Bioculture Journal
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No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06County is a book that examines relationships and forms myths through careful examination of and conversation with family photographs. The book relies heavily on the passing down of stories from one generation to the next. It looks at what it means to be from the South and focuses on the sacred nature of family
The Applicability of Sliding Block Analyses for the Prediction of Lateral Spreading Displacements
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-03Liquefaction-induced lateral spreading deformations can pose significant risks to bridge pile foundations, underground utilities, and shallow foundation systems, particularly at sites in seismically active areas near embankments and levees, in close proximity to natural or man-made free faces. Current approaches for lateral spreading predictions, consisting primarily of empirical models and strain potential methods, largely neglect complex and critical factors that influence such deformations, such as nonlinear dynamic site response, dilation pulses, void redistribution, and water film formation, as well as complex two- or three-dimensional topographic effects. It has also been proposed by several researchers that lateral spreading predictions can be potentially approximated using Newmark-type rigid block analyses, with an appropriate reduction in the yield acceleration to account for soil liquefaction. The appropriateness of the Newmark-type framework in lateral spread characterization was assessed in this study. Particular focus was placed on characterizing any potential structural biases inherent to the sliding block framework, including those related to the assumption of strain concentration along a discrete failure plane and rigid dynamic behavior, as well as practical issues related to the uncertainty in sliding block displacement predictions, and how the sliding block method compares to other approaches currently in use for predicting lateral spreading displacements. When evaluating solely the effects of the assumption of a discrete failure surface, sliding block analyses predicted displacements on the order of 30 to 70% lower than displacements predicted using simple dynamic analyses of a soil continuum. Further analyses showed that, when compared to both finite-element methods used for liquefaction modeling and established lateral spreading empirical models, sliding block methods largely failed to predict substantial deformations over a broad range of lateral spreading conditions, and have the potential to be highly un-conservative in characterizing lateral spreading hazards in general
Are Media ‘Watchdogs’ of Illegal State Practices in Post-Cold War Liberal Democracies?: A Case-Study of the Coke Extradition
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06Since the end of the Cold War, post-colonial states have progressively enacted a series of liberal-democratic reforms aimed at addressing forms of state illegality. Despite being good disciples of reform, political liberalization has failed to curtail illegal state practices, and may have encouraged new associations between political elites and illegal actors. Thus, politically-liberalized states paradoxically trumpet the transparent governance and law-and-order even as they forge ties with shadowy figures. As the watchdogs of the political establishment, free media — in the liberal conception — play a fundamental role in challenging or preserving political legitimacy. This study therefore explores how the media portray political establishment in the face of its paradoxical orientation. Drawing on the case of the extradition of politically-connected Jamaican drug lord, it compares the representation of Jamaican political actors across media in different parts of the world over a five-year period. It finds compelling evidence that domestic media tend to ignore frames that call the legitimacy of political order into question
Racial Disparities in the Utilization of Preventive Health Services among Older Women with Early Stage Endometrial Cancer Enrolled in Medicare
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06Objective: To assess differences in the receipt of preventive health services by race/ethnicity among older women with endometrial cancer enrolled in Medicare. Methods: We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study of women diagnosed with endometrial cancer from 2001 to 2011 in the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database. Women with stage I or II endometrial cancer of epithelial origin were included. The exposure was race/ethnicity (Non-Hispanic (NH) White, NH Black, Hispanic, and NH Asian/Pacific Islander (PI)). The services examined were receipt of influenza vaccination and screening tests for diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and breast cancer. We used multivariate logistic regression to estimate odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for age, region, and year of diagnosis. Results: 13,054 women were included in this study. In the two years after diagnosis, receipt of any influenza vaccine ranged from 45% among NH Black women to 67% among NH White women; receipt of any mammogram ranged from 65% among NH Black women to 74% among NH White women. Relative to NH White women, NH Black women had a lower likelihood of receiving both influenza vaccination (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.40, 95% CI 0.33-0.44) and screening mammography (aOR 0.64, 95% CI 0.52-0.79). Hispanic women also were less likely to receive influenza vaccination than NH White women (aOR 0.61, 95% CI 0.51-0.72). There were no significant differences across racial groups for diabetes or cholesterol screening services. Conclusion: Among older US women with early stage endometrial cancer, racial disparities exist in the utilization of some preventive services
Revising Devotion: the role of wooden sculptures in affecting painting and devotion in the Late Medieval period in Italy (XII-XV century)
