Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio University, June, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 382-398).

No description available.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--University of Toledo, 2009. / Typescript. "Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in History." Bibliography: leaves 201-213.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University.

The class structure of Britain has changed considerably since the 1970s. The gap between the rich and poor has grown, and many individuals can no longer be classified into traditional middle- and working-class categories. Despite polarisation and fragmentation, however, social class has continued to shapes individuals’ daily lives and life-chances. There are distinct class inequalities in education and leisure that appear to be resistant to intervention. Governments and other public organisations have invested considerable funds and deployed various policies, but individuals from affluent backgrounds continue to do better in the education system and be more active in their leisure time than individuals from deprived backgrounds. Academics have also turned their attention to class inequalities in education and leisure, especially of late. Research indicates that such inequalities emerge during early childhood and remain through youth and into adulthood. This, along with evidence of the limited effectiveness of interventions delivered through schools, has made one thing clear: to explain the production and reproduction of class inequalities in education and leisure and do something about them through policy, researchers and governments must look to the family. The ways in which parents from different social classes are involved and invest in their children’s education and leisure have been researched quite extensively. However, the findings in many of the studies are un-integrated and de-contextualised. In addition, much of the research is deductive – academics have tended to test theories and the significance particular family variables and processes. This thesis, therefore, set out to produce a grounded theory of class-specific patterns of parenting in relation to children’s education and leisure. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a case study of parents and children from a small city in the north-west of England. Two main social classes emerged out of the case study, a group tentatively described as an ‘under-class’ and a middle-class divided into fractions. It was found that social class impacted upon several areas of family life, and differences in these areas of family life clustered together to form class-specific patterns of parenting. The under-class pattern of parenting was conceptualised as ‘essential assistance’. It conveys the present-centred and basic involvement of the parents – they did not think a great deal about the future but did what was necessary to keep their children up with their peers on a day-to-day basis. The middle-class pattern of parenting was conceptualised as ‘concerted cultivation’. It conveys the forward-thinking and deliberate nature of the parents’ involvement. Also, the meticulous lengths to which the parents went – every aspect of their children’s development was open to pruning. The middle-class parents were involved in their children’s education and leisure in similar ways, but to different degrees. Thus, concerted cultivation can be regarded as gradational. Class-specific patterns of parenting can be linked to the production of class-related patterns of inequality. Through essential assistance and concerted cultivation, under-class and middle-class parents condition their children to think and act in particular ways. More specifically, they furnish their children with different skills, preferences and mentalities. A detailed discussion of the theoretical and policy implications of these patterns of parenting is provided in the conclusion to the thesis.

Carbonic anhydrases catalyze a central reaction in life – the inter-conversion between carbon dioxide and water. Consequently, there is an increasing interest in research in using carbonic anhydrases for industrial applications such as biofuel production and carbon capture, since current approaches for CO2 capturing are expensive, harsh and energy demanding. The proof of principle for using carbonic anhydrase in these applications for carbon fixation has been validated. However, the current known and tested carbonic anhydrases are not tolerating the harsh industrial conditions. An ideal carbonic anhydrase should display thermo-, salt, and solvent stability and exhibit a decent reactivity. Herein we present the characterization and activity assessment of a halophilic γ-carbonic anhydrase from the Red Sea brine pool Discovery Deep. Protein X-ray structure exhibited the molecular structure and allowed the successful engineering of a small, active mutant library. Stopped-flow measurements gave insights into the activity and evaluated the engineering principles.

Self-building of housing in informal settlements is a common phenomenon in much of the world. Often referred to as slums, squatter areas, or shanty towns, this type of development comes with a variety of social and physical problems. Many lack clean water and other basic amenities and protections. At the same time, informal settlements provide affordable housing: for many residents they are the only alternative to homelessness. Often considered a phenomenon exclusive to the developing world, informal settlements do in fact exist in the United States. The most salient examples are the colonias of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. These are neighborhoods found mostly along the U.S.-Mexico border, in rural counties just outside of border cities, where they developed thanks to a regulatory vacuum that existed prior to 1995. Built in peripheral areas without proper infrastructure, including water, sewer, and paved roads, colonias often have poor living conditions. On the other hand, they have allowed tens of thousands of families to achieve home ownership. This thesis explores the implications of building regulation and infrastructure on the creation of decent housing with limited means. It draws on the example of the colonias as well as other projects from the Americas and Europe. The design proposal centers on a question of bringing self-building to an urban area. It is cheaper in the long term to provide infrastructure up-front to a dense urban development than it is to retrofit it in a sprawling ex-urban colonia. Beyond density, however, architect Renzo Piano has proposed that cities be considered in terms of intensity: the spatial concentration of the conditions necessary for vibrant urban life. This thesis focuses on a former rail yard in Houston's Near Northside, a place where the right infrastructure could support an intensity of self-building and urban regeneration. The proposal is both a physical and conceptual framework for the self-building of an alternative colonia. It suggests a balance between public and private investment and individual and collective effort, creating a model that could promote social justice, support long-term development, and create lasting economic value. / 0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

While the Twentieth Century largely saw the flight of the middle and upper classes to suburban communities, the past twenty-five years have seen a renewed interest in urban living. As the more economically stable classes return to city centers, poorer communities are being displaced. Gentrification, often championed as urban renewal, is promoted by politicians as a social-mixing tactic, but often the infiltration of the wealthy into poor neighborhoods pushes the poor community to the fringes. An extreme case of gentrification can be seen in the juxtaposition of Tower Hamlets, one of the poorest boroughs in London and the City of London, whose square mile is bursting at the seams with financial institutions. With significantly lower property values, Tower Hamlets Council is wary of City expansion eroding away the largely low-income immigrant communities that reside there. Even with relatively lower property values, the prohibitively high cost of housing in the UK, especially in London means living in the city center is almost impossible for even the middle classes, a fact that further illustrates the threat posed by the City to the mostly residential Hamlets. Peabody, one of the most prominent social housing associations in London found that when polled, 30% of their residents listed location of foremost importance above both "security of tenure" and the "right amount of space." 1 Unfortunately, recent political events in the United Kingdom have made it more difficult for the poor to remain in city centers. The recent lowering of the benefits cap by Parliament means that approximately 17,000 low-income families will be forced to move out of inner London.2 In addition, Parliament is also in the midst of changing housing laws to make it more difficult for immigrants to qualify for social housing.3 Given that the residents of housing estates chiefly value location and current policy is making living in the city center difficult for all but the wealthy, how can the poor and middle-class residents of urban communities resist the push of increasing urban property value towards the suburbs? This thesis will explore how architecture and planning can help these communities adapt to the changing economically-driven urban fabric without banishing their poorer residents to the suburbs. / 0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

0 / SPK / specialcollections@tulane.edu

Classless: On Being Middle Class in America is a documentary film that explores what it means to be middle class in America. The film combines personal narrative, folksy reporting, and comedy as the film's director— Joe Brown, tries to reconcile his own status anxiety with everyday understandings of social class. Classless takes the form of a journey; the film travels through the American South, Northeast, and the Mountain West while trying to get at the heart of our middle class American Dream. Classless forwards three main arguments: (1) the American middle class is not as all-encompassing as seems; (2) Americans are more concerned about inequality than both politicians and the media suggest; and (3) many Americans are not actually middle class, economically speaking.