Digital Commons Network^™

Debris Flow Susceptibility Map For Mount Rainier, Washington Based On Debris Flow Initiation Zone Characteristics From The November, 2006 Climate Event In The Cascade Mountains, Kassandra Lindsey

Dissertations and Theses

In November 2006 a Pineapple Express rainstorm moved through the Pacific Northwest generating record precipitation, 22 to 50 cm in the two-day event on Mt. Rainier. Copeland (2009) and Legg (2013) identified debris flows in seven drainages in 2006; Inter Fork, Kautz, Ohanapecosh, Pyramid, Tahoma, Van Trump, and West Fork of the White River. This study identified seven more drainages: Carbon, Fryingpan, Muddy Fork Cowlitz, North Puyallup, South Mowich, South Puyallup, and White Rivers. Twenty-nine characteristics, or attributes, associated with the drainages around the mountain were collected. Thirteen were used in a regression analysis in order to develop a susceptibility …

A Method For Achieving Analytic Formulas For Three Body Integrals Consisting Of Powers And Exponentials In All Three Interparticle Hyllerass Coordinates, Chris M. Keating

Dissertations and Theses

After an introduction to the variational principle of three body systems via the Helium atom, we present general analytical formulas for the radial parts of integrals that occur when three body systems are described using wave functions that consist of powers and exponentials in all three interparticle Hylleraas coordinates [Hylleraas1929]. This work is an extension of integrals given by Harris, Frolov and Smith, Jr. [Harris2004]. Specifically included are radial integrals encountered in calculations involving the dipole moment matrix element in Hylleraas coordinates that contain a function f(kr₁) (such as a spherical Bessel function) in addition to …

Questions Of Citizenship: Oregonian Reactions To Japanese Immigrants' Quest For Naturalization Rights In The United States, 1894-1952, Alison Leigh Jessie

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the discrimination against Japanese immigrants in U.S. naturalization law up to 1952 and how it was covered in the Oregonian newspaper, one of the oldest and most widely read newspapers on the West Coast. The anti-Japanese movement was much larger in California, but this paper focuses on the attitudes in Oregon, which at times echoed sentiments in California but at other times conveyed support for Japanese naturalization. Naturalization laws at the turn of the century were vague, leaving the task of defining who was white, and thus eligible for naturalization, to the courts. Japanese applicants were often …

A Genetic And Biochemical Analysis Of Sulfolobus Spindle-Shaped Virus 1, Eric Alexander Iverson

Dissertations and Theses

Viruses infecting the Archaea exhibit a tremendous amount of morphological and genetic diversity. This is especially true for crenarchaeal viruses from the family Fuselloviridae, which possess spindle-shaped capsids and genomes that harbor a great number of uncharacterized genes. The functions of these unidentified gene products are of interest as they have the potential to provide valuable insights into the fusellovirus infection cycle and archaeal viruses in general. In an effort to better characterize the genetic requirements of the Fuselloviridae, we have performed genetic and biochemical experiments using the best studied fusellovirus, Sulfolobus spindle-shaped virus 1 (SSV1).

A comprehensive …

Formal Modeling And Verification Of Delay-Insensitive Circuits, Hoon Park

Dissertations and Theses

Einstein's relativity theory tells us that the notion of simultaneity can only be approximated for events distributed over space. As a result, the use of asynchronous techniques is unavoidable in systems larger than a certain physical size. Traditional design techniques that use global clocks face this barrier of scale already within the space of a modern microprocessor chip. The most common response by the chip industry for overcoming this barrier is to use Globally Asynchronous Locally Synchronous (GALS) design techniques. The circuits investigated in this thesis can be viewed as examples of GALS design. To make such designs trustworthy it …

Mechanisms Of Adaptation In The Newly Invasive Species Brachypodium Sylvaticum (Hudson) Beauv., Gina Lola Marchini

Dissertations and Theses

It is common knowledge that invasive species cause worldwide ecological and economic damage, and are nearly impossible to eradicate. However, upon introduction to a novel environment, alien species should be the underdogs: They are present in small numbers, possess low genetic diversity, and have not adapted to the climate and competitors present in the new habitat. So, how are alien species able to invade an environment occupied by native species that have already adapted to the local environment? To discover some answers to this apparent paradox I conducted four ecological genetic studies that utilized the invasive species Brachypodium sylvaticum (Hudson) …

