The lack of ancestral record instilled in me this desire to hold on to memories, and to leave my children with permanent records or memories of our family. My desire to work with metals was inspired by the need to encapsulate a record of memories through a more permanent means. The durability of steel, I feel, can be used as a diary, in the form of an artistic and lasting object, rather than written words. The need to leave behind a legacy inspired me to explore the use of lockets and containers that have some resemblance to a reliquary. My intent was not one of religious purpose, but rather to create a locket or container that would reflect or contain symbols of where one's roots begin, the home.

My approach to the art making process is a kind of poetic reverie on forms and spaces. Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary defines reverie as “a state of dreamy meditation or fanciful musing; a daydream, a fantastic, visionary or unpractical idea.” It is a romantic notion that has less to do with the big questions of existence than it does the incidental parts of daily existence. Reverie is a state of mind that comes from being receptive and finding simple pleasure in the affects of imagination. My paintings, drawings and sculpture evolve out of the freedom to imagine shapes and spaces that describe different kinds of interactions. They come from recollection, awareness, and observation of the diverse sensual phenomena that surrounds me. The variety of interactions between forms such as contrast, imbalance, balance or synchronicity, have the potential to evoke various aspects of being: vulnerability, uncertainty, confidence, and determination. Possible interactions between shapes and spaces are what intrigue me most. Recently, I expanded the investigation of form to include objects and consideration of space. As the scale of my paintings and drawings grew, I became interested in the effects of three-dimensional objects in a space, such as a gallery. My inquiry …

In this project a bacteria's ability to bind to human lung tissue was investigated. To carry out this study Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Eschericia coli and Burkholderia cepacia were used. B. cepacia served as the bacterium of interest. Isolating the gene which confers upon this bacterium the ability to bind to lung tissue was the main objective of this study. P. aeruginosa has been identified as being the bacteria most responsible for causing serious lung infections that can result in cystic fibrosis. This bacterium therefore served as the positive control in this study. On the contrary, E. coli does not possess this binding ability and served as the negative control. This paper gives a detailed outline of the different procedures necessary for the successful completion of this project. Firstly, a broad guideline of the important steps involved are explored. This is followed by a discussion on potential problems and possible solutions. Throughout the document, illustrations of expected results are indicated so as to further guide the researcher.

The use of animal models in research has led to a fierce debate between animal rights activists and scientists. The former claim that little useful information is gained from animal studies and the suffering of animals does not preclude any treatments which may be used to treat human illnesses. Yet, research scientists claim that in vivo animal models are of absolute necessity to developing treatments and cures to disease. To determine the necessity of animal use, one must examine the models currently in research. Have the animal models for disorders such as cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy given scientists enough information to develop effective treatments? This paper will examine the role of animal subjects in several disease research protocols, as well as the applicability of the research.

Federal and state regulations require that licensed long-term care facilities have policies for every resident-related topic. Long-term care administrators must plan, implement, and evaluate resident care policies that can be easily personalized to the needs of the specific facility's population. Part 1 of this paper is an overview of resident policies, covering admission, physician services, transfers and discharges, nursing services, restraints, abuse and neglect, pharmaceutical services, dietary services, clinical records, therapeutic recreation services, and social services. Part 2 presents the policies themselves, ready for use by Texas long-term care administrators as part of their facility's administrative policy manual.