Electronic Thesis or Dissertation

This work encompasses the synthesis, analysis, and optimization of [3.2.1] all-carbon bridged bicyclic compounds, known as resveramorphs (RVM), Studies were conducted using a Caenorhabditis elegans model, where RVMs were tested for antiseizure capabilities. In both applications, RVMs proved potent with activities in the sub-nanomolar level in one case. A structure-activity relationship (SAR) was hypothesized for the identification of the pharmacophore. The six to seven step synthesis route towards the RVM analogues is discussed in further detail. The bicyclization of the RVMs is achieved through a reductive aldol reaction. The reaction suffers from selectivity issues leading to multiple bicyclic products. By following a one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) methodology, attempts at optimization for this reaction were made, however, despite important gains, the overall yields of the bicyclic product remain low. Other products from this reaction have been used to understand the reaction mechanism, which will be the basis for future efforts to further optimize this key step.

Today’s mainstream vehicles are partially automated via an advanced driver assistance feature (ADAS) known as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). ACC uses data from on-board sensors to automatically adjust speed to maintain a safe following distance with the preceding vehicle. Contrary to expectations, ICE vehicles equipped with ACC may reduce capacity at bottlenecks because its delayed response and limited initial acceleration during queue discharge could increase the average headway. On the other hand, ACC equipped EVs can potentially mitigate this effect for having ready torque and quicker acceleration. However, this has not been investigated for cases when lane changers enter from the adjacent lane. ACC could respond differently under these conditions, and this car following behavior is often referred as receiving lane change car following. Carefully planned field experiments on lane change car following demonstrate that lane changes and the subsequent receiving lane change car following from ICE vehicles equipped with ACC increases the gap unless the lane changer and the target lane traffic have identical or similar speeds for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and ACC in the EVs doesn’t increase the gap after lane change increasing capacity for merging compared to ICE vehicles. For ICE, this trend also correlates with the selected ACC gap, with larger gap selection resulting in longer gap following the lane change maneuver and the receiving lane change car following in response. Larger gap setting shows better results after lane change for EVs.

LGBTQ+ individuals currently represent 7.1% of the population yet seek mental health services at rates two to four times higher than average, and present with significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety, stress, substance abuse, and suicidality. LGBTQ+ youth have the highest rates of suicidality of any minority group, with a recent poll reporting 22-32% attempted suicide compared to 5% of non-LGBTQ+ youth. These statistics are influenced by discrimination, stigma, and living in a heterosexist society and can lead to psychological distress, identity concealment, internalized homophobia, and stigma-based rejection explained through Minority Stress Theory. LGBTQ+ polls recently revealed an average of 80% identify as religious and/or spiritual. The purpose of this study is to better understand the risks or rewards of the intersecting identities of religiosity, spirituality and being LGBTQ+. In this quantitative non-experimental design study using Pearson’s R correlation, multiple relationships were found among the variables of spirituality, religiosity, age, being non-white, minority stress, and symptoms. of depression, anxiety, and stress. Multiple regression analysis found that spirituality, religiosity, and minority stress predicted 52% of the variance in depression, anxiety, and stress. Finally, a mediation analysis revealed that religiosity was not statistically significant as a mediator between minority stress and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, but spirituality was statistically significant as a partial mediator of these effects and, therefore, strong emphasis is placed on the benefits spirituality can have among LGBTQ+ individuals.

Supply chain challenges have been significantly affected by both demand and supply on a global level. The selection of manufacturing countries has become critical to firms and their boards, even more so coming out of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The present study focuses on how firms select countries and regions to de-risk future global apparel sourcing, as countries that have been dependable in the past may not be in the future based on frequent environmental jolts, legacy supply chain failures, shifting government policy, and extreme volatility. The result of this study is a decision model for manufacturing country selection. This research was focused on the apparel industry; however, further research may indicate that it is applicable to other industries. A group of criteria was selected, the relative significance of these criterion was determined using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The AHP methodology was applied in a case study as a decision-making tool to enable decision-makers to assess the most suitable countries for manufacturing country selection. The result of this study is a decision model for manufacturing country selection based on multiple criteria weighted by industry experts using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). In developing the model we utilize data from 61 countries representing over 95% of all the global apparel exports, with criteria utilized originating from 10 indices.

Storms in the North Atlantic Ocean are observed on a continual basis yearly. Storm trajectories exhibit random behavior and are costly to society. Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) contains every storm’s track from the year 1851 to 2022. Data of each storm’s track can aid in decision making regarding their behavior. In this article, data analysis is performed on historical storm tracks during the years 1966 to 2022, where access to satellite information is available. Analysis on this data will be used to determine if the storms’ trajectory is statistically dependent on other storm’s trajectories at varying distances in space. The proposed model is a spatial statistical model that is fitted on an in-sample data set to determine the spatial relationship for storm trajectories at all pairwise directions or orientations. Afterwards, the model is assessed on an out-of-sample test data set for performance evaluation.

