Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute
Rutgers University Community RepositoryNot a member yet
58345 research outputs found
Sort by
Weaving green infrastructure into adaptive reuse development: a focus on suburban office landscapes
No full textEconomic trends and cultural values are directly related to the supply of landscapes and the built typologies that occupy them. To curb the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the coronavirus pandemic, many workplaces in the United States adopted remote and work-from-home arrangements. This has caused a severe shift in the demand for commercial real estate, especially offices. The results are significant numbers of underutilized office landscapes destined for demolition and a change in the American cultural landscape as it relates to workplaces. This thesis investigates how landscape architecture can reimagine idle suburban office buildings via their conversion to residential tenancy. Specifically, when suburban office landscapes outlive their useful life, how may landscape architecture reimagine space to create new opportunities for people and the environment? This question can be rationalized through the principles of adaptive reuse development and its charge to make sites more efficient under new circumstances. The process of converting suburban offices to residential has greater land use implications as housing is densified. Green infrastructure can improve the operational efficiency of these newly converted sites. Quantitative reasoning and market research inform literary review research leading to site selection and a design package of an existing office site in Princeton, New Jersey.M.L.A.Includes bibliographical reference
Advanced bismuth alloys for high-power lithium-ion batteries
No full textLi alloy metals offer an opportunity to significantly increase gravimetric and/or volumetric capacities beyond the conventional anode materials utilized in Li-ion batteries. Bismuth metal (Bi) is unique because of its superionic Li3Bi phase, providing Li+ mobility that is unmatched by other Li alloy metals. However, as with all Li alloy metals, the colossal volume changes that far exceed what is observed in traditional Li intercalation produce particle cracking, ensuing capacity loss, and short cycle life. An abundance of research has explored Li alloy metals such as silicon, tin, antimony, and germanium using a variety of electrode improvement methods often optimized for gravimetric capacity. This dissertation explores the lesser studied bismuth metal with an explicit focus on volumetric applications.
BiF3 is explored as an electrochemical precursor to a Bi nanocomposite with excellent cycling efficiency approaching 500 cycles. The conversion process produces an advantageous local environment and nanometric Bi that can better withstand the dynamic Li alloying/dealloying process. Electrochemical and physical characterization of BiF3, Bi2O3, and Bi2S3 post-conversion show a direct correlation between the smaller Bi crystallite size and the lower ionic conductivity of the Li salt produced in situ. Beyond the BiF3 precursor, the Bi nanocomposite cycle life is further improved with alternative electrolyte formulations and optimized for volumetric capacity using denser conductive alternatives to carbon. A BiF3-derived Bi thin film is also synthesized showing 80% utilization at 104C rate, despite the presence of LiF produced by the conversion process.
Pure Bi films, naturally maximizing for volumetric capacity, are also explored at depth. Films as thick as 12.5 μm are produced, with promising results with respect to areal current density, C rate capability, areal capacity, and volumetric capacity that surpass all Li alloy metal films observed in literature. Formation of the metastable Li2Bi phase is reported here for the first time in a pure Bi film and is attributed as the source of significant cycle life improvement, by as much as 50%. In situ x-ray diffraction and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy are used to learn more about the formation mechanism of Li2Bi, with a proposed crystallographic evolution of all LixBi phases. The 12.5 μm Bi films synthesized are capable of high-rate delithiation, exceed commercial areal capacity metrics, and yield volumetric capacity greater than graphite and other Li alloy metals, all enabled by the superionic Li3Bi.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
Organocatalytic enantioselective sigmatropic rearrangements as novel, green synthetic methods
No full textThe use of organocatalysis in the field of asymmetric chemistry has become of pivotal importance. Parallel is the importance in the development of sigmatropic rearrangements, this class of powerful transformations integral in synthetic chemistry. Recent years have witnessed a notable surge in the development of organocatalytic asymmetric examples. A comprehensive review of reported asymmetric organocatalyzed sigmatropic rearrangements is presented here. Herein we explore the development of a novel Claisen rearrangement catalyzed by dienamine catalysis via a Dynamin Kinetic Asymmetric Transformation. γ-Epimeric aldehydes, undergo rearrangement to afford the enantioenriched product. The transformation proceeds through two sets of conditions accommodating a diverse substrate scope. Furthermore, the development of a novel organocatalyzed enantioselective [1,2]-Stevens rearrangement of ammonium ylides is also reported. Utilizing an isothiourea catalyst azetidinium salts underwent ring expansion to generate proline derivatives. Notably, the reaction conditions extend to encompass an expanded six-membered ring, extending beyond just the azetidiniums.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
Pachakutik! The Ecuadorian indigenous identity: decolonizing social and political Andean society
No full textThroughout nearly 500 years, the Andean highlands were dominated by three different Empires. Tahuantinsuyo, home of the Incan dynasty, was among the most organized and was able to expand its empire from as far south as the end of the Argentinean Andes to Southern Colombia. It was built upon different networks that helped sustain the Empire. Incan scholars that were able to document their history, such as Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, offspring of noble Incan and Conquistador origin, were able to provide his depiction of the ‘peaceful’ transfers of power between the Incan Empire and former nations.
