Meiosis is a specialized form of cell division that gives rise to haploid reproductive cells by replicating the genetic material once and undergoing two rounds of partitioning. While most forms of cell division require centrosomes to assemble a bipolar microtubule-based spindle that segregates chromosomes, female gametes (oocytes) are unique in...
The effective capture and detoxification of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) is a pressing need in the modern world. Materials are needed for both the destruction of weapon stockpiles and personal protection via fabric coatings or respirators. Attractive candidates for these applications include metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) – highly crystalline materials composed...
Throughout a synthetic organic chemist’s career, reaction planning, execution, and analysis will be repeated countless times. The objective of my thesis research was to expedite this workflow to more efficiently access to novel, complex, and biologically useful molecules and synthetic methods. Since the mid 20th century there have been several...
Thermoelectric devices utilize semiconducting n-type and p-type thermoelectric materials to convert heat into electricity. Despite their promise for deep space power generation or waste heat recovery, most high-performing thermoelectric materials reported in literature are absent in practical applications - partially due to inconsistent synthesis and poor mechanical performance. This work...
Although research has shown LGBTQ+ youth are overrepresented in counts of homeless youth, scholars have yet to investigate whether this trend exists among adults experiencing homelessness. This dissertation uses an organizational analysis of four Chicago homeless centers that cater to young adults to argue that most LGBTQ+ youth are not...
When first-year students begin college they are thrown into a new environment where they are expected to simultaneously perform academically, form new relationships, and become independent. Many students struggle with this transition; experiences of stress, anxiety, and depression are common. For the majority of residential college students this is their...
Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, the United States expanded the scale, funding, and technological sophistication of its defense resources, enabling its current standing as the dominant global military superpower. This dissertation examines the role that the popular narrative genre of science fiction played in shaping American cultural...
Nucleic acid therapeutics can be drug molecules with high programmability, minimal off-target effects, and the capability to address “undruggable” targets for diseases. In addition, each time a new drug is needed, one needs to only change the sequence as opposed to finding an entirely new structure. One nucleic acid type...
As much as half of the gas mass in our Galaxy's dark matter halo may reside not in the galaxy itself, but in the surrounding volume, the circumgalactic medium (CGM). The vast gas content of the CGM, loosely defined as the volume immediately outside the galaxy but inside the dark...
South Africa’s rates of mental, neurological, and substance use disorders are among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2016, the estimated 12-month prevalence for any psychiatric disorder was 16.2%, or approximately 9.1 million individuals. Despite these elevated rates of psychiatric morbidity, access to mental health treatment is poor: only 27%...
This dissertation project uses both quantitative and qualitative analytical approaches to examine the dynamics of responsible investing in financial markets. The first chapter investigates how the institutionalization of responsible investing as a business strategy affects category claims made by mutual funds. The study finds that as the divestment movement in...
This dissertation focuses on quantifying protein folding stability determinants and presenting initial experiments that can guide the development of a novel assay that identifies cell-penetrating miniproteins. First, despite over a century of scholarship on protein folding stability, applying this knowledge to design proteins computationally remains limited. Usually, protein designers generate...
While microbial competition during infection has most often been examined at the genus or species level [1, 2], the dissertation work described herein asked whether interstrain competition plays an important role in determining which bacterial lineages emerge to cause disease. The goal of this dissertation was to examine the strain...
When a collection of individual units behave synchronously, it is often useful to describe the actions of the group. Broadly speaking in Physics, individuals are described as particles and collective actions are described using waves. However, the dynamic symphony of life ordains that orchestral sections play in harmony for a...
Despite its demonstrated effectiveness, exposure therapy – repeatedly approaching a fear/anxiety trigger – is not widely used in the treatment of anxiety disorders. This may be due to its image as an aversive (and even harmful) approach to treatment and its reduced rates of compliance among patients. However, if exposure...
Molecular self-assembly is a process in which molecules spontaneously form ordered aggregates, the process of which is important in the natural world, considering those ordered systems and complex architectures contained in a living cell. The goal of chemists is to design simple molecules or chemical systems that can undergo molecular...
A significant portion of material science research is concerned with understanding theway that defects affect the properties materials. In the field of thermoelectrics introducingor removing point (0D), dislocation (1D), grain boundary (2D), or precipitate (3D) defectsare popular methods for altering a materials thermoelectric efficiency. Herein I discussdifferent studies conducted during...
