3948 research outputs found
Sort by
Share Pledging: The Costs and Benefits
No full textThesis advisor: Mary Ellen CarterThesis advisor: Amy HuttonManagerial share pledging (using shares as collateral for personal loans) is controversial. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), highly publicized anecdotes, and international research suggest that share pledging increases the risk of stock price crashes. Nevertheless, U.S. boards continue to allow the practice, suggesting that share pledging benefits shareholders or some boards are beholden to controlling managers who enjoy the private benefits of share pledging. Using a hand-collected dataset of share pledging by executives and directors of S&P 1500 firms from 2007-2020, I document three benefits-greater incentive alignment, reduced executive pay and lower voluntary executive turnover-while finding little evidence of increased crash risk. Interestingly, these benefits do not exist for firms with high managerial control. However ISS's 2012 policy denouncing share pledging did little to reduce share pledging among these firms. Instead the ISS policy increased negative shareholder votes at firms with both high and low managerial control with any share pledging, coinciding with a reduction in share pledging at firms with low managerial control, despite these firms enjoying benefits from share pledging. Overall my findings suggest that, for well-governed firms, managerial share pledging facilitates incentive alignment and lowers executive turnover and pay while not increasing stock price crash risk, calling into question efforts by ISS and others to curb the practice for all firms.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management.Discipline: Accounting
Blocking myeloid cell activation with ART and adjunctive methylglyoxal-bis-guanylhydrazone (MGBG) decreases SIV-associated cardiovascular pathology:
Full text linkThesis advisor: Welkin JohnsonHIV-associated comorbidities including neurological disorders (HAND) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) persist in people living with HIV (PLWH) regardless of adherence to antiretroviral therapies (ART). The development of these comorbidities correlates with increased monocyte/macrophages activation and accumulation. Studies report that the development of CVD and HAND are connected in PLWH, but few studies have examined the roles that monocyte/macrophages activation have in their co-development. We first asked how frequently CD8+ T lymphocyte depleted, SIV-infected rhesus macaques with AIDS co-developed cardiac pathology and SIV encephalitis (SIVE) compared to animals that developed CVD or SIVE alone, and animals with no significant cardiac pathology (NSF) and SIV with no encephalitis (SIVnoE) (Chapter 2). We sought to determine whether animals with concomitant CVD and SIVE had more monocyte activation, cardiac macrophages accumulation, and productively infected SIV-RNA+ and SIV- gp41+ cells in the heart and brain compared to animals with CVD or SIVE alone, and animals with NSF and SIVnoE. We found that animals with AIDS co-developed CVD and SIVE more frequently than animals developed CVD or SIVE alone, and NSF and SIVnoE. Animals with CVD and SIVE had increased biomarkers of monocyte activation, cardiac macrophages inflammation, and productively infected macrophages in the brain. We found that the quantity of SIV-RNA+ cells in the heart was sparse compared to the brain. When detected, cardiac SIV-RNA+ cells are CD68+ and CD206+ cardiac macrophages. Levels of plasma soluble CD163 (sCD163) correlated with plasma galectin-3 (Gal-3), galectin-9, and interleukin-18 (IL-18), more so than plasma viral load. We then assessed cardiac tissues from PWLH with HIV encephalitis (HIVE) and HIV no encephalitis (HIVnoE). We found that PLWH with HIVE had more cardiac inflammation and fibrosis than PLWH with HIVnoE. These findings indicate that CVD and HAND pathogenesis are connected, and that the level of myeloid cell activation correlates with the development and severity of concomitant CVD and HAND. The findings from this study emphasize the importance that macrophages accumulation has in developing AIDS-related comorbidities. Our findings highlight the importance of targeting monocyte/macrophages activation and accumulation in future HIV therapies. The persistence of CVD in the post-ART era suggests that ART successfully inhibits AIDS pathogenesis and HIV replication, but fails to block monocyte activation and macrophages accumulation correlated with CVD pathogenesis. We hypothesize that the optimal therapeutic approach for HIV-infection includes blocking AIDS pathogenesis and viral replication, and inhibiting monocyte/macrophages activation. Methylglyoxal-bis-guanylhydrazone (MGBG) is a polyamine biosynthesis inhibitor selectively taken up by monocytes and macrophages. MGBG treatment blocks monocyte/ macrophages activation in vitro, AIDS pathogenesis, and decreases inflammation in cardiac and brain tissues of SIV- infected rhesus macaques. We asked whether animals treated with ART and adjunct MGBG (ART+MGBG) had an additive decrease in monocyte activation and turnover, cardiac macrophages inflammation and collagen deposition compared to animals on ART, and untreated animals (Chapter 3). We found that animals on ART+MGBG had lower percentages of cardiac collagen deposition than animals on ART. Animals on ART, and ART+MGBG did not develop AIDS, and had decreased cardiac inflammation and collagen, and monocyte activation and