Muscle weakness and fatigue are debilitating symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Approximately 50% of muscle weakness and fatigue have been attributed to deficits within the peripheral nervous system, specifically mechanisms residing in the muscle. The goals of this study were to identify the cellular mechanisms of contraction within the muscle...
Dry land agriculture using summer fallow is a common crop production
practice in the Columbia Plateau region of eastern Oregon. Farmed-over level
terraces are used to control surface water runoff and soil erosion. More than
70 percent of the average annual precipitation around Pendleton, Oregon (350 -
400 mm) falls...
The objectives of this investigation were two-fold: (1) to examine possible seed and cone characteristics and their usefulness as seed maturity indices, and (2) to examine the effects of artificial ripening on seed maturation and germination. Cone fresh weight, cone length, cone specific gravity, cone color, seed fresh weight, seed...
p-type conducting films of α- BaCu₂S₂ have been deposited onto glass and KBr substrates, yielding a conductivity of 17 S/cm and a Hall mobility of 3.5 cm²/Vs. For a 430-nm-thick film, the optical transparency approaches 90% in the visible portion of the spectrum at 650 nm, and a transparency of...
The purpose of this research was to measure the copper-binding behavior of Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) contained in Pulp and Paper (P&P) wastewater effluent and evaluate the Biotic Ligand Model’s (BLM) ability to quantify copper speciation in P&P influenced waters. A copper ion selective electrode was used to measure copper...
The relationship between a country's degree of openness and its economic well-being has been examined extensively both theoretically and empirically. Numerous empirical studies using different openness measures have found a positive effect of openness on growth. However, the validity of such measures have
come into question due to data issues....
This dissertation describes arthropod responses to and effects on decay processes in ponderosa pine, a dominant forest canopy tree in northern California. We used both descriptive and experimental field techniques to establish how arthropod assemblages depend on and are important to the disintegration of woody structures in forests of this...
The reliability and sensitivity of enzyme-linked immunosorbent
assay (ELISA) in the detection of ilarvirus (isometric labile ringspot
virus) subgroup B and prune dwarf virus (PDV) isolates in Prunus and
Malus species has been well established. To use this technique in
large scale virus indexing programs more information was required on...
The achievements of this thesis are the development of several models for the SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis) simulation of alternating-current thin-film electroluminescent (ACTFEL) devices, organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs), and polymer light-emitting devices (PLEDs). First, an ACTFEL model based on the built-in HSPICE Fowler-Nordheim tunneling diode is developed,...