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THE ACQUISITION OF WH-QUESTIONS IN TASHLHIYT BERBER: NOVEL BEHAVIORAL AND CORPUS STUDIES
No full textThe central quest in this dissertation is how a child would acquire abstract structure in a language that masks the overt expressions of said structure. More specifically, the interest here is in studying the acquisition of wh-questions in a language with a grammar that shows the following properties: (1) the wh-word is always followed by an obligatory complementizer that is rendered inaudible by the phonology in most instances and (2) it does not differentiate between subject and object Ā-extraction in word order but through verbal and nominal morphology only.The case study explored here is that of the Afro-Asiatic language Tashlhiyt Berber (henceforth TB)(ISO 639-3/shi). In this language, the morphology is the predominant source of information about the position of a gap in Ā-dependencies. The verbal morphology that cues to the subject extraction is the anti-agreement marker on the verb and the nominal morphologies that cues to the extraction of the object is the construct state on the embedded NP.
We test the children's knowledge with a behavioral study and make hypotheses about the learning problem through a longitudinal corpus of child-directed Tashlhiyt Berber that involves two sisters from ages 2 years to 4 years and 4 months to 1 year. The comprehension study involved children between ages 2 and 4 and it was designed to test knowledge of reversible action verbs in subject and object wh-questions and relative clauses. We find that children's knowledge of wh-questions and relative clauses in the language is equivalent, meaning that these construction types are not predictive of performance. By ages 3 and 4, TB-acquiring kids show high comprehension of subject extraction which featured the anti-agreement morphology.
The behavioral study result that construction type (WH vs. RC) is non-predictive of performance comes despite some of the surface asymmetries between the two constructions and an asymmetry in terms of their input distribution as measured in the corpus. Although the input appears to be informative in terms of the distribution and quality of the data on anti-agreement, the input turns out to be uninformative about the obligatory complementizer and the nominal morphology necessary to infer the grammar of TB Ā-construction. This would be problematic unless the child recruits informative data for well-represented constructions to learn about the less represented constructions in the input, which would require innate knowledge of the abstract identity of Ā-constructions.
This is the first work in the Berber developmental literature that combines facts about the morphosyntax with a phonological conspiracy present in the language to formulate a developmental puzzle.
Beyond this, the contribution of this dissertation is twofold. Firstly, a significant portion of the findings in it builds on the construction of the first-of-its-kind corpus of caregiver-child interactions in Tashlhiyt Berber. This corpus was collected for the purposes of this dissertation and is meant to be contributed, fully transcribed and media-linked, to the Child Language Data Exchange System (CHILDES) (MacWhinney 2000) repository. Secondly, this contribution diversifies the growing work on the study of V1 languages with anti-agreement phenomena and the idiosyncratic language-specific Construct State from a developmental standpoint
University of Maryland's Student Planning Publication
No full textTerraPlan is an annual student-run planning publication produced by the Student Planning Association at the University of Maryland. Each issue features essays, reflections, and project spotlights that showcase the work of students in the Master of Community Planning program and related disciplines. The publication serves as a platform for student voices and a reflection of the program’s commitment to sustainability, equity, and community-driven planning. The inaugural 2025 issue, themed “Our Nature,” includes contributions from students at UMD and Morgan State University.TerraPlan is the student-run planning publication of the University of Maryland’s Master of Community Planning program. Created and edited by students in the School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation, TerraPlan highlights the creativity, research, and reflection of emerging planners across diverse topics such as sustainability, equity, environment, transportation, and urban design. The inaugural issue, themed “Our Nature,” explores the relationship between people, place, and environment through essays, projects, and visual works from undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students at UMD and partner institutions.Student Planning Association (SPA)
Urban Studies and Planning Program
School of Architecture, Planning, & Preservation
American Planning Association (APA) - Maryland Chapte
ANALYSIS OF FIRE BEHAVIOR OF PRESSURE TREATED WOOD AND WOOD-PLASTIC COMPOSITE SUBJECTED TO DEPOSITION OF GLOWING FIREBRANDS
No full textThe frequency and severity of Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fires continue to rise globally. Firebrands are smoldering embers generated from vegetative or structural materials during a WUI fire, lofting up to several kilometers and travelling ahead of the main fire front. Firebrands serve as pilot ignition sources and contribute to the spread of wildland fires into communities. However, complex ignition processes and response of structural materials to firebrand exposure have yet to be fully understood.In this work, representative building materials, pressure treated wood (PTW) and wood-plastic composite (Trex), were exposed to glowing firebrand piles in a bench-scale wind tunnel. The air flow velocity was 0.9 – 2.7 m s^-1, the firebrand coverage densities were 0.06 and 0.16 g cm^-2, and the pile footprint was 5 × 10 cm^2 with either the 10-cm or 5-cm sides perpendicular to the incident air flow. Several types of flaming ignition events were observed including flames attached to the substrate surface in front of the pile (preleading zone ignition), and flames attached to the pile that sometimes spread onto the substrate downstream of the pile (downstream ignition). The most frequent and long-lasting flaming combustion occurred in experiments performed at 2.4 – 2.7 m s^-1 using 0.16 g cm^-2 firebrand coverage density piles with 10-cm sides perpendicular to the air flow. Trex was less prone to preleading zone ignition but was more prone to downstream ignition. Unlike Trex, PTW exhibited a propensity for sustained smoldering for a wide range of air flows.
