio-temporal boundaries, provide a useful matrix for understanding the architectural and urban history of Old Calabar and challenging the novelty attributed to contemporary neoliberal free trade zones. The dissertation provides a productive case study for theorizing architecture and urbanism from the historicized periphery.

Advisor: AlSayyad, Nezar
On partially wrapped Fukaya categories

We define a new class of symplectic spaces called ``pumpkin domains'', which roughly speaking comprise a Liouville domain and a Liouville hypersurface of its boundary. To such an object we assign an $A_\infty$-category called its partially wrapped Fukaya category. An exact Landau-Ginzburg model gives rise to a pumpkin domain, and the partially wrapped Fukaya category of this pumpkin domain is meant to agree with the Fukaya category one is supposed to assign to the Landau-Ginzburg model. As evidence, we prove a formula that relates the partially wrapped Fukaya category of a pumpkin domain to the wrapped Fukaya category of its underlying Liouville domain. This operation is mirror to removing a divisor.

Advisor: Auroux, Denis
Systematic identification of proteins regulated by the TOR Complex 2-dependent kinase Ypk1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Eukaryotic plasma membranes are highly complex structures, both with respect to molecular composition and spatial organization. This composition and organization is essential for cellular function and must be maintained during dramatic shifts in extracellular environment that challenge membrane homeostasis. In the model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae, signaling by TOR Complex 2 (TORC2) and its effector kinases Ypk1 and Ypk2 is modulated in response to various membrane stresses and cells deficient in TORC2-Ypk signaling have membrane defects, suggesting that this signaling pathway is important for maintaining membrane homeostasis. To understand the molecular mechanisms by which TORC2-Ypk1 signaling regulates membrane homeostasis, I devised a three-tiered genome-wide screen to identify substrates of Ypk kinases. This screen identified 12 novel Ypk substrates in a variety of processes linking TORC2-Ypk signaling to membrane homeostasis including: lipid metabolism, glycerol metabolism, peroxisome function and autophagy. I then performed detailed studies of the regulation of identified substrates Lac1 and Lag1, components of the ceramide synthase complex, a lipid metabolism enzyme. In response to various membrane stresses, TORC2-Ypk1 activates ceramide synthase. This activation is essential in allowing cells to survive these stresses. Interestingly, it appears that activation of ceramide synthase promotes stress survival not by increasing ceramide levels, but rather by preventing the accumulation of ceramide precursors. Lastly, I characterized the TORC2-Ypk regulation of identified substrates Fps1, Gpt2 and Smp1, proteins involved in glycerol metabolism and the cellular response to hyperosmotic shock. I show that TORC2-Ypk is a novel hyperosmotic shock responsive pathway and that TORC2-Ypk coordinately regulates glycerol metabolism substrates to promote accumulation of glycerol, balance osmolarity and promote cellular survival. Thus, this work has identified at least some of the molecular mechanisms by which TORC2-Ypk signaling restores membrane homeostasis in the face of environmental stress.

Advisor: Thorner, Jeremy W
The Making and Circulation of Health Reform Policy in Bolivia

Health policies are typically designed and debated in bureaucratic offices, where participation is limited to physicians, technocrats, and politicians who get called “policymakers.” The ideas they come up with are inscripted into documents, and are often complex, unapproachable, and difficult to understand. My goal in this dissertation is to begin to disrupt this standard story of policy. By focusing on what I will call the origins and mutations of a single health policy in Bolivia called Salud Familiar Comunitaria Intercultural (Family Community Intercultural Health Policy, or SAFCI), I tell what we may call, to use Igor Kopytoff's (1986) phrase from his writing about things, not just a cultural biography of a policy but of "policy" itself. This health policy in Bolivia was designed through what was considered to be a collaborative process, and aimed to shift the focus of healthcare from a previous approach that centered around curing disease in the individual to an approach that involved preventing illness and promoting health amongst the family and the community. The policy also emphasized cultural conceptions of health and healing in a country that is over sixty percent indigenous. Because of the unique process that led to its design, and the forms and ideas that emerged and were bounded as policy, a study of this policy in particular is useful for making visible problems that emerge much more generally, both in policy and in ways that anthropologists attempt to study policy. Through my work I complicate the idea that there is such a thing as policy, with preset boundaries and pre-given sites of enactment, as well as its reification and circulation in policy documents. I argue that we need to suspend the belief that we know what policy is, where it is located, how it circulates, the languages used to describe it, and the very stakes of this type of inquiry itself in order to expand the scope of policy and its study.

Advisor: Briggs, Charles