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This thesis 1) argues that Paul's use of the boasting motif in Philippians (1:26; 2:16; cf. 3:3) presents a mutual boast in which three parties participate: Paul, the Philippians, and God/Christ, and 2) demonstrates that such mutual boasting is both theologically warranted and culturally intelligible. The theological warrant for mutual boasting or honor appears through attending to the wider contexts of the Scriptural texts to which Paul alludes in the key exhortation section of the epistle (2:12-16), most importantly his allusion to Deut 32:5 in Phil 2:15 and to Isa 49:4 in Phil 2:16. The wider context of Deut 32 includes reference to the covenant ceremony at the close of the law-code (Deut 26:16-19), where mutual honor appears in the relationship established between YHWH and Israel, with Israel being exalted to become a καύχημα for YHWH (Deut 26:19 LXX). The wider context of Isa 49:4 incorporates the important motif of the reward of the Servant (Isa 49:4b; 53:12), whose calling to facilitate Israel's glorious restoration (42:6-9; 49:6), though his labor was “in vain” (49:4), gains YHWH's promise that the Servant himself will be glorified (49:5). By drawing on both of these Scriptural contexts Paul presents the mutual honor arising from the Philippians' obedience as the eschatologically restored “children of God” (Phil 2:15) as engendering a καύχημα that is mutually shared between themselves (cf. 3:21), God who receives the glory from their righteousness (1:11), and Paul as the servant figure whose labor among them is now “not in vain” (2:16). This presentation of mutual boasting would also have been culturally intelligible in light of the nature of friendship and family relationships in the Roman world of first-century Philippi. Paul presents his relationship with the Philippians in terms both reminiscent of friendship and overtly drawn from kinship relations (cf. ἀδελφοί in 1:12, 14; 3:1, 13, 17; 4:1). In the Greco-Roman world, these two relational paradigms were conspicuous in their promotion of mutual honor, since friends were expected to work toward each other's honor, as were brothers. In view of the cultural expectation of sharing honor, friends and brothers were also able to deploy the reality of mutual honor for the purpose of exhortation, as can be seen in the rhetoric of Roman letter writers. In particular, Cicero, Seneca, and Fronto presuppose in their letters the motivational power that appealing to a regard for mutual honor has when issuing advice or commands. It is in the final chapter of this study that we treat Paul's motivation of the Philippians towards obedience by drawing on this cultural script of mutual honor as the “vehicle” for communicating his theology, appealing to such mutual honor at 2:16 to motivate the Philippians to “work out their salvation with fear and trembling” (2:12) and to “do all things without grumbling or disputing” (2:14).

The focus of this thesis is on the way in which the theology of the author of the Epistle to the Ephesians is both shaped by and shapes the appropriation of OT texts and themes, especially in Eph 2:11-22. This reveals an overarching theme, not only in 2:11-22, but in the whole letter, of the Davidic scion who builds his new temple consisting of Jews and Gentiles together. The creation and growth of this new humanity is expressed using temple imagery and by appropriating OT texts that are concerned with the eschatological pilgrimage of the Gentiles to Zion. Ephesians is concerned with the transformed walking that is inherent to membership of the Messiah’s people. It is further concerned that this corporate entity should function as God’s dwelling place on earth; unity and loving relationships therefore being the burden of Ephesians’ paraenesis. This entire process is summed up at the gateway to the letter’s paraenesis in the phrase “learn the Messiah.” The discipleship thus conceived is about much more than (but not less than) individual transformation. The temple/dwelling place theme imparts a corporate dimension to growth that is crucial if the Messiah’s people are to function as they ought. This functioning is given further definition, however, by the expansionist element introduced by the temple theme and texts, as well as the framing of membership of the Messiah’s people in explicitly covenantal terms. Ephesians may thus be seen as a letter whose purpose is to induct believers into the privileges and responsibilities of the Messiah’s new humanity, to give them the self understanding that they constitute corporately the new temple and to convince them that the manner of their “walking” is the means by which the unity and integrity of God’s dwelling place is both expressed and maintained.

The Hebrew Bible portrays the origins of the sons of Ammon or Ammonites in the hoary past, the product of incestuous relations between Abraham's nephew Lot and his younger daughter (Genesis 19). The biblical book of Judges, traditionally thought to represent events of the twelfth century BCE, portrays the Ammonites with a king before Israel (Judges 11). On the other hand, extant primary sources---Neo-Assyrian texts, Ammonite epigraphs, and archaeological finds---refocus attention on the eighth through sixth centuries BCE as the main period of Ammonite sociopolitical and economic growth and complexity. This dissertation investigates the social history of the ancient Ammonites during the Iron Age II (ca. 1000--500 BCE) with a focus on the transformative role that the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylon an empires played in Ammonite sociopolitical and economic development. In addition to the biblical texts, this study examines the growing body of archaeological remains, Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian texts, and Ammonite epigraphs. Furthermore, this study reflects on the practices of the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires in administering and controlling the Levant, and cites cross-cultural examples of how empires affect peripheral societies in order to understand changes among the Ammonites. During this period, the area saw growth in the number of elite items, growth in the use of writing for administrative and display purposes, growth in sedentary settlement, and a growth in the number of imported items. This period also brought the first secure references to Ammonite kings and their officials. Taken together in the light of imperial domination, one can explain the changes visible among the Ammonites as the product of several identifiable factors. In the ninth century, the need for security against Israel, Damascus, and the re-emerging Neo-Assyrian Empire provoked military organization. As time went on, other factors grew in importance, including: (1) the elites' increasing access to wealth through long-distance trade; (2) elite access to and appropriation of internationally recognizable markers of status, authority, and power; (3) the elites' role in securing and fructifying the Amman Plateau for their own needs and in order to supply the needs of the Assyrian military.

The top quark, the most recently discovered quark, is the most massive known fundamental fermion. Precision measurements of its mass, a free parameter in the Standard Model of particle physics, can be used to constrain the mass of the Higgs Boson. In addition, deviations in the mass as measured in different channels can provide possible evidence for new physics. We describe a measurement of the top quark mass in the decay channel with two charged leptons, known as the dilepton channel, using,data collected by the CDF II detector from pp¯ collisions with s = 1.96 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron. The likelihood in top mass is calculated for each event by convoluting the leading order matrix element describing qq¯ → tt¯ → bℓnuℓb¯ℓ'nu ℓ' with detector resolution functions. The presence of background events in the data sample is modeled using similar calculations involving the matrix elements for major background processes. In a data sample with integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb-1, we observe 78 candidate events and measure Mt = 164.5 +/- 3.9(stat.) +/- 3.9(syst.) GeV/c2, the most precise measurement of the top quark mass in this channel to date.

W+/-+ bb¯ events contain the associated production of a W+/- boson, a pair of bottom quarks (bb¯), and any number of additional partons. This process is of much importance at hadron collider experiments due to its role as a background source in searches for Standard Model Higgs boson and single top-quark production. In this thesis the results are presented for a measurement of the b-jet cross-section in W+/-+bb¯ events containing 1 or 2 jets in 695 pb-1 of s =1.96 TeV pp¯ collisions at the CDF experiment. This is the first measurement of the cross-section of W +/-+bb¯ performed in any experiment. The cross-section is defined to be proportional to the number of b-jets from W+/-+bb¯ events with one or two jets, and a leptonically decaying W +/- with decay products passing kinematics cuts (p T(ℓ+/-) ≥20.0 GeV, |eta(ℓ +/-)| ≤1.1, pT(nu) ≥25.0 GeV). The invariant mass distribution of jets identified as containing a long-lived hadron is fit with components for bottom, charm, and light-flavor to find the fraction due to true b-decays. Background b-jet sources are subtracted to isolate the contribution of W +/-+bb¯ to the data. The cross-section is measured to be 0.90+/-0.20(stat.)+/-0.26(syst.)pb, which compares well with the leading order theoretical prediction of 0.74+/-0.18 pb.

InAs/GaSb type-II strained-layer superlattice (SLS) infrared detectors are currently under intensive research. The technique of reducing detector dark current by inserting resonant tunneling barriers into a normal InAs/GaSb SLS was investigated. A tunneling double barrier (25 monolayer (ML) GaSb/11ML InAs/25ML GaSb) was designed to be inserted into a normal 8ML 1nAs/8ML GaSb SLS to block thermally generated electrons, while permitting photo-generated electrons to pass through. Through fabrication and characterization of the tunneling and normal InAs/GaSb SLS detectors, this work demonstrates that the tunneling barriers suppress dark current more effectively than photocurrent: the current responsivity of the tunneling InAs/GaSb SLS detector measured at 84 K was 27% lower than that of the normal SLS detector, however, the measured dark current density of the tunneling InAs/GaSb SLS detector was reduced by a factor of 3.8 at 77K. Both types of InAs/GaSb SLS detectors demonstrated room-temperature operation. The Johnson-noise-limited detectivity (measured at 4 mum) of the tunneling SLS detector was 18% higher than that of the normal SLS detector. Improving carrier lifetimes is key in the development of InAs/GaSb SLS detectors. To measure InAs/GaSb SLS carrier lifetimes, photo-induced open-circuit voltage decay (PVD) and picosecond excitation correlation (PEC) measurements were performed at 77 K. We developed a general theoretical model that is capable of simulating the PEC signals obtained from any bulk semiconductor. The radiative and non-radiative recombination carrier lifetimes (&tgr; r and &tgr;nr) of as-grown 8ML InAs/8ML GaSb SLSs extracted using this model were in the range of 18--175 ns and 2.3--2.4 ns, respectively, indicating the dominance of nonradiative carrier recombinations. From PEC experiments, we extracted &tgr; nr of InAs/GaSb SLSs (with etched mesas) passivated in ammonium sulfide solutions under various conditions. The best passivation condition found in our study was dipping the sample in (NH4)2S 21%:H20=1:4 for two hours, which increased the &tgr; nr from 1.3--1.4 ns to 3.5--3.8 ns. The 77 K surface recombination velocity of unpassivated and ammonium sulfide passivated ((NH4) 2S 21 %:H20=1:4 for 30 minutes) InAs/GaSb SLSs were determined by variable-area diode array experiments to be 9.5x105 cm/s and 4.0x105 cm/s, respectively. At 77 K the typical measured values of zero-bias dynamic resistance-area product (R 0A) in the passivated devices were 2--2000 O cm 2 versus 0.05--0.2 O cm2 for the unpassivated diodes. There was no change of the R0A values of ammonium sulfide passivated InAs/GaSb SLS diodes measured 24 hours, 45 days and 120 days after the sulfidation, indicating long-term stability of the aqueous ammonium sulfide passivation.

