IntelliDrive is an initiative developed by United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) that aims to enable safe, interoperable networked wireless communications among vehicles, the infrastructure, and passengers' personal communications devices. IntelliDrive technology has the ability to provide data that would be helpful in enhancement of the existing traffic management applications. IntelliDrive data has attributes that cannot be measured using traditional surveillance technology and which can be used for the development of new traffic management and traveler information applications. The traffic responsive plan selection (TRPS) mode of operation is used in coordinated traffic network to improve the performance of the system. This mode of operation has the ability to implement the best possible timing plan for the existing traffic conditions by switching between timing plans. The data from IntelliDrive technology can be utilized in the traffic responsive mode to improve the system performance by reducing the overall delay in the system. This paper proposes a system that can be used to integrate the data obtained from the IntelliDrive technology to the traffic responsive mode of operation. The proposed method utilizes the number of stops and delay of the vehicles in an intersection as a basis for the implementation of the best timing plan for the prevailing traffic condition. The study shows that using the IntelliDrive based TRPS results in the selection of the traffic plan that minimizes the delay of the system and thus results in better system performance compared to the traditional traffic responsive mechanism. / Master of Science

This thesis presents a pedagogical framework for understanding dynamic Parametricism within the new media culture. As indicated by the title, 'Appliance Architecture in the Invisible College: a Pedagogical Text', this paper will serve two purposes. First, appliance architecture will construct the theoretical framework that will provide the context for the four case studies presented within this thesis: an interview with Rob Ley, designer of the Reef Project; the design and development of the Eclipsis Screen for the Solar Decathlon house, Lumenhaus; the development of an architectural robotics design laboratory, Prototyping in Architectural Robotics for Technology-enriched Education (PARTeE); and workshop > no.1, a physical computing workshop held at the College of Architecture + Urban Studies (CAUS). Second, the invisible college will serve as a pedagogical framework for teaching dynamic Parametricism within appliance architecture. The invisible college will explore the emergent design typologies developed through the PARTeE laboratory's first year and will culminate in the application of the teaching methodologies used for the physical computing workshop. The following serves to establish the architectural discourse within which 'Appliance Architecture in the Invisible College' is embedded. In the broadest sense, this discourse is that of kinetic architecture. The word 'kinetic' is used to denote motion, or the act or process of changing position of over time, where time is the unit of measurement or relativity. The 'appliance' is defined as any consumer object or assembly with embedded intelligence; it does not shy away from the modern connotation of objects such as a coffee maker, refrigerator or iPod. The appliance as an assembly, therefore, presents a part-to-whole relationship that is understood through GWF Hegel's organic unity, which states: 'everything that exists stands in correlation, and this correlation is the veritable nature of every existence. The existent thing in this way has no being in its own, but only in something else, just as the whole would not be what it is but for the existence of its parts, so the parts would not be what they are but for the existence of the whole' (Leddy, 1991). It is this part-to-whole relationship which provides an understanding of the emergent typologies which structure the foundation for learning within the invisible college. / Master of Architecture

This qualitative case study investigates the discrepancies between theory, school policy, and practices within educational settings, particularly concerning minority students. Grounded in the persistent racial achievement gaps documented in educational literature, the study aims to understand the challenges and successful strategies for bridging these gaps. Drawing upon Critical Race Theory (CRT), Intergroup Contact Theory, and Stereotype Threat as conceptual frameworks, the research explores the experiences of eight participants through thematic analysis. Three overarching themes emerged: challenges aligning theories, policies, and practices; successful strategies for alignment; and unsuccessful strategies. Findings underscore the importance of culturally responsive curriculum, teacher professional development, student- teacher relationships, and parental engagement in narrowing achievement gaps. Additionally, the study identifies barriers such as language obstacles, resource inadequacies, and discriminatory policies. The implications of these findings extend to educational research, practice, and policy- making, emphasizing the need for equitable opportunities, teacher training, inclusive environments, and community involvement. By addressing the disconnect between theory and practice, this study contributes to promoting educational diversity and fostering student success in diverse classrooms. Key words: achievement gaps, minority groups, educational disparities

