The complex, dynamic nature of microbial communities in both natural and engineered environments complicates the work of scientists and engineers who wish to channel microbial interactions for societal good. The successful management of these communities towards engineering goals is dependent on developing predictive linkages between community structure and functional outputs....
A common problem in energy allocation problems is managing the trade-off between selling surplus energy to maximize short term revenue, versus holding surplus energy to hedge against future shortfalls. For energy allocation problems, this surplus represents resource flexibility and is quantified as the surplus energy after meeting the demand. The...
Society faces many complex management problems, particularly in the area of shared public resources such as ecosystems. Existing decision making processes are often guided by personal experience and political ideology rather than state-of-the-art scientific understanding. This dissertation envisions a future in which multiple stakeholders are provided with computational tools for...
Scalable array transceivers with wide frequency tuning range are attractive for next-generationradios. Key challenges for such radios include generation of LO signals with widefrequency tuning range, scalable synchronization between multiple array unit cells andtolerance to in-band and out-of-band interferers. This thesis presents approaches toaddress these challenges in commercial CMOS technologies.The...
The dairy industry has indicated that milk hauling sporadically compromises milk quality, but often the reason is unknown. Milk hauling practices are an underexplored area of research, and are in need of attention because during hauling milk is most exposed to the external environment in comparison with any other step...
The combined activities of diverse heterotrophic marine microorganisms significantly shape global biogeochemical cycles, but models of these activities are currently limited to aggregate microbial community processes, and it remains unclear how community structure and the functional roles of specific microbial taxa should be integrated into these models. Therefore, understanding the...
Aqueous hydroxo Hf nanoclusters enable studies to identify and codify steps in the deposition of Hf-based oxide thin films from solution precursors. HfOCl2 reacts with combinations of H2O2(aq), acids, and TMAH to produce polymetal species at high pH and low pH. X-ray scattering and spectroscopic methods reveal the nature of...
In this thesis I will look at a definition of computable randomness from Algorithmic Information Theory as defined by Andre Nies through the lens of Computable Analaysis asdefined by Klaus Weihrauch. I will show that despite the fact that these two paradigmsgenerate distinct classes of computable supermartingales, the class of...
Photoelectric and Compton interactions are some of the common interaction mechanisms we observe when gamma radiation interacts with matter. These interactions are highly depended on the energy of the radiation and the atomic number of the detector material. Lower the energy of the photon and higher the atomic number of...
This thesis considers the problem of training convolutional neural networks for online visual tracking. A major challenge for single object visual tracking is that most training sets with frame-level track annotations are quite small, due to the prohibitive cost of manual annotation. Current training approaches either supplement the annotations with...
Hydropower is the one of the oldest renewable energy technologies and is wrongly thought of today as having little room to grow. The opportunity for new hydropower capacity is immense through both technology advancement and run-of-river new stream reach projects. Despite the age of hydropower, a divide in opinion is...
Background. Many studies addressing the reasons why minority students fail in higher education are based on what is defined as a deficit model. A deficit model documents that a significant number of minority students fail because their culture is distinct from that of the majority population. Numerous minority students do...
The internet-of-things is a growing market segment which is based on an arrayof portable communication devices with high power efficiency. Advanced semiconductortechnology can easily improve their digital performance, but the samecannot be said for the analog blocks which are vital to their operation. Highperformance analog circuits continue to use conventional...
This dissertation investigates the structure and topological properties of cyclicallypresented groups. First, a family of groups called groups of type Z is considered. Withfew exceptions, the finiteness, asphericity, fixed point, and 3-manifold spine problemsare solved. Most groups of type Z have a central element of infinite order fixed by theshift....
Model Predictive Control (MPC) has previously been investigated on ocean waveenergy converters (WEC) to improve the amount of power captured, while respectingthe system constraints. Previous research done in the same area, focused onbuilding a control scheme by using the knowledge of the past & current statesof the system and predicting...
Student engagement is key for learning in the classroom, and different levels of engagement have led to greater learning. The ICAP framework distinguishes these different levels of engagement by different overt behaviors, but little is known about how to measure different forms of engagement in the classroom. This article will...
Metal organic Frameworks (MOFs) that experience stimuli induced structural transformation could enable a whole new class of materials with remarkable properties. Photoactuating moieties in the structure could effect changes in the pore space or macroscale shape change enabling light driven gas separation and actuators. Here, we present a novel approach...
