This study investigated how eleven secondary mathematics teachers used curriculum resources to plan and enact lessons that support the participation of emergent bilingual (EB) students in mathematical practices in their linguistically diverse classrooms. EB students classified as English Learners often experience mathematics as a set of disconnected procedures. This investigation was rooted in a situated sociocultural theory of learning (Moschkovich, 2002) and a conceptual framework for the teacher-curriculum interaction (Remillard, 2005, 2009). This study was designed to answer the following questions: (1) How do curriculum materials provide supports for engaging emergent bilingual students in mathematical practices? and (2) How do teachers in linguistically diverse classrooms use curriculum materials to plan and enact lessons that support emergent bilingual students’ engagement in mathematical practices?

The study used a contrastive design, examining both the official curriculum and teacher-created materials used by teachers in two districts that adopted different Common Core-aligned curricula. The official curricula provided different types of guidance for teachers to support EB students. The eleven participating teachers, six from School A and five from School B, participated in a lesson planning interview (Grossman, 1990), a classroom observation, and a debriefing interview.

Data analysis included inductive and deductive coding, using a priori codes based upon the CCSSM Standards for Mathematical Practice (NGA & CCSSO, 2010), the English Learners Success Forum’s Guidelines for Improving Math Materials for ELs (ELSF, n.d.), and research on supporting English Learners (Chval, Pinnow, & Thomas, 2015). Some of the main findings of this investigation include the following. (1) The participating teachers held varying interpretations of the eight CCSSM Standards for Mathematical Practice, leading to a wide range of enactments of the same practice standard across classrooms. (2) The participating teachers were not using curriculum materials in their published forms. Teachers cited text difficulty and the difficulty their linguistically diverse students had with reading the textbooks as a rationale for modifying the written curriculum. (3) Despite these variations in enactment, all participating teachers expressed similar care and concern about the success of their students and believed that they were doing exactly what their students need to learn mathematics.

Continued widespread urban growth places unprecedented pressure on formerly rural, now urban fringe communities creating new regional planning challenges in cities of the global South. This thesis investigates processes of peri-urbanization in the Jakarta metropolitan region between 1995 – 2015, documenting land use change using a Landsat remote sensing and GIS analysis. The study results found that regional urban land use increased over 20 percent, and vegetation declined by 20 percent during this time. Peri-urban land transformations show distinct spatial and temporal patterns, beginning in the west with large new town developments since the late 1980s, and shifting east, then south, after 2005. By looking specifically at the various sub- regions of the metropolitan area, in addition to changes over time, this study corroborated current literature regarding regional planning and identified specific densification patterns. While peri- urbanization has spread in distance since the early 1990s, land classification maps also indicate extreme densification throughout the region.

How do American Muslim-Jewish interfaith activists use emotionally vulnerable storytelling in service of their goal of realizing a pluralistic society in which minority groups with histories of conflict support one another as allies? As with many groups in conflict, American Jews and Muslims often grow up with truth perspectives that differ so radically that they are unable to find a narrative whose truth value can be agreed upon by members of both groups. How do Jewish-Muslim interfaith activists learn to communicate and reconcile differences in the truth values of their respective group narratives? What is the role of this kind of knowledge production in constructing a collective identity as interfaith activists?

In order to answer these questions, I spent four years conducting participant observation at One Hamsa (a pseudonym), an interfaith organization aimed specifically at bridging Muslim and Jewish communities in Southern California. Using an engaged feminist activist approach to conducting and writing ethnography, I attended meetings, formal and informal events, and conducted interviews of One Hamsa leaders and participants. I argue that through emotionally vulnerable storytelling, Jews and Muslims challenge master narratives about their communities and co-construct a third narrative that all participants can agree upon as true. Through this process, One Hamsa community members build a collective identity as interfaith activists. Practices like community agreements help to create safe spaces where ideally, all participants feel safe sharing vulnerably. Even when such practices are used, sometimes activists are unsuccessful at avoiding replicating harmful societal power structures within their community. Like engaged scholars, activists should and often do recognize the contradictions inherent in their project. Both engaged scholars and activists must continue to prioritize interrogating power structures and ensuring that the benefits of their projects outweigh the harms.

As the fields of psychology and education increasingly move from a deficit-based, medical model toward a strengths-focused model, researchers and practitioners are in need of measures with adequate psychometric properties to assess personal strengths. Students with learning disabilities (LD) represent a vulnerable population and one that is at a higher risk for social, emotional, and behavioral challenges compared to their peers without LD. As the effects of LD are not confined to childhood or the school setting, and often affect people throughout their lives, a strengths-based orientation is recommended to encourage building strengths and resilience factors to counteract the negative effects of LD over the lifespan. Therefore, identifying and focusing on the building of strengths, adaptive skills, and personal assets, while important for all youth, is especially important for youth with LD. In order to identify areas of strength and areas for growth, measurement tools that are appropriate for the population of students with LD are needed. This study examined the psychometric properties of one measure, the Social Emotional Health Survey–Secondary (SEHS–S), for use with students with LD. Specifically, data from three secondary schools was used to confirm the existing factor structure of the SEHS–S measurement model, establish measurement invariance across LD and non-LD groups, and compare the social-emotional profiles of students with and without LD. The LD group was found to report lower overall social emotional strengths than their non-LD peers, with some variation across the subdomains measured. Implications for practitioners and researchers will be discussed.

