This paper investigates the absence of racial public policy in Brazil during the First Republic. Using secondary sources, this paper looks at economic competition and conflict between black and immigrant labor in the state of Sao Paulo and tests the applicability of the split labor market theory of ethnic antagonism--a theory used in explaining the development of ethnic conflict into racial public policy. Such conflict has been a primary factor in the development of racial public policies such as those found in the United States and South Africa. The political organization of black Brazilians and immigrant (primary Italian) groups is also analyzed to discover whether or not these groups would have been capable of translating their economic goals into race-based public policy. The thesis suggests that there was little competition in many areas, and that even where there was little competition, neither group had sufficient political capacity to successfully push for exclusionary public policies based on race.

Background: While influenza cases in Arizona have nearly tripled since 2018, vaccination ratescontinue to lag. Statewide, Hispanics and African Americans had the lowest vaccination rates despite having higher influenza infection rates than Whites. Given Arizona's racial influenza vaccination disparity and the general increase in vaccination hesitancy due to COVID-19, the purpose of this study is to better understand the influences of seasonal influenza vaccination in Arizona during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Eleven focus groups were conducted to identify factors that influence the decision toget the seasonal influenza vaccine and explore the racial/ethnic differences in vaccination attitudes that influence decision-making. Focus groups were stratified by race, gender, and language. Results: Participants were motivated to get the influenza vaccine to protect their family andclose friends across all racial groups. The heightened concern for COVID-19 compelled some Hispanic/Latino focus group participants to consider getting vaccinated. However, many Hispanic/Latino participants also expressed that they stopped getting vaccinated due to negative vaccination experiences or concern about sickness following immunization. African American focus group participants primarily discussed receiving the vaccine as part of their routine health visit. Compared to other races, more White focus group participants believed that vaccination was unimportant because they were healthy and the people they interacted with never got sick. Conclusions: Distinct factors influence risk perception and vaccination intention across differentracial/ethnic groups. Interventions must account for these factors and be tailored to the target population to maximize vaccination uptake.

Dose as a result of radiation exposure is the notion generally used to disclose the imparted energy in a volume of tissue to a potential biological effect. The basic unit defined by the international system of units (SI system) is the radiation absorbed dose, which is expressed as the mean imparted energy in a mass element of the tissue known as "gray" (Gy) or J/kg. The procedure for ascertaining the absorbed dose is complicated since it involves the radiation transport of numerous types of charged particles and coupled photon interactions. The most precise method is to perform a full 3D Monte Carlo simulation of the radiation transport. There are various Monte Carlo toolkits that have tool compartments for dose calculations and measurements. The dose studies in this thesis were performed using the GEANT4 Application for Emission Tomography (GATE) software (Janet al., 2011) GATE simulation toolkit has been used extensively in the medical imaging community, due to the fact that it uses the full capabilities of GEANT4. It also utilizes an easy to-learn GATE macro language, which is more accessible than learning the GEANT4/C++ programming language. This work combines GATE with digital phantoms generated using the NCAT (NURBS-based cardiac-torso phantom) toolkit (Segars et al., 2004) to allow efficient and effective estimation of 3D radiation dose maps. The GATE simulation tool has developed into a beneficial tool for Monte Carlo simulations involving both radiotherapy and imaging experiments. This work will present an overview of absorbed dose of common radionuclides used in nuclear medicine and serve as a guide to a user who is setting up a GATE simulation for a PET and SPECT study.