Water conservation and water quality are rapidly increasing in importance in all areas of the world. The ability to accurately measure soil water content and salinity, over a wide variety of conditions, is key to meeting this need. A set of forward prediction models and waveform interpretation algorithms to extract...
This thesis discusses the design of several microchannel solar receiver devices for use in CSP (concentrated solar power) using CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulations. The goal is to demonstrate that, by taking advantage of the higher heat transfer coefficienct of microchannels, solar receivers can achieve higher efficiency than current receiver...
Tomato is considered to be one of the most important vegetables for its value as a source
of nutrients and antioxidants, and as a model crop for biological research, including seed
biology. In this thesis, tissue-specific gene expression and its regulation in tomato seeds
were analyzed to understand the mechanisms...
Cnidarians, such as corals and sea anemones serve as hosts to a variety of organisms including symbiotic dinoflagellates, bacteria, virus, and apicomplexans. As corals are vital to the health and productivity of the reef ecosystem it is important to understand how these organisms interact with each component of the holobiont....
Background: Chronic heavy alcohol consumption is a risk factor for bone fracture.
Using a non-human primate model of voluntary alcohol self-administration, we have recently shown that alcohol consumption suppresses intracortical bone remodeling. The current study extends this investigation to asses the effect of alcohol consumption on cancellous bone mass, architecture,...
As the western United States continues to experience prolonged drought that is extending water deficits and threatening ecosystem resilience and socioeconomic systems, it will be vital to understand the relationship between water use and transport for proper water resource management. This is especially important to the agricultural areas of the...
Met is a prognostic indicator of colorectal cancer patient survival. Therapies that target Met may therefore have beneficial outcomes in the clinic. Recently, EGCG was reported to suppress Met activation, although the mechanisms were not elucidated. HCT116 and HT29 human colon cancer cells were used to examine the relationships between...
A PID controller was designed to control the performance of an oil-heated fractal-like branching microchannel desorber for use in an ammonia-absorption refrigeration system. Both the amount and concentration of ammonia refrigerant generated at the desorber can be controlled by choosing the rectified circulation ratio as the controlled variable in a...
Giant reed (Arundo donax L.) is a candidate to provide feedstock for the Portland General Electric power plant in Boardman, Oregon. Giant reed is a fast perennial grass, producing 23-27 metric tons ha⁻¹ of biomass and has the ability to adapt to diverse environments making it a good candidate for...
Enantioenriched sp³-hybridized carbenoid reagents CR1R2MX (X = nucleofuge, M = electrofuge) of different types were investigated for the synthesis of polysubstituted alkyl chains by iterative stereospecific reagent-controlled homologation (StReCH) and for the stereospecific connective synthesis of alkenes by eliminative cross-coupling.
In the first part, putative enantioenriched α-chloroalkyllithiums (CHRLiCl) were employed...