Digital Commons Network^™

The Child Care Self-Sufficiency Scale: Measuring Child Care Funding And Policy Generosity Across States, Karen Tvedt

Dissertations and Theses

Against the backdrop of welfare reform, this study examined the generosity of state child care programs with generosity being defined as the extent to which state funding and policies promote child care availability, affordability, and health and safety for low-income families. Despite variations in Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) implementation, no internally-consistent measure has existed that permits comparisons across the range of funding and policy indicators. This study addressed that gap by constructing a composite scale comprised of 12 indicators that were identified based on existing research and expert opinion to reflect key areas of state funding and policy …

The Institutionalization Of Diversity And Gender Equity Norms And Values In Higher Education Settings, Rowanna Lynn Carpenter

Dissertations and Theses

Universities in the United States increasingly experience demographic, business, and community pressure to hire, retain, and educate women and ethnic minority faculty, staff, and students. Responses to this pressure have changed over time from isolated open-door initiatives to comprehensive diversity initiatives designed to create welcoming campus environments for people of all backgrounds. Current literature on the assessment of diversity initiatives in higher education suggests the need to use approaches that include attention to the entire university, and to institutionalize the norms and values associated with diversity initiatives as part of the change process. Despite this shift toward a comprehensive understanding …

How Organizational Arrangements Affect High Reliability In Public Research Universities: Perceptions Of Environmental Health And Safety Directors, Rita Finn Sumner

Dissertations and Theses

The American research university is composed of two related but relatively independent structures. The academic core composed of faculty guilds, has the primary responsibility for academic content and quality. The administrative shell is responsible for mobilizing and distributing resources that support the work of the guilds and it protects guilds from harmful external forces. Part of the complex relationship between the academic core and the administrative shell is enabling the creation of internal quality through arranging institutional conditions to prepare resources to better manage risk. The need for research universities to develop infrastructures regarding environmental health and safety (EHS) to …

Hardware Architectures And Implementations For Associative Memories : The Building Blocks Of Hierarchically Distributed Memories, Changjian Gao

Dissertations and Theses

During the past several decades, the semiconductor industry has grown into a global industry with revenues around $300 billion. Intel no longer relies on only transistor scaling for higher CPU performance, but instead, focuses more on multiple cores on a single die. It has been projected that in 2016 most CMOS circuits will be manufactured with 22 nm process. The CMOS circuits will have a large number of defects. Especially when the transistor goes below sub-micron, the original deterministic circuits will start having probabilistic characteristics. Hence, it would be challenging to map traditional computational models onto probabilistic circuits, suggesting a …

At Home In The World : The American Middle-Class House As A Twenty-First Century Public Square, Kathleen Holt

Dissertations and Theses

Using personal narrative, interviews, and research, this thesis project looks at how the middle-class American home has been transformed, by people like me, into a modem-day public square.

More Than Screening Tools? : An Examination Of Preliminary Applicant Evaluation Methods, Matthew Eric Paronto

Dissertations and Theses

The increased prevalence of technology in organizations has had significant impacts on the recruiting, screening, and hiring processes. However, little is known regarding whether preliminary applicant evaluation methods provide meaningful candidate information beyond possession of minimum qualifications. To address this gap in the literature, two preliminary applicant evaluation procedures used at a major utility company were examined across two separate studies.

Study 1 examined online applicant prescreening protocols across three positions. Archival prescreening data from 5,619 applicants were analyzed in terms of item characteristics that distinguished candidates at different points in the score distribution (high vs. low; highest vs. high), …

Irrelevance, Polymorphism, And Erasure In Type Theory, Richard Nathan Mishra-Linger

Dissertations and Theses

Dependent type theory is a proven technology for verified functional programming in which programs and their correctness proofs may be developed using the same rules in a single formal system. In practice, large portions of programs developed in this way have no computational relevance to the ultimate result of the program and should therefore be removed prior to program execution. In previous work on identifying and removing irrelevant portions of programs, computational irrelevance is usually treated as an intrinsic property of program expressions. We find that such an approach forces programmers to maintain two copies of commonly used datatypes: a …

