Digital Commons Network^™

Real-Time Length Sensing Of Braided Pneumatic Actuator Using Ir Time-Of-Flight Sensor, Luon B. Chung

Dissertations and Theses

Braided Pneumatic Actuators (BPAs) are used widely in robotics as artificial muscles because of their similar characteristics to biological muscles. When a BPA is pressurized, it expands in the radial direction and contracts in the longitudinal direction. The contraction generates a pulling force that is dependent on the input pressure and BPA length. Biological muscle also behaves in the same way where a pulling force is generated on a contraction. To control BPAs on a robot, the real-time pressure and length measurements are necessary. In this dissertation, I present a new method to measure length of BPAs in real-time using …

"We Just Have To Trust The People In White Lab Coats": Analyzing Distrust In Vaccine Hesitant Comments On The Hhs Nondiscrimination In Health Programs And Activities Proposed Rule, Hima Bindu Lakshmi Vedantham

Dissertations and Theses

Vaccine attitudes provide a valuable site for analyzing trust relations on both interpersonal and institutional levels. This study is a content analysis of public comments submitted from August through October 2022 in response to a proposed rule issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which sought to strengthen non-discrimination protections in healthcare programs. Specifically, it examines the role of distrust in shaping and reinforcing vaccine hesitant beliefs, experiences, and healthcare decisions. The five themes identified in the study illustrate a breakdown in trust in pharmaceutical companies, government actors, and healthcare providers, reflecting broader social patterns. In the …

The New Profits Of Pleasure: Reality Television And Affective Exploitation In Post-Pandemic Neoliberalism, Sophia Aepfelbacher

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis uses reality television and the parasocial relationships it cultivates as a microcosm to better understand the current form of neoliberalism as well as the implications it has for democracy. I extend the preexisting scholarship surrounding neoliberalism and reality television by emphasizing the importance of social media in understanding that link. By conducting a case study of Netflix's Love is Blind, I demonstrate how both reality television content and the reality-television-participant-to-influencer pipeline serve to reinforce neoliberal values by constructing powerful cultural imaginaries such as a model of care and self-sufficiency that centers marriage and the household. I argue …

I Know That You Know That I Know: Meta-Parody Ads And Brand Credibility, Giuliana T. Mintiero

University Honors Theses

In recent years, advertisers have been turning to a new form of humorous advertising to reach wary consumers. This study refers to this new form of advertising appeal as 'meta-parody' advertising, defined as humorous advertisements that parody advertising tropes for the sake of building credibility with the consumer. These ads are aimed at overcoming persuasion knowledge, which is what consumers use to cope with attempts to influence them. Despite the prevalence of meta-parody in contemporary advertising, there is no existing research on meta-parody ads, let alone their relationship with brand credibility. Previous research into humorous advertising has produced mixed views …

Effects Of Language Status, Community Advice, And Parent Beliefs On Heritage Language Maintenance In The U.S.: A Scoping Review, Jasmine Loeung

University Honors Theses

This scoping review examines the effects of language status, community advice to parents, and parents' beliefs on heritage language maintenance within a U.S. context. A total of 34 articles met the inclusion criteria. Four key themes were identified as follows: (1) status of a language in society affects maintenance, (2) parents' beliefs about the impact of the heritage language affect family language practices, (3) community advice impacts parents' beliefs and practices, (4) other factors affecting maintenance of the heritage language across generations. Overall, HL maintenance was observed as a dynamic relationship between a variety of factors, with individuals as well …

Decriminalizing Drugs: A Comparative Study Of Oregon In An International Context, Fox Millsaps

University Honors Theses

Oregon made history in 2020 when voters joined together to approve ballot measure 110, the Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act, which decriminalized personal amounts of all illicit substances. This was done in a bid to begin treating the ongoing drug crisis as a public health issue as opposed to a criminal justice issue. While Oregon may be the first in the nation to make such a move, they are not the first government to experiment with decriminalizing 'hard drugs.' Some argue that Oregon’s model was based on Portugal's decriminalization effort and point to Portugal's success as a potential outcome …

The Radical Relationality Of Complex Partnerships: Community-Member Experiences In Critical Community-Based Learning, Amie Riley

