Plasmonic metasurfaces are leading the development of next-generation optical devices with unprecedented compactness and functionality. In contrast to bulk refractive optics, these planar surfaces manipulate light with rationally designed subwavelength building blocks. This thesis focus on how emerging materials and design methods advance the eld of metasurfaces. Chapter 1 reviews...
Chromatin, a complex nuclear structure comprised of DNA, histones, RNA, and other nuclear proteins, is one of the most critical components within the cell because it houses the genetic information and its organization regulates important cellular functions, such as transcription, replication, and repair. Its structural organization is well understood at...
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used widely and frequently in the clinical setting to image and diagnose patients. In addition to the anatomical scans that can be acquired using MRI, different kinds of physiological parameters, such as blood flow, can be obtained by utilizing pulse sequence, scan protocol and post-processing....
Polymer nanocomposites are a designer class of materials where nanoscale particles, functional chemistry and polymer matrix combine to yield unprecedented combinations of superior physical properties. While well-defined data representation and quantitative models have been developed in material science domains such as metallic alloys, polymer nanocomposites have remained a largely untouched...
The brain is known to shrink in normal aging or neurodegenerative disease and yet the neurobiological underpinnings of the cortical atrophy remain elusive. The structural changes that represent cortical atrophy can be measured during life using the reliable and quantitative method known as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Primary progressive aphasia...
Electrochemical reactions on the nanoscale play a pivotal role in a variety of areas, including electrocatalysis, energy conversion and storage, corrosion prevention, plasmon driven chemistry, and so forth. An in-depth knowledge of how site-specific compositions and morphologies locally affect the electron transfer kinetics will greatly benefit the design of catalysts,...
Phenotypic variation is the functional unit that evolution acts upon and is the main contributor to the diversity of species. The phenotype of an individual is shaped by genetic and environmental factors. These genetic and environmental factors contribute to biomedically relevant traits such as an individual’s susceptibility to disease and...
Women living with human immunodeficiency virus (WLWH) have unique health challenges. Understanding psychological strengths that help WLWH manage their disease and improve health outcomes could reduce disease burden. Although spirituality, a multidimensional construct that includes a search for meaning and purpose, connection with a higher dimension, and experiences and feelings...
I investigate the spillover effects of disclosure requirements imposed by state governments on oil and gas companies operating in the state. Recently, several state governments have begun requiring companies to publicly disclose information about chemicals used in their fracking operations. The chemicals can result in land and water contamination, thereby...
The Picard group is an important invariant of the $K(n)$-local category. If the prime $p$ is relatively large compared to the height $n$, the Picard group of the $K(n)$-local category is purely algebraic. In \cref{chapter:finitetype}, we describe the necessary and sufficient numerical condition when an element $X$ in the Picard...