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Educational and Geographic Spillovers of Higher Education in the Developing World: Case Studies in Sub-Saharan Africa
No full textEducation is often a means to intergenerational mobility, but it still remains inaccessible to many people in much of the developing world. Higher education institutions directly affect the higher education level of the communities they are established in, but they may also have spillovers on lower levels of schooling. In this paper, I use an event study framework to estimate the spillovers universities in developing countries have on the local community’s educational attainment. I find more consistent spillovers on primary school enrollment than on secondary school enrollment. I estimate the establishment of a college increases the likelihood of the enrollment of primary school age children by up to 3.8 percentage points in Uganda, up to 5.1 percentage points in Kenya, and up to 9.2 percentage points in Ghana. I also find spillovers on school enrollment are strongest for children from low and lower-middle income families. My research adds to the literature on the spillovers of higher education in developing
countries by providing some of the first estimates of educational spillovers in Uganda, Kenya, and Ghana. This cross-country comparison will allow me to assess the external validity of my findings and study the factors that might be driving the differences in spillovers in various countries.Economic
The effect of oxygen vacancies on proton conduction in 12.5% Sc-doped BaZrO3
No full textFuel cells avoid the combustion process and hence are both more efficient and environmentally friendly than the common practice of burning fuels at power plants. Y-doped barium zirconium oxide (BaZrO3) represents one of the most promising materials for stationary hydrogen fuel cells due to its ability to conduct hydrogen ions (protons)[1, 2]. Recently, it is found that Sc-doped BaZrO3 has exhibited comparable proton conductivity as Y-doped (BaZrO3)[3]. However, the introduction of the less positive dopant defects Sc3+ and Y 3+ at the Zr4+ site, leads to the formation of proton traps. Inspired by studies suggesting that oxygen vacancies decrease trapping near dopant defects, this study aims to understand the effect of an oxygen vacancy on the minimum energy pathways, proton traps, and overall proton conduction in 12.5% Sc doped BaZrO3 Perovskite[4]. Density functional theory (DFT) with the PBE functional in the Vienna ab-initio simulation package (VASP)[5] was used to find the total electronic energy for perovskite configurations. The conjugate-gradient minimization method is used to find the lowest energy structures for doped barium zirconium oxide systems starting from the 23 possible Glazer[6] distortions. The Nudged Elastic Band (NEB) method was used to find activation barriers for oxygen vacancy motion. The influence of a dopant nearest neighbor oxygen vacancy on the proton energy landscape was determined by finding the relative energies for chemically distinct proton binding sites as well as transition states between sites close and far from the oxygen vacancy. Finally, Kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulation is used to find the most abundant limiting barrier and explore the proton conduction trajectory.Chemistr
IN VITRO MODELING OF HEREDITARY PERSISTENCE OF FETAL HEMOGLOBIN
No full textSickle cell disease (SCD) afflicts an estimated 300,000 births per year globally (Rees et al., 2010; Piel et al., 2017), rendering it the most common monogenic disorder in the world (Hassel 2010). This genetic disorder is caused by a single nucleotide substitution which ultimately leads to the formation of sickle hemoglobin (HbS) in lieu of normal adult hemoglobin (HbA). Whereas, HbS polymerizes and deforms erythrocytes into their characteristic “sickled” shape, leading to a plethora of chronic symptoms, fetal hemoglobin (HbF) instead interrupts polymerization, thereby allowing erythrocytes to retain their standard shape and functionality. HbF usually only comprises approximately 1% of total hemoglobin in healthy adults, traditionally fluctuating on account of genetic differences no more than a few percent (Orkin and Bauer, 2019). In rare cases, HbF elevation may compose 10-30% of total hemoglobin, constituting a benign condition monikered hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH) (Steinberg and Sebastiani, 2012). Because the significant induction of HbF is considered ameliorative of SCD symptoms, a gene-editing approach to inducing HPFH in patients with SCD presents a potential cure.
