Resonance Hyper-Raman Characterization of Nonlinear Chromophores

Hyper-Raman spectroscopy is a nonlinear optical probe which can be used to explore the multi-photon properties of molecules. Three studies are presented in this dissertation. The first study is a combined experimental investigation of the surfaceenhanced hyper-Raman scattering with a theoretical study of the electronic states of the Rhodamine 6G molecule. This study demonstrates that hyper-Raman spectroscopy can be used to probe electronic states which are one-photon inaccessible. The second study involves a comparison of experimentally measured resonance hyper-Raman spectra to first-principles calculations of the resonance hyper-Raman scattering. This study shows the utility of coupling hyper-Raman spectroscopy and hyper-Raman calculations to define the multi-photon properties of the molecule. The final study compares the experimentally collected surface-enhanced hyper-Raman spectra of Rhodamine 6G to the theoretical simulations of the resonance hyper-Raman for identical excitation energies. In this study, the mechanism of vibronic coupling in the hyper-Raman effect is fully explained, demonstrating the capability of hyper-Raman spectroscopy predicting the two-photon absorption mechanism

Interest Groups, Political Party Control, Lobbying, and Science Funding: A Population Ecology Approach

Science plays an increasingly important role in public policy in a range of issues from national security to public health. Thus, scientists will play an increasingly important role in society. This dissertation first examines how federal science funding changes with partisan control of key political institutions. Next, science-related interests groups, including their formation, specialization, and lobbying activities, are examined. Interest groups are a growing aspect of the American political system. However, they are an understudied aspect of political institutions. While much of their activity occurs within the legislative branch, they also work in the executive and judicial branches to advocate their proposed position. I find that federal science funding increases with Democratic control over Congress as well as the presidency. This holds when examining overall, basic, and applied research as well as funding that funneled through specific federal agencies. I use this as a starting point to study science-related interest groups. I find that the population of science-related interest groups has grown over time and grown as federal science funding has increased. This population has become more specialized over time well, likely as a way for groups to attract additional members without having to compete with broad, well established groups that attract huge numbers of scientists. Finally, the lobbying activity of these groups is examined. I find that the lobbying activities of these science-related interest groups has increased over time and increased as federal science funding increased, although this finding is statistically insignificant

Building an ecological momentary assessment smartphone app for 4- to 10-year-old children: A pilot study

Objective Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) minimizes recall burden and maximizes ecological validity and has emerged as a valuable tool to characterize individual differences, assess contextual associations, and document temporal associations. However, EMA has yet to be reliably utilized in young children, in part due to concerns about responder reliability and limited compliance. The present study addressed these concerns by building a developmentally appropriate EMA smartphone app and testing the app for feasibility and usability with young children ages 4–10 (N = 20; m age = 7.7, SD = 2.0). Methods To pilot test the app, children completed an 11-item survey about their mood and behavior twice a day for 14 days. Parents also completed brief surveys twice a day to allow for parent-child comparisons of responses. Finally, at the end of the two weeks, parents provided user feedback on the smartphone app. Results Results indicated a high response rate (nearly 90%) across child surveys and high agreement between parents and children ranging from 0.89–0.97. Conclusions Overall, findings suggest that this developmentally appropriate EMA smartphone app is a reliable and valid tool for collecting in-the-moment data from young children outside of a laboratory setting

Yugoslavia Revisited: An Examination of the Immediate Effects and Long-Term Implications of Western (Foreign) Policies During and After the Yugoslav Crisis

