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- Creator:
- Paul Christian Dunn
- Description:
- Incident solar radiation (insolation) passing through the forest canopy to the ground surface is either absorbed or scattered. This phenomenon is known as attenuation and is measured in forest ecology using the extinction coefficient (K). The effect of K on understory photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) and microclimate may be associated with plant species diversity, as distinct species and communities have unique habitat requirements. The objective of this study is to model insolation and canopy structure to observe effects of predictors representative of K on understory plant biodiversity using remotely sensed and botanical field data. We used two taxonomic diversity indexes (Menhinick’s and Simpson) to describe the surveyed plant community in a natural temperate montane forest, modeling the index values at the plot level as response variables. Independent variables included localized area incident solar radiation estimated using a solar model, LiDAR derived canopy height model, effective leaf area index (LAI) estimates derived from multi-spectral imagery and canopy strata metrics derived from LiDAR point cloud data. Considering the impact of atmospheric components above the canopy layer and an assumption that incident short- wave solar radiation to Earth’s vegetated surfaces is primarily absorbed in the canopy layer, we used a multiple linear model to predict canopy metrics controlling the sub- canopy surface radiant flux to develop the hypothesis that 1.) canopy structural variability is associated with the biodiversity of stand plant species through habitat partitioning and, 2.) a prediction model can be developed to validate this relationship spatially. The available data indicated many and varied correlations between predictor and response variables as well as a statistically valid linear model comprising the canopy relief, the texture, and vegetation density with understory plant diversity. When analyzed for spatial autocorrelation, the predicted biodiversity data exhibited non-random spatial continuity.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Geography & Environment
- Creator:
- Savvides, Michael Roger
- Description:
- The proliferation of Information and Communications Technologies is a gamechanger for international relations, and the classical theories are not suited for application in cyber studies. The current literature on cyber studies, is fragmented, and lacks a common theoretical framework. Additionally, the current cyber discourse treats cyber governance and cybersecurity as two separate concepts when in fact they are intertwined. This paper addresses these shortcomings by examining the models of cyber governance, followed by an analysis of key cybersecurity events. This paper takes a multidisciplinary approach by synthesizing concepts from international law, computer sciences, and IR. After analysis of the preceding, this paper offers a novel theory, dubbed the Governance and Security in Cyberspace (GSC) framework, which is designed to understand IR as it relates to cyberspace.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- International Relations
- Creator:
- DeMaiolo, James F.
- Description:
- Through Gogol’s Satirical Eye examines in detail four productions of The Inspector General. The productions include the premiere of Gogol’s play in 1836, Meyerhold’s 1926 production, Evreinov’s satire on the play and directors of the time, and Peter Sellars’s 1980 production. I discuss how the play’s farcical elements are contrasted with the social satire of Gogol’s work and how this contrast created the controversies surrounding these productions. Study of this contrast helps in looking at what adaptation and interpretation provide for a specific community, and in assessing the success and failure of the play when each of the dual layers of farce and satire is limited. This duality has helped to spawn far-reaching global translations and adaptations, not only on the stage but in film, opera, and television.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Theatre and Dance
- Creator:
- Rashty, Josef
- Description:
- My thesis will argue that the best form of corporate governance is a democratic system in which employees can be heard whenever their beliefs come into opposition with those o f their employers. It will also argue that employees have a responsibility to report any ethical violations through the proper channels within their organizations. If they chose to report the alleged violations to an authority solely to collect a financial reward, it would be degrading to them and would not contribute to their Aristotelian excellence. Additionally, such a bounty-hunting response would harm their employers and the corporation’s stakeholders. Thus, it is in the best interest of both whistleblowers and corporations to encourage voluntary, internal reporting of violations.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Philosophy
- Creator:
- Selzer, Mark Albert
- Description:
- Plato’s dialogues lack a complete account of dialectic as a philosophic method. To contribute to such an account, I show how dialectic is a process of ethical cultivation and an ethical way of life. I argue that there are three distinct forms of Platonic dialectic. The first form comprises the asking and answering of questions, and it refutes inconsistent or false beliefs. The second form begins with a likely hypothesis, and then negates the initial hypothesis and any subsequent hypotheses until a true hypothesis is confirmed. The last form is noetic dialectic and it ascends to an understanding of the first principle, and descends from that understanding to derive Plato’s entire metaphysics and epistemology. When unified and understood in the overall framework of Plato’s philosophy, the three forms of Platonic dialectic are a method for balancing the tripartite soul so that one may grasp the first principle and act in accordance with justice. Thus, dialectic is a process of ethical cultivation.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Philosophy
