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Ending the period of conflict, violence and insecurity in Eastern DRC would contribute tremendously to addressing the high levels of ongoing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). This study has been conducted in partnership with the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) vivo international, to determine individual motivations, as well as strategic or tactical aspects of sexual violence of different armed groups and their leadership. SGBV is a complex problem requiring an integrated and multi-sectoral response, even more so in a fragile environment with ongoing conflict, such as in Eastern DRC. Responses to violence against women need to address, among others: health sector including physical and mental health issues, the criminal-justice sector, economic empowerment, community development (promoting equitable access to resources for women and men), prevention of violence (e.g., through formal and informal education), and advocacy at the community, national and international levels. Any effective response must combine enforcing laws and prosecuting perpetrators to break the cycle of impunity, while addressing the individual and societal wounds, and working to prevent a normalization and recurrence of sexual violence.

The United Nations decade of action for road safety 2011-2020 sets an ambitious goal to stabilize and then reduce by half the predicted level of traffic fatalities in low and middle-income countries by 2020. This goal should save around 5 million lives, avoid 50 million serious injuries, and provide an economic benefit of more than US$3 trillion. Impacts on this scale will enhance country and regional development opportunities. In line with this goal, the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 identified five priorities: 1) road safety management capacity, 2) infrastructure safety, 3) vehicle safety, 4) road user behavior, and 5) post-crash care. This integrated development perspective is also reflected in the World Bank's new transport sector business strategy. The project's inclusive approach delivers road safety interventions in the demonstration corridors and elsewhere.

There is ample evidence today that demanding best practice standards of good corporate governance and convincing enforcement processes lead to higher market valuations of enterprises in free capital markets. This paper contains the following headings: key prerequisites for success with non-controlling shareholders; institutional investors have a fiduciary duty to act convincingly in the interest of their clients; and a good governance framework is essential but only sufficient quality convinces institutions to be long-term shareholders.

