Semiconducting nanoelectronic materials, including single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) possess interesting optoelectronic properties that could enable next-generation electronics, sensing technologies, and biomedicine. In this thesis, biomolecule-assisted dispersion and assembly of these nanomaterials are explored for human toxicity, environmental hazard potential, and applications in supramolecular hydrogels.
Liquid-based...
In this thesis I present the theoretical work on Fermionic surface states, and bulk Bosonic collective excitations in topological superfluids and superconductors. Broken symmetries in topological condensed matter systems have implications for the spectrum of Fermionic excitations confined on surfaces or topological defects.
For the B-phase of superfluid 3He, which...
This dissertation aims to address a gap in the literature regarding the effect of the achievement-focused student identity on prosocial values and behaviors, specifically among students who predominantly value prosociality. Largely, research on identity and motivation addresses academic outcomes and psychological well-being outcomes (Settles, Sellers, & Damas, 2002; Jaret &...
While equal political participation is a fundamental democratic ideal, it is an ideal unrealized in the United States. Those with more—more education, more money, more time, more skills—participate more. Those who have less—especially the poor and minorities—participate less and may be absent from the process altogether. A similar statement could...
This thesis discusses the application of advanced digital signal and image processing techniques, particularly the technique known as super-resolution (SR), to enhance the imagery produced by cameras mounted on an airborne platform such as an unmanned aircraft system (UAS). SR is an image processing technology applicable to any digital, pixilated...
Raman spectroscopy is an established and versatile molecular sensing technique, but it is limited by its modest chemical sensitivity. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) can amplify otherwise weak normal Raman signals up to nine to ten orders of magnitude, giving rise to its application in many molecular sensing problems, including those...
This dissertations consists of three chapters. The first chapter is on the topic of environmental economics and studies the question of the effects of air pollution on students’ school absences, finding significant and positive effects for air pollution, and PM10 in particular, on school absences. The second chapter is on...
We introduce and advocate a new paradigm in simulation experiment design and analysis, called ``green simulation,'' for the setting in which experiments are performed repeatedly with the same simulation model but different input parameters. In this dissertation three classes of green simulation estimators are proposed: the likelihood-ratio-based estimators, the metamodeling-based...
This work argues that Latina/o immigrant Charismatic Catholicism does not encourage passive hope for heavenly rewards but rather emphasizes active strategies for transforming the self and the world. This study responds to two major concerns in the field of religious studies: the concern that Pentecostal forms of Christianity emphasize an...
The purpose of this research is to apply a sociocultural lens to examine students’ perceptions of usefulness in mathematics. It is important to explore perceptions of usefulness, as teachers are increasingly being encouraged to help their students view mathematics as useful. However, we know little about how students – and...