General objectives of my study were to describe the reproductive ecology of gray gulls in the large Lealtad colony, with emphasis on demographic parameters and physiological adaptations of eggs and chicks, which would complete some original objectives established in the early 1980's by Guerra and Fitzpatrick. Specifically, my study focused on describing, then comparing with other desert and non-desert nesting larids, interactive effects of ambient physical conditions and nest-site predation on eggs and chicks.

This study investigated whether acute myocardial ischemia of the anterior left ventricular wall induced an increase in cardiac sympathetic efferent nerve activity and thereby affected regional myocardial blood flow and contractile function.

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCase was cloned and sequenced to determine the correct size, subunit composition and architecture of this pivotal enzyme in pyrimidine biosynthesis. During the course of this work, it was determined that the ATCase of Pseudomonas was not 360,000 Da but rather present in a complex of 484,000 Da consisting of two different polypeptides (36,000 Da and 44,000 Da) with an architecture similar to that of E. coli ATCase, 2(C3):3(r2). However, there was no regulatory polypeptide found in the Pseudomonas ATCase.

During dynamic exercise the arterial baroreflexes have been thought to reset to the prevailing level of systemic pressure in order to modulate transient changes in blood pressure with the same sensitivity (gain) as at rest. To test this hypothesis, cardiovascular responses to dynamic exercise and carotid baroreflex responses to graded neck suction and neck pressure (NS/NP) were examined in seven men of moderate fitness (V02 = 41.4±3.6 ml O2*kg^-1*min^-1) during two levels (20% and 40% of peak oxygen uptake) of steady-state exercise. In addition, deactivation of cardiopulmonary baroreceptors has been thought to increase carotid baroreflex responsiveness in the quiescent state in man.

Eighty-three species of vascular plants were inventoried on the prairie relict during peak dickcissel nesting. Based on foliar cover and occurrence frequency, the five dominant plants were heath aster (Aster ericoides), eastern gammagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), sensitive briar (Schrankia roemeriana) and meadow dropseed (Sporobolus asper). Sixty-one percent of dickcissel nests were constructed on or immediately next to three plant species: eastern gammagrass, sensitive briar and green milkweed.