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Three Essays In The Economics Of Child Health And Development, Jia Gao

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is composed of three independent essays that focus on the economics of child health and development.

The first chapter explores whether availability of the SBP has affected maternal labor supply by using variation in the SBP mandates within-state over time to identify the effect. To increase the availability of the School Breakfast Program (SBP), between 1989 and 2012, 21 states passed laws that require schools to provide the SBP if the fraction of students eligible for free or reduced-price breakfast in their school districts exceeds a certain threshold. Using the CPS Food Security Supplement data between 1995 and …

Formal Synthesis Of Cj-12,954 And Cj-13,014 Using Zinc-Mediated Tandem Chain Extension-Aldol Reaction And Synthesis And Investigation Of Diastereoselectivity Of Hydroxy-Cyclopropyl Peptide Isosteres, Yashoda Naga Deepthi Bhogadhi

Doctoral Dissertations

A formal synthesis of the natural products CJ-12,954 and CJ-13,014 was successfully accomplished using the zinc-mediated tandem chain extension-aldol reaction methodology. This chemistry was performed on a chiral β-keto imide synthesized using a DCC coupling reaction. The diastereoselectivity of the aldol reaction was controlled by an Evans chiral auxiliary. Comparison between the reported and experimental spectral data for the spiroketals confirmed the structural assignment.

The diastereoselectivity of the homologation-cyclization-rearrangement-lactonization reaction of β-keto imide derived from phenyl carbamate-protected proline was studied. Tetra-n-butylammonium fluoride-mediated rearrangement of trimethylsilyl cyclopropanol demonstrated the role of chiral auxiliary and the amino acid stereocenter in controlling the …

Metamorphism, Deformation, Geochemistry, And Tectonics Of Exhumed Ultramafic And Mafic Rocks In The Central And North-Central Vermont Appalachians, Ian Wiley Honsberger

Doctoral Dissertations

The Neoproterozoic to Early Paleozoic metamorphic, deformational, geochemical, and tectonic history of the Vermont Appalachians is preserved in ultramafic, mafic, and pelitic rocks exposed west of the Iapetan suture zone in the Green Mountain and Rowe Slices of Vermont. Whole-rock geochemical analyses of polymetamorphosed amphibole-bearing mafic rocks within this zone are consistent with subalkaline basalt/gabbro protoliths that varied regionally with respect to REE concentrations inherited during crystallization. The mafic rocks that are in contact with ultramafics preserve MORB signatures, while the mafic rocks that are not in contact with ultramafics preserve REE signatures that range from MORB and OIB to …

Development Of A Fast Compton Telescope (Factel), Manuel Grégory Julien

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation describes the development of a FAst Compton TELescope (FACTEL) instrument. It is designed to be the prototype of a larger Advanced Scintillators COmpton Telescope (ASCOT) aimed for general astronomical observations in the medium energy gamma-ray range between 500 keV and 50 MeV. This dissertation presents the instrument and the observation results from the successful 2011 balloon campaign which took place on September 23rd and 24th at Fort Sumner, New Mexico (Flight 624N). The instrument was at float altitude for twenty-six hours at an average 36 km altitude. The FACTEL prototype achieved a 1-ns Time-of-flight resolution between the two …

"Nobody Wants To Feel Different...But It's Just The Way It Is": Experiences Of Stigma And Other Stressors Among People Living With Psoriasis, Alex Parkhouse

Doctoral Dissertations

It is understood that stigmatizing processes can, and do, affect multiple domains of life among people who bear a stigma label. It is also understood that sources of stress (stressors) can spill over into a variety of areas of life, impacting the health and well-being of stigmatized people. However, although both stigma research and stress research advance, little has been done to connect these two important lines of sociological inquiry. To address this gap, 23 semi-structured qualitative in-person and telephone interviews were conducted to examine the daily, lived experiences of stigma and other stressors among people living with psoriasis (PLWP), …

Social Capital In A Diversifying City: A Multi-Neighborhood Ethnographic Case Study, Justin Robert Young

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite major demographic shifts in the nation’s racial/ethnic composition, we know little about how residents of integrating cities and neighborhoods are connected to one another. Research regarding the relationship between neighborhood diversity and ‘social capital’ (ties between individuals) is mixed, often suggesting that diversity reduces trust, close ties, and participation in local civic life. Yet, the extant literature fails to account for ground-level urban social processes underlying social capital formation in diverse neighborhoods. In this dissertation, I reframe the diversity/social capital debate by using ethnographic methods to answer three interrelated questions: How do residents of diverse neighborhoods (compared to less …

