Bone strength and fracture resistivity are related to a variety of factors encompassed in what is referred to as bone quality. However, bone quality is not a well-defined concept; therefore individual fracture risk cannot be predicted accurately, and osteoporosis treatment monitoring remains di cult. Clinically available imaging modalities use bone...
This study uses an existing database of dynamic loading tests of driven piles installed in the Puget Sound Lowlands to improve the reliability of axial performance. First, the unit shaft resistances developed from stress wave signal matching to dynamic records of pile installation are used to develop an effective stress-based...
The ternary system (Bi₀.₅Na₀.₅)TiO₃-(Bi₀.₅K₀.₅)TiO₃-Bi(Mg₀.₅Ti₀.₅)O₃ (BNT-BKT-BMgT) was explored along the [75-(x 2) ]Bi₀.₅Na₀.₅TiO₃ - [25-(x 2)]Bi₀.₅K₀.₅TiO₃ - [x]Bi(Mg₀.₅Ti₀.₅)O₃ composition line. Thin films were fabricated using chelated mixing route solutions spin cast onto platinized silicon substrates. Processing parameters such as: excess cation molar%, solution molality, and crystallization temperatures, for composition where x=0,...
Soft robots are designed to utilize their compliance and contortionistic abilities to both interact safely with their environment and move through it in ways a rigid robot cannot. To more completely achieve this, the robot should be made of as many soft components as possible. Here we present a completely...
The effects of alfaxalone (A-HPCD), propofol (P), ketamine-diazepam (KD) and tiletamine-zolazepam (TZ) administered IV in dogs on cardiovascular and respiratory systems, acid-base balance and electrolytes have been reported in the literature, but a study that compares IV TZ to the other induction protocols (IP) is needed. Six dogs enrolled in...
This thesis provides a comparison of advanced econometric frameworks to account for unobserved factors in crash reported data (also referred to as unobserved heterogeneity) while identifying contributing factors by roadway classification for heavy vehicle injury severity and crash rates. The presented thesis provides two manuscripts that expand the literature regarding...
Hereditary variation is a vital component in the development of new and improved cultivars of landscape plants. Sources of hereditary variation include naturally occurring variation, recombination due to controlled crosses, artificial mutagenesis, and genetic modification via biotechnology. Here I explore all methods with the exception of genetic modification via biotechnology....
This project determines the short term and long term effective stiffness values for Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) with a reinforced concrete topping. The reinforced concrete was attached to the CLT panels with interface connections, and different types of interface connections were tested. Throughout this project, there are 31 tests with...
Forest soils and topography have long been known to influence forest productivity in complex terrain such as Oregon’s Coast Ranges. Incorporating physical site characteristics into predictions of forest growth and yield, however, has been problematic because of the high spatial variability of soil properties and the challenges associated with representing...
Quantitative assessments of post-fire effects are key to improving our understanding of ecosystem resilience. While remote sensing technology has allowed us to assess post-fire landscape effects, we are often limited by the lack of information related to pre-fire forest attributes. As a result, our ability to interpret fire effects in...
As the effect of ocean acidification (OA) on marine calcifiers is better understood, a range of potential mitigative strategies have been proposed, many of which are plagued by concerns of scale and feasibility. One oft-cited option is to increase the biomass of photosynthetic organisms to remove CO₂ from the water...
We demonstrated a low-cost and high-sensitivity DNA detection method using quantum dot-fullerene based molecular beacons (MBs) and magnetic nanoparticles. The MB tethered magnetic nanoparticles can be well dispersed in analytes for efficient DNA capture and concentrated by an external magnetic field for enhanced fluorescence signal detection. The detection requires only...
This thesis on online communities for sex buyers seeks to understand questions such as “what can we learn from online communities for sex buyers?” We explore these issues with the framework of Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis and through the use of qualitative research of both the review boards at Punternet...
The metal-organic–framework MOF-5 is used as an adsorbent in advanced systems for vehicular hydrogen storage that are currently under development. Presently, these systems are limited by poor thermal conductivity of the adsorption bed, and thus our research addresses how the interfaces between grains of MOF-5 can be engineered to improve...
High purity niobium metal is used in the construction of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities in superconducting particle accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN or the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The usual method for characterizing the impurities in this niobium, the...
The research conducted here originated with the question of what caused the massive build-up of nuclear arsenals, which included ever larger and more powerful bombs and delivery systems from them, in the United States and the Soviet Union, even though the consensus beforehand was that nuclear energy should be prohibited...
