The level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is tightly regulated in biological systems as overproduction can lead to oxidative stress and result in a number of diseases. Due to its negative effects, antioxidants are studied and used against ROS in medicine, pharmaceuticals and therapeutics. Because of issues with the uptake...
During the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES) in Christchurch, NZ, an estimated $15B in damages occurred due to liquefaction-induced phenomena, illustrating the importance of understanding site-specific responses to seismic ground motions, as well the importance of accurately predicting liquefaction severity. One potential method for improving the understanding of how a site...
The design of a switched capacitor successive approximation A/D converter is discussed in this thesis. This design adopts a novel capacitance mismatch error cancellation algorithm proposed in references [25, 27]. Detailed charge domain analysis is given in this thesis, which results in an improvement of the proposed algorithm by tracing...
A Cu/Fe-spinel-based oxygen carrier designed at the National Energy Technology Laboratory was studied in order to characterize its physical and chemical behavior with cyclic oxidation and reduction treatments at 800°C for applications in chemical looping combustions. Observations were made on individual particles of the oxygen carrier in-situ using a confocal...
Rhizopus microsporus is a globally ubiquitous opportunistic human and plant pathogen that is known to harbor endosymbiotic bacteria. Differences between populations of clinical and environmental R. microsporus isolates have yet to be assessed on a global scale. Whole-genome sequence data were used to explore fungal biology and to assess potential...
Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) has recently appeared as a promising approach for removing nitrogen from landfill leachates because it requires less oxygen and no organic carbon compared to traditional nitrification-denitrification system, and it produces low sludge volumes, thereby reducing operating and biological sludge disposal costs by over 60%. Anammox bacteria...
Anammox (anaerobic ammonium oxidation) bacteria are capable of providing low-cost nitrogen removal for numerous types of wastewaters. However, low growth rates cause long startup-times and inhibition by oxygen and metabolic substrates necessitate close process control to maintain performance. Incorporation of Simultaneous Anammox and Denitrification (SAD) into constructed wetlands could provide...
Hyporheic Exchange Flow (HEF) is driven by head gradients defined by the hydro-topography of the stream surface, which is controlled by the particular geomorphology of the stream. We quantified the impact of large wood, which typically exerts a strong control on stream morphology, on HEF in a second order, low...
Food waste (FW), brewery waste (BW), and fats, oils, and greases (FOG), are prevalent waste streams in municipalities across the country, particularly in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Anaerobic digestion (AD), the microbial-mediated transformation of organic waste into methane-rich biogas, offers a sustainable, energy-generating, waste management solution for these wastes. Anaerobic...
Urban forests are fundamental to the health and sustainability of urban communities. In 2012, the U.S. Forest Service launched the Vibrant Cities, Urban Forests: A National Call to Action initiative which posed a variety of recommendations to advance urban forest management and programs throughout the country. In response to that...