This research was aimed at providing the foundation for changing standards of care in a critical care setting using Catholic concepts of respect for human dignity, subsidiarity, common good, and solidarity as a matter of social justice. I first unpacked the nature of ICU care and the inevitability of the...
Since 2007, electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) sales in the U.S. have surpassed those of tobacco cigarettes. This is due, in part, to manufacturer’s claims that they are a safer alternative to tobacco cigarettes. However, formaldehyde, acrolein, and diacetyl have been detected in e-cigarettes and public knowledge of e-cigarette composition and potential...
The genus Phytophthora contains some of the most destructive pathogens of forest trees, including the most destructive pathogen of alder in recent times, Phytophthora alni. Alder trees were reported to be suffering from canopy dieback in riparian ecosystems in western Oregon, which prompted a survey of alder health and monitoring...
The ability to independently age in place requires an appropriate match between a person and the environment, or P-E fit. The person-environment interaction helps describe the adaptation processes employed in older age to achieve P-E fit, but is little understood. Therefore, the objective of this two-part study was to gain...
Various mollusks, including small bivalves and gastropod snails, are a common food source for intertidal crabs. Prey opening techniques used on hard-shell prey are dependent on claw size and morphology. For example, large, strong claws can crush a snail outright while smaller, weaker claws leave characteristic peels, pulls and upper...
Molecular genetic and enzymological techniques have been employed to study secondary metabolite biosynthesis. These investigations have focused on two projects: the cloning and heterologous expression of biosynthetic gene clusters from unculturable marine organisms and the characterization of individual enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of the antifungal agent blasticidin S. The...
Capillary electrophoresis as a technique has many applications in a broad range of fields including forensics, environmental analysis, and biological analysis and as a separation method for samples such as oligonucleotides, peptides, proteins, and pharmaceuticals. The research conducted herein is for the antibiotic pharmaceutical ciprofloxacin HCl and three impurities. Sample...
The heroine of this fantasy novel is Alina who lives in a medieval-like time and place. The day before her 20th birthday, in an impetuous moment, she breaks a local superstition by standing in a sunbeam. This allows a fairy to kidnap her and take her to the fairy castle...
Cnidarians, such as anemones and corals, engage in an intracellular symbiosis with
photosynthetic dinoflagellates. Corals form both the trophic and structural foundation of
reef ecosystems. Despite their environmental importance, little is known about the
molecular basis of this symbiosis. In this dissertation we explored the cnidariandinoflagellate symbiosis from two perspectives:...
In this work the performance of ensembles generated by commonly used methods in a nonlinear system with
multiple attractors is examined. The model used here is a spectral truncation of a barotropic quasigeostrophic
channel model. The system studied here has 44 state variables, great enough to exhibit the problems associated...