Undergraduate Honors Theses and Student papers

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10161/6

Duke migrated to an electronic-only system for theses between 2006 and 2010. As such, theses completed between 2006 and 2010 may not be part of this system, and those completed before 2006 are not hosted here except for a small number that have been digitized.

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 1064

Open Access
We Paint to the Sky: Mural Making and Social Action in Post-Dictatorship Chile
(2025-04-11) Krovitz, Sarine
For over 50 years, the Brigada Ramona Parra, the muralist brigade of the Chilean Communist Youth, has used muralism to spread political ideology, protest the Pinochet dictatorship, and demand justice for dictatorial violence across Chile. The Brigade employs a particular focus on collective and participatory mural-making, bringing communities, schools, strangers, and relatives of the disappeared together to paint. Grounded in intergenerational interviews with current and former brigadistas of the Brigada Ramona Parra, I draw from a body of interdisciplinary theory, including social practice art and social action art therapy, to examine how the Brigade’s collaborative mural-making process aims to activate political, social, and organizational impacts in local communities. I further explore how this participatory process works as an act of trans-generational, political memory-making for murals painted in honor of Chile’s detenidos desaparecidos, thirty years post-dictatorship. Rather than only analyze the Brigade’s murals, this thesis explores the contemporary Brigade’s mural-making process as social action in and of itself.
Open Access
Wide and Deep (Poetry Thesis)
(2024-04-01) Chen, Marina
Through discoveries like humor (which stabs a poem like acid does a piece of meat), new aesthetics of interest, and more challenging poetic forms, this project has confirmed that writing is my way to speak at full volume. I wanted to explain my thought process a bit, in hopes that it is helpful to you as a reader. In short, I plowed deep, and I pushed wide. Sometimes, every poem I write feels like my first. In my personal life I vehemently disdain the stickiness of the past, which can be embarrassing and uncool. But as a writer I’m too entrenched in the past, the dusty Tupperware of childhood and everything that macerates inside – discovery, hope, loss, dying love, what is love, filial piety, and the little images that are my symbols of those things. Horses and food, for example, real deep cuts. In the epigraph, the Pound and Courbet quotes suggest my philosophy, that the image is energetic magic, but I can also never describe something I don’t know. The images always flow. For my first few years at Duke that was the end of it: a page of image swimming in a blob of overwhelming emotion. With this thesis, I wanted to push into a longer form; I decided I liked it and would like to stay there. Longer poems indulge in their own cadence, allowing full excavation of emotion. Of course, my “long” pales in comparison to real long, which is where I’m walking towards, hopefully... “miles to go before I sleep”, à la the Frost poem. In my long poems, I’ve been able to dig further into themes of beauty and the body, using wonder, sensuality, and even horror to bind the two. I’ve tried to push wider too, which I hope is apparent in the progression of the works in this manuscript; I’ve tried to apply my favorite personal topics in a more universal way. In doing this, I looked to T.S. Eliot, Charles Wright, and Walt Whitman for advice to expand my scope. (America on the mind, and the past.) These poets also encouraged experimenting with tone and the shape words take on the page. I honed tools like landscape, musicality, slant rhymes, and casual onomatopoeia to do this. These helped separate my style, which leans abstract, into what I like to think of as theatrical scenes. In the spirit of pushing outwards, I was captivated by haiku and similar standalone, one-line forms like Yannis Ritsos’s Monochords. I found that palm-sized units inspired by the Japanese aesthetic, of nature and intricate subtleties, were helpful building blocks for longer forms. There’s the line, and then there’s the role of the line in a larger work. In a long work, there’s so much to find in the space in between concrete objects, so much that they morph into new scenes altogether. I’ve learned expansive poems can often keep absorbing, opening helpful creative channels to inspire or place new content.