In this thesis, we will explore different kinds of metamaterial or architectural structural problems, including structures composed of heterogeneous media with bi periodic sub-structures, discrete structures with sub-elements or continuous structures with discrete attached sub-elements. The thesis is composed of seven parts. After having introduced the specificities of metamaterial mechanics, the second chapter is devoted to the vibration of discrete beam problems called Hencky bar-chain model in a stochastic framework. It is shown that the lattice beam behaves as a nonlocal continuous beam problem, both in the deterministic and the non-deterministic analyses. The third chapter considers the vibration of continuous beams with the introduction of shear effects and attached periodically oscillators. A discussion on beam modelling, for example Timoshenko beam models or truncated Timoshenko beam models is included. It is shown that the bandgap phenomenon observed for metamaterial beams can be accurately captured by a truncated Timoshenko beam model which means the last term in the Timoshenko equation is not that important.

Representative bureaucracy theory has mainly been used to understand how identities related to race, ethnicity, and gender influence how bureaucrats administer public services. Although representation through lived experience has expanded the scope of the theory, this theoretical thread has mostly focused on the perspectives of management. In addition, the literature has generally analyzed the values, beliefs, and actions of minoritized bureaucrats rather than those of the racial and ethnic majority. The purpose of this dissertation is to employ lived experience and traditional representative bureaucracy theories to understand the influence of first responders’ experiences with addiction on their viewpoints regarding the humanness and deservingness of clients with opioid use disorder; examine how white first responders perceive clients of different races; and analyze the effect of lived experience on sentiments regarding clients of color.
In this dissertation, I surveyed county- and municipal-level EMS-providers and law enforcement workers in the United States, utilizing a survey experiment and mediation models for the analysis. Results show that indirect and direct lived experiences—respectively, having a family member or friend who has experienced an addiction and feeling addiction has had a direct impact on respondents’ lives—predicted increases in client deservingness, mediated by ascribed humanness and driven largely by EMS-providers. However, responding to opioid overdoses and administering naloxone— on-the-job lived experiences—were associated with reduced deservingness and ascribed humanness in both law enforcement and EMS organizations. Regarding the race of the client, white police personnel had more positive views of white clients with opioid use disorder relative to Black and unidentified clients, with effects amplified by on-the-job and indirect experiences but blunted by direct experiences.

Today’s mainstream vehicles are partially automated via an Advanced Driver Assistance Feature (ADAS) known as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). ACC relies on data from onboard sensors to automatically adjust speed to maintain a safe following distance with the preceding vehicle. Contrary to expectations for automated vehicles, ACC may reduce capacity at bottlenecks because its delayed response and limited initial acceleration during queue discharge could increase the average headway. Fortunately, when ACC is paired with fully electric vehicles (EVs), EV’s unique powertrain characteristics such as instantaneous torque and aggressive regenerative braking could allow ACC to adopt shorter headways and accelerate more swiftly to maintain shorter headways during queue discharge, therefore reverse the negative impact on capacity. This has been verified in a series of car following field experiments. Field experiments demonstrate that EVs with ACC can achieve a capacity as high as 3333 veh/hr/lane when cruising in steady state conditions at typical freeway speeds (60 mph and 55 mph) and arterial speeds (45 mph and 35 mph). Furthermore, speed fluctuations and disturbances that may come from queues forming at or near the bottleneck do not reduce the capacity, unlike ACC-equipped internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, making ACC-equipped EVs outperform ICE vehicles with ACC, as well as human drivers.

Recent success of mindfulness-based interventions in adult and clinical populations, as well as in classroom settings, has spurred the need for a more thorough understanding of mindfulness as a trait that can affect early development of self-regulatory characteristics. The current study used previously collected data on 4th and 5th graders to explore the relationships between trait mindfulness, self-regulation, and stress reactivity, measured using cortisol levels. Self-regulation was measured using effortful control (attention, inhibitory control, and activation control), conscientiousness, agreeableness, negative emotion regulation, and openness to experience. Cortisol findings were significant for negative emotion regulation. Results revealed several significant positive associations between trait mindfulness and several self-regulatory characteristics among people who did and did not respond to a stressor. Further research is necessary to tease apart the unique contribution of individual self-regulatory characteristics, including trait mindfulness, on stress reactivity.

In this research, we use calcite and celestite inorganic model systems to better understand biological crystallization in the presence of organic biomolecules. Our goal is to understand what happens when biomolecules occlude into crystals and how that affects the structural organization. Specifically, we focus on the role the respective biomolecule chemistry plays in regulating the incorporation into a crystal. To visualize and characterize the biomolecule/mineral role in crystallization, a variety of techniques were used to image and analyze the respective model systems. The synthesized single crystals were characterized by light microscopy (LM). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and field-emission SEM (FE-SEM) were used to examine the morphology of the crystals. Structural and topographical analyses were carried out using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and confocal Raman microscopy were both used to characterize functional groups, where Raman spectroscopic mappings provided the region-specific chemical composition of the crystal.