Assistive robots have the potential to support motor recovery after an injury as well as to alleviate the burden of physical tasks for both impaired and able-bodied individuals. Over the last few decades assistive robots have become increasingly more capable. Many can now provide task-specific assistance and can be safe...
Directional freeze-casting is a porous materials fabrication technique that is used to create materials with complex, three-dimensional pore structures. Particle suspensions are solidified under a thermal gradient, promoting anisotropic growth of dendrites and incorporation of particles within interdendritic space. A fully-solidified directional freeze-cast structure is composed of dendrites that are...
This thesis investigates Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s undermining of soteriological poetics in his comedy Der Schwierige (“The Difficult Man”), with a focus on the complex interplay between meta-language (e.g., stage directions) and dramatic dialogue, normative and contingent speech (i.e., ‘ironic speech’). By challenging what I term the “soteriological agenda” of comedy...
This dissertation proves several results for first passage percolation on graphs of polynomial growth.The class of limit shapes for first passage percolation with stationary weights on Cayley
graphs of virtually nilpotent groups is characterized.
Then strict monotonicity theorems for independent first passage percolation on graphs of
polynomial growth and quasi-trees...
Herein, we present an overview of our studies of the morphology, dynamics, and formation of heterogeneous soft matter systems via the emerging technique of liquid phase transmission electron microscopy (LPTEM). This particular subset of materials, more commonly referred to as emulsions, is tremendously commercially and biologically relevant, encompassing applications in...
Conversation is an important part of human life. Given globalization and the numerous languages around the world, it is increasingly likely that we will be communicating with others speaking in their second language (L2) rather than their first language (L1). In these situations, communication may require more effort. However, people...
Transnational adoption from Asia to the U.S. was institutionalized in the 1950s, when the Korean War left an estimated 100,000 Korean children orphaned or displaced. At the time, the practice was situated as a form of emergency rescue, an act of win-win humanitarianism in which average Americans could take part...
Transcription plays a pivotal role in the transfer of genetic information within living organisms. It serves as the initial step in gene expression, allowing cells to convert the instructions encoded in their DNA into functional molecules. Eukaryotic transcription initiation is a complex and dynamic process that requires joint efforts from...
Gastrointestinal (GI) colonization by Klebsiella pneumoniae is a risk factor for subsequent infection as well as transmission to other patients. Additionally, colonization is achieved by many strain types that exhibit high diversity in genetic content. However, how K. pneumoniae achieves colonization and whether the genetic factors it uses differ by...
Mission-critical systems are those imperative systems whose failures can result in catastrophic consequences. Traditional techniques, such as manual investigation and testing, cannot ensure the absence of errors and security vulnerabilities within these systems. This dissertation leverages formal methods to comprehensively examine several mission-critical systems and their essential components. For each...