Quantum technologies have the capability of greatly increasing the security of communication systems. Many components are required for a full quantum network including memory, repeaters, routers, and detectors. The efficiencies of quantum communication technologies suffer greatly due to their inherent sensitivity to loss. Low-loss propagation and high detection efficiency can...
Newcomers, or new members to organizations or professions, bring insights that are critical to the advancement of society. Yet newcomers often have low self-efficacy, or low beliefs in their abilities to achieve a task, which can impact performance and retention. Research suggests that self-efficacy can be developed through in-person social...
Economic and political processes are heavily intertwined. Political processes put constraints on economic activity while economic development influences the way the political system operates. This interconnection is especially tight in developing countries and transition economies with less secure property rights, less stable political institutions, and more rapid economic changes. In...
Cancer progression is a complex process, leading to metastatic spread of primary tumor cells that colonize distant vital organs and mortality if not stopped. Since clinical strategies to stem this progression are still being developed, it is of great importance to detect this end stage metastatic spread as early as...
End-stage renal disease, or kidney failure, can result from acute kidney injury or sustained kidney damage in the form of chronic kidney disease. As the prevalence of end-stage renal disease continues to rise, the gold-standard treatment—kidney transplantation—is increasingly restricted by the shortage of transplantable donor kidneys. Bioengineered kidney tissues may...
The structural aspects of biological systems are tightly paired with their functions. This understanding has been demonstrated over a broad range of length scales, spanning the ultrastructure of a cell to the macroscopic architecture of organs. Connecting structure and function relies on the integration of physical and biological sciences to...
Organic semiconductors are an active area of research with great promise for delivering next generation electronics and clean energy technologies. As the field matures, understanding the connection between molecular structure, materials’ properties, and device performance will be critical in finding the right material for an intended application. An effective strategy...
Supported transition metal oxides are an important class of catalysts with a wide range of industrially relevant applications. However, commonly used synthesis techniques to prepare these catalysts often result in a complex mixture of surface species. This inhomogeneity makes it difficult to understand what specific structures might be responsible for...
This dissertation combines perspectives from social networks and teams research to advance understanding of team self-assembly. Across three substantive chapters, I explore team member search behaviors and invitation patterns in contexts where individuals exercise agency to select team members. First, I consider the search for team members in a social...
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) encompasses a group of neurodegenerative disorders characterized by cognitive and behavioral impairments. Heterozygous mutations in progranulin (PGRN) cause familial FTD and result in decreased PGRN expression, while homozygous mutations result in complete loss of PGRN expression and lead to the neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis...