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Folded Sub-1V Vπ Thin Film Lithium Niobate Phase Modulator
No full textThis article was originally published in IEEE Photonics Technology Letters. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/LPT.2025.3544127.
© 2025 The Authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This work reports a sub-1 volt drive voltage (V π ) folded phase modulator utilizing capacitor-loaded traveling wave electrodes (CLTWEs). The implementation employs a low-loss CLTWE on a quartz (Qz) substrate, facilitating both broadband index matching and minimal RF loss. A series of phase modulators of varying lengths have been fabricated and subjected to experimental characterization. The measured loss for straight CLTWEs is 0.21 dB/(cm ⋅ GHz 1/2 ). The experimentally determined DC V π is 0.52 V for a modulation length of 7.5 cm.This work was supported in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and in part by the staff at Phase Sensitive Innovation (PSI) and the University of Delaware Nanofabrication Facility (UDNF)
Biomimetic cancer cell membrane-wrapped nanoparticles for dual photothermal therapy and photoacoustic imaging of triple-negative breast cancer
No full textDay, Emily S.Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for approximately 15-20% of all breast cancer diagnoses and is the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat subtype of breast cancer due to the absence of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)—key targets for existing hormonal and targeted therapies. As a result, the standard treatment for TNBC remains non-specific chemotherapy, often combined with surgery and/or radiation. However, these treatments have limitations, resulting in high rates of recurrence, metastasis, and poor prognosis. There is an urgent need for more effective, tumor-targeted therapeutic and diagnostic strategies that improve patient outcomes while minimizing systemic side effects. ☐ Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a promising non-invasive cancer treatment in which light-sensitive nanoparticles (NPs) such as gold nanoshells (NS) are injected intravenously and once they arrive at the tumor site an externally applied laser is used to irradiate the NPs, causing them to convert the light energy into heat to thermally ablate the tumor. Excitingly, PTT mediated by NS coated with the passivating agent poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) (PEG-NS) has entered human clinical trials for prostate and head & neck cancers with promising results reported, warranting investigation of NS-mediated PTT as a viable treatment for TNBC. ☐ The success of PTT relies on sufficient nanoparticle accumulation in tumors after systemic administration. Traditionally, NS and other light-responsive NPs are coated with PEG to minimize protein opsonization and extend circulation in the blood, but PEG coatings do not enable specific targeting of diseased cells, and they can cause an undesirable immune response that triggers the accelerated blood clearance phenomenon, in which second doses of PEG-coated NPs are rapidly cleared from circulation. NS and other light-responsive NPs have also been coated with molecules such as antibodies, peptides, or aptamers to enable cancer cell-specific targeting, but these approaches have only modestly improved delivery compared to PEG-coated NPs. There remains a critical need for surface modifications that can elevate delivery to tumors while minimizing delivery to non-targeted sites. ☐ Recent studies by the Day Lab and others have shown that coating NPs with plasma membranes derived from cancer cells can enable immune evasion and improve the NPs’ tumor-targeting ability by replicating the cancer cell exterior on the surface of the NP. By transferring “marker of self” and “cell adhesion” proteins from the cell onto the NP surface, improved biointerfacing is achieved. This dissertation demonstrates that TNBC cell membrane-wrapped nanoshells (MWNS) are a promising tool to improve PTT of TNBC because they achieve higher levels of tumor delivery compared to PEG-NS. This thesis also demonstrates that MWNS enable enhanced detection of TNBC cells and tumors through photoacoustic (PA) imaging compared to PEG-NS. ☐ Chapter 1 provides an overview of cancer, and breast cancer with a focus on TNBC, discusses current treatment options and the advantages of NP-mediated PTT, and introduces the concepts that inspired the development of the MWNS platform presented in this dissertation. Chapter 2 describes the materials and methods used to synthesize and characterize the physicochemical and optical properties of MWNS. Chapter 3 presents the results and discussion related to MWNS characterization and demonstrates that wrapping NS in TNBC membranes does not alter their optical properties. Further, Chapter 3 shows that MWNS have excellent cytocompatibility, are stable in physiologic solutions, and can preferentially target homotypic cancer cells in vitro to yield more effective photothermal cell death than PEG-NS. Chapter 4 evaluates the photoacoustic (PA) imaging properties of MWNS in vitro and examines their in vivo biodistribution, tumor accumulation, and PA imaging potential in mice bearing orthotopic TNBC tumors after intravenous administration. Notably, MWNS exhibited greater tumor accumulation than PEG-NS, resulting in higher PA signal within TNBC tumors. Chapter 5 describes studies evaluating the anti-tumor effect of MWNS-mediated PTT, and shows this treatment can slow primary tumor growth and reduce lung metastasis of TNBC in vivo more effectively than PTT mediated by PEG-NS. Finally, Chapter 6 outlines the overall impact of this work and offers perspectives on future directions for this technology. ☐ In summary, this dissertation introduces a novel, biomimetic NP platform for targeted imaging and therapy of TNBC. This MWNS system represents a significant step toward more effective, personalized, and minimally invasive treatments for TNBC, which may ultimately be adapted for other hard-to-treat diseases. Future directions include the exploration of alternative membrane sources, combination with other entities such as immunotherapies to maximize patients’ successful outcomes, and, in the longer term, translation into clinical trials or testing in alternative disease models. The promising results presented here lay the groundwork for the continued development of multifunctional, biomimetic, photoresponsive nanoparticles in precision medicine.University of Delaware, Department of Biomedical EngineeringPh.D
