Geology -- Guatemala -- Lake Atitlan area; Volcanism -- Guatemala -- Lake Atitlan area; Calderas -- Guatemala -- Lake Atitlan area.
Geological mapping, petrological and geophysical studies in the lake Atitlan area, Guatemala, have revealed four distinct periods of stratovolcano growth, each followed by major silicic eruptions and caldera collapse. The first period (12 - 11 my...
This project focuses on the development of research tools and methods that are used to study the relationship between neural activity and subsequent hemodynamic responses in the human brain. This relationship, referred to as neurovascular coupling,...
This thesis describes the synthesis of sulfobetaines having the general structure $\rm RN\sp{+}(CH\sb3)\sb2(CH\sb2)\sb{x}SO\sb{3\sp{-}}$ as novel inhibitors of squalene synthase. Squalene synthase reductively couples two molecules of farnesyl...
This research attempts to combine known methodology with new chemistry towards the preparation of extended polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The generation and Diels-Alder trapping of 1,7- and 2,6-naphthalene bisarynes was attempted for the...
The potential of peptide mimics of V. cholerae lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to elicit cross-reactive immune responses against LPS was investigated, as an alternative approach towards the development of a cholera vaccine. Peptide mimics of two...
As the visual effect and movie industries are striving for realism and high fidelity images, physically based lighting, global illumination, realistic materials, and highly tessellated geometry are gradually accepted and used in movie and game...
Loss of vascular smooth muscle cell function is a hallmark of vascular disease. Vascular smooth muscle cells become increasingly resistant to phenotypic modulation, apoptotic and senescent. Sirtuin 1 (SirT1) is a deactylase that regulates...
Nerve growth factor (NGF), the prototypic neurotrophin, is well characterized for its pro-survival and growth effects in sympathetic and sensory neurons. Acting as a target-derived factor, NGF regulates the maturation of innervating neurons, and...
Cataclysmic variable stars (CVs) are close, interacting binary systems comprised of a white dwarf and a companion star, which is typically a late-type dwarf star. Their progenitor systems are post common envelope binaries (PCEBs) with a white dwarf...
Snowmelt from seasonal snow covers can be significant in many environments of northern and alpine areas. Water flow and chemical transport resulting from snowmelt have been studied for an understanding of contributions to watersheds or catchments....
Sex determination in C. elegans leads to the development of sex-specific structures and contributes to the regulation of sexually dimorphic programmed cell death. A search for factors that regulate the sexually dimorphic cell death of the...
Cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2E1 is considered the sole CYP responsible for APAP bioactivation leading to hepatotoxicity. CYP2E1 is also considered the alcohol-inducible CYP and therefore, the sole CYP responsible for alcohol-mediated increases in APAP...
Prostacyclin (PGI 2 ) is a major product of COX-2 catalyzed metabolism of arachidonic acid in the endothelium and has been shown to be atheroprotective. PGI 2 signals though its G-coupled protein receptor (GPCR) the human Prostacyclin receptor...
This thesis centers around a generalization of the classical discrete Fourier transform. We first present a general diagrammatic approach to the construction of efficient algorithms for computing the Fourier transform of a function on a finite...
Understanding mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) accumulation and retention in forest soils is needed to reduce their negative impacts on human and wildlife health. In addition, mercury and lead can be used to characterize the role of soil in terrestrial...
The new APM South Equatorial Strip Catalog $({-}17\sp\circ.5<\delta<2\sp\circ.5)$ is used to select a sample of early-type galaxies in three directions: (1) 15h10-16h10; (2) 20h30-21h50; (3) 00h10-01h30. The distances and peculiar motions of...
The proliferation of mobile devices and other consumer products has greatly expanded the market for CMOS image sensors. This in turn has promoted a trend of continued improvement in image sensor performance, as companies seek to gain an advantage...
Cupredoxins, such as stellacyanin, plastocyanin, amicyanin, rusticyanin, and azurin perform electron transfer (ET) reactions with partner protein(s) in the cell. The role of the redox cofactor in these proteins is played by a copper ion, which...
Most current multiprocessor file systems are designed to use multiple disks in parallel, using the high aggregate bandwidth to meet the growing I/O requirements of parallel scientific applications. Most multiprocessor file systems provide...
Gaze -- Psychological aspects. ; Facial expression. ; Body language.
The primary goal of the current research was to examine the effect of perceived gaze direction on the perception and processing of facially communicated emotion. There is good reason to believe that gaze direction and facial displays of emotion...