This study is a comparison to establish similarities between the funding resources of college and university athletic bands. The secondary objective is to determine the funding potential that exists as a result of alumni relations. In order to obtain funding information for a variety of athletic band programs, a survey...
Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) originates from organic matter. Climate and vegetation have been found to alter DOC production. The goal of this study was to determine where the differences in DOC production originate from. Mineral soil and substrate including maple leaves, needles, old wood, and sticks were collected from the...
An experimental apparatus is modified to allow measurements of the Seebeck coefficient and resistivity to be taken simultaneously. This apparatus is designed for bulk and thin film samples between temperatures of 10 K and 300 K. The apparatus is constructed such that these simultaneous measurements do not interfere with each...
The pulse-coupled oscillator model is widely used to simulate the dynamics of neural systems. For networks with particular internal (Mirollo-Strogatz) dynamics, I will define three broad patterns of collective behaviors found in literature in terms of inter-spike interval (ISI) statistics. These patterns are i) temporally-regular, characterized by all oscillators in...
Multiple earthquake events have been recorded off the coast of Oregon, yet their locations have great uncertainty. The largest source of uncertainty is the simple models of the crust that are used to interpret seismic recordings. Because the relationship between earthquake locations and crust are diagnostic of tectonic activity, it...
The Van der Pauw method for transport measurements of conductivity and carrier concentration were tested on indium-tin-oxide (ITO) films and silicon wafers, and then implemented on Cu10xAgxZn2Sb4S13 thin films. ITO was used as a test case for high temperature transport measurements because it a well characterized semi-metal. The mobility of...
Monitoring the concentration of phenolic compounds is important for environmental regulation, health diagnostics, and bioenergy fermentation. Vanillin is a phenol compound used as a food flavoring that can cause allergies and inhibits biofuel production. The phenol m-cresol is a toxic compound that is regulated in the environment and in human...
The fungal pathogen Cochliobolus victoriae, the causal agent of Victoria blight, produces a host-selective pathogenicity factor called victorin. In Arabidopsis thaliana, a dominant gene called "supersense" (SSN) confers constitutive victorin sensitivity at very low concentrations. SSN encodes a nucleotide-binding leucine-rich-repeat (NB-LRR) protein. In the SSN-carrying Heiligkreuztal 2 ecotype (TAIR Germplasm...
This study examines healthcare policy preferences of Oregon State University students through the lens of Political Culture Theory, as pioneered by Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky in the 1980’s. The primary goal of this study is to examine the impact of cultural traits as described by Political Culture Theory on...
Reclaimed water is a key source in overall global water management and sustainability;
however, small concentrations of antibiotics in treated wastewater effluent threaten
induction of antibiotic resistance in naturally-occurring soil bacteria and pathogens in
irrigated soils. This type of chronic exposure has the potential to lead to more severe food...
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of community trust in state systems. Consideration of community concerns by public health agencies may help to establish more equitable policies, engaging community in emergency response and promoting inclusivity and trust. This paper outlines varying definitions of trust, then describes key considerations in...
Although U.S. Latin@s are more affected by major depressive disorder than non-Latin@ whites, they are less likely to utilize mental health services. The purpose of this project is to create a children’s book that promotes the utilization of mental health services among U.S. Latin@s with major depressive disorder. This book...
The purpose of this project is to write a children’s book that promotes breastfeeding to
acculturating Latin@s. María’s Mamá’s Milk or La leche de la mamá de María is about a little
girl named María whose mother is about to give birth. María wonders what the new baby will
eat,...
The S-domain subfamily of receptor-like kinases (SD-RLKs) in plants is poorly characterized and the majority of genes have unknown functions. The goal of this study was to study the expansion of rice (Oryza sativa) SD-RLK subfamily, and characterize gene and protein structure and expression of its members using publicly available...
Wildfires can create alternative pathways for forest development, and wildfires have expanded in size, frequency, intensity, and severity across the western United States. The purpose of this paper is to compare forest development of a mature Douglas-fir forest in western Oregon across fire severities. Postburn field measurements were collected in...
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...
To design engineering systems that have improved reliability, it is important to understand what kind of system faults they will be susceptible to. Mitigation strategies are important to ensuring the performance of these engineering systems. Understanding how the modularity of complex engineering systems affects the risk of devastating failures such...
The Hippocratic Oath has served as the standard for ethical conduct for physicians and scientists alike since its establishment in 400BCE. In stating, “according to my ability and judgement, I will keep this Oath and this contract…” and through the use of other language, the Hippocratic Oath implies that the...
Researchers of healthy aging have determined trends between a species’ body mass and its maximal life span (MLSP). Actual MLSPs are then compared to predicted MLSPs and reported as a longevity quotient (LQ). Long-lived mammals, such as humans and naked mole rats (NMR), have LQs ranging from 5.0 to 10.0,...
Over the past several years, increases in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) have coincided with the 2007-2008 recession and the higher rates of unemployment in the U.S. With SNAP being the largest program, in terms of spending embedded in the farm bill, it is likely to see some spending...
Thomas Stearns Eliot’s 1922 modernist poem The Waste Land presents itself as an alternative to the decaying society Eliot found himself inhabiting. It begins as a personal means of pulling together one’s fragmented consciousness, but in doing so Eliot manages to present a solution to a world of selfishness—looking beyond...
BoGL is a programming language created for the purpose of computer science education that is specific to the domain of board games. Although there is a language grammar and an existing implementation that is currently used by students, a complete and formal language standard does not yet exist. In the...
The ribosomal cistron (rDNA cistron) is a tandemly repeated region in the genome that encodes for the necessary subunits to form ribosomes, complex molecules responsible for the assembly of amino acids into proteins. They are found within all cellular organisms, and evolve at relatively constant rates, making them ideal for...
