Game Theory is the branch of applied mathematics that studies the strategic interaction among intelligent agents. So far, standard Game Theory literature has interpreted "intelligent agents" exclusively as "rational agents". This work points out that this interpretation is an important limitation since intelligence consists of more abilities, some of which...
This work explores the development and implementation of a biofilm model for multiple solid species and multiple dissolved components. The model makes use of several different advanced numerical methods in order to achieve the goal of describing the behavior of biofilms growing in wastewater treatment reactors. Using the model we...
The recent observation of nonzero neutrino mass is the first concrete indication of physics beyond the Standard Model. Their properties, unique among the other fermions, leads naturally to the idea of a Majorana neutrino mass term. Despite the strong theoretical prejudice toward this concept, it must be tested experimentally. This...
Liquid metal melt-lubrication of high-power and high-speed sliding electrical contacts improves electrical current collection and reduces friction. However, armature material loss may cause transition to arcing or plasma contact. Boundary lubrication of the sliding contact with low melting-point alloys can provide comparable improvement in current collection at reduced temperatures. Bismuth,...
Caffeine is the most widely consumed methylxanthine, primarily found in beverages. As a nonspecific antagonist to adenosine, caffeine binds to both A1 and A2A adenosine receptors to increase neural activity and decrease cerebral blood flow, which allows it to alter neurovascular coupling. However, there has been much debate about the...
The measurement of weak adhesive energies has previously been difficult to obtain. To measure these energies, I designed a technique that uses the combined sensitivities of both a quartz crystal resonator and the inflation of an elastomeric polymer membrane. The surfaces of the quartz crystal and/or the membrane are modified...
This dissertation focuses on the contribution of Joseph Addison and his London newspaper The Spectator to the modern "social imaginaries" (Charles Taylor) of public, market and nation. Addison's championing of perspicacity in prose and detachment in aesthetic judgment created protocols of "stranger sociality" (Michael Warner) that made participation in these...
How can political challengers avoid co-optation and other forms of moderation? This dissertation illuminates how institutional participation led to the co-optation of the Indigenous Australian movement and the factors which equipped the Ecuadorian Indígena movement to elude a similar fate. Most contestants in political struggles must at some point consider...
This dissertation analyzes the transformation of fantasy sports from a deviant, outside-the-mainstream fan culture to a billion-dollar industry that comprises almost 20 million North American participants. Fantasy sports are games in which participants adopt the simultaneous roles of owner, general manager, and coach of their own teams of real athletes...
This dissertation constitutes a re-evaluation of the popular and critical understanding of eighteenth-century libertinage. In particular, I contest the distinction between sentimentalism and libertinage, which are typically seen as two, irreconcilable approaches to emotional expression. As sentimentalism became prominent in the second half of the eighteenth century, I argue, it...