bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Network Analysis of South Korea’s Inter-Regional Mobility Before and After COVID-19
Authors:   The Korean Association For Local Administration, Bae Hyunkeun , Yoo Nari
Published: September 2024

The purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics of the interregional mobility network in South Korea before and after COVID-19. South Korea has been experiencing a decline in population not only in the overall population, but also by region, which has become a major social problem. Under these circumstances, interregional travel can contribute to revitalizing local economies, and local governments are exploring various policies to increase the number of visitors.
This study uses social, economic, tourism infrastructure, and public relations variables as factors that can explain interregional travel networks in South Korea, and utilizes social network analysis methods. In addition, to consider the COVID-19 pandemic as a variable that has had a significant impact on interregional travel networks in recent years, the study compares the pre- and post-COVID-19 periods in 2019 and 2021.
We find that the use of social media before and after the COVID-19 outbreak is very useful in explaining interregional travel networks in South Korea. In particular, we find that social media is more useful than traditional tourism infrastructure in explaining intraregional visitor flows. While it is important for local governments to expand traditional tourism infrastructure, they need to better utilize social media as a medium to communicate this effectively.
Three case studies on the impact of inequality on agricultural efficiency, productivity, and the adoption and intensity of use of climate-smart practices
Authors:   , Borrero Camacho Hernan Alejandro
Published: September 2024

In this three-chapter Dissertation we explore the effect of inequality--particularly land inequality--on three different aspects of agricultural production: technical inefficiency, total factor productivity, and the adoption and intensity of use of climate-smart agricultural practices. In the first chapter, we employ a sample of fifteen Latin American rural sectors over a period of seventeen years (2005-2021), and implement a Stochastic Frontier Analysis methodology, finding a positive effect of inequality on technical inefficiency. In the second chapter, we use a sample of 299 transitory-crop farmers of the Peruvian highlands and two alternative empirical strategies: a dynamic panel data model, and a control function approach; finding a negative effect of land inequality (measured by the Gini and Theil coefficients) on total factor productivity. And finally, in the third chapter, we exploit a larger sample of over four-thousand farmers from the same Peruvian region and a double-hurdle modelling approach, finding a negative effect of land inequality (measured by the Gini index and the Kakwani relative land deprivation index) on the probability of adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices.
Populism and political ideologies in comparative perspective
Authors:   , Jung Yujin
Published: September 2024

The rise of populism worldwide necessitates a deeper understanding of this phenomenon. My doctoral dissertation, grounded in the ideational approach, dissects populism into two elements, investigating how this 'thin' ideology of people-centrism and anti-elitism cohabits with various robust ideologies. In essence, when populism, as a thin ideology, coexists with more substantive ideologies, what nature does this cohabitation take, and how does it manifest? My dissertation endeavors to answer this question through three distinct papers that explore this common inquiry. The first study examines populism in its pure form as a thin ideology. Using the less-studied case of South Korea in a comparative lens, the research delves into the amalgamation of populism and political sectarianism. It explores how populism, when not predominantly associated with economic grievances or surges in immigration, simplistically aligns with political sectarianism. This investigation highlights the versatility of populism and emphasizes the need for regional research in comparative politics, even in areas not typically considered hotbeds of populism. The second study shifts the focus to the demand side of populism at the individual level and investigates what robust ideology cohabits with populist attitudes. Focusing on the case of the United States through original survey data, I find that populist attitudes are predominantly correlated with right-wing issues, exhibiting a weaker correlation with left-wing issues in the United States. This finding offers insights into the nature of ideological cohabitation in the context of American populism. In the third study, the analysis expands to a cross-national perspective, examining the relationship between populist attitudes and ideologies across various global contexts. Utilizing data from the fifth wave of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, which includes 43 countries and 52 elections, this study explores how this relationship unfolds on a global scale and finds that the relationship between political ideology and populist attitudes is non-linear, meaning both extreme left and right present a high level of populist attitudes. Employing a range of rigorous methodological models, including the Generalized Additive Model, the paper provides a thorough understanding of the interplay between populist attitudes and ideological orientations. In conclusion, the dissertation comprehensively analyzes the cases of populism existing in a) its pure form as a thin ideology, b) cohabiting with right-wing ideologies, and c) its manifestation at the extremes of the ideological spectrum, both left and right, cross-nationally. Through this, the dissertation provides a comparative political perspective on the relationship between populism and political ideologies, examining both the demand and supply sides of populism.
The English and Vietnamese of Vietnamese immigrants in the US
Authors:   , Nguyen Thanh Phuong
Published: September 2024

