The pharmacy practices in Ecuador and the United States are different on three different levels: culturally, educationally and governmentally. Research was conducted to compare and contrast the differences of community pharmacy practices between the United States and Ecuador. Eight different pharmacists in Quito were interviewed with a series of questions....
The western spotted cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata
undecimpunctata) and the western striped cucumber beetle (Acalymma trivittatum) are
pests of many crops, including vegetable, fruit, and nursery crops. Pesticides are
commonly used to control this pest. Trap and kill technologies are under development as
use in an alternative control for cucumber...
The rate of melanoma among Asian American has been steadily increasing in the past
five years, while in other Asian countries, such as Japan, the incident rate remains relatively the
same. Does the culture and societal attitudes toward skin cancer make a difference in the incident
rate of melanoma? This...
BACKGROUND: Oregon produces 99% of the hazelnuts grown in the United States. The key pest threatening commercial hazelnut orchards in Oregon is Cydia latiferreana (Tortricidae), filbertworm moth (FBW). Currently, most growers control FBW with one to two applications of esfenvalerate (Asana XL), a broad spectrum pyrethroid. Pheromone mating disruption is...
Understanding the mechanisms through which stem cells self-renew is important for the development of new therapies to repair and restore damaged tissue. This research explores possible mechanisms of telomere mimic action and seeks to validate a new assay for evaluating telomere binding antagonists and studying the effects of telomere binding...
2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a potent immunosuppressant and a prototypic ligand for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). In a graft versus host (GvH) response, treatment with TCDD suppresses a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response by Day 10, concurrent with a T-regulatory (Treg) like phenotype in the donor CD4+ T-cells, observed on Day...
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...
Recalcitrance to transformation makes genetic engineering of many valuable plants infeasible for practical use. Transitory host modification during transformation using transgenes offers a possible means of overcoming this obstacle. In prior work in our laboratory, the genes GA20ox7 and EBB1 were found to increase regeneration in vitro. In this project,...
Abstract
Haptoglobin is an acute phase protein that is elevated in response to tissue damage and infections in dairy cows. The objectives of this study were to evaluate whether serum haptoglobin concentrations in the first week after calving can indicate disease status and severity, and whether haptoglobin concentrations are elevated...
The oilseed crop Limnanthes alba (white meadowfoam) is grown in Oregon. Methods were developed for the production of a liquid-based bioherbicide from meadowfoam seed meal (MSM). It was determined that glucosinolate-containing extracts of MSM can be combined with active-enzyme-containing liquid extracts of meadowfoam seed to form a fermented product rich...
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...
Abstract
Current methods employed in the textile industry are unsustainable because they use an abundance of water in the dying process, and discharge the waste into the environment, causing adverse health effect on aquatic life and local communities. The technology that is in place to remove dye from textile effluents...
Many studies in recent literature have shown a significant link between the abnormalities of a newly born individual and the type of environment that their mothers encountered during pregnancy. More specifically, over the last two decades, a discipline of research commonly known as “fetal programming” has linked abnormalities at birth...
Abstract
Understanding the effects of climate change on forest ecosystems requires exploration of the relationships of different components of the system, such as the response of biota to local hydrology, temperature, precipitation, and elevation. The Long-term Ecological Research Program at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest, located in the Western...
This thesis compares and contrasts Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo and Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping to explore how Mexican and American cultures perceive death. By examining the thoughts and actions of the young protagonists through the lens of the uncanny, it becomes obvious that they are searching for a history that has...
Birds of prey and carnivorous mammals feed on small birds, rodents and other small mammals. Humans perceive many of the prey animals of these predators as well as the predators themselves, as “pests”, and seek to control them. Control methods for these unwanted pests, particularly rodents, have the potential to...
Genetic and environmental factors influence individual cancer risk. Mutations in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes increase colon cancer risk. Exposure to carcinogens, including the ubiquitous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), also is associated with increased cancer risk. To understand the combined effects of both environmental exposures and genetic risk, we investigated...
Toxicological studies show that oral doses of nickel can cause allergic contact dermatitis, and routes of exposure, such as nickel leached from stainless steel cookware are not well characterized. In this study, four variables: grade of stainless steel, cook time, stainless steel seasoning or cooking cycles, and commercial tomato sauces,...
