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Estimation of Critical Temperatures in the 2-Dimensional Grasshopper Ising Model
Get PDFThis thesis investigates the critical temperatures in the two-dimensional grasshopper Ising model, a novel system derived from ”The Grasshopper Problem,” which has its origin in analyzing Bell inequalities. Our study focuses on a discrete version of the grasshopper problem, obtained by discretizing its planar variant, which results in an Ising model with unique characteristics that set it apart from traditional Ising models in statistical physics. By employing Monte Carlo simulations, we examine the temperature dependence of the grasshopper model and determine the critical temperatures for various fixed-range interactions. We find that the grasshopper model shows a phase transition from a cogwheel structure to a disk with fuzzy boundary when the temperature is increased. We also take on a start to establishing a relationship between the range of interaction and critical temperature in the grasshopper model. Our findings contribute to the broader understanding of statistical mechanics and Bell inequalities, bridging the gap between classical spin systems and quantum phenomena. This research advances our knowledge on this novel class of Ising models and also provides a foundation for future studies in related fields
Remittance Behaviors Among Cuban Migrants in Miami and Madrid: Motivations, Practices and Experiences
No full textOver the last 60 years, Cuban communities have formed in Miami and Madrid, making them ideal case studies for this research. Migrants often send a portion of their earnings as remittances to support their families in Cuba. This financial support is particularly significant for Cuba, where remittances are the second-largest source of foreign revenue after the export of professional services (Mesa-Lago & Svejnar, 2020, p. 19). However, the existing literature predominantly focuses on the impacts of these remittances on the families receiving them in Cuba, with less attention given to the behaviors and motivations of the Cuban migrants who send remittances. Additionally, research has more widely covered the Cuban diaspora in Miami, while little is known about other Cuban communities in other cities. This discrepancy highlights a gap in understanding the diverse remittance practices among Cuban migrants in different cities. This dissertation addresses a critical need in the literature by exploring the remittance behaviors of Cuban migrants in Miami and Madrid, offering a comparative analysis of their motivations, practices, and experiences in remitting money and goods to their families in Cuba. The research is structured into ten chapters, each contributing uniquely to the understanding of contemporary Cuban migration and remittance behaviors. Chapter 1 sets the stage by introducing the research questions and objectives, followed by a comprehensive literature review in Chapter 2 that details migration roots, policies, and remittance practices. Chapter 3 outlines the theoretical frameworks guiding this study, notably the Transnational Social Spaces Theory (TSST) and the Economics of Giving Theory, which help illuminate the economic and altruistic motivations behind remittances. This dissertation’s core methodological approach is presented in Chapter 4, which describes the multi-case study design and the sequential mixed-method strategy employed to gather and analyze data. This approach combines quantitative surveys with qualitative interviews, enhancing the depth and reliability of findings through cross-validation. The subsequent chapters (5-10) present the findings from the comparative case study, with each chapter diving deeper into different aspects of the migrants’ remittance behaviors. Chapter 5 presents the sociodemographic and economic characteristics of Cuban migrants, highlighting the differences and similarities in their remittance behaviors in Miami and Madrid, while Chapter 6 delves into the motivations to send remittances and remittance practices. Chapters 7 and 8 focus on the perceived purposes of remittances, examining how these funds support family consumption and asset building in Cuba. Chapter 9 explores the various channels through which remittances are sent, assessing the advantages and challenges associated with each. Chapter 10 concludes the study by summarizing the findings and outlining future research directions. It also discusses the policy implications of this study and offers a set of recommendations. This research not only fills a significant gap by broadening the geographic scope of studies on Cuban remittances but also enriches the theoretical and practical understanding of remittance flows within migrant communities. The findings reveal how different cultural, economic, and regulatory contexts influence remittance behaviors, providing insights that could inform policy and program development to better support migrants and their families. Moreover, the study underscores the potential of interdisciplinary approaches in migration studies, advocating for the integration of Public Policy, Social Development, Applied Sociology, and Economics to create more effective and equitable migration and remittance policies. This dissertation