Cmol/Cmos Hardware Architectures And Performance/Price For Bayesian Memory - The Building Block Of Intelligent Systems, Mazad Shaheriar Zaveri

Dissertations and Theses

The semiconductor/computer industry has been following Moore's law for several decades and has reaped the benefits in speed and density of the resultant scaling. Transistor density has reached almost one billion per chip, and transistor delays are in picoseconds. However, scaling has slowed down, and the semiconductor industry is now facing several challenges. Hybrid CMOS/nano technologies, such as CMOL, are considered as an interim solution to some of the challenges. Another potential architectural solution includes specialized architectures for applications/models in the intelligent computing domain, one aspect of which includes abstract computational models inspired from the neuro/cognitive sciences.

Consequently in this …

Methodology For Developing A Functional Multiscale Architecture Model System Towards Future Integrated Circuits, Yamini Yadov

Dissertations and Theses

Detection of the biochemical species in the environmental pollution, industrial emission monitoring, medical diagnosis, public security, agriculture and a variety of industries has resulted in the emerging need for a generation of high density nanostructured sensor arrays. The fundamental two terminal and three terminal device components because of their potential for specificity eventually have to be integrated into miniaturized and portable nanoarray sensors. One of the key components in these nanosensors is the development of building functional building blocks that improve device performance capabilities. This research is focused on methodology for developing fundamental, functional, multiscale architecture model system for generating …

Synthesis, Characterization And Reactivity Of Some Selected Organosulfur Oxo-Acids, Adenike Otoikhian

Dissertations and Theses

The two major metabolites after S-Oxygenation of dimethylthiourea (N, N'-dimethylaminoiminomethanesulfinic acid (DMAIMSA) and N, N'-dimethylamino iminomethanesulfonic acid (DMAIMSOA)) were synthesized. Structural analysis by X-ray crystallography shows that DMAIMSA and DMAIMSOA exist as zwitterionic species in their solid form, with a positive charge delocalized around an sp²-hybridized carbon center flanked by two nitrogen atoms.

Kinetics and mechanistic studies on the oxidation of DMAIMSA and DMAIMSOA by acidified iodate/iodine and bromate/bromine were studied. The results reveal that DMAIMSA, unlike DMAIMSOA, is highly reactive. DMAIMSOA is very inert and unreactive in low pH environments. The difference in reactivity is attributed to …

Challenging The New Penology: A Case-Study Analysis Of Correctional Management, Interstate Inmate Transfers, And Administrative Intent, Robert Thomas Swan

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the use of interstate inmate transfers (IITs) by prison wardens and the administrative intent that guide their use. This study assesses the explanatory power of the new penology in three cases and asks three broad questions of two prison wardens and the DOC: What correctional goals do you hope to accomplish with interstate inmate transfers? Why? And what contextual factors (if any) are felt to inhibit or facilitate these goals?

IITs are controversial. Supporters of IITs argue that in addition to serving the needs of correctional managers, they may also serve to …

Traumatic Experience Scale For Jurors (Tesj), Michael James Krummel

Dissertations and Theses

This comprehensive dissertation describes research that involved the development of a paper-and-pencil tool to inventory juror stress level(s) resulting from common types of Washington criminal and civil trials. It includes a general explanation of its rationale and development, and provides norms as well as evidence of its reliability and validity. Untreated stress can lead to several well-documented mental health conditions, the most serious two being part of this research: Acute Stress Disorder and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. The research on stress, trauma, the assessment of stress and trauma, and related therapeutic interventions have not been well correlated to the vicarious stress …

Window Queries Over Data Streams, Jin Li

Dissertations and Theses

Evaluating queries over data streams has become an appealing way to support various stream-processing applications. Window queries are commonly used in many stream applications. In a window query, certain query operators, especially blocking operators and stateful operators, appear in their windowed versions. Previous research work in evaluating window queries typically requires ordered streams and this order requirement limits the implementations of window operators and also carries performance penalties. This thesis presents efficient and flexible algorithms for evaluating window queries. We first present a new data model for streams, progressing streams, that separates stream progress from physical-arrival order. Then, we …

