Chapter 2 presents a conceptual model of a river network that includes barriers, generating the fundamental hypothesis that intact and failed barriers create patchy features that store and release water and sediment. In chapter 3, a detailed geomorphic comparison of free-flowing and impounded channels shows that beaver dams decouple stream reaches, where distinct differences in adjacent channel reaches are explained by the presence of beaver dams. Observations of fine sediment deposits in steep reaches downstream of dams and of net sediment losses from old ponds support the hypothesis that beaver ponds store and release sediment.

The hydrologic study of chapter 4 shows that the river channel through a beaver meadow loses water during rain events and subsequently gains water during recession, confirming the hypothesis of storage and release of water. Additional water gains during storm recessions in excess of the volume lost during the events, along with significantly lower runoff rates in the meadow channel during the events, suggest additional storage and subsequent release of upland runoff by the meadow.

Chapter 5 examines summer water temperature at the streambed, which further demonstrates the patchiness generated by the intact and failed beaver dams. A distinct cold pool exists at a scour hole generated by a dam failure, and beaver dams buffer water temperatures upstream. As chapter 6 concludes, this patchiness should be further researched as a target for river restoration efforts where natural dams cannot be directly restored.

Based on Ag₂O/Zn₂SnO₄ hybrid nanowire arrays grown by a unique oxide catalyzed one-step vapor phase growth process, a unique reversible response upon oxygen/ethanol ambient was discovered due to the catalytic effect induced by decorated Ag₂O nanoparticles. This instrumental reversible gas sensing mechanism has been found to be generally applied in various binary metal oxide semiconductor nanowires, such as ZnO/Ag₂O, SnO₂/Ag₂O, and ZnO/SnO₂/Ag₂O hybrid systems.

To enhance the high temperature stability of ZnO nanowires, perovskite (La,Sr)CoO₃ (LSCO) nanoshells were coated onto their surfaces using solution or vapor phase process on Si and quartz substrates. The layering of LSCO shell onto ZnO nanowires has successfully enabled significant improvement of the chemical and structure stability in both oxidative and reductive atmospheres at high temperature up to 1000^oC compared to the bare ZnO nanowires. A synergistic stabilizing effect between the comprised ZnO core and LSCO shell is proposed to be responsible to this enhancement. A unique photo-responsive humidity sensing mechanism has been demonstrated based on the ZnO/LSCO core-shell semiconductor nanowire arrays. Furthermore, at elevated temperature up to 800^oC, improved sensing performance is achieved on the ZnO/LSCO nanowire arrays to various gases including O₂, CO and SO_x, compared to ZnO nanowire arrays based sensors.

The purpose of this study was to develop a metastory of nonbiological lesbian mothers’ postpartum experiences. This author employed narrative analysis utilizing Riessman’s (1993;2008) structural approach to thematic analysis to understand the postpartum experiences of nonbirth lesbian mothers. Ten nonbirth lesbian mothers were interviewed. Each mother shared a unique story of her first year of motherhood. Themes were individually analyzed within each story. The meta-story of the postpartum experiences of non-birth lesbian mothers revealed six overarching themes including: At the mercy of health care providers, Nursing is the major difference between us, Defined by who I am not, Trying to protect my family: The world can take them away, What’s in a name?, and Epilogue: The new normal. Stories remained intact within the portrayal of the metastory illustrating the postpartum experiences of nonbirth lesbian mothers.

This study adds valuable insight to clincial practice. The perspective of the nonbirth lesbian mother is virtually absent in the literature. Nonbirth lesbian mothers have significant health disparities. Health care providers can be instrumental in providing more sensitive care to lesbian mothers and their families. Recommendations are made for clincial practice, education, leadership and research. Nursing has been silent on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) health issues. This study compels nurses to take a stand on public issues related to the LGBT community.

Multivariate analyses show differential influences of racial background and socioeconomic status by gender. For girls, positive expectations of sexual pleasure are stratified along racial lines. For boys, positive expectations of sexual pleasure are stratified not by race, but by traditional social capital measures. Parental education level, high school grade point average, and attendance at a private school are all positively associated with expectations of sexual pleasure for boys.

