Pacific razor clams (Siliqua patula) are narrow oblong bivalves that can be found in sandy habitats along the western coast of the United States, from Alaska (Aleutian Islands) to southern California (Pismo Beach). In Washington state, the razor clam fishery has been documented to be an important contributor to the...
Streams and rivers play a critical role in global carbon (C) cycling by processing, storing, and transporting C. Headwater streams which make up more than 95% of the length of streams and rivers worldwide have disproportionate influence on fluvial C dynamics. The hyporheic zone (HZ) of headwater streams is a...
Tocopherols are plant secondary metabolites that are known collectively as
vitamin E. Tocopherol compounds act as potent antioxidants by quenching free
radicals and protecting fatty acids from oxidative damage. In humans (in vivo)
tocopherols protect membrane lipids from breaking down, while in oils (in vitro)
tocopherols protect fatty acids from...
Fiber flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) production in the Willamette Valley ended in
Oregon around 1957 before newly developed technology and fiber cultivars were
available. The purpose of this research was to explore the use of modern methods and
new cultivars.
Field studies were conducted to evaluate cultivars and optimum cultural...
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are the most common DNA polymorphisms in plant and animal genomes. SNPs were identified in the allele sequences of up to 12 sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) genotypes for a genome-wide sample of 81 loci originally mapped using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers. The RFLP loci...
Microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) are highthroughput sequence based DNA markers that have been exploited as tools for measuring genetic distance and diversity in evolutionary studies, protection of intellectual property, genetic resource conservation management, cultivar identification and molecular breeding of crop plants. We isolated and sequenced 1095 clones from...
Two labelled arginines, DL-[2,3,3,-²H₃]arginine, 8,
and DL-[ ¹³C, 2-¹⁵N]arginine, 9, were synthesized. These
were fed to cultures of Streptomyces griseochromogenes in
order to probe the mechanism of the apparent arginine-2,3-
aminomutase reaction occurring in biosynthesis of blasticidin
S, 1. In previous studies of the enzymes lysine-2,3-
aminomutase and tyrosine-2,3-aminomutase different...
Medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs) are important industrial feedstocks for
soaps, detergents and surfactants. Interspecific lines derived from Cuphea lanceolata
and Cup hea viscosissima are being domesticated as a temperate source of MCFAs.
These species also serve as model organisms for understanding the biosynthesis of
MCFAs in seeds. Various markers...
Making quality and winterhardiness in barley are "ultimate" phenotypes composed of
component, quantitatively inherited traits. A 69-point genome map of the seven chromosomes of
barley was used, in conjunction with multi-environment phenotypes for grain yield and malting
quality, to determine the chromosome locations of quantitative trait loci (QTLs). A combined...
Habitat restoration projects are vital for recovering ecosystems, but they can be expensive. One way to help justify the price tag is to value the economic benefits provided by the restored habitat. The issue is that many ecosystem services and the flow of benefits they produce are complex, requiring careful...
Resistance to acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS)-inhibiting herbicides has been reported in over 90 weedy species, including wild sunflower biotypes, since the herbicides were developed in 1982. The AHAS gene family in sunflower, consisting of three paralogs AHAS1 , AHAS2, and AHAS3, has been targeted for inducing herbicide resistance. A polymorphism identified...
Two tributaries of the south fork of the Burnt River, near Unity Oregon were studied
during the summers of 2000 and 2001 to determine water heating and cooling
patterns. Hourly temperature data were recorded for air, water, and soil parameters
at four elevations 150m apart on Barney and Stevens Creeks....
Thin foil samples of special nuclear materials (SNMs) were irradiated for 60s using a Mark TRIGA II reactor, and their associated gamma emissions were recorded with a count time of 60s following irradiation. A rapid pneumatic transfer system was used to irradiate the samples in front of beam port #4....