Designing More Effective Air Quality Advisories, Justin Olexy

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Background: There is increasing concern about the impact of air quality on human health in urban environments and how to best reduce impacts through public policies. An NSF Biocomplexity Project - "Feedbacks between Urban Systems and the Environment" (FUSE), led by Portland State University, studies the human feedbacks and responses to air quality and heat advisories through data collected in city-wide phone surveys in Portland, OR and Houston, TX. On days when ozone levels are predicted to exceed air quality standards, regulatory agencies issue air quality advisories which ask residents to reduce certain air polluting behaviors such as driving …

Cardioprotective Signal Transduction To Mitochondria, Casey Lee Quinlan

Dissertations and Theses

Intracellular responses to external stimuli require reception of the message at the plasma membrane followed by encoding and transmission of the message to its effectors downstream. In this process, diverse cellular responses are mediated by many redundant molecular players. The apparent generality and redundancy of many kinases, such as the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), suggests that signal transduction must gain specificity through tight regulation. Diffusion and random collisions of relevant signaling components seem insufficient to explain the multilayered complexity observed in cell signaling cascades. Emerging hypotheses suggest that signaling machinery may achieve enhanced specificity and control by exploiting the compartmentalization …

The Original Build Up Of Genetic Information By Rna Recombination, Eric John Hayden

Dissertations and Theses

This research demonstrates chemical reactions of RNA molecules that allow them to increase in length, from non-catalytic oligomers to complex RNA enzymes. The purpose of this research was to explain the origin of large RNA polymers required for life to begin in the proposed "RNA World". To do this, the Azoarcus group I ribozyme was engineered to catalyze phosphodiester exchange reactions that result in the recombination of short oligomer substrates marked by ^5'CAU^3' recognition tags.

To demonstrate the ability to produce catalytic RNA sequences through recombination, substrate oligomers were synthesized that could produce ribozymes if large portions of …

Role Of Food Neophobia, Food Attitudes And Written Information On The Acceptance Of Novel Fish Products : A Cross-Cultural Study, Koei Kudo

Dissertations and Theses

The present research used an integrative and multi-disciplinary approach to investigate the relations among food attitudes, food neophobia and acceptance of novel and familiar albacore tuna dishes for Japanese and U.S. consumers.

A pilot study selected seasonings and cooking methods that were familiar or novel to each culture, and identified the most relevant health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids (FA).

The main study employed a self-reported, web-based questionnaire where back-translation maximized the cross-cultural equivalency of US and Japanese versions. Scales of food neophobia (Crystallized Neophobia Scale, or CNS) and attitudes towards foods (Health-, Pleasure- and Convenience-Oriented Food Attitudes Scale, or …

Students' Reasoning About The Concept Of Limit In The Context Of Reinventing The Formal Definition, Craig Alan Swinyard

Dissertations and Theses

Many researchers (Artigue, 2000; Bezuidenhout, 2001; Cornu, 1991; Dorier, 1995) have noted the vital role limit plays as a foundational concept in analysis. The vast majority of topics encountered in calculus and undergraduate analysis are built upon understanding the concept of limit and being able to work flexibly with its formal definition (Bezuidenhout, 2001). The purpose of this study was to: (1) Develop insight into students' reasoning about limit in relation to their engagement in instruction designed to support their reinventing the formal definition of limit, and; (2) Inform the design of principled instruction that might support students' attempts to …

Up A Creek : The Perilous Journey Of Recently Uninsured Low-Income Adults In Oregon, Heidi Allen

Dissertations and Theses

In the United States, having health insurance is considered to be the best guarantee of having access to timely and effective health care services. With millions of uninsured adults in the U.S., many states have moved beyond traditional Medicaid programs and expanded eligibility to low-income adults who are not otherwise eligible for public health insurance. While popular with the public, these programs are vulnerable when states face economic downturns. Even during times of financial stability, Medicaid expansion programs experience significant amounts of program 'churning', and in turn, low-income adults experience health insurance discontinuity. For this reason, it is important to …

