Two-phase flow in a fractal-like branching microchannel heat sink may have
enhanced heat transfer capabilities over single phase flow in the same branching
channel network. In order to exploit this potential, a complete understanding
of flow boiling in this geometry is required. The fractal-like geometry is similar
to that of...
The viscosity of Zr[subscript 41.2]Ti[subscript 13.8]Cu[subscript 12.5]Ni[subscript 10.0]Be[subscript 22.5] (Vit1) has been measured above the liquidus temperature, T[subscript liq]=1026 K, using a high vacuum high temperature rapid annealing furnace equipped with a Couette Concentric Cylinder Rheometer. Steady state measurements have been taken over a temperature range of 1075-1300 K and...
Jointed goatgrass (Aegilops cylindrica Host) infestations in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production regions of the central and western USA result in severe economic losses in the wheat market. Field and greenhouse studies were conducted to determine the vernalization requirements of winter wheat, spring wheat, jointed goatgrass, and wheat by...
My dissertation focuses on the factors that influence variation in female reproductive success in plethodontid salamanders and in toads. Variation in reproductive success fuels evolutionary change. Although, females often have been overlooked in studies of reproductive success due to perceived lower levels of variation when compared to variation in male...
Vaccinia virus (VV) is a large double-stranded DNA virus that is a prototypic member of the orthopoxvirus family. Previous works has showed that three of the major structural proteins found within the mature VV virion core 4a, 4b, and 25K are produced from higher molecular weight precursors at late times...
Four aspects of factors influencing the accuracy of nondestructive chlorophyll (Chl) and nitrogen (N) measurement in fresh leaves were studied: (1) optimum wavelength (OW) identification; (2) indices development and evaluation; (3) influence of leaf properties; and (4) influence of meter parameters and sampling technique. Results were used to develop indices...
This study examined a web-based undergraduate course structured around social learning theories through the lens of social construction as a theoretical framework and a case study research method. The purpose of the study was to investigate students' learning experiences from a cognitively guided research framework. Instructional strategies practiced in the...
To increase our understanding of the timber harvesting behavior of family forest owners, I developed theoretical and empirical timber harvesting models for family forest owners in the southeastern United States. An individual-choice model was the basis for the models. Family forest owners were modeled as utility-maximizers who made harvesting decisions...
The objectives and characteristics of university biotechnology research, including its applicability to such industries as agriculture and food processing, arise from formal and informal linkages among university scientists, public and private-nonprofit funding sources, and industry. In the present study I develop, specify, and estimate a model of the supply and...
Cultural competence is a topic that concerns social scientists and medical anthropologists who pay attention to demographic changes and health disparities. This study demonstrates practical approaches to developing cultural competence in medical education by using factors from the social environment to develop protocols for action. With current concerns in domestic...
The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effects of a long-term
static stretching program on flexibility and spinal reflexes in the
human soleus muscle. Day-to-day reliability over two days of H-reflex gain
(Hslp/Mslp) and pre-synaptic inhibition of spinal reflexes in the human
soleus was measured in an initial...
This is a phenomenological research study of the lived experience of women student mentors at one community college located in an urban setting on the West Coast. The study participants were women students who served as mentors to other women at the community college who are participants in a returning...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge base and instructional
practices of two highly qualified experienced secondary mathematics teachers within
the context of their classrooms during a unit in a geometry class. Data collected from
interviews, classroom observations, pre and post-observation questionnaires, and
detailed analyses of several...
After 22 years of eruption at Kilauea Volcano, Hawai'i, an environmental, epidemiological, and ethnographic study was conducted to assess for adverse health effects from chronic exposure to volcanogernc air pollution. Environmental data from 2003 indicated that Kau District, from 37 to 74 km downwind from the eruption, was being exposed...
Parasites are unique study organisms for evolutionary ecologists. Yet, molecular ecology studies on parasites have lagged far behind those on free-living organisms. The goal of the review in Chapter 2 was to illustrate areas of research that may be of particular interest in relation to the parasitic life style and...
The current project investigated the influence of three life transitions on the intimacy and contact siblings share in early adulthood. Using a web-based survey, 260 young adults from two large state universities and community members from the Portland, Oregon area were surveyed about their relationships with a single biological sibling....
The sentiments expressed by Wells capture the fundamental nature of natural resource and land management in Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook County, Oregon. Driven by the attraction and abundance of natural and scenic amenities in central Oregon, increases in recreation, tourism, population, development and conflict, have contributed to the complexities of...