This project’s goal is to design and validate an in vitro model of HPFH in an effort to induce HbF expression in an erythroblast cell line (HUDEP2). We used a cytidine-deaminase base editor to introduce an HPFH mutation into the HUDEP2 cell line, checked for the appropriate edits via restriction digest and deep sequencing, and ultimately ran a functional assay to assess HbF induction. This initial trial laid the groundwork for future modeling using iPSC-based platforms that take into account patients’ genetic background. In addition to summarizing and analyzing the modeling experiment, this four-part thesis preliminarily tackles the nuances of hemoglobin, clinical aspects of SCD, and the clinical basis for a gene-editing approach to SCD in order to provide the proper context and relevant background for the experimental investigation.Biological Science
In Lieu of a Traditional Essay Assignment: Literary Hypermedia Pedagogy with Twine 1.0
No full textSpecial Major Senior Thesis: Critical Studies in Media ArtsImagine you are a literature professor trying to engage discussion on a reading assignment. Your facilitation of conversation goes well and students actively participate, but you wish there was some way for students to react to classroom discussions beyond the walls of the classroom. In lieu of providing them with another traditional essay assignment, you want to get students to reflect in new ways, experiment, and collaborate through project-based learning. The field of educational technology is about understanding how learning, design, and technology help influence innovative choices, solve critical educational challenges, and redefine the learning experience. Digital tools can enhance student learning experiences by augmenting reflective and creative practices. Twine 1.0 is especially appealing because students using it can engage in close reading practices in an experimental and open-minded way, stripping away predetermined notions of text towards larger literary analysis. What happens when students are given the chance to use a hypermedia platform like Twine 1.0 to collaborate and share their interpretive practices that radically go against the grain of a traditional essay in logical, linear, and coherent format?
This thesis engages the disciplines of media studies, digital humanities, and educational technology. I investigate how hypermedia can be used as a pedagogical tool at the intersection of creative technology and literature studies. Most often essays must follow a logical sequence and have a definitive argument. I have designed a student assignment that uses the Twine 1.0 hypernarrative platform as a non-linear navigational infrastructure to perform digital creative writing-based exercises in support of literary analysis. By incorporating creative writing and media-based practices into literature studies, there can be new ways to fracture narrative and invite new ambiguities for textual interpretation in a variety of creative and experimental formats. Hypernarratives allow a multiplicity of writers to insert their own voices alongside canonical ones, asserting how the digital medium of hypermedia allows for mutli-vocality. Through such learning design and pedagogy, I propose and exhibit scholarship as a creative act.
This interdisciplinary thesis involves components of:
● Designing an assignment for a student project that uses the Twine 1.0 hypermedia platform for experimental literary analysis
● Producing a demonstration of such a project using Twine 1.0 hypermedia
● Writing a thesis on using Twine 1.0 hypermedia platforms for literary analysis purposesOther or Special Majo
STUDY OF POLYDOPAMINE SURFACE ADHESION AND PROCEDURE DEVELOPMENT OF POLYDOPAMINE FILM FORMATION VIA SPIN COATING
No full textAdhesion and formation of coatings on a surface under water, such as physiological fluids and seawater, is limited by high salt concentrations, pH, and hydration. Inspired by mussels, polydopamaine (PDA) films overcome these limitations. Mussels are marine organisms that adhere to any kind of surface using byssus. The byssus is made of mussel foot proteins (Mfp) that are rich in catechol and amine contents, the key combination for the adhesion. PDA films, formed by oxidative polymerization of dopamine (DA), are a great tool for surface modification. Having both catechol and amine functional groups in a monomer, DA is a great building block for the PDA films that can coat any kind of surfaces. PDA films also have a wide variety of applications as they can function as versatile “primers” for further surface modification and attachment. The mechanism of PDA polymerization and film formation is not yet fully understood. However, it is widely accepted that it is initiated by the oxidation of DA monomer to yellow dopaminequinone (DQ) which is followed by cyclization and oxidation into orange dopaminechrome (DC) and 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI). Typically, PDA films are prepared by the dip-coating method where a substrate of interest is submerged in a basic solution containing DA for an extended period of time, utilizing oxygen in air as the oxidant. Another method is by spraying DA solutions on the substrates of interest. In this research, the adsorptive spin coating was evaluated, and the optimal condition was explored to prepare PDA films with sufficient thickness on native (SiO2) and polymer-coated silicon wafers. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and amine-containing polydimethylsiloxane (PADMS) were chosen to provide a wide range of interactions between a substrate and PDA. The spin-coating method allows coating only on a surface of interest without submerging the entire object, requiring a small amount of materials, and is a great model to study surface adhesion of PDA films. In order to find the optimal condition of spin coating PDA films, reaction parameters including the type and amount of oxidant, pH values of DA solutions, DA solution aging time, DA concentration, adsorption time, and surface chemistry were varied. To better understand the effect of oxidant and pH on (P)DA chemistry in solutions, DA solutions containing atmospheric oxygen (O2) at pH 8.5 and sodium periodate (SP) at pH 3.4, 4.9, and 5.9 were analyzed. Color changes of the solutions, precipitate formations, UV-Vis spectrophotometry, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and spin capturing indicated accelerated reaction kinetics when SP was used as the oxidant at a higher pH value. This follows the Le Chatelier’s Principle. As protons are produced during the DA oxidation, the product formation is favored at higher pH values. To correlate (P)DA chemistry in solutions with the surface adhered PDA, thicknesses of PDA films obtained from DA solutions with different molar ratios of SP to DA, at different pH values, in different salt (NaCl and NaNO3) solutions, and with different acetate buffer concentrations were compared. The PDA films obtained using the dip-coating method showed insignificant dependence on the ion type but indicated the importance of keeping the molar ratio between SP and DA at 2:1 and the pH of the solution higher (5.9) to achieve thicker PDA films. Spin coating DA solutions at pH 5.9 with a higher buffer concentration also produced thicker PDA films. While adsorption time was not an independent parameter due to solvent evaporation, aging time was the essential parameter of PDA film formation. The highest DA concentration studied of 4 mg/mL gave the thickest PDA films at all aging times using the spin-coating method. The PDA film thickness went through a maximum value as a function of aging time under all other experimental conditions examined. While PDA thickness is independent of substrate type, the films have speck to continuous morphologies on SiO2, and PADMS while “island” morphologies on PDMS. The stability of the PDA films obtained from coating different DA solutions was tested in 0.1 M HCl solution and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). The decrease in thickness showed that the PDA films prepared using SP and the spin-coating method were more stable than those obtained using O2 and the dip-coating method, respectively. The results showed that the adhesiveness and size of the PDA particles go through a maximum value as functions of aging time in solution. The dip-coating method allows equal adhesion time and aging time, as the substrate of interest is introduced to the solution as soon as DA starts to oxidize and aggregate in solution. This leads to less adhesive and unstable particles forming the base films on the substrates. The larger and more adhesive particles that forms at later aging times would adhere on top, affecting only the thickness not stability. The spin-coating method allows us to capture a moment of the reactions in solution to introduce PDA particles to a substrate. It not only provides a great model to control and study reaction kinetics and surface chemistry of PDA, but also gives more stable base layer of PDA films by capturing the moment when PDA particles have the most optimal adhesiveness and size.Chemistr
The effect of oxygen vacancies on proton conduction in 12.5% Al doped BaZrO3
No full textAcceptor doped barium zirconate is one of the most promising materials for stationary hydrogen fuel cells due to its high proton conductivity while maintaining thermodynamic stability. Many studies have shown that the dopant defect serves as a proton trap in these materials. Moreover, some other studies suggest that oxygen vacancies near the acceptor dopant help hinder proton trapping and enhance proton conductivity. The recent computational studies point that oxygen vacancies are more likely to form between acceptor dopant sites, and subsequent hydration places protons on nearest and second nearest oxygens. Inspired by a follow-up study using gradual hydration does not see a significant repulsion between the associated dopant/oxygen vacancy defects and protons to avert proton trapping at the dopant site, this study is on the effect of an oxygen vacancy on the minimum energy pathways, traps, and overall proton conduction in 12.5% aluminum doped BaZrO3 perovskite. The results are compared