Open Access
La sexualidad en la música popular española: Expresión, transgresión y cambio social
(2025-03-18) Bussel-Alonso, Miriam
La canción popular española desde los años setenta hasta la actualidad no solo ha reflejado las mentalidades de la sociedad a través de las décadas, sino que además ha actuado como un vehículo de transformación de la sociedad misma. La representación de conductas y usos sexuales constituye uno de los campos literarios y musicales en que se proyectan tanto pautas de una cultura dominante, con sus valores morales, como los deseos sociales e ideologías no normativas, siempre minoritarios o emergentes en su confrontación con la normatividad imperante. Ya sea manifestación de la cultura joven, protesta o desafío, la canción en la España de los últimos cincuenta años ha llegado a concienciar y promover alternativas a los comportamientos del ideario franquista que se habían cimentado en la moral católica y conservadora. Puesto que la música no solo entraña un texto poético y una melodía, sino toda una red que se teje alrededor de la pragmática comunicativa, este trabajo va a prestar atención a emisor, receptor, contexto, medio e intertextos en la proyección y verbalización (con su música y gestos escénicos) de deseos (sean frustrados o realizados) de autorrealización sexual y de comportamientos erótico-amorosos en general. A través del análisis de varios hitos de la canción pop española, este estudio explora la evolución de la sociedad en España en tres marcos temporales. Primeramente, me detendré en el conservadurismo que fraguó el régimen dictatorial. En segundo lugar, haré cala en el movimiento transgresor que surge a finales de los setenta hasta la primera mitad de los años ochenta. Por último, esta tesina analizará la proliferación de identidades líquidas que conviven y han aumentado paulatinamente en el territorio nacional a partir de los años finales de la década de los ochenta, en los noventa y hasta nuestros días. La expresión de la sexualidad pertenece al ámbito de lo íntimo, aunque la literatura de Occidente haya convertido las vicisitudes en torno al deseo en tema principal con que entretener (y educar) a un público burgués desde el siglo XVIII. No sorprenderá a nadie si afirmamos que, en las canciones pop españolas del último tercio del siglo XX, se muestran importantes correlaciones entre los deseos de un sujeto insatisfecho eróticamente y los deficientes grados de desarrollo humano arrostrados por un país acostumbrado al control social ejercido por un estado policial y, a mayores, nacionalcatólico. Desde el punto de vista de disciplinas sociales tales como la filosofía, la sociología, la economía, la historia, la política, la educación y el derecho, la atención a las relaciones cambiantes del sujeto español con los usos, libertades y restricciones sexuales que capturan la música popular y la publicidad con una fidelidad pasmosa nos pone en la pista de las relaciones de igualdad y desigualdad entre los sexos, así como el mismo desafío irresuelto al binarismo masculino / femenino planteado por las identidades que se posicionan en la disidencia sexual. El análisis de las canciones pop que he seleccionado muestra los grados de desarrollo y liberación desde los años sesenta hasta hoy con respecto a la rigidez de los papeles de género, los estereotipos de lo masculino / femenino / queer, y, por último, el sistema de fuerzas que se da entre lo políticamente correcto y la libertad de expresión, entre la autenticidad y los dictados comerciales, y entre la tradición y la renovación que caracterizan a la sociedad española actual. La implantación social de una variedad musical determinada dependerá de la calidad acústico-artística de las creaciones específicas que la ilustran; de si una melodía y su letra resuenan a o no con temáticas sociales o vívidas emociones reconocibles por el auditorio; de los cambiantes deseos de la generación joven que asiste a recitales y pide canciones en la radio; y, por supuesto, de los planes de comercialización que el sello productor asigna a determinado artista y sus canciones. Es decir, el éxito mayor o menor dependerá de cuán susceptibles sean los compositores e intérpretes a las exigencias de las discográficas y productores, y, en casi igual medida, de lo que el público radiofónico esté pidiendo con sus llamadas (a menudo de pago) a las emisoras. Algunos hitos de la canción pop española, que en su día recibieron amplia cobertura periodística y televisiva, han tenido gran calidad musical y otros no han pasado necesariamente a la posteridad como joyas artísticas. Ha habido composiciones que surgieron del inconformismo y la protesta de grupos sociales marginales o alienados, mientras que otras nacieron de una voluntad de novedad, rebeldía y transgresión, pero siempre sabiendo sus compositores e intérpretes que existía ― potencialmente o ya en la práctica― un mercado, por pequeño que fuese, para cualquier música que juega y suena ― plays― a la contra, como ocurre con el punk rock o con las canciones que en los setenta hacía visibles las relaciones y apegos emocionales anteriormente censurados. La música, tal como señala Tia De Nora, es inseparable de la articulación de la subjetividad. Esto es así, primero, porque cada músico es un performer en un “acto” escénico, y segundo, porque cada canción interpela a un auditorio como sujeto de ese discurso: “Music is strongly associated with mood, feeling, emotion, and subjectivity” (2003, 83). Además, la música pop es un caldo de cultivo ideal para transmitir la expresión de los deseos y el proverbial inconformismo de los jóvenes, no siempre sustancialmente subversivo del orden institucional ni social: “As a ‘real virtuality’ capable of being experienced in many ways, music is a field of knowledge for young people to express, and also build