This dissertation is a theoretically informed project that blends ethnographic and archival research methods to examine how queer and transgender performance artists deploy monstrosity as a tactic to question the terms by which LGBTQ people are granted or denied humanity in twenty-first century United States. While there is an abundance...
In this thesis, the optical gain mechanism in low-light conditions of phototransistor detectors (PTDs) is explored. An analytical formula is derived for the physical limit on the minimum number of detectable photons for PTDs. This formulation shows that the sensitivity of the PTD, regardless of its material composition, is related...
Though cognitive behavioral techniques are generally effective in the treatment of anxiety disorders, some people fail to benefit from exposure therapy or experience a return of fear after terminating exposure therapy. The burgeoning field of non-invasive brain stimulation provides a potential method of augmenting exposure therapy so that it is...
Metal nanoparticles supported on oxides are versatile systems. Ordered arrays of multimetallic nanoparticles of different sizes and surface densities can be synthesized using block copolymer-mediated nanolithography techniques. Metal nanoparticles on planar supports like silica can be utilized for catalyst discovery. Under reaction conditions and at high temperatures, the changing surface...
One of the most fascinating observations in the brain is that the neural connections change with experience and this phenomenon is called synaptic plasticity. Patterns of activity or neuromodulators can acutely induce changes in the synaptic strength in the brain. My thesis is focused on understanding the mechanisms of plasticity...
Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy has been demonstrated to be a powerful analytical tool. Its chemical specificity, rapidity, and portability make it an attractive technique for biosensing, but its application to this field has been limited by the fundamental distance dependence of the surface-enhancement effect. Many biological molecules of interest...
In a political climate where it is assumed that there are no alternatives to capitalism, architectural design and design-based activism are often heralded as providing solutions to capitalism’s negative effects. This dissertation is concerned with how contemporary architectural design naturalizes the organization of racial capitalist labor as it purports to...
Neural crest cells are a population of multipotent stem cells that are unique to vertebrates and give rise to a wide range of derivatives in the developing embryo, including elements of the craniofacial skeleton, pigmentation of the skin and peripheral nervous system. Although these cells reside in the ectoderm, they...
Splicing factor 3B1 (SF3B1) is a core splicing protein that stabilizes the interaction between the U2 snRNA and the branch point (BP) in the RNA target during splicing. SF3B1 is heavily phosphorylated at its N terminus and a substrate of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). Although SF3B1 phosphorylation coincides with splicing catalysis,...
In this dissertation, I explore how quasi experiments can be used to estimate the causal impact of financial variables on agents’ behavior. Specifically, I analyze three different events that allow me to shed light on the role that financial markets play in decisions made by households, firms, and the government,...