Global energy needs are continuously increasing while fossil fuels remain an uncertain resource. With a growing population and demand for energy, alternative energy sources are being pursued to power the future. Fossil fuels are an unsustainable resource that brings along problems of climate change and atmospheric pollution. Concentrated solar power...
Nanoparticles are a hugely diverse category of material that have a wide variety of biomedical applications, and developing tools for biological research with high cellular uptake is critical to their effective application. However, rarely is attention paid to the exact mechanism by which this is occurring, with most studies focusing...
The study and utilization of Danio rerio (Zebrafish) as a model organism has increased greatly in recent decades. They are used in many areas of biological research, but one field that has used them extensively is immunology. Since zebrafish have been found to possess many orthologs to human genes, study...
Arctic sea ice concentration and volume have declined due to greenhouse gas radiative forcing and an overall positive climate feedback. At the same time, there have been noteworthy weather and climate circulation anomalies both within the Arctic and extending through the midlatitudes and even into the tropics, leading some studies...
Once abundant in their native range, Pacific salmon species (Oncorhynchus spp.) were widely distributed across the northern Pacific Rim from South Korea and Japan to the Sacramento River in California. Remaining populations are subject to population-level threats, including pathogens. The freshwater parasitic copepod Salmincola californiensis is associated with the reduced...
Predicting recruitment, which is dependent on parent stock size and climate, is vital for forecasting productivity of fish stocks. The effects of climate can be analyzed via the use of climate indices. Three climate indices, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation, and the Oceanic Niño Index, describe...
Vietnam with three-quarters of the country is mountainous and hilly, around 1.4 million ha of inland and coastal waters suitable for aquaculture purposes. In Vietnam, marine fish cage culture has been developed since the 1970s and significant expansion took place in the early 1990s. There are approximately 500 ha of...
The immune system has been identified as a very sensitive target for the toxic effects of 2,3,7,S-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). Exposure to TCDD has been shown to disrupt the generation of both cell-mediated and humoral T cell-dependent immunity in laboratory animals; however, the mechanism remains unknown. In this dissertation, the hypothesis is...
Recent advances in wireless technologies have helped the proliferation of wireless devices, ranging from hand-held devices such as cellular phones to more powerful mobile computing platforms as such laptops [1]. Along with that, the end users’
applications running on these devices, ranging from text message to multimedia applications such as...
Gasoline direct injection engines, with downsized boosted technology, present a promising option for enhancing power density and reducing fuel consumption for next-generation engine designs to meet stringent fuel economy and emission standards. However, these developments in the low-speed and high-load operating regime are challenged by the occurrence of a new...
The imposition of sexually objectifying experiences on women socializes women to engage in self-objectification, or the act of placing greater value in physical appearance than internal well-being. These two studies explored the underlying mechanisms linking self-objectification to negative subjective well-being among a group of young adult women (ages 18-26) and...
Since 2004, a number of interrelated controversies have surrounded proposals to site a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal near Astoria, Oregon. While public participation has impacted the decision-making process surrounding these proposals, we do not know how such public participation processes has been perceived by those who participated. Using content...
Natural products isolated from bacteria can be developed into new therapeutic agents. The soil bacteria actinomycetes, specifically the Streptomyces species, are prolific producers of antibiotics. This thesis is composed of two projects which focus on novel drug discovery from soil bacteria collected from the Indonesian Black Water Ecosystem (the ICBB...
In the past fifty years, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have become alarming global pollutants. In 2019, the United States (U.S.) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ultimately classified them as emerging contaminants and established an action plan to address PFAS and protect public health through developing, identifying, monitoring, and remediating current...
Micro-ribonucleic acids (miRNA) are becoming an increasingly popular topic of
research in hopes of discovering newfound biomarkers and/or therapies for numerous
types of cancers and diseases. MiRNA are a type of biomolecule contributing to the
progression of multiple cancers and diseases, and such biomolecules are called
biomarkers. Current RNA-based biosensors...
The object of this study is the synthesis of trans-cyclopentane-1, 2-dicarboxylic acid. Five procedures designed for the synthesis of
this trans diacid are described in the literature. The procedure
devised by Perkin in 1887, Fuson and Cole in 1938, and by Brenner
in 1961 were investigated to determine which of...
The use of genetic algorithms to compose music and generate sounds is an area of interest in the artificial intelligence field. Music and instrument sounds have known rules and structures that can be followed which make them well-suited for genetic algorithms. However, genetic algorithms still struggle to generate sounds comparable...
