Biomaterials have immense potential for studying fundamental biological processes and developing therapies to help regenerate or replace the structure and function of injured tissues. In order to accomplish this, they need to be designed to mimic the structure and function of Nature’s most important material, the extracellular matrix (ECM) surrounding...
Nanoelectromechanical (NEMS) systems fabricated using atomically-thin materials have low mass and high stiffness and are thus ideal candidates for force and mass sensing applications. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) offer certain unique properties in their few-layered form – such as piezoelectricity and a direct band gap in some cases – and...
The dissertation systematically delineates the mechanically-guided deterministic assembly of three-dimensional (3D) mesostructures by compressive buckling, covering topics from mechanics concepts, design and analysis, fabrication techniques, to application opportunities. The development of approaches to form complex 3D functional mesostructures in advanced materials is a topic of broad interest, thanks to the...
Plato's readers struggle to reconcile his combination of conceptual argument and mimetic fiction. In this dissertation, I suggest we can understand this discomfiting combination if we understand the dialogues as "the mimesis of people in speech." Because speech is both referential and performative, speech is a hybrid of thought and...
The development and use of organic anionic chromophores that absorb the entire visible spectrum & into the near-infrared region while providing highly reducing equivalents is pinnacle for artificial photosynthesis. This dissertation investigates the rational design of new donor-acceptor systems for artificial photosynthesis that couple naphthalene diimide (NDI)/perylene diimide (PDI) radical...
Abstract The relationship between truth and politics is an ancient and venerable problem in political philosophy. But just as the traditional subordination of politics to philosophy has obscured central categories and experiences of politics (like action and freedom), it has also obscured the distinctive problem of truth in politics, or...
I. The distribution of tsunami amplitudes in the open ocean is controlled by source mechanism and bathymetry geometry. Although detailed studies have considered heterogeneity effects in earthquake tsunami sources, little or no attention has been paid to the effects of physical resolution of detailed bathymetry on tsunami waveforms in the...
Conservation efforts start with understanding the life cycle and interactions of species. For example, orchid conservation requires understanding pollinators as well as mycorrhizal fungi because these are mutualisms orchids require. For instance, all orchids require assistance from orchid mycorrhizal fungi (OMF) to germinate and some orchid species continue to be...
Proper size control of organs and tissues is critical to their function, and it is necessary for the millions of precisely sized tubes that make up those organs— for example, excessive cell growth can lead to devastating diseases such as Polycystic Kidney Disease. The regulation of tube growth is therefore...
“Repurposing Queens: Excavating a Black Feminist Eco-ethic in a Time of Ecological Peril,” articulates how Black feminist theories of race, gender, and science critique both conservative and liberal trends in environmentalism and environmental studies. The project is transnational in scope in that it analyzes figures/objects from the United States and...