Little is understood about how Supermassive black holes affect their host galaxies in terms of growth and shape. Using the Simulation Romulus25, we are able to study how galaxy properties correlate with black hole properties throughout time. The simulation is a cube with lengths of 25 Mpc on each side, which is about 75 million ly or 21000 Milky way galaxies. We look at how the properties of galaxies relate to the properties of their black holes. We present trends that distinguish star forming galaxies from quenched galaxies.

In 1996, a scandal involving members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus triggered the United States Senate to launch an investigation. In the scandal, Asian American campaign contributors were accused of funneling foreign Chinese funds in an attempt to hijack U.S. politics. The Senate investigation concluded that several Asian Americans were committing espionage by colluding with the Chinese government as political spies. This research asks how the U.S. Senate concluded that these Asian American contributors were spies. My findings suggest that the Senate’s conclusion rested not on sound inculpatory evidence but a historic racial logic of Asian Americans as politically suspect. I argue that the “model minority” stereotype centrally informed the Senate’s racial logic of Asian Americans in their investigation. In particular, the model minority stereotype celebrates the industrious work ethic of Asians while condemning political participation as a dangerous behavior. My research thus explores the informative role of the model minority stereotype in the U.S. Senate’s investigation of the 1996 CAPAC’s scandal. My findings imply that the model minority stereotype ideologically disenfranchises Asian Americans within the American polity. In effect, Asian Americans are disproportionally scrutinized in the political arena through a racial logic that casts them as foreign, suspicious, and disloyal to the polity.

 Respiratory dysfunction is the leading cause of death in the acute phase of high-cervical spinal cord injuries (SCIs). While survivors of high-cervical SCIs regain some of their respiratory function, many individuals require assisted ventilation. Despite the fact that there are currently many ongoing treatments, more needs to be understood about the anatomy and physiology of the respiratory pathways in the spinal cord in order to find cures for those suffering from high-cervical SCIs. Recent rodent studies using intra-spinal micro-stimulation (ISMS) for forelimb motor recovery has shown moderate functional recovery. In this study we mapped the motor neuron pools of three muscles used in respiration along the cervical and upper thoracic spinal cord. Additionally we explored the extent to which we can activate those muscle with ISMS in spinally intact rats.

Raves are a carnivalesque liminal space wherein socially constructed differences between participants such as race, class, and gender are intentionally (if imperfectly) deemphasized. This phenomenon allows for social bonds to be formed based on a perceived “common humanity.” A highly structured kinship system emerges out of this discourse and is generally based on the ideology of PLUR(R) (Peace, Love, Unity, Respect, and Responsibility). This philosophy or code of ethics emphasizes caring for others and in practice has been an internal mechanism for safety in the community whereby ravers educate and protect each other through positive social policing. The strong sense of belonging and community created within this space is often overlooked by media and therefore, public perception of this community is often based on misunderstanding and associations with illicit drug usage. In order to better inform harm reduction strategies, this study illuminates these kinship bonds and how these bonds impact safety at raves in Seattle, Washington using qualitative ethnographic methods such as interviews and participant observation. Through gathering this data of first hand experience in the rave community, systems of public safety can better tailor harm reduction strategies to be more effective.

This research represents the culmination of my fieldwork as an anthropologist and activist in the Seattle counter-trafficking movement.The Seattle anti-trafficking movement is experiencing a transitional moment, as it reemerges from antebellum abolitionism to transform into the standard-bearer for human rights in the 21st century. Though renovated with the human rights vernacular of modern social justice, many of the mythologies found thriving within the global discussion of modern slavery are those of antebellum characters revived and renamed. Grassroots efforts have begun to instigate a culture shift in how we view ‘our role’ as bystanders to these heinous crimes, though the methodologies utilized by counter trafficking activists and volunteers in Seattle have yet to be given serious critique. While productive, it is my observation that some of the tactics utilized by both myself and fellow activists may reflect the nature of a community and culture that demands the commodification of humanitarianism – methodologies requiring by nature the depreciation of the ideal of inalienable human rights. How does this observation help us to define the 21st century abolitionist movement? While the isms of today are often discussed as contours that define and divide us, the people that I have had the privilege of working with over the past three years have found common ground not in faith, methodologies, or even priorities; rather, it has been an earnest desire to do good in addition to merely surviving. It takes great courage to overcome the paralysis triggered by the overwhelming global horrors we are confronted with everyday. I chose here to explore this space between the rhetoric of ethics and the demands of work in the field, focusing both on the trends represented in character mythologies, and how we work to move forward within and despite them.