their individual subjectivities and collective identities” (Guerra et. Al, 3). Por otro lado, se da la circunstancia de que intérpretes y grupos se sirven de las discográficas para crear música comercial mientras que hay otros que se mantienen en el mundo musical independiente. En todos los casos, las canciones se han convertido en agentes de transformación social porque la música no solo entraña un texto poético y una melodía, sino toda una red que se cimienta en la pragmática comunicativa. La canción pop proviene de un artista que la emite; además, la recibe y consume una audiencia; el contexto sociopolítico, económico y cultural la delimita; adquiere significados adicionales según el medio donde se transmite y a través de intertextos múltiples, como por ejemplo el vestuario y maquillaje del cantante, las imágenes de los videoclips, las portadas de los discos, las entrevistas a los músicos y todo aquello que rodea a la puesta en escena o actuación. Por ello, este trabajo va a prestar atención a emisor, receptor, contexto, medio e intertextos. La industria musical confiere tantas oportunidades como desafíos a los artistas, quienes deben encontrar el equilibrio entre el control creativo, las restricciones de parte de los sellos discográficos y la independencia financiera. La música pop produce o reproduce ―diríamos que imita sónica, verbal y gestualmente― estados de ánimo relacionables con los del público, pero no articula una ética de las emociones. Lo que hace, más bien, es explotar indistintamente el abanico de registros emocionales que cualquier persona apasionada o sentimental puede experimentar. Por otra parte, nadie experimenta la misma única emoción todo el tiempo, lo cual nos convierte, a cada una de nosotras, en un receptor múltiple a un amplio abanico de canciones, estilos, ritmos y mensajes. Dependiendo de las necesidades de catarsis o de profilaxis emocional de quien escucha, nos podremos identificar o no con una canción determinada, entre las muchas que suenen en un programa de radio como Los 40 Principales en una misma jornada. Así, en 1976 una misma persona podía disfrutar escuchando “Dile que vuelva”, de Marisol, una tarde en que su mejor amiga le confiesa que no puede dejar de pensar en el novio que la dejó y que está dispuesta a humillarse ante ese novio con tal de que él regrese. En la tarde siguiente, otra amiga le dice que ha conocido a un chico irresistiblemente guapo y que este quiere en seguida tener relaciones con ella, mientras en la radio de la cafetería en que se desarrolla la conversación entre amigas suena “Hoy tengo ganas de ti” de Miguel Gallardo, atractivo en imagen y apellido. En dicha canción la máscara musical de Gallardo sueña con una relación apasionadamente sexual con su pareja, de quien se encuentra aleado físicamente, a su pesar, en el presente de la canción: “Llenarme de ti, llenarme de ti. / Quiero en tus manos abiertas buscar mi camino/ y que te sientas mujer solamente conmigo. / Hoy tengo ganas de ti, hoy tengo ganas de ti”, le dice él a ella. Por si esta profesión de hombre apasionado y carnalmente enamorado no bastase, ahí está el “Jamás” de Camilo Sesto ―cantante con enigma de asexuado en su vida privada―, para quien la fidelidad carnal es algo a un tiempo consciente y subconsciente: “Jamás, jamás he dejado de ser tuyo. / Lo digo con orgullo:/ tuyo, nada más. / Jamás, jamás mis manos han sentido / más piel que tu piel / porque hasta en sueños te he sido fiel”. En un sistema de fuerzas que se da entre lo puramente artístico y los fondos que financian un álbum entran en juego también la crítica musical, la recepción social de las canciones y los medios de difusión. El proceso de popularización de la música depende, según el pensamiento de Bourdieu, de las dinámicas de una serie de agentes de los campos sociales, políticos y culturales.
Open Access
Crowdsourcing Empire: Compliance, Autonomy and Disobedience in the Canada Company’s Planned Towns during the Second Quarter of the Nineteenth Century
(2025-04-18) Aldridge, Robert
The Canada Company was a joint-stock company incorporated in the city of London in 1826. This company purchased over two million acres from the Crown in the colony of Upper Canada, going on to develop and sell those lands for profit. One such way in which the Canada Company chose to improve the value of its lands was by establishing planned towns, which were urban spaces that largely preceded the settlement of the surrounding forests. However, each of the Company’s three planned towns experienced unique development and diverse fates. The chapters in this thesis are each dedicated to a case study of one of these towns. Chapter 1 deals with Guelph, the first town and an exploratory project for the Canada Company to try out different development strategies. Chapter 2 addresses Goderich, the second town and aspiring port city on Lake Huron, which seemed to be incapable of sustained growth despite continued effort and expenditure by the Company. Chapter 3 focuses on Stratford, the town which evolved much later and more spontaneously than the first two, such that the Canada Company itself did not anticipate the town’s growth. Using a combination of internal Canada Company records, including finance reports, advertising material, maps and correspondence, along with published settler accounts, travel accounts and government documents, this thesis investigates the ways in which Company policy was reconciled to settler demand. In doing so, Crowdsourcing Empire argues that the autonomy of these planed towns and the settlers within them drove the development of Canada Company lands. In this way, this thesis intervenes in the existing literature by emphasizing the ways in which colonialism was driven by layers of autonomous institution and authorities just as much as official policy.