ultimately enhances academic knowledge and offers practical solutions to enhance migrant welfare and economic development. Abstract (Spanish) En los últimos 60 años, se han formado comunidades cubanas en Miami y Madrid, convirtiéndolas en casos de estudio interesantes para esta tesis doctoral. Los migrantes a menudo envían una parte de sus ingresos como remesas para apoyar a sus familias en Cuba. Este apoyo financiero es particularmente significativo para Cuba, donde las remesas son la segunda fuente más grande de ingresos extranjeros después de la exportación de servicios profesionales (Mesa-Lago & Svejnar, 2020, p. 19). Sin embargo, la literatura existente se centra predominantemente en los impactos de estas remesas en las familias que las reciben en Cuba, prestando menos atención a los comportamientos y motivaciones de los migrantes cubanos que envían las remesas. Además, los estudios existentes han cubierto más ampliamente la diáspora cubana en Miami, mientras que se sabe poco sobre comunidades cubanas en otras ciudades. Esta discrepancia destaca una brecha en el conocimiento sobre las diversas prácticas de remesas entre los migrantes cubanos en diferentes ciudades. La presente disertación aborda una necesidad crítica en la literatura al explorar los comportamientos de remesas de los migrantes cubanos en Miami y Madrid de manera comparada, ofreciendo un análisis de sus motivaciones, prácticas y experiencias al enviar dinero y bienes a sus familias en Cuba. La investigación está estructurada en diez capítulos, cada uno contribuyendo de manera única a la comprensión de la migración contemporánea cubana y los comportamientos de remesas. El Capítulo 1 establece el escenario al introducir las preguntas y objetivos de la investigación, seguido de una revisión exhaustiva de la literatura en el Capítulo 2 que detalla las raíces de la migración, las políticas y las prácticas de remesas. El Capítulo 3 describe los marcos teóricos que guían este estudio, notablemente la Teoría de los Espacios Sociales Transnacionales (TSST) y la Teoría de la Economía de Donación o regalos (Economics of Giving Theory), que ayudan a ilustrar las motivaciones económicas y altruistas detrás de las remesas. El enfoque metodológico central de esta disertación se presenta en el Capítulo 4, que describe el diseño del estudio de casos múltiples y la estrategia de métodos mixtos secuenciales empleada para recopilar y analizar datos. Este enfoque combina encuestas cuantitativas con entrevistas cualitativas, mejorando la profundidad y fiabilidad de los hallazgos mediante la validación cruzada. Los capítulos subsiguientes (5-10) presentan los hallazgos del estudio de caso comparativo, con cada capítulo profundizando en diferentes aspectos de los comportamientos de remesas de los migrantes. El Capítulo 5 presenta las características sociodemográficas y económicas de los migrantes cubanos, destacando las diferencias y similitudes en sus comportamientos de remesas en Miami y Madrid, mientras que el Capítulo 6 profundiza en las motivaciones para enviar remesas y las prácticas de remesas. Los Capítulos 7 y 8 se centran en los propósitos percibidos de las remesas, examinando cómo estos fondos apoyan el consumo familiar y la creación de activos en Cuba. El Capítulo 9 explora los diversos canales a través de los cuales se envían remesas, evaluando las ventajas y desafíos asociados con cada uno. El Capítulo 10 concluye el estudio resumiendo los hallazgos y delineando futuras direcciones de investigación. También discute las implicaciones políticas de este estudio y ofrece un conjunto de recomendaciones. Esta investigación no solo llena una brecha significativa al ampliar el alcance geográfico de los estudios sobre remesas cubanas, sino que también enriquece la comprensión teórica y práctica de los flujos de remesas dentro de las comunidades de migrantes. Los hallazgos revelan cómo diferentes contextos culturales, económicos y regulatorios influyen en los comportamientos de remesas, proporcionando ideas que podrían informar el desarrollo de políticas y programas para apoyar mejor a los migrantes y sus familias. Además, el estudio subraya el potencial de enfoques interdisciplinarios en los estudios de migración, abogando por la integración de Políticas Públicas, Desarrollo Social, Sociología Aplicada y Economía para crear políticas de migración y remesas más efectivas y equitativas. Esta disertación, en última instancia, mejora el conocimiento académico y ofrece soluciones prácticas para mejorar el bienestar de los migrantes y el desarrollo económico
Activist Scholars: Faculty of Color Navigating Institutional Rewards and Punishments