Many parts of the West are experiencing substantial growth pressures that have increased the demand for water. These new demands come at a time when most of the water in the West has been fully appropriated by traditional uses such as agriculture, mining, and industry. Some attempts are being made...
In the social context, distinct worldviews provide multiple, subjective, durable and conflicting views of natural resource situations. This research analyzes worldviews that shape people's perceptions, understandings and evaluations of forests and forestry in order to examine conflict associated with forestry issues. Differences in local residents' views of wildland fires and...
Data from the GARP Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE) was analysed in an exploratory manner to discover the characteristics of mesoscale organization of convection and it's relationship to large-scale wind profiles. Automated methods were developed to identify the convective cells and their linear organization. These automated methods use a median high-pass...
Financial stress in agriculture has been a concern over the past
century. Agrarian values and "love of the land" seem to yield public
conclusions for the support of the industry. Much of this support is
in the interest of preserving a viable food producing sector in an
volatile world climate....
Bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) offer a great deal of potential through their near-theoretical strength, potentially high toughness and unique forming and molding traits. However, there are still a number of outstanding issues that bar their widespread use. This thesis describes the investigation of three research questions each designed to further...
Natural uranium samples were irradiated in-core for 7 seconds using the pneumatic rabbit system within the TRIGA Mark II Reactor at Oregon State University, and then used to generate a gamma-ray spectrum with a high purity germanium (HPGe) detector. The irradiated sample was simulated in Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP), a...
The neutron flux-energy spectral characterization of a Thermo Fisher MP320 deuterium-tritium neutron generator was performed for two shielding configurations, one with substantial moderator between the source and the sample and one without such moderator. The STAYSL PNNL spectral adjustment code was utilized in conjunction with MCNP modelled reference spectra and...
Land value appreciation and its relation to three
interchanges on Interstate 5 were studied. Lots within a
two mile (3.2 km.) radius and in existence in 1965 and 1975
were included. The interchanges were selected on the basis
of form, setting, type of crossroad, and distance from urban
areas. Lots...
Population attributes, behavior, and activity patterns of
Nuttall's cottontails (Sylvilagus nuttallii) inhabiting a
juniper-sagebrush scabland community in central Oregon were studied
between June 1980 and August 1981. Cottontails were trapped, marked
for individual recognition, and released at their sites of capture.
Data collected by periodic trapping and censusing of cottontails...
The collision of the Indian subcontinent with Asia beginning 40 million years ago
produced the Himalayan orogenic belt, the largest continental collision belt active today. The foreland fold-and-thrust belt in northern Pakistan consists of the Salt Range-Potwar Plateau area. In this region the distance from the Main Boundary Thrust(MBT) to...
An attempt is made to determine whether
or not property value appreciation on land adjacent to an
expanding urban center is related to distance from the
city and to identify the temporal variation in this relationship.
The results of simple linear regression strongly
suggest that property value appreciation and distance...
Air temperatures and soil temperatures at the surface, two inches,
and four inches under a grass cover were recorded over a 93 day period.
These data were used along with other temperature data from bare soil
in the construction of three sets of models for the prediction of
maximum and...
Since the passage of the mining and mineral leasing
laws, a considerable amount of the public domain has been
excluded from mineral exploration and development. It has been
estimated that as much as fifty-three and sixty-four percent
of the public lands have been withdrawn from the jurisdiction
of the mining...
The design and construction of a chemiluminescence
photometer is described. The design is based on a discrete
sample system which has a number of advantages over
the previously described flow cell system and centrifugal
analyzer. The advantages include simple and inexpensive
equipment, small sample size, versatile electronic readout
system, and...
Mount Shasta, the southernmost stratovolcano in the Cascade Range (41.4°N) has
frequently produced lahars of various magnitudes during the last 10,000 yr. These include
large flows of eruptive origin, reaching more than 40km from the summit, and studies have
shown that at least 70 debris flows of noneruptive origin have...