Each year, roughly 750,000 patients in the US receive a total joint replacement (TJR), or a synthetic medical device that serves to replace the natural joint to restore function and relieve pain. TJRs have had a long history of use in the hip, knee and shoulder, yet still retain the same standard design of a hard-on-soft bearing coupling. Today, those bearings are primarily composed of hard cobalt chrome (CoCr) surface articulating against ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), a polymer with notable mechanical toughness and biocompatibility that have driven its 50-plus years of use in vivo. TJRs have seen tremendous success for older patient cohorts for whom these devices were designed. However, increasing demand from younger patients has motivated the need for more durable materials that can sustain higher, more variable loading for a longer time. UHMWPE has become central to this mission, with limitations in its long-term wear resistance, oxidative stability and fracture/fatigue properties coming under the limelight in recent years.Explanted devices that have been retrieved from patients following failure have provided significant insight into the vulnerabilities of different UHMWPE formulations currently in the market, especially with respect to component fracture. Three cases examined in this work describe fracture failures of UHMWPE components seen in the knee, hip and shoulder to demonstrate existing tradeoffs in material sterilization and processing. Irradiation crosslinked blends, initially introduced to the orthopedic market to improve wear resistance, exhibits reduced resistance to both oxidation and fatigue crack propagation. Such tradeoffs are shown to contribute to the failure of two fractured knee tibial inserts, a single fractured hip acetabular cup, and a series of severely fractured glenoid components used in the shoulder. The former two cases exhibit an additional precursor to fracture that has been recognized but largely ignored in the fatigue characterization of crosslinked UHMWPE: the existence of stress concentrations (notches). Incidences of component fracture like the three reviewed in this work have motivated significant study of UHMWPE’s mechanical deformation as a function of microstructural changes. In addition, computational studies have sought to establish how changes in design may reduce local stresses in UHMWPE components to mitigate failure. Material and design influences have thus predominantly been studied in isolation. The latter half of this work demonstrates how previous methodologies using linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) and theoretical approaches to notch fatigue can been merged to elucidate the influence that notch geometry (notch-root radius) has on crack behavior in UHMWPE formulations. A robust computational analysis of existing theories regarding LEFM notch stress intensity and notch plasticity is presented, lending credibility to the use of the Dowling (1979) approach in characterizing the crack driving force in the vicinity of the notch. Standard compact tension (CT) specimens were modified to include one of five notch geometries: a sharp (0.13 mm) radius (control specimen), two crack-like radii (0.75 and 1 mm) and two blunt keyhole-type radii (2 and 3 mm). All radii were chosen to reflect geometries seen in modern TJR features, such as a tibial post in the knee or a liner locking mechanism in a hip. Cracks from 0.1 to 1 mm in length were created at each notch root using a sharp razor blade. Cyclic tensile loading (stress ratio, R = 0.1) was applied to impose an increasing cyclic stress intensity (ΔK), and crack growth was monitored optically. The fatigue crack propagation (FCP) behavior was mapped using the Paris law to compare the relative crack speeds at a given applied ΔK for each notch geometry and material formulation. Crack growth ahead of each notch was found to overlap with sharp crack data, further supporting the use of the Dowling approach in characterizing near-notch crack growth. This overlap in data implied that mechanisms of crack growth near the notch were similar to those further away from the notch (outside the “notch-affected zone”, as calculated for each notch radius using the Dowling approach). The congruency of all notch-emanating crack data also revealed microstructure-driven trends between each material cohort that have been noted in previous sharp crack studies. Highly crosslinked and remelted UHMWPE (RXLPE) was found to display the least resistance to FCP, while highly crosslinked and Vitamin E blended (VXLPE) formulations demonstrated a notable improvement. Virgin UHMWPE consistently demonstrated the best resistance to FCP. The reduction in FCP resistance seen in highly crosslinked materials was associated with reduced local plasticity in amorphous regions that otherwise serves to mitigate crack advance. Above-melt annealing (“remelting”) in RXLPE has been shown to minimize oxidation and subsequent embrittlement in vivo through free radical elimination, but can result in reduced percent crystallinity and lamellae quality that can further diminish FCP resistance. Blending Vitamin E similarly serves to reduce oxidation for VXLPE, but retains the crystalline quality and quantity of virgin UHMWPE. However, blended Vitamin E also diminishes crosslinking efficiency, thereby improving VXLPE’s resistance to FCP relative to RXLPE but with a tradeoff in optimal wear resistance. This study demonstrated that fatigue crack growth in UHMWPE primarily defers to microstructural influences, even when considering varying notch geometries within the vicinity of a crack. This work demonstrates that this methodology of investigating notch effects on crack behavior can be leveraged for polymeric materials, despite its primary origin from crystalline metals. Furthermore, by mimicking previous specimen types, sample dimensions and loading conditions, the methodology used in this work is easily translatable to orthopedic manufactures or research groups seeking to evaluate notch effects in novel UHMWPE formulations. Results shown here reveal that blunter notches do serve to mitigate catastrophic failure by reducing local driving forces (lower ΔK) within a larger notch-affected zone than sharp notches. However, this reduction may not offset the tradeoff in fatigue properties exhibited by highly crosslinked UHMWPE and a focus on optimizing the microstructure of this polymer may be more prudent for increasing its durability in vivo.

Functional interpretation of limb bone cross-sectional geometry depends upon knowledge of the magnitude and direction of habitual loading. Quantification of bone loading has only been possible using invasive, in vivo strain measurement, but a non-invasive alternative is highly desirable. This study tests a new biomechanical model designed to predict bone loading conditions non-invasively from 3D kinematic and ground reaction force data. The model is tested using simultaneous strain, ground reaction force and kinematic data obtained in vitro from an aluminum limb prosthesis, and in vivo from measurements on sheep metatarsals. Preliminary results suggest that the orientation of the neutral axis of bending, and, to a lesser extent, its position on the bone cross section, can be determined from the non-invasive force and kinematic data. With further refinements, this model will be used to predict the orientation of bone bending in distal limb segments and the relative amount of bending vs. compressive forces that the limb sustains. Such information will aid in more accurately relating bone cross-sectional geometry to locomotor behaviors, particularly in taxa such as humans where in vivo strain measurements cannot be obtained Human Evolutionary Biology Anthropology

