This dissertation is the culmination of a four-year project on local governments and local economic activity during the Great Depression in the United States (1929 - 1937). Chapter 1 investigates how U.S. municipal governments coped during the Depression and studies whether debt-induced financial constraints affected local public good provision. Local...
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) encephalitis (HSE) is the most common cause of sporadic fatal encephalitis, and despite targeted antiviral therapy, outcomes remain poor. While rare in adults, neonates are significantly more susceptible to severe HSV disease. Understanding both the host and viral factors that contribute to pathogenesis is critical to...
The goal of this dissertation is to develop models, algorithms, and interaction protocols to improve the efficacy and quality of Human-Autonomy Interaction (HAI) in the domain of assistive robotics. In this domain, the most common control paradigm is that of manual teleoperation using control interfaces such as joysticks, switch-based head...
Emergent phenomena are phenomena that only arise from the bulk collective, not from individual pieces of that collective. The design of materials which host emergent phenomena can be achieved by controlling the interactions between constituent atoms, ions, or electronic spins in a material, and include materials such as permanent magnets...
Tissue-infiltrating neutrophils (polymorphonuclear neutrophils [PMNs]) are a prominent feature of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer (CRC), where these immune cells can promote cytotoxicity or exacerbate disease outcomes. We recently showed that in acute colon injury, PMNs can increase DNA double-strand break (DSB) burden and promote genomic instability via...
This paper discusses the role of the Secondary Rainbow Synthesizer in Catherine Lamb’s composition Prisma Interius IX. This instrument is a MIDI keyboard that controls a computer program consisting of a bank of resonant band-pass filters, which are tuned to specific frequencies and can be opened or closed to varying...
Circadian rhythms — physiological, behavioral, and metabolic oscillations with an approximate 24-h period — are controlled by an evolutionarily conserved set of core clock genes operating at the transcriptional and protein level. Entrainable by Zeitgebers (external environmental stimuli such as light, temperature, and food) that modulate time-of-day specific functions, the...
Interfacial science brings together diverse areas of interest such as electronic materials, quantum materials, bio-membranes and catalysts. In-situ X-ray characterization techniques can be used to understand the assembly of atoms, molecules and supported nanoparticles at interfaces in complex environments. This thesis work focuses on the use of various X-ray characterization...
Having an Experience: Media Franchises, Events, & Participatory Culture explores, like its title suggests, what we mean when we talk about “having an experience” in today’s media culture. Traveling to an expanded network of sites where media fans are actively called to go out and “have an experience” in the...
While the proportion of students from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds enrolled in higher education continues to increase, rates of upward SES mobility among people from the
lower end of the socioeconomic distribution remain extremely low and socioeconomic inequality
in the United States continues to rise. The current manuscript examines...