Shell-boring polychaetes pose economic risks for oyster aquaculture industries as they reduce the aesthetic quality of oyster products by creating unsightly mud-filled blisters on the inside of the shell. Recently there has been a reported uptick in infested oysters on commercial farms along the west coast of the US, which...
A model of the Oregon State TRIGA reactor was developed in Serpent 2 by translating a previously accepted MCNP model. Both models were verified and validated via comparison of each model and data gathered from the core start-up. Reactivity bias in each code was determined. Using the rod drop method,...
Silvicultural canopy gaps are emerging as an alternative management tool to accelerate development of complex forest structure in young, even-aged forests of the Pacific Northwest. I investigated patterns of nitrogen (N) availability along transects through 0.1 and 0.4 ha silvicultural gaps in three 50-70 year old Douglas-fir forests of western...
The Neutron radiography facility (NRF) at Oregon State University (OSU) has been modified to begin working on the non-destructive evaluation of concrete materials to study the early stages of shrinkage, cracking, and water transport of concrete during the curing process.
The objective of this work is to investigate the efficiency...
This study examines the long-term role of interference on stand development of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) and red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) planted mixtures in the Central Cascades of Oregon, USA. The two species are common associates in naturally regenerated and planted conifer stands in the Pacific Northwest. Due...
Epigenetic mechanisms are important for control of plant development, and may play a particularly important role in trees given their long life cycles and distinctive and stable tissue types. To help understand the role of epigenetics in tree development, we produced transgenic poplars with reduced activity of the DDM1 genes,...
The objective of this work was to determine and optimize the resolution of a neutron sensitive Multi-Channel Plate (MCP) detector in order to determine its capabilities in radiography and tomography. The Oregon State University, Neutron Radiography Facility added an MCP Detector in 2012 in order to analyze these capabilities. The...
This thesis evaluates dose rates from the TRIGA® reactor by comparing ion chamber measured exposure rates to exposure rates calculated from MCNP5 model data. The first step evaluates the energy distribution required to match ion chamber exposure rates from measurements taken at 1 foot increments above the reactor core. Next,...
On New Year's Eve 1993, there was little indication
that popular President Carlos Salinas de Gortari was about
to take a monumental fall. Mexico was in the midst of
unprecedented prosperity. The world's oldest ruling
political party, Mexico's PRI, enjoyed substantial support.
Allegations of corruption within an authoritarian regime
were...
Differences in primary production and periphyton and macroinvertebrate
biomass between pairs of constrained (valley floor width of less than twice the active
channel width) and unconstrained reaches were investigated in Elk River and four
tributaries in southwest Oregon. In August 1991, macroinvertebrates were sampled
from individual cobbles, and rocks were...
The role of insect herbivores in the nutrient cycling dynamics of forest ecosystems remains poorly understood. Although past research in herbivory has focused primarily on the deleterious effects that insects can have on tree growth and mortality, the overall effects of herbivory are more complex. Herbivores have the potential to...
Radiotelemetry was used to study the seasonal movements and habitat use of adult westslope cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi in Roberts
Creek and Rail Creek, headwater tributaries of the John Day River, Oregon,
from September 2000 to December 2001. The objectives were to (1)
describe adult cutthroat trout life history...
Electron capture negative ion mass spectroscopy (ECNIMS) has been
performed on environmental chemicals and explosives. A trochoidal electron
monochromator interfaced to a gas chromatograph and a quadrupole mass
spectrometer allows compounds to be studied by this method. The method employed
here differs from standard ECNIMS in that no reagent gas...
Research Questions:
1) What are the characteristics of storm location and
frequency that distinguish interannual forcing events, (ENSO
periods) for the northwest Pacific Coast?
2) Are there differences in the spatial and temporal
characteristics of storm events, (location and frequency),
between interannual forcing periods and annual average
periods?
3) Are...
