Brachypodium sylvaticum (Huds.) Beauv. is an invasive grass that can be found in forest
and prairie communities throughout the Willamette Valley, Oregon. It can out-compete
native species of grasses and forbs and become dominant in a broad range of habitats.
This study investigated if there were differences in vegetation structure...
Plasminogen activators (PAs) have been implicated in: ovulation, oocyte maturation, fertilization, implantation, and many other reproductive activities. Three pathways have been implicated in the activation of the PA regulatory system. These include the conventional PKC and cAMP-dependent signaling pathways, and also an independent pathway thought to be regulated by protein...
Cucurbits are grown in production agriculture in Oregon as well as in smallholder agriculture in tropical South America. Experimental research was performed at the OSU Research Farm in 2001 with direct-seeded cucurbits, and literature reviews were conducted to develop a characterization of smallholder farming in tropical South America. The two...
Various vineyard practices influence the quality of a wine. In 1999, three levels of nitrogen (N), two levels of tillage and two levels of irrigation were applied to Pinot noir grape cultivars at Benton Lane Vineyards in the Southern Willamette Valley. N treatments were zero, soil and foliar applications. Every...
The timber and Christmas tree industries are important components of the Pacific Northwest economy. A goal of both industries is to produce high quality trees with high growth rates. Accomplishing this requires increased genetic quality of the trees grown. Tissue culture provides the most promise for propagating these superior genotypes....
Previous research suggests a link between litter size in ewes and differential excretion of fecal hormones. An accurate test for fetal number would be useful to sheep producers and a fecal hormone response could be utilized in such a test. Fifteen previously categorized fecal hormones were analyzed within fecal samples...
While previous experiments on the physiological activity of primary and secondary cyanolichens have been done, an analysis of photomorphs has never been attempted. Photomorphs of Peltigera britannica (Gyelnik) Hotan-Hartw. & Tonsberg were studied to compare the physiological response of a primary cyanolichen to an additional symbiotic partner (green algea) while...
The psychoactive component of marijuana, A9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is known
to have effects in humans that are mediated by the cannabinoid receptor (CB 1). Although a great deal of research has been done to confirm the interaction of exogenous cannabinoids with the CB 1 receptor, little is known about the receptor's...
Legislation to reduce the annual limit of field burning in Oregon has led to increased study of
alternative non-thermal grass-seed management methods. Of these methods, non-thermal residue
management, in combination with crop rotations and different tillage practices, offer potential to
equal or exceed crop production of conventional thermal production systems....
The free-radical theory of aging proposes that intracellular accumulation of oxidative damage caused by
reactive oxygen species (ROS) is responsible for the process of senescence. ROS are produced during
normal aerobic metabolism and have been shown to cause numerous cellular and sub-cellular defects
that lead to termination of the cell...
Multinational corporations must be aware of the business and financial reporting issues
that await them abroad. Investors also must have this knowledge in order to adequately
interpret the financial information they receive from these companies. This study
compares and contrasts the business environments in the US and Mexico, with a...
The Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) purports to assess emotional intelligence, which includes the ability to successfully identify and manage emotions. To test the validity of this claim, 21 students took the MSCIET along with a several other performance measures and personality scales, and their scores were correlated. The MSCEIT...
Because of the increased need for sustainable construction in an ever urbanizing culture, new
sustainable drainage systems are being developed and implemented. Bioswales are becoming
an increasingly popular form of sustainable urban drainage used for parking lots and
subdivisions. But little is known regarding the effectiveness of bioswales in really...
Because of the increased need for sustainable construction in an ever urbanizing culture, new sustainable drainage systems are being developed and implemented. Bioswales are becoming
an increasingly popular form of sustainable urban drainage used for parking lots and
subdivisions. But little is known regarding the effectiveness of bioswales in really...
Consider a simple Markov process on [0,T]. The occupation times were extensively studied in the case of T increasing to infinity. Here we develop a method of computing the distribution for occupation times when T is small via integral equations and integral transforms.