turnover compared to untreated animals. Finally, we identified two populations of Gal-3 expressing (Gal-3+) cells in the heart, CD163+ Gal-3+ cardiac macrophages and CD163- Gal-3+ cells. Animals on ART, and ART+MGBG had decreased numbers of CD163+ Gal-3+ cardiac macrophages compared to untreated animals. All animals had similar numbers of CD163- Gal-3+ cells, and low frequencies of SIV-RNA+ cardiac macrophages regardless of treatment. These data suggests that blocking AIDS pathogenesis with ART, and ART+MGBG correlates with decreased monocyte activation and cardiac inflammation and collagen deposition. Overall, we did not find an additive effect in animals on ART+MGBG compared to animals on ART. Our findings show how targeting monocyte/macrophages activation with ART+MGBG blocks AIDS pathogenesis and decreases cardiac macrophages inflammation. This study demonstrates the advantages of therapeutic strategies blocking myeloid cell activation in conjunction with ART.Thesis (MS) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Biology
The Lifespan of a Trend: The Commodification of Style, Identity in a Social Media-Driven Ultra-Fast Fashion Industry
No full textThesis advisor: Kristin PetersonThis thesis explores fashion as a means of identity expression within the ever-evolving social media landscape, looking at TikTok in particular as it has arisen in tandem with the evolution of the infamous fast fashion industry into ultra-fast fashion. Eleven participants completed nine surveys over the course of three weeks during which they reported their lasting impressions of fashion content on the app before participating in terminal focus group sessions. Looking at TikTok's influencer ecosystem through the lens of the Frankfurt School's concept of the culture industry, this thesis argues that the capitalist business of influences works in harmony with the ultra-fast fashion industry to promote a consumption pattern characterized by increased purchase frequency and volume of lower quality clothing designed primarily to appeal to the latest trends than to function as clothing.Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Morrissey School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Communication.Discipline: Departmental Honors
Cultivating Social Justice Pedagogical Knowledge and Skill: Instructional Leadership for the Advancement of Social Justice Through the Principalship
No full textThesis advisor: Martin ScanlanMany district and school leaders have leveraged instructional leadership or social justice leadership to advance student achievement for minoritized students. While research has examined these approaches separately, we identify a potential gap at the nexus between instructional and social justice leadership. In particular, we find a need for further research that examines how leaders bridge instructional and social justice leadership practices, to disrupt educational inequities. Our study examines how educational leaders weave instructional and social justice leadership skills to cultivate others' social justice pedagogical knowledge and skill. Employing a collective case study framework, this study explores how a mid-sized urban district’s superintendent and school leaders cultivated and promoted the social justice pedagogical knowledge and skill of others. Data was collected through interviews, surveys, and document reviews. The primary research participants included one superintendent, two assistant superintendents, three central office leaders, five school leaders, and six teachers. Our findings highlight four themes: the importance of leaders’ critical self-reflection perceptions of district-level infrastructure and strategic planning, school-level instructional infrastructure and capacity building, and gaps in social justice pedagogical skill. This research has implications for practice, policy, and existing literature related to the cultivation and enactment of social justice pedagogical knowledge and skill across diverse contexts.Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education
Pseudo-Anosov maps and genus-two L-space knots:
Full text linkThesis advisor: John A. BaldwinWe classify genus-two L-space knots in S3 and the Poincare homology sphere.This leads to the first and to-date only detection results in knot Floer homology for knots of genus greater than one. Our proofs interweave Floer-homological properties of L-space knots, the geometry of pseudo-Anosov maps, and the theory of train tracks and folding automata for braids. The crux of our argument is a complete classification of fixed-point-free pseudo-Anosov maps in all but one stratum on the genus-two surface with one boundary component. To facilitate our classification, we exhibit a small family of train tracks carrying all pseudo-Anosov maps in most strata on the marked disk. As a consequence of our proof technique, we almost completely classify genus-two, hyperbolic, fibered knots with knot Floer homology of rank 1 in their next-to-top grading in any 3-manifold. Several corollaries follow, regarding the Floer homology of cyclic branched covers, SU(2)-abelian Dehn surgeries, Khovanov
and annular Khovanov homology, and instanton Floer homology.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Mathematics
AJourney around the Comma Johanneum: Transmission history and interpretations of 1 John 5:6-8