Upper Klamath Lake (UKL) and Agency Lake in south-central Oregon are hypereutrophic due to phosphorus (P) loading from both geologic and agricultural sources in the watershed. Restoring historic lake-fringe wetlands to provide P sinks around the lakes has been accepted as a favorable means of reducing lake P levels and...
The establishment of a computerized data
management system (DMS) for the OSU College of
Forestry's properties is documented. The properties
consist of about 14,000 acres and are
used by many departments at OSU for instruction
and research, as well as being managed for financial
return.
The steps followed in establishing...
A cost function characterizes a firm's cost-minimizing behavior. It is defined
as a function of the level of outputs produced and the prices of factors which enter
the production process. Econometric estimation of a cost function allows one to test
hypotheses regarding the structure of cost and the structure of...
Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) face numerous challenges associated with climate change. Most research has emphasized the potential effects of elevated summer water temperatures; however, climatic changes are also projected to significantly alter incubation and rearing habitats during the late autumn, winter, and spring months ("the incubation period"). Along the southern...
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Steven M. Wondzell
Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) face numerous challenges associated
Understanding how N availability influences base cation stores is critical for long-term ecosystem sustainability. Indices of nitrogen (N) availability and the distribution of nutrients in plant biomass, soil, and soil water were examined across ten young, unpolluted Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) stands in the Oregon Coast Range spanning a three-fold soil...
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Steven S. Perakis
Understanding how N availability influences base cation stores is
Radiological emergency plans ensure that protective actions can and will be taken in the event of an accident. Principle protective actions for the early phase of an emergency are evacuation and sheltering-in-place. While evacuations are generally safe, there are deterministic, long-term health consequences from prolonged displacement that outweigh the stochastic...
The output characteristics of a conventional GaAs depletion-mode MESFET device have been investigated. One of the important parameters of the small-signal GaAs MESFET model, g[subscript ds] (output conductance), is shown to be frequency and temperature dependent. Variations in g[subscript ds] are a serious problem in many analog and digital circuits...
Coastal hypoxia, or low oxygen episodes pose a threat to marine resources in the Pacific Northwest. Previous research into nearshore oxygen dynamics have linked coastal upwelling to this seasonally occurring phenomenon, however the manifestation of hypoxic waters over coastal fishing grounds was not well understood. Through a partnership with Dungeness...
Amorphous oxide semiconductor (AOS) thin-film transistors (TFTs) constitute the central theme of this thesis. Within this theme, three primary areas of focus are pursued.
The first focus is the realization of a transparent three-stage ring oscillator with buffered output and an output frequency in the megahertz range. This leads to...
The purpose of this study is to analyze the events that occurred throughout the Egyptian Revolution from January 2010 to February 2010 through pragmatic humanism. Tweets will be looked at from the book Tweets from Tahrir to show how the process unfolded. Building on the previous research, the tweets will...
With the increasing effort to identify alternative methods of energy generation, extraction of ocean energy has gathered a large interest. Research and industry have begun considering wave energy as the next new alternative energy. The unique challenges of ocean energy requires a wave energy converter to be both robust and...
Natural disasters are an increasingly costly and frequent occurrence globally and in the United States (IPCC, 2012; IPCC, 2014; Berlemann & Steinhardt, 2017). Discrete disaster events, such as coastal flooding, have been shown to be push factors in temporary and long-term migration (Black et al., 2013). Policy efforts to adapt...
This study quantified the magnitude and timing of summer streamflow deficits in paired-watershed experiments in the Cascade Range of Oregon where mature and old-growth conifer forests were subjected to clearcutting, patch cutting, and overstory thinning treatments in the 1960s and 1970s. Hydrologic effects of clearcutting, small-patch cutting, and overstory thinning...
Disturbances are a prevalent and important part of ecosystems. Many landscape patterns that we find today were created, maintained, and changed by natural disturbance regimes. This is especially true for fire, which has historically been a common, natural disturbance in the western U.S forests and grasslands and many other parts...