Nanostructered Aminophenylporphyrin Films For Use In Bulk Heterojunction And Inverse Dye-Sensitized Tio₂ Solar Cells, Michael George Walter

Dissertations and Theses

Conductive nanostructured films of poly-tetrakis-5,10,15,20-(4-aminophenyl)porphyrin (TAPP) can be grown electrochemically or through interfacial oxidative polymerization. The poly-TAPP nanomorphology is sensitive to the electrochemical solvent, potentiometric method, and the aminophenyl porphyrin monomer utilized. To elucidate the molecular structure of poly-TAPP and to correlate structures with proposed polymerization and conductivity mechanisms, reflectance FT-IR and spectroelectrochemistry were used to detect the presence and electroactivity of dihydrophenazine and phenazine polymer linkages formed during the polymerization.

Poly-TAPP nanofiber films were evaluated for use in a bulk heterojunction solar cell (with PCBM) and in an inverse dye-sensitized TiO2 solar cell using the poly-TAPP nanoporous scaffold to …

"Do I Really Belong Here?" The Effects Of Difference In Paths Through Higher Education On Graduate Student Perception On Legitimacy, Tina Dawn Lillian Burdsall

Dissertations and Theses

Why do some master's level students feel confident in completing their programs and some do not? Why do some feel connected to their department and some do not? Why do some feel legitimate as graduate students and some do not? This research proposes that there may be differences in how master's students understand the graduate student role based on whether they went directly from high-school through their bachelor's to their master's, or if they took time off between their bachelor's and master's program. This thesis used in-depth interviews with twelve second-year master's students at Portland State University to explore these …

Western Juniper (Juniperus Occidentalis) Ecology With An Exercise In Remote Sensing Techniques, Elizabeth A. Goralski

Geography Masters Research Papers

Western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis var. occidentalis) has been expanding its biogeographic range since the mid-1800's, resulting in decreased biodiversity, altered wildlife habitat, increased soil erosion, reduced stream flows and reduced forage production. The direct causes of western juniper aforestation are unclear but appear to be related to altered fire regimes, over grazing, and climatic shifts.

This study seeks to determine how Landsat images combined with Digital Orthoquads (DOQs) can be used to examine the geographic distribution of western juniper. Satellite imagery has yet to be applied to the large scale mapping of western juniper aforestation, resulting in the lack of …

Who Benefits? : A Multilevel Analysis Of The Impact Of Oregon's Volunteer Mentor Program For Postsecondary Access On Scholarship Applicants, Alisha Ann Lund-Chaix

Dissertations and Theses

Despite four decades of national policy interventions, equal access to postsecondary education has not been achieved. Though gains have been made, students of color, low-income students, and first generation students are still excluded from postsecondary participation. Early intervention programs and privately funded scholarships are among the many public and private voluntary responses to this problem.

Oregon's state-supported, school-based, volunteer mentoring program for equalizing postsecondary opportunities grew out of a long-standing partnership between a state administrative agency and statewide community foundation. Key program features reflect its origin: open eligibility for any student who wants to participate and reliance on a primary …

Design And Synthesis Of Antimalarial Drugs Based On A Chloroquine Scaffold, Steven James Burgess

Dissertations and Theses

There are between 350 and 500 million clinical cases of malaria each year, and over 1 million deaths, with pregnant women and children under the age of 5 being most at risk. Chloroquine (CQ) became the preferred drug to treat malaria in the late 1940s, but is now rendered mostly ineffective in many parts of the world, due to widespread CQ resistance by the malaria parasite. All other malaria treatments suffer from some drawbacks, which include development of resistance, side effects including toxicity, risk for pregnant women and young children, and high cost. Some existing, non-antimalarial, drugs have been found …

