Climate change is predicted to affect ecosystems, including systems already stressed by human impacts. One ecosystem that is already highly impacted by human land use is the cold headwater stream system of the Pacific Northwest. One method of assessing the function of an ecosystem is by using an indicator species....
In the Capabilities Approach literature “capabilities” are the real freedoms individuals possess to achieve certain “functionings,” which are the doings and beings that constitute a good life. I argue that this approach requires, or at least can benefit from, an account of the psychosocial mechanisms involved in capability limitation. The...
Plethodontid salamanders have served as an informative vertebrate system for studying the role of chemical signals in facilitating social and reproductive behaviors. Individuals produce complex mixtures of chemicals from multiple glandular regions. In total, these secretions convey a wide variety of information, and are important for numerous inter- and intraspecific...
The relationship between the self and the body forms the basis of many philosophical speculations throughout history. This thesis investigates the self‐body relationship in a modern medical context, connecting abstract ideas about the mind and embodiment with ethical decision making in healthcare. Naturalist, Feminist and property conceptions of the body...
As genetically modified products come under greater production, tensions surrounding the potential benefits and harms of the technology have appeared in divergent policy between the European Union (EU) and certain member states. The purpose of this thesis is to consider whether some type of international law, also called an environmental...
I defend robust realism from arguments that raise epistemological challenges to it based on considerations about either moral disagreement or the genealogy of our moral beliefs. The first argument is the “Argument from Conciliationism,” which contends that the moral disagreements that obtain between moral peers give us reason to believe...
The symbiosis between cnidarians (e.g., corals or sea anemones) and intracellular dinoflagellate algae of the genus Symbiodinium is of immense ecological importance. In particular, this symbiosis promotes the growth and survival of reef corals in nutrient-poor tropical waters; indeed, coral reefs could not exist without this symbiosis. However, our fundamental...
Relative effects of light, nutrients, and grazing on primary production were investigated in streams in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and in laboratory streams. Relative magnitudes of primary production and associated processes were examined for one year in a stream that flowed through a clearcut and an old-growth forest in...
Contemporary spiritual tourism impacts many stakeholders including environmental ecosystems, tourists, tourist operators, and community members. Increasingly, in the era of the Anthropocene, there is a need for ethical guidance to inform spiritual tourism so as to mitigate social injustice and environmental degradation. This research project investigates the potential for the...
This thesis analyzes contributing factors to Zoom Fatigue and the issues surrounding “attentional dissonance,” or a feeling of tension or rupture between actual and virtual self-perception. The research examines current literature on Zoom Fatigue, and uses the sociological theory of Dramaturgical Analysis, developed by Erving Goffman, to further assess the...
Recent studies have shown that there is a significant amount of dissatisfaction and
stress associated with finances, job security, and work. There are many health related
consequences that manifest in response to this continual stress that we experience in
our professional lives. These include obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol,...
Replication of vaccinia virus in the cytoplasm of the
infected cell occurs under the direction of virally encoded gene
products. Expression of approximately 200 viral genes follows a
highly regulated temporal scheme which can be followed
biochemically and morphologically during the assembly process.
In order to dissect this complex genetic...
Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3), commonly known as koi herpesvirus (KHV), is a member of the Alloherpesviridae and is a deadly pathogen for koi and common carp, Cyprinus carpio. It causes severe gill necrosis and nephritis, dermal ulceration and hemorrhage, and mass mortality of up to 100% of affected fish. Fish...
The buildup of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen and oxygen species (RNS) is known as oxidative stress. Oxidative stress results in a wide variety of modification to biological macromolecules including nucleic acids, lipids, and proteins. For at least 30 years it has been known that high levels of...
The leafhopper vector, Endria inimica (Say), of wheat striate
mosaic virus is a bivoltine insect which overwinters as second
generation eggs in a state of diapause. Under experimental conditions,
egg diapause resulted from rearing females under short days (12L:12D)
and diapause was averted by rearing females under long days (15L:9D)....
The Pacific Northwest has become one of the nation’s premier sweet cherry,
Prunus avium, production areas. As production of sweet cherries has flourished in
Oregon and Washington, so has powdery mildew, caused by the fungus
Podosphaera clandestina, which infects both foliage and fruit causing severe
economic damage to growers. Sweet...