Pseudo-nitzschia is a diverse and cosmopolitan genus of diatoms composed of 37 species and known for its production of the neurotoxin domoic acid (DA). The phylogeny of the Pseudo-nitzschia genus is complex due to the presence of cryptic species complexes and the frequent discovery of new species. In previous phylogenetic studies, large subunits of ribosomal RNA (LSU) were used as a genetic marker to estimate how Pseudo-nitzschia species were related to one another. We sought to reevaluate the phylogeny of Pseudo-nitzschia both through recreating a LSU tree that accounts for recent discoveries made about the genus, as well as using the rbcL gene, which encodes the large subunit of the carbon fixation enzyme, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (RuBisCO), in order to better understand the evolutionary relationships within the genus. Both trees provided better resolution in the branching pattern of Pseudo-nitzschia species and identified the presence of a third clade within the genus. Each clade had distinct morphological and physiological characteristics, such as cell size, frustule morphology, pigment content and DA production, which further supported the branching order. Metatranscriptomic reads obtained from four stations along a transect ranging from the Washington coast to the open ocean were placed on the rbcL tree and reflected a biogeographical distinction between the clades. The resolution provided in these phylogenies reflects the importance of continued identification and sequencing of new species. Furthermore, the phylogeny of the rbcL shows that it is an excellent marker for both phylogenic comparison as well as community profiling in the environment.

The miniaturization of electronic devices has driven modern advances in computing, consumer electronics and sensor technology. Digital integrated circuits and the transistor are the most widely produced microelectronics. The metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) is widely used in modern devices. The core of this device is the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitor. While the physics behind the use of MOS capacitors are well understood, real world fabrication provides unique challenges that require experimental work and process characterization to repeatedly produce viable devices. For this project, we fabricated microscale MOS capacitors on an n-type silicon substrate. The dimensions and properties of the dielectric material used in a MOS capacitor determines its electrical properties. We characterized the effects of variations in the processing method for the deposition of the silicon oxide layer.  We varied parameters such as deposition rate, chamber temperature and silicon oxide thin film thickness.  Current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and electronic properties such as capacitance and breakdown voltage were characterized with electrical probing. We hope to quantitatively evaluate relationships between processing method and the electrical performance of MOS capacitors fabricated using tools and materials available in the Washington Nanofabrication Facility (WNF). Characterization of these relationships assists users and researchers in their circuit design and choice of processing parameters.

Our project is to characterize the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) ortholog of PICK1 and we will henceforth refer to this C. elegans gene as pick-1. In other systems, PICK1 is involved with dense-core vesicle (DCV) biology and has been shown to affect the trafficking of AMPA glutamate receptors to the cell membrane, which are believed to be trafficked in a non-DCV process. DCVs are a specialized organelle in neuron and neuroendocrine cells that are loaded with, and release, several important neuromodulators. These DCV-release neuromodulators regulate a broad spectrum of biological processes such as blood glucose homeostasis, the plasticity of the nervous system, and even appetite. AMPA trafficking is crucial to signaling in the brain. Glutamate is the major transmitter of excitatory signals in the brain. Our project aims to figure out if, and how, pick-1 is affecting these processes in C. elegans. To investigate pick-1's involvement in DCV biology we tested its interaction with RIC-19 (ICA69 in mammalian systems), a protein that is known to interact with PICK1 systems. To test pick-1's interaction with AMPA receptors, we tested how PICK1 affects the localization of GLR-1 (an AMPA receptor). If PICK1 does not affect the localization of GLR-1, then we would expect to see GLR-1 not properly trafficked to the synapse. If PICK1 is involved in DCV biology, we would expect a deletion of pick-1 would create lower levels of RIC-19 in the worms. To this point, our raw data has suggested that PICK1 does not play a role in DCV biology or AMPA receptor trafficking in C. elegans.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the causative agent of Kaposi’s Sarcoma (KS), a cancer of endothelial cell origin that commonly presents in immunocompromised individuals. While relatively rare in the United States, KS remains endemic to certain parts of Africa, where it is the most common cancer. Previous research has established that the number of peroxisomes is altered during latent KSHV infection. Peroxisomes are multifunctional cellular organelles involved in a variety of metabolic pathways important to KSHV pathogenesis. We propose to evaluate the cellular mechanism by which KSHV induces peroxisome biogenesis. I hypothesized that KSHV increases the transcription of specific regulatory genes responsible for the increase of peroxisome biogenesis. After mock and KSHV infecting cells, I evaluated gene expression of a known transcription factor, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARA), that has been shown to be responsible for peroxisome biogenesis. I used real time PCR to evaluate gene expression of the transcription factor PPARA. Our preliminary data shows that PPARA is increased, suggesting that PPARA regulates the expression of peroxisome associated genes and peroxisome biogenesis. Currently, I am evaluating if other peroxisome genes are increased, including those involved in peroxisome formation and enzyme activity. In addition, I am using small interfering RNA (siRNA) to transiently knock down PPARA. Silencing the expression of PPARA will determine its specific role in peroxisome biogenesis. I will mock and KSHV infect the cells in which PPARA is knocked down and use real time PCR to evaluate peroxisome biogenesis. In the absence of PPARA, I expect that PEX gene expression will be downregulated, which would suggest that PPARA regulates PEX genes at the gene transcription level. These results will help elucidate one of the key pathways involved in KSHV latency, and potentially contribute to the development of novel therapeutic avenues for KS treatment. 


