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Pathways against Educational Displacement: Equal Access to Civil Liberties Fosters School Belonging
No full textIn recent years, Western societies have witnessed a notable rise in populism, nationalism, and extremist ideologies, marked by the increasing dehumanization of specific social groups. This trend presents significant challenges to the preservation of civil liberties, particularly the freedom of action and speech for targeted groups, both within higher education institutions and K-12 schools. The study investigates whether access to such freedoms impacts students’ sense of belonging in school and society. Reduced belonging among certain groups diminishes social cohesion and heightens the risk of radicalization and targeted violence. Drawing from a comprehensive sample of N = 518,833 students from 18,819 schools in 68 countries or economies as defined by the OECD, this study reveals a significant insight: countries with more equitable access to civil liberties across all social groups exhibit the higher average levels of school belonging
Anticolonial Thought in Iraq in the Journals al-‘Irfan, al-‘Ilm, and al-Yaqīn, 1909-1925
No full textThis dissertation is primarily a story of anticolonial thought, during a time when social cohesion was being threatened by foreign encroachment. It explores political and social thought from Iraq in the period from 1909-1925, during the period of transition from Ottoman rule over the three provinces of Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra to the formation of the Iraqi nation-state under the British Mandate.
The thinkers whose works I explore in the journals al-‘Irfan, al-‘Ilm, and al-Yaqin, many of whom situated themselves in the pan-Islamic reform tradition of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, posited Islamic unity as a bulwark against such intervention, and they believed fostering the values and practices necessary to achieve that unity was imperative. Nahda and reform, for them, was the project which sought to achieve those ends.
They were influenced by the developments of the Ottoman and Iranian Constitutional Revolutions, and believed constitutionalism could save Muslims from tyranny and autocratic rule. They saw their time as one in which morals had been corrupted, a reference to faltering political systems, unjust economic distribution, and a lack of communitarian social structures and social cohesion. Their proposed response, the notion of reform in the Islamic tradition as a process of the continuous enactment of virtue, reinstituting Islamic values, or correcting harmful innovations, was one and the same as the practice of nahda as instituting what is demanded by the public interest.
This notion of a public interest aimed at a quasi-socialist, Islamic welfare state in which the concept of freedom involved duties and obligations to one’s community. These thinkers were witnessing some of the failures of the modern state and critiqued attributes and actions of modern politicians. They developed different conceptions of the end goals of a polity, articulated primarily by thinking through the relationship between the individual and the community. It is those relationships that dictated the nature of moral and ethical life, manifested most clearly in the social, political, and economic realms, all of which were deeply intertwined and inextricable in their ideal form.
They believed that the growing assumptions amongst their contemporaries that these fields could be siloed, i.e. that a politician could achieve the true ends of politics while disregarding moral values and practices, played a significant role in the division of the umma and decline of Islamic civilization, a weakness which left the community vulnerable to foreign threats. Such forms of political rule were also described as a suppression of the truth, so part of the project of reform involved fostering a certain degree of shared understanding around what constitutes ‘ilm, or knowledge, and truth. Each of the chapters represents one aspect of how these thinkers jointly believed the project of nahda would be enacted: unity (chapter 1), enjoining good (chapter 2), establishing truth and ‘ilm (chapter 3), and preventing stagnation through ijtihad (chapter 4)
Physics-Informed Deep Learning for Trajectory Prediction and Uncertainty Quantification
Get PDFTrajectory prediction aims to forecast future trajectories of agents (such as vehicles, pedestrians) based on their historical values. It is a fundamental step for advancing transportation management and control, directly impacting the safety and efficiency of modern transportation systems. In this research domain, deep learning-based methods have been widely adopted, achieving impressive performance. However, these methods have several drawbacks. First, they require substantial amounts of data. Second, they are prone to randomness inherent in real-world data. Third, complex interactions among transportation agents impose high demands on deep learning models.