The Influence Of Central Thalamus On Coding Properties Of Prefrontal Cortex, Benjamin Aaron Wormwood

Doctoral Dissertations

Medial thalamus has reciprocal connections with prefrontal cortex (PFC) that are thought to coordinate its activity with other areas of the telencephalon that support flexible goal-directed behavior. The mediodorsal nucleus is the primary source of specific thalamo-cortical projections to middle layers of PFC while midline and intralaminar nuclei provide modulatory inputs to deep and superficial layers of PFC and to anatomically-related areas of the basal ganglia and hippocampus. Each of these nuclei receive direct cortico-thalamic and indirect cortico- striato-pallidal input from PFC. Medial thalamic lesions impair flexible goal-directed behavior, exemplified by delayed non-matching to position tasks (DNMTP).

To elucidate the …

Developing Index Parameters For Cracking In Asphalt Pavements Through Black Space And Viscoelastic Continuum Damage Principles, David Jonathan Mensching

Doctoral Dissertations

Cracking is a major distress for asphalt concrete pavements and presents significant challenges to effective design and maintenance. Fatigue and thermal cracking decrease ride quality of the pavement and allow water to penetrate into underlying layers, which can result in major damage if left unchecked. The primary obstacle in predicting field performance for cracking in asphalt pavements is related to the interaction of material, structural, and environmental components. The major objective of this work is to develop index parameters to relate material and structural parameters, identifying whether a mixture is prone to fatigue or thermal cracking.

A Simplified Viscoelastic Continuum …

Distinct Types Of Electron Distributions Functions In Magnetotail Reconnection: Implications For Particle Energization, Guanlai Li

Doctoral Dissertations

Magnetic reconnection converts energy stored in magnetic fields to plasma kinetic energy by accelerating and heating the plasma, and is believed to be the underlying mechanism of many energetic phenomena in space. Electron distribution functions exhibit the effects of electron energization by the reconnection process. Using CLUSTER data, we have studied electron distributions in the inflow and outflow regions of magnetotail reconnection. Based on comparisons of CLUSTER measurements with PIC simulation results, we discuss the energization mechanisms. The inflow electron distributions can be characterized by their temperature anisotropy into three distinct categories: (1) anisotropic with Tepara>Teperp, (2) isotropic with …

Diamagnetic Stabilization Of Double-Tearing Modes In Mhd Simulations, Stephen Richard Abbott

Doctoral Dissertations

Double-tearing modes have been proposed as a driver of ‘off-axis sawtooth’ crashes in reverse magnetic shear tokamak configurations. The DTM consists of two nearby rational surfaces of equal safety factor that couple to produce a reconnecting mode weakly dependent on resistivity and capable of nonlinearly disrupting the annular current. In this dissertation we examine the linear and nonlinear growth of the DTM using the extended magnetohydrodynamic simulation code MRC-3d. We consider the efficacy of equilibrium diamagnetic drifts, which emerge in the presence of a pressure gradient when ion inertial physics is included, as a means of stabilizing DTM activity. In …

Education Production: Teacher Evaluation Models And Weekend Feeding Programs, Michael Kurtz

Doctoral Dissertations

Education production and, more generally, human capital production, is a significant driver of economic well-being both locally and nationally. This research informs policy decisions regarding how educational inputs are utilized and how those inputs can be influenced by the private sector. This dissertation, “Education Production: Teacher Evaluation Models and Weekend Feeding Programs,” is comprised of three chapters. The first addresses the rising issue in education policy of the measurement of student-test-based teacher evaluation. The second examines the scholastic effects of the relatively recent emergence of weekend feeding programs. The third uses the emergence and spread of the same weekend feeding …

A Supercell, Bloch Wave Method For Calculating Low-Energy Electron Reflectivity With Applications To Free-Standing Graphene And Molybdenum Disulfide, John Francis Mcclain

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation reports on a novel theoretical and computational framework for calculating low-energy electron reflectivities from crystalline surfaces and its application to two layered systems of two-dimensional materials, graphene and molybdenum disulfide. The framework provides a simple and efficient approach through the matching of a small set of Fourier components of Bloch wave solutions to the Schrodinger Equation in a slab-in-supercell geometry to incoming and outgoing plane waves on both sides of the supercell. The implementation of this method is described in detail for the calculation of reflectivities in the lowest energy range, for which only specular reflection is allowed. …