Western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) poses both a challenge and an opportunity for natural resource management in the rangelands of the northern Great Basin. The continued expansion of western juniper on the rangelands of the interior Northwest will likely continue as there are currently no practical options for returning this area...
Scientists and land managers realize that integrated weed management (IWM) strategies are needed to attain successful and lasting improvements of weed infested landscapes. At this time no broadly reliable and environmentally safe IWM strategy has been developed to control exotic annual grasses that dominate many ecosystems of the northern Great...
Transformation is a major bottleneck for genetic engineering and gene editing in forest tree species. This includes most genotypes of Populus and Eucalyptus, which are some of the world’s most widely-cultivated genera of plantation forest trees. To provide new tools for transformation, I tested the transcription factor-protein chimera consisting of...
Growth hormone binding protein (GHBP) may be an important
factor in the regulation of growth as well as an indirect,
less invasive way of predicting the status of growth hormone
receptors. Several factors (age, nutritional status, sex,
and glucocorticoid administration) have been reported to
influence circulating growth hormone (GH) levels,...
These studies were conducted to examine the
influence of several variables on the growth hormone binding
protein (GHBP) in serum of pigs. Continuous long term
porcine somatotropin (pST) injections (daily for 6-7 wk)
increased GHBP activity (p < .05). However, periodic short
term pST injections (daily, every second d or...
This study was conducted to determine the effects of
shipping stress on the immune system in domestic lambs (Ovis
aries) and to determine the potential of the thymic peptide,
thymulin, to reduce those effects of stress on the immune
system. Treatments consisted of no shipping (as unstressed
controls), shipping (as...
We evaluated genes previously identified from a large scale functional genomics screen for their potential value to help enhance carbon sequestration in planted trees. We used poplar as a model tree species because of its abundant genetic variation, ease of gene transfer, and availability of large databases for genomic, anatomical,...
As part of investigations to evaluate the suitability of sheep grazing in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) plantations of Oregon's Coast Range, this research was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of sheep grazing in suppressing unwanted vegetation, determine seasonal variations in forage quality, and investigate the impact of sheep grazing on big...
This work sought to characterize a link between Vitamin C and nitroglycerin at the level of enzymatic bioactivation. Before we could proceed, we needed to develop a method that sensitively and selectively identified the product of bioactivation, nitrite. We successfully adapted traditional diaminonaphthalene derivatization with the use of stable isotope...
The atmospheric response to the oceanic forcing in the eastern Pacific along the northern equatorial sea surface temperature (SST) front is investigated in terms of sensible and latent heat flux during the 6-month period 28 July 1999 through 27 January 2000. Of particular interest is the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL)...
Two experiments were conducted on the invasive plant species Potentilla recta in northeastern Oregon to investigate both biological and ecological characteristics of the species. Growth analysis was conducted on the plant at three sites over a period of two years (2002 and 2003). Relative growth rate (RGR) was calculated for...
We studied genetic polymorphism and phylogeny using nuclear random amplified polymorphic DNA markers (RAPDs) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) in the three California Closed-Cone Pines: Pinus attenuata Lemm., P. muricata D. Don, and P. radiata D. Don. A total of 343 to 384 trees derived from...
Chloroplast genomes of conifers are unusual in a
number of respects, including the possession of much
repetitive DNA. By studying the distribution and sequences
of dispersed repetitive DNA, I hoped to gain insight into
the mechanisms of chloroplast genome evolution.
I used restriction mapping and DNA sequencing to
characterize dispersed...
We tested a synthetic bacterio-opsin (bO) gene derived from Halobacterium halobium for its effect on disease resistance in transgenic poplar hybrids, and assessed a genetic system for controlling expression of this gene. In tobacco the bO gene caused necrotic lesions similar to an induced hypersensitive response (HR), increased levels of...