This dissertation seeks to address these challenges through physics-informed deep learning (PIDL), a promising approach that integrates physics-based prior knowledge into data-driven models. The dissertation is organized into three parts, focusing on different aspects of applying PIDL for trajectory prediction. First, we formulate the problem of single-agent trajectory prediction using PIDL. Second, we enhance PIDL by incorporating uncertainty quantification, accounting for uncertainties in both data and model parameters, and predicting future trajectories with confidence intervals. Third, we extend the single-agent trajectory prediction problem to a multi-agent setting, employing graph neural networks to model complex spatial interactions and NeuralODE to capture long-term dependencies.
Through evaluations on both numerical and real-world datasets, our proposed methods demonstrate improved performance compared to state-of-the-art approaches. Moreover, leveraging physics-based prior knowledge makes our methods particularly robust in scenarios where deep learning models struggle, such as data-scarce environments and long-term predictions
The role of a-Synuclein-specific T cells in Parkinson’s disease
No full textParkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disease. The main symptoms of PD include tremor, muscle stiffness, slowness of movement, and postural instability. Motor symptoms of PD are driven by pathology primarily in the substantia nigra (SN) region of the brain, where there is dopaminergic neuron death and a-Synuclein (a-Syn) protein aggregation. Simultaneously, there is persistent inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS) and in the periphery of PD patients that begins prior to the onset of motor symptoms. Animal models of PD can exhibit inflammation in the brain and periphery, but the role of the immune system in disease pathogenesis and progression is not fully understood.
In Chapter 1, I introduce PD neuropathology, genetic and environmental risk factors, and hypotheses for a-Syn aggregation and propagation from the periphery to the brain. Then, I discuss the altered immune responses and features of autoimmunity in PD patients. Lastly, I describe animal models of PD and how they are used to investigate the role of the immune system in PD pathology.
Features of autoimmunity against the a-Syn protein are present in PD patients and appear prior to the onset of motor symptoms. Whether autoimmunity to a-Syn can alone initiate PD pathology has not been tested in animal models of PD. In Chapter 3, I demonstrate that activation of a-Syn32-46-specific CD4+ T cells in transgenic humanized mice induced early features of PD in the gut. We found that humanized mice immunized with a-Syn32-46 experience constipation, a common early PD symptom, as well as enteric neuron loss. Further investigation into the immune response in the gut revealed activated innate and adaptive immune responses which promoted dopaminergic neuron loss in the small intestines. PD pathology, however, did not develop in the brain, suggesting that autoimmunity to a-Syn32-46 promotes pathology at prodromal PD stages.
Elevated T cell infiltration is found in the PD patient brain, suggesting that the adaptive immune response may also promote pathology in the brain at later disease stages. I hypothesized that a-Syn-specific CD4+ T cells may promote PD neuropathology upon a-Syn aggregation. In Chapter 4, I tested this hypothesis in both humanized and wild-type mice. I found that active immunization with a-Syn32-46 in humanized mice combined with human a-Syn overexpression in the brain did not increase T cell CNS infiltration. However, adoptive transfer of a-Syn-specific T cells into wildtype mice that overexpress human a-Syn increases T cell CNS infiltration and CNS myeloid cell activation. These results suggest that a-Syn-specific T cells may promote neuroinflammation in the presence of a-Syn accumulation.
In Chapter 5, I summarize the major findings from my research and future directions which can provide a more detailed understanding of the ways that a-Syn-specific T cells promote PD neuropathology. Furthermore, I discuss innovations in the diagnosis and treatment of PD and the potential for immunotherapies to significantly modify disease course
Time Poverty in the United States and South Korea
Get PDFTime poverty—the experience of insufficient time for rest, leisure, and self-development—has emerged as a critical issue in modern societies, intersecting with and potentially exacerbating social inequalities. This dissertation explores various dimensions of time poverty in the United States and South Korea. Through three interconnected studies, I examine long-term trends in relative time poverty, the association between time poverty and life satisfaction, and cohort effects on subjective and relative time poverty.