Analysis Of Capillary Flow In Interior Corners : Perturbed Power Law Similarity Solutions, Joshua Thomas Mccraney

Dissertations and Theses

The design of fluid management systems requires accurate models for fluid transport. In the low gravity environment of space, gravity no longer dominates fluid displacement; instead capillary forces often govern flow. This thesis considers the redistribution of fluid along an interior corner. Following a rapid reduction of gravity, fluid advances along the corner measured by the column length z = L(t), which is governed by a nonlinear partial differential equation with dynamical boundary conditions. Three flow types are examined: capillary rise, spreading drop, and tapered corner. The spreading drop regime is shown to exhibit column length growth L ~ …

The Effects Of An Overnight Environmental Science Education Program On Students' Attendance Rate Change For Middle School Years, Jennifer Elizabeth Basham

Dissertations and Theses

Programs that engage middle students in participatory, real-world, and hands-on field based instruction can be a powerful asset to the educational experiences for students; motivating and inspiring some to appreciate and value school in a different way. Overnight environmental science programs have a unique opportunity to support students by creating experiences where students can participate in learning in vastly different ways from what they may engage with in the traditional 4-walled classroom, while concurrently developing a relationship with the natural world. Decreasing educational budgets and increased need to substantiate educational programs in terms of their impact on students has added …

Isn’T Citizen Science A Hoot? A Case-Study Exploring The Effectiveness Of Citizen Science As An Instrument To Teach The Nature Of Science Through A Local Nocturnal Owl-Monitoring Project, Tess Marie Kreofsky

Dissertations and Theses

Citizen science projects present a distinctive opportunity for professional and volunteer scientists to coordinate their efforts to gather unique sets of data that can benefit the scientific and local communities. These projects are assumed to be an effective educational tool to teach nature of science (NOS) to participants (Brossard, Lewenstein, Bonney, 2005). This case study evaluates the effectiveness of participation in a citizen science project as a way to learn about NOS. Through enhancement of the Tryon Creek Owl Monitoring Project the researcher reviewed the characteristics of a citizen science project that were thought to be necessary to impact the …

Using Landsat Tm Imagery To Monitor Vegetation Change Following Flow Restoration To The Lower Owens River, California, Lesley Crandell Bross

Dissertations and Theses

Rehabilitating river corridors to restore valuable riparian habitat consumes significant resources from both governments and private companies. Given these considerable expenditures, it is important to monitor the progress of such projects. This study evaluated the utility of using Landsat Thematic Mapper remotely-sensed data from 2002 and 2009 to monitor vegetation change induced by instream flow restoration to the Lower Owens River in central California. This study compared the results of an unsupervised classification with an NDVI threshold classification to appraise the resources required and effectiveness of each analysis method. The results were inspected by creating standard remote sensing accuracy error …

Quaternary Chronology And Stratigraphy Of Mickey Springs, Oregon, Leslie Allen Mowbray

Dissertations and Theses

Mickey Springs in the Alvord Desert, southeast Oregon, is analogous to other Basin and Range hydrothermal systems where the requisite conditions of heat source and permeable pathways are met through crustal thinning due to normal faulting. This study examines the morphology and lifespan of near-surface spring features through use of ground penetrating radar, thermoluminescence (TL) dating, and elevation modeling. Duration of hydrothermal activity at Mickey Springs has not previously been determined, and age determinations of sinter at the site are conflicting. The reason for and timing of this change in silica saturation in the hydrothermal fluid has not been resolved. …

Engineering A Healthier Watershed: Middle School Students Use Engineering Design To Lessen The Impact Of Their Campus' Impervious Surfaces On Their Local Watershed, Elizabeth Claire Gardner

