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Get the Latest VLSI Projects for Final Year B.Tech & M.Tech Students. Get Project Abstract, Documentation, PPT Presentation & Execution Support. Contact Us Now. Call Now. VLSI Major Projects • ‎VLSI Mini Projects Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) is that the process of making an microcircuit (IC) by combining many thousands of transistors or devices into one chip. VLSI began within the 1970s when complex semiconductor and communication technologies were being developed. The microprocessor may be VLSI device ‎

We have great sort of MATLAB based projects for learning and guidance. Our list of innovative MATLAB projects list could also be a compilation of MATLAB based projects that are built to satisfy various industrial also as domestic applications and automate various manual tasks.

As the advertising effectiveness depends on several factors, growing large PPC accounts become hard to manage and optimize. In that stage, automated optimization and management solutions become economically and practically available. Increasing the efficiency requires human intuition and routine optimization tasks for PPC managers in manual bidding. Although manual bidding gives more control on the PPC campaigns, larger accounts create larger challenges when managing thousands of keywords and ad groups. Additionally, human intelligence lacks to find all correlation among different variables for several campaigns at the same time. In order to decrease this guesswork many PPC management tools offered by third parties and Google Ads introduced its solutions to increase the advertiser experience. Both PPC agencies, which serve companies in the optimization, reporting, management of the advertising campaigns, third-party software companies and PPC platforms (Google, Bing etc.) introduce their unique solutions to manage PPC accounts. This study investigates the effect of automation solutions introduced by Google Ads, analyzes the results of using Google Ads Smart Bidding Strategies and the marketplace of PPC Automation, and gives a future prediction about the possible changes in the way of automation with non-empirical research.

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to describe how Christians in Arizona, ages 30-50, coped with their experiences of impostor phenomenon during spiritual identity formation. The conceptual framework for this study included social influence theory, subject-object constructive-development theory, and approach/avoidance coping model of stress. Three research questions guided this study: How do Christians in Arizona, ages 30-50, experience impostor phenomenon during spiritual identity formation, How does the church support Christians in Arizona, ages 30-50, in their experience of impostor phenomenon during spiritual identity formation, and How do Christians in Arizona, ages 30-50, cope with their experiences of impostor phenomenon. The study used semistructured individual interviews with 10 participants and a semistructured focus group interview with four participants, which were a subset of the sample. The researcher utilized an inductive, thematic data analysis strategy. The data from this study resulted in four themes: We experience an ongoing identity crisis in our spiritual identity; Resources connected to overcoming impostor phenomenon during spiritual identity formation are scarce; We need help becoming more holistically authentic people; and We cope with impostor phenomenon by becoming more holistically authentic people. The data collected and analyzed in this study suggested a cyclical and symbiotic relationship between spiritual identity development and holistic identity development triggered by the stressful experience of impostor phenomenon.

The focus of this study was on the Tension between Pentecostal churches and academia: the need for deliberate spiritual formation amongst theological educators. “Traditionally, Pentecostals have been looked on as theologically uneducated” (Alvarez 2000: 281). The earliest Pentecostals were perceived as having little formal education who were therefore unfamiliar with sophisticated argumentation. Their critics, dismissed the whole movement as being a group of fanatics focused solely on glossolalia, a characterization that sometimes continues to the present day (Walls & Tienou 2007:173). This often repeated charge that the movement has a closed mind against academic reflection and education is unfounded, and has led to many erroneous ideas regarding Pentecostal theology, whereby in some church circles Pentecostals are undermined as far as in - depth scholarship is concerned. It is therefore a misrepresentation to suggest that Pentecostalism and its adherents are solely concerned with the Holy Spirit. “It is therefore also unfair to accuse today’s Pentecostals of lack of cognitive discipline in doing theology. It shows a certain lack of sensitivity to the historical method to expect formal theological education among those early Pentecostal communities given their sociological origins” (Alvarez 2000: 286). The treatment of Pentecostals on the subject of education and scholarship is ironically often approached in a strikingly unscholarly manner. In that regard this study holds that Pentecostal theological seminaries can strike a better balance between spiritual formation, professional development and academic excellence. The critical assumption therefore is that, theological institutions/ faculties must deliberately engage theological educators to be spiritually engaged. Then the Pentecostal Theological institutions will make a deep and lasting impact upon the lives of their graduates and faculty through both academic excellence as well as the practical emphasis in its theological educational endeavours.

This dissertation examines the extent to which realists have overstressed the link between power politics and the attainment of national security. It focuses on the relation between national security and power politics from the realist perspective and reflects upon two non-realist approaches - liberalism/neoliberalism and feminism - to identify other areas of realizing national security, that realists have overlooked. The dissertation shall conclude that national security is a multidimensional concept; that states must seek to adapt their strategies to benefit accordingly from this understanding, where power politics is only one means among others to achieve national security.

Today there is a nearly universal recognition of rehabilitation as an indispensable component of the right to health of persons with disabilities as expressed in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). However, a firm academic clarification of the right to access rehabilitation is lacking and concrete knowledge on monitoring progress with its implementation is very limited. The goal of this thesis was to develop relevant guidance and analytic tools, especially indicators, to assist governments and those seeking to support them monitor efforts to strengthen rehabilitation in health systems in line with the CRPD. Methods involved hermeneutic literature reviews and an exploratory concept mapping study. Article 25, when read in conjunction with other Articles in the CRPD, especially Article 26 on ‘Habilitation and rehabilitation’ give rise to a set of entitlements and corresponding State duties. These extend across several human right commitment areas: Equality and non-discrimination, public participation, progressive realization, protection of privacy, informed consent, availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of rehabilitation facilities, services, information and technologies; and accountability and monitoring. Collectively, these requirements clarify the parameters by which appropriateness of rehabilitation must be judged and create the demand for analytical approaches capable of measuring the legal, policy and programmatic factors that impede access to rehabilitation. The combined input of experts who participated in the concept mapping study resulted in a framework of 107 indicators grouped in 11 clusters: Legal Commitments and Strategic Priorities; Evidence informed and rights based programming; Workforce Development; Monitoring and Accountability; Service Financing and Quality Control; Access Barriers; Service Coverage, Utilization and Outcomes; Disability Statistics; Social Mobilization and Research; Workforce Planning and Performance; and Higher Education. Overall, the indicator framework emphasizes the importance and relationship of human rights with strategic, operational and organizational aspects of rehabilitation policy and services offering a menu of measures to monitor CRPD implementation. The results also suggest that the framework possesses dynamic features and articulates a systems view of rehabilitation, which make it relevant to broader assessments of rehabilitation in the context of health systems strengthening. The framework offers an evidence based platform to ensure constructive accountability as it successfully combines normative and operational requirements for strengthening rehabilitation and serves as a preliminary template for integrative monitoring. If properly understood and applied, the framework has the potential to assist in the monitoring and evaluation of rehabilitation services and the full and effective realization of the right to health.

