Matching Items (13)
Description
DNA is a unique, highly programmable and addressable biomolecule. Due to its reliable and predictable base recognition behavior, uniform structural properties, and extraordinary stability, DNA molecules are desirable substrates for biological computation and nanotechnology. The field of DNA computation has gained considerable attention due to the possibility of exploiting the massive parallelism that is inherent in natural systems to solve computational problems. This dissertation focuses on building novel types of computational DNA systems based on both DNA reaction networks and DNA nanotechnology. A series of related research projects are presented here. First, a novel, three-input majority logic gate based on DNA strand displacement reactions was constructed. Here, the three inputs in the majority gate have equal priority, and the output will be true if any two of the inputs are true. We subsequently designed and realized a complex, 5-input majority logic gate. By controlling two of the five inputs, the complex gate is capable of realizing every combination of OR and AND gates of the other 3 inputs. Next, we constructed a half adder, which is a basic arithmetic unit, from DNA strand operated XOR and AND gates. The aim of these two projects was to develop novel types of DNA logic gates to enrich the DNA computation toolbox, and to examine plausible ways to implement large scale DNA logic circuits. The third project utilized a two dimensional DNA origami frame shaped structure with a hollow interior where DNA hybridization seeds were selectively positioned to control the assembly of small DNA tile building blocks. The small DNA tiles were directed to fill the hollow interior of the DNA origami frame, guided through sticky end interactions at prescribed positions. This research shed light on the fundamental behavior of DNA based self-assembling systems, and provided the information necessary to build programmed nanodisplays based on the self-assembly of DNA.
ContributorsLi, Wei (Author) / Yan, Hao (Thesis advisor) / Liu, Yan (Thesis advisor) / Chen, Julian (Committee member) / Gould, Ian (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Because of its ability to harbor social values, norms, and beliefs, heritage has always been utilized as an ideological vehicle. One prominent example of politicizing heritage is Chinese red tourism, comprised of state-promoted tours to revolutionary memorial sites. It is expected to generate political, economic, and social benefits, particularly to reinforce the legitimate leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Statistics show that dramatic market growth in red tourism has occurred over the past decade. Yet it is still heavily driven by the government and thus whether long-term sustainability can be achieved is still questionable.
This dissertation explores the dynamics of red tourism from the perspective of a meaning-making process, where tourism discourses circulate among the processes of production, transmission, and consumption. The results reveal that higher-level government primarily assumes the leading role, whereas local government is largely excluded from strategy making processes and primarily responsible for implementation and operation. Some dissonance exists between higher and lower-level governments in their goals and involvement in red tourism development. Second, intermediaries are not altruistic and attempt to maximize their own benefits. While site interpreters may provide officially authorized narratives, their primary focus is hosting higher-up administrative visitors. On the contrary, tour guides are more customer-oriented, which may lead to officially undesirable interpretations. Third, driven by multiple motives, tourists have increasingly diverse attitudes towards red heritage and participate in various political and non-political activities. A considerable degree of congruence was found between tourists' participation, motivation, memories, and perception. Quantitative results indicate that the majority of tourists have learned about the political significance and/or content of red heritage, and developed more positive attitudes towards, and support for, the CCP and the government, to a certain extent.
This dissertation contributes to current research by adopting a systematic and emic perspective to explore the dynamics of red tourism. Several conceptual frameworks were developed inductively to describe the meaning-making process. Mixed methods were used to learn about tourists' consumption and perceptions of red heritage. Implications regarding enhancing the effectiveness of the meaning-making process, limitations of the study, and potential directions for future research are also discussed.
This dissertation explores the dynamics of red tourism from the perspective of a meaning-making process, where tourism discourses circulate among the processes of production, transmission, and consumption. The results reveal that higher-level government primarily assumes the leading role, whereas local government is largely excluded from strategy making processes and primarily responsible for implementation and operation. Some dissonance exists between higher and lower-level governments in their goals and involvement in red tourism development. Second, intermediaries are not altruistic and attempt to maximize their own benefits. While site interpreters may provide officially authorized narratives, their primary focus is hosting higher-up administrative visitors. On the contrary, tour guides are more customer-oriented, which may lead to officially undesirable interpretations. Third, driven by multiple motives, tourists have increasingly diverse attitudes towards red heritage and participate in various political and non-political activities. A considerable degree of congruence was found between tourists' participation, motivation, memories, and perception. Quantitative results indicate that the majority of tourists have learned about the political significance and/or content of red heritage, and developed more positive attitudes towards, and support for, the CCP and the government, to a certain extent.
