The Disney Princesses are some of the most beloved and well-recognized characters in animation across the globe. Most of these characters sing throughout their movie. This essay analyzes what I refer to as the “I Want” song of several Disney Princesses. It is divided into three sections, one for each...
With the rise of resistant bacterial pathogens, currently prescribed antibiotics are rendered useless. In recent years, marine natural products (MNPs) have emerged as novel sources for drug leads. The ocean is a complex environment where marine animals cohabitate with many, and sometimes harmful microorganisms and viruses, but resist infections. Developed...
Tuberculosis (TB) is a pressing global health issue with approximately one third of the world’s population infected by this bacterium. As one of the most dangerous infectious diseases, it has killed approximately 1.7 million people of all ages around the world per year (World Health Organization, 2016). Currently, several drugs...
Sulfide is an important species to measure in environmental water samples. The
spectrophotometric detection method for reduced sulfur species (sulfide) based on
generation of methylene blue was adapted to work in an apparatus utilizing microfluidic
PDMS mixing and observation cells with flow channels in the 100 μm range. The
benefits...
Mitochondria provide energy for biological cells to function, but this process is also a source of oxygen radicals that are capable of damaging nearby proteins. Mitochondrial protein damage can eventually lead to cell death, especially in the case of heart cells, where mitochondria are present in the highest concentrations. As...
Toxoflavin, a toxic secondary metabolite produced by a variety of bacteria, has been implicated as a causative agent in food poisoning and a virulence factor in phytopathogenic bacteria. This toxin is produced by the tox operon in Burkholderia glumae, in which the encoded protein, ToxD, was previously characterized as essential...
A method was developed to quantify organochlorine pesticides in whale scat. This method would ideally replace analysis of pesticides in blood and tissue samples, which are difficult to acquire. Scat samples were collected from one stranded gray whale and three live whales. The samples were extracted with pressurized liquid extraction,...
Apparel fashion is a daily component of society that transcends generations and cultures.
The purpose of my research was to analyze the garment structure and construction of two
separate but comparable garments in style, function, and content - one from the 1910s
and one from 2015. Using the New Brunswick...
When the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010, eligibility for Medicaid was expanded to include people whose income was less than 138% of the federal poverty level. In 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that states could choose whether to expand their Medicaid programs or not. The objective of this...
Coded metrics that compare representations of structures within the human body to evaluate their similarity are considered useful for planning radiation therapy on cancer targets. However, existing metrics fail to take into account the dose of radiation that will be received by both the target, and surrounding non-target tissue, during...
Natural products from plants, bacteria, and fungi play an important role in society. Over the last 35 years, natural products and their derivatives have inspired over 60% of all FDA approved small-molecule drugs, and are among the top prescribed therapeutics.1-2 Fleming’s discovery of the fungal antibiotic penicillin started the “Golden...
Traffic exhaust is an important source of air pollution. This exposure assessment study examined traffic related air pollution in Curitiba, Brazil, and is particularly relevant due to 75% of the population using diesel public transportation. Traffic density was tabulated, and vehicle-type was distinguished based on their fuel type (diesel or...
Gene synthesis is an important tool in molecular biology. However, the current
bench-top method of gene synthesis is a costly, time-intensive and reagent-consuming
process. Lab-on-chip technology has many benefits over current bench top methods.
Microchips consume smaller reagent volumes, are reusable and less expensive to make.
This thesis explores the...
The purpose of this study was to analyze the scores of a mental math quiz taken by the CH 231 trailer course at Oregon State University and to determine courses of action to increase the success of students in general chemistry based on the results of the analysis. Students were...
We have developed a 100 m diameter solid-state potentiometric pH sensor to study the bacterial metabolism at the biofilm-biomaterial interface in real-time. The newly developed agar-coated pH sensor is both highly resistant to biofouling and stable, with a drift of 1 mV/h in physiological conditions. We used multiwall carbon nanotubes...
The interface between a biofilm and the underlying substrate to which it is attached is challenging to study. Currently, available methods of studying this microenvironment have not been able to record data in real-time over a time period in the range of days. To address this challenge, we report the...
