This dissertation describes the application and development of molecular tools that have great potential for use in studying variation in strawberry germplasm. The first study evaluated 91 microsatellite (simple sequence repeat, SSR) markers for transferability in 22 Fragaria species and their utility in fingerprinting octoploid strawberries. Out of the transferable...
Llamas (Lama glama) appear to have predisposing anatomical features for developing
otitis media such as a long and narrow external acoustic meatus and a trabecular
tympanic bulla. However, there is limited information available about the morphology of
the ear in this species. The aim of this study was to evaluate...
Feeding conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) improves reproductive performance in dairy cows; however, the molecular mechanisms by which CLA improves reproduction are not well understood. Therefore, we evaluated whether the CLA isomers, trans-10, cis-12 CLA and cis-9, trans-11 CLA altered synthesis of steroidogenic hormones in bovine luteal cells by measuring concentrations...
The Clean Water Act imposes Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) limits on pollutant concentrations within wastewater effluent; in Oregon, thermal discharge is one of the pollutants subject to regulation. The City of Woodburn, Oregon, funded a series of pilot scale studies to investigate the utility of natural systems to reduce...
Summertime, wind-driven upwelling off the Oregon coast delivers nutrient rich water to the surface that fuels the autotrophic production of particulate organic carbon (POC). This POC can be transported horizontally by fluid motions and vertically by sinking to the bottom where it can be entrained in the benthic boundary layer...
Computing agents require state information to make coherent and useful decisions. A state representation is a numerical translation of the environment and conditions that are pertinent factors in an agent's decision making. Although many representations, when paired with clever learning algorithms, are able to coordinate and capture prey in specific...
Dramatic and ongoing changes pervading the Arctic and subarctic seas over
recent decades have motivated this effort to track and better understand hydrographic
variability using chemical tracers. Particular emphasis has been paid to differentiating
freshwater contributions to upper layers: namely Pacific water, meteoric water, and
sea-ice melt/formation.
Data collected in...
The forest alpine tundra ecotone (FTE, also known as alpine treeline or subalpine parkland), is a conspicuous feature of mountain landscapes throughout the world. Climate change-driven increases in temperature are believed to result in FTE movement and tree invasion of subalpine meadows, which have been documented throughout the Northern Hemisphere...
Proper nitrogen (N) management and variety selection are important for profitable hard red winter (HRW) wheat production in the dryland growing regions of northeastern Oregon. In these dryland systems, N management for grain yield and grain protein concentration (GPC) is challenging due to climatic and year-to-year variation in production environments....
Stand structure in headwater riparian areas of western Oregon is highly variable making quantification of structural attributes within these stands difficult. A reliable sampling design is important to characterize and monitor changes in stand structure over time. This study examined sixteen alternatives for sampling live conifers and six alternatives for...