Digital Commons Network^™

Ya Me Voy (I’M Leaving Now), Lindsey Cordero Camp

Theses and Dissertations

Ya Me Voy (I’m Leaving Now) is 54-minute documentary about Felipe, an undocumented Mexican living in Brooklyn who struggles over whether to return home to Mexico. Felipe plans to reunite with his family in Mexico and reconnect with his youngest son, César, who was just 8 months old when Felipe left. When he discovers his oldest son has a serious debt with the bank, however, he is forced to postpone his return in order to help his son pay off the debt. Felipe feels lonely, disappointed and betrayed by his family until one day an unexpected love affair makes him …

Historical Trauma And Refugee Reception: Armenians And Syrian-Armenian Co-Ethnics, Nicole M. Campos

Master's Theses

This thesis considers the ways in which Armenian history has influenced integration of Syrian-Armenian refugees into Armenia due to the ongoing Syrian War. Ethnic Armenian outlooks were analyzed relative to the influx of Syrian refugees, particularly co-ethnic Syrian-Armenians. Field work in Armenia found a sustained cultural impression of Armenians’ Soviet membership and genocide. Findings suggest that recognizing the importance of history as it may or may not affect migration reception policies and attitudes is important to developing sustainable resettlement environments, at least until repatriation or third-country resettlement becomes an option to migrants. Ultimately, this thesis argues that more attention must …

Slavery, Migration, And Local Development In The Western Us, Colin Q. Sharpe

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the effects of migration from eastern slave states in the 19th century on the subsequent development of counties in the Western US. I find that increased migration from slave states has a large, statistically significant negative effect on 2010 income, and no significant effect on racial inequality or overall income inequality. These findings are robust to a variety of specifications, including controls for geographic factors, state fixed effects, and various county level social and economic conditions. Data on individual migrants suggest that the cause of the negative income effect is the lower average human capital endowment of …

Cloud Merge: Heterogeneous Cloud Application Migration Using Platform As A Service, Mayank Jain

Computer Science and Engineering Theses

With the evolution of cloud service providers offering numerous services such as SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, options for enterprises to choose the best set of services under optimal costs have also increased. The migration of web applications across these heterogeneous platforms comes with ample of options to choose from, providing users the flexibility to choose the best options suiting their requirements. This process of migration must be automated to ensure the security, performance and availability, keeping the cost to be optimal while moving the application from one platform to another. A multi-tier web application will have many dependencies such as the …

Fleeing To Fault Zones: Incorporating Syrian Refugees Into Earthquake Risk Analysis Along The East Anatolian And Dead Sea Rift Fault Zones, Bradley Wilson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The influx of millions of Syrian refugees into Turkey has rapidly changed the population distribution along the Dead Sea Rift and East Anatolian Fault zones. In contrast to other countries in the Middle East where refugees are accommodated in camp environments, the majority of displaced individuals in Turkey are integrated into local cities, towns, and villages—placing stress on urban settings and increasing potential exposure to strong earthquake shaking. Yet, displaced populations are not traditionally captured in data sources used in earthquake risk analysis or loss estimations. Accordingly, this study presents a district-level analysis assessing the spatial overlap of earthquake hazards …

Reification, Resistance, And Transformation? The Impact Of Migration And Demographics On Linguistic, Racial, And Ethnic Identity And Equity In Educational Systems: An Applied Approach, Rebecca Ann Campbell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using an applied anthropological approach focused on language, this study investigates the relationship between linguistic, racial, and ethnic identities and school resource access in the context of migration. This project examines how these identities are established, experienced, reified, and resisted by various school actors. Exposing power at its roots through a multi-level analysis, this research informs on how people negotiate socialization into particular identities, propelling them toward positions in school and society of varying opportunity.

Focused on two elementary schools in a central Florida county that has been and is undergoing demographic changes, this work offers applications for educational institutions …

Living Between Borders: Transnational Marriage And Us Resettlement Patterns In Sudanese Refugee Populations, Deirdre Patterson

Master's Theses

Many South Sudanese refugees who have resettled in the USA have actively sought to maintain their unique cultural identity while simultaneously working to integrate into American society through the pursuit of formal higher education and successful careers. One of the most interesting developments within this population is the establishment and maintenance of transna- tional families. The process for marriage is economically tiresome and, due to strict immigration policies, often compels family members to live transnational lives. Systems of transnational mar- riage—often arranged by families—and married life allow Sudanese refugees living in the USA to continue important cultural practices, speak their …

Research Methods Used To Study Pharmacological Intervention Of Nicotine-Induced Breast Cancer Formation And Metastasis, Bethany Breakall