Unraveling Depositional And Diagenetic Signals In Magnetic Susceptibility In Methane-Bearing Sediments Along The Indian, Cascadia, And Japanese Margins, Stephen C. Phillips

Doctoral Dissertations

Magnetic susceptibility is a bulk measure that reveals variation in ferromagnetic mineral content. High-resolution measurement of magnetic susceptibility in ocean drilling records reveals variability that can be attributed to primary depositional processes and/or secondary diagenetic processes that occur after deposition. Each chapter of my dissertation investigates magnetic susceptibility records along with geochemical, mineralogical, and rock magnetic techniques in methane-bearing marine sediments along the Indian, Cascadia, and Japanese margins. The overall goal of this work is to improve the understanding of the effects of detrital and biogeochemical processes on magnetic mineralogy, and thus magnetic susceptibility, in these continental margin marine environments. …

Well-Being As A Measure Of Inequality Among The Retirement-Age Population: An Examination Of The Role Of Place, Migration, And Socioeconomic Status In Shaping Happy And Healthy Older Americans, Megan Henly

Doctoral Dissertations

The proportion of the U.S. population comprised of seniors – those aged 65 and older – is projected to increase from 13% presently to 20% by 2030. With this demographic change, it is important to consider how older residents are faring, which older residents do best, and what communities are doing to support this population. Rather than examining income or wealth as a dependent variable, I predict two measures of well-being among older U.S. residents– one subjective and one objective. By linking survey data of the 50 and older population from the 2010 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to a …

A Model Study Of Adlayer Pattern Formation Of Rigid Di- Tri- And Tetratopic Molecules On Square And Triangular Lattices, Moh'd Ibrahim Alomari

Doctoral Dissertations

In this work we considered the adlayer self-assembly of three model molecules di-, tri- and tetratopic with different sizes and potential energy parameters on square and hexagonal (triangular) lattices. For each case, we carry out minimization using an analytical gradient to find the most stable minima. In all cases we use “coarse-grained” site-to-site pairwise additive potential. We have explored how the change in the size of the molecule affects the pattern formation in the molecular adlayer. A primary focus of this work restricts the exploration of the landscape to a “unit cell” of 2x2 angles, labeled [1, 2, 3, 4] …

The Application Of Analytical Ultracentrifugation With Fluorescence Detection System To The Study Of Macromolecular Complexes In Biological Systems, Wen Xi

Doctoral Dissertations

Using the novel technique of analytical ultracentrifugation with fluorescent detection (AU-FDS), I have conducted the analysis of the properties of two types of intracellular macromolecular complexes: the translational mRNP complex and the intermediate soluble aggregates present in Huntington’s disease. With AU-FDS it is possible to differentiate a broad size range of soluble molecules from complex mixtures and determine the size and abundance of each individual complex based on its sedimentation rate under a centrifugal field.

In the first part of my thesis, the characteristics of the translational repressor SBP1 was determined by analyzing the mRNP complexes it was associated with. …

Secondary Preservice, In-Service, And Student Teachers’ Noticing Of Mathematical Work And Thinking In Trigonometry, May Chaar

Doctoral Dissertations

Recognizing and responding to students’ work and thinking are central to reform-minded mathematics teaching; in particular, recent educational reforms advocate for instruction that builds on students’ thinking, requiring teachers’ continual assessment of students’ verbal and written strategies. Despite its significance however, little is known about how secondary mathematics teachers analyze and respond to students’ work and thinking. This study aimed to help explain how teachers carry out this work. In particular, it sought to explain what types of knowledge and other resources enable or inhibit teachers’ in-depth analysis of students’ work and thinking while more generally describing the ways in …

Community Decisions About Innovations In Water Resource Management And Protection, James Jay Houle

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the social, economic and technological factors that influence rates of adoption of innovative stormwater management approaches in municipal organizations in the Great Bay watershed, NH. The scope of this study was to investigate how innovations spread through municipal populations in a specific region and watershed area of the US. The methodology used mixed qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews, case studies, and surveys to examine perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs that influence the adoption of innovative stormwater management solutions, as well as the governance characteristics of municipalities at different stages of adoption. Major findings …

