This study consists of five compositions/arrangements and one excerpt of a composition from the folk music of Thailand for Western percussion solo and ensembles. These compositions/arrangements were selected from Thai folk songs from the four regions of Thailand (central, northern, northeastern, and southern) in order to represent each region's culture and characteristics: Bats Eat Bananas for percussion ensemble, plus an excerpt for mallet percussion (from the central region); Long Mae Ping Fantasia for marimba solo and percussion ensemble (from the northern region); Mang Poo Tom Dok for percussion ensemble (from the northeastern region); and Krao Talung Dance for percussion ensemble (from the southern region). This study also includes a history of the selected folk songs and the instruments used, a brief introduction to traditional Thai percussion instruments and techniques, and a discussion of how these techniques can be adapted to Western instruments. The purpose of this study is to introduce Thai music into Western awareness through the medium of Western percussion instruments. It also serves to assist Thai musicians, especially percussionists, in bringing Western percussion to Thailand and also generating renewed interest among Thai audiences for their own folk music—not only creating a new fusion style of music but also helping keep traditional Thai music alive for future generations.

Understanding the processes that generate biodiversity is a major goal of evolutionary biology. The ultimate cause of biodiversity is the evolution of barriers to gene flow between populations of organisms, but the proximate mechanisms are often more complex. I am interested in disentangling the roles of geographic isolation and ecological selection in the diversification of a species-rich genus of tropical tephritid fruit flies. Blepharoneura are highly specialized and host specific flies; most species specialize on a single plant host and flower sex although multiple species may exploit the same resource. At one location in Peru, two plant species (two sexes - four plant niches) are host to 14 Blepharoneura species. Phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA sequences reveal that some species may be diverging as a result of shifts to new host plants (suggesting possible ecological selection acting in speciation), while other species show an apparent pattern of geographic divergence in addition to or without host shifts. To further investigate these ecological and geographic signals underlying the history of Blepharoneura speciation, more rapidly evolving molecular markers are required. Here, I use microsatellites to address this question for seven Blepharoneura species (sp1, sp4, sp8, sp10, sp21, sp28, and sp30) characterized by differing patterns of host-plant use and geographic distribution. Microsatellite data indicates patterns of ecological divergence associated with host use in at least five species (sp1, sp4, sp10, sp21, sp30) and patterns of geographic divergence in all seven species.

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) probes inter-molecular interactions within solid materials. THz-TDS covers the spectral region of 0.1-3 THz or 5-100 cm-1 which is a low energy and non-ionizing region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectra are collected in a time-domain configuration where a coherent broad-band pulse of THz electromagnetic radiation passes through a sample and gated-detection is used to monitor the electric-field vector of the transmitted THz radiation. This methodology permits a direct measure of the time-of-flight of THz radiation through the sample and, as a result, provides a direct means to measure interactions between the propagating THz electromagnetic wave and the sample material. Time of interaction between the THz wave and the sample gives a measure of the optical and electronic properties of the material and attenuation of the propagating THz wave gives information pertaining to both absorption and scattering properties of the sample. The analytical utility of these features of THz-TDS is explored in this dissertation. Cocrystals represent a novel class of supra-molecular materials composed of two or more inorganic or organic units (molecules, ions or atoms) configured within a crystalline structure. The components interact by hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking or weak Vander Waals interactions to create ordered structures with unique chemical and physical properties. The potential of such unique properties has spurred efforts to design cocrystal materials specifically direct toward long-standing problems within the fields of pharmaceutics and electronics. Research findings presented in this dissertation demonstrate the potential of THz-TDS as an analytical tool for characterizing fundamental chemical and physical properties of cocrystal materials, thereby providing the means to advance the rational design of cocrystal materials for selected applications. The analytical utility of THz-TDS is established through a series of transmission measurements through samples composed of the cocrystal of interest embedded within a polymeric matrix. Both high-density polyethylene and polytetrafluoroethylene are used to form compressed pellets containing cocrystals for analysis. Initial efforts demonstrate quantitation of cocrystalline materials within such pellets through a Beer-Lambert relationship where the magnitude of selected absorption bands is related to the amount of a cocrystal within a given pellet. In addition, time-domain THz spectra are used to determine the refractive index of sample pellets and this information is shown to provide dielectric spectra at THz frequencies for the cocrystal components of the sample pellets. The so-called LLL model is applied to generate accurate dielectric information for the cocrystal component of these pellets on the basis of volume fraction. The ability to measure the polarizability of cocrystals is also demonstrated by applying the Clausius-Mossitti relationship between polarizability and dielectric spectra. The utility of the established analytical features of THz-TDS is demonstrated in a series of preliminary experiments designed to: 1) follow the single-crystal-single-crystal (SCSC)[2+2] photodimerization reaction of 2(5-cyano-resorcinol)∙2(trans-1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene) to produce rctt-tetrakis(4-pyridyl) cyclobutane; 2) establish the relationship between polarizability and hardness for a series of cocrystals; and 3) determine differences in polarization of cocrystals produced by different synthetic methods. Results support the following conclusions: 1)kinetics of SCSC reactions can be followed through dielectric measurements, but concentration measurements are confounded by unique spectroscopic features observed for partially reacted cocrystals; 2) polarizability at THz frequencies are inversely related to hardness of the tested cocrystals; 3) differences are observed in the polarizability of macro versus nano size cocrystals; and 4) polarizability of these cocrystals is independent of synthesis method.