Open Access
China and the U.S. AI Race: Convergence by Competition
(2025-04-23) Simmons, Alistair
This thesis is a comparative analysis of artificial intelligence (AI) governance in China and the United States (U.S.), investigating the underlying worldviews that shape how AI is regulated, developed, and deployed in each country. Uncovering trends in government regulation, this paper reveals similarities and differences in visions for the future of AI development in the two countries, indicating areas of potential convergence and value alignment. The paper problematizes the prevailing binary of China as a state-centric digital regulator and the U.S. as a laissez faire government, demonstrating how the U.S. government is increasingly mirroring China’s protectionist state intervention approach. Using statistical and textual analysis of government regulations, court cases, corporate reports, scientific papers, and intellectual discourse, this thesis reveals dominant collective ideals for the development of AI in the two countries and how these ideals shape the development of technology. This thesis analyzes and compares dominant perspectives in the two countries to foster constructive dialogue and develop strategies to address the ethical considerations posed by the potentially harmful use of AI systems.
Open Access
On the Possibility of Evil: Freedom, Choice, and Responsibility within the Kantian Moral Framework
(2025-04-01) Chong, Faith
An oft-criticized aspect of Immanuel Kant's moral philosophy is its perceived incompatibility with moral imputation. Kant proposes an objective moral law, which is tested through the categorical imperative, and distinguishes between two types of will, autonomous and heteronomous. An autonomous will legislates itself using reason, which guides it to incorporate the moral law as its sole maxim, such that an individual with such a will would act morally. Conversely, a heteronomous will is influenced by external factors, such as inclinations, and therefore can be considered unfree; an individual with such a will may act immorally, or even evilly. Thus arises the question: Do freedom and rationality necessarily preclude immoral and evil actions in Kantian moral philosophy, and if so, how can we assign responsibility for evil? While Kant develops his core moral philosophy within his seminal work Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals (1785), this thesis chiefly turns to his relatively lesser-known later work, Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason (1793), to uncover a more nuanced interpretation of his views on morality and responsibility. Reference is also made to his Critique of Pure Reason (1781). Drawing on selected secondary sources such as Henry E. Allison’s Kant’s Theory of Freedom (1990) and Emil Fackenheim’s Kant and Radical Evil (1954), as well as insights from other philosophers like Leibniz where relevant to Kant, this thesis argues that Kant’s framework not only allows for moral responsibility, but also strengthens its significance.
Open Access
Helsinki’s Echo: The Fight for Human Rights in the Soviet-American Cold War
(2025-04-18) Jordan, Olivia R.
This thesis explores how the 1975 Helsinki Final Act transformed Cold War diplomacy by reframing ideological competition between the United States and the Soviet Union through the lens of human rights. I argue that the détente era shifted the Cold War away from a militaristic competition towards a moral and ideological competition. The Final Act’s recognition of human rights offered a powerful political tool for dissidents inside the Soviet Union. The formation of the Moscow Helsinki Group in 1976 exemplified a form of “radical civil obedience,” where activists like Yuri Orlov and Lyudmila Alexeyeva demanded that the Soviet regime uphold both its constitutional commitments and international obligations under accords like the Final Act. This thesis positions Yuri Orlov and Lyudmila Alexeyeva as case studies to analyze how dissidents harnessed the language and framework of human rights. Drawing on the Radio Liberty broadcast archives, I demonstrate how dissidents used clandestine American-backed radio to amplify their causes and expose state abuses to both domestic and international audiences. Radio served not only as a platform for circumventing Soviet censorship but also as a site where dissident identity was constructed. I situate the Moscow Helsinki Group within the broader historiography of Cold War dissent and non-governmental organization activism, while also offering an original intervention that foregrounds radio’s role in Cold War human rights diplomacy. Ultimately, this project traces how the symbolic promises of Helsinki were activated by citizens who refused to let those words remain empty.
