Digital Commons Network^™

Two-Dimensional Field Effect Transistor, Yimeng Li

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

As silicon-based field-effect transistors (FETs) approach their physical limits with channel lengths approaching 5 nm, the search for new semiconductor materials that can surpass this limit has become urgent. Two-dimensional layered semiconductor nanomaterials, represented by graphene, have emerged as promising candidates due to their unique physical, mechanical, and chemical properties. Unlike traditional silicon-based FETs, two dimensional (2D) layered nanomaterials are held together by van der Waals forces between layers, with no dangling bonds on the material surface, which can effectively address the short-channel effect issue faced by traditional silicon-based FETs. However, unlike traditional silicon-based FETs, which have matured fabrication systems, …

Advancements In Magnetic Resonance Image Guided Radiotherapy, Austen Curcuru

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Magnetic resonance image guided radiation therapy (MRgRT) devices are a recently developed technology that integrate the excellent soft tissue contrast and real-time imaging capabilities of MRI with a medical linear accelerator (Linac). This provides an unprecedented ability to guide and adapt radiation therapy treatments based on real-time cine imaging. However, the merging of these technologies has come with unique challenges. MRI lacks the geometric fidelity of computed tomography (CT). Spatial inaccuracies in MRI can result from magnetic field (B0) or center frequency variations, gradient-induced eddy currents, and magnetic field gradient imperfections (e.g., nonlinearities, poor calibration, concomitant fields, and unsatisfactory electronic …

An Investigation Of Peripheral Nerve Imaging Methods And Therapeutic Electrical Stimulation Parameters, Nathan Kennedy Birenbaum

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Treatment of peripheral nerve injuries depends on an accurate diagnosis of their severity to inform treatment options. Current clinical practice often necessitates delayed electrodiagnostics or surgical exploration of the injury site to determine whether surgical repair is necessary. This delays patient treatment, increases the time that muscle is denervated, and may impose an unnecessary surgery if surgical repair is not ultimately required. While imaging techniques such as diffusion tensor imaging enable visualization of healthy nerve tissue, the inflammation and axonal loss present in injured nerve obfuscates diffusion signals and confounds quantification of injury severity. Diffusion basis spectrum imaging uses multiple …

Mapping, Modifying, And Stimulating Skeletal Nerves To Explore Their Regulatory Role In Bone Metabolism, Alec Thomas Beeve

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The skeleton is innervated by sensory and sympathetic nerves, which are known facilitators of pain and vasoregulation. Recent studies suggest that nerves in bone play an additional direct role in regulating bone metabolism through local release of neuropeptides near bone cells; however, this remains controversial. The overall hypothesis of this thesis is that skeletal nerves are therapeutic targets for increasing bone mass and enhancing bone health. To address the feasibility of nerve-targeted skeletal therapeutics, the work in this thesis explores mapping, modification, and stimulation of nerves in bone and the subsequent effects on bone formation and metabolism.Bone is innervated by …

Synthetic Biology Approaches For Genome-Wide Regulatory Response Characterization, Yichao Han

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Bacteria can survive and adapt to various environments by changing their gene expression. This process is controlled by both transcription factors and shared cellular resources. Elucidating the regulatory responses in bacteria at the genome scale is crucial for biomedical and biotechnology applications. To date, even for the best-characterized bacterium, Escherichia coli, the regulatory interactions of more than 60% of operons are still unclear. In this thesis, I described two synthetic biology methods that allow the perturbation of key component concentrations and the measurement of gene expression response systematically. I characterized two types of regulatory processes: transcriptional regulation and shared resource …

Numerical Simulation, Turbulence Modeling And Active Flow Control Of High Lift Aerodynamic Flows, Karsten Hendrickson

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The accurate predictions of 3D high lift flows have proven to be a significant challenge for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations with a turbulence model. While RANS methods typically require less computational resources than Scale Resolving Simulation (SRS) methods, they generally struggle to accurately predict flow separation and the complex interactions that occur between the fuselage, different elements of the wing, the engine nacelle, and the accompanying support hardware. As a result, significant effort has been put in improving the accurate prediction of these flows with the goal of developing better computational methodologies and turbulence …

Mechanisms Of Kcnq1-Calmodulin Channel Complex Activation To Dual Open States, Po Wei Kang

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Voltage-gated potassium channels (KV) facilitate cellular excitability essential for cardiac contraction and neuronal spiking. In response to changes in the membrane potential, KV channels conduct transmembrane K+ flux to terminate action potentials. Myriad drugs target KV channels to achieve therapeutic goals such as anti-arrhythmic and anti-convulsant effects. Owing to their physiological significance, KV channels are exquisitely regulated by a cohort of auxiliary proteins and signaling molecules. The KCNQ1 or KV7.1 voltage-gated potassium channel stands out as an archetype in this regard. Modulators such as the KCNE subunit family, membrane lipid PIP2, and calmodulin (CaM) enable KCNQ1 to conduct phenotypically distinct …