This thesis combines documentation of book, installation, and social art projects from 2012-2015 with reflections on intentions, influences, concepts, and questions.

Throughout the years, land use and land cover (LULC) changes have directly impacted the water cycle in Iowa. To better understand the hydrological response to LULC change, the Hydrological Simulation Program - FORTRAN (HSPF) model will be used to qualitatively evaluate the effects of different LULC’s and quantify the associated adjustments to model parameters. Anecdotal and observational evidence of the hydrologic response will be employed to define how model parameters should be adjusted to represent certain LULC changes. The hydrologic assessment will be of the Turkey River Watershed located in northeast Iowa, which covers approximately 1,693 square miles.

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness throughout the world and is estimated to affect 80 million by 2020. This disease causes progressive loss of vision and, left untreated, can lead to complete blindness. With treatment, however, disease progression can be slowed dramatically. This makes early detection and intervention crucial in preserving the vision of affected individuals. Onset and progression of glaucoma are associated with structural changes to an anatomical feature known as the optic nerve head (ONH). The ONH is the site of attachment between the retina and the optic nerve that carries all visual information to the brain. As glaucoma progresses, characteristic changes related to cell death and loss of vision can be observed in the three-dimensional structure of the ONH. A common modality used to observe these changes is stereo fundus imaging. This modality captures three-dimensional information via stereo imaging and is commonly used in clinical settings to diagnose and monitor glaucoma. A limitation of using stereo fundus images is the need for review by glaucoma specialists to identify disease related features of ONH structure. Further, even when expert evaluation is possible, the subjective nature of the process can lead due large discrepancies in the evaluations and resultant clinical decisions. The work presented here seeks address these concerns by providing automated, computational tools that can be used to characterize ONH structure. Specifically, this thesis outlines the development of computational methods for inferring three-dimensional information from stereo fundus images and identifying objective, quantitative measurements of ONH structure. The resulting computational tools were applied to image and clinical data collected from a large cohort of individuals to identify hidden relationships between ONH structure, clinical measurements, and glaucoma. These tools were then applied to develop methods for estimating the impact of individual genetic factors on the ONH. Finally, using a longitudinal dataset collected over more than a decade, computational analysis was used to investigate how ONH structure changes over time in response to aging, other disease-related factors, and glaucoma progression.

This dissertation investigates undersea cinema from its origins to the present. Addressing a range of documentaries, narrative fiction films, and sound recordings made undersea, this project emphasizes ocean cinema’s ties to the histories of ocean exploration, conquest, and conservation—contexts from which undersea films cannot be extricated. For over a century, undersea films have brought the distant world of the deep up close to the eyes and ears of a broad public; they have been a major influence on popular understanding of the ocean, which today is of great environmental significance and a powerful symbol of a fragile global ecology. This project aims to show how the ocean as a cinematic site of ecological consciousness is, as a condition of its production, intimately linked to environmentally unfriendly histories of technology. The often-dazzling images of marine life shown on film can increase viewers’ sensitivity to the other forms of life with which they share the planet. At the same time, producing these images has historically relied on exploratory technologies built for the purpose of better exploiting the marine environment economically and militarily. This contradiction between films’ meanings and their conditions of possibility is not limited to ocean cinema; it characterizes a wide range of environmental films. By focusing on ocean cinema, a particularly rich case of unseen worlds, environmental consciousness, and destructive techno-scientific commitments coming together, this dissertation aims to illuminate a tension that pervades environmental cinema in general.

Graphene, a newly discovered carbon based material, is predicted to have a strong nonlinear electromagnetic response over a broad spectral range. Its unique carrier transport and terahertz properties have gained ample attention. Recently, it has been demonstrated that graphene has an extraordinary high nonlinear response with third-order susceptibility X3∼ 10-7 esu, which is 105 times higher than that of silicon. In this thesis, we examine the nonlinear response of electron dynamics in graphene using the new derived optical Bloch equations. The thesis is divided into three sections. In the first part, we provide an overview of the derivation of the extended optical Bloch equations from the time-dependent Dirac equations. Then, we use these derived optical Bloch equations to demonstrate the coupling of light and field interaction in graphene, and the generation of the photon echo signals. Next, we describe the nonlinear response in graphene in terms of the current density, and we show that the enhanced interband dynamics reduces nonlinearity in the electric current. Finally, we illustrate that the strong interplay between the interband and intraband dynamics leads to large harmonic generations, where harmonics of up to 13th order are generated.

Anatomia Botanica explores the relationship I have come to develop with my natural environment. It takes the reader through my understanding of three species of flowering plants. These are plants that had a significant impact on my childhood and early adulthood, teaching me to look at our natural environment as far more complex and compelling of respect than we give credit to.

This written thesis serves as a public record for the production of Jesse Kreitzer's MFA thesis film Black Canaries, a 1900s coal mining folktale inspired by his Iowan heritage. The thesis includes Mr. Kreitzer's genealogical and historical research as it pertains to his maternal ancestry and coal mining in south-central Iowa. The thesis also accounts for the conceptual, personal, and practical considerations for the production of Black Canaries. Additional materials include the film's production packet, reference guide, production storyboards, and screenplay.