Iron is an essential nutrient in biological systems, and is the limiting nutrient in about ⅓ of the surface ocean. We investigate the flow injection method of Lohan et al., 2006, with modifications described in Biller et al., 2013 to analyze nanomolar concentrations of iron in seawater. In this work we focus on quantifying and understanding the uncertainties in the measurements and the signal of the blank by adjusting the method in four distinct ways.

There is a general sentiment in public discourse that victims are good and innocent, and offenders are bad. This dichotomy is blurred when the victim is somehow socially undesirable, such as people who do not conform to society’s expectation for gender, or victims who are not white. In the case of gender non-conforming victims of homicide, especially transwomen of color, the media often portray the victims as deceivers, or criminal, insinuating the victim is to blame for their attack. This study focuses on the media portrayal of 259 homicide victimizations that occurred between 1995 and 2014. Using content analysis, we explore these cases through the victims, offenders and news media.

The threat of sea level rise and tsunamis make the future of the Humboldt Bay in Northern California an uncertain situation. Modifications to the landscape of the bay have made many cultural resources more vulnerable to climate change and hazard events, based on their location, due to crumbling infrastructure that is likely to fail in holding back the tide. Protection of these resources can be expanded once an inventory of vulnerable resources is collected. Data has been collected from projections of future coastal inundation and from inventories of cultural resources.

Healthy older adults have been shown to have a 15-20% greater metabolic cost of walking compared to young adults. However, a recent study suggests that older adults who routinely run for exercise have a lower metabolic cost of walking compared to older adults who walk for exercise. It remains unclear if bicycling elicits similar improvements among older adults. PURPOSE: To determine if regular bicycling exercise affects metabolic cost of walking in older adults. RESULTS: Across the range of walking speeds, older bicyclists had a 9-17% lower metabolic cost of walking compared to older walkers. CONCLUSION: Bicycling exercise mitigates the age-related deterioration of walking metabolic cost.

As a plethora of continuing research emerges from projects such as The Human Microbiome Project (NIH, 2008), there is more evidence than ever before on how the health of our "forgotten organ", known as the Gut Microbiota (GM), is linked to our lifelong holistic health. Between birth and 3 years of age, our GM will develop between 40-60% of the 100 trillion microbes that will coexist in balance with our bodies as adults; That is over three times the number of human calls in our bodies. That makes this short window critical to the physiological and mental health of our children. Spreading education while also providing resources for families is the primary goal of this collection of research.

The Collections Room Project is dedicated to digitizing and organizing the information for the various artifact collections housed in BSS 139. The parameters include using the Past Perfect 5.0 software in order to catalog the data for each individual artifact and create a database in which all the information can be housed and viewed. The final product will include information such as measurements, potential use, and physical characteristics for each artifact; attributes which may be searched, using the query field. The primary use for the compiled database is to allow for a convenient search of artifacts within the collection in order to aid in student and faculty research and study.

The purpose of this research was to develop an understanding of the cannabis testing regulations in the state of California. Research was conducted identifying all Certified Cannabis Testing Labs currently doing product tests. We hoped to understand what these labs were discovering in their product safety tests. Because this was the first year of regulated certification and testing the research conducted was meant to create a baseline standard from which we can judge future years' progress against. This research will also hopefully be able to be utilized by growers in the future to find out which contaminants are most common and thus identify suitable alternatives to increase compliance.

Anthropologists use Stable isotope analyses to understand environments where past and present human cultures lived. This project starts a database of isotopic signatures for the region of Humboldt County, in northwestern California, as a baseline for further research. I prepared samples at HSU Archaeology and Biological Anthropology Research labs for Carbon (C) and Oxygen (O) stable isotopes using H2O2 Hydroxyapatite-Carbonate protocol. The samples will be sent to Stable Isotope Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz and analyzed for δ13C & δ18O. As database entries increase, evidence of stable isotopic signatures of specific areas in northwest California may be identified.

I have created a specialized handbook for scuba divers interested in diving the north coast. It is a guide for certified divers who are not familiar with Humboldt County's ocean conditions. It provides tips, techniques, as well as locations and how to dive those locations properly. It uses different approaches that can suit both the beginner and the veteran diver alike.

Snyder-Robinson Syndrome (SRS) is a disorder that is characterized by severe osteoporosis. SRS is caused by a mutated gene coding for Spermine Synthase (SMS). SMS converts spermidine into spermine. Therefore SRS patients show increased spermidine/spermine ratios. Using bone marrow-derived Multipotent Stromal Cells, we found that supplementation with spermidine inhibits differentiation. During osteogenic differentiation the polyamine catabolic enzyme Spermidine/Spermine Acetyltransferase (SAT1) is upregulated. Also, inhibition of polyamine synthesis directly promotes osteogenesis. Therefore our results in vitro suggest that reduction of polyamines is necessary for osteogenic differentiation.