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), and Trichomonas vaginalis are common sexually transmitted infections (STI) worldwide, which are associated with adverse maternal and infant outcomes. Diagnostic testing accompanied by partner notification and treatment are important strategies for control of STIs. Yet most countries do not provide routine diagnostic testing for pregnant women and partner notification rates are low. While molecular diagnostics are available, the implementation costs are a barrier for many countries. This dissertation examined three aspects of efforts to address the STI burden among pregnant women in Botswana, based on a pilot point-of-care STI testing and treatment program in Gaborone.

The first study examined the prevalence and correlates of CT, NG, and TV among pregnant women receiving antenatal care and found an infection rate of 14%. HIV infection and being unmarried were associated with having an STI. Self-reported STI-related symptoms were not associated with having an STI.

The second study used qualitative interviews to assess the experiences and preferences related to partner notification among pregnant women who tested positive for an STI. The majority of women had never heard of CT, NG, or TV infections prior to testing. Thirteen out of 15 participants had notified partners about the STI diagnosis. The majority of notified partners received some treatment. Most women expressed a preference for accompanying partners to the clinic for treatment.

The third study determined costs and outcomes associated with CT and NG infection testing and treatment at an antenatal clinic. Data from this single site were modelled to estimate scale-up across Botswana according to three scenarios. Models revealed that point-of-care testing would result in the most of women cured, but at the highest cost. A centralized laboratory scenario was associated with the lowest cost, but fewer women cured. A mixed scenario had the most favorable cost per outcome.

CT, NG, and TV infections remain a significant burden among pregnant women in Botswana. Women are generally receptive to point-of-care STI testing and partner notification. Policy-makers should consider a mixed approach to scaling up STI testing and treatment to maximize population level benefits while controlling associated costs.

Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) is an important technology in drug discovery that seeks to identify molecules that can inhibit targets of therapeutic relevance. Once a fragment ‘hit’ is identified, it can be elaborated into a molecule with improved inhibition and favorable pharmaceutical properties. In this thesis, several strategies to augment existing FBDD techniques are discussed. While these approaches are quite different from each other, each is rooted in fundamental inorganic chemistry and utilizes principles of coordination chemistry to address problems in FBDD. First, computational screening techniques are discussed which may help accelerate FBDD against metalloenzyme targets. This strategy aims to predict inhibitor binding to the metal-containing active site of a metalloenzyme and establish structure-activity relationships. Next, the uses of isosteres, which are molecules that seek to mimic certain molecular functionalities while modulating other properties that may be advantageous are discussed in the context of metalloenzyme FBDD. Here, a subset of carboxylic acid isosteres are evaluated for their ability to inhibit influenza endonuclease and modulate the pharmacological properties of the parent carboxylic acid-containing molecule. Next, the role of three-dimensionality in FBDD is discussed, and a library of metal complexes that is highly three-dimensional is evaluated against several protein targets. Finally, recent approaches to develop a thoroughly representative 3D library from existing compounds are discussed. Overall, this thesis aims to show how concepts in inorganic coordination chemistry can augment FBDD.

Lithium ion batteries have proven to be a paradigm shifting technology, enabling high energy density storage to power the handheld device and electric automotive revolutions. However relatively slow progress toward increased energy and power density has been made since the inception of the first functional lithium ion battery. Materials under consideration for next generation lithium ion batteries include anionic-redox-active cathodes, solid state electrolytes, and lithium metal anodes. Li-rich cathodes harness anionic redox, showing increased first charge capacity well beyond the redox capacity of traditional transition metal oxides, though suffer from severe capacity and voltage fade after the first cycle. This is in part attributed to oxygen evolution, driving surface reconstruction. Solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) offer the potential for safer devices, serving as physical barriers for dendrite penetration, while hoping to enable the lithium metal anode. The lithium metal naturally exhibits the highest volumetric energy density of all anode materials.

Here, we employ simulation and advanced characterization methodologies to understand the fundamental properties of a variety of next generation lithium ion battery materials and devices leading to their successes or failures. Using density functional theory, the effect of cationic substitution on the propensity for oxygen evolution was explored. Improvement in Li-rich cathode performance is predicted and demonstrated through doping of 4d transition metal Mo. Next, lithium phosphorus oxynitride (LiPON), an SSE utilized in thin film batteries, was explored. LiPON has proven stable cycling against lithium metal anodes, though its stability is poorly understood. RF sputtered thin films of LiPON are examined via spectroscopic computational methods and nuclear magnetic resonance to reveal its atomic structure, ultimately responsible for its success as a thin film solid electrolyte. A new perspective on LiPON is presented, emphasizing its glassy nature and lack of long-range connectivity. Progress toward in situ methodologies for solid-state interfaces is described, and a protocol for FIB-produced nanobatteries is developed. Cryogenic methodologies are applied to a PEO/NCA composite electrode. Cryogenic focused ion beam was shown to preserve polymer structure and morphology, enabling accurate morphological quantification and preserving the crystallinity, as observed via TEM. Last, development of in situ solid-state interface characterization is discussed.