Two essays are focused on semiparametric econometric methods. The first essay investigates applicability of the smooth back tting estimator (SBE) to statistical analysis of residential energy consumption. The second essay attempts to incorporate additivity restrictions into semiparametric stochastic frontier estimation. The procedure described in the first study is used to...
CTIP2 is a C2H2 zinc finger transcription factor that plays important yet poorly understood roles in mouse development. CTIP2 is known to be highly expressed in the central nervous system, skin and T lymphocytes during embryogenesis. CTIP2-null mice die perinatally of unknown causes and exhibit defects in multiple organ systems...
This thesis explores how female characters in the Zorro and Robin Hood stories have changed throughout time, from beginnings until present day. I began my analysis by first researching whether Zorro and Robin Hood existed, and found that Robin Hood was most likely a real man who lived during the...
The clotting protein von Willebrand factor (VWF) binds to platelet receptor glycoprotein Ibα (GPIbα) when VWF is activated by chemicals, high shear stress, or immobilization onto surfaces. Activation of VWF by surface immobilization is an important problem in the failure of cardiovascular implants, but is poorly understood. Here, the authors...
Variation in data is abundant and ubiquitous in real-world applications. Managing variation in databases is, however, difficult and has been extensively studied by the database community. Schema evolution, data integration, and database versioning are examples of well-studied forms of database variation with effective context-specific solutions. However, variation appears in different...
In this thesis, I present the variational database management system, a formal framework and its implementation for representing variation in relational databases and managing variational information needs. A variational database is intended to support any kind of variation in a database. Specific kinds of variation in databases have already been...
Transgenic down-regulation of the Pt4CL1 gene family encoding 4-coumarate:coenzyme A ligase (4CL) has been reported as a
means for reducing lignin content in cell walls and increasing overall growth rates, thereby improving feedstock quality for
paper and bioethanol production. Using hybrid poplar (Populus tremula 3 Populus alba), we applied this...
This thesis examines the origins and outcomes of Operation Paperclip, a program the U.S. government operated in the years immediately following WWII to recruit former Nazi doctors, scientists, and technicians, and capitalize on their research experience. As part of this operation, the U.S. welcomed two doctors who had conducted medical...
This research project examines the growing informal sector of Ukrainian economy and the way global economic changes affect women's lives. It has been noticed by many Western researchers that women have been among the hardest hit by economic restructuring in Eastern Europe. Marginalization from the official labor force led a...
The outsourcing of data storage and related infrastructure to third-party services in the cloud is a trend that has gained considerable momentum in the last decade due to the savings it affords companies in both capital and operational costs. Although encryption can alleviate some of the privacy concerns associated with...