Formed through self-assembly of polynuclear node clusters and multitopic organic linkers, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of three-dimensional crystalline materials. Due to their exceptional porosity, high surface areas, amenability to construction, chemical diversity, uniformly arrayed metal-containing nodes, and highly modular nature, MOFs are an ideal class of materials for...
Pragmatic language refers to the use of language in social contexts and encompasses a broad range of verbal and nonverbal skills, which are critical to effective communication (Berko-Gleason & Bernstein-Ratner, 2009; Mey, 1993). Difficulties in pragmatic communication are a hallmark characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Similar deficits are also...
This dissertation describes modifications to the surface of colloidal semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) to improve their use as photocatalysts for charge transfer reactions. The surface atoms and ligands of these nanoparticles can interfere with direct charge transfer to a reagent by inhibiting binding, forming trap states, or acting as competitive...
Understanding the photophysical processes of organic materials is important for utilizing them as functional photonic materials. Typical photophysical processes include intersystem crossing, charge transfer (CT), symmetry-breaking charge separation (SB-CS), singlet fission (SF), etc. There are serval factors that can lead to different photophysical processes, such as the molecular energy levels,...
During influenza A virus (IAV) infection, severe lung injury and death result from an exuberant host inflammatory response, or “cytokine storm”, orchestrated by pulmonary epithelial cells. The linear ubiquitin assembly complex (LUBAC), composed of SHARPIN, HOIL-1L and HOIP, is a critical regulator of NF-κB-dependent inflammation. To determine the impact of...
Biochips and high-throughput screening methods are powerful tools for studying biological processes. The combination of peptide arrays and SAMDI mass spectrometry incorporates these tools to study a broad range of biochemical transformations, including enzyme activities, to provide valuable information on substrate recognition and guide the development of diagnostic and therapeutic...
Plant life history traits influence the extent and degree of gene flow across a species range. The resulting genetic neighborhood size can influence population differentiation and the scale of local adaptation, with implications for species response to environmental change and sourcing of plant materials for ecological restoration. To assess the...
This dissertation explores the design and evaluation of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) technologies for people with aphasia. Humans use speech and language to communicate their thoughts and opinions as well as express their individuality, autonomy and agency (George Armitage Miller 1951; Ahearn 2001). Speech and language are important tools...
This thesis focuses on two research topics: investigating dynamically generated seismic structures at the topmost outer core and studying dynamically triggered seismic events in the Earth’s crust. Earth’s liquid-iron outer core convects vigorously and contains buoyant light elements that accumulate at the top of the outer core. Modeling of seismic...
The eukaryotic genome is packaged into chromatin. The nucleosome, the basic unit of chromatin, is composed of DNA coiled around a histone octamer. Histones are among the longest-lived protein species in mammalian cells, due to their thermodynamic stability and their associations with DNA and histone chaperones. Histone metabolism plays an...
Circulating tumor cell (CTC) clusters mediate metastasis at a higher efficiency compared to single cells and are associated with lower overall survival in breast cancer. However, the cellular heterogeneity and molecular mechanisms underlying CTC cluster formation and metastasis have yet to be fully elucidated. Combining single-cell RNA sequencing and flow...
Uterine leiomyomas (fibroids) are a major source of gynaecologic morbidity in reproductive age women and are characterised by the excessive deposition of a disorganised extracellular matrix, resulting in rigid benign tumours. Clinically, leiomyoma patients usually present with pelvic pain, urinary incontinence, as well as heavy cyclic and non-cyclic bleeding. Curative...
This dissertation argues that network television was a vehicle for the promotion and enactment of female intellectualism in the US during the period directly following World War II. Beginning in the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s, network television included among its offerings programs that were designed to appeal to...
Industrial processes heavily rely on catalysts to control product selectivity and lower energy barriers required for chemical transformations. Catalysts are most commonly solid heterogeneous catalysts that facilitate separations from reaction mixtures and enhance recyclability. Heterogeneous catalysts used in industrial processes exhibit efficacious results, but in certain instances drawing structure-function relationships...
The importance of concern for others in the lives of emerging adults has been underestimated by emerging adult theory. In this set of studies, I explore emerging adults’ concern for others in the higher education context. I use three different samples, a group of 10 Latino emerging adults working to...
The Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act (or “GRH”), which unprecedentedly provided for “sequestration”, a doomsday device to enforce fiscal discipline upon Congress and the President, was passed with bipartisan support on December 12, 1985. How did GRH take place, and why did it assume its final form? Casting GRH’s enactment in functionalist and...