This research employed both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to
explore the impact of mobile wireless technology (MWT) in higher education classrooms.
The methodology was developed using systems engineering concepts. A methodology to
evaluate and compare the cost, cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of different MWT
configurations was also developed. Five outcomes...
The objectives of the experiment were to: 1) determine the relationship
between overstory canopy cover and ungulate herbivory on understory production
composition and diversity and 2) determine the effects of timber harvest, ungulate
herbivory and season of use on botanical composition and nutritional quality of
beef cattle diets. Three randomly...
According to Block (1999), the greatest problem with inclusion in physical education is the lack of personnel support. Most help comes in the form of teacher assistants such as peer-tutors and paraprofessional who receive very little, if any, direction from the general physical education teacher. However, what remains unknown are...
Two research questions are posed: (1) How have ecosystem conditions changed through time in southwestern Oregon? (2) How have culture-driven and climate-driven processes contributed to ecosystem change in southwestern Oregon? A brief introduction to the Little River study area is followed by a cultural and ecological history of the watershed....
The purpose of this research was to hear the stories of Northern Cheyenne women's educational experiences using the method of testimonio, a method culturally aligned and academically appropriate for use among indigenous people. The researcher, also a Northern Cheyenne tribal member used testimonio based on its roots in resistance literature...
Monophyly of the gomphoid-phalloid clade was confirmed based on multigene phylogenetic analyses. Four major subclades (Hysterangiales, Geastrales, Gomphales and Phallales) were also demonstrated to be monophyletic. The interrelationships among the subclades were, however, not resolved, and alternative topologies could not be rejected statistically. Nonetheless, most analyses showed that the Hysterangiales...
Cordyceps is a genus of perithecial ascomycetes. It includes over 400 species
that are pathogens of arthropods and parasites of the truffle genus Elaphomyces. Based
on the morphology of cylindrical asci, thickened ascus apices and filiform ascospores,
it is classified in the Clavicipitaceae (Hypocreales), which also includes endophytes
and epiphytes...
A convergent synthesis of epothilone B that generates all seven of its
asymmetric centers in a completely stereoselective fashion has been
completed. Key reactions include an anti-Felkin aldol condensation to
set the C6 and C7 stereochemistry, a directed α-hydroxylation to install
the C15 (S)-hydroxyl substituent, and a Wittig condensation to...
New transparent p- and n-type semiconductors and luminescent materials have been prepared and characterized. Synthesis, structures, optical and electrical properties of new chalcogenide fluoride p-type transparent semiconductors MCuQF (M=Ba, Sr; Q=S, Se, Te) are described. Band-gap tuning and improvement in conductivity through p-type doping are demonstrated in the family. The...
Studies towards the total synthesis of (-)-gymnodimine (1), a marine neurotoxin with a unique molecular architecture and pronounced biological activity, are described. These studies resulted in a convergent approach to the advanced intermediate 315, containing the C3-C32 section of 1. Two synthetic routes were developed to construct the tetrahydrofuran subunit...
In recent years, the methyl erythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway to isoprenoids has been the subject of intensive research. The interest is because isoprenoids have important roles in many cellular processes essential for the survival of several pathogenic organisms, making the inhibition of this pathway an attractive target for the drug...
This thesis is an investigation of the natural products deriving from marine algae and cyanobacteria and has resulted in the discovery of eleven new secondary metabolites. The structure elucidations of these new molecules were performed using a variety of spectroscopic techniques. Four new macrolides were isolated and characterized from the...
The purpose of this study was to examine one case of embezzlement at one community college in order to assess the sociological effects of the embezzlement on that college. The research design for this study was qualitative using a case study approach. Although there was no attempt to generalize the...
As researchers, policymakers and employers begin focusing
on consumer driven health plan models and medical savings
accounts (MSAs), a better understanding of the political
viability of such reform initiatives is necessary. The
purpose of this study was to survey state legislators'
knowledge and perceptions of medical savings accounts
(MSAs) and...
The next generation of nuclear safety analysis computer codes will require detailed
modeling of two-phase fluid flow. The most complete and fundamental model used for
these calculations is known as the two-fluid model. It is the most accurate of the two-phase
models since it considers each phase independently and links...
In many areas of engineering and applied mathematics, spectral methods provide very powerful tools for solving and analyzing problems. For instance, large to extremely large sizes of numbers can efficiently be multiplied by using discrete Fourier transform and convolution property. Such computations are needed when computing π to millions of...
