Methane hydrates and biohydrogen are two disparate subjects that are of interest in the growing field of alternative energy research. However, before commercial use becomes a viable option, each has challenges that need to be overcome. Methane hydrates require large investments of time and capital to locate. In this thesis,...
Designing and building a home Media Center can be a daunting task given the multitude of available options and configurations. The goal of this project is to build a home Media Center, and in the process, create a guide that a less technically knowledgeable person could use to build their...
The push towards higher performing and more sensitive mixed signal circuitry has required the parallel development of increasingly more complex and sensitive test and calibration harnesses. Current off-chip methods of test and calibration may require higher pin counts or induce unwanted parasitic interference.
In this thesis, the design of a...
Microbial activity within elevated CO2 and oxygen depleted environments changes with
density driven stratification overturn in the seasonally anoxic region of Devil’s Hole,
Bermuda. The temperature gradient developed during the summer months creates a
natural laboratory to study bacterial and virus population density and microbial
community dynamics in the anoxic...
Regression testing is a common and necessary task carried out by software practitioners to validate the quality of evolving software systems. Unfortunately, regression testing is often an expensive, time-consuming process, particularly when applied to large software systems. Consequently, practitioners may wish to prioritize the test cases in their regression test...
Pesticides can often be toxic and for this reason their methods and quantities of application are extremely regulated. Pesticide applicators are at risk of permanently damaging their health from exposure to pesticides. In order to ensure that these employees have the proper information to protect themselves, they are required to...
It is hypothesized that extracting the vapor from two-phase flow in a microchannel will result in a lowered pressure drop required to drive the flow. The goal of this thesis is to construct an experimental device that will test this hypothesis by comparing a number of phase separating test conditions...
An Automated Star Tracking System was designed and built for an undergraduate senior design project. The system was designed as a portable and easy to use means of tracking celestial objects, and is usable for a variety of both personal and professional purposes. The project was built around exploring the...
Ammonia oxidizing bacteria, including Nitrosomonas europaea, are inhibited by aromatic hydrocarbons which can be found in wastewater treatment plants. In recent studies, changes have been observed in N. europaea cell size upon exposure to benzene, but not toluene. Additionally, NE 1545, a gene proposed to be involved in fatty acid...
In order to improve photosynthetic hydrogen production, initial work has begun on a flux balance analysis of Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803, a model H2-producing organism. The mathematical model developed includes reactions relevant to photoautotrophic growth: glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, the Calvin cycle, the photosynthetic electron transport chain, the...
The method of gas-phase electron diffraction is a very useful tool for determining
the geometry of a molecule in the gas-phase to a high degree of accuracy. In this thesis,
the structures of tropone and tropolone, which are similar molecules that are both based
on a 7-carbon ring, were investigated...
Microbial activity within elevated CO2 and oxygen depleted environments changes with
density driven stratification overturn in the seasonally anoxic region of Devil’s Hole,
Bermuda. The temperature gradient developed during the summer months creates a
natural laboratory to study bacterial and virus population density and microbial
community dynamics in the anoxic...
Thin films of the p-type semiconductor, barium copper sulfide fluoride (BaCuSF) were deposited using pulsed laser deposition. Similar p-type conductivity in Cu2O is caused by copper vacancies. Addition of copper dopant is proposed as a method for filling the copper vacancies in BaCuSF. The films are characterized to determine quality...
Lanthanum sulfide film was deposited on silicon dioxide substrate by pumping aqueous
LaCl3∙7H2O and Na2S∙9H2O solutions into a T-mixer. After mixing, residence time was
manipulated to adjust lanthanum sulfide deposition rate. Lanthanum sulfide films were
created on silicon dioxide substrate at room temperature, 60 °C, and at 100 °C.
Lanthanum...
In recent years off the United States Oregon coast severe hypoxic events have resulted in areas of mass vertebrate and invertebrate species mortality known as dead zones. Creation of dead zones and alteration of community species composition in response to inner shelf hypoxic conditions have been observed annually from 2002...
Aesthetics should be emphasized as much as possible in a design project without
exceeding scope, budget, or schedule to satisfy the stakeholders involved. There
is a rising trend of increased emphasis on aesthetics. This trend of using various
techniques to help structures blend in or contribute to the surrounding
environment...
