The Missoula Floods occurred approximately fifteen thousand to thirteen thousand years ago during the last ice age. The floods occurred when waters held back by a finger of the Purcell Ice Lobe gave way allowing water which covered present day Missoula, Montana to inundate areas of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon....
Approximately five to eight percent of domestic rams demonstrate a sexual attraction
towards other rams, directing no sexual behaviors towards estrous ewes. It has been
observed that these male-oriented rams (MORs) have a greater abundance of prolactin
mRNA than female-oriented rams in the medial preoptic area of the anterior
hypothalamus...
The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa possesses two LuxR-LuxI
type quorum-sensing systems that use diffusible acyl-homoserine lactone molecules to
autoinduce and coordinate expression of multiple virulence factors. We conducted a highthroughput
screen for mutants deficient in skim-milk proteolysis—a quorum-sensing
dependent phenotype—using a nonredundant transposon-insertion library representing
most nonessential genes in P....
The aim of this Physics Education Research project was to implement a modified version
of Calibrated Peer Review and measure the impacts in junior-level students' scientific
writing. The project developed and implemented a set of guiding questions, instructor
written examples, and a rubric which were implemented in a multi-staged process,...
One of the distinctive features of mitochondria is that they have their own DNA. When compared to nuclear DNA, it is known that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) not only has a much higher rate of spontaneous mutation, but also arises from metabolically distinct precursor pools. Others from our laboratory have demonstrated...
The Sortase A (SrtA) enzyme is a potential target for a new class of anti-infective drugs
because it is responsible for anchoring virulence factors to the surface of pathogenic,
Gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus. High throughput screening
yielded low molecular weight compounds that inhibit purified SrtA from S. aureus....
The coastal regions of Chile and Oregon are some of the most productive ecosystems in the world. The intertidal communities of both areas have been well studied, but much remains to be learned about how those communities are structured over large scales. Here, I explore the upwelling regimes and the...
DiskGrapher is a graphical visualization tool designed to help users better manage the
space on their hard drives. The main goal of DiskGrapher is to provide a different
visualization technique to display information, with the goal of providing a more intuitive
understanding of the directory structure of the disk than...
Falls, especially those caused by slips, are a major health concern. Past research has
examined the mechanisms of preventing a fall from a forward slip; however, the effects of a
mediolateral component to the slip have not been thoroughly analyzed. The purpose of this study
was to examine how medial...
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a foreign country? You perhaps
will experience a roller coaster of emotions in what is termed “culture shock.” This
thesis will investigate the theory of culture shock and explore cultural dimensions that
affect it. These theories will be...
Objective: To explore patient perspectives on the role of personal growth-related risk taking in
the recovery process, and to identify social stigma’s role when consumers approach and evaluate
new endeavors. Methods: 177 Kaiser Permanente Health Plan members participated in a mixedmethods
study of recovery among individuals with serious mental illness...
Hatchability of broiler eggs has not increased over the last twenty years. Increasing hatchability with in ovo technology may be possible through feeding metabolic modulators to the developing embryo. Exogenous fatty acids and antioxidants provided during incubation may enhance polyunsaturated fatty acid, lipid, and antioxidant status of the chicken embryo....
A DC distribution system targeted for residential settings has been designed and
simulated. The system features the ability to draw power from both the utility and
photovoltaic arrays. In times of surplus solar energy, the system is able to supply power
back to the utility to facilitate net metering. The...
Growing up on a ranch in eastern Oregon, life is hard. Adelaide Stevens knows this at sixteen, when her father shoots her wounded horse and her mother divorces him. Five years later, Addie returns from college to her small town to take care of her ailing mother, and over the...
In the continuing effort to reduce time spent in the product development cycle many industries
have realized the benefits of rapid prototyping. Within a few hours a design engineer can turn a
computer model into an actual three-dimensional object allowing customers, engineers and
marketing agents to evaluate a product early...
This undergraduate thesis provides an overview on analyzing and designing open-loop sampleand-
hold (S/H) circuits. It also describes a technique used to verify functions of an S/H circuit
known as beat frequency test, as well as an application of S/H circuit, a dual-slope integrating
analog-to-digital (A/D) converter. The first section...