Natural products (secondary metabolites) are small organic molecules derived from plants, microbes, and marine organisms that have served as a diverse source of useful compounds pharmaceuticals. New biologically active natural products are critical as anti-infective and cancer drug leads. Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, produce diverse cytotoxic metabolites that represent potential...
Heavy alcohol consumption reduces peak bone mass in growing rodents and can lead to bone loss in both adult rats and humans. In contrast, moderate alcohol consumption appears to have a bone sparing effect in post-menopausal women. Alcohol has been reported to increase aromatase activity and influence estrogen receptor (ER)...
F1FO-ATP synthase targeting antimicrobials apoptolidin 1 (A1), (+)-erythromefloquine,
and oligomycin were tested in vitro for synergistic minimum inhibitory
concentrations against Staphylococcus aureus. Synergy was strictly defined as inhibition
by at most 25% the MIC of each participating drug. Ampicillin, with an MIC of 0.8
ug/mL, served as a negative control....
This study was conducted to assess whether healthy adults compared with those with Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) have different mean oxidative-reductive potentials. Static oxidation-reduction potentials and capacity oxidation reduction potentials (sORP and cORP, respectively) were measured in plasma samples. The RedoxSYS® measures sORP in millivolts (mV), which is proportional to the...
The strained carbon ring, bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane, was synthesized by a reaction between
1-(phenylsulfanyl)bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane, prepared from propellane, and Raney nickel.
Infrared spectra were recorded at a resolution of 0.0015 cm-1, a resolution significantly
better than previous measurements, 0.06 cm-1. A single fundamental band was analyzed
to determine the ground state and excited...
With Alzheimer’s disease being the most prominent form of dementia, finding potential treatments for the disease is imperative. This study explored the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen as a potential treatment to normalize the hyperactive N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) within the 5xFAD mice early in the disease pathology before cognitive decline. Female...
In this work sample, a student teacher implemented ESOL standards and
strategies on a unit covering chemical compositions in a high school chemistry
classroom. The ELD program at this high school has two types of ELD classes. ELD 1/2
classes have a grammar-based curriculum focused on the English Language, while...
Nitrate (NO₃-) accumulation in water sources is a serious health and environmental concern. Common methods used to reduce NO₃- accumulation have one or more undesirable traits that limit their efficacy in large-scale decontamination. However, treatment of NO₃- electrochemically is a promising area of study because of the absence of toxic...
Pseudomonas fluorescens NZI7 was first isolated from a New Zealand mushroom farm in 2001. This Gram-negative bacteria can cause brown blotch disease in the basidiomycete mushroom Agaricus bisporus. P. fluorescens NZI7 can also repel grazing by the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a natural predator of P. fluorescens NZI7. Potentially implicated in...
A simple Janus-type membrane-based wicking microfluidic device fabricated on a polycaprolactone-filled glass microfiber membrane enables separation and collection of blood plasma or serum from whole blood. This device bridges the wicking and cut-capillary-based solution transport mechanisms in a single membrane. The initial portion of the device is fabricated using selective...
Oxylipins are a class of bioactive lipid metabolites derived from polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) via enzymatic and non-enzymatic pathways. In order to elucidate their overall biological effects, the knowledge of the entire oxylipin profile is needed as oxylipins can have similar or opposing effects in regard to inflammatory events. Their...
Moral distress is the experience of knowing the right action to take but being unable to take it. It is especially prevalent in the healthcare profession, where professionals’ actions are limited by the wishes of patients and their families, hierarchies, and organizational failings. Since it is accepted that healthcare professionals...
The discovery of new blue pigments is a field of great interest, as commercially available pigments present properties that make them undesirable such as poor sustainability, cost, and stability. By researching solid solutions with the melilite structure, we discovered a new solid solution Sr2Zn1-xNixGe2O7, with 0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.6,...
This thesis is the transformation of Book IV of Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost into graphic novel format. Transforming Milton’s epic Paradise Lost into a graphic novel offers the advantages of making the material more accessible for students, and easier to understand. The aim is to make the poem more...
