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Archaeology of the Early-Modern Market Expansion into the Andes: Native Fishers, Ports, and Emerging Global Markets.
No full textThis research answers the question of how radical the changes were for the communal economy of a group of native fishermen directly exposed to the expansion of the Iberian market through the Andes during the early colonial period. A series of excavations and analyzes revealed strong continuities and subtle transformations in the communal production and consumption of the fishermen of the Loa mouth (northern Chile).
These native fishermen further deepened their ancient fishing specialization to resolve their own economic requirements and the ones from the Inca political economy now in Spanish hands. This trans-conquest community focused on net fishing on beaches and sandy bottoms during late Pre-Columbian and early colonial times, leaving behind times of seasonal and intensive capture of Chilean horse mackerel. The conversion of tributes into merchandise did not generate notable signs of overfishing.
Powerful Spaniards accessed the labor of Loa’s natives and established a fishery at the early 17th century. This place functioned as a small natural, rural, and indigenous port, fueled with attached Andean labor, and devoted to fish salting. Crucible of early globalization, it had a multiethnic and cosmopolitan character. Andean fishers delivered diversified catches there to meet their tribute obligations and were rewarded with alcohol and stimulants within the context of Andean ceremonialism.
While the Spaniards of the main mining cities depended on their fish catches for different purposes, this community never depended on commercial goods for its subsistence.
Although some anthropologists point out that European colonial mercantilism triggered a rapid and almost uncontrollable productive intensification and market dependent consumption among natives (plus a recognizable ecological footprint), the Loa fish case shows a politically controlled expansion process based on traditional relations of production and coastal self-sufficiency. The articulation of a traditional tribute with new urban demands gave life to an early Andean colonial commodity.
More than a completely disruptive process, the expansion of Spanish mercantilism in the Andes required of the native communal economies and a good dose of syncretism and continuity. The participation of this community in the commercialization of fish demonstrates that ancient markets expanded heterogeneously in vital and rooted indigenous economies
Where Is My Mind? Against Mental Localization in Neuroscience
No full textHumans, cats, and other biological systems experience an assortment of thoughts, emotions, sensations, etc. as they go about their lives. From a broadly scientific worldview, the default position is that such mental phenomena take place inside the brain. This view helps make sense of many empirical discoveries in neuroscience, including the effectiveness and limitations of current therapies for psychiatric and nervous system disorders. Nonetheless, I argue in this dissertation that neuroscience provides no compelling empirical reasons to believe that the brain is the locus of the mind. Evidence of functional localization in the brain is not evidence of mental localization. Furthermore, I argue that nothing of practical or scientific significance rests on locating mental phenomena within the brain or anywhere else. The key is to disentangle the metaphysics that is projectable onto neuroscience from the theoretical assumptions that actually matter for doing neuroscience and achieving its goals. I show how abandoning (tacit) acceptance of mental localization provides a better understanding of the aims, results, and practices of neuroscience. The conclusion of the dissertation sketches an account of mental discourse which avoids perennial puzzles in the philosophy of mind while clarifying how mental phenomena could be real, useful for various explanatory purposes, and yet located nowhere at all
Investing in Automation: Evidence From Natural Disasters
No full textI investigate the extent to which establishments shift labor skill demand toward automation when faced with labor scarcity. Using natural disasters as an exogenous shock to local labor supply, I find that firms respond to local labor scarcity by increasing demand for automation-specific labor skills and that firms’ responses vary with ex-ante adjustment costs. I show that constrained firms exhibit no significant change in demand for automation skills, while firms with production flexibility display decreased demand for automation skills following exogenous reductions in local labor supply. Firms dependent on low-skilled labor exhibit large increases in demand for automation skills
Cosmic Cartography: Photometric Redshifts for Next-Generation Sky Surveys
No full textKnowing the distances to galaxies as measured by their cosmological redshift is crucial for studies of cosmology, galaxy evolution, and astronomical transients. The next generation of astronomical imaging surveys will all be critically dependent on estimates of galaxy redshifts from imaging data alone; the resulting measurements are called photometric redshifts or photo-z's. Traditional photo-z estimation methods only use measures of total light received from a galaxy (colors and magnitudes) as input, thereby removing the rich pixel-level information often present in images. In addition, the uncertainty estimates produced by these methods are not statistically well defined, and the availability of data to train these methods is scarce. In this thesis, I will present my work on developing new deep learning-based photo- estimation methods that take images directly as input and provide state-of-the-art photo- prediction accuracy while being interpretable and requiring fewer training data. I will also discuss a statistical formalism that I developed to produce well-calibrated photo-z uncertainty estimates that are method-agnostic and employ minimal assumptions. Finally, I will provide an overview of our recent efforts to obtain spectroscopic samples to train for photo-z algorithms using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI)