No full textThesis advisor: Pheme PerkinsThis study demonstrates how the Comma Johanneum (1 John 5:7b-8a), a Latin addition and “spurious” text of the New Testament, could proffer valuable meaning-making and intricate sociocultural realia to Christian history, although it has been long neglected in Johannine scholarship. Its first aim is to reconstruct the transmission and reception history of the CJ, starting with the Spanish Latin MSS (the direct evidence) and returning to patristic citations (the indirect evidence). Its second aim is to explore the theological and ecclesiological interpretations of 1 John 5:6-8 from the second through fourth centuries, in which the CJ could have been created. Chapter 1 reviews the history of scholarship on the CJ and the interpretations of 1 John 5 in contemporary Johannine scholarship. Chapter 2 discusses the methodological shift in contemporary text-critical scholarship that enabled the new perspective to appreciate the variant readings. Against the historical background, data, and evidence presented in Chapter 3, in Chapter 4, we reconstruct the transmission history of the CJ text from the seventh through the thirteenth centuries, mainly in the Spanish Latin Bible tradition. The Spanish Vulgate Bible is a mixture of the Old Latin biblical text, particularly in the Catholic Epistles, which also retain variant readings, including the CJ text. The earliest evidence—VL 64 and VL 67—exhibit the transition from North Africa to Visigothic Spain, preserving the seventh-century “Isidorian Renaissance.” The Spanish Latin Bible traditions—Codex Cavensis, Codex Toletanus, and Complutensis primus—all preserve the CJ text while formulating independent recensions. Outside Spain, Théodulf of Orleans, a Visigothic Spaniard, brought a Spanish Vulgate tradition to Charlemagne’s court; thus, Théodulf’s Mesmes Bible (ΘM) preserves the CJ in the textline, with a variant replacing uerbum with filius. Meanwhile, in Switzerland, St. Gall MSS—Cod. Sang 907 (Winithar) and Cod. Sang 83 (Hartmut)—also retain the CJ, along with some Spanish-type paratextual components. In ninth-century Spain and beyond, the Lesionensis group MSS (VL 91, 94, and 95) attest to another endpoint of the CJ’s journey. In addition, VL 95 affirms the date of the inversion of in terra and in caelo to the twelfth or thirteenth century (together with the second hand of VL 54). The CJ text, therefore, survived in the soil of Spanish cultural orbit, where the Vulgate text (mixed with the Old Latin readings) was received and survived. Simultaneously, the study reveals high levels of textual circulation and interregional cultural communication in North Africa, Spain, Gaul, and beyond. In Chapter 5, we examine the indirect evidence, focusing on Priscillian of Avila. While we rehabilitate Priscillian’s citation of the CJ, the earliest and most extended surviving indirect witness, as one recension in Spain, our examination of the indirect evidence also shows that there are at least three receptions of the CJ—(1) the terrestrial witness (in terra), a simple addition to the three witnesses in v.7a; (2) the celestial witness (in caelo), a further addition in v.8a, pointing to the trinitarian “heavenly witnesses,” and (3) a combination, which is the CJ properly so-called and eventually attested in the Vulgate. Finally, in Chapter 6, we explore the patristic interpretations of 1 John 5:6-8 (and John 19:34), which are laden with sacramental and ecclesiological connotations. In the second and third centuries, Tertullian, Cyprian, and Ps.-Cyprian expounded the baptismal interpretation with 1 John 5:6-8, and in the fourth century, Ambrose and Augustine crystalized trinitarian interpretations. Ambrose emphasized the divinity of the Spirit as the heavenly efficacy of the baptismal sacrament, which differentiated the invisible and visible realia of the sacraments. Augustine further developed his trinitarian interpretation of 1 John 5:6-8, grounded in incarnational theology of the Johannine turn; “the three” (tres) thus became the “signs” (signa) of the divine mystery of the Trinity. The CJ text could be another attempt to elucidate the crux interpretationis of 1 John 5:6-8. Exploring the patristic interpretations of these passages revealed the significance of the “lived life” of early Christian communities, which contemporary scholarship has somewhat devalued. This study thus reveals a forgotten sociocultural and religious history along with a journey of the CJ text.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Theology
Aflatoxin detoxification: From Identifying Degraders and Mechanisms to Their Enhancement
No full textThesis advisor: Babak MomeniThesis advisor: Charles HoffmanAflatoxins (AFs) are secondary fungal metabolites that contaminate common food crops and are harmful to humans and animals. The ability to remove AFs from feed commodities will improve health standards and counter the economic drain inflicted by AF contamination. Strategies to mitigate AF contamination fall into three categories: physical, chemical, and biological. In this thesis, I explore the identification of degraders and degradation mechanisms, as well as their enhancement, within the context of chemical and biological strategies. Known chemical strategies have used strong acids and bases to remove contaminating AF, but these methods often lead to ecological waste issues downstream. Chapter 3 investigates the application of weaker acidic and alkaline conditions to remove two types of AFs, AFB1 and AFG2. I find that a weakly alkaline environment is sufficient to degrade AF, providing an alternative solution for chemical decontamination.
