Browsing FAS Theses and Dissertations by Title
Now showing items 844-863 of 6136
-
Computational and Bayesian Methods for Geographic Data in the Social Sciences
(2023-05-12)Research in the social sciences often involves the analysis of geographic data. These data may be explicitly spatial, with each observation tied to a specific point on or region of the globe, or they may include variables ... -
Computational and Experimental Approaches For Evaluating the Genetic Basis of Mitochondrial Disorders
(2013-10-08)Mitochondria are responsible for many fundamental biological pathways and metabolic processes, including aerobic ATP production by the mitochondrial respiratory chain. In humans, mitochondrial dysfunction can lead to severe ... -
Computational and Experimental Studies in Selective Organocatalysis
(2023-07-25)Chemical synthesis has transformed the ability of scientists and engineers to interact with the molecular world. Yet despite almost two centuries of considerable effort, small-molecule synthesis remains a challenging task. ... -
Computational and Statistical Methods for Characterizing Single-Cell Heterogeneity
(2018-01-19)The emergence of single-cell technologies has highlighted the potential to discover novel cellular subpopulations and states within heterogeneous populations. Such technologies are achieving increasingly higher-throughput, ... -
Computational Approaches to Developmental Biology
(2021-01-20)The origin and evolution of new genes is an active topic of research, relying on the taxonomical diversity now present in sequence databases. Using those databases, we described how \textit{oskar}, a key determinant of ... -
Computational Bioacoustics of Deer Mice: Identifying and Comparing Vocal Syllables Across Species and Infant Development
(2022-06-03)Vocal behaviors are diverse across mammals, but the mechanisms underlying this diversity are poorly understood. Unlike traditional models of vocal behavior such as the laboratory mouse (Mus musculus), deer mice (genus ... -
Computational Empathy
(2021-06-04)In our current environment, computers behave in ways that are unexpectedly different from humans. However, the term “empathy” is defined in relation to human behavior, not computer behavior. Thus, until the general public ... -
Computational Environment Design
(2012-10-26)The Internet has evolved into a platform on which large numbers of individuals take action and join in collaborations via crowdsourcing, social media, and electronic commerce. When designing social and economic systems on ... -
Computational Epidemiology: Methods and Applications for Global Health
(2021-07-12)In this dissertation I discuss the development and application of simulation-based approaches to major challenges in global health. I refer to this general methodological approach as “computational epidemiology”, which I ... -
Computational Harmonic Analysis and Prediction in the Bach Chorales
(2016-06-21)During his lifetime, the Baroque composer J.S. Bach harmonized more than 300 chorale melodies, which collectively have become a pivotal body of music in Western music history and exemplify the composer’s groundbreaking ... -
Computational Methods for the Analysis of Single-Cell Transcriptomic Data and Their Applications to Cancer
(2018-08-17)Single-cell sequencing methods have allowed for a closer view into the heterogeneity of cell populations, down to the level of the individual cell. In particular, single-cell transcriptomic data provides a detailed map ... -
A Computational Model of Music Composition
(2015-05-17)This thesis documents my research into formalized score control, in order to demonstrate a computational model of music composition. When working computationally, models provide an explicit formal description of what objects ... -
Computational Modeling and Design of Soft-Robotic Pneumatic Fingers for Functionality and Durability
(2022-07-19)Soft robotic actuators, such as pneumatic bending bellow actuators, have shown promise as grippers for robust, adaptive, gentle grasping. The effects of select geometric parameters on bellow actuator pressure-curvature ... -
Computational Modeling of the Baryon Content of Galaxies and Clusters in Cosmological Simulations
(2021-07-12)Cosmological simulations aim to self-consistently model the physics that shapes the distribution of baryons in our Universe. Galaxy mergers and feedback from supermassive black holes are some of the most violent physical ... -
Computational Prediction of Alternative Translation Events
(2023-12-20)The regulation of gene expression is a fundamental and exquisitely orchestrated molecular process, ensuring the proper synthesis of proteins for cellular function. In the classic canon of molecular biology, mRNA is ... -
Computational Questions in Evolution
(2012-10-23)Darwin's theory (1859) proposes that evolution progresses by the survival of those individuals in the population that have greater fitness. Modern understanding of Darwinian evolution is that variation in phenotype, or ... -
Computations and Algorithms in Physical and Biological Problems
(2014-06-06)This dissertation presents the applications of state-of-the-art computation techniques and data analysis algorithms in three physical and biological problems: assembling DNA pieces, optimizing self-assembly yield, and ... -
Computer Science on Campus: Technology, (Inter)disciplinarity, and the Transformation of the American University
(2022-05-12)This dissertation explores how computer science became a discipline in the United States and how this process of discipline formation and institutionalization shaped the content and culture of computer science. Like other ... -
Computer Simulations of Protein Folding and Evolution
(2013-10-14)Computer simulations for investigating protein folding and evolution are presented. In chapter 1, an all-atom model with a knowledge-based potential is used to study the folding kinetics of Formin-Binding protein. We study ... -
Conceiving an American “Secularism”: A Contested Category and the Remaking of US Law, Religion, and Civic Life, 1851-1914
(2023-11-21)This dissertation explores the contested meanings of “secularism” that developed after the term was first coined in 1851. With particular attention paid to first-order invocations of “secularism” during the so-called “Golden ...