Our research project was to design, construct, and launch a high powered rocket with the intention of pushing its velocity significantly past the speed of sound while simultaneously collecting data from which to interpret the max achieved acceleration, velocity, and altitude. The rocket's body has a three inch inner diameter made to fit the 3-inch motor casing without any extra room. This minimum diameter design reduced its weight so that less force was required to achieve higher acceleration, and it provided a smaller cross sectional area than a traditional rocket, thereby reducing the amount of drag force impeding its acceleration. Atypical of most high powered rocket designs, our rocket features a metal tipped nose cone to provide resistance to the heat caused by friction when breaking the sound barrier. At the speeds achieved, unmodified rocket fins will vibrate at extreme rates due to turbulent flow. In order to combat this destructive effect the fins were reinforced with carbon fiber to significantly stiffen them and reduce any resonant effects during flight. The payload consists of a StratoLogger SL100 Altimeter to keep track of the maximum altitude and velocities of our flights as well triggering two separate parachute deployments, achieving a safe landing while also minimizing drift time due to winds at altitude. It is our hope that our research rocket will push the boundaries of velocity and altitude achieved by a junior college rocket team as well as provide insight into ways to optimize our rocket designs to maximize future results.

Wildland firefighters are trained to combat forest fires by prescribed burning or wildfire suppression. Prescribed burning is a planned fire lit intentionally by firefighters to reduce fire hazard and to provide greater safety for firefighters and the public. Wildland firefighters often work on controlled burns using one of two work tasks: lighting, which consists of laying a strip of fire on the forest floor; and holding, keeping fire inside specified boundaries. It is the exposure inherent to these work tasks that our research is primarily concerned with. During these operations, firefighters are exposed to various combustion products, including fine particulate matter (PM2.5), carbon monoxide, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Many PAHs are carcinogens that undergo metabolism and are excreted in urine. In order to measure the PAH exposure severity, urine samples from wildland firefighters were collected before and after prescribed burn operations as well as on non-burn days. Urine samples were hydrolyzed by treatment with sulfatase and glucuronidase enzymes, and cleaned up with solid phase extraction. High performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection was used to analyze the samples for PAH metabolites. Our data analysis compares PAH exposure by work task, by season, and between burn and non-burn days. We anticipate that urinary concentrations of PAHs in firefighters will be higher after the prescribed fire operation compared to pre-burn levels. Findings of this research can be used to measure PAH exposure not only in wildland firefighters, but also in other occupational or residential settings where people are exposed to high concentrations of PAHs to reduce risk factors of developing cancer.

