The cerebellum is involved in sensorimotor processing and motor control in the brain. What has been found across many species for many behaviors is cerebellar Purkinje (Pkj) cells and cerebellar nuclear (CbN) cells show activity that is related to and predictive of movements. Less is known about how patterns of...
Many human diseases are chronic and ultimately fatal because they damage organs and tissues beyond the body’s normal repair mechanisms. Therefore, there is significant medical interest in developing pharmaceuticals that enhance the body’s natural injury repair mechanisms and engineering organs in the lab for transplantation. However, comparatively little is known...
The emerging paradigm of quantum information science (QIS) vows to transform a wide range of fields, such as computation, communication, and sensing. The fundamental unit at the core of any QIS system is a quantum bit, or qubit. Rather than be restricted to one of two classical states (0 or...
As the global population grows, consumption of water, energy, and food will also increase, placing stresses on these sectors, raising the importance of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus (WEFN). However, operation of WEFN systems are currently not sustainable. It is thus crucial to design WEFN systems to be sustainable from local to...
This dissertation consists of three essays on corporate governance. In the first essay of the dissertation (“The Effects of Succession Planning on CEO Succession Events: Implications for Both Focal and Competing Firms”), I examine whether and how both focal and competing firms are affected by sudden CEO deaths. By using...
This dissertation examines how the maintenance and adaptation of heritage monuments and ritual traditions have contributed to the sustainability of communities on the islands of Inishark and Inishbofin along the west coast of Ireland. My analysis combines archaeological investigation of a pilgrimage tradition on Inishark, from its origins in the...
For women, age is one of the best predictors of fertility. Younger women are typically more fertile, and ability to conceive declines until a woman reaches menopause. However, the age at which an individual woman becomes less fertile varies depending on many factors unique to her individual body, including genetic...
This dissertation explores two factors that affect innovation. The first factor studied is extrinsic, namely, the legal environment. The second factor is a factor of input into innovation - culture of the inventors. The first chapter studies the impact of a weakened patent environment on research investments. Departing from the...
Location awareness will be crucial for many future wireless network applications, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and vehicular networks. In particular, the IoT will connect a massive number of new devices to wireless networks. Localization solutions that work in urban environments and have solutions which scale well with...
This dissertation argues that the U.S.’s World War I experience helped condition Americans to relate to war primarily through cinematic recreations. The country’s geographical distance from the fighting provided Americans a degree of geopolitical spectatorship from which they could imagine their nation’s role in an ever-changing world through film. Onto...