As part of an ongoing program to use organic chemistry as a tool to study protein-protein interactions in transcription, my research has focused on the development of new methods for the synthesis of small chiral building blocks such as beta-amino acids and allylic amines. Both of these methods involve the selective formation of nitrogen-bearing stereocenters. These newly developed methods serve as valuable additions to the current approaches for the selective C-N bond formation. In addition, these new approaches have been applied to the synthesis of biopolymer mimics such as beta-proline analogs and artificial transcription activators. The first research project focused on the stereoselective synthesis of beta-amino acids highly substituted at the C2 (alpha) and C3 (beta positions (beta 3,3- and beta2,3,3-). The synthetic strategy utilized a stereospecific construction of isoxazoline via a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrile oxides and allylic alcohols. The C3 stereochemistry was then introduced by a highly diastereoselective nucleophilic addition to the C= N in the isoxazolines. N-O bond cleavage by LiAlH4, in situ protection of the resulting free amine followed by oxidative cleavage provided enantiopure beta-amino acids in good yields. This methodology has successfully been used to prepare seven new beta-amino acids with alkyl, aryl, and heteroaryl groups at the C3 (beta) position. This methodology was also adapted for the synthesis of beta-proline analog monomers. The second research project explored a thermal and catalyzed phosphorimidate to phosphoramidate [3,3]-rearrangement for the facile and selective preparation of allylic amines. The precursor of the rearrangement, a phosphorimidate, can be easily assembled from readily available allylic alcohols, azides and phosphites, rendering this new method an efficient three component, one pot process. Chirality transfer study and crossover experiment were also carried out to probe the mechanism of the rearrangement under thermal conditions. Furthermore, a highly efficient Pd (II)-catalyzed rearrangement has also been developed providing a new avenue for future asymmetric synthesis of allylic amines. The third research project aimed to synthesize Artificial Transcription Activators (ATA) designed to regulate gene transcription in yeast. Genome-wide expression analyses have revealed that there are critical differences in gene expression profiles between healthy and diseased tissues. As a consequence, the development of transcription-based therapeutics that would selectively reprogram aberrant gene expression in diseased cells is an increasingly attractive goal. Fueled by this goal, a dendritic scaffold with three peptidic activation domains was successfully constructed.

The formation of nitrogen-containing molecules is of great importance in synthetic organic chemistry owing to the abundance of alkaloids that exhibit biological activity. While the first two projects deal with expanding the synthetic tools available for synthesis of such compounds, the final project focuses on using existing methodology to create and test novel potential clinical agents. The use of (2-azaallyl)nitriles in double allylation reactions with allylmagnesium bromide to generate N, N-bis(3-butenyl)amines is described. The (2-azaallyl)nitriles function as synthetic equivalents of amine alpha,alpha'-dications, also called 2-azaallyl dications. This chemistry allows for the expeditious construction of highly substituted amines, resulting in the formation of two new carbon-carbon bonds adjacent to the nitrogen atom. The doubly allylated products are converted to 2,3,6,7-tetrahydroazepines by ring-closing metathesis. Many biologically-active natural products contain the azepine ring, so facile methods for its formation provide valuable synthetic tools. Also discussed is the formation of pyrrolizidines from N-(tri- n-butylstannyl)methylphthalimides. Through nucleophilic addition of an organometallic reagent, the phthalimides could be converted to cyclic carbinol amides, which were shown to undergo ionization and destannylation under acidic conditions to generate azomethine ylides. Inclusion of a suitable dipolarophile resulted in capture of the azomethine ylide to provide the pyrrolizidine. Various substituents on the phthalimide were tolerated by this methodology, and stabilized succinimide derivatives also underwent successful cycloadditions. Given the large number of biologically-active natural products that possess the pyrrolizidine ring structure, this chemistry could find wide synthetic application. Finally, the preparation of 2-(2,5-dihydropyrrol-1-yl)-1,4-quinones by the coupling of quinones with pyrrolines is discussed. The 2-(2,5-dihydropyrrol-1-y1)-1,4-quinones were designed to be masked alkylating agents, revealed upon exposure to light. The pyrroline of the 2-(2,5-dihydropyrrol-1-yl)-1,4-quinones is relatively unreactive toward nucleophiles, but upon photolysis, an internal oxidation/reduction reaction occurs, transforming the quinone into a hydroquinone and the pyrroline into a pyrrole. The newly-formed pyrrole is highly electrophilic and readily undergoes an alkylation reaction. Eventually, the presence of oxygen may reoxidize the hydroquinone to a quinone. The design of such photoactivatable alkylating agents is a worthwhile endeavor because it provides a handle for control of the alkyation, thereby making it more attractive as a potential clinical agent.

The studies in this thesis describe two discreet research projects. The first two chapters describe an effort to elucidate the challenging issue of diastereocontrol in the methyl ketone aldol reaction. Models for predicting the diastereoselectivity of the methyl ketone aldol reaction traditionally cite the competition between chair-like and boat-like Zimmerman-Traxler transition states. Unfortunately, the lack of stereochemical information in the final aldol products prevents a rigorous verification of these models. The author describes the synthesis and application of an E(O)-deuterium labeled silyl enol ether which, when treated with methyl lithium, releases a configurationally stable E(O)-deuterium labeled lithium enolate. This enolate is then used to prove that the lithium mediated methyl ketone aldol reaction highly prefers chair-like transition states in both achiral and chiral aldol reactions. This conservation was found to be consistent across a wide subset of aldol reactions and ranged from approximately 7 : 1 to greater than 50 : 1. These data indicate that diastereoselectivity in the lithium mediated methyl ketone aldol reaction is due to a competition between two chair-like transition states, and not between a chair-like and a boat-like state as previously believed. This study represents the first rigorous evidence of such conservation. The third chapter of this thesis describes the attempt to extend this methodology into the aldol reactions of boron enolates derived from methyl ketones. Although several orthogonal techniques for the generation of deuterium labeled boron enolates are described, the author found that the boron enolates were configurationally unstable. Potential causes of this instability are discussed. The fourth and final chapter of this thesis describes exploratory studies towards a total synthesis of the aureolic acid durhamycin A. The unique anti-HIV activity of this natural product makes it an attractive target for synthetic studies. The author describes a potential synthesis of durhamycin based on a novel addition of silyl metal nucleophiles to ortho-quinone methides for the generation of benzylic allyl silanes.

This dissertation describes two projects that focus on the synthesis of biologically active molecules. The first project involved the synthesis of a potential inhibitor of HIV called Concept Molecule (CM) that was originally proposed by Dr. Vassil St. Georgiev of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. The design of CM incorporates features of two functionally distinct classes of HIV-RT inhibitors into a single compound. It is believed that this design may overcome the issue of drug resistance that has plagued the current standard treatment for AIDS or HIV-infected patients (HAART, also referred to as combination chemotherapy or drug cocktail). A total synthesis of CM was completed. CM is currently being evaluated for its biological activities against HIV. The second project aimed to synthesize Pectenotoxin 2, one of ten closely related polyether macrolides. Pectenotoxin 2 is produced by dinoflagellate Dinophysis fortii and D. acuta and has shown selective and potent cytotoxicity against human lung, colon, and breast cancer cell lines. A strategy developed for its synthesis involved the simultaneous assembly of the C, D and E rings via a cascade reaction in which a bis-epoxide would be opened by a hemi-ketal. En route to the cascade reaction, a highly convergent and expeditious synthesis of a precursor to the C(1) to C(15) fragment was accomplished by successive double allylboration and (PPh 3)3RuMe2 catalyzed isomerization of the diol to a hydroxyl ketone. Additionally, a scaled synthesis of the C(16) to C(26) fragment with modifications to Micalizio's original route as well as a synthetic route to the C(7) to C(15) fragment have been developed. The successful union of the C(16) to C(26) fragment and the C(7) to C(15) fragment using a Kocienski-modified Julia olefination will allow for the exploration of the cascade reaction in the near feature.

Benjamin Britten's folksong arrangements offer a unique representation of his compositional technique. Their relatively simple nature affords easy access to melodic and harmonic characteristics and procedures typical of the composer's music. An examination of these elements in the arrangements can reveal basic compositional processes that are also present in his wholly original songs. Furthermore, such an examination can yield specific analytical tools that can then be applied to a new analytical system, one that avoids many of the inaccuracies and inconsistencies that arise when examining Britten's music from the standpoint of standard tonal analysis. Chapter 1 addresses elements related to modality---among them inflection, bi-modality, and modal ambiguity---and demonstrates through numerous examples Britten's applications of these techniques in the folksong arrangements and in the wholly original songs. Chapter 2 addresses Britten's treatment of harmony on local and global levels, how it deviates, often significantly, from the practices of major/minor tonal system, and how it relates to the issues of modality. Again, numerous examples from the folksongs and the original songs are cited and analyzed. In Chapter 3, a system of analysis is proposed in which many of the elements inherent in tonal analysis are replaced by indicators that more accurately reflect Britten's compositional processes as addressed in the first two chapters of the paper. Three folksongs and two original songs are analyzed in full using this system.

The research presented in this thesis comprises work from two separate projects. The first project involved the design, synthesis and enzymatic screening of photolabile analogues of the substituted benzylindazole compound known as YC-1, a known activator of the enzyme soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC), for use in a photoaffinity study to identify the YC-1 binding site within sGC. Several benzophenone and azide-containing YC-1 analogues were synthesized and a 6-azido-YC-1 analogue, found to activate the enzyme in manner similar to YC-1, was used in a photoaffinity study and found to bind to the alpha-subunit of sGC. The second project presented in this thesis involved the development of large scale preparation of the potent class I alpha-mannosidase inhibitor kifunensine from L-ascorbic acid. In addition to providing a means to synthesize gram quantities of kifunensine, this route provided access to a number of novel N-1 substituted kifunensine analogues that may be used as biochemical tools in the study of class I alpha-mannosidases. One of the main goals of this thesis research was to design and synthesize a kifunensine pseudodisaccharide to mimic the Man(alpha1,2)Man disaccharide portion of the natural oligosaccharide substrate of class I alpha-mannosidases. Such a compound could prove useful in mechanistic studies of these enzymes and may lead to the development of kifunensine derivatives that are specific for endoplasmic reticulum alpha-mannosidase I over other class I alpha-mannosidases. To this end, several tethered pseudodisaccharide kifunensine analogues were synthesized that were shown to cause significant inhibition of human endoplasmic reticulum alpha-mannosidase I (human ER Man I) when assayed at 5 mM concentrations. In addition, an affinity-bound kifunensine analogue was prepared for use in the purification of class I alpha-mannosidases. While several of the N-1 substituted kifunensine analogues were good inhibitors of human ER Man I at 5 mM concentrations, the affinity-bound kifunensine analogue exhibited poor inhibition of this enzyme. The results obtained from this study demonstrate that N(1)-substituted kifunensine analogues are capable of inhibiting class I alpha-mannosidases, although they are not nearly as potent of inhibitors as kifunensine itself.