This study focuses on the Vietnamese community in Texas, aiming to explore the characteristics of English and Vietnamese languages among Vietnamese Americans in the United States when the two languages are in contact. The research investigates cross-linguistic interactions, particularly in vowel production and question formation, with a focus on generational differences within the community. The findings contribute to our understanding of language contact outcomes in immigrant diasporic communities, shedding light on linguistic and social factors influencing language varieties. The study's insights can enhance cultural understanding and integration efforts for Vietnamese immigrants in the U.S. The study conducted within the Vietnamese community in Texas reveals positive indicators for the future maintenance of the Vietnamese heritage language (HL) within the community. While there are variations in perspectives across generations due to different social and linguistic exposures, the overall attitude within this Vietnamese American com-munity is optimistic about using and preserving the Vietnamese HL in the U.S. Participants express pride in speaking the language and a strong desire to maintain it in their host country. Key factors identified for HL maintenance include its role as a communicative tool, facilitating connections with older generations in the family and community, and its identity value. Effective HL maintenance strategies identified in the study involve speaking the heritage language at home and enrolling children in HL classes. Cross-linguistic interac-tions were found to impact oral language production, with differences between the first language (L1) and second language (L2) and language proficiency being significant driv-ing factors. While participants tended to select standard question structures in both English and Vietnamese when assessing different sets of structures, spontaneous speech revealed a tendency to use more non-standard features than perceived. The study also presents characteristics of English and Vietnamese questions among Vietnamese Americans across generations. In English, first-generation speakers commonly exhibited non-standard features such as Subject- Auxiliary inversion, verb conjugation is-sues, and plural noun problems. Vietnamese questions by Vietnamese Americans often involved non-standard features related to verb conjugation, interrogative words/phrases, and word choice, with second-generation speakers facing challenges in using copula verbs and interrogative word placement.
A longitudinal study examining parental behaviors, adolescent routine disclosure and Mexican-origin adolescent girls' anxiety, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem
Authors:   , Rivero Avelina
Published: September 2024

The current study examined the direct and indirect associations between parental behavioral autonomy granting and parental support and Mexican-origin adolescent girls' anxiety, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem via adolescent routine disclosure utilizing longitudinal data. The data were collected from 338 adolescent girls of Mexican origin from 10 public schools in a large Southwestern metropolitan area in the United States (U.S.) (Mage = 13.73, SD = 1.55, Range = 11 to 17 years old). Participants at Wave 1 were either in seventh (N = 170) or 10th (N = 168) grade. The data were collected at three time points over four years (44.1 percent at Wave 2 and 43.2 percent at Wave 3 retention). Most of the participants reported that their parents were born in Mexico ([greater than] 80 percent). To test the hypotheses, I conducted mediation analyses within a structural equation modeling framework. Findings revealed that parental behavioral autonomy granting and parental support at Wave 1 were positively associated with adolescent routine disclosure at Wave 2. Adolescent routine disclosure to mothers at Wave 2 was negatively associated with anxiety and positively associated with self-esteem at Wave 3. Additionally, W2 adolescent routine disclosure to fathers was negatively associated with W3 anxiety and positively associated with W3 self-esteem. Adolescent routine disclosure significantly mediated the associations between paternal behavioral autonomy granting (W1) and anxiety and self-esteem (W3), maternal support (W1) and anxiety (W3), and paternal support (W1) and anxiety (W3). These results indicate that maternal and paternal support is related to adolescent routine disclosure, which is, in turn, related to lower levels of anxiety. Moreover, paternal behavioral autonomy granting is related to adolescent routine disclosure, which is, in turn, related lower levels of anxiety but higher levels of self-esteem. Cultural values may help explain parental behaviors and this influences Mexican-origin adolescent girls' behavior and emotional adjustment.
The confusion of natural selection
Authors:   , Wei Chuanke
Published: September 2024

This dissertation is divided into four parts: an introduction and three papers. The introduction offers a concise overview of natural selection and elucidates how the three papers are interconnected within this dissertation. Each of the three papers addresses a crucial aspect of natural selection. The first paper delves into the debate on whether natural selection can be characterized as a mechanism within the framework of the new Mechanists. It argues that such characterization is implausible due to the difficulty in identifying appropriate phenomena for which natural selection is responsible. The second paper examines the relationship between adaptive just-so stories and adequate explanations. It argues that some adaptive just-so stories fail to transition into adequate explanations, even when supported by empirical evidence. Furthermore, it suggests that even if certain adaptive just-so stories can transition into adequate explanations, the required evidence differs due to the presence of two models of natural selection. The last paper discusses natural selection explanations involved in evolutionary debunking arguments. It argues against basing these arguments on natural selection, proposing instead that addressing challenges arising from the explanatory scope of natural selection is more plausible through focusing on mutation as the basis for such arguments.
Breakable binaries : representations of twins in African and African American literature, film, television, and cultures
Authors:   , Wiltshire Allison Leanne
Published: September 2024

