Abstract
Understanding the effects of climate change on forest ecosystems requires exploration of the relationships of different components of the system, such as the response of biota to local hydrology, temperature, precipitation, and elevation. The Long-term Ecological Research Program at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest, located in the Western...
Nitrous oxide is an important greenhouse gas that has both natural and anthropogenic sources in the modern atmosphere (Ciais et al., 2013). This project expanded the knowledge of the history of atmospheric N2O in the geologic past by measuring N2O concentrations in air trapped in very old polar ice. A...
The United States is a global leader in agricultural productivity. Much of its productivity growth can be attributed to public investments in agricultural research and development, starting in the 19th century and continuing until today. Past studies have shown high returns to agricultural research investments, but publicly funded agricultural research...
Presentation at Undergraduate Humanities Conference: Bodies and Technology.
I presented my paper “The Other Mother: Assessing Edwidge Danticat’s “New York Day Women” in the Light of Hortense J. Spillers’ “Mama’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe: An American Grammar Book” at the 2020 Undergraduate Humanities Conference on May 8th, 2020. This paper assesses...
Natural freshwater availability is decreasing as the global population increases. Advances in desalination technologies aim to produce fresh water in an economical way. More sustainable energy sources are desired for these desalination plants to limit the carbon footprint of water production since global carbon dioxide production is exacerbating freshwater scarcity....
Competitive exclusion is a key concept in ecology describing the exclusion of one species by another from access to a limited resource. Competitive interactions between chipmunk species in the Great Basin, documented by James Brown in 1970, are often used as a textbook example of competitive exclusion. Whether competitive interactions...
Coastal blue carbon ecosystems offer a variety of important ecosystem services, including exceptional rates of carbon sequestration and long-term carbon storage. Because these ecosystems disproportionately influence global carbon cycling, understanding their soil characteristics may help guide long-term climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Recently, Kauffman et al. (2020) observed the...
Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) is a common environmental pollutant produced from the incomplete combustion of organic matter, such as fossil fuel emissions. In vertebrates, B[a]P exposure is associated with hyperactivity, though the underlying mechanisms driving this effect are undescribed. Mounting evidence indicates that the gut microbiome, which is the diverse community of...
Students who engage in undergraduate research benefit from a wide rage of personal and professional gains, including an increased ability to think analytically (Ishiyama, 2002), defining/refining research, and career interests, and enhanced confidence (Ishiyama, 2002). Promoting undergraduate participation in research also benefits faculty members (i.e. by enhancing research productivity; Hall...
Predicting the average affect of a piece of music is a task which has been of recent interest in the field of music information retrieval. We investigate the use of sentiment analysis on online social media conversations to predict a song’s valence and arousal. Using four music emotion datasets -...
The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) purports to assess emotional intelligence, which includes the ability to successfully identify and manage emotions. To test the validity of this claim, 21 students took the MSCIET along with a several other performance measures and personality scales, and their scores were correlated. The MSCEIT...
The present study sought to identify the personality traits associated with emotional intelligence. Eighty three students (30 male, 53 female) ranging between 17 and 42 years of age completed the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and a personality inventory known as the California Q-Sort as part of a 10 week...
study investigated the validity of the Perceiving Emotions branch of the Mayer-Salovey-
Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). This was conducted through a correlational analysis with
three previously validated measures of nonverbal communication proficiency; The Profile of Nonverbal
Communication (PONS), the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy-2 (DANVA2), and the Affective
Communication...
In today’s media driven society where images stand in for words, we see an increase of attractive people selling us ideas and products. We begin to view their attractiveness as powerful, and influential on our own opinions and they gain credibility with us because of this. But what if it...
Microbial activity within elevated CO2 and oxygen depleted environments changes with
density driven stratification overturn in the seasonally anoxic region of Devil’s Hole,
Bermuda. The temperature gradient developed during the summer months creates a
natural laboratory to study bacterial and virus population density and microbial
community dynamics in the anoxic...
Microbial activity within elevated CO2 and oxygen depleted environments changes with
density driven stratification overturn in the seasonally anoxic region of Devil’s Hole,
Bermuda. The temperature gradient developed during the summer months creates a
natural laboratory to study bacterial and virus population density and microbial
community dynamics in the anoxic...
