Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons comprise the final pathway through which the central nervous system exerts its control over the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. GnRH is released in a pulsatile manner, and conveyed to the anterior pituitary gland to stimulate synthesis and secretion of the gonadotropins, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating...
This study investigates the causes and welfare consequences of unravelling in two-sided matching markets. "Unravelling" arises when agents contract with one another at an early stage, before much of the relevant information is available. Such early matches may lead to ex-post inefficiencies and are perceived as socially harmful. This study...
This dissertation covers the synthesis and study of peptide nucleic acids (PNAs), specifically, derivatives of PNA containing amine-bearing sidechains or cyclopentane portions. PNAs are non-natural nucleic acids that have far reaching potential in therapeutics and nucleic acid detection. Despite immense potential and widespread application, improving on the design and applications...
In this dissertation I examine the relationship between voter turnout and legislative representation in the United States Congress. My main contention is that political elites react to electoral participation in formulating public policies. I posit that the institutional advantages of incumbency in the House of Representative reduces turnout in congressional...
Megakaryocytic cells (Mks) are derived from hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and give rise to platelets. Ex vivo culture of HSCs under conditions that promote Mk differentiation has been proposed as a method for producing Mks and platelets for cell therapies. Mk maturation involves the development of polyploid cells via endomitosis,...
Little is known about the transcriptional events underlying megakaryocytic (Mk) differentiation from hematopoietic stem cells. We sought to identify genes and pathways not previously associated with megakaryopoiesis and to evaluate the CHRF-288-11 (CHRF) megakaryoblastic cell line as a model system for investigating megakaryopoiesis.
Using DNA microarrays, Q-RT-PCR, and protein-level assays,...
In this work, the processing of the superconductor MgB<sub>2</sub> was studied to create a fundamental scientific background for the production of superconducting composite wires. The synthesis of MgB<sub>2</sub> from Mg and B powders was investigated in situ to determine reaction rates and kinetic parameters for the application of powder-in-tube technology...
My study examines three participatory learning environments in which computer-based tools and improvisational training techniques comprise innovative approaches to teaching performance studies to undergraduate students. For my analysis, I have selected to focus on two classes and one production project. I contend that performance, an interdisciplinary and collaborative art form,...
There is a need for cyclic robots that interact with lower limbs. Such robots will bring new programmability to exercise, rehabilitation, psychophysiology, and physiology, allowing for complete customization of the foot pedal path and dynamics. These robots are novel to the robotics research ¯eld as well, since conventional robotic designs...
Graphene sheets (one-atom-thick, two-dimensional layers of sp2-bonded carbon) are predicted to have a range of unusual properties. Recent studies have shown that individual graphene sheets have extraordinary electrical properties, but an efficient method of graphite exfoliation remains a challenge. A number of approaches to exfoliation have been tried, such as...
Early growth response genes (Egr1-4) are induced as immediate early genes by a variety of extracellular stimuli that influence cellular growth and differentiation. Egr transcriptional regulators modulate gene expression by binding to Egr response elements (ERE) in target genes. In this study, the low affinity p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) was...
Child psychology research has helped to identify how symptoms and deficits, or psychiatric needs impact the human experience, immediately and across development. Recent investigations indicate that strengths, both those possessed by the individual, and those present in her environment, exert short- and long-term protective influence that buffers the impact of...
Barbed end regulation is critical to the formation of the actin-based protrusive structures, lamellipodia and filopodia. In this body of work we have chosen to focus on two main activities, filament termination by the heterodimeric Capping protein (CP) and continued filament elongation by the Ena/VASP family of proteins. We demonstrate...
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the ninth leading cause of death in the United States. According to the National Kidney Foundation, more than 20 million people already have CKD, and another 20 million are at risk for developing CKD. The primary causes of kidney disease are diabetes followed closely by...
"Anosognosia" or lack of insight into one's own illness is not uncommon in central nervous system disease. Neurodegenerative diseases of the brain that cause dementia are often associated with anosognosia. A lot is known about anosognosia in Alzheimer's disease but relatively little is known about lack of insight into illness...
Structural dynamics in three polymer blend systems, differing largely with respect to morphology, have been investigated. The first system, composed of two immiscible homopolymers, exhibits a microstructure of micron-sized droplets dispersed in a matrix phase. We have examined small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) as a new approach for conducting in situ...