The subjugation of the Ecuadorian highland indigenous peoples initially began with the first Spanish colonization that inflicted a series of social and political shifts within society. The Viceroyalty of Peru thoroughly looked at a series of different adaptations to indigenous peoples, primarily from the Ecuadorian highlands, through various periods of epidemics that would decimate native populations, often eliminating entire villages. As the 19th century began.
Indigenous people were regarded as the “backward, miserable and disposable” race throughout much of the 19th century; with Ecuadorian conservative and liberal governments unraveling a series of economic and international disputes, the indigenous class was left to fend their lives in the hacienda system that remained from the Spanish colonization and utilized by the agricultural and Catholic elites to dominate their horrible and sadistic regulations amongst the Indian farmers.
The new Ecuadorian republic required all citizens to have ‘basic’ prerequisites in order to be considered for citizenship, as Indians were still deemed to be of the ‘other’ within the societal system, let alone ever to influence a white-dominated Ecuadorian political system. Why study the Ecuadorian highlands? Because it is filled with people with an untold story, it is a reason to continue the decolonization efforts to bring the history that has not been told. Today, indigenous peoples of the Ecuadorian highlands continue to be oppressed but also continue to fight for their freedom, the very freedom their great-grandmothers had hoped for in their country.M.A.Includes bibliographical reference
Mango de Azúcar: a novel
No full textMango de Azúcar follows Sol Blumenstein, a twelfth grader in Miami who describes himself as a shapeshifter. Shapeshifting is a way for Sol to engage and communicate appropriately in any given situation. Sol’s shapeshifting begins to fail him after Pupila, an unfamiliar older relative from Bogotá, appears unexpectedly in his house. Her presence and stories bring into question Sol’s understanding of himself and his world. Tensions at school exacerbate Sol’s crisis. His public high school inequitably serves students from his working-and-middle-class immigrant neighborhood, the wealthy white city just east, and the impoverished Black neighborhood just west. Mango de Azúcar is Sol’s retrospective narration of his unraveling and reconstitution. Its narrative branches, roots, and decays as it explores Sol’s understanding of himself, his family, and his world. It asks questions such as: What stories do we tell, or refuse to tell, about ourselves? What forces shape those stories? And how do we reconcile the power we have with the power we don’t?M.F.A.Includes bibliographical reference
Policy implementation and leadership in the context of organizational culture: the case of police killings
No full textThis dissertation focuses on police killings in the United States (U.S.) and examines the impact of policy implementation, organizational culture, and practices in the public sector. The following six consecutive chapters provide a consistent flow of research that examines various facets of police killings as applied to various theories. The dissertation identifies the socioeconomic inequalities in the context of police killings and presents potential policy solutions that can reduce disparities in the use of lethal force. The findings show that organizational culture and practices are the fundamental problems of police mistreatment against minority citizens. In this respect, the latter chapters of the dissertation examine several possible policy options in terms of leadership to address the given use of force issues by the state. The analysis shows that leadership is likely to be effective, but addressing organizational culture and practice issues is fundamental to solving the problem.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
The integrated transportation distance between Markov kernels: theory, optimization, and applications in risk evaluation and machine learning
No full textThis thesis explores the properties and applications of the Integrated Transportation Distance (ITD), a novel metric that quantifies the dissimilarity between probability (Markov) kernels on Polish spaces. The ITD is defined by integrating the Wasserstein distance between conditional probability measures (the values of the kernels) with respect to a given marginal measure. This construction enables a comprehensive comparison of composite probability distributions, considering both the measures' marginal and conditional aspects. We establish the metric properties of the ITD and relate it to various modes of convergence in the space of kernels. Furthermore, we investigate the continuity of the ITD with respect to the marginal measures. Under suitable assumptions on the kernels, such as Lipschitz continuity, we prove that the ITD exhibits Lipschitz continuity properties. These results have