Several radioxenon isotopes (¹³¹ᵐXe, ¹³³Xe, ¹³³ᵐXe, ¹³⁵Xe) are characteristic byproducts of nuclear explosions, and due to their chemically nonreactive nature can easily escape from tests occurring underground and enter the atmosphere. It has been shown that by utilizing beta-gamma coincidence techniques, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) can...
Engineering applications often require fast, accurate solutions of fluid flow around freely moving bodies. The massive parallelism enabled by graphics processing unit (GPU) architecture enables high performance, offering a promising alternative to traditional solver acceleration via multicore central processing units (CPU). However, fully harnessing GPU parallelism requires specialized algorithms and...
Prepreg is widely used in composite manufacturing with advanced composites such as carbon and aramid. The material is characterized by a degree of flexibility (drape) and stickiness (tack), which allows an efficient layup on molds with complex shapes. However, axial instability of compressed fibers during the molding process may occur,...
The perception of a long-term cost advantage of synthetic infill turf systems relative to natural grass systems has contributed to a rise in their popularity in the USA. However, few comprehensive cost assessments of natural grass and synthetic infill systems exist. There are also no studies looking at interactions between...
Drought is expected to increase in many parts of the world and has been shown to affect tree physiology and growth, with seedlings being particularly vulnerable. Seedling drought responses are often species dependent, and even within species different populations may demonstrate a spectrum of responses to drought, from susceptibility to...
Observations of the Oregon coast’s physical oceanography over the last few decades have revealed falling dissolved oxygen levels associated with seasonal upwelling, as well as rising water temperatures. In extreme cases, these changes have been associated with die-offs, redistribution, and decreased abundance and diversity of benthic fish and invertebrates. Many...
African American male students are a small portion of the student body at NCAA Division 1-A schools, but they make up a large portion of population of college football players. African American male college students are also one of the most at-risk student populations on campus in regards to retention....
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) is an interdisciplinary academic field that addresses gender, sexuality, and social justice issues. The research objective of this project was to examine the attitudes of self-identified male students in introductory Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies for winter term 2016 at Oregon State University. This...
A significant number of historically existing wetlands that naturally stored rainwater and attenuated flood peaks have now been drained and employed as new farming areas. Beyond the water quality and flow problem, this has resulted in loss of natural habitats of diverse ecological species. Restoring wetlands have hence been proposed...
Phytoplankton and microzooplankton comprise the base and the first link of the marine food web, respectively. These microbes are key drivers of marine carbon and nutrient cycles. Phytoplankton convert atmospheric CO₂ into organic carbon, and microzooplankton consume phytoplankton, packaging phytoplankton carbon into particulate forms that have a variety of fates:...
Photoluminescence (PL) materials have attracted a lot of attention in last several decades. Recently PL materials, which can convert low-efficiency Ultraviolet (UV) or Infrared (IR) light to high-efficiency visible light, have been widely applied in the research of improving conversion efficiency of solar cell. As one of the most common...
Real time networks (RTNs) have become popular for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) surveys because highly accurate positions can be derived in seconds to minutes compared to hours as required with static sessions. To evaluate the accuracy of these shorter-duration, RTN GNSS observations and their potential for use as a...
Effective management of urban forests is vital to society due to the numerous ecological, economic, and social benefits they provide. In many cities, management efforts are commonly supported by citizen advisory groups, which are often generically referred to as “tree boards” within the urban forestry context. Very little is known...
The marine environment is under increasing pressure from human activities worldwide, particularly in coastal waters, creating a need to better understand fine-scale distributions of highly mobile species that occur in the area, as they are frequently most threatened. Harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) occur frequently in Oregon’s nearshore habitat, but due...
Most benthic marine organisms have a bipartite life with an early pelagic stage that enables dispersal of offspring, connecting spatially separated populations, and a late stage where individuals reside in a benthic habitat. Settlement of pelagic offspring to bottom associated substrates is the process that connects the two life history...
Recently, there has been peaked interest in developing high energy producing and optimized power take-off topologies for Wave Energy Converters (WEC). As large as the potential of the oceans may seem, harnessing that energy and effectively converting it to electricity in significant amounts is a challenge. Currently, there are no...
Current research on the topic of advanced reactor fuel types include the use of ultrahigh density Uranium-Molybdenum fuels, towards their use in high-performance research reactors. These reactors operate with high power densities, and the increased cooling requirements therefore place high relevance on the fluid-structure interaction with these fuel elements; therefore...
