An integral transform which reproduces a transformable input function after a finite number $N$ of successive applications is known as a {\it cyclic} transform. Of course, such a transform will reproduce an arbitrary transformable input after $N$ applications, but it also admits eigenfunction inputs which will be reproduced after a...
Modern-day middle school science textbooks are heavily populated with colorful images, technical diagrams, and other forms of visual representations. These representations are commonly perceived by educators to be useful aids to support student learning of unfamiliar scientific ideas. However, as the number of representations in science textbooks has seemingly increased...
This is a study of the conduct and consumption of statistical medical research HIV/AIDS clinics in the context of the expansion of domestic and international clinical research and evidence-based medicine. Evidence-based medicine is the most recent and most successful attempt at subjecting medical decisions to statistical measurement and control. The...
The advent of computers brought a profound change in the way the practical problems in the physics of materials are addressed. Within the last decade, a rapidly evolving area of research is oriented towards interfacing the existing numerical tools in an optimized way, by explicitly taking advantage of the specifics...
Sleep deprivation (Sd) preferentially impairs predictive and adaptive behaviors that shift responses based on the appropriate context. Behavioral studies implicate the frontal lobes as particularly susceptible to Sd. Aging also impairs frontal functioning, and alters the response to Sd. The interaction between age and Sd is poorly understood, and few...
To maintain polarity, epithelial cells continuously sort transmembrane proteins to the apical or basolateral membrane domains during biosynthetic delivery or after internalization. This thesis was designed to elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying protein trafficking. Our studies identified Rab13 as a critical GTPase regulator of biosynthetic cargos that are transported from...
In this work several self-assembling PA systems containing covalent-linking functionalities have been investigated. These covalently linkable PAs were designed to probe the supramolecular structure by covalent capture of the nanofibers and also improve the mechanical stiffness of the gel-material. The diacetylene motif was the main functional group investigated because of...
This dissertation is a comparative study of gezaixi (Taiwanese opera) in China and Taiwan. It foregrounds the different, at times conflicting, performance styles and aesthetics of gezaixi on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, which is primarily the result of a long closure (1949-1987) imposed by the two regimes, and...
Polyvalent oligonucleotide functionalized gold nanoparticle conjugates (DNA-AuNPs) possess unusual properties, which derive from their particle and oligonucleotide subunits as well as their three-dimensional architectures. This dissertation explores the role each chemical component plays in the conjugate's architecture and assembly and recognition capabilities. It also describes their application as probes in...
This dissertation examines how producers in the capital city of Burkina Faso manage to generate gains in producing utilitarian goods from scrap materials. Aluminum-smelting, tinsmithing, and tire-workings are three modern trades that have developed with the rising import of scrap supplies and consumer goods from Europe, the Middle East, and...