During interactions with our environment we must incorporate information about the mechanical properties of obstacles into our motor actions. Fundamental to these behaviors is the ability to simultaneously control movements of the hand while regulating the interaction forces that arise from contact with the environment. Although the neural control of...
Continuous fiber/epoxy composites have been widely used for structural applications due to their excellent mechanical properties, but the benefits of using these composites is limited by their lower than desired matrix-dominated properties. In this study, epoxy matrix in carbon fiber/epoxy composites was modified with graphite nanoplatelets to improve their mechanical...
Continental weathering and organic carbon (OC) burial in marine sediments are important processes because they act as sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide. Continental weathering products provide information about provenance, marine sediment quality/quantity, denudation and continental crust composition. In this study I explore two topics that impact some of these issues...
MHC class II-restricted T cell responses are a common driving force of autoimmune disease. Numerous therapeutic strategies target CD4+ T cells hoping to attenuate autoimmune responses and restore self-tolerance. We have previously reported that i.v. treatment with antigen-pulsed, ethylenecarbodiimide (ECDI)-fixed splenocytes (Ag-SP) is an efficient protocol to induce Ag-specific tolerance...
This collection of essays on horizontal merger enforcement and dynamic contract breach addresses the question of what role, if any, should government play in enforcing the contracts of private parties? The government's appropriate role in these various settings depends, among other things, on the nature of the competition between private...
To navigate our environment we are often required to quickly and accurately derive simplified patterns from the complexity of life. This dissertation seeks to understand when the process of pattern perception occurs and when it goes awry and individuals falsely or inaccurately perceive patterns. I review the literature on various...
Humans determine the horizontal position of sound sources based on two cues: interaural time differences (ITDs) and interaural level differences (ILDs). Consistent with other evidence that these two cues are processed by separate neural mechanisms, Wright and Fitzgerald (2001) observed markedly different learning patterns in listeners who were trained on...
Theoretical analysis of DNA bridge-mediated electron transfer (ET) led to the proposal that photoinduced ET might occur via either superexchange or hopping mechanisms. Electron transfer has been proposed to occur via a superexchange mechanism at short distances and via a hopping mechanism at longer distances. However, a crossover in mechanism...
In recent years, moral and political philosophers have begun to focus upon the impact of pluralism on conceptions of civic obligation, legitimacy, and justice. According to the political liberalism of John Rawls, citizens should justify their political views in terms of values that are neutral among divergent worldviews; they should...
In this dissertation, we explore modeling and solution methods for intermodal drayage operations. This research is motivated by the need to provide operational choices in drayage operations to increase efficiency; however, as shown in our work, the introduction of this flexibility in modeling and solution methods is challenging.
Intermodal freight...