This project explores the fascinating trope of twins in our cultural imaginary, examining representations of twinship in twentieth- and twenty-first-century African and African American literature, film, and television. Considering such texts as Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun, Toni Morrison's Paradise, Jesmyn Ward's Where the Line Bleeds, and ABC's series Black-ish and Sister, Sister, along with several other novels and Nollywood and Disney films and series, this dissertation observes the representational parallels among twin figures across several genres and media. This study finds the trope of twins to be a helpful optic for viewing how these texts achieve the subversion of colonial boundaries, particularly related to race, region, and culture. Using a theoretical framing composed primarily of Homi Bhabha's and Gloria Anzaldua's conceptions related to hybridity, ambivalence, and third spaces, along with several other contemporary arguments that challenge aspects of these foundational ideas, this project analyzes the ways in which these twins-centered texts may be considered resistance texts, rejecting colonial imaginaries related to strictly segregated perimeters for the constructs of race, region, and culture, and conveying, instead, an ambivalence that evokes colonial anxiety. Because of this shared spirit of colonial resistance, this project argues that African and African American texts could be viewed as twins themselves, negating an often unseen, unconsciously imposed rift that mentally splits Africa and the West into an unbreakable binary.
Small-large number dissociation : the effect of visual nesting
Authors:   , Yu Yanfei
Published: September 2024

Previous studies show a limit in infants' number abilities: although infants can reliably discriminate two large numbers ([greater than or equal to] 4) or two small ([less than] 4) numbers, they often fail to discriminate one small number from one large number. This "cross-boundary failure" is assumed to be caused by a dissociation between the capacity-limited Object Tracking System (OTS) that tracks sets of up to 3 items with precision, and the Analogue Magnitude System (AMS) that estimates numerosities of any size with noisy magnitudes. The first goal of current study is to test if infants can cross the boundary when the OTS fails to process a small number of objects by using nested items rather than discrete items (i.e., dot array) as stimuli. The successful small-large number comparison would support that the cross-boundary effect is caused by the dissociation of OTS and AMS. Infant habituation study and change detection study together showed that 5-11 months old infants were not able to discriminate the numerosity of two sets of nested items with a ratio of 1:2 no matter if the boundary of four is crossed or not. This indicates that nested items are not suitable for the purpose of blocking access to the OTS while allowing access to the AMS. The second goal is to test whether adults' ability to make cross-boundary comparison is supported by their improved ability to choose the most task appropriate system (AMS) (H1) or their improved ability to make cross-system comparison (H2). Dot array comparison task showed that people tended to use the AMS to process both small number and large number in cross-boundary comparison and thus supported H1. Besides findings related to our major goals, current study also found that whether visual nesting led to overestimation or underestimation was dependent on the response format, which casted doubt on widely accepted account for how nested stimuli are processed (i.e., FINST theory). Moreover, adults' performance in the nested items vs. discrete items comparison was worse than the performance in the incongruent convex hull condition of a standard AMS comparison task. This suggests the standard control of continuous dimensions (including congruent, matched, incongruent conditions) may not be as efficient as expected.
Implications of farm bill scenarios related to the price loss coverage program
Authors:   , Althoff Nicholas Zane
Published: September 2024

The reference prices used to calculate payments under the Price Loss Coverage program have not increased since being established by the Agricultural Act of 2014. The Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 added a provision that allows effective reference prices to increase if a moving average of marketing year average prices is high enough; however, through 2023, no such increases have occurred for any major program crop. In the face of increases in production costs, many have called on Congress to find a way to provide more support to producers. This thesis examines four scenarios related to the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program. Each scenario aims to increase the size and/or probability of PLC payments to reflect the nature of the proposals being made by farming organizations. The first scenario considers an increase in payment acre eligibility under the PLC program. The second examines the impact of removing the current cap on effective reference prices. The third scenario analyzes the coupling of reference prices to average annual increases in commodity-specific variable production costs. Lastly, an across-the-board percentage increase in statutory reference prices increase is considered. The results suggest the size of PLC payments would increase under all four scenarios, while more frequent PLC payments would occur under all but the first scenario.
Nash, Stackelberg and hybrid games : studies for game-theoretic control of autonomous vehicles
Authors:   , Bateman Brady Gale
Published: September 2024