Biodetoxification is a promising solution to AF contamination because of its low cost and few undesired environmental side-effects. Microbes possess a rich potential for removing toxins and pollutants from the environment. Despite the fairly wide availability of this potential, identifying suitable candidates and improving them remain challenging. In Chapter 2, I explore the use of computational tools to discover strains and enzymes that detoxify harmful toxins. Of focus is the detoxification of mycotoxins by biological enzymes. Existing computational tools can be used to address questions in the discovery of new detoxification potential, the investigation the cellular processes that contribute to detoxification, and the improvement of detoxification potential in discovered enzymes. I showcase open bioremediation questions where computational researchers can contribute and highlight relevant existing and emerging computational tools that could benefit bioremediation researchers. In Chapter 4, I screen several environmental isolates for their AF detoxification ability, using AFG2. I used different carbon sources (glucose and starch) as isolation and culturing media to examine the effect of the environment on degradation ability. Overall, I find that starch medium expedites the screening process and generally improves the performance of isolates, making this a promising method for identifying new degraders and enhancing their performance. Chapter 5 highlights the characterization of degradation by two promising Rhodococcus species, R. erythropolis and R. pyridinivorans. While previous work has identified their degradation ability, further investigation into degradation mechanisms has been understudied. Here, I explore the characterization of degradation mechanisms toward enzyme identification. Finally, the appendix starts to broach the question of enhancing degradation of known degrading enzymes, the example here is laccase from the fungus Trametes versicolor. Using molecular dynamic and quantum mechanics simulations to identify mutations of interest in increasing the affinity of laccase toward AF, I create five mutants to test their degradation against the performance of wildtype. These mutants show a range of improvements against AF and showcase the efficacy of this approach to enhancement.
Together, this body of work highlights the importance of understanding AF degradation for the creation of new strategies of AF mitigation. My thesis provides a framework for developing AF decontamination strategies, from identifying degraders and unlocking their mechanisms to enhancing their performance.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Biology
Decisions and regrets: Exploration of Factors Influencing Boston College Students' Choice of Major
No full textThesis advisor: Stephen PfohlThis thesis aims to answer the question: How does a student decide on which major they declare? Can their major and the reasons for choosing it lead to feelings of regret? The survey and interviews use the reasons of passion, financial stability/job opportunity, parental influence, societal/friend influence, representation in the media, and pursuit of higher education to discover why students declare their major, and what majors lead to the highest regret rates. This research is written from the perspective of Boston College seniors because they are on the precipice of graduation, about to start their first entry-level job or pursue higher education, and have fully completed their curriculum at BC. The research was conducted using a multitude of sociological theories including decision-making theory, career choice theory, gender socialization theory, and cultural capital theory.Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Morrissey School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Sociology.Discipline: Departmental Honors
Dinner in the Dark: A Glimpse Into the Productivity of Emulation Experiences as They Relate to Building Empathy for Systems of Oppression
No full textThesis advisor: Josh SeimIn this thesis, I examine the productivity of emulation experiences as they relate to building empathy for systems of oppression by utilizing Dinner in the Dark, a vision impairment simulation dinner, hosted by the Boston College Undergraduate Government of Boston College Council for Students with Disabilities, as a case study. Drawing from semi-structured qualitative interviews with 19 participants of Dinner in the Dark and field notes taken on site of both nights of the dinner, I find that developing empathy or experiencing an increase in empathy following Dinner in the Dark did not always necessarily translate into an inclusive and non-stereotypical understanding of the visually impaired disabled identity. In other words, although simulation may promote empathy, emulating a state of being that one is not naturally in possession of, especially if it is also for a brief period, may provide misleading information as well as prompt discrimination.Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Morrissey School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Sociology.Discipline: Departmental Honors
Beyond the Debate: A Meta-Analysis of Minimum Wage Studies
No full textThesis advisor: Joseph QuinnThis thesis explores the debate surrounding the impact of minimum wage increases on employment, dissecting the conflicting results and methodological divergences in the existing economic literature. It engages in a detailed meta-analysis of seminal studies, with a particular focus on how differing research methodologies and definitions of employment have contributed to the lack of consensus among economists. The analysis reveals that while some studies, like those by Card and Krueger (1994), find no negative effects on employment, others, such as Neumark and Shirley (2022), report significant adverse impacts, particularly on low-skilled and younger workers. This thesis examines the prevalent methodological approaches and highlights the role of controlling for spatial heterogeneity and the careful selection of control groups in assessing the true effects of minimum wage policies.Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2024.Submitted to: Boston College. Morrissey School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Economics.Discipline: Departmental Honors