People often grow increasingly culturally confused when spending significant amounts of time in a foreign land. Identity can become lost only to reform in the image of the host society. This thesis presents a creative nonfiction series of essays that explore the author’s loss of self and contextual identity, the...
In the United States there are currently two different options for providing safety audits to roadway projects. Traditional audits can be conducted using procedures similar to those in the United Kingdom, or those similar to Australia and New Zealand (Austroads). Another option for conducting safety audits is to use the...
By identifying the relationships between abundance and metabolic activity in a bacterial community, we advance our knowledge of the marine carbon cycle. In the present study, our goal was to examine the role of protist grazing on the metabolic activity of γ- Proteobacteria in the upwelling system off the Oregon...
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...
Collaboration is crucial when advancing in scientific research. One person cannot
study all aspects of a system. That is why it is important for the scientific community to
communicate with each other and stay updated on research being conducted in other labs
around the world. In my research, I was...
By identifying the relationships between abundance and metabolic activity in a bacterial community, we advance our knowledge of the marine carbon cycle. In the present study, our goal was to examine the role of protist grazing on the metabolic activity of γ- Proteobacteria in the upwelling system off the Oregon...
Social networking is the concept that personal connections can form a large web of people and institutions that are essential in an individual’s realization of a goal. Social networking plays an important role in almost every business venture. This has proved to be especially true in the story of Aegir...
Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) is a globally distributed pathogen of grasses that is transmitted by aphids. Little research has been done examining the response of aphids to different host grasses in naturally mixed communities. We measured the short-term fecundity of the aphid Rhopalosiphum padi, a widely distributed vector of...
Non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), commonly known as type 2 or
delayed onset diabetes, is a recognized growing global epidemic, which is connected to cultural and behavioral factors, such as diet, exercise, obesity, and genetics. In a recent survey of both men and women in Mexico City, the prevalence of...
The Amplitude and phase of surface acoustic waves can be characterized using a laser beam and photodiode detector. This paper describes a technigue for charactarizing waves using the double photodiode method. This method is a modification of the knife-edge method, and involves focusing a laser beam to a beam spot...
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are grown using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). A modified radio frequency (RF) parallel-plate plasma etching system serves as the growth reactor. The effects of process parameters, including temperature, pressure, and C2H2:NH3 ratio, are studied. CNTs are grown on glass substrates with Al underlayers and Ni...
Design and preliminarily characterization of two thermally-actuated pumps is presented
in this thesis. The unique feature of both pumps is the presence of periodic asymmetrical
structures on the channel walls. Two heat transfer effects are used with surface
asymmetry to generate forces that drive the fluid in a preferential direction...
Acarapis mites have been present in the United States since 1984 and are presently considered a threat to honey bee populations in North America. They have
been present in Europe since 1921 where infestation rates have now dwindled to a
level that is not considered dangerous. Consequently, accurate information on...
Creating intelligent robotics is at the cutting edge of technology. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are of particular interest for surveillance applications. UAVs have the potential to provide quick and cheap aerial data that would be difficult to obtain by conventional means. UAVs also have the ability to navigate without being...
ThermoSolver is an educational thermodynamics software program designed to be both
easy to use and useful in that it permits the user to make nontrivial chemical engineering
thermodynamic calculations. The software program accompanies the textbook
Engineering and Chemical Thermodynamics by Milo Koretsky, and is available for free
download from the...
The highly conserved multi-protein mismatch repair (MMR) system is known for its ability to correct post replication errors in genomic DNA. A hallmark of MMR deficiency in all organisms is microsatellite instability. The initiating proteins in the eukaryotic MMR system are hetrodimers formed with an integral MSH2 subunit and one...
Fanconi's Anemia (FA) is an autosomal recessive chromosomal instability disorder. The
symptoms include congenital abnormalities, defective hematopoiesis (formation of cells
of the blood), and high risk of developing acute myeloid leukemia and solid tumors.
Fanconi researchers have long been puzzled by how Fanconi Anemia (FA) cells, which
are known to...