This paper studies game-theoretic decision-making for autonomous vehicles (AVs). A receding horizon multi-player game is formulated to model the AV decision-making problem. Two classes of games, including Nash game and Stackelberg games, are developed respectively. For each of the two games, two solution settings, including pairwise games and multi-player games, are introduced, respectively, to solve the game in multi-agent scenarios. Comparative studies are conducted via statistical simulations to gain understandings of the performance of the two classes of games and of the two solution settings, respectively. The simulations are conducted in intersection-crossing scenarios, and the game performance is quantified by three metrics: safety, travel efficiency, and computational time. Many kinds of controllers based on game-theory have been developed for autonomous vehicles. This paper develops a novel hybrid Stackelberg-potential game, which is the basis for a new autonomous vehicle control scheme. This paper develops the hybrid game from its base counterparts. Numerical studies are performed to compare this hybrid game with seperate Stackelberg and potential games.
Improving independent course performance of a college student through self-monitoring and task analysis
Authors:   , Bell Ashlyn
Published: September 2024

Students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often face tremendous challenges in making the transition into adulthood. One highly discussed facet of adulthood is independence. However, few discuss the multilayer complexities of achieving your personal goals, working through complicated tasks, and navigating daily life routines within the college or postsecondary setting (Li et al., 2023). Nonetheless, every day we tackle and maneuver through tasks to meet our evolving expectations. The culmination of these tasks constantly shifts, including professional tasks, personal tasks, academic tasks, social tasks, and much more. The focus of the current study is utilizing self-monitoring checklists to promote task analysis for successful completion of coursework and increasing independent performance. The study showed that the participant learned how to effectively utilize a self-monitoring checklist and task analysis sheet to track coursework.
Design and implementation of a tailored data management system for a rural cardiovascular clinic
Authors:   , Nelson Noah Christian
Published: September 2024

Health Information Technology (HIT) adoption and meaningful use continues to be a challenge in rural healthcare, specifically in Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and smaller clinics. This study addresses the gap in effective HIT deployment in a rural cardiovascular clinic in Alabama by providing a data management solution for the authorization and validation of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) procedures. This software was deployed via the Google Cloud, and by using this platform alongside its integrated API system via AppsScript, the specific financial and operational needs of the clinic and support staff were satisfied. This system was deployed from January to August 2023, and led to the identification and subsequent treatment of patients who otherwise would have been overlooked (71 identified, 13 treated). This thesis focuses on the need for tailored, low-tech approaches in high-need environments, emphasizing the opportunities to leverage scalable, affordable technologies to enhance HIT in high need areas.
The cross-cultural use of poison by hunter-gatherers
Authors:   , Tapia Niko Antonio
Published: September 2024

Human beings are extremely proficient at utilizing every available tool in their surrounding environment in creative ways. Poison is a perfect example of these creative solutions being directed at the ever-present problem of extracting food from the landscape. This comparative analysis examines how poison is used to assist in food extraction technologies of the groups from Lewis Binford's dataset of 339 hunter-gatherer groups (information on poison use or not is available for 118 of these groups). Using this categorical data, I address the research question: what is the relationship between plant diversity, latitude, and the productive use of poison to aid in traditional food extraction? This study examines how traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) plays a role in the use of poison as a resource to aid in food acquisition, as well as how the community protects itself from the danger of accidental poisonings. This paper aims to shed light on the transmission of information within these groups on how this resource can remain effective without being a detriment. While several instances of poison use for hunting purposes are well known, such as the Hadza and various groups in Amazonia, my aim to understand how geographically widespread this hunting practice is. The study also touches on Optimal Foraging Theory and how poison assists hunters in having tools that are more lethal, and because of this heightened lethality, they are more efficient at extracting food from the environment. My initial hypothesis was that latitude would be a strong predictor for where we would find poison use, in particular lower latitudinal regions. I hypothesized that plant diversity could have some predictive abilities for poison use, however, my assumption was it would be far weaker than latitude. Poison use is a well spread hunting technology around the globe, out of 118 groups 83 (70 percent) use poison while 35 (29.6 percent) do not. Poison is not a localized hunting technology, but a widespread cross culturally used technology.
From reaction to recovery : an examination of cybersecurity incident response
Authors:   , Williams Lily Teagan
Published: September 2024

