University of Illinois at Chicago
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Travel Behavior Dynamics in Multimodal Urban Transportation Systems: Public Transit and Active Mobility
No full textIn the context of transportation planning, addressing heterogeneity in travel behavior is essential for developing user-centered and inclusive transportation systems. This dissertation explores the dynamic pattern of travel behavior by investigating the heterogeneity of travel behavior among urban mobility system users, focusing on multimodal transportation services in the Chicago Metropolitan Area. The research examines heterogeneity of travel behavior within the Chicago Metropolitan Area by integrating multiple dimensions of mobility, including public transit use and active mobility safety, specifically pedestrian and micromobility safety. Understanding these behavioral dynamics is essential for developing inclusive, user-centered transportation systems and for identifying the socio-economic disparities in urban mobility services. Through three complementary studies, this dissertation highlights both structural and behavioral differences influencing mobility outcomes and presents an integrated framework to assess mobility gaps and guide policy strategies that enhance transportation benefits for marginalized and transit-dependent communities.
The first study explores heterogeneity in factors influencing public transit rider satisfaction and loyalty focusing on the differences between captive (transit-dependent), choice, and voluntary riders. Moreover, the study identifies both one-dimensional and intersectional heterogeneity across gender, income, education, and physical ability. The results reveal that distinct rider cohorts value different aspects of service quality, such as reliability, comfort, and accessibility. We translated this heterogeneity into policy implications specific for each rider group. The findings highlighted service gaps and associated outcome of dissatisfaction of each rider group.
The second study investigates racial and spatial disparities in pedestrian safety, focusing on how built environment and neighborhood-level characteristics contribute to uneven exposure to crash risks. Since walking is integral to first- and last-mile transit connections, pedestrian safety represents a critical component of mobility for transit-dependent population. Using spatial econometric models and historical crash data, the study uncovers how racial segregation affects pedestrian crash risk. The findings highlight the structural nature of safety inequities and emphasize the importance of equitable infrastructure investments in mitigating pedestrian crash risk in marginalized communities.
The third study examines the attitudinal and socio-economic determinants of risky riding behavior among shared e-scooter users, a rapidly expanding micromobility mode. The analysis reveals that unsafe riding attitudes and riding confidence are the most influential predictors of risk engagement, while accident experience, infrastructure suitability, and risk perception also play significant roles. We demonstrated that the socio-demographic characteristics particularly gender, age, education, and car use frequency further shape behavioral heterogeneity. The results advance understanding of how psychological and contextual factors shape micromobility safety offering insights for policymakers and vendors seeking to design safer operational environments.
The findings of this thesis offer valuable insights for policymakers, planners, and transit agencies highlighting the need for integrating heterogeneity in travel behavior into transportation planning and equity analyses within urban planning. By identifying dynamics of travel behavior, this research informs strategies for improving transit infrastructure, enhancing pedestrian environments, and addressing disparities in the public transportation systems. Ultimately, the recommendations from this research can inform decision-makers in designing and planning urban transportation systems that are inclusive, equitable, and responsive to the diverse needs of all users particularly marginalized and transit-dependent communities
Elastic and Thermoelastic Stresses in Biomedical Sensors and Bicomponent Fibers