The completion of the total synthesis of Kopsia lapidilecta alkaloid (+/-)-lapidilectine B is described. A key element of this synthesis includes installation of a pyrrolidine ring by a (2-azaallyl)stannane-derived nonstabilized 2-azaallyllithium (2-azaallyl anion) [3+2] cycloaddition with the acetylene equivalent phenyl vinyl sulfide. Closure of the 8-membered perhydroazocine ring is accomplished via the intramolecular SN2 substitution of a mesylate to form a 1-azabicyclo[6.3.0]unadecane ring system. This constitutes the first synthesis of a member of the 5,6,12,13-tetrahydro-11a,13a-ethano-3 H-pyrrolo[1',2':1,8]azocino[5,4- b]indole class of alkaloids. Nonstabilized azomethine ylides (i.e., those bearing only hydrogens or alkyl groups) were generated from (2-azaallyl)stannanes and (2-azaallyl)silanes through an intramolecular N-alkylation/demetallation cascade. The resulting ylides undergo [3+2] intermolecular cycloaddition with N-phenylmaleimide and intramolecular cycloaddition with unactivated olefins to yield 1-azabicyclo[n.3.0]alkanes in good yield. An in situ protocol allows for a one-pot, three-component synthesis of 1-azabicyclo[3.3.0]octanes (pyrrolizidines), 1-azabicyclo[4.3.0]nonanes (indolizidines), 1-azabicyclo[5.3.0]decanes, and 1-azabicyclo[6.3.0]unadecanes. The (2-azaallyl)stannanes tolerate enolizable hydrogens in these cycloadditions, while (2-azaallyl)silanes do not. The mechanism of the cycloaddition cascade was clarified by a series of control experiments. The ylide geometry (anti vs. syn) of 1,3-disubstituted and 1,1,3-trisubstituted azomethine ylides generated by this method was studied via analysis of the distribution of cycloadduct diastereomers. Addition of organolithium reagents to N-(tri- n-butylstannylmethyl)phthalimides yields N-(tri- n-butylstannylmethyl) cyclic carbinol amides, which form azomethine ylides upon treatment with HF·pyridine and other electrophiles. This novel route to azomethine ylides allows rapid access to highly functionalized 1-azabicyclo[3.3.0]octanes (1,2,3,9b-tetrahydropyrrolo[2,1-a]isoindol-5-ones) through the inter- and intramolecular modes of cycloaddition.

Scytophycins A-E, which are isolated from the blue-green alga Scytonema pseudohofmanni, are a novel class of polyoxygenated, 22-membered macrolides containing a trans-dihydropyran moiety and a vinyl formamide unit. The scytophycin family exhibits broad-spectrum anti-fungal activity as well as cytotoxicity against a variety of human cancer cell lines. The potent biological activities of these compounds, along with their low natural abundance have stimulated considerable interest in their total synthesis. The C(26)--C(32) fragment of scytophycin C has been synthesized, utilizing a Curtius rearrangement to install the N-alkenyl- N-methylformamide unit. Additionally, the C(1)--C(7) aldehyde fragment has been prepared. Using a double allylboration reaction, this aldehyde has been coupled to a C(13)--C(17) aldehyde to generate a (Z )-1,5-syn-diol. Ring closure of this diol provided the C(1)--C(17) trans-dihydropyran unit of scytophycin C. In a separate project, an efficient route for the large-scale synthesis of vinyl sulfonamide protease inhibitors was developed. These vinyl sulfonamides are known to be potent inhibitors of cruzain, a parasite cysteine protease targeted in the treatment of Chagas' Disease. Using this route, gram quantities of the most potent inhibitors were synthesized for use in initial animal studies.

From about 1925 until his death, William Alexander Hill (1906--1937) worked with and for many of the most prominent jazz practitioners of the era. This included Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, Fats Walter, Duke Ellington, Joe Oliver, Claude Hopkins, Andy Kirk, Alphonso Trent, and many others. Hill was well respected among his fellow musicians yet, for various reasons, and like may others from the period, never won the public recognition he rightly deserved. Volume I of this dissertation seeks to present a cohesive view of his life and music. Measurement of his musical style and musical output involved examining selected compositions, arrangements, and recordings, and discussing them through means of transcriptions and analysis. The first chapter serves as the introduction to the study. Chapter two examines Alex Hill's background and places him within a particular family unit, geographical area, culture, and historical period. Chapter three explores his development and work as a pianist while chapter four does the same in relation to his production as an arranger. The appendices include a compiled discography and list of compositions and collaborations. Volume 11 of the dissertation consists of Exegesis, an original composition for tenor solo, chorus and orchestra (flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, bassoon, F horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, 2 percussion, piano, and strings). The composer extracted the text from portions of a baccalaureate sermon by Rev. Dr. Andrew H. Hill, father of William Alexander Hill. At the time Rev. Hill served as president of Shorter College in North Little Rock Arkansas, and he delivered this speech to the graduating class of 1911. Published in booklet form and entitled Mechanism and Mind, the message highlighted the relationship between Ezekiel the prophet's vision of wheels to the individual person, and to a great cosmos. The composition consists of five movements: Vision, Creation, Faith, Wheels, and Think. Duration is approximately 20 minutes.

Chapter I of this dissertation describes research directed towards understanding the factors which control the stereochemical outcome of methyl ketone aldol reactions. An experimental test for the possible involvement of a boat-like transition state was developed and is discussed in Chapter II. In addition, studies directed towards the total synthesis of apoptolidin are described in Chapter III. A series of 2,3-anti substituted aldehydes of varying chain length were prepared and their reactions with 3-methyl-2-butanone under lithium, titanium and boron enolization conditions are presented in Chapter 1. Remote substituents of the chiral aldehydes were found to have a pronounced effect on the stereochemical outcome of the aldol reactions with achiral methyl ketones. The ability of the aldehyde to control the stereochemical outcome of double stereodifferentiating methyl ketone aldol reactions was also observed under lithium and titanium enolization conditions. The hypothesis that methyl ketone aldol reactions proceed through boat-like transition states was tested by investigating the aldol reaction of a deuterium labeled lithium enolate. The synthesis of a deuterium labeled precursor to the lithium enolate and its reaction with a chiral aldehyde are presented. Results from these studies show highly diastereoslective incorporation of the deuterium substituent in both the Felkin and anti-Felkin products of the aldol reaction. Based on the strereochemistry of the deuterium label, both products are consistent with chair-like transition states. Apoptolidin is a macrolide antibiotic isolated from the culture broth of an actinomycete identified as Nocardiopsis sp. Apoptolidin contains two 2,6-dideoxy sugars and a 29-carbon polyketide chain containing a 20-membered tetraene macrolactone, a six membered hemiketal and 12 asymmetric centers. Apoptolidin is a potent and specific inducer of apoptosis in rat glia cells transformed with the adenovirus E1A oncogene but not in normal glia cells or normal fibroblasts. Specific inducers of apoptosis in cells expressing oncogenes hold promise as potential therapies for certain cancers. The structural complexity and potent biological activity of apoptolidin make it an attractive target for total synthesis. Published synthetic strategies for apoptolidin and progress towards the C(12)--C(19), C(20)--C(28), and the two 2-deoxy sugars fragments are presented in Chapter 3.

Two main areas of theoretical research in geophysical fluid dynamics---linearized instability and nonlinear equilibration---are addressed in this thesis. First, instability of equatorial Kelvin wave in shear flow is investigated. For a simple model eigenproblem it is shown both analytically and numerically that the eigenvalue has exponentially small positive imaginary part. It is then illustrated via numerical experiments that growth rate of the equatorial Kelvin wave in the system of shallow water equations on the equatorial beta-plane exhibits the same type of behavior. Next, Hermite-Pade approximants are used to calculate growth rates of the model eigenproblem from the divergent perturbation series. In the second part of the thesis the nonlinear development of baroclinic instability in the two-layer quaisgeostrophic forced/dissipative model is studied numerically in strongly supercritical regime. It is found that in large domains the zonal extent of a localized initial disturbance will spread with time, but the wavy state left behind the leading edge will not be uniform, but will have modulated structure. For a zonally confined domain it is shown that for moderate supercriticality the flow will equilibrate to a stable uniform wave train, while for strong supercriticality the wave train is unstable.

cAMP and cGMP dependent protein kinases (cAKs and cGKs) are involved in a wide variety of neuronal signal transduction pathways. However, there is controversy over the nature and magnitude of the contribution of the two cGK isoforms to some neurophysiological phenomena. In part, this ambiguity is due to the lack of an inhibitor with high specificity for each kinase. This study investigates the mechanisms of autoregulation of cGK isoforms with the goal of exploiting differences to develop an isoform-specific cGK inhibitor. Autoregulation of several cAK and cGK isoforms is mediated by cyclic nucleotide dependent regulation of an autoinhibitory pseudosubstrate sequence within a regulatory portion of the holoenzyme, allowing for low activity of the kinases in the absence of cyclic nucleotide. Site-directed mutagenesis of critical residues in each of the two cyclic nucleotide binding sites demonstrated that the amino-terminal binding site was essential for cyclic nucleotide dependent activation of cGKII. Additionally, mutagenesis was used to determine the inhibitory properties of residues that share homology with the determinants for potent endogenous pseudosubstrate inhibitors of cAK. These mutants demonstrated that cGKII autoinhibition is uniquely dependent upon residues peripheral to a pseudosubstrate sequence. Further, a cGKII truncation mutant that contained the region that possessed these potentially inhibitory residues inhibited a constitutively active cGKII in the nanomolar range. This inhibitory potency was dramatically decreased (>100-fold) when these residues were mutated or when the truncation mutant was bound to cGMP. These studies demonstrate that the interactions between the regulatory and catalytic domains in cGKII have a high affinity that is dependent upon residues both within and outside the pseudosubstrate sequence, and that cGMP binding abrogates this affinity. Preliminary studies indicate that the inhibitory properties of this truncation mutant are cGKII-specific. The effects of cyclic nucleotide blockade by mutagenesis and determination of residues essential for autoinhibition can be used for the design of cyclic nucleotide independent; high-affinity, isoform-specific cGK inhibitors.