Get PDFFaculty of color (FoC) often engage in social justice scholarship that focuses on the needs of minoritized communities. Yet, FoC often are subjected to suspicion and scrutiny over concerns of objectivity and academic rigor. Despite these barriers, FoC have demonstrated successfully navigating traditional institutional reward systems while making significant contributions to social justice knowledge and knowledge production at research-intensive higher education institutions. Exploring how tenured FoC at research intensive higher education institutions have earned academic success while engaging non-traditional approaches to knowledge production is important to higher education’s mission to broaden scholarship to be practical, political, and beneficial to society. This dissertation applied a narrative research approach involving in-depth interviews with 15 participants to capture stories of how FoC who engage in scholarship with social justice goals navigated institutional reward systems at R1 and R2 universities. The conceptual framework that guided the design of this study included critical agency, outsiders within, and Critical Race Theory. The interview questions sought insight into how FoC navigated both traditional reward systems such as promotion and tenure as well as masked cultural standards that often resulted in punishment for engaging non-traditional approaches to scholarship. The findings of this dissertation closely align with existing literature on how the academy remains a chilly environment for FoC despite their important contributions to scholarship. Higher education institutions continue to privilege basic research as high regard for a faculty members contribution to their discipline and institution. From recruitment to advancement to full professor status, participants reported experiencing barriers such as racism, sexism, and scrutiny of academic ability. Punishment remains a constant factor of institutional life for FoC. This study emphasizes the need to expand the concept of scholarship to recognize and reward FoC’s experiential knowledge as members of minoritized communities. This study also provides insight into how institutions can eliminate punishment by developing a critical consciousness of how intersectional racism and sexism are embedded from recruitment to organizational socialization to authentically reward social justice scholarship. Finally, this study offers 10 Characteristics for academic leaders and faculty to use as guidelines for incorporating activist scholarship into evaluations, rewards, and scholarship
Mapping QTL Modulating Rhizosphere Bacterial Communities of Arabidopsis Thaliana
Get PDFDevelopmental stage, root system architecture and rhizodeposition are among the known ways that plants modulate their physical interactions with bacteria in the rhizosphere, the zone of soil under the direct influence of plant roots. The genes involved in these interactions are largely unknown. In this study, a population of Arabidopsis recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between Cvi (Cape Verde Island) and Ler (Germany) identified quantitative trait loci (QTLs) influencing bacteria inhabiting the rhizosphere. Using a simple community fingerprinting technique, terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphisms (T-RFLPs), a core fingerprint of bacterial 16s rDNA was targeted for quantitative genetic analysis. While Cvi and Ler showed no major differences, increases in genetic variance (broad-sense heritability) among the RILs could be attributed to multiple QTL, some with opposing effects. Genetic correlations were predominantly weak, suggesting multiple distinct genetic architectures influence rhizosphere bacteria. Across 45 terminal-restriction fragments (T-RFs) considered in QTL mapping, 18 QTL influencing 14 T-RFs were detected. Conditional QTL mapping revealed four of these QTL could be categorized as dependent on changes in plant development. The two most significant QTL detected were independent of plant development and explained 14-19% of phenotypic variance and 31-52% of broad-sense heritability. A large clone library comprised of 709 sequences revealed the dominant phyla (\u3e2% of the library) as Proteobacteria (59.5%), Bacteroidetes (23.9%), Verrucomicrobia (4.1%), Firmicutes (3.1%), Armatimonadetes (2.5%) and Actinobacteria (2%). Matching T-RFs to the library suggested QTL operate mostly at lower taxonomic ranks. These results provide valuable insights into the plant genetic architecture influencing rhizosphere bacteria and provide a resource for mining Arabidopsis candidate genes in future studies
I SECOND THAT EMOTION: EXAMINING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EMOTION REGULATION SKILLS AND POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER SYMPTOMS AFTER A TRAUMATIC EVENT IN A SAMPLE OF BLACK COLLEGE STUDENTS
Get PDFPost-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been termed an “emotion disorder” due to its association with obstructing trauma survivors’ ability to regulate their emotions (Frewen & Lanius, 2006, as cited in Tull et al., 2020, p. 295). Previous research consistently shows individuals with PTSD experience significant difficulties in emotion regulation (ER) skills (e.g., Ehring & Quack, 2010). Despite the unique systemic challenges inherent in the experience of Black Folk which can exacerbate PTSD symptom severity (Carter, 2020; Bird et al., 2021), research focusing on Black trauma survivors remains limited.
This study utilized 3 self-report measures: the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS; Gratz & Roemer, 2004) to measure ER difficulties, the Life Events Checklist (LEC-5; Weathers et al., 2013a) to capture the experience of a potentially traumatic event (PTE), and the PTSD Checklist (PCL-5; Weathers et al., 2013b) with a cut-off score of 31 to determine probable PTSD status.