Dissertations and Theses

It is important that students understand not only how their local watershed functions, but also how it is being impacted by impervious surfaces. Additionally, students need experience exploring the scientific and engineering practices that are necessary for a strong STEM background. With this knowledge students can be empowered to tackle this real and local problem using engineering design, a powerful practice gaining momentum and clarity through its prominence in the recent Framework for K-12 Science Education. Twenty classes of suburban sixth-graders participated in a new five-week Watershed Engineering Design Unit taught by their regular science teachers. Students engaged in scientific …

The Performance Of Random Prototypes In Hierarchical Models Of Vision, Kendall Lee Stewart

Dissertations and Theses

I investigate properties of HMAX, a computational model of hierarchical processing in the primate visual cortex. High-level cortical neurons have been shown to respond highly to particular natural shapes, such as faces. HMAX models this property with a dictionary of natural shapes, called prototypes, that respond to the presence of those shapes. The resulting set of similarity measurements is an effective descriptor for classifying images. Curiously, prior work has shown that replacing the dictionary of natural shapes with entirely random prototypes has little impact on classification performance. This work explores that phenomenon by studying the performance of random prototypes on …

Coyotes On The Web: Understanding Human-Coyote Interaction And Online Education Using Citizen Science, Zuriel Anne Rasmussen

Dissertations and Theses

Coyote (Canis latrans) numbers are increasing in urban areas, leading to more frequent human-coyote interactions. Rarely, and particularly when coyotes have become habituated to humans, conflicts occur. Effective education about urban coyotes and how to prevent habituation reduces conflict. Citizen science, in the form of online education, can be used to engage and educate city dwellers about urban coyotes. In this research, I explore Portland Metropolitan Area (PMA) residents' baseline experiences with, and attitudes toward, urban coyotes. Next, I investigate citizen science as a tool for education. Using the Portland Urban Coyote Project (PUCP), a citizen science project, as a …

Check-In Frequency With Friends On Location-Based Social Networks: A Look At Homophily And Relational Closeness, Jacqueline H. Vo

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines factors associated with the frequency with which users of location-based social networks (LBSNs) "check-in" with their "friends." In addition to a variety of control factors (i.e., sex homophily, race homophily, geographic proximity, length of friendship, and "friendship" type, including non-romantic friend, romantic partner, and family), the central factors of interest were users' background and attitude homophily with, and relational closeness to, their "friends." Results demonstrate that relational closeness and "friendship" type (i.e., romantic partner) were significantly, positively associated with "check-in" frequency.

Thinking About Work At Home: Implications For Safety At Work, Frankie Guros

Dissertations and Theses

Safety at work is of the utmost importance to employees and the organizations they work for, and as such, it is a central issue for occupational health psychology. Although dramatic decreases in the number of worker injuries and fatalities have been observed over the last several decades, safety remains a principal concern for organizations. This is especially true in occupations in which employees face serious threats to their personal safety, such as correctional officers (COs). While a number of studies have identified workplace factors that contribute to worker safety, few have attempted to draw a link between employee nonwork experiences …

The Development Of Personal Resources In The Academic Domain: Age Differences In The Evolution Of Coping And Perceived Control And The Process Structures That Facilitate Academic Engagement, Teresa Marie Greene

Dissertations and Theses

Studies investigating the development of perceived control and coping in the academic domain generally adopt an individual differences approach, reporting mean-level changes in these and associated constructs. Very few studies attempt to chart the process by which these personal resources exert individual and combined influences on academic outcomes, such as motivation and achievement, in light of normative developmental changes. Further, a consideration of reciprocal influences of these constructs on developmental changes and the contribution of social partners to these processes is not common.

Conceptualized from a systems perspective, this study integrates these different approaches in a longitudinal inquiry into the …

Exploring Relationships Between Entrepreneurship Education And Students’ Entrepreneurial Intentions: A Mixed Method Study Of Entrepreneurial Pedagogies At Chilean Universities, Paulina Andrea Gutierrez Zepeda

Dissertations and Theses

Entrepreneurs play a major role in the 21^st century economy, especially in developing countries such as Chile. Entrepreneurial individuals generate innovative ideas, create jobs, and push older businesses to improve competitiveness. To encourage entrepreneurial skills and mindset among the next generation of students, different public and private initiatives have started to include entrepreneurship education (EE) in all levels of education, especially in higher education.