This dissertation was undertaken to improve the understanding of the population dynamics of the Pacific Golden chanterelle, Cantharellus formosus. It addresses the longevity of individuals over a 12 year period and the limits of gene flow within the area of a 6,400 hectare watershed at the H.J. Andrews Long Term...
Farmlands, grasslands, and savannas in semi-arid sub-Sahelian Africa have the potential to store
carbon (C) in soil. There is a great need to manage ecosystems to increase C storage in semipermanent
soil pools. This will improve soil quality, impede desertification and by reducing
atmospheric CO₂ levels, will slow climate change....
In some practical systems, most of the errors are of 1 → 0 type and 0 → 1
errors occur very rarely. In this thesis, first, the capacity of the asymmetric
channel is derived. The capacity of the binary symmetric channel (BSC) and the
Z-channel can be derived from this...
A theoretical argument is presented to suggest that engineering curriculum be
designed to develop social capital. Additionally, the value of social capital in the
retention of students in the College of Engineering, and the development, role, and value
of social capital in an electrical engineering laboratory is evaluated. Data collected...
Small broomrape (Orobanche minor) is a parasitic weed that attaches to the roots of red clover (Trifolium pratense). Small broomrape invasion presents a significant threat to the future of red clover seed production in Oregon. This study was conducted to investigate and develop small broomrape management options for red clover...
Crown gall disease is an agricultural problem caused by the soil-borne bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens. A. tumefaciens oncogenes cause transformed plant cells to overproduce the hormones, auxin and cytokinin. High hormone levels cause unorganized plant cell growth resulting in a gall. Control of crown gall disease is difficult because after plant...
Four-stranded DNA junctions (also known as Holliday junctions) are structural intermediates involved in a growing number of biological processes including DNA repair, genetic recombination, and viral integration. Although previous studies have focused on understanding the conformational variability and sequence-dependent formation of Holliday junctions in solution there have been relatively few...
This thesis consists of three papers which investigate marginal models, nonparametric approaches, generalized mixed effects models and variance components estimation in longitudinal data analysis. In the first paper, a new marginal approach is introduced for high-dimensional cell-cycle microarray data with no replicates. There are two kinds of correlation for cell-cycle...
Sediment storage in and release from the Granite Creek catchment over Holocene timescales is modulated by the fluctuations of Tana Glacier, which periodically blocks the outlet of Granite Creek. Little Ice Age expansion from 1500-1900 AD is suggested by lichenometric ages of alpine glacial moraines within Granite Creek valley. Trimlines...
This study was designed to investigate a phenomenon, retention of Hispanic adult second language learners in Washington State's community colleges, from a qualitative paradigm and phenomenological approach. The focus of this study was to capture eight foreign-born Hispanic ESL non-continuators' voices and experiences, in their native language of Spanish, who...
Phospholipase C-Jβ (PLCβ) is an important effector enzyme in G-protein-coupled
signaling pathways. Activation of PLCβ by Gα and Gβy subunits has been fairly well
characterized, but little is known about other protein interactions that may also
regulate PLCβ function. A yeast two-hybrid screen of a mouse brain cDNA library
with...
Courtship and copulation behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster males are regulated by sex-specific products from the gene fruitless (fru). Male-specific FRU proteins (FRU[superscript M]) are putative transcription factors of the BTB-ZnF family that likely act by controlling development and maintenance of the neural circuitry used during male sexual behavior. However, which...
Regression calibration inference seeks to estimate regression models with measurement error in explanatory variables by replacing the mismeasured variable by its conditional expectation, given a surrogate variable, in an estimation procedure that would have been used if the true variable were available. This study examines the effect of the uncertainty...
This research sought to identify the reasons physicians attributed for practicing in Oregon, the reasons for relocating out of Oregon, and the reasons for failures in recruiting physicians to Oregon. A random sample survey of 494 Oregon physicians identified the presence of economic and non-economic factors related to the recruitment...
Our objectives were to determine 1) the concentration of prostaglandin
F2α (PGF2α) in whole and extended bovine semen, 2) if concentrations of
prostaglandins in extended bovine semen are correlated to fertility, and 3) if PGF2α
administered at the time of artificial insemination would improve conception rate.
Concentration of PGF2α tended...