A scaling analysis of the Oregon State University (OSU) - Multi-Application Small Light Water Reactor (MASLWR) system has been developed, and an existing RELAP5-3D model of the facility was improved. The purpose of this study is to support the research of hybrid energy systems, being led by Idaho National Laboratory...
A year-long, bench-scale treatability study was performed to assess whether an activated sludge sequencing batch reactor could be used to treat an influent stream of 50/50 (v/v) municipal wastewater and landfill leachate to discharge standards established by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. One primary obstacle that was exposed during...
Women being elected into public office, a recent occurrence, raises questions and concerns about what it means to have women in office. Concerns include: policy differences women in office might produce, changing the image of what it means to be a leader, and ultimately the fear of a shifting society....
Plants often encase seeds in a nutritional reward to incentivize seed dispersal by birds and mammals, but these seeds may also be removed and destroyed by seed predators. Although birds are typically thought to be the primary seed dispersers of berries in temperate systems, in southeast Alaska and other salmon-bearing...
All nuclear reactors rely heavily on the use of level sensing instrumentation to detect the behaviour of liquid in vessels. The majority of level sensing instruments are differential pressure sensing meters, which are invasive and could be the failure source in the pressure boundary of the primary coolant system. In...
Flaxseed is a rich source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Feeding laying hens flax seed can increase n-3 fatty acids content (FA) in eggs, thus increasing human intake of n-3 FA. However, non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), which decreases digestibility of dietary lipids and proteins. Addition of carbohydrase enzymes to flax-based layer diets...
The use of an antibiotic as a growth promoter (AGP) began in the 1940’s with the discovery of growth responses from Streptomyces aureofaciens in the monogastric diet. However, resistance and residue problems have increased the negative consumer perception of growth promoting antibiotic use in animal diets. Although no direct link...
Non-starter lactic acid bacteria (NSLAB) are found at low levels in fresh raw milk and are important to the dairy industry because of their potential impact on the flavor and texture of yogurt, sour cream, and cheese. The purpose of this study was to evaluate three methods for the identification...
Reed Canarygrass (RCG) is an aggressive invader in aquatic ecosystems that swiftly modifies the environment and decreases biodiversity. A physical model was used to investigate the mechanisms by which RCG spreads. Experimental trials were implemented to examine feedbacks between a mid-channel patch of the flexible RCG, hydraulics, and bedform evolution...
Forest soils contain a substantial portion of global terrestrial carbon stores. Forest management can influence the soil carbon pool and how soil organic matter functions. The long-term productivity of forests is an ongoing goal where land managers utilize biomass and timber. A site-specific understanding of intensively managed forests can ensure...
Cobalt germanides have been widely studied as semiconductor contact materials, but recent theoretical studies suggest that they may also be excellent catalysts for methane steam reforming with stabilities and activities comparable to noble metal catalysts. In order to study the catalytic activity of cobalt germanides, it is critical to first...
The need for less toxic quantum dots (QDs) has led to a significant number of investigations related to copper indium sulfide (CIS) QDs. Lower toxicity and broad band absorbance width makes CIS QDs appealing for light emitting diodes (LEDs), lasers, sensors, bio-imaging, solar cells, and computing. The optical and electronic...
This research investigates shape optimization process, using b-spline models and panel methods, to achieve a high lift to drag ratio for an aerodynamic structure. This research is a proof of concept for further research in aerodynamic shape optimization. The coupled process, involving the design and optimization of a random shape,...
The corrosion behaviors of carbon and stainless steels were investigated in supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂ ) containing H₂O and O₂ simulating conditions that exist in direct sCO₂ power cycle heat exchangers. Thermodynamic properties of CO₂-H₂O-O₂ systems related to the corrosion phenomena were determined using NIST software. The exposure tests of the...
Boiling heat transfer is studied for its ability to dissipate high fluxes and achieve heat transfer coefficients two orders of magnitude greater than single-phase heat transfer systems. Heater surface enhancement with increased surface area, varied geometry, wettability contrast and micro/nano-structures can further enhance boiling heat transfer performance through bubble nucleation...
The current state of research on gossip techniques for wireless broadcasting is very limited because past research efforts have mostly focused on using gossip techniques for multicast communication. On the other hand, those research efforts that have focused on using gossip techniques for wireless broadcast communications ignore energy efficiency and...