When setting up interspecies crosses between female Caenorhabditis species 29 (C.sp.29) and male Caenorhabditis nouraguensis (C.n.), the resulting progeny are all dead. However, the reciprocal cross (mating male C.sp.29 with female C.n.) still results in mostly dead progeny, but there are rare progeny that survive. These rare, surviving progeny can either be sterile or fertile. My research focuses on studying what causes the sterility of the rare offspring genetically. Thus, I set up crosses between female C.n and male C.sp.29 and collect the resulting rare offspring to genotype them. Then I characterize these offspring based on their morphology and genetic differences such as homozygous or heterozygous type inheritance at each chromosome. The worm genome consists of six chromosomes and I am currently testing chromosome I and IV. So far, fertility is associated with only maternal inheritance at chromosome I, while sterility is associated with offspring being a hybrid (heterozygous) at chromosome I. The fertile progeny are able to survive possibly due to a process called gynogenesis. Gynogenesis is when the egg is activated by the sperm but sperm’s DNA is excluded in the offspring. Some offspring exhibit a homozygous genotype at one chromosome while a heterozygous genotype at another. Therefore, if a reoccurring pattern is observed where a sterile worm has a homozygous genotype at chromosome I and a heterozygote genotype at chromosome IV, then I could hypothesize that sterility of the offspring is due to this particular pattern of inheritance. This implies that there could be more than one combination of inheritance contributing to the degree of sterility of each offspring. The main goal of the project is to investigate the complexity and the genetic requirement for sterility that is caused as result of these crosses.

Heart failure is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Heart failure (HF) is the inability of the heart to keep up with its workload, and at least half of HF patients suffer from decreased ventricular contractility or systolic dysfunction. Improving cardiomyocyte contraction is a potential therapy for diminished heart systolic function, but there is no current effective therapy that directly improves cardiomyocyte contraction. Previous studies from the Regnier Lab have shown that heart muscle exhibits a significant increase in contractility and force when naturally occurring 2-deoxyadenosine triphosphate (dATP) is used in place of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as the substrate for contraction. Intracellular dATP levels can be elevated by the overexpression of the enzyme ribonucleotide reductase (RNR). In order to assess the efficacy of this alternative myosin binding substrate as a potential therapy, it is necessary to design a reliable and accurate method to quantify the dATP levels in cardiac tissue and/or cultured cells. The goal of this work was to design a protocol for tissue sample preparation to run using High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) for quantitative assessment of nucleotides. A standard curve was produced to allow for absolute quantification of the nucleotides. Finally, these methods were implemented to study the cardiac levels of nucleotides in a transgenic mouse that overexpressed the enzyme attributed for de novo dATP synthesis on dATP levels. Correlation of dATP levels and cardiac function can provide validation of the influence of elevated dATP to improve cardiac muscle contraction for use in studies of animal models of heart failure.

 Every fall, thousands of Kuwaiti and Saudi men depart for the U.S. in hopes of achieving a state-of-the-art post-secondary education that many others can only dream of. For many of these students, the challenges of maintaining a sense of identity in America turns out to be much more than they bargained for. Now that these students are no longer directly impacted by the societal expectations of the homeland, they may choose to act in ways that were never permissible. However, for this particular community, adjusting to life in the U.S. is anything but stress-free. Navigating language and cultural barriers, as well as resisting institutionalized bias, such as the growing rise of Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiment in the U.S. public sphere has left these students feeling unnerved and unsettled. With the expectations of their overseas family members and friends still weighing heavily on their minds, and the expectations of a foreign nation that holds a polarized set of values and traditions looming large in their lives, these students are forming friendships that would have not been formed otherwise. Through semistructured interviews and participant observation, this study explores the impacts of temporary migration on the ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, and gender identities of Kuwaiti and Saudi men who are studying abroad in Seattle. By challenging hegemonic societal expectations from the homeland and defying the assimilatory practices of their new, temporary home, these students have managed to craft a new sense of identity that has never been experienced before. Optimistic, yet uncertain, these students have much to consider before embarking on their next steps in life. This study seeks to shed light on the resiliency and the solidarity of a young group of Kuwaiti and Saudi men who are studying abroad in Seattle and offers insight into the various intersectionalities of their identities.