The Mark II ultra-cold polarized atomic hydrogen jet target is being developed to study spin effects in high energy collisions. The Jet's first spin-polarized atomic hydrogen beam tests have been performed; the intensity of the beam was about 1.3 · 1015 H·s -1 into a 0.3 cm2 detector area; beam profile measurements were made, and the beam was studied under various conditions. Essentially, all parts of the Jet required for proton-spin-polarized beam operation have been fabricated and tested. A hydrogen maser polarimeter was tested with the MIT polarized hydrogen beam and was found to monitor the beam polarization with an absolute accuracy of about +/-2%. A large-bore, low power prototype rf transition unit uses a novel dielectric ceramic ring resonator to drive the 2 ↔ 4 atomic hydrogen transition with a 97.2 +/- 1.4% efficiency at 118 mW rf power and a 26.5 G static field. The Catcher cryocondensation pump was built and tested; it has a huge pumping speed of 1.2 · 10 -7 l·s-1 at 2.6 K.

Zinc is essential for the growth, development and differentiation of all species. Due to the d10 nature of Zn2+, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) has proven to be critical for obtaining structural and mechanistic information, especially in the absence of diffraction quality crystals. One of the most exciting recent developments in zinc bioinorganic chemistry has been the discovery of an entirely new class of catalytic zinc sites. The first studies have centered on determining structural information about the zinc binding sites in the methionine synthase enzymes of Escherichia coli methylcobamide:CoM methyltransferase, epoxypropane:CoM transferase and the Ada protein both in their native form and with added substrate. Mechanistic implications of the structural changes observed on substrate binding are explored. The second part of these studies begins to examine the role of Zn in embryonic development. For these studies, zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos have been used as a model system, since these embryos develop outside the mother, and thus must contain all of the nutrients needed for development at the time of fertilization. With the information potential of XAS and the ability to focus the beam to a 4 mum2 spot using the X-ray fluorescence microprobe facilities at the Advanced Light Source, spatial and temporal changes of all of the zinc in zebrafish embryos have been measured at different stages of development. XANES measurements on whole embryos have shown that the bulk zinc environment undergoes significant changes during the first four hours of development. Zinc fluorescence images of the 1-cell, 4-cell, 16-cell, 64-cell, 128-cell and MBT zebrafish embryos (20 minutes--3.3 hours after fertilization) demonstrate that the majority of the zinc is located within the yolk sac, but there is a distinct increase in the zinc fluorescence from the dividing blastomeres as development progresses. Micro-XANES measurements made with the beam positioned in the blastomeres versus the yolk region of the cell show that the zinc environments in the yolk and the blastomere of the same embryo are distinct from one another.

In conjunction with our continuing interest in the synthesis of indoline alkaloids, a new approach to the synthesis of the pentacyclic skeleton of the Aspidosperma skeleton [ABCDE] has been developed. The asymmetry was introduced by the use of the optically active beta,beta-disubstituted vinylic sulfoxide, (3E,Rs)-2-[3-(2-(N-t-butoxycarbonylamino)-phenyl)-4-(p-tolylsulfinyl)-but-3-enyl]-2-propyl-[1,3]dioxolane, prepared by ortholithiation of N-boc-aniline [A ring], transmetalation to the cuprate and cis addition to the optically active alkynyl sulfoxide, 2-propyl-2-(4-(Ss)-p-tolylsulfinyl-but-3-ynyl)-[1,3]dioxolane. The chirality was transferred from the sulfur to a quaternary carbon by reaction of the optically active vinylic sulfoxide, (1E,Rs)-2-[3-(2-(N,N-bis-t-butoxycarbonylamino)-phenyl)-4-(p-tolylsulfinyl)-but-3-enyl]-2-propyl-[1,3]dioxolane, with dichloroketene to afford after dechlorination and deketalization the gamma-thiogamma-butyrolactone, (4S,5R)-4-[2-(N,N-bis-t-butoxycarbonylamino)-phenyl]-3dichloro-4-[2-(2-propyl-[1,3]dioxolan-2-yl)-ethyl]-5-p-tolylsulfanyl-dihydro-furan-2-one. The gamma-position of the lactone is synthetically equivalent to an aldehyde. Thus opening of the lactone with pyrrolidine generated the aldehyde, 3-[2-N,N-bis(t-butoxycarbonylamino)-phenyl]-3-formyl-6-oxo-N-pyrrolidinyl-nonylanlide. Then intramolecular aldol reaction, followed by amidation with 3-chloropropyl amine generated the 4,4 disubstituted cyclohexenone, 2-[1-(2-N,N-bis(t-butoxycarbonyl)amino-phenyl)-3-ethyl-4-oxo-cyclohexene-2-enyl]-N-(3-chloropropyl)-acetamide [C ring]. A tandem reaction by intramolecular Michael addition of the amide nitrogen to the unsaturated ketone, followed by intramolecular alkylation of the enolate onto the alkyl chloride chain, afforded the tricyclic core [CDE], 9a-[2-N,N-bis(t-butoxycarbonylamino)-phenyl]-6a-ethyl-octahydro-pyrrolo[3,2,1-ij]quinolin-2,7-dione. Thus two more rings and two more stereocenters were generated with this reaction. The last ring [B ring] and the last stereocenter were achieved after unsaturation of the ketone to afford 9a-(2-N,N-bis(t-butoxycarbonylamino)-phenyl)-6a-ethyl-4,5,6,6a,9a,9b-hexahydro-1H-pyrrolo[3,2,1-ij]quinolin-8-en-2,7-dione. Then, deprotection of the amine functionality under acidic conditions with concomitant Michael addition, gave 4,10-dioxoaspidospermidine and completed the formation of the Aspidosperma skeleton. Application of the use of vinylic sulfoxides to the synthesis of pyrrolidine and pyrrolizidine alkaloids has also been explored. For the synthesis of pyrrolidines the corresponding alpha-substituted vinylic sulfoxides were prepared by condensation of different protected S-phenylalaninals with alpha-lithiated vinylic sulfoxides. Deprotection of the amine functionality, followed by 5-endo-trig cyclization gave pyrrolidines. As proof of stereochemistry the antifungal pyrrolidine alkaloid (+)-Preussin was prepared. For the synthesis of pyrrolizidines the corresponding alpha-substituted vinylic sulfoxides were prepared from N-(t-Butoxycarbonyl)-(S)-prolinal. To extend the methodology and check the role of the sulfoxide analogous vinylic sulfones were prepared by reaction of the amino aldehydes with alpha-lithiated vinylic sulfides, followed by oxidation to the sulfone.

The first example of an azidomercuration reaction between an aliphatic azide and an olefin was developed as a new method for promoting the Schmidt reaction of aliphatic azides. For example, treatment of 2-(3-azidopropyl)methylenecyclohexane with either mercury(II) perchlorate trihydrate or mercury(II) trifluoromethane sulfonate resulted in formation of a mercuronium ion that was intramolecularly captured by the aliphatic azide to generate a secondary aminodiazonium ion. Bond migration and displacement of the dinitrogen leaving group resulted in an alpha-mercurio iminium ion that afforded (2R*,7 R*)2-methyl-1-azabicyclo[5.3.0]decane after sodium borohydride reduction. Previous conditions for promoting the Schmidt reaction of aliphatic azides required treating azidoalkenes such as 2-(3-azidopropyl)methylenecyclohexane with trifluoromethane sulfonic acid to generate a carbocation that was captured by the azide. This new mercurio-Schmidt methodology has extended the scope of this reaction by eliminating the need for well stabilized carbocations and by allowing the incorporation of a wide variety of functionality which was not tolerated with the acid-promoted conditions. In addition it was found that treatment of (E)-1-azidoundec-4-ene with these mercurio-Schmidt conditions resulted in the formation of a 6-hexylpiperidine via an intramolecular 6-endo-trig cyclization followed by hydride migration and reduction which compliments aminomercurations which typically undergo 5-exo-trig cyclizations in these systems to afford pyrrolidines. Additionally, mechanistic studies of alpha-mercurio iminium ions have established that these species protodemercurate in protic solvents. For example, treatment of 1-(2-mercurioacetate)-cyclohexylidenepyrrolidinium acetate with sodium borodeuteride in D2O results in deuteriodemceruation and reduction of the iminium ion to afford N-(1,2-dideuteriocyclohexyl)pyrrolidine. A variety of approaches to a general synthesis of chiral heteroatom-substituted 2-azaallyl anion precursors such as (2S)-1-[2-aza-1-methyl-3-(tributylstannyl)-1-butenyl]-2-methoxymethylpyrrolidine, is also described. Although the approaches to this type of compound were ultimately unsuccessful in providing a general route to this class of chiral 2-azaallyl anion precursors, much useful information about the properties of these molecules and the benefits and drawbacks of various bond disconnections was discovered. It would appear, in accordance with previous attempts, that the steric demands of the bulky tributyltin group are problematic in almost all the approaches to chiral heteroatom substituted 2-azaallyl anion precursors that were investigated. A mechanistic study of 2-azaallyl anion cycloaddition reactions was also conducted. For example, in order to determine if the cycloaddition between 1,3-dimethyl-2-azaallyl lithium and styrene could procedure via a stepwise rather than concerted pathway, the cyclization precursor (1 R*,3R*)-ethylidene-(1-methyl-3-phenyl-3-tributylstannanylpropyl)amine was synthesized. Treatment of this compound with n-butyllithium generated a benzyllithium intermediate that would be expected to form if a 2-azaallyl anion cycloaddition was to proceed through a stepwise mechanism. Formation of this benzyllithium intermediate results in a 5-endo-trig cyclization and the formation of pyrrolidine products. As a result, it can be concluded that the reaction of 2-azaallyl anions with anionophiles can potentially form via a stepwise mechanism. However, additional studies have demonstrated that while this pathway can be in operation, it does not account for the conservation of the anionophile stereochemistry observed in the cycloaddition of most 2-azaallyl anions. Therefore, while 2-azaallyl anions can cycloadd in a stepwise fashion, they are predominantly concerted processes. Additionally, experiments have demonstrated that these 5- endo-trig cyclization reactions have potential synthetic utility for the construction of pyrrolidine compounds.