This research explores crisis communication principles under the context of cyber and data security incidents from the practitioner perspective. In-depth interviews were conducted to investigate how strategic communication professionals perceive and manage communication flows on social media during data security crises. The study identifies three key stages in the data security incident response: absorption, remediation, and resolution. Practitioners, in the absorption phase, gather information, identify stakeholder groups, and collaborate with support teams, shaping their messaging strategy. Remediation prioritizes the most affected stakeholders, controlling the narrative in traditional media while redirecting social media interactions to alternative channels. The resolution stage emphasizes listening to audience feedback and monitoring trust levels. This research proposes a contextualized Social-Mediated Crisis Communications Model 2.0 (Liu et al., 2022) adaptable to the unique properties of different crisis types. The updated model incorporates elements from the original Social-Mediated Crisis Communications Model (Jin et al., 2014), particularly emphasizing the role of Influential Social Media Creators. While the model serves as a baseline for identifying publics and communication flows, practitioners' insights unveiled the intricate dynamics of the media cycle, reluctance for dialogue on social platforms, and the pivotal role of influencers in driving and shaping a crisis.
The gig economy and social insurance systems : public opinion, policy analysis, and policy design
Authors:   , Bae Juhyun
Published: September 2024

My dissertation focuses on the mismatch of the current welfare system designed for the traditional employment model with the increase in new forms of employment. With technological advancements, the labor market has seen an increase in non-standard workers. Despite the increase of new precarious workers from the technology transformation, we know less about how to align the labor market change with the social welfare system, and how the politics of welfare policy about the new group will be formed. Among various types of non-standard workers, this dissertation mainly focuses on gig workers with the rapid emergence of the gig economy. As such, my three-paper dissertation examines how and whether the current social welfare system can provide protection for gig workers, a newly precarious group, how it relates to their policy attitudes and political participation, and analyzes their public opinions and deservingness for social programs. In the first paper, my co-author, Prof. Haselswerdt, and I investigate the app-based gig workers' experience on social programs and how it relates to policy attitudes and political participation by conducting an innovative online survey. The findings show that an outdated welfare system exposes non-standard workers to heightened uncertainty and economic risk by limiting their access to social insurance programs. Also, gig workers who are excluded from the social insurance system are more likely to be supportive of social programs and have informal political participation. In the second essay, I assess the impact of pandemic-era changes to the unemployment insurance program on non-traditional workers' economic security and mental health. By using a quasi-experimental design, it demonstrates that non-standard workers face more considerable financial struggles than traditional ones, highlighting the blind spot of the existing social insurance systems for non-eligible groups. The third paper examines public perceptions of app-based workers' deservingness of assistance by using an innovative survey experiment. It establishes the existence of a "gig work penalty" in perceived deservingness relative to people in more traditional forms of employment, and also identifies a "double deservingness penalty" that immigrant gig workers face, a novel and important contribution that existing literature has not established. Taken together, these essays contribute significantly to literatures on social welfare policy and political behavior theoretically and empirically in the changing labor market.
Modeling a ransomware attack : a game-theoretic exploration of strategic interplay between attacker and defender
Authors:   , Regmi Preyea Ranjan
Published: September 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 05/01/2025] Ransomware attacks persist as a formidable and continuous threat, targeting vital sectors like healthcare, finance, and transportation. These attacks often elude traditional cybersecurity defenses which makes it a formidable challenge to disrupt their progression at different stages of execution. In response to this pressing cybersecurity concern, the adoption of intelligent cyber deception strategies has emerged as a viable solution. These strategies involve leveraging insights into attacker tactics and deploying deceptive elements to raise the level of difficulty and cost associated with executing a successful ransomware attack. This thesis presents a game-theoretic approach to frame this evolving threat landscape. It involves the utilization of deception-based defensive strategies at different phases of a ransomware attack and strategically optimizing decision-making as they advance through the attack process. Specifically, this research introduces an extensive form game model that incorporates various deceptive resources such as honeytokens, honeypots and honeyfiles within subgames. Through a comprehensive analysis involving closed-form backward induction, the study establishes the Subgame-Perfect Nash Equilibrium (SPNE). The findings underscore the advantages of integrating deception technologies and emphasize its impact in fortifying the security of critical infrastructure.
Comparing calcium handling in right and left ventricle cardiomyocytes in type III pulmonary hypertension
Authors:   , Shahid Arooj
Published: September 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 05/01/2025] Type III pulmonary hypertension (PH) is characterized by pulmonary fibrosis, leading to elevated pressure in the pulmonary arteries and hypertrophy of the right ventricle (RV). Yet, effects of PH on cardiomyocyte calcium handling are unclear. This study addresses the hypothesis that RV cardiomyocytes will show altered excitation-contraction coupling (ECC) as compared to left ventricle (LV) cardiomyocytes in a mouse PH model. To assess this, male C57BL/6 mice were treated with intratracheal saline (sham) or bleomycin (Bleo;0.025 units) to induce type III PH. On days 21-24 post-treatment, animals were anesthetized, hearts were excised, and perfused for enzymatic cell isolation. Isolated RV and LV cardiomyocytes were loaded with fluo-5F for calcium measurements during ECC. Calcium transient amplitude was measured at 0.5 Hz, and sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) calcium content was determined by rapid application of 10 mM caffeine. Bleo-treated mouse hearts showed RV hypertrophy, indicating PH development and RV remodeling. Calcium transient amplitude and reuptake kinetics reveal ECC alterations and impaired SR Calcium ATPase (SERCA) activity in RV cardiomyocytes of the PH model. Interestingly, SR calcium content was not different between Bleo and sham groups in either RV or LV cardiomyocytes. Thus, this study emphasizes mechanisms underlying RV versus LV dysfunction in type III PH, indicating therapeutic interventions targeting cardiomyocyte calcium handling may improve outcomes in patients with PH.
Pottery production and social complexity in Archaic Rome and Latium
Authors:   , D'Acri Mattia
Published: September 2024

