Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Mathematics / Diego Maldonado / Originally introduced in 1961 by Carl Gustav Axel Harnack [36] in the context of harmonic functions in R[superscript]2, the so-called Harnack inequality has since been established for solutions to a wide variety of different partial differential equations (PDEs) by mathematicians at different times of its historical development. Among them, Moser's iterative scheme [47-49] and Krylov-Safonov's probabilistic method [43, 44] stand out as pioneering theories, both in terms of their originality and their impact on the study of regularity of solutions to PDEs. Caffarelli's work [12] in 1989 greatly simplified Krylov-Safonov's theory and established Harnack's inequality in the context of fully non-linear elliptic PDEs. In this scenario, Caffarelli and Gutierrez's study of the linearized Monge-Ampere equation [15, 16] in 2002-2003 served as a motivation for axiomatizations of Krylov-Safonov-Caffarelli theory [3, 25, 57]. The main work in this dissertation is a new axiomatization of Krylov-Safonov-Caffarelli theory. Our axiomatic approach to Harnack's inequality in spaces of homogeneous type has some distinctive features. It sheds more light onto the role of the so-called critical density property, a property which is at the heart of the techniques developed by Krylov and Safonov. Our structural assumptions become more natural, and thus, our theory better suited, in the context of variational PDEs. We base our method on the theory of Muckenhoupt's A[subscript]p weights. The dissertation also gives an application of our axiomatic approach to Harnack's inequality in the context of infinite graphs. We provide an alternate proof of Harnack's inequality for harmonic functions on graphs originally proved in [21].

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Todd Easton / Integer Programming (IP) problems are a common type of optimization problem used to solve numerous real world problems. IPs can require exponential computational effort to solve using the branch and bound technique. A popular method to improve solution times is to generate valid inequalities that serve as cutting planes. This dissertation introduces a new category of cutting planes for general IPs called inequality merging. The inequality merging technique combines two or more low dimensional inequalities, yielding valid inequalities of potentially higher dimension. The dissertation describes several theoretical results of merged inequalities. This research applies merging inequalities to a frequently used class of IPs called multiple knapsack (MK) problems. Theoretical results related to merging cover inequalities are presented. These results include: conditions for validity, conditions for facet defining inequalities, merging simultaneously over multiple cover inequalities, sequentially merging several cover inequalities on multiple variables, and algorithms that facilitate the development of merged inequalities. Examples demonstrate each of the theoretical discoveries. A computational study experiments with inequality merging techniques using benchmark MK instances. This computational study provides recommendations for implementing merged inequalities, which results in an average decrease of about 9% in computational time for both small and large MK instances. The research validates the effectiveness of using merged inequalities for MK problems and motivates substantial theoretical and computational extensions as future research.

This paper studies the contribution behavior and cooperation of subjects in different immigration situations via a dynamic public good game. This dynamic environment, in which a subject’s income at the end of the decision will become an endowment for the next decision, also offers an opportunity to study growth as measured by group income and inequality via the Gini coefficient. Overall, contribution does not converge to zero, nor does it decrease over time, and subjects are very contributive in nature. The best scenario to boost contributions among subjects is when immigrants reduce a subject’s income in the current period, but promise to increase growth in the future. In all treatments, inequality significantly increases over time for the unsuccessful group (below the median group income), while the successful group (above the median group income) mostly has lower inequality with a constant, or slightly increasing, trend. There is a positive relationship between growth and inequality in the treatment where immigrants have no impact on subjects’ income, and also where immigrants reduce subjects’ income without future promise. This positive relationship implies that the group growth can be achieved only with an increase in inequality (or less cooperation between subjects). However, a slightly negative relationship occurs in the scenario where the immigrants reduce subjects’ income in the current period, but promise to increase growth in the future. This negative relationship implies that group growth can be achieved without any inequality (or more cooperation between subjects). The overall findings in this paper provide insights into the contribution behavior and cooperation of subjects, when considering the different economic impacts of immigrants in their society.

Studies of terrorism have explored a number of factors thought to drive the phenomenon. Authors often tie socioeconomic development to reducing terrorism. Among structural explanations of terrorism, however, authors generally neglect the effect of gender inequality, though studies show that gender inequality increases the risk of international and civil conflict. Therefore I explore the impact of gender inequality in important socioeconomic issues on terrorism for 143 countries from 1998-2009. I argue that socioeconomic gender inequality reflects poor state capacity, resulting in grievances that contribute to domestic non-suicide and suicide terrorism. I study gender inequality in the areas of education, labor participation, and life expectancy. Results indicate that education and life expectancy inequality increase the risk of terrorism, while labor inequality is unrelated. While the time frame and data used in this study limit generalizability, results indicate that states should provide socioeconomic gender parity to reduce the risk of domestic terrorism.

