Digital Commons Network^™

A Continuous Wavelet Representation For Single And Bi-Parameter Calder\'On-Zygmund Operators, Tyler Williams

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis develops a novel approach to the representation of singular integral operators of Calder\'on-Zygmund type in terms of continuous model operators, in both the classical and the bi-parametric setting. The representation is realized as a finite sum of averages of wavelet projections of either cancellative or noncancellative type, which are themselves Calder\'on-Zygmund operators. Both properties are out of reach for the established dyadic-probabilistic technique. Unlike their dyadic counterparts, this new representation reflects the additional kernel smoothness of the operator being analyzed. These representation formulas lead naturally to a new family of $T(1)$ theorems on weighted Sobolev spaces whose smoothness …

Using Single-Particle Fluorescence Microscopy To Elucidate The Role Of Structural Distortions And Defects In The Chemical Reactivity And Photophysics Of Cesium Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals, Dong Wang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Colloidal cesium lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (CsPbX3, X = Cl, Br or I) are attractive for optoelectronic applications due to their unique chemical and physical properties including high photoluminescence quantum yield, tunable bandgaps, high defect tolerance, and low-cost processibility. A facile method to tune the emission wavelength of perovskite nanocrystals is through anion exchange. For light emission applications, it is desirable to prepare CsPbX3 nanocrystals of uniform size and composition. However, the complex reaction kinetics of this chemical transformation may limit the compositional uniformity and color purity of the CsPbX3 nanocrystals produced by anion exchange when the transformation is scaled …

Acoustic Radiation Force And Its Application For Cell Manipulation And Ion Channels Activation, Xiangjun Peng

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Sound is a stress wave that carries energy and momentum flux. Scattered sound waves can generate acoustic radiation force that can be used to manipulate particles or cells. This dissertation demonstrates the physics behind cell manipulation by ultrasound. The work begins with a detailed analysis of the mechanics of using standing surface acoustic waves to fabricate acoustic tweezers for contactless particle manipulation using acoustic radiation force. Models to design and analyze acoustic radiation force have traditionally relied on plane wave theories that cannot predict how standing surface acoustic waves can levitate cells in the direction perpendicular to the substrate. We …

Defining The Role Of Elastic Fibers In Tendon Mechanics, Jeremy D. Eekhoff

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Tendons serve as a linking component of the musculoskeletal system by transferring forces between muscle and bone. As such, the structural proteins of the tendon extracellular matrix are of vital importance for the tissue to function properly and maintain its mechanical integrity. Collagen is the principal constituent of tendon and makes up its aligned hierarchical organization. Other structural proteins, such as elastin, are in comparison understudied and not well understood in relation to tendon function. Elastin, the main component of elastic fibers, has unique mechanical properties including high extensibility, fatigue resistance, and elasticity; these properties are important for elastin-rich tissues …

Photoacoustic Imaging Of Colorectal Cancer And Ovarian Cancer, Xiandong Leng

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is an emerging hybrid imaging technology that uses a short-pulsed laser to excite tissue. The resulting photoacoustic waves are used to image the optical absorption distribution of the tissue, which is directly related to micro-vessel networks and thus to tumor angiogenesis, a key process in tumor growth and metastasis. In this thesis, the acoustic-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (AR-PAM) was first investigated on its role in human colorectal tissue imaging, and the optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) was investigated on its role in human ovarian tissue imaging.Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. …

Numerical Investigations Of Logic Gates And Transistors In Quantum And Classical Information Processing, Anthony Corbin

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The development of numerical analysis techniques for electromagnetics and quantum mechanics problems has dramatically increased the rate of new discoveries. Propelled by the exponential growth of computers over the past decades, numerical software has brought the ability to reliably experiment with new ideas and predict new phenomena, even before the physical realizations of these ideas in the labs. This work will demonstrate the application of this capability by applying numerical analysis techniques to design and analyze new devices. First, a system of optical logic gates using a nonlinear metallodielectric grating is completely designed and simulated using numerical analysis. Second, the …

