Spalting fungi show strong potential as natural colorants on a variety of materials, specifically textiles and wood. Four species of spalting fungi are currently utilized in this manner: Scytalidium cuboideum, which produces a red pigment called draconin red, Scytalidium ganodermophthorum, that produces an unknown yellow pigment, and Chlorociboria aeruginosa and...
Investigations on the application of self-assembled monolayers (SAM) to indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) thin film transistors (TFT) for fabrication and channel modification are presented. The back channel of IGZO thin film transistors can be modified by the absorption of self-assembled monolayers. The electrical properties of the IGZO exposed back...
This dissertation presents the results of statistical analyses of large climate datasets from two time intervals – the 20th century instrumental record and the proxy record of the last deglaciation – in order to understand the forcings and mechanisms of past climate variability.
A longstanding question in climate dynamics concerns...
Pacific sardines (Sardinops sagax) are an economically and ecologically important forage fish which transfer energy from planktonic primary producers and secondary consumers to upper trophic predators. Previous genetics studies of Pacific sardine suggested a panmictic population with a shallow genetic structure. However, more than one subpopulation within the Central California...
Fungi from the genus Chlorociboria are known for their production of the blue-green quinonic pigment xylindein. Extracted xylindein has been the subject of investigations ranging from fabric dying to use a coloring agent in paint, and shows potential as an organic semiconductor in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and other technologies. However,...
The furanyl diterpenoid family of natural products has drawn the attention of both synthetic organic chemists and pharmacologists due to their complex structural architectures and diverse biological activity. Among them, wortmannin has been most extensively studied for biological activities. All these furanyl diterpenoids consist of a highly strained naptha[1,8-bc]furan core,...
Kernel hardness (KHA) is a major factor determining break flour yield (BFY) and end-use quality of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Within the soft wheat class, genotypes with consistently softer grains than common soft wheat are considered to be 'extra-soft'. In addition, 'extra-soft' wheats have greater BFY than common soft...
Many humans and canines alike suffer from osteosarcoma, which is often metastatic, resistant to chemotherapy, and frequently fatal. The mechanisms through which osteosarcoma cells acquire resistance to chemotherapy are not entirely understood, and the role of exosomes as intercellular mediators of this resistance in osteosarcoma is unknown. Using established canine...
Historical concepts of Clavicipitaceae have included a broad range of species that display diverse morphologies, ecological modes and host associations. When subjected to multigene phylogenetic investigation of evolutionary history, the family was found to be polyphyletic, largely driven by diversity in the genus Cordyceps, previously containing over 400 taxa. The...
This dissertation presents results from three studies that address major scientific questions in glacial geology and paleoclimatology for the late Pleistocene and Holocene using relatively new geochemical and statistical techniques. Each of the studies attempts to answer a longstanding question in the respective field using geochemical or statistical methods that...