Open Access
The Female King of Colonial Ghana: The Life and Leadership of Amba Sewa, 1873-1927
(2025-04-18) Hendrix, Rachel
Open Access
The Festival of Life and the Politics of Performance: Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, and the Yippie Experiment, 1967-1969
(2025) Ronald, Cooper
This thesis examines the Yippie movement. Yippie was founded by Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman in 1967 as an attempt to fuse the antiwar politics of the New Left with the theatrics and lifestyle of the hippie counterculture. Drawing from memoirs, underground press coverage, government documents, photographs, and trial transcripts, this project follows the rise and fall of the Yippie movement. Chapter One traces Rubin’s evolution from suburban conformity to antiwar theatrics. Chapter Two focuses on Hoffman’s shift from Civil Rights activism to hippie street theater. Chapter Three centers on the Yippie role in the demonstrations against the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. This thesis argues that Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman’s Yippie movement succeeded in joining the antiwar and hippie countercultures in the public imagination, but this theatrical fusion ultimately weakened both movements on the ground. Moreover, it contends that in developing the Yippie movement, Rubin and Hoffman pioneered a novel form of protest and identity, which countered conventional understandings of race and pushed the limits of what it means to ‘drop out’ of society. The Yippie story reveals the creative power of performance in activism and the risks of blending social rebellion with militant dissent. This thesis intervenes in the existing scholarship by analyzing the Chicago demonstrations as a crescendo of the Yippie movement and a verdict on Rubin and Hoffman’s form of activism.
Open Access
The Moral Architecture of Chinese Exclusion: Antislavery, Sexuality, and the Page Act of 1875
(2025-04-18) Sanjurjo, Veronica
This thesis argues that the Page Act of 1875 was not merely a prelude to the Chinese Exclusion Act, but a foundational moment in the rise of federal immigration control. Framed through the language of antislavery and sexual morality, the Page Act marked the federal government’s first effort to regulate immigration nationally. In targeting Chinese women suspected of prostitution, it fused immigration policy with white, middle-class ideals of gender, race, and virtue and transformed the rhetoric of emancipation into a tool for exclusion. The project traces how post-Civil War debates over labor, morality, and citizenship converged in the figure of the Chinese woman, who came to symbolize a threat to national purity. Drawing on congressional speeches, missionary records, and anti-Chinese literature, and based on archival research at the National Archives, Bancroft Library, and Stanford Special Collections, the thesis examines how the Page Act institutionalized the regulation of sexuality at the border as an open-ended function of state power. Chapter 1 examines how Eastern reform movements and free labor ideology framed female sexuality as a political problem. Chapter 2 turns to California, where economic and racial anxieties constructed Chinese women as morally corrupt. Chapter 3 traces how California lawmakers nationalized this rhetoric, reframing exclusion as a moral imperative. By offering a unified analytical framework that links the Page Act to antislavery discourse, gendered moral reform, and the expansion of discretionary federal authority, this thesis challenges interpretations that treat the Act as marginal. It shows instead that the Page Act inaugurated a new regime of immigration governance grounded in the surveillance of sexuality, the containment of racialized femininity, and the transformation of freedom into an exclusionary national ideal.
Open Access
Relating Invariants Coming From 3-component Torus Links
(2025-04-28) Valerio, Lorenzo
Given a 3-component torus link $T(p,q)\subset S^3$, we can construct a closed 3-manifold $\Sigma(p,q,2)$ called the double-branched cover of $S^3$ with branched set equal to $T(p,q)$. The aim of this thesis is to relate the Neumann-Siebenmann $\bar \mu$ invariant of $\Sigma(p,q,2)$ to the $d$-invariants coming from its Heegaard Floer homology.
Open Access
Power Behind Bars: Exploring Social Hierarchies in Men's Prisons with Educational Programs
(2025-04) Araujo, Kelly
This study examines how educational and rehabilitative programs influence social hierarchies in men’s prisons. Existing research emphasizes masculinity and violence as core to prison power structures, and most studies on educational and rehabilitative programs center on post-release outcomes like recidivism. However, little is known about how these programs affect the internal social dynamics of prison life itself, specifically how they may reinforce or disrupt the informal hierarchies that shape everyday interactions and status. Addressing this gap, survey data from 30 formerly incarcerated men was collected, both program participants (n=14) and non-participants (n=16). Findings show that program participants were less likely to associate masculinity and physical strength with status and more likely to value conflict resolution compared to non-participants. Longer program participation was linked to more positive views on the program’s impact, especially on masculine norms. While no significant differences emerged in perceived personal status or beliefs about violence, participants interacted more frequently with higher-status individuals and strongly supported expanding prison programming compared to non-participants. These results suggest that although educational and rehabilitative programs may not dismantle existing hierarchies, they introduce alternative systems of value that challenge dominant norms and reshape how respect and influence are earned inside prison.