important implications for the stability and robustness of the ITD, guaranteeing that small perturbations in the marginal measures and conditional kernels lead to controlled changes in the distance itself. Additionally, we demonstrate that this metric serves as the foundation for an efficient approximation technique, enabling the replacement of the original system's kernel by a kernel with a discrete support of limited cardinality. To facilitate practical implementation, we present a specialized Dual Subgradient Algorithm capable of constructing these approximate kernels quickly and efficiently, without requiring computationally expensive matrix operations. This advancement offers new possibilities for the streamlined analysis and manipulation of stochastic systems represented by kernels. The findings of this research contribute to a deeper understanding of the properties and behavior of the ITD, showcasing its potential as a powerful tool in optimal transport theory and related fields. The ITD offers a promising framework for analyzing and comparing complex probability distributions in various applications. Among them, we highlight the significant contributions of the ITD in Dynamic Risk Evaluation in Markov Systems, Distributed Machine Learning, and Federated Learning. Based on the ITD, we propose a method for approximating solutions to multi-time stage forward-backward Markov systems and develop a particle-based numerical procedure with finite support sets. The ITD is applied to build a recursive approximation scheme for the forward system of a Markov process and estimate the error of the risk evaluation by the errors of individual kernel approximations. This methodology is illustrated by stopping problems and well-known risk measures. We apply the proposed approach to pricing American basket options in financial problems. Furthermore, we illustrate the potential of utilizing the ITD in Federated Learning (FL). It is a Distributed Machine Learning (ML) framework where diverse clients or users collaborate to train a model on a central server while upholding the decentralized nature of sensitive client data. Crucial characteristics of FL include its emphasis on statistical heterogeneity and privacy preservation. We demonstrate that the ITD is perfectly suitable for approximating heterogeneous devices' data distributions, particularly in scenarios involving a large number of devices. In particular, the Dual Subgradient Algorithm is specifically modified for privacy-preserving settings, enabling sensitive data to remain on local devices. This Federated Dual Subgradient Algorithm also finds immediate applications in clustering tasks under the federated setting.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference
Investigating the role of loneliness on episodic memory for social and emotional information
No full textLoneliness, the affective state of perceived social isolation, is posited to shift cognition in ways thatprioritize information about potential social threats. One mechanism through which it is thought to
do so is via increasing memory for social and negatively valenced information. Although some
evidence suggests loneliness can increase memory for certain social and emotional stimuli, results
have been mixed. One potential reason for this is that loneliness may differentially influence
different mechanisms of memory (e.g. scene as compared to associative). In two studies, we
examine how loneliness influences single-item and associative memory for social and emotional
information. In study 1, we assess how loneliness influences scene recognition. In study 2, we
assess the influence of loneliness on item and background (associative) recognition. We also assess
the impact of loneliness on individuals’ approach/ avoid behavior across sociality and valence
conditions. Across our two studies, we find no significant main or interactive effect of loneliness
on memory. Studies find conflicting evidence for a role of emotion and valence in influencing
memory, with study 1 finding neutral items are remembered better than negative items and study 2
finding social information is remembered better than non-social information. We also find no effect
of loneliness on associative memory. But, consistent with prior literature, we find that associative
memory for negative items is worse than for neutral ones. Exploratory analyses suggest loneliness
may influence how individuals make approach and avoidance decisions in encoding, but results
differ between studies and do not translate to effects in memory. Thus, more research is necessary
to understand how loneliness influences different components of memory.M.A.Includes bibliographical reference
Understanding the factors that keep smokers smoking: the role of negative affect in deprived and satiated smokers
