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Why Does North Korea Need Nuclear Weapons?
No full textSubmitted in partial fulfillment of the degree Masters of International Business at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Abstract: North Korea argues that they need nuclear weapons in order to protect its land and people from the attack of their enemies, especially the USA. Can we believe that? If we analyze North Korea's behavior in the past, we see their strategy by utilizing nuclear weapons in order to protect its regime. Based on this analysis, this paper argues how to tackle the North Korean issue in which several stakeholders are involved
Politics of China’s development: China’s investments and finance in Sri Lanka, Myanmar & Laos.
No full textSubmitted in partial fulfillment of the degree Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Abstract: Submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree Masters of Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Abstract: This thesis will examine China’s influence on Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Laos and their transformations of those three countries through the lens of Chinese infrastructure projects in those countries. Firstly, I argue that before and after the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed, China’s national interest was the same and the Chinese government has continued to pursue it. Although the initiative was supposed to shrink the infrastructure gap and raise the quality of life in the recipient countries, some BRI projects seem more reflective of deep Chinese national interests (mainly based on energy security) or local government interests than pure economic profit calculations or broad recipient country benefits. Secondly, I argue that initially Sri Lanka and ASEAN countries perceived China as a counter balance against the regional hegemony of India and Western countries. Now these countries, which are mainly run by dominant dictatorships, rely heavily on China and may have fallen into a Chinese debt trap. The danger is that the local countries may lose credibility in the eyes of other countries and organizations, which may narrow their finance borrowing options and incentivize them to work more closely with China. Thirdly, I argue that the size of Chinese influence has no relationship to whether the developing countries are democracies or not. Lastly, local citizens’ feelings toward China are swayed by the mobility of Chinese blue-collar laborers. Projects having many Chinese workers with high mobility can cause conflicts between the workers and local people. In making my arguments, I want to emphasize that, when they reach out to China to fund large projects in their countries, these three countries’ governments exercise their agency based on domestic political concerns
Solving Boston’s Traffic Nightmare While Reducing Transportation Sector Emissions: The Case for Bus Rapid Transit and Congestion Pricing Along I-93’s Southeast Expressway.
No full textSubmitted in partial fulfillment of the degree Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Abstract: Solving Boston’s Traffic Nightmare While Reducing Transportation Sector Emissions: The Case for Bus Rapid Transit and Congestion Pricing Along I-93’s Southeast Expresswa
Winners and Losers: An Analysis of Qatar's Economy Ten Months Into the GCC Rift of 2017.
No full textSubmitted in partial fulfillment of the degree Masters of International Business at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Abstract: The GCC Rift of 2017 was one of the worst regional crises in the history of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The three main instigators, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United ArabEmirates, economically pressured Qatar to agree to thirteen demands, which were mostly centered around terrorist financing and its relationship with Iran. The three GCC countries used isolation via blockades and embargoes to hurt five main areas of the Qatari economy. Examining each of those five areas illuminates which side was more successful in accomplishing their goals during the first ten months of the rift.When scoring the level of disruption to Qatar’s economic plans across the five areas, four categories (finance/banking, energy, trade and infrastructure) went to Qatar while one (aviation) belonged to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. As a result, Qatar clearly survived and found that the rift was a “blessing in disguise”. With new trade partners in Iran and Turkey and an increased confidence in internal solutions, Qatar looks better positioned ten months into the rift, ready to impose its own economic desires domestically and internationally. The Gulf Cooperation Council also looks fragmented, and its existence as a unified economic body seems doubtful moving into the next few fiscal years
The Endogenous Retroviral Transcriptome in Melanoma
No full textAbstract: Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are retroviral sequences passed from parent to offspring in a Mendelian fashion. Due to relatively recent endogenization and correlation to human illness, interest in the HERV-K (HML-2) subclade has increased. Expression of HML-2 - specific transcripts and proteins in melanoma cell lines was first discovered about a decade ago. Since there are at least 96 known HML-2 proviruses within the human genome, others have studied the HML-2 transcriptome in melanoma to identify the proviral sequences responsible for such expression. More recently, cDNA cloning frequency was used to detect HML-2 expression in melanoma cell lines and patient samples. Though they were able to detect the expression of several proviruses, cDNA cloning frequency is not as sensitive as RNA-sequencing and therefore they could have missed the expression of poorly expressed proviruses or the expression of rare proviruses. Furthermore, determining transcriptional mechanisms responsible for HML-2 expression in melanoma using cDNA cloning frequency data would be difficult while one could easily do this using a stranded library. Due to the potential role of expressed rare HML-2 proviruses in cancer etiology, and to understand transcriptional mechanisms responsible for HML-2 expression in melanoma, I submitted cellular RNA from five melanoma cell lines and three primary melanocyte populations for RNA-seq. I detected five proviruses that were uniquely expressed in melanoma compared to primary melanocytes. 