The issue of global climate change and possible remedies has been debated between national governments since the 1970s. While some countries have adopted aggressive measures to address the issue, others have lagged in their efforts. The United States, as a key player in global climate change conferences, has focused its...
Immunocontraception targeting the zona pellucida shows promise as a safe, effective and economically feasible method for controlling feral horse populations that roam public rangelands throughout the United States. The efficacy of porcine zona pellucida (pZP) vaccines to generate high titers can be evaluated with an indirect immunofuorescence assay or a...
The process of expressing a gene involves not just binding of proteins and enzymes to DNA to produce first RNA and eventually proteins, but rather association of these transcription factors with chromatin and structural proteins called histones. When histone H3 is trimethylated at lysine 27 to produce H3K27me3, gene silencing...
2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a potent immunosuppressant, and suppresses many disease models including graft-versus-host (GVH), experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and a model of type 1 diabetes in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice (1-3). In this study, we show that the inflammation of the pancreas due to insulitis is not a systemic autoimmune...
Buses can be impractical for those who must adhere to a strict schedule or depend on them for emergencies. While variations from the official bus schedule are understandable and largely unavoidable, a lack of communication discourages adoption at a rate disproportionate with their actual likelihood. Even if a bus is...
The steroid hormone estrogen plays a crucial role in regulating certain mammalian tissues, especially female reproductive systems. Estrogen effects physiological changes in the cell by altering transcription activity for certain target genes, as a consequence of interactions between estradiol-17β (E2) and its nuclear receptor (nER). This mechanism of cellular control...
POSTER ABSTRACT: This study seeks to diagnose systemic issues facing the Oregon State University (OSU) Student Sustainability Initiative (SSI) and identify solutions with the greatest potential to improve the program. This study has to potential to provide similarly sized, structured, and focused organizations with a starting place for their own...
The present study examined whether attention capture is driven by object saliency or contingent on top-down control setting using a go/no-go paradigm. Specifically, we investigated whether salient color singletons capture attention only when the target itself is also a singleton. We used a go/no-go task. Participants were told to search...
The NKUA1 is a Small Fission Surface Power (SFSP) space reactor intended for use in upcoming missions to Mars and the moon between the years 2020-2030. The concept of the reactor was created by Dr. Lee Mason and his research team in a joint effort between the Department of Energy...
A compound series capable of reversing the antiviral effect of Ribavirin (RBV) against H1N1 was
identified from a high throughput screen designed to discover compounds capable of increasing the
fidelity of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RDRP) n ribovirus quasispecies. Two lead compounds,
RIC-1 (EC50 of 78.4 nM) and RIC-2 (EC50...
Respiratory illnesses caused by both viral and bacterial infection are serious issues for global healthcare providers. With the emergence of new, drug-resistant forms of these diseases, innovative drugs and treatment therapies are needed. M tuberculosis is an infection that affects a large portion of the world’s population each year. Aerosol...
Social behavior such as play, affiliation, and some vocalizations of captive animals can be indicators of good welfare. Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) at the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) near Otjiwarongo, Namibia are often housed in social groups with various backgrounds. Observations of social and active behaviors were recorded for a group...
Endogenous circadian clock regulation is essential to normal rhythmicity, particularly the timing of hormone release in the brain. In the context of mammalian reproduction, a surge of a specific hormone, gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH), initiates a surge of luteinizing hormone (LH) from the pituitary gland, which is required for ovulation in...
In August of 2011, Jenny Minten came across an old coffin, complete with a skeleton, in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) Scio lodge. After it was determined that the skeleton did not represent a modern forensic case, the remains were donated to the Oregon State University Anthropology Department....
Barley and cereal yellow dwarf viruses (B/CYDV) are a suite of aphid-vectored pathogens that affect diverse host communities, including economically important crops. Coinfection of a single host by multiple strains of B/CYDV can result in elevated virulence, incidence, and transmission rates. We develop a model for a single host, two...
The quorum sensing regulatory pathway has been extensively studied for its impact on the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic pathogen that causes acute and chronic infections in immunocompromised individuals such as those suffering from the genetic disorder cystic fibrosis. Part of the quorum sensing pathway that has not been...
