My thesis explored the effects of and potential mediating mechanisms for an important environmental stressor, ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation. UVB radiation has negative effects on organisms in both terrestrial and aquatic systems. I used meta-analysis to quantify the effects of UVB radiation on a diversity of aquatic organisms (Chapter 2). UVB...
Predators are fundamentally important for regulating and driving prey population dynamics as well as structuring ecological communities. Over-exploitation of marine resources has caused dramatic depletions of predatory fish species and shifts in marine community composition, with attendant declines in productivity and diversity of marine ecosystems. Despite the important ramifications of...
This collection of six individual writings, both fiction and creative non-fiction, is an exploration in narrative first-person voices and multiple themes, such as the loss of innocence, modernization versus traditions/myths, the California Central Valley, death, creativity, language, change, and the pressures of the future. Though abstractly linked at times, these...
The objective of this research project was to increase the density, strength, and stiffness of two low to medium-density diffuse-porous hardwood species. Wood used in this study was processed using a method of wood densification known as “Viscoelastic Thermal Compression” (VTC). The VTC process is a three phase treatment which...
In rats, sesame lignans increase plasma γ-tocopherol concentrations and inhibit γ-tocopherol degradation to its metabolite γ-carboxyethylhydroxychroman (γ-CEHC). To test if sesame lignan consumption inhibits γ- tocopherol metabolism in humans, muffins prepared with either corn oil (control) or sesame oil and an equimolar mixture of deuterium labeled d6-α- and d2-γ- tocopheryl...
A mathematical and then a numerical model were developed for simulating a convective batch lumber drying process. The model incorporates mass and heat transfer relationships within the lumber stack, as well as thermodynamic properties of the wood and drying air. It takes into account a change of air properties along...
Raspberries have been popular since the time of the ancient Greeks. Red raspberries are cultivated throughout the world, particularly in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and Canada. The raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV) causes significant reduction in yield and crumbly fruit in raspberries, blackberries and raspberry-blackberry hybrids....
A fossil-calibrated phylogenetic framework based on exemplars from each of the four taxonomic sections within Pinus was created using multiple nuclear and chloroplast loci. Calibration at the well-defined subgeneric split within Pinus with either fossil leaves and cones (ca. 45 million years ago) or fossil wood (ca. 85 million years...
Due to their unique physical, chemical, and magnetic properties, nanomaterials have great potential for industrial development. There is a pressing need to develop rapid whole animal-based testing assays to assess the potential toxicity of engineered nanomaterials. To meet this challenge the embryonic zebrafish model was employed to determine the toxicity...
Environmental mycobacteria are important opportunistic pathogens for many hosts,
including humans, cattle, and fish. Two well-studied species are Mycobacterium
avium subsp. avium, a significant cause of disseminated bacterial disease in patients
with AIDS, and Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, the cause of Johne’s
disease in cattle. Many other species that are...