7q22.2 was the highest expressing provirus followed by 3q12.3, which based on comparison to breast cancer and Tera-1s was only detected in cancerous cell lines. Most proviruses that were expressed in melanoma were young, human specific, and were mostly located in extragenic regions and driven by sense transcription. Two proviruses - 7p22.1a and 7p22.1b - contain intact ORFs for Env, yet I was unable to detect the presence of Env in whole cell lysate. Furthermore, three proviruses were capable of LTR-driven transcription in some of my melanoma cell lines which appears to be partially driven by transcription factor binding to LTRs. In conclusion, this work expands upon the known HML-2 transcriptome in melanoma while offering a larger view on HML-2 expression in cancer. It also shows one potential cause of HML-2 expression in melanoma and identifies the potential proviruses responsible for previous HML-2 protein production. Future work should include analyzing the effect epigenetic regulation has on HML-2 expression in cancer. Furthermore, future work should focus on analyzing patient samples to identify unique proviruses expressed in cancer so HML-2 expression can be evaluated for potential therapeutic and diagnosis purposes.Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2018.Submitted to the Dept. of Genetics.Advisor: John Coffin.Committee: Philip Hinds, Naomi Rosenberg, Jack Lenz, and Ralph Isberg.Keyword: Genetics
Exploring Services for Ethnic Minority Adolescents: An Ethnographic Study of a Community-Based Asian American Youth Program
No full textAbstract: The purpose of this research study was to explore how a community-based Asian American youth leadership program defines leadership, as well as to examine how that was shaped by staff members' understanding of the cultural context of the youth served by the program. The study was designed as an ethnographic study, using participant observation and staff interviews. Participants included Asian American adolescents who participated in the youth leadership projects, as well as staff members who led these projects. Data analysis followed Spradley's ethnographic methods in three steps: domain, taxonomy, and componential analysis. Six types of different knowledge and skills were identified, with incidental teaching by staff leaders, hands-on practice, and learning for individual life skills identified as the most commonly used strategies. Application of knowledge and understanding of biculturalism were further found to be two core values regarding Asian American youth's leadership development. Further research is recommended to evaluate the effectiveness of the leadership skills and strategies identified, incorporating the perspective of the youth.Thesis (M.A.)--Tufts University, 2018.Submitted to the Dept. of Child Development.Advisor: Jayanthi Mistry.Committee: Francine Jacobs, and Carolyn Rubin.Keywords: Developmental psychology, and Ethnic studies
Self-reported health behaviors, including sleep, correlate with doctor-informed medical conditions: data from the 2011 Health Related Behaviors Survey of U.S. Active Duty Military Personnel.
No full textBackground: Health behaviors and cardiometabolic disease risk factors may differ between military and civilian populations; therefore, in U.S. active duty military personnel, we assessed relationships between demographic characteristics, self-reported health behaviors, and doctor-informed medical conditions.Keywords: Army, Navy, Air force, Marine corps, Coast guard, Cardiometabolic risk, Exercise, Sleep, Survey.Springer Open
Battlefield Circulation: Afghan Financial Culture and the American Experience in Afghanistan.
No full textSubmitted in partial fulfillment of the degree Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Abstract: In the global economy, the presence of finance persists across all cultures, borders, and peoples. Some economies are moving more quickly toward digital economies and currencies, while others are hoarding cash and outright banning crypto-currencies. Others are making perceived bold moves intended to provide some shock therapy to their monetary system and remove “black money” from criminals. How people conceptualize and behave with regards to money and finance matters greatly. These differences often manifest as a byproduct of the realities that people face in a wartime or peacetime economy. These differences also manifest themselves according to social, religious, or cultural customs that are as integral to society as familial relationships. In Afghanistan, a country that has experienced nearly 40 years of war, the financial culture that has developed has evolved out of a combination of persistent uncertainty and cultural customs that have existed for hundreds of years. This uncertainty hasn’t left many Afghans receding from the global economy (far from it); but it has incentivized them to remain in the informal economy and become excluded from the global financial system. This financial reality, taken as a given, has dramatically influenced military efforts in Afghanistan and is explored upon in this paper
Young adult attitudes about global climate change: Studying youth commitment to resolving societal problems
No full textIn instances of political and social volatility, it often proves difficult for individuals to discuss, debate, and agree on difficult topics. Climate change is just one example of such a contentious issue. In an attempt to understand how to better unite diverse groups of individuals, the present study aims to conceptualize the role of identity, attitude, behavior as it relates to the environment and civic participation. Specifically, I examined the associations among young adults’ civic identities, multiple domains of pro-environmental behavior, and the role of internal self-regulation in this relationship. French and American young adults (N = 138), ages 18-22, were surveyed in twelve data collections throughout Paris, France and Boston, Massachusetts. Respondents scored highest on measures of civic identity and self-regulation, with lowest scores occurring for pro-environmental behavior. In the total sample, all correlations between study variables were significant. However, the constructs did not vary significantly based on country, gender, or race. Nevertheless, these results illuminate interesting individual and group differences in civic identity, self-regulation, and pro-environmental behavior, particularly given that this study occurred during a period of political transition and social change