This thesis describes the design and implementation of a Bluetooth controlled blimp with autonomous capabilities through Dead Reckoning. Reasonable research was conducted on current autonomous systems, wireless communication techniques, and suitable microprocessors that could handle the required processing. Building a remotecontrolled blimp requires a light understanding of mechanics to build...
The Global Formula Racing (GFR) team is an organization of student designers at Oregon State University (OSU) and at Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg (DHBW) in Germany working to create two race cars to compete in international competitions through the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The large scope of this project necessitates...
In his work, The Soul of Medicine: Tales from the Bedside, Dr. Sherwin Nuland utilized narratives from his colleagues detailing their encounters with their most remarkable patients in order to characterize what he refers to as “the soul of medicine”. However, the stories contributed focused on the practice of medicine...
A cross-cultural analysis of business practices based on video recordings of interviews with business professionals in both Oregon and Taiwan, with the intent of finding evidence to support or question current beliefs about cultural differences between American and Asian cultures. Particular focus is paid to business practices such as networking,...
Uranium is naturally radioactive and commonly found in water, soil, and rock. It can occur in elevated concentrations due to the presence of ore bearing bodies and be concentrated through human activities. This research focuses on uranium uptake for Capsicum annuum for three growing conditions. These include a set of...
Purpose
In modern American society, educational television (ETV) plays an increasingly substantial role in the daily out-of-classroom education of the American youth and the decision to utilize youth based ETV is often in the hands of parents. However, many parents are unaware of the potential risks associated with early childhood...
Rising CO₂ concentrations in the atmosphere (396 ppmv as of April 2012)
increase the effect of global warming and climate change. CO₂ sequestration has become
a potential method to mitigate climate change. This study focuses on capillary/residual
trapping as a form of geologic CO₂ sequestration. Capillary/residual trapping occurs
when supercritical...
The purpose of this thesis is to increase the positional accuracy of Global Position System (GPS) modules using an artificial intelligence algorithm. Three basic and identical GPS modules were setup in an equilateral triangle formation with side lengths of one meter. The triangle was placed in four separate locations where...
Cob, similar to adobe, is an earthen building material made of soil, sand, and straw. Although cob was used to build homes in England centuries ago, it has reemerged as a sustainable and relatively inexpensive, alternative building material. A possible solution for housing in impoverished nations, cob needs to be...
The purpose of this thesis is to examine and compare sustainable design methods used in the United States and Chile, focusing on sustainable materials and certification programs, to see if sustainable design methods used in the United States can be implemented in Chile to further its sustainable development. Through literature...
Effective surface coatings for tissue-contacting medical devices should prevent both biofilm formation and infection. One method to achieve this aim is protein repellant polyethylene oxide (PEO) brush coatings loaded with antimicrobials. Previous research has demonstrated that the antimicrobial nisin adsorbs to PEO brush layers in multi-layer amounts and suggests that...
Women are highly-underrepresented in undergraduate engineering majors, making up just over 15% of students in engineering and computer science at Oregon State University. High school girls' interest in pursuing engineering in college is affected by the way language frames engineering careers. The status-quo engineering frame is made up of terms...
This project examines the results of current-voltage conduction mechanism analysis techniques simulated under assumed conduction conditions. Thermionic emission and Fowler-Nordheim tunneling conditions are simulated and analyzed. The resulting plots show how devices behave under different condition mechanisms. The effects of different conduction mechanisms on the results of various analysis techniques...
Myxobolus squamalis is a Myxozoan parasite of salmonids, which contributes to lowered fitness of hatchery and wild fish in the Pacific Northwest of North America. The only GenBank DNA sequence of M. squamalis is from Oncorhynchus tschawytscha (Chinook), but is not linked to a published morphological description. There is a...
This audio file contains selections from Claire Sahlberg's senior vocal recital. She is accompanied on the piano by Beth Atchley. The recital was held at First Christian Church in Corvallis, OR. The following songs represent a portion of the recital. They are, in order: Tornami a Vagheggiar from G.F. Handel's...
Recent work in machine learning concerns the detection and identification of bird species from audio recordings of their vocalizations. Such analysis can yield valuable ecological information concerning the activity and distribution of species in the wild. Current species-identification methods require individual syllables of bird audio as input, but field-collected audio...
In an effort to qualify the historical management and its effects on current stand structure, historical records, literature of the inter-mountain West, and current observations were utilized to paint a picture of the Deschutes National Forest.