The Willamette Valley, west of the Cascade mountain range in the state of Oregon, is home to a growing number of vineyards. This rather recent, booming industry of the region has become an important component of the economy of the state’s agriculture since the late 1960’s, contributing more than $1.56...
The Willamette Valley, west of the Cascade mountain range in the state of Oregon, is home to a growing number of vineyards. This rather recent, booming industry of the region has become an important component of the economy of the state’s agriculture since the late 1960’s, contributing more than $1.56...
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a major concern in infants, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. There is currently no vaccine available. While it causes a significant number of hospitalizations and complications, RSV is a thermo labile virus and not very stable in the environment. This matter complicates the creation of...
Stringhalt is a disorder in horses characterized by high stepping with hyperflexion of the hind limbs. This disorder has been reported from the US, Australia, Chile, and Brazil. In most instances, the disease manifests itself in horses exposed to summer dandelion (Hypochaeris radicata). Stringhalt has been induced by feeding summer...
To initiate the defense response to an invading pathogen, plants utilize an array of immune receptors to recognize virulence effectors. Virulence effectors are released by pathogens to suppress immune responses in target hosts. These effectors are recognized by a family of resistance proteins known as nucleotide-binding leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) proteins....
Offshore renewable energy, an untapped energy resource in the United States, has the potential to stimulate job creation and diversify the world’s energy portfolio. Transmission cables are used to transfer electrical power to the mainland. These cables carry a harmonic time-dependent current. This current in turn generates both an electric...
Four root mutants, diageotropica (dgt), and altered root architecture (ara) 1, 2, and 3, were used to study root architecture and better understand the process by which root architecture is determined. Adventitious root formation, tissue response to auxin, nutritional response, and starch accumulation in the leaves were tested in ara...
Abstract Understanding small-scale bio-atmospheric interactions is becoming increasingly important as the global climate continues to change at breakneck speed.
A theoretical model of the sensible heat budget of a forest is developed combining
conservation equations and concepts from fluid dynamics. Budget components are
computationally evaluated using micrometeorological data taken during...
Zinc is an essential micronutrient required for many cellular functions, including
the development and function of the immune system. The biological consequences of
zinc deficiency illustrate the significance of zinc in human health. Zinc deficiency has
been shown to cause the dysregulation of both innate and adaptive immune responses, as...
Pactamycin, a complex aminocyclitol compound produced by Streptomyces pactum, has significant antibiotic, antitumor, and antiplasmodial activity. However, this natural product has not been developed for clinical use due to its high cytotoxicity. Modulation of its biological properties by chemical synthesis has been difficult due to its complex chemical structure. Therefore,...
Humans and rodents experience declines in reference (long-term) and working (short-term)
memory and cognitive flexibility during the aging process. Aging changes in GluN1 and
GluN2B subunits of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors show a relationship to both
reference and working memory deficits. Sulindac, an anti-inflammatory drug, enhances working memory and NMDA receptor...
Hypoxia is a naturally occurring phenomenon that happens seasonally off the Oregon coast. As a consequence, there has been a great deal of research focused around analyzing the strength and duration of the hypoxic event during the summer season. This paper, however, takes an innovative approach by looking at the...
Family influence in the home environment has been linked to children’s nutrition and physical activity behaviors. However few tools exist to identify family level behaviors and families’ readiness to change those behaviors, particularly for populations at high risk for obesity such as Hispanics. This study summarizes the relationships of similar...
Knowledge of Drosophila suzukii's preference for an attractive trap design and bait can be used to improve detection and management of this new invasive fruit pest. Desired trap and bait attributes include: high D. suzukii capture and species specificity; early-season detection prior to significant crop damage; higher capture of females...
Drosophila suzukii was a known pest of berries, grapes, and stone fruits in East Asia for almost a century. Yet in recent years it has successfully migrated throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe due to globalized fruit trade. The invasive success of D. suzukii is causing unrest for fruit...
Pollination is a critical ecosystem function for sustaining biodiversity. However, pollinators and the services they provide are threatened by landscape-altering anthropogenic activities across the globe. Habitat loss and fragmentation, introduction of invasive species, chemical use, and urbanization have been shown to impact pollination. Pollinator foraging behavior is thought to be...