In this study, the gene expression levels between 6 month old mice and 26 month
old mice were compared. The purpose of this research was to identify genes that are
differentially regulated due to aging. The results showed 148 significantly differentiated
genes in the analysis of a total of 44,170...
Full Text:
DECLINE
OF
THE
AGING
IMMUNE
SYSTEM
Student:
Jenny
Tran
Mentor:
Adrian
The planar peptide model has guided our understanding and interpretation of protein crystal structures since its origin in the 1950s. It is well understood that deviations from this model occur, but the majority of peptides are planar, as measured by the standard omega torsion angle. Here, we report the first...
Intraseasonal oscillations in the atmosphere-ocean system can affect weather patterns and regional ecosystems. In turn, these oscillations can be affected by climate variability, resulting in additive and/or non-linear responses of regional ecosystems to climate forcing. In the Northern California Current, a strong correlation was identified between the location of the...
Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), a member of the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) family, is frequently dysregulated in a variety of cancers. Overexpression of the receptor leads to increased cell proliferation and resistance to cell death due to downstream signaling effects. Proteasomal degradation of HER2 results in the...
In this study, the gene expression levels between 6 month old mice and 26 month
old mice were compared. The purpose of this research was to identify genes that are
differentially regulated due to aging. The results showed 148 significantly differentiated
genes in the analysis of a total of 44,170...
Full Text:
Gene Expression Related to the Decline of the Aging Immune System
Jenny Tran and Adrian F. Gombart
This project blends personal narrative with scholarly work to recognize the interplay between these genre categorizations and to affirm the academic value of lived experience. Through this method, I play in the intersections of trans pedagogies, queer pedagogies, and pedagogies of love and care. By recounting how I blended these...
Background: Low drop cushioned running shoes have been popular over the past decade despite a lack of research on low drop shoes. There is some evidence that low drop cushioned shoes increase vertical ground reaction forces (VGRFs) and influence ankle kinematics but no study to date has focused on large...
We analyze the well-posedness of a flow-plate interaction considered in [22, 24]. Specifically, we consider the
Kutta-Joukowski boundary conditions for the flow [20, 28, 26], which
ultimately give rise to a hyperbolic equation in the half-space (for the flow) with mixed
boundary conditions. This boundary condition has been considered previously...
I investigated survival, movements, home range sizes, and habitat selection of pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis) in southeastern Oregon and northwestern Nevada from June 2005 to June 2007. I trapped 298 rabbits on four sites and fitted each with radio transmitters. More than 13,000 locations of telemetered rabbits were recorded. I...
Isomerically pure cis,cis,trans-1-pheny1-1,3,5-
heptatriene was prepared and cyclized. Ring closure
was followed by a 1,5 hydrogen shift, and the only product
observed was 1-phenyl -6-methyl -1,3-cyclohexadiene.
Rough first order rate constants for thermolysis and
the hydrogen shift were determined. Kinetic estimates
indicate that the report of disallowed product in a...
Much of our knowledge about transgender (folks who identify as not cisgender) lives in universities centers around barriers experienced, feelings of exclusion, and being victims of harassment and violence. This thesis describes conversations regarding captured gender euphoric moments from five students at a large university. They came together through a...
In this work, flow through synthetic arrangements of contacting spheres is studied
as a model problem for porous media and packed bed type flows. Direct numerical
simulations are performed for moderate pore Reynolds numbers in the range,
10 ≤ Re ≤ 600, where non-linear porescale flow features are known to...
Dead weight creep tests were conducted on polycarbonate in
order to determine if it is a linear viscoelastic material; or if it is
not, then to determine the feasibility of photoplastic stress freezing.
Secondary objectives were: the determination of the parameters in the
creep compliance of a four element viscoelastic...
Replication of plasmid molecules containing either a left-end or a
right-end adenovirus origin was investigated. When the plasmids were
linearized to expose their respective adenovirus termini, mixed, and
transfected with helper adenovirus DNA into the human 293 cell line, a
new molecule was detected. The new molecule was the size...
Cytoplasmic dynein is an ATP-dependent, microtubule-based molecular motor involved in the positioning and trafficking of cellular cargo. The cargo binding sub-domain of dynein contains the natively disordered intermediate chain (IC) and the homodimeric light chains (Tctex1, LC8 and LC7). The structure and stoichiometry of this complex, how the light chains...
This paper explores predictors of support for land-use ballot initiatives in Oregon. Possible predictors include a variety of socioeconomic, spatial, and political variables. Multiple least squares regressions find that aggregate levels of education within a county and the proportion of a county's workforce engaged in farming or forestry occupations appear...
