Simulation analytics treats stochastic simulation as data analytics for systems that do not yet exist, and extends traditional performance estimation and system optimization to uncovering underlying patterns and the key drivers and dynamics of system behavior by retaining the sample paths generated throughout simulation runs. My dissertation addresses two research...
This dissertation develops a theory of rebel-state engagement during armed conflict that links these varied interactions to processes of institutional change in the state in which they unfold. Conventional wisdom portrays conflict zones as lacking institutions or pitting armed groups and states as competitors. Yet, this dissertation finds that rebels...
Halide perovskites, AMX3 (A = monocation, B = Ge, Sn, or Pb, and X = halogen), present a versatile class of solution-processable semiconductors made from earth abundant materials with outstanding electrical and optical properties. Their solar cell efficiencies have dramatically increased from ~9% to ~22% in less than five years...
The floor plate (FP) is a ventral midline organizing structure of the developing neural tube that provides positional information using morphogen concentration gradients towards the production of diverse neuron types. In caudal regions the FP is non-neurogenic unlike the mesodiencephalic region of the FP that is highly neurogenic, and is...
Founded in Oakland, California, in 1966 to confront the crisis of anti-black police violence in the Bay Area, the Black Panthers advocated armed struggle against the violences and aggressions of racist American imperialism domestically and internationally. Against interpretations that would deem their image-making to be secondary to their professed political...
Significant deviations in the glass transition temperature (Tg) of nanoconfined polymer films from the bulk have been studied for over twenty years with the focus on high molecular weight (MW), linear polymers. This thesis explores low MW polymers, which represent an important class of materials widely used as coatings, detergents,...
In this dissertation, I discuss the role of neutrino masses and fermion flavor in modern particle physics and present several efforts aimed at exploiting these properties in searches for new physics. In particular, I discuss (1) the effects of neutrino decays on neutrino propagation; (2) the sensitivity of the Deep...
The African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei is a single-celled eukaryotic protozoan parasite with a single cilium/flagellum. It cycles between its mammalian host (bloodstream cell), in which it scavenges cholesterol, and its tsetse fly host (procyclic cell), in which it both scavenges cholesterol and synthesizes ergosterol. For the first part of the...
Dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta are richly innervated by GABAergic neurons. The postsynaptic effects of GABA on SNc DA neurons are mediated by a mixture of GABAA and GABAB receptors. Although activation of GABAA receptors inhibits spike generation, the consequences of GABAB receptor activation are less well...
This dissertation presents a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) study of a novel anisotropic superconductor, HgBa$_{2}$CuO$_{4+\delta}$ (Hg1201) and unconventional strain dependence of the mean free path of silica aerogel. Hg1201 is one of the most structurally simple cuprates known. Therefore, it is an ideal compound in investigation of various phases in...