This dissertation is a collection of three papers on synthesizing and translating statistical evidence in education research. Chapter 1 serves as an introduction and executive summary, and Chapters 2 - 4 contain the three substantive papers respectively. Chapter 2 presents methods for pooling sample variances across studies to improve properties...
Oligonucleotides can be used to modulate the regulation of pathological genes that are associated with various diseases. However, due to biological barriers, efficient delivery of oligonucleotides, especially to extrahepatic tissues, remains a challenge. To overcome these barriers, multiple delivery strategies have been developed, ranging from medicinal chemistry to nanotechnology. Nanoparticle-based...
How we remember, narrate and teach the past is an inherently political and ethical act. This is especially true when teaching about race and racism within the context of United States history. In this dissertation, I ask: how do young people narrate the durability of racial inequality in the United...
How do people make meaning of risk-taking? The present dissertation proposes a normative lay theory of risk-taking. The proposed model promotes the following core ideas: (a) Risk-taking is generally an ambiguous construct and requires the illumination of at least some dimensional parameters to disambiguate the risk behavior and risk-taker; (b)...
Although there has been profound evidence showing the positive correlation between spatial abilities and math performances, we still know very little about how and why spatial thinking facilitates the learning of mathematics. This dissertation unpacks several aspects of mathematics that are embedded in learning and playing an ancient and rich...
Human complex diseases such as common cancers and diabetes are characterized by high molecular heterogeneity contributed by both genetic and non- genetic factors. This molecular heterogeneity can not only complicate diagnosis, risk stratification and patient care, but also lead to differential therapeutic response and treatment efficiency. Therefore, understanding the molecular...
Soft materials in nature are formed through programmed self-assembly of biomolecules to create complex architectures and optimized physical properties. It is therefore a key challenge in biomaterials science and engineering to understand the principles that govern the structure and properties of such materials, and the interactions between their different components....
This dissertation investigates the muscle-powered transport technologies that pervaded the Japanese empire. It examines the production, adoption, evolution, and decline of draft animals, rickshaws, human-powered railways, and push-car railways in Japan and colonial Taiwan, 1850-1930. Invented in Tokyo in 1870, rickshaws proliferated across Asia and became a symbol of modern...
Nanoparticle synthesis is capable of producing particles with any combination of structure, chemistry, size, shape, and surface. All of the different combinations of these physical properties can produce nanoparticles with almost countless materials properties suited for many applications. Given this interest in using nanoparticles in so many different fields, including...
One of the central challenges in solid-state chemistry is synthetic control over structure. Owing to limited reactivity of Pb with transition metals at ambient pressure and high temperature as well as the variety of properties that emerge from the few known binary transition-metal–Pb compounds, this research focuses on accessing and...