This dissertation describes the development of temperature and pH-responsive interfaces, where the emphasis is placed on tuning the responsivities within a physiological temperature range. This tuning is achieved through the utilization of polymeric building blocks, where each component is specifically synthesized to have a unique responsivity. The assembly of these components onto surfaces permits the fabrication of stimuli-responsive interfaces. In addition, this dissertation explores the use of a self-assembling peptide as a modular building block to modify the interface of hydrogel microparticles, resulting in the formation of a new biosynthetic construct. Hydrogels are three-dimensional, crosslinked polymer networks that swell in water. Over the years, hydrogels have been extensively explored as biomaterials due to their high water content, tunable mechanics, and chemical versatility. Two areas where hydrogels have received considerable interest are drug delivery and extracellular matrices. Unfortunately, developing structurally and functionally complex hydrogels from the top down is challenging because many parameters cannot be independently tuned in a bulk material. An alternative route would be to develop a library of building blocks, where each is tailored for a given function, and assemble these components into composite structures. The building block synthesized and utilized in this dissertation is a microgel. Microgels are a colloidal dispersion of hydrogel microparticles, ranging in size from 100 to 1000 nm in diameter. The microgels were prepared from environmentally responsive polymers, sensitive to both temperature and pH. Microgels have been used in the fabrication of polyelectrolyte layer-by-layer films, where the microgel serves as the polyanion and a linear polycation is used to “stitch” the particles together. In Chapters 3 and 4, stimuli-responsive interfaces are prepared from environmentally responsive microgel building blocks. In particular, Chapter 3 demonstrates tuning of the film response temperature by preparing several different microgels with differing ratios of two thermoresponsive polymers. Chapter 4 evaluates the influence of the pH environment on the thermoresponsivity of microgel films. While the pH environment was found to substantially affect some films, it is possible to prepare microgel films that behave independently of pH. The swelling/de-swelling of the films was also investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) as a function of both pH and temperature. It was determined that the AFM imaging parameters can drastically affect the measured film thicknesses (Appendix A) due to the soft, deformable nature of microgel films. The studies in these chapters illustrate the advantages of preparing composite structures from discrete components, where the functionality of the composite is dictated by the constituent particles. In Chapter 5, attention is placed on modifying the surface of microgel particles. Many of the traditional routes used to modify microgels involve the incorporation of co-monomers into the network or the addition of polymer shells. However, a new core/shell construct is presented, where a microgel core is coated with a self-assembling peptide shell. In this scenario, the peptide shell serves as a modular scaffold, where surface-localized functional groups can participate in reactions. Although there are still a number of questions remaining in regard to the assembly process and stability of the construct, initial experiments suggests that this is an interesting and promising structure to study. Finally, a discussion of future directions and possible experiments is provided in Chapter 6. Hopefully, this will serve as a guide for further exploration of the research presented herein. Microgels remain a rich class of materials to study and employ. While their synthesis is rather straightforward, their use often results in complex behavior and interesting phenomena. Understanding their behavior is a crucial step in realizing their full potential.

In the fast-paced technological revolution, technology has formed itself differently to facilitate the way to users to get their needs. As a matter of fact, people nowadays rely to a great extent on the smart devices as one of the essential creations of technology. They tend to access any website or web-application(s) through these devices fast and easily. Thus, paying enough attention to the design of any website or web-application is a major issue. This thesis project discusses the Responsive and Adaptive Design Methods as two important methods in terms of Websites and Web-Design. The methods have been theoretically discussed and explained to present the essential differences between them. Moreover, MyMusiC website has been implemented to show the differences between these methods practically. The prominent difference between the Responsive and Adaptive de-signs of the website makes it easy for the users to figure out the difference between the two design methods in terms of accessibility and ease of navigation. The results showed that the Responsive design is more user-friendly and more preferred by the users than the Adaptive design, as the users tend to use their smart devices first when they want to access a website than the computers.

