The Arabidopsis thaliana developmental promoters of WUSCHEL (WUS) and COLD SHOCK DOMAIN PROTEIN 3 (CSP3) were tested for their suitability as potential control elements for the Cre-Lox recombination system in poplar cells. To remove the integrated transgene after CRISPR machinery has modified the genome, timely control of Cre is required....
The debate over GM crops is one of the most controversial issues of recent decades. The debate has many dimensions, including environmental impacts, benefits and risks to human health, intellectual property rights, adequacy of biosafety regulations, and fundamental ethical acceptability. The potential benefits of GM crops are numerous, including improved...
Transgenic biotechnology holds enormous potential as a tool to address global food insecurity. Transgenic food crops have been shown to increase food availability and food system security by incorporating disease, pesticide and drought resistance. Production costs of transgenic crops are lower due to the reduced need for costly pesticides and...
Music is a global tradition. Different cultures around the word have different musical traditions and histories, but all people create music for the same reason: the love of music and expressing oneself. In the spring of 2011, the Oregon State University Music Department entered into a cultural exchange program with...
The Other Side of Marin investigates how the lack of communication between family members can lead to potentially devastating consequences. The novella, set in the 1970s in Northern California, is told from the points of view of Lucy, a middle-aged mother of four, and her teenage son, who for his...
As a metafictional work of science fiction literature, A Novel Elysium explores the timelessness of
both the human mind and its literary surroundings, comparing the self-awareness of its characters to
the sometimes tragic or empowering metaphysical realizations of human beings. Within this
framework, any concrete place or time is unimportant;...
Recalcitrance to transformation makes genetic engineering of many valuable plants infeasible for practical use. Transitory host modification during transformation using transgenes offers a possible means of overcoming this obstacle. In prior work in our laboratory, the genes GA20ox7 and EBB1 were found to increase regeneration in vitro. In this project,...
Obesity is achieved at the point where fat accumulation begins to exert deleterious effects on an organism. The human body accrues fat when there is an energy imbalance occurring, where caloric intake exceeds expenditure.Many anti-obesity drugs used in the past have had undesirable side effects, and currently there is a...
Metabolic syndrome, characterized by a collection of risk factors including abdominal obesity, insulin insensitivity, elevated plasma triglycerides, hypertension and low plasma high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), is a major contributing factor to the development of cardiovascular diseases and type II diabetes (T2D). Xanthohumol (XN), a flavonoid isolated from Humulus lupulus cones, has...
Flavonoids are a large family of compounds synthesized by plants that have a common chemical structure. It is believed that the health effects of fruits and vegetables are primarily due to dietary flavonoids content. Current research indicates that dietary flavonoids show promise for mitigating and/or preventing chronic conditions associated with...
Due to public and regulatory restrictions, genetic containment technology is critical for research and development of transgenic trees in forestry. A multi-year field trial demonstrated that the RNAi-LFY construct successfully induces sexual sterility in 6K10 poplar (Populus alba) without visible effects on vegetative development. However, its limited number of replicates...
The oilseed crop Limnanthes alba (white meadowfoam) is grown in Oregon. Methods were developed for the production of a liquid-based bioherbicide from meadowfoam seed meal (MSM). It was determined that glucosinolate-containing extracts of MSM can be combined with active-enzyme-containing liquid extracts of meadowfoam seed to form a fermented product rich...
Carbonic anhydrases are ubiquitous enzymes that catalyze the reverse hydration and dehydration of carbon dioxide and bicarbonate respectively. A variety of tumors in humans show overexpression of human carbonic anhydrase II (HCA II) leading to an acidic breakdown of carbon dioxide into bicarbonate. While a variety of drug inhibitors exist,...
I investigate the feasibility of a micron-sized biosensor designed to measure neural activity. The circuitry of the biosensor is composed of graphene, some photodiodes, and a light-emitting diode. Many of these biosensors would be injected into a subject’s brain, and when powered by near-infrared light, they would glow in response...