- Creator:
- Alunāns, Aleksandrs Yano
- Description:
- In this thesis, I aim to demonstrate how I believe that Friedrich Nietzsche can in fact be viewed as a supporter of a virtue ethic in the Aristotelian tradition, using similarities with the theories of Mengzi, or Mencius, to show that this is plausible.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Philosophy
- Creator:
- Henderson, Brien Kenneth
- Description:
- This is a musical composition which demonstrates my artistic development over the course of the master’s program and reflects on issues of finding norms in an increasingly diffuse musical landscape while also creating a link to musical tradition. The objectives of the project were to create a musical language, both innovative and reminiscent of the European musical tradition, and to implement that language in a tripartitioning of musical material, delineated as (1) Composition, (2) Fragmentation, and (3) Re-composition. The language itself is firmly rooted in the contrapuntal procedures of the fifteenth century but utilizes as foundational material a musical scale of my own construction. These objectives necessitated a methodology wherein music was composed, that same music was broken up into over a hundred small fragments of material, and then those fragments were used to re-compose new material.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Music
- Creator:
- Zalewska, Maria
- Description:
- This thesis is an attempt to analyze the shift in Polish and German cinema’s respective approaches to the historical narrative of WWII and the Holocaust. It deals with concepts of post-1989 national identity and the politics of film/cultural memory reflected through cultural texts (films) and institutions (cinema). The thesis examines the question of the correlation of (state) funding and filmmaking in post-1989 Poland and Germany. This thesis focuses on a short and recent period (1989 - present) to examine the nature and the socio-historical context of the shift in Polish and German cinema rather than the outcomes of such change. In a sense, it is a case study of the political changes reflected through cultural texts (films) and institutions (cinema) in Central Europe as a consequence of the fall of the Iron Curtain. Putting this more broadly, it argues that state-funded cinematic productions exhibit a significant and ideological shift in the Polish and German portrayal of WWII and the Holocaust.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Humanities
- Creator:
- Marquez, Christina Maria
- Description:
- While there is a positive relationship between self-compassion and compassion toward others (Crocker & Canevello, 2008; Gilbert, McEwan, Matos, & Rivis, 2011), the extent of the relationship between the two variables has not often been investigated. Researchers have identified stressful life events and parenting behaviors as possible predictors of compassionate outcomes throughout development (Kelly & Dupasquier, 2016; Satici, Uysal, & Akin, 2015). A total of 266 (83.70% female) undergraduates (Mage = 23.62, SDage- 5.167) participated in an online study. Participants were asked to complete selfreport surveys specific to measuring stressful life events, recent experiences with positive parenting behaviors, and levels of compassion. It was predicted that positive parenting behaviors would mediate the relationship between stressful life events and compassionate outcomes. Replicating previous work and in support of the hypotheses, there was a positive relationship between compassion toward others and self-compassion, and compassion toward others and stressful life events were also positively correlated. Additionally, self-compassion was inversely correlated with stressful life events reported at 3 months and 12 months while the relationship between life events experienced at least once showed a positive association. The proposed mediation was partially supported such that the relationship between stressful life events at 12 months and compassionate outcomes was mediated by positive parenting behaviors. Specifically, more reports of positive parenting behavior from students who experienced higher rates of recent stressful life events were indicative of higher levels of compassion reported within the sample. Findings from this study provide implications for developmental interventions focused on expanding the capacity for compassion across the lifespan.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Psychology
- Creator:
- Gilbert, Brandilyn Judith
- Description:
- From victimization literature, it is known that victims are often selected because they display nonverbal signals that flag them as easy prey. With the established knowledge that bullies are driven by the urge to dominate, it stands to reason that nonverbal signals of submissiveness may flag individuals as ideal victims. This paper expands the bullying victimization literature by exploring the potential role of nonverbal behavior of victims, specifically their body posture. Participants watched video clips of groups with individuals posed in either dominant, neutral, or submissive posture. They wrote notes to specified actors and then made bullying victim selection judgments. The notes showed less supportive behavior toward male actors with submissive posture than toward those with neutral posture. Participants selected actors with submissive posture significantly more for victimization than actors with neutral or dominant posture. This finding was consistent for male and female groups, as well as for Asian and Caucasian groups. These findings suggest that submissive posture flags individuals for bullying and, for males, results in less supportiveness from peers.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Psychology
- Creator:
- Bachechi, Brenda S.