Nowadays, EE is not only about business creation, it is about educating individuals to be capable of creating opportunities using entrepreneurial skills to deal with complex and uncertain environments. Yet, while much is known about …

Post-Revolutionary Mexican Education In Durango And Jalisco: Regional Differences, Cultures Of Violence, Teaching, And Folk Catholicism, Lindsey Ellison Collins

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explored a regional comparison of education in post-revolutionary Mexico. It involved a micro-look into the relationship between violence, education, religion, and politics in the states of Durango and Jalisco. Research methods included primary sources and microfilms from the National Archives State Department records related to education from the internal affairs of Mexico from 1930-1939 from collection file M1370. It also utilized G-2 United States Military Intelligence reports as well as records from the British National Archives dealing with church and state relations in Mexico from 1920-1939.

Anti - clericalism in the 1920’s led to violent backlash in rural …

Advances In Autonomous-Underwater-Vehicle Based Passive Bottom-Loss Estimation By Processing Of Marine Ambient Noise, Lanfranco Muzi

Dissertations and Theses

Accurate modeling of acoustic propagation in the ocean waveguide is important to SONAR-performance prediction, and requires, particularly in shallow water environments, characterizing the bottom reflection loss with a precision that databank-based modeling cannot achieve. Recent advances in the technology of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) make it possible to envision a survey system for seabed characterization composed of a short array mounted on a small AUV. The bottom power reflection coefficient (and the related reflection loss) can be estimated passively by beamforming the naturally occurring marine ambient-noise acoustic field recorded by a vertical line array of hydrophones. However, the reduced array …

The Biology Of Eastern Kingbirds At Malheur National Wildlife Refuge: Survival, Reproduction, And Testosterone Secretion, Lucas J. Redmond

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation presents the results of a study that I undertook to better understand the breeding biology of Eastern Kingbirds (hereafter, kingbirds) at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon from 2003 to 2009. Kingbirds are long-distance migratory songbirds that breed across much of North America. This species is socially monogamous but, via frequent extra-pair copulations, is genetically polygamous. Kingbirds exhibit relatively high breeding site fidelity, often returning to the same tree to nest in subsequent years. Both members of a pair provide parental care, but there are often specific duties performed by both male and female kingbirds. For example, …

Insights Into The Mental Imagery And Gestural Awareness Of Representational Gestures Produced In Everyday Talk: An Exploratory Study Of Using Participants' Comments As Data, Sue M. Wendel

Dissertations and Theses

To better understand representational gestures used in everyday talk, this study explores the ways participants talk about their own mental imagery and gestural awareness, and how their comments affect analysis. Literature pertaining to representational gestures, mental imagery, gestural awareness, and self-report data provide the theoretical framework for the study's design and implementation. Data is drawn from observations of two video recorded dyads engaged in everyday conversation, and four audio recorded interviews with each participant individually as they viewed and commented on selected video segments in which they had produced a representational gesture. Findings indicate that participants talked about mental imagery …

The Impeccable Timing Of The Apple Maggot Fly, Rhagoletis Pomonella (Dipetera: Tephritidae), And Its Implications For Ecological Speciation, Monte Arthur Mattsson

Dissertations and Theses

Speciation is the process by which life diversifies into discrete forms, and understanding its underlying mechanisms remains a primary focus for biologists. Increasingly, empirical studies are helping explain the role of ecology in generating biodiversity. Adaptive radiations are often propelled by selective fitness tradeoffs experienced by individuals that invade new habitats, resulting in reproductive isolation from ancestral conspecifics and potentially cladogenesis. Host specialist insects are among the most speciose organisms known and serve as highly useful models for studying adaptive radiations. We are just beginning to understand the pace and degree with which these insects diversify. The apple maggot, Rhagoletis …

Fathers Caring For Children With Special Health Care Needs: Experiences Of Work-Life Fit, Claudia Sellmaier

Dissertations and Theses

Research about employed fathers of children with special health care needs (SHCN) is still limited, leaving fathers without the necessary workplace and community supports to better integrate work and life. Caregivers with exceptional caregiving responsibilities report greater levels of work-family conflict and considerable caregiver strain, as well as negative employment and financial consequences related to their caregiving responsibilities. These caregivers often struggle to access community supports such as childcare, after-school care, and support from friends and neighbors.