Over a quarter of a million individuals live with Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) in the United States and experience debilitating chronic conditions, reduction of quality of life, and an accumulation of high healthcare costs. Recent clinical studies have shown that epidural spinal stimulation can lead to improvements in motor function, weight bearing, and autonomic dysreflexia among patients with SCI. It is thought that epidural stimulation creates an excitatory environment in the spinal cord and allows descending signals that were previously too weak to effect a motor output to reach a supra-threshold level. While the results are promising, both the mechanism of action and optimal parameters for stimulation and rehabilitation remain unknown. Therefore, in order to further develop this potential therapy, it is necessary to create a clinically relevant research model for the study of the treatment in question. This project addresses this through the development of an automated rehabilitative device for animal subjects following spinal cord injury, designed to mimic the extensive rehabilitation received by human patients with SCI and measure functional recovery following injury and during epidural stimulation treatment. Initial results show that subjects interact with the automated device, indicating a potential for more widespread implementation. Specifically, this high-throughput and automated system will be initially utilized for the study of the effects of epidural spinal stimulation in the rat cervical cord following contusion injury in order to quantify both transient and lasting motor improvements.

The principle objective of this research is to contribute to a critical body of work by recent scholars who have challenged the popular understanding and the perceived differences of both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Minister Malcolm X. Scholarship has not yet adequately compared and contrasted the political messages and insights that each leader presented in the final years of his life. This research engages with Malcolm X’s and MLK’s later works, which were critical for understanding new developments in their political messages and strategies. In order to comprehend the final years of both leaders, this paper will use a close reading of primary and secondary sources to provide a comparative analysis of their work. Also, the paper seeks to explore the commonalities and divergent strategies that MLK and Malcolm X used in their final messages and suggests ways that these messages are still relevant to US society.

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiologic agent for Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS)—the most common malignancy of AIDS patients worldwide. Because KS is an endothelial cell based cancer, it relies on mechanisms unique to endothelial cells to proliferate. One such way is through expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1 and 3 (R1 and R3). The goal of my project is to determine the viral mechanisms by which KSHV upregulates these receptors. Because the majority of KSHV-infected cells are in latent phase, I hypothesized that latent genes are responsible for R1 and R3 upregulation. By infecting cells with an adenovirus modified to express only genes within KSHV latency-associated region (KLAR), I was able to confirm that KLAR genes are sufficient to upregulate R1, but not R3. To determine which KLAR genes are required for R1 upregulation, I created lentiviruses to express one viral gene at a time. By infecting cells with these lentiviruses and monitoring R1 mRNA transcript production by PCR, I was able to rule out three of the four genes in KLAR. Using a cell line modified to constituently express the remaining KLAR gene, latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA), I found mRNA transcript levels for R1 were significantly higher in LANA-expressing cells than in control cells. This suggests LANA is responsible for R1 upregulation. I am currently conducting a luciferase assay to determine if LANA interacts with the R1 promoter to modify R1 expression. To narrow the search for genes involved in R3 upregulation, I will continue to make lentiviruses to test the involvement of viral genes not located in KLAR. I will present current work examining if conditioned media induces R3 to determine if virus induced secreted factors could be responsible for R3 upregulation. My research will contribute to the ongoing search for treatment strategies for KSHV and KS.

Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) is the most common tumor found in sub-Saharan Africa and in AIDS patients worldwide. It is a highly angiogenic tumor caused by Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), which establishes a latent infection in endothelial cells. KSHV infected endothelial cells display many angiogenic phenotypes, including vascular tube formation and stabilization. Recent data shows a link between KSHV angiogenesis and the hypoxia inducible factors (HIF) pathway. HIFs are a family of heterodimeric transcription factors that respond to low levels of oxygen in the cell. The HIF pathway has been shown to activate pro-angiogenic genes, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Our lab has previously shown that both HIF-1alpha and HIF-2alpha are upregulated during KSHV infection. Although HIF-1alpha is expressed ubiquitously, HIF-2alpha is specific to endothelial cells. I hypothesize that HIF-2alpha regulates angiogenesis during KSHV infection. To test this hypothesis, I knocked down HIF-2alpha expression in endothelial cells using an shRNA lentivirus, which successfully knocked down expression by 80%. I then conducted a capillary tube assay on mock and KSHV infected cells. This assay involves homogenous seeding of cells onto Matrigel, a basement membrane matrix for studying angiogenesis in vitro. The cells attach and migrate on the Matrigel to organize into capillary-like structures, which mimics the later stages of angiogenesis. Latent KSHV infection has been shown to form tubes at 6 hours post-plating in Matrigel and to stabilize tube formation at 24 hours, a time point when capillary-like formation normally regresses in uninfected cells. My preliminary data shows that when HIF-2alpha is knocked down, KSHV-induced tube formation is inhibited. Future work will explore the viral mechanism and the cellular significance of HIF-2alpha upregulation during latent KSHV infection. If HIF-2alpha is required for KSHV-induced angiogenesis, this transcription factor may be a promising therapeutic target for KS tumors.