This dissertation analyzes the editorship of Lingyin monastery’s six monastic gazetteers compiled over the past five centuries, by focusing on both the genealogy and the editorial process followed in compiling the gazetteers themselves. This research investigates how gazetteers were compiled, the motives behind their compilation, and the significance of these gazetteers to Buddhist historiography in both Chinese and East Asian historical contexts. Unlike Buddhist canonical texts, the monastic gazetteer is a structured compilation that sheds light on Buddhist historiographical writing; it serves as a conduit through which scholars may enter a monastery’s past. In addition to the extensive prefaces to the monastic gazetteers, I examine specific fascicles, including writings on monastic history, the geographic landscape of the monastic territory, the monastery’s dominant dharma lineage and writings of or on notable clergy, and tourists’ poems preserved in the gazetteers. The Lingyin monastic gazetteers demonstrate that the monastery adapts and revises the content of existing writing to represent the life of notable individuals in the monastery’s history, omits unfavorable writings that would bring potential political persecution, and utilizes literary content to shape the preferred image of the monastery. The gazetteers’ final products reflect the Buddhist clergy’s stance, and demonstrate how the relationships between the clergy, literati, and the state changed over time. The texts also show how editorial processes establish and restore the monastery’s self-image, or its religious and institutional brand. I focus on the monastic gazetteer as a genre, the similarities and differences of its content and structure with other concurrent publications, and how its structure was reorganized so that the gazetteer became one in a series that portrayed the desired image of the monastery. On the surface, the gazetteer appears to be the monastery’s outreach to an external readership, providing descriptive information on the monastery itself and honoring its secular donors. However, I argue that the Lingyin monastic gazetteer editors’ true focus was not on its local or cultural context but instead its religious content, honoring late or incumbent abbots and promoting the Sanfeng (or Three-Peaks) school of the Chan (Jp. Zen) lineage. These efforts were successful throughout the Qing dynasty. A case study of the Lingyin monastic gazetteers allows us to reconstruct the monastery’s rich history through providing an account of the monastery’s major historical events in chronological sequence. It reveals critical aspects of how the monks coordinated with literati to promote the monastery, how Buddhists portrayed themselves, and how monasteries branded themselves to the public through textual means. The products show the flexibility of the clergy-literati collaboration and present the changing strategies in responding to socio-political change over time. Through the publication of monastic gazetteers, the clergy brands and rebrands the monastery as well as keeps the monastic records archived and updated. Gazetteers thus allow the monastery to properly present its own self-image, securing its own religious tradition and attracting potential support from various forces.

This dissertation presents the results of several research projects on condensed matter systems that fall within the broad scope of quantum materials. These are compounds which possess emergent phenomena that would not be expected from conventional solid state theory. These include the topological semimetals Cd3As2, TaAs, and ZrTe5, as well as the frustrated antiferromagnet Fe1/3NbS2. In Cd3As2, a Dirac semimetal, focused ion beam microstructured devices were found to exhibit a new type of coherent electron orbit. This “Weyl orbit” involves the Fermi arc surface states. Although these states are a necessary consequence of the topological nature of Cd3As2, they had not previously been observed in electronic transport. In the Weyl semimetal TaAs, the same focused ion beam microstructuring techniques were found to induce superconductivity on the device surface due to the differential sputtering of tantalum and arsenic. Instead, mechanical polishing techniques were used to thin devices in order to observe signatures of surface-driven transport, likely stemming from Fermi arc states as well.In ZrTe5, magnetization and magnetic torque measurements found a paramagnetic to diamagnetic crossover at the quantum limit magnetic field. This is the result of charge carriers entering a chiral, zeroth Landau level pinned at zero energy. This is a direct consequence of a topological band crossing, and therefore points to ZrTe5 as a Dirac semimetal. A possible transition out of this topological phase was also observed as a function of temperature.Finally, at sufficiently low temperatures and high current densities, Fe1/3NbS2 was found to be a switchable antiferromagnet. A spin transfer torque produced by an applied current was found to rotate the antiferromagnetic order. The rotation of these moments is reflected in the anisotropic magnetoresistance, changing the resistance of the device. In this manner, microstructured devices of Fe1/3NbS2 form an antiferromagnetic memory bit with electronic write-in and read-out. The low current densities involved and tunability of the device response point to Fe1/3NbS2 as a promising platform for antiferromagnetic spintronics.

Supersymmetry, one of the of the most promising extensions to the Standard Model of Particle Physics, predicts a number of as-yet-undiscovered particles, evidence of which could be found in LHC collision events. This thesis presents a search for R-parity violating Supersymmetric signal events in ATLAS proton-proton collision data. The search uses $36.1~fb^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13~TeV$ collision data, taken by ATLAS in 2015 and 2016. As no excess of events above the background prediction was found, limits are set on the production cross sections of gluinos and neutralinos under two different decay scenarios. The resulting limits are a significant extension beyond the reach of the Run-1 search for the same process.