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One of the stock assumptions that inhabits our understanding of the history of 19th- and early 20th-century immigration to an industrializing America is the wretchedness of the new immigrant laborers. The waves of new Americans from impoverished rural zones of emigration that swept into the nation were thought to be simple, rural people of limited skill for an advanced economy, unschooled in the norms of civic life, ignorant of democratic processes. Oscar Handlin was the original architect of this view; he saw the new ethnic groups as unsophisticated pre-moderns, and, as "peasants, they had not the background or skills to make their way in the economy of the New World." Whatever progress the new ethnic groups achieved in cultural and civic matters was attributable to learning and adapting to American influence, a process of assimilation that instilled social discipline in personal and public life and an appreciation for American democracy. This study challenges this assumption and relocates the locus of investigation overseas, to transnational sources of civic life in the pre-emigration lands of Ireland and South/Central Italy to explain the rapid rise and proliferation of ethnic voluntary associations in the late 1800s, early 1900s. The empirical universe is the Irish and Italians of Philadelphia; the time frame is 1880-1920, and the social site of investigation and analysis is the vibrant community life of ethnic voluntary associations the Irish and Italians constructed. This study also challenges a reading of the Irish associations in Philadelphia as little more than neighborhood clubs peopled by an aspiring upper strata of the Irish American community reaching for bourgeois values. This work suggests that the associations were populated by the working class, many born in Ireland, that substituted an ethic of solidarity for individual achievement values, a communal opposition to symbols of past oppression and agents of privilege. The Irish Americans of Philadelphia had cultural advantages prior to emigration, and they capitalized on this stock of common knowledge absorbed in native Ireland to transfer the norms, methods and moral codes of behavior from the Irish Friendly Society to the Irish American Beneficial Association of Philadelphia. However closely the Irish of Philadelphia followed the original transatlantic model, they ultimately molded their own style of ethnic association that elevated humanitarian communal values and constructed their civic life on a scaffolding of stable financial reasoning backed by a solid group discipline. The region of Abruzzo in South/Central Italy sent a disproportionate share of its rural people to Philadelphia in a massive chain migration that formed the Italian colony of South Philadelphia in the early 1900s. The Abruzzesse were a mountainous people defined by their rocky hilltop topography and a hard heritage derived from eking out an existence working rocky soil or shepherding; this was a mobile population cultured in the tradition of seasonal migration within Europe as the small farmers and rural laborers often spent months away from home in search of work to support their family and home. The rural proletariat of Abruzzo that eventually settled in Philadelphia also arrived with a rich civic heritage firmly intact, and the Italians capitalized on their knowledge and experience of an advanced civic culture based in local mutual aid to establish beneficial associations in Italian Philadelphia. In the process of following transatlantic models and in creating their own life, these ethnic groups constructed a collective consciousness mediated through the immediate community and educational mission of the ethnic associations. For the Irish, the association became the protective institution for a world view that defined Irish identity within the Diaspora as a community of exiles torn from cherished rural locations, a people bent on maintaining a vigilant eye on enemies such as the occupying British state in Ireland, on Irish landlordism and anti-Catholic agents in America, ever supportive of Irish nationalism. This consciousness grafted all kinds of imaginary symbols to its base, including race, a Social Darwinistic rendering of the Celtic type as superior to the Anglo Saxon, and a matrix of factors that conflated social class, nationalism, and sentimental remembrance into a hard opposition leveled at all forms of illegitimate privilege. The Italians were a mobile people of the mountains loyal to family and land, schooled in the rigors of migration, backed by the civic institutions of self-help they constructed in their agricultural towns; they were not burdened by the weight of sentimental nationalism as the Irish were in their Diaspora. Yet, during Italy's time of crisis during World War I, the Italian Americans of Philadelphia awakened national leanings and constructed a movement of national support for failing Italy. The Italian American associations of South Philadelphia came alive to sponsor financial and moral support for Italy at war, and a renewed Italian imperialism in the immediate post-war years. Thus, as the Irish and Italians drew on their old-world methods to create new civic institutions in Philadelphia, they also constructed separate ethnic identities and an active community, a vibrant energy that made industrial Philadelphia the home of the American voluntary association. / History

Most social interactions require correct identification of an individual’s face and name; however, this can be a rather challenging task. The present study examined whether a mnemonic proposed by pop-culture can enhance memory for face–name associations. More specifically, we tested whether vocalizing names in an unusual voice can improve subsequent memory for an individual’s face and name. The memory literature has examples of enhanced memory for items that require bizarre mental imagery as opposed to normal mental imagery, and separate evidence of enhanced memory for items that are said aloud, as opposed to items read silently. However, it is unclear whether bizarre production of names compared to regular production of names will lead to enhanced memory for faces, names, or face–name associations. In the present study, participants studied face–name pairs while vocalizing the names in a bizarre voice or a normal voice. Memory for face–name associations was tested using cued recall tests and a recognition test. The results suggest that using a bizarre voice disrupts memory performance compared to using a normal voice. Contrary to suggestions in pop-culture, the production of a bizarre voice appears to make it harder to associate face–name pairs during learning. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is a species of wood boring beetle which feeds on the inner bark of ash trees, Fraxinus spp., and white fringe tree, Chionanthus virginicus L. In North America emerald ash borer feeding damages the trees vascular system, killing the tree in 1-6 years after initial infestation. Emerald ash borer's native range is north east China, the Russian Far East, and the Korean peninsula. In the mid-1990s emerald ash borer was accidentally introduced to Michigan from the Hebei and Tianjin city province regions of China. Since then, due to human-aided transport and natural spread, emerald ash borer now infests 35 states and five Canadian provinces. Studies in to Asia discovered several species of parasitic wasps which feed and reproduce on emerald ash borer; four of these species were approved for release in the United States. Three species which attack emerald ash borer larvae Tetrastichus planipennisi Yang (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), Spathius agrili Yang (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), and Spathius galinae Belokobylskij and Strazanac (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), and one species which utilizes emerald ash borer eggs, Oobius agrili Zhang and Huang (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). This research focuses on the control of emerald ash borer using the three larvae-utilizing species of parasitic wasp. The first objective of this research focuses on the synchrony of emerald ash borer larvae with the early spring emergence of S. agrili and S. galinae. The first objective also assessed how two different cold temperature treatments changed the emergence timing, and health of the wasps. The second objective assessed to determine the effects of competition between S. agrili and S. galinae when they were exposed to a single emerald ash borer larvae sequentially, and simultaneously. When exposed sequentially, the first wasp held the competitive advantage, but when exposed simultaneously S. agrili had a small advantage, but did not completely exclude S. galinae. The third objective focused on the potential for two larval parasitoids, S. agrili and S. galinae to parasitize emerald ash borer larvae in the novel host plant white fringe tree. We determined that both parasitoids are capable of finding and parasitizing emerald ash borer larvae within a non-ash host. Finally, we located 13 stands of emerald ash borer infested ash in Virginia and North Carolina in order to determine its life cycle, and overwintering life stage. We determined that emerald ash borer overwinters at different life stages, and has a more complex life cycle than previously reported. Additionally, all three species of larvae-utilizing parasitic wasp were recovered at field sites at least 1 year after release. These results all show promise for the biocontrol program, and indicate that biocontrol of emerald ash borer could be successful in Virginia and North Carolina. / Doctor of Philosophy / Emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is a wood boring beetle which feeds on the inner bark of ash trees, Fraxinus spp., and white fringe tree, Chionanthus virginicus L. In the mid-1990s emerald ash borer was accidentally introduced to Michigan from the Hebei and Tianjin city province regions of China. Since then, due to human-aided transport and natural spread, emerald ash borer now infests urban and natural forests in 35 states and five Canadian provinces. North American ash trees did not evolve with emerad ash borer, and have little resistance to their attack. A North American ash or white fringe tree attacked by emerald ash borer dies in 1-6 years if left untreated. Systemic insecticide treatments exist, but require annual treatment and are less effective than initially hoped. Additionally, systemic insecticides are impractical to apply to forest ecosystems. Researchers traveled to the Asia, and discovered several species of parasitic wasps which attack emerald ash borer. After years of efficacy and host-exclusivity testing four species were released in the United States. Three species which exclusively utilize emerald ash borer larvae Tetrastichus planipennisi Yang (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), Spathius agrili Yang (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), and Spathius galinae Belokobylskij and Strazanac (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), and one species which utilizes emerald ash borer eggs, Oobius agrili Zhang and Huang (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae). My research focuses on the control of emerald ash borer using the three larvae-utilizing species of parasitic wasp. Chapter two focuses on the life cycle of emerald ash borer larvae, S. agrili and S. galinae during the early spring. We determined that both parasitoid species have similarly timed life cycles as EAB, indicating a good climate match in Virginia. Chapter three describes the interactions between S. agrili and S. galinae when competing for EAB larvae. We determined that the first species to attack the larvae has the advantage; and when adult wasps competed to find a larvae neither species completely dominated the other. The third objective focused on the potential for two larval parasitoids, S. agrili and S. galinae to parasitize emerald ash borer larvae in the novel host plant white fringe tree. We determined that both parasitoids are capable of finding and parasitizing emerald ash borer larvae within white fringe tree. Finally, we located 13 stands of emerald ash borer-infested ash in Virginia and North Carolina in order to determine its life cycle, and overwintering life stage. We determined that emerald ash borer overwinters at different life stages, and has a more complex life cycle than previously reported. Additionally, all three species of larvae-utilizing parasitic wasp were recovered at field sites at least 1 year after release. These results all show promise for the biocontrol program, and indicate that biocontrol of emerald ash borer could be successful in Virginia and North Carolina.