Open Access
Preliminary Heart Rate Variability Values in Minoritized Older Surgery Patients
(2025-04-18) Minaya, Stephanie
Background: This study aims to characterize heart rate variability (HRV) in older adults from different racial backgrounds awaiting major surgery, with a focus on how chronic stress affects autonomic regulation. We hypothesize that autonomic fractionation, a paradoxical combination of high HRV and elevated blood pressure (BP), will be more prevalent among older Black/African Americans (B/AA) compared to age-, sex-, and surgery-matched White/Caucasian Americans (W/CA), even after adjusting for key demographic and clinical variables. While high HRV typically indicates physiological resilience, its coexistence with high hemodynamic metrics may reflect maladaptive autonomic regulation, potentially. Methods: We assessed HRV using 24-hour recordings from eCardioWatch 287 wristbands in race- and procedure-matched geriatric surgical patients. Overnight segments were analyzed to reduce motion artifacts. Time-domain (SDRR, RMSSD) and frequency-domain (LF, HF, LF/HF ratio) HRV metrics were extracted using Kubios, MATLAB, and Python, alongside hemodynamic measures including pulse pressure (PP), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP), and mean arterial pressure (MAP). Paired t-tests were used to compare autonomic and vascular indicators between B/AA and WCA patients. Results: B/AA patients exhibited paradoxically elevated but highly variable HRV measures. SDRR was nearly double in B/AA patients compared to WCA (40.29 ms ± 29.36% vs. 21.95 ms ± 9.53%, p = 0.124), with a similar trend in RMSSD (50.37 ms ± 42.63% vs. 22.29 ms ± 8.78%, p = 0.092). Despite statistical non-significance, these differences suggest autonomic instability. Hemodynamic profiles showed wider pulse pressures in B/AA patients (64.50 mmHg ± 18.52% vs. 54.50 mmHg ± 12.64%, p = 0.114) and significantly lower DBP (69.90 mmHg ± 10.28% vs. 78.50 mmHg ± 8.00%, p = 0.029), indicating vascular stiffening. Frequency domain analysis revealed a lower LF/HF ratio in B/AA patients (0.789 ± 0.383%) compared to CA controls (1.653 ± 1.387%, p = 0.081), contradicting expectations of sympathetic dominance. Discussion: This study reveals a paradoxical autonomic profile in older B/AA patients, characterized by significantly elevated but highly variable HRV measures, including SDRR and RMSSD, compared to matched WCA controls. While group differences did not always reach statistical significance, the large effect sizes and pronounced interindividual variability suggest autonomic instability rather than enhanced cardiovascular health. Hemodynamic analyses further demonstrated wider pulse pressures and significantly lower diastolic blood pressure in B/AA patients, consistent with increased arterial stiffness and reduced vascular compliance. Frequency domain analysis revealed a markedly lower LF/HF ratio in B/AA patients, challenging conventional assumptions of sympathetic predominance in high-risk populations and pointing to potential baroreflex impairment or race-specific autonomic regulation.
Open Access
Impact Evaluation of a Diarrhea Treatment Uptake Scale-up Program in Nigeria - a Difference-in-Difference Analysis
(2025-04-18) Xiang, Catherine
Diarrheal disease is the second leading cause of death in children under 5 years in Nigeria with an estimated 151,700 annual child deaths. Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) worked with the Nigerian government to reduce child mortality by increasing treatment and coverage of ORS and zinc treatment for diarrheal disease. It is important to evaluate the reported increase in zinc and ORS coverage after the intervention was applied to assess whether the increased availability of diarrhea treatment led to an increase in treatment-seeking behavior among children under 5 years with diarrheal disease. Through a difference-in-difference analysis (DiD) in STATA/SE 18.0, the paper will evaluate whether there was a causal impact of the zinc and oral-rehydration salt (ORS) scale-up program on increasing diarrheal treatment-seeking. A logistic regression with robust standard errors was conducted on four treatment seeking outcomes (zinc, ORS, zinc and ORS, and zinc or ORS) while controlling for individual, household, and community level variables. After controlling for individual, household, and community variables, there were no statistically significant changes in zinc or ORS treatment uptake for children under 5 years that could be attributed to the intervention (Odds of OR: 0.87 95% CI=0.48, 1.59), zinc and ORS treatment (Odds of OR: 0.73 95% CI=0.12, 4.30), zinc treatment (Odds of OR: 0.85 95% CI=0.16, 4.57), or ORS treatment (Odds of OR: 0.90 95% CI=0.48, 1.67). We therefore did not find evidence that the program had an impact on uptake of zinc and ORS treatment. There is a need for more research that adopts rigorous causal methods to demonstrate the impact of policies targeted at reducing the burden of diarrheal diseases.
