The world's aquatic food webs are currently in crisis due to the cumulative, interacting effects of anthropogenic pressures including non-indigenous species invasions, chemical contamination, overfishing, habitat disruption and global climate change. Efforts to restore or protect the integrity and sustainability of these systems are limited by a lack of knowledge...
The human brain shows great flexibility to adjust itself to dynamically ever-changing environment. Despite more than 100 years of cognitive brain research, the dynamical aspect of cognitive process has remained poorly understood compared to the static aspect of that. This dissertation concerns the dynamic character and functional significance of periodically...
Eukaryotic gene transcription is a coordinated process involving the participation of a large number of proteins. Sequence-specific DNA-binding transcription factors function as activators or repressors of transcription and frequently recruit transcriptional coregulators that lack specific DNA-binding activity. These multi-protein complexes with intrinsic chromatin-modifying and chromatin-remodeling activities have emerged as key...
We use transverse sound spectroscopy to probe excited states of the Cooper pairs in the B-phase of superfluid 3He. In particular we study those excited states with non-zero energy at zero momentum, the so called gapped, or exciton, modes. This includes precise measurements of the imaginary squashing mode energies as...
"How did the Civil Rights Movement bring about change?" In answer to that question, this dissertation argues that the splintering of purity rhetoric within the intimate environments of home and sanctuary both inhibited and empowered white and African-American religious practitioners to seek social change. To make this argument, this project...
This dissertation considers how 21 trans and queer teenagers learned to create livable lives in unlivable worlds through routine participation on social media. Through a multi-year partnership with an interdisciplinary gender program in Chicago, I employed a humanizing qualitative design anchored by interview and participatory visual methods over three nested...
This dissertation aims to: 1) characterize the range of beliefs museum practitioners have about racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity; 2) their understanding of the role of race, culture, and ethnicity in minoritized learners’ sensemaking; and 3) the areas of tension and symmetry between practitioners’ values and their perception of their...
A century ago, in the winter of 1920/21, Walter Benjamin penned his essay "Critique of Violence," which has lost none of its fascination today, despite (or perhaps because of) its apodictic style, its opaque use of metaphor, and its erratic argumentation. During the last 30 years, it has become a...
From 2008 to 2019, a range of new interactive and immersive digital formats that present new possibilities for musical and artistic expression have become available. In order to begin the work of uncovering what new compositional and experiential possibilities are now possible, this document will examine each format’s core concepts...
Cosmetic and structural cracks are a large concern for homeowners. Although these cracks can develop from a variety of causes: differential foundation settlement, occupant activity, climatological effects, as well as dynamic events, people tend to look to dynamic events like blasting, construction, or traffic vibrations to be the culprit. This...