Computers can produce undesired results when operating on large non-negative values. For example, a computer might compute (2^32 - 2) / (2^32 - 1) to be exactly 2, whereas the desired value is slightly less than 1. The computer representation of non-negative, or "unsigned", values is incompatible with the standard computer implementation of division for possibly negative, or "signed", values. If a programmer uses the wrong implementation of an operator, or mixes signed and unsigned values in a computation, that mistake can lead to incorrect calculations and even to security vulnerabilities. Our goal is to prevent such errors. To prevent introducing errors, programmers must segregate signed and unsigned values in their programs. This task is tedious and error-prone. We have built an automated tool that reports when a programmer has made a mistake related to signed and unsigned values. Even more importantly, the tool is sound: if the tool issues no warnings, then the program is guaranteed to contain no such errors. Our technical approach is called pluggable type-checking: it enriches the programming language's type system in order to represent signedness, which languages like Java do not currently handle. This approach is natural and easy-to-use for programmers. A programmer simply declares which values are unsigned, and our tool checks that these values are used soundly. Our implementation is publicly available as open-source at http://checkerframework.org/ . In case studies, it found a number of errors in real-world code. This illustrates the potential for our technique to make programming less error-prone and programs more reliable.

In the United States alone, over 3 million people have glaucoma, yet only half of those people have been diagnosed. Elevated intraocular pressure is the principal symptom checked to detect glaucoma. Current medical technology lacks the capability to capture the fluctuation of eye pressure during the day, essential for an accurate diagnosis and management of the disease. Implanted during cataract surgery, this intraocular pressure sensor increases monitoring capability, allowing early detection and diagnosis of glaucoma before irreversible nerve damage occurs. Our device is a passive capacitive sensor; no chip or battery is needed to detect the changing of pressure within the eye. The signal is sent and transmitted to an external readout via RF. The sensor is fabricated using microelectronic techniques and is made of biocompatible materials, such as polyimide and gold. Two parallel gold rings plus the empty cavity created between them form the capacitive sensor. The device itself is covered and packaged in polyimide. In relation to device fabrication, my research involved the optimization of various processes related with the production and testing of the intraocular pressure sensors. I performed the optimization of polyimide deposition parameters, as well as the timing and process flow of baking and curing steps. I also performed the testing of varying gold thicknesses, deposited via several different processes. Two layers of polyimide are bonded together using heat and pressure to form the cavity. The heat and pressure used to fuse the two polymer layers morphed the shape of the cavity, resulting in inconsistent signals given off by the antenna. We now seek to develop a process flow that does not necessitate the bonding of two separate layers to form a cavity.