Treatment of extrahepatic portosystemic shunts provides many options, including cellophane banding. These cellophane bands are secured with a ligation clip. Weck® offers two forms of these: the stainless steel Hemoclip, and the polymer Hem-o-lok. This in vitro study compares the mechanical strength of these two of types of clips by...
This research focused on the accuracy of trait judgments at zero acquaintance and after five minutes of interaction. Thirty-five undergraduates judged the neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness of four to six others whom they did not know. Participants then interacted in one-on-one conversations with each target for five minutes....
This is the first study to link exercise with adult romantic attachment style in a university setting. Previous research has associated insecure attachment styles, particularly those associated with high levels of anxiety, with increased pain sensitivity. This thesis hypothesizes that the mechanism responsible for this relationship will correlate with the...
Knowledge of Drosophila suzukii's preference for an attractive trap design and bait can be used to improve detection and management of this new invasive fruit pest. Desired trap and bait attributes include: high D. suzukii capture and species specificity; early-season detection prior to significant crop damage; higher capture of females...
Users curate music playlists based on emotion to focus or relax, so streaming services often create playlists of songs to aid this process. Prior research focuses on generating playlists of a single mood or genre, although a few studies work to construct automatic playlists that transition between the genres of...
In this work we introduce some basic concepts within homotopy type theory (HoTT), a proposed alternative mathematical foundation to classical set theory. In particular, our discussion revolves around the Axiom of Choice (AC). In Part I, we introduce the classical AC and some of its most important equivalents. In Part...
Previous research on academic success in biology has focused on the influence of prerequisite knowledge and cognitive ability as measured by course grades or GPA. More recently, the field has considered the influence of non-cognitive factors such as grit, defined as passion and perseverance for long term goals. Both grit...
Computational statistical mechanics leans heavily on the class of Markov Chain Monte Carlo Algorithms. Many such algorithms exist, and simulations can run for several weeks, making the selection of algorithms a difficult, but critical task. In this work, we introduce a benchmark system of two quadratic wells with an analytical...
The oceans are one of humanity’s greatest resources, providing food, raw materials, livelihoods, and protection. More than 3 billion people around the world rely on marine life as a source of protein as well as their livelihood. Seafood is one of the highest traded commodities globally and many major cities...
Native bees are critically important organisms that support biodiversity and crop production via their pollination services. Wildfires in temperate conifer forests can increase bee abundance and flowering plant density due to increased light exposure, but little information is available regarding how wildfire severity influences provisioning to bee offspring, which is...
This paper seeks to provide a practical answer to the following question: why create a board of directors in a family business? To achieve this, it summarizes the existing research published in the field of family business governance that directly addresses the beneficial role of the board of directors in...
The
quality
of
red
wine
is
primarily
determined
by
the
flavor,
aroma,
and
color.
A
common
wine
making
technique
used
to
improve
these
characteristics
is
the
pre-‐fermentation maceration. In this study two pre-fermentation maceration
techniques were used, one was a traditional cold soak and the second involved
addition of dry...
In this study, we characterize the behavioral response of larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) to the noxious chemical allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), an agonist of the nociceptive TRPA1 ion channel, and utilize AITC as an aversive stimulus in an associative learning paradigm. We find that larvae exposed to AITC in both a...
1. Early competitive environments can shape the development of offspring across taxa. For example, competition for food can have downstream effects on offspring phenotypes and fitness; however, little is known about how early competition influences the development of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis and its potential tradeoff with growth. Because baseline and...
Though currently relatively unknown outside Latin America, Andean root and tuber crops are rapidly gaining interest elsewhere. Tubers are a major food and important sources of nutrition in South America and have potential in countries outside their center of origin. We conducted a two-part study on oca (Oxalis tuberosa), mashua...
It is hypothesized that extracting the vapor from two-phase flow in a microchannel will result in a lowered pressure drop required to drive the flow. The goal of this thesis is to construct an experimental device that will test this hypothesis by comparing a number of phase separating test conditions...
In an increasing sedentary society, it is becoming even more important to
encourage adolescent girls to participate and value physical activity. This
document provides a study grounded in scholarly research exploring issues of
importance to the promotion and implementation of programs relevant to
motivating girls to be physically active, specifically...