The physical, environmental, decorative, and ritual arrangements for cooking and dining are documented in a large sample of residences from six contiguous insulae at Pompeii. The descriptions, measurements, photographs, and plans will prove an invaluable resource for Pompeian archaeologists and architects, and historians of Roman domestic life and foodways. An analysis of this archaeological evidence shows how residents organized domestic space for the purposes of taking their daily meals. The units of analysis are groups of buildings carefully defined by architectural criteria, and which represent the place of their occupants along the socio-economic spectrum of the community. Against a background of ancient literature and modern scholarship, I investigate how meals structured Roman social relationships. The preparation and consumption of meals in Pompeii and the Roman world acted as a social barometer. Larger households had larger, better decorated, and more numerous dining areas, and a larger cooking capacity than smaller households. Larger households not only had more mouths to feed, but their dinners were social occasions to which guests were invited, and at which status was evaluated. In order to impress their guests, cultivate social ties and reinforce their position, owners constructed arrays of dining areas that were environmentally moderated, highly decorated and had views onto gardens and water-play. The number and size of dining areas, the expense given over to their elaboration, the physical distance between dining and cooking areas, and the social distance between free and slave household members all decreased toward the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum. In larger households, intra-household social distinctions between slave and free were highlighted and formalized at dinner. Kitchens were located far from dining areas, and sections of the largest houses were reserved for slaves to cook and eat their food. In the smallest shops, eating and cooking were done informally in the same space, with no contingency for mealtime social interaction with outside guests--company was enjoyed at neighborhood meeting places, over the snacks and drinks of lunch counters and diners. In sum, socially proximate individuals tended to eat together, in environments that befit their status.

This work is concerned with the change in ideas about women and their place in society and its relationship to changes in the social and production relations in English society as a whole which were occurring in sixteenth and seventeenth century. The central questions considered are whether change(s) occurred, what the nature of the change(s) was(were), what caused the change(s) and what effects the change(s) engendered. These questions are examined through the study of contemporary written literature, both lay and clerical, contemporary drama and the diaries, journals and autobiographies left by the members of literate strata. The ideological changes which are shown to have occurred are such as demonstrate a devaluation of women as rational and productive members of society. Abilities which women had once been assumed to possess naturally were considered in 1650 to be beyond their acquisition. The traditional tasks performed by women were either removed from their sphere or devalued. The role of women within their homes was redefined from producer to reproducer. The place of women within society itself was denied as the ideological devaluation of women was accompanied by the physical circumscription of space and the juridical restriction of opportunities to rise above their limited abilities. Women were conceived of in 1650 as private indoor creatures best neither seen nor heard, present in English society only through their relationship to a man. It is suggested that these changes were both caused by and reinforced the changing social and economic relations within the public nation. As market relations became more prevalent, the effects of the social division of labour contributed to making the traditional tasks of women redundant, irrational or impossible, depending on the social stratum of the woman involved. It is further suggested that the traditional patriachal ideology provided a means by which the redundant women could be subject to the control of a master without competing with what the propertied class saw as a threatening horde of masterless men, in need of employment as much as a means of social control as of subsistence.

This dissertation examines the life and art of late Ming painter Hsiang Sheng-mo. Hsiang as one of the most intelligent and creative artists of his time is illuminated through the series of Chao-yin (Calling for Reclusion) landscape scrolls, which were created during a more than twenty-year period. Along with the accompanying inscriptions and poems, these scrolls embody Hsiang's artistic personality and expression, and also reveal how his distinctive painting style formed and developed. The eremitic idea, with a long history behind it, became an important theme in Chinese painting. By the late Ming, reclusion was a complex idea which was far from meaning a simple retreat into the mountain wilderness. Hsiang Sheng-mo embraced the complexity of the idea and created his own reclusion in paintings and poems, where he found the ideal hermit world. Thus the chao-yin landscapes became a kind of pictorial document through which Hsiang reflected his ideal of reclusion and the stages of his own intellectual and artistic development. The detailed study of these scrolls will clearly show Hsiang's personal artistic achievement and the significance of his art within the literati tradition. Chapter I provides Hsiang's family background and the late Ming social and cultural milieu through which he emerged as a literati artist. Hsiang's learning and training in art and his artistic activities with friends and associates are also presented. Chapters II, III, and IV concentrate on the chao-yin theme and painting. Chapter II discusses the significance of the theme in Hsiang's painting and poetry in the context of its manifold definitions and complex development in Chinese history. Chapter III contains the critical analysis of Hsiang's five extant chao-yin landscapes. They are discussed in detail to examine his relationship with past traditions and to trace the stylistic development of his painting. Chapter IV shows how Hsiang's painting and poems interact together in the chao-yin scrolls to achieve a fuller artistic expression. Chapter V examines Hsiang's other representative paintings which are not directly related to the eremitic theme, but enable us to understand his landscape art in a broader perspective.

This dissertation is an examination of party authority, political culture and the operation of power in Soviet society during the Stalin period. By analyzing the efforts of the Communist Party to propagate its official ideology and mobilize civilians for work on the home front during World War II, this study highlights the weaknesses and instabilities, as well as the strengths and commonalities of perspective, that characterized the relation between the state and the Soviet public. Rather than viewing the war as a legitimating moment for the party and state (as has been traditional in Soviet and Western historiography), this dissertation analyzes the war as a transitional experience--a transition from the atmosphere of sacrifice, state-building and political cultural change of the 1930s to an atmosphere in which Soviet citizens articulated demands for a reorientation of basic elements of the system. Ultimately, the dissertation analyzes the different ways in which the system of state power operated during the Stalin era--through shared values and expectations, mechanisms of persuasion, the application of coercion and systems of signification. The dissertation focuses on five sets of issues: the changing character of the party as a social group; the agitprop apparatus and the nature and meaning of the official political ideology; the role and importance of material provision in the social ideology of Stalinism; popular values, attitudes toward the Western Allies and expectations for postwar change; and the cultures of power through which party officials defined and articulated their authority at the local level. The World War II period is a particularly interesting time to study these issues. Coming one generation after the revolutions of 1917, the war was important not just as a test of the system built by the Bolsheviks; analysis of popular responses to the war and party mobilization efforts offers a glimpse of the results and effects of a quarter-century of intensive propagandizing and state-sponsored social transformation.

At the Second World War, the Soviet Union was militarily and politically unprepared to wage a large-scale partisan struggle. The precarious Soviet military position at the beginning of the war forced the Soviet leadership to overcome its general suspicions towards mass movements and facilitate a partisan movement. Officials had to solve two difficult, and at times, contradictory tasks: the maximization of partisan military effectiveness, and the maintenance of partisan political reliability and loyalty. This dissertation on the Soviet partisan movement explores the dynamics of power relations and the construction of social identities within the framework of Soviet political culture. Based on recently available archival materials from the former Soviet Union, including reports from partisans and Soviet officials, diaries, transcripts of partisan conferences and interviews, and unit personnel lists this project analyzes the partisan movement on three levels: how the Soviet leadership formulated policy towards the partisans; how state agencies--the Party, Red Army, and NKVD--interpreted and implemented these plans; and how the partisan detachments functioned as political, social and military communities. This project shows that the Soviet leadership sought to use the partisan movement as a means of legitimating the Soviet system and attempted to impose a uniform identity on the partisans. This uniform identity connected with partisan self-representations, which themselves were not uniform. The numerous contradictions within Soviet political culture enabled the partisans to embrace alternative visions of what it meant to be a partisan. Although the Soviet leadership used several methods in an effort to control the partisans, the partisans were still often able to evade these controls or manipulate the very structures that were intended to supervise them. And while the partisans identified themselves explicitly as Soviet, they significantly altered the content of the Soviet institutions they replicated in the detachments. Thus, the partisans simultaneously accepted and rejected certain aspects of the prewar Soviet experience in their own communities.

I have studied two different problems, from bifurcation theory and fluid dynamics respectively. I first consider the symmetry breaking problem for radial solutions of certain semilinear elliptic equations. My main result here is that symmetry breaking occurs along an infinite family of solutions to these equations. In order to do this I first show that symmetry must break infinitesimally, i.e., the linearized operator has a non-radial element in it's kernel. Then utilizing the equivariant Conley index and noting that certain spaces differ as representations of the orthogonal group, I show that actual symmetry breaking occurs. The second question I study is from relativistic fluid dynamics. I consider the system of hyperbolic conservation laws describing the conservation of baryon number and momentum in one dimensional relativistic fluid dynamics. When the equation of state is that for an ideal isentropic gas, I demonstrate the existence of solutions with shocks for the Cauchy problem. I construct, using the Glimm scheme, bounded weak solutions of the initial value problem in a two dimensional Minkowski spacetime. The analysis is based upon showing that a certain nonlocal functional is decreasing on the approximate solutions generated via Glimm's method. The main technical points in the analysis involve showing that the shock curves based at different points are congruent in the plane of Riemann invariants and that the system satisfies the shock interaction condition. In the case of an isentropic fluid with a polytropic equation of state, I demonstrate the existence of a (unique) weak solution to the Riemann problem. An invariant region for the solution of the Riemann problem is established and it is proved that all speeds remain bounded by the speed of light throughout the solution.

Discerning Spirits: Sanctity and Possession in the Later Middle Ages examines the responses of different cultural strata to spirit possession from the mid-twelfth through the fifteenth century in Western Europe. I argue that in Medieval Europe spirit possession was ambiguous: malignly, it was expressed as diabolic possession, while benignly it appeared as unitive mysticism. While only the former was described as spirit possession within medieval culture, unitive mystics, with their stress on the indwelling quality of their experience of God, may also be considered possessed--by the Holy Spirit. Indeed, so closely parallel were mystics and demoniacs considered to be, contemporaries had difficulty discerning one from the other. As a result, a great deal of suspicion and anxiety surrounded the vocations of unitive mystics, who often were accused of being demonically inspired. Adding to this perplexity were general ideas about body and spirit that pervaded medieval culture. Although the civilization of the Middle Ages is often thought of as dualistic in its conceptions of body and spirit, my work shows that the boundaries between the two actually were quite fluid. Spirits were conceived as having a material basis, and conversely the body, in certain areas, was thought to have a basic spiritual vitality. Tales of corpses coming back to life, and folkloric ideas about shamanistic spirit journeys, reveal a broad cultural preoccupation both with the ways in which bodies and spirits acted independently, and with the ways they interacted. By the fifteenth century, the juxtaposition between the divinely and the demonically possessed had begun to elicit responses: new demonological treatises, manuals of exorcism, and a textual tradition devoted to the discernment of spirits. Yet, the attempt to discern spirits on a purely abstract plane was doomed to failure: ultimately, one could only evaluate exterior signs of comportment, since visions and revelations were private and hence unverifiable. Thus the discernment of spirits eventually was worked out as a discernment of the body: judging the comportment and physical control of the individual became paramount. Sanctity was increasingly associated with incorporeality, while possession became defined by a connection with fallen physicality.