3D integration of microelectronic structures are essential to addressing the demands of future high performance electronics. Current memory chips use wire bonding to connect memory cells but are reaching a limit due to assembly challenges. Through-silicon-vias (TSVs), which are vertical electrical connections through a silicon wafer, are a promising alternative to wire bonding and printed electrical interconnects. 3D integrated circuit architecture can be fabricated using TSVs to connect stacked memory cells to increase memory performance while reducing power consumption and chip area. The key to improved TSV technology relies on the conformity of the TaN diffusion barrier and dielectric layers (inside the TSV) prior to electroplating the Cu interconnects. In addition, longer and smaller TSVs form denser 3D microelectronic structures which could have major implications in maximizing data flow for memory cells. In this work, we focused primarily on fabricating ultra-high aspect ratio TSVs (20:1) through standard semiconductor fabrication techniques and used deep reactive-ion etching to create the TSVs. We addressed TSV fabrication process challenges, such as achieving conformal high aspect ratio metal interconnects, by utilizing a novel thin film deposition process called pulsed-CVD (chemical vapor deposition). Lastly, preliminary research on the annealing of the TaN barrier layer reveals a more uniform grain microstructure, which attributes to the TaN’s ability to resist ion diffusion.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a common herpes virus that causes severe illness in immunocompromised patients, such as transplant recipients. Due to scarcity of matching donors, it is sometimes necessary to give a patient who is CMV-negative hematopoietic stem cells from a donor who is positive, resulting in a 25% risk of infection. A study was performed 30 years ago to determine if giving patients immune globulin with high levels of CMV-specific antibodies (CMV-IVIG) could prevent infection. The hypothesis was that CMV-specific antibodies would bind to and neutralize the virus before it could establish infection in the patient. The results demonstrated decreased risk of infection among patients who received CMV-IVIG compared to those who did not (controls). However, because of the poor diagnostic and treatment options available for CMV at this time, there was no difference in the rate of illness or survival, so the strategy was abandoned. Using samples from this trial, we will measure the ability of antibodies to prevent CMV entry into epithelial cells utilizing a novel neutralizing-antibody (NAb) assay. A standard concentration of a green fluorescent protein (GFP) labeled, CMV strain is added to dilutions of patient sera. The virus and sera solutions are overlaid onto epithelial cells for one hour and then washed. The cells are incubated for one week and the intensity of GFP fluorescence is measured. We construct a standard curve and extrapolate the concentration of serum required to neutralize 50% of the virus (IC-50). We hypothesize that patients who received CMV-IVIG will have higher NAb activity than controls. We have completed testing of 17/63 patients. The mean log₂IC-50 of patients who received CMV-IVIG (n=8) was 6.25, compared to 5.33 in controls (n=9). Identification of a marker that predicts prevention of CMV infection would be important for CMV vaccine development.

Periodontitis is a serious infection that damages both soft (gingiva and periodontal ligaments-PDL) and hard tissues (dental cementum and alveolar bone) of the periodontium. Mineralization is an essential dynamic process for development and maintenance of the periodontium. The current study focuses on how mineralization of alveolar bone and the attachments of PDL are affected by experimental periodontitis in a pig model. Eight three-month-old pigs were periodically inoculated with 4 types of periodontal bacteria, along with a ligature around the last maxillary deciduous premolar for 8 weeks to induce periodontitis. Another group of 7 pigs without the ligatures and bacterial inoculations were taken as control. Bone labeling dyes, calcein and alizarin, were injected intraperitoneally 7 and 2 days respectively before euthanasia. The harvested upper molar blocks were embedded in micro-bed resin and successive sections were taken at 30μm thickness coronally. Three sections that contained the most intact mesial and distal roots of the target molar were selected and examined under epifluorescence. The interlabel distance between two vital markers at the surfaces of alveolar socket and trabeculae, cementum, and the attachment of PDL fiber bundles were measured, and the mineral apposition rates (MAR) were calculated. Preliminary results indicate that, as compared with control pigs, periodontitis pigs showed reduced MAR in the trabecular structures, more significantly in the regions underneath the molar furcation. The reduced MAR was also seen in the alveolar ridges in the periodontitis pigs but was not as significant as the region under the furcation. More data analysis is currently underway. These results suggest that experimental periodontitis may slow down periodontal mineralization in young growing pigs, in which alveolar bone underneath the root furcation and the cortical layer of the socket are mostly affected.

Copper metallization is an essential step to provide low electrical resistance and reduced electromigration for interconnecting electronic devices. Recently, 2.5D and 3D chip integration has emerged as a desirable packaging technology for advanced electronics. 2.5D uses dedicated silicon-based circuit boards with precise, thick conductor lines while 3D uses vertical connections call Through Silicon Vias (TSVs). Both rely on the process of advanced electroplating where copper is deposited onto the surface of a wafer to fill high aspect ratio structures (either trenches or TSVs). In order to have level plating on a wafer and minimize pinching off of the features, specific levels of organic additives are necessary in the solution. These additives include accelerator, suppressor and leveler, all of which contribute to a successful electroplating process. The analysis of the levels of the additives are discussed as well as their depletion over time due to evaporation or usage. Producing uniform electroplated Cu is dependent on specific concentrations of organic additives in the Cu electroplating bath, namely the accelerator, suppressor and leveler. In this work, we performed copper bath analysis to characterize the amount of the additives needed to achieve an optimal plating bath composition to yield pristine Cu thin films. During the electroplating process, we addressed key challenges by adjusting variables such as increasing current in small intervals to prevent contact failure and taking into account the high aspect ratio structures and plating times to completely fill the trenches/TSVs.

