Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Politics Of Medicine: Power, Actors, And Ideas In The Making Of Health, Claire Wulf Winiarek

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The practice of medicine has become the prescribing of medicine. Reflecting a construct of health defined by Rationalism, individualism, and biomedical science, medicines (pharmaceuticals) are politically constructed to be the first – and sometimes only prescribed – line of defense against illness and disease. Pharmaceuticals also represent a highly desirable, ‘recession-proof’ component of many Nation-states’ (states’) export strategies, helping advanced economies, in particular, to maintain favorable trade balances and economic growth amidst the headwinds of deindustrialization.

Higher use and the overreliance on pharmaceuticals promote an outsized role for certain actors and ideas in the making of global health, referring to …

Vision Redux: Power And Policy In Saudi Arabia, Ross Douglas Kimm

Theses and Dissertations

The size and scope of the Vision 2030 modernization plan and the associated Saudi Aramco initial public offering are watershed events in the history of the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, they are not outside the history of the country’s development. This thesis, tracing the roots of this latest development plan back to the founding of the current Saudi state, found that Vision 2030 shares many characteristics with previous efforts. Further, it also found precedence for powerful princes rising to power at times of tectonic change. Finally, while historical context is key to understanding this moment in the Kingdom, …

A Thumb On The Scale: Chinese Investment And Influence In Ecuador And Colombia, Christina Pendergrast

Honors Theses

Over the past two decades, Chinese involvement in the developing world has increased dramatically, raising concerns over the intentions behind the provision of development packages. Critics have accused China of a practice known as debt-trap diplomacy, a method of ensnaring less developed nations by providing more loans than those nations have the ability to feasibly pay back. While China denies that their loan and investment packages are provided with any ulterior motive, the influence held by an investor like China has the potential to impact these partner countries for decades to come. In light of the scope of China’s role …

Development And Application Of A Teen-Informed Tool For Measuring The Power Of Food-Related Advertisements In Canadian Environments, Drew Bowman

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Food environments are influential in shaping dietary behaviours of adolescents. Exposure to food and beverage marketing is known to impact food knowledge, behaviours, and health outcomes, yet food environment research largely overlooks advertisements. Given that marketers tend to advertise less healthy foods to teens and teens predominantly purchase low-nutrient foods, it is crucial to study the information environment in the context of secondary school environments. This thesis uses a sequential mixed-methods approach, including environmental audits and teen consultations, to develop and apply a teen-informed tool to measure the power of advertisements surrounding secondary schools. Results indicate that exposure to and …

The Labor Share Question In China, Hao Qi

Doctoral Dissertations

In this study I explore why China’s labor share measured by the conventional approach experienced a major decline over the period from the mid-1990s to the outbreak of the global financial and economic crisis in 2008. I adopt a Marxian approach to address this question. Following the Marxian approach, I focus on how the power relation in the sphere of production affects labor’s share. I argue that major changes in the power relation that took place during the transition of China’s economic system have played a crucial role in the changes of distribution. To this end, I build homogenous series …

The Financial Underpinnings Of The Eu Crisis: Financial Deregulation, Privatization, And Asymmetric State Power, Nina Q. Eichacker

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation asks the following questions. How has financial liberalization affected the incidence of financial crisis in Europe? How have power asymmetries within Western Europe facilitated the process of financial liberalization, and distributed the costs and gains from this liberalization? How have these dynamics been demonstrated at the state level? It charts the institutional liberalization and privatization of European finance from the 1960s onward and presents a survey of descriptive statistics that show how different financial stability, financial flow, and macroeconomic variables have changed in Western Europe since the early 1980s, generally increasing financial and economic instability. It also demonstrates …

Promoting Renewable Energy Generation In The United States: The Debate Over Renewable Portfolio Standards, Joe Cerne

Economics Theses

Incentivizing renewable energy growth in the 21^st century is, and will continue to be, a highly debated topic. As of late, legislative initiatives have prompted the enactment of various renewable portfolio standards aimed at stimulating renewable energy growth. Using data regarding each state’s energy production, this paper finds that there is no significant change in renewable energy output following the initiation of a renewable portfolio standard. We conclude that renewable energy growth is virtually unaffected by renewable portfolio standards and as such, we agree with much of the literature implying other means are necessary in order to adequately shift …

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Solar Pv Power Generation Forecasting Using Hybrid Intelligent Algorithms And Uncertainty Quantification Based On Bootstrap Confidence Intervals, Donna Alhakeem

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Thesis focuses on short-term photovoltaic forecasting (STPVF) for the power generation of a solar PV system using probabilistic forecasts and deterministic forecasts. Uncertainty estimation, in the form of a probabilistic forecast, is emphasized in this Thesis to quantify the uncertainties of the deterministic forecasts. Two hybrid intelligent models are proposed in two separate chapters to perform the STPVF. In Chapter 4, the framework of the deterministic proposed hybrid intelligent model is presented, which is a combination of wavelet transform (WT) that is a data filtering technique and a soft computing model (SCM) that is generalized regression neural network (GRNN). …

The International Monetary Fund, Power Politics, And The Changing Political Economy Of The Twenty First Century, Eduardo Flores

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The governance of the global economy is in a constant state of change. Since the creation of the Bretton Woods system, the International Monetary Fund has had to pursue a series of reforms to meet the changing demands of the international monetary system. At times, the Fund's institutional design has been adjusted to reflect the rise and decline in economic fortunes of member states. Other times the Fund has been resistant to change. However, the original design has proved to be durable and has overcome a number of historical challenges. Currently, two realities are challenging the institutional design of the …

Power In Networks: Considering Castells’ Network Society In Egypt’S January 25th Movement And America’S Occupy Wall Street Movement, Marina Balleria

International Political Economy Theses

This article interogates Manuel Castell's Network society using the Egyptian Revolution and Occupy Wall Street as case studies. It looks at key shared characteristics: the call for transformational change, using a network structure and creating a self-conscious identity all of which nearly reflect the social theorist Manuel Castells’ definition of a social movement in a network society. Using the Egyptian revolution’s January 25^th movement (the Jan 25 movement) and Occupy Wall Street (OWS) as case studies, I argue that Castells’ theory of a network society successfully describes how social movements are empowered by the network structure to create social …

Has The Franco-German Power Balance In The European Union Tipped In Favor Of Germany?, Stephanie C. Haffner

CMC Senior Theses

The power balance between France and Germany in the European Union has been one of great discussion and debate. Countless journalists and scholars have argued that Germany’s power has risen gradually against the seemingly perpetually stronger France over the past sixty years, and is now finally set to surpass France; but how true are these claims? How can power within the EU truly be measured? Through an analysis of Franco-German collaboration through unionization, a critique of the contemporary discourse on the relationship, and an examination of changing contributions to the EU budget, my paper argues that the Franco-German power balance …

Input Substitution In The Coal-Fired Electric Power Industry, Mohammad Fatoorehchie

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A gradual increase in the price of oil, a decline in the supply of gas, and a lag in nuclear construction leaves coal (a potential major resource for the future energy needs) as a fuel in ample supply. The major portion of the United States' electricity is generated by steam-driven generators where steam is produced by fossil fuel-fired boilers. In 1978, 47 percent of the total electricity generation was fueled by coal, up from 43 percent in 1975. Use of coal in generation of electricity has spawned numerous research projects concerning the economics of the coal-fired electric power industry.

The …