Tanzania has seen a steady decrease in HIV prevalence over the past decade; however, the current HIV prevalence is 4.8% among Tanzanian adults. HIV testing is the first step in the treatment cascade and is key to getting those living with HIV in Tanzania linked to care and reducing their...
Reinforced concrete (RC) column-footing substructures are widely used to support bridges along critical transportation corridors in Oregon. Those built prior to 1971 were typically designed to resist only gravity loads. Therefore, they are vulnerable to damage or collapse during strong ground shaking. To prevent collapse, seismic retrofits have been developed...
In light of water scarcity and the impacts of climate change, there is an increased need to understand the interaction between land use characteristics and ecohydrologic processes in semiarid regions. Additionally, many semiarid and arid regions face various land management challenges, including woody plant encroachment, decreased snowpack, and increased stream...
Latinx youth in the US experience stark inequities in sexual and reproductive health, including rates of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. One promising way to reduce these inequities is to provide culturally centered, comprehensive sexual health education. However, such curricula are rarely offered to Latinx youth, in part because...
This dissertation includes three essays. In the first two essays, I use experimental and behavioral economics tools to explore the impacts of option saliency, group behavior, expert input, peer information and own experience on consumer demand for a sensory product, in my case, for wine. All the lab experiments and...
This project-based portfolio is the capstone of my work in Oregon State University's College Student Services Administration (CSSA) Master’s in Education program and is composed of three components: (1) an Online Advising Course for students applying to competitive national and international scholarships, (2) a reflective essay that synthesizes my learning...
The end goal of any educational program is to prepare a student for the challenges they will see after completion of their studies. In the realm of engineering, the pinnacle of this occurs during a student’s final Capstone course series, where students are asked to apply their various skills learned...
All mammals host communities of commensal microbes in and on their bodies. Recent technological advances, combined with experimental studies in laboratory animals, are beginning to reveal the ubiquitous links between the gut microbiome and host disease, metabolism, immunity, and numerous other host functions. A new challenge of microbiome research is...
Natural landscapes around the world have experienced serious loss and degradation, which negatively impacts ecosystem service provision by these landscapes. As a result, there have been serious investments to restore natural capital. However, restoration faces complex trade-offs, such as that between restoration quality, or how closely the restored landscapes resembles...
The Harderian gland is a large cephalic gland present in most groups of terrestrial vertebrates. Although the Harderian gland has been the focus of numerous studies for more than 300 years, its physiological function has remained largely unresolved. Harderian gland secretions are diverse among different taxa, and many putative functions...
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Robert T. Mason
The Harderian gland is a large cephalic gland present in most groups of