Trait-mediated indirect interactions (TMIIs) are an important component of food web structure and dynamics. We determined whether TMIIs occur in rocky tidepool communities on the west coast of the USA. In the laboratory, both adults and juveniles of the keystone predator Pisaster ochraceus and adults of a smaller predatory seastar...
Questions: Are traits related to the performance of plant species in restoration? Are the relationships between traits and performance consistent across the functional groups of annual forbs, perennial forbs, and grasses? Do the relationships between traits and performance depend on neighboring functional groups? Location: A former agricultural field, being restored...
In this study, we contrasted socioemotional selectivity theory (SST;
Carstensen, 2006) with dynamic integration theory (DIT; Labouvie-Vief, 2003) using
trajectories of quantitative and qualitative social support in later life. SST is a lifespan
theory of motivational development (Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1999). There
is a normative decline in social support...
This study addresses the questions: 1) What kind of transboundary water management institution is needed for Afghanistan; and 2) what expertise is required for the institution and which stakeholders should be involved?
The establishment of a transboundary water resources management institution/unit is an essential step for Afghanistan in order to...
The integumentary system is the largest organ system of the body that comprises of skin and its appendages such as hair follicles, sebaceous and sweat glands. Skin is divided into three distinct structural layers: the epidermis, dermis and hypodermis. The epidermis originates from the ectoderm and is composed of four...
This research investigates the physiological and transcriptional responses of Nitrosomonas europaea when exposed to chlorinated aromatic compounds and heavy metals under varying environmental conditions. It was found that transcriptional responses of identified sentinel genes correlate well with nitrification inhibition. Sorption of metals to biomass was also investigated and found not...
Fungi are capable of growth on a wide variety of carbon sources, both living and dead. They can produce an arsenal of enzymes and transporters for harvesting sugars, polysaccharides, amino acids, lipids and micronutrients from their environments [1]. Within the nucleus of a cell, transcription factors (TF) control whether genes...
Skin is the largest organ in the body that protects the organism from environmental, chemical and physical traumas of each passing day. The protective skin epidermal permeability barrier (EPB) is formed within the exterior layers of the epidermis, which are regularly sloughed off and repopulated by movement of inner cells....
Human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide (CAMP/LL-37) is a cationic antimicrobial peptide that is widely expressed by myeloid and epithelial cells at the human-environment interface. It possesses broad spectrum antimicrobial capacity against bacteria, fungi and viruses. In addition to its direct antimicrobial activity, CAMP/LL-37 also attracts and recruits monocytes, neutrophils and other...
In most environments, ammonia (NH₃) is oxidized to nitrate (NO₃⁻) via the intermediate nitrite (NO₂⁻). This is a microbe-driven process involving phylogenetically distinct types of microorganisms, namely, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and Thaumarchaea (AOA), and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). Nitrosomonas europaea and Nitrobacter winogradskyi are the best studied AOB and NOB, respectively,...
Nitrification is the process within the global Nitrogen Cycle where ammonia (NH3) is oxidized to nitrate (NO₃⁻) and can be carried out by two distinct groups of bacteria. The ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) first oxidize NH₃ to nitrite (NO₂⁻), and second, the nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) oxidize NO₂⁻ to NO₃⁻. In aerobic...
Advancements in molecular biology and computer science have enabled researchers the ability to investigate the transcriptome – the quantification of an organism’s RNA transcripts in response to its environment on a system wide scale. The collective chapters of this thesis utilize high-throughput RNA sequencing, which produces hundreds of millions of...
Transcriptomics and gene expression profiling enables the elucidation of the genetic response of an organism to various environmental cues. Transcriptomics enables the deciphering of differences between two closely related organisms to the same environment and in contrast, enables the elucidation of genetic responses of the same organism to different environmental...
Zebrafish are capable of fully regenerating organs and tissue such as their caudal fin, which is similar to a human regrowing an arm or a leg. In contrast, most mammals including humans have a greatly reduced capacity for wound healing. The ability of zebrafish to undergo this regenerative process, called...
Captive rearing programs (hatcheries) are often used in conservation and management efforts for at-risk salmonid fish populations. However, hatcheries typically rear juveniles in environments that contrast starkly with natural conditions, which may lead to phenotypic and/or genetic changes that adversely affect the performance of juveniles upon their release to the...
This study uses semi-structured interviews and an online survey to explore the structure, challenges and outcomes of a five-year National Science Foundation-funded water scarcity modelling project in the Willamette River Basin of Oregon, USA. The research team chose to facilitate broader impacts by engaging stakeholders from the study’s inception (e.g....
