Open market repurchases : information, signaling and the role of volume

Beltz, Jess Indiana University 1993 해외박사

Recreational Cannabis Legalization in Washington State: Residents' Opinions and Perceptions of Effects Five Years after Implementation

Beltz, Lindsey Marie Washington State University ProQuest Dissertations 2019 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

Washington became one of the first states to legalize recreational cannabis in 2012. Its residents are now in a unique position to evaluate the lived effects of a monumental shift in the state's drug law. This project assessed the effects of cannabis law reform as perceived by Washington residents, tested a newly designed measure of cannabis use that could increase the accuracy of national data, and explored concerns, opinions, and use in the context of recreational legalization. Data collection included a representative, random-sample survey of Washington residents (n=538) aimed to further understanding of the effects of legalization and a non-representative survey utilizing an online panel to experimentally test whether how we ask about cannabis use impacts people's answers.Overall, positive effects were the most frequently reported when residents were questioned about what effects they have noticed as resulting from legalization. These included decriminalization, economic benefits, and destigmatization. People remain concerned about drugged driving and increased use, although initial evidence does not support these concerns. Washington residents' perspective also revealed issues related to location and visibility of dispensaries and advertising. Overwhelmingly, however, residents' responses were positive.It is imperative that accurate self-report data are collected to know whether legalization increases rates of cannabis use. Experimental tests show that, in states where cannabis has not been legalized for recreational use, using the words "marijuana and hashish" in a survey question resulted in lower reported rates of use than the words "any cannabis products." This is likely due to the stigma associated with the term marijuana compared to cannabis. These results indicate that national surveys may produce inaccurate estimates of rates of cannabis use.Washingtonians generally remain supportive of recreational legalization. Opinions that have changed since the vote in 2012 tend now to be more positive. Use may have become more commonplace, but few new users have been created. Some report decreasing their alcohol use by substituting cannabis and 38% said the same about opioid use, providing evidence for substitution effects. While opinion is positive and stigma has lessened, pockets of resistance to legalization remain and are similar to national trends.

Ecosystem Structure and Function in Semiarid Drylands: Exploring the Effects of Water and Nitrogen Availability in the Great Plains of the Western United States

Beltz, Christopher W ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Yale University 2022 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

The global soil carbon (C) pool contains more than twice as much C as the atmosphere, and a large portion of terrestrial C as a whole. Within the global soil C pool, drylands contain 20% of the soil C, in addition to covering 40% of the earth’s surface. Because they are both widespread and a significant reservoir of C, drylands are an important component of the global C cycle. Despite the importance of drylands, ecosystem function can be difficult to predict, with drylands switching from a C source to sink on an interannual basis. This uncertainty in net C flux creates difficulty projecting dryland contributions to atmospheric C and global change, particularly with expected future changes in annual precipitation and seasonality, changes in magnitude of nitrogen (N) deposition, and widespread land use change.The overall goal of my dissertation research is to improve our understanding of ecosystem structure and ecosystem function for semiarid drylands. In particular, I am interested in asking questions about the response of several dryland ecosystem types to changing water and N additions, similar to those predicted to occur under multiple scenarios of global change. I used field and lab-based methods to explore the structure and function of the shortgrass steppe, mixed-grass prairie, and sagebrush steppe – ecosystem types that are among the most common semiarid drylands in the western U.S. I assessed the composition of and the differences among these dryland ecosystem types in their ‘natural’ state, and under treatments of added water and N, altering the availability of these two components in situ.In Chapter 1, I investigated multiple facets of ecosystem structure and function across three dryland ecosystem types in the Great Plains of the western United States. I conducted this study to better understand patterns in structure and function within semiarid drylands and to understand how those patterns relate to the lesser-studied sagebrush steppe. As expected, plant and soil microbial communities varied by site. Surface soils were largely similar in their soil C content, while subsurface soils (> 5 cm depth) varied widely in their C content; the lower depth soils at the mixed-grass prairie had more than twice the soil C of the other two dryland types in all size fractions studied. I found that each of the sites functioned largely similarly with respect to aboveground net primary production, soil respiration, and soil N mineralization. The data suggest that functional attributes may be similar across dryland ecosystem types, at least when constrained to similar climates and soil textures, as in my study.In Chapter 2, I explored the effects of increasing water and N availability on ecosystem structure across the shortgrass steppe, mixed-grass prairie, and sagebrush steppe. I was particularly interested in changes within the plant and soil microbial communities. β-diversity within plant and microbial communities were largely resistant to change. However, there were three notable changes within functional types and indicator species: grasses increased in abundance at the mixed-grass prairie under high N additions with and without water, saprotrophic fungi increased in abundance at most locations under combined water and N (of differing levels), and arbuscular mycorrhizae decreased across all sites with greater decreases generally accompanying higher loadings of N. Indicator species within the cyanobacteria and lichenized fungi experienced increases in abundance at the shortgrass steppe. While these results show no major widespread shifts in β-diversity, changes in those plant, fungal, and bacterial indicator species may portend future changes in biomass production, decomposition, and nutrient cycling.In Chapter 3, I assessed the effects of changing water and N availability on ecosystem function in the three dryland systems. I measured the responses of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), soil respiration, and soil C to these treatments. All dryland systems experienced similar responses to N additions and combined high N with water additions, with increased ANPP and soil respiration. Soil C showed no significant differences after treatment. My results demonstrate co-limitation of ecosystem function by water and N over the course of this study in these three semiarid drylands of the western Great Plains.