Deep Learning For Automatic Microscopy Image Analysis, Shenghua He

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Microscopy imaging techniques allow for the creation of detailed images of cells (or nuclei) and have been widely employed for cell studies in biological research and disease diagnosis in clinic practices.Microscopy image analysis (MIA), with tasks of cell detection, cell classification, and cell counting, etc., can assist with the quantitative analysis of cells and provide useful information for a cellular-level understanding of biological activities and pathology. Manual MIA is tedious, time-consuming, prone to subject errors, and are not feasible for the high-throughput cell analysis process. Thus, automatic MIA methods can facilitate all kinds of biological studies and clinical tasks. Conventional …

Petrology, Geochemistry, And Experimental Studies Of Mafic Enclaves And Amphibole At Shiveluch Volcano, Kamchatka, Andrea Elizabeth Goltz

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis connects mineralogical, chemical, and physical observables in quenched mafic inclusions from Shiveluch Volcano in Kamchatka and high pressure and temperature experiments to elucidate the water content of primitive magmas at Shiveluch, the timing of magmatic recharge events relative to eruption, and the petrogenetic history of andesites erupted at Shiveluch. Using the petrology of basaltic andesite mafic inclusions erupted from Shiveluch, in Chapter 2, the water content of primitive magmas at Shiveluch is found to be 8-10 wt%, which is two to three times higher than the global average determined by other methods, and the temperature of primitive magmas …

Addressing Pragmatic Challenges In Utilizing Ai For Security Of Industrial Iot, Maede Zolanvari

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Industrial control systems (ICSs) are an essential part of every nation's critical infrastructure and have been utilized for a long time to supervise industrial machines and processes. Today’s ICSs are substantially different from the information technology (IT) devices a decade ago. The integration of internet of things (IoT) technology has made them more efficient and optimized, improved automation, and increased quality and compliance. Now, they are a sub (and arguably the most critical) part of IoT's domain, called industrial IoT (IIoT).

In the past, to secure ICSs from malicious outside attack, these systems were isolated from the outside world. However, …

A Case Study On Hls Portability From Intel To Xilinx Fpgas, Zhili Xiao

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are a hardware accelerator option that is growing in popularity. However, FPGAs are notoriously hard to program. To this end, high-level synthesis (HLS) tools have been developed to allow programmers to design hardware accelerators with FPGAs using familiar software languages. The two largest FPGA vendors, Intel and Xilinx, support both C/C++ and OpenCL C to construct kernels. However, little is known about the portability of designs between these two platforms. In this work, we evaluate the portability and performance of Intel and Xilinx kernels. We conduct a case study, porting the Needleman-Wunsch application from the Rodinia …

Advancements In Pressurized Oxy-Combustion Process: Pollutant Control And Process Development, Piyush Kumar Verma

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The emission of carbon dioxide from the power industry is one of the major causes of climate change. However, it is well established that the development of human societies across the globe depends on reliable and dispatchable power, which are generally the source of these emissions. There has been a recent growth in the integration of intermittent sources such as wind and solar which are carbon free. But these intermittent sources have significant temporal changes in power production and thus lack reliability and dispatchablity. This is a complicated problem to solve. However, flexible power plants with carbon capture and storage, …

Satirizing Empire: Comparing Ancient China And Rome, Di Wang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Comparative scholars of the ancient Mediterranean and East Asian worlds have recently taken a serious interest in the unprecedented and simultaneous emergence of two classical empires: Rome and China. The trend, invigorated by the contemporary geopolitical development of China’s rise as a world empire challenging the post-World War II Western hegemony, has yielded new insights into the many divergences and convergences of the world’s two most enduring political and cultural systems. However, preoccupied with describing the political, cultural institutions and grand narratives of empire, scholarship has largely ignored the detractors of empire, whose ingenious expressions are as enduring as these …

Probing New Physics Beyond The Standard Model Via New Neutrino Interactions, Garv Chauhan

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The Standard Model (SM) of Particle Physics provides a self-consistent quantum field theoretic framework to explain three of the four known fundamental forces (electromagnetic, weak, strong) along with classifying all known elementary particles. Since its conception in the 1960s, the SM has been one of the most tested theories of physics and has withstood all experimental batterings. In spite of these successes, there are compelling indications, both experimental and theoretical, that require us to expand our understanding of the nature beyond the SM (BSM). Arguably the most glaring indication of BSM physics is the observation of neutrino oscillations, which implies …