Honors Theses

The effects of iPLA₂β (Ca²⁺-independent Phospholipase A₂β) and MMP-9 (Matrix Metalloproteinase-9) have been a recent focus of research in the progression of cancer cell proliferation and migration. However, their roles are not entirely known, especially concerning nicotine-induced breast cancer cell advancement. The purpose of this study was to determine the involvement of iPLA₂β in nicotine-induced breast cancer cell proliferation. BEL (bromoenol lactone), a suicide inhibitor of iPLA₂β, was hypothesized to attenuate nicotine-induced breast cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth. Following the BEL treatment, the in-vitro results exhibited a significant decrease …

Behavioral Ecology Of Landbird Migrants In A Complex And Changing Flyway System: The Gulf Of Maine, Adrienne J. Leppold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In and around the Gulf of Maine, over 300 species of birds have been documented during migration, and tens of millions of songbirds may pass through the region on a single autumn night. Shorelines are widely documented as major migration corridors. There is ample evidence that coastal areas concentrate migrants and many species make overwater movements to and from breeding and wintering grounds. Data collected from radar, banding, and ceilometry studies in the northeast have provided us with evidence that birds migrate along the coast and make overwater movements across the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy during both …

Women As Fish: Physical Movement And Social Mobility In Contemporary Vietnam, Linh Khanh Nguyen

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examines the changing rurality and the profound social stratification in contemporary Vietnam through the lens of rural-to-rural female migration. It is based on eighteen months of ethnographic research in a rural offshore fishing community in northern Vietnam called Hải Thành. I study the migration of two groups of women: 1) transnational women, who are young Hải Thành girls that marry Taiwanese and South Korean men, and migrate to mostly rural areas in East Asia, and 2) translocal women, who are women from other rural Vietnamese communities who migrate to Hải Thành to marry local men. My dissertation analyzes …

Remittance Behavior Of Us Immigrants, Nathan Edward Trombley

Masters Theses

Remittances, the sending of a portion of an immigrant’s income to friends and family, have become an undeniable and significant part of the global economy. This is especially true in some common immigrant sending regions where remittances make up a dominant portion of the local economy. The New Immigrant Survey has released the second wave of data in its cohort study of immigrants recently achieving Lawful Permanent Residence status in the United States. In light of this newly available information, this study seeks to highlight demographic and background characteristics of immigrants that have a statistically significant relationship on their sending …

New Destinations Of Empire: Imperial Migration From The Marshall Islands To Northwest Arkansas, Emily Mitchell-Eaton

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examines Marshall Islander migration to Arkansas as an outcome of an international agreement, the Compact of Free Association, between the U.S. and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), a former U.S. territory. While the Compact marked the formal end of U.S. colonial administration over the islands, it also re-entrenched imperial power relations between the two countries, at once consolidating U.S. military access to the islands and creating a Marshallese diaspora whose largest resettlement site is now Springdale, Arkansas. As a result, Springdale, an “all-white town” for much of the 20th century, has recently been remade by Marshallese …

Natural Disasters In Latin America: The Role Of Disaster Type And Productive Sector On The Urban-Rural Income Gap And Rural To Urban Migration, Madeline Alice Messick

Dissertations

This research provides insight into the impact of natural disasters as drivers of rural to urban migration in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Disasters of varying types are predicted to have differing impacts on the productive sectors of agriculture, industry, and services; which due to the concentration of the various productive sectors in either urban or rural areas, subsequently changes the urban-rural wage differential. Changes to the wage differential (as measured by the urban-rural income gap) are predicted to lead to movement between urban and rural areas until a new equilibrium wage is reached.

This dissertation first identifies a …

Gray Bat Migration In Missouri, Cheyenne Leigh Gerdes

MSU Graduate Theses

Migration is an important and understudied aspect of the life histories of many species, particularly bats. Migration impacts conservation efforts, including efforts to manage the impacts of wildlife disease. The federally endangered gray bat (Myotis grisescens) is a migratory species with documented infections by Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungus that causes White-nose Syndrome (WNS). To better understand migration as it might relate to WNS, I quantified the timing and location of gray bat movements in Missouri using acoustic detectors and bat banding. I recorded calls at 4 maternity sites from January to May 2015, and used the R package PVAClone to …

Essays On The Economics Of International Remittances And Migration, Marian Manic

Theses and Dissertations

Existing literature on international remittances recognizes the increasing importance of these transfers on economic development as well as their effect on the reduction of poverty in developing countries. However, the studies on this topic are still divided over the long-term effects of remittances, identifying instances when remittances have either positive or negative results. Probably the most important oversight of the literature on international remittances and migration is the lack of the regional dimension in the analysis, which is the focus of this dissertation.

In the first chapter I propose a novel spatial dataset of remittances and spending from a nationally …

Localizing Immigration Enforcement: “Secure Communities,” § 287(G) And Arizona Law 1070, Jessica Rios

College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations

“Secure Communities” and the similar 287(g) Program of the Immigration and Nationality Act place the U.S. federal government into enforcement relationships with local and state officials. An effect of these relationships is that states acquire more authority over federal immigration policy. In this thesis I explore the history and social effects of such a shift in enforcement law and policy. I conclude with some policy proposals designed to avoid the problems of the recent past.