The first paper examines time poverty trends among adults in the United States over the last 20 years. Using the 2003-2022 American Time Use Survey, I show long-term trends in time poverty rates for the US adult population, analyzing variations by key sociodemographic factors including gender, family structure, and race/ethnicity. Time poverty rates initially decreased from the early 2000s through the early 2010s, followed by an upward trend starting in 2013, with a brief dip during the 2020 COVID-19 peak and reaching a high point in 2022. Throughout the study period, time poverty was most prevalent among women, adults living with multiple young children, and individuals of Asian, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, or Hispanic descent. Logistic regression analyses confirmed that being a woman, having children, and engaging in paid work were significantly associated with higher odds of experiencing time poverty.
The second paper investigates the association between time poverty and life satisfaction among working-age adults in South Korea. Using the 2019 Korean Time Use Survey, I conducted descriptive analyses and employed generalized ordered logistic regression to examine the relationship between time poverty and life satisfaction. Time poverty was measured in both subjective and relative terms. Results showed that subjective time poverty was more common than relative time poverty among working-age adults, with both types most pronounced between ages 35 and 44 and more prevalent among men than women. Regression models demonstrated a significant negative association between subjective time poverty and life satisfaction, with the largest effects observed among those reporting severe subjective time poverty. The association between relative time poverty and life satisfaction appeared mostly statistically insignificant.
The third paper studies how cohort membership influences subjective and relative time poverty among Korean adults across different age groups and periods. Utilizing four waves of the Korean Time Use Survey data from 2004 to 2019, I employed age-period-cohort detrended models to detect nonlinear fluctuations around linear trends for cohort-specific deviations. Results revealed a general decline in occasional subjective time poverty across cohorts but an increase in chronic subjective time poverty and relative time poverty among those in their 20s and 30s across successive cohorts. Significant variations in subjective and relative time poverty were found across different cohorts, with notable shifts occurring between the 1970s and 1980s cohorts. Subgroup analyses indicated varying effects based on gender, education level, and number of children in the household, with more prominent effects observed for cohorts born in the 1970s.
By investigating these aspects across different contexts, this dissertation highlights the complex nature and far-reaching consequences of time poverty on individual well-being and social dynamics. The findings underscore how time poverty reflects changing societal values and structures, particularly in relation to work-life balance, family dynamics, and cohort shifts in time use patterns. This research contributes to our understanding of evolving social inequalities and may inform policies aimed at promoting more equitable use of time across diverse populations, ultimately addressing the broader implications of time poverty in modern societies
Granma, tell me the story of Cuba’s connection to the Internet: An inquiry into the treatment of information and communication technologies in Granma, the official voice of the Cuban Communist Party, between 1989 and 1999
Get PDFThis dissertation looks at what Fidel Castro’s Cuban Communist Party said about information and communication technologies (ICTs) through its official voice, Granma, from 1989 to 1999. It explores the development and implementation of ICTs through the lens of an authoritarian, illiberal, anti-capitalist state; it presents printed evidence of how the Cuban state framed these new technologies and how it presented them to its population; and it also probes into the widely accepted, end-of-century truism that global communication networks are a democratizing agent
Search for light neutral particles decaying promptly into collimated pairs of electrons or muons in collisions at √ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector
Get PDFA search for a dark photon, a new light neutral particle, which decays promptly into collimated pairs of electrons or muons is presented. The search targets dark photons resulting from the exotic decay of the Standard Model Higgs boson, assuming its production via the dominant gluon-gluon fusion mode. The analysis is based on 140 fb⁻¹ of data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV.