Particulate flows of dielectric grains are almost always plagued by contact or triboelectrification and the resulting long-range electrostatic interactions. Extensive experimental, but rare theoretical, work is ongoing at present to understand the underlying mechanisms of contact electrification, and its consequences on collective scales. Although the hard matter principles remain elusive, here an effort is made to theoretically understand the collective/many-body effects in granular gases arising due to this phenomena. This thesis is focused on understanding the aggregation and pattern formation in heterogeneously charged, globally charge conserving, and initially dilute granular gases; the gas is charged with simplified but physically valid charge-exchange recipes and the subsequent effects of the long-range forces on the dynamics and morphology are studied. Canonical observables, such as growth rates of the average cluster size, average fractal dimension, granular temperature, and charge variance are computed using granular molecular dynamics simulations. In addition, the size, velocity and charge distributions are also studied. The observations from the detailed numerical simulations are utilized to (i) modify the mean-field Smoluchowski's coagulation equation, and (ii) to provide a kinetic description taking care of restitution as well as aggregation. The onset of clustering instability and the competition between dissipation and electrostatics, on a macroscopic scale, is then studied via the linear stability analysis of the granular hydrodynamic equations. Finally, the alterations in the aggregate growth rates and the fractal dimension due to additional degrees of freedom, introduced by the grain polarizability, are briefed. Most important results, in general terms, from the thesis are as follows. The presence of electrostatics fundamentally changes the nature of clustering in a granular gas -- from dynamic clustering to actual aggregation/coagulation. The growth rates of the clusters are enhanced. The morphology of the emerging structures is self-similar and exhibits fractal nature at simulated length and time scales. However, it is found that the heterogeneous charges and aggregation have a negligible influence on the established statistical result of granular temperature decay -- the Haff's law. The presence of charges fetches the granular gas further far-from equilibrium relative to its neutral counterpart, suggested by a non-relaxing velocity distribution and some evidence of the charge-velocity correlations. In case of large scale charge separation in the gas, the spatial regions can be differentiated to (i) where the electrostatic origin of the onset of clustering instability is expected to be linear, and (ii) where it is in principle nonlinear. The grain polarizability affects the small-sized aggregate population; the fractal dimension of this subpopulation is lowered. ...

This study investigates issues related to gender, law and theological discourses within the context of a selected Christian denomination –the Grace Bible Church in Johannesburg South Africa. This study is interdisciplinary, since it is positioned within the fields of Christian theology, the sociological concept of human sexuality with a specific interdisciplinary dimension on the intersection between gender, law and religion. The interconnectedness of the notions on gender, law and religion is the foundational basis of this study. This is pertinent since, historically, law and theology have been accepted as the fundamental grounds of the universal notion of the recognition of the inherent dignity of persons, and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family. Such laws form the foundations on liberty, justice and the pursuit of happiness of all members of human family in the world. These laws are also contained in the liberal Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996. The South African Constitution, recognizes and protects, in Chapter 2 Section 9 of its Bill of Rights, the human rights of LGBTIQ persons to not be discriminated against on the ground of their sexual orientation or gender identity. While there appears to be some tension with regard to understanding the Constitution’s definition of religious freedom, churches seem to be generally free to formulate the conditions of their faith and church membership and free from state intrusion and doctrinal entanglement in such matters as relating to faith dictates. Hence this study considers these issues, focusing on human sexuality, theological and legal notions of human dignity, human flourishing, and human rights jurisprudence

Since the end of the Cold War, Africa has been and continues to be afflicted by many violent intrastate and internationalised conflicts. As a result, this has attracted many national and international actors who have adopted and used Multi-Track Diplomacy (MTD) anticipating it would enable them effectively resolve the conflicts. Since its inception in the early 1990s, MTD has been used as a predominant approach to conflict resolution worldwide. In Africa, it has been used to resolve intrastate and internationalised conflicts in over twenty-six countries. Yet, despite its worldwide application, the approach has generally not succeeded in Africa because in all African countries where it has been applied, it either failed outright to resolve the conflicts or the conflicts which were thought to have successfully been resolved under its framework have reoccurred. Against this backdrop, this thesis investigates why the application of MTD, as a predominant approach to conflict resolution, has not succeeded in bringing about the effective resolution of intrastate and internationalised conflicts in Africa. Using a case study of the 2007/2008 post-election violence in Kenya which can be interpreted to have been resolved under the MTD framework by the official protagonists involved in the mediation process, the thesis seeks to prove that the failure of the MTD approach to effectively resolve the 2007/2008 post-election violence in Kenya and other intrastate and internationalised conflicts in Africa is because MTD is based on assumptions and propositions which are unsuitable to African settings and it does not adequately consider Africa’s local conditions and local actors in its conflict resolution activities and processes. The thesis, using Kenya as a case study, advocates for the adoption of the Conflict Transformative Peacebuilding Approach (CTPA) as a substitute to MTD in resolving intrastate and internationalised conflicts in Africa. This is because CTPA is seen to provide an organic framework that not only offers a holistic explanation for the sources of conflict but puts Africa’s local conditions and actors at the nucleus of peacebuilding efforts. The originality of the thesis lies in its study (i) to investigate and prove why and how, MTD is an approach whose application in resolving the 2007/2008 post-election violence in Kenya was bound to fail in bringing about sustainable peace, and (ii) to justify why the adoption of CTPA as a substitute to MTD in resolving the 2007/2008 post-election violence in Kenya in particular, and other intrastate and internationalised conflicts in Africa in general, would seem pertinent.

This dissertation describes the results of an investigation into introductory student understanding of special relativity in the context of the relativity of simultaneity. The research probes the extent to which students are able to use concepts from both Galilean and special relativity to determine, for multiple reference frames, the time sequence of events that have a spacelike separation. To this end, three parallel investigations were conducted. The first probed student ability to apply the formalism of a reference frame to determine both the time and location of events, for multiple reference frames. The second probed student understanding of relevant consequences of the invariance of the speed of light. Finally, we examined student understanding of concepts related to causality, which can be seen as the basis of a qualitative understanding of the relativity of simultaneity. These investigations identified a number of significant conceptual and reasoning difficulties in this population of students. Modification and assessment of curricular materials intended to address the identified difficulties is also described.Advisors/Committee Members: Shaffer, Peter S (advisor).

In this thesis I present my research on the early stages of planet formation. Using advanced computational modeling techniques, I study global gas and gravitational dynamics in proto- planetary disks (PPDs) on length scales from the radius of Jupiter to the size of the solar system. In that environment, I investigate the formation of gas giants and the migration, enhancement, and distribution of small solidsthe precursors to planetesimals and gas giant cores. I examine numerical techniques used in planet formation and PPD modeling, especially methods for generating initial conditions (ICs) in these unstable, chaotic systems. Disk simulation outcomes may depend strongly on ICs, which may explain results in the literature. I present the largest suite of high resolution PPD simulations to-date and argue that direct fragmentations of PPDs around M-Dwarfs is a plausible path to rapidly forming gas giants. I implement dust physics to track the migration of centimeter and smaller dust grains in very high resolution PPD simulations. While current dust methods are slow, with strict resolution and/or time-stepping requirements, and have some serious numerical issues, we can still demonstrate that dust does not concentrate at the pressure maxima of spiral arms, an indication that spiral features observed in the dust component are at least as well resolved in the gas. Additionally, coherent spiral arms do not limit dust settling. We suggest a novel mechanism for disk fragmentation at large radii driven by dust accretion from the surrounding nebula. We also investigate self induced dust traps, a mechanism which may help explain the growth of solids beyond meter sizes. We argue that current apparent demonstrations of this mechanism may be due to numerical artifacts and require further investigation.Advisors/Committee Members: Quinn, Thomas (advisor), den Nijs, Marcel (advisor).