Bacteria are critical to the health of eukaryotes and the ecosystems in which they persist. Some symbiotic interactions are mutualistic in which both microbe and host benefit from the partnership. Other interactions are parasitic, and the microbe typically benefits at a cost to the host. Rhodococcus is a genus of...
The purpose of this project was to optimize the biomass growth of Schizochytrium limacinum SR21. This was achieved by studying the effect of various concentrations of glucose, use of pure glycerol and purified crude glycerol as alternative carbon sources, and inhibition of cell growth with the presence of copper. The...
The purpose of this project was to optimize the biomass growth of Schizochytrium limacinum SR21. This was achieved by studying the effect of various concentrations of glucose, use of pure glycerol and purified crude glycerol as alternative carbon sources, and inhibition of cell growth with the presence of copper. The...
Watching how Oregon State is working to combat some of the complex social issues that plague the world today by placing student success at the top of their strategic priority list, the Oregon State Investment Group (OSIG) believes that by leveraging capital markets we can play our part in helping...
Mycobacterium abscessus (MAB) is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for infections in immunocompromised or immunosuppressed patients. Even with long-term treatment with multiple antibiotics, MAB pulmonary infections have high rates of treatment failure. Within the host, MAB is phagocytosed by key innate immune cells macrophages. The TLR2 and TLR4 are two critical...
Phytochemicals from the genus, Fagonia, have been attracting increasing attention due to their potential beneficial effects on human health, particularly, anti-cancer properties. Certain Fagonia species contain various types of phytochemicals such as saponins, alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, terpenoids, and tannins. In this study, we investigated the phytochemical composition of a...
The present essay discusses themes of dehumanization and reliance on a biomedical model of care within U.S. psychiatric systems in treating individuals diagnosed with psychosis. This model is contrasted with alternative treatment approaches that are person-centered rather than disease-centered. These include Open Dialogue, Soteria, and Hearing Voices Movement. In the...
Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate intracellular bacterium that causes diseases of the eye and urogenital tract in humans. It is the cause of the sexual transmitted infection (STI) chlamydia, the most prevalent STI worldwide, and the ocular disease trachoma, the leading cause of infectious blindness. To date there is no...
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Steven Carrell, Committee Member, representing Center for Excellence in Genome Research
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...
Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate intracellular pathogen that affects millions of people worldwide via ocular or reproductive tract infection. Despite obvious differences in site of infection, there has been shown to be high levels of sequence conservation across C. trachomatis. This high level of sequence conservation is hindered with a...
DNA mismatch repair (MMR) plays an important role in preserving genomic stability and reducing cancer risk. Environmental exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are believed to contribute significantly to carcinogenesis. PAHs are found in food, air, water and soil and upon bioactivation can form diol epoxides which are electrophilic in...
Acetaminophen (APAP) is a commonly used analgesic and antipyretic drug that can cause liver injury, liver necrosis, and liver failure. APAP-induced liver failure (AILF) is associated with depletion of glutathione and the increased formation of APAP protein adducts from the toxic NAPQI metabolite. There is a hypothesized detoxifying pathway where...
Severe cases of COVID-19 have been associated with cytokine storms, leading to widespread inflammation, tissue damage, and organ failure. Pro-inflammatory cytokines have also been shown to play a role in liver diseases, including alcoholic liver disease. To investigate alcohol consumption as a risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19 severity,...
Diet History Questionnaires (DHQ) can only provide general information about a person’s nutritional intake. It is unable to cluster groups of people based on diets or lifestyles, nor identify specific foods that may play a role in disease prevention. The aim of this study was to validate the use of...
The purpose of this thesis is to propose swiveling behavior as a potential speech transitioning device and to discuss the methodology behind qualitative and quantitative analysis of swivels in relation to subjects’ partners. Due to the impacts of gaze and body orientation direction on speech transitioning, it is deduced that,...
