Falling in between the lines: the experience of individuals with multiple identities

The current dissertation aims to shed light on in-between groups. The term “in-between groups” is used in the present thesis to denote a particular social category that can emerge in contexts where individuals straddle membership in two (or more) social groups simultaneously (e.g., immigrant communities, dual-gender identifiers). In three chapters, I aimed to understand how in-between group members navigate their relations with relevant others (i.e., members of the groups they belong to) and how relevant others perceive them. All chapters drew theoretical arguments and predictions based on the social identity approach, that is, social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) and self-categorization theory (Turner et al., 1987)

Golden Horn Project, Istanbul, Turkey

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1987.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH.Includes bibliographical references (pages 113-115).This thesis examines waterfront developments in the Middle East . It concentrates on the Golden Horn project in Istanbul as it raises a number of issues that are central to any such development in that region. In order for us to appreciate the problem, the thesis starts with an examination of the history of the city of Istanbul. This is followed by an investigation of the role of the Golden Hom in its life throughout history. The main issue raised in waterfront developments in a Middle Eastern context is discontinuity between the city and the new development through the introduction of new users, functions, scale and sensibilities alien to what exists now. Istanbul, being part of an international heritage, its preservation and continuity to the water's edge becomes a moral obligation as well as a practical need to protect rest of its fabric from the repercussions of overloading. A performance specification is put forward to integrate the development back into the life of the city. Formally, urban waterfronts in the context of the Middle East are problematic as no precedent exists for dealing with the water's edge. Hence an investigation of the cultural attitude to nature and the form of the city is put forward, from which principles and orders are extrapolated to aid the designers in their approach to the problem.by Hana S. Alamuddin.M.S

Verification of MIKE 11-NAM Model for runoff modeling using ANN, FIS, and ARIMA methods in poorly studied basin

Hydrological information is the basis for conducting water balance studies in any region, and surface runoff is one of the most important hydrological parameters and one of the most difficult in the process of estimation and prediction. This study aims to verification of the MIKE 11-NAM Model for runoff modeling using artificial neural network (ANN), fuzzy inference system (FIS), and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) methods at Al-Jawadiyah hydrometric station on the Orontes River in Syria. MATLAB was used to build neural and fuzzy models, where many models were built with the change in all parameters, functions, and algorithms that can be used, and the Minitab was used to build ARIMA models. Many models were prepared with the addition of seasonal effect, and the comparison results showed an advantage for artificial neural network models in terms of evaluation parameters. After that, the artificial neural network models were adopted in the process of filling the gaps in the time series of surface runoff in the study area to be used in the Mike program for modeling the runoff and through the method of trial and error with a high number of iterative cycles, model parameters were calculated and runoff values estimated. Still, the results were not good, and there were significant differences between the measured values and the values simulated by the model, and this is due to the significant lack of available data. This study recommends the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning models in the field of estimation and prediction of hydrological parameters

Estimation and filling of missing runoff data at Al-Jawadiyah station using artificial neural networks

Runoff is one of the most important components of the hydrological cycle, and having complete series of runoff data is essential for any hydrological modelling process. This study aims to estimate the runoff at Al-Jawadiyah hydrometric station using artificial neural networks. This study used only the runoff data at Al-Jawadiyah station in addition to the runoff values measured at Al-Amiri station on the Syrian-Lebanese border. Many experiments were conducted and a very large number of artificial neural networks were trained with changing the number of hidden layers, the number of neurons and the training algorithms until the best network was reached according to the regression criteria and the root mean of the error squares between the measured values and the predicted values, and the network (2:12:1) was adopted in the process of filling the gaps in the runoff time series at Al-Jawadiyah station during the study period. This study recommends working on preparing complete series of hydrological and climatic measurements that form a basis for preparing an accurate hydrological model for the study area

“We’re still here”:Misrecognition and the quest for dual identification of Roma people

Misrecognition describes everyday practices that deny the autonomy of minority members to define who they are and instead impose identities that may diverge from their own sense of self. Being misrecognized is particularly relevant for the historically marginalized Roma people, whose national belonging is repeatedly questioned despite centuries of co-existence and citizenship. Our aim was to understand whether the experience of misrecognition, along with discrimination, would predict identification patterns that represent an obstacle to dual identification among Roma people in three East-Central European countries: Hungary, Romania and Serbia. We collected data among Roma participants online and face-to-face with convenience sampling (N = 1,325). Latent class analysis revealed three similar classes based on national and ethnic identification scores in all subsamples: (1) disidentification, (2) Roma identification and (3) dual identification. Logistic regression analysis showed that misrecognition and discrimination predicted stronger Roma identity than dual identification in Hungary and Serbia. However, misrecognition predicted stronger dual identification in Romania, possibly as a reaffirmation strategy in response to misrecognition. Our results show that misrecognition can add to our understanding of minority group members' identification with the superordinate category of the nation as well as subgroup ethnic minority identity, and this connection could be key for advancing Roma inclusion

“We’re still here”:Misrecognition and the quest for dual identification of Roma people

Misrecognition describes everyday practices that deny the autonomy of minority members to define who they are and instead impose identities that may diverge from their own sense of self. Being misrecognized is particularly relevant for the historically marginalized Roma people, whose national belonging is repeatedly questioned despite centuries of co-existence and citizenship. Our aim was to understand whether the experience of misrecognition, along with discrimination, would predict identification patterns that represent an obstacle to dual identification among Roma people in three East-Central European countries: Hungary, Romania and Serbia. We collected data among Roma participants online and face-to-face with convenience sampling (N = 1,325). Latent class analysis revealed three similar classes based on national and ethnic identification scores in all subsamples: (1) disidentification, (2) Roma identification and (3) dual identification. Logistic regression analysis showed that misrecognition and discrimination predicted stronger Roma identity than dual identification in Hungary and Serbia. However, misrecognition predicted stronger dual identification in Romania, possibly as a reaffirmation strategy in response to misrecognition. Our results show that misrecognition can add to our understanding of minority group members' identification with the superordinate category of the nation as well as subgroup ethnic minority identity, and this connection could be key for advancing Roma inclusion

