Constructing Self in the Brazuca Narrative: U.S. Brazilian Identity, Memory and Home in Samba Dreamers

Recent advances in technology, in particular the miniaturization and commoditization of electronic wireless receivers, have enabled new applications and techniques for wireless communication, mapping, and localization.

The example we provide is focused on GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receivers, which widely deployed in mobile consumer electronics for positioning, can be also be leveraged as environment sensors. The problem of estimating a 3D map, or a world model, via crowd-sourced wireless signal strength measurements from global positioning satellites, is explored in detail. The inverse problem (localizing the receiver against a known or partially known 3D map) is then discussed, as is the fully integrated simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) problem where both the trajectory of the GNSS receiver and 3D map are jointly estimated. For all of of these cases, novel probabilistic modeling approaches of the map and receiver location, as well as the channel model, are introduced. The proposed solutions are validated using real-world data from consumer grade mobile devices (smart phones) on both small and larger (multi-city block scale) experiments. For positioning, the backend positioning server and associated smartphone app were prototyped in software, with improved localization using a particle filter being demonstrated in real-time.

The bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB), Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is estimated to infect 10 million people annually. Though often associated with lung disease, the deadliest form of tuberculosis occurs when M. tuberculosis invades the brain, causing catastrophic inflammation and neuronal damage. Currently, much of what is known about TB meningitis relies on in vitro models that do not accurately represent the interactions between host vasculature, the brain, and the bacteria. To address this, our lab uses a novel in vivo model of mycobacterial brain infection. In this model, zebrafish larvae are injected in the tail vein with Mycobacterium marinum, a natural fish pathogen and close genetic relative of M. tuberculosis. Zebrafish larvae, which are transparent, allow for observation of natural bacterial dissemination into the brain from the tail and whole-brain imaging in living animals. Using this system, we observed that M. marinum disseminate into the brain through the blood and replicate features of the human disease, such as granuloma formation. Through live imaging, we found that M. marinum invade brain tissue through a previously undescribed mechanism. Our data suggest that extracellular mycobacteria initiate crossing by first attaching within the lumen of brain blood vessels. Following attachment, we observe a global disruption of blood flow velocity in the brain, as well as full occlusion of vessels containing attached colonies. What’s more, infected zebrafish display other hallmarks of neurovascular disease, such as oxidative stress. Interestingly, neurovascular disease is a major contributor to death in human cases of TB meningitis yet remains understudied. We observe that following attachment and vessel occlusion, zebrafish induce vessel enlargement and the reorganization of f-actin and tight-junction proteins. These events precede the formation of permeable paracellular holes in brain blood vessels that allow for mycobacterial entry into the brain parenchyma. We have further confirmed these findings by replicating these results in zebrafish infected with an M. tuberculosis auxotroph. Together, these studies will grant a better understanding of the neuropathogenesis of mycobacteria and establish an animal model of TB meningitis neurovascular disease to lay a foundation for developing more effective treatments.

This thesis seeks to develop a ceramic chronology of the site of Lubaantun, Belize. The material analyzed was recovered by TRIP archaeologists and spans all occupational periods of the site. Because the site was occupied for less than two centuries, the uniformity in the ceramic material recovered precludes the material being divided beyond the singular Columbia Complex. Nonetheless, based on the subtle shifts in vessel form and decoration, as well as the introduction of two new types during the Terminal Classic, the Columbia Complex has been divided into an early and late facet. Based on these differences, I argue that connections with the southern Peten waned during the Terminal Classic, and the residents of Lubaantun were forced to seek exchange ties elsewhere, particularly to the north. These results hint at a shifting economic and political landscape during the Terminal Classic, and have important implications for studying the interregional connections between sites in the Southern Belize Region.

More schooling predicts better cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes, but a causal relationship between education and later-life blood pressure (BP) outcomes is less clear. Most prior work also evaluates the effect of education at the mean of BP, giving little insight into effects across the whole outcome distribution. We leveraged natural experiments, variation in compulsory schooling laws (CSLs) affecting K-12 education in the US as well as variation in the availability of colleges by state in the US, to evaluate how increased education impacted later-life BP. We also evaluate the intention-to-treat (ITT) association of college availability with later-life BP. We used quantile regression to evaluate the effects of education along the distribution of BP. We performed two-sample instrumental variable (IV) analyses using data from the US Census and from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to evaluate how variation in CSLs and college availability impacted later-life BP. In these analyses, we used linear regression in the first stage and both linear and quantile regression in the second stage. In the ITT analysis, we used linear and quantile regression. All models were adjusted for individual- and state-level covariates. To evaluate whether the effects of education varied by race and sex, we also generated results with race by sex interaction terms. We found no evidence of an effect of education on BP in the overall study population for the CSL IV analysis. In the college IV analysis, we found that increasing the number of colleges in a state decreased SBP, although confidence intervals included the null in CQR models. In the overall ITT analysis, we found no evidence of an association for 2-year colleges, but a small decrease in SBP associated with each additional 4-year college. In subgroup analyses, however, we found important differences in the effect of education. In the CSL IV analysis, among White women, each additional year of K-12 education consistently lowered SBP across the SBP distribution, while among Black men, education consistently elevated SBP across the SBP distribution. In the college IV analysis, among White women, each additional 2- or 4-year college consistently lowered SBP across the SBP distribution while effect estimates in other subgroups all included the null. In ITT analyses, we found that women had decreased SBP at the upper end of the SBP distribution while men had increased SBP over the same range. Black women consistently had decreased SBP associated with additional 2- and 4-year colleges, although estimates were imprecise. Quantile regression identified differential relationships between education and blood pressure distribution that mean regression is unable to estimate. Race by sex subgroup analyses showed differential impacts of education on later-life BP. Future research should determine if these results are consistent and to understand why the expected education and blood pressure gradient is reversed for Black men.

This is a proposal to encode the Old Turkic script in the international character encoding standard Unicode. The script was published in Unicode Standard version 5.2 in October 2009. Old Turkic appears in stone inscriptions from the early 8c CE near the Orkhon River in Mongolia, and a slightly different version is found near the Yenisei River in Siberia in the later 8c CE. By the 9c CE, the script had been replaced by the Uyghur script.