This dissertation contributes to current research by adopting a systematic and emic perspective to explore the dynamics of red tourism. Several conceptual frameworks were developed inductively to describe the meaning-making process. Mixed methods were used to learn about tourists' consumption and perceptions of red heritage. Implications regarding enhancing the effectiveness of the meaning-making process, limitations of the study, and potential directions for future research are also discussed.
ContributorsZhao, Shengnan (Author) / Timothy, Dallen J. (Thesis advisor) / Chhabra, Deepak (Committee member) / Lee, Woojin (Committee member) / Nyaupane, Gyan (Committee member) / Li, Wei (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The objective of this study was to understand domestic and foreign-born housekeeper's individual perceptions of labor mobility and job satisfaction related to their jobs within the hospitality industry. Literature regarding the bridging of tourism, immigration, and labor supply was addressed to expose broad conceptual frameworks that lead to the development of this study. More specifically, literature regarding labor mobility within tourism industries, migrant decision making, and barriers to mobility and immigration helped to construct a narrowed conceptual framework specific to hospitality labor in Phoenix, Arizona. Similar and previous studies focused on perceived labor mobility during significant economic or industry shifts. This study included the addition of a policy factor to help determine to what degree state policy change effected hospitality workers' perceived labor mobility. Arizona's recently passed and implemented legislative act SB1070 regards immigrant identification and employment, and enforcement of the act in the state of Arizona; this serves as the implicated policy change. Data were collected via on-site survey administered February to May 2011. An overall score was created for the five motivational dimensions: 1 — Status; 2 — Economic; 3 — Refugee; 4 — Entrepreneurial; and, 5 — Political using principle component factor analysis using a varimax rotation with Kaiser normalization. Theory and literature suggest that the economic advancement, status advancement, and the refugee orientation are effective explanatory variables for motivating a career move into the tourism industry. A total of 82 questionnaires were delivered and completed (N = 82), and none were eliminated. The statistically-determined Economic Dimension was characterized by eleven statements explained 51% of the variation and was the overwhelming motivational force. The average coded response for change in job satisfaction was very positive at .75. Ten features of changes in job satisfaction were used as the basis of the second measure of change in job satisfaction. The first Principle Component of the ten features of job satisfaction change explained 45% of the variation in these features and loadings were positive near or above 0.60 for all items. The relationship between variations in each of the measurements of change in job satisfaction and motivating factors was explored using regression analysis. The two dependent variables were Overall Change and First Principle Component, and the independent variables for both regressions included the four motivating factors as measured by the rotated factors scores to represent dimensions of Economic, Status, Refugee and Entrepreneurial. In addition to the motivational factors, four demographic variables were included as independent variables to account for personal and situational differences. None of the regression coefficients were significant at even the 10% level. Although this result was expected, the positive sign of regression coefficients suggest that expectations of working as a housekeepers results in a positive outcome. Understanding this relationship further is necessary, and seeking larger sample sizes over a longer period of time would be most beneficial to this field of research.
ContributorsCasson, Mallory (Author) / Tyrrell, Timothy (Thesis advisor) / Budruk, Megha (Committee member) / Li, Wei (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This paper is based on a research undertaking to understand China's presence in Africa and how this relates to Western relations with the continent. The research attempts to determine which option, Europe/US or the Chinese, may be the most suitable partner in development for Africa, as well as discuss what can be done to maximize the benefits, and mitigate the negative aspects of that relationship. A comparative analysis approach is used to judge the viability of each partner, and each is assessed according to a set of criteria, including the following: 1. Equitable and Respectful Relations 2. Maintenance of Sovereignty 3. Ability and Willingness to Finance Sustainable Development in Africa 4. Shared Experience and Understanding 5. Historical Element Drawing on the collected research presented in this document, the major finding is that the Chinese have a fundamentally different approach to aid and investment, and harbor conceptually distinctive ideas regarding development than the West. Based on the outcome of the comparative study against the above criteria, it is suggested that Africa may benefit from selecting China as a partner in achieving its own sustainable development, and suggestions are offered to effectively leverage this partnership.