Enzymatic synthesis of lignin derivable pyridine based polyesters for the substitution of petroleum derived plastics

Following concerns over increasing global plastic pollution, interest in the production and characterization of bio-based and biodegradable alternatives is rising. In the present work, the synthesis of a series of fully bio-based alternatives based on 2,4-, 2,5-, and 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid-derived polymers produced via enzymatic catalysis are reported. A similar series of aromatic-aliphatic polyesters based on diethyl-2,5-furandicarboxylate and of the petroleum-based diethyl terephthalate and diethyl isophthalate were also synthesized. Here we show that the enzymatic synthesis starting from 2,4-diethyl pyridinedicarboxylate leads to the best polymers in terms of molecular weights (M n = 14.3 and M w of 32.1 kDa when combined with 1,8-octanediol) when polymerized in diphenyl ether. Polymerization in solventless conditions were also successful leading to the synthesis of bio-based oligoesters that can be further functionalized. DSC analysis show a clear similarity in the thermal behavior between 2,4-diethyl pyridinedicarboxylate and diethyl isophthalate (amorphous polymers) and between 2,5-diethyl pyridinedicarboxylate and diethyl terephthalate (crystalline polymers)

DNA repair and photochemistry in Bacillus subtilis spores

Bacterial endospores are 10 to 20 times more resistant to ultraviolet radiation than their vegetative counterparts, due to two interlocking mechanisms: the DNA photochemistry in spores, and the presence of two DNA repair systems. Spore DNA is closely associated with small acid soluble spore proteins (SASP) which change the conformation of DNA from the B form to an A-like form. When spores are subjected to UV radiation, SASP-bound DNA accumulates the unique thymine dimer 5-thyminyl-5,6-dihydrothymine, informally referred to as spore photoproduct (SP). Spores possess two DNA repair pathways that repair SP, the general nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway encoded by the uvr genes and the SP-specific SP lyase repair system encoded by the splB gene. Most of the information regarding spore UV resistance has traditionally been obtained using commercial UV lamps that emit predominantly 254-nm UV (UV-C). In contrast, solar UV radiation that reaches the Earth's surface spans 290 to 400-nm wavelengths, the so-called UV-B and UV-A portions of the UV spectrum, whereas the UV-C portion of solar UV is mainly filtered by the stratospheric ozone layer. Ten percent of bacterial spore dry mass consists of pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (dipicolinic acid or DPA). DPA has been implicated in triggering germination in germination-deficient mutant B. subtilis spores. DPA has also been shown to photosensitize spore DNA to UV radiation. In this dissertation the SP lyase repair system, spore DNA damage cause by environmental UV, and the role of DPA in the survival of spores to UV radiation were investigated. SplB protein containing an N-terminal 10-Histidine tag [(10His) SplB] was over-expressed and purified from Escherichia coli. The purified (10 His) SplB was used for characterizing the binding of the enzyme to its substrate, SP. A 35-bp oligonucleotide (oligo) was constructed with a single pair of adjacent thymidines on one strand. The oligo was irradiated with 254-nm UV under conditions to produce either SP or cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (PyPy). By DNase I protection, (10His) SplB was shown to bind specifically to the SP-containing oligo and not to the oligo containing PyPy or the unirradiated oligo. (10His) SplB bound to the oligo containing SP exhibited a 9-bp DNase I footprint with two hypersensitive sites within the footprint. Bacillus subtilis spores were exposed to UV-C, UV-B, solar UV-A and full spectrum sunlight. Chromosomal DNA was then extracted and probed for the presence of damage using a combination of enzymatic and electrophoretic treatments. Spores were shown to accumulate PyPy, single stranded breaks and double stranded breaks in addition to SP. No apurinic/apyrimidinic sites were detected under any irradiation conditions used. Mutant spores that make DPA (DPA⁻) or that were DPA-deficient (DPA⁻) were exposed to UV-C, UV-B, solar UV-A, and full spectrum sunlight as a dried-film or in suspension. When irradiated as a dried-film DPA⁻ spores were the most sensitive followed by the DPA⁻ spores and wild-type spores under all irradiation conditions except for solar UV-A where the DPA⁻ spores were the most resistant. On the other hand, DPA⁻ spores irradiated with UV-C in suspension were 8 times more resistant in comparison to the same spore irradiated as a dried-film

Comparison of FIS and ARIMA models in runoff estimating

The ability to surface runoff modelling plays an important role in the water resources management, and the possibility of estimating and predicting of runoff values takes on particular importance in the case of gaps in the recorded time series. Therefore, this study aims to compare between fuzzy inference system (FIS) models and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models in estimating of the surface runoff at Al-Jawadiyah hydrometric station on the Orontes River in Syria. The MATLAB program was used to build the fuzzy inference models and the Minitab program to build the ARIMA models. A large number of fuzzy inference models were built with the change in the model parameters such as the type and number of membership functions and training algorithms. Likewise, a large number of ARIMA models were built with the change in autoregressive components, moving average components, and differences. The effect of seasonality on the model was also studied. Several criteria were used to compare the models and choose the best model, such as correlation coefficient and root mean square errors. The results showed that fuzzy inference models are superior to estimating surface runoff values with high reliability compared with ARIMA models. This study recommends creating complete databases for all factors related to water resources in the study area that can be relied upon in future studies