Torsion balances were first used for precision measurements of physics centuries ago and continue to be used to probe physical forces and test for new physics. Improving beyond current limits requires better sensitivity and better ability to monitor or reduce unwanted systematic effects. This dissertation describes two technologies developed to aid in these improvements. The first is an interferometric quasi-autocollimator an optical readout device inspired by quantum weak-value amplification and capable of an angular sensitivity of 10 picoradians per root hertz. The second is a gravity gradiometer torsion balance with a mass quadrupole that can be changed in situ. This balance uses a wirelessly powered non-magnetic rotary actuator, also developed as part of this work, which will enable additional approaches to systematics and torsion-balance science.Advisors/Committee Members: Gundlach, Jens H. (advisor).

Ubiquitination is a mechanism used by eukaryotes to precisely alter the level, functionality, and location of specific target proteins through the post-translational attachment of one or more ubiquitin tags. This attachment proceeds through a three-step enzymatic process involving ubiquitin activating proteins, conjugating proteins, and ligases. Of these three steps, the final ubiquitin ligation reaction to the target substrate shows the most variability due to the vast number of different substrates targeted by the cell. These ligase complexes are broadly divided into three families, with the Cullin-RING ligases (CRLs) comprising the largest physical structures. CRLs can be further subdivided into different complexes based on the specific Cullin backbone (1-5, 7) used to bridge the complex. Among the many roles these complexes play, CRL3 has been implicated in the oxidative stress response in animals (Nguyen et al., 2004) as well as hormone signaling perception in plants (Lechner et al., 2011). CRL4 has been shown to be involved in a variety of cellular processes such as DNA damage repair and cell cycle regulation (Jackson and Xiong, 2009; Scrima et al., 2011). CRLs perform these functions by employing a modular architecture whereby individual substrate receptors are recruited to the complex to provide specificity for an array of possible targets. The large variety of target substrates these complexes ubiquitinate presents the technical challenge of identifying them in the context of their individual pathways. It also points to the need for a cell to be able to precisely regulate these processes. Here we solve the crystal structure of DDB1, an adaptor component of CRL4, in complex with an N-terminal minimal binding fragment of DDA1. DDA1 has previously been shown to regulate CRL4 activity (Pick et al., 2007; Gao et al., 2017). We hypothesize this regulation is due to conformational control of the flexible BPB domain of DDB1, which normally confers a large degree of freedom to the alignment of the bound substrate with the incoming ubiquitin tag. We also show that CRL3 is involved in perception of the plant hormone salicylic acid (SA) via the hormone receptor NPR4, which binds to radiolabeled SA over a size-exclusion chromatography column. Finally, we show that NPR4 can be crystallized. We have generated a variety of monoclonal antibodies that bind to NPR4 to improve crystal packing and diffraction resolution. Taken together, these studies highlight the important role that CRLs play in eukaryotic biology as well as the importance of efficient regulatory regimes to fine-tune their activity.Advisors/Committee Members: Zheng, Ning (advisor).

In utero exposure to diesel exhaust air pollution has been associated with increased adult susceptibility to heart failure in mice but the mechanisms by which this exposure promotes susceptibility are poorly understood. To identify potential transcriptional effects that mediate this susceptibility, we have performed RNA-seq analysis on neonatal cardiomyocytes from mice exposed to diesel exhaust in utero, as well as on adult hearts that have undergone transverse aortic constriction. We have identified a neonatal cardiomyocyte dysregulation of 300 genes, including many involved in cardiac metabolism. In the adult hearts, we have identified three target genes, Mir133a-2, Ptprf and Pamr1, which demonstrate dysregulation after exposure and aortic constriction. These target genes in the heart are the first to be identified that likely play an important role in mediating adult sensitivity to heart failure. We followed up on the identified neonatal transcriptional dysregulation by determining whether cardiomyocytes from mice exposed in utero to diesel exhaust have impaired metabolic activity. We observed that the neonatal cardiomyocytes exhibit reduced metabolic activity as measured by pyruvate/glutamate-fueled oxygen consumption. However, the adult mitochondria showed a conflicting increase in metabolic activity as measured by pyruvate/glutamate-fueled respiration, as well as an increased mitochondrial load as measured by the ratio of mitochondrial:genomic DNA. We subsequently examined for DNA methylation modifications both in global regulatory regions and at these candidate loci in neonatal cardiomyocytes after in utero exposure to diesel exhaust and found hypomethylation both globally at CpG-rich regions and in the first exon of GM6307, the gene miR133a-2 is intronically embedded in. We have shown a change in DNA methylation within cardiomyocytes as a result of in utero exposure to diesel exhaust. Taken together, we have demonstrated that in utero exposure to diesel exhaust alters the neonatal cardiomyocyte transcriptional and epigenetic landscapes, as well as the metabolic capability of these cells, and that when these mice undergo heart failure as adults, there are changes in gene expression related to both heart failure and the in utero exposure.Advisors/Committee Members: Chin, Michael T (advisor).

Barth Syndrome (BTHS) is a devastating disorder caused by a single gene mutation in the mitochondrial transacylase, tafazzin (TAZ), which results in impaired lipid metabolism leading to dysfunction in highly energetic tissues, such as the heart and skeletal muscle. TAZ remodels, cardiolipin (CL), a multifaceted phospholipid with roles in mitochondrial bioenergetics, protein import and apoptosis. BTHS, the first known disorder of CL metabolism, manifests through a wide range of symptom, from severe impairment in cardiac function to hypotonia and recurring infections. Current treatment strategies are merely ameliorative in nature and up to 30% of patients still succumb to the disease early in life. A curative treatment is still an unmet need. TAZ enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) could significantly benefit patients suffering from this disorder. The studies presented here focus on the design and development of a recombinant TAZ protein containing a cell penetrating peptide for the treatment of BTHS, along with characterization of tafazzin deficient mammalian models critical for efficacy tests. To better understand the structure of TAZ, the mitochondrial localization signal of TAZ was determined. If successful, these studies could lead to significant improvements in quantity and quality of life for BTHS patients.Advisors/Committee Members: Chin, Michael T (advisor).