The advanced backcross-quatitative trait loci (AB-QTL) breeding method was employed on snap bean (OR 91G x PI433251B) and dry bean (M0162 x PI433251B) interspecific populations to transfer resistance QTL from resistant donor parent Phaseolus coccineus into P. vulgaris. For OR 91G x PI433251B, analyses produced nine linkage groups corresponding to...
Carbon tetrachloride (CT) and chloroform (CF) were transformed in batch reactor experiments conducted with anaerobic dechlorinating cultures and supernatant (ADC+S) harvested from continuous flow reactors. The Evanite (EV-5L) and Victoria/Stanford (VS-5L) cultures capable of respiring trichloroethene (TCE), 1,2-cis-dichloroethene (cDCE), and vinyl chloride (VC) to ethene (ETH) were grown in continuous...
The ability of Mycobacterium sp. ELW1, a novel microbe capable of alkene oxidation, to co-metabolize phenanthrene (PHE) was studied. ELW1 was able to completely co-metabolize PHE, at different concentrations below its water solubility limit, in an aqueous environment. The alkene monooxygenases in ELW1, used to initiate oxidation of PHE, were...
In this dissertation, I explored how social relationships influence, and are influenced by, men's experiences of caregiving to their aging parents. Because of sociodemographic trends such as fewer siblings in younger generations and the growth of women seeking professional careers, men are increasingly likely to be called upon to meet...
The development of a transient electric birefringence (TEB) apparatus for macroparticle characterization is herein discussed. The experimental difficulties encountered were related largely to poor data resolution. Misalignment and strain birefringence in optical components further complicated results. Improved data digitization methods were developed, and precise mathematical models were derived in order...
Trichloroethene (TCE) is a common groundwater contaminant. Bioremediation, or the enhancement of natural microbial processes for the transformation of toxic compounds in soil and groundwater, is an effective solution to this widespread problem. The organisms that transform TCE in the subsurface are sensitive to environmental conditions, especially to the presence...
This publication provides information about transient lodging taxes (TLTs) to tourism-industry stakeholders and community decision-makers such as hotels, restaurants, tour operators, resource managers, county commissioners, city councils, chambers of commerce, visitor centers, and local citizens and elected officials. TLTs are one form of local revenue generated through the tourism industry...
The Brownian motion of micron-scale particles reflects the viscoelastic response of the local environment of the medium. Tracking the thermal fluctuations of these particles is a measure of the rheology of the material at the microscopic scale. This technique is called passive microrheology. Microrheology has been developed to assess the...
Background: Current policy in Oregon under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) indicates that children diagnosed with developmental delay (DD) are eligible for services before school, but not eligible for the receipt of services in school-based programs. Due to this definition of eligibility, children with DD face additional barriers...
A new approach to the discovery of high absorbing semiconductors for solar cells was taken by working under a set of design principles and taking a systemic methodology. Three transition metal chalcogenides at varying states of development were evaluated within this framework. Iron pyrite (FeS₂) is well known to demonstrate...
A field trial was conducted on a Cherryhill silt loam soil at The Dalles, OR, from 2006 to 2008. The impacts of switching from the traditional micro sprinkler irrigation (MS) to double-lateral drip irrigation (DD) and from no groundcover with herbicide control of weeds (NC) to in-row wheat (Triticum aestivum)...
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide with human papillomavirus (HPV) being the main cause the disease. Chromosomal amplifications have been identified as a source of upregulation for cervical cancer driver genes but cannot fully explain increased expression of immune genes in invasive carcinoma. Insight into...
My thesis in Environmental Arts and Humanities concerned the idea of animal language, as well as other posthuman ideas around animality and indistinction. I also explored virtual space as it relates to human identity, our notions of reality and perception, and the way contemporary digital artists approach animal subjectivity in...
Better Bones and Balance (BBB) is a community-based exercise program to improve bone health and reduce fall risk among older adults. Prior research has shown that when the program is delivered by researchers under controlled conditions, participants improved strength and balance, and maintained bone mineral density (BMD) at the hip....
Objective: To translate a behavioral weight loss intervention for mid-life, low-income women in real world settings.
Design and Methods: In this pragmatic clinical trial, we randomly selected six North Carolina county health departments and trained their current staff to deliver a 16-session evidence-based behavioral weight loss intervention (special intervention, SI)....
The objective of this work is to add to the body of translational data between high dose animal model research and the environmentally relevant human metabolism of the persistent pollutant dibenzo[def,p]chrysene (DBC). We furthered the knowledge of gene/exposure interactions by determining the carcinogenesis risk based on Cyp1b1 genotype following in...
The Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) is in decline in the Columbia River Basin, and translocating adult lamprey to bypass difficult migration corridors has been implemented since 2000. We describe and report results from two current translocation programs, provide context for use of translocation, and discuss potential benefits, risks, and uncertainties....
Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) schemes combine packet retransmission with forward error correction to ensure a reliable communications. In multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) systems, interference cancellation (IC) detection is widely used where the detection and cancellation steps of the simultaneously transmitted data streams occur. In principle, the signal stream estimated...
Native to the Pacific Northwest, Ceratomyxashastais a myxosporeanparasite that infects wild and cultivated salmon and has a significance impact on its population in the Klamath River basin. The study suggests that the transmission of mixed genotypes of the parasite are common in Chinook salmon but the age of the fish...
Raspberry latent virus (RpLV) is a newly characterized reovirus found in commercial raspberry fields in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Thus far, all members of the plant reoviruses are transmitted in a replicative, persistent manner by several species of leafhoppers or planthoppers. After several failed attempts to transmit RpLV using leafhoppers,...
In a wireless sensor network, sensor nodes are deployed in an ad hoc fashion and they deliver data packets using multihop transmission. However, transmission failures occur frequently in the multihop transmission over wireless media. Thus, a loss recovery mechanism is required to provide end-to-end reliability. In addition, because the sensor...
This study employs interdisciplinary methods to make transnational feminist sense of the microfinance phenomenon. Drawing upon a combination of discourse approach, textual analysis, political economics and critical theory construction, I fused a feminist critical discourse approach to excavate microfinance from neoliberalism. I designed an economic justice framework and executed an...
Dibenzo[def,p]chrysene (DBC) is a transplacental carcinogen in mice (15 mg/kg; gestation day (GD) 17). To mimic residual exposure throughout pregnancy, dams received 4 smaller doses of DBC (3.75 mg/kg) on GD 5, 9, 13 and 17. This regimen alleviated the previously established carcinogenic responses in the thymus, lung, and liver....
Small rivers, such as those that line the Oregon coast, have been shown to deliver significant concentrations of suspended sediments and nutrients to estuaries and the coastal ocean during wet seasons during which winds are predominantly downwelling-favorable. The fate of the buoyant source water and of any suspended or dissolved...
The copepod Calanus finmarchicus is the most important and biomass dominant mesozooplankter in the temperate-boreal North Atlantic. C. finmarchicus has an overwintering phase, termed diapause, during which it descends to great depths (300-2000m) and is metabolically quiescent for up to ten months. Changes in the currents at depth due to...
There is a rapid shift towards urbanization all over the world. In developing countries like Pakistan, the urbanization process is under-planned leading to the haphazard growth of existing cities without enough resources to fit the needs of the residents. Cities in Pakistan lack good transportation systems, which creates inaccessibility to...
While sophisticated plans have been adopted nationally and globally to increase bicycling’s share of daily commutes, safety concerns have negatively impacted targeted bicycling growth. Specifically, truck traffic plays a pivotal role in bicyclists’ perceptions of safety and comfort, because of the severe consequences of bicycle-truck collisions. Several types of engineering...
This thesis explores the relationship between crime, transportation network connectivity, and engineered facilities built to increase walkability through a case study of twenty-five sites within the city of Spokane, Washington. Using data spanning between 2008 and 2010, the author developed a GIS model representing conditions of the built environment, social...
Mealybugs, a family of soft, oval-bodied pests (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae), are known vectors (carriers) of the grapevine leafroll associated viruses (GLRaVs) of grape. This document gives details on how pheromone traps should be used to ensure optimal catches and early detection.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. However, along with the increase in the occurrence of TBI, there has been a drastic decrease in the acute and long-term care provided for the TBI patient. This study provides information on the short-...
This conceptual paper explores the nexus between travel and learning; an area of investigation long neglected by tourism researchers. Using Aristotle’s concepts of phronesis, techne and episteme a framework for the major areas of literature dealing with touristic learning are considered and opportunities and challenges for expanding the boundaries of...
After traveling to Africa and experiencing the struggles and confusion of interacting with a new culture, I saw the need for some sort of orientation device that would adequately prepare first timers, but also not be too lengthy and daunting for a person that will only be spending a few...
In 1877 John Kerr described an experiment that demonstrated a quadratic change in refractive index in a plate glass placed in a strong external electric field. This results in a nonlinear relationship between the average electric polarization within the materials and the intensity of the applied electric field. This opened...