Stand data were collected for the Deschutes during the summers of 2009 and 2010....
The purpose of this study is to research people’s attitudes towards pit bull breeds compared to other dog breeds. The term “pit bull” refers to a type of dog with certain physical features including a muscular and stocky build, short coats, and a large skull with a square jaw. Over...
A spectral fitting routine was developed to analyze X-ray emissions in neutron capture decay
processes that produce ¹⁹⁷Hg and ¹⁹⁷Pt. Through correcting for X-ray emissions, the
77.3 keV γ gamma ray intensities were analyzed. The thermal cross sections for the production of
¹⁹⁷Hg and ¹⁹⁷Pt were found to be 2088...
The relationship between the self and the body forms the basis of many philosophical speculations throughout history. This thesis investigates the self‐body relationship in a modern medical context, connecting abstract ideas about the mind and embodiment with ethical decision making in healthcare. Naturalist, Feminist and property conceptions of the body...
Constant and reliable health monitoring can help doctors provide higher quality
health care to meet the growing needs of the medical industry. The advent of
cloud computing has enabled low-cost sensor devices that can process their data
in real-time without powerful onboard hardware. Using an Android smartphone,
medical data can...
Heavy alcohol consumption reduces peak bone mass in growing rodents and can lead to bone loss in both adult rats and humans. In contrast, moderate alcohol consumption appears to have a bone sparing effect in post-menopausal women. Alcohol has been reported to increase aromatase activity and influence estrogen receptor (ER)...
DNA mismatch repair (MMR) plays an important role in preserving genomic stability and reducing cancer risk. Environmental exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are believed to contribute significantly to carcinogenesis. PAHs are found in food, air, water and soil and upon bioactivation can form diol epoxides which are electrophilic in...
The Viennese waltz is widely recognized as one of the most ubiquitous genres in classical piano literature. Despite the common characteristics that most of these waltzes share ---light, melodious themes, three-four meter, and varied tempos --- there is a large distinction between its earlier and later forms. Curiosity about its...
As of February 2012, approximately 46% of American adults own a smartphone. The graphics quality of these devices gets better each year. However, they still have many more limitations in graphics processing and storage space than desktop computers. This means that applications on these devices should focus on optimizing their...
Understanding the motivations behind the daily energy use practices of individuals may be very important for encouraging people to live more sustainably. This study delves into the motivations that influence the energy use of individuals in Corvallis, Oregon. Using a survey in conjunction with Energize Corvallis, the faculty, staff, and...
Nurses are known to have “big hearts,” but in order to fully understand their own thoughts and actions in practice, nurses need to develop their minds. Nursing ethics deserves recognition because all nurses need an understanding of ethical concepts in order to recognize ethical issues and dilemmas. The ideal ways...
Hmong women in the United States have been shown to have low rates of breast and
cervical cancer screening. The reasons behind these statistics are unclear. This study
explored possible health literacy factors that may be affecting low screening rates for
breast and cervical cancer in this population. A transcription...
Music is a global tradition. Different cultures around the word have different musical traditions and histories, but all people create music for the same reason: the love of music and expressing oneself. In the spring of 2011, the Oregon State University Music Department entered into a cultural exchange program with...
Moral elevation refers to the distinct state of warmth and expansion that some individuals experience after witnessing or learning about the altruistic acts of others. Elevation is a particularly interesting positive emotion for its capacity to promote various altruistic behaviors, as well as motivate witnesses to improve their character. The...
Food insecurity is a growing public health concern in Oregon. Those that are food insecure often develop strategies, such as reducing the size of meals, cutting out fruits, vegetables and meats or skipping meals entirely, to make food last. One group that is disproportionately affected by food insecurity is families....
The relationship between physicians and patients is undeniably unique. To understand the qualities of a healing relationship, it is essential to analyze the perceptions that influence physician behavior. Metaphors and relationship models are often used in bioethics to analyze the construction of perceptions. The goal of this study is to...
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), are environmental pollutants linked to increased disease susceptibilities. Alpha-Tocopherol (αT) supplementation decreases B[a]P-DNA adducts in smokers, particularly women; but the mechanism is unknown. To test the hypothesis that αT protection from B[a]P exposure is gender-dependent, male and female rats received 7 daily subcutaneous...