Open Access
Exploring Predictive Effects of Epstein-Barr Virus DNA Levels on Nasopharyngeal Cancer Staging and Relapse
(2025-04-15) Shaw, Neha
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated malignancy with a distinct geographic distribution, particularly affecting populations in Southeast Asia. Plasma EBV DNA has emerged as a key biomarker for NPC, offering potential applications in disease burden assessment, treatment monitoring, and relapse prediction. However, the transition from EBNA-1 to BamHI-W targeted polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays in clinical practice raises questions about assay comparability and prognostic significance. This retrospective cohort study examines the correlation between EBV DNA levels and clinical tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging and evaluates the predictive value of EBV DNA for relapse in a synthetic dataset, meaning anonymized, artificially constructed data modeled after real patient distributions, of 100 stage II NPC patients from the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS). Patients were stratified based on EBV DNA assay type, EBNA-1 (pre-2016) or BamHI-W (post-2016), and analyzed using statistical methods including Spearman’s correlation, linear regression, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, and Cox proportional hazards modeling. Results indicated no statistically significant correlation between EBV DNA levels and TNM staging for either assay, suggesting that EBV DNA may not directly reflect tumor burden. Similarly, no significant differences in relapse-free survival were observed between the two assay groups. However, male gender emerged as a significant predictor of relapse (HR = 11.885, p = 0.0369), aligning with prior research on sex-based differences in NPC progression. These findings contribute to the ongoing discussion on EBV DNA as a prognostic biomarker in NPC. While EBV DNA remains clinically valuable, its integration into patient risk stratification should consider demographic and molecular factors beyond assay selection. Future research should explore prospective validation in larger, multi-institutional cohorts and investigate complementary biomarkers to enhance NPC prognostication.
Open Access
From Bench to Bedside: Investigating the molecular mechanisms of sudden cardiac death while exploring stakeholder perspectives on risk predictive genetic testing
(2025-04-14) Sala, Angelina
Pediatric sudden cardiac death (SCD) is often linked to genetic conditions such as arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) and congenital heart disease (CHD). This thesis takes a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the molecular basis of SCD and the implications of predictive genetic testing in at-risk populations. A biology-focused approach identified a novel genetic mechanism for autosomal recessive ACM associated with loss-of-function variants in TAX1BP3. Using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CMs), pharmacological inhibition of TRPV4 mitigated calcium leak and spark frequency–highlighting a potential therapeutic target for ACM. Additionally, this thesis investigated several genetic mechanisms of hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a severe form of CHD, by evaluating levels of apoptosis and cell proliferation in iPSC-CMs. Preliminary findings suggest increased apoptosis and reduced cell proliferation may lead to the underdeveloped left ventricle seen in patients, however, overall findings warrant further investigation into other mechanisms. A global health approach was additionally incorporated by establishing a Community Advisory Board (CAB) to explore the ethical and clinical challenges of genetic risk prediction in CHD. Thematic analysis from the pilot CAB discussion highlighted concerns around clinical decision-making, resource allocation, and psychosocial impacts–emphasizing the need for standardized guidelines to ensure equitable and responsible use of genetic information. Altogether, this research advances precision medicine in pediatric cardiology by bridging molecular mechanisms with ethical considerations in genetic risk disclosure.