The overall aim of this study was to examine the association between emotion regulation skills and PTSD among a sample of Black college students (N= 49). We hypothesized that participants with probable PTSD would (1) report greater overall difficulties in emotion regulation skills, and (2) report greater difficulties in specific aspects of emotion regulation skills compared to participants without trauma exposure and those with trauma exposure. but not probable PTSD. Results indicated that individuals with probable PTSD reported significantly greater overall difficulties in emotion regulation skills In addition, participants with probable PTSD reported significantly higher levels of difficulties engaging in goal-oriented behaviors when upset, difficulties controlling impulsive behaviors when distressed, and limited access to effective emotion regulation strategies than participants without Criterion A traumatic exposure and those with Criterion A traumatic exposure but no PTSD. As predicted, no significant group differences were detected in lack of emotional awareness and clarity. Contrary to predictions, non-acceptance did not significantly between groups within this sample. However, moderate to large effect sizes were detected for the awareness, clarity, and non-acceptance subscales, indicating these differences might be significantly different across groups in a larger sample. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed. This study offers a valuable contribution to the literature on ER and PTSD and lays the groundwork for future research. In addition, it emphasizes the need for inclusive research practices to inform development of specialized interventions
Perceptions of Substance Use Among the Latino Community in Massachusetts: A Qualitative Analysis
Get PDFThe Mauricio Gastón Institute is a part of the Collaborative of Asian American, Native American, and Latino and African American Institutes (CANALA), linking institutes at the University of Massachusetts Boston that are dedicated to serving communities of color.1 In collaboration with CANALA, the Gastón Institute took part in a project that aims to help the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) better understand how Latino, Black, and Asian American communities in Massachusetts perceive and experience the opioid crisis. The Gastón Institute’s study focused on the Latino community and aimed to answer the following questions: 1. To what extent, and in what manner, do Latino residents in Massachusetts perceive and experience the impact of substance use in their communities? 2. To what extent are Latino residents knowledgeable about resources that are currently available to address the consequences of substance use? 3. What do Latino residents recommend for improving the available programs and services that respond to substance use issues in the Latino community? Methodology: Residents (n=54) from Boston, Brookline, Chelsea, Lynn, New Bedford, Fall River, and Worcester participated in focus groups and interviews to share their insights regarding the perceptions of the Latino community concerning substance use disorder (SUD), highlight their concerns, and provide recommendations for appropriate services based on their own perspectives. Interviews and focus groups were conducted in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. A qualitative thematic analysis approach was adopted for analyzing data from the various focus groups and interviews
Latinos in Massachusetts Selected Areas: Taunton
Get PDFThis is a publication of the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy
Summary of the First Symposium: Japan\u27s Experience of the War
Get PDFSummary of the First Symposium: Japan\u27s Experience of the War. Volume 36, Issue 2 of the New England Journal of Public Policy
Efforts to Heal the Transgenerational Trauma of Nanjing
Get PDFEfforts to Heal the Transgenerational Trauma of Nanjing. Volume 36, Issue 2 of the New England Journal of Public Policy
Older Immigrants\u27 Long-Term Care Expectations: The Roles of Caregiving Experience, Acculturation and Transnational Ties
Get PDFUnderstanding how older immigrants expect to meet long-term care (LTC) needs is important for policymakers, service providers and families to ensure that the future LTC supply meets the needs of a growing older population from diverse cultural backgrounds. This dissertation employed a convergent parallel research design, in which quantitative and qualitative studies were conducted concurrently, to examine the roles of the following cultural aspects in older immigrants’ long-term care expectations: caregiving experience, acculturation, and transnational ties. Caregiving experience and transnational ties reflect orientations toward one’s origin-culture, while acculturation reflects orientation towards one’s host-culture. Results from both studies revealed that older immigrants were not expecting their adult children to be future LTC providers. Older immigrants’ caregiving experience did not show evidence of influencing LTC expectations, pointing to how structural conditions surrounding LTC have changed since care was provided to parents. Acculturation was found to operate on multiple pathways in relation to LTC expectations, in that older immigrants can simultaneously express low acculturation on proxy aspects and high acculturation on direct aspects. Older immigrants who migrated later in life and have little to no English proficiency can still orient toward American values and behaviors that emphasize independence, if structural conditions support such values and behaviors. Maintaining transnational ties with family members in the origin-country did not lead older immigrants to expect to return to their origin-country for LTC needs. While one’s origin-culture may prioritize familial-based caregiving for LTC needs, older immigrants in this study did not expect such transnational ties would adequately support LTC needs if they returned to their country of origin. Therefore, participants expected to stay in the U.S. for LTC needs, in an environment where they can draw on existing formal structures for LTC support even if familial support is not available. As older immigrants are not expecting to primarily depend on children to meet future LTC needs, formal LTC structures should prepare for a growing demand for LTC services among an increasingly diverse older population. This research emphasizes that origin- and host- cultural aspects are intertwined with social structures in older immigrants’ LTC expectations. LTC providers, policymakers, and researchers are encouraged to carefully consider what is deemed a cultural influence in long-term care among older immigrants and acknowledge how culture fluidly interacts with existing structures