An Exploratory Study of the Role of Interpersonal Religious and Spiritual Struggle in the Relationship of Sexual Attraction and Religious Committment

Graduate Applie

Bacterial processing of fluorescent organic matter in freshwater

Organic matter (OM) is ubiquitous to all aquatic environments and plays an essential role in global biogeochemical cycles and transportation of organic carbon throughout the hydrological continuum. Excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy has been used to characterise naturally occurring aquatic fluorescent OM (AFOM), classifying this AFOM as either humic-like, derived from terrestrial sources, or protein-like, of microbial origin. The research here explores in situ bacterial-OM interactions and AFOM evolution over time by employing fluorescence techniques.Protein-like AFOM, with a particular focus on Peak T, has been linked to bacterial activity. Previous research has related this AFOM to other water quality parameters, in addition to attempting to use it as a bacterial enumeration proxy. The work in this study provides extensive evidence for the bacterial production of Peak T, confirming the suggestions within the literature. However, the universal presence of Peak T within the bacterial cultures studied here, permits the conclusion that Peak T fluorescence cannot be used for bacterial enumeration but can provide information regarding microbial community presence and activity. In addition to this, the application of in situ Peak T fluorescence sensing for monitoring microbial activity in freshwater systems is explored. The development of a new generation multichannel fluorimeter is detailed, informed by the research undertaken within this thesis.This research has challenged the current understanding of the role of bacteria in AFOM production and processing, highlighting the ability of bacteria to engineer both protein- and humic-like AFOM in situ. Using microbiological methods alongside fluorescence measurements, over a variety of temporal scales, has exposed the fast-acting dynamics of this AFOM production by metabolically active bacteria. The variation in AFOM production by different bacterial species has also been demonstrated here, determining fluorescence as a potential measurement for monitoring the presence of specific species using fluorescence peaks as biomarkers. This thesis has highlighted the potential application of in situ fluorimeters to provide essential biological information regarding water quality, although further work is required to validate this novel water quality parameter within the field

Assessing Risk of Influenza Infection on a College Campus: An Emphasis on Housing Arrangement

Graduate Applie

The Financial Dialogue in the Development of Medical Treatment Plans

As patients face increasingly high out-of-pocket costs and difficulties navigating the healthcare system, failing to discuss available treatment options in financial terms can lead to grave consequences for patients. Medical bills are responsible for the majority of bankruptcies in the United States. Given the severe financial implications of medical bills, it is imperative that patients become more involved in discussions of their treatment plans and become aware of the costs of their decisions up front. Counseling about costs ensures that physicians avoid placing a debilitating financial burden on patients and maintain adherence to the ethical principle of non-maleficence. Various studies have shown that physicians lack proper education in health economics, which makes navigation of this aspect of healthcare daunting. Finding a place for teaching economics and health policy has been difficult given the necessity to deliver a voluminous amount of scientific content during medical education. Nevertheless, physicians function as part of a healthcare industry that is not immune from the economic principles that govern commerce in any other service business. We suggest incorporation of customer service techniques from other business settings into the traditional practice of humanistic medicine in order to facilitate cost discussion and improve patient understanding. A physician’s job is to educate the patient about potential plans of action to solve his/her problem, and costs represent key pieces of information for optimizing treatment plans. In the end, it is the patient who is entitled to decide what is best, or, in other words, the customer is always right

Microbial processing and production of aquatic fluorescent organic matter in a model freshwater system

© 2018 by the authors. Organic matter (OM) has an essential biogeochemical influence along the hydrological continuum and within aquatic ecosystems. Organic matter derived via microbial processes was investigated within a range of model freshwater samples over a 10-day period. For this, excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy in combination with parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis was employed. This research shows the origin and processing of both protein-like and humic-like fluorescence within environmental and synthetic samples over the sampling period. The microbial origin of Peak T fluorescence is demonstrated within both synthetic samples and in environmental samples. Using a range of incubation temperatures provides evidence for the microbial metabolic origin of Peak T fluorescence. From temporally resolved experiments, evidence is provided that Peak T fluorescence is an indication of metabolic activity at the microbial community level and not a proxy for bacterial enumeration. This data also reveals that humic-like fluorescence can be microbially derived in situ and is not solely of terrestrial origin, likely to result from the upregulation of cellular processes prior to cell multiplication. This work provides evidence that freshwater microbes can engineer fluorescent OM, demonstrating that microbial communities not only process, but also transform, fluorescent organic matter