This dissertation explores the development of socio-economic complexity in Rome and Latium between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE through the lens of pottery production, combining traditional archaeological methods and archaeometry. In particular, I analyze the ceramic productions of the period under examination, many of which come from recently excavated stratigraphies, with a focus on the results provided by the application of Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) to 274 pottery samples from sites in Rome (Sant'Omobono, Regia, Forum of Caesar, Quirinal), Gabii, and San Giovenale. The samples include both Coarse Ware, the so-called Impasti (e.g., Impasto Bruno, Impasto Chiaro-Sabbioso), and Fine Wares (e.g., Bucchero, Opaque Red Ware), which were carefully selected to incorporate similar shapes and types attested across all sites. Overall, the study provides an opportunity to reconsider previous scholarship on the relationship between society and craftsmanship in Archaic Latium and Etruria. The data elucidate issues of wealth accumulation, exploitation of natural resources, technological innovation, craft specialization, and exchange networks, thus offering insight into broader transformations in both social structures and economic performance in those regions. Based on the study, I argue that the specialization of potters linked to a solid political structure is evident at the beginning of the 6th century BCE, but some indicators suggest that the phenomenon originated a few generations earlier.
A world to hold us all
Authors:   , Edmonds Samantha
Published: September 2024

A World to Hold Us All is a mythological biography about growing up queer in an evangelical household and being raised alongside the internet in the early 2000s. The manuscript revolves around the invisible friends my best friend, Stephanie, and I constructed at fifteen to explore our blossoming sexuality and queerness safely in the realm of imagination, so as to not upset our parents and the religious doctrines we were raised with. I weave stories about my physical reality as a teenager--growing up in a Pentecostal family, attending church three times a week--with the imaginative reality Stephanie and I made for ourselves: the Invisible boys who lived in my home and went to my school, but who also had the freedom and experience to go to bars, date women, and drink alcohol. I ask the reader to question what it means to be real and human and how we draw those boundaries, often at the exclusion of others. The story especially follows the development of my romantic relationship with Danny, one of the invisible boys that was "voiced" by Stephanie online. My mother, who had originally accepted the Invisibles with mild bemusement and good-natured confusion, eventually caught wind of my relationship with Danny and panicked at the queer implications in such a relationship. She ordered me to stop, which set off a chain reaction that negatively affected both families: Stephanie's family left the church completely; she and I fell out of touch for more than two years; and I became obsessed with finding new ways to define faith that did not result in pain.
Essays on housing macroeconomics with heterogeneous agents
Authors:   , Kang Dong Ho
Published: September 2024