Events with collimated pairs of electrons or muons are analysed and background contributions are estimated using data-driven techniques. No significant excess in the data above the Standard Model background is observed. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the branching ratio of the Higgs boson decay into dark photons between 0.001% and 5%, depending on the assumed dark photon mass and signal model
Harnessing the tumor microenvironment: targeted cancer therapies through modulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition
Get PDFThe tumor microenvironment (TME) is integral to cancer progression, impacting metastasis and treatment response. It consists of diverse cell types, extracellular matrix components, and signaling molecules that interact to promote tumor growth and therapeutic resistance. Elucidating the intricate interactions between cancer cells and the TME is crucial in understanding cancer progression and therapeutic challenges. A critical process induced by TME signaling is the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), wherein epithelial cells acquire mesenchymal traits, which enhance their motility and invasiveness and promote metastasis and cancer progression.
By targeting various components of the TME, novel investigational strategies aim to disrupt the TME’s contribution to the EMT, thereby improving treatment efficacy, addressing therapeutic resistance, and offering a nuanced approach to cancer therapy. This review scrutinizes the key players in the TME and the TME's contribution to the EMT, emphasizing avenues to therapeutically disrupt the interactions between the various TME components. Moreover, the article discusses the TME’s implications for resistance mechanisms and highlights the current therapeutic strategies toward TME modulation along with potential caveats
GRID3 COD - Health Areas v5.0
No full textThe GRID3 COD - Health Areas v5.0 dataset consists of health area boundaries with name, location, health zone, and other attributes for fifteen provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (COD).
Province group 1: Haut-Katanga, Kasaï, Kasaï-Oriental, Kinshasa, and Lomami
Province group 2: Haut-Lomami and Tanganyika
Province group 3: Ituri and Kwilu
Province group 4: Maniema
Province group 5: Kasaï-Central
Province group 6: Tshopo and Mongala
Province group 7: Sankuru
Province group 8: Kongo-Central
This operational dataset has not been fully validated by government officials or ministries.
This current version supersedes the GRID3 COD - Health Areas v4.0 ( https://doi.org/10.7916/nnew-da26 ). The following changes were made:
Updated data for Haut-Lomami Province
Added data Kongo-Central Province
Keywords: Health Area
Flood Risk in the Buenos Aires-La Plata Metropolitan Area
No full textThe Buenos Aires-La Plata Metropolitan Area is the largest urban agglomeration in Argentina and currently prone to flooding based on geography, climate and the multiple sub- and superficial watercourses. As resilience emerges as a key factor to reduce the impact of climate disasters and is referred to as the ability to absorb shocks and reorganize into adaptive cycles, it might represent better contextual conditions for human habitat. A result of improving resilience is the decreasing of social vulnerability, as decreasing limitations it improves better responses to disasters (Castro-Díaz & Natenzon, 2018; Massachesi & Castro-Díaz, 2023). In this case, building flood resilience in cities is the set of strategies to avoid the floods or mitigate the impact in the disaster context.
For understanding social vulnerability as a counterpart to resilience, we developed a Social Vulnerability to Disaster Index (SVDI), explained by demographic, employment, education and non-material housing variables. The case study describes “very high” social vulnerability in seven departments (Moreno, Malvinas Argentinas, Ezeiza, General Rodríguez, José C.Paz, Presidente Perón, and Almirante Brown) out of the total department belonging to the urban agglomeration.
The context was based on The National Register of Popular Neighborhoods that identifies over 580,000 households living in 1,525 informal settlements in the Buenos Aires-La Plata Metropolitan Area on almost 1,200,000 households in the Argentinean territory, where 5,686 informal settlements (RENABAP, 2023), that calls urgent actions for developing flood resilience to mitigate extreme rainfall, while reducing social vulnerabilities by improving access to services, employment, and education. As a response, the city government promoted the "Buenos Aires Resilient" strategy aiming to build resilience through pillars focused on environment, social integration, risk management, and more. This connotation has been seen from the perspective of reducing social vulnerability in informal neighborhoods as key to achieve flood resilience across the entire metropolitan area