Electroanalytical techniques allow scientists and engineers to characterize bulk solutions as well as interfaces. Potentiostats are commonly used by researchers in a variety of disciplines to analyze the chemistry which occurs at a working electrode surface. Advancements in microelectronics and the proliferation of open-source designs have allowed researchers to construct...
Recent research suggests that individuals might use compensatory movement patterns in their ACL-reconstructed (ACLR) limb when performing a triple hop (TH) to overcome quadriceps weakness. The purpose of this study was to determine if ACLR females exhibit differences in TH performance compared to previously uninjured females. Nineteen females with ACLR...
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been studied for their carcinogenic toxicity. PAHs are formed by incomplete carbon combustion. Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is an IARC classified Class 1 Human carcinogenic PAH. New studies are conducted to gain a better understanding of PAHs and how to reduce exposure. Glutathione S-transferase M 1 (GSTM1...
About one third of Americans have metabolic syndrome, which is characterized by five risk factors related to blood pressure and triglyceride levels and could lead to diabetes and heart disease if left untreated. Watermelon has been shown to exhibit cardioprotective effects due to its high phytochemical content and may act...
From my personal experiences, I’ve noticed that Latinx students and families are most receptive to college-related information communicated as anecdotes. Latinx students are among the most poorly represented demographic at universities nationwide, which I believe can be mitigated through calculated efforts to increase collegiate literacy and understanding. This project is...
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,...
Greenhouse gases effects are a leading contributor to climate change; reducing harmful effects of these gases is important for future generations. Worldwide, household consumption makes up seventy-two percent of greenhouse gas emissions, followed by government consumption at ten percent, and investments at eighteen percent (Hertwich, 2009). In order to understand...
Low-Income urban African American (LIU-AA) youth are at high risk for HIV/STIs and adolescent pregnancy. Sexual health websites (SHWs) offer an inexpensive, easy-to-disseminate, and potentially highly-accessible method of improving sexual health knowledge, awareness, and help-seeking. The present study examined engagement regarding sexual health websites for at-risk, LIU-AA youth. We conducted...
Port-Orford-cedar (POC) (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (A. Murl.) Parl) is an
important tree species native the coastal ranges of southern Oregon and northern
California. The tree is a false-cedar in the cypress (Cupressaceae) family and is used for
timber and planted as an ornamental. The tree in most of its native range...
Previous research on WWII veterans in their 70’s and 80’s has shown that positive and negative appraisals of military service mediate between combat exposure and PTSD symptoms in late life. This thesis extends this research in two ways, first by determining how these variables relate to functional health in later...
The physician-patient relationship is one that relies heavily on the premise of trust. In contemporary medicine, trust is difficult to sustain due to the distractions created by technological documentation, rules, an increasing number of patients seen by a fewer physicians that diminish the human interaction within the relationship. To emphasize...
Tooth decay in the form of dental caries and cavities is estimated to be among the most common health conditions globally, with treatment of these oral diseases resulting in a massive, world-wide economic burden. The cause of this demineralization of teeth is rooted in the action of complex microbial biofilms...
Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, are a highly abundant zooplankton species found in the Southern Ocean. They are a key food choice for higher trophic levels and are important consumers near the base of the food web. Changes to the environment of the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), as a result of...
Oxylipins are a class of bioactive lipid metabolites derived from polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) via enzymatic and non-enzymatic pathways. In order to elucidate their overall biological effects, the knowledge of the entire oxylipin profile is needed as oxylipins can have similar or opposing effects in regard to inflammatory events. Their...
The COVID-19 pandemic has shed a light on the need for people to trust in medical science. With the need for 70% of Americans to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity but 30% have reported vaccine hesitancy, now more than ever do we need to redouble our efforts to ensure...
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...
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...
Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has potential applications as a low-cost catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Defects on MoS2, such as edge sites and sulfur vacancies, are known to be the major active sites for HER. Controlling the formation of these defects allows for the enhancement in reactivity of MoS2...
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline porous material distinguished for high free empty volume and pore tunability. MOF-74(Ni) was previously shown to be effective in adsorbing carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen. Microwave-assisted synthesis of MOF-74(Ni) was shown to lower reaction time from days to hours. In this thesis, experimental conditions of...
Sea turtles are endangered species that can be censused with aerial surveys, but the number of turtles in an area must be extrapolated to include animals that are submerged. Twenty-one satellite tags were attached to juvenile loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in North Carolina. I analyzed surfacing and dive behavior...
College is a vital time to address both emotional and physical health, especially among at-risk populations such as sexual and gender minority college students. However, it has not always been clear whether health services on college campuses are actually reaching these students. The current study aimed to determine if sexual...
Anammox (Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation) is a significant biogeochemical process carried out by certain bacteria, generally referred to as anammox bacteria. These bacteria have the ability to anaerobically oxidize ammonium (NH4+) with nitrite (NO2-) to form nitrogen gas (N2) without an organic carbon source. While anammox bacteria are found in a...
The use of ureolytic bacteria for the remediation of contaminated groundwater aquifers by inducing calcium carbonate precipitation is being studied in order to establish a better understanding of the modeling and prediction of how the bacteria will act in situ. This research has pursued the use of various ureolytic bacteria...
When a nucleus is in an excited state, it will decay to lower energy by emitting photons. Often there are several intermediate stages in a decay cascade. Occasionally the photons in a cascade will be emitted in coincidence. This will be resolved by the detector not as two distinct photons,...
The thermal cross sections and resonance integrals for neutron capture by ⁷⁴,⁷⁸,⁸⁰,⁸²Se were measured using the same procedure and equipment for all of the isotopes. Uncertainty and absence of accurate previous values for several isotopes introduces a need of measuring these parameters using similar techniques. This was done using OSU’s...