Currently, various types of fantasy literature are analyzed primarily as genres within the confines of national literatures. This thesis proposes a cross-cultural approach to fantasy, instead of one in which each "national" genre is analyzed in isolation, and often only with the critical tools and theoretical background of its respective tradition. It argues that there are undeniable parallels between different versions of the short fantasy tale as it has appeared in various traditions, and that studying them together can prove fruitful to our understanding of how fantasy works.

Taking up important collections of fantastic tales by Pu Songling (Liaozhai zhiyi), Barbey d'Aurevilly (Les Diaboliques) and Rod Serling (The Twilight Zone), as well as a number of similar contemporary works, I discuss the ways all of these works function through a similar set of mechanisms, despite their differences in language, provenance, and cultural significance. Each of these authors/creators made liberal use of what I call the "intrusion story," in which what is deemed strange or fantastic in each instance is the overwhelming focus. In the intrusion story, the strange includes the following: dissolved or destabilized boundaries (between categories that are seemingly mutually exclusive such as life and death, human and animal, inanimate objects and living beings, etc.), marginalized figures of society, and narrative subversion of readers' expectations. By using all of these elements, the goal is to maintain the reader or viewer's attention and to deliver the author or creator's moral message.

This inquiry contributes to our overall understanding of fantasy in two ways: First, it creates a framework for examining fantasy across cultures; second: it points to connections between a diverse array of literary creations, instead of abandoning each work to its traditional designation of either zhiguai (strange tale), conte fantastique (fantastic tale), or science fiction. The fox spirit, aristocratic coquette, and android model are from different literary traditions, but their common characteristics and purposes show that there are surprising similarities in the way fantasy stories are manufactured for our consumption and edification.

Platinum (Pt) has been extensively used in the fuel cells due to their excellent catalytic activity; with high work function, it is also a possible candidate for the use in memory devices as charge storage medium, and thereby has generated interest in MOS structures. The Pt cost/availability is one of the major reasons limits it’s commercialization. Scaling the film thickness or downsizing catalyst nanoparticles to single atoms could significantly increase their efficiency in energy aspect or lessen the impact of lateral coupling of charge storage layers, reduce the stress-induced leakage current in MOSFET applications.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a thin film growth technique utilizing sequential self-limiting surface reactions to deposit films with atomic layer control that are usually extremely conformal to the initial substrate, and thereby is utilized in this study. However, the entire process still lacks detailed atomic-scale understanding including the formed interface and the effect of substrate used on the metal growth, this is in part because the surface science involved in the first few layer is not easy to be identified; thereby the dissertation works aimed on using surface sensitive techniques to investigate the surface reactions taking place at the initial stage of film formation.

The primary goal of the study was to examine and identify the self-limiting mechanisms that drive the surface reactions involved in ALD Pt on the Si-based and transition metal surfaces using (methylcyclopentadienyl)-trimethyl platinum (MeCpPtMe3) and O2 as the reactants. The second phase of this portion of the investigation involved establishing an optimized process window for a steady growth regime by tailoring dosing conditions. The detailed controls were based on acquisitions of chemical information per dose, which is demonstrated through in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of MeCpPtMe3 chemisorption by mapping the gradual atomic scale evolution in the surface composition, and further.

Pt thin films were grown on SiO2 films with assistance of electron impact activation and have shown an enhancement in uptake of film depositions. An atomic ratio of 6.98:1 between C:Pt and the fragmentation pattern reproduced via mass spectrometry confirm that the entire process results in loss of methyl ligands only while retaining the MeCpPt moiety intact. The depositions of MeCpPtMe3 on Si(100) with native oxide revealed a temperature window from 523 K to 573 K. The surface coverage of Pt films on 300 nm SiO2 shows a linear relationship with the exposure. Molecular oxygen atoms dosed onto the SiO2 surface after MeCpPtMe3 exposures lead to layered growth with steric hindrance during the first few cycles after which the growth per cycle shows trend becoming constant and the film thickness may increases linearly with the number of cycles.