Alkenylsilanes of varying chain lengths are investigated as simultaneous chain transfer agents + comonomers in organotitanium-mediated olefin polymerization processes. Ethylene + alkenylsilane polymerizations were carried out with activated Me2Si(Me4C5)(NtBu)TiMe2 and (-CH2CH2-3,3'){(5-indenyl )[1-Me2Si(tBuN)]}2Ti2Me4 precatalysts. Alkenylsilane incorporation levels follow the trend C8H15SiH3 < C6H11SiH3 ≈ C4H7SiH3 < C3H5SiH3. Long-chain branching levels versus...
Why would someone's judgments and choices disregard the consequences he or she cares about most? Considerable research appears to show that in many contexts, people show precisely this paradoxical tendency. Researchers interpret these results as showing that people sometimes make choices on the basis of moral factors -- factors that...
In this dissertation, I analyse the effectiveness of various political institutions in aggregating private information. In the first two chapters, I consider diversity of information among the voters about given electoral alternatives and examine the conditions under which plurality rule voting aggregates such information. In the third chapter, I consider...
Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer (1:6), and the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in American men (>27,000/year). Metastasis is largely responsible for these deaths. During metastasis, tumor cells travel from the prostate to a distant organ where they establish a secondary tumor. Cell motility...
Multiple Myeloma (MM) is an incurable plasma cell malignancy occurring within the bone marrow. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are widely used in the treatment of MM patients due to potent induction of apoptosis. Though known to occur via the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), the molecular details of GC-induced apoptosis in MM cells remain...
Oxide surface structures play a key role in many technological processes, including catalysis, thin film growth, and layered structures, and a thorough understanding of surface structures and surface structure dynamics is required in order to better engineer materials systems for these processes. This research works towards understanding these fundamental principles...
The optimization problems associated with adaptive and autonomic computing systems are often difficult to pose well and solve efficiently. A key challenge is that for many applications, particularly interactive applications, the user or developer is unlikely or unable to provide either the objective function f, or constraints. It is a...
The response to reduced levels of oxygen (hypoxia) is essential for embryonic development by promoting the proper formation of vascular networks. Conversely, hypoxia also promotes the development of pathophysiological processes such as pulmonary hypertension and cancer. The main mediator of responses to hypoxia within the cell is the transcription factor...
Intramuscular electromyograms (EMG) are believed to provide several potential advantages over surface EMG for multifunctional myoelectric prosthesis control. One example is the ability to focally record from deep muscles of the forearm. However, intramuscular EMG has rarely been investigated due to the inability to obtain chronic recordings. New technology is...
Nanoplasmonics is an emerging branch of photonics that studies the optical properties of noble metals. Nanostructured noble metal materials, which can strongly interact with light and support various plasmon modes, are exceptional candidates for nanophotonic devices. This work describes the latest advances in the fabrication of ordered silver nanoparticles or...
"Black Power TV: A Cultural History of Black Public Affairs Television, 1968-1980" chronicles the history of a television genre that emerged in 1968, addressing African American audiences with such bold titles as Like It Is, Say Brother, Our People, and For Blacks Only in cities such as Boston, New York,...
Breast cancer cells acquire many genetic alterations in apoptotic signaling pathways rendering them resistant to apoptosis. Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor-2 (HER-2/ErbB2/neu) is amplified or overexpressed in approximately 30% of breast and ovarian tumors and correlates with poor prognosis. Although HER-2 is an orphan receptor, it forms potent signaling heterodimers...
Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a debilitating neurodegenerative syndrome that principally impairs the cognitive domain of language. Patients demonstrate deficits in a variety of language faculties including object naming (anomia), word finding, single word and sentence reading, speech comprehension, repetition, syntactic processing, and paraphasia. PPA has been associated with selective...
The work presented here describes investigations into the optical properties of single silver nanoparticles. The contents of this thesis are divided into two parts: (1) single nanoparticle localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) spectroscopy and sensing and (2) approaches to combining LSPR spectroscopy with atomic force and transmission electron microscopies. Part...
Hegel's lectures on aesthetics bear witness not to the cessation of artistic activity as such, but to a progressive decline in its significance for human self-understanding. Still, the nature and extent of this decline remain contested. Is the creation of new art a vestigial activity in a world governed by...
The work presented in this dissertation is centered on experimental efforts to maximize the sensitivity of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) toward their application in ultrasensitive nanoscale chemical analysis. The work focuses on fundamental studies of the plasmonic properties of silver nanostructures, and how those properties...
In the first essay, I examine the impact of exogenous changes in stock prices on managers' voluntary disclosures. Specifically, I investigate whether stock price declines prompt managers to voluntarily disclose firm-value-related information that was withheld prior to the decline because it was "unfavorable" but became favorable at a lower stock...