Moment And Heuristic Approaches To Control And Stabilization Of Dynamic Populations, Xin Ning

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Large-scale dynamic population systems are prevalent in diverse domains at different scales from cell to society. Robust control of such ensemble systems, consisting of a vast collection of isolated or interconnected, nearly identical dynamical units is compelling to enable many cutting-edge applications, such as nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging in quantum control, pinning control in complex networks, and neural stimulation in brain medicine. Dynamic network systems, which consist of coupled dynamical systems, are also frequently investigated for emerging problems in finance, social science, public health, and more. In this thesis, moment-based and heuristic approaches are proposed for systems-theoretic analysis …

Developing Genetic Tools For Engineered Probiotics, Matthew Brooks Amrofell

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The gut microbiome is increasingly understood to play a key role in human health. Commensal gut microbes influence immunity, pathogen colonization, digestion, and brain chemistry, to name a few impacts on host physiology. As such, efforts to diagnose and treat diseases through manipulation of the microbiome are becoming more commonplace. To date, these efforts revolve around introducing defined native consortia or a single engineered strain. Engineered strains, compared to consortia, offer the advantages of known mechanisms of action, more predictable pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, and easier manufacturing, among others. Safe and effective engineered strains should sense and respond to the gut …

Security Analysis Of Hidden Analog-Domain Vulnerabilities In Digital Electronic Systems: A Deep Dive Into Power Delivery Networks, Huifeng Zhu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The Power Delivery Network (PDN) is an essential universal sub-system for any electronic system to operate correctly. Modern electronic systems are growing exponentially in their functionalities and complexity, and so does the sophistication of the PDNs they must depend on. Consequently, these complex PDNs create many pathways for unintended interactions and expose the system to numerous power side-channel attacks. Recent works have shown that many such vulnerabilities can be exploited remotely, making them especially potent security threats to modern electronic devices with ubiquitous connectivity. However, facing emerging PDN-based attacks, both attackers and defenders tend to treat PDN as a black …

Novel Bites, Fatima Elkabti

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Painless Hylomorphism: A Deflationary Metaphysics Of Form, Graham Renz

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation develops and defends a deflationary or minimalist version of hylomorphism, the Aristotelian view according to which objects are composites of matter and form. According to hylomorphists, a house has various material components—bricks and timbers—and a special, non-material or formal component that makes the bricks and timbers to be a house. Hylomorphism is intuitively appealing and explanatorily powerful, but its primary posit—form—is hard to get a firm grip on. Because of this, contemporary hylomorphists have proffered myriad accounts of form. Forms might be structures, relations, principles of unity, inherent character-grounders, abstract offices, functions, emergent powers, configurational states, activities, processes, …

Socrates The Expert, Jeremy Samuel Henry

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

I argue that an account of recognizing experts can be drawn from the dialogues of Plato in which Socrates is engaged in the activities he describes in the Apology, that he is an expert in recognizing experts, and that this supports his argument that no one can be an expert in ethics. I also show that his account contains a decision procedure for recognizing experts and a view about the nature of expertise (from which that procedure is derived) that is very plausible for his purpose.

Musical And Spiritual Meaning In The Franciscan Works Of Franz Liszt, Jorge Luis Modolell

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Liszt’s relationship to St. Francis of Assisi was an integral part of the composer’s identity. His devotion to the saint, cultivated from an early age, served as a constant source of spiritual guidance that only grew stronger over time. Texts by St. Francis and anecdotes from the saint’s life provided the artistic incentive for a number of important works, which form the core of the present study. By examining several of these works together, with full analyses and within a broader cultural framework, this dissertation aims to arrive at a true understanding of the messages Liszt took from this figure …

The “Dread Sex Cases:” Community, Citizenship, And The Regulation Of Adult Theaters In The 1970s, Erin Barry

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Through an innovative examination of scale (local, state, and national regulatory structures), space (the location of theaters, the spatial arrangements inside them) and place (the cities and suburbs in which these battles took place), my dissertation on the regulation of adult theaters in the 1970s raises compelling questions about sexuality, space and the various levels at which citizenship is enacted and policed. I utilize three Supreme Court cases, Paris Adult Theater v. Slaton, which dealt with consent and the application of community standards, Erznoznik v. Jacksonville, which addressed bans on nudity and pornography at drive-in theaters, and Young v. American …

Essays In Sovereign Default And Central Banking, Andrea Paloschi

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The recent phenomenon of debt redemption is posing new challenges in emerging economies, whichare typically characterized by high levels of sovereign default risk. How do sovereign default risk and sovereign debt affect central bank independence? And how does this affect reserve accumulation in these countries? In the first chapter of this dissertation I study how business cycle fluctuations affect sovereign debt and sovereign default risk and how the de facto central bank independence is endogenously determines in emerging economies. I build a sovereign default model in which, period-by- period, the fiscal authority determines the degree of independence of the monetary …