Quantifying Components Of Protein Translation And Metabolite Heterogeneity In Isogenic Microbial Populations, Alexander Schmitz

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Cell-to-cell variation in gene expression and metabolite levels have a significant impact on ensemble productivity of microbial bioproduction. New metabolic engineering tools and approaches are needed that consider cell cultures as an amalgam of uniquely behaving individuals to improve the slow commercialization of metabolically engineered systems. Stochastic cellular process including gene expression, metabolism, and growth lead to phenotypic variation between genetically identical cells. Understanding and the ability to control microbial phenotypic variation is key to improving microbial bioproduction metrics. During protein translation, codon usage strongly influences ensemble gene expression but the effect on the variation of gene expression was not …

A Study On The Hormonal Regulation And Novel Role Of Na+ Leak Channel, Non-Selective (Nalcn) In Human Myometrial Smooth Muscle Cells, Chinwendu Amazu

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

During pregnancy, the uterus transitions from a quiescent state to an excitable, highly contractile state to deliver the fetus. Two important contributors essential for this transition are progesterone (P4) and estrogen (E2), which promote quiescence or contraction, respectively, by acting on the myometrial smooth muscle cells (MSMCs). While these hormones regulate uterine contractions, it is unclear how they affect electrical activity of MSMCs, which underlies uterine contractile activity. Our lab recently identified Na+ leak channel, non-selective (NALCN) as a component of the leak current in human MSMCs and showed that mice lacking NALCN in the uterus have dysfunctional labor. In …

Plasmonically-Enhanced Dna-Rna Hybrid-Based Bioassay For Amplification-Free Quantification Of Sars-Cov-2, Yuxiong Liu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COIVD-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a highly infectious respiratory illness. Within just a few months, it spread around the whole world and became a global pandemic. Real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) works as a gold standard method diagnosing COVID-19 with high sensitivity and specificity. But due to the programs of RT-PCR, it usually takes more than 24 hours to get the results while specialized devices are also required. False-negative results can happen as well using RT-PCR which increase the risk of spreading coronavirus. To promote quicker detection of COVID-19, …

Regional Reprogramming And The Small Intestine: Analysis And Modeling Of Adaptive Regeneration Of The Epithelium, Sarah Elizabeth Waye

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The small intestine in homeostasis is capable of regular regeneration, but in cases of massive injury like Short Bowel Syndrome, the innate human response often fails to fully compensate for the loss of nutrient absorptive surface area that accompanies bowel resection. Murine models display an active compensatory reaction deemed “adaptation” in which the surface area of the bowel is increased to accommodate nutrient absorptive needs. This observation has highlighted several gaps in knowledge regarding bowel adaptation. Firstly, what occurs on a molecular level in murine models during adaptation? Secondly, how can the findings in mice be applied to humans in …

Identification Of Multi-Tissue Protein Quantitative Trait Loci And Causal Inference Of Protein Effects In Neurological And Other Complex Human Diseases Via Mendelian Randomization, Chengran Yang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting 6.2 million people mostly aged 65 years or older in the United States as of early 2021. AD has been widely studied and characterized worldwide, but there is still no effective treatment or cure. Even the latest FDA-approved treatment, Aducanumab, cannot stop decline or improve cognition. To develop a truly effective treatments, researchers keep discovering genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying the disease. Protein biomarkers are keys to bridge the mechanisms to disease. Here, I first used a high-throughput proteomic dataset from three tissues (CSF, plasma, and brain) with array-based genotype …

Regulatory Effects Of The E. Coli Recbcd Nuclease Domain On Dna Unwinding Kinetics, Nicole Fazio