To further analyze the ignition processes, pyrolysis property sets were obtained for PTW and Trex following a well-established hierarchical approach where thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and microscale combustion calorimetry were used to parametrize kinetics and thermodynamics of the thermal decomposition and combustion, while controlled atmosphere pyrolysis and cone calorimetry tests performed on coupon-sized samples were used to parameterize thermal transport properties and validate performance of the fully parametrized pyrolysis models.
The developed pyrolysis models were used to simulate the preleading zone ignitions of PTW and Trex observed in the wind tunnel experiments. An empirical model of firebrand heat flux developed in an earlier work was employed to model boundary conditions for the combustible substrates in the preleading zone and dependence of these conditions on the air flow velocity and firebrand coverage density. It was determined that the critical value of the peak average heat release rate, HRR_Peak = 120 kW m^-2, computed in these simulations successfully delineated between the low ignition probability, 0.5, firebrand deposition scenarios
A CRITICAL ANTI-CAPITALIST INTERSECTIONAL FRAMEWORK: A THEORETICAL, METHODOLOGICAL, AND ANALYTICAL INTERVENTION IN BLACK FEMINIST SOCIAL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
No full textI developed the critical anti-capitalist intersectional (CAI) framework, which emphasizes an analysis of capitalism that has been overlooked in intersectional sociological research. Deriving from my simultaneous positions as a Black Queer feminist abolitionist community organizer and professional academic, the CAI framework nudges researchers who study Black feminist intersectionality to return to intersectionality’s historically anti-capitalist Black feminist roots in radical movement spaces. Furthermore, the CAI framework emphasizes the context of racial capitalism. I urge Black feminist intersectionality researchers to divest from racial capitalism’s restrictive logics. I introduce the CAI framework using autoethnographic reflections on my time as an abolitionist community organizer with the DC Chapter of Black Youth Project 100. Tying theory to the importance of methodology as a social scientist, I conduct an extensive review of intersectional methodologies, honing in on qualitative and quantitative intersectional methodologies in health — an important issue in intersectionality, given how racism, heterosexism, classism, ableism, transphobia and more enact health inequities for multiply oppressed social groups such as Black women and girls. Complementing the CAI framework as a theoretical intervention in Black feminist social scientific research, I discuss how the framework can help us more deeply engage with intersectionality by considering its core ideas on relationality, complexity, and social context.
There is a growing body of intersectionality literature that centers how Black girls and women experience misogynoir, or anti-black sexism, through school discipline and punishment. Putting the CAI framework into empirical praxis, I conduct qualitative in-depth interviews to examine Black women’s memories of coping with stress in US public middle school. I investigate how Black women make meaning of their coping processes, their coping with multiple, intersecting forms of oppression, and their coping with discipline and punishment as young girls in U.S. public middle school. I employ a critical eye on the context of racial capitalism by deconstructing standard approaches to studying social stress and education. Using an abductive, process-centered, and flexible coding analytical approach, my findings explore unconventional coping and non-normative coping processes as they occur in U.S. public education, yet also as they exist outside of the restrictive, racial capitalist logic of productivity
Attack of the Bots! AI Harvesters and Libraries
No full textPresented at the 2025 Interdisciplinary Dialogue: Technical and Ethical Considerations of AI in Research and Learning at UMD Libraries. This presentation provides an overview of the challenges library technology teams face when managing the recent onslaught of AI web harvesters, including a description of an event at UMD Libraries
Reducing the Spatial Overhead for Quantum Error Correcting Codes
No full textQuantum computation is becoming increasingly mainstream; however, in order to adopt a fully fault-tolerant quantum computer, one must create robust procedures to correct inevitable errors that occur across a quantum channel. We adopt a mechanism to reduce the spatial overhead of quantum Low-Density Parity-Check (qLDPC) codes while maintaining the codes' useful parameters. Theoretically, the hypergraph product code offers theoretical guarantees of fault tolerance but can have some gaps in practical performance. We choose to study these codes in our work and aim to reduce the number of qubits used to correct errors.NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Robust Quantum Simulatio
The Oral History Analysis of 1947 Partition Survivors and Their Changes in Identity
No full textThe 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan sent shock waves throughout many communities on both sides of the newly established borders between India and Pakistan. It caused mass waves of migration and violence with many people fleeing their homes in fear. Transcripts and summaries archived by the 1947 Partition Archive in Berkeley, CA have given us a better picture of what people were feeling and experiencing during this tumultuous time. The organization and preservation of these accounts are important, so that we may see and understand how people were both positively and negatively affected by partition. A selection of 17 oral histories were selected to give us the widest range of experiences and beliefs as possible. Using coding methods to find both common patterns and unique experiences from each oral history, we can then analyze themes of well-being, independence and freedom, feelings surrounding partition, and identity in order to understand how they had an impact on each other