Tacrolimus is an immunosuppressant drug approved by the FDA for the prevention of organ transplant rejection. However, the use of this drug is hindered by its narrow therapeutic window and extreme insolubility in water. Due to these properties, the currently used tacrolimus preparations must be administered once or twice daily...
Lithium serves an unparalleled role for high energy-density storage applications and is vital for the continued advancement of the world economy. However, global supply is heavily reliant on lithium deposits situated in select locations, creating unpredictability in the price and concerns for the sustained production of the resource. Additionally, future...
When a student participates in a service break trip, a process called reorientation occurs after the trip is over, when the student is trying to connect what they’ve learned on the trip to their normal lives. The objective of this project was to explore the concepts of volunteerism, community service,...
To understand human social environments and interaction, it is often necessary to examine them in creative and metaphorical terms. In this thesis, a model of chemical interaction, atomic and molecular bonding, and the role of electrons, nuclei, and other chemical principles are used to describe the social environment of human...
The design of a novel Tabletop Role Playing Game was conducted with the aim to create a game system that provides both rigid rules and more creative outlets compared to existing games. The project focused on player-developed mystical abilities known as Spells, whereby the rule of the game guides the...
The method of gas-phase electron diffraction is a very useful tool for determining
the geometry of a molecule in the gas-phase to a high degree of accuracy. In this thesis,
the structures of tropone and tropolone, which are similar molecules that are both based
on a 7-carbon ring, were investigated...
Part 1: A Diels-Alder Approach to the Synthesis of Novel Analogues of the Natural
Product Siamenol
Due to the prevalence of biaryl motifs in natural product synthesis, the Carter
research group has been exploring the utility of a Diels-Alder approach to biaryl
synthesis. The Diels-Alder approach involves a [4+2] cycloaddition...
Gold nanostars are a relative newcomer to the nanoparticle scene, and their unique properties make them very desirable for spectroscopic applications. These nanoparticles, with their sharp tips, create electric field enhancements that interact with light in an advantageous way. This Thesis outlines our in-depth study of gold nanostar synthesis, the...
Global interest in reducing carbon emissions by use of alternative energy sources makes nuclear energy production and the impacts of the nuclear energy cycle relevant. Studying the aqueous speciation of tetravalent metals commonly used for nuclear energy (uranium, thorium, plutonium) can inform us of general metal properties and their behavior...
In the United States, falls are the leading cause of fractures and accidental death in the elderly; 70% of these fractures are women. Hispanic women account for a large population in the US, however data on falls and fractures for these women is lacking. The purpose of this systematic review...
This study aimed to explore the relationship between urinary cortisol levels and proximity-seeking behavior in shelter cats and the impact of socialization programs on these two factors. A Spearman’s correlation test found no correlation between cortisol levels and proximity-seeking behavior in shelter cats. Fisher’s 2x2 tests confirmed that the changes...
An emerging strategy to reducing food waste is converting food processing byproducts to nutritious and inexpensive food ingredients. A relevant food processing waste stream is brewers’ spent grain (BSG), the primary byproduct of beer production. BSG is a promising candidate as a food ingredient because of its high protein and...
Massive die-offs of Bufo bufo gargarizans were observed in May 2008 in Mangwal
Gee, Korea. To find out the causes for this disaster several different elements
were examined: pH, total nitrogen, dissolved oxygen (DO), and dissolved heavy
metal, suspension, introduced species, habitat change, disease, temperature
changes, and precipitation and humidity....
High-resolution mass spectrometry was used to measure a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in real time as they were produced by the ubiquitous marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus WH8102 during a 24-hour light/dark cycle. Ethenone, acetaldehyde, ethanol, isoprene, acetic acid, dimethyl sulfide (DMS), acetone, phenol, and several as-yet unidentified compounds were...
This thesis consists of an autoethnography of a sexual assault survivor written using poems, journal entries, annotations, photographs and song lyrics. The ethnography is a chronological record of feelings the author experienced during the day prior to the attack and emotions she navigated during the year and a half after...