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

I have examined the effects of deleting the nuclease domain of the E. coli helicase RecBCD on the rates of ATP-independent DNA melting, single stranded (ss) DNA translocation, and double stranded (ds) DNA unwinding by RecBCD. The canonical role of the nuclease domain is DNA degradation, but the removal of this domain showed unexpected effects on other RecBCD activities including DNA binding, melting, and unwinding. This thesis presents a mechanistic study of DNA unwinding by RecBCD and a RecBCD variant with the nuclease domain deleted (RecBΔnucCD). I examined the rates of ssDNA translocation and dsDNA unwinding by RecBCD and RecBΔnucCD …

The Role Of Neuronal Atp-Sensitive Potassium Channels In Learning And Memory, Shaul Vladimir Yahil

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels link cellular metabolism and membrane excitability in many tissues, including brain and pancreas. Gain-of-function (GOF) mutations to KATP channels cause neonatal diabetes, with some patients exhibiting developmental delay, epilepsy, and neonatal diabetes (DEND) syndrome. Diabetic symptoms have been attributed to loss of membrane excitability and insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells, though the origin of neurological deficits and the effects of neuronal KATP-GOF mutations more generally remain elusive. In this dissertation, I will present evidence that mice expressing KATP-GOF mutations pan-neuronally (nKATP-GOF) demonstrated sensorimotor and cognitive deficits, whereas hippocampus-specific hKATP-GOF mice exhibited predominantly learning and memory deficits. …

Weedy Rice As A Model System For The Study Of Microevolutionary Interactions In Agricultural Contexts, Marshall Jon Wedger

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Just under one-half of the global population relies on cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) astheir primary source of calories, making the optimization of rice agriculture immensely important. One of the primary constraints to rice agriculture is the de-domesticated (feral) form of rice known as ‘weedy rice’ that aggressively competes for space, soil nutrients, and light. Heavy infestation can reduce crop yields by as much as 80%. As a closely-related weedy descendant of cultivated rice, chemical control is difficult in rice fields, and physical weeding is labor intensive, time consuming, and largely ineffective due to early life-stage mimicry of the crop. Weedy …

Genetic Risk Factors For Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Insights From Hipsc-Cerebral Organoids, Michelle L. Wegscheid

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) characterized by remarkable phenotypic variability, where affected children manifest a spectrum of central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities, including brain tumors, impairments in attention, behavior, learning disabilities, and an increased incidence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A significant barrier to the implementation of precision medicine strategies for children with NF1 is a lack of prognostic risk factors to guide clinical management. However, emerging population-based genotype-phenotype association studies have suggested that the germline NF1 gene mutation may represent one clinically actionable risk factor for NF1-associated neurodevelopmental abnormalities. As a critical step in …

Electroshock Treatment Dependent Microstructural Evolution And Mechanical Properties Of Near-Β Titanium Alloy Manufactured By Directed Energy Deposition, Haojie Guo, Pu Liu, Xunpeng Qin, Yanli Song, Dongsheng Qian, Lechun Xie, Liqiang Wang, Lai-Chang Zhang, Lin Hua

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Effects of electroshock treatment (EST) on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of near-β titanium alloy (Ti-55531) formed by directed energy deposition (DED) was studied in this work. With the increase in EST time, the average hardness of specimen decreased from 426 HV to 316 HV, and the fracture strain increased significantly, which was attributed to the uniform dispersion of α phase along grain boundaries and inside the β grains. After EST, the texture intensity decreased in terms of the orientation distribution function (ODF), which was ascribed to the redistribution of α phase. Moreover, more atomic vacancies and lattice distortion …

Human Plcg2 Haploinsufficiency Results In A Novel Immunodeficiency, Joshua Brandon Alinger

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

NK cells are critical for the recognition and lysis of herpesvirus-infected cells. Patients with NK cell immunodeficiency may suffer from unusually severe and/or recurrent herpesvirus infections; however, the genetic cause is frequently unknown. PLCG2 encodes a signaling protein in NK cell and B cell receptor signaling, in which dominant-negative or gain-of-function mutations may cause cold urticaria, antibody deficiency, or autoinflammation. However, loss-of-function mutations and PLCG2 haploinsufficiency have never been reported in human disease. We examined 2 families with autosomal dominant NK cell immunodeficiency with dual high-dimensional techniques, mass cytometry and whole-exome sequencing, to identify the cause of disease. We identified …