“WHATEVER IT IS, SERVE IT IN GLASS!”: COLOR, GENDER, AND CLASS IN PRESSED-GLASS TABLEWARE, 1925-1945
No full textThis thesis explores colorful pressed glass tableware produced in the United States from 1925 to 1945, objects that illuminate an intersection between industrial innovation, consumer culture, and working-class domestic life. This period covers the pressed-glass tableware industry’s response to the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris with the introduction of colorful, pressed glass tableware set. The project follows an arc through the peak of pressed glass’ popularity in the 1930s through the collapse of demand for colorful pressed tableware in the United States by the end of World War II. By studying these mass-produced objects, this paper examines how working- and middle-class women deployed material and color to craft domestic identities, embody personality and emotion in the kitchen, and mediate their relationship with household labor.
This project begins by outlining technological advancements in glass production in the nineteenth century, particularly the development of mechanically aided pressing which transformed the industry and democratized access to glass. The resulting “glassification” of lower-income consumers implicated pressed glass directly in the inculcation of aspirational consumer groups into larger American value systems emphasizing tradition and history. While pressed glass mimicked expensive cut crystal at the turn of the twentieth century, this thesis argues that during the peak of its popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, companies in the upper Ohio River Valley produced innovative and distinctly modern glass tableware. Parallel to this changing industrial output, lower-income women developed a unique aesthetic language and use for these objects that challenged conceptions of good design and taste originating from wealthy consumers, deploying color and glass to alleviate drudgery and express satisfaction, comfort, and joy in their kitchens and dining rooms.
Drawing on consumer advertising, shelter magazines, and an abundance of material culture evidence, the research demonstrates how glass manufacturers responded to diverse market demands among non-elite consumers. Companies like Fostoria and Heisey positioned their products at the intersection of modernity and tradition, creating forms that spoke to changing American dining practices and domestic spaces. This paper argues that their colorful glass enabled women to imbue gendered household tasks and spaces, especially the kitchen and dining room, with explicitly positive associations. Rather than viewing these mass-produced objects as cheap imitations of elite goods, this work reframes them as emblems of a “joyous materialism” through which women exercised agency, creativity, and care.
The study concludes by examining how external forces created gendered narratives for glass tableware and its socially appropriate uses, arguing that post-war male consumers rejected color and mechanical production due to their explicit associations with female consumers. This analysis illuminates broader themes about gender, class, and consumer culture in early twentieth-century America, while offering new perspectives on how mass-produced objects served as tools for individual expression and identity formation
"Receptacles of filth" : a sensory history of early American bedpans, 1750 to 1830
No full textRoeber, Catharine DannBedpans made and used in the early United States appear in historic house museums and other cultural heritage institutions throughout the country. More often than not, however, these objects are hidden in plain sight. Informed by object-centered approaches to material culture studies as well as disability history and sensory studies scholarship, this thesis asks what these oft-ignored “receptacles of filth” might reveal about the early American sick-chamber and the twentieth-century house museum. Specifically, it examines histories of medicine, caregiving labor, and illness or infirmity in the home. This thesis begins with a case study of a late eighteenth-century pewter bedpan on display at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, which took on new meaning as a relic of the early American past in the midst of the twentieth-century Colonial Revival. While its seemingly pristine pewter surface might dazzle the eye, the history of the bedpan is also that of the nose, the hands, the digestive organs, and (of course) the rear end. Eighteenth and nineteenth-century receipt books, housekeeping manuals, medical journals, and satirical cartoons that make reference to bedpans or chamber pots attest to the ongoing battle doctors, nurses, domestic servants, and other caregivers waged against “dirt” in the sick-chamber. Dirty substances such as urine and excrement were more than just what anthropologist Mary Douglas has called “matter out of place.” The sight, smell, and feel of these substances were a source of great anxiety in late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Anglo-American subjects. Finally, this thesis considers the bedpan as commercial good, examining both highly decorative bedpans used in early America as well as the wide array of antique bedpans available for purchase in secondhand stores and e-sellers such as Etsy and e-Bay. Such objects attest to bedpans as a source not just of revulsion but, in certain cases, of aesthetic pleasure. While bedpans may be out of sight and out of mind for most twenty-first century Americans, these objects remain not just literal receptacles of filth but symbolic receptacles of meaning. The study of bedpans is the study of the complex relationships between people, their bodies, and their waste.M.A.University of Delaware, Winterthur Program in American Material Cultur