The integration of digital and analog systems on single CMOS integrated circuits will continue to be a major area of research as the consumer market demands low power mobile devices in mass quantity. In prototypical analog integrated systems, calibration is often necessary to achieve the desired performance.
In this thesis,...
Encryption is essential to the security of transactions and communications, but
the algorithms on which they rely might not be as secure as we all assume. In this
paper, we investigate the randomness of the discrete exponentiation function used
frequently in encryption. We show how we used exponential generating functions...
It is necessary to encode data when transmitting over a noisy channel in order for
errors to be detected and corrected. List decoding algorithms provide all code words
within a specified distance of a received word in order to be sufficiently robust for
cases when two or more code words...
Seed germination is strictly defined as the physiological events before radicle
protrusion through the endosperm cap, the endosperm region adjacent to the radicle tip.
There are two opposing forces governing seed germination: the growth potential of the
embryo and the mechanical resistance of the endosperm cap. The endosperm cap cell...
The rocky intertidal is a diverse ecosystem with a variety of species and ecological interactions. Many biotic and abiotic interactions act together to restrict the abundance and distribution of species. Anthropogenic effects can have an important impact on species abundance and distribution as well. This study looks at how human...
The LA Book is a free-to-students Linear Algebra textbook written at the introductory
level and suitable for teaching MTH341 at Oregon State University. It functions both as
a traditional, printed book (rendered via LaTeX) and as an online textbook (rendered via
HTML), viewable via any modern web-browser. It is built...
In the West, the growth of the modern, androcentric medical establishment can
be shown to be correlated with the decline in women’s authority and status in the
healing arts. As the world of science and medicine expanded exponentially, the
understanding of the body changed through the studies of anatomy and...
Future satellite missions like NASA’s upcoming Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission are targeting reconnection diffusion regions at the Earth’s magnetopause. These diffusion regions are small compared to the total surface area of the magnetopause. Furthermore, the location of the diffusion region depends on external parameters such as the current state of...
Growth models developed by Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) extension
services for Holstein and Jersey heifer height and weight were evaluated using OSU dairy
herd heifer data. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of the models to
predict heights and weights of heifers in the OSU...
Introduction Over the past century, great technological advances have enabled high-speed communication and transportation across the globe. This technology trend combined with the needs of continuous expansion of market place has motivated major corporations not to restrict their business activities to within a single principality. Engineering design activities can take...
The educational environment is filled with different types of students, all with diverse learning styles. The Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator and Kolb’s Theory of Experiential Learning are generally accepted methods for determining and assessing a person’s preferred method of information processing. There has been research that suggests learning styles are specific...
Temperature data from above and below the Cougar Dam collected by the U.S. Geological Survey prior to the construction of the temperature control structure was analyzed to determine how the di®ering temperature regimes a®ect the growth and survival of threatened spring- run Chinook salmon. An ARIMA time-series model was used...
While damages due to ponding are common and expensive, provisions for design and
construction of flat roof systems lack guidance regarding these loads. The goal of this research is
to present methods of designing or building flat roofs that are less vulnerable to this condition. An
investigation of the literature,...
Factorization of integers is an important aspect of cryptography since it can be used as an
attack against some of the common cryptographic methods being used. There are
numerous methods in existence for factoring integers. Some of these are faster than
others for general numbers, while others work best on...
One of the roots of the global problem of HIV/AIDS is the shame associated with an HIV diagnosis. Because it can be transmitted sexually, HIV is stigmatized. Even though there are many routes of transmission that would not cause embarrassment, many times the public view is uncompassionate towards its victims,...
Infections in hospitals account for over 100,000 deaths per year. These infections occur at the
hospital from complications following bacterial adhesion to intravenous catheters, coronary
stents and other implanted devices. Another common problem is protein adsorption to the
surface of the device and subsequent blood clotting. Methods for combating these...
Genomic integrity is crucial for the viability and function of a cell. One key pathway that acts to
maintain genomic integrity is DNA mismatch repair (MMR). MMR acts to correct base pair
mismatches hat have escaped proofreading during DNA replication. The process of MMR is
dependent on the protein heterodimer...