Advancements in neurological data capturing and mapping have provided scientists with exponentially more information, allowing for more detailed analysis of neurological behaviors and their translations to cognitive, emotional, and physical function. Inspired by the diffculty in diagnosing brain damage, this project seeks to leverage statistical modeling with EEG data to...
A short (approximately 8 minute) video was created to explain key concepts in estuarine flow and numerical modeling of estuaries for high school students. Animation, real picture videography, and numerical model outputs were used to illustrate how scientists use physics and physics models to understand how flow in an estuary...
Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline compounds formed from reacting a metal ion with an organic ligand. They represent a promising new avenue in materials science for gas separations and storage. Certain MOFs, in particular Mg-MOF-74, have shown a strong affinity for the capture of CO2. This project investigated a known...
Degeneration of the intervertebral disc (IVD) is a phenomenon that has yet to be adequately addressed. Treatment options remain limited and incomplete. The ability to effectively cryopreserve IVDs would allow for better allograft transplantations and storage of samples for research purposes. This study aimed to assess how cryopreservation with different...
Modern product development is a complex combination of multidisciplinary processes ranging from market research to design, engineering analysis, and logistics. The product development process has a significant impact on the success or failure of new product launches. The majority of consumer product launches fail, resulting in significant sunk cost in...
Today’s marketing researchers provide incredible depth of information which explains much consumption behavior in the marketplace. Research into consumer behavior, especially the family of research related to consumer culture theory, provides theory on which cultural phenomena motivate consumers to exhibit the patterns they do in the marketplace. This study uses...
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a leading cause of bronchopneumonia in infants and elderly. Knowledge of viral and host protein interactions is important for better understanding of the viral pathogenesis and may lead to development of novel therapeutic drugs. Here, we show that RSV Matrix (M) protein interacts with cellular...
he Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is widely known as one of the best-managed marine protected areas in the world. The park is divided into different management zones, the most prevalent of which are marine national park zones, which are designated as no-take, and conservation zones in which some regulated...
The current generation of youth, sometimes called Millennials, has had a
reputation of political apathy. However, in recent years, youth voter numbers have gone
up. If an individual or organization wanted to continue this trend of increased youth
political participation, I wanted to explore the areas that could support or...
Red raspberry markets in both Chile and Oregon are affected by factors in each other‟s production processes. As seen in the late 1990‟s changes in pricing and supply can hinder the competitive edge of markets, pushing producers into economic hardship. Thus, the need to know the competition‟s methods is presented....
This study aimed to explore the relationship between urinary cortisol levels and proximity-seeking behavior in shelter cats and the impact of socialization programs on these two factors. A Spearman’s correlation test found no correlation between cortisol levels and proximity-seeking behavior in shelter cats. Fisher’s 2x2 tests confirmed that the changes...
Objective: To explore the controversial issue of the safety and use of mercury in
amalgam dental fillings. Methods: Using a variety of scientifically oriented studies,
overall trends and conclusions were analyzed. Relevant articles include Children’s
exposure to Amalgam, fetal exposure, environmental mercury, occupational exposure,
and mercury and Multiple Sclerosis. Additional...
Ferlins are a family of calcium-sensitive proteins involved in fusion and fission membrane trafficking events. There are six ferlin members: dysferlin, otoferlin, myoferlin, Fer1L4, Fer1L5, and Fer1L6. Previous research shows the first three ferlins play a pathophysiological role in humans, while the other three remain uncharacterized. Fer1L6 is one of...
A flipped classroom provides students with course content in the form of videos, readings, and/or simulations that they complete during the time traditionally used for homework assignments while in-class time is devoted to hands-on group learning activities. Project BoxSand is gathering quantitative data on how students in a flipped classroom,...
A disproportionate amount of HIV/AIDS cases each year occur among African Americans. The purpose of this study was to review the numerous studies on HIV/AIDS conspiracy beliefs and their effects into one document. This research was done using research databases to indentify peer-reviewed journal articles on HIV/AIDS conspiracy beliefs, and...
SMEs with high-mix and low-volume (HMLV) operations face special challenges when implementing lean manufacturing practices due to scarcity of resources and ever changing market conditions. This is especially critical for manufacturers that need to deliver orders to a high variety of customers with varying time response requirements. The objective of...
