Agrivoltaic systems combine solar energy and agriculture, promoting dual land use. Although grazing sheep in these systems is common, research on intentionally designed pastures to increase production is lacking. This study seeks to compare the herbage growth and lamb production in simple, diverse, and legume pastures in an agrivoltaic system...
White rot, caused by Sclerotium cepivorum, is a serious disease that causes significant yield losses in Allium production. The pathogen persists in soil as sclerotia, which germinate in response to sulfur compounds in Allium root exudates. This study was aimed at investigating the potential of early-terminated Allium bait crops to...
Listeria monocytogenes contamination continues to pose challenges for the food industry and there is demand for effective methods of food preservation and protection that can also be considered clean label. A promising source of antilisterial compounds may be sourced from bacteria that produce novel byproducts. Ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified...
Individuals who are parents and students on TANF experience challenges accessing and persisting in higher education. This study explored the experiences of TANF recipients who are navigating a return to higher education and the impact of college on how they construct a future self. Two theoretical frameworks were used to...
Road racing shoes have recently evolved to incorporate maximal midsole cushioning and an embedded carbon fiber plate. Shoes in this category have been labeled ‘Advanced Footwear Technology’ (AFT) and may significantly contribute to improvements in running economy, in part due to biomechanical changes at the foot and ankle. However, little...
Significant attention has been given to how artificial intelligence (AI) can be utilized by society and in scientific fields in recent years. This article explores how AI tools utilized in various fields have been and can be applied to ecological restoration projects, their affiliated benefits and drawbacks, and what those...
The black-footed ferret is a meso-predator within the Great Plains region of North America. Before the 1900s, black-footed ferret populations were self-sustaining in large ecological patches throughout the geographical range of the Great Plains. During the 1900s, various factors such as the systematic extermination of prairie dogs (the primary food...
Pacific salmon are an integral part of ecosystems, industry, culture, and food source. Rapid declines and extirpation in many populations and species have caught the interest of environmentalists, scientists, recreational anglers, commercial fishers, general public, and economists. Billions of dollars have been spent to restore, return, improve, sustain dwindling populations...
Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is used throughout the world to estimate prevalence and population size for hidden populations. Although RDS is an effective method for enrolling people from key populations in studies, it relies on a partially unknown sampling mechanism, and thus each individual’s inclusion probability is unknown. Current estimators for...
The 1918-1919 influenza pandemic led to a phenomenon termed as pandemic amnesia. It is apparent that the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed a disturbingly similar pattern. My thesis investigated the prevalence and perils of pandemic amnesia in the context of COVID-19. I explored this issue through a review of scholarly literature...
To better understand how the rise of global service-based activities affects multijurisdictional tax avoidance, we examine variation in tax-motivated income shifting among product- and service-based firms. We find that service-based firms are more responsive to income-shifting incentives, on average, than product-based firms and that the observed responsiveness among service-based firms...
The goal of the current study was to examine how specific recent stressors are related to electronic nicotine product use among young adults. Despite increases in electronic nicotine product use among adults, stressors shaping the use of these products remain largely unknown. The current study examined the types and average...
The present study explores the topic of Multiracial Identity Development and how parents play an important role in the identity development of children. The role of parents becomes crucial for parents of Multiracial children as they transmit cultural values, beliefs, language, and practices. Although models of racial identity development exist,...
Quality relationships among families and teachers in early care and education (ECE) hold
promise to nurture resilience among children impacted by adversity. However, little is known
about how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may also affect the interactions between
families and teachers. This study uses quantitative survey data from families (N...
Reusing reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) presents an opportunity to reduce environmental burdens and encourage sustainable development. However, a concern exists about blending RAP binder and virgin asphalt binder. While RAP mixtures assume complete blending between these binders, the actual extent of this blending remains uncertain. Lower blending percentages can reduce...
This thesis compares the implementation of additive manufactured suspension uprights against subtractive manufactured suspension uprights from concept generation, design, and validation through simulation. Additive manufactured suspension uprights were designed for Global Formula Racing’s 2023 electric vehicle. Utilizing Siemens NX, Nastran, Fusion 360, and Ansys Workbench both subtractive and additive manufactured...