to the larger yttrium dopant systems. The calculation is based on Density functional theory (DFT) with the PBE functional in the Vienna ab-initio simulation package (VASP) to find the total electronic energy for perovskite configurations. The minimization calculation showed that the most distorted (-,-,-) configuration possesses the lowest energy. The following calculations are based on this lowest energy structure using the Nudged Elastic Band (NEB) method to find activation barriers for oxygen vacancy motion, and proton conduction motion. For the aluminum system, the energy barrier for vacancy motion between dopant nearest neighbor oxygen sites is 0.02 eV, and the energy barrier for a dopant nearest neighbor oxygen vacancy to move to a dopant second nearest neighbor oxygen site is 1.05 eV. During the proton conduction process, the small size of the aluminum dopant allows oxygen ion rearrangement to form a roughly trigonal bipyramid of oxygen ions partially screening the dopant charge exposed by the oxygen vacancy. This coupled with strong hydrogen bonds along the edge of the smaller oxygen polyhedron around the aluminum creates a greater dopant proton trap. Furthermore, similar to earlier studies, protons in the smaller dopant aluminum system can periodically escape from trapping and conduct.Chemistr
Fragments of Revolution: The Jewish Labor Bund and the Making of American Jewish Political Identity
No full textHow are political identities formed? This thesis takes a historical-institutionalist, process-based view of the phenomenon of political identity formation in the United States, specifically focusing on the mixed impacts that party actors as agents asserting ideational claims have on the consolidation of in-group belonging. Using the case of the Jewish Labor Bund, a revolutionary socialist party in the Tsarist-administered Pale of Settlement from 1897-1943, this thesis traces Bundist party diaspora members’ movement from the Pale to New York City in the early 20th century, using historical process tracing to causally establish the relationship between three facets of Bundist ideology—cultural national autonomy socialism, Yiddishism, and trade unionism—and the formation of a post-diasporic American Jewish identity in New York City. Ultimately, this thesis concludes that the result of the “party diaspora” asserting its ideational commitments was the marginalization of cultural-national autonomy socialism, the depoliticization of Yiddishism, and the incorporation of trade unionism into the Jewish labor movement—suggesting that political identity is not unitary, but itself contested. These insights indicate that a process-based view of identity formation which incorporates historical contingency, institutional encounter, and the agency of political actors has substantial benefits for the study of identity, diaspora populations, and the movement of ideas in political science.Politic
Reflective Space: A Response to Environment Through Process and Performance
No full textThroughout my thesis work, I created three pieces that incorporate the themes of reflection, transformation, and embodiment of space. The first sculptural piece I address is titled Absence. This work was a response to my personal experience with PTSD, which resulted in a tangible visualization of the concept through the process of material manipulation. In this discussion I bring up key points of my material processes, and how I halt the transformation of materiality right to the border of recognition and unrecognition. The next section includes a discussion of my experiential installation titled Isolation. This piece explores the presence and feeling of isolation and confinement during the COVID-19 global pandemic, and invites the viewer to reflect on their own personal connection to the space and theme. Constructed of found branches of trees native to New Jersey, this choice of material bridges the emotional experience of isolation to the physical location in which I experienced it. This work further acts as a mirror and an emotional visualization of the reality in which it was created. My final piece was a performance art piece titled 6 Feet Apart, which was created in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. This performance took place at my home in New Jersey and lasted for a duration of two hours. Touching upon the reality of social distancing and its impact in an enclosed space, I invited my entire family to perform with me. 6 Feet Apart served as a reflection of the new performance we must take on in our daily lives in quarantine, and brings light to how our movement and existence have been altered throughout this process. Exploring the common thread of reflection, each of these pieces explores themes of memory, transformation, and environment in three distinctive art forms. In my thesis I refer back to previous works to ground concepts and points in my artistic process. Additionally, I reference and discuss the works of contemporary artists Cornelia Parker and Leonardo Drew, along with postmodern dance performer/choreographer Trisha Brown.Art Studi