Cardiac aging is an intrinsic process that results in impaired cardiac function and dysregulation of cellular and molecular quality control mechanisms. These effects are evident in the decline of diastolic function, increase in left ventricular hypertrophy, metabolic substrate shifts, and alterations to the cardiac proteome. This thesis covers the quality control mechanisms that are associated with cardiac aging, results from an anti-aging intervention in aged mice, and a review of mitochondrial dysfunction in the heart. Chapter one is a review of the quality control mechanisms in aging myocardium. Chapter two consists of the results of several mouse experiments that compare the cardiac function, proteomes, and metabolomes of aged and young controls, along with rapamycin treated aged mice. The novelty of this study comes from the inclusion of a group of animals treated only transiently with the drug, then followed for eight weeks post-drug-removal. This persistence cohort may hold clues to deriving long-lasting benefits of rapamycin with only transient treatment. Chapter three includes more results from the cohorts used in chapter two, from work done by our collaborators in two laboratories at the University of Washington. Finally, chapter four is a review of the mechanisms and phenotypes of mitochondrial dysfunction in the aging heart. The goal of my thesis work is to test the persistence of the improvement of cardiac function by rapamycin treatment, and use the correlating changes in the cardiac proteome and metabolome to discover a novel mechanism of functional improvement of the heart in aged animals.Advisors/Committee Members: Rabinovitch, Peter S (advisor).

Nineteen autonomous EM-APEX floats were air-launched from aircraft to measure the profiles of ocean current velocity, temperature, salinity, and high-frequency velocity variance (u ) 2 under five different tropical cyclones. In the first part of this work, the surface wind stress is estimated by integrating the float velocity measurements in the vertical, assuming a linear momentum budget balance. The biases and uncertainties of estimated are studied carefully, using the simulations of tropical cyclone-induced ocean response in the PricePinkelWeller (PWP3D) model. The results are reliable only before passage of the storms eyes. At wind speeds |U10| = 2540 m s1 the downwind drag coefficient C_ is 1.13.1 103 in the front-right sector of tropical cyclones and 0.81.7 103 in the front-left sector. At wind speeds |U10| > 40 m s1, the C_ is ~ 1.6 103. The angle of drag is mostly clockwise from the wind U10 in the front-right sector of storms. A new parameter, the nondimensional effective wind duration ^*, is proposed as a function of wind forcing, storm translation, and fetch length. The value of ^* is shown to predict the values of C_ and . C_ increases with decreasing ^*. We propose that surface waves with larger amplitude are forced more efficiently by the wind under faster storms, resulting in stronger surface wave breaking and thus higher C_. In the second part of this work, the peak frequency fp and significant wave height Hs of surface waves are estimated under Typhoon Fanapi using a nonlinear least-squared fit of the modeled profiles to the profiles of (u ) 2 measured by the floats, assuming the Joint North Sea Wave Project (JONSWAP) surface wave spectrum. The fp is 0.080.10 Hz, with the maximum fp (0.10 Hz) in the rear-left quadrant of Fanapi. The Hs is 612 m with the maximum in the rear sector of Fanapi. The results are then assessed and compared to the simulations in the WAVEWATCH III surface wave model. The contributions of this work, including the improvements to previous methods for estimating and surface waves using subsurface EM-APEX floats, the estimates of drag coefficients and under five tropical cyclones, and the data-based parameterization of drag coefficients in terms of surface waves effects, are all important to future studies of tropical cyclonewaveocean interactions.Advisors/Committee Members: Lien, Ren-Chieh (advisor), D'Asaro, Eric A. (advisor).

In this dissertation, I use interpretive lenses from ethnomusicology, as well as from tourism and ritual studies, to analyze data derived from two years of ethnographic research in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and in Guinea, West Africa, principally in two contexts of participation: weekly dance classes in Seattle and multi-week drum and dance camps in Guinea. This dissertation seeks to address controversies, understood to mean those aspects about which broad interest exists among participants, but not broad consensus. Such controversies include: romantic relationships between foreign tourists and tour staff in camps in Guinea; the generation of community in dance classes in Seattle; musical authenticity and authority in Seattle; segregation, control, and the manipulation of interpretation during tourism in Guinea; and the touristification of an ethically-problematized ritual in rural Guinea. In proximity to these contested people, practices, and processes, I frame the scene in terms of sameness and difference, following participants in foregrounding issues surrounding ownership, identity, power, agency, and belonging. I find that, while difference appeared to dominate many aspects of the scene, it was the interaction between sameness and difference that bound the scene together across geographies and infused it with value and risk for participants. This interaction between sameness and difference generated the terms and conditions under which participation in drum and dance practice could lead to personal transformation and social cohesion.Advisors/Committee Members: Dudley, Shannon (advisor).

University of Washington Abstract "Punk Rock Calvinists Who Hate the Modern Worship Movement": Ritual, Power, and White Masculinity in Mars Hill Church's Worship Music Maren Haynes Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Dr. Christina Sunardi Music This dissertation presents a critical case study of Mars Hill Church from its founding in 1998 through its closure in 2014 through the lens of the church's music ministry. Led by charismatic and controversial pastor Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church began as a small Bible study and grew into a fifteen-site megachurch across five states, largely drawing young adults between ages 18 and 35. Facing a cascade of scandals and accusations in 2014, Driscoll resigned as lead pastor and the church soon closed and dispersed. Tracing this bounded history through interviews with former members and musicians, archival print and web-based materials, published texts and books, and various participant-observation experiences at Mars Hill campuses before and during the collapse, I explore the multifaceted role of musicians as agents in perpetuating the church's youth culture orientation, precipitating church growth, centering and inculcating certain theologies, and patterning embodied worship experiences. I begin with an exploration of the history of Christian missions, detailing how 20th century European and American missionaries began to decouple Western cultural norms and practices from Christian orthodoxy, focusing instead on infusing Christian messages into indigenous cultural practices. This "missional" framework animated the rise of Christian rock 'n' roll and the Christian Contemporary Music industry. Mars Hill leaders adopted missional discourses to center the genres of punk and post-punk, perceived as authentic local practices in the Seattle context. I thus explore the cultural constructions of punk rock and the adaptations to punk's founding ideologies, politics, aesthetics, and practices that grunge and indie rock musicians and audiences forged to expand aesthetic bounds, form new audiences, and adapt to economic changes. Further, I detail how the church's musical performances of worship songs, Protestant hymns, and new music in the genres of punk, grunge, and indie rock served multiple roles, allowing the church to accrue subcultural capital in the Seattle music scene while simultaneously differentiating Mars Hill as a masculine religious movement within American evangelicalism. Yet Mars Hill Church underwent phases of massive organizational change in the course of its existence, with an effect on polity, theology, and musical style. To account for these intersecting changes, I draw my theoretical framework from the field of ritual studies at the boundary of performance theory, particularly following Catherine Bell who views ritual as a vantage point from which to analyze the production of power and meaning through habituated action. Bell explores how actions, interactions, and speech endow objects, texts, certain personnel or modes of relationship, and so on with meaning(s) thatAdvisors/Committee Members: Sunardi, Christina (advisor).