The Steel Plate Shear Wall (SPSW) system, is an innovative seismic lateral force resistant system, which has experienced increased use over the last three decades. The SPSW system is composed of boundary elements which anchor web plates that develop diagonal tension fields. A number of SPSW buildings have been built...
Measuring surface heat flow at the Hikurangi Trough is key toward characterizing the local thermal regime and the influence of thermally sensitive processes such as fluid flow and slow slip. Marine heat flow data were collected during May– June 2015 in the northern Hikurangi Trough at sites seaward and landward...
Large-hydrocarbon fuels are used for ground and air transportation because of their high energy-density and will be for the foreseeable future. However, combustion of large-hydrocarbon fuels in a turbulent environment is poorly understood and difficult to predict. The turbulent flame speed, which is the velocity at which a flame front...
Vacuum arc remelting (VAR) is a secondary melting process for exotic alloys. The main purpose of this process is to increase the input ingot’s physical and chemical homogeneity. This is accomplished through the application of a high current that melts the material through the emergence of electrical arcs that induce...
Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) has recently appeared as a promising approach for removing nitrogen from landfill leachates because it requires less oxygen and no organic carbon compared to traditional nitrification-denitrification system, and it produces low sludge volumes, thereby reducing operating and biological sludge disposal costs by over 60%. Anammox bacteria...
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the most common childhood neurological disorder in the United States, also affects grown women. But girls with ADHD, who tend towards symptoms of inattentiveness, often go undiagnosed until young adulthood. This is because (a) their symptoms are less obvious than the hyperactivity common in ADHD boys, and...
The history of American Indian and Alaska Natives (AIAN) in education is filled with conflict and painful memories for many. Indian boarding schools that lasted through the early 1900s were used as a tool for forced assimilation of AIAN people. With the disturbing motto of “Kill the Indian, save the...
The effects of Marine protected areas (MPAs) on adult fish populations depend on the degree of protection provided, which is partly a function of MPA size and the spatial extent of fish movements. The Redfish Rocks Marine Reserve (RRMR) and MPA, located on the south coast of Oregon near Port...
It has been estimated that data traffic from the different mobile devices that range from smartphones to machine-to-machine (M2M) devices will exceed 15.9 exabyte per month by the year 2018. With this immense data growth, the current wireless communication systems suffer from the scarcity of the radio spectrum and eventually...
Climate-induced range overlap can result in novel interactions between similar species and potentially lead to competitive exclusion. The Western Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most rapidly warming regions on Earth and is experiencing a poleward climate migration. This transition from a polar to sub-polar environment has resulted in a...
The Pacific Northwest is an internationally important region for the production of Brassica seed and other seed crops including grass seed. Oregon lawmakers mandated research into the co-existence of canola (Brassica napus) with other Brassica production in the Willamette Valley and House Bill 2427 was signed into law in 2013,...
The demand from consumers for more sustainable products, and the need to comply with government regulations motivates manufacturers to evaluate their operations for opportunities to reduce environmental impact and improve economic competitiveness. Manufacturers have actively improved the sustainability performance of their products through the use of sustainability assessment methods and...
Student engagement in a course plays a vital role in a student’s ability to process and construct knowledge. Student engagement research has investigated how students engage in and out of the classroom on a macro scale, through observation and survey data collection of large student populations, which lack focus on...
College Algebra is a prerequisite for calculus and is thus an important stepping stone in the careers of STEM-intending undergraduates. However, College Algebra has low pass rates across the United States, interrupting students’ pathways to success. To address this concern, a research-oriented university in the Northwest United States restructured its...
In bioacoustics, automatic animal voice detection and recognition from audio recordings is an emerging topic for animal preservation. Our research focuses on bird bioacoustics, where the goal is to segment bird syllables from the recording and predict the bird species for the syllables. Traditional methods for this task addresses the...
The ability to create reproducible cryptographically secure keys from temporal environments (e.g., images) has the potential to be a contributor to effective cryptographic mechanisms. Due to the noisy nature of these environments, achieving this goal in a user friendly fashion is a very challenging task, especially since there exists a...
Commercial hog diets in the United States commonly contain lipid sources high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, most notably linoleic acid (18:2). This may result in greater deposits of linoleic acid in pork adipose tissue, contributing to an increased potential for lipid oxidation, high n-6/n-3 fatty acid ratio and increased fat...
Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a highly valuable crop that makes up a large portion of the world’s food. However, breeding for improved varieties with desirable characteristics can be a challenge. This research examined two different issues wheat breeders deal with throughout the selection process all the way to production of...
Mastitis is a major endemic disease in dairy cows resulting in significant economic losses for the dairy industry. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is a nuclear receptor that is able to bind and be activated by natural (e.g., fatty acids) and synthetic (e.g. thiazolidinedione) compounds. PPARγ plays important roles...
Pornography remains one of the most controversial topics in our culture. Politicians, religious groups, and special interest organizations tend to focus on the ‘effects’ pornography has on those who consume it, and fear that pornography is a threat to public health. The general discourse surrounding pornography is that men produce...
Scouringrushes (Equisetum hyemale L.; E. xferrissii Clute; E. laevigatum L.) are ancient perennial seedless vascular plants historically associated with wetlands, low-lying roadsides or field margins with more plant available water. There has been little research conducted on scouringrush species in the context of agricultural production because traditional farming practices confined...
With an estimated 5.4 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease facing
individual, social, and financial burdens, researchers must make cognitive assessment inquiries a priority (Alzheimer’s Association, 2016). Cognition encompasses multiple aspects of thought
processes, such as multiple types of memory, planning, inhibitory control, attention, and
processing speed. The higher level...
Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are extremely abundant, biodegradable and light weight nanoparticles that have the potential to contribute in many fields including packaging, construction, solar cells and automotive. With the increasing interest in nanotechnology and nanocomposites, CNCs could provide a renewable, optically transparent and strong alternative to other nano-scale reinforcement phases....
In the midst of double-digit growth in market demand for organic products, there is a lag in the growth of certified organic production in the United States. This thesis investigated the motivations and barriers farmers face when making the transition to organic agriculture. Three distinct organic farmer typologies were identified:...
Image-based dietary intake assessment (IBDIA) is a new way by which the accuracy of dietary assessment can be improved through the use of digital images of food. The ability of nutrition and dietetics students and interns to accurately interpret images for diet intake assessment is currently unknown. An online survey...
Bridge inspections are vital for monitoring the health and serviceability of transportation infrastructure throughout the world. However, inspections can be logistically-challenging, expensive, and dangerous. For example, inspections may require climbing, as well as the use of scaffolding, ladders, rescue boats, bucket trucks, and/or under-bridge inspection vehicles. Small, multirotor unmanned aircraft...
The purpose of this thesis is to understand the experiences that Nahua children, in rural Mexico, have as they attend schools that are primarily influenced by formal Western education in relation to their own ways of learning and knowing. This research took place over the course of three months within...
Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) have a finite amount of energy that they can use to move from their riverine habitat to their oceanic habitat. Fish in the Willamette River Basin are prevented from moving to the ocean easily by dams which create reservoirs, where they reside for up to...
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the fourth largest food crop in the world following rice (Oryza sativa L.), wheat (Triticum spp.), and maize (Zea mays subs. mays). Potatoes arrived in the United States in the early 1600s and over the following centuries, the crop was subsequently cultivated across the country...
Throughout most of the developed world, surgical sterilization via gonadectomy has become a common tool for combating the overpopulation of unwanted dogs as well as to eliminate the risk of reproductive diseases in pet dogs. In the dog as in other normal adult mammal, the hypothalamus secretes gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH),...
Understanding connectivity among exploited populations is critical to their sustainable management and long-term viability. In the marine environment, estimates of connectivity often rely on the use of genetic markers, as dispersal primarily occurs during a planktonic larval phase which is difficult to track using direct methods. In this thesis, we...
Chainsaws, an indispensable tool for modern forestry operations, rely on bar lubricant to prevent rapid wear of the chain and bar. Choice of bar lubricant must balance performance, cost, and biological impact. Many bar lubricants are available, but little published work exists that conclusively ranks the performance of these choices....
The quality of parenting, in particular mother-child interactions, is important for children’s development. Sensitive and responsive interactions between the mother and child are linked to children’s language, emotion and behavioral regulation, brain development, and activity in the stress response system (NSCDC, 2007; Mintz et al., 2011, Gunnar & Quevedo, 2007)....
CR-39 foils were irradiated as part of nuclear accident dosimetry experiments using the Godiva reactor at the Nevada National Security Site and the Caliban and Prospero reactors at the Valduc Centre for Nuclear Studies in France. The irradiated foils were chemically etched using the standard Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory process...