It Takes a Village: A Mixed-Methods Study on Empowering Practices and Equitable Opportunities for Black High School Students in Ohio's 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) Programs
No full textThis study addresses a critical problem of practice (POP) in Ohio's 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC), specifically targeting marginalized Black high school students in Out-of-School Time (OST) programs. Declining attendance and reduced interest among students of color are key indicators of underlying issues such as limited opportunities for youth voice, choice, and leadership, alongside the challenge of inexperienced staff. These factors contribute to a disconnect affecting multiple stakeholders—students, families, staff, local school districts, and community buildings—thereby widening the equity gap. To address this problem, this study employed a Professional Learning Community (PLC) workshop, guided by the New York State Department of Education’s Culturally Relevant Sustaining Education (CRSE) framework, to enhance staff cultural competency and empathy, following an iteration of a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle. I also collected data from participants who attended similar workshop experiences to assess the impact on the same targeted population. Inquiry focused on the effects of the PLC on staff cultural competency and empathy, its translation to support for youth voice in programming, challenges encountered, and the effectiveness of evaluation methods. I utilized a qualitative study with descriptive quantitative element methodological approach within a constructivist research paradigm, integrating pre- and post- workshop assessments and program engagement surveys with qualitative participant workshop feedback and semi-structured interviews. Overall, the data showed a positive impact in staff understanding and practical application of cultural competency and empathy knowledge and resources. This test of change produced positive results upon which future iterations of the PLC workshop could be enhanced and implemented
Fixing the Palestinian Legal Framework for International Commercial Arbitration as a Tool for Economic Development in Non-Fully Recognized States
No full textThe existing legal framework for international commercial arbitration is widely regarded as the most preferred mechanism for resolving cross-border commercial disputes. International commercial arbitration, commonly governed by successful legal instruments such as the New York Convention and the UNCITRAL Model Law, serves as a risk mitigation tool, enabling private parties to reduce – though not completely eliminate – certain risks associated with cross border transactions. By producing final, binding, and enforceable arbitral awards, arbitration fosters certainty, transparency, and efficiency in international transactions. This promotes investor confidence in contract enforcement, encouraging businesses and investors to engage in transactions with new and potentially unfamiliar markets. Developing economies, including those in non-fully recognized States (NFRS), can employ the universally accepted legal framework for international commercial arbitration to promote trade and investment, which can contribute towards economic development. NFRS, however, face unique challenges stemming from their non-fully recognized status as they attempt to reform their arbitration legal frameworks to meet international standards. In this dissertation, I examine the Palestinian legal framework for international commercial arbitration in comparison to the arbitration systems in the Republic of Kosovo (Kosovo) and the Republic of China (Taiwan). I address specific challenges arising from the non-fully recognized status of these economies and conclude with recommendations for the Palestinian Authority and private parties as they navigate the unique risks associated with Palestine’s status
An Examination of Environmental Health Literacy: Capacities, Structures, and Engagement
No full textThe links between the physical environment in which individuals live and their effects on health have been well established. In spite of this, the ability of every person to access relevant information regarding the relationship between the two is not the same. Environmental health literacy concerns the ability of individuals to find, understand, and act upon information which concerns the link between the environment and overall health. Although proficient environmental health literacy skills are crucial in understanding the relationship between the environment and health outcomes, as well as crucial in our abilities to consciously change our behaviors and make efforts to change our environment, there are many factors which can affect individuals’ environmental health literacy. These factors can include individual-level, socioeconomic aspects such as race, ethnicity, education, and income, as well as broader, systemic factors, such as relationships between communities and organizations, as well as public policy. Another critical aspect of understanding environmental health literacy is assessing how communities are engaged and how environmental health information is disseminated to varied groups and communities. That is, how groups’ strengths are used to the advantage of disseminators, how their needs are listened to and addressed, and how relationships are built and maintained to create fairer and more inclusive communities.