In this dissertation we study the electromagnetic properties of plasmonic metamaterials. We develop an analytical description to solve the fundamental problem of free-space scattering in planar plasmonic systems by utilizing anisotropic metamaterials. We show with exact numerical simulations that these manufactured materials do completely eliminate the scattering, and even in...
Multiphase flow dynamics are important in many naval and turbomachinery applications, where bubble interaction with low pressure, vortical structures can lead to undesirable cavitation effects. To better understand the underlying phenomena, a multiscale numerical framework is developed to simulate bubble laden flow in dynamic hydro propulsion systems. Several subproblems in...
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of anthropogenic compounds gaining notoriety as contaminants of emerging concern. With the frequent detection of PFAS in the environment, drinking water, and consumer products, awareness and concern from the public regarding PFAS is increasing. The two most notorious PFAS are perfluorooctanoate (PFOA)...
Nickel or nickel alloys are common materials used in under bump metallization (UBM) in flip chip technology. Nickel is used because of its slow reaction rate with tin-based solder at
elevated temperatures. However, nickel is ferromagnetic at room temperature, hence cannot be easily deposited with magnetron sputtering. In this study,...
Fisheries managers often use models of population density to evaluate the status of stream-living fishes, but many of these models have low predictive performance for abundance and density. These models could incorporate several factors that can limit population density, particularly the effect of body size, envisioned by the theory of...
The common cherrylaurel (Prunus laurocerasus) and Portuguese cherrylaurel (P. lusitanica) are economically important landscape shrubs across the United States. To gain a better understanding of physiology and morphology in these higher level polyploids (P. lusitanica, 2n = 8x; P. laurocerasus, 2n =22x), a variety of breeding experiments were performed. The...
The Willamette Silt is a surficial geologic unit composed of successive Missoula Flood Deposits that underlies 3100 km2 (1200 mil) of arable land in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. The Willamette Silt protects the underlying regionally important Willamette
Aquifer from agricultural contamination while acting as a semi-confining unit and a...
The rocky intertidal is a diverse ecosystem with a variety of species and ecological interactions. Many biotic and abiotic interactions act together to restrict the abundance and distribution of species. Anthropogenic effects can have an important impact on species abundance and distribution as well. This study looks at how human...
Establishing a therapeutic alliance or a therapeutic bond has long been seen as an essential component of obtaining positive treatment outcomes in clinical practice. More recently, the idea of recognizing therapeutic alliance ruptures (disagreements about the tasks or goals of therapy or a problem in the therapeutic bond) during counseling...
Streaming media and interactive television viewing experiences are becoming more commonplace with the introduction of services such as Netflix Streaming, the Apple TV, and Google TV aided by the increase adoption of broadband internet. As these services make their way into the living room, and developers struggle to accommodate more...
Ocean Wave Energy Converters (WECs) operating on the water surface are subject to storms and other extreme events. In particular, high and steep waves, especially breaking waves, are likely the most dangerous to WECs. A method for quantifying the breaking severity of waves is presented and applied to wave data...
The surgical standard of care to partially restore grasping function after a traumatic spinal cord injury is a reconstructive tendon transfer-surgery that connects all four finger flexors to an expendable wrist extensor. While restorative, this surgery has a fundamental problem; the movement of all four fingers flexors is directly coupled,...
Atmospheric pressure plasma is non-thermal at millimeter to micrometer separations. It represents an alternative low exergy initiator of many chemical reactions. In many instances heat, light or sound are not efficient providers of the necessary energy to overcome chemical activation barriers. The focus of this research is applying dc nonthermal...
The number of international inbound tourists to the United States has risen steadily. To serve these and other tourists best, traffic signs need to communicate information correctly across a potential language barrier. Of particular interest is the traffic sign intended to communicate directions to Tourist Information centers. While the general...
Chapter 2:
Aquatic macroinvertebrate communities have been shown to exhibit strong differences between erosional (riffle and run) and depositional (pool) macrohabitats of streams. A subset of these communities are aquatic insect taxa that are an important food source for riparian consumers like birds, bats, lizards, and spiders. Understanding the role...
New data are presented that provide evidence for the onset of extensional deformation in the Northwestern Basin and Range within 1 million years after the eruption of the Steens Basalt at 16.5 Ma. New geologic mapping (1:24,000), stratigraphic sections, and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of the Crane Basin rocks provide a control...