This qualitative case study explores the post-Katrina experiences of African Americans in Houston and in New Orleans. When the levees failed, residents from New Orleans were scattered across the country. Houston housed the largest population of displaced low-income African Americans from New Orleans. As the rebuilding process began, housing, employment, education, and healthcare policies in New Orleans changed. These institutional changes employed urban revitalization and poverty removal strategies adapted to disaster recovery. This study differs from previous research by examining these changes with an intersectional approach. It explores how African Americans frame obstacles as they attempt to return to a city with reformed housing, employment, education, and healthcare policies. To do this, I analyze three different cases 1) those that returned to New Orleans, 2) those still displaced in Houston, and 3) those that relocated to Houston after returning to New Orleans for over a year.

This thesis supplements existing literature by examining the relationship between institutional regulations and gendered assumptions about bodies. This thesis draws from feminist social constructionist perspectives and gendered organizational theories to explore the role of gendered body assumptions in the organizational framework of a hypermasculine political institution. Using the U.S. military as an illustrative example, this thesis studies military policies and rationales historically, focusing on the post-Vietnam accelerated inclusion of women, the increasing use of combat as a divisive component, and the gendered structural elements that are used to determine physical competence. Findings coincide with existing literature and suggest that social meanings relating to gender are a prominent influence in U.S. military policy historically and contemporarily, even when biological reasons are cited as justification. This research provides implications for understanding institutional, strategic use of gender and provides analysis of how physical bodies and accompanying social meanings are impacted by institutional goals.

This thesis is focused on questions of state redistribution and income inequality in the Czech republic. It explains the main ideas of state redistribution, income inequality and relation between them. It anlyzes the particular instruments of state redistribution such as tax systems and systems of social transfers which the government uses to achiave more equal distribution of incomes in society. The object of the thesis is to find out how the particular instruments contribute to filling the essentials goal - lower the income inequality in society. It is based on the data from years 2006 until 2008 from the statistics of household accounts published on the web site of the Czech statistical office. Finally, it is devoted to the trends of state redistribution and income inequality in OECD countries.

Orientador: Marcos Simão Figueiras / Resumo: O presente trabalho, em síntese, tem por objetivo investigar como o princípio da capacidade contributiva, previsto no artigo 145, § 1°, da Constituição Federal, tem sido aplicado pelo Supremo Tribunal Federal. Parte-se do pressuposto de que o Estado como instituição politicamente organizada atrai para si atribuições destinadas ao desenvolvimento e bem estar social dos cidadãos e que estes, por sua vez, devem contribuir financeiramente para o custeio das atividades desenvolvidas pelo Estado. Neste contexto, a imposição tributária se instala como contribuição de cada indivíduo em prol da coletividade. É justamente esta possibilidade de cada indivíduo concorrer para o financiamento do Estado, ou seja, a medida do sacrifício individual que o Estado poderá legitimamente cobrar revela a importância do princípio da capacidade contributiva como requisito a ser avaliado para garantir justiça na imposição tributária. Neste passo, a pesquisa se justifica para averiguar se há compatibilidade entre a interpretação dada pela doutrina e a jurisprudência da Corte Suprema do Brasil. A pesquisa parte da premissa de que a forma de tributação de Estado pode ser um instrumento de redução da desigualdade e promoção da cidadania e, desta forma, pretende contribuir para fomentar as discussões sobre a justiça fiscal no país. / Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the progress of the contributory capacity, provided for in article 145, paragraph 1, of the Federal Constitution, which has been applied by the Federal Supreme Court. The State has a political organization to attract and the attributions to the development and social welfare of the citizens and that, in turn, contribute financially to the cost of activities rich by the State. In this context, taxation imposes itself as a contribution of each individual to the benefit of the collectivity. It is possible that each individual competes for state funding, that is, a measure of individual sacrifice that can be assessed to do justice to taxation. In this article, the research is justified to ascertain if there is any difference between a given given by the doctrine and a jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Brazil. The formation of an instrument to reduce inequality and promote citizenship and, thus, the use of an instrument to reduce inequality and promote citizenship in the country. / Mestre