In an increasing sedentary society, it is becoming even more important to
encourage adolescent girls to participate and value physical activity. This
document provides a study grounded in scholarly research exploring issues of
importance to the promotion and implementation of programs relevant to
motivating girls to be physically active, specifically...
The strained carbon ring, bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane, was synthesized by a reaction between
1-(phenylsulfanyl)bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane, prepared from propellane, and Raney nickel.
Infrared spectra were recorded at a resolution of 0.0015 cm-1, a resolution significantly
better than previous measurements, 0.06 cm-1. A single fundamental band was analyzed
to determine the ground state and excited...
The current generation of youth, sometimes called Millennials, has had a
reputation of political apathy. However, in recent years, youth voter numbers have gone
up. If an individual or organization wanted to continue this trend of increased youth
political participation, I wanted to explore the areas that could support or...
The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents continues to rise
and is considered a major public health problem. The aim of this investigation was to
evaluate the contributions of sport participation, and calcium intake (controlling for mean
energy intake, sex, and maturation status) on the development of...
The primary goal was to characterize the adsorption of a recombinant therapeutic protein
in the presence of selected surfactant species at the air-water interface. For this purpose,
dynamic interfacial tensiometry was used to determine the surface tension kinetics
exhibited by protein solutions containing either Tween 80 or the poly[ethylene oxide]-...
This project is a short novelette told from the points of view of several different characters. The story is set in an airport and follows these characters as they wait for their flight to arrive. Each of the characters is observing the others, much like people do everyday without realizing...
Eukaryotic cells have developed elaborate biochemical processes to counteract oxidative stress, electrophiles, or carcinogens due to environmental insults. One of these important cellular defense mechanisms is mediated by the transcription factor Nrf2 that have been shown to have decrease activity with age. While the process of which Nrf2 is involved...
Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Ptr) is the fungal causal agent of the disease tan spot in wheat and causes necrosis and chlorosis in infected leaves. These symptoms are caused by host-selective toxins (HSTs), molecules that serve as the sole determinants of pathogenicity. Ptr has three known HSTs, the proteinaceous Ptr ToxA and...
BACKGROUND: The association of vitamin D with heart attack and stroke remains unclear.
METHOD: Using data from the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men Study (MrOS), we collected
dietary vitamin D data from 5,995 participants and serum (25)OH vitamin D from 1,606
participants. The association of vitamin D with prevalent heart attack...
This study examines the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on merger and
acquisitions (M&A). Using data from Kinder, Lyndeberg, and Domini (KLD) Research
Analytics and Thomson’s Securities Data Corporation’s (SDC) Platinum Database, we
empirically test if CSR scores effect a firm’s propensity to pursue M&A activity.
Specifically, I examine...
Studying human’s ability to estimate temporal durations could lead to a greater
understanding of our cognitive abilities as well as the processes that underlie temporal
estimation. It has been shown through previous research that time and number may be
interconnected cognitively and that the magnitude of one may alter the...
Two different types of Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino Oligomers (PMOs) were used to
inhibit growth in pure cultures of Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium and in mouse
macrophages infected with S. typhimurium. Both PMOs were 11 bases long and
complementary to bases 6-16 of acyl carrier protein mRNA. A membrane-penetrating
peptide, (RXR)4XB, was...
Each year thousands of college graduates enter the business world armed with skills accumulated as student leaders, but how applicable are these skills to the business world? While there are many studies on learnable behaviors associated with effective student leadership and many studies on behaviors associated with effective business leadership,...
Objective: To explore the controversial issue of the safety and use of mercury in
amalgam dental fillings. Methods: Using a variety of scientifically oriented studies,
overall trends and conclusions were analyzed. Relevant articles include Children’s
exposure to Amalgam, fetal exposure, environmental mercury, occupational exposure,
and mercury and Multiple Sclerosis. Additional...
Cob is an earthen building material composed of sand, clay and straw. Though cob homes
are presently being built in the Pacific Northwest, there is no applicable building code for this
material. The purpose of this study is to establish estimates for the major engineering parameters,
including both average values...
This study sought to ascertain the degree to which the night sky of Corvallis is affected by light pollution by determining the limiting visual magnitude. Defined as the brightness of the dimmest star that can be seen with the averted naked eye, the limiting visual magnitude establishes a quantitative standard...