A Woman's Work Is Never Done? Earlier Life Child, Marital, And Work History And Older Women's Relationship To The Paid Labor Force, Anne Shattuck

Doctoral Dissertations

In the past 40 years, women in the U.S. have experienced higher rates of labor force participation and higher rates of divorce and single motherhood. How these changes will affect women when they reach old age is not yet understood. Using a pooled sample from the Health and Retirement Study of 4,350 women born between 1931 and 1943, this dissertation assesses patterns of women’s work/retirement circumstances at age 66-68 and evaluates the relationship between those patterns and women’s earlier life marital, work, and childrearing history. Latent class analysis revealed four distinct classes of older women: the "retired well" (57.6% of …

Single Chain Technology: Toward The Controlled Synthesis Of Polymer Nanostructures, Christopher Kenneth Lyon

Doctoral Dissertations

A technique for fabricating advanced polymer nanostructures enjoying recent popularity is the collapse or folding of single polymer chains in highly dilute solution mediated by intramolecular cross-linking. We term the resultant structures single-chain nanoparticles (SCNP). This technique has proven particularly valuable in the synthesis of nanomaterials on the order of 5 – 20 nm. Many different types of covalent and non-covalent chemistries have been used to this end.

This dissertation investigates the use of so-called single-chain technology to synthesize nanoparticles using modular techniques that allow for easy incorporation of functionality or special structural or characteristic features. Specifically, the synthesis of …

Hybrid Zone Dynamics Between Saltmarsh (Ammodramus Caudacutus) And Nelson's (Ammodramus Nelsoni) Sparrows, Jennifer Walsh

Doctoral Dissertations

Hybrid zones in nature have long been equated to “windows on the evolutionary process” providing unique environments to understand patterns of gene flow and introgression and the role of these mechanisms in maintaining biodiversity. Ongoing hybridization and introgression can lead to a number of conservation and evolutionary outcomes; as such, identifying the role of introgression in natural populations can provide new insights into species interactions while contributing to our understanding of evolutionary theory.

The research presented below characterizes hybrid zone dynamics between two tidal marsh endemics – the Saltmarsh (Ammodramus caudacutus) and Nelson’s (Ammodramus nelsoni) sparrow. Both species co-inhabit salt …

Genomic Resource Development And Candidate Gene Evaluation In Fragaria Vesca (L.), Melanie Eileen Shields

Doctoral Dissertations

The wild strawberry Fragaria vesca (L. Rosaceae) is an important diploid model plant system for the study of processes associated with crop production, plant physiology, and cultivar development of the octoploid cultivated strawberry (F. ×ananassa), an economically important crop plant. A fosmid clone library developed from F. vesca ssp. americana ‘Pawtuckaway’, and a mapping population of 96 F2 progeny (YPF2) resulting from a cross of F. vesca ssp. semperflorens “Yellow Wonder’ with F. vesca ssp. americana ‘Pawtuckaway’, were employed to further develop genetic and genomic resources and advance the search for the molecular identity of the classically defined fruit color …

Doing The Tough Work: Care And The Dynamics Of Community-University Engagement, John B. Cook

Doctoral Dissertations

Many colleges and universities offer their commitment to partnering with local communities, and often do so with the goal of addressing societal needs. A growing field, such engagement between higher education institutions and community partners continues to evolve, including the purpose and rationale for this work, how engagement is accomplished, theoretical contexts, and how success is viewed by stakeholders. A qualitative case study was undertaken with the following questions at the fore: how does a self-described “engaged” university center function when viewed through the prism of an ethic of care? What are the characteristics of engagement efforts undertaken by staff, …

The Relationship Between Oceanic Transform Fault Segmentation, Seismicity, And Thermal Structure, Monica Wolfson Schwehr

Doctoral Dissertations

Mid-ocean ridge transform faults (RTFs) are typically viewed as geometrically simple, with fault lengths readily constrained by the ridge-transform intersections. This relative simplicity, combined with well-constrained slip rates, make them an ideal environment for studying strike-slip earthquake behavior. As the resolution of available bathymetric data over oceanic transform faults continues to improve, however, it is being revealed that the geometry and structure of these faults can be complex, including such features as intra-transform pull-apart basins, intra-transform spreading centers, and cross-transform ridges. To better determine the resolution of structural complexity on RTFs, as well as the prevalence of RTF segmentation, fault …

