cometadata/datacite-titles-descriptions-related-identifiers huggingface dataset:
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c127-673049
title: The political representation of Kurdish, Kemalist, and conservative Muslim women in Turkey (1990-2010)

description: The underrepresentation of women in political decision making and their weak substantive representation continue in Turkey as of 2011.  The dissertation examines the timing, direction, and mechanisms of slight changes in the representation of three women’s groups in Turkey, namely Kurdish, conservative Muslim, and Kemalist women, between 1990 and 2010.   It seeks to answer two primary questions:  why was there a change in Kurdish and conservative Muslim women’s political representation in the parliamentary offices and parties’ decision-making organs between 1990 and 2010, while there was almost no change in the representation of Kemalist women; and why did the change occur at different rates for Kurdish and conservative Muslim women. ❧ This dissertation draws on political intersectionality, women and politics literature, and studies on women’s political activism in Turkey to suggest that identity-based explanations, organization-based explanations, and elite-based explanations are helpful in understanding the changes in the representation of women from multiply subordinated groups, as well as the observed variations in these changes. More specifically, three factors extracted from these sets of explanations: mobilization via intersecting identities; the efforts of women’s organizations; and the support of male leaders must, this study suggests, be present for a significant change in representation to occur. ❧ Three main conclusions emerge from this study. First, the ethnic and religious identities of Kurdish and conservative Muslim women are important components in both their political activism and representation. Second, intra-party organizations provide not only the space for women to become active in political parties and opportunities to demand further representation and present these demands to the party leadership. Third, political leaders tend to take women’s demands into consideration if they perceive a need to promote women, regardless of these leaders’ and parties’ ideologies or attitudes about women’s political role. ❧ This dissertation recommends that the scope of literature on women’s representation should be broadened by systematically examining relationships between different actors and the institutional context. It also suggests that given the dearth of studies based outside the U.S. and Western Europe, data collection at the subnational and party levels in other contexts is important to enrich theories related to the gender and politics. The contribution of the dissertation is broadly applicable to fields of women’s political representation, political change, party politics, political intersectionality, and Turkish politics.
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c40-133518
title: Adolescent adjustment of transracially adopted children
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c40-361140
title: Assessing interpretations of experienced ease and difficulty as motivational constructs

description: Are people motivated by ease and sapped by difficulty, or the reverse, does ease undermine motivation while difficulty bolsters it? Following identity-based motivation theory, whether ease or difficulty bolsters or undermines motivation depends on which lay theory of ease or difficulty is accessible in the moment. Experienced ease can imply that something is ""possible for me"" in part because the odds of success are high, or that something is ""not worth my time"" in part because the task is of low value. Experienced difficulty can imply that something is ""important for me"" the task is valued, or that something is ""impossible for me"" as odds of success are low for ""me"" or ""us"". We developed ease-as-possibility, ease-as-triviality, difficulty-as-importance, and difficulty-as-impossibility measures to assess individual differences in endorsement of these lay theories (N=963). We tested (N=200) convergent and discriminant validity with other measures of motivation: self-efficacy, locus of control, growth, grit, mental toughness, prevention and promotion regulatory focus, and construal level. We documented predictive validity by showing that performance on a cognitive reasoning task correlates with ease-as-possibility, ease-as-triviality, and difficulty-as-impossibility (N=183). Ease-as-possibility, ease-as-triviality, difficulty-as-importance, and difficulty-as-impossibility supplement other measures of motivation, yielding new insight into motivational processes. These measures can be used in addition to other tools, including priming and implicit assessment.
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c127-623442
title: Piracy propagation of information goods: theory, measurement and application

description: Digital technologies have transformed the traditional structure of production and promotion planning for new information goods. Studies, up to now, have examined implications of file sharing technologies on pricing schemes, protection mechanisms, and distribution strategies of digital contents. However, there is little understanding about the characteristics of piracy propagation process brought about by digital distribution technology. By drastically broadening behavioral options of search, consumption and reproduction of contents, IT-enabled tools may have reshaped conventional way of consumers’ engaging in new digital technologies and contents adoption decisions. In this dissertation, I seek to further our understanding of the impacts of the emergence of file sharing technology on consumers’ behavior in participating in digital piracy and how such changes brought about by new technology have altered the propagation dynamics of digital contents. I explore several questions regarding the dynamics of digital piracy propagation, influences of heterogeneous population segments on piracy propagation process, and the information role of digital piracy to improve business and policy decisions. My first research question characterizes the demand- and supply-side dynamics of piracy propagation and measures the effectiveness of anti-piracy efforts to curb digital piracy.  My second question aims to identify different population segments and their inter-segment influences on piracy propagation. In my third research question, I utilize the consumers’ preference information in piracy data to improve market forecasting and promotional decisions. While the first research question characterizes the underlying dynamics of piracy propagation process per title at the aggregated level, the second research question identifies the influence of heterogeneous participants’ behavior on the propagation process. The study that addresses the third question is an application to utilize the propagation dynamics for the pre-release forecasting purposes. Overall, my research contributes to a better understanding of the economics of digital products, information products diffusion process, and the economics of digital piracy.
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c127-627277
title: Prediction of extreme runoff frequency events in southern California