The scope of this particular research delves into the psychological measurement of
alumni that graduated from the College of Business at Oregon State University. The goal for
this research is to refine the pool of alumni survey items, and to improve the measurement
properties for future use. This research proposes...
In the thrust to shift away from fossil fuels towards renewable options, Ecuador produces African palm-based biodiesel, which is currently imported by the Unites States. An analysis of this specific interaction was done via personal contact with the industry in Ecuador and extensive literature review of the topic. The results...
The purpose of this project was to isolate gabosines and other compounds through chemical screening of secondary metabolites of Streptomyces cellulosae subsp. griseorubiginoses strain S1096. Two different media were used to cultivate S. cellulosae. The first contained soybean and mannitol. The other contained oatmeal and trace element solution. After cultivation...
Soil organic matter (SOM) is the result of the balance between decomposition and incorporation of detritus from both above and below ground sources into the soil. It composes only a fraction of the soil by mass but it is one of the most critical components. The Detritus Input and Removal...
A primary target of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the human alveolar macrophage.
Infection by this bacterium can lead to a variety of responses, such as apoptosis,
autophagy, and necrosis, which may be involved in controlling the infection. M.
tuberculosis has evolved mechanisms to evade or use the host-mediated processes to its...
The rapid development of computing technologies in recent decades has allowed for data to be generated at unprecedented rates. As a result, users are challenged with the task of finding the precise information that they are looking for. Visualization techniques provide the ability to view and analyze data in different...
Variability in the depth and duration of anesthesia in individuals within a species is
frequently observed, yet few studies have investigated its causes in reptiles. To evaluate
the potential causes of variability in reptile anesthesia, I conducted experiments to test for
effects of body temperature, body composition and time post-feeding...
Marine reserves are known to directly replenish overfished species. However, the
community-wide effects of reserves are less clear. I examined the community of coralreef
fishes in a large, fully protected marine reserve in The Bahamas: the Exuma Cays
Land and Sea Park. Visual-transect surveys provided estimates and comparisons of the...
In contemporary art, some artists enter into working relationships with other
groups or institutions to create a final piece. For example, an artist may be invited by a
museum to take part in an exhibition, or an artist may work with a city council to create a
public artwork. However,...
Myxozoa have been found worldwide; these parasites infect a wide variety of hosts, but have been found most often in fish. Carassius auratus (goldfish), a popular aquarium fish and a widespread invasive species, have been identified as an intermediate host for several myxozoan species. Some myxozoan parasites are pathogenic and...
The doctor-patient relationship is one of the most unique and privileged relations a person can have with another human being, and having access to a well-developed and effective association is important for the experienced and objective quality of health care. Yet, over the past few decades a number of cultural...
Previous studies have revealed distinctive ecotypic differences between garter snakes living in the meadow and lakeshore environments around Eagle Lake in California. Snakes from these contrasting environments have significantly different growth rates, litter sizes, adult body size, annual survival, and coloration. To try and explain these differences, bird predation was...
The doctor-patient relationship is one of the most unique and privileged relations
a person can have with another human being, and having access to a well-developed and
effective association is important for the experienced and objective quality of health care.
Yet, over the past few decades a number of cultural...
Inner shelf hypoxia has occurred along the Oregon coast between the latitudes 44ºN
and 45ºN since 2002 with increasing duration and intensity, posing a threat to marine
life. The objective of this research was to determine whether variation in respiration
rate explains spatial and temporal variation in hypoxia. Dissolved oxygen...
Two policies for allocating individual assets from a pool of assets to incoming requests were contrasted within the context of replacement analysis. Assets within a pool are considered similar in the service they provide, but may differ in age and cumulative usage. The two policies considered for allocating assets to...
Maintenance of optimal nutrient supplies is fundamental to the functioning of
vertebrate, invertebrate, bacterial and plant physiology. Organisms on this planet compete
with each other primarily to fulfill nutritional needs in order to maximize their health,
wellbeing, and reproductive success. Here we examine nutrient concentrations in several
different grass species...