Thesis (D. Min.)--Western Theological Seminary, 1987. / Bibliography: leaves 124-127.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Western Theological Seminary, 1987. / Bibliography: leaves 124-127.

In Oregon, sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) were common in the eastern portion of the state. Since 1940 populations declined because of decreased productivity. The western subspecies (C. u. phaios) was listed as a candidate for threatened and endangered status in 1985 because of declines in Oregon and Washington and extirpation from British Columbia. Habitat availability and habitat condition were factors associated with impaired productivity. Stand structure and forb availability were characteristics most associated with habitat selection by hens with broods. The objectives of this study were to determine habitat use and selection by hens with broods and the relationship between food availability, habitat use by hens, and diets of juvenile sage grouse. Of the 2 study areas used, Hart Mountain had greater long term productivity and abundance than Jackass Creek. Use of cover types and habitat components were compared within and between study areas. In this study, sage grouse hens selected low sagebrush (Artemisia sp.) cover types during early brood-rearing then switched to use of big sagebrush cover types during late brood-rearing. In general, cover types used selectively had greater availability of forbs, and changes in forb availability within cover types from early to late brood-rearing corresponded to changes in cover type use. Differences in forb availability between study areas may have affected productivity. Hens at Jackass Creek selected sites with forb cover similar to that available to broods at Hart Mountain and home ranges were larger at Jackass Creek. Furthermore, diets of juvenile sage grouse were higher in forbs and insects at Hart Mountain. Larger home ranges and less nutritious diets were potentially responsible for lower productivity at Jackass Creek. Results indicated that management to improve brood habitat should focus on maintenance of cover type diversity and availability of forbs. / Graduation date: 1993

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 38-45). Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-100). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wyoming, 2005. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 10/26/2007). Includes bibliographical references.

Spatial Statistical Analysis (SSA) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are instrumental in many areas of geographical study. However, their use tends to be separate one from another. This has prevented their potential in many application areas from being realised. This research is an attempt to bring the two technologies together for a specific application area - health research. There are two research objectives. The first and main objective is to construct a software package - SAGE - by integrating necessary SSA techniques with ARC/INFO, a GIS, to enable the user to undertake a coherent study of area-based health-related data. The second objective is to evaluate and demonstrate SAGE through a case study. A range of SSA techniques was identified to be useful for addressing typical health questions. A three-tier client-server model was suggested and argued to be the most appropriate for integration as it takes advantages of both the loose-coupling and close-coupling approaches. Under this model, a SSA component forms the client, while ARCH/INFO functions as the server. They are linked through the middle tier - the linking agent. The development of SAGE provided experiences useful for developing a generic SSA module in the future for any GIS that confonns to a set of well-defined standard application interfaces. An empirical study of colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence for the city of Sheffield using SAGE is presented. It shows the usefulness of the SAGE regionalisation tool in constructing an appropriate regional framework for subsequent data analyses and of both exploratory and confirmatory spatial data analysis in exploring the characteristics of CRC incidence. Some weaknesses of SAGE are identified, while remedies for them are suggested. Future work is recommended. The SAGE User Guide, related publications and the SAGE source and executable code as well as the data used in the case study are enclosed for reference.

Thesis (doctoral)--Université Paris IV Sorbonne, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [515]-548).

Declining greater sage-grouse populations (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter sage-grouse) have led to increased concern regarding the long-term stability of the species. Previous research has identified factors contributing to the observed population declines. Habitat degradation and loss have been implicated as major factors in population declines. Although much is known about sage-grouse biology, more information is needed about population responses to specific management actions. This research was conducted to document sage-grouse responses to site-specific management actions. Additionally, I evaluated sage-grouse temporal and seasonal habitat-use and the comparability of techniques used by range and wildlife managers to measure vegetation responses of habitat management. Specifically, I evaluated 1) whether chemical analysis (gas chromatography) of sage-grouse fecal pellets could identify sagebrush species in sage-grouse winter diets, 2) the comparability of the line-point intercept and Daubenmire canopy cover methods for estimating canopy cover, 3) the response of sage-grouse broods to prescribed burns in a high elevation sagebrush community in northeastern Utah, and 4) the vegetation and insect characteristics of sites used by sage-grouse broods during a 24-hour period. I was able to determine wintering sage-grouse diets using gas chromatography by analyzing fecal pellets. This research also confirmed that black sagebrush (Artemisia nova) was an important component of sage-grouse winter diets in western Box Elder County and Parker Mountain populations. The line-point intercept and Daubenmire methods for estimating canopy cover are not comparable. Sage-grouse broods selected small (~ 25 ha) patchy prescribed burns in high elevation mountain big sagebrush (A. tridentata vaseyana) communities in northeastern Utah. Sage-grouse brood-site use in northwestern Utah did not differ during the diurnal hours, but nocturnal roost sites were characterized by shorter statured shrubs and more bare ground when compared to midday sites.

The development of a functional vascular system is impinged upon the restructuring of a primitive vasculature into a more complex and mature vessel network via a process known as angiogenesis. Of particular importance to this vascular remodeling process is the function of the Tek/Tie-2 receptor tyrosine kinase. Mouse gene-targeting studies have shown that Tie-2 deficient embryos succumb to embryonic death at embryonic day 9.5 due to insufficient sprouting and remodeling of the primary capillary plexus. Over the years, the functions and the signaling pathways downstream of Tie-2 receptor have been elucidated; however, the repertoire of genes controlled by Tie-2 signaling leading to angiogenesis had not been studied. To identify the underlying genetic mechanisms, transcriptomes from Tie-2 wild-type (WT) and knockout (KO) embryonic day 8.5 yolk sac tissues were quantitatively analyzed using a gene expression profiling technique called Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE). Tie-2 WT and KO SAGE libraries were constructed, sequenced and compared to identify genes that were differentially expressed. A list of candidate genes was selected for further validation using semi-quantitative PCR that included 4933402E13Rik, a novel transcript encoding a protein product containing the melanoma-associated antigen (MAGE) domain. Initial characterization of 4933402E13Rik suggested a murine-specific expression profile restricted to the yolk sac, embryo, placenta, testis, endothelial and embryonic stem cells. The expression of 4933402E13Rik in mouse endothelial cells was found to be regulated by Tie-2 signaling since down-regulation of Tie-2 level via siRNA knockdown resulted in decreased 4933402E13Rik mRNA expression. In contrast, stimulation of Tie-2 in mouse endothelial cells using its ligand, Angiopoietin-1, increased 4933402E13Rik mRNA levels. Additionally, 4933402E13Rik expression was found to be modulated through epigenetics especially by histone deacetylation. Mouse endothelial cells treated with Trichostatin A, a potent inhibitor of histone deacetylase, led to an increase in the expression of 4933402E13Rik. Taken together, the results of this study shed new insight on the repertoire of genes implicated in Tie-2 signaling. The identification of 4933402E13Rik as a novel gene modulated by Tie-2 provides a new avenue of research on Tie-2 signaling that may contribute further to our understanding of vascular development.