Moderne Methoden für die Einzelzellanalyse werden dank der fortschreitenden Weiterentwicklung immer sensitiver. Dabei steigen jedoch auch die Anforderungen an das Probenmaterial. Viele Aufbereitungsprotokolle adhärenter Zellen beinhalten eine enzymatische Spaltung der Oberflächenproteine, um die Ablösung vom Zellkultursubstrat zu ermöglichen. Verschiedene Methoden, wie die Patch-Clamp-Technik oder eine auf der Markierung extrazellulärer Domänen von Membranproteinen basierende Durchflusszytometrie können dann nur noch eingeschränkt eingesetzt werden. Daher ist die Etablierung neuer Zellablösemethoden dringend notwendig. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden erstmals PEG-basierte thermo-responsive Oberflächen erfolgreich für die Zellkultur eingesetzt. Dabei wird das zerstörungsfreie Ablösen verschiedener Zelllinien von den Oberflächen durch Temperatursenkung realisiert. Die Funktionalität der Oberflächen wird durch Variation der Polymerstruktur, sowie der Konzentration der Beschichtungslösung, durch Beschichtung der Oberflächen mit einem zelladhäsionsfördernden Protein (Fibronektin) und durch Adsorption zelladhäsionsvermittelnder Peptide (RGD) optimiert. Um den Zellablösungsprozess detaillierter zu untersuchen, wird hier zum ersten Mal der direkte Zellkontakt mit thermo-responsiven Oberflächen mittels oberflächensensitiver Mikroskopie (TIRAF) sichtbar gemacht. Mit dieser Technik sind die exakte Quantifizierung und die Analyse der Reduktion der Zelladhäsionsfläche während des Abkühlens möglich. Hierbei werden in Abhängigkeit von der Zelllinie Unterschiede im Zellverhalten während des Ablösens festgestellt: Zellen, wie eine Brustkrebszelllinie und eine Ovarzelllinie, die bekanntermaßen stärker mit ihrer Umgebung in Kontakt treten, vergrößern im Verlauf des Beobachtungszeitraumes den Abstand zwischen Zellmembran und Oberfläche, reduzieren jedoch ihre Zell-Substratkontaktfläche kaum. Mausfibroblasten hingegen verkleinern drastisch die Zelladhäsionsfläche. Der Ablösungsprozess wird vermutlich aktiv von den Zellen gesteuert. Diese Annahme wird durch zwei Beobachtungen gestützt: Erstens verläuft die Reduktion der Zelladhäsionsfläche bei Einschränkung des Zellmetabolismus durch eine Temperatursenkung auf 4 °C verzögert. Zweitens hinterlassen die Zellen Spuren, die nach dem Ablösen der Zellen auf den Oberflächen zurückbleiben. Mittels Kombination von TIRAF- und TIRF-Mikroskopie werden die Zelladhäsionsfläche und die Aktinstruktur gleichzeitig beobachtet. Die Verknüpfung beider Methoden stellt eine neue Möglichkeit dar, intrazelluläre Prozesse mit der Zellablösung von thermo-responsiven Oberflächen zu korrelieren. / Modern methods for single-cell analysis are becoming increasingly sensitive. At the same time, requirements for the sample material are on the rise. Today, sample preparation of adherent cells usually includes steps of enzymatic treatment to digest surface proteins thus, inducing cell detachment from culture substrates. This strongly limits the application of different techniques like patch clamp or labelling of extracellular domains of membrane proteins for flow cytometry. Therefore, a new cell detachment method is urgently required. In the present work, new PEG-based thermo-responsive polymers are used for cell culture for the first time. Here, non-destructive detachment of different cell lines from polymer-coated surfaces is realised by controlled temperature reduction. The surface functionality is systematically optimised by varying the concentration of the coating solutions, by artificial surface coating of a cell adhesion-mediating protein (fibronectin) and by co-adsorption of a cell adhesion-mediating peptide (RGD). For detailed analysis of the cell detachment process, TIRF microscopy is used to directly visualise the cell contacts on the thermo-responsive surfaces. Using this technique allows both the quantification and analysis of the reduction of the cell adhesion area during sample cooling. Furthermore, for several cell lines, different behaviours in cell detachment are observed. Cells that have close contact to their substrate like MCF-7 breast cancer cell line and CHO-K1 ovary cells increase the distance between cell membrane and surface, but there is only little decrease of cell-substrate adhesion area. In contrast, L929 fibroblasts reduce the cell adhesion area drastically. Furthermore, the hypothesis that the cell detachment is an active process is shown by lowering the cell metabolism by temperature reduction to 4 °C and by the cell traces that are left behind after rinsing the surfaces. A combination of TIRAF and TIRF enables visualising the cell adhesion area and actin structures. Measuring both parameters simultaneously opens up new possibilities to correlate intracellular and cell detachment processes on thermo-responsive surfaces.