The computer game industry continues to progress toward realistic-looking character motion. However, even in state-of-the-art games, the use of motion capture data in character animation may result in errors such as “foot slipping,” where the feet do not match up with the floor properly during translation. Various algorithms have been...
It has long been recognized by the legal community that when an immigrant seeks relief from deportation proceedings through the United States’ immigration courts, the proceedings they undertake are best seen as a game of chance depending on the Immigration Judge who is randomly assigned to their case. This thesis...
Wildfires are increasing in frequency. One area of research interest centers on the pollutants within wildfire smoke, including but not limited to particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These chemicals are associated with exacerbation of respiratory, cardiovascular, dermatological, reproductive, oncological, gastrointestinal, and infectious conditions. As wildfires becoming increasingly prevalent, it...
Using a plastic bottle, we explore the capabilities of a reflective phase-only Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) in removing wavefront aberrations using a Zernike polynomial phase mask, with the modulators phase depth limited to 0.8π radians. Wavefront aberrations, which can be modeled with Zernike polynomials, distort image transmission through various optical...
Multinational corporations must be aware of the business and financial reporting issues that await them abroad. Investors also must have this knowledge in order to adequately interpret the financial information they receive from these companies. This study compares and contrasts the business environments in the US and Mexico, with a...
Multinational corporations must be aware of the business and financial reporting issues
that await them abroad. Investors also must have this knowledge in order to adequately
interpret the financial information they receive from these companies. This study
compares and contrasts the business environments in the US and Mexico, with a...
The last two years of the Covid-19 pandemic have brought significant changes to global and American societies, as well as to our healthcare system. Millions of Americans were laid off and left without insurance, some areas of medicine suffered financial catastrophe with a fall in patient volumes, others were victims...
With the miniaturization of microelectronics and increase of processor speeds in the last few decades, thermal management is drastically affecting overall packaging and system capabilities. Due to the special needs introduced, research focusing on microscale cooling has increased. This study combines the positive characteristics of single- and two-phase flows in...
The Oregon Department of Education requires children to receive vision screening before entering elementary school, but does not require follow-up with an eye care professional after a failed screening. Whether such preventative vision care is effective at detecting children with vision problems was investigated through research from the American Optometric...
Introduction: Research has demonstrated that minimal shoes may help prevent ankle injuries by mimicking natural barefoot running. It has been proven that minimal shoes may help adults prevent injuries in the correct conditions, but little is known about the effect of minimal and barefoot running on youth kinematics. Purpose: To...
Increased dependence on fossil fuels and concerns of anthropogenic climate change have led to increased interest in alternative energy sources. Liquid fuels derived from renewable raw materials have gained attention in recent years due to their similarity to petroleum-based fuels. Biofuels derived through hydrodeoxygenation have been found to be one...
Understanding the relationships between land use, water quality, and groundwater is crucial for ecological, economic, and water management decisions. This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the land use activities and hydrologic processes influencing the water quality of Oak Creek watershed. Objectives of this study were: 1) to...
The designing of electrical machinery is fully
as essential to the thorough understanding of power
equipment and apparatus, as is the taking of a laboratory
testing course. One learns the relationship
of the different parts, the methods of computing
their dimensions, and the predetermination of outputs,
efficiencies, etc. and thus...
This thesis is mainly a collection of historic data regarding the Union Pacific Railroad together with the opinions of various persons regarding the Union Pacific; also opinions on corporations in general and railway corporations in particular.
"In conclusion it may be said that kale is almost
a winter maintenance ration for swine, but when fed in
addition with a little grain or skim milk, good growths
will be made. Especially is this true of young pigs as
is denoted by the tables. Taking all in all,...
Bee populations are declining around the globe, while the need for their pollination services is increasing with growing food demands by an expanding population. There is a need for innovative practices to increase pollination in agricultural environments without harming wild bee populations. However, the use of artificial visual attractants has...
Hydrogels have been attractive for use as a medium in porous flow studies,
but have always been limited in this role because of their poor mechanical properties.