This dissertation investigates two important aspects of the U.S. housing market in the post-Great Recession era. Chapter 1 focuses on the supply side of the housing market. Chapter 2 applies information theory to the mortgage market in order to address a recently noted underwriting condition: the minimum credit score requirement. In Chapter 1, the discussion centers on the recent U.S. housing market, specifically during the 2010s, which is characterized by a rapid increase in house prices alongside sluggish growth in homeownership rates. This trend diverges from earlier housing booms, where increases in both house prices and homeownership rates occur simultaneously and rapidly. Utilizing a macro-housing model with heterogeneous agents, this paper quantitatively establishes that the dynamics of the 2010s housing market can be attributed to two factors: a decrease in the productivity of the residential construction sector and a rapid increase in real median income. Specifically, a negative productivity shock in the residential construction sector leads to a shortage of supply, causing house prices to rise. Simultaneously, a positive income shock stimulates housing demand, further driving up prices. However, the impact of the income shock is not strong enough to counterbalance the negative supply shock from decreasing residential productivity, resulting in a slow recovery of the homeownership rate. In Chapter 2, I analyze the effects of minimum credit score requirements, practices that have become prevalent since the 2008 Great Recession, on the housing and mortgage market. To do that, I construct a quantitative model featuring heterogeneous agents within a macro-housing framework. This model incorporates endogenously and dynamically evolving credit scores, which are based on households' earnings and their decision-making behaviors regarding portfolio choices and debt repayment. Using this model, I conduct counterfactual analyses to examine the consequences of implementing a minimum credit score requirement in the mortgage loan market. The minimum credit score threshold decreases the mortgage default risk, which reduces average mortgage rates. The threshold also decreases the average loan-to-value ratio and the fraction of mortgage owners. Intriguingly, when the threshold is set at the subprime credit score level, the homeownership rate increases by approximately 5 percentage points. Counterfactual experiments and econometric analyses reveal that increases in the homeownership rate are influenced by two key factors: i) the motivation to improve one's credit score, which encourages households to pursue ownership in anticipation of its positive effects on creditworthiness; and ii) the availability of affordable mortgage rates, facilitated by reduced default behavior in an economy with a minimum credit score requirement.
Maternal influence on epigenetics and offspring behavior outcomes : exploring underlying mechanisms and sex-specific sensitivities in a gene environment interaction mouse model
Authors:   , King Candice N
Published: September 2024

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social communication, overly regimented adherence to routine, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. Even though early studies implicated genetic risk factors, recent evidence emphasize environmental factors, including experiencing adverse life events elevating increasing ASD risk, which is of greater importance in pregnancies of genetically stress susceptible individuals. We previously reported the SLC6A4 gene, encoding the human serotonin transporter (SERT), along with the variant, the serotonin transporter gene linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR), playing a critical role in elevated stress responsivity and embryonic methylation dysregulation in our gene-environment interaction (GxE) mouse model. MicroRNA (miR) molecules negatively regulate gene expression and has been duly implicated in physiological and pathophysiological processes, including cell differentiation, neurodevelopment, and neuropsychiatric disorders and has recently demonstrated a critical role in stress- and behavior- related disorders including ASD. Therefore, to examine maternal stress susceptibility's impact on underlying microRNA expression and behavioral outcomes in offspring, pregnant wild type and SERT (+/-) dams were exposed to a chronic variable stress (CVS) protocol, after which, maternal microRNA profiles were examined. Furthermore, cohorts of female and male offspring underwent a battery of behavioral tests beginning at postnatal day 60 (PD60) to examine SERT (+/-) x CVS effects on behaviors associated with ASD including, anxiety, elevated repetitive behaviors and sociability deficits. Maternal molecular profiling detected three upregulated microRNAs unique to SERT (+/-) x CVS cohort, mmu-miR-5622-3p, mmu-miR-6900-3p and mmu-miR-7684-3p with predicted genetic projections associated with stress and autism spectrum disorders with biological enrichment implicated in forebrain and central nervous system development. Moreover, offspring assays revealed selective, sex-specific behavioral differences with female offspring demonstrating maternal genotype and interaction mediated behaviors, while male offspring displayed maternal stress and interaction mediated behaviors, which suggests the combination of both or individual factors of SERT (+/-) x CVS can sufficiently impact offspring behavior outcomes. Taken together, the results of this study demonstrate the complexity and dynamism of the interplay between maternal genotype and adverse prenatal stress exposure on underlying regulators of ASD- and stress- associated gene networks. And furthermore, provides evidence of their effects on behavioral outcomes of offspring
Nanomaterials from lignocellulosic biomass : tailorable synthesis via surface functionalization and self-assembly mechanisms
Authors:   , Li Qianwei
Published: September 2024