Marie Jalls (1846-1925) remarkable career and unique contribution to music deserves far more attention than it currently receives. Jall was an acclaimed pianist and a prolific composer, who Liszt rightly described as having "the brain of a philosopher [and] the fingers of an artist." She was the first pianist to perform all Beethoven sonatas in Paris and the first woman to enter the Socit Nationale de Musique, founded by Saint-Sans and his circle in 1871 to promote French contemporary music. Most notably, she distinguished herself by her forward thinking as she became the very first piano pedagogue to become aware of the importance of providing a scientific basis for piano teaching. Aided by French physician Charles Fr, Jall dedicated decades to physiological research, determined to uncover relations between touch, sound and musical thinking. She believed that pianists hands are a vehicle for creative intelligence and have a potential and artistic destination far more superior than the one reduced by our unconscious and repetitive daily gestures. To Jalls perspective, musicians are neurologists who need to combine the act of creating beautiful sound with the physiological aspects of tactile, auditive and visual senses, of which touch is the pathway.Advisors/Committee Members: Terry, Carole (advisor).

Neurologic disorders encompass a broad range of diseases including neurodegenerative (Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's), neurodevelopmental (Autism, Rett syndrome), and psychiatric or mental disorders (Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder). Changes in brain gene expression accompany many of these disorders as demonstrated in studies of human post-mortem tissue. A critical objective in our understanding of gene misregulation in neurologic diseases, which range in heritability, is a comprehensive characterization of the spatial and temporal dynamics of the associated changes and how gene regulatory drivers mediate them. In this work, I explore early gene expression changes in a longitudinal study of Huntingtons disease (HD) mouse models, and survey gene networks enriched for differential gene expression. I go on to investigate the contributions of sequence-specific transcription factors (TFs) to disease-specific gene expression change in HD and psychiatric disorders. I begin with a genome-scale model for TF-target gene interactions by combining publicly available DNase-seq footprinting and brain transcriptomic datasets. Using this transcriptional regulatory network (TRN), we identified TFs whose predicted target genes were overrepresented among differentially expressed genes in neurologic disorders. Following the identification of these predicted driver TFs, I applied multiple functional genomics approaches to characterize their genome-wide binding sites (ChIP-seq), survey the impact of TF overexpression or knockdown (overexpression or CRISPR-Cas9-mediated editing), and assess the functional consequences of variation present in a motif instance (luciferase reporter assay). Together the findings from these studies further our understanding of the functional networks of genes and TFs implicated in neurologic disease and provide a methodological framework for future applications beyond the diseases covered in this thesis.Advisors/Committee Members: Price, Nathan D (advisor), Hood, Leroy (advisor).

A form of dwarfism known as Meier-Gorlin syndrome (MGS) is caused by recessive mutations in one of six different genes (ORC1, ORC4, ORC6, CDC6, CDT1, and MCM5). These genes encode components of the pre-replication complex that assembles at origins of replication prior to S phase. Also, variants in two additional replication initiation genes have joined the list of causative mutations for MGS (Geminin and CDC45). The identity of the causative MGS genes strongly suggests that some aspect of replication is amiss in MGS patients; however, no evidence has yet been obtained regarding what aspect of replication is faulty nor is there a specific hypothesis for how a problem with replication might produce the specific phenotypes of MGS patients. This dissertation aims to characterize the cellular and molecular phenotype of MGS mutations to better understand how they might give rise to the developmental phenotypes observed in humans with this condition. Since the site of one of the missense mutations in the human ORC4 alleles is conserved between humans and yeast, I sought to determine in what way this single amino acid change affects the process of chromosome replication, by introducing the comparable mutation into yeast (orc4Y232C). I found that orc4Y232C yeast cells have a prolonged S phase due to compromised replication initiation at the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) locus located on chromosome XII. The inability to initiate replication at the rDNA locus results in chromosome breakage and a severely reduced rDNA copy number in the survivors, presumably helping to ensure complete replication of chromosome XII. Although reducing rDNA copy number may help ensure complete chromosome replication, orc4Y232C cells struggle to meet the high demand for ribosomes. This finding provides evidence linking two pathways that are not typically thought of as being connected, DNA replication and ribosome biogenesis. Furthermore, it raises the possibility that the phenotypes observed in humans with MGS are a result of defects in a totally unexpected pathwayribosome biogenesis.Advisors/Committee Members: Brewer, Bonita J (advisor), Raghuraman, M K (advisor).

During infection, the sensing of foreign nucleic acids inside an infected cell is often the first line of immunological defense. When DNA or RNA is sensed, one outcome is the production of anti-viral signaling molecules such as type I interferons. Additionally, cells can undergo programmed cell death. Here we describe the mechanism of induction of the programmed cell death pathway, necroptosis, following detection of cytosolic DNA or RNA. Necroptosis is a lytic and proinflammatory form of cell death, that can eliminate infected cells and alert and instruct the immune system. We show that following sensing of foreign nucleic acids, induction of necroptosis relies on the production of both anti-viral interferon, as well pro-inflammatory molecule, tumor necrosis factor.Advisors/Committee Members: Oberst, Andrew (advisor), Stetson, Daniel B (advisor).

Centromeres are specialized regions of eukaryotic chromosomes that ensure faithful transmission of genetic information at each cell division. The molecular architecture of centromeres is defined by evolutionarily dynamic protein and DNA components, which have been proposed to contribute to the origin of new species, while defects in centromeres have been linked to human disease. Centromeres are embedded in regions composed of large arrays of head-to-tail 'satellite' DNA elements, which are not amenable to many conventional genomic analyses. Here, I describe the development of methods for the analysis of repetitive genomic regions and apply these tools to study primate centromeres, which are composed of ~170-bp alpha-satellite units. Although centromeric DNA is known to be polymorphic in humans, comprehensive cataloguing of variants at centromeres has not been possible. To gain insight into centromeric genetic variation, I developed a method that uses single-molecule sequencing for analyzing characteristic sequence periodicities called higher-order repeats that arise in human centromeres. The application of this approach to catalogue inter-individual, population-scale, and disease-associated structural variation identified extensive polymorphism in centromeres associated with binding sites for CENP-B, a sequence-specific DNA binding protein. This work also defined a set of functionally important alpha-satellite dimeric units that are underrepresented in current centromere models and demonstrated aberrations in centromeric sequence in breast cancer. I suggest a role for CENP-B in the evolution and maintenance of higher-order periodicities in centromeric arrays. Although alpha-satellite is present at the centromeres of most primates, the precise mechanisms of evolution of centromeric DNA and the contribution of genetic sequence to the specification of centromere identity remain unresolved. I examined centromere evolution in primates using a combination of data from different whole-genome sequencing methods. This approach demonstrated the presence of higher-order periodicities in all primates and identified an important role for CENP-B in shaping centromeric repeat organization. Further analysis of alpha-satellite uncovered interspecific variation in the presence of short inverted repeats, which may form hairpin and stem-loop structures. Based on these data, I propose a genetic mechanism for centromere specification that depends on the formation of cruciform or other non-B-form nucleic acid structures. Taken together, this work enables the cataloguing of variation in satellite DNA, defines important evolutionary transitions in primate centromeres, and advances a model for primate centromere evolution and a theory for centromere specification.Advisors/Committee Members: Henikoff, Steven (advisor).