Enzymes play an important role in the environment, they breakdown natural-occurring and anthropogenic molecules so that they can be transported into cells and utilized. Enzyme assays are routinely used in soil science and oceanography to measure the activities of specific processes and to serve as general indicators of microbial activity....
Managing forest ecosystems for sustainable, multiple use requires forest resource managers to understand how species composition and distribution vary across environmental gradients and respond to landscape scale disturbance. A number of statistical modeling tools are available to construct predictive models and maps from response data, a set of predictor variables,...
Crown gall disease is caused by the ubiquitous soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens which transfers a portion if DNA (T-DNA) into the plant cell. Preventing infection by using the biocontrol strain Agrobacterium radiobacter K84 is currently the only defense for crown gall. Two different resistance strategies were examined in this work....
It is well known that the mitochondrial genome has a much higher spontaneous mutation rate than the nuclear genome. mtDNA mutations have been identified in association with many diseases and aging. mtDNA replication continues throughout the cell cycle, even in post-mitotic cells. Therefore, a constant supply of nucleotides is required...
Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease affecting 44 million Americans. A primary strategy to prevent osteoporosis is to develop a high peak bone mass in youth. Oral Contraceptives (OCs) alter hormones in women and could affect bone mass development. The interaction between OCs and skeletal mineralization is poorly understood. PURPOSE: Our...
Population genetic structure is widespread in many organisms and can be found at small spatial scales. Fine-scale differentiation is the result of ecological and evolutionary processes working together to produce an overall pattern, but the relative importance of these factors in population differentiation is poorly understood. The goals of my...
Island systems and species are susceptible to extinction because of their small population size and an ecological naiveté from an evolutionary past lacking strong competition and predation. For example, only one-fifth of the world’s bird species occur on islands, yet more than 90% of the avian extinctions witnessed during historic...
Forest managers are challenged to provide timber revenues and other resources for society while protecting and enhancing components of biodiversity that are often associated with older forests or older forest structure, such as dead wood. We examined small mammal response to timber harvest in stands 8-10 years following group-selection, two-story,...
The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance and stability of
the gas-injection enhanced natural circulation in heavy-liquid-metal-cooled systems.
The target system is STAR-LM, which is a 400-MWt-class advanced lead-cooled
fast reactor under development by Argonne National Laboratory and Oregon State
University. The primary loop of STAR-LM relies...
Successful software systems evolve over their lifetimes through the cumulative changes made by software maintainers. As software evolves, the problems resulting from software change worsen, exacerbated by increased system size and complexity, lack of program understanding, amount of effort required to make changes, and number of personnel involved. Experience shows...
The seasonal distribution of bioavailable organochiorine contaminants in surface
water and the potential environmental factors influencing their bioavailability were
evaluated. The study was carried at the lower Willamette River at Portland Harbor, Oregon
where surface water runoff varied according to season. Bioavailable water concentrations of
DDTs and PCBs were determined...
This study illustrates geoarchaeological and paleoenvironmental approaches to the
investigation of an active margin coastal setting and provides examples of how information gleaned through examination of the stratigraphic record can reveal depositional signatures that provide insights into the geomorphic and tectonic forces active within coastal river basins. Three case studies...
More than any other single factor, access to community college education depends on proximity. The advent of the community college branch campus has opened higher education to broader segments of the population.
The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to discover services that students who attend a branch campus...
With respect to a multienzyme complex of deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) synthesis somehow juxtaposed with DNA replication sites, our laboratory has demonstrated the existence of a multienzyme complex in T4-infected E. coli, named the T4 dNTP synthetase complex, but the idea of direct linkage of dNTP synthesis to DNA replication and...
This research analyzes the effects of islands on river process and the effects river processes have on island formation. A fluvial island is defined herein as a land mass within a river channel that is separated from the floodplain by water on all sides, exhibits some stability, and remains exposed...
Atmospheric boundary layers become stably stratified at night over land when the surface becomes colder than the air layer above. In stable nocturnal boundary layers (SNBL), turbulence becomes weak and intermittent, terrain-induced phenomena such as drainage currents or gravity-waves emerge and the surface heterogeneity is enhanced. Because of their complexity...
Numerical model and assimilation experiments were conducted in the tropical Pacific Ocean to obtain a better understanding of the processes that control the cold tongue surface mixed layer temperature balance during August 1999 to July 2004. The numerical model was first applied to test two hypotheses (asymmetric background currents and...