Development Of A Multispectral Vis-Swir Imaging Modality For Cutaneous Water Assessment, Quinlan Mcgrath

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Inflammatory skin diseases are estimated to impact 20% of the global population and are the fourth leading cause of nonfatal disability worldwide. Diagnosis and management are predominantly based on clinician visual assessment of disease related changes in skin morphology. The qualitative nature of this method can result in misdiagnosis and underdiagnoses of treatable diseases. There persists systematic undertreatment of skin of color patients given the more subtle presentation of erythema against pigmented skin. There exists a clinical need for a quantitative and objective inflammation assessment tool that meets the needs of a diverse patient population. The accumulation of interstitial fluid …

Enhancing Student Leadership Skills Through Project-Based Learning In The Postgraduate Research Experience, Enung Hasanah, M Ikhsan Al Ghazi, M. Ikhwan Al Badar, Fauzia Fauzia M.A.

The Qualitative Report

Project-based learning (PjBL) is one of the learning models recognized by education experts as an effective method of achieving learning objectives in developing process skills; however, few studies have examined its potential for fostering leadership skills. This study aims to investigate postgraduate teacher students' experiences with project-based learning as a means of developing students leadership skills. The research involved 24 postgraduate students and utilized a qualitative approach to data collection and analysis. The findings reveal that while some aspects of project-based learning were perceived as straightforward, other steps were deemed challenging, particularly those that involved higher order thinking skill and …

Anillin And Dunk: The Conserved And Non-Conserved Players Regulating Myosin Dynamics In Drosophila Cleavage, Jiayang Chen

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Cleavage is a common process during early embryogenesis. Similar to conventional cytokinesis, Drosophila cellularization, a unique form of cleavage, requires precise regulation of non-muscle myosin II ("myosin") at cleavage furrows, where myosin forms an interconnected basal array before reorganizing into individual cytokinetic rings. However, how myosin is regulated through both conserved and cellularization-specific mechanisms during this special form of cytokinesis remains unclear.

In my first project, I investigated the molecular mechanisms by which the cellularization-specific zygotic gene dunk regulates myosin at the basal array. I identified anillin (Scraps in Drosophila), a conserved scaffolding protein in cytokinesis, as the primary …

From Instability To Civil Liberties: Nonviolent Resistance In Afghanistan, Rachel L. Knowles

Master's Theses

When people have a fundamental issue at stake, giving in is not an option. For these types of conflict, when people’s rights are being violated, when their countries are occupied, or when they are oppressed and humiliated, they need a powerful way to persist and fight back. Oftentimes when people are left with no choice they will use the terrible and destructive nature of violence. For decades nonviolent resistance (NVR) movements have been associated with Gandhi and Martin Luther King, but people have been using nonviolent action for years. In fact, NVR has been a part of political life for …

A Peeling Art, Terry Rim

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

Action is greater than words, interaction is greater than viewing, and experience is greater than theory. So I came up with a way to make my art into an act of criticism toward consumerism. My art resembles colorful Pop Art on the surface but follows the defiant spirit of Dadaism at the core. It reveals the content full of dark humor and cynicism once the viewer “peels off” the appealing surface by interacting with it. The four artworks analyzed in the paper — Hole, The Twelephone and Alarming Alarm, Self-Destructive Ashtray, and Heavenly Cow — are designed …

On The Six-Cornered Snowflake, Jackson Hescock

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

On the Six-Cornered Snowflake, named after Johannes Kepler’s 1611 essay on geometrically covering surfaces, is both the title of both my final thesis work and essay. Beginning with an inquiry into the nature of hand-made object as intrinsically valuable, my earlier sculptural work surrounding quilting is broken down and considered as a form of reverence for the American object. This is partly achieved through a comparison to traditional Japanese packing techniques and how my own assembly mirrors and converses with the graceful and sensitive packing of Japanese hand-made goods. Early 20^th-century flight experiments are also hand-made objects of …

Identification And Characterization Of Targets Of Metastasis In High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer, Emilee Nicole Kotnik

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer (HGSC) is a highly metastatic cancer with the majority of patients presenting in advanced stages. Currently there are limited targeted treatment options for patients, especially for women with high metastatic tumor burdens. In order to improve patient outcomes, we have aimed to identify and characterize novel targets of metastasis utilizing sequencing from patient tumors and a functional genomic screen. First, we identified genetic alterations of metastasis and short survival by characterizing the genomic and transcriptomic alterations of primary and metastatic tumors in HGSC patients from 23 short-term survivors (overall survival (OS)5 years). We compared somatic mutations, …