A time dependent model of the shallow, tropical convective boundary layer is
developed and tested. To simplify the treatment of thermodynamic processes and
return to first principles of physics, conserved quantities of entropy and total
water density are used as primary model variables. In addition, a new shallow
cumulus parameterization...
Using rotated principal component analysis, 200mb wind data from
the First GARP Global Experiment are analyzed in the East Asia winter
monsoon region. It is found that there exist slowly eastward-moving
disturbances with a wind-speed maximum embedded in the jet stream
(jet streak). The implied vertical circulation that is transverse...
A silvopastoral system using a Douglas-fir
(Pseudotsuga menziesii) tree crop and subclover (Trifolium subterraneum) as a nitrogen-fixing forage crop was
investigated near Corvallis, Oregon, during 1983-1985.
Treatments included all possible combinations of three
planting patterns (no trees, trees planted 2.5 m apart in a
grid, and clusters of five trees...
A diagnostic modeling study of the cloud and precipitation
processes, and also frontogenesis have been analyzed in a severe
narrow cold-frontal rainband with the aid of a three-dimensional,
diagnostic cloud model.
The results of the model simulations indicate that the heavy
precipitation just behind the surface cold front was associated...
To reduce the environmental impacts caused by gene flow from transgenic trees, reproductive sterility genes have been developed that use a floral regulatory element linked to a cell toxin. This results in dysfunction or ablation of floral tissues, causing sterility. However, floral promoters often permit low levels of expression in...
This study is mainly concentrated on examining the positive cloud-to-ground lightning activity associated with Mesoscale Convective Systems. Six MCS events which occurred during the O.K. PRE-STORM program in 1985 are studied. Data indicating the location and polarity of the cloud-to-ground lightning flashes from a lightning location network are analyzed in...
World food markets are becoming increasingly interconnected as firms seek to sell their products not only in domestic markets but in international ones as well. Moreover, processed and high-value consumer-oriented products represent an increasing share of total agricultural exports. This growing international market may have implications for the future competitiveness...
Marketing cooperatives that operate on a pool basis allocate net returns on the basis of the "economic value" of the raw products each member has delivered. Economic values ideally reflect the raw products' expected contributions to pool net return. In a competitive market, raw product prices would reflect these expected...
Tree species directly and indirectly affect soil nutrient cycles. I sought to characterize soils and foliage associated with four common canopy tree species (Douglas-fir, western hemlock, western redcedar, and bigleaf maple) in mixed-species old-growth forests of the Oregon Coast Range and to determine whether and how soils differ among the...
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Steven S. Perakis
Tree species directly and indirectly affect soil nutrient cycles. I
This study examines the relationships among variables influencing
solar access in the Portland-Vancouver Metropolitan Area. The
analysis is based on a random sample of approximately 400 single-family
homes in 21 local jurisdictions outside the city limits of Portland.
Relationships between percentage of available sunlight and selected
variables were examined by...
This thesis consists of four chapters. Literature is
reviewed in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 describes an addition
series experiment to determine the influence of species
density and proportion on vegetative and reproductive yield
of spring wheat and Lolium multiflorum. Chapter 3 consists
of a growth analysis experiment to determine whether...
An impediment to use of exotic and bioengineered trees in many places is their propensity for spread by pollen and/or seeds. Our laboratory has been using gene editing to induce mutations in floral genes as means to impart stable and reliable genetic containment when this is desirable from social (markets,...
Although previous research in central Oregon has shown soil compaction can lead to a decline in site productivity, the subject is not understood well enough to predict the growth changes resulting from a given level of soil compaction. A study was initiated to relate the basal area, height and volume...
Sheep live weights, herbage standing crop, and herbage quality
are presented from a three-year grazing management study comparing
set stocking, four-paddock rotational grazing, and four-paddock
forward rotational grazing systems. In both rotational grazing and
forward rotational grazing systems, sheep were sequentially moved
from one paddock to the next every 5...