The LifeKnowledge curriculum is a recent initiative of the National FFA Organization to develop key learning precepts in agriculture education students. This material utilizes cutting-edge teaching techniques in lesson plans designed to develop leadership, teamwork, personal development, and communication abilities in students. This project surveyed current agriculture teachers in Oregon...
Un Paseo Encantado, an enchanted walk, is a collection of my observations and experiences in a study abroad program in Oviedo, Spain. My commentary on Spanish culture is based on reading I did prior my departure, in combination with my observations while in Spain. In six chapters, I explore the...
Surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors are versatile devices that can be configured to sense a variety of measurands such as temperature and pressure. The potential use of surface acoustic wave devices for magnetic field detection is explored in this study. Compared to current magnetic field sensors, a sensor based on...
Fire blight is a serious disease of apple and pear trees caused by the bacterium, Erwinia amylovora. This bacterium harbors a pathogenesis mechanism known as the Hrp secretory operon which induces some resistance genes and suppresses other resistance genes in the host plant following invasion. While previous researchers analyzed expression...
Currently, there is no accurate, low-cost method to track divers. Watching bubbles can
give you an approximate xy-location, and expensive underwater radios utilizing ultrasonic waves can work if the diver knows where they are. Traditional radio waves do not work well in water due to the conductive nature of water....
With the miniaturization of microelectronics and increase of processor speeds in the last few decades, thermal management is drastically affecting overall packaging and system capabilities. Due to the special needs introduced, research focusing on microscale cooling has increased. This study combines the positive characteristics of single- and two-phase flows in...
Media application on the internet has become more and more popular as the bandwidth of the network links increase. The bottleneck of the existing media systems is no longer the link bandwidth at user’s end, but the server’s ability to handle streaming requests. These existing streaming systems do not scale...
Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative (PNGC) operates the Landfill Gas to
Energy Facility at Coffin Butte Landfill in Corvallis, OR. At this facility, three internal
combustion engines use the landfill gas (predominantly methane and carbon dioxide) as
fuel to turn generators that produce enough electricity to power 1,800 average sized
homes....
The Chlamydiaceae are a family of obligate intracellular bacteria with a unique biphasic developmental cycle. The replicating, metabolically active, intracellular phase bacteria (RBs) grow within a cellular vacuole know as the inclusion. Since the proteins the Chlamydiaceae secrete into this membrane are the means of host/parasite interaction, they have long...
The high cost of manually producing background characters creates a demand for a
way to automatically generate plausible behaviors. These background extras need to
behave in a manner that is believable such that they do not distract the focus of the
audience from the primary action occurring in the scene....
Massively multiplayer role-playing games (MMORPG) are becoming a popular leisure activity world-wide. MMORPG players have created a new kind of market, one for virtual possessions. Some players will buy and sell virtual goods for real-world money. Many game developers oppose this real-market trade because it threatens the control of their...
This thesis describes the implementation of an interface for querying established correspondences between anatomical structures across species. I was the main developer of this query engine, called the Comparative Anatomy Information System. My work involved developing methods to query the knowledge base, perform the specified comparison, display the anatomical hierarchies...
America’s rural Hispanic population is growing at an unprecedented rate. Many of the Hispanic people that are settling in rural communities are immigrants or first generation Americans. If changes to current healthcare systems are required to accommodate the health needs of this growing, low-income rural population they have not been...
Butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii), an ornamental native to China, is an invasive species in Oregon and many other areas. In Oregon, butterfly bush invades disturbed areas, particularly riparian areas. The Oregon nursery industry has the highest farm-gate value of all agricultural commodities and butterfly bush is a significant plant to...
The large population of 2r>100m near earth objects (NEOs) presents a certain hazard to life on earth. It has been proposed that a nuclear device may be used to alter the course of such objects, thereby averting a catastrophic collision with the earth. The asteroid interdiction problem includes a number...
A survey of a non-random sample of adults was conducted in Angers, France to
investigate possible cultural changes in dietary behaviors that may contribute to
increasing rates of obesity. Participants described contemporary habits regarding eating
habits and activity level, as well as attitudes and opinions about obesity. The results
largely...