Sources And Consequences Of Cell-To-Cell Variability In Gene Expression, Avinash Ramu

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Gene expression is a stochastic process. A population of genetically identical cells grown in an identical environment can express different amounts of any given gene. This cell-to-cell variability in gene expression often underlies important phenotypic differences between cells. If we understand the sources of cell-to-cell variability in gene expression this can help uncover the mechanisms of transcription. The core of this thesis is split into two chapters related to cell-to-cell variability in gene expression. I first examine the sources and impact of cell-to-cell variability on a specific phenotype, a signaling pathway response. In the next chapter I discuss the results …

Development And Validation Of A Uplc-Ms/Ms Method To Investigate The Plasma Pharmacokinetics Of A KCa2.2/KCa2.3 Positive Allosteric Modulator In Mice, Mohammad Asikur Rahman, Devaraj Venkatapura Chandrashekar, Young-Woo Nam, Basir Syed, David Salehi, Hamidreza Montazeri Aliabadi, Miao Zhang, Reza Mehvar

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Rationale

There is currently no treatment for spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs), which are a group of genetic disorders that often cause a lack of coordination, difficulty walking, slurred speech, tremors, and eventually death. Activation of K_Ca2.2/K_Ca2.3 channels reportedly exerts beneficial effects in SCAs. Here, we report the development and validation of an analytical method for quantitating a recently-developed positive allosteric modulator of K_Ca2.2/K_Ca2.3 channels (compound 2q) in mouse plasma.

Methods

Mouse plasma samples (10 μL) containing various concentrations of 2q were subjected to protein precipitation in the presence of a structurally similar internal …

Solo Dance In Greek And Roman Comedy, Marleigh Anderson

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

In the first full-length study focusing exclusively on comic solo dance, I argue for the presence and significance of solo dance in both Greek and Roman comedy. My dissertation aims to answer two driving questions: where does solo dance (broadly defined as dance by actors) occur in extant Greek and Roman comedy, and how does such dancing contribute to the plays? The introduction lays out my methodology for approaching these questions. My study then moves from what can be known with certainty (definite solo dance scenes and references to dance) to what requires more speculation (likely dance scenes). Chapter one, …

Dissecting Tau Isoform Control And Modeling Tauopathies In Directly-Reprogrammed Neurons, Lucia Capano

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Tauopathies are a family of neurodegenerative disorders whose pathology include intracellular tau aggregates, synaptic dysfunction, and neuronal death. Advanced age is the strongest risk factor for developing a tauopathy, independent of a predisposing mutation, therefore the ability to study tauopathies in adult human neurons is vital to understand the age-associated changes which underly disease onset. Tau, the protein product of the gene Microtubule Associated Protein Tau (MAPT), is expressed highly in neurons. There are six tau isoforms whose splicing control and expression is both developmentally and tightly regulated, with only one isoform expressed in fetal brain and all six expressed …

Multi-Scalar Contributions To Sex Differences In Brain Tumor Incidence And Outcome, Lauren Broestl

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Nearly all complex human diseases exhibit some degree of sex difference in incidence, age of onset, disease severity, and/or response to treatment. Sex differences are observed in a wide range of nervous system disorders, including neurodevelopmental disorders, psychiatric diseases, neuroimmunological disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Males have increased incidence rates for most CNS tumor types. Sex differences in brain tumor incidence rates are observed in studies from around the world, across a wide range of cultures, in both pediatric and adult populations, and even extend to other species. Males also have decreased survival from brain tumors, …

Restoring The Mechanoresponsiveness Of Aged Bone To Mechanical Loading, Christopher John Chermside-Scabbo

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Osteoporosis—a disease of low bone mass and a predisposition to fracture—remains a pressing public health burden. Osteoporotic fractures occur in 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men over the age of 50, at a cost of more than $22 billion annually in the US. To prevent osteoporotic fractures, we need additional strategies to increase bone formation and reverse the disease. A potent strategy to increase bone formation is mechanical loading. However, with aging, bone becomes less responsive to the same stimulus. Because we do not fully understand the age-related decrease in bone mechanoresponsiveness, we have been unable to …

Individual And Social Influences On Cigarette Smoking During Pregnancy, Alexandra Noel Houston-Ludlam

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Population-level trends on sociodemographic risk factors for cigarette smoking during pregnancy (SDP) and outcomes for offspring exposed to maternal SDP are well established. However, the more complex task of understanding individual risk-prediction, including differences by maternal race/ethnicity, and its clinical application, remains incomplete. Characterizing the relative influence of environmental and individual characteristics as risk or protective factors for continued SDP is a necessary next step for informing individual- and public health-level interventions to produce successful smoking cessation prior to pregnancy, substantially reducing smoking-related mortality in child-bearing people. In this dissertation, I wanted to explore how multiple levels of influence, from …