Raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV) infects red raspberry and black raspberry worldwide. Infection causes reduced vigor and drupelet abortion leading to crumbly fruit and reduced yields. While this crumbly fruit can still be used in juice, jam, and preserves, it cannot be used for the more valuable fresh and individually...
Teaching CS is a challenging task, especially for those without prior programming experience. Even for veteran educators, having to learn CS concepts while also trying to teach those same concepts is difficult; as is the case for many K-12 CS instructors. Unfortunately, there is often no formalized order with CS...
Tracr is a modern browser-based user interface, designed to be used with languages that can generate customized explanations from execution traces. While Tracr is primarily designed for use with the Xtra language, Tracr defines a generalized interface that would allow it to be used with other languages as well. Explanations...
The use of board games for teaching introductory computer science is a promising recent avenue of research. The goal is to introduce computing concepts through their use in the implementations of simple games, thereby keeping students engaged through their learning process. However, there is a gap between students' algorithmic descriptions...
There is a significant amount of research analyzing the effect of race, gender, and other common demographical data on student interest and performance in computer science. However, there is relatively little research concerning less common demographic populations, such as introverts, artistic students, and visual learners. This study investigates if these...
The objective of this study was to characterize an unknown agent associated with decline in black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) in Oregon. A virus was found consistently associated with decline symptoms of black raspberries and was named Black raspberry decline associated virus (BRDaV). Double stranded RNA extraction from BRDaV-infected black raspberry...
Interest in measuring soil quality continues to increase worldwide in view of demands on land productivity and the necessity to preserve soil resources, yet identification of suitable indicators for soil quality assessment is still evolving. This study adapted 10 biological, physical, and chemical indicators of soil quality identified by the...
The development of analytical methods for emerging contaminants creates many unique challenges for analytical chemists. By their nature, emerging contaminants have inherent data gaps related to their environmental occurrence, fate, and impact. This dissertation is a compilation of three studies related to method development for the structural identification of emerging...
Infestations of container nursery beds by Phytophthora spp. can be persistent and costly. One method of disinfestation that does not require the use of chemicals is soil solarization, which captures energy from the sun to heat soil and thermally inactivate target pathogens. In laboratory temperature gradient experiments, I investigated the...
Phytophthora ramorum, an oomycete plant pathogen, is the causal agent of sudden oak death, a serious disease of Fagaceous trees in California and Oregon over the last decade. Tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus) is one of the most susceptible host species, but the cause of host mortality is poorly understood. Previous research...
Research and public concern of poly and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) as environmental contaminants has increased significantly due to the increasing number of reports of their detection in humans and wildlife. PFASs have a number of commercial applications including surfactants, coatings, polymers, and levelers, which are used on consumer products like...
Correctness and efficiency are important properties of programs. However, to support maintenance and debugging, the programs should also be understandable. Program explanations also play a vital role in educational settings, enhancing the understanding of programs among students.
Proof trees provide a sound basis for generating dynamic explanations of programs. But...
A sensitive, selective, rapid analytical method based on large-volume injection (LVI)
liquid chromatography/ tandem mass spectrometry was developed using
commercially-available hardware that eliminates the need for either off-line or on-line
solid phase extraction. Centrifugation followed by the direct injection of 1,800 µL
was used for the quantification of illicit drugs,...
Immune-mediated diseases are a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in canine patients. Treatments currently involve generalized suppression of the immune system, and corticosteroids are often used as a first-line agent. While often effective, corticosteroids are unlikely to induce remission without substantial side effects. Second-line immunosuppressive agents may be effective...
In 7 composite stories--shifting from the roads of Southern Colorado neighborhoods, the fields and unpaved roads of Northern New Mexico, and the streets of Culver City, California--Penitence follows Relles Ortiz and the bleak peripheral existence of the voiceless suburban people living in disorder and disorientation within the harshness of their...
The Arctic climate system is changing dramatically as a response to rising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. Key indicators of Arctic change include thinning and retreating of Arctic pack ice, thawing permafrost, greening tundra, and rising surface temperatures. The structure of the atmospheric boundary layer influences and is influenced by processes...
An interdisciplinary study into the theory of design decisions has yielded a model for tracking design changes in hardware/software systems, but it still needs to be applied to a larger system to test its efficiency at tracking important data. This thesis creates an implementation of PLEXIL, a language in development...
In a software development cycle, programs go through many iterations. Identifying and
understanding program changes is a tedious but necessary task for programmers, especially when
software is developed in a collaborative environment. Existing tools used by the programmers
either lack in finding the structural differences, or report the differences as...
Since around 1923 Port-Orford-cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (A. Murray) Parl.) has been affected by Phytophthora root disease caused by the virulent introduced pathogen Phytophthora lateralis. A systematic resistance testing and breeding program located at the USDA Forest Service Dorena Genetic Resource Center in Cottage Grove, Oregon was initiated in 1997 with...
The production of carbon and export to deep ocean sediments is linked to carbon partitioning between the ocean and atmosphere and is a key driver of climate change over the glacial-interglacial transition. Yet conflicting reconstructions create barriers to understanding changes to the carbon system over this important climate transition. Production...