The Current Role and Future Opportunities for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
No full textOlder adults are the fastest growing demographic in Delaware—one of three states to experience a 50 percent increase in its 65 and older population during the last decade. This demographic shift underscores the growing need for resources that support aging in place and foster community engagement. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Delaware provides a vital space for older adults to pursue intellectual stimulation and connect with like-minded peers. This brief examines OLLI’s role in Delaware’s aging landscape, highlighting both the current limitations in educational resources for seniors and the opportunities for OLLI to expand its reach. This brief also explores strategies to enhance OLLI’s impact by improving accessibility, fostering inclusion, and strengthening its community-building efforts across the state.Osher Lifelong Learning Institut
Factors influencing farmer adoption of in-season nitrogen modeling tools in the Mid-Atlantic
No full textPalm-Forster, Leah H.Increasing nitrogen (N) use efficiency in agriculture can improve farm profitability and water quality outcomes by reducing N leaching and runoff into water bodies. In-season N modeling tools (NMTs) have been developed to guide efficient N applications and reduce N environmental losses; however, adoption is reported to be low among U.S. farmers. Extensive research has identified how factors such as farm and farmer characteristics, farmer motivations and perceptions, technology attributes, and information sources influence farmer adoption of various nutrient management practices. Yet, research on in-season NMTs is limited, and little is known about the factors that affect the adoption of these tools. This study addresses these research gaps by examining the barriers and drivers of in-season NMT adoption among corn farmers in the Mid-Atlantic region. To understand adoption decisions, we use a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative analysis of survey data from 348 corn farmers in Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania with thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 20 additional farmers and 5 crop consultants. Our quantitative analysis reveals that farmers enrolled in federal agri-environmental programs and those who are aware of in-season NMTs are more likely to adopt in-season NMTs compared to those enrolled in state agri-environmental programs and those who are unaware of them. Our qualitative findings also suggest that broader adoption of NMTs is limited by lack of knowledge and awareness of NMTs, concerns about tool accuracy and effectiveness, and resistance to change. Despite low adoption rates, all farmers we interviewed expressed openness to future use but noted the importance of providing education and awareness about the tool, ease of use, and proof of effectiveness and accuracy as important ways of improving the adoption of in-season NMTs This study, therefore, addresses a significant information gap regarding the factors affecting the adoption of in-season NMTs. Policymakers, agri-environmental program administrators, technical assistance providers, and NMT developers can utilize insights from our study's findings as they work to promote the use of in-season NMTs to improve sustainable agricultural practices in the region.University of Delaware, Department of Applied Economics and StatisticsM.S
Lipid–GPCR interactions in an asymmetric plasma membrane model
No full textThis article was originally published in Faraday Discussions. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1039/D4FD00210E.
This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2025.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).We report simulations and analysis of the A2A adenosine receptor in its fully active state, in two different membrane environments. The first is a model in which the lipids are distributed asymmetrically according to recent lipidomics, simulations, and biophysical measurements, which together establish the distribution of lipids and cholesterol between the two leaflets. The second is the symmetrized version, which captures the membrane state following loss of lipid asymmetry. By comparing lipid–protein interactions between these two cases we show that solvation by phosphatidyl serine (PS) is insensitive to the loss of asymmetry—an abundance of positively charged sidechains around the cytoplasmic side of the receptor enriches solvation by PS in both membrane states. Cholesterol interactions are sensitive to the loss of asymmetry, with the abundance of cholesterol in the exoplasmic leaflet driving long-lived cholesterol interactions in the asymmetric state. However, one cholesterol interaction site on helix 6 is observed in both cases, and was also observed in earlier work with different membrane models, supporting its identification as a bona fide cholesterol binding site.EL and JJ were supported by the US National Institute of General Medical Sciences by award number R35-GM153273. Computational work utilized the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment supported by National Science Foundation Grant ACI-1548562. Anton2 computer time was provided by the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center through grant R01GM116961 from the National Institutes of Health. The Anton2 machine was made available by D. E. Shaw Research
Mechanical friction data associated with "Frictional instabilities as an alternative to friction coefficient in fine touch perception" by Derkaloustian et al.