This research aims to develop a personalized powered ankle-foot prosthesis. Unilateral below-knee amputees generally have walking gait patterns with temporal, kinematic, and kinetic asymmetries resulting from neuromuscular adaptations required to compensate for the lack of ankle function leading to a host of secondary musculoskeletal impairments. Powered ankle-foot prostheses can restore some ankle function by active compensation at the prosthetic joint. However, current methods are limited by: (i) reliance on able-bodied gait data for trajectory synthesis, (ii) expert tuning of subject specific parameters, (iii) an inability to adapt with the user in the long term, and (iv) a limited amount of mechanical personalization. This work seeks to directly address the first two limitations with a symmetry learning controller that automatically tunes control trajectories by iteratively adjusting the prosthetic ankle torque to match the intact ankle torque in the frequency domain. The challenge is to avoid divergence caused by the time-vary human-robot dynamics. Towards this, a rule based iterative learning algorithm is introduced that adjusts the frequency dependent learning rate based on the changes in error. The symmetry controller could conceivably be adapted for indefinite use e.g., by caching, storing, and rewriting training instances, and thus address the third limitation. To reducing the active requirement of the device, a nonlinear cam-based spring that can be customized to the user and/or activity is introduced, which provides some level of passive personalization (the fourth limitation). The new method enables symmetric ankle moment control and is tailored to the individual. The method was implemented and experimentally verified. Results indicated that symmetry of the ankle moment was significantly increased and unbounded growth of the control signal was avoided.Advisors/Committee Members: Devasia, Santosh (advisor), Klute, Glenn (advisor).

This research investigates the limits of temperature control and estimation when using embedded resistive heaters for adhesive bonding of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) adherends. With the increasing use of CFRP materials, high quality adhesive bonding is important for reducing costs of manufacturing, and improving repair methods. By using carbon fiber heaters to elevate the temperature and cure adhesive within a bond, the process becomes targeted and highly efficient. To accomplish accurate temperature control without placing thermocouples within the bondline, this research develops a method by which to estimate bondline temperatures using surface measurements. Additionally, it is shown that boundary control on an embedded heater can be used to control heat within a heater. This can be used to compensate for variations in heat flow in the bonded adherends to maintain a uniform temperature. This is demonstrated on a single lap joint with a subsurface heatsink. Finally, the use of carbon fiber embedded heaters will be investigated as a means for manufacturing of space structures and habitats.Advisors/Committee Members: Devasia, Santosh (advisor), Tuttle, Mark E (advisor).

Continuum Theory is the study of compact, connected, metric spaces. These spaces arise naturally in the study of topological groups, compact manifolds, and in particular the topology and dynamics of one-dimensional and planar systems, and the area sits at the crossroads of topology and geometry. Major contributors to its development include, but are not limited to, Urysohn, Borsuk, Moore, Sierpinski, Menger, Mazurkiewicz, Ulam, Hahn, Whyburn, Kuratowski, Knaster, Moise, Cech and Bing. After the 1950's the area fell out of style, primarily due to the increased interest in the then-developing field of algebraic topology. Current efforts in complex and topological dynamics, including many open problems, often fall within the purview of continuum theory. This paper covers a selection of the standard topics in continuum theory, as well as a number of topics not yet available in book form, e.g. Kelley continua and some classical results concerning the pseudo-arc. As well, many known results are given their first explicit proofs, and two new results are obtained, one concerning slc continua and the other a broad generalization of a result of Menger.Advisors/Committee Members: Bube, Ken (advisor), Palmieri, John (advisor).

Convex optimization is more popular than ever, with extensive applications in statistics, machine learning, and engineering. Nesterov introduced optimal first-order methods for large scale convex optimization in the 1980s, and extremely fast interior point methods for small-to-medium scale convex optimization emerged in the 1990s. Today there is little reason to prefer modelling with linear programming over convex programming for computational reasons. Nonetheless, there is room to improve the already sophisticated algorithms for convex optimization. The thesis makes three primary contributions to convex optimization. First, the thesis develops new, near optimal barriers for generalized power cones. This is relevant because the performance of interior point methods depends on representing convex sets with small parameter barriers. Second, the thesis introduces an intuitive, first-order method that achieves the best theoretical convergence rate and has better performance in practice than Nesterovs method. The thesis concludes with a framework for reformulating a convex program by interchanging the objective function and a constraint function. The approach is illustrated on several examples.Advisors/Committee Members: Drusvyatskiy, Dmitriy (advisor).

Hybrid perovskite solar cells (PVSCs) have emerged into the academic and industrial communities as a potentially transformative alternative to prevailing silicon technologies. PVSCs have rapidly increased in efficiency in the brief time they have been in the research spotlight, but fundamental material challenges like Pb-toxicity, ionic diffusivity, and stability impede efforts toward commercialization. This has led to significant world-wide investments in the compositional engineering of CH3NH3PbI3, one of the most commonly studied hybrid perovskites for photovoltaics. Throughout the course of this effort, a significant amount of work has been directed at modifying each site in the hybrid perovskite lattice, but the complexity inherent to this material system has complicated rational design. This dissertation presents a series of case studies aimed at elucidating the role that each site in the CH3NH3PbI3 lattice plays in mediating material growth and structural evolution. Chapters 2 and 3 present experimental investigations of the role that halide anion and organic cation sites play in transformation, respectively. Chapter 4 presents a conceptual overview that connects this understanding to the many other techniques being developed to control CH3NH3PbI3 growth. Chapter 5 expands on this conceptual footing to mount a survey of the periodic table to identify species with the potential to modify the metal cation site, and Chapter 6 mounts a focused investigation of transition metal inclusion in CH3NH3PbI3. Relationships between composition, growth, morphology, and resulting properties are uniquely complex in this relatively new class of material. As a whole, the work presented in this dissertation provides a framework to untangle this complexity and rationally motivate continued compositional engineering to eventually facilitate technology translation. Chapter 7 summarizes relationships between composition, growth, and structure along with presenting broader perspective to direct continued efforts toward Pb replacement. A selection of key figures from each chapter are reproduced in this concluding chapter to allow a non-specialist reader to draw value out of this dissertation without requiring a close reading of each topic covered.Advisors/Committee Members: Jen, Alex K.-Y. (advisor).

Increasing voluntary compliance to marine protected area (MPA) regulations will increase the probability of MPA success. This research utilizes qualitative interview research to determine perceptions of the MPA, discover the drivers of compliance and noncompliance with MPA regulations, and recommend ways to improve compliance in two remote MPAs in Maluku, Indonesia: Ay MPA and Koon MPA. Additionally, this research uses two social behavioral theories to understand interview responses and behavior in these sites: Lindenbergs (2001) Goal Framing Theory and Ajzen (1991) Theory of Planned Behavior. This research was conducted with the support of the 5-year Sustainable Ecosystems Advanced (SEA Project), led by the United States Agency for International Development, and is supporting the development of MPAs throughout three Indonesian provinces. Interviews demonstrated that perceptions of the MPA can impact drivers of compliance and noncompliance. Compliance is often driven by expected and realized benefits from the MPA and the social responsibility to behave in a manner that will bring benefits to the community. Noncompliance is often driven by perceived limitations or inability to follow the rules, the undesired perceived loss of freedom as well as the desire to increase ones resources. This research provides site-specific information and recommendations for SEA Project as efforts continue to build management plans and secure government authorization of these two MPAs.Advisors/Committee Members: Christie, Patrick J (advisor).