Phosphate and peroxide stabilize new oxo-hydroxo niobium clusters in water at low pH. The clusters open a new chapter in aqueous niobium chemistry under acidic conditions. The clusters also produce atomically smooth, amorphous niobium oxide phosphate (NbPOx) thin films. Reaction pathways from cluster solutions to amorphous niobium oxide phosphate solids...
Organic semiconductors are used in a wide variety of applications including transistors,solar cells, and light emitting diodes. These materials are solution-processable,low cost, and tunable. Many successful organic optoelectronic materials utilizeblends of several types of molecules (such as donors and acceptors) in order topromote charge generation. As blends are an inherently...
Bicyclists are one of the highest and most vulnerable road users. This is due to the higher likelihood of being seriously injured when involved in a crash. This research seeks to understand two different behavioral interactions of an implemented facility user: the motorist (secondary user) and bicyclist (primary user). The...
In 2014, W. Bogley identified a relation between the algebraic and geometric prop- erties of cyclically presented groups Gn (w) in the case where w = x0xkxl is a positive word of length three. Specifically, it was shown that the dynamics of the shift θG on the group G =...
The purpose of this study was to explore the connections between experiential learning and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in preservice agriculture teachers. More specifically, utilizing a conceptual model for teacher development as a framework, this research sought to explore the development of the knowledge bases needed for teaching through experiential...
Private forest landowners can adapt to climate change by altering their timing and intensity of harvests, by changing thinning or fertilizing activities, and by altering the tree species growing on their land. The well-being of humans is closely tied to the ecosystem services that forests provide as both market and...
Three analytical methods for determination of aroma compounds in alcoholic beverages were developed and validated. These methods are sensitive and reliable that can be applied to analyze volatile phenols, stale aldehydes as well as some highly volatile aromas in alcoholic beverages. In the first study, an ethylene glycol (EG) polydimethylsiloxane...
Bicyclists are one of the highest and most vulnerable road users. This is due to the higher likelihood of being seriously injured when involved in a crash. This research seeks to understand two different behavioral interactions of an implemented facility user: the motorist (secondary user) and bicyclist (primary user). The...
Lactate is an end-product of both aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis and it can be used as an energy source for tissues. It is produced by all cells in the mammalian body that can metabolize glucose. Increased production of lactate can be seen with there is an increase in cellular metabolism...
Reasoning about 3D shape of objects is important for successful computer visionapplications in robotics, 3D rendering and modeling. In this thesis, we address twoproblems { First, given an image, we generate 3D shape of the foreground object thatappears in the image. Second, we predict the class label of the input...
Bioenergy is a rapidly growing subsector of the emerging global bioeconomy, with the potential to create a substantial number of jobs and mitigate climate change. In order to develop bioenergy into a viable industry, capable of providing valuable energy and employment, there is an immediate need for a skilled workforce...
Deburring of machined parts is a crucial task in the aerospace and automotive industry. This process is still performed manually to a large extent due to the unpredictability of burr formation as well as the complex interactions between the human arm and the workpiece. Poor ergonomics, repetitive stress and strain...
Chemistry of preparing dense film from solution deposition is explored with several cases in this thesis. Surface dense structure, conversion at melting point, and ion exchange in aqueous solution are the main topics covered here for the thin films of aluminum oxide phosphate and tin dioxide. Thin film density, optical...
The Construction industry is one of the most hazardous industries in the US.Construction workers, on a daily basis, are exposed to numerous risks while performing arange of activities involving construction, alteration, and or repair. Dust and diesel exhaustemissions from construction equipment are considered harmful to the workers in the longrun....
Currently the production of biofuel from algae is not economically competitive with petroleum fuel. However, co-production of high-value products may be able to justify the cost of large-scale algae cultivation. The basic goal of this study is to develop a techno-economic analysis (TEA) and Life-cycle assessment (LCA) for the production...
This dissertation addresses the problem of semantic labeling of image pixels. In the course of our work, we considered different types of semantic labels, including object classes (e.g., car, person), 3D depth values (in the range 0 to 80 meters), and affordance classes (e.g., walkable, sittable). Semantic pixel labeling is...