Current natural product (NP) research is limited by its reliance on bioassay-guided fractionation to identify bioactive compounds in mixtures. Computational approaches may improve NP research by correlating mass spectra (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra (NMR) of bioactive mixtures to their bioactivity patterns. In this study, I use artificial neural...
Chlamydia possesses an immense importance within both human and animal medicine when looking at pathogens. Chlamydia trachomatis infections have been shown to affect both the eye and genital tracts in millions of humans and animals every year [13]. As C. trachomatis strains are highly conserved in patients, it has made...
Carcinus maenas is an invasive marine predator. Its generalist feeding strategies make it one of the most effective invaders. Carcinus maenas has invasive populations throughout the world, and was recently introduced to the west coast of North America. This study looks at the abundance and growth of C. maenas in...
Family influence in the home environment has been linked to children’s nutrition and physical activity behaviors. However few tools exist to identify family level behaviors and families’ readiness to change those behaviors, particularly for populations at high risk for obesity such as Hispanics. This study summarizes the relationships of similar...
Red Signal Countdown Timers (RSCTs) are devices placed at intersections to inform drivers of the time remaining on a red indication before it turns green, typically to improve intersection efficiency. This study examines the visual attention of Oregon drivers to circular red (CR) indications with RSCTs as compared to standard...
The case of Mongolia’s democratization remains unexplained by the various theories of democratization and democratic consolidation. The purpose of this thesis is to consider the unique case of Mongolian democratization, how well this case is described by various theories of democratization and reach both a description of how Mongolia’s democratization...
Non-toxic species of desiccated blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, may offer potential for use as a fertilizer on irrigated crops. Here, the non-toxic cyanobacteria species Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA), collected from Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, was evaluated for use as a biofertilizer in a controlled experiment on Swiss chard “Bright Lights” (Beta...
An Achilles tendon injury can be devastating. Surgical methods to bring the muscle to full strength are not always available. Proposed is an ankle foot orthosis (AFO) that is entirely passive (does not add energy to the system) and uses the mechanical advantages provided by the walking gait of a...
Asians are a minority group that are scarcely represented throughout Hollywood and the film industry. Even when there is some type of inclusion, they are often subjected to stereotypes that have been perpetuated for decades. This contributes to shaping how Asian and Asian Americans are perceived, as well as the...
This design of a Grid Friendly Electric Hot Water Heater Thermostat was built for the Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Design course, ECE44x. The design enables hot water heaters to respond to imbalances in the grid seen through deviations from standard grid frequency by varying the power output to the...
The motor protein dynein is responsible for cellular processes such as axonal transport and cell division by delivering vital information along the microtubule track. A failed delivery can cause severe damage to the cell’s functionality and lead to neurological diseases. Despite dynein’s rich history in cellular research, the mechanism of...
Pollination is a critical ecosystem function for sustaining biodiversity. However, pollinators and the services they provide are threatened by landscape-altering anthropogenic activities across the globe. Habitat loss and fragmentation, introduction of invasive species, chemical use, and urbanization have been shown to impact pollination. Pollinator foraging behavior is thought to be...
Optical trapping is a tool used throughout a wide variety of disciplines rang- ing from precisely probing and manipulating sub-micron organisms in biol- ogy to analyzing fundamental charge transfer in colloidal physics. This thesis presents research involving optical tweezer force measurements of polystyrene and silica microspheres. In addition, preliminary work...
Ocean deoxygenation is predicted to increase in severity over the next few decades, posing a threat to marine life and fishing economies. Improved predictions of ocean deoxygenation depend on a better understanding of the biogeochemical mechanisms that underly this process. Within the realm of biogeochemical mechanisms, this project specifically investigated...
Marine sediment core OC1706B-02J ( 46° 15.4178 N, 125° 42.4543 W, at water depth 2263m), was collected on the lower continental slope near the base of the Willapa Canyon. It is a rapidly accumulating site (~30cm/kyr) located near the thrust front of the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The site is also...