The smartphone is changing the way individuals interact with one another in society. Given the instant accessibility and multitude of socially iconic features, the contemporary handheld device grants users an unprecedented level of connectedness. However, despite the new breadth of access, perhaps the depth of the resulting social networks is...
Using research on student motivation as well as Project-Based Learning as a theoretical framework, this thesis outlines the creation process for a set of curricula. These curricula were designed to address topics of markedly low student motivation in the first term of an introductory physics with calculus course (PH 211)...
During the end of a pet’s life its owner is often in emotional turmoil over how to feel and what to do. A veterinarian can alleviate some of this grief by effectively communicating during a terminal diagnosis and end-of-life discussion. Effective communication includes acknowledging the unique human-animal bond between client...
Tobiano is a dominant pattern of white spotting that occurs in certain breeds of horses. This pattern is often desirable and some breeders will purchase a genetic test to help distinguish homozygous from heterozygous horses for breeding purposes. Some tobiano horses have smaller dark spots on the white patches of...
Athletic activities have always carried an inherent risk for injuries, and basketball is no
exception. Basketball is the second most popular team sport in the United States in
which 984,777 high school boys and girls participated during the 2010-2011 season.
Athletic trainers and strength and conditioning staff are pressured to...
Throughout Europe, Northern Africa, and the Near East, hundreds of Roman ruins lie scattered about. Many Roman aqueducts, bridges, roads, and even buildings remain standing over two thousand years after their construction, as functional as the day they were built. In the modern United States, however, many public works projects...
The use of ureolytic bacteria for the remediation of contaminated groundwater aquifers by inducing calcium carbonate precipitation is being studied in order to establish a better understanding of the modeling and prediction of how the bacteria will act in situ. This research has pursued the use of various ureolytic bacteria...
A disproportionate amount of HIV/AIDS cases each year occur among African Americans. The purpose of this study was to review the numerous studies on HIV/AIDS conspiracy beliefs and their effects into one document. This research was done using research databases to indentify peer-reviewed journal articles on HIV/AIDS conspiracy beliefs, and...
Information about social and economic attributes of fisheries, fishing communities, and fishery participants is important for marine resource management because the focuses of agency efforts are on managing society's impacts to the marine environment. This thesis addresses two questions. First, what are the perspectives of managers, scientists, and commercial and...
This research focused on characterizing the relationship between self-enhancing humor, self-compassion, and long-term emotional traits.. It was hypothesized that self-enhancing humor would be related to self-compassion and the related subscales of mindfulness and self-kindness. In addition, it was predicted that self-enhancing humor would relate most strongly to positive emotional traits....
This project aimed to address the topic of children with disabilities through a well-researched children’s book. Dancing with my friend Maddie is a children’s book that focuses on a friendship between Claire, a typically developing first grader, and Maddie, a first grader with Down syndrome. Research has shown that addressing...
Studies have established that there is a greater risk for onset of adult metabolic syndrome disease such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and obesity in subjects born with low birth weight (LBW). Undernourished fetuses make adaptions that result in structurally, morphologically, and functionally altered organs. In terms of drug pharmacokinetics,...
The purpose of this honors thesis research project is to investigate the molecular causes of childhood and infant T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemias. T-cells are the work horses of the immune system, and like any organ, must develop properly to be fully functional. Improper development of thymocytes into T-cells can lead...
Various flavonoid-rich plant extracts have shown efficacy in the treatment of diabetes. Although it is often assumed that dietary flavonoids exert biological antioxidant effects, it is possible that the observed effects work in carbohydrate metabolism. In this study we evaluated the effect of catechins and catechin containing extracts on α-amylase...
Various flavonoid-rich plant extracts have shown efficacy in the treatment of diabetes. Although it is often assumed that dietary flavonoids exert biological antioxidant effects, it is possible that the observed effects work in carbohydrate metabolism. In this study we evaluated the effect of catechins and catechin containing extracts on α-amylase...
Milk collected from individual cows (n= 31) was centrifuged to equalize fat composition and was tested during chymosin-induced coagulation to compare the influences of somatic cell level, breed, parity, protein composition, and lactation stage on coagulation rate. Coagulation rate was determined using diffuse reflectance. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated for...