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Complexity of In-Context Concept Learning in Language Models
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2025This thesis studies the factors that contribute to the success and shortcomings of in-contextlearning, which refers to the ability of some language models to perform a new task during
inference using only a few labeled examples, for Large Language Models (LLMs). Drawing on
insights from the literature on human concept learning, we test LLMs on carefully designed
concept learning tasks, and show that task performance highly correlates with the logical
complexity of the concept. This suggests that in-context learning exhibits a learning bias for
simplicity in a way similar to humans
OSmini: A Microfluidic Platform for Multiplexed, Gradient-Based Drug Delivery on Intact Tumor Slices
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2025Traditional preclinical cancer models often fail to predict clinical outcomes, limiting drug development and personalized treatment strategies. Tumor slice cultures offer a physiologically relevant alternative by preserving native tissue architecture and the tumor microenvironment (TME). However, their use has been limited by difficulties in achieving spatially precise drug delivery and ensuring device reproducibility. To overcome these challenges, we developed the OSmini platform—a digitally manufactured microfluidic system for multiplexed, gradient-based drug delivery across intact tumor slices. Using precision CNC milling of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), we fabricated eight independent microchannels that enable spatially resolved compound delivery with high reproducibility, optical transparency, and chemical compatibility. Flow characterization confirmed uniform performance with less than 8% variability across device iterations. We evaluated lateral diffusion using fluorescein at different flow rates and established operational parameters that maintain spatial precision. Biological validation with fixed and fresh PY8119 murine tumor slices demonstrated successful multiplexed delivery of fluorescent dyes and Doxorubicin gradients. By enabling spatially controlled drug testing in a physiologically relevant ex vivo model, OSmini advances functional precision oncology through improved drug screening and tissue-level pharmacodynamic profiling
Linguistic and Computational Approaches to Investigating Variations in Early Language Input at Home and in the Classroom
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2025Sociocultural frameworks have emphasized the role that social interactions with caregivers play in scaffolding a child’s cognitive and linguistic development. Given that children may interact with a myriad of people, each participating in social interactions in a variety of ways, this dissertation focuses on how variations in early language input, across different caregivers and contexts, shape opportunities for language development. I utilize naturalistic daylong audio recordings to investigate how these variations occur naturally. Because I use naturalistic daylong audio recordings, I rely on manual annotations for a fine-grained analysis of the input. I also ask how computational tools may help us measure language outcomes, given that manual annotations are time consuming and labor intensive. Chapter 2 observes how caregivers may vary in their language input to young children in the home environment. I look at differences in maternal and paternal language input, shedding light on the differences that may occur in quantity, syntactic, and lexical aspects of parentese as the child develops. Chapter 3 investigates how a foreign language intervention, in a preschool setting, may shape children’s language opportunities in a second language. Chapter 4 turns to our methodological question and I investigate how current technologies perform language identification tasks on speech from very young children who are learning another language. My results demonstrate that language input varies meaningfully, between caregivers or across contexts, in order to create unique learning opportunities for children. However, current technologies are not able to capture this variation yet, and researchers in the field still must rely on manual annotations. This results in a call for more developmentally informed tools in order to capture the rich variety of early input and output across caregivers and contexts
Sensory Experience Kit for Families at Woodland Park Zoo
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2025Everyone experiences fluctuations in sensory sensitivity—sometimes seeking more stimulation, other times needing less—but these shifts often go unnoticed. In outdoor spaces like zoos, fluctuating factors such as weather, crowds, and sensory input can make it especially hard for children to regulate how they feel and respond. The Sensory Experience Kit was created to help families visiting Woodland Park Zoo navigate sensory highs and lows, promoting comfort, focus, and deeper engagement with nature. The kit includes four themed booklets, a caregiver guide, and a sensory map. Each booklet is tied to a habitat and offers sensory-based activities organized into low, medium, and high intensity levels. Activities encourage children to engage through movement, touch, and observation. Kits are housed in Zoomazium, the zoo's play area for kids, and occasionally offered at the zoo entrance for wider reach. The project was shaped by a front-end evaluation with caregivers and a formative evaluation with families with target age group children. Feedback guided the design and refinement of accessibility, functionality, and content design. By recognizing sensory balance as a universal need, this project offers a more inclusive way to support children's well-being in nature-based environments. It also highlights the importance of tailoring sensory support to specific environments
Impact of the Skilled Nursing Facility 3-Day Rule Waiver on Medicare ACO Expenditures: A Retrospective Analysis of 2023 MSSP Performance Data
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2025ObjectivesTo evaluate whether participation in the Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) three-day rule waiver has an effect on total per capita expenditures among Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP).
Design
A retrospective cross-sectional analysis of 2023 MSSP ACO performance data. The study assessed the relationship between SNF waiver participation and healthcare expenditures using a multivariate linear regression framework. The study included all ACOs participating in the MSSP during the 2023 performance year, encompassing a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries attributed to those organizations.