Slo2.1 Channels: A New Molecular Mechanism To Regulate Uterine Excitability, Juan Jose Ferreira

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

At the end of pregnancy, the uterus transitions from a non-contractile state to a highly contractile state. Two processes primarily drive this transition. First, from the 28th week of pregnancy until labor, the resting membrane potential of uterine (myometrial) smooth muscle cells (MSMCs) gradually becomes more positive (depolarizes) (Parkington et al. 1999). Second, at the end of pregnancy, MSMCs express more oxytocin receptors and become more sensitive to oxytocin (Kimura et al. 1996). However, the detailed mechanisms by which these processes occur have not been determined. My central hypothesis was that the Na+-activated K+ channel SLO2.1 plays a key role …

Developments In Proteomics, Trans-Splicing Technology And Endogenous Transcript Manipulation, Justin Alexander Melendez

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Technological innovation drives scientific discovery, unlocks new avenues of research, and allows us to ask questions in ways that were previously unavailable. With each technological advance, our ability to perturb and explore biological systems has grown in ways previously unimagined. The theme of my thesis is the development of new technologies in biology. To this end, I have worked on three technologies that contribute to the areas of protein sequencing, RNA barcoding for trans-splicing and single-cell applications, and a new method for transcriptional knockdown. In my first project, digital analysis of proteins by end sequencing (DAPES), we set out to …

Cyclodextrin-Based Supramolecular Drug-Delivery Nanomaterials And Shear-Thinning Hydrogels Using Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization, Ruihan Li

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Cyclodextrins (CD) are a family of oligosaccharides that can non-covalently and precisely bind small hydrophobic drug molecules, such as antibiotics and anticancer drugs, through well-defined host-guest interactions inside the inner cavity of the macrocycle. Ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) is a versatile, functional group tolerant method of polymerization that is underexplored in biomedical applications relative to the more common controlled chain-growth polymerizations. In this dissertation, I describe my efforts to combine the supramolecular chemistry of CDs with that of ROMP using specialized functional monomers to synthesize several CD-based polymeric drug delivery nanomaterials. For example, in Chapter 2, a new type of …

La Esfera Lúdica: Entretenimiento Popular En El Espacio Público Urbano Del Río De La Plata, 1870-1933, Maria Soledad Mocchi Radichi

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I focus on popular ludic and cultural practices that shaped the urban spaces of Uruguay and Argentina at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. I argue that by inhabiting the public sphere in close dialogue with modernization and urbanization, popular entertainment became a main protagonist within everyday life. Cultural practices such as carnival, theater, soccer, radio, and cinema, presented intersections between each other. These intersections generated what I term the ludic urban sphere, to underscore not just the overwhelming presence of play and entertainment as central elements in the urban landscape, …

The Effects Of Molecular Chaperone Modulation On Protein Folding, Prion Formation, And Prion Propagation In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Leeran Blythe Dublin Ryan

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Proper and efficient protein folding is vital for cell survival. Many factors affect protein folding fidelity and prion formation, including molecular chaperone availability and activity. Research has shown that modulating chaperone availability and function can affect protein misfolding and aggregation, as well as de novo prion formation and propagation. However, the factors involved and underlying mechanisms influencing prion formation and protein folding are largely unknown. The following work aims to elucidate these areas. The Nascent Polypeptide-Associated Complex (NAC) is the first point of chaperone contact for nascent polypeptides. Previous work has shown that disruption of the NAC leads to improved …

Material Difficulty And Individual Difference Factors Moderate The Eyewitness Confidence-Accuracy Relationship, Wenbo Lin

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Recent studies have shown that eyewitness confidence is positively associated with high identification (ID) accuracy, but some eyewitness researchers have expressed concerns regarding the reliability of this confidence-accuracy relationship in applied settings (e.g., are there circumstances or moderator variables that make this relationship less reliable?). For the present study, we considered two types of moderator variables: material difficulty (i.e., the difficulty level associated with different sets of eyewitness stimuli) and individual difference factors such as face recognition ability. Experiment 1 examined whether these moderator variables significantly impair the confidence-accuracy relationship and Experiment 2 examined whether these same moderator variables equally …