No full textMechanical friction data associated with "Frictional instabilities as an alternative to friction coefficient in fine touch perception" by Derkaloustian et al.
Each sheet contains all the raw friction traces collected on a surface. The sheet name refers to the chemical composition of the surface. Mechanical data was collected at 4 different masses and velocities, as can be parsed from the name. Each "run" consists of data that is split into three individual friction traces, as organized by "cell number" which will cycle from 1-3 corresponding to the three individual friction traces. Thus each sheet has 4 masses, 4 velocities that are repeated in three runs with three trials each, corresponding to 144 individual friction traces per sheet, which is equivalent to saying 144 individual friction traces per surface composition.
The research publication featuring this data, "Frictional instabilities as an alternative to friction coefficient in fine touch perception" by Derkaloustian et al. is forthcoming in eLife. The version of record will be linked once published.We acknowledge support from the National Eye Institute of the NIH (R01EY032584-03). XPS was conducted at the Surface Analysis Facility at the University of Delaware (NSF CHE-1428149). Atomic force microscopy was conducted at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute’s Bio-Imaging Center at the University of Delaware supported by grants from the NIH-NIGMS (P20 GM103446), the NSF (IIA-1301765), and the State of Delaware. J.G.A.C. is supported by NSF CAREER award 2234748
Rhetoric Versus Reality? A Comparative Study of Public and Non-Public Sector Employees' Perceptions of Discrimination
No full textThis article was originally published in Public Administration Review. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.70058
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivs License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non- commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.© 2025 The Author(s). Public Administration Review published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Public Administration.How people are treated in the workplace is of increasing concern, with many scholars arguing that the government, as an em-ployer, should set the standard for equitable treatment. While attention to equity in public administration has grown in researchand practice, minimal work has comparatively explored discrimination in the public and non-public sectors. Drawing on datafrom the 2018 European Social Survey, this study explores possible differences in how public and non-public employees perceivediscrimination and how perceptions vary across countries. In most countries, the differences between the sectors were not signif-icant, but the findings show that the country, administrative culture, and sociodemographic variables play a role in perceptionsof discrimination. This exploratory study makes an important empirical contribution by accumulating evidence of perceptions ofdiscrimination across countries and has practical implications for human resource management practitioners.The authors would like to thank the editors, especially Professor Kim Moloney, and the reviewers of Public Administration Review for their insightful and valuable suggestions and comments, which undoubtedly helped improve this paper. We would like to thank Professor Tanja Klenk for her valuable suggestions on an earlier draft of the paper. We also appreciate Elizabeth Thompson for editing the manuscript. Previous versions of this paper were presented at the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM)conference in April 2025 in Bologna, Italy, and at the 64th European12 Public Administration Review, 2025Regional Science Association (ERSA) conference in August 2025 in Greece
"I spent 14 hours debugging just one assignment": Toward Computer-Mediated Personal Informatics for Computer Science Student Mental Health
No full textThis article was originally published in Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI ’25, Yokohama, Japan, ACM ISBN 979-8-4007-1394-1/25/04. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713269.
© 2025 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).Anxiety and depression rates in Computer Science (CS) students are double those of other undergraduates and 5-10 times higher than the general population. However, factors contributing to the elevated mental health issues in CS students remain unknown. To bridge this gap, we conducted need-finding interviews (N=20), which revealed that the complexity of debugging, along with imposter syndrome, are key contributors to stress and burnout. Participants expressed openness toward and feature preferences in a computer-based Personal Informatics (PI) tool to facilitate self-reflection. In response, we developed EmotionStream, an algorithm-assisted PI tool that provides both contextual and emotional insights based on individual behaviors. We found that participants rated their experience with the tool highly. Post-hoc analysis revealed that emotional states, augmented with contextual cues, show promise of predicting real-time stress. Based on our findings, we provide design implications for future PI tools to support CS student mental well-being.The authors would like to thank the Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates program led by the CRA-Widening Participation (CRA-WP) committee and funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation through which London Bielicke was able to get involved in and contribute to this research. We also thank the reviewers for their valuable time and feedback, significantly improving the paper’s quality