The hydrologic cycle on Earth comprises the transitions among the solid, liquid, and gaseous phases of water. Understanding the hydrologic cycle is of course important for climate science, but also for agricultural, drinking water, and disaster preparedness purposes. Improvements in satellite observations and general circulation models (GCMs) have led to...
Some studies using regional climate models (RCMs) suggest a weakening of the climatological rain-shadow along the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountains during the western US cool-season. To identify the possible mechanisms of rain-shadow weakening under warming, a new set of 30-year, high-resolution (6 km) pseudo-global warming (PGW) simulations were analyzed...
The purpose of this investigation was to determine the validity and
reliability of the Nicholas Manual Muscle Tester (NMMT), a portable
dynamometer, as a measure of the isometric strength in women with arthritis.
Female subjects (N=13; 66 ± 13.89 yrs.) with arthritis were tested for
isometric muscle strength on the...
Stranded natural gas and biogas comprise a vast energy resource that is mostly wasted via flaring. This represents an opportunity to investigate novel ways to harness this resource. Nonthermal plasmas consist of excited electrons, ions and neutral atoms/molecules that have the ability to disrupt chemical bonds at ambient temperatures and...
Given its abundance and accessibility, exploiting solar energy is a powerful approach to reduce dependency on fossil fuels for energy generation. Thermochemical reactions using concentrated solar power at high temperature are an attractive method of energy storage in support of concentrated solar power (CSP). Thermochemical energy storage of on-sun thermal...
This paper presents an exposition of the stochastic models
for the Brownian motion. The results of Einstein and Wiener are
presented, together with the Uhlenbeck-Ornstein process which
gives a more realistic model of the Brownian motion of a particle.
Finally, applying a one-one transformation on the forward
Kolmogorov equation we...
This project explores mechanisms governing the invasion of fluvial systems by two
contrasting exotic species in stream networks of steep, relatively remote forested landscapes
of western Oregon. This research addresses hypotheses relating limitations of seed source
locations, seed transport processes, and sink availability to the distributions of scotch broom
(Cytisus...
Improved cookstoves have been designed and disseminated for several decades in an effort to address the human health and environmental issues caused by the inefficient, traditional biomass cooking and heating methods used by 40% of the world’s people. Engineers and designers working on these improved stoves have tended to focus...
What does comida rica mean? In this thesis, I explore the meanings of comida rica, sana, and de nuestra tierra through the discourses, practices, and kitchen geographies in six urban, highland households in the Ecuadorean Andes. This research, as part of a larger investigation carried out by a team of...
This thesis complicates the traditional associations between authorship and alphabetic composition within the comics medium and examines how the contributions of line artists and writers differ and may alter an audience's perceptions of the medium. As a fundamentally multimodal and collaborative work, the popular superhero comic muddies authorial claims and...