Properly folded proteins are necessary for all living organisms. Incorrectly folded proteins can lead to a variety of diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease or Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis (Mad Cow Disease). Understanding the forces involved in protein folding is essential to the understanding and treatment of protein misfolding diseases. When proteins fold, a significant amount of surface area is buried in the protein interior. It has long been known that burial of hydrophobic surface area was important to the stability of the folded structure. However, the impact of burying polar surface area is not well understood. Theoretical results suggest that burying polar groups decreases the stability, but experimental evidence supports the belief that polar group burial increases the stability. Studies of tyrosine to phenylalanine mutations have shown the removal of the tyrosine OH group generally decreases stability. Through computational investigations into the effect of buried tyrosine on protein stability, favorable van der Waals interactions are shown to correlate with the change in stability caused by replacing the tyrosine with phenylalanine to remove the polar OH group. Two large-scale studies on nearly 1000 high-resolution x-ray structures are presented. The first investigates the electrostatic and van der Waals interactions, analyzing the energetics of burying various atom groups in the protein interior. The second large-scale study analyzes the packing differences in the interior of the protein and shows that hydrogen bonding increases packing, decreasing the volume of a hydrogen bonded backbone by about 1.5 Å3 per hydrogen bond. Finally, a structural comparison between RNase Sa and a variant in which five lysines replaced five acidic groups to reverse the net charge is presented. It is shown that these mutations have a marginal impact on the structure, with only small changes in some loop regions.

Thesis (M.A.)--Victoria University of Wellington, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (B.S.)--University of Wisconsin -- La Crosse, 2009. / Also available online. Includes bibliographical references (p. 27-28).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Art History, Aug. 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (B.S.)--University of Wisconsin -- La Crosse, 2009. / Also available online. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 37).

Sixteen percent of New Zealand’s power comes from geothermal sources which are primarily located within the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ). The TVZ hosts twenty three geothermal fields, seven of which are currently utilised for power generation. Ngatamariki Geothermal Field is the latest geothermal power generation site in New Zealand, located approximately 15 km north of Taupo. This was the location of interest in this project, with testing performed on a range of materials to ascertain the physical properties and microstructure of reservoir rocks. The effect of burial diagenesis on the physical properties was also investigated. Samples of reservoir rocks were taken from the Tahorakuri Formation and Ngatamariki Intrusive Complex from a range of wells and depths (1354-3284 mbgl). The samples were divided into four broad lithologies: volcaniclastic lithic tuff, primary tuff, welded ignimbrite and tonalite. From the supplied samples twenty one small cylinders (~40-50mm x 20-25mm) were prepared and subjected to the following analyses: dual weight porosity, triple weight porosity, dry density, ultrasonic velocity (saturated and dry) and permeability (over a range of confining pressures). Thin sections impregnated with an epoxy fluorescent dye were created from offcuts of each cylinder and were analysed using polarised light microscopy and quantitative fluorescent light microstructural microscopy. The variety of physical testing allowed characterisation of the physical properties of reservoir rocks within the Ngatamariki Geothermal Field. Special attention was given to the petrological and mineralogical fabrics and their relation to porosity and matrix permeability. It was found that the pore structures (microfractures or vesicles) had a large influence on the physical properties. Microfractured samples were associated with low porosity and permeability, while the vesicular samples were associated with high porosity and permeability. The microfractured samples showed progressively lower permeability with increased confining pressure whereas samples with a vesicular microstructure showed little response to increased confining pressure. An overall trend of decreasing porosity and permeability with increasing density and sonic velocity was observed with depth, however large fluctuations with depth indicate this trend may be uncertain. The large variations correlate with changes in lithology suggest that the lithology is the primary control of the physical properties with burial diagenesis being a subsidiary factor. This project has established a relationship between the microstructure and permeability, with vesicular samples showing high permeability and little response increased confining pressure. The effects of burial diagenesis on the physical properties are subsidiary to the observed variations in lithology. The implications of these results suggest deep drilling in the Tahorakuri Formation may reveal unexploited porosity and permeability at depth.

In recent years, scholars have emphasized the importance of collective memory in the making of national identity. Where does death fit into the collective memory of American identity, particularly in the economic and social chaos of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? How did death shape the collective memory of American national identity in the midst of a pluralism brought on by immigration, civil and labor rights, and a transforming culture? On the one hand, the commemorations of public figures such as Ulysses S. Grant, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt constructed an identity based on Anglo-Saxonism, American imperialism, and the “Strenuous Life.” This was reflected in the burial of American soldiers of the Spanish American and Philippine American wars and the First World War. On the other hand, the commemorations of soldiers and sailors from the Civil War, Spanish American War, and Great War created opportunities to both critique and appropriate definitions of national identity. Through a series of case studies, my dissertation brings together cultural and political history to explore the (re)production and (trans)formation of American identity from the Civil War to the Great War. I am particularly interested in the way people used funerals and monuments as tools to produce official and vernacular memory. I argue that both official and vernacular forms of commemoration can help historians understand the social and political tensions of creating national identity in a burgeoning industrial and multicultural society.

The aim of this study was to explore burial alternatives, cemeteries crisis and perceptions of African urban communities around the issue of cremation as an alternative to burial. The researcher felt that it is important to do this research since there have been so many debates about cremation. The sample used, comprised of males and females from different townships around eThekwini Municipality. The researcher used both qualitative (focus group) and quantitative (self-administered questionnaires) methods. The researcher manually analysed the data that was 0 btained during t he study. The results of the study are presented in the form of quotes together with the discussion of the result by the researcher. The findings show that culture and religion play a very important role in the lives of African people. Although there are other burial alternatives, many African people still see traditional burial as the best way of decomposing the body. At the end of the study the researcher presented the conclusions and recommendations. The findings and recommendations made in the present study are of great help not only to the Department of Cemeteries and Crematoria within the eThekwini Municipality but also to other municipalities in South Africa. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

Current land use practices in cemetery developments, both abroad and i n the United States, often conflict with the efficient use of land resources. This extended study deals with the changes that need to be made concerning the existing problems, to prevent future problems, and, at the same time, prepare communities for the changes involved in the evolution toward more liberal views regarding cemetery development. Cemetery development is defined to be the changes that have occurred in cemeteries throughout history and the sociocultural factors that have influenced land use. / Department of Landscape Architecture

Buried in Polyester is a collection of essays in three parts loosely connected around the theme of the loss of my mother. Much like JoAnn Beard's The Boys of My My Youth, the essays hold up pieces of my life for inspection and puts them down again, not always with a sense of resolution. The subtext of the piece revolves around the search to put together the pieces of what my life was before and after my mother, and the transition from girlhood to adulthood with the absence of my mother. I hope also to explore how the self splits after a traumatic death, and the desperate attempt at recreation that takes the place of genuine mourning. The final three pieces are a trilogy exploring my father's deteriorating health and my attempts to connect with him while somehow recapturing the self that I lost. / Department of English