This study provides insights into the types of job, home, and community resources that are relevant for fathers of children with SHCN in …

Polymeric Porphyrins As Solar Photocatalysts, Nicholas Upton Day

Dissertations and Theses

Research concentrated on the absorption, transformation, and storage of light energy is useful for the energy challenges faced by humanity. In particular, photocatalysis using solar energy to generate useful fuels has become a primary research goal in the drive to replace fossil fuels for the future. In this dissertation it is shown that poly-tetra(4-aminophenyl)porphyrin (pTAPP) can be oxidatively polymerized using a variety of methods, including electropolymerization, chemical oxidation, and interfacial polymerization and that pTAPP has photocatalytic ability to reduce O₂ to H₂O₂ for a storable fuel.

Organic conductive polymers such as pTAPP are attractive catalysts because …

Transport Of Heat Activated Persulfate And Its Application For In-Situ Chemical Oxidation Of Residual Trichloroethylene, Lauren Dekker Quig

Dissertations and Theses

In situ chemical oxidation is a promising technology for the remediation of persistent subsurface contamination. Increasingly, the persulfate ion is being studied for use in these systems, both on its own as a strong oxidant and as the precursor to the even more reactive sulfate radical. Persulfate has been shown to treat a wide range of contaminants, from traditional Superfund contaminants such as chlorinated solvents to emerging pharmaceutical contaminants. Additionally, persulfate ISCO can be tailored to site and pollutant specific characteristics based on the method of persulfate activation (e.g., energy and catalysis activation) to the sulfate radical. Thermal activation of …

A Combined Energy And Geoengineering Optimization Model (Ceagom) For Climate Policy Analysis, John George Anasis

Dissertations and Theses

One of the greatest challenges that will face humanity in the 21^st century is the issue of climate change brought about by emissions of greenhouse gases. Energy use is one of the primary sources of greenhouse gas emissions. However, it is also one of the most important contributors to improved human welfare over the past two centuries and will continue to be so for years to come. This quandary has led a number of researchers to suggest that geoengineering may be required in order to allow for continued use of fossil fuels while at the same time mitigating the …

Beyond Fruit: Examining Community In A Community Orchard, Emily Jane Becker

Dissertations and Theses

The Fruits of Diversity Community Orchard, located in Portland, Oregon in an affordable housing neighborhood, is a site of alternative food provisioning in which a group of people, organized by two nonprofits, work together to manage fruit and nut producing plants. Through conversations with volunteers who participate regularly and participant observation, this study explores the questions: What does community mean in the context of a community orchard? In what ways does partnering with a nonprofit from outside the neighborhood influence community and the way the project is operationalized?

This thesis situates community orchards within the literature on alternative food networks …

Design And Synthesis Of Novel Chloroquine-Based Antimalarials, Kevin Vincent Murphy

Dissertations and Theses

Malaria is an infectious, often fatal disease that afflicts nearly 200 million people every year. The disease, characterized by recurring and extreme flu-like symptoms, is caused by the protozoan parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Victims usually contract the disease through a mosquito vector. Chloroquine is a chemotherapeutic that was introduced in the 1940s. For many years the drug was the foremost treatment of malaria, being effective and producing few side effects. Unfortunately, tolerance to chloroquine developed when the parasite evolved a resistance mechanism. Newer drugs have been developed and implemented, but these medicines also show a decreasing effect with continued administration. …

Principal Leadership Practices In High Poverty K-5 Model Schools In Oregon, Janice Marie Adams

Dissertations and Theses

Children living in poverty in the United States face some of life's greatest challenges, including achieving academic success in school. Evidence is also emerging of a growing income disparity in America that affects families, communities and local labor markets in ways that can undermine the effectiveness of schools serving disadvantaged populations (Duncan & Murnane, 2011). Evidence exists, however, that high academic performance is within the reach of all children in high poverty schools, and that principal leadership is a contributing factor.

This study examined principal leadership practices in three high poverty K-5 elementary schools in Oregon identified as Model schools …