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...
Massive die-offs of Bufo bufo gargarizans were observed in May 2008 in Mangwal
Gee, Korea. To find out the causes for this disaster several different elements
were examined: pH, total nitrogen, dissolved oxygen (DO), and dissolved heavy
metal, suspension, introduced species, habitat change, disease, temperature
changes, and precipitation and humidity....
Phenolic compounds are known to have biological activity with beneficial effects on human health. Fruit of cultivated tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) are a major source of phenolics in the U.S. diet because this crop is the second most consumed vegetable per capita, but actual levels are low compared to other...
A relatively new model of error control is the limited magnitude error over high radix channels. In this error model, the error magnitude does not exceed a certain limit known beforehand. In this dissertation, we study systematic error control codes for common channels under the assumption that the maximum error...
A proposed state-and-transition model (STM) for the Deep Sand Savannah ecological site in central New Mexico was developed using historical data and expert knowledge. This STM was tested utilizing data from short and long term one-seed juniper (Juniperus monosperma (Engelm.) Sarg.) control experiments initiated in 1981 and 1985. Utilizing data...
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...
This study examines the impact of two decades of neoliberal policy reform on food production and household livelihood security in three West African countries. The rice sectors in The Gambia, Côte d’Ivoire, and Mali are scrutinized as well as cotton and its relationship to sorghum production in Mali. Although market...
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...
This dissertation presents an incremental analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with digital digital-to-analog converter (DAC) mismatch correction. A theoretical time-domain analysis technique was developed to predict the noise performance of the incremental ADC, and a new optimization technique was proposed to minimize the output noise.
In the calibration mode, the incremental ADC...