Safe design requires a valid mechanical model and correct probabilistic analysis. Concrete, which is an archetypical quasibrittle material, typically exhibits stable crack propagation in many types of failure. Therefore, a scientific approach requires analyzing concrete failure on the basis of fracture mechanics. One of the simplest ways to incorporate fracture...
This dissertation analyzes the decision process of firms along two dimensions which are central to the field of macroeconomics. First, we study the pricing decision of the firm in a framework where customer base matters. Surveys of managers show that the main reason why firms keep prices stable is that...
This is a detailed study of Congress's China policy, with a view toward building a theory of congressional policymaking. I argue that committees, bicameralism, and presidential veto have severely constrained Congress's ability to legislate on China policy. I analyze China bills introduced between 1973 and 2006. I report evidence that...
Over the past two decades photonic crystals (PhCs) have emerged as a promising new class of materials which offers unprecedented control of light in materials. Recently, atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been shown to be a powerful tool for the infiltration of 3D templates with dielectric or semiconducting materials, which...
FPGAs are evolving at a rapid pace with improved performance and logic density. However, power efficiency of FPGAs has continuously lagged behind, and hence power optimization of FPGAs is crucial. Trends in technology scaling makes leakage power a serious concern for designers; on the other hand, routing power is the...
This dissertation develops a war-centered theory of collectivist regimes. I argue that in a large-scale industrial war of coalition alliances, belligerent nations launch extensive programs of economic mobilization and establish centralized bureaucratic institutions of economic regulation. Because exterior states are likely to restrict interior states in their access to the...
The enormous popularity of The Beggar's Opera gave rise to a remarkable series of plays known as ballad opera, a form that dominated the eighteenth-century London stage during the 1730s, a crucial decade in the development of English theatre. Although virtually every major playwright of the period, including Colley Cibber,...
This dissertation analyzes the role of the Dutch city Middelburg around 1600 in stimulating the flower still-life production of Ambrosius Bosschaert. The shift in power from Antwerp to Amsterdam as the center of the northern European art market around 1600 has received much attention without recognition of the important role...
Information has become increasingly important in modern organizations. It is frequently the form and function of work. Queries, novel information, facts and reports are used to complete tasks, coordinate interdependencies, and share knowledge. While information is critical to organizational and individual effectiveness, little is known about the mechanisms whereby information...
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive amnestic dementia typified by the pathological self-association of the microtubule-associated tau protein into neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). Important to NFT formation are numerous modifications of tau, including phosphorylation, truncation, and conformational changes. In addition, AD-associated inflammation promotes the formation of peroxynitrite (ONOO-), a potent nitrating...
This dissertation project explores the relationship between the architectures of black masculinity in America and a specific performance of discreet sexual identity. Through critical ethnographic and discursive exploration, I look closely at a group of black men who describe themselves as being on the "down low" (DL). These men, who...
In high power density transmission systems, Ni-Co secondary hardening steels have shown great potential for next-generation gear applications due to their excellent strength, toughness and superior fatigue performance.
Study of residual stress generation and evolution in Ferrium C61 and C67 gear steels revealed that shot peening and laser peening processes...
The first essay examines how the shift between single-tasking and multitasking influences productivity and workers' bargaining power, and its implications on the distribution of earnings between management and workers. Under single-tasking, a firm can obtain high productivity because workers' hold-up power can provide them with larger incentives to work. In...
This dissertation investigates the nature of apocalyptic fiction in the first Soviet decade. In my introduction, I consider the secondary or underground status that apocalyptic thought assumed during this period vis a vis the prevailing cultural ethos of utopianism. I assert that Russian literary apocalyptic persisted as a genre by...
Youth with comorbid depression and conduct disorder (CD) in the juvenile justice system are a particularly vulnerable population. Comorbidity of depression and CD, as well as juvenile justice involvement, is associated independently with impairment and negative outcomes. Nevertheless, service provision to this high-need population is especially lacking. The purpose of...
Research suggests that there exists in some homosexual men a moral push towards the disclosure of their HIV serostatus; yet, does an antithetical, individualistic, and self-oriented movement that searches for restitution for HIV infection exist in others? The following study tested the influence of vengeance, hostility, anger, and other negative...
The dependence of the electro-optic (EO) properties on the field-dependent domain structure in epitaxial polydomain BaTiO<sub>3</sub> thin films was investigated. Models of both the field-dependent electronic polarization and the EO response and their dependence on domain structure were developed. The agreement of these models with measured polarization and EO data...