The over-a-decade quantitative study of the flexion synergy has provided concrete evidence that the stereotypical movement coupling of shoulder abduction with elbow flexion and wrist/finger flexion (i.e. flexion synergy) significantly affects the ability to perform functional upper extremity movements that are essential for activities of daily living (e.g. reach-to-grasp an...
Climate change may be one of the most important puzzles the world has attempted to solve and one of the greatest challenges in this area is to improve our understanding of how atmospheric aerosol particles impact climate processes. We seek to overcome this challenge by focusing on the chemistry and...
This dissertation describes the relationship between the surface chemistry of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots, QDs) and their optoelectronic properties, such as photoluminescence and degree of quantum confinement. We primarily focus our efforts on one particular subset of ligands known to couple strongly to the inorganic core of the QD...
Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the causative agent of the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea and is adapted to survive in humans, its only host. The N. gonorrhoeae cell wall is critical for maintaining envelope integrity, resisting immune cell killing, and production of cytotoxic peptidoglycan (PG) fragments. Deletion of the N. gonorrhoeae genes...
Understanding the nature of quantum effects in dense biological systems is of great interestto many scientists today. It seems that the question is not does quantum mechanics dictatebiological processes, but rather by how much and to what extent. A big challenge though in thisfield is how to properly test and...
Individuals with severe motor impairments often have a difficult time performing daily activities, and thus rely heavily on assistive devices to restore some functional independence. The two main limitations of the current controllers for assistive devices are: 1) controllers that do not require coordinated hand movement provide a limited vocabulary...
This dissertation examines various means by which the profit motives of media firms can directly result in biased information transmission. In the first two chapters, I analyze to what extent conflicts of interest in expert review industries may result in artificially inflated reviews, with a particular application to the video...
Metabolic abnormalities of cancers provide opportunities for novel tumor-specific therapies. Isocitrate dehydrogenases (IDHs) catalyze the oxidative decarboxylation of isocitrate to α-ketoglutarate (αKG) and the reduction of NAD(P)+ to NAD(P)H. Oncogenic mutations in two IDH-encoding genes (IDH1 and IDH2) have been identified in acute myelogenous leukemia, low-grade glioma, and secondary glioblastoma...
I use the current accounting rules for earnouts and the previous changes in the accounting rules for earnouts to examine three research questions. My first research question is whether accounting regulation has real effects on the use of earnouts. My second research question is whether the earnout liability represents the...
Organizations comprise of groups who share and compete for resources. During organizational change, resources are often redistributed. Although change messages highlight overarching benefits for the organization, recipients of the message are interested in knowing how they will be affected at the group level, and this affects the way the message...
AIMS: This study investigated the longitudinal effects of internal and external housing quality problems on child mental health outcomes, as measured by child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The study also aimed to elucidate the mechanisms through which housing quality problems affect child mental health by testing the mediating effects...
This dissertation studies fictionalized diasporic subalternity, how it is represented by the authors (of the same social status or a cosmopolitan writer), and how different types of agency layered onto the characters influence each other. The choice of texts includes Amitav Ghosh’s River of Smoke (2011), Kiran Desai’s Inheritance of...
Graphene offers promising opportunities for applications in printed and flexible electronic devices due to its high electrical and thermal conductivity, mechanical flexibility and strength, and chemical and environmental stability. However, scalable production and processing of graphene presents a critical technological challenge preventing the application of graphene for flexible electronic interconnects,...
A number of nonclassical MHC Ib molecules recognizing distinct microbial antigens have been implicated in the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Due to the low polymorphism of MHC Ib molecules within the human population, these molecules and Mtb antigens are attractive targets for better vaccine development. Among these, HLA-E...
The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between descending motor pathway reorganization and abnormal coordination, defined as a reduced set of muscle coactivation patterns between shoulder and elbow muscles in hemiparetic chronic stroke subjects, using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Specifically, we wanted to 1) determine the relationship...
Analytical lower and upper bounds for the average error probability in M-ary quantum detection are derived. The upper bound is valid when the state ensemble, which can consist of pure or mixed states, satisfies a certain linear independence condition. The lower bound is generally valid and also has a classical...