The synergetic interplay between the removal of saturated methyl esters and the addition of deoxygenated fatty acids on depressing the cloud point temperature of biodiesel was investigated in this study. Canola biodiesel was produced in batch as a standard with a cloud point of 1.37 +/- 6.3°C. Saturated methyl esters...
At the start of the public’s use of the internet in 1983, whatever news made it online was expected to be open and free of charge. However, the idea that news should always be accessible online changed as newspapers moved most of their content online and needed online subscriptions to...
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin is known for altering the social and political landscape of the United States during a particularly tumultuous, divided period. The novel, which tells the story of enslaved man Uncle Tom, had wide influence and was considered to help “lay the groundwork for the Civil...
Objective: This study presents an in-depth review of the correlations between peer learning methods and Academic success for students within the Oregon State University introductory PH 20X physics series. This study also sought to determine how, if any, demographics impacted the relationship between these correlates, and if the course structure...
This study examines climatological influences, particularly that of snowpack, on tree growth and stable carbon isotope discrimination (Δ¹³C) from ~1980 to 2013 at two sites located in the upper reaches of the McKenzie River watershed of the Oregon Cascade Mountains. We tested the use of Δ¹³C values from latewood, corroborated...
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are carcinogenic chemical compounds found in the
environment, largely as a result of partial combustion of organic compounds. PAHs are
present in the atmosphere in populated cities worldwide. Because of the health risks they
create, PAHs are a global health concern. PAHs are introduced into the...
When analyzing foreign policy, a significant question arises. How do nations make decisions about foreign engagement and neutrality? Understanding what factors and influences shape foreign policy decisions is often a difficult task as the motivation for action is never clear or absolute. This work will analyze whether or not the...
Histones, as part of nucleosomes, are responsible for DNA packaging in chromosomes. They also affect DNA expression by a multitude of post-translational modifications, especially prevalent on the amino terminus of histones. Co-activator protein complexes “write”, “read”, or “erase” histone modifications, and in balance determine which sections of DNA are free...
The dynein molecule is a peculiar motor protein recognized for its unique stepping behavior. Sometimes it steps forwards. Other times it steps backwards. It has even been observed to occasionally shuffle by beginning a step with the same domain many times in row. These motions make dynein an interesting object...
Climate change is occurring at an increasingly rapid rate, with impacts heightened in the cold regions of the world including the Arctic. Warming effects are widespread, with one impacted process – freeze-thaw cycles – increasing in frequency and potentially triggering additional changes in permafrost soils that have previously acted as...
The rise of digital streaming has largely impacted the way the average listener consumes music. Consequentially, while the role of album art has evolved to meet the changes in music technology, it is hard to measure the effect of digital streaming on modern album art. This research seeks to determine...
Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), a member of the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) family, is frequently dysregulated in a variety of cancers. Overexpression of the receptor leads to increased cell proliferation and resistance to cell death due to downstream signaling effects. Proteasomal degradation of HER2 results in the...
The ever-increasing global population presents looming problems for the field of agriculture. Global food demand will, at some point, increase to the point where there is not enough crop-ready land to keep up. This creates an additional incentive, other than economics, for growers to increase their yield-per-acre and make sure...
What does race have to do with it? A study of racial conflict theory. Looking back at the 2012 Presidential election, it is important to re-evaluate who participates in a democratic process. It is necessary to observe voter participation by people of color in order to gain a more robust...
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...
Using a spectrometer and photomultiplier tube, I measured the electromagnetic radiation transmittance properties of three types of tissue-- ventral skin, cardiac muscle, and liver tissue--in the red-sided garter snake Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis between the wavelengths of 450 and 850 nanometers (nm). Control readings were taken using a 10⁻² neutral density...