description: The prediction of extreme runoff events has significant risk and financial implications when dealing with hydraulic infrastructure.  This is especially true in highly urbanized areas such as Southern California.  Two methods for determining extreme runoff exist: extrapolation of existing runoff data using extreme event probability distributions, or hydrologic modeling using design rainfall events and watershed characteristics to generate an estimate of the extreme runoff event.  This research investigates both methods to evaluate usefulness and limitations in providing guidance for risk and financial analysis. ❧ Design of levees and flood protection channels often focuses on providing protection from events with a 50- to 100-year recurrence interval.  In many areas of the country, stream gage record sets do not contain records of this length.  The effects of record length, probability distribution selection, and the method of parameter estimation are evaluated to determine the impacts on prediction of the extreme runoff event used for levee and channel design. ❧ Design storms are often used with hydrologic models to predict runoff for events larger than those measured through systematic stream gaging.  The Probable Maximum Precipitation (PMP) - Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) methodology is widely used.  This research evaluates the use of this standard on design for major hydraulic structures such as dam spillways within Southern California.  Two standard PMP methodologies are evaluated based on rain gage frequency analysis within Los Angeles County.  The effects of soils, watershed characteristics, and wild fire on extreme runoff events are also evaluated using Monte Carlo Simulation of 27 watersheds within the County.   ❧ The Monte Carlo Simulations evaluates two design storms, two soil loss methodologies, and the effects of fire within a watershed.  The structure and development of the model will be discussed, as well as the results for the different cases in determining extreme runoff events.  Conclusions will be drawn regarding prediction of extreme runoff events in Southern California.
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c127-643270
title: The sound of surf

description: “The Sound of Surf” is a chronological examination of music surrounding and associated with American surf culture over the course of the twentieth century. I also explore the roots of surf music starting where surfing first began: Hawaii.  I examine ancient Polynesian cultures and surf-related music from a social standpoint as well as a more technically musical standpoint.  I discuss key figures and events that are responsible for the popularization of Hawaiian culture on the American mainland and investigate what fell and falls under the categorization of surf music over the consequent decades. I have organized my research so as to simulate a historical journey through the places where surfing and music intersected. Possible future formats include long-form print journalism, a radio program and/or extensive liner notes in accompaniment to an audio compilation. Song titles and basic information serve as chapter headers so that the essay may either stand alone or be complemented by audio selections. More detailed song information can be referenced in the bibliography where the entries are listed according to the artist(s) name.
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c127-665452
title: Efficient passions: justice and care ethics in international human rights advocacy

description: Founded on moral and knowledge authority, NGO activities influence state behavior and international politics more broadly. NGO authority is understood to be composed of moral and knowledge claims and practices that are (often implicitly) founded in justice ethics. Justice ethics is founded on universal, abstract rules and principles, assumes all humans are autonomous and equal, and values impartial, rational decision-making. Knowledge authority is based on expert knowledge, on a reputation for “rigorous, objective” research. Moral authority is based on apolitical representation of human beings across the globe, codified by international law. This foundation on justice ethics is implicit, but it is the dominant frame in which NGOs exercise authority in public. I find that the above definition of moral and knowledge authority is incomplete, because these definitions of moral and knowledge authority do not accurately explain all of the moral and knowledge authority that is evident in human rights advocacy. I argue that care ethics is a foundational, yet often undervalued element in the deployment of NGO knowledge and moral authority. ❧ In addition, understanding that NGO work depends on care ethics in addition to justice ethics helps explain the gendered and complex relationship between moral and knowledge authority in practice. For example, it helps us understand why certain types of work and certain styles of arguing, particularly those that depend on care and the feminine, are carefully managed in public, and are viewed with more ambivalence than other more typically masculine roles and arguments. Tensions emerge between the need to motivate people to action—to mobilize shame, empathy and outrage on one hand, and the need to argue for objective, dispassionate, rational policies and legal findings on the other. While elements of care may often be feminized and devalued, it does not follow that women only practice care or that care is relatively unimportant or ineffectual, however. ❧ Using a critical feminist methodology to examine NGO authority, I argue that moral and knowledge authorities depend on both justice and care ethics, ethics that are differently valued and deeply gendered in practice. This makes care ethics hard to see, particularly in public practices of NGOs, but while it may often be hidden from view, care ethics is fundamental to human rights advocacy and NGO authority. I show how care ethics apply in the everyday work of NGOs, in the theoretical foundations of NGO authority, and in the deployment of that authority in arguments against torture. To accomplish this, I develop a framework of care ethics based on concepts of mature care, reciprocity and co-feeling and apply this framework to the human rights advocacy. I show how this care ethics framework fills in theoretical gaps in our understanding of ethics in international politics, and how human rights advocacy can be improved through the application of a care ethical framework.
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c127-668568
title: Lossy joint source channel coding for multicast and multiple description applications