FishPath is a recently created, web-based, decision support tool for data-limited fishery managers. Throughout 2016-17, it has been beta tested at workshops around the world. Feedback from these workshops has expressed the view that while the content of FishPath is good, users have routinely expressed frustration at the lack of usability and difficulty of synthesizing the results into decision support. This project designed and developed software features for FishPath that will address these concerns. The new features allow for user interaction with the results in order to perform and document the decision making process within FishPath itself. To facilitate easier dissemination of results, a reporting function has also been added. This includes two summary report formats, as well as provides a framework within the software for the creation of additional reports.Advisors/Committee Members: Fluharty, David (advisor).

In this dissertation, I aim to provide a comprehensive view of subjects in Russian and Lithuanian that have a morphological case other than nominative. Non-nominative subjects (NNSs) provide a window into the notion of subjecthood because they are lacking in some core subject properties and yet are still considered subjects. While the constructions that have dative, genitive, and accusative subjects seem to vary greatly, I show that they fall into two groups: those that have subjects with inherent case and those that have subjects with structural case. I propose a uniform way to account for how case is assigned in each construction and for the apparent subject movement that they undergo. In a later portion of the dissertation, I report on an investigation into anaphor binding by these subjects that relies on experimental methodology. In Chapter 2, I focus on inherent non-nominative subjects, which in both Russian and Lithuanian are dative Experiencers. I argue that the two kinds of predicates in these languages with dative Experiencer subjects, psychological verbs (e.g. to like, nravitsja in Russian and patikti in Lithuanian) and non-verbal psych predicates (e.g. sorry, zal in Russian and gaila in Lithuanian), have different argument structures. While both datives are specifiers of an Applicative Phrase, the Theme of a psychological verb is the specifier of a vBEP (following Cuervos 2003 proposal for Spanish) and the Theme of a non-verbal psych predicate is the complement to the predicate. In this chapter, I also account for how NNSs seem to undergo subject movement because they appear pre-verbally in discourse neutral contexts. I argue that T can inherit its uninterpretable -features from Rizzis (1997) Fin head separately from the EPP feature via a modification to Feature Inheritance (Chomsky 2008, Richards 2008b) called Split Feature Inheritance. The NNS moves to Spec FinP to check EPP, and the [u] probe on T is free to undergo Agree with any active DP. In Chapter 3, I turn to the remaining constructions, which I argue to have subjects with structural case. In Russian, sentences with an infinitive as the predicate (i.e. Fleishers 2006 Main Clause Infinitivals) have dative subjects. I argue that these are bi-clausal (following Fleisher 2006 and Jung 2008), but that these subjects are assigned dative case by an embedded non-finite Fin head and then raise to the matrix clause. Here, Feature Inheritance has not occurred and Fin still has the [u] feature bundle which agrees with the subject DP. I argue that this is also the source of the dative case assigned to the subjects of adjunct participial clauses in Lithuanian. The subject in these clauses moves to Spec FinP and is assigned dative via Agree with Fin. Contra Arkadiev (2012), I propose that these clauses are tenseless and therefore lack a TP layer. When these participial clauses are embedded under a matrix verb like sakyti say or matyti see, Split Feature Inheritance is triggered and an Aspect head is what inherits [u]. Because this [u] isAdvisors/Committee Members: Citko, Barbara (advisor), Omaki, Akira (advisor).

This thesis describes a library extending the LinGO Grammar Matrix to support evidentiality. Evidentiality refers to the linguistic phenomenon where elements of a languages grammar express the source of information for a speakers statement. This thesis reviews linguistic literature dealing with evidentiality, proposes an analysis within the Minimal Recursion Semantics (MRS) framework for modeling the semantics of evidentials, and describes the implementation and evaluation of a software library meant to extend the LinGO Grammar Matrix, a software system for the rapid prototyping of grammars, to cover evidentials.Advisors/Committee Members: Bender, Emily M (advisor).

This thesis seeks to examine the intersection of urbanization and climate change and asks how design can play a part in developing sustainable, healthy, vibrant, and adaptive cities. More specifically, it asks How do we design for growing urban landscapes that are threatened by climate change? The city of Sacramento, California is a relevant study site for this topic as it is currently experiencing a new era of growth and development while concurrently being threatened by intensifying weather extremes. The project focuses on the adaptive reuse of a freight railroad track that cuts through the Midtown neighborhood of Sacramento, and proposes re-imagining this space as a pedestrian-focused promenade layered on top of and integrated with functional urban stormwater infrastructure. The project also examines the existing spatial hierarchies of the citys right-of-way adjacent to the project site and suggests strategies for reallocating space to prioritize interactions, activities, and designs that make for better urban life in addition to overlaying a network of climate adaptive strategies. A survey of relevant literature and precedent projects serves as the theoretical grounding for the design framework and proposed implementations. Ultimately, the goal of this project is to create a scalable set of strategies that address the thesis question and adhere to the tenets of the framework, and apply them to the study site as a neighborhood-scale pilot. Strategies for scaling the project up to a regional scale and down to an individual scale are examined with the intent to use this project as a catalyst for lasting positive change on the region, its inhabitants, and other urban environments both local and far afield.Advisors/Committee Members: Rottle, Nancy (advisor).

Organizations face numerous design challenges regarding effectiveness and measurability of success when investing in Information Systems and Information Technology (IS/IT), or information artifacts for short. Some information artifacts produce better informational and transactional results than others, but it is not clearly understood which information artifacts do better, and why. The designing, building, maintaining, and upgrading of information artifacts needs to be better informed, more targeted, and predictably effective. This requires a deeper understanding of context-sensitive artifact evaluation criteria and their link to design choices. Combining qualitative and quantitative evaluation and outcome testing methods promises to be an innovative way to improve artifacts iteratively. The contribution of this study is twofold: It provides an empirical examination and validation of an iterative and phased assessment approach, and it introduces a novel methodological approach. Through empirical testing, qualification, and validation, the results demonstrate that information artifacts can be targeted and improve. This has great relevance to information artifact evaluation and design practice in any organization of any size and any sector. The study employs the TEDS assessment framework and assessment methodology to evaluate and rank 10 iOS mobile sports applications in eight use case scenarios. A design method is developed to leverage the TEDS rater output of screenshots and comments from the evaluations. Through brainstorming, design patterns are identified based on the highest performing assessed applications and used to assist directive treatment development. Feature treatments are created and used in A/B testing by the organization of one of the 10 assessed iOS mobile applications. Upon completion of the A/B testing phase and treatment deployment, a subsequent TEDS evaluation of the application was performed that showed improved ratings for the application.Advisors/Committee Members: Scholl, Hans J (advisor).