This study examines the way in which Early Medieval artists converted the dream, an experience common to all, into a rich and powerful image charged with multi-valent meaning. In the hands of Early Medieval artists, the dream image became a visual affirmation of the intangible meeting between heaven and earth. Yet this seemingly simple topos had enormous possibilities insofar as the dream image functioned like an imprimatur, not only visually confirming the divine character of the depicted event but also simultaneously sanctioning the dream's message. Concomitantly this visual assertion of divine communication provided stature to those associated with the dream experience as well as validation for events that followed from the dream. Thus, dreaming was a deliberately chosen, powerful medium for a message, a medium having not only spiritual significance but social, political, and economic implications as well. It was these aspects that Early Medieval artists capitalized on. Chapter I lays the groundwork for the investigation by examining the manner in which Early Medieval artists approached the depiction of dreams. Based on a study of over three hundred dream images, it considers: problems in identifying dream scenes, the gender of dreamers, their religious and social status, their dress and physical characteristics, the setting in which dreams occur, the depiction of dream content, witnesses to dreams, and variations in dream depiction. Chapters II through IV investigate specific dream images in relation to topoi that reveal the function and power of dream representation: dream images related to the call to God's earthly service and the revelation of actual or impending death; those related to holy cults, such as dream cures, incubation, and the invention and relocation of relics; and lastly those related to church construction, with examination of possible reasons for the use of the dream as a topos for this activity. Chapter V makes overall observations about the nature and function of dream representation. An alphabetically arranged appendix lists the dream scenes gathered for the study and provides information about their present location, object type, original provenance, and approximate date, and, when known, a source for locating an illustration.

The dissertation is an attempt to construct a theory of collective violence in a premodern society, using the 1,097 counties and 277 years in the Ming Dynasty of China as the spatial-temporal domain. As the first descriptive task, the study found that collective violence in Ming were rare, relatively homogeneous, manifesting a distinct spatial and temporal pattern, and constituting largely of predatory banditry. To account for this pattern, socio-economic and ecological data for 303,869 county-years were collected and analyzed to test major propositions in class conflict, social change, rational choice, and political efficacy models. Though we found class conflict and social change approaches could illumine certain special forms of armed conflict, they were largely incongruous with the above configuration. Turning to models predicated on the exigencies of an agrarian, subsistent economy and a premodern, centralized empire, we did find empirical evidence to support a rational choice model which predicts that there would be higher levels of collective violence when times were bad and when punishment was uncertain. On the system level, collective violence is also found to correlate with political efficacy. Few rebellions and banditry were found in earlier regimes with rigorous administration and benevolent policies; in contrast to epidemic violence in the later sloven administrations of wanton emperors and devious eunuch advisers who often increased taxes, decreased relief effort, and bankrupt the imperial treasury. In addition, the political efficacy and rational choice models can more readily explain the above empirical pattern. Rarity, homogeneity, and the prevalence of banditry are features one would expect of collective violence in a premodern, agrarian empire. The three peaks of rebellions occurred in reigns most noted for misgovernment, and the most rebellious provinces were also the least integrated with the center. We thus conclude that collective violence in Ming is better understood as a rational response to agrarian hardship, in peripheral regions and sloven administrations where the regime lacked the capacity to restrain outlaws.

An approach to the Kopsia alkaloid (+/-)-lapidilectine B using the 2-azaallyl anion cycloaddition method is described. Starting from 1,4-cyclohexanediol, notable steps in the synthesis included the formation of (1'R*,3' R*,4'S*)-1,2-dihydroindol-3-one-2-spiro-4 '(1'-benzyloxy-3'-vinylcyclohexane) by a base-induced cyclization of (2R*,4R*)-1-(2-azidobenzoyl)-4-benzyloxy-2-vinylcyclohexane, a cycloaddition of a 2-azaallyl anion with phenyl vinyl sulfide, and an eight-membered ring closure by a Mitsunobu type cyclization of an amino alcohol. (2-Azaallyl)stannanes, even those bearing enolizable hydrogens, produced nonstabilized azomethine ylides. Therefore, an approach to indolizidines, pyrrolidines, and other nitrogen-containing heterocycles via azomethine ylide cycloadditions was developed. Specifically, treatment of 5-chloro-2,2-dimethylpentylidene[(tri-n-butyl)stannylmethyl]amine in refluxing toluene produced an azomethine ylide. In the presence of electron-deficient alkenes, such as dimethyl maleate, (1S*,2R*,8a R*)-octahydro-8,8-dimethyl-1,2-indolizinedicarboxylic acid dimethyl ester and (1R*,2S*,8aR*)-octahydro-8,8-dimethyl-1,2-indolizinedicarboxylic acid dimethyl ester were formed. In the presence of electron-rich alkenes, such as phenyl vinyl sulfide, octahydro-8,8-dimethyl-1-(phenylthio)indolizine and octahydro-8,8-dimethyl-2-(phenylthio)indolizine were produced. Treatment of 2-methylpropylidene[(tri-n-butyl)stannylmethyl]amine with benzyl bromide in refluxing toluene also produced an azomethine ylide. In the presence electron-deficient alkenes, such as phenyl vinyl sulfone, 1-benzyl-3-benzenesulfonyl-2-isopropylpyrrolidine and 1-benzyl-4-benzenesulfonyl-2-isopropylpyrrolidine were generated. trans-2,5-Dialkyl pyrrolidines, such as (2R*,3 R*,4S*,5R*)-1-benzyl-2,5-bis-(1-propenyl)pyrrolidine-3,4-dicarboxylic acid dimethyl ester, could be prepared with high selectivity. A successful application of this azomethine ylide cycloaddition method was the construction of the lepadiformine ring skeleton, 5-hexyl-3-hydroxymethylpyrrolo[2,1- j]quinoline.

Historians of women have recently debated whether women's daily life bonding networks have facilitated or impeded their political activity. Part I of my dissertation examines everyday bonding patterns of Russian working women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Part II presents evidence that for the most part, women's bonding tended to inhibit their capacity in 1917 to sustain the long-term, organized political activity needed to institutionalize improvements in their lives, although women were extremely active in a variety of militant, sporadic, and short-lived forms of participation in revolutionary events. My examination of daily life borrows from related disciplines: psychology, anthropology, and the study of folklore. Part I follows the course of the life cycle, with chapters comparing typical activities and folklore of females and males in childhood, adolescence, courtship, marriage, and adult life. My evidence indicates that the cultural prescription for women was that their primary bonding commitment to be their husbands and children. Friendships with peers were to be given second priority whenever they conflicted with the claims of the nuclear family on each woman's time, energy, and devotion. A main aspect of women's friendships was to render support for each woman's friendships were probably more emotionally rewarding than were men's, there was another, stronger bond whose demands frequently intervened. In contrast, men in Russian working class communities often placed first priority on their male bonding groups. Male bonding was a major feature of Russian working class culture, strengthened and elaborated through rituals and everyday group activities. Thus, daily life male bonding providing working men with a base for on-going, organized activity in the public sphere during the 1917 revolution. Part II details women's activity in food riots throughout 1917. Women's participation in street fighting and some organized activities are also examined. This dissertation is limited to four provinces of the Central Industrial Region, centered on Moscow. I chose this area because the Russian textile industry predominated there, employing many married women. Thus, women workers' family-oriented life perspective existed despite their nearly life-long employment in factories.

The suborder or infraorder Plesiadapiformes is the first group of primate-like mammals known in the fossil record. Plesiadapiformes first appear in the early Paleocene, some 65 million years ago in sediments of the Western Interior of North America. The relationship of Paleocene plesiadapiforms to Eocene primates of modern aspect and relationships among various families, genera, and species of plesiadapiforms are uncertain. In particular, the relationship of Microsyopoidea to plesiadapiforms has been questioned. Morphological and functional studies of dental, cranial, and postcranial remains of plesiadapiforms summarized here suggest retention of plesiadapiforms within the order Primates. However there is no evidence to support a direct phylogenetic relationship between plesiadapiforms and primates of modern aspect. The origins of plesiadapiforms and primates remain unknown. Four distinct superfamilies are recognized within Plesiadapiformes. Microsyopoidea are characterized by the retention of generalized primitive (relative to Purgatorius) dental and cranial adaptations. Microsyopoids are represented by two families: Paleocene Palaechthonidae and Eocene Microsyopidae. Available evidence indicates that microsyopids are most closely related to palaechthonids and can best be viewed as having descended from that Paleocene family, not from the families Mixodectidae or Leptictidae as previously suggested. The other three superfamilies of Plesiadapiformes are Plesiadapoidea, Mixodectoidea, and Apatemyoidea. Of these, plesiadapoids are characterized by specialized dental and cranial adaptations. Mixodectoids and apatemyoids are distinctly more primitive than either of the other two superfamilies, remaining more insectivore-like. Two families, Microsyopidae and Paromomyidae, survived well into the Eocene, while other plesiadapiform families disappeared by the earliest Eocene. Dental characteristics suggest that these two families specialized on diets different from those of adapids and omomyids and thus avoided direct competition with primates of modern aspect. Geographic distributions and climatic reconstructions indicate that warming temperatures into and through the Eocene contributed to the extinction of most plesiadapiforms.

The origin of the state in Japan has been attributed variously to relations of trade and subjugation with China, conquest from the Korean Peninsula, and adoption of Chinese administrative models. Until the degree of indigenous development is clarified by archaeology, these historical explanations cannot be properly evaluated. This dissertation therefore begins the anthropological investigation of the first stage of state formation, examining the evidence for social stratification found in the archaeological record of the 2nd to 6th centuries in the Nara Basin, Nara Prefecture, Japan. In concentrating on the settlement archaeology of the Nara Basin, this dissertation fulfills four major functions: (1) It systematizes and presents in the form of a Site Index a diverse body of settlement data comparable to the mounded tomb data available for Nara. (2) It evaluates the nature and representativeness of those settlement data with reference to surface survey methodology and the interpretation of surface materials in terms of settlement sites. (3) It performs several distributional analyses on different aspects of the data to elucidate the development of territorial hierarchies and the patterning of settlement remains through successive periods. (4) It examines the evidence for social differentiation in featural and artifactual remains of the Late Yayoi through Middle Kofun cultures. Significant findings include the definition and attribution of unusual linear distributional patterns of material remains in Late Yayoi and Early Kofun, interpreted as representing prehistoric Nara Basin roads and waterways. The mapping of tomb size classes produced spatial representations of two-tiered territorial hierarchies which can be identified with historically known groups. Settlement assemblages revealed no residences that could be recognized as elite until the Middle Kofun period. However, it is postulated that the Middle Kofun period. However, it is postulated that the materials assigned to Early Kofun, such as the minijar, are entirely of the elite culture, and that the contemporaneous commoner culture can be found in Yayoi V assemblages. Having identified functionally differentiated remains of early stratified society, it is now possible to proceed with the analysis of elite interaction with local and foreign populations to determine the relative degree of indigenous development and outside influence in state formation.