The emerging class of biologic drugs, including proteins, peptides, and gene therapies, are widely administered by injection, despite potential systemic side effects. Rational design of targeted carriers that can be delivered non-invasively, with reduced side effects, is essential for the success of these therapies, as well as for the improvement of patient compliance and quality of life. One potential approach is to take advantage of specific physiological cues, such as enzymes, which would trigger drug release from a drug carrier. Enzymatic cleavage is highly specific and could be tailored for certain diseased tissues where specific enzymes are up regulated. Enzymatically-degradable hydrogels, which incorporate an enzyme- cleavable peptide into the network structure, have been extensively reported for releasing drugs for tissue engineering applications. These studies showed that a rapid response and corresponding drug release occurs upon enzyme exposure, whereas minimal degradation occurs without enzyme. Recently, Michael addition reactions have been developed for the synthesis of such enzymatically-degradable hydrogels. Michael addition reactions occur under mild physiological conditions, making them ideally suited for polymerizing hydrogels with encapsulated biologic drugs without affecting its bioactivity, as in traditional polymerization and particle synthesis. The focus of my research was to create enzymatically-degradable hydrogel microparticles, using Michael addition chemistry, to evaluate for use as an inhalable, disease-responsive delivery system for biologic drugs and nanoparticles. In this dissertation, I utilize bioconjugation and Michael addition chemistries in the design and development of enzymatically-degradable hydrogels, which may be tailored to a multitude of disease applications. I then introduce a new method of hydrogel microparticle, or microgel, synthesis known as the Michael Addition During Emulsion (MADE) method. These microgel carriers were evaluated in vitro, and found to exhibit triggered release of encapsulated biologic drugs in response to enzyme, no significant cytotoxic effects, and the ability the avoid rapid clearance by macrophages. Lastly, in vivo studies in mice were conducted, and microgels were found to exhibit successful delivery to the deep lung, as well as prolonged pulmonary retention after intratracheal aerosol delivery. In conclusion, a new class of enzymatically-degradable microgels were successfully developed and characterized as a versatile and promising new system for pulmonary, disease-responsive delivery of biologic drugs. / text

This embedded case study examined middle school principals' self-reported cultural awareness, teachers' self-reported cultural awareness, and principals' influence on cultural awareness in the school. In addition, the study focused on how principals influenced teachers' cultural awareness and implementation of multicultural education, and culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy in classrooms.The conceptual framework for the study was based on theoretical perspectives of Banks' (1999) Eight Characteristics of the Multicultural School, Gay's (2003) Culturally Responsive Curriculum and Pedagogy, and Lindsey, Roberts, and CampbellJones' (2005) Cultural Competence Continuum. Two principals and 10 teachers from two schools volunteered to participate in the study. The methodology included the development and use of semi-structured principal and teacher interview instruments, a teacher classroom observation instrument, and an instrument for analysis of curriculum documents. Findings revealed variable levels of participants' cultural awareness and competence, pedagogical practices, and curriculum implementations. A triangulation of data sources from interviews, observations, and documents suggested that the two principals' leadership conveyed similarities and differences in influencing teachers' cultural awareness and supporting their implementation of culturally responsive curriculum and pedagogy within classrooms.

Denna rapport kommer att behandla processen i skapandet av RADA som är en applikation där användare kan dela idéer. RADA är ett uppdrag av Acne Digital som jag har tillägnat 3 månaders praktik. Målet med RADA är att medarbetarna som jobbar på Acne Digital ska på en snabbt och interaktivt sätt kunna dela idéer och bilder. Rapporten beskriver hur arbetet gick till från koncept, design och utveckling till en färdig slutprodukt. Jag kommer att undersöka skillnaderna mellan olika tillvägagångssätt när det gäller utveckling och design för webbaserade applikationer och så kallade native applikationer, som släpps på App Store eller Google play. Jag kommer även att ta upp och undersöka vilka metodval som är bäst lämpade för olika utvecklingssituationer när det gäller utvecklingspaketet Phonegap och dess för- och nackdelar.