In this experiment, 16 three to eight-year-old girls from the Corvallis area came to
our lab with one of their parents. After having the child play with either a Barbie Doll or
a control toy for five minutes, the experimenter orally administered a questionnaire
designed to assess activation of gender...
The health care system of post-Apartheid South Africa suffers from an epidemic of
HIV/AIDS and TB with a number of mitigating factors that have caused these diseases to spread.
The purpose of this paper is to explore the causes of the epidemics and to provide a macro and
micro perspective...
The present study examined whether the nature of the greeting between a writing
assistant and a student influenced the subsequent rapport that developed over the course
of the writing center session. Eighteen Oregon State University undergraduate and
graduate students were greeted in one of three ways by two confederates: with...
The nature of engineering work requires that ethical considerations are taken into account while making decisions surrounding topics such as technology, equal distribution of cost benefits, and consumer risk. In order for engineers to make ethical decisions in their careers, it is helpful if their engineering education provided them with...
Seven schools of thought, varying in cosmology and age, were studied in order to
glean the ethical precepts and virtues to which each school of thought adhered. These
injunctions were put in list-form and compared with respect to both semantics and
content. The purpose of this investigation was to look...
The marathon is well noted for the extreme stress it applies to the body and mind. The
physiological aspects of marathon training were investigated and examined for someone
unfamiliar with the field. Several training programs were investigated within a
framework provided by the popular Daniels' Running Formula. By the Formula's...
The intent of this thesi s is to prove whether or not simple moving averages can be
used to predict the future price performance of stocks and outperform the buy-and-hold
method of investing in the stock market. The importance of this research is that if moving
averages can predict future...
As an observer shadowing a physician in the Emergency Department, I witnessed many patients coming to the hospital with various diseases, conditions, mental and emotional states, and background. At the moment I am watching the scene happening right in front of my eyes, I tell myself I will never forget...
Volcanism is an agent of major disturbance in many parts of the world. While the effects of volcanic disturbance are fairly well-known among some groups of species, few studies have been performed in bird communities. Likewise, few studies have attempted to compare how communities in temperate and tropical biomes respond...
The heroine of this fantasy novel is Alina who lives in a medieval-like time and place. The day before her 20th birthday, in an impetuous moment, she breaks a local superstition by standing in a sunbeam. This allows a fairy to kidnap her and take her to the fairy castle...
Oxytocin is a hormone well know for the stimulation of childbirth and milk letdown in mammals. Large levels of the hormone are also released during angiogenesis in the growth of the corpus luteum (CL), a temporary endocrine gland that forms on the ovaries following ovulation. Levels of oxytocin decline after...
Gene regulatory networks control the state of a cell. Models of such networks have been produced for sea urchin development and suggest that cell type may be defined by distinct network kernels. Such kernels are composed of a set of sequence specific DNA-binding transcription factors (SSTFs) that maintain each other’s...
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a leading cause of bronchopneumonia in infants and elderly. Knowledge of viral and host protein interactions is important for better understanding of the viral pathogenesis and may lead to development of novel therapeutic drugs. Here, we show that RSV Matrix (M) protein interacts with cellular...
Although males have historically been the focus of the juvenile justice system, females now represent a quarter of juvenile arrests. Since the second wave of feminism in the 1970’s, critics of androcentric policies and programming for delinquents has shifted public attention to the history, experiences, and treatment of girls in...
We present a model for running that combines active control with passive dynamics,
in an attempt to approach the economy and robustness of animal running. Our
work is inspired by examples of guinea fowl encountering an unexpected drop in
ground surface, with little a ect on their running gait. Previous...
The Oregon Department of Education requires children to receive vision screening before entering elementary school, but does not require follow-up with an eye care professional after a failed screening. Whether such preventative vision care is effective at detecting children with vision problems was investigated through research from the American Optometric...
Presented in this report is an investigation of the design, construction, and operation of scaled-up cloth electrode assembly (CEA) air-cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs). 40 mL MFCs were designed and constructed using either single or double CEAs with carbon cloth electrodes. The MFCs were evaluated using acetate media, municipal wastewater,...
A collection of short stories in the style of flash fiction. The themes of the stories include relationships, legality, and friendship. The stories are connect by themes, cross self-referencing, repetition, fragmentation, and characters. The main unifying feature is the characterization of the narrator through his response and commentary. The styles...