No full textThe performance and structural integrity of polymeric systems are strongly influenced by elastic and thermoelastic stresses. This dissertation examines these stresses within a unified framework spanning two areas: the development of composite biomedical sensors and the analysis of bicomponent fibers. To address the clinical need to prevent medical device-related pressure injuries (MDRPIs), a mechanochromic sensor was designed and fabricated from elastomeric films embedded with silica nanoparticles. The sensor exhibits a distinct, reversible transition from transparent to opaque white within pressure levels clinically associated with the onset of tissue ischemia, providing a low-cost, real-time method to identify harmful tissue loading. In parallel, thermoelastic stress-induced delamination in bicomponent fibers, a critical failure mode in advanced textiles, was investigated. A customized blister test was devised to quantify interfacial adhesion energy for industrially relevant polymer pairs such as polypropylene/polyethylene (PP/PE). Analytical models were developed to predict thermoelastic stress distributions across common fiber cross-sections, with the experimentally measured interfacial adhesion serving as the critical threshold for evaluating the predicted stresses and anticipating delamination. The study also assesses the role of compatibilizers in modifying interfacial adhesion and outlines strategies to mitigate delamination and strengthen bicomponent fibers. By integrating experimental characterization with theoretical modeling, this work provides fundamental insight into stress-driven behavior and practical guidance for materials used in healthcare and high-performance fiber technologies
Playing with Anger: Lessons from Contemporary Black Feminist Dramas
No full textWithin a society that often directs its anger toward Black bodies while dismissing the anger of those connected to them, the plays of 21st-century Black women serve as windows into the enduring cultural imprints of injustice enacted against Black people—both globally and, in particular, within the United States. Although scholarship has examined representations of Black anger more broadly, theatre as a site of Black feminist affective expression remains underexplored. This dissertation engages this line of inquiry through a Black feminist affective framework to theorize the manifestations and functions of anger in three contemporary plays: Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Fairview (2018), Dominique Morisseau’s Confederates (2022), and Aleshea Harris’s What to Send Up When It Goes Down (2019). Through close reading, I analyzed how these plays represent and articulate Black women and girls’ angers and speak back to an anti-BlackAnger culture that subjugates and dehumanizes Black people by disqualifying their rights to anger and the knowledge produced by their feelings and expressions.
Through this analysis, I identify three central themes: anger as (re)membrance, which affirms Black anger in bereavement and in the face of generational dispossession; mangled kinship, which expresses anger at the limits of affinity and the fractures of false kinship; and anger at the white gaze, which exposes the psychic and embodied effects of living under its constant surveillance. I also trace the literary and performative strategies through which these plays communicate anger. Ultimately, I argue that anger operates as a dramaturgical orientation and an affective pedagogy—one that reframes emotion, reshapes spectatorship, and generates new narratives about Black women and girls
Ten Cuidado: Gendered Carceral Care Work & Miseducations of Love in Latina/o Youth Intervention
No full textThis dissertation is an ethnography of a juvenile “delinquency deterrence” program housed in a California police department that I call the Protecting Kids Program (PKP). The program is run by Latina/o officers with the goal of keeping Latina/o youth in school and out of trouble. Through a year-long ethnography, consisting of over 700 hours of observations of mentorship sessions, intake interviews with families, field trips, life-skills classes, and community programming, I analyze how the PKP works to redirect youth labeled as “at risk” while simultaneously reproducing forms of surveillance, discipline, and control. Building on scholarship across carcerality, Black feminist thought, juvenile justice, Latino/a Studies, and youth intervention, I show how the PKP functions as a “soft” arm of crime prevention that merges care practices with institutional policing mandates. Using a theoretical framework based on bell hooks’ “miseducations of love,” I suggest that punishment and care become inextricably linked in programs like the PKP. I argue that the PKP embodies a form of carceral care work that merges emotional labor with policing, using ethnoracial kinship to legitimize control. Latino officers’ attempts to help youth are deeply shaped by their own histories of marginalization, aspirations for mobility, and desires to improve their communities. Yet, these efforts reproduce carceral logics that frame success as compliance and belonging as conditional. Through the daily practices of the PKP, care becomes another pathway through which carcerality enters the lives of Latino/a youth
LOSS OF MFAP5 AND ITS EFFECT ON SKIN HOMEOSTASIS AND WOUND HEALING