A greater number of strategies in one’s coping repertoire (i.e., the number of diverse strategies used across stressors or use habitually across several situations) may be beneficial and a precursor to coping flexibly across situations (Bonnano & Burton, 2013). Indeed, previous studies have demonstrated a benefit of having larger number...
To combat the rise of antibiotic-resistant pathogens in clinical settings, it is necessary to understand which environments and conditions select for antibiotic resistance. Analysis of environments hypothesized to select for antibiotic resistance has been revolutionized by metagenomic sequencing. The metagenomic pool of DNA sequences can be probed in silico using...
The invention of GdIII-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) probes substantially expanded the capability of MRI in visualizing details in tissue. Building upon the achievement of GdIII-based complexes, more ideal probes should feature contrast that is responsive to biomarkers, such as redox status and ion concentrations. The abnormality of these biomarkers...
In response to exponentially increasing demand for digital media, today's Internet landscape has evolved into a multitude of diverse and interdependent distribution systems designed to move content as efficiently as possible. While many of these systems have \emph{individually} been explored in depth by both academic and industrial communities, a cross-sectional...
In recent decades, mass loss from glaciers and ice caps (GICs) worldwide has accelerated, contributing significantly to the observed sea–level rise. Their continued melt is also expected to alter local hydrological systems, affecting freshwater availability and quality. Despite these problematic impacts, little is known about GIC variations prior to the...
To relate the mechanical responses of hard-soft copolymer systems with their microstructures, a coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CGMD) approach is employed. With the generic bead-spring polymer model mapped from atomistic simulations, this dissertation first studies the morphology of structures with various hard-soft compositions and interactions between hard beads. Following that, this...
The start of the 21st century brought the sweeping proliferation of portable electronics such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. These technologies were largely enabled by advances in energy storage methods – lithium ion batteries in particular. Society's push for more advanced energy storage applications, such as electric vehicles, stresses the...
The prevalence of obesity within the US continues to rise, and many individuals elect to involve supportive others in their weight loss. Social support is generally helpful in weight management, but its mechanisms are less understood. One construct that deserves further attention is homophily, or the notion that “birds of...
Facts are not enough! The more recent wave of science communication practices have been advocating for the death of the deficit model of science communication. This model notes that by possessing sufficient information, individuals will change their attitude and behavior to align with scientific facts. However, recent research has shown...
This dissertation explores Holocene climate change along the west coast of Greenland and late Holocene climate variability in the subpolar North Atlantic region using paleolimnology. Lake sediment archives and the climate proxies contained within them provide a valuable window into past temperature change on Greenland, home to one of Earth’s...
There is more responsibility on heaven and earth than dreamt of in most philosophy. This dissertation explores three debates in three sub-fields of philosophy, highlighting in each responsibilities agents find themselves with whether they like it or not. In the chapter Trust Logic, Not Tortoises, I propose an answer to...
All animals purposefully navigate feature-rich environments: while exploring, in search of vital resources of food and water, finding mates, and patrolling and marking habitats. During these complex behaviors, continuous analogue input information from peripheral sensory organs guides discrete and digital sequential motor output; accordingly, each action is informed, modulated, or...
ABSTRACT Variation of stateness across the territory and population of sovereign states is a notorious, but understudied phenomenon with important implications for issues such as global security, environmental sustainability, and political stability. This dissertation engages in theory-building research to explain subnational variation of stateness in the contemporary world, focusing on...
Despite the overall decline in the prevalence of cigarette use in the United States, the prevalence of menthol cigarette use is rising. Menthol cigarette use has been associated with greater difficulty in quitting smoking and increased dependence, which can be due to the cognitive enhancing and rewarding effects of nicotine....
This dissertation consists of three chapters on topics in economic theory. In Chapter 1, "Subjective Complexity Under Uncertainty", I propose and axiomatize a model of choice under uncertainty in which the size of the partition with respect to which an act is measurable arises endogenously as a measure of subjective...
Due to the unprecedented sensitivity of the Advanced LIGO--Virgo network, in less than ~5 years the field of gravitational-wave astrophysics has evolved from speculating about the properties of compact binary mergers to having an observed population that facilitates astrophysical inference. These observations encode information about their progenitor stellar systems ---...
This project explores how the variation in language experiences and attitudes that Mexican American Spanish heritage speaker bilinguals in the United States have affects their speech perception in both their languages. Heritage language bilinguals speak as a first language a minority language that they have cultural ties to (e.g., Spanish...
