Digital Commons Network^™

Three Essays On The Theory Of Environmental Regulation: Hybrid Price And Quantity Policies And Regulation In The Presence Of Co-Pollutants, Insung Son

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation contains three original essays in the economic theory of environmental regulation. The main motivations for this work are two problems: the design of greenhouse gas (GHG) policies when emissions of these gases interact with so-called co-pollutants and the design of hybrid price and quantity policies to deal with the uncertainty in the benefits and costs of controlling GHG emissions. Abstract Concerns about how best to control GHGs have generated intense interest in the co-benefits and adverse side-effects of climate policies. Efforts to reduce CO₂ emissions can reduce emissions of flow pollutants that are emitted along with CO …

The Government Role In Creating Innovation Technological Clusters In Developing Countries (The Case Of Saudi Arabia), Khalid Mahmoud Dashash

Doctoral Dissertations

Many governments around the world are committed to the idea of creating high-tech industries in their territories. Often they do so by imitating other well-recognized models such as the Silicon Valley. This dissertation investigated three countries economic development plans to understand how government policies could support or hinder the establishment of an Innovation Systems in developing countries. This dissertation claims that to create a successful high technological innovation cluster in any area, a successful innovation needs to be existed to support these clusters. This study used a comparative qualitative pragmatic method that implemented both case study and process tracing to …

Qkan - Management Of Drainage System Data With Qgis, Jörg Höttges

Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) Conference Proceedings

Based on QGIS a database structure and a set of plugins have been developed to improve the workflow for the hydraulic design of urban drainage systems for consulting engineers. The main goal is pre- and postprocessing in combination with various commercial hydraulic simulation software packages. The plugins provide import and export functionalities, simulation result viewing and generation of longitudinal cross sections in a CAD program. All modules make intensive use of SQL based spatial functions instead of functions implemented in QGIS, because of their stability, higher flexibility and speed due to the indexing functionality. On the other hand the database …

An Incremental Intervention In Jakarta: An Empowering Infrastructural Approach For Upgrading Informal Settlements, Christopher H. Counihan

Masters Theses

Incrementalism is a growing movement within multiple design disciplines that approaches design with sustainable, social, and resilient aims structured around participatory, infrastructural, and phased approaches to design. Carefully considered structural and independent infrastructural frameworks allow infill and accretion according to the demands and needs of individuals and communities. This paper outlines the theories, case studies, and conditions driving incrementalism. My research has informed my project proposal for an incremental upgrade of a slum located in Jakarta using a phased, soft infrastructural, resident facilitated upgrade and development strategy creating new housing units, productive landscapes, and urban form. Incremental development will foster …

Evaluation Of New England Bridges For Bat Roosting Including Methodology And Case Studies, Angela Berthaume

Masters Theses

Bats are known and documented to use bridge structures as roosts in various locations throughout the United States and abroad, but there is limited knowledge of how bats use bridges in New England. Significant population declines due to White-Nose Syndrome have resulted in several bat species being listed as state or federally threatened or endangered. If bats are using bridges as roosts, significant effort is required to ensure they are not disturbed or harmed during construction or maintenance work, requiring knowledge of assessment methods to identify likely roost locations in bridges. This thesis describes a two summer study evaluating the …

Factors That Shape Arab American College Student Identity, Abdul Rahman F. Jaradat

Doctoral Dissertations

Arab American identity has not yet received the research attention and scholarship that it deserves. In this dissertation, I have qualitatively studied the narratives of young Arab American college students and recent graduates. The research questions that I explored include what makes them Arab Americans, and what are the factors that help them identify as such. By focusing on Arab Americans and their identity factors, I have presented the narratives of those women and men who self-identify as Arab American and quoted their accounts of how they navigate this undervalued, misunderstood, and stereotyped identity. I have used ethnic and racial …

Participatory Planning In The Brazilian Cerrado: Mainstreaming Land Use, Climate Adaptation, And Vulnerability In The State-Led Program City For Us, Euripedes De Oliveira

Doctoral Dissertations

The research highlights the urgency of communicating information about climate change, and to seeks to advance generalized knowledge about alternatives to mainstreaming land-use, climate adaptation, and vulnerability in participatory planning processes. It examines the state-led community-based planning process under the program City for Us (2005-2007), that took place in the state of Goiás, Brazil. My leading argument contemplates that vulnerability assessments developed through community-based planning processes might pave the way to further mainstreaming climate change adaptation in planning processes. The research investigates whether the planning process integrates vulnerability in the land-use discussion by the participants of the program. This research …

The Role Of Social Class And Construal Level In Social Justice And Fairness Beliefs, Prerana Bharadwaj

Doctoral Dissertations

What predicts support for the redistribution of resources to improve socioeconomic inequality? Social class, or the subjective perception of one’s resources and position in relation to others in a larger society, was examined as one relevant characteristic. Across four experiments, social class as subjective social status was manipulated (two) and measured (all four), and found to have a significant negative effect on support for the moral values of group-based equality (social justice) but not on individual deservingness (fairness) separate from political identity and other demographic characteristics. This effect was seen on stated principles but particularly relevant in approval ratings of …

Multi-Criteria Decision Making When Planning Sustainable Multimodal Transportation Routes In A Linear Corridor, Marie Louis

Doctoral Dissertations

In urban and suburban locations, public transit can be seen as an effective mode of daily transportation. The majority of the time, travelers would seek the cheapest, shortest, and possibly most eco-friendly means of transit. When designing public transit network systems, transportation planners and decision-makers, with input from stakeholders, should strive to optimize transportation services to meet the needs of the population most efficiently and at the lowest cost, that is, providing a transportation system that s the three E's of the sustainability concept: environment, social equity, and economic. Previous studies have focused on sustainability as the primary concern in …

