Video transmission over wireless networks to multiple mobile users has remained a challenging problem due to potential limitations on bandwidth and the time-varying nature of wireless channels. Recent advances in wireless access technologies, such as, HSDPA and IEEE 802.16, are targeted at achieving higher throughput over wireless networks. Meanwhile, advances...
The hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niche is the site where HSCs reside in vivo. The HSC niche is formed by supporting cells that provide structure and appropriate environmental cues for HSCs. In this study, three components of the HSC niche were evaluated for their influence on HSC expansion ex vivo:...
The macroscale mechanical and physical properties of materials are inherently linked to the underlying microstructure. Traditional continuum mechanics theories have focused on approximating the heterogeneous microstructure as a continuum, which is conducive to a partial differential equation mathematical description. Although this makes large scale simulation of material much more efficient...
Across a broad spectrum of mathematical models, problems arise that have irregular domains or contain embedded interfaces. The complexity due to the introduction of these interfaces makes it more difficult to develop efficient and accurate numerical methods for their solutions.
This thesis discusses modifications to the eXtended Finite Element Method...
My dissertation explores the rational and emotional foundations of ethical decision making. Traditional research has associated ethical superiority with an analytic, rational decision making process and has suggested that emotions (e.g., empathy or anger) undermine ethics because they lead people to breach ethical principles such as the norm of impartiality....
Interfaces and surfaces are ubiquitous in the environment. Heterogeneous binding events and reactions control the transport and speciation of dissolved pollutants in groundwater. Many heterogeneous processes occur at mineral oxide/water interfaces, and can be controlled either by the mineral oxide, or organic molecules bound to the surface. The prevalent natural...
The linear food chain of high school biology textbooks has been replaced by the food web, the increasingly complex network of trophic interactions in an ecosystem. This complexity, however, masks a number of robust statistical properties. Yet much research to date has concentrated upon predicting and testing the existence of...
Although non-viral gene therapy has great potential for use in the lung, several problems including inefficient gene transfer and expression and the relative lack of cell-specific targeting have limited its applications. The two approaches that have been used to target genes to desired cell types are through specific ligand-receptor interactions...
Middle childhood is an important but often overlooked developmental period. Similarly, a large literature examines the importance of child care as a developmental context, focusing almost exclusively on pre-school child care experiences. Through three related empirical studies, this dissertation aims to address these two gaps in the extant literature. These...
Preventing the build-up of indoor pollutants represents an emerging goal in environmental chemistry. Heterogeneous catalysis provides an attractive method of remediating indoor air pollution, but optimization through rational catalyst design requires a detailed understanding of the catalytic surface and surface-pollutant interactions. In this work, a chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS)...