Navigating The Intersection of Policy and Local Priorities: A Reflective Assessment of Transportation Vulnerability in Watertown Jefferson County

This study investigates the broader challenge of conducting vulnerability assessments in transportation planning, particularly in rural regions where balancing federal funding mandates with local infrastructure priorities presents significant complexities. Vulnerability assessments are essential tools for identifying infrastructure risks, yet their effectiveness is often constrained by funding eligibility requirements and policy frameworks that may overlook locally significant assets. This research examines how vulnerability assessments can better integrate data-driven methodologies with community-informed insights to ensure equitable resilience outcomes. Drawing from established frameworks like those employed by the Genesee and Ulster Transportation Councils, this study explores strategies for improving vulnerability assessments in the Watertown Jefferson County Transportation Council (WJCTC) region. The study highlights the need for improved flexible funding models, enhanced local engagement, and tailored assessment frameworks to ensure that critical infrastructure in Watertown is effectively identified and prioritized, particularly for roads and facilities that serve underserved communities or face heightened climate risks.Barton & Loguidic

Enhancing Juice Safety and Technology Knowledge for Small Producers: A Needs Based Assessment Outreach Activities Initiative in New York State

Small- to mid-sized juice and beverage producers face unique challenges related to food safety, regulatory compliance, and technical capacity. To better understand these challenges and inform targeted outreach, a need assessment survey was conducted as part of an Extension Outreach and Assessment (EOA) project sponsored by Cornell AgriTech. The 25-question online survey, distributed via extension networks, was completed by 30 producers across New York State, representing a diverse range of businesses, production scales, and distribution strategies. Survey results revealed critical knowledge gaps in areas such as shelf-life determination, non-thermal processing, and regulatory compliance. These findings guided the development of two one-hour webinars focused on product quality and juice safety. Two webinars were conducted "Food Safety and Shelf life Strategies for Small Juice Beverage Producers" and "Safety and Quality in Juice Processing: Validating Non-thermal Processes" , reaching about 120 participants and offering high-impact learning on shelf-life, validation, and non-thermal processing. Attendance data highlighted strong engagement and interest across both sessions. The webinars incorporated live Q&A sessions to enhance engagement and assess learning outcomes. This ongoing project highlights the importance of data-driven outreach and underscores the need for continued support and training tailored to the specific needs of small-scale juice and juice-containing processors.This project was supported by Cornell AgriTech Extension Outreach Assistanshi

Synthetic Diversity for Flexible Interference-Tolerant Receivers

152 pagesWith the growing demand for higher data rates and an increasing number of connected devices, modern wireless communication systems face significant spectrum congestion and interference challenges. In particular, out-of-band (OOB) interferers can give rise to in-band artifacts (IBAs) such as reciprocal mixing by the local oscillator's (LO) spurs and phase noise (PN), third-order intermodulation (IM3) artifacts, and unwanted harmonic down-conversion (HDC) artifacts. In this work, I will present a novel receiver architecture to suppress these in-band artifacts while maintaining the flexibility to tune the reception frequency across an octave. The same architecture also enables simultaneous reception of multiple bands, making it applicable to emerging use cases such as carrier aggregation and cooperative spectrum sharing. Theoretical analysis, design methodology, and measurement results from fabricated prototype chips are presented to validate the proposed concepts. Passive mixer-first versions of the same receiver architecture are also explored for improved performance and additional capabilities.2027-06-0

THE EFFECT OF EBAY JUMP BIDDING ON FINAL PRICES

40 pagesIn this thesis, I researched the effect of eBay jump bidding on final prices based on Bodoh-Creed et al.’s (2021) dataset. I used multiple regression models to examine the effect. I found that jump bidding on eBay may have a significantly positive effect on the final prices, but the effect became insignificant after using an instrumental variable model.2027-06-1

DEVELOPMENT OF A PLANT MEMBRANE-ON-CHIP PLATFORM FOR INTERROGATING PROTEIN-MEDIATED METAL TRANSPORT

101 pagesTransporter proteins are ubiquitous in nature and play major roles in the uptake, redistribution, and efflux of ions and small molecules required by organisms to maintain homeostasis. Disruptions to transporter function are associated with a variety of diseases and phenotypical abnormalities. In humans, this is evident in the case of diseases such as Menkes and Wilson while in plants, disruption of copper transporters has been associated with phenotypic abnormalities such as reduced growth, fruit yield, and death. The prevalence and association of transporter proteins to many diseases and disorders have highlighted their importance and made them the target of scientific investigation. Despite the strong interest in these proteins, transporter proteins remain a challenge to study. In plants, access to the plasma membrane is hampered by the presence of the cell wall and transport proteins may also be localized to internal organelles further limiting their accessibility. Membrane proteins contain hydrophobic regions complicating attempts to isolate and study them, as these non-polar moieties must be stabilized to maintain form and function. Traditional methodologies for measuring transporter proteins heavily rely on indirect in vivo assays that often require expression in non-native systems, possibly resulting in changes in protein behavior. Direct measurement modalities such as patch-clamp are mainly amenable to certain transporter proteins, such as ion channels, which display electrogenic and fast transport activity. This precludes the measurement of ion transport of many slower or electroneutral transporters such as transport proteins. To address the demand for characterizing this class of proteins, I developed a biomimetic system capable of the direct translation of transport protein function to measurable output, called, “Plant Membrane-on-Chip” platform. This platform leverages the properties of supported lipid membranes to recapitulate the native membrane environment of the transporter proteins through the inclusion of native membrane materials and retention of orientation and fluidity properties. The crucial addition of a biocompatible electronic chip enables the measurement of transporter function using traditional electrochemical characterization techniques that are label-free, sensitive, and non-destructive. For this dissertation, I demonstrate the use of a Plant Membrane-on-Chip device derived from Arabidopsis thaliana plasma membrane material in electrically measuring the function of the copper transporter protein AtCOPT1. Critically, this project highlighted how the use of traditional resistance-based analysis methodologies can be incorporated with new bio-mimics to detect the activity of a non electrogenic transporter previously thought to be unamenable to direct electrical analyses