Methods
A robust linear regression model was developed to explain variation in per capita expenditures, with adjustment for key covariates including patient risk profiles (CMS Hierarchical Condition Category scores), ACO savings rates, and inpatient and SNF utilization rates. Subgroup analyses were performed based on ACO size, defined by the median beneficiary count (19,457). A post-hoc power analysis confirmed adequate statistical power (>80%) to detect moderate effect sizes.
Results
The model explained 96% of the variance in per capita expenditures (Adjusted R² = 0.96). Key predictors included HCC risk scores (β = 4430.63, p < 0.001), savings rate (β = –52.63, p < 0.001), inpatient utilization (β = 1.80, p < 0.001), and SNF utilization (β = 2.46, p < 0.001). SNF waiver participation was not significantly associated with expenditures overall (β = 12.81, p = 0.828) or in either subgroup analysis.
Conclusions and Implications
While risk profiles, utilization patterns, and financial performance significantly shape ACO expenditures, SNF waiver participation alone does not independently impact spending. As CMS prepares to expand the waiver under the FY 2026 IPPS/LTCH PPS rule, ACOs and policymakers should focus on broader strategies—such as refined risk adjustment, care coordination, and cost-saving interventions—to achieve meaningful value-based care improvements. Keywords: Medicare Shared Savings Program, ACO, Skilled Nursing Facility, 3-Day Rule Waiver, Healthcare Expenditures, Risk Adjustment, Post-Acute Care Transition
The Future in Ruins: Leveraging Principles of Preservation to Reclaim Vacant Buildings as Public Space in Downtown Seattle
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2025Vacant buildings, deteriorating infrastructure, and shrinking public realms are symptoms of ongoing pandemic-era challenges and underfunded downtowns, contributing to broader crises of human disconnection and declining ecological networks. In Seattle, unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings embody this intersection of challenges, presenting seismic vulnerability and urban vacancy while offering unique opportunities for adaptive preservation and public space revitalization. This thesis reimagines preservation as a proactive, adaptive practice that moves beyond architectural integrity to embrace social, cultural, and ecological values. By integrating strategic deconstruction and on-site material reuse, preservation becomes a tool for regenerating urban “ruins” into community-rooted public spaces. Framed as a dynamic dialogue between past and future, this thesis proposes an approach that expands preservation practice beyond static artifact-guarding to an integrated, community-driven strategy that strengthens urban infrastructure across built, environmental, and social dimensions. Through this lens, former vacant sites are transformed into accessible public spaces that foster community cohesion, ecological health, and climate resilience. Applying this framework to a vacant URM building in Belltown, the thesis employs physical modeling and material analysis to develop design proposals that reimagine the site as a hybrid cultural-ecological ‘commons.’ This work offers a replicable model of adaptive preservation that leverages material continuity and spatial transformation to address urban challenges and promote more sustainable, equitable urban neighborhoods
Inter-rater agreement among physical therapists in using Neurologic Movement System Diagnosis (N-MSD)
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2025Movement optimization was adopted by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) as the core of physical therapy practice in 2013. While Physical Therapists (PTs) observe, assess, diagnose, and treat movement impairments in clinical practice, evidence-based clinical practice guidelines are centered around neurological medical diagnoses rather than movement deficits. Therefore, in physical therapy practice, pathophysiological impairments and health conditions often guide assessment, treatment, and prognosis instead of the movement deficits.To make movement the focus of the clinical decision-making process, several movement system diagnoses were developed. While some of the previously published frameworks were commonly used in clinical practice and educational settings, few studies have examined the reliability, validity, and clinical application of any of these systems. This dissertation study examined the agreement among PTs in utilizing the Neurologic Movement System Diagnosis (N-MSD) framework in individuals with various neurological health conditions.
The N-MSD includes frameworks for movement observation and analysis of key functional tasks as well as movement-based diagnoses. This body of work examined the agreement among PTs, between experienced and early-career PTs and against an expert considered as the gold standard.