Production of 89Zr serves as a crucial preliminary step for exploring Zr-chelates, determining their stability constants, and advancing radiolabeling methodologies for monoclonal antibody based theranostics. 89Zr is typically produced by the irradiation of natural yttrium targets, a process extensively documented in scientific literature. Two primary methods are employed: the 89Y(p,n)89Zr...
In this comprehensive thesis, we present a series of experiments and findings that highlight the
critical importance of TDC Voltage Sensors in the hardware security domain. Our research begins
by introducing a novel self-calibrating module, demonstrating its efficiency through preliminary
calibration tests. We then delve into the Peak-to-Peak tests, which...
This research explores the mechanisms of Track III diplomacy employed by EcoPeace Middle East, in the context of environmental peacebuilding within the Jordan Basin region. Focusing on how these mechanisms contribute to improving water quality and quantity, the study delves into their processes in facilitating cooperation among conflicting parties—Israelis, Palestinians,...
Combustion emissions produced from burning real transportation fuels have many environmental impacts. However, detailed chemistry across multiple phases, time scales, and thermodynamic conditions make predicting combustion emissions challenging. Detailed modeling of the gas phase alone is prohibitively expensive, due to the large size and stiffness of the kinetic models. The...
The purpose of this capstone is to provide a reassessment of the emergence of biophilia in interpretive programs conducted in California State Parks. More specifically, this project examines what effect natural resource interpretive programming has on the emergence of biophilia practices and if participants are more likely to be more...
The European green crab (Carcinus maenas) has persisted in Oregon and Washington coastal estuaries since the late 1990s. A strong year class arrived during the 1998 El Niño, but numbers decreased and remained below 1 per trap per day until the arrival of the 2015-2016 El Niño. Since then, numbers...
The current study aimed to further explore the relationship between internalized racism and depression, using racial identity (centrality) as a moderator. The current study was guided by two hypotheses. First, it was hypothesized that internalized racism would predict depression. Second, it was hypothesized that racial identity (centrality) would moderate the...
Food waste (FW), brewery waste (BW), and fats, oils, and greases (FOG), are prevalent waste streams in municipalities across the country, particularly in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Anaerobic digestion (AD), the microbial-mediated transformation of organic waste into methane-rich biogas, offers a sustainable, energy-generating, waste management solution for these wastes. Anaerobic...
Zinc is an important micronutrient involved in many cellular processes, including those part of immune function; however, about 15% of the US population is at risk for marginal zinc deficiency. This can lead to immune system complications including the generation of inflammatory cytokines. Aging is another factor that worsens the...
This essay examines community narratives around Keep Virginia Beautiful's Green
Grants initiative. Green Grants is a signature annual program that awards grants to organizations
throughout Virginia in support of projects aligned with one of Keep Virginia Beautiful’s three
pillars: recycling, litter prevention, and community beautification. The primary research
questions are...
Mountain search and rescue is a vital form of emergency response to assist people in austere environments (e.g., extreme terrain, poor weather). Volunteer mountain search and rescue teams in the United States have begun adopting consumer- grade unmanned aerial vehicles to assist a variety of tasks (e.g., search, resource delivery);...
Background: Access to and effective utilization of healthcare services during the postpartum period is essential in preventing and managing health risks among women after childbirth, ensuring a smooth transition to motherhood, and promoting long-term health outcomes for women and their families. Low-income Medicaid women and those belonging to minority race/ethnicity...
Intraseasonal oscillations in the atmosphere-ocean system can affect weather patterns and regional ecosystems. In turn, these oscillations can be affected by climate variability, resulting in additive and/or non-linear responses of regional ecosystems to climate forcing. In the Northern California Current, a strong correlation was identified between the location of the...
The Northern Rubber Boa (Charina bottae) is a small, secretive boa native to the Pacific Northwest. Despite this being possibly the highest latitude boas and one of only two boas native to the continental U.S., it has received surprisingly little attention. Most of the research on the natural history of...
The success or failure of river basin organization (RBO), when they deal with disputes, might rely on the source of conflict along with other factors such as institutional design, legal attributes and conflict resolution mechanism of the organization. However, little attention has been paid to the research which studies a...