This dissertation investigates how scope relations are constructed and evaluated during real-time human sentence processing. Theoretical approaches to processing scope relations exist in a multi-dimensional space where trade-offs are made around how quickly scope relations can be computed, how many mistakes are made in computing scope relations, and how many...
“Los Grans Mals: Disasters and Civic Life in the Late Medieval Midi” examines the many catastrophes that struck the cities of Marseille and Montpellier during the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. During this era, southern Europe witnessed increasingly frequent episodes of natural disasters due in part to the Little Ice...
Genetic variation in genes regulating metabolism may be advantageous in some settings but not others. The non-failing adult heart relies heavily on fatty acids as a fuel substrate and source of ATP. In contrast, the failing heart favors glucose as a fuel source. A bootstrap analysis for genes with deviant...
Geographies of Indigeneity: Space, Race, and Power in the Andes (1880-1930), reframes the intellectual construction of indigeneity as the structural principle informing the postcolonial nation in the Andes. My main claim is that Andean scientific elites defined indigeneity as an ethnicity attached to a territory, privileging only Inca-centric lineages and...
This dissertation adopts a jointly ethnographic and historical approach to study shifting racial formations and configurations of inequality in the metropolitan U.S. South. Specifically, it analyzes how immigrants and working poor populations are reshaping the social life, privatized spaces, and conservative politics of Atlanta’s white suburbs. It focuses on Sandy...
Visualization is a powerful tool to help people better communicate and understand data. But the perception and interpretation of data is riddled with bias. Data visualizations are ambiguous objects such that different people viewing the same visualization can come to different conclusions. The ambiguity is likely associated with people's perceptual...
Successful restoration depends on the establishment and survival of selected species, and sowing seed is the most cost-effective method to ensuring a successful restoration. Generally, a locally sourced seed is thought to be better adapted to local environmental conditions and, therefore, more likely to thrive. In addition, a local seed...
Citizen media literacy is essential in a democratic society, particularly in the online environment where valid media sources have proliferated alongside purveyors of fake news. This dissertation explores technologies that automatically detect aspects of bias in news articles, with the ultimate aim of leveraging them to augment media literacy. It...
In the design of efficient adsorbents for the sequestration of toxic molecules and the separation of volatile organic compounds, two important criteria are: high porosity and high density of sorptive sites. The work in this thesis showcases how metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can be used as porous adsorbent templates where many...
Research over the past several decades has revealed that memory reactivation in sleep contributes to the formation of long-lasting memories. Among the most recent developments in this field is the widespread use of the technique of targeted memory reactivation (TMR), which allows researchers to induce reactivation of specific memories during...
This project will describe, in part, the central theoretical problem of the avant-garde, in phenomenological, theoretical, and ultimately ontological terms. The object of this chapter will be to acquire an understanding of the tension between the improvised phenomenality of the avant-garde, and its assumption and hypostatization into discourse. In doing...
The field of distributed optimization algorithms is wide and growing, and new techniques for categorizing and analyzing existing algorithms are continually being developed. In this Thesis, we leverage control theoretic analysis and block diagram interpretations for existing algorithms to synthesize entirely new families of algorithms. These new algorithm families have...
The era of big data creates opportunities for carrying out scientific simulations at exascale.With increasing data size, the complexity of the design and execution of scientific
applications demand the use of high-level tools, namely workflow systems on supercomputers.
The performance of workflow systems has paramount importance since the goal of...
Quantum metrology has been among the most vigorous branches of quantum technology. It involves using quantum effects to achieve better estimation of parameters of a physical sys- tem. Conventionally the system consists of an ensemble of N non-interacting atoms and the measurements are done on individual atomic states, such as...
One of the challenges of interrogating the increasing precarity of living conditions in some regions of the Americas is seeking for a way of productively addressing the intersections between inequality, climate crisis, and systemic violence. This dissertation analyzes a corpus of contemporary Latin American and Latinx literary and visual works...
Transition metal oxides (TMOs) like perovskites are known to be versatile for functional properties such as ferroelectricity, magnetism, optical properties, and high-temperature superconductivity, because of their sensitive coupling between atomic structure and properties. By studying and understanding the fundamental structure-property relationships present in TMOs, it is possible to strategically engineer...
People and horses have a deep, co-constructed, and co-evolutionary history. This dissertation evaluates sociopolitical change of the Hungarian Bronze Age (2800 – 800 BC) in the context of long-term shifts in human-horse relationships. In the Bronze Age, horses are assumed to mount the development of complex polities ruled by elite,...