Two problems involving high-resolution reconstruction from nonuniformly sampled data in x-ray computed tomography are addressed. A technique based on the theorem for sampling on unions of shifted lattices is introduced which exploits the symmetry property in two-dimensional fan beam computed tomography and permits the reconstruction of images with twice the...
This thesis details my investigations of marine cyanobacterial natural products that resulted in the discovery of eighteen new secondary metabolites. Isolation and characterization of these unique molecules were carried out using different chromatographic techniques and by careful analyses of 1D and 2D NMR data, respectively. Preliminary bioassays of the crude...
The challenges faced by manufacturing companies have forced them to become more efficient. Cellular manufacturing is a concept that has been accepted as a technique for increasing manufacturing productivity in batch type production by efficient grouping of parts (jobs) with some similarities in processing operations into groups and sequentially matching...
The purpose of this research was to determine whether hybridization between Amelanchier denticulata. (H.B.K.) Koch and Amelanchier nervosa (Decaisne) StandL occurs in Oaxaca, Mexico, and to evaluate components of yield and germination characteristics and seed dormancy of Amelanchier denticulata. Amelanchier nervosa and Amelanchier denticulata samples and morphological characters were used...
Mass transfer processes in food systems, such as solute infusion, are poorly understood because of their complex nature. Food systems contain porous matrices and a variety of continuous phases within cellular tissues. Mass transfer processes are generally not pure diffusion: often convection, binding and obstructing diffusion will occur. Monte Carlo...
Over the last decade, the miniaturization of analytical systems has become an increasingly important and interesting research area. Miniaturized systems offer many advantages, including reduced reagent and sample consumption, shorter analysis times, portability and disposability. This dissertation describes novel approaches in this direction, focusing on two areas: the miniaturization of...
Westward transport of water vapor across the Panama Isthmus helps to
maintain the salinity contrast between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, important in
thermohaline circulation and global climate. Relatively low sea-surface salinities and a
strong, shallow pycnocline in the eastern Pacific warm pool (EPWP) region near
Central America reflect high...
Chameleon is a physics-based landscape modeling software system designed for modeling and simulations applications. Hyperspectral laboratory, field, and imaging spectrometer measurements are collected as empirical foundation data. Linear spectral unmixing is performed to decompose each image pixel into spectral endmembers. Mathematical manipulation of these fractional abundances and introduction of new...
This study aimed to investigate students' models of probability in a modern physics context. The study was divided into three phases. The first phase explored student pre-knowledge about probability before modem physics instruction. The second phase investigated student understanding of concepts related to probability such as wave-particle behavior, the uncertainty...
Forest harvest can have significant impacts on forest ecosystems that may influence the capacity of soils to sequester carbon (C). The microbial community controls decomposition, which is a critical process in partitioning litter- and root-C between CO₂ and storage in semi-permanent soil-C pools. The objectives of this study were to...
The study evaluates the effectiveness of a pregnancy intervention model (PIM) developed to improve first trimester prenatal care utilization in a population of 2,694 low-income Medicaid women. Engagement in prenatal care is critical before prenatal care can occur. Early initiation of prenatal care is important for low income pregnant women...
Child care stability affects child and family outcomes. Stability reflects the time dimension of a child care arrangement. Although stability does not guarantee positive outcomes, instability appears to decrease the likelihood of achieving them. Some level of stability is a necessary, although not sufficient, characteristic of care that meets children's...
Habitat fragmentation has been widely studied in the biological literature and
is considered a primary threat to biodiversity. However, there has been little research
on land-use policies to reduce fragmentation. This dissertation focuses on two major
research issues related to fragmentation policies. First, I develop an analytical model
to analyze...
The goal of this project was to develop an integrated pest management strategy
for the control of a powder-post beetle (Dinoderus minutus F.). This species causes
serious damage in Philippine bamboo. Developmental threshold and thermal constants
were examined and natural enemies and ftmgi associated with beetles were investigated.
Finally, the...
Lichens are an important part of the biota in western Oregon forests, where
they perform valuable ecological roles and contribute significantly to biodiversity.
Lichens in western Oregon are threatened by a number of factors including air
pollution and land use practices. If we wish to maintain the persistence of lichens...
Laboratory data of free surface elevations and fluid velocities were
obtained using a laser-Doppler velocimeter for the case of a periodic wave
plunging over an impermeable, steep (1:10) slope with a fixed bottom roughness.
The measurements were conducted over 15 cross-shore locations from the outer
surf zone to the swash...
