Spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, is a recently introduced, invasive pest in Oregon. It oviposits in near-mature and mature fruit, and thus is an important concern for the small fruit industry. A crop consultant observed that mature raspberry fruit with D. suzukii larvae do not show symptoms of molds as...
This study compares the requirements of three forest certification systems, the Sustainable Forestry Institute (SFI), the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), with the 2005 McDonald-Dunn Forest Plan Revision. The analysis was done with a series of matrices comparing the requirements of SFI and FSC...
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...
After a joint injury, arthrogenic muscle inhibition (AMI) leads to decreased neuromuscular control and strength, as neural inhibition prevents volitional activation of the entire motor neuron pool. Traditional rehabilitation techniques such as strength training are unable to effectively reduce AMI and there is a need to identify interventions that can...
Otoferlin is a protein that is essential in the process of hearing. Mutations in otoferlin are associated with profound recessive deafness. The long-term goal of the Johnson lab is to understand how otoferlin contributes to hearing and why certain mutations result in deafness. This project sought to characterize the difference...
The ferlin protein family regulates membrane trafficking events for a wide range of cellular and physiological processes in eukaryotic organisms. Structurally, ferlins are distinguished by containing five to seven C2 domains with a single-pass transmembrane domain at the C-terminus. In mammals, there are 6 ferlin genes, including Fer1L6, which confer...
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...
Background: Certain knee movements place the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) at risk of injury. These injuries commonly affect athletes especially at the end of events. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of exhaustive exercise on frontal plane hip and knee mechanics during two tasks in order...
Background: The capability of an individual to produce force rapidly is important for performance of sporting activities and to stabilize a joint to protect against injury. Rate of torque development (RTD) and contractile impulse (CI) may be more effective than peak torque in assessing rapid torque production. The relationship between...
Background: The ability to produce rapid muscle force and joint torque is important for performance in sports, injury prevention and rehabilitation, and balance recovery. One way to measure rapid torque production is rate of torque development (RTD), which is the slope of the torque-time curve. Interventions aimed at increasing RTD...
Fer1L6 is an uncharacterized member of the ferlin family of proteins, a group of large, calcium sensitive proteins with emerging roles in vesicle trafficking and various disease states. The presence of Fer1L6 has been identified within the C2C12 cell line of mouse skeletal muscle. To determine the protein’s subcellular location...
The Missoula Floods occurred approximately fifteen thousand to thirteen thousand years ago during the last ice age. The floods occurred when waters held back by a finger of the Purcell Ice Lobe gave way allowing water which covered present day Missoula, Montana to inundate areas of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon....
I construct and examine the properties of Lie and Clifford algebras which are used to describe certain types of particles. These algebras are then related to the traditional theory of division algebras. Quaternions are applied to these algebras and their properties are exploited to model physical properties of particles. The...
Seasonality is defined as a change in mood and behavior with the seasons. Research shows there is a possible connection between vitamin D levels and mood (Murphy & Wagner, 2008; Lansdowne & Provost, 1998). Given that vitamin D is produced when skin is exposed to sunlight and varies with sun...
Despite the many advances in biotechnology and biomedical engineering, the need for long term organ and tissue storage remains among the unsolved problems in the field. Researchers are investigating several possible solutions to the issue that aim to maintain the function and integrity of the biological tissues during storage and...
Knowledge concerning trade wind cumulus, one of the most dominant cloud types
on the planet, has become increasingly important when considering global issues such as climate change due to their potential influence on the Earth’s energy budget. In this project, using data from the Rain in Cumulus over the Ocean...
Little work has been conducted regarding the net returns of forest lands. The Ricardian model is ripe with potential to estimate the effects of climate on net returns to forestry.
Multiple linear regression allows each climate variable to measure its effect of net returns with the assumption of all other...
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is described as a developmental disability characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication, and repetitive or restricted movements. It has been shown that as children with ASD age, their cognitive and social skills improve with time, and physical activity has been linked with improving aspects of...
The data retrieved from gt;momic sequencing techniques provides the raw information required to infer the basis of mutations and their resulting phenotypes, wherein plant ontologies can be utilized in annotating said phenotypes using a common, shared vocabulary. By relating mutant genes of similar phenotypes both within and between plant species,...
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...
Locating sources of radio signals can be useful in many applications. From pointing antennas at nearby radio towers to fox hunting, being able to determine the relative location or direction to a radio transmitter can be very useful. Generally, it is necessary to have the current GPS locations of both...
Instance segmentation, the classification and localization of objects in an image, is a problem in cellular biophysics due to the physiological relevance of cell morphology. Particularly, cancer cells migrate in tissue space by changing their body shape similarly to how humans extend their limbs to swim through water. Monitoring such...
OVERVIEW OF INTRODUCTION - This is a combined thesis for both disciplines of BioResource Research (BRR)Interdisciplinary and International Degree (ID) Programs OSU. The first chapter encompasses the BRR research, which is a preliminary study utilizing immunohistochemical method to characterize melanomas in bigenic mice with activated Cdk4 protein and Retinoid-X-Receptor α...
