Unrestrained urban growth combined with the increase in the intensity and frequency of precipitation events, due to climate change, has become a major challenge for urban green spaces. Urban sprawl increases ecosystem degradation and the vulnerability of cities to floods as a result of excess stormwater runoff and non-point source...
Using the Connected Learning framework as a lens to frame my research inquiry, this dissertation explores the potential of Hip-Hop songwriting and recording practices as a new form of music education in elementary schools. Using data from three years of ethnographic study I have collected while working as a youth...
This dissertation is motivated by the decision process of the supply chain team of a major furniture retailer that delivers its products at the customer's home. In retail supply chains for companies offering home delivery services, demand surges are observed at the store level, which translate to a high volume...
Stories and fantasy represent an important aspect of consumer life and comprise a huge marketing enterprise within consumer entertainment. Each year, upwards of $82 billion is spent on books, games, and other fantasy industries in the United States alone. Likewise, fantasy has important implications for consumers’ sense of identity. In...
Levels of the several different human apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide-like 3 (APOBEC3; A3) cytidine deaminases vary across different cell types. While levels of nuclear-localized A3s are low or non-existent in primary cells, a nuclear A3 is often upregulated in cancer cells. Increased chromosomal mutagenesis due to nuclear A3...
Two-dimensional (2D) covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a class of crystalline polymer networks that polymerize and crystallize into layered structures, characterized by their atomically precise structure, permanent porosity and high modularity. Imine-linked COFs are one of the most important and promising classes of macromolecular sheets, which form by the condensation...
Stroke affects millions of people each year and although modern medicine has improved chances of survival after stroke, it has not yet been able to affect a change in repairing damaged neural tissue leaving one to two-thirds of survivors with chronic disability in their affected upper-extremity; specifically, hemiparesis, hypertonicity, loss...
This dissertation examines caregiving contexts in early childhood. Specifically, I look at how caregiving contexts are related to or influenced by other caregiving contexts and broader social contexts. The dissertation is composed of an introductory chapter that provides a theoretical overview and summary of the dissertation followed by two additional...
Increasingly high global energy consumption demands effective approaches to high energy efficiency and, at the same time, paths to reduced release of carbon dioxide, a primary greenhouse gas behind global climate change. Friction reduction is a vital aspect towards making energy systems more efficient and one of the most crucial...
This dissertation explores how items encountered in the comprehension of language are stored in memory and subsequently accessed. Processing and comprehending language frequently requires the retrieval of items in memory so that a current linguistic element can be assigned an interpretation. For example, in a sentence such as "Miles loved...