ContributorsBoucher, Sara Alexandra (Author) / Aubrey, Lisa (Thesis director) / Li, Wei (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This project analyzes the diversity of the various Chinese languages present in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The diversity and presence of these languages can be used to make inferences about different aspects of the Chinese American community in the Phoenix area, and therefore the dialects and compared to other aspects of the Chinese American immigration experience, such as where immigrants are from, what areas of Phoenix they reside, and the Chinese language skills of both the participants and their children. The data is then presented with historical context of the Phoenix Chinese community as well as a brief discussion on the current Chinese community in Phoenix as well as the acculturation of Chinese American children.
ContributorsMartin, Adam (Author) / Li, Wei (Thesis director) / Xie, Siqiao (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) are RNA molecules that sequester shared microRNAs (miRNAs) thereby affecting the expression of other targets of the miRNAs. Whether genetic variants in ceRNA can affect its biological function and disease development is still an open question. Here we identified a large number of genetic variants that are associated with ceRNA's function using Geuvaids RNA-seq data for 462 individuals from the 1000 Genomes Project. We call these loci competing endogenous RNA expression quantitative trait loci or ‘cerQTL’, and found that a large number of them were unexplored in conventional eQTL mapping. We identified many cerQTLs that have undergone recent positive selection in different human populations, and showed that single nucleotide polymorphisms in gene 3΄UTRs at the miRNA seed binding regions can simultaneously regulate gene expression changes in both cis and trans by the ceRNA mechanism. We also discovered that cerQTLs are significantly enriched in traits/diseases associated variants reported from genome-wide association studies in the miRNA binding sites, suggesting that disease susceptibilities could be attributed to ceRNA regulation. Further in vitro functional experiments demonstrated that a cerQTL rs11540855 can regulate ceRNA function. These results provide a comprehensive catalog of functional non-coding regulatory variants that may be responsible for ceRNA crosstalk at the post-transcriptional level.
ContributorsLi, Mulin Jun (Author) / Zhang, Jian (Author) / Liang, Qian (Author) / Xuan, Chenghao (Author) / Wu, Jiexing (Author) / Jiang, Peng (Author) / Li, Wei (Author) / Zhu, Yun (Author) / Wang, Panwen (Author) / Fernandez, Daniel (Author) / Shen, Yujun (Author) / Chen, Yiwen (Author) / Kocher, Jean-Pierre A. (Author) / Yu, Ying (Author) / Sham, Pak Chung (Author) / Wang, Junwen (Author) / Liu, Jun S. (Author) / Liu, X. Shirley (Author) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor)
Created2017-05-02
Description
Since 2007-2008, Africa has become the center of estate-driven land acquisitions to produce feed, food, biofuels, and fiber for the international market, which has raised contested narratives of African development and critical sustainability challenges. This is the case for the “Sisal Belt” of Kilosa in Tanzania, where Chinese firms resurrected former colonial sisal estates and generated wage labor for adjacent farmers, changing local agrarian structures with significant implications for smallholder cultivation and the environment at large. Land system science aims to understand the land use and land cover dynamics as a coupled social-environmental system, focusing on the spatiotemporal patterns and the underlying socioeconomic and environmental drivers, impacts, and feedbacks of land system change. Following this interest, this dissertation uses three empirical studies to understand the processes of land system transformation in the sisal belt region and examine the consequences of the co-development by the estate and smallholder agriculture.
The first study conducts long-term time series land-cover mapping and remote sensing analysis via Google Earth Engine to detect land changes and their spatial and socio-economic linkages to estate operations and smallholder livelihoods. The second study applies agent-based modeling to assess the distinctions among smallholder households in land-use and livelihood decision-making mechanisms when confronting estate wage labor and cash crop opportunities. The third study quantifies and identifies critical tradeoffs between carbon, water services, and the outcomes of commodity economies based on distinct future scenarios of development visions and estate-smallholder relationships up to the year 2030.
The findings of these studies advance the understanding of the human-environmental conditions of estate and smallholders in Tanzania under the African land rush underway, which is consistent with the interest of land system and sustainability sciences. The policy implications drawn from this dissertation suggest that the primary land users and decision-makers should recognize the history and realities of the existing agrarian systems and engage in creative ways that serve the estate and the smallholder, including improving smallholder production and localizing estate operations. Such policies should be informed by assessments of changes in the environment and its services and be guided by local knowledge, needs, and future aspirations.