In Chapter 1, a series of "constrained geometry" organoactinide complexes, (CGC)An(NMe)2 (CGC = Me2Si(h5-Me4C5)(tBuN); An = Th, 1; U, 2), prepared via efficient in situ, two-step protodeamination routes in good yields and high purity, is presented. Both 1 and 2 are quantitatively converted to the neutrally charged, solvent-free dihalides (1-Cl2,...
Four series of doped CdO thin films have been grown on both amorphous glass and single-crystal MgO(100) substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), and their phase structure, microstructure, electrical, and optical properties investigated. Epitaxial films grown on single-crystal MgO(100) exhibit biaxial, highly textured microstructures. These as-deposited doped CdO thin...
This dissertation is an ethnography that uses semi-structured interviews, field notes, and participant observation to explore how two religious congregations respond to survivors of domestic violence. I interviewed twenty-two parishioners including domestic violence survivors, clergy and bystanders. I transcribed these interviews verbatim using Agar's method of transcript handling. I used...
The polymerization of the microtubule-associated protein, tau, into insoluble filaments is common to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in a variety of dementias. The conformational change required for tau to transition from soluble monomers to filamentous AD pathology involves the extreme N-terminus of tau coming into contact with other regions of...
The formation of neuronal inclusions is one of the hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases. These structures are composed of aggregated proteins, molecular chaperones, and components of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). Co-localization of aggregated proteins with cell-homeostasis maintaining machinery indicates that the cell may be failing in an attempt to clear these...
In the process of development of a multicellular organism, cells must make stable, binary fate decisions in response to intercellular signaling. A critical question is how weak or transient activation of signaling pathways achieves a robust and long-term switch in gene expression, and thus determines cell fate. I report that...
Research shows that the most effective way to teach learners targeted skills is to put them in the kinds of situations in which they need to use them and to provide experts who are able to advise learners when necessary (Schank & Cleary, 1995). Through this process, learners come to...
Image creation is an attempt to record a scene for presentation to a viewer. However, there is a precarious mapping between how a scene would be perceived and how an image is perceived. For example, although the human visual system does not have a strong absolute sense of color or...
Arsenic trioxide exhibits potent antitumor effects in vitro and in vivo, and is widely used in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) in humans. In addition to APL, arsenic is of potential therapeutic value for the treatment of other hematologic malignancies, including chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). There is evidence...
This study examines contemporary theatrical, filmic, and pictorial representations of Heinrich von Kleist's 1807 novella, "The Marquise of O--." It particularly focuses on the development of a solo music theatre production by a team of German/American, independent theatre artists, of which I was one, in the auditorium of the German...
Counteranion effects on the rate and stereochemistry of propylene polymerization mediated by ion-pair complexes derived from dimethylzirconocene precatalysts activated with strongly Lewis-acidic perfluoroarylmetalloid cocatalyst/activators are shown to arise from the strength of the cation-anion interaction. This is quantified using CS-symmetric Me2C(Cp)(Flu)ZrMe2 (Cp = C5H4, η5 cyclopentadienyl; Flu = C13H8, η5...
Regulation of cell cycle and cell death are critical for normal cellular proliferation, tissue homeostasis, animal development, and the pathogenesis of human diseases such as cancer. Irregularities in cell cycle and cell death may result in tumorigenesis. In this dissertation, I describe my studies of a novel gene C53, which...
A Socratic ASK System: Helping educators provide a Web-based Socratic mentor for learners. An important role an educator can play in a learning environment is making learners aware of issues, nuances, and problems through Socratic questioning. Prior research has shown the potential of Socratic dialogue for increasing reflection and learning....
The Wnt signalling pathway is used multiple times throughout the development of an organism. Early in embryonic development this path is known to be involved in the induction of the ectodermally derived neural crest. The Wnt pathway is also thought to function in other ectodermal cell types. How the same...
This dissertation examines the legal, sociological and strategic dimensions of the illegitimate organizational field of cocaine from 1880 to 1930. Volume I includes a comprehensive interdisciplinary examination of the concepts of legitimacy and illegitimacy. Building on existing theories, I also suggest a modest perspective for bringing consumer demand more fully...