Namtar: Deity, Demon, Agent of Fate

Beltz, Jon Yale University ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 2023 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

The categories of gods, demons, and monsters in ancient Mesopotamian cultures remain a popular topic in scholarship, whether in surveys of Mesopotamian religions, collected studies on demonology, or monographs devoted to individual gods and demons. Yet certain divine beings exhibiting characteristics of both gods and demons-thereby eluding easy classification-have yet to be the subject of their own in-depth studies. One key example is Namtar ("Fate" in Sumerian), who operated both as a minor god in the Underworld and as a demon responsible for plagues and illnesses.This dissertation is the first monograph-length study to focus on Namtar, charting his place in the Mesopotamian divine cosmos and situating him between the categories of "god" and "demon." The evidence used in this study is the wealth of textual sources available to modern scholars on cuneiform tablets, spanning from the third millennium BCE down to the end of the first millennium BCE. To frame the approach to this textual material, the first chapter of this study delineates a theoretical model for distinguishing between gods and demons in Mesopotamia based on two criteria: First, a being's position within the divine social system, and second, the modes by which humans interact with that being.The study continues with a philological analysis of the cuneiform texts that mention Namtar, to ascertain the ways he is presented, the roles he fulfills, and how he relates to the two criteria for distinguishing between gods and demons. The chapters divide the textual sources by genre. Chapter Two concerns the part Namtar plays in narrative texts and focuses on his role as a literary character. Chapter Three analyzes the numerous references to Namtar in incantations and ritual texts, most of which describe Namtar's effects on humanity and his role as a demon of plague (though some of these texts indicate that Namtar could be invoked against other evil forces, such as witches). Chapter Four concentrates on other text genres in which there are only a handful of mentions of Namtar-such as hymns, prayers, god-lists, proverbs, and divinatory texts-and examines evidence for the worship or veneration of Namtar.The fifth and final part of this study synthesizes the various texts in which Namtar figures, weaving them into a diachronic picture of Namtar's divine "career" through the millennia. It then endeavors to situate him in the model for distinguishing gods and demons outlined in the introduction. Ultimately, I argue that Namtar is a paradox: though he is a god in terms of his status within the divine social system, the functions he performs are akin to those of a demon, as are the modes with which humans interact with him. So he is a god by the first criterion outlined in Chapter One, and a demon by the second criterion. The dissertation ends with two appendices editing several first millennium incantations against Namtar that have not previously been given a modern critical edition.Not only does this dissertation provide a profile of an important Mesopotamian Underworld god and disease demon, it also has wider implications for the conceptualization of divine beings more generally. By studying Namtar's liminal position between gods and demons, we can test and challenge approaches to mapping out the Mesopotamian pantheon within Assyriological research, arriving at more precise ways to describe ancient Near Eastern divine beings.

Understanding Hot to Ultra Hot Jupiters Through General Circulation Models and High Resolution Spectroscopy

Beltz, Hayley University of Michigan ProQuest Dissertations & Th 2023 해외박사(DDOD)

소속기관이 구독 중이 아닌 경우 오후 4시부터 익일 오전 9시까지 원문보기가 가능합니다.

With orbital periods of only a few days, hot Jupiters and the even hotter ultrahot Jupiters are classes of planets that exist in an irradiation regime unlike anything in our solar system. These atmospheres are drastically influenced by the extreme levels of irradiation from their host star. Due to their proximity, these planets are expected to become tidally locked into synchronous orbits, meaning that their rotation period and orbital period are equal. This results in a permanent dayside and nightside on the planets, causing the large scale atmospheric dynamics of these objects to be governed by heat redistribution. In addition, these extreme temperatures cause atmospheric species to ionize on planet daysides, which can contribute to the lack of uniformity in the spatial distribution of species in these planets' atmospheres. The movement of these ions also opens the door to interactions with the planet's magnetic field. Very little is known about how magnetic effects can shape the atmospheres of these planets. In order to understand these planets more thoroughly, I use two main tools: 3D numerical modeling and high resolution spectroscopy. In this thesis, I explore multiple numerical treatments of magnetic effects, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each. Using our model's state-of-the-art kinematic magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) approach, I characterize a magnetic circulation regime that manifests in the upper atmosphere of ultrahot Jupiters as a result of our magnetic drag treatment. I also dive into the observational signatures of this regime, reviewing the effects on phase curves, emission, and transmission spectroscopy. Too often are magnetic effects ignored in analyses and models, and this thesis works to emphasize the importance of these effects.