The surface chemistry associated with the thermal ALD of platinum films on metallic nickel substrates using the identical recipe was discussed. The uptake of the MeCpPtMe3 was found to be self-limiting between 525 and 625 K, but to lead to multilayer deposition at 675 K. The calculated C:Pt ratio of the adsorbed species, suggests that all methyl moieties are lost upon activated bonding to the surface while the MeCp group remains coordinated to the adsorbed Pt atoms. Oxygen treatment of that surface leads to the complete removal of the carbon-containing species from the surface and to the formation of a thin NiO film. Further dosing with MeCpPtMe3, in the next ALD cycle, fully reduces that NiO film to metallic Ni(0) and adds more Pt to the surface. However, no Pt film buildup was seen after several ALD cycles.

The study also includes approaches of activating/passivating the starting surface by modifying the surface chemistry through liquid/gas phase pretreatment. The long nucleation delay observed from Pt/SiO2 experiments could be partially reduced by generating hydroxyl groups as new adsorption sites via piranha cleaning process. On the other hand, the selective deposition was demonstrated by applying silylation step in gas phase, and the site-blocking was shown partially effective as the XPS studies revealing the silylated samples required many more ALD cycles for nucleation and growth to achieve similar intensities compared with referenced samples.

In the first part of the dissertation, a traditional Chinese medicine, Corydalis yanhusuo, which is widely used for pain treatment, was systematically evaluated in three standardized pain assays and its mechanism of action in terms of antinociceptive effects was further studied. The results show that Corydalis yanhusuo extract effectively attenuates acute nociceptive pain, persistent inflammatory pain and chronic neuropathic pain, without causing tolerance. The effects on acute and neuropathic pain but not inflammatory pain are at least partially mediated through dopamine D2 receptor antagonism.

By applying pharmacological approach which is used to identify compounds acting at G protein-coupled receptors, one compound, dehydrocorybulbine (DHCB) was identified from Corydalis yanhusuo extact. DHCB was synthesized and it is shown displaying weak μ-opioid receptor agonist and moderate dopamine receptor antagonist activities. DHCB is effective at alleviating thermally induced acute pain. By using selective pharmacological compounds and dopamine receptor knockout mice, the results show that the antinociceptive effect relies upon DHCB’s antagonist activity at the dopamine D2 receptor but not on its agonist activity at μ-opioid receptor. DHCB is further demonstrated to be effective against inflammatory pain and injury-induced neuropathic pain and furthermore causes no antinociceptive tolerance.

Moreover, the antipsychotic effects of DHCB were evaluated by using apomorphine and MK-801 induced schizophrenia-like symptoms in mice and the extended pharmacological profile of DHCB was screened through radioligand receptor binding assays. DHCB is shown effectively attenuating positive, negative and cognitive symptoms in apomorphine and MK-801 induced animal models of schizophrenia. These effects are thought to be mediated through dopamine receptor antagonism but also other receptor activities such as serotonin-7 and sigma-1 receptors.

In the second part of the dissertation, administration of l-methionine to adult mice for 7 days induces behavioral responses that reflect three types of schizophrenia-like symptoms. These responses are differentially reversed by typical and atypical antipsychotics in ways that parallel their effects in schizophrenics. Further, the male offspring from the prenatal l-methionine treatment exhibit behavioral responses that reflect three types of schizophrenia-like symptoms. Moreover, these mice show reduced excitatory synaptic connection and dysregulated expression of several neuronal activity-regulated genes that are known to be involved in the neurodevelopment, synaptic plasticity and learning and memory function.

Cities and states throughout the United States impose fines for minor offenses at every stage of the criminal justice system. Without any means of escape from a system designed to punish poverty, millions of Americans lose their jobs, homes, and even their children. Two of the major roadblocks to change on addressing the criminalization of poverty are a lack of awareness and a lack of empathy. In order to educate audiences who are less likely to be exposed to or directly impacted by such unfair practices, a team of game designers and legal experts collaborated on Poor Not Guilty: Fines and Fees Challenges, in which players perspective-take with the goal to increase their awareness of unjust monetary penalties and reduce bias towards those who are living in poverty by experiencing the detrimental impact of criminalizing petty offenses.