This thesis explores the treatment of municipal wastewater using pilot-scale raceway ponds and looks specifically at the capability of the raceways in removing BOD and nitrogen. Nine 33 square-meter algal raceway ponds were used to conduct research at the San Luis Obispo Water Resources Recovery Facility. Main objectives of this study were to increase the removal of total ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N plus NH4+-N) from municipal wastewater through increased assimilation and nitrification. Raceway ponds with CO2 addition were operated in series with an intermediate settling step and a total hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 4 days to measure the increase in nitrogen removal through assimilation by two rounds of algae growth. A single round of treatment with a 4 day HRT was also operated and compared to the two rounds. The two rounds of treatment and 1 round of treatment removed on average 36.6 mg-N/L and 35.2 mg-N/L of TAN, with respective standard deviations of 6.3 mg-N/L and 5.3 mg-N/L. No statistical significant difference was found between two treatment methods for TAN (mg-N/L) removal (t = -0.64, DF = 23.3, P =0.28), % TAN removal (t = -1.18, DF = 22.6, P = 0.25), and TAN (mg-N/L) of final effluent (t = 1.11, DF = 23.6, P = 0.28). Raceway ponds were aerated at night to keep nighttime DO from dropping to concentrations inhibitory to nitrification. The rates of nitrification with night aeration were measured. The nitrification rates were compared to a model based on Monod kinetics. The Monod model did not correspond with performance results of ponds.

Due to recent policy changes in the United States and Taiwan, Taiwanese immigrants residing in the United States now face a choice of continuing to receive health care in the United States or returning to Taiwan for treatment care. This study uses a mixed method approach including a quantitative survey with 583 respondents and a qualitative study comprised of 14 interviews conducted by this researcher to explore the association between recent welfare and health policy changes and the health seeking behaviors of Taiwanese immigrants residing in the United States. The survey findings show that 47.5% of the respondents stated that they were strongly considering returning to Taiwan for health care under the new Taiwanese national health insurance plan (2nd NHIA). Logistic regression methods were used to address the primary research question --"Why do legal Taiwanese immigrants residing in the United States strongly consider or reject returning to Taiwan for health care under the new legislation?" These findings indicate that there are statistically significant associations between a variety of factors and the Taiwanese immigrants' desire to return to Taiwan for health care under the new national health insurance plan (2nd NHIA). The variables positively associated with a desire to return to Taiwan for health care include the length of domicile and residence required to receive benefits, a nostalgic desire to return to Taiwan, the lower cost of health care in Taiwan, and if the respondents had come to the U.S. before 1996. The negatively associated variables include having a job in the U.S., having a desire to return to Taiwan to live after retirement, the language preference in communications with a doctor, and a preference about the best place to receive dental treatment. Age and self-reported health were mediating variables. The study reveals the dynamics behind the health care decision-making of Taiwanese immigrants and particularly their choice of whether to seek care in the United States or in Taiwan.

This doctoral dissertation examines the interrelation between three aspects of Heraclitus’ thought: (1) his interest in perspectival or context-dependent conceptions of the opposites; (2) his views on the obstacles to and limitations of human (as contrasted with divine) knowledge; and (3) his conception of reality as a unity, along with the divergent kinds of unity that he associates with the divine and the human perspective. This dissertation argues that Heraclitus conceives of reality as an undifferentiated unity that can only be understood from a “perspectiveless” state. In other words, reality is such that it can only be grasped from a state unconditioned by the perceptual and cognitive features arising from one’s idiosyncratic “creaturely” constitution – especially one’s needs and values. This perspectiveless state also corresponds to the divine “perspective.” Heraclitus’ logos, this thesis argues, is a method for recognizing the underlying structure of human thought and discourse, and the view of reality that this structure yields. However, this method, when used consistently and globally, serves to undermine both the logos itself and the human perspective that it reflects. Through an analysis of Heraclitus’ perspective juxtapositions, this thesis shows that a full engagement with the logos’ method of evoking the unity of opposites allows the audience to achieve a (temporary) collapse of perspective and apprehension of reality as a unity free of oppositions and differentiations. By viewing Heraclitus’ statements concerning human knowledge in this light, we can resolve certain puzzles in Heraclitus’ conception of unity, his preoccupation with the perspectival (despite his rejection of the idiosyncratic) and his attitudes towards human knowledge. The unity of opposites, while not part of the nature of reality, plays an essential part in the common structure of human thought. By cleaving to this common structure, and by engaging fully with the conflicting perspectives which it brings together, and which are equally idiosyncratic with respect to the true nature of reality, the audience overcomes the limitations of the human perspective, and achieves a temporary apprehension of a reality which cannot be grasped from within its constraints.

At the end of 2018, more than 68.5 million people were displaced from their homes. Of these displaced persons, 22.5 million of these people were forced to leave their homes and find safety in another country. These people are known globally as refugees. Many of these refugees in recent years have fled to Western countries in Europe and North America. This immigration and the general subject of refugees and their integration into their host countries have recently been a large subject for media. Many of these refugees came from countries and cultures that may carry stigmatic backgrounds including Middle Eastern and African countries. For decades, media portrayals in entertainment, social, media, and news media have shown people from these countries in certain ways that may conflict with truthful characteristics of people from these cultures. The purpose of this study is to help better understand how refugees personal assimilation experiences compare to information distributed by the media. Through researching existing studies of media portrayals of refugees and Muslims through the lens of framing theory readers can better understand what information is distributed in Western cultures about refugees. Then, through conducting in-depth interviews with refugees hosted in Europe and the United States, seeking understanding of refugees personal stories, life experiences, and their perceptions of media representations of people of their same refugee status, readers may additionally better understand any differences in the portrayal of refugees and the experiences had by refugees themselves. Using grounded theory, poignant themes emerged from the interviews to explain how interviewed refugees lives are similar or differ and are affected by Western media portrayals. Emergent themes indicated that primarily polarized news accounts may interfere with refugee acculturation by making social and cultural connections difficult, discrepancies in qualifications, and issues with misunderstanding refugees lack of mobility. Additionally, refugee sentiments about refugee media portrayals and acculturation were evaluated to better understand how the media affects their assimilation processes.

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