The Aeolian Flux of Calcium, Chloride and Nitrate to the McMurdo Dry Valleys Landscape: Evidence from Snow Pit Analysis

We have determined the flux of calcium, chloride and nitrate to the McMurdo Dry Valleys region by analysing snow pits for their chemical composition and their snow accumulation using multiple records spanning up to 48 years. The fluxes demonstrate patterns related to elevation and proximity to the ocean. In general, there is a strong relationship between the nitrate flux and snow accumulation, indicating that precipitation rates may have a great influence over the nitrogen concentrations in the soils of the valleys. Aeolian dust transport plays an important role in the deposition of some elements (e.g. C(2+)) into the McMurdo Dry Valleys' soils. Because of the antiquity of some of the soil surfaces in the McMurdo Dry Valleys regions, the accumulated atmospheric flux of salts to the soils has important ecological consequences. Although precipitation may be an important mechanism of salt deposition to the McMurdo Dry Valley surfaces, it is poorly understood because of difficulties in measurement and high losses from sublimation.

Environmental Effects and Aquatic Organisms: Investigations of Molecular Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis

Cancers of the reproductive system are among the leading causes of mortality in women in the United States. While both genetic and environmental factors have been implicated in their etiology, the extent of the contribution of environmental factors to human diseases remains controversial. To better address the role of environmental exposures in cancer etiology, there has been an increasing focus on the development of nontraditional, environmentally relevant models. Our research involves the development of one such model, Gonadal tumors have been described in the softshell clam (Mya arenaria) in Maine and the hardshell clam (Mercenaria spp.) from Florida. Prevalence of these tumors is as high as 40% in some populations in eastern Maine and 60% in Some areas along the Indian River in Florida. The average tumor prevalence in Maine and Florida is approximately 20 and 11%, respectively. An association has been suggested between the use of herbicides and the incidence of gonadal tumors in the softshell clam in Maine. The role of environmental exposures in the development of the tumors in Mercenaria in Florida is unknown, however, there is evidence that genetic factors may contribute to its etiology. Epidemiologic studies of human populations in these same areas show a higher than average mortality rate due to cancers of the reproductive system in women, including both ovarian and breast career. The relationship, if any, among these observations is unknown, Our studies on the molecular basis of this disease in clams may provide additional information on environmental exposures and their possible link to cancer in clams and other organisms, including humans.

Phonological Translation in Bilingual and Monolingual Children

Bilingual children face a variety of challenges that their monolingual peers do not. For instance, switching between languages requires the phonological translation of proper names, a skill that requires mapping the phonemic units of one language onto the phonemic units of the other. Proficiency of phonological awareness has been linked to reading success, but little information is available about phonological awareness across multiple phonologies. Furthermore, the relationship between this kind of phonological awareness and reading has never been addressed. The current study investigated phonological translation using a task designed to measure children's ability to map one phonological system onto another. A total of 425 kindergarten and second grade monolingual and bilingual students were evaluated. The results suggest that monolinguals generally performed poorly. Bilinguals translated real names more accurately than fictitious names, in both directions. Correlations between phonological translation and measures of reading ability were moderate, but reliable. Phonological translation is proposed as a tool with which to evaluate phonological awareness through the perspective of children who live with two languages and two attendant phonemic systems.

The Distribution of the Irreducibles in an Algebraic Number Field

The objective of this thesis is to study the distribution of the number of principal ideals generated by an irreducible element in an algebraic number field, namely in the non-unique factorization ring of integers of such a field. In particular we are investigating the size of M(x), defined as M ( x ) =∑ (α) α irred.|N (α)|≤≠ 1, where x is any positive real number and N (α) is the norm of α. We finally obtain asymptotic results for hl(x).