Over the past fifty years, techniques for synthesizing and manipulating matter on the 1-100 nanometer scale have led to the development of nanoparticle-based approaches to both disease diagnosis and treatment. The modification of nanoparticles with biological macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids has led to the development of highly...
Neural stem and progenitor cell (NPC) fate specification is a crucial component of central nervous system development, and the myriad signaling pathways that guide it are poorly understood. In my thesis work, I aimed to elucidate signaling mechanisms of the bone morphogenetic protein family (BMP) and some of its targets...
Popular and scholarly arguments state that uncivil discourse is bad for democracy because it hampers political trust and sharpens polarization. These same scholars see uncivil discourse as contrary to a good democratic society. However, their arguments could be overstated because incivility may be so contextual that elites can frame certain...
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in adults in the United States. Despite its prevalence, the etiology of AF and its adverse effects are not completely understood, which has made treatment of AF difficult. However, left atrial (LA) fibrosis is associated with worsening and propagating AF. Additionally, research...
This dissertation studies topics in health care operations management related to value-based care, where {\em value} can be thought of as the ratio of quality to cost. The objective in value-based care is to increase, or maximize, value by reducing costs and improving quality health outcomes. In Chapter 1 we...
The mechanism underlying chronic pain and disability in those with chronic whiplash associated disorders (WAD) is poorly understood. Of the four million people who will seek medical care each year for neck injuries sustained during a motor vehicle collision (MVC), a quarter will develop chronic moderate to severe WAD. Disparate...
This dissertation is a broad study on individual and firm-level financial conditions and their effects on politics. In the first chapter, I study the effect of economic conditions on political polarization using micro-data on house prices, mortgages, and individual political contributions. I argue that shocks to housing wealth --- the...
The study of solid-state organic chromophores has been soaring in the last decade owing to their wide applications in organic photovoltaics. These organic chromophores can absorb light in the visible region and form free charge carriers with proper design in molecular structure and device fabrication. In solid state, chromophores are...
Knowledge combination is a fundamental component of technological invention, which is a driver of new economic opportunities and firm growth. Yet, evidence suggests that myriad organizational factors, including managers, weigh heavily on the ability of firms to productively use R&D capabilities. This dissertation argues that managerial attention plays an important...
This thesis revisits classic optimal tax theory, recognizing that most people live in multi-person households. We derive optimal tax schedules for married agents, seriously taking the distinction between interpersonal and interhousehold inequality. After showing how individual-oriented utilitarianism typically leads to a misalignment between the households’ and the government’s objectives, which...
Prions are self-perpetuating, alternative protein conformations associated with neurological diseases and normal cellular functions. Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains many endogenous prions – providing a powerful system to study prionization. Previously, the Li Lab demonstrated that Swi1, a component of the SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex, can form the prion [SWI+]. A small region,...
Transcription of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) is a hallmark of life, taking the information stored within genomic nucleic acids and converting it into a form that is useful for producing the proteins necessary for cellular and organismal function. In eukaryotes, transcription of DNA into messenger RNA (mRNA) requires the...
Current biomaterials-based methods for in vitro ovarian follicle culture enable individual follicles or follicle classes to survive and carry out basic functions of the ovary, including hormone and release of mature oocytes upon gonadotropin stimulation. However, these current strategies do not support the survival and maturation of isolated primordial and...
As opposed to the nanoscale deposition techniques often used for material syntheses, here, I focus on mesoscale material depositions and how to design interfaces to efficiently manage such deposition and potential accumulation. These deposition processes include condensation, condensation frosting, particle capture, and vaporization. Through the lens of energy and sustainability,...
Transitioning energy systems from a reliance on fossil fuels to low carbon energy sources is an essential solution for climate change mitigation. However, the industrial sector, which is directly responsible for more than a quarter of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, continues to use fossil fuels for energy and feedstocks....
The dentate gyrus is the first region for information processing within the classic hippocampal trisynaptic circuit, and this position makes it an important structure for the formation of associative memories. The dentate gyrus contains two major types of excitatory neurons: granule cells and mossy cells. While previous work has shown...
I set up a disagreement model where traders not only have different interpretations of a public signal that conveys information of a stock, but are also uncertain about the information quality of others' interpretations. The model along with traders being ambiguity-averse predicts a positive relation between investor disagreement (ID) and...