This project aims to build a pulsed laser for lifetime measurements of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. Such measurements are an important tool for characterizing the quantum information processing potential of NV-center-based photonic devices. Specifically, the radiative lifetime of an NV center is indicative of the proportion of photons being emitted at the useful zero phonon line (ZPL) wavelength. Optical emission at other wavelengths cannot be used for quantum information processing. As NV centers naturally emit only ~3% of photons at the ZPL wavelength, a major objective of our lab is to increase this quantity through photonic integration. Although lifetime measurements have been performed previously in our lab, the excitation source used had a pulse width of 4 ps, much shorter than needed and thus requiring a high optical intensity. This tended to damage the photonic devices under investigation. Therefore, a pulsed laser with a pulse width on the order of 10 ns is being constructed for future lifetime measurements. An important feature of this laser will be a pulse fall time significantly shorter than the NV center’s radiative lifetime. After the laser becomes operational, we will utilize it to implement lifetime measurements of NV centers coupled to photonic devices. This will lead to a better characterization of device performance, and ultimately to large scale NV-center-based quantum information processing.

We determine when and in what galaxies Supermassive Black Hole mergers occur and what they tell us about galaxy evolution throughout the history of the universe. We are doing this through analyzing ROMULUS25, which is a simulation--the size of a box that is 80 Million Light Years per side--of the universe from the big bang to the present day. The data from ROMULUS25 includes the evolution of thousands of galaxies and is able to resolve the internal structure of galaxies. We use the programming language python to sift through all of the data in our simulation in order to determine the rate at which Supermassive Black Holes merger together, and what the different conditions are before and after the merger. Our preliminary results suggest that the closer the ratio of masses of the two Supermassive Black Holes are will result in a much lower merger rate. This will help us understand the coevolution of galaxies and Supermassive Black Holes and allow us to predict and contextualize future observations of gravitiational waves from the LISA mission, which is a space-based gravitational wave detector.

Good communication is crucial to a patient's healthcare experience and an integral part of a nurse's role in providing care. Patients with communication disorders are susceptible to poorer health outcomes and decreased satisfaction with services due to breakdowns in communication with nurses. Literature suggests that nurses should receive training on how to effectively communicate with these patients, but it is unclear whether this training is currently included in nursing school curriculum. What are nursing students at universities across Washington State being taught about how communication disorders impact medical interactions, or how to better communicate with patients who struggle? Are these students lacking the necessary education and training to provide quality care for patients with communication disorders? In an attempt to answer these questions, survey data will be collected from junior and senior nursing students at the University of Washington, as well as from faculty responsible for developing nursing student curriculum at UW and other in-state universities regarding the current communication skills curriculum being taught in this area. Based on preliminary findings we hypothesize that a gap exists in nursing student curriculum related to how to communicate effectively with this patient population, and that the survey data collected will show that nursing students in Washington State are not currently being taught about communicating with patients with communication disorders. The key implication of this study will either suggest a need for nursing school curriculum to implement communication skills training targeted toward patients with communication disorders or show that students are in fact receiving this training. The addition of education and training in this area can help nurses improve the quality of care for this patient population. 

I think of the human heart as a finite collection of fragile pieces. And each time we fall in love or have our hearts broken, a piece of us is lost. However, that emptiness that we've somehow created for ourselves is replaced with another from someone else. And theoretically, if we continued to fall in love, our hearts would no longer be ours, but a collection of pieces that reflect the people we've crossed paths with and have come to love. A collection of pieces that fit together in a way that made each of our feelings for each other unique and honest. It is in the delicate nature of the human heart that I bring to life in the fragile existence of all 1001 ceramic cranes, all of which I crafted individually by hand. It is a reflection of the vulnerable individual. What may seem to be a collection of identical pieces is not. Each crane is created with subtle differences that render the connections of the piece unique. The entirety of my art is what exists from the remnants of the original 1001. In the absence of a physical piece, there exists a symbolic void that represents the connection I share to those that I love. It is a void that is rendered empty in the perspective of the outsider, but never in the eyes of its viewer. The creation of my art is alive; it is a part of me. It is with purpose that my original piece is rendered vulnerable in the absence of a few. It is in the creation of my art that gives life to the vulnerability of the human connection; it is a vulnerability to love.