Childhood cancers are rare diseases that affect 188 children in Texas for every million born. Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer and accounts for roughly one third of childhood cancer cases. However, it is estimated that only 10% of childhood cancer cases can be explained by known risk factors....
This research was aimed at providing the foundation for changing standards of care in a critical care setting using Catholic concepts of respect for human dignity, subsidiarity, common good, and solidarity as a matter of social justice. I first unpacked the nature of ICU care and the inevitability of the...
Natural selection, in its most basic form, is described as a process in which traitsincrease or decrease in frequency depending on their fitness, and only the trait withthe highest fitness will remain in the population. Yet, populations rarely have asingle `optimal' trait. The way natural selection maintains this observed variationwithin...
During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ∼ 21 ky before present) the atmospheric CO2 concentration was about 100 ppm lower than its pre-industrial (PI)value. The missing carbon from the atmosphere must have been stored in thedeep ocean during this period, but the mechanisms driving such re-distribution ofthe carbon cycle are...
Ecological resources available to freshwater fish shift spatially, temporally and across life stages. To better understand how spatial-temporal availability of resources influence fish, I examined the phenologies of hatching and emergence of Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in streams with contrasting and strongly defined seasonal thermal variability. The study streams included...
The Experimental Advanced Airborne Research Lidar ‐ B (EAARL‐B), which was built and deployed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2014, is a novel topographic‐bathymetric lidar system. While retaining a number of features that were pioneered in the original National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) EAARL system (e.g., low...
The United States spends about $2 billion each year fighting wildfires. While it is a costly operation, mechanized thinning of dense federal forests is one preventative strategy that generates high volumes of small logs. These small logs are often used for wood chips, pulp, or biomass because of the high...
The order Cornales (dogwoods) is the earliest diverging lineage within the most diverse group of flowering plants, the asterids (>80,000 species). Although molecular phylogenetics have significantly improved our understanding of cornalean systematics, early phylogenetic relationships remain uncertain due to an initial rapid radiation. The fossil record of Cornales is extensive...
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is a formidable international force operating and perpetuating religious, military, and violent agendas. In 2014, ISIS established a worldwide Caliphate governing religious authority across Middle Eastern territories. ISIS operations are grandiose and large scale, longevity and survival are predicated on recruitment. One...
Commercial fishing is a culturally and economically significant industry on the Oregon coast. The importance of this industry to human communities is often neglected in fisheries research, with economic and ecological data being favored by managers and decision makers. Recent observations in many coastal communities have indicated aging of fishermen...
The Earth’s surface is experiencing unprecedented change. Humanity’s growing population, expanding land-use footprint, and increasing global emissions of atmospheric greenhouse gases affect a vast number of species on Earth and the functioning of virtually all ecosystems. Given the vital interactions and feedbacks between the Earth’s land surface and climate, measurements...
The eruptive history of the Quaternary Cascades arc has been relatively well characterized. However, much less is known about the frequency and sizes of explosive eruptions produced by earlier stages of the arc. The Late Neogene Deschutes Formation of Central Oregon preserves a remarkable record of heightened pyroclastic activity during...
Columbian black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) are important economically, ecologically, and culturally as an indigenous species in western Oregon. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) observed declines in black-tailed deer populations since the late 1980’s and attributes these declines to reduction in quality and availability of habitat, following the...
One of the recent additions to the panoply of engineered wood products is cross-laminated timber (CLT). CLT is a prefabricated, large-scale, solid wood panel that consists of multiple layers of lumbers stacked together, with each layer arranged perpendicular to the next layer, glued with structural grade adhesives, and pressed. The...
One of the greatest challenges in the West is the sustainable management of limited water resources. In recognition of localized responses to natural resource challenges, there has been considerable work in the area of adaptive capacity and collaborative governance to help understand a community’s capacity to manage change. This study...
This dissertation focuses on extending the application scope of surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy to gas sensing. The method we propose is incorporating plasmonic nanostructures with nano-composite material, metalorganic framework, which can selectively preconcentrate certain gas molecules into the nanopores. The preconcentrating property is first demonstrated by applying metal-organic framework...
The structure and mechanics of tissues affect many important cellular functions such as migration, differentiation, and growth. Mechanical interactions between cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM), as well as ECM-mediated mechanical communication between cells, plays a part in coordinating collective cellular dy- namics during critical processes such as morphogenesis, tissue...