The world is an increasingly interdependent place. Regions of economic activity are deeply connected with each other through the movement of goods, labor and ideas. This has deep consequence for both the economist and policymaker: in the evaluation of economic activity, an exogenous shock in any given region does not...
The relationship between law and war has evolved substantially over two centuries. One aspect of this evolution that merits further examination is legal accountability. Some international relations (IR) scholars maintain international law lacks meaningful influence without enforcement capabilities. But this critique of international law’s capacity to deliver meaningful influence in...
This dissertation explores cognitive and action errors that occur in communication networks. I leverage theories on organizational errors and social networks to develop a novel, conceptual, and empirically testable framework to understand how individuals make errors when using their networks to share information. Here, I argue that information sharing is...
This dissertation examines how eighteenth-century ethics were reimagined by Enlightenment-era and Romantic women writes to better afford the grounds for political revolution and responsive reform. Whereas Adam Smith’s theatrical model of sympathy casts individuals in the passive role of spectators who feel deeply but are not necessarily moved to act,...
This dissertation is a culmination of work spanning several modes of travel, multiple datasets, and different contexts. Because the proliferation of new mobility services disrupted the transportation ecosystem, I aim to understand travel behavior and investigate how new and traditional modes intermingle. I focus my attention on Mobility-on-Demand which encompasses...
The translation of proteins as effective intracellular drug candidates is limited by the challenge of cellular entry and their vulnerability to degradation. To advance their therapeutic potential, cell-impermeable proteins can be readily transformed into protein spherical nucleic acids (ProSNAs) or encapsulated into liposomal spherical nucleic acids (L-SNAs), structures defined by...
Mindfulness is the dynamic process of building and maintaining awareness of one’s environment and paying attention to stimuli (Langer, 1989; Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007). A cognitively effortful endeavor, mindfulness requires “the capacity to respond to unanticipated cues or signals from one’s context” (Levinthal & Rerup, 2006, p. 504). Mindful...
Continuous and coordinated materials discovery efforts have amassed a wealth of knowledge concerning many general classes of materials. The number of known phases of all structure-types, however, is far less than number of possible materials dictated by the elements on the periodic table. Recently, with improved computational abilities and well-developed...
Although centrosomes nucleate and organize microtubules in mitotically-dividing cells, spindles in female reproductive cells (oocytes) form in their absence. In some organisms acentrosomal spindle assembly is mediated by acentriolar microtubule organizing centers (MTOCs) that are thought to functionally replace centrosomes. However, spindle assembly in human oocytes does not require MTOCs;...
Melanopsin-expressing, intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) represent a class of non-canonical, ganglion cell photoreceptors. These cells influence a variety of visual behaviors including contrast sensitivity, circadian photoentrainment, sleep, and even mood. These wide-ranging behavioral influences are attributed to the multiple subtypes (M1-6) that comprise the ipRGC population, with different...
Recent developments in research concerning organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have overseen massive increases in device performance and the ascension of electron acceptor materials that outclass the preeminent acceptor compounds, buckminsterfullerene (C60) derivatives. New design strategies in the molecular structure of perylenediimides (PDIs) and fused-ring electron acceptors (FREAs) have increased single-junction photovoltaic...
The discovery of abundant reserves of shale gas over this past decade has reshaped the world’s energy landscape. It has renewed interests in the activation and conversion of methane as well as other light alkanes. While the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) and oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of ethane and propane...
Millions of people freelance in the growing online gig economy, making it important to advance pay equity and support freelancers in earning their livelihoods online. Compared to offline employment, freelancing introduces at least two challenges that threaten freelancers’ ability to secure work and the equitability of the gig economy: 1)...
Cells are primarily comprised of metal ions, small molecules, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. The ability to probe these molecules in single living cells can shed new light on chemical processes inside of cells or allow disease diagnosis based on molecular profiling. However, there exists a lack of tools that...
Macrophages are one of the most versatile immune cells in the immune system. They are found in nearly every tissue and organ throughout the body. Macrophages play important roles of orchestrating initiation and resolution of inflammation, such as sentineling against pathogens or engulfing apoptotic cells. Macrophages are able to respond...
The cerebellar cortical system is an extensively studied circuit which is critical for motor learning. While multiple monoamines, such as norepinephrine and serotonin, modulate cerebellar cortical output, the mechanistic details of dopaminergic signaling in the cerebellum remain poorly understood. Additionally, neuronal cell types residing within the cerebellum remain relatively under-characterized....