In recent years, unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) have become increasingly affordable and straightforward to incorporate in monitoring applications of forested ecosystems. This shift has facilitated interest in using these tools to monitor aspects of forest ecosystems including vegetation health, forest structure and composition, and potential habitat provided by these systems....
Cell signaling under external stimulation is a critical mechanism that governs many biological processes such as cell proliferation, cell migration, and cell apoptosis, etc. For multicellular organisms, the ability to synchronize heterogeneous individual cellular responses through intercellular communication is crucial to maintain normal functionality. However, even though the biological pathways...
The utility of high-throughput, computational screening has become an invaluable asset to the field of materials science. In the hierarchy of computational methods, the most accurate methods are often the most computationally expensive. However, as both the efficiency and fidelity of numerical techniques advance, high-quality screening of large materials datasets...
The literature on first-generation South Asian American (SAA) mental health is limited despite the increased focus of studies on help-seeking behaviors and subjective well-being over the past decade. Therefore, we designed a web-based survey seeking to address two research questions. Research Question 1 informed Study 1 of this dissertation project:...
Transportation agencies continuously strive to improve driving quality and highway safety, which are both highly correlated with the level of smoothness of the road. The International Roughness Index (IRI) is a widely adopted, standardized metric calculated from longitudinal profile data collected on the road. Inertial profilers are devices mounted to...
The dominant narrative of Asian Americans in higher education is one of high achievement, success, and wellness. Dominant voices of white supremacy have primarily constructed this narrative. Asian Americans are regarded as the model minority or the dichotomous “model” while simultaneously maintaining “minority” status. This study centers on seven Asian...
Multi-robot teams offer promising solutions for many long term deployments in remote and dangerous domains, such as extraterrestrial or underseas exploration. However, long term deployments present many problems preventing robot teams from operating effectively. Learning over long time scales is makes it difficult to assign credit to robots' actions, as...
Radiation exposure to the brain can occur from a variety of events, including space missions, nuclear accidents, and clinical treatments. The effects of high dose radiation are well studied, but those of lower dosage are more elusive. Decline of memory and cognition is observed in patients exposed to low dose...
As technologies like 3D printing increase in prevalence and capabilities, having a robot hand specifically designed for a given manipulation task also becomes more feasible. Leading to the question of how to design a robot hand for a specific manipulation task. To answer this question, I propose we need three...
Unmet healthcare needs and/or delays in needed care are widespread among patients with serious mental illness (SMI). Mental healthcare delivery has changed dramatically over the last two decades. Although access to mental health specialists remains challenging, mental healthcare is now increasingly provided in primary care settings. However, it is unclear...