Herpesviruses require axonal transport for the successful establishment of infection in peripheral ganglia (retrograde transport), and the subsequent spread to exposed body surfaces following reactivation from latency (anterograde transport). Viral progeny are assembled and spread to other tissues or hosts during egress. I focused on viral proteins which modulate directed...
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a technique widely used in both clinical and experimental settings to produce high-resolution images of opaque living organisms without utilizing ionizing radiation. Currently, MR imaging is augmented by contrast agents; however, these small molecule Gd(III) chelates are confined to extracellular and vascular regions of the...
Let X be a quasi-projective complex variety. It follows from the work of Voevodsky that the motivic cohomology of X, denoted as $H^{p,q}(X)$ where q and p are integers with q nonnegative, can be represented in the triangulated category of motives over the field of complex numbers, denoted as $DM^{eff,-}_{Nis}$....
Separation of DNA molecules by electrophoresis through entangled polymer solutions continues to be an important tool for genetic analysis, especially Sanger-based DNA sequencing. Separations of DNA on microfluidic devices are much more efficient than in capillary electrophoresis (CE) systems, such that the implementation of DNA sequencing onto microchips promises to...
This dissertation comprises three chapters, each focusing on a different question in economic theory. The first two chapters focus on repeated games and reputations, while the third is about large games. In "Cooperation and Community Responsibility", I study whether cooperation can be sustained between communities where members interact repeatedly but...
The small heat shock protein αB-crystallin is expressed primarily in lens and muscle tissue, but it is also found in lung, kidney and many cancers. Regulators of αB-crystallin have been identified almost exclusively using mouse muscle and lens specific models. It has been well documented that αB-crystallin is expressed in...
The first chapter of this dissertation studies a continuous-time agency model where the agent controls the drift of the geometric Brownian motion firm size. The changing firm size generates partial incentives, analogous to awarding the agent equity shares according to her continuation payoff. When the agent is as patient as...
One of the most commonly used techniques for classification problem is logistic regression. For example, logistic regression for a binary response assumes that the odds Pr(y = 1|x)/Pr(y = 0) = exp(a+bx). However, in reality, the pattern of the data can be so complicated that logistic regression model often fails,...
N-Heterocyclic carbene catalysis has recently emerged as an important field in organic chemistry. Two new strategies have been developed to advance the use of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) as Lewis-base organic catalysts. The first approach utilizes NHCs to catalyze the generation of homoenolates and the conjugated Breslow intermediate is added to...
Time-resolved in situ synchrotron x-ray scattering studies of particle orientation in polymer-clay nanocomposites under simple shear and complex flow were performed. Shear flow experiments used an annular cone and plate x-ray shear cell to allow measurement of platelet orientation within the flow-gradient plane.
Intercalated nanocomposites were made by dispersing organically...