According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Tuberculosis Annual Report of 2014, from the 9 million cases worldwide, China has about 11% of these cases. Although the control of TB has improved over the years, China still has the second leading highest Tuberculosis epidemic in the world. Using literature reviews...
Galápagos marine iguana population sizes have been declining since first contact with humans.This decline has historically been attributed mainly to predation by invasive species, but additional human-caused threats exist today. My thesis conducts an analysis of the present threats to the species and determines which are the most severe.Modern threats...
Lignocellulosic biomass has potential as a renewable resource for global energy and bioproducts production. Biomass consists of three main polymers, cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Cellulose is a homopolymer of glucose, while hemicellulose and lignin are heteropolymers. Lignin is primarily made of syringyl (S), guiacayl (G) and p-hydroxyphenyl (H) units. Pretreatment...
Extraction of natural gas from shale formations using the process of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) requires the use of thousands of cubic meters of fluid. Hydraulic fracturing fluids are pumped under pressure into shale formations, fracturing the shale and releasing pockets of trapped gases. When the pressure in a natural gas...
Colorectal cancer (CRC), the third leading cause of cancer death in the USA, depends on early detection for patient survival. Early detection is improved with the identification of high risk individuals. Risk of CRC development is a complex interaction between an individual’s genetics and environmental exposures. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)...
Anaerobic digestion of lipid-extracted algal biomass has been proposed as a method to
recover and recycle nutrients in algal biofuel systems. The purpose of this study was to quantify recoverable nitrogen and phosphorus from anaerobically digested C. vulgaris. Recoverable nutrients were deemed those present in the liquid phase of anaerobic...
Budburst, the initiation of annual growth in plants, is sensitive to climate variation and is therefore used to monitor physiological responses to climate change. Budburst timing can vary between regions of an individual tree, but this phenomenon it is unaccounted for in current monitoring efforts and may contribute to the...
Fungicide sensitivity of honey bee associated fungi
Abstract - Honey bees are exposed to a wide range of pesticides while pollinating agricultural crops. These pesticides residues are found in beeswax, nectar and pollen in the hive. Some of the pesticides found are fungicides which are not generally considered harmful to...
Humanitarian intervention by the United States has increased since the end of the Cold War. This thesis examines the cases of Somalia, Rwanda, Libya and Syria as to explore why the US chooses to offer various amounts of aid to some failed or fragile nation states and not others. Rwanda...
The Bcl-2 family of proteins regulate cell survival and are targets for cancer therapy. This protein family has also been implicated in chemotherapeutic resistance, the cause of approximately 90% of treatment failure in advanced cancer. We analyzed the expression and the role of the Bcl-2 proteins in chemotherapy resistant breast...
Genetic engineering techniques allow scientists to create plants with desired traits. However, there is unwanted variability in transgene expression due to enhancer-promoter interactions and the influence from genetic elements near the insertion site of the transgene, which integrates into a random location in the genome. In an attempt to reduce...
This particular study focuses on the changes in the ideas and perspectives of Nicaraguan women throughout the span of several generations. With the gaining popularity and successful strides that women have made to advance the Women’s Movement in Nicaragua, the definition of empowerment, the ideology of stereotypes, and the manner...
Every country has its own unique culinary heritage that has developed over time and that has led to specific eating behaviors, eating patterns, and attitudes toward food. In this thesis, I aim to answer a central question: how have the culinary histories of France and the United States shaped their...
Throughout a large portion of our planet, malaria has been nearly eradicated or reduced to levels that are highly manageable, and many countries possess the means to effectively treat the disease. However, many areas of the world, such as Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, are still heavily burdened by malaria....
Modifications of histone tail amino acid residues are necessary for many reactions involving chromatin. These processes can produce transcriptionally active, euchromatic, or inactive, heterochromatic, segments of DNA. The formation and maintenance of facultative heterochromatin is critical for the proper growth and development of many eukaryotes. Euchromatin can be changed into...
Today, with countless study abroad programs available, students have the opportunity to travel and study all over the world. Those who are lucky enough to study abroad are able to embark on an international journey that will change their life forever. This thesis expands on what happens after returning home...
Fungicide sensitivity of honey bee associated fungi
Abstract - Honey bees are exposed to a wide range of pesticides while pollinating agricultural crops. These pesticides residues are found in beeswax, nectar and pollen in the hive. Some of the pesticides found are fungicides which are not generally considered harmful to...