This research project consists of four studies that examined the immediate effects and long-term implications of Western foreign policy strategies in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). The crisis in SFRY in the early 1990’s began with secessionist groups conducting small-scale attacks on military and civilian infrastructures, yet it was the coercive threats of the U.S. and other western powers that escalated the violence. Although there were numerous factors that led to civil war enveloping Yugoslavia, only one causal factor of the war was a necessary condition. Study 1 is a case study analyzing the processes and effects of U.S. (as well as E.C.) foreign policy during the early stages of the Yugoslav crisis; focusing on one causal factor – the West’s strategy of coercion from 1990-91. Counterfactual theory of causation, as well as counterfactual analysis, with an emphasis on historical and logical consistency, and necessary and sufficient conditions, were utilized to support the hypothesis that the coercive strategy implemented by Western powers in the Balkans from 1990-91 was the cause of the war. The methodology used in this study is frequently utilized in case studies analyzing causes of war (as well as peace), however it has not yet been utilized to analyze the cause of the Yugoslav civil war. This study, therefore, contributes to the literature on counterfactual analysis, as well as on the Yugoslav conflicts and U.S. foreign policy more broadly. Study 2 examines possible bias by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Scholars have long debated the impartiality of this institute. Some argue that the Tribunal is biased while others argue that it fairly and impartially seeks justice for all the victims of the war. The present study offers a narrower approach to the question of possible bias by examining whether certain case variables were associated with case outcomes. The results show strong evidence of an association between the ethnicity of the accused (and of the victims) and the verdict and years sentenced, which calls into question the Tribunal’s impartiality. Nonetheless, the main goal of this study was not to question or dispute its decisions but to assess the validity of certain grievances against the Tribunal. For instance, the Serbs feel the Tribunal has not delivered justice for their victims and –as a result– their ‘collective suffering’ has been disavowed by the other communities in the region as well as by the West. Western political elites have largely rejected the validity of the Serbs’ claim and have attributed their belief to a denial by the Serbs of their role in the war. Unfortunately, the contentious nature of this debate has contributed to the lack of peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts in the region. Study 3 extends on the issue of bias by examining the messages disseminated by the ICTY. Previous studies have demonstrated that Tribunal has made prosecutorial decisions and reached judgments based on ethnicity. Furthermore, some scholars argue that the workings of the Tribunal have aggravated tensions in the region and are the primary cause for the negative perceptions of the ICTY by many communities in the Balkans. In response, the Tribunal has largely blamed the regional media and ‘nationalist politicians’ for spreading ‘gross distortions and blatant falsehoods’ about its work. Subsequently, it created an outreach program to try to change its image in the Balkans. Using thematic analysis, this study examined the way the Tribunal has framed the Yugoslav conflicts. The results show that the Tribunal’s frame of the conflicts mirrors that of the U.S. government and Western mainstream media, indicating ethnic bias by the Tribunal. Overall, this study supports findings of framing studies, as well as empirical and critical studies on the ICTY. Finally, Study 4 examines the effects of the ongoing media demonization/dehumanization on the target group that began at the onset of the crisis in Yugoslavia in the early 1990’s. Recent empirical research has shown that dehumanization can have severely negative consequences. Few studies, however, have focused on the target group and those that have were experimental. To fill this void, this study focuses on the effects of dehumanization from the perspective of the target group through a real-world experience of dehumanization. Serbians and Serbian-Americans were recruited to participate in a series of focus groups and one-on-one, semi-structured interviews via Skype. The results show effects that include feelings of numbness, lethargy, a reduced tendency towards action, and lack of self-assertion; responses that are defense mechanisms against emotional distress. These results support previous studies on dehumanization. However, the most dominant themes were motivations to take action and ‘fight back,’ mainly through political engagement and mobilization. The results can essentially be boiled down to responses of ‘fight or flight,’ with the former as the most dominant. This study, therefore, adds a novel insight into the effects of dehumanization

Parents' Emotional Expressiveness

The present longitudinal study examined the association between life changes and parents’ expression of positive and negative emotions, as well as, how these associations changed over time in a sample of maltreating mothers

The Role of Maltreatment in the Development of Emotion Regulation

The costs of child maltreatment are staggering with deleterious effects on children emerging in every developmental domain, including cognitive, psychological, and social functioning. The mechanisms underlying these effects are complex and multifaceted, being shaped not only by characteristics within children, but also by their experiences during and after exposure to maltreatment. One mechanism that has the potential to interact with children’s experiences to affect a range of outcomes is emotion regulation. Emotion regulation is associated with psychological well-being, behavioral functioning, delinquency, and physical health in nonmaltreated samples as well as samples of young maltreated children. Given that adolescence is a unique time, cognitively and emotionally, it may be a time when maltreatment experiences play a critical role in shaping emotion regulation. In the present study two samples of children, ages 6-17, one with a substantiated history of maltreatment (N = 262) and one without (N = 133), completed a battery of measures, including those that tap emotion regulation and behavioral functioning. Information about the children’s family, maltreatment, and background were collected via case files. Overall, maltreated children reported using more disengagement and antisocial regulation strategies relative to comparison children who reported more primary control strategies. Moreover, differences between the two groups in emotion regulation increased with age. Finally, the use of disengagement strategies predicted poorer behavioral functioning, particularly during adolescence. Findings have the potential to inform the treatment and intervention of maltreated children by determining the precise ways in which they differ from comparison children in their ability to regulate emotions, and how these emotion processes influence their functioning across age

The Role of Maltreatment in the Development of Emotion Regulation

The costs of child maltreatment are staggering with deleterious effects on children emerging in every developmental domain, including cognitive, psychological, and social functioning. The mechanisms underlying these effects are complex and multifaceted, being shaped not only by characteristics within children, but also by their experiences during and after exposure to maltreatment. One mechanism that has the potential to interact with children’s experiences to affect a range of outcomes is emotion regulation. Emotion regulation is associated with psychological well-being, behavioral functioning, delinquency, and physical health in nonmaltreated samples as well as samples of young maltreated children. Given that adolescence is a unique time, cognitively and emotionally, it may be a time when maltreatment experiences play a critical role in shaping emotion regulation. In the present study two samples of children, ages 6-17, one with a substantiated history of maltreatment (N = 262) and one without (N = 133), completed a battery of measures, including those that tap emotion regulation and behavioral functioning. Information about the children’s family, maltreatment, and background were collected via case files. Overall, maltreated children reported using more disengagement and antisocial regulation strategies relative to comparison children who reported more primary control strategies. Moreover, differences between the two groups in emotion regulation increased with age. Finally, the use of disengagement strategies predicted poorer behavioral functioning, particularly during adolescence. Findings have the potential to inform the treatment and intervention of maltreated children by determining the precise ways in which they differ from comparison children in their ability to regulate emotions, and how these emotion processes influence their functioning across age