During the later Han and Six Dynasties era, the lives of Han Emperor Wu (r. 141-87 B.C.) and the members of his court inspired a vast body of legend. The narrative remnants of the legend, amounting to over 150 episodes, are now found mostly in six texts: Han Wudi gushi, Dongfang Shuo biezhuan, Han Wudi neizhuan, Han Wudi waizhuan, Shizhouji, and Han Wudi bieguo dongmingji. These texts are crucial for understanding the development of fiction in China, because they differ from the dominant zhiguai genre (records of diverse anomalies) in that they are unified compositions representing several prose genres. Their unknown authors, without entirely abandoning historiographic models, were already capable of treating very complex issues in more extended non-historical narratives, including allegory. The towering but controversial figure of Emperor Wu provided them with a convenient focus for their concerns, and his ritual activities provided the compositional framework. Two ritual structures are integral to the composition of these narratives. One centers on the quest for physical renewal or immortality and the other on certain divination practices. In tracing the development of the Emperor Wu legend, this study focuses chiefly on two broad sets of literary and intellectual concerns. First, it investigates the numerous textual problems in the six primary texts to establish their dates of origin, and it demonstrates the increasing sophistication of Chinese writers of the Six Dynasties. Second, it constructs an historical context for the texts, examining how changes in the depiction of the renewal and divination processes reflect larger changes in Chinese religious beliefs, and how each text addresses specific literati concerns of its time and debate about the role and significance of Dongfang Shuo. Appended are annotated translations of all the primary texts and additional fragments preserved in zhiguai collections.

Since 1979, the process of lawmaking has become an increasingly important--and surprisingly contentious--part of the overall Chinese policy-making process requiring serious scholarly attention. Taking as its inspiration classic American politics studies of lawmaking, this study asks How does a bill become a law in Post-Mao China? and What impact do the politics of the lawmaking process have on the substance of Chinese law? At the core of this dissertation is an in-depth comparative case study of two major laws: one on enterprise bankruptcy, one on state factory management. Data are drawn from interviews with Chinese officials and scholars involved in the lawmaking process, as well as Chinese and English language documentary and press sources. The study also seeks to illuminate the roles and power sources of the various Communist Party, State Council, and National People's Congress (NPC) organs involved in drafting major pieces of legislation. The study analyzes the lawmaking process through four theoretical models of the policy-making process. Rejecting the traditional command model of lawmaking politics--that the Party controls the legislature--the study argues that the Party leadership is no longer sufficiently unified to reach lawmaking decisions within Party fora, and increasing resorts to the lawmaking system as an important adjunct political battleground. Chinese lawmaking politics are, instead, better understood through three other policy-process models: those emphasizing leadership struggle and organizational politics; as well as Cohen, March, and Olsen's garbage can model of organizational choice. The lawmaking process interweaves three major policy-making arenas--the Party Center, State Council, and the NPC--each incorporating distinctive political processes and unique, though overlapping, constellations of political actors. The study closes by questioning whether or not the Chinese lawmaking system is too fragmented and conservative to meet its major current task: developing the legal infrastructure essential to China's economic structural reform.

The dissertation argues that gender ideologies and practices critically informed slave emancipation in the British Empire. Using official correspondence, court records, missionary journals, and marriage records I focus on the period of amelioration, emancipation, and postemancipation in the rural Western Cape Colony up to the granting of Representative Government in 1853. I analyze how slaves, dependent laborers, slaveholders, missionaries, and officials conceptualized gender relations, the relationship between labor and family, and the meanings of freedom. Legislation ameliorating slavery in the 1820s and 1830s focused on relations within the slave family and represented slave women as requiring special protection in the workplace. In the apprenticeship period from 1834 to 1838 apprentice women became spokespeople in the battle over child labor which was a prime site of struggle in the transition to a wage labor economy. Relationships formed under slavery influenced whether freed people moved to missions or villages or remained on the farms after 1838. Freed people participated in a family economy in which women, men, and children contributed in different ways to the household. Law also framed the worlds of labor. Labor legislation consolidated the conception of women as belonging to a special category of worker by allowing their dismissal should they get married or become pregnant. Slave emancipation produced a preoccupation with cultural categories and sensibility. Freed people of all stations of life married in small numbers after emancipation, partly to signify freedom from slavery. In the 1840s state officials represented women charged with infanticide on the missions as victims of excessive missionary moral zeal. This facilitated the state's aim to limit the power of missionaries over the freed population, and silenced women's claims that patriarchal social relations had contributed to their actions. Finally, analysis of rape cases show that while black women took men to court throughout the postemancipation period judicial decisions were premised upon a belief that black women had no honor to lose. Postemancipation colonial culture was premised on implicit yet powerful connections between race, gender, and authority.

This thesis offers the hypothesis that early Mahayana Buddhism is institutionally co-extensive with the sects of Sectarian or Background Buddhism. Indian Mahayana Buddhism may be studied primarily on the basis of its literature. This literature can be stratified through internal and external criteria, and the putative authors of the literature grouped in this way are postulated as constituting a Mahayana community. This thesis explores the concerns of one such hypothetical Mahayana community, that of the authors, editors or redactors of the Maharatnakuta Collection of sutras. Specifically, an important text, the Ratnarasisutra, is carefully studied. It is found that the authors of this text were primarily concerned with orthopractic issues of the maintenance of monastic discipline. Detailed attention is given to their concern with the proper ascetic, what constitutes an evil monk, ascetic practices, and the institutional organization of the monastic community. As material for this investigation, and as a contribution to the study of Mahayana literature in general, a complete, annotated translation of the Ratnarasisutra is given, along with critical editions of the Tibetan canonical translation, with Sanskrit fragments, and the Chinese canonical translation, with testimonia.

Environmental decision-making by government agencies is typically controversial and the focal point for many environmental disputes. New, alternative environmental conflict management processes that emphasize negotiation and problem-solving, hold the potential to more effectively manage these complex disputes. However, because these processes are relatively new, little is known about the actual advantages and disadvantages of participating. Using six conceptual dimensions and twelve hypotheses, the dissertation examined the impacts of participation on an agency's: organizational structures and processes: ability to formulate and implement policy; and decision making authority. Data was collected from participants and observers of the Oil and Gas Leasing Task Force conducted by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This was a two year, policy-level process initiated by the agency to resolve internal and external disputes over the state's leasing policy. The seventeen member Task Force of DNR staff, environmentalists and oil and gas industry representatives: revised the state's oil and gas lease; developed and implemented administrative rules; and revised the DNR's environmental field review process. Structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with sixteen Task Force members and eighteen observers. Data analysis showed that the Task Force resolved internal differences between DNR divisions over the goals of the oil and gas program. This strengthened the agency's negotiating position with external parties. The process enabled the agency to better monitor the demands of interest groups but did not result in significant institutionalized changes between divisions after the Task Force. The research found that the Task Force resulted in mutual education of the parties that is not typically experienced in traditional policy processes, and expanded the number of policy solutions, increasing both the quantity and quality of information considered. It also made implementation faster and less controversial for the DNR. However, the process may have precluded consideration of issues of concern to environmentalists, and seemed to have no effect on the DNR's ability to retain its decision-making authority. The dissertation describes the need for future research on multiple instances of alternative environmental conflict management that will allow development of more generalizable findings on the dynamics and impacts of these processes.

From 1580 to 1630 a distinctive figural style flourished in the visual arts in central and northern Europe, one favored by artists in the employ of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (r.1576-1612). At his Bohemian Court this monarch gathered a group of artists known as the Prague School, whose art is often described as Rudolfine. The most important artist for the development and practice of the style was the Flemish-born painter Bartolomaus Spranger. Rudolfine Mannerism in printmaking, and its rise to the height of fashion in the Low Countries during the 1580s, is the subject of this study. The dissertation begins with a survey of Italianism in Netherlandish printmaking of the preceding generations, which provided the foundation and impetus for Rudolfine Mannerism. A discussion of the evolution of the style focuses on the influence of Italian art on Spranger, especially the work of Parmigianino and Giovanni da Bologna. At the Prague Court Spranger's paintings grew ever more rarified and exquisite as their content became increasingly recondite and often erotic, befitting the Emperor's personal tastes. The Rudolfine style crystallized in printmaking at Haarlem, where it was preferred by a group of innovative artists who freely shared ideas and imagery. Italian art and aesthetics were the ultimate authority for these artists. Often called the Haarlem Academy, this group had three principals: the aesthetician Carel Van Mander, the painter Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem, and the engraver Hendrik Goltzius. When this group adopted an elegant Mannerism based on Spranger's style, Goltzius developed a virtuosic engraving technique to match it. He wielded the burin with extraordinary precision and bravura, to engrave swelling calligraphic lines that became his trademark. The mastery and style of these works made Goltzius the most famous and influential European printmaker of his day. A chronological survey of the Haarlem prints of the 1580s and 1590s includes discussions of style, iconography, technique, social history, artists and patrons. While the imagery and content of the prints were analogous to works produced for the Emperor, the Dutch engravings were sold chiefly to the growing middle classes of northern Europe. Thus, the phenomenon of changing patronage for a consistent artistic style, as well as the northern European printmaking industry in the late Renaissance are recurrent themes of the dissertation.

The Latin prose treatise De institutione inclusarum, written in 1160 by Aelred, abbot of the Cistercian abbey of Rievaulx in Yorkshire, provides guidance for the anchoritic life. The shorter first section contains instruction for the external life of the anchoress; the second treats of her inner life and provides three meditations on things past, present, and future. Aelred's treatise, preserved in ten Latin manuscripts, was twice translated into English in the fourteenth century; each translation survives in one manuscript. Bodelian MS. English Poetry a. 1 (Vernon), pp. a-k, contains Informacio Alredi. . .ad sororem suam inclusam, a translation only of the rule for the inner life, the second portion of the treatise. The other English translation, in Bodleian MS. Bodley 423, ff. 178r-192r, contains both portions of the treatise, condensing or deleting many passages. The two translations have different sources, neither of which can be identified with any extant text. The edition of these two Middle English translations consists of an introduction, a bibliography, and the translations, each with explanatory notes, glossary, and an index of proper names. The entire edition was produced by computer in order to ensure textual accuracy and to allow generation of a concordance from which to draw the glossaries. The introduction contains three sections. The first, the historical background of De institutione inclusarum, contains a discussion of medieval anchoritism, a brief biographical sketch of Aelred, and a summary of his literary works. The second section discusses the history, audience, composition and themes of the treatise. This section argues from internal and external evidence that Aelred first composed the portion of the work containing direction for the anchoress's inner life and that that portion circulated independently until Aelred added the direction for the outer life. The third section of the introduction discusses the two English translations, in each case describing the manuscript and reporting scribal practice, and examines the translators' treatment of their sources. The examination of the Vernon manuscript and translation suggests that it may have been made specifically as a preface to the anthology of devotional works which comprises the manuscript and that its source may have descended from an archetype closer to Aelred's original than any surviving Latin text of the treatise. Each text is followed by its own explanatory notes, glossary, and index of proper names. Emendation has been kept to a minimum; where it has been necessary, notes record the manuscript's reading. Expansion of scribal abbreviations is indicated. The explanatory notes to each text identify biblical and patristic passages, divergence from the extant Latin texts, words not attested by the MED, and grammatical anomalies. The glossaries record all forms which occur in the two translations and indicate their functions, meanings, and locations within the texts. The indices of proper names identify all people and places named in the translations. The bibliography includes all works cited in the Introduction or explanatory notes.

