Sulfur is one of the six elements required during the early stages of the evolution of life, and enzymes involved in sulfur transfer and oxidation are increasingly being recognized as potential drug targets for antimicrobials as well as for therapies for cancer, neurodegenerative and inflammatory diseases. Bacteria are able to...
Surface and subsurface data are combined to determine the structure of the western half of the Simi fault system in the Las Posas and Camarillo Hills area. Cretaceous to Eocene sedimentary rocks, present only in the subsurface, are overlain by late Eocene to early Miocene nonmarine stata (Sespe Formation) and...
The golf swing involves a complex sequence of body movements which adjust according to the demands of a given shot. The purpose of this study was to determine common characteristics and essential elements of the golf swing under various conditions. The swing patterns of thirteen elite professional golfers were analyzed...
Benton County has experienced substantial growth in the past 30 years, and is expected to continue growing (BCWP 2008). Continued development has occurred in the Willamette Valley, housing development in the nearby hills of the Coast Range is growing. New houses in the foothills of the Coast Range may not...
The problem of this thesis is the existence of an anomalous manorial landscape in northern Fauquier County, Virginia. The county is about 45 miles southwest of Washington, D. C. The thesis seeks to develop a hypothesis to explain the existence of this landscape so different from surrounding areas in a...
The Middle Fork John Day Basin in Northeastern Oregon is prime habitat for spring Chinook salmon and Steelhead trout. In 2008, a major tributary supporting rearing habitat, Big Boulder Creek, was restored to its historic mid-valley channel along a 1 km stretch of stream 800 m upstream of the mouth....
Coral reef ecosystems are the most diverse on earth, and their subsistence is being threatened by natural and adverse anthropogenic patterns and processes. In an effort to understand and protect these marine environments, several programs have outlined strategies and initiatives. For example, the United States Coral Reef Task Force’s Mapping...
A comprehensive tribal-level classification for the world's subfamilies of Hesperiidae, the skipper butterflies, is proposed for the first time. Phylogenetic relationships between tribes and subfamilies are inferred using DNA sequence data from three gene regions: 943 bp of cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) (in the mitochondrial genome), 739 bp of...
The Middle and West Forks of Little Sheep Creek in the southern Tendoy Range have incised valleys across Cenozoic structural features exposing strata that range in age from the Mississippian to the Neoene. Paleozoic strata are 1,349 m thick and belong to the Mission Canyon Limestone, the Big Snowy, Amsden,...
Photonic sintering of nanoparticles is a relatively new process for sintering of nanoparticles, deposited on a substrate, into functional solid structures. The working principle of this process is the incidence of large-area broad-spectrum light onto deposited nanoparticles, which results in heat generation in the nanoparticles and their subsequent densification. Key...
Pactamycin, a potent antitumor antibiotic produced by the soil bacterium Streptomycespactum, is a structurally unique aminocyclopentitol-containing natural product. Itconsists of a highly functionalized cyclopentitol core unit, two aromatic rings [3-aminoacetophenone (3AAP) and 6-methylsalicylic acid (6MSA)], and a 1,1-dimethylurea moiety. Despite its potent biological activity, the development of thisantibiotic was hampered...
Symbioses are a spectrum of interactions between organisms living in closeassociation. These intimate interactions range from mutualism, in which bothorganisms benefit, to parasitism, where one organism benefits at the expense ofthe other. Horizontal gene transfer is the acquisition of genes independent ofvertical transmission and demonstrably promotes the transition of bacteria...
Monitoring marine ambient sound using standardized methods supports assessments of ocean sound levels across widespread ecosystems. This thesis quantifies differences among coastal and deep-water marine soundscapes in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The sources of sound in a soundscape are compartmentalized into three components and compared over time and among...
This thesis examines alternative modes and forms of production in texts by Willa Cather and Virginia Woolf. Applying queer methodologies drawn from the work of Michel Foucault, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Lee Edelman, and Elizabeth Freeman, I show how Cather’s The Professor’s House and Woolf’s To the Lighthouse demonstrate and interrogate...
There is growing evidence that humans and other animals can taste certain starch hydrolysis products, namely, maltooligosaccharides (MOS), and that their detection is independent of the known sweet receptor, T1R2 T1R3. The overall goal of this study was to further investigate the taste perception of low degree-of-polymerization (DP) MOS in...
Current technological shortcomings limit the economic viability of capturing and utilizing small sources of methane. The development of a reactor to overcome these limitations would unlock economic opportunity and incentivize reduced methane emissions. A microfluidic bioreactor containing immobilized methanotrophs has the potential to overcome these limitations by profitably converting small...
The water status of grape vine throughout the growing season is a primary determinant of vine vigor and berry composition. The concentrations of volatile compounds and precursors in grape berries are highly influenced by viticultural practices. Imposing a water deficit on the vine during berry development is an important vineyard...
Deburring of machined parts is a crucial task in the aerospace and automotive industry. This process is still performed manually to a large extent due to the unpredictability of burr formation as well as the complex interactions between the human arm and the workpiece. Poor ergonomics, repetitive stress and strain...