This dissertation presents an innovative lignocellulosic biomass-based refinery based on deep eutectic solvents (DESs) and specialized for biomass-based nanomaterials synthesis Particularly, this work has the focus on lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) and lignin-containing cellulose nanofibrils (LCNFs). First, the lignin self-assembly in the formation of nanolignin was illustrated via combining the experimental data and the theoretical calculations. A modeling method applying Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek's (DLVO) theory and population balance equation was developed to predict the particle size of LNPs formed in different conditions. Secondly, a diol-based DES pretreatment platform was developed for efficient switchgrass fractionation and lignin functionalization. The cellulose-rich pulp with most xylan and lignin removed can be utilized in high concentration enzymatic sugar production. The recovered lignin can be converted into morphology-tunable (compact-/hollow-dominant) LNPs due to the variation of [beta]-O-4 preservation and modification determined by diol structure. Thirdly, one-pot DES pretreatment and functionalization (PEGylation and maleilation) were demonstrated as a suitable process to prepare modified cellulose-rich pulp and lignin for nanomaterials upgrading. The resultant PEGylated cellulose-rich pulp has high cellulose content when the maleilated pulp can be converted into fine LCNF via enzymatic treatment and fast ultrasonication. The maleilated lignin with narrow molecular weight distribution can easily form into uniform LNPs. Lastly, the one pot co-maleilation and biomass pretreatment at low temperature was investigated. LCNF with high aspect ratio and sufficient surface charges were produced afterward. The LCNF combined with a Copper (II)-based organic complex can be utilized as sustainable and cost-effective adsorbents in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) removal.
Eva Braun on screen : hunters and beyond
Authors:   , Winterfeld Nastasja Carmen
Published: September 2024

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 05/01/2025] This thesis investigates the depiction of Eva Braun in the US-American streaming series Hunters (2020) released by Amazon Prime. Braun, whose status as Adolf Hitler's unacknowledged wife was revealed after their joint suicide in April 1945, has been the subject of multiple literary and pop cultural works. After examining the genesis and development of several myths and narratives about Eva Braun, from accounts of members of Hitler's inner circle to post-war newspaper articles from the United States to biographies written about her, this work then turns to three turn-of-the-century on-screen depictions: the Russian film Moloch (1999), the Canadian miniseries Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003), and the German film Der Untergang (2004). The last chapter is devoted to Hunters and argues that the series responds to many of the aforementioned popular fantasies, breaking with the idea of Braun as a native bystander without agency and opposing narratives that are founded upon a lack of female involvement and participation in the Holocaust.
The political ideology education for students at Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City in the current context: Current situation and some key solutions
Authors:   University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU-HCM, Ngo Lan Thi Phuong
Published: September 2024

Political ideology education for students in higher education institutions plays a pivotal role in nurturing their qualities and personalities, as well as endowing them with a scientific worldview and a correct methodology. This education contributes significantly to shaping generations of students, who possess both political integrity and professional competence, capable of undertaking substantial responsibilities in a landscape, where the nation enjoys numerous advantages but also faces hidden difficulties and challenges. Drawing from the research conducted on the political ideology education for students at Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City, this article examines the present state of this endeavor from the two perspectives: the attained outcomes and the remaining challenges. By analyzing the current context, the article puts forward several key solutions aimed at enhancing the efficacy of this education within the contemporary pivotal framework for the country's development. The research findings show that the political ideology education for students at Viet Nam National University Ho Chi Minh City is consistently regarded as a crucial, strategic, and enduring task. It receives ample attention and implementation from the entire political apparatus, manifesting in a variety of approaches that blend tradition with modernity. Consequently, this educational effort has achieved depth and fortified its efficacy. However, notwithstanding its accomplishments, recent developments have revealed certain shortcomings and constraints stemming from both subjective and objective factors. Hence, there is a pressing need for fundamental solutions to augment the effectiveness of this education and align it more closely with the prevailing context.
Number of Erythrocytes in Male Mice (Mus musculus) Exposed to Cigarette Smoke After Treatment with Ethanol Extract of Red Pomegranate Peel (Punica ganatu)
Authors: Utami Rury Trisa
Published: September 2024

Plant extracts have the potential to serve as natural therapeutic agents that can counteract the negative effects of various toxins, including those found in cigarette smoke. One such plant with this potential is the red pomegranate (Punica granatum). This study aims to determine the effect of administering Red Pomegranate (Punica ganatum) peel extract on the number of erythrocytes and hemoglobin levels in white mice exposed to cigarette smoke. This type of research is experimental laboratory post test only group design. Mice were divided into 4 treatment groups, namely: P0, control group, test animals treated with distilled water; treatment groups P1, P2 and P3, which were treated with neem leaf ethanol extract at a dose of 10 each; 20; 40 mg/head/day and mice were exposed to cigarette smoke. The research results showed that the higher the extract given, the higher the HB and erythrocyte levels. From this research it can be concluded that administration of Red Pomegranate rind extract can increase the number of erythrocytes and hemoglobin levels but it is not significant (p>0.05). The contribution of this research provides important data on the interaction between toxins (in this case, cigarette smoke) and protective agents (red pomegranate peel ethanol extract). This information is valuable in the fields of toxicology and pharmacology for understanding cellular protection mechanisms and potential new treatments.