CD4-positive T cells express ligands for E- and P-selectins, carbohydrate-binding adhesion molecules that are induced on inflamed endothelium. The interaction between selectins and the selectin ligands facilitates the migration of T cells to sites of inflammation. The fucosyltransferase FucT-VII is essential for selectin ligand formation but the signaling and transcriptional...
While the rumors of "worship wars" dividing North American Protestantism are not news, ongoing questions remain concerning the effectiveness of trading in traditional organs for electric guitars and hymnals for PowerPoint. The recent availability of the largest, inter-faith-group, congregational-level data set (n=14,021) and theory development concerning the evolving attractive power...
This thesis interprets and critiques what is termed the 'myth of oneness' within the western philosophical and theological tradition, seeking to help transform South Korean Christianity, especially its perspective on other religions, and its attitude toward the reunification of Korea. Whitehead's process philosophy and its resulting theology, and the yin-yang...
Many methods have been proposed for estimating the number, $m_0$ (or the proportion, $\pi_0$), of the true null hypotheses for adaptively controlling a type I error rate (e.g., the false discovery rate or FDR) using a multiple test procedure. Most of these methods eliminate ``significantly" non-null $p$-values. Then $m_0$ is...
The Gram-negative bacterium <em> Vibrio cholerae </em> elicits disease through the export of enterotoxins. The <em> V. cholerae </em> RTX toxin was identified due its ability to cause cell rounding. Characterization of the RTX toxin demonstrated that this cell rounding was due to the depolymerization of the actin cytoskeleton through...
Effective and reliable material and structure as bone implant have been a continuing challenge for scientists from bioengineering, material science and mechanical engineering. Porous titanium has reduced stiffness comparable to bone and open pores to allow complete bone infiltration, thus making it attractive for bone-replacement implants in biomedical engineering. To...
Reactivation of latent human cytomegalovirus is of significant concern in immunocompromised transplant patients. However, the mechanisms controlling reactivation of latent CMV have not been understood. It is likely that reactivation is initiated by induction of IE gene expression. In this thesis, I studied molecular mechanisms leading to transcriptional activation of...
Following dopaminergic denervation in Parkinson's Disease, firing patterns in several basal ganglia neuron populations are pathologically altered. In the globus pallidus (GP), this manifests as a loss of autonomous, rhythmic, high-frequency pacemaking and an appearance of correlated, oscillatory bursting. This oscillatory bursting is best disrupted through high-frequency stimulation of affected...
In financial risk management, coherent risk measures have been proposed as a way to avoid undesirable properties of measures such as value at risk that discourage diversification and do not account for the magnitude of the largest, and therefore most serious, losses. A coherent risk measure equals the maximum expected...
This dissertation presents submillimeter polarimetry methods and scientific results. The scientific results focus on revealing the magnetic field structure of giant molecular clouds (GMCs). The basic principles, instrumentation, observing strategy, and data analysis methods of submillimeter polarimetry are introduced. The scientific data were acquired by SPARO during the observing campaign...
Local structure determination in amorphous and disordered systems, which are crystallographically intractable, is critical for gaining an understanding of their properties. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) is an excellent tool for local structure determination in amorphous and disordered environmental materials. Amorphous manganese oxides produced by the freshwater bacterium Leptothrix discophora SP6...
In the last decade we have seen tremendous increases in computer and network speeds and performance, resulting in the emergence of wide-area distributed computing. However, its potential has not been realized, primarily due to lack of security and isolation, provisioning issues and challenges involved in developing distributed applications.
We present...
There is increasing evidence that links chronic activation of glial cells and the subsequent self-propagating cycle of neuroinflammation to the neurodegenerative progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Nevertheless, attempts to identify currently approved drugs capable of safely attenuating the neuroinflammatory processes in AD have proven disappointing to date, and the development...
The transport properties of mayenite-based materials, Ca12Al14O33, were investigated. Systems studied included H-doped/ UV-irradiated Ca12Al14O33, Ca(12-x)MgxAl14O33 (x = 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8, 1) and Ca12Al(14-x)SixO(33+x/2) (x = 1, 2, 3, 4). The as-prepared Ca12Al14O33 exhibited a room temperature electronic conductivity on the order of 10^-10 S/cm, and a high temperature...