description: The broad objective of this thesis is to tackle the problems of delay intolerant multimedia transmission over wireless networks. Robust, finite block length code design that can operate at different rates to satisfy heterogenous node connections and sources is of interest. ❧ In the first part of this thesis, we propose a joint source-channel coding scheme that combines the advantages and simplicity of standard transform coding with the robustness of modern linear codes. The idea is to combine entropy coding and channel coding into a single linear encoding stage. If the channel is symmetric, the scheme can asymptotically achieve the optimal rate-distortion limit. However, its advantages appear even more clearly in the practical case of finite coding delay and complexity. Besides its effective performance for finite block length, it is also shown that the proposed joint source-channel coding architecture can be easily incorporated into existing networks, while maintaining the advantages and the flexibility of the separated paradigm. To this end we consider multicast and multiple description scenarios. ❧ Multimedia services such as audio and video streaming represent one of the most important Internet applications. Beyond many possible architectures, the fundamental problem consists of multicasting a source to several users subject to some desired fidelity levels. In this thesis this problem is addressed from a source-channel coding viewpoint where a number of relevant system optimization problems are formulated. ❧ Next, the multiple description coding over bit error channels is considered. A novel practical multiple description coding scheme is proposed based on scalar embedded quantizers and rateless codes. A peer-to-peer network model is studied where users can receive different number of descriptions and an arbitrary large number of descriptions can be created and transmitted between peers. For this network model convex system optimization problems are defined and solved. ❧ Moreover, the proposed joint source channel coding scheme is applied to the important case of lossy transmission of digital images. A new coding scheme for image transmission over noisy channel is proposed. Similar to standard image compression,  the scheme includes a linear transform followed by embedded scalar quantization. Joint source-channel coding is implemented by optimizing the rate allocation across the source subbands, treated as the components of a parallel source model. Due to the quantizer selection, non-binary code design for the linear encoder is established. ❧ Finally, we investigate the effect of block length in Unequal Error Protection schemes. In these schemes, the source and channel coding parts are separated where the file transmission is done progressively using finite length coding blocks which are not necessarily of the same length. Dynamic programs are established for optimal rate allocations in multicast scenarios.
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c127-675410
title: Political skills that superintendents need to embrace in order to maintain a positive working relationship with their board members

description: According to the literature, school districts are becoming increasingly political and complex. For superintendents to be successful in this environment they must exhibit great political skills in order to maintain positive working relationships with their boards of education. Thus, this study aimed to identify political skills that superintendents needed as well as where best to acquire them. ❧ This study was based on a mixed method rational that used two types of instruments: online surveys and one-on-one interviews. The study received online survey responses from 60% (18/30) of board members and 57% (17/30) of superintendents in Southern California. In addition, 7 board members and 6 superintendents participated in one-on-one interviews. Preliminary findings were then reviewed by 6 out-of-state superintendents for reliability, validity and generalization. ❧ Findings from the study showed that communication and interpersonal skills were the most important political skills perceived by all respondent groups. While skills such as superintendent flexibility and adaptability, team building, establishing a clear vision, being visible and accessible, and advocating for public education also scored high, communication and interpersonal skills were the only two skills that were strongly stressed during one-on-one interviews and reemphasized by out-of-state superintendents. Finally, all respondents agreed that the best place for superintendents to acquire these skills were through experience based learning and mentors. Hence, aspiring and current superintendents should consider developments from study to foster better working relationships with their boards of education.
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c40-122041
title: A descriptive study of home health care in Los Angeles County: Current economic and political considerations
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c40-135129
title: Attitudes of Chicana lesbians toward therapy
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c40-136929
title: Adolescent drug use: An exploratory study of parents' perceptions
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c40-329223
title: Accessing hard maps and associated digital components: a case study of the U.S. Library of the Marine Corps

