Systems biology is a powerful approach which considers and sheds light on all of the puzzle pieces which make up complex biological processes, and is an effective alternative to unraveling these processes using traditional molecular approaches alone. It is a natural companion approach for computational biology, which leverages the power...
The primary purpose of this study was to (1) develop methods for the analysis of and (2) provide information on the chemical nature of reducing ends in typical cellulose substrates used for the study of cellulolytic enzymes. The studies were designed such that values obtained for cellulose substrates were compared...
Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a globally traded staple food crop. The diverse and pleasing nature of wheat-derived products is a result of the complex interactions of the polymeric components from the wheat endosperm. Changes in the functionality of these polymeric components, as a result of changes in growing conditions or...
Wheat is a globally traded staple crop. Wheat is important in human diets because of its agronomic adaptability, physical characteristics, functionality for the production of leavened products and nutritional value. Two significant characteristics make wheat an important staple food-crop. First, the proteins present in wheat endosperm have attributes that enable...
The introduction of non-native species can negatively impact native species through reduced genetic fitness resulting from hybridization. The lack of spatiotemporal data of hybrids occurrences makes assessing hybridization risk difficult. Here, I developed a spatially-explicit GIS Hybridization Risk Model (HRM) between native ESA-listed Bull Trout and introduced Brook Trout by...
Mental health among student athletes has gotten much more attention in the world of sport today. However, there has been a lack of research focusing on how the socioeconomic backgrounds of Division 1 student athletes can play a role in their mental health and their desire to seek out help...
We explore the application of deep learning to the disparate fields of natural language processing and computational biology. Both the sentences uttered by humans as well as the RNA and protein sequences found within the cells of their bodies can be considered formal languages in computer science, as sets of...
Machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) models impact our daily lives with applications in natural language modeling, image analysis, healthcare, genomics, and bioinformatics. The exponential growth of biological sequence data necessitates accompanying advances in computational methods. Although deep learning is highly effective for detecting and classifying biological sequences, challenges...
Drawing on Deborah Brandt’s “literacy sponsorship,” this thesis examines ways English language learners (ELLs) in the Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center (CMLC) act as literacy sponsors, sharing their expertise in language, textiles, and cooking, based on nine in-depth interviews with ELLs at the center. The findings of this thesis are presented...
The Hippo signaling pathway is an evolutionarily conserved regulator of cell growth, proliferation, and apoptosis. A key function of the pathway is to regulate the subcellular distribution and activity of Yorkie in Drosophila or Yes-associated protein (YAP) and transcription co-activator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) in mammals. The dysregulation of the...