The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of temperature on inducing an alkaline-tolerance response in L. monocytogenes (Lm) serotypes 1/2a and 4b. When Lm cells were pre-exposed to a sublethal alkali pH of 9.0 at different temperatures, two main patterns were observed: (1) Alkali-stress adaptation was readily induced in Lm when cells were pre-exposed to a sublethal alkali pH of 9.0 for 5-15 min at 37°C or 22°C; and (2) Alkali-stress adaptation was not induced in Lm when cells were pre-exposed to a sublethal alkali pH of 9.0 for 1 h at 4°C. However, exposure of Lm to 4°C for 24 h enhanced its survival against lethal alkaline challenge (pH 11.5). Also, alkali-stress adaptation if occurred at 37°C or 22°C was highly stable at 4ºC even in the absence of mild alkaline stress which should be taken into account while conducting risk analysis for this pathogen.

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This dissertation explores the role of religion in the origins of the Cold War from 1880 to 1948. Building on David Foglesong’s research into the role of religion in shaping American missionaries, businesspeople, and public intellectuals’ perceptions of Russia, as well as Andrew Preston’s insights into the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration’s use of religious tropes to justify intervention against Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945, this project focuses on the White House and US State Department’s efforts to manage diplomatic tensions and public controversies surrounding religious repression in Russia during the origins of the Cold War from 1880 to 1948. The central finding of this project is that during the period from 1933 to 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his personal allies such as Joseph Davies sought to minimize popular and official criticisms of Soviet religious policies as a part of Roosevelt’s program of pragmatic cooperation with the USSR. Eventually, anti-communist officials in the State Department managed to undermine Roosevelt’s public relations program in order to justify a more confrontational approach to the Soviet regime. Roosevelt’s poor health, growing personal isolation, and neglect of personal relationships with American Catholic leaders after 1943, as well as his failure to create a bureaucracy committed to his vision of post-war cooperation, meant that after his death religion could be used by anti-communists in their campaign to denigrate the Soviet Union. To gain popular support for its containment and roll-back strategies, the Truman administration called for a worldwide Christian crusade to eradicate atheistic communism. By shedding light on how well the Roosevelt administration was able to overcome US-Russian religious tensions, this project supports the “missed opportunities” thesis that the Cold War was not inevitable. It also stands as an example of a growing body of scholarly research linking religion, diplomacy, and US foreign relations. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Cold spray (CS) deposition of metals is a process involving deposition of materials in the solid or semi-solid state. It also has lower operating temperatures, and oxidation is greatly reduced in the process. The process is beneficial for refractory metals, such as tantalum, which are tough and difficult to machine. The interface between the CS powder and the substrate is the most important region for the study of mechanical properties as it is where the bonding process occurs first; studying mechanical properties at the nanoscale will give us a better idea of the mechanical properties of the coated surface. The present work investigates multiple-sprayed conventional and low-hydrogen treated tantalum powders on stainless steel substrates and also single-sprayed nitrogen-treated tantalum powders on aluminum substrate using Atomic force microscopy (AFM). It also discusses the effects of topography on the local changes in modulus. AFM is an instrument that measures the site-specific property of the sample. In this work, the local Young's modulus is studied using force-distance curves. Calibration of the AFM cantilever and the photodetector used to measure the cantilever, is a vital step before the actual process. The conventional method of calibration can cause damage to the tip as it arbitrarily penetrates into the sample creating a cantilever deflection vs. tip penetration curve, giving the sensitivity of the photodetector. AFM is highly dependent on topographical features as the cantilever tip-sample interaction can vary, causing variations in the property mapped. This work, however uses a non-contact method of calibration which saves the cantilever tip from potential damages, saving the results from the detrimental effects of tip topography. The work also discusses the effects of local sample deformation and volume of tip-surface contact on local changes in Young's modulus at the interface of coating and substrate. This work uses Electron micro-probe analysis (EPMA) to show the presence of oxides at the interface. The presence of oxides changes the bond energy as compared to a pure tantalum bond, ultimately affecting the local modulus mapped using AFM. The effect of oxides on the local modulus at the coating-substrate interface is theoretically discussed.

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