Feeding cows flaxseed rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids has been shown to decrease the proportion of saturated fatty acids and increase the proportion of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in milk. Consuming products enriched in n-3 PUFAs have beneficial effects to human health; thus, feeding cows flaxseed could potentially increase...
The response of cells to periodic driving is important for many biological processes, particularly blood flow and heart functioning. Our research analyzes the collective shear stress response of fibroblast cells due to a periodic driving frequency. When cells experience shear stress, they release calcium into the cytosol. To quantify the...
As engineered nanomaterials (ENM) become more common in consumer products, it is crucial to rapidly assess toxicity of unique ENM. Previous studies rarely focused on standardizing nanotoxicity testing, leading to inconsistent and irreproducible results. This study characterized a variety of ENM of different size, shape, core type, and surface charge...
With the incredible technological advancements that have come from the introduction of plastic many problems have arisen. Once plastics were created the value of items once they reached their end of life were lowered. Considering the majority of all plastics created are for packaging with single-use intentions people now dispose...
Bacteria are critical to the health of eukaryotes and the ecosystems in which they persist. Some symbiotic interactions are mutualistic in which both microbe and host benefit from the partnership. Other interactions are parasitic, and the microbe typically benefits at a cost to the host. Rhodococcus is a genus of...
There exists a growing need to establish a better in vitro model for evaluating PAH toxicity and carcinogenicity and to improve assessments of risk to human health, especially to the complex mixtures that exist in the environment. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants due to the incomplete combustion...
Prunus laurocerasus, commonly known as cherrylaurel, is a woody shrub grown in temperate climates for its durability and landscape appeal. Due to its abundance of drupes that are spread by birds, cherrylaurel is a litter nuisance in cultivation and also has escaped cultivation such that it has naturalized. Furthermore, it...
Due to public and regulatory restrictions, genetic containment technology is critical for research and development of transgenic trees in forestry. A multi-year field trial demonstrated that the RNAi-LFY construct successfully induces sexual sterility in 6K10 poplar (Populus alba) without visible effects on vegetative development. However, its limited number of replicates...
Plasmon induced transparency (PIT) describes a spectral response of coupled plasmonic resonators in that coupling between bright and dark modes leads to a destructive interference resulting in a narrow transparency window. This process has many applications in material characterization and advanced optical devices such as slow light devices or ultrafast...
The ability to focus light through strongly scattering materials is opening up exciting new avenues in many fields, such as optics, computer vision, biology, and medicine, which utilize light delivery and imaging techniques. Efficient, high resolution wavefront shaping and optimization methods are crucial to enabling this new capability.
In this...
Multivariable functions permeate physics, mathematics, and other sciences. Understanding how quantities in multivariable relationships change together – or co-vary – is important for studying physical systems. In this project, we asked junior-level physics majors to describe the covariation of quantities in a multivariable context given a 2D graph. We identified...
The relationship between the index of refraction and the porosity of a material is that the index decreases with respect to the porosity. This property can be used to change the index of refraction of films which allows control of the reflection of the material. This is important because being...
Currently multi-canonical, and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations exist, but do not always give all of the necessary information of the system. When using a 1-D (only changing in one variable) broad histogram Monte Carlo method a user would need to run a range of simulations in order to get...
The current American free-roaming horse (Equus caballus) population far exceeds the appropriate population limit set by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to preserve resources on public lands. Several techniques have been tested to assist in decreasing repopulation rates. The purpose of the present study was to analyze two contraceptive...
Gamma ray bursts are some of the brightest events in the entire observable universe. Since the late 1960’s, thousands of gamma ray bursts have been observed and they have been researched extensively. However, there are still many mysteries which remain unsolved. One such mystery is whether or not the viewing...
Terahertz (THz) spectroscopy is a great tool not only to study fundamental physical processes such as many-body Coulomb interaction but also to develop ultrafast electronic devices. More specifically, intense THz fields interacting with semiconductors have exhibited strong nonlinear effect involving extreme carrier dynamics. In this experiment, intense THz radiation was...
Biogas can be used to generate energy from a wide variety of sources. Wastewater treatment sludge is an effective source of waste to be used for generation of biogas to make energy which can be used to heat homes and run businesses. This would help decrease the use of fossil...