The objective of this dissertation is to assess the power of rational choice and prospect theory for explaining the initiation of severe militarized interstate disputes. These competing models are based on the notion that choice among a set of risky alternatives will be based on the ranking of the expected values of those alternatives. Risk-orientation is a crucial element for predicting choice. The rational choice model asserts that an individual's risk-orientation is an endogenous characteristic that does not vary widely over time or over issues. However, within-subject gyrations between risk-acceptance and risk-aversion as a function of the framing of the choices have been repeatedly demonstrated in choice experiments. The prospect theory model incorporates these violations into an alternative theory of how probabilities and outcomes are used in evaluating risky options. The prospect theory corrections to these violations are formalized in mathematical equations that are used to translate stated game probabilities and game outcomes into weighted ones. Procedures are developed for solving these equations, and simulated prospect theory-based measures of the magnitude of incentive to initiate severe military interstate disputes are generated from data-based measures of the components of the crisis subgame. Does the prospect theory model account for severe dispute initiations better than the rational choice model? Using data for post-World War II enduring rivals, the answer appears to be no. While all of the coefficients for the prospect-theory based models are in the predicted direction and statistically significant, none are able to account for more of the variance in severe dispute initiations between enduring rivals than the rational-choice based models. For dispute initiations, further tests need to be conducted using a longer temporal, a larger spatial domain and alternative procedures for measuring the probabilities and outcomes of the crisis subgame. The algorithms presented in this dissertation for calculating prospect theory-based expected value of risky options should be employed to study other types of behavior. Until such time, however, prospect theory can not be said to have increased our capacity to account for choices made under conditions of risk.

The Yugoslav Constitution of 1946 guaranteed religious freedom to all its citizens; however, the Yugoslav state saw religion as a private matter and took certain steps to assure that religion be removed from public life. Religious communities became private institutions, and the state placed restrictions on church property, as well as on social, charitable, and educational activities. The State believed that once religion was removed from the sphere of public life, religion would slowly cease to exist. Using the experiences of Roman Catholic nuns in post-World War II Yugoslavia, namely in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina, I argue that the Yugoslav state used its definition of religious freedom to limit or control the Catholic sisters' social activities and to nationalize much of their properties. In doing this, the Yugoslav authorities not only wanted to limit the sisters' influence over children and adults, but also hoped that the Catholic womens' orders would no longer be able to support their members and consequently be forced to close their doors. This study will show that the Catholic womens' orders were able to adapt to the new environment and establish new roles for their members, such as working in the parishes as catechism teachers, organists, and church caretakers, which allowed the sisters to come into close contact with more people than ever before. Thus, in the end the Catholic sisters not only survived, but also managed to bring society into their private realm. This dissertation is the first long study that examines how Roman Catholic nuns were affected by the policies of communist Yugoslavia. Research for this work has concentrated on the verdicts, appeals, and resolutions found in the files of the Commission for Religious Affairs for the years 1945 to 1952 and the notes from the 1959 meetings of the Ideological Commission. Extensive interviews were also carried out with nuns from the various orders. The Catholic sisters took advantage of their right to appeal by turning to the religious commission for assistance in overturning local government decisions which they believed to be unlawful; however, the sources reveal that conflicts often developed between militant and moderate government officials when dealing with the Catholic sisters. As a result, uniform decisions were not made, and thus, regional variations existed.

I. A new and efficient method for the preparation of optically pure (alpha)-hydroxy and (alpha),(beta)-dihydroxy acid derivatives has been developed. Ketalization of easily accessible chiral cyclohexanones (3-methylcyclohexanone, menthone, 8-phenylmenthone) with glycolic acid affords spiro 1,3-dioxolan-4-ones as a chromatographically separable mixture of two diastereomers in each case. Deprotonation of each isomer followed by alkylation or aldol condensation of these glycolate enolates provides (alpha)-hydroxy or (alpha),(beta)-dihydroxy esters after acidic ethanolysis. The chiral ketone is recovered in good yield from the ethanolysis. The absolute stereochemistry of these products is a consequence of which diastereomeric 1,3-dioxolan-4-one is chosen initially. Syn/anti diastereoselection in the aldol condensation is a function of metal cation (Li('+) and Mg('++) give anti, Zr('+4) affords syn). Thus, any stereoisomer of an (alpha),(beta)-dihydroxy ester is available in a rational way. II. An effective method for carbon-carbon bond fragmentation through the oxidative electrolysis of 1-nonyl-3-oxo-cyclohexanecarboxylic acid ethylene ketal has been developed. The fragmentation product, methyl 5-nonyl-5-hexenoate, serves as the key intermediate for the synthesis of marine antibiotic malyngolide in four steps.

In recent decades most Caribbean states have turned to international tourism to attract foreign investments, earn foreign exchange, create badly needed employment, generate government revenues, and stimulate stagnant domestic economies. Although there is a substantial body of literature regarding macro-economic issues relevant to Caribbean tourism, anthropological investigations of the effects of tourism on rural Caribbean populations are rare. In contrast, this dissertation utilizes a political economy approach to examine the socioeconomic effects of the expansion of tourism on a rural village of the Dominican Republic undergoing recent and intensified capitalist development. Because the tourism industry represents capitalist interests and forms of economic organization, its extension into little-developed rural areas raises questions concerning its impact upon local material differentiation, relations of production, and capitalist development. This leads to the two basic questions addressed by this dissertation: (1) how the economic activities associated with domestic and international tourism connect with evolving socioeconomic structures in a rural Caribbean setting, and (2) how those activities influence the ongoing process of material differentiation at the local level. Fieldwork was conducted from early 1985 to mid-1986 in a coastal farming and fishing community of the Dominican Republic. Historically this area was on the periphery of both national and international economies and only marginally capitalist in economic organization, but more recently it has become the center of a growing resort area. Its case is a specific instance in the wider reorientation of the role of the Caribbean region in the international economy from the production of agricultural commodities to the production of tourism services. Using data drawn from participant observation, structured and unstructured interviews, and official records pertaining to land and coconut sales, this dissertation concludes that the development of tourism and the tourism industry has the effect of amplifying the ongoing process of material differentiation among local residents. Tourism has also accelerated the emergence of local capitalists, of landless or land-poor residents, and of capitalist economic patterns generally.

This study addresses the transition from egalitarian, tribal societies with achieved status distinctions to inegalitarian societies founded upon principles of ascribed status or hereditary inequality. Four models for the origins of institutionalized, hereditary inequality are investigated, and the expectations from each are compared to archaeological data from the Mazatan region of southern Mexico. The Early Formative period (1800-900 b.c.) of this semi-tropical coastal region witnessed the beginnings of sedentary village life, rapid population growth, settlement in large villages, adoption of highland cultigens such as maize and beans, increased reliance on agriculture, adoption of ceramic arts, increased long distance exchange, local production of prestige goods from imported raw materials, the appearance of elevated structures, and the transition from egalitarian to inegalitarian sociopolitical formations. The twin objectives of this study are (1) to demonstrate that the transition from tribal societies to simple chiefdom societies took place in the Mazatan region during the Early Formative period and (2) to determine the factors that may have led to this radical change in local social and political organization. Archaeological data from systematic surface survey and extensive excavations of house floors at a range of sites located in different environmental zones within the region suggest that the transition to simple chiefdom societies occurred about 1400 b.c. The most convincing data for the emergence of simple chiefdoms from egalitarian communities are the changes in regional settlement patterns, shifts in community organization, and appearance of high status residences. The relative sequence of inferred significant events further suggests that an interaction model for the emergence of sociopolitical complexity best fits the data. Archaeological investigations demonstrate that managerial requirements of redistribution, population pressure, and warfare were probably not significant causal factors. Social competition among aggrandizers or big men for prestige and followers appears better to explain the data available from the Mazatan region.

Italian manuscripts of polyphony copied before 1450 primarily contain texted pieces, while those copied after the middle of the century include many pieces without text. Did the scribes of these manuscripts omit the texts, or did they have no texts to copy? Some scholars have identified a few of these pieces as instrumental, basing their conclusions on particular musical characteristics. Others have rejected the notion that they were conceived for instruments because the musical evidence remains inconclusive. Yet if we consider the cultural setting as well as the musical evidence, the hypothesis that the textless pieces were written for instruments gains strength. I examine both the musical and cultural contexts of these pieces, the former to determine certain musical traits of the genre, the latter to explore the cultural factors contributing to their development. The eleven Italian manuscripts under consideration contain not only untexted pieces, but also a few texted ones, as well as some with texted concordances. In the first half of my study, I separate the texted from the untexted pieces and then analyze and compare certain features in an effort to identify musical differences. While some untexted pieces resemble texted ones, many are different, and these differences suggest that numerous untexted pieces are indeed a separate genre. I then discuss the cultural setting of this music to account for the development of the new genre of music composed for instruments. The particular manuscripts of textless music were connected to courts that boasted large artistic establishments where the nobles patronized and perceived art in new ways that set them apart from earlier practices. Archival pay records, household inventories and contemporary letters show that attitudes about artistic production and consumption changed during the fifteenth century, and they suggest that the new cultural ambience at these courts was consistent with an emerging new concept of music. The implications of a new type of consumption, art collecting, indicates that the audience was receptive to a new aesthetic ideal also implied by the performance of instrumental music. While compositions in textless manuscripts have been viewed by some only as incomplete examples of the older style of song, a study of the cultural context of the textless manuscripts suggests that they may reflect a new style of patronage and the changing aesthetic values of their milieu.