The focus on this thesis is on the dynamics of colloidal particles in an applied electric field in a uniform bulk fluid and on a fluid-fluid interface. In a bulk fluid, the dynamics of an isolated particle, one pair, and a cluster of particles under an applied nonuniform electric field...
This dissertation focuses on applications of statistical methods in nancial markets and isdivided into three parts. The rst part proposes an accurate variable-order cumulant approximation
method for Black-style shadow interest rate models respecting the zero lower
bound and estimates the interest rates models on historical bond yield data using the...
Inter-organelle contact sites have become increasingly appreciated as important regulators of cellular homeostasis, and disruption of inter-organelle contact site dynamics and function has been observed in various pathologies. Recently, inter-organelle contact sites between mitochondria and lysosomes were discovered, offering a new mechanism by which these two organelles may directly interact,...
With neurons as its primary computational components, the brain operates at multiple timescales. In this thesis, we focus on two timescales: on a relatively slow timescale on the order of hours to days, the brain adapts to the environment it is exposed to and learns its circuitry by altering the...
This research looks at the robotic shape formation problem, which is one of the fundamental problems in robotic swarm systems. Here, the task is to move a group of robots to form a user-specified shape. In this dissertation, the task of shape formation is divided to four problems: (i) using...
Broadly speaking, this dissertation project seeks to address the following question: how do religious people think about the cultural authority of science, and to what extent does this vary across different contexts? Despite the predictions of classical modernization theorists, religious institutions continue to significantly shape public discourse—and rule-making—in the vast...
This critical/theoretical history of performance art investigates the relationship between the body of the artist and the infrastructure of the city in Los Angeles and New York City between 1970 and 1985, with specific attention to how performance art resists, renegotiates, and responds to architectural functionalism. Using performance studies as...
This dissertation explores lasting familial relationships and friendships among southern African Americans from the antebellum years to the turn of the twentieth century. Focusing on southern Maryland, the dissertation shows how free and enslaved African Americans cultivated familial and non-familial relationships in towns and rural neighborhoods. Over the course of...
Recent estimates indicate that 21 million US adults live with Type II Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). The management of the condition often requires patients to take multiple prescription medications to prevent disease progression; yet prescribed regimens themselves can become burdensome. Studies have shown that for patients with T2DM, the average regimen...
In the U.S., approximately 840,000 Americans die from cardiovascular disease (CVD) each year, and it is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The prevalence of CVD is on the rise and widespread disparities in CVD exist across economic, racial, and ethnic groups. In order to address the rising...