No full textTobacco use is a major cause of early death in the United States; however, cigarette smoking is still prevalent in society despite the numerous attempts by the public health sector to decrease the smoking rates of the population. One important factor that contributes to smoking behavior is negative affect. Negative affect in smokers is linked to: a) increased cigarette craving and smoking; and b) relapse in smokers attempting to quit. Negative affect is particularly prominent among withdrawal symptoms that arise within hours during smoking deprivation in regular smokers, and a main motive to continue smoking is the reduction of such negative affect. Thus, it is important to understand how the nicotine-addicted brain responds to negative affect, and how it is modulated under conditions of early deprivation. This study aims to examine the relationship between negative affect in smokers and smoking-related behavioral responses, specifically how smoking deprivation influences the motivation to avoid aversive stimuli and smoking stimuli. During the escape from aversive images task, participants were asked to click a button to terminate exposure to aversive and smoking images. Response time indexed motivation to avoid aversive images between smoking conditions. Neural activity in regions such as the amygdala and the ventral striatum, regions prominently involved in affective processing and avoidance behavior, were examined for effects of smoking deprivation during exposure to aversive images. Results suggest that while deprivation may increase craving and negative affect in smokers, this negative affect may not significantly affect motivation to avoid aversive or smoking stimuli. Results also showed deactivation in amygdala and ventral striatum regions when responding to aversive images. This was contrary to expected hypotheses and may have implications in how smoking cessation interventions are carried out.M.A.Includes bibliographical reference
An investigation of the petrophysical properties controlling the spectral induced polarization signatures of sedimentary rocks
No full textThe induced polarization (IP) method is a non-invasive electrical geophysical technique that detects variations in properties that influence various subsurface processes. Initially deployed for mineral exploration in the early 1900s, the IP method has evolved over recent decades into a powerful tool for hydrogeological and environmental investigations, aiding in interpreting the properties that control the flow and transport of fluids within rocks. This dissertation focuses on the application of the induced polarization method to enhance the understanding of the petrophysical properties of porous sedimentary rocks that are critical for determining the hydraulic characteristics of the near surface. First, we demonstrate that magnetic susceptibility measurements exhibit a surprisingly strong correlation with IP parameters (imaginary conductivity and normalized chargeability), utilizing an extensive dataset of 241 samples, including sandstone, carbonate, and arenite. By combining magnetic susceptibility with pore geometric descriptors (PGD), which are typically used to model IP measurements, we significantly improve the empirical prediction of IP measurements compared to using PGD terms alone. This discovery indicates that even minimal concentrations of magnetic minerals in rocks, often presumed to be devoid of electron-conducting minerals, can markedly affect IP measurements. Next, we utilized the IP method to investigate the electrical properties that control the petrophysical characteristics of 23 mudstone rocks, which have been infrequently reported. Our findings reveal that the permeability and IP parameters in mudstones are primarily controlled by their effective porosity, inversely related to the formation factor. The modified Hagen-Poiseuille equation accurately predicts the permeability of these mudstones, characterized by a nearly constant effective pore radius. This study underscores the significant influence of the IP response, and consequently, permeability, in fine-grained sedimentary rocks. Finally, we assess the relationship between IP parameters (imaginary conductivity and normalized chargeability) and surface conductivity across a dataset of 98 sandstones, carbonates, and mudstones. A strong linear correlation is observed, and the coefficient describing this IP-surface conductivity relationship, known as the proportionality factor, is utilized in an attempt to estimate the apparent formation factor. This approach aligns with previously suggested mechanistic models aimed at improving the interpretation of field-scale resistivity measurements. The estimation of the formation factor is most accurate when applying a proportionality factor value determined from each individual subgroup. In contrast, using external coefficient values as a standard yields poor estimation result. This study emphasizes the challenges associated with using IP measurements to improve the prediction of petrophysical parameters of resistivity measurements.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference