Once subjected to an extractive history of British colonial and Indian national imperatives and ignored by development institutions, the mountainous region of Kumaon, Uttarakhand now thrives in its current development trends. Given that developers and donors disregarded the region while much of the rest of India prospered, it seems incongruous that the region should now be succeeding in its own development. This project asks why the isolated and “underdeveloped” region of Kumaon that was “left behind” by mainstream development and has only recently emerged is now able to succeed in its own grassroots development. My thesis posits an answer grounded in the notions of agency and identity politics in regional social movements and development vision. I examine the interdependency between the environment and social and historical processes, which informs my analysis of local development strategy regarding regional preferences for grass use in livelihood practices. The analysis employs data collected through qualitative, ethnographic interview processes and participant observation in the field. Supplementing the primary data with literature on identity assertion as a response to colonial and neocolonial processes, I argue that Kumaon has thrived and created significant agricultural development, notwithstanding the lack of outside aid, because development there is inextricably linked to regional movements for social change. These social movements have distinguished Kumaon from national trends of development and have led to the emergence of a conservationist and rights-oriented regional identity, which has helped form a particular vision for Kumaoni development focused on the environmental rights of the people.

Thermoelectric materials have the ability of converting wasted heat into electricity. The energy conversion efficiency of thermoelectric materials is determined by its figure of merit- ZT. The equation of figure of merit is ZT = S2T/ρκ, where S is the thermopower, T is the absolute temperature, ρ is the electrical resistivity, and κ is the thermal conducivity. Currently, existing homogeneous bulk thermoelectric materials have the highest ZT, at around 1.5. This project consists of designing high efficiency hierarchical thermoelectric composites with a ZT value greater than 2 by using energy filtering at interfaces to block the low-energy charge carriers, and, thus, increase the average energy transported per charge carrier. This results in an increase in thermopower(S) and, hence, an increase in power factor of ZT. Using solution-based solvothermal chemistry, which allows for control of the dimensions and morphologies of the nanoparticles through variations of the reaction parameters, we prepared low-dimensional thermoelectric nanobulk Bi2Te3. The surfactant-free scalable synthesis of Bi2Te3 provides quick and bottom-up synthesis with 90% yield. After these chemical processes, a dry nanoparticle sample will be consolidated by Spark Plasma Sintering, and turn into a pellet. The lowest sintering temperature determination will benefit to define the processing limitation in the further nanocomposite design. More comparison of the electronic transport properties measurements in bulk and nano Bi2Te3 will be carried out later. If the high-yield synthesis with doping capability can be achieved; also, if the processing limitation is known, it has high potential to achieve thermoelectric material with ZT higher than 2.

Titanium Oxide (TiO₂) nanotubes, nanowires, and coreshell structures have the potential to be implemented in new unique devices. TiO₂ has a variety of gas-sensing, photovoltaic, and semiconductor properties. TiO₂ has multiple forms such as TiO₂(B) and anatase, which could be surface modified. These forms are synthesized depending on the hydrothermal treatment. The ultimate goal was to create a thin film, out of nanowires, for a top contact field effect transistor. For an efficient top contract, the film must be homogeneous and be composed of one or two layers of nanowire. The creation of nanowires started with anatase or p25 combined with a 10 M NaOH solution that underwent a hydrothermal process for 48 hours. With two autoclaves, two reactions can be done simultaneously. Keeping one reaction constant as control, the other autoclave had its parameters slightly modified. The modifications in thermal ramp rate, solution molarity, hydrothermal duration, and amount of starting material, helped understand the titante nanostructures and growth mechanism. 170°F was the established temperature where nanotubes started turning into nanowires while 200°F was the control. There were several treatments, post-hydrothermal, to acquire TiO₂(B). An ion-exchange transformed Na₂Ti₃O₇ into H₂Ti₃O₇ then calcination produced TiO₂-B. With these materials, several methods, such as spin-coating and drop-casting, were tested to create a thin film.  For a consistent film, the nanowires must be uniform and the fabrication process reproducable. 

Currently, one of the main challenges is the development of new technologies for the storage of energy. Hence, there exists a particular interest for a low-cost, safe, rechargeable battery with high capacity, voltage and rate capability. My project consists of developing a better understanding of the charge-discharge cycles and the factors constraining the electrochemical performance of the active material within a lithium-ion battery. Electrode efficiency depends highly on the active materials used. The chemical composition of the cathode material is one of the keys to optimize the performance of these batteries where three metal salts (Co, Ni & Mn) are combined under the following formula: (1-z) Li [Li_(1⁄3)Mn_(2⁄3) ] O₂ - (z) Li [Mn_(0.5-y)Ni_(0.5-y)Co_(2y)] O_2. Each metal has major downsides such as high cost, toxicity or reversibility loss, but they also offer high capacity or stability. In order to maximize the performance of the cell, an optimized battery must comprise a particular percentage of each metal. Under the supervision of Carolina Vinado, we have successfully synthetized several lithium-ion rechargeable coin cells which are currently being tested for reliability. For our first batch, we used an equivalent amount of cobalt and nickel, assigning the values of 0.4 and 1.6 for z and y respectively. The resultant formula is shown: Li_1.20Mn_0.54Ni_0.13Co_0.13O_2. The next phase of the project involves the modification of the cathode’s chemical composition for testing and future analysis. In addition, we are planning to analyze the surface of the cathode using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). This facilitates the examination of the interface morphology, which after various charge/discharge cycles may develop defects on its surface. It is essential to understand these surface anomalies as they critically affect the battery’s ability to perform effectively.

Barrett’s Esophagus (BE) is an inflammation of the lower esophagus. This inflammation can progress to cancer through a stage called High Grade Dysplasia (HGD). One approach to early detection of HGD is the use of light emitting “beacons “consisting of fluorescently labeled peptides targeted to HGD tissue biomarkers. Our laser based Scanning Fiber Endoscope (SFE) possesses the ability to capture live images of the esophagus during examinations and also excite and locate fluorescently tagged targets. Refining SFE fluorescence imaging for clinical use requires mathematical algorithms such as image stitching and distance compensation. Image stitching combines a series of partial views of a 3-D surface into a composite view of the entire surface. Distance compensation addresses the issue of fluorescence signal reduction as the distance between the light emitting beacon and endoscope increases. Phantoms are synthetic mimics of disease conditions used to refine and calibrate new medical devices. This research was directed toward the development of a low-cost, flexible, and durable esophagus phantom with color matching to provide a realistic model of BE. The color of inflamed BE tissue and healthy tissue were matched using quantitative combinations of commercial acrylic paints to create recipes for both tissue types. The resulting paint mixtures were applied to the interior of a latex cast cylinder mimicking the dimensions of an adult esophagus. The painted latex models were shown to a panel of gastroenterologists for approval. The end result was the development of a color realistic phantom onto which fluorescent targets could be affixed. The phantom was imaged using the SFE and demonstrates 2D stitching with distance compensation. (C. Yang, V. Hou, L. Nelson, E. Seibel. J. Biomed. Optics, Feb 2013) Future work extends similar techniques to develop brain tissue phantoms for the calibration of the SFE after integration onto the RAVEN surgical robot.

Defects in joint cartilage are a common pathology found in the knee. Operative management aims at alleviating symptoms and decreasing the potential of progressing to osteoarthritis. One method of repair involves the insertion of a plug of analogous cartilage tissue taken from a cadaver, called an osteochondral allograft, providing function restoration of the affected joint surface. Traditionally "fresh" grafts were used within 24-48 hours and resulted in good clinical outcomes. Currently concerns with possible disease transmission have resulted in longer delays from graft harvest until surgical implementation. Prolonged graft storage however leads to death of chondrocytes, the cells that are responsible for producing cartilage. Trehalose is a linked form of two glucoses, and is present in bacteria, plants, and invertebrate animals. These organisms drastically increase cellular concentrations of trehalose during times of cellular stress such as severe dehydration, heating, exposure to cold, or oxidative stress. Following these observations, studies were conducted that have shown trehalose to be a useful cyroprotectant in the cold storage of cells and various tissues. The purpose of this study was to determine if supplementing standard storage medium with trehalose would preserve chondrocyte cell viability after prolonged graft storage. Osteochonral plugs were taken from rabbit joints and stored in two types of medium, one supplemented with trehalose and one without. At various time points after storage (0, 14, and 24 days) plugs were taken and analyzed for markings of apoptosis (self programmed cell death) and articular cartilage integrity. Trehalose medium preserved osteochondral grafts better then the control group after prolonged cell storage. Additional research is needed to determine success of trehalose stored grafts in the clinical setting, and in trehalose's role in the storage of other tissues.