In external beam radiotherapy for cancer, high-energy radiation is passed through the pa- tients body from an outside source to kill tumor cells. The challenge is that radiation also damages healthy tissue and organs-at-risk (OAR) in its path. The objective therefore is to devise treatment plans that maximize tumor-damage while protecting healthy anatomies. Treatment planners attempt two separate methods to attain this goal: spatial and biological. The spatial side focuses on the geometry and physics of the problem. The key consider- ation here is the location of the tumor relative to the nearby healthy regions as seen in an anatomical image, and the dose (energy absorbed per unit mass) deposition properties of the radiation beam. The treatment planner prescribes a high dose to the tumor and puts upper limits on the doses delivered to the healthy regions. Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) technology is then employed to tune the profile (fluence-map) of the radiation beam to administer a dose that is as close as possible to this tumor-conforming prescription. Sev- eral mathematical optimization models and solution algorithms for this problem have been developed and embedded into treatment planning systems. The biological side of planning exploits the difference between the dose-response charac- teristics of tumors and healthy anatomies. For example, healthy cells are believed to possess better damage repair capabilities than tumor cells. Thus, treatment is delivered over mul- tiple sessions to give healthy tissue some time to recover between sessions. This is called fractionation. Fractionation also gives the tumor some time to re-oxygenate, which increases its sensitivity to radiation. Tumors, however, proliferate during the treatment course, and hence, too long a treatment course may not be ideal. One key question on this biological side is to determine the optimal number of treatment sessions. This is called the fraction- ation problem. Existing optimization research on the fractionation problem relies on the linear-quadratic (LQ) model of dose-response with tumor- and OAR-specific parameters to approximately capture the behavior of the complex biological system involved. Recent studies have suggested that an integrated approach that simultaneously tackles the spatial and biological sides of the problem may lead to a higher tumor-damage as com- pared to tackling the two aspects separately. The goal in such integrated formulations is to simultaneously find the fluence-map and the number of sessions that maximize tumor- damage while limiting toxic effects of dose on the healthy anatomies. Emerging advances in quantitative functional imaging technologies are enabling planners to observe the tumors actual dose-response over the treatment course. This provides additional opportunities for better-utilizing the LQ model by dynamically adapting treatment plans to further improve outcomes. The challenge, however, is that spatiobiologically integrated formulations based on the LQ model typically yield nonconvexAdvisors/Committee Members: Ghate, Archis (advisor).

This dissertation uses the Northern Song states response to mutinies as a prism through which to view different aspects of the governments response to crisis. To this end, I focus on the suppression of five mutinies in the first half of the eleventh century, a time when the Song government was stable and the army posed little threat to the central government. I look closely at how officials and the emperor understood mutinies and the proposals officials made to suppress them in order to learn more about the nature of Song governance. Through an investigation of the individuals sent to direct and oversee campaigns against the mutineers, I show the qualities the court sought in men sent to put down unrest. In addition, I seek to understand how the physical and human geographies of the regions where mutinies broke out shaped the governments actions. When sizing up the resources of the Song state and the mutineers, both in terms of people and wealth, it is clear that the Song held an overwhelming advantage. However, the mutineers often took steps which challenged the Songs legitimacy, forcing the dynasty to react in kind by denouncing them. With a study of the punishments and rewards distributed to mutineers and the Songs officials and soldiers, we can learn more about the concerns of the state. While the mutineers leaders were usually executed, their followers could and did receive pardons. The rewards and especially the punishments handed out to officials were intended to clarify what the state expected of its officials. Finally, once the mutiny was over, the government sought to restore order, both in clean-up campaigns to root out supporters of the mutiny and by trying to rebuild the states relationship with society.Advisors/Committee Members: Ebrey, Patricia B (advisor).

Introduction: Under the new guidelines for defining and diagnosing high blood pressure set forth by the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, 46% of adults in the United States are now living with hypertension. Hypertension management has traditionally been addressed in clinical settings. However, only 54% of adults with hypertension have their condition under control. Improved partnership among clinic staff, pharmacists, community organizations, and community health workers could bridge community-clinical silos to improve medication adherence and promote lifestyle changes necessary to manage hypertension. Our purpose was to explore partnerships for hypertension management in Washington State. Methods: We conducted 41 semi-structured interviews via telephone with clinics (n=10), community organizations (n=10), pharmacies (n=10), and community health workers (n=11) in Washington State. We asked participants about their partnerships for hypertension management, facilitators and barriers to developing partnerships for hypertension management, and strategies public health could apply to promote these partnerships. We coded interview transcripts in Atlas.ti using deductive and inductive thematic analysis that included a priori codes from the CDC-adapted Himmelman Collaboration Continuum. Results: Participants from the clinical sector, including clinic staff and pharmacists, engaged in partnerships with fewer sectors and at more extreme levels in comparison to participants from the community sector, including community organizations and community health workers. Facilitators to partnership included shared priorities and trust. Barriers to partnership included lack of awareness of community resources, competition (turf), lack of time, and exclusion from electronic health records. Conclusion: Facilitating partnerships among sectors would help patients who have traditionally only received health care within clinical settings access community resources to better manage their condition. Future efforts to promote partnerships for hypertension management should focus on reducing barriers by bringing potential partners together to discuss shared priorities, increasing technological support, and building awareness of community resources. Reducing barriers and leveraging facilitators is key for bridging across clinical and community silos for improved continuity of care and hypertension management at the population level.Advisors/Committee Members: Petrescu-Prahova, Miruna (advisor), Baldwin, Laura-Mae (advisor).

Background: Sentinel events preceding firearm perpetration events could be potential points of intervention to prevent injury and death related to firearm in King County. Objective: To compare risks of firearm perpetration among perpetrators of violent crime, and compare risk of fatal shootings among firearm perpetrators of violent crime. Study Design: Case-control study. Setting and Subjects: Study was conducted in 7 police jurisdiction encompassing 95% of all firearm violent crime cases from 2006 2016 within King County, Washington. Cases were individuals who perpetrated with a firearm, and control were individuals who perpetrated without a firearm. Additionally, fatal shootings were defined firearm crimes where the victims deceased, and nonfatal shootings were firearm crimes where victims did not decease. Result: There were 208 firearm perpetrators and 738 non-firearm perpetrators identified for the study, with 55 fatal shootings and 153 nonfatal shootings. Between firearm perpetrators and non-firearm perpetrators, significant risk factors include juvenile criminal history, adult criminal history, history of firearm injury, education, and number of co-offenders. Between fatal and nonfatal shootings, fatal shooting is associated with type of firearm, history of criminal conviction, drug and alcohol intoxication, and previous exposure to firearm injury. Conclusion: Previous criminal history is associated with an increased risk for firearm perpetration and fatal shootings. Further research should be conducted on interventions and prevention strategies in the criminal justice system, law enforcement agencies, public health institutions, and hospital settings.Advisors/Committee Members: Rowhani-Rahbar, Ali (advisor).