EXPLORING DIMENSIONS OF GENDERED RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT AMONG YOUNG BLACK WOMEN
No full textGendered racial identity (GRI) plays a vital role in shaping the mental health and well-being of Black women and girls (Lewis, 2023; Williams & Lewis, 2021). However, limited research captures how young Black women make meaning of their intersectional identity during adolescence and emerging adulthood—critical periods for identity, self-concept, and belonging. Drawing upon the established Conceptual Framework of Black Women's GRI Development (Williams & Lewis, 2021), this study sought to explore the dynamic and iterative process of young Black women’s GRI development. Young Black women (N = 19), ages 21-24, living in the U.S., participated in semi-structured interviews via Zoom regarding their GRI development across adolescence and emerging adulthood. Data were analyzed using constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz & Thornberg, 2020) guided by Black feminist and intersectional paradigms (Collins, 2000; Crenshaw, 1989). Findings align closely with previous literature on Black women’s identity development and demonstrate unique findings by emphasizing the developmental trajectory of GRI and the interconnections between gendered racial encounters, developmental processes, and ideologies. The findings illustrate how participants’ navigation of gendered racial encounters, including gendered racism, socialization, resistance, and community, serve as pivotal catalysts, prompting shifts in GRI development. These shifts unfold across developmental phases characterized by hyperawareness, reflection, rejection, acceptance, and ongoing navigation. Across these phases, participants’ ideologies—such as assimilation, pride, defiance, and empowerment—emerged as dynamic responses to their evolving understanding of self and their environments. This study advances our understanding of Black women’s GRI by elucidating the iterative nature of identity development during adolescence and emerging adulthood
The Impact of the atpB and atpE Genes on Metabolic and Viral Replication Cycles in E. coli
No full textBacteriophage has shown to be a promising treatment for bacterial infections as antibiotic resistance becomes more prevalent. The ability of bacteriophage to effectively infect host cells, however, requires the use of the host cell’s metabolic pathways for energy. Previous research has found that certain genetic alterations within these host cell pathways can disrupt bacterial growth and replication efficiency. In our research, we decided to specifically investigate how bacteriophage replication is affected by deletions of the atpB and atpE genes, which code for proton transport proteins involved in E coli’s ATP biosynthesis pathway.
To determine the effects of removing these genes, we first performed streak plates and growth curves with our parent and knockout strains of E. coli to evaluate their impact on bacterial growth. We then ran lysis curves with the parent, ΔatpB, and ΔatpE strains of E. coli using T2 and T4 phage. Finally, we completed a series of plaque assays with the parent and ΔatpB strains and a two time point phage titer experiment to quantify how bacteriophage replication was affected by the knockout gene.
We discovered that bacteriophage replication and overall growth of the E. coli was hindered by the ΔatpB and ΔatpE knockout genes. The streak plates and growth curves showed that the knockout strain of E. coli grew significantly slower than the parent strain. The lysis curves revealed that the atpB and atpE knockout strains exhibited far less phage-driven lysis than the parent strain. Additionally, the plaque assays and two time point experiments with the knockout strains showed no plaques forming, while the parent strain had plaque formation. While the atpB gene is nonessential for E. coli growth, it greatly affects the efficiency and ability for the bacteria to grow. This information points to the fact that bacteriophage cannot be used as an effective treatment in bacterial infections that have mutations affecting the atp genes. The results from our experiment also point to the need for more research to be done on effectively knocking out the atp genes as a potential treatment for controlling bacterial infections. We concluded that effective phage replication is dependent on sufficient ATP availability in the host cells. This finding could be used to help improve the efficiency of phage therapy
Open Access Policy Bulk Collection Toolkit
No full textThis toolkit, developed in the Fall 2025 semester, facilitates the collection of eligible materials to increase compliance with a campus open access policy. The toolkit is designed to support individuals outside of the libraries and/or repository staff with collecting materials directly from publishing faculty members. The toolkit includes:
-A short presentation (slides) on the OA policy and its benefits to researchers
-A graphic representation of the collection workflow
-A checklist for the collection process with built in timeline and tracking
-A template for bulk deposit based on the UMD DSpace metadata schema
-A set of draft email templates for communicating with faculty
-A presentation on this toolkit and the pilot initiative that it supported was made at the Northeast Institutional Repositories Day (NIRD) on December 5, 2025: https://zenodo.org/records/1794100