In the wake of nuclear accidents such as Three Mile Island Unit 2 and Fukushima, the nuclear power industry’s safety record is scrutinized. Today the main concerns lies with hydrogen production in a nuclear reactor core when the zirconium fuel cladding reacts with the water coolant during an accident, creating...
High performance dielectric materials are needed for high power SiC- or GaN-based electronics which combine the best features of high energy density, low dielectric loss and high reliability and for advanced high-speed and high-voltage energy storage where temperature stability plays an important role in material properties. An ideal capacitor for...
The Juan de Fuca plate system is what remains of Farallon plate subducting under the continental North American plate. Blanco Transform Fault Zone (BTFZ) consists of a network of strike-slip faults discontinued by pull apart depressions which o↵sets the Juan de Fuca Ridge and the Gorda Ridge. Detailed analysis of...
A wave-by-wave forecasting system is desired for optimization of wave energy conversion devices and for improving safety of vessel-based marine operations. This study outlines the first validation attempts of a recently developed forecasting system called Wavecast. The forecasting approach uses X-Band marine radar images for data assimilation, then reconstructs and...
Large numbers of reinforced concrete (RC) bridges were built in the past that are now considered seismically deficient. The structural members most likely to be considered deficient are the supporting columns. Typical deficient columns contain inadequate transverse reinforcement and poorly detailed lap splice lengths above the foundation. Insufficient lap splice...
Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) is a devastating pest that attacks thin-skinned stone and small fruit in all major production regions of the United States and worldwide. D. suzukii first appeared in the United States in 2008 and is believed to be native to Southeast Asia. This vinegar fly has a...
Composites often are able to carry more load after damage due to the structure of laminates. In addition, damage can be difficult to detect in composites compared to homogeneous materials. Understanding the behavior of composite material after damage is vital for composite structural design. Currently, experimental methods exist for classifying...
In order to determine how contaminants from pharmaceutical, agriculture, and industry will move through groundwater systems, it is imperative to further our understanding of the relationship between physical, biological, and chemical properties of aquifers and transport and transformation of these products. Several studies have explored how heterogeneities in groundwater systems...
Current public health guidelines for physical activity (PA) were primarily formulated using evidence collected from a series of prospective cohort epidemiological investigations that measured self-reported PA. In light of this observation, and the known discordance between self-reported and objectively-monitored PA, it remains common for researchers to assess compliance to current...
Ovulation requires preovulatory surges of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) from preoptic hypothalamic neurons, initiated by elevated ovarian estradiol (E₂). Rising estradiol activates a subset of sexually dimorphic kisspeptin (Kiss-1) neurons in the female, located in the anteroventral periventricular nuclei (AVPV). Conversely, estradiol negative feedback on GnRH secretion is mediated by a...
Rhizopogon vesiculosus is a common ectomycorrhizal (EM) symbiont of Pseudotusga menziesii (Douglas-fir) in the coast range of the Pacific Northwest. The species has been studied for its systematics, genet size, population structure, and competitive ability in several field and experimental studies. This thesis seeks to provide a more thorough characterization...
As highlighted in this study, shallow-water habitats and the prey they provide are important for juvenile salmon in the Columbia River estuary, but the spread of invasive species and large-scale changes to the estuary influence how these habitats are utilized. Reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea) (“PHAR” hereafter) is a highly invasive...
Structurally efficient and cost-effective solutions are needed to extend the service-life of deficient and aging highway infrastructure around the world. One critical need is to increase the flexural strength of older reinforced concrete (RC) structures to carry heavier and more frequent loads. Titanium alloy bars (TiAB) offer a new opportunity...
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 the past half century, industrial robots have developed a strong presence in manufacturing. They now commonly perform tasks such as materials handling, assembly, welding, and painting. Unfortunately robotic machining tasks have seen limited deployments. The majority of machining robots are designed for soft materials like wood or plastic and...
The Direct Reactor Auxiliary Cooling System (DRACS) is a passive safety system capable of removing decay heat directly from the reactor core. Its modularity makes it scalable for use in reactors with various power levels. Work has previously been completed to support inclusion of the DRACS in liquid metal reactors...
In the residential sector, wood is the predominant construction material. In the commercial sector and in mid‐rise construction, the use of wood is limited because of a multitude of reasons, including building code restrictions, the perception of wood as a structural material, fire code requirements, and lack of knowledge and...