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06This dissertation offers a reconsideration of medieval wooden sculptures and a new perspective for understanding their role in affecting devotion and pictorial production in late medieval and Renaissance culture. My study focuses on the diffusion and use of the sculptures from the group of the Descent from the Cross through the development of the animated sculptures of Christ from around 1100 to around 1560. Historically these objects have been considered principally as devotional objects and utilized to understand devotional practices and ceremonies; conversely, I assert that they represented the catalyst of a new, unfiltered experience of the sacred in which the laity were able to access and shape a powerful and direct relationship with the human side of Christ, eluding the controlling role of the Church. Even if the iconography of these sculptures did not bring anything new in comparison with their pictorial counterpart, I argue that the utilization of these sculptures guaranteed a connection with the divine through physicality and the ability to create a spatial experience of the sacred. The devotional use of these sculptures contributed to an identification of the faithful with the scene, which allowed devotees to begin to stand in for the characters in the Descent from the Cross. As a consequence the faithful created a dimension in which they were real participants in the scene, transcending time and space rather than creating e mere reenactment of this dramatic moment of the Passion of Christ. The distinctive media, qualities and adornments that these sculptures had endorsed them to become real in front of the faithful in a way that was not possible to replicate with the pictorial medium. This new relationship with the sculptures and the creation of a real sacred scene in which the faithful participated, I argue, greatly influenced the pictorial medium, especially in the shift toward a more naturalistic representation of the sacred scene during the later Middle Ages and beginning of the Renaissance. Painters translated visually what they experienced in the contemporary devotional context of this new, compelling, effective and physical relationship between sculptures and faithful, because of their conviction that what they witnessed could be understood to be real and authentic, not a mere representation. As a consequence sculptures attained such an important role in promoting the experience of the sacred that wooden representations of the body of Christ were treated and identified as if it they were the real human body of Christ
‘We report the world as it is, not as we want it to be’: Journalistic negotiation of news routines, roles and responsibilities when reporting on suicide
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-08Media coverage of suicide can play a pivotal role in raising public awareness of an important public health issue. But research suggests that reporting on suicide can potentially influence vulnerable individuals to emulate suicidal behavior. To encourage the responsible reporting of suicide as a public health issue, media guidelines have been developed worldwide, including in the US. Based on interviews with 50 US journalists, this study explores journalists’ awareness of and attitudes toward suicide reporting risks and US media guidelines. Through the lens of suicide news reporting, this is a study examining how journalists view their professional roles and sense of social responsibility when reporting on issues, like suicide, with potential public health consequences. We find that while the journalists interviewed want to cover suicide responsibly, and as a public health issue, they often deviate from media guidelines. In many cases, journalistic convention, routines, and imperatives conflict with or hinder guideline compliance. Moreover, many journalists deliberately disregard suicide reporting guidelines because they clash with journalists’ perceived responsibility and role of serving the public via full disclosure of information
Do you know what MOOCS are? Discover a new way to improve your knowledge and skills
No full textThe potential of online learning has long afforded the hope of providing quality education to anyone, anywhere in the world. The recent development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) heralded an exciting new breakthrough by providing free academic instruction and professional skills development from the world’s leading universities to anyone with the sufficient resources to access the internet. The research in Advancing MOOCs for Development Initiative study was designed to analyze the MOOC landscape in developing countries and to better understand the motivations of MOOC users and afford insights on the advantages and limitations of MOOCs for workforce development outcomes. The key findings of this study challenge commonly held beliefs about MOOC usage in developing countries, defying typical characterizations of how people in resource constrained settings use technology for learning and employment. In fact, some of the findings are so contrary to what has been reported in the U.S. and other developed environments that they raise new questions for further investigation
The Art of the Contemporary Anti-Racist American Poem: ‘In-Between Spaces,’ Exploding Conventions, and Listening as Form
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06In this essay I describe and demonstrate, using close readings of Roger Reeves’ “The Mare of Money,” Natasha Tretheway’s “Enlightenment,” and a section of Martha Collins’ Blue Front, defining characteristics of successful contemporary anti-racist American poems. Success, in this context, means the poems create Bhabhian “in-between spaces,” explode conventions, and evoke emotions that assist anti-racist efforts. While these are by no means the only successful anti-racist poems written in the last few years, Reeves, Tretheway, and Collins provide ample evidence to debunk a pervasive myth regarding poetry and race: the myth that racial content and the subversion of convention are mutually exclusive. This essay culminates in a list of common tropes which I hope will be a useful resource and starting point for white poets wanting to engage with racial injustice on the page without proliferating or perpetrating racist ideas
Passivity Framework for Modeling, Composing and Mitigating Cyber Attacks
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-08Cyber systems form the backbone of our society, serving infrastructures for health, energy, transportation, and finance to name a few. As the reliance on cyber systems grows, the impact of cyber attacks also increases. Recent cyber incidents demonstrate that cyber attacks result in not only financial cost, but also compromise the safety of critical infrastructures. Emerging cyber threats including advanced persistent threats (APT) show growing sophistication of attackers. Attackers exploit large number of entry points with different vulnerabilities and adaptively change attack strategies based on observed information of the targeted system. These features are captured by existing adversary models. To defend against such emerging threats, a new approach is needed for modeling and mitigating cyber attacks. The goal of this thesis is providing fundamental approaches toward addressing these challenges. In this thesis, we study control and game theoretic approaches, both of which are developed under the passivity framework. Using dynamical systems theory, we model adaptive and time-varying dynamics of cyber attacks. We develop passivity-based composition rules that characterizes the impact of multiple simultaneous attacks, and design mitigation strategies against adversary models using passive structures. We have developed this approach for attacks including wormhole, jamming and malware propagation. Patrolling and resource takeover games are also studied under passivity framework