No full textMFAP5, also known as microfibrillar-associated glycoprotein-2 (MAGP2), may influence parameters of skin wound healing related to scar formation. To further elucidate its role in skin wound healing, we assessed skin wound repair in Mfap5-/- mice. Loss of MFAP5 reduced external wound closure, angiogenesis, and enhanced neutrophil and macrophage wound influx. Loss of MFAP5 also reduced the deposition of total and mature collagen in uninjured normal skin (NS), but not in wounds. Furthermore, NS dermis of Mfap5-/- mice was thinner without any reduction in tensile strength. Single-cell RNA-sequencing of NS and wounds from Mfap5+/+ and Mfap5-/- mice revealed two fibroblast subclusters that express MFAP5 more highly than other subclusters. Enrichment analysis of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in these two subclusters suggests these fibroblasts engage in extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and angiogenesis. Mfap5+/+ and Mfap5-/- fibroblasts also exhibit transcriptomic differences throughout in vivo wound healing, though as healing progressed, fewer differences were evident. To examine the direct effect of MFAP5 on fibroblasts outside of the wound space, fibroblasts were isolated from Mfap5+/+ and Mfap5-/- mice for in vitro analysis. MRNA-sequencing of Mfap5+/+ and Mfap5-/- fibroblasts found genes involved in cellular migration and proliferation, ECM synthesis, and angiogenesis to be downregulated in Mfap5-/- fibroblasts vs Mfap5+/+ fibroblasts. Functionally, Mfap5-/- fibroblasts exhibited reduced migration, contractility, proliferation, and ECM deposition. Our findings suggest MFAP5 is a multifunctional glycoprotein in skin wound healing, as it has a role in regulating wound closure, angiogenesis, collagen deposition, inflammatory cell influx, and fibroblast behaviors related to scar formation.</p
Exploring factors influencing the adoption and use of digital health technology for HIV management among older adults living with HIV: A qualitative study
No full textAbstractBackgroundThe intersection of aging and HIV presents unique challenges in healthcare, with older adults living with HIV experiencing compounded health issues. Advances in technology, including digital health tools, offer opportunities to improve self-management and care delivery. However, older adults living with HIV face barriers in adopting these digital health tools due to socio-cultural factors and technological challenges.ObjectiveThis study explores the factors influencing the adoption of digital health technologies for HIV management among older adults, aiming to identify strategies to improve accessibility and effectiveness of these tools.MethodsA qualitative descriptive study using interviews was conducted within a larger research program on virtual care for socio-culturally diverse older adults. Data were analyzed using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to identify barriers and facilitators to technology adoption.ResultsFourteen older adults living with HIV (mean age 58.7, SD 6.5) participated in the study. Key themes included self-management, perceived usefulness, and ease of use, with older adults living with HIV using technology for health tracking and symptom management. Barriers such as affordability, linguistic diversity, and complex user interfaces were identified, along with concerns about privacy and stigma. Facilitators included peer influence, perceived utility of tools, and ease of navigation. Participants emphasized the importance of transparency in consent processes and the need for technology to accommodate cognitive and sensory impairments.ConclusionThis study highlights the need for tailored digital health interventions that address the unique challenges of older adults living with HIV. Future technologies should prioritize user-friendly interfaces, accessibility, and clear consent processes to enhance adoption and engagement.</p
Building on a Legacy of Children's Mental Health: A Systematic Review of Early Childhood Social-emotional Learning and Expulsion Prevention Professional Development
No full textNo description supplied</p
Analysis of Salivary Microbiota in Patients with Full-arch Implant Supported Fixed Prostheses
No full textThe oral cavity is naturally colonized by a large number of different microbial species that are in a state of equilibrium. Dysbiosis can be caused by either changes in local or systemic conditions and is associated with increased risk of caries, periodontal disease, oral cancer and systemic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc. Use of dental implants for rehabilitation of fully edentulous patients or those with terminal dentition is now a common practice. However, little is known on the influence of prosthetic material of full-arch implant supported fixed prostheses on overall salivary oral microbial profiles. Additionally, the significance of removing and cleaning the prosthesis at recall visits on the microbiome is yet to be determined. This study compares salivary microbiomes in subjects with either a zirconia or acrylic-metal prosthesis. Completely edentulous subjects rehabilitated for at least 1 year with either a zirconia or acrylic-metal full-arch implant supported fixed prosthesis were included. Stimulated salivary samples were collected with the prostheses in place at baseline prior to removal and cleaning of the prosthesis and after 1 week, 1 month and 3 months following cleaning. Oral