This work explores the development and implementation of a biofilm model for multiple solid species and multiple dissolved components. The model makes use of several different advanced numerical methods in order to achieve the goal of describing the behavior of biofilms growing in wastewater treatment reactors. Using the model we...
Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. While many therapies have been used to treat vascular disease symptomatically, gene therapy offers a means of treating the molecular dysfunctions driving disease pathogenesis. Unfortunately, gene therapy has achieved only modest therapeutic success in clinical trials due to a...
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection of host cells requires virus attachment to the cell surface and subsequent membrane fusion between the virus envelope and host cell membrane to deliver the nucleocapsid containing the viral genome into the host cell. A proposed mechanism for HSV glycoprotein-induced membrane fusion is gD binding...
The promise of a clean, renewable, and abundant energy supply make the efficient conversion of solar energy to electricity a compelling scientific and societal goal. In the following chapters, I will describe my efforts to advance one class of photovoltaic technology, dye-sensitized solar cells, by demonstration and characterization of unexplored...
The mechanisms governing selective CaCO3 crystal nucleation in living organisms remain unclear. For example, nacreous layers from the inner surfaces of shells are built as brick-and-mortar complexes of plate-like aragonite single crystals and organic layers. Unstable [001] surfaces of calcite columns in prismatic layers are also stabilized by organic molecules....
In the first chapter we analyze profits and efficiency implications of a relation between an upstream duopoly and downstream monopoly in Hotelling linear city model. While exclusive contracts maximize the monopolist's profit, at the same time socially they are inefficient. Linear prices, while more efficient, usually also do not achieve...
Polarized epithelial cells are divided by tight junctions into an apical membrane domain, which faces the lumen of an organ, and a basolateral domain, which is in contact with underlying connective tissues. To establish and maintain polarity, newly synthesized and recycling transmembrane proteins are sorted to either the apical or...
We present initial results from Hertz/VPM, the first submillimeter polarimeter employing the dual Variable-delay Polarization Modulator (dual-VPM). This device differs from previously used polarization modulators in that it operates in translation rather than mechanical rotation. We discuss the basic theory behind this device, and its potential advantages over the commonly...
This dissertation consists of three essays on the identification analysis of econometric models.
The first essay explores the identification question in semiparametric binary response models when all regressors have discrete support. I suggest a recursive procedure that finds sharp bounds on the parameter of interest and can be applied to...
The idea of the unity of audition and vision has been a topic of interest since the time of ancient Greece. Investigation of this idea has continued to grow in many areas, especially in psychology, music, visual art, and computer science, most notably since the invention of the world's earliest...