DEDICATIONTo my parents;to 'mummy', for all the love and unconditional support that only a mother can give.to 'papa'; who has been and remains an inspiration to me for life.If not for them, I wouldn't be pursuing graduate studies. Thanks also to my other committee members, Dr. John Naber and Dr. Ellen Brehob, for their assistance and invaluable help in this research work, for all their comments, inputs and suggestions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.