microbiome changes were assessed using 16S rRNA gene high throughput sequence analysis with QIIME2 to obtain Amplicon Sequence Variants which by using the Human Oral Microbiome Database (HOMD) are converted to relative levels of bacterial taxa. Gain or loss of microbes and changes in abundance and diversity during treatment were evaluated. Alpha and beta diversity analyses were performed to determine changes in salivary microbiome with cleaning and differences due to clinical factors. Salivary microbial profiles were compared among the different superstructures and longitudinally with time after cleaning the prosthesis. Associations with clinical assessment parameters were also evaluated to determine if the salivary microbiota reflects the clinical condition of the dental implants. For this, the following parameters were collected at baseline: bleeding on probing, probing depths and marginal bone loss. Subjects with signs of peri-implant disease such as bleeding on probing and marginal bone loss are anticipated to have a salivary microbial profile reflective of diseased state with higher red and orange complex bacteria. Our study found that the number of species of bacteria decreases after prostheses are cleaned. There is a lower number of species in the saliva of those with zirconia prostheses which is consistent with the prosthesis being cleaner. In addition, bacteria were identified to be different between the zirconia versus acrylic prostheses. Lastly, no significant differences were noted when determining bacterial taxa associated with peri-implant health versus disease. Therefore, few overall differences were dependent on the presence of peri-implant disease. The results of this study support a concrete decision-making process for choosing appropriate implant supported prostheses for edentulous patients and possible benefit of removing the prosthesis for cleaning. On the treatment side, perhaps we could selectively target and block functional pathways that are essential to those taxa identified as differentially abundant in peri-implant disease
The Givens-Theus Archive: Collection Management, Memory, and Narrative
No full textUsing personal narrative through family photographs and ephemera, this thesis will analyze the
process of creating a family archive, collection care, and genealogy. This paper focuses on over
400 photographs and pieces of ephemera from the Givens-Theus Archive I created. I rehomed,
digitized, and cataloged these items while collecting family stories to understand this material
within and outside the national narrative. I will argue that a radical reading of my family’s every
day or quotidian material history achieves futurity outside of the institution of the museum. The
ability to research, examine, and archive material culture should not be limited to institutions like
the museum, which often removes the context and affect necessary to understanding individual
history and archiving material. I utilized the methods of oral history and critical fabulation and the
methodologies of Black feminist museology and memory activism for this project
The Role of Adipose-Specific Free Fatty Acid Receptor 2 in Obesity and Associated Metabolic Dysfunction
No full textObesity and related metabolic disorders are often characterized by chronic adipose tissue
inflammation, driving systemic insulin resistance and general metabolic dysfunction. Free
Fatty Acid Receptor 2 (FFA2/GPR43) has emerged as a potential modulator of adipocyte
function, inflammation, and metabolism. To investigate the role of FFA2 expressed in the
adipose tissue, we generated adipose-specific FFA2 knockout mice (Adipoq-F2-KO) and
assessed metabolic outcomes under normal chow and high-fat, high-sugar Western diet
conditions, both with and without dietary fiber supplementation. We found that adiposespecific
FFA2 deletion had minimal metabolic consequences under standard dietary
conditions but significantly reduced body weight and adiposity when mice were fed a fibersupplemented
Western diet. Surprisingly, these lighter knockout mice exhibited
heightened adipose inflammation, characterized by increased macrophage infiltration and
pro-inflammatory cytokine expression, independent of differences in food intake or energy
expenditure. Transcriptomic and fecal analyses indicated impaired intestinal lipid
absorption as a primary driver of reduced adiposity, suggesting disrupted adiposeintestinal
communication. Furthermore, in vitro knockdown experiments in adipocytes
revealed that loss of FFA2 impaired adipocyte maturation, lipid storage, and antiinflammatory
signaling. Further studies using intestinal epithelial cells exposed to
adipocyte conditioned media implicated adipose-derived signals in driving intestinal
dysfunction. Collectively, our findings highlight adipose-specific FFA2 as critical in
regulating adipose tissue inflammation, lipid metabolism, and inter-organ communication,
suggesting it as a potential therapeutic target for metabolic disease
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