ContributorsLi, Puyang (Author) / Li, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Turner II, B.L. (Thesis advisor) / Monson, Jamie (Committee member) / Ligmann-Zielinska, Arika (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
This dissertation focuses on the psycho-cultural perceptions and social interactions among a sample of 58 Chinese immigrant women in the Maricopa County, the Phoenix metro area of, Arizona, and the manner in which they are able to negotiate multiple identity markers that in part influence and define their capacity to achieve and maintain self-referential growth. The central question this dissertation seeks to address is: what historical forms have emerged, accumulated and reproduced through the actions of women in spaces within and between households, networks and social relations, voluntary associations, political participation, economic and financial transactions, and educational, religious, and civic, recreational and artistic activities; and how are these symbolically represented?This research is comprised of three stages. First, I show how a group of Chinese immigrant women living in, Arizona, combine the Eastern and Western connotations of the Phoenix metro area, to create a fourfold conceptual metaphor of the phoenix. Second, I demonstrate that how such symbolization and metaphorization represent their personal immigration experience, femininity, ethnic identity, and geographic location. Third, I also highlight how they associate themselves with the heuristic of the phoenix as a tool for self-empowerment, virtue, well-being, and self-representation.
This dissertation concludes that the Chinese women living in the Phoenix area not only apply the metaphor of the phoenix to themselves, but also reference this mythical bird in their social media ID, clubs names, and themed events, and include it in their oral traditions. In contrast, they reject, negotiate, or resist the stigma and stereotypes attached to the “dragon” symbol which often convey qualities of overpowering and irrational oppression in western mythology. Instead, they associate themselves with the heuristic of the phoenix as a tool for self-empowerment, virtue, well-being, and ethnic self-representation. Such metaphorization and symbolization contribute to their resistance to the symbolic violence by countering with their own powerful self-referential narratives, that have shaped their Chinese community.
ContributorsShi, Hua (Author) / Cruz-Torres, Maria (Thesis advisor) / Velez-Ibanez, Carlos (Committee member) / Li, Wei (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Objective: This study examined how the belief (internalization) in the model minority myth of achievement orientation and of unrestricted mobility relates to one’s social awareness of racial inequity and inequality in society (critical consciousness) amongst Asian American college students. Methods: Participants (N = 275, 67.7% female, M_age = 22.35) were recruited from Asian American ethnic studies classes, clubs and organizations and completed an online cross-sectional survey. Results: Results indicated that internalization of achievement orientation significantly correlated with levels of racial critical consciousness while unrestricted mobility did not. Conclusion: These findings extend research exploring the correlates of critical consciousness on internalization of racial stereotypes for Asian Americans.
ContributorsMatriano, Ronae (Author) / Yoo, Hyung Chol (Thesis director) / Atkin, Annabelle (Committee member) / Li, Wei (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Since the 1990s, the United States has been increasingly hosting large numbers of foreign students in its higher education sector and continues to accommodate these skilled college graduates in its job market. When international students graduate, they can transition from an international student to a skilled migrant. Yet their decision-making process to stay in the receiving country (the United States), to return to sending countries, or to move on to another country, at different stages of such transition period, is not presently understood. This dissertation examines the experiences of these “migrants in transition period” when they face the “to return or to stay” choices under structural and institutional forces from the sending and receiving countries. This research adopts the conceptual framework of human capital, social capital, and cultural capital, to investigate how social capital and cultural capital impact the economic outcomes of migrants’ human capital under different societal contexts, and how migrants in the transition period cope with such situations and develop their stay or return plans accordingly. It further analyzes their decision-making process for return during this transition period. The empirical study of this dissertation investigates contemporary Chinese student migrants and skilled migrants from People’s Republic of China to the United States, as well as Chinese returnees who returned to China after graduation with a US educational degree. Findings reveal the impact of social and cultural capitals in shaping career experiences of skilled Chinese migrants, and also explore their mobility and the decision-makings of such movement of talent.
ContributorsYu, Wan (Author) / Li, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Arreola, Daniel (Committee member) / Menjivar, Cecilia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016