What's Regulation Got To Do With It? : Examining The Impact Of Regulatory Intensity On Facility Environmental Management And Performance, Cody Jones

Dissertations and Theses

Understanding the influence of regulation on environmental management is important—studies typically find regulation to be a significant influence on environmental activity. However, studies typically assess regulation together with a suite of other influences such as investors and customers, which are often also found to be significant influences on environmental management. This research, on the other hand, suggests that regulatory constraints form a framework within which organizations operate, and therefore are associated with organizations' views of other motivating factors, as well as environmental management and performance. Additionally, this study assesses the influence of management attitudes toward environmental protection and attitudes toward …

Development Of Clinical Judgment In Nursing Students: A Learning Framework To Use In Designing And Implementing Simulated Learning Experiences, Paula Marie Gubrud-Howe

Dissertations and Theses

There is little doubt that health care has changed dramatically in the last 20 years. Consequently, learning to think like a nurse has become an increasingly complex endeavor. Therefore, professional education must be re-designed to facilitate the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are required of nurses in today's practice environment. High-fidelity simulation provides an education environment for nursing students to develop new professional competencies such as clinical judgment.

The How People Learn (HPL) framework is a comprehensive instructional model that can be used to design clinical learning activities. The HPL framework emerged from the new science of learning …

Developing A Sense Of Academic Ownership : A Longitudinal Analysis, Gwen Catherine Marchand

Dissertations and Theses

Student responsibility has emerged as a key developmental task, particularly during the transition to middle school. A developmental and motivational perspective was taken for the present study that emphasized agency, ownership, and engagement as key parts of the development of student responsibility. Self-determination Theory (SDT) was selected as the overarching framework for the present investigation due to the theory's emphasis on autonomy, which refers to the experience of oneself as the authentic origin of one's own actions (Deci & Ryan, 1985). In SDT, the construct of autonomy is used to integrate views of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and to differentiate …

A Novel Approach To The Synthesis Of Silicon Nanowires, Joo Chick Chan

Dissertations and Theses

Contemporary VLS-SiNW synthetic methods employ CVD and laser ablation methods that produce single crystalline SiNW; which can be doped by co-flowing appropriate dopants, such as diborane (p-type) and phosphine (n-type). Not only are these gases toxic (non-green), but also the synthetic methods used are costly requiring elaborate instrumental assembly. This thesis presents a low-cost and "green" method in synthesizing and doping of SiNW in a glass tube. It was found that by selecting the appropriate metal catalyst, precursor reactants, and the reaction conditions both SiNW and carbon nanotube (CNT) can be synthesized on metallic (aluminum and copper), semiconducting (silicon) and …

Financial Engineering For Energy System Capital Budgeting, Chin-Chuen Teoh

Dissertations and Theses

The United State energy industry is experiencing a major paradigm shift. This conventional vertically integrated energy industry is gradually transformed to a competitive market environment—a deregulated energy market. The market and regulatory frameworks are expected to continue to evolve in the future. Market participants are emphasizing more on profit maximization as returns on investment are no longer guaranteed. Therefore, risk management and capital budgeting play critical roles in energy system planning. Planning always involves uncertainties. When there are uncertainties, there are risks involve. This dissertation concentrates on the application of Real Options Analysis, ROA, especially lattice method, to energy system …

Peroxynitrite Chemistry: Formation, Decomposition And Possible Deactivation Mechanisms By Thiols, Olufunke Modupe Olagunju

Dissertations and Theses

Kinetics of formation and decomposition of peroxynitrite was studied in acidic and buffer solutions. Peroxynitrous acid was formed in acidic media by the reaction of H₂O₂ with HNO^₂ and NO +. Bimolecular rate constant for reaction of H²O² with HNO^₂ at 25°C was determined to be 3.7 × 10 3 M-¹ s-¹. Peroxynitrous acid formed is highly unstable with half life of approximately 1 second. Decomposition of peroxynitrite is highly pH-dependent. In acidic media, peroxynitrous acid decomposes to nitrate while at neutral to slightly basic media, products of decomposition …