description: Maps provide information to researchers, as each map represents the environment from the perspective of the creator, at a set point in time. Libraries act as sources of information for researchers and can provide resources for users to locate, request, and receive maps. However, each library has differing capacities for users to access maps, and that capacity can even differ within the same organization. The United States (U.S.) Marine Corps is an example of an organization that has libraries with differing levels of accessibility for users accessing maps. At this time, remote users do not have access to hard, or paper maps, in the Library of the Marine Corps located in Quantico, Virginia. Therefore the aim of this thesis is to design an innovative process for remote users to access hard maps from the Library of the Marine Corps using digital components. To design a suitable process and spatial database, this project focuses on how users currently search and access hard maps and digital components from the Library of the Marine Corps, what the metadata standards for geospatial data and cartography currently consist of, common access capabilities of other libraries, and current practices for scanning, georeferencing, and extracting vector features from hard maps. A detailed entity-relationship model illustrates an efficient spatial database that can accompany the process, revealing the relationships between different spatial objects involved in users locating, requesting, and receiving digitized versions of hard maps and associated digital components from the Library of the Marine Corps. Finally, this project evaluates the spatial database and process for integrity and suitability for the Library of the Marine Corps. Other libraries housing important historical as well as current collections of hard maps could use the results of this research.
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c40-33909
title: Three professions look at death
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c40-43427
title: A descriptive study of the interrelationships between: Stress; Black students of U.S.C.; and their attitudes toward the Counseling Center
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c127-631418
title: Cellular mechanisms of sour taste

description: 7/18/2013 Among the five basic taste modalities, sourness refers to our ability to detect acids within food. It not only helps us to maintain the acid-base balance and avoid the bad resources, but also provides us satisfying feelings during eating. Both human psychophysical and animal behavioral results demonstrated that sour sensation is elicited by protons dissociated from acids as well as by undissociated acid molecules. In peripheral taste organs, acids are detected by a population of taste receptor cells that express the trp channel PKD2L1; however, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of sour sensation are not clear yet. One problem in many previous studies is that sour-sensing cells were not distinguished from other populations of taste cells. Here by using BAC transgenic mice in which the sour-sensing taste cells were genetically labeled with YFP, we show that action potentials are evoked directly in PKD2L1-expressing sour-sensing taste cells by extracellular protons. This response to dissociated protons is driven by proton entry through a proton-selective conductance specifically expressed on the apical surface of these cells. Moreover, we show that undissociated weak acids evoke action potentials directly in PKD2L1-YFP taste cells as well. The response to weak acids is unlikely to be a consequence of inhibiting K⁺ channels by intracellular protons, as previously thought, but can be possibly attributed to the activation of voltage-gated Na⁺ channels. Together, we conclude that both protons and undissociated acid molecules elicit sour sensations by activating PKD2L1-expressing taste cells, but through different cellular mechanisms.
DOI: 10.25549/usctheses-c127-640270
title: Early diagnostic paracentesis in spontaneous bacterial peritonitis

description: Background: Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) frequently occurs in hospitalized patients with cirrhosis and ascites and is associated with high mortality. Early paracentesis (EP) allows rapid diagnosis and optimal treatment of SBP. Clinical outcomes associated with EP in patients with community-acquired SBP are not well described. ❧ Aim: To review the medical records of hospitalized patients with cirrhosis and SBP who had early vs. delayed paracentesis (DP) and to assess the impact of EP vs. DP on outcomes. ❧ Methods: Between 1/2005 and 6/2010, consecutive patients who were diagnosed with SBP &lt;72 hours from the first physician encounter at Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center were identified. Clinical features and treatment courses were retrospectively reviewed. EP and DP were defined by undergoing procedure &lt;12 and 12-72 hours from the time of presentation, respectively. ❧ Results: The mean age of 150 patients with SBP was 52.8±9.5 years and 63% had alcohol-related liver disease. Sixty-eight (45%), 95 (63%) and 119 (79%) patients underwent paracentesis ≤6, ≤12 and ≤24 hours from presentation. As expected the mean interval to EP was significantly less than the DP group (4.9±3.1 vs. 30.6±15.3 hours; P