Open Access
The effects of mitochondrial damaging reagents on membrane potential and mitophagy induction, with implications in neurodegeneration
(2023-05-03) McBane, Jason
Mitochondria are double membrane-bound organelles with established roles in metabolism, biosynthesis, and energy production. Various mitochondrial quality control mechanisms have evolved to maintain the mitochondrial network. One such mechanism is mitophagy, where damaged mitochondria are removed from the cell via autophagosome engulfment and lysosome degradation. Mutations and deficiencies in mitophagy components are linked to Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), suggesting mitochondrial regulation is vital for cellular homeostasis. As a result, research efforts have focused on understanding mitophagy by inducing the pathway using various mitochondrial damaging reagents. However, these studies have resulted in discrepancies in the literature, highlighting our gap in knowledge of the type and severity of mitochondrial damage that induces mitophagy and drives neurodegeneration. Here, I used quantitative live-cell imaging of HeLa cells to determine whether four mitochondrial damaging reagents are comparable in depolarizing the mitochondrial membrane potential and inducing mitophagy. These reagents include carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone (CCCP), valinomycin, rotenone, and deferiprone (DFP). I found that valinomycin is the most potent at uncoupling the membrane potential, and that only reagents that depolarize the membrane induce mitophagy. My results shed light on comparable and effective in vitro mitophagy-inducing damaging paradigms that could be used to further our understanding of the etiology of neurodegenerative diseases and potential therapies.
Open Access
Family Cost in the Modern American Carceral State: A Descriptive Study from a North Carolina Jail
(2024-04) Cao, Michael
The shadow of mass incarceration in the United States casts over the lives of the justice-involved, but also, at twilight, over the lives of their families. Drawing on family demography and carceral studies, I study the financial effects of incarceration on survivor (nonincarcerated) families in the ambit of a local North Carolina jail. Often born of necessity, a domain of costs threaten the family economy when a member is incarcerated, with the potential to worsen or create economic disadvantage. This vulnerability, I contend, is particularly manifest for families that must interact with jail systems, understudied locales that nevertheless contribute to the calculus of inequality as much as prisons. Here, previous work on the financial costs of imprisonment become emblematic of the issues at hand, but also inaugurate new analysis. Using a descriptive survey strategy, I examine the demographics, relationships, and expenditures of an exploratory sample of individuals supporting a jail-incarcerated family member in Durham, North Carolina. Study results magnified a narrative of incarceration as an engine for gender and racial stratification—specifically of Black mothers at odds with costs of keeping their incarcerated sons fed, safe, and dignified. Comparison of jail-related expenditure across a spectrum of income groups also revealed class disparity—whereby low-income families were furnishing the most to support the incarcerated. Subsequent consideration is then given to the apparatus of jail in a system of financial extraction, and how families find intelligibility in its imposed paradigm of costs and burdens.
Open Access
Spanking Isn’t Necessary: Key Influences on Parental Decision Making about Corporal Punishment
(2020-05-04) Lee, Olivia
Fifty years of research has revealed significant harms from the use of corporal punishment. Despite this, corporal punishment remains a cultural norm in the United States. Previous research has revealed the importance of parental attitudes and sources of advice, but little research asks parents directly about their discipline decisions. This study finds that parents use corporal punishment when they believe that 1) Spanking is sometimes necessary and 2) It is okay to slap an arm or a face instead of spanking and when they do not believe that using an object to spank is okay. Parents are less likely to use corporal punishment when a doctor has spoken with them about the harms of corporal punishment and if they were not spanked as children. Finally, an open-ended questioning format elucidated a connection between corporal punishment use and fear and anger on the parents’ part. Removing corporal punishment from cultural norm status will require harnessing the power of healthcare professionals and targeting the emotional responses and harmful attitudes that lead to violent punishment of children.
Open Access
EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF AUTHORITARIAN REGIME REPRESSION ON THE OPERATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS IN EGYPT
(2024-04-22) Sreeram, Samyuktha
This thesis investigates the repressive actions of the Egyptian government under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi towards civil society organizations (CSOs) from 2013 to 2023, with a focus on understanding why some organizations face heightened repression or closure while others do not. Using a comparative case study approach, the research examines three CSOs: the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the Al-Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture, and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). While all three engage in similar human rights advocacy, the study finds that ANHRI, due to its high level of internationalization and success in publicizing government abuses, faced the most severe repression and eventual closure. In contrast, the Al-Nadeem Centre, despite initially being targeted, continued operating after its physical clinic was closed due to its reduced international profile and publicizing capacity. The EIPR, despite ongoing international relevance, has been rendered less effective at raising awareness following the exile and travel ban of its founding director. The study argues that regimes prioritize repression of organizations that are both internationally connected and capable of publicizing abuses, as these organizations pose a greater threat to the regime’s image. This research fills a gap in the literature by offering a framework to explain why certain CSOs are seen as greater threats and face more intense repression. Through qualitative analysis of human rights reports and interviews with subject matter experts, the thesis concludes that international attention and the ability to publicize state repression are critical factors determining the level of government retaliation. The study advocates for stronger international pressure to protect the shrinking civic space in authoritarian regimes, ensuring the continued work of human rights organizations.

Browse

Recent Submissions