Firm size, in and of itself, is hardly a "goal" of the regulators. Indeed, the growth of very large firms, and the increase in market concentration that accompanies it, will add to the debate over the adequacy of the regulator's management of the industry. It must be demonstrable that very large firms assist the regulators in attaining some of their espoused goals, goals that they might not attain otherwise. What have we learned? The evidence does not all point in one direction. On the question of whether large firms can deliver their services more efficiently than can small ones, our answer is that scale economies are not as easily demonstratable as others have concluded. Such economies turn out to be crucially dependent on the way in which they are specified in the cost function. An examination of the likely biases of each functional form suggests that only relatively small firms would experience real efficiency gains from growth. Large firms seem to be neither more nor less efficient than their smaller cousins, insofar as private costs reflect public costs. / Ph. D.

The Clinch Dace Chrosomus sp. cf. saylori is a species of minnow known from only two counties in Virginia. Prior surveys established the species' presence in just eight tributaries to the upper Clinch River. A management plan, which should include both population monitoring and habitat restoration, is still lacking for the species. Population monitoring must balance high detection probability with low risk of injury to captured individuals. I sampled 98 sites in 2014 and 2015 within the putative range of Clinch Dace to refine estimates of its distribution. I sampled 70 of the 98 sites with multiple gears and replication in an occupancy modeling framework. Clinch Dace occupied low-gradient headwater streams with relatively low conductivity in forested watersheds. My surveys uncovered two new tributaries occupied by Clinch Dace, and I was unable to find Clinch Dace in two historically occupied streams. Species detection probability was higher with backpack electrofishing than minnow trapping. N-mixture models suggest that Clinch Dace are more abundant in watersheds with high forest cover although forest cover is highly correlated spatially in the nested stream network. Density estimates from mark-recapture sampling suggest that Clinch Dace occur at low densities in approximately 31.5 km of headwater streams. The mean estimate of global population size was 6,706 individuals. Some populations could be affected by low genetic diversity. I conclude by developing a prioritization framework for restoration and protection of 15 candidate conservation areas. Managers should work with private landowners to implement best management practices in high priority watersheds. / Master of Science

La thèse propose trois questions critiques du rôle politique et de mouvement des associations. Premièrement le fonctionnement associatif : mobiliser l’engagement (des salariés, des usagers et leurs proches, des bénévoles) en sortant d’une forme d’impensé suppose de réarticuler une conception alternative en sciences de gestion (pour avoir prise sur le managérialisme) et les apports de la sociologie des associations. Deuxièmement la culture politique : la capacité à contribuer à la reconstruction de références collectives et de médiations instituées, à promouvoir une culture alternative au référentiel économiste et marchand dominant, suppose d’analyser et de concevoir, de se situer dans l’histoire longue des idées, de revisiter le socle humaniste. Troisièmement l’action collective au niveau méso : pour peser dans les mécanismes institutionnels et à avoir prise sur la réalité, la remobilisation des travaux sur l’action collective et les mouvements sociaux, avec leur extension récente aux liens avec l’économie solidaire, est essentielle. / The research opens to three central criteria for an effective role on policy and social movement. The first one covers the operating mechanisms, which are deeply influenced by the managerial trend: it seems determinant to link an alternative design in management science and researches about sociology of associations (with, for instance, the ideal type of a « solidary enterprise »). The second one has to do with political culture as a kind of nodus, from which a possible role oncommon sense (about society, public policies, economy and market, actors capabilities, citizenship), and a possible process rebuilding collective references and positive experience of a link to institutions, seem to depend. Such a perspective requires to refer to a long-term history of ideas, which is necessary to study how the humanist foundations of occidental democracies are questioned. The third one covers collective mobilization at the meso level, as documented by the researches about collective mobilizations and social movements, including the recent researches about social movements and solidary economy.