Jointed goatgrass (Aegilops cylindrica Host; 2n=4x=28; CCDD) is an
agriculturally important species both as a weed and as a genetic resource for
wheat (Triticum aestivum L.; 2n=6x=42; AABBDD) improvement. In order to
better understand the evolution of this species, the diversity of Ae. cylindrica
was evaluated along with its progenitors,...
Wood-plastic composites (WPCs) are one of the fastest-growing sectors of the
wood composites industry. However, the strengths of WPCs are typically low
because of the poor interfacial adhesion between hydrophilic wood and
hydrophobic thermoplastics. A compatibilizer that can form bridges between wood
and plastics is required to give WPCs desirable...
Jets in crossflow are used in a wide range of engineering applications and have been studied for more than 60 years. The transversal penetration and structure of a jet placed in a crossflow is known to be strongly three-dimensional. It is believed that, by using a pulsed jet inclined in...
The role of the nonionic surfactant Tween 80 on the behavior of the therapeutic recombinant protein Factor VIII (rFVIII) was investigated at solid/liquid and air/water interfaces. In order to provide a model system to compare results obtained for the complicated rFVIII-Tween system, a well-characterized globular protein lysozyme was used. The...
Questions relating to economic performance, biological conservation and variation in resource abundance and harvest of ocean shrimp have led to increasing pressure for management action. Developing effective management policies for this highly variable resource requires a comprehensive understanding of the fishery and marine processes. Important factors in understanding the fishery...
PURPOSE Rural hospitals began to make significant changes in the 1990s by becoming integrated with larger health systems. The literature has correlated several key measures that determine the success of integrated health systems. These measures were quality, financial strength, community benefit, physician outcomes, and service changes. The purpose of this...
Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) plants exposed to higher than usual temperatures during ripening show altered agronomic and grain quality characteristics. Given that seasonal variation in quality creates difficulties in the marketing and processing of grain, improving the genetic adaptation of wheat cultivars to heat stress is an important objective in...
Spiral inductors are a key component of mixed-signal and analog integrated circuits (IC's). Such circuits are often fabricated using silicon-based technology, owing to the inherent low-cost and high volume production aspects. However, semiconducting substrate materials such as silicon can have adverse effects on spiral inductor performance due to the lossy...
Lymphomas and leukemias are the most common cancer in children and young adults and in utero exposure to carcinogens may contribute to the etiology of these cancers. A polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DBP), was administered to pregnant mice (15 mg/Kg b.w., gavage) on gestation day 17. Significant mortalities in...
In wood-plastic composites (WPCs) a compatibilizer is often used to improve
the interfacial adhesion between the hydrophilic wood filler and the hydrophobic
plastic matrix. At present, while the basic concepts of compatibilization are
understood, the optimized chemical structures of an effective compatibilizer, including
the ideal structures of the wood-binding domain...
The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences, events, and circumstances that provided Latino educators the opportunity for ascendancy to the presidency of a California community college. This study aimed to recapture the individual experiences of current Latino community college presidents from working class, immigrant family backgrounds as...
During exploration of imaging photosynthetic fluorimetry of Arabidopsis thaliana mutants, we discovered a novel phenomenon wherein photosynthetic efficiency (defined in Ning et al., 1995) is shown to plot in discrete groups. This exploration resulted first in the development of a spectrofluorometric method that apparently allows for in vivo observation of...
Water availability is a critical limiting element in semi-arid ecosystem productivity and presents particular challenges in Sahelian countries such as Senegal. The landscapes are characterized by the presence of two common semi-arid shrubs (Piliostigma reticulatum and Guiera senegalensis), both of which may be important hydraulic regulators in these water-limited ecosystems....
In a fluidized bed of magnetically susceptible particles, the presence of
a magnetic field induce the formation of particle chains due to interparticle
magnetic forces. The resulting effect is a change in the overall spatial
distribution of the particles, transitioning from a random, isotropic distribution
to an ordered, anisotropic distribution....
Ferrites have been used for various high frequency applications as bulk
materials. These applications, however, are limited to large dimension devices. In
this thesis, thin film ferrites were deposited from a low temperature solution-based
deposition process that is suitable for micro-scale high frequency applications. The
low temperature nature of this...
This dissertation addresses the "multi-machine carryover sequence
dependent group-scheduling problem with anticipatory setups," which arises in
the printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing. Typically, in PCB manufacturing
different board types requiring similar components are grouped together to
reduce setup times and increase throughput. The challenge is to determine the
sequence of...