Blood Parasite Infection And Plumage Elaboration Of Migratory And Resident Populations Of The Common Yellowthroat, Rebecca Leigh Schneider

Theses and Dissertations

In birds, blood parasite diversity varies with latitude, seasonal changes, and habitat type. As a consequence, migratory populations of birds have greater exposure to parasites during their annual cycle than resident populations. Parasite infections may negatively affect the health of individuals which could, in turn, affect the development of elaborate plumage ornaments. We compared migratory (Wisconsin) and resident (Florida) populations of common yellowthroats (Geothlypis trichas) to test whether migratory birds in Wisconsin have more prevalent, intense and diverse infections of blood parasites and subsequently less elaborate ornamentation than their resident counterparts in Florida. As predicted, we found higher prevalence, intensity …

An Actomyosin Driven, Pressure Based Adhesion Model Of Confined Glioblastoma Multiforme Cell Migration, Jamie Wright

Bioengineering Dissertations

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive and common form of glial tumors arising in the support cells of the brain. Cell migration plays a critical role in undermining the surgical resection of tumors. Peripheral cells freely detach and invade the surrounding tissue, preferentially collecting and migrating within confined, mechanically distinct environments such as along the borders of white matter tracts and vasculature. These tracks have been mimicked experimentally using small, rectangular PDMS micro-channels. GBM cells will readily enter and migrate through these micro-channels in the absence of any chemoattractant, even without specific cell-substrate adhesion (integrins) if channel dimensions decrease …

'Illegal And Void': The Effects Of State And Federal Legislation On Filipino Migrants In The American Empire, Hayley Mcneill

Theses and Dissertations

The colonial relationship between the United States and the Philippines helped periodize Filipino migration to America in the first half of the 20th century, drastically in the 1920s and 1930s. Young Filipino men moved from the American-governed islands to other American territories and throughout the West Coast. Filipinos moved consistently for work. The constant seasonal travel, state and federal legislation, and projected characteristics on the young men increased Filipinos inability to settle, enacted barriers against marriage, and halted Filipinos ability to reach adulthood. Laws surrounded by exclusionary attitudes, including the Cable Act, California Civil Code Sections 60 and 69, the …

Transition Between Phases Of The Annual Cycle: Spring Migration To Breeding In Nearctic-Neotropical Songbirds, Kristen Marie Covino

Dissertations

Appropriate timing of each life-history stage is crucial for seasonally migratory species. The temporal constraints faced by migratory songbirds require that they overlap preparation for breeding with spring migration. However, previous work has focused primarily on male birds and has produced inconsistent results regarding the degree of overlap between these two life-history stages. I study the degree to which migrating male and female songbirds prepare for breeding throughout spring migration as they move towards their breeding grounds. Overall, male migrants show a significant degree of breeding preparation during spring migration as determined by circulating testosterone levels and their ability to …

Stopover Ecology Of Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus Colubris) During Autumn Migration, Theodore Joseph Zenzal Jr

Dissertations

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) is one of the smallest Nearctic-Neotropical migrants and the only species of hummingbird that breeds in Eastern North America, yet few studies have investigated the biology of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds when they stopover during migration. Given their small size, high metabolism, aggression, and specialized diet, hummingbirds may represent a migrant that operates on the physiological edge. Therefore it is important to understand the factors that influence their stopover as well as the decision to resume migration. Towards this end, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were captured during autumn migration along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico to …

Cultivating Resistance: Haitian-Dominican Communities And The Dominican Sugar Industry, 1915-1990, Amelia Hintzen

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation integrates archival, ethnographic, and oral-historical research to investigate the intertwined histories of the Dominican sugar industry and Haitian immigrant communities in the Dominican Republic. Over the first half of the twentieth century the Dominican economy became increasingly dependent on Haitian labor to cut sugarcane, and at the same time government policies became more anti-Haitian. During the thirty-year dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo, the Dominican state worked to recruit what they assumed would be a male and temporary Haitian workforce. Trujillo developed an extensive legal apparatus to surveil the country’s population, enabling state officials to segregate Haitians on sugar plantations …

Partitioning Defective Protein 6: A Mechanistic Regulator Of Neuronal Migration, Danielle E. Howell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs) mature they undergo a specific pattern of events. However, the manner which neurons exit the germinal zone (GZ) is not entirely understood. As CGNs polarize and differentiate, they migrate from the outer to the internal layers, a process regulated by polarity genes and post-translational modifications. Due to its role in neuronal migration, we were interested in the functionof the polarity gene Pard6 and its domains. Using the structure function assays, we found that some domains were required for GZ exit. Also, a two-hybrid screen indicated that the E3 ubuiqtin ligase FbxW5 binds to the PDZ …