Understanding charge transfer in organic semiconductors is important for developing devices like organic light emitting diodes and flexible electronics. Optical tweezers have been used in many disciplines for trapping, manipulating, and analyzing microscopic objects such as microspheres, micro-organisms, and other colloidal particles. Using optical tweezers, studies have measured the average...
Plant litter decomposition plays an important role in the global carbon cycle, and contributes large amounts of carbon to soils, which store more carbon than any other terrestrial pool of organic matter. Decomposition plays a fundamental role in nutrient cycling and alters soil properties that shape plant community composition and...
The Introductory Physics 20X series has developed an advanced, metacognitive curriculum which requires a high degree of active learning in order for students to succeed in the class. Recently, the series has been transferred to the online campus, Ecampus, and is now available for distance learners. My work is focused...
Drosophila suzukii was a known pest of berries, grapes, and stone fruits in East Asia for almost a century. Yet in recent years it has successfully migrated throughout the United States, Mexico, and Europe due to globalized fruit trade. The invasive success of D. suzukii is causing unrest for fruit...
Mitochondria provide energy for biological cells to function, but this process is also a source of oxygen radicals that are capable of damaging nearby proteins. Mitochondrial protein damage can eventually lead to cell death, especially in the case of heart cells, where mitochondria are present in the highest concentrations. As...
The preceding empirical research examines the traditional and evolutionary research surrounding youth deviance. Deviance is routinely discussed as an adverse impact in a plethora of theories and it is imperative to further develop the knowledge of deviance as society progresses. In this report, the utilized sample group approximately (n=13583) was...
Insoluble surfactants are unique molecules that have the ability to manipulate interfacial properties, becoming useful in numerous applications such as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, dispersants, and more. Interfacial rheology is a field that attempts to characterize the flow properties of insoluble surfactants by exerting a stress on the...
Understanding species distributions temporally and spatially will facilitate effective conservation efforts and catalyze informed environmental management decisions. The predicted distributions of 31 species of European bat (Mammalia: Chiroptera) were mapped across Europe using species presence records and environmental data from 72 environmental variables (annual mean temperature, precipitation, etc.). In order...
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...
Bees play a crucial role in pollinating crops, supporting biodiversity, and maintaining ecosystem health. Despite their importance, the decline in bee populations has become a global concern due to various factors including habitat loss, urbanization, and climate change. The purpose of this thesis is to write an article that highlights...
This project analyzes, tests, and redesigns an environmental control system for Global Formula Racing’s (GFR) dynamometer. It seeks to develop a working system to test GFR’s car engine under air conditions similar to those faced during competition. A model is developed to predict the performance of the environmental control system,...
Utilizing Danio rerio (zebrafish) as a model organism has gained popularity recently, however a lack of research into their immune response pathways had led to the discovery of subclinical infections, and has potentially confounded results. We conducted a study to determine the cytokine expression from TLR activation in order to...
Canine transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) has been shown to have a substantial inflammatory component. It exhibits genotypic and morphologic elements that resemble its human counterpart. Cyclooxygenases (COX) are key enzymes in the synthesis of proinflammatory molecules, such as prostaglandins. Excess prostaglandin production through cyclooxygenases may promote oncogenesis and progression of...
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...
Rhizopogon salebrosus is an abundant ectomycorrhizal fungus common throughout Western North America that forms mutualistic partnerships with Pinus species. Studied for its systematics, use in sapling nurseries, post-fire seedling establishment, and unique evolutionary history, R. salebrosus holds many secrets within its genome. This thesis aims to characterize the mating system,...
Recent observations of tidewater glaciers find that the currently accepted model for predicting ice melt vastly underestimates observed melt rates. The release of pressurized air bubbles into the ocean from pores in the ice is one process that can amplify glacier melt. To incorporate this process into models, we need...
Oil is notorious for its volatility. Often as an indicator for economic wellbeing, the commodity employs millions across the country. Entire communities in the western United States are centered around oil extraction, with employment, livelihoods, and revenues dependent on oil’s success. This combination of factors begs the question, how do...