Kinetic Processes In Reconnection: Impact Of Magnetospheric Hot O+ And Cold Ions In Magnetopause Reconnection And Electron Heating In Magnetotail Reconnection, Shan Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

We investigate three aspects of magnetic reconnection where kinetic processes play a strong role: hot O+ and cold ion behaviors in magnetopause reconnection, their effect on the reconnection rate, and electron heating during magnetotail reconnection. At the magnetopause, we analyze observed velocity distribution functions (VDFs) and find that hot O+, despite its large gyroradius, almost fully participates in the reconnection outflow with a demagnetization-pickup process. Finite Larmor radius effects are apparent, controlling how far the ions extend to the magnetosheath side. For cold ions, if entering the central diffusion region, they behave like hot ions; otherwise, they convect with the …

Catch Share Management In The Northeast Multispecies Fishery: Implications For The Commercial Groundfish Fishery In New Hampshire, Rachel G. Feeney

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation tests theories about catch share approaches to fishery management, examining their validity and limits relative to the Northeast groundfish sector program, and potentially modifies them in light of research outcomes. Participants of the groundfish fishery based in New Hampshire are the particular focus of research, but broader impacts are considered. Studies of this catch share program have been limited to date, and studies of catch share programs generally have focused on a particular dimension (e.g., biological, social, economic) rather than integrate across dimensions, despite increasing needs to do so for management. Here, six key aspects of fishing are …

Porous Medium Convection At Large Rayleigh Number: Studies Of Coherent Structure, Transport, And Reduced Dynamics, Baole Wen

Doctoral Dissertations

Buoyancy-driven convection in fluid-saturated porous media is a key environmental and technological process, with applications ranging from carbon dioxide storage in terrestrial aquifers to the design of compact heat exchangers. Porous medium convection is also a paradigm for forced-dissipative infinite-dimensional dynamical systems, exhibiting spatiotemporally chaotic dynamics if not ``true" turbulence. The objective of this dissertation research is to quantitatively characterize the dynamics and heat transport in two-dimensional horizontal and inclined porous medium convection between isothermal plane parallel boundaries at asymptotically large values of the Rayleigh number $Ra$ by investigating the emergent, quasi-coherent flow. This investigation employs a complement of direct …

Nitrate Uptake Kinetics In Streams: Is Carbon The Driver?, Bianca Rodriguez-Cardona

Master's Theses and Capstones

The underlying mechanisms driving the coupled interaction of organic matter quantity and uptake of inorganic nitrogen are not well understood, particularly in surface waters. To determine the relationship between background dissolved organic carbon (DOC) quantity and nitrate (NO3-) uptake kinetics in streams, a series of NO3- TASCC additions were performed in four sites within the Lamprey River Watershed, New Hampshire, with a wide range in background DOC concentrations (1 mg C/L - 8 mg C/L). Experiments were performed between the 2013 and 2014 growing seasons. Across all sites and experimental dates, ambient and dynamic uptake velocity (Vf) correlated negatively with …

Effect Of In Vivo Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (Pbde) Treatment On Hepatic Glyceroneogenesis And Lipid Metabolism, Kylie Rose Cowens

Master's Theses and Capstones

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are flame-retardant chemicals that contaminate the environment. Through ingestion and inhalation, these chemicals get into the human body, where they affect the liver by suppressing the metabolic enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), which is partially responsible for glyceride-glycerol production via glyceroneogenesis. This study investigated the effects of PBDE-induced hepatic PEPCK suppression on glyceroneogenesis, and the associated perturbations in liver lipid metabolism. Twenty-eight male, weanling Wistar rats were treated daily with 14 mg/kg body weight PBDE mixture, DE-71 (TRT, n=14) or corn oil vehicle (CON, n=14) for 28 days. After a 48-hour fast, rats were sacrificed and blood …

The Benefits Of Recreational Fishing In Adolescence, Sarah Elaine Leonard

Master's Theses and Capstones

Little attention has been given to how different leisure activities affect adolescents. The purpose of this study therefore was to investigate how one specific leisure activity, recreational fishing, can provide potential benefits to adolescents. Youth attending a one week fishing camp at the 4-H Barry Conservation Camp in July of 2014 were surveyed on multiple dimensions of well-being. Results indicate significant improvements in resilience, optimism, and self-esteem following the fishing camp experience. Youth reported that while fishing they engaged in a number of skillful activities (patience, self-discipline, etc.), many of which are beneficial to the positive development of youth. The …