The findings demonstrated that experienced PTs with prior knowledge about the Movement System were in higher agreement with an expert when making movement system diagnoses. Moreover, PTs demonstrated greater agreement, a narrower range of scores, with assessments of static tasks as compared to their assessments of dynamic tasks. Among dynamic tasks however, assessment of transitional movements such as Sit to Stand and Step Up showed more scattered results across PTs compared to gait. Subsequently, agreement among PTs in selecting movement system diagnoses with key features related to dynamic tasks was lower as compared to other diagnoses. The collective results of these studies suggest that with proper training on N-MSD, physical therapists could come to moderate to strong agreement when assessing certain functional tasks and consensus on a primary movement diagnosis. These research findings also lay the groundwork for future research efforts, including development of a more uniform process for analyzing tasks with emphasis on dynamic tasks, psychometric evaluation of the new evaluation framework, and insight into the underlying clinical reasoning during the examination process and for a movement system diagnosis
Pediatric Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant ICU Patients in Children’s and General Hospitals
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2025Pediatric oncology and hematopoietic stem cell (HCT) care in the US is increasingly provided at children’s hospitals (CH), but many children still receive care at general hospitals (GH). Little is known about the characteristics of pediatric oncology and HCT patients treated in intensive care units (ICUs) at these institutions, or how outcomes differ for patients treated in CH and GH. Using data from ICU admissions of pediatric oncology and HCT patients in the U.S. during 2001-2019, we examined possible differences between patients treated at CH versus GH with regard to characteristics that could bear on illness outcomes. Specifically, we used the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project’s State Inpatient Databases from a total of 21 U.S. states for 2001, 2004, 2010, 2016, and 2019. We used ICD-9 and 10 codes to identify diagnoses, chronic comorbidities and American Hospital Association linkage files to identify hospital type. Also, we evaluated changes over time in the proportions of American pediatric ICU patients seen at CH versus GH. During the five years for which data were examined, there were 9,306 oncologic admissions and 1,497 HCT admissions to CH ICUs; over the same time period, there were 2,038 oncologic admissions and 238 HCT admissions to GH ICUs. There was little difference in the demographic characteristics of patients seen in the two ICU locations. The presence of chronic co-morbidities was somewhat greater in CH than GH patients (61.7% vs. 50.0%). The results of this study suggest that comparisons of illness outcomes for pediatric ICU patients with malignancies or HCT between CH and GH will not be appreciably confounded by differences in demographic characteristics. Subsequent studies that are able to assess illness severity at the time of admission will be needed to gauge the potential for confounding from this source
Understanding the Role of Delta-catenin in Virus-Positive Merkel Cell Carcinoma
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2025Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC) is a highly aggressive neuroendocrine skin cancer often driven by the integration of Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) into the host genome and the persistent expression of its viral oncoproteins, small tumor (ST) antigen and truncated large tumor (t-LT) antigen. However, the MCC cell of origin remains unknown. Identifying the cell of origin could provide critical insights into MCC pathogenesis and lead to more effective therapeutic strategies for this deadly cancer.To date, only human skin fibroblasts (HFFs) have been shown to support the complete MCPyV life cycle. Given that fibroblasts are permissive for viral replication but unlikely to be the cell of origin for MCC, we hypothesized that MCPyV initially replicates in fibroblasts but, in rare cases, infects Merkel cell progenitors or their descendants, Merkel cells, contributing to MCC development.
In Chapter 2, we identified delta-catenin as a novel ST interactor in HFFs. While ST bound delta-catenin in HFFs, this interaction was absent in virus-positive (VP)-MCC cell lines. We found that while HFFs predominantly express isoform 1, a mesenchymal marker, MCC cells primarily express isoform 3, an epithelial marker. However, overexpression of delta-catenin isoform 1 in VP-MCC cells failed to restore ST binding. These results suggest that the MCC cell of origin may possess epithelial characteristics and that the host cell environment shapes delta-catenin’s function.
In Chapter 3, we found that delta-catenin is essential for VP-MCC cell proliferation but was not essential for HFFs proliferation. Delta-catenin promotes proliferation in VP-MCC cells by regulating the expression of cell cycle genes through its interaction with Kaiso, a transcriptional repressor. Additionally, we found that lysine-specific histone demethylase 1A (LSD1/KDM1A) regulates delta-catenin isoform 3 expression by modulating Epithelial Splicing Regulatory Protein (ESRP1), a delta-catenin splicing factor and epithelial marker.
Taken together, this work reveals novel host factors involved in MCPyV infection and MCC tumorigenesis, supporting the idea that the cells permissive for viral replication and those giving rise to MCC are distinct
Sync the Silos, Drill the Depths: A Digital Platform to Streamline Early Phase Resilience Research in Architectural Design
No full textThesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2025Resilience to extreme weather and natural disasters is vital in healthcare architecture—protecting lives, budgets, and operations for clients, users, and designers alike, from the societal scale down to the individual site. Despite the availability of many resources, the integration of resilience in current design practice remains limited. In response, this research explores how the project team can more effectively utilize available resources to thoughtfully and strategically be best informed in the resilience design research process. Based on a review of current literature, resources, and a detailed survey and in-depth workshops, this study proposes an essential workflow that addresses the limitations of several existing frameworks. The tasks within the essential workflow are designed precisely for use cases at the early design phase. Then, based on the essential workflow, a web-based platform is developed, providing architectural design teams with a more accessible and friendly approach to streamline the resilience design research workflow: identifying the specific concern, assessing risk and vulnerability, and navigating resilience-related resources.
This study delivers the first lightweight, task-oriented workflow that unifies dispersed resilience data, tools, and precedents within a single, designer-friendly platform. By mapping resources directly to early-phase tasks, the platform gives project teams—and the wider resilience community—an accessible hub for rapid, structured inquiry. Methodologically, the work introduces a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) approach tailored to AEC design tasks, demonstrating how bespoke, in-house AI applications can streamline niche workflows and open a new direction for building-design technology