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is a Knowledge-belief-practice system acquired through intergenerational direct and indirect observations representing past and current understandings of environments and integrates Indigenous value systems. TEK has become a popular topic recently as Indigenous stewarded lands contain more biodiversity and are more adaptable. It is critical for Indigenous...
In August of 2011, Jenny Minten came across an old coffin, complete with a skeleton, in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) Scio lodge. After it was determined that the skeleton did not represent a modern forensic case, the remains were donated to the Oregon State University Anthropology Department....
Intuitively, it seems as though natural language processing tasks might benefit from explicit representations of the syntactic and semantic properties of text. Ontonotes is a dataset which attempts to annotate texts, to represent as much as possible of the meaning of the text explicitly within the annotation. Many tools exist...
Dynamic bipedal locomotion is among the most difficult and yet relevant problems in modern robotics. While a multitude of classical control methods for bipedal locomotion exist, they are often brittle or limited in capability. In recent years, work in applying reinforcement learning to robotics has lead to superior performance across...
We do not fully understand reasons behind extinction of populations and species. Consequently, our ability to anticipate extinction (which can be considered a permanent type of an ecological threshold) has remained elusive. In particular, it is not clear how the attributes of episodic disturbance regimes can elicit extinction. In this...
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...
The Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) catalyzes genome transcription repression through the methylation of lysine residue 27 in the amino terminal region of histone 3 (H3K27me1/2/3) [2], [7]. PRC2 is made up of three highly conserved core subunits: Kmt6, Eed, and Suz12. Accurate distribution of PRC2 is essential for proper...
Recent work in machine learning concerns the detection and identification of bird species from audio recordings of their vocalizations. Such analysis can yield valuable ecological information concerning the activity and distribution of species in the wild. Current species-identification methods require individual syllables of bird audio as input, but field-collected audio...
Some evidence suggests a connection between outdoor recreation participation and
stronger environmental worldviews. This study finds little evidence supporting
participation in outdoor recreation activities and stronger environmental worldviews and
some evidence supporting a weak connection between appreciative outdoor recreation
and stronger environmental worldviews. Additionally, the study documents greater
participation in...
Cob is an earthen building material composed of sand, clay and straw. Though cob homes
are presently being built in the Pacific Northwest, there is no applicable building code for this
material. The purpose of this study is to establish estimates for the major engineering parameters,
including both average values...
In this paper, I used a linguistic lens of translanguaging and semiotics to examine how K-12 mathematics teacher candidates (TCs) create meaning around computer science (CS) and mathematics concepts in a computational thinking (CT) setting. I defined the term “disciplinary repertoire” as a mirror to the concept of a linguistic...
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...
Over 76 cities throughout the United States have already adopted policies to limit the expansion of natural gas, mainly through updates to city codes that ban natural gas infrastructure in new construction. Rising concern over the environmental and public health impacts of methane - a greenhouse gas with a much...
How can healthcare providers, particularly pharmacists, help palliative care patients cope with the inevitability of death? This thesis reviewed how spirituality and religious beliefs can be utilized as key coping strategies for many patients and their loved ones regarding various stressors associated with facing mortality in palliative care. In the...
This paper studies the current counternarcotics methods and the electronics technology used by the United States and Colombian governments to combat narcoterrorism in the Andean region. The efficiency and efficacy of these methods with the use of electronics technology are analyzed to determine if they are
successful. The current counternarcotics...
The emergence of high explosives on the battlefield can be defined both literally and figuratively as a seismic event in the landscape of modern warfare. High explosives first came into common use in war in 1914. By the end of World War I just four years later, more than 2.5...
We measure the charging and discharging of two organic materials, PCBM and ADT-TES-F. These materials are studied through the noncontact method of particle trapping known as Optical Tweezers, where an IR laser is used to constrain the motion of a coated or noncoated silica sphere while its positional data is...