Intermittent, headwater streams recently have been recognized as important
components of forest ecosystems and have been provided increased protection by the
Northwest Forest Plan. However, few studies have examined their distribution,
dynamics, and ecological roles, such as habitat for wildlife. My goal was to provide
additional information on the ecology...
Spotted wing drosophila (SWD), Drosophila suzukii, is an economically damaging pest on small fruits. The estimated economic impact is hundreds of millions of dollars annually in the U.S. alone, and increasing every year. Current control of SWD relies heavily on chemical insecticides which have many negative impacts on environmental and...
This thesis consists of two essays on applied microeconomics issues. The first
essay presents a hedonic price econometric model of vacant commercial land. The second
essay presents cost frontier analysis on the industry and firm's performance of the U.S.
Motor Carrier industry.
Our hedonic price econometric model includes two new...
Multi-robot systems are versatile and extremely capable of exploration tasks in complex environments. Increasingly sophisticated planners, which incorporate new features of a multi-robot system, are necessary for the operation of the systems. Marsupial robots are multi-robot systems consisting of a carrier robot (e.g., a ground vehicle), which is highly capable...
Yutian (Cry to Heaven) is the third Chinese stage adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin between 1907 and 2007. The first, Heinu yutian lu (Black Slave’s Cry to Heaven) by Zeng Xiaogu, was staged by Chinese students in Tokyo in 1907; the second, Heinu hen (Regret of...
With confirmation of non-nutritive sugar, erythritol, having insecticidal properties to Dipterans, this thesis research focuses on use of erythritol as a human-safe management tool for small berry and cherry pest, Drosophila suzukii, commonly referred to as spotted-wing drosophila. Drosophila suzukii is a destructive invasive fruit fly from Asia with an...
The problem of optimization of stochastic dynamic systems with
random coefficients is discussed. Systems with both Wiener processes and uncertain random-process disturbances are dealt with in
this dissertation, and these include certain bilinear stochastic
systems. It is the purpose of this thesis to study the optimal control and, to some...
In 2005, Beijing acted to court the farmers of Taiwan through a series of unilateral
agricultural tariff reductions. This move was deliberately formulated to weaken the incumbent
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) by targeting the party's strong rural base. This paper seeks
to investigate the effectiveness of China's use of interest...
When people talk about the one-child policy in China, it always relates to topics like human rights violations or the population control dilemma. The one-child policy was published in the 1980s, around the same time as the Economic Reform, and these twin policies brought Chinese society tremendous changes. This paper...