Thomas Yerxa

Computers learn to solve problems by slowly and continuously changing their strategy, this makes solving problems that involve discrete steps problematic. I will be researching the use of hyper dimensional computing to implement differentiable memory structures that interface with neural networks. Many data structures are inherently discrete which makes them difficult to incorporate into schemes because of the strategy utilized by computers during the training process. Recent work has shown that neural networks that have the ability to learn how to use external data structures outperform traditional networks in an […]

Elliot Lewis

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of speculation concerning the significance of new digital technologies on social relations, culture, and political economy. French philosopher and social theorist Bernard Stiegler is one of the more prominent of such New Media theorists, who aims at a philosophical transformation in our understanding of the technological mediation of social processes of individuation, production, and consumption. For my research, I am carrying out a critical study of Stieglers work, as it concentrates several pressing contemporary problematics within critical social theory into an exemplary […]

Brian Stone

In solid-state physics, the theory of electronic band structures successfully explains many physical properties of solids. Band structures, which describe the range of allowed energies of an electron in a solid, form the foundation of our understanding of solid-state devices, such as transistors and solar cells. I plan to develop, modify, and utilize computational tools that use band structures to analyze the electronic behavior of solids. More specifically, I will be using and modifying open-source materials analysis tools, such as pymatgen (Python Materials Genomics), to calculate and analyze band structures […]

Maria Krasilnikov

Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen that is being developed as a vaccine vector. The potential for L. monocytogenes as a vaccine vector stems from its ability to invade host cells and its genetic tractability, which allows us to make mutants that express antigens and are avirulent. However, it has been shown that in some instances infection with L. monocytogenes mutants causes the host to produce IL-10, which is an immunosuppressive cytokine. Thus, we believe that L. monocytogenes has the potential to be an even better vaccine vector […]

Peter Birghoffer

It is convenient to see the failure of the Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance), the economic union of Eastern Bloc countries, as a verdict on command economies. Central planning is commonly understood to have reduced the competitiveness of these countries to the point where they could no longer provide themselves with the resources required to maintain a viable economic portfolio. But the Comecons lack of success to keep up with the West cannot be ascribed to the shortcomings of central planning alone. In this project, I argue that a […]

Anagh Sinha

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a devastating neuropsychiatric disorder affecting 16 million people in the United States, with an estimated public burden of $210 billion/year. Yet, mechanisms leading to MDD progression remain poorly understood. Persistent activation of microglia, resident immune cells of the brain, has been previously linked to depression. This activation also appears to be linked with changes in expression of cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2). Targeted activation of CB2 has shown to bias microglia to a pro resolution state, but whether proper CB2 expression is necessary for the normal […]

Hideyasu Kurose

Tragically, fascism has re-appeared in many forms and permutations throughout modern history. Although Japan and Argentina represent only two nations which have suffered this political epidemic, through studying these nations perhaps deeper deductions can ultimately be drawn about a contemporary political phenomenon which Albert Camus rightfully labeled an epidemic. Accordingly, my research will focus upon the literature of Japan and Argentina with the aim of discovering key commonalities which suggest vulnerabilities to what Emilio Gentile categorized as a political religion. Socio-historical theorists ranging from Hannah Arendt to Robert O. Paxton […]

China Ruiz

In September 2016, Governor Jerry Brown passed a bill that called for the implementation of an Ethnic Studies program in California public high schools. This moment follows decades of student-led movements fighting for a culturally relevant education. The implementation of this bill necessitates an examination of the ways current Ethnic Studies curriculums are being practiced. As Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales alerted us to in Toward an Ethnic Studies Pedagogy, this celebration comes with an urgency to address Ethnic Studies pedagogies given the number of teachers who will be placed in these classroom […]

Nathan Cheng

Matrix multiplication is one of the most foundational mathematical operations, and has deep connections to many areas of math, including algebra, geometry, and combinatorics. There is huge incentive to improve the speed of matrix multiplication as well as understand the inherent bounds on its complexity, due to its importance in applied mathematics and the computational sciences. Many of the questions concerning the complexity of matrix multiplication are still unsettled, namely: how can we make it faster and how fast can it go? It is thought that intrinsic mathematical properties of […]

Delaney Farris

Nuclear DNA is subjected to various levels of compaction, including tight wrapping around histone proteins producing densely packed, relatively inaccessible regions of heterochromatin. How nucleosome positioning is established and maintained is an area of active study. Understanding nucleosome positioning allows further understanding of proper and improper gene regulation. Budding yeast is a simplified yet highly conserved eukaryotic model used to gain understanding of complex processes that occur in humans. I am interested in studying the mechanism of silencing, using the silent mating type locus in yeast. I am curious about […]