- Description:
- The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teacher efficacy and attitudes of elementary and middle school (k-8), general education teachers towards teaching learning disabled, emotionally and behavioral disabled, and significantly intellectually disabled students in an inclusive classroom setting. An online survey, along with 7 face-to-face interviews, was conducted as a means of gathering data regarding teacher attitudes and efficacy toward inclusion. Results from the online survey suggested that while teachers may at first appear to feel positively towards inclusion. Their attitudes are significantly impacted by the amount of time students are included in their classroom, the type of disability student’s presented with and whether students benefitted from inclusion for academic or social goals. Overall, more efficacious teachers were consistently more willing to consider classroom adaptations, modifications, and changes in teaching style to support all learners, then less efficacious teachers. Results from the personal interviews provided some insight as to why teachers had highly different attitudes towards the inclusion of students with different disabilities.. No matter how teachers felt about inclusion, most teachers agreed that all their students benefitted from using different modalities for instruction. All of the teachers interviewed agreed that they could benefit from more training and support in order to successfully include all students in their classroom. This study concluded that further investigation is needed in order to consider the implications of including children of various disabilities and the factors that, impact teachers’ attitudes towards these students.
- Resource Type:
- Dissertation
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Education
- Creator:
- Drutz, Karlie Alicia
- Description:
- The Great Recession from 2007 to 2009 created a financial crisis in the United States, which in turn affected the operations of nonprofits, including museums. In this thesis, the impacts of the recession on museum fundraising operations are explored; fundraising tactics of successful museums are also examined in order to learn lessons from the crisis. By conducting a literature review and case studies of three institutions that effectively weathered the recession, key strategies are uncovered that museums have used to develop strong donor stewardship programs, and adjust to different situations swiftly. Recommendations are also made on how museums can prepare themselves for future financially challenging times, as well as improve their fundraising model in general.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Art
- Creator:
- Cleveland, Justin Bard
- Description:
- Powerful Narrations: Incorporating Oral History into the Museum Model seeks to investigate how museums can effectively collect and utilize oral history collections. In response to the limited current literature on oral history’s role in museums, four case studies representing diverse museums with oral history programs were examined in conjunction with the relevant literature in the field of oral history. Through this research it becomes apparent that oral histories can be a tremendous resource for museums. By utilizing oral history collections, museums become more engaging and relevant to the community they serve. Museums are increasingly recognizing the value of oral history. However, establishing an oral history program can be a daunting endeavor for museum staff. This thesis provides recommendations and guidance for museum employees on how to successfully incorporate oral history into the museum model.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Art
- Creator:
- Capisani, Simona Mila
- Description:
- In this paper I examine the compatibility of truth and public reason in the process of public justification in John Rawls’s Political Liberalism. I argue against Joshua Cohen’s proposal that a political conception of truth is available for public reason. I conclude that the political conception of truth does not resolve the problem of truthfs exclusion from public reason. To support this I present the following argument: (1) If Cohen’s truth conception resolves the discrepancy between truth and public reason then it is either (a) an internal or (b) an external claim; (2) in either case (a) or (b) Cohenfs political conception of truth is unsatisfactory on its own terms. I provide support for accepting (1) as a plausible interpretation. I argue for (2) by arguing separately that (a) requires further motivation and that (b) violates the Rawlsian constraints required for the political conception of truth. I then suggest possible alternatives for strengthening objectivity that are acceptable to Rawlsians.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Philosophy
- Creator:
- Lau, Lung Yuen
- Description:
- With the advancements in contemporary medicine and the improved standards o f living, people are living longer than ever before. Yet, this growing demographic is facing a challenge that consistently threatens their well-being. Falls account for the main cause of fatal/nonfatal injuries among older adults. Once a fall occurs, immediate medical attention is needed to minimize long term effects and mitigate the health condition. The severity of a fail, in fact, heavily depends on the rescue time. Although falling cannot be completely prevented, their damage can be minimized by taking appropriate precautions and by shortening the rescue time. This research project attempts to investigate the feasibility of using floor vibration captured by accelerometers to detect fall location and estimate its severity as part o f a three-dimensional fall detection system to overcome the drawbacks of the current stateof- the-art fall detection system. The performance of the proposed system is investigated in a controlled lab-scale testbed and the results from this study confirmed the feasibility of the proposed system and showed its great potential of using the system to accurately detect falls in real-time.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Engineering
16. State-society relations in Israel : an analysis and application of Migdal's state-society theory
- Creator:
- Luong, Sandy
- Description:
