Concern over the increasing proportion of juvenile wood grown in second growth plantations has led to a large amount of research on the effects of common silvicultural practices on wood quality. Lacking is research on the effect of timing and
duration of vegetation control on wood quality near the pith...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be defined as companies acting in accordance with societal demands. In recent years, CSR has gradually become a leading issue in business. Heightened corporate attention to CSR has not been entirely voluntary. Many companies awoke to it only after being surprised by public response to...
The objective of this thesis is to provide an initial demonstration of two-terminal and three-terminal electronic devices employing amorphous multi-component metallic film
(AMMF) electrodes. Such a demonstration is successfully achieved in the fabrication of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diode and hot electron transistor (HETs) structures employing ZrCuAlNi AMMF electrodes. The ultra-smooth surface...
The objective of this project was to develop an analytical model of a light-framed wood structure using a prevalent structural analysis computer program in order to evaluate system effects and define load paths within the structure, especially under extreme wind events. Simplified modeling techniques and material definitions were developed and...
This thesis explores open questions regarding molecular forms and interactions of natural and synthetic aromatic compounds present in soils and sediments.
Plant biomass-derived black carbon (biochar) generated through incomplete natural and anthropogenic combustion processes is a major source of aromaticity in terrestrial ecosystems. Chapter one represents a detailed account of...
Large areas of non-coniferous communities in southwestern Oregon are thinned to reduce fire hazard and accomplish ecosystem restoration, under the assumption that current fuel loads are unnaturally high. Although Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) woodlands are a characteristic landscape component in this region, little is known about their current or...
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...
Regression analysis was used to examine the effect of a change in agricultural prices on land use and conservation. The planted acreage for each of three crops – corn, soybeans, and spring wheat – was regressed on the expected prices of the three crops,
the input prices, and past land...
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...
This research sought to explore the implications of different tenure regimes for both
landscape-level ecological processes and the overall resilience of a social-ecological
system in Central Oregon. The purchase by an investor of former industrial timberlands
known as the Bull Springs tract raised the specter of dispersed residential development on...
Stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) has been receiving
increased attention in the USA since the appearance of more virulent races
detected in the past decade. These races caused yield losses even in areas
where the disease previously was rarely detected. Host plant resistance is the
most cost effective...
This paper provides a measurement-based performance evaluation of the Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) protocol. Two versions of OLSR, OLSR-ETX and OLSR-ETT, are implemented and evaluated on a mesh network that we built from off-the-shelf commercial components. OLSR-ETX uses the Expected Transmission Count (ETX) metric whereas, OLSR-ETT uses the Expected...
Seasonal wetlands in arid and semi-arid lands provide an important source of surface water in otherwise dry lands. Central Oregon's high desert, located in the Northern Great Basin (NGB) is dotted with hundreds of seasonal pools, locally called playas. The playas hold water or snow during parts of winter and...
This thesis presents an approach to develop innovative methods for decontamination and surface protection applicable to naval nuclear ships and potentially, personnel, replacing antiquated techniques. To accomplish this goal, two products manufactured by CBI Polymers, LLC., DeconGel™ 1101 (1101) and a shampoo, DeconGel™ "prototype" (prototype), were tested.
The prototype was...
Digital Instrumentation and Detection is becoming the future of radiation detection and measurement. Computers are able to perform digitally what before would have taken an extensive array of analog equipment. The art of teaching radiation detection and measurement is following this same pattern of a shift from purely analog to...
The primary objective of this research was to determine if native species within the genera Castilleja and Pedicularis are naturally infected by white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) in whitebark pine ecosystems of the Oregon and Washington Cascade Range. Secondary objectives were to monitor the phenology of aecial and telial...
This thesis is comprised of two manuscripts based on a laboratory experiment conducted to examine realistic wave forcing on a vertical wall subjected to tsunami loading. The first manuscript examined tsunami force and pressure distributions on a rigid wall that was fronted by a small seawall. Six different seawall heights...
In this thesis, I examine composition scholarship on the intersections of religious faith and writing pedagogy over the past twenty years, tracing the origins of compositionists' discomfort with religion and focusing on pedagogical approaches for working with religiously-committed students. In particular, I emphasize the way in which these approaches are...
The overall goal of this project was to design a wood frame shear wall that could withstand greater displacement before damage occurred to the Gypsum Wall Board (GWB). More specifically, the objectives of the study were: (1) to evaluate damage to the GWB in alternative shear wall designs at 1%,...
Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is an important tree species in the western United States and there has been much concern about its persistence. In this thesis, I report on aspen in a portion of its range that has not been previously evaluated: the eastern and western slopes of the Central...