This project analyzes and tests two recently developed hydrogels,
poly(methacrylamide-co-methacrylic acid) (PMM), and a heat-treated long chain
PVA hydrogel. Particle image velocimetry (PIV)...
This work details the development of 3D printed TPU pneunet actuators for use in apple picking for agricultural soft robotics. These actuators increase the force capabilities of soft pneunets and simplify manufacturing. Grippers based on these actuators are ideal for apple picking because they are compliant, yet exert sufficient force...
This work is concerned with determining whether nicotine has a role in promoting oxidative damage in human tissue, particularly in lung tissue. This follows from recent reports of a novel lung disease found in some E-cigarette users, characterized by oxidative damage and elevated levels of neutrophils (termed “vaping disease”). It...
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...
An experimental setup has been partially developed to investigate the impact of an actively controlled trailing edge component upon the energy harvesting performance of an oscillating airfoil in a pitching and heaving regime. While previous and current efforts have and continue to
function to characterize the performance of such a...
Interest in organizational culture has grown enormously over the last twenty years and much
effort has gone into investigating the relationship between organizational culture and
performance. Because most research to date has focused on large organizations, we chose to
investigate the culture in a community bank undergoing a cultural transformation....
Moral elevation refers to the distinct state of warmth and expansion that some individuals experience after witnessing or learning about the altruistic acts of others. Elevation is a particularly interesting positive emotion for its capacity to promote various altruistic behaviors, as well as motivate witnesses to improve their character. The...
Title: The Influence of External Focus of Attention Feedback on ACL Injury Related Landing Biomechanics Purpose: To investigate whether a one-time dose of external feedback would result in immediate changes in landing biomechanics related to ACL injury risk and if any changes are retained after 48 hours. Methods: We used...
This paper seeks to assess the merits of “Vote With Your Dollar” (VWYD) strategies for consumer and investor activism as a model for changing corporate behavior. A novel framework was constructed to group VWYD strategies and campaigns under shared attributes. To assess one such group, the boycott, the research gathered...
:
_____________________________________________________________________
James Sterns
This paper seeks to assess the merits of “Vote With Your Dollar” (VWYD) strategies
Sulfide is an important species to measure in environmental water samples. The
spectrophotometric detection method for reduced sulfur species (sulfide) based on
generation of methylene blue was adapted to work in an apparatus utilizing microfluidic
PDMS mixing and observation cells with flow channels in the 100 μm range. The
benefits...
High field time-domain terahertz spectroscopy (TDS) is used to determine the time dependent transmission and the time-delay and optical-power dependent conductivity of a wafer of gallium arsenide (GaAs). Gallium arsenide is a direct band-gap semiconductor and has potential as a computer processor component. Analysis of the transmission of terahertz (THz)...
Motivation: It can take considerable amounts of time and effort to use existing computational tools to analyze a small RNA sequence for the purpose of determining if it is characteristic of microRNA. It is similarly tedious to search for homologs to known microRNA sequences in the rapidly growing collection of...
Prunus laurocerasus, commonly known as cherrylaurel, is a woody shrub grown in temperate climates for its durability and landscape appeal. Due to its abundance of drupes that are spread by birds, cherrylaurel is a litter nuisance in cultivation and also has escaped cultivation such that it has naturalized. Furthermore, it...
Estrogen (E2) is essential for multiple physiological effects in females, ensuring maximum reproductive fitness and maintaining skeletal homeostasis. E2 has been shown to stimulate cancellous bone formation via activation of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα), an effect widely accepted to be mediated directly at bone. A recent landmark study by Herber...
One of the principal drivers of climate change is the concentration of greenhouse gases such as CO2 in the atmosphere. A large portion of this CO2 ends up in the waters off the continental coasts where it transforms into biomass. The major sink for this matter is the ocean sediments...
Factorization of integers is an important aspect of cryptography since it can be used as an
attack against some of the common cryptographic methods being used. There are
numerous methods in existence for factoring integers. Some of these are faster than
others for general numbers, while others work best on...
Fish mobility affects the distribution of commercially caught fish species in marine protected areas (MPAs) and unprotected areas, which we will call fishing grounds (FGs). Previous theoretical findings predicted that highly mobile fish would benefit little if at all from protection in MPAs (Demartini 1993, Walters et al. 1999). However,...