The Role Of Foster Parents In Improving Educational Outcomes For Youth In Foster Care, Gwen Bass

Doctoral Dissertations

Foster parents have been excluded from efforts to improve educational outcomes for foster children, yet they have the potential to serve as powerful advocates for youth in schools if they are adequately trained and supported on how to do so. The purpose of the present study is to identify key skills and to develop an instrument that can be used to assess competence among Massachusetts foster parents in parenting skills that have been identified in the literature to underlie academic engagement. This research is based on the idea that foster parents have the potential to contribute positively to youth engagement …

Public Policy Administration 197: Policies For A Perfect Country, Betsy Schmidt

School of Public Policy and Administration Educational Materials

This seminar will explore successful public policies from various countries around the world. Each week we will discuss a specific policy—how it works, its strengths and weaknesses, whether it is transferable to other countries, and whether we would include this policy in a utopian community we might create. The seminar is based on a BBC series, My Perfect Country. Before each class, all students will listen to a podcast and answer a discussion question about the podcast. Each week 2-3 students will also find articles about the topic of the week and comment on them. At the end of …

Public Policy Administration 397m: Making A Difference: Policies And Strategies For Social Change, Betsy Schmidt

School of Public Policy and Administration Educational Materials

This course looks at social change through the perspective of policies and strategies that have been shown to make a positive difference in people’s lives. It explores strategies for designing and measuring successful policies, as well as strategies for convincing others that proven policies are worth pursuing. It examines these strategies through the lens of specific policies that have proven successful regarding community building, economic prosperity, the environment, and the justice system. It asks students to consider the world they would like to live in and how they could help bring that world about.

Syllabus: Social Mission Enterprises, Betsy Schmidt

Sustainability Education Resources

This course is for students who dream of starting, running, or working for a social mission enterprise---an organization that meets a specific social mission, makes a financial profit, and considers the environmental and personal impacts of its actions. In this class, students will take initial steps towards creating a fictional social mission enterprise, with practicing social entrepreneurs acting as mentors. Students will also complete a project that will help solve an issue facing the social enterprise with which their mentor is affiliated. The course begins with a discussion of the issues around which students hope to pursue change and of …

Syllabus: Social And Environmental Enterprises, Betsy Schmidt

Sustainability Education Resources

Social and Environmental Enterprises examines organizations that place a social mission ahead of or on par with their financial mission. While studying real and fictionalized social enterprises, we discuss the structures within which social enterprises can thrive, potential sources for funding, the best governance structures, compensation, issues that arise when the organization scales and faces transitions, and tax considerations. We consider the current business, legal, and public policy context for social enterprises, as well as the public policy measures that could foster a healthier social sector.

White Blood Cell Dna Methylation And Risk Of Breast Cancer In The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, And Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (Plco), Susan R. Sturgeon, J. Richard Pilsner, Kathleen F. Arcaro, Kaoru Ikuma, Haotian Wu, Soon-Mi Kim, Nayha Chopra-Tandon, Adam R. Karpf, Regina G. Ziegler, Catherine Schairer, Raji Balasubramanian, David A. Reckhow

Biostatistics and Epidemiology Faculty Publications Series

Background

Several studies have suggested that global DNA methylation in circulating white blood cells (WBC) is associated with breast cancer risk.

Methods

To address conflicting results and concerns that the findings for WBC DNA methylation in some prior studies may reflect disease effects, we evaluated the relationship between global levels of WBC DNA methylation in white blood cells and breast cancer risk in a case-control study nested within the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) cohort. A total of 428 invasive breast cancer cases and 419 controls, frequency matched on age at entry (55–59, 60–64, 65–69, ≥70 …

Umass Amherst Guide To Zero-Waste Events, Kevin J. Hollerbach, Ainsley Brosnan-Smith

Student Showcase

As the University of Massachusetts Amherst continues to grow, and as programming for the campus community becomes an ever-rising priority, events organizers will need to consider the waste implications of every event to comply with state and University standards, goals, and policies. This "Guide to Zero-Waste Events" aims to streamline the planning process as well as provide tips and examples for follow-through to implementing a successful zero-waste event. The guide also presents actionable policy recommendations for the University to reduce waste and increase diversion from large-scale outdoor events on the UMass Amherst campus.

Alcohol Consumption And Breast Tumor Gene Expression, Jun Wang, Yujing J. Heng, A. Heather Eliassen, Rull M. Tamimi, Aditi Hazra, Vincent J. Carey, Christine B. Ambrosone, Victor P. De Andrade, Adam Brufsky, Fergus J. Couch, Tari A. King, Francesmary Modugno, Celine M. Vachon, David J. Hunter, Andrew H. Beck, Susan E. Hankinson

Biostatistics and Epidemiology Faculty Publications Series

Background

Alcohol consumption is an established risk factor for breast cancer and the association generally appears stronger among estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors. However, the biological mechanisms underlying this association are not completely understood.

Methods

We analyzed messenger RNA (mRNA) microarray data from both invasive breast tumors (N = 602) and tumor-adjacent normal tissues (N = 508) from participants diagnosed with breast cancer in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and NHSII. Multivariable linear regression, controlling for other known breast cancer risk factors, was used to identify differentially expressed genes by pre-diagnostic alcohol intake. For pathway analysis, we performed gene …