Distributed version control allows developers to manage software evolution among distributed development teams. But it does not eliminate all consistency and concurrency issues, and instead introduces additional complexity when merging code. And resolving merge conflicts is nontrivial when automated merging fails. In such cases, developers are forced to inspect the...
Over time, Open Source Software (OSS) has become indispensable in the creation and upkeep of software products, serving as the fundamental building block for widely used solutions in our daily lives, including applications that enable communication, entertainment, and productivity. A sustainable OSS ecosystem is one that attracts and retains a...
Marine heatwaves (“MHWs”) are discrete periods of anomalously warm ocean conditions that can lead to shifts in the distribution and abundance of marine organisms. Low-trophic level, pelagic forage species are frequently among those affected by MHWs, often resulting in considerable impacts upon their predators. In the North Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic...
Programming is integrated across the workflow of multiple domains where end-user programmers, those who need to program as a means to an end, regularly need to code. In the modern setting of collaborative development, end-user programmers have to interpret the intentions behind existing code to contribute and build solutions to...
Since the discovery of penicillin in 1928, the fungal kingdom has remained a fertile source for the discovery of new, biologically active, natural products. Further, as natural products continue to be discovered from fungi, a deeper understanding of the critical role of specialized metabolism in fungal ecology is afforded. The...
Given the many significant roles that bacteria play in modern food manufacturing, it is crucial that we have a fundamental understanding of how bacterial communities assemble and behave in the food manufacturing environment. The focus of this dissertation was to investigate both the spatial and temporal distributions of microbial communities...
A seasonal hair-loss syndrome of native deer began to occur in the Pacific Northwest United States in the mid-1990s. Clinical manifestations of the disease typically include large numbers of chewing lice on Columbia Black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) and Columbia White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus leucurus). Expenditure of energy responding to...
Software systems are becoming an essential part of the lives of both individuals and organizations, and as a consequence, these systems are getting bigger and more complex. Because of this, the tasks of maintaining the quality in these complex software systems are becoming increasingly difficult. Furthermore, these systems are subject...