- Joel S. Migdal’s work is centered on power through domination, how it is established, achieved and maintained. Migdal argues that the state is a fragmented structure that competes for power against a multitude of social organizations making up society. This allows for a system by which various aspects of the state are in contact with various aspects of society. As a result, these incidents of competition and contact allow both the state and society to transform and shape each other. However, in this study I argue that although Migdal’s work is a major contribution to the field of comparative politics, the case I will be using in my study is an exception to Migdal’s state-in-society thesis. By applying Migdal’s model to the Israeli state and the Israeli Arab community, I argue that the Israeli state is an exception to Migdal’s thesis that the state-society divide is penetrable. Although the Israeli state has been able to influence the Israeli Arab community, the Israeli Arab community has not been able to penetrate and transform the state. I close this thesis with a speculative analysis of the impact of a Migdalian state-society relation in Israel on the various attempts at peace in the larger issue of the decades long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. I
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Political Science
- Creator:
- Dunn, Glenna
- Description:
- Observations of the globular cluster Omega Centauri taken with the Ultraviolet- Visible channel of the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3/UVIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope are used to detect some of the first candidate white-dwarf/main-sequence binaries in a globular cluster. In color-magnitude diagrams, white-dwarf/main-sequence binaries occupy the region between the white-dwarf sequence and the main sequence which, in the absence of high-quality proper-motion measurements, is also populated by main-sequence halo stars. We demonstrate that color-color diagrams can be used to distinguish background main-sequence stars from cluster white-dwarf/main-sequence binaries. This work is aimed at helping to elucidate the complex evolutionary and dynamical histories of binary stars in globular clusters by estimating the white-dwarf binary fraction for a globular cluster.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Physics and Astronomy
- Creator:
- Zargar, Paymun
- Description:
- In this paper, I argue that Slote’s agent-based virtue ethics amount to a voluntarist virtue ethics that contrasts sharply with ethical intellectualism. Ethical voluntarism is the view that a proper ordering of motives is sufficient for a moral agent to act rightly. That is, the grounds for judging whether an action is morally good or bad are found solely in our assessment of an individual’s inner motives and states. Ethical intellectualism, in contrast, maintains that moral values are independent rational constraints, and that a virtuous person does the right thing by knowing and abiding by them. I will argue that Slote’s agent-based virtue ethics falls short in two ways: (1) his argument for the relevance of the world in linking inner motivations to morally right conduct simply does not succeed, and (2) his agent-basing, or voluntarism, is unable to accommodate the real complexity of moral experiences in the way that the ethical intellectualism defended in this paper can.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- Philosophy
- Creator:
- Giacomini, Colin
- Description:
- This thesis seeks to explain why Turkey in the post-Arab Spring era pursued a strategic partnership with Russia and Iran. Through utilizing the theory of neoclassical realism, the results of this analysis indicate that Turkey’s behavior can be attributed to fundamental changes in the regional structure that occurred around 2016, which precipitated a hostile environment that threatened Turkey’s national security. During this time, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government faced a series of domestic problems that jeopardized the survivability of the ruling regime. The severity of this internal crisis significantly limited the foreign policy choices available to respond to external pressures, and effectively precluded Turkey’s ability to rely on the United States for assistance. Forging a pragmatic and transactional partnership with Russia and Iran mitigated these complex threats. While the decision benefitted Turkey in the shortterm, this study maintains that the three-country partnership is fragile and lacks longevity. In addition, while prospects of U.S.-Turkey rapprochement are slim, reconciliation in the medium-term is still possible.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- International Relations
- Creator:
- Baldwin, Zebulah Scott
- Description:
- This thesis analyzes how the narrative strategies of Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man function to engage and contest conventional (socially dominant) assumptions and reading practices. While this novel is widely critically determined to be a “coming of age” novel or Bildungsroman written in a “double-voiced” narrative style, the socio-political significance of these central formal aspects of the text has received very little attention. By elaborating a structural, rhetorical, and theoretical approach that analyzes the socio-political significance of the text in terms of its narrative construction (as opposed to its apparent content), this thesis situates the novel’s critical significance within generic and ideological conventions, and serves as a corrective to the critical perspectives that have treated the novel as if it were a political tract written in neutral or simply transparent language. The first chapter approaches the text through the lens of genre studies, analyzing the novel’s structural and thematic aspects in terms of the European Bildungsroman. The second chapter explores the functionally problematic construction of tropes and figures through Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of novelistic dialogism and Henry Luis Gates’ theory of Afro- American “Signifyin(g).” The third chapter explores the consequences of the novel’s conflicted formulations of subjectivity, employing critical theory to analyze the social, political, and literary consequences of the way that the text destabilizes readerly assumptions, particularly those surrounding the discursive identity constructions that facilitate modem socialization and that are conventionally produced in a “coming of age” novel.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- San Francisco
- Department:
- English Language and Literature