For this research, a literature search was conducted to assess the factors which impact EHL, how systemic biases and structural racism continue to shape the issue of different levels of EHL and impair health outcomes today, and how engagement strategies have been employed in order to improve EHL among different communities
The Contours and Implications of the Development of Place-Based Identities in American Politics
No full textIn this work, I seek to understand the political relevance of place-based identities. I argue that place-based identities are social identities that develop due to perceived belonging to rural, suburban, or urban communities. These identities can create solidarity among individuals across similar communities rather than solely within a particular local community. My conceptualization of place-based identity differs from other work, which focuses on out-group resentment and intergroup relations, as well as from work on attachment to local, regional, or national identities. The place-based identity strength scale I construct is reliable, and the scale items are not strongly related to other politically relevant factors of concern. I find that rural identity strength is uniquely strong in the Midwest, but that the Midwest is an anomaly: in the South, the Northeast, and the West, rural and urban identity strength are strong, on par with each other, and significantly distinguishable from suburban identity strength.
Bivariate estimations suggest place-based identity strength is strongly correlated with political behaviors such as participation, vote choice, and political involvement, but the correlations are not significant when controlling for other standard political covariates. However, a significant, positive relationship exists between suburban identity strength and political trust, even when controlling for standard political covariates. There is also a significant, positive relationship between place-based identity strength across the rural-urban spectrum and the strength of one’s partisan identity attachment. I explore this relationship experimentally, but my findings are null. Mean place-based identity attachment among respondents exposed to an in-group place-based identity attachment manipulation is significantly higher than that of the control group, which suggests that the treatment effectively manipulated the intended variable. Still, no causal relationship is uncovered between place-based and partisan identity attachment.
This dissertation provides an important contribution to our understanding of how place operates as a social identity and shapes other key political identities, such as partisanship
How Are New Words Integrated into Language Learners’ Semantic Memory: A Theoretical Reframing of Lexical Integration and ERP Evidence from Visual Word Learning
No full textLearning new words that one has never encountered before involves remembering the words and integrating them into existing knowledge. How are new words integrated into language learners’ semantic memory? The complementary learning system account suggests that word learning experience is first stored as episodic memories through an initial fast learning hippocampal system. A subsequent lexical integration involves abstracting the stored episodic memories and gradually transferring them into semantic memory through the neocortical learning system, particularly during sleep.
This dissertation proposes a theoretical reframing of lexical integration that distinguishes three aspects of lexical integration (word form integration, development of lexicality and meaning integration), allowing the examination of different phases of integration. In support of this reframing, the dissertation reports three studies that examined the memory and integration of newly learned novel words in native English speakers across a week or so. Study 1 assessed memory of word form (e.g., banara) and their form integration with the lexical competition effect on existing words (e.g., banana). This study found significant lexical competition effects immediately after learning and 7 days later. Interestingly, these effects were associated with how well the learners remembered the spelling of the novel words. Study 2 recorded brain potentials to novel words and found that the N400 was modulated by how well the learners remembered the meaning of novel words. Study 3 comprehensively assessed memory of novel words across eight days, and recorded brain potentials to novel words (e.g., banara, ‘a dog that eats fruits and vegetables only’) that were preceded by a prime that was either semantically related (e.g., cat) or unrelated (e.g., cup). On day 2, performance of memory tests modulated the N400 to novel words. On day 8, an N400 semantic priming effect emerged, only in items that were correctly remembered on Day-2 memory tests. Taken these results together, this dissertation demonstrates that (1) lexical integration involves multiple components; and (2) memory and integration of novel words are positively associated: Better memory of novel words on an early test day leads to better integration later –The rich get richer phenomenon in the context of learning new words
Database of Human Osteoblast Gene Expression without and with ACTH
No full textThese data are used in multiple grants and papers. For description of methods and some specific results, please see Blair HC, Larrouture QC, Li Y, Lin H, Beer-Stoltz D, Liu L, Tuan RS, Robinson LJ, Schlesinger PH, Nelson DJ. Osteoblast Differentiation and Bone Matrix Formation In Vivo and In Vitro. Tissue Eng Part B Rev23(3):268-280, 2017. doi: 10.1089/ten.TEB.2016.0454