The Effect Of Seasonal Fish Migration On Energy Budgets In Two Coastal Michigan Streams, Emily M. Dean

Masters Theses

Migratory fish are known to seasonally enter coastal stream systems but the magnitude of the effects these migrations have on stream energy budgets is not fully understood. The Laurentian Great Lakes have several introduced and native adfluvial fish, where only a few studies have investigated the impacts of their migration on energy budgets in Michigan coastal streams. We quantified the contribution of energy from Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) muscle and eggs, steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) eggs, and larval white suckers (Catostomus commersonii) to coastal stream energy budgets. Energy densities and energy delivered to streams were estimated using bomb calorimetry and annual …

Influence Of The 3d Microenvironment On Glioblastoma Migration And Drug Response, Ruth Marisol Herrera Perez

Open Access Dissertations

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly invasive brain cancer characterized by poor prognosis. Despite significant efforts by the basic and clinical research community our understanding of GBM progression and recurrence has been incremental. Improvements in therapeutic response have been dismal, and GBM continues to be the deadliest tumor of the central nervous system, with patient average survival rate of 12 months. Synergistic relationships that the tumor cells establish with the brain microenvironment have been proven fundamental for successful tumor progression and maintenance. Yet, many in vitro GBM studies are performed in formats that fail to recapitulate the most essential component of …

Quantifying The Association Between Active Tuberculosis Incidence And Migrant Farm Worker Populations Among Florida Counties, 2009-2013: An Ecological Study, Ryan Nicolas Ortega

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nearly 20 studies conducted in the last 40 years indicate that tuberculosis (TB) represents a major health concern among migrant farm worker (MFW) populations, but their role in the transmission of TB within the broader community is poorly understood. To this end an ecological study was undertaken which examined 67 Florida counties between years 2009 through 2013. Its aims were as follows: (1) to describe the demographic, geographic, and temporal distribution of the incidence of active TB, (2) to examine the effect of agriculturally relevant seasonal periods on the incidence of active TB, and (3) to quantify the strength and …

Shifting Dreams: Intersections Of The Rhetorical Imagination Of U.S. Immigration Policy And The Writing Practices Of Dreamers, Genevieve Garcia De Mueller

English Language and Literature ETDs

This dissertation examines the intersections between the rhetoric of the DREAM Act and the discourse of the migrant activists, specifically DREAMers, affected by the Acts language. Through a hermeneutic approach combining a rhetorical, genre, and critical discourse analysis, I examine how the DREAMers respond to marginalizing textual features of the Act. DREAMers appropriate genres and rhetorical moves of the dominant discourse to combat four problem features of the DREAM Act, namely the criminalizing nature, the erasure of the affected subjects (migrants), the taking away of agency from the affected subjects (migrants), and the propagation of xenophobic racism. Often fraught with …

El Narrador En La Ciudad Dentro De La Temática De Los Cuentos De Emigración Y Transición Puertorriqueña (1948-1968), Sandra Margarita Stern

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As a result of the political and economic upheavals in Puerto Rico’s governing structures during the mid-twentieth century, changes occurred in the social and cultural contexts as well. Rapid industrialization and installation of modernity became the goals for the island, which resulted in mass movement of people from agricultural rural communities to cities, namely, San Juan and New York. A reflection of this phenomenon appears in different genres of literary production during this time. This new form of writing, with its innovative approaches, grew and found preference mostly in the short story.

This dissertation focuses on the stories of this …

Weather And Photoperiod Indices Of Autumn And Winter Dabbling Duck Abundance In The Mississippi And Atlantic Flyways Of North America, Lena M. Van Den Elsen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Climate change may influence autumn and winter distributions of dabbling ducks throughout the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways of North America. To determine how weather and photoperiod influenced autumn-winter abundances of dabbling ducks at staging areas in eastern North America, I modeled weather and photoperiod variables with rate of change in relative abundance of various dabbling duck species over space and time. Latitude was incorporated into models to determine if changes in duck abundance in relation to weather severity were influenced by locale. Changes in abundance were best described by weather models incorporating temperature and snowfall variables for all species except …

The Role Of C-Abl Kinase In Hcc Development, Lennox Chitsike

Master's Theses

Hepatocellular Carcinoma is the second most lethal cancer after pancreatic cancer. Unresectable HCC tumors carry a poor prognosis and few treatment options are available. The dismal prognosis is mainly due to limited therapy options and molecularly targeted therapy is deemed as solution. Here, we report a novel role of c-Abl in HCC development. We provide evidence of c-Abl activation in human HCC samples compared to normal liver. Using genetic and pharmacological tools, we show that c-Abl plays a vital role in HCC progression in vitro and in vivo. We have identified Axl as an effector in processes mediated by c-Abl. …