In terms of long-term effects, I find distinct differences between the effects of adolescent sexual behavior and sexual pleasure attitudes for both men and women. Estimates from generalized linear models show that expectations of sexual pleasure do not have negative effects on contraceptive use and sexual behavior in adulthood. I also find that sexual pleasure attitudes in adolescence have significant positive effects on other long-term outcomes (such as educational attainment and personal income), holding traditional control variables constant. These findings can be used encourage parents, teachers, and policymakers that a positive, shame-free approach to adolescent sexuality is not harmful, and is even beneficial to a child’s long-term health and well-being.

Since gp96, TLRs, and macrophages have all been implicated in cancer, we decided to further explore their role in tumorigenesis. We therefore utilized a macrophage-specific gp96 knockout (KO) mouse to study the role of macrophage-derived gp96. Both wild type and KO mice were treated with either Dextran Sulfate Sodium (DSS) alone to induce colitis, or Azoxymethane plus DSS to induce inflammation-associated colon tumorigenesis. KO mice are protected from both diseases, suggesting that macrophage-intrinsic gp96 plays a promoting role. Mechanistically, gp96 induces IL-17, IL-23, TNFα, Wnt signaling, and β–catenin mutations while reducing CD4⁺IFNγ⁺ cells. Our data thus help to explain the manner in which gp96 promotes cancer, thus identifying possible targets for therapeutic development.

To achieve this efficiently, this work integrates two novel algorithms, namely: ML-DS (Multi-Level Deterministic Sampling) and AC-CS (Associative Classification with Clonal Selection). AC-CS is a deterministic sampling algorithm that attempts to improve accuracy without sacrificing the running time. It begins with a large sample deterministically selected from the dataset and then proceeds in levels. First, it divides the remaining data into disjoint groups of equal size. Each group in turn is recursively divided into smaller disjoint subgroups of equal size. A distance measure is then determined for each subgroup against the original group. Subgroups with minimum distance are retained while others are discarded. The process is repeated until the size of the remaining transactions is equal to a desired sampling threshold. We employ this sampling strategy to pick a representative training sample to begin with. AC-CS is an AC algorithm inspired by the clonal selection algorithm. The algorithm begins with a small population of frequent single item rules. These rules then go through a process of cloning, mutating, and pruning for several generations. Only high quality rules are added to the memory pool. These rules are applied in turn to classify a testing datasets. In a nutshell, upon picking a representative sample of the original data, the approach proceeds in an evolutionary fashion to populate only rules that are likely to yield good classification accuracy. Empirical results on several real datasets show that the approach generates dramatically less rules than traditional AC algorithms.In general, the accuracy of AC-CS with sampling is very close to that without sampling. However, there is a clear reduction in the running time on all datasets. This indicates that our sampling approach is very effective in producing a good representative sample of the original full dataset. In addition, the proposed approach is significantly more efficient than traditional AC algorithms while achieving a competitive accuracy.

In chapter 2, building on Bošković’s (2008a, 2012) claim that languages without articles lack DP, I investigate the status of DP in Mandarin Chinese (MC). I examine previous literature and show that claims regarding the existence of DP in MC are not supported and provide evidence that the DP projection is indeed missing from the nominal structure of MC. In chapter 3, I examine the null argument paradigm in MC and argue that the phenomenon of AE, in which the argument is elided in the PF component, is independently attested in MC. In chapter 4, I propose a new theory of AE, where the licensing condition on AE is tied to the absence of DP. In other words, AE may only occur in languages without the DP projection. I propose that the lack of DP makes VP (rather than vP) a phase in these languages. As a consequence, the direct object of the verb, which is the complement of a phase head, may be elided in the PF component, resulting in the phenomenon of AE. In chapter 5, I explore the second consequence of the lack of DP: its relation with numeral classifiers. Examining various languages, I establish a correlation between the existence of a numeral Classifier (CL) system and the lack of DP, which states that numeral CLPs do not co-occur with DP in the same language. I also examine CLP systems in Japanese and MC as case studies to capture certain differences in their nominal domains.