In recent years, non-renewable and non-biodegradable plastic packaging forms the majority of landfilled waste. These products, mainly made from Polyethylene Tetraphlatate (PET) and other polyolefins, have excellent durability and barrier properties, but take hundreds of years to degrade.
Much focus has been put on developing environmentally friendly alternatives to polyolefins...
The experiences of Latinx youth are well-studied in U.S. schools, yet, few studies have focused on their experiences in Community Based Educational Spaces (CBES). CBES continue to be on the periphery of Education research despite the potential affordances of youth-led work in such out-of-school spaces (Baldridge, 2020). At the same...
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is an abnormal part of aging that mainly affects those over the age of 65. The current therapies are only FDA approved for mild to moderate AD symptoms. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-intoxicating constituent of Cannabis sativa that has been shown to have beneficial effects on cancer,...
Contemporary spiritual tourism impacts many stakeholders including environmental ecosystems, tourists, tourist operators, and community members. Increasingly, in the era of the Anthropocene, there is a need for ethical guidance to inform spiritual tourism so as to mitigate social injustice and environmental degradation. This research project investigates the potential for the...
The Goose Lake Basin, situated on the border of Oregon and California, USA, faces significant challenges from drought, wildfire, and other environmental stressors. This region hosts numerous endemic fish species such as the Goose Lake redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss newberri), Goose Lake lamprey (Entosphenus sp.), Goose Lake tui chub (Siphateles...
Two ecologically important lamprey species found in the endorheic Goose Lake Basin face conservation threats; however, relatively little is known about their habitat needs or spatial distribution. Lamprey and their habitat are often found to be patchy; to evaluate these relationships for the lamprey in this basin, I utilized a...
Modular construction is increasingly seen as an efficient construction method in terms of time, cost, and energy. The full realization of these advantages partly relies on the efficiency of the production process inside the modular factories, which currently rely on tedious manual monitoring methods or expensive automated techniques. As a...
2020 and 2021 brought the first reported outbreaks of salmonellosis epidemiologically linked to dry bulb onions in the United States. Outbreak investigations were not able to implicate a specific source of the contamination but speculated that contaminated water was a significant contributor. The Produce Safety Rule established minimum standards for...
In recent years, unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) have become increasingly affordable and straightforward to incorporate in monitoring applications of forested ecosystems. This shift has facilitated interest in using these tools to monitor aspects of forest ecosystems including vegetation health, forest structure and composition, and potential habitat provided by these systems....
This paper examines the invasion of exotic wilding conifers on the native tussock grasslands of Aotearoa New Zealand. The investigation includes two studies and aims to better understand the structure of Pinus contorta seeds across tree crown positions and the viability rates of P. contorta seeds produced during a trees...
The ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) phenomenon serves as a sensitive probe of the effective internal fields in a magnetic material. FMR spectroscopy has consequently become a well-established technique, extensively employed in assessing material properties such as magnetic anisotropy, Landé g-factor, damping parameter, and the magnetoelastic constants of magnetic materials. Determining these...
This paper addresses the high model complexity and overconfident frame labeling of state-of-the-art (SOTA) action segmenters. Their complexity is typically justified by the need to sequentially refine action segmentation through multiple stages of a deep architecture. However, this multistage refinement does not take into account uncertainty of frame labeling predicted...
The pregnancy and postpartum periods are full of major life transitions. So often, the focus of the literature is about the unborn baby and physical changes a woman experiences throughout this timeframe. Many sources often overlook women’s personal experiences in the perinatal period. Despite an increase in perinatal mood and...
As urban populations increase, the presence of well-maintained trees provide a cost-effective solution to combat the effects of climate change, specifically the urban heat island effect. Unfortunately, the associated ecological, social and economic benefits of trees are not distributed equitably in the landscape due to lingering effects of redlining policies....
Variation in cheese quality due to geographic location is important to cheese producers, consumers, and retailers on a global level. Understanding the impacts of geographic location of cheese plants may be useful to businesses for marketing, cost reduction, and quality improvement. Many aspects of variation due to geography have been...
Tsunami inundation of coastal communities can impose a wide array of forces on the
built environment. Forces generated by tsunami-driven debris damming have the potential to
cause failure of coastal structures and further accumulate flow-entrained debris. Since tsunami-resilient design standards were adopted by ASCE in 2016, debris damming considerations have...