Le projet de recherche s'est concentré sur les rôles des associations féminines en Tunisie depuis l’indépendance du pays au lendemain de la révolution de janvier 2011. Sur le plan conceptuel, je reprends la notion de « agency » en tant que cadre d’analyse pour étudier l’engagement et les moyens de mobilisation des individus qui militent dans les associations féminines. Dans la mesure où ce concept de « agency » indique un engagement dans la société, cette notion se prête parfaitement aux démarches épistémologiques dans mes enquêtes auprès des personnalités des associations féminines. Cette notion de « agency » me donne un cadre pour penser à la fois les actions des femmes et des hommes qui agissent au sein des associations étudiées mais aussi au niveau de l’influence qu’elles/ils laissent dans la société de par leurs actions. J’ai cherché à comprendre si l’agency, en tant que capacité individuelle de s’imposer dans des domaines de la vie sociale, politique ou économique pour apporter des innovations et modifications, pourrait s’appliquer à un groupe et donc pourrait être utile pour comprendre un pouvoir collectif. En analysant les entretiens que j’ai conduits avec les membres des associations féminines, j'ai cherché à suivre l’histoire de ces organisations et leur impact dans la société tunisienne durant le dernier demi-siècle depuis l’indépendance de la Tunisie à nos jours, et cela dans les domaines économique, social, politique et légal afin de répondre à ma question principale : quel est le rôle des associations féminines en Tunisie postcoloniale, notamment avant et après la révolution de 2011, surtout à l’égard du processus de la démocratisation dans le pays ? / The research project focused on the rôle of the feminist associations since the indipendence of Tunisia until the revolution of 2011, analyzing the context of the creation and the process, putting the accent on different women's associations which engaged themselves in order to ensure that the gained women's rights are respected and diffused in all country with the intention to improve women to became « fully citizens ».Every time I went to Tunisia, I had some interviews with the members of the organisations during the years before and after the revolution, in order to observe the evolution of their involvement in the association and in the society.The objective of this thesis is to contextualize the socio-political rôle occupied from the four associations in the history of the country, since their creation until the present day.On the conceptual plan, I included the « agency » notion, in order to analyse the involvement and the ressources of mobilisation of the people who participate in the work of the feminist associations.I tried to understand if « agency », as individual ability to impose on the domaines of the social, political and economic life to change something, it could be a collective ability, then a collective power. Analyzing the interviews with members of the associations, I attempted to track the history of the feminist tunisian organisations and their impact on the social life of the country, to answer to a final question : which is the rôle of the feminist associations in the postcolonial Tunisia, especially before an dafter the revolution of january 2011, mainly in relation to the democratic process of the country ?

Dementia is a clinical state caused by neurodegeneration and characterized by a loss of function in cognitive domains and behavior. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. Although the amyloid β (Aβ) protein and hyperphosphorylated tau aggregates in the brain are considered to be the key pathological hallmarks of AD, the exact cause of AD is yet to be identified. In addition, clinical diagnoses of AD can be error prone. Many previous studies have compared the clinical diagnosis of AD against the gold standard of autopsy confirmation and shown substantial AD misdiagnosis Hippocampal sclerosis of aging (HS-Aging) is one type of dementia that is often clinically misdiagnosed as AD. AD and HS-Aging are controlled by different genetic architectures. Familial AD, which often occurs early in life, is linked to mainly mutations in three genes: APP, PSEN1, and PSEN2. Late-onset AD (LOAD) is strongly associated with the ε4 allele of apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene. In addition to the APOE gene, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in or close to some genes associated with LOAD. On the other hand, GRN, TMEM106B, ABCC9, and KCNMB2 have been reported to harbor risk alleles associated with HS-Aging pathology. Although GWAS have succeeded in revealing numerous susceptibility variants for dementias, it is an ongoing challenge to identify functional loci and to understand how they contribute to dementia pathogenesis. Until recently, rare variants were not investigated comprehensively. GWAS rely on genotype imputation which is not reliable for rare variants. Therefore, imputed rare variants are typically removed from GWAS analysis. Recent advances in sequencing technologies enable accurate genotyping of rare variants, thus potentially improving our understanding the role of rare variants on disease. There are significant computational and statistical challenges for these sequencing studies. Traditional single variant-based association tests are underpowered to detect rare variant associations. Instead, more powerful and computationally efficient approaches for aggregating the effects of rare variants have become a standard approach for association testing. The sequence-kernel association test (SKAT) is one of the most powerful rare variant analysis methods. A recently-proposed scan-statistic-based test is another approach to detect the location of rare variant clusters influencing disease. In the first study, we examined the gene-based associations of the four putative risk genes, GRN, TMEM106B, ABCC9, and KCNMB2 with HS-aging pathology. We analyzed haplotype associations of a targeted ABCC9 region with HS-Aging pathology and with ABCC9 gene expression. In the second study, we elucidated the role of the non-coding SNPs identified in the International Genomics of Alzheimer’s Project (IGAP) consortium GWAS within a systems genetics framework to understand the flow of biological information underlying AD. In the last study, we identified genetic regions which contain rare variants associated with AD using a scan-statistic-based approach.