LCST-type synthetic thermoresponsive polymers can reversibly respond to certain stimuli in aqueous media with a massive change of their physical state. When fluorophores, that are sensitive to such changes, are incorporated into the polymeric structure, the response can be translated into a fluorescence signal. Based on this idea, this thesis presents sensing schemes which transduce the stimuli-induced variations in the solubility of polymer chains with covalently-bound fluorophores into a well-detectable fluorescence output. Benefiting from the principles of different photophysical phenomena, i.e. of fluorescence resonance energy transfer and solvatochromism, such fluorescent copolymers enabled monitoring of stimuli such as the solution temperature and ionic strength, but also of association/disassociation mechanisms with other macromolecules or of biochemical binding events through remarkable changes in their fluorescence properties. For instance, an aqueous ratiometric dual sensor for temperature and salts was developed, relying on the delicate supramolecular assembly of a thermoresponsive copolymer with a thiophene-based conjugated polyelectrolyte. Alternatively, by taking advantage of the sensitivity of solvatochromic fluorophores, an increase in solution temperature or the presence of analytes was signaled as an enhancement of the fluorescence intensity. A simultaneous use of the sensitivity of chains towards the temperature and a specific antibody allowed monitoring of more complex phenomena such as competitive binding of analytes. The use of different thermoresponsive polymers, namely poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and poly(meth)acrylates bearing oligo(ethylene glycol) side chains, revealed that the responsive polymers differed widely in their ability to perform a particular sensing function. In order to address questions regarding the impact of the chemical structure of the host polymer on the sensing performance, the macromolecular assembly behavior below and above the phase transition temperature was evaluated by a combination of fluorescence and light scattering methods. It was found that although the temperature-triggered changes in the macroscopic absorption characteristics were similar for these polymers, properties such as the degree of hydration or the extent of interchain aggregations differed substantially. Therefore, in addition to the demonstration of strategies for fluorescence-based sensing with thermoresponsive polymers, this work highlights the role of the chemical structure of the two popular thermoresponsive polymers on the fluorescence response. The results are fundamentally important for the rational choice of polymeric materials for a specific sensing strategy. / Als Reaktion auf bestimmte äußere Stimuli ändern bestimmte wasserlösliche Polymere reversibel ihren physikalischen Zustand. Dieser Vorgang kann mithilfe von Fluorophoren, die in die Polymerstrukturen eingebaut werden und deren Fluoreszenzeigenschaften vom Polymer¬zustand abhängen, detektiert werden. Diese Idee ist der Ausgangspunkt der vorliegenden Arbeit, die sich damit beschäftigt, wie äußerlich induzierte Änderungen der Löslichkeit solcher Polymere mit kovalent gebundenen Fluorophoren in Wasser in ein deutlich messbares Fluoreszenzsignal übersetzt werden können. Dazu werden photophysikalische Phänomene wie Fluoreszenz-Resonanz¬energie¬transfer und Solvatochromie ausgenutzt. In Kombination mit einem responsiven Polymergerüst wird es möglich, verschiedene Stimuli wie Lösungs¬temperatur oder Ionenstärke, oder auch Assoziation-Dissoziation Reaktionen mit anderen Makromolekülen oder biochemische Bindungs¬reaktionen über die Änderung von Fluorezenz¬farbe bzw. –Intensität autonom mit bloßem Auge zu detektieren. Unter anderem wurde ein wässriger ratiometrischer Temperatur- und Salzsensor entwickelt, der auf der komplexen supramolekularen Struktur eines thermoresponsiven Copolymers und eines thiophenbasierten konjugierten Polyelektrolyts beruht. Die Anbindung solvato¬chromer Fluorophore erlaubte den empfindlichen Nachweis einer Temperatur¬änderung oder des Vorhandenseins von Analyten. Komplexere Phänomene wie das kompetitive Anbinden von Analyten ließen sich hochempfindlich steuern und auslesen, indem gleichzeitig die Sensitivität dieser Polymeren gegenüber der Temperatur und spezifischen Antikörpern ausgenutzt wurde. Überraschenderweise wiesen die hier untersuchten thermoresponsiven Polymere wie poly-N-isopropylacrylamid (pNIPAm) oder poly-Oligoethylenglykolmethacrylate (pOEGMA) große Unterschiede bzgl. ihrer responsiven optischen Eigenschaften auf. Dies erforderte eine ausführliche Charakterisierung des Fluoreszenz- und Aggregationsverhaltens, unter- und oberhalb des Phasenübergangs, im Bezug auf die chemische Struktur. Ein Ergebnis war, dass alle drei Polymertypen sehr ähnliche temperaturabhängige makroskopische Absorptionseigenschaften aufweisen, während sich die Eigenschaften auf molekularer Ebene, wie der Hydratisierungsgrad oder die intermolekulare Polymerkettenaggregation, bei diesen Polymeren sehr unterschiedlich. Diese Arbeit zeigt damit anhand zweier sehr etablierter thermoresponsiver Polymere, nämlich pNIPAm und pOEGMA, das die chemische Struktur entscheidend für den Einsatz dieser Polymere in fluoreszenzbasierten Sensoren ist. Diese Ergebnisse haben große Bedeutung für die gezielte Entwicklung von Polymermaterialien für fluoreszenzbasierte Assays.