SMOCKING SOFT SPACES: HYBRID WORKFLOWS FOR COLLABORATIVE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN

77 pagesThis thesis explores how the historic textile practice of smocking can be reimagined as an architectural strategy for creating soft, adaptive, and participatory space. Smocking’s potential is examined through physical tests at varying scales and the development of a custom digital tool that simulates smocking behaviors to support rapid prototyping and material efficiency. Merging craft and computation, this hybrid method enables new aesthetic and structural possibilities while foregrounding collective making. Workshops and community collaborations activate smocking’s social dimension, situating it within a broader feminist framework that values softness, flexibility, and distributed authorship. Through this work, smocking is reframed not as decorative embellishment but as a scalable design system—responsive, inclusive, and materially intelligent—capable of challenging architectural norms and expanding the role of textile logic in shaping the built environment.2026-06-1

Meta-Analysis of Coronary Bypass Graft Patency Assessment With Invasive vs Computed Tomographic Angiography

BACKGROUND: Computed tomography (CT) coronary angiography has emerged as a non-invasive alternative for evaluating graft patency after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), but there is ongoing debate regarding its diagnostic performance compared to invasive coronary angiography, particularly for arterial and composite grafts. METHODS: MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane databases were searched to identify studies comparing CT coronary angiography to invasive coronary angiography for detection of graft occlusion in post-CABG patients. Outcomes included sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy. Meta-regression explored key modifiers. Pooled estimates were calculated using random-effects models, with heterogeneity measured via I2. RESULTS: Fifty studies met inclusion criteria, including 3,449 patients (25% women). CT coronary angiography sensitivity for graft occlusion was 0.96 (I2 = 48%), specificity was 0.97 (I2 = 46%), positive predictive value was 0.94 (I2 = 62%), negative predictive value was 0.98 (I2 = 41%) and overall diagnostic accuracy was 0.97 (I2 = 58%). The pooled incidence rate of graft occlusion across 7,506 included grafts was 0.08 per graft-year (PGY) (95% CI: 0.06-0.10) using a random-effects model, and 0.07 PGY (95% CI: 0.07-0.08). At meta-regression, study year, sample size, β-blocker use, number of slices, and time since surgery, but not type and configuration of CABG grafts, were significantly associated with CT coronary angiography sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: CT coronary angiography detects coronary artery bypass graft occlusion with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity independently of graft type and configuration and can be used for imaging of every type of CABG graft.2026-07-0

Resisting in Place: Imagining Disaster Recovery as Long-Term Community Life in Post 3.11 Fukushima

This paper explores how storytelling, sacred ritual, and place-based care shape long-term recovery in Namie and Ishinomaki, Japan, after the 3.11 Triple Disaster. Through ethnographic interviews, field visits, and attention to personal and cultural narratives, the paper examines how residents make sense of loss, not only by rebuilding physically, but by tending to memory and meaning. In Namie, a Buddhist priest and his wife restore their temple while caring for a landscape altered by radiation and displacement. In Ishinomaki, a museum worker anchors her grief in the shared memory of a devastated town. These stories are not simply anecdotes, they are forms of representation that carry emotional truth, offer continuity, and shape the social fabric of recovery. By foregrounding everyday acts of care and narrative practice, this paper suggests that recovery unfolds not only through policy and infrastructure, but through the way people tell, share, and live their stories. It invites planners and scholars to take seriously the representational labor that sustains communities long after the disaster has faded from headlines

Asian Enclaves under Pressure: Social and Environmental Justice in Flushing and Boston's Chinatown

Asian American communities experience intersecting challenges of social and environmental injustices that threaten residents' healthy long-term standard of living and even lead to displacement. This research case investigates and examines the injustices faced by two Asian enclaves on the eastern coast of the United States: Flushing in New York City and Chinatown in Boston. This research takes a comparative case study approach to explore the impact of environmental pollution, lack of infrastructure, and development of upscale housing on these marginalized communities. This paper highlights how systemic neglect and unequal development disproportionately affect the lives of low-income Asian immigrants and Asian Americans and how community organizing and inclusive urban planning can resist these unjust conditions and aid in transformative change. This paper contributes to environmental and social justice in ethnic enclaves by proposing strategies for equitable and inclusive development

Out of Sight, Out of Budget: the Invisibility Crisis in U.S. Infrastructure Maintenance

This thesis investigates why infrastructure maintenance in the United States remains chronically underfunded despite its economic and safety benefits. Focusing on roadway systems, it argues that the root cause lies in the low political and public visibility of maintenance activities. Through a literature review and in-depth interviews with transportation officials across state and local agencies, the study finds that maintenance is often deprioritized in budgets because it lacks the immediate, visible benefits politicians can leverage for credit-claiming. Case studies from six jurisdictions reveal how maintenance officials navigate funding constraints, visibility challenges, and intergovernmental dynamics. The research also explores the different strategies that can help elevate the profile of maintenance, as well as the implications of elevating visibility. This thesis contributes to the broader understanding of infrastructure policy and calls for changes to enhance long-term infrastructure asset stewardship in the U.S