The main goal of this project is to implement an algorithmic music composition procedure and present all procedures and results in a reproducible fashion by creating a web application produced by R. To approach the implementation of the algorithmic composition of music, we start by exploring various models, but ultimately...
Hatcheries are used to produce salmon to augment the number of fish available for harvest, and to supplement wild populations that may be threatened with extinction. Although traditional hatchery rearing methods can produce many fish, they can pose risk to wild populations because they tend to produce salmon with lower...
Hatcheries are used to produce salmon to augment the number of fish available for harvest, and to supplement wild populations that may be threatened with extinction. Although traditional hatchery rearing methods can produce many fish, they can pose risk to wild populations because they tend to produce salmon with lower...
As engineered nanomaterials (ENM) become more common in consumer products, it is crucial to rapidly assess toxicity of unique ENM. Previous studies rarely focused on standardizing nanotoxicity testing, leading to inconsistent and irreproducible results. This study characterized a variety of ENM of different size, shape, core type, and surface charge...
In current nanotoxicology research, there is a lack of standardization in reporting of zebrafish exposure media and sonication practices. This lack of standardization in use and reporting methods has made reproducing nanoparticle (NP) toxicity results between labs a common issue. It is important to have a standardized way of reporting...
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...
Obtaining high-resolution structures of biological macromolecules has become one of the biggest challenges in the scientific world. Dr. Wei Kong’s lab is currently working to overcome the limitations of current structure resolution techniques, such as x-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Kong’s group hopes to develop a new protein...
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Colin Johnson, Committee Member, representing Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics
Advances in technology such as 3D digital scanning and spatial analysis software have provided archaeologists with novel data. Specifically, these methods increase the researcher's ability to measure artifact morphology and past networks of cultural transmission, to potentially track the movement of past peoples and ideas through space and time. This...
Endophytes, foliage inhabiting fungi, are an unexplored source of fungal biodiversity and a potential resource for the production of bioactive natural products. In this research, leaf tissues from the species Arbutus menziesii, Rhododendron macrophyllum and the genus, Ilex and Salix were collected for the isolation of endophytic fungi. Fungal extracts...
From British Columbia to northern California, coastal giant salamanders (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) are a dominant vertebrate predator in headwater streams. Though widespread, salamander health and abundance levels differ greatly between locations, provoking the question as to what factors may influence this variation and whether habitat features or biotic variables play a...
To evaluate and monitor insecticide resistance in onion thrips Thrips tabaci on onion (Allium cepa), we conducted a study using three field populations in the Treasure Valley of eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho using the insecticides Lannate (methomyl) and Exirel (cyantraniliprole). To evaluate these two insecticides, biological assays were conducted...
Clostridium perfringens type A isolates produce the spore-specific enterotoxin, CPE, upon sporulation in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals. Spo0A is a response regulator representing the major transcription factor for sporulation initiation in C. perfringens. In Bacillus subtilis, a multicomponent phosphorelay involving five histidine kinases (KinA-KinE), the intermediate response...
This is the presentation for a larger comparative study on the trials of Henry Wirz and John Gee. The study compares the role of the Judge Advocate, media representation, as well as socioeconomic status in the outcome of two war crime trials.
Semiconductors serve an integral role in our technologies today. However, with new advancements in ultra-fast electronics, we are approaching the fundamental speed limits of traditional silicon-based semiconductors. Silicon-based semiconductors typically exhibit photocarrier dynamics in nanosecond timescales. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are 2D materials shown to exhibit photocarrier dynamics in picosecond...
An understanding of oppression and privilege would improve engineering climates and encourage individuals with marginalized identities to stay engaged in engineering spaces. Currently there are quantitative tools to assess cultural competencies, but none that measure understandings of power relationships. This project aims to create a qualitative assessment instrument to measure...
The Walt Disney Company is one of the most recognizable and pervasive sources of children’s entertainment worldwide and has carefully crafted an image of childhood innocence. This wholesome image is contradicted by Disney’s consistent use of racist and sexist tropes, as well as its record of covertly using political themes...
Renibacterium salmoninarum is the causative agent of bacterial kidney disease in both
wild and farmed salmonid species worldwide. The genome of this pathogen has
significant synteny to the ubiquitous, soil-dwelling Arthrobacter spp. though it is 1.9 Mb
smaller, suggesting that reductive evolution has occurred. Recently, our group finished
sequencing and...
Integrated Distributed Electric Augmented Lift (IDEAL) applies upper surface blowing in a novel way to achieve electric short take-off and landing to meet the growing need for urban air transportation. Additional research on propulsion airframe interaction (PAI) with trailing edge flaps at low Reynolds numbers was necessary to advance the...
Few discoveries of any importance have been the result of a moment's happy coincidence; rather have they been the fruit of many hours of tedious thought and experiment. This is especially true in the realm of organic chemistry. Here, where progress is made only by the most painstaking experimentation, extensive...