[pt] Este trabalho aborda a temática da assistência estudantil na UFRJ. Tem enfoque particular na percepção dos estudantes moradores da residência estudantil acerca dos programas existentes na universidade destinados a apoiar a permanência dos discentes nos cursos de graduação. Para respaldar o estudo procedeu-se a uma análise da conjuntura atual da educação superior no Brasil no contexto de reestruturação produtiva e da incorporação dos princípios neoliberais no desenvolvimento das políticas sociais. A presente dissertação reflete sobre os conceitos de políticas sociais, cidadania e de desigualdade, condição esta que historicamente caracteriza o acesso a educação superior no Brasil. Aborda também as transformações da educação superior no Brasil a partir do processo de ampliação do campo da educação com as políticas de democratização do acesso, decorrentes do REUNI e da Lei 12.711 que dispõe sobre o ingresso nas universidades federais e nas instituições federais de ensino técnico de nível médio. O trabalho apresenta um breve histórico da assistência estudantil no Brasil e, em especial na UFRJ, onde o seu desenvolvimento culminou com a criação da Superintendência Geral de Políticas Estudantis, no contexto da aprovação do Decreto PNAES. Parte-se do pressuposto de que as políticas de democratização do acesso à universidade pública só se efetivarão se forem acompanhadas de ações que viabilizem a permanência, em especial dos estudantes das classes populares ou dos grupos desiguais que estão ingressando nas universidades. A pesquisa, de natureza qualitativa, foi desenvolvida com estudantes inseridos no programa de moradia que ingressaram na universidade no ano de 2009. Foram realizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas com 8 estudantes. Os resultados obtidos indicam que os programas de assistência estudantil existentes na UFRJ têm grande importância para a permanência dos estudantes em condição de desigualdade social e econômica. Apontam também para a necessidade de ampliação tanto quantitativa quanto qualitativa dos diversos serviços que compõem os programas de assistência estudantil. / [en] This study addresses the issue of student assistance at UFRJ. It has a particular focus on the perceptions of students who live in the student residence about existing programs at the university to support the stay of students in undergraduate courses. To support the study, an analysis of the current situation of higher education in Brazil in the context of productive restructuring and incorporation of neoliberal principles in the development of social policies was performed. This essay reflects on the concepts of social policy, citizenship and inequality, conditions that historically characterizes the access to higher education in Brazil. It also discusses the transformations of higher education in Brazil since the process of expansion of the education field with the policies of democratization of access arising from REUNI and Law 12.711 which describes the admission into federal universities and the federal institutions of technical high school education. The paper presents a brief history of student assistance in Brazil and especially in UFRJ, where its development resulted in the creation of the General Superintendent of Student Policies in the context of the approval of Decree PNAES. It is assumed that the policies of democratizing the access to public universities will only be successful if accompanied by actions that facilitate the stay, especially for students of social classes with economic difficulties or the unequal groups that in entering universities. The research is qualitative and it was developed with students, placed in housing program, who joined the university in 2009. Semi-structured interviews with eight students were performed. The results show that the exisiting student assistance programs at UFRJ have a great importance for the permanence at the university of students that are inserted in a condition of social and economic inequality. The data also indicate the need for both quantitative and qualitative expansion of the various services that compose the student assistance programs.

The construction business is one of the most male-dominant industries in Sweden, where the majority of the workers are men. Since the industry is associated with dirt, provocative jokes and heavy lifting many tend to picture a man as a construction worker. This unfortunate picture has set a tone on the society and in the minds of young girls who believe that they don't belong in the construction business. Those who are affected the most are the craftsmen, which is the part the authors have decided to focus on. Previous studies has shown that women who works in a male-dominant work environment tends to be exposed to sexual assault, stress, less development opportunities and different standards than their male coworkers. This inspired the authors to examine if this applies to the craftsmen and if so, how can one make the craftsman profession more appealing to women? The purpose of the study is to examine any possible problems attached to the low amount of female craftsman and the benefits that would occur if the amount got higher. To execute this study the authors have chosen a qualitative methodology. Previous studies have helped to form eventual problem formulations and questions asked in the semi-structured interviews that where conducted by the authors. The discussion and analysis results in a list of changes that must happen in order to appeal more women to the craftsman profession. In conclusion, changes that must happen will take time and one can only hope that the next generation will grow up without the stigma the craftsmen suffers from today.