Dissertations and Theses

Through a radical relationality within the social-ecological systems that sustain us, critical community-based learning (CBL) in higher education offers a praxis for engaging the demanding pedagogical and community challenges we face. When CBL is implemented as both a critical and sustainability pedagogy, as a strategy for social change, the relationships created by CBL partnerships have the potential to generate transformational outcomes for all partnership agents. Using a critical complexity theoretical framework, a bricolage of complexity science and critical theory, this critical qualitative study sought to understand the systemic patterns and behaviors of a community-based learning partnership by elevating community-member voices. …

Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning For Radiation Localization, Benjamin Scott Totten

Dissertations and Theses

For the safety of both equipment and human life, it is important to identify the location of orphaned radioactive material as quickly and accurately as possible. There are many factors that make radiation localization a challenging task, such as low gamma radiation signal strength and the need to search in unknown environments without prior information. The inverse-square relationship between the intensity of radiation and the source location, the probabilistic nature of nuclear decay and gamma ray detection, and the pervasive presence of naturally occurring environmental radiation complicates localization tasks. The presence of obstructions in complex environments can further attenuate the …

Trackxi Capstone Review, Kevin Abarca

University Honors Theses

This University Honors review thesis is based on my business capstone which revolved around developing a strategic road map for the startup company Trackxi. Trackxi is a real estate tech startup aiming to streamline transactions using a patent-pending visual online platform. The platform is similar to companies such as Asana but provides a more linear representation of real estate transaction steps, equal to a long visual chain with blocks representing next steps. The platform also caters to independent real estate agents, as more established real estate agents usually have in house solutions. Our team also continually interfaced with the client …

Examining Factors Impacting The Service Needs Of Unhoused Women, Holly Brott

Dissertations and Theses

Women account for a sizeable proportion of the unhoused population in the U.S. Over one-third (38.7%) of unhoused individuals are women, which is a 17% increase from 2016 (United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2019). The increased prevalence of women experiencing homelessness calls for a renewed examination of their service needs. This dissertation presents three studies examining factors impacting the service needs of unhoused women. The first manuscript examined factors contributing to unhoused mothers’ successful completion of transitional housing; highlighted participant-identified programmatic strengths; and investigated differences in facilitators to success across two geographic contexts: one rural and one …

Modeling Of Signals And Spectra: 5g And Beyond, Xianzhen Yang

Dissertations and Theses

The collection of papers addresses various aspects of spectra and signals in RF wireless systems for 5G and beyond. The first paper focuses on the nonlinear effects of amplified dual-band OFDM signals, providing a spectrum model for intermodulation and cross-modulation. The second paper extends this analysis beyond bandwidth restrictions, enabling accurate prediction of amplified dual-band spectrum. The third paper emphasizes the significance of out-of-band intermodulation products and derives an analytical expression using third-order intercept points. The fourth paper presents a unified spectrum expression for OFDM, FBMC, and F-OFDM, facilitating comparative insights into these signals. The fifth paper explores second-order intermodulation …

L2 Learners’ Pragmatic Output In A Face-To-Face Vs. A Computer-Guided Role-Play Task: Implications For Tblt, Veronika Timpe-Laughlin, Judit Dombi, Tetyana Sydorenko, Shoko Sasayama

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Accomplishing oral interactive workplace tasks requires various language abilities, including pragmatics. While technology-mediated tasks are thought to offer many possibilities for teaching and assessing second language (L2) pragmatics, their effectiveness – especially those facilitated by an AI agent (artificial intelligence agent) – remains to be explored. This study investigated how 47 tertiary-level learners of English as a second language (ESL) performed on an oral interactive task that required them to make requests to their boss in two distinct modalities. Each participant completed the same task with a fully automated AI agent and with a human interlocutor in a face-to-face format. …

Tell Me, Do You Feel It Too? A Meta-Analysis Of Dyadic Emotional Contagion In The Workplace, Stefanie Fox

Dissertations and Theses

Emotional contagion influences multiple important individual and organizational outcomes, including burnout, job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behaviors, and task performance. The current meta-analytic review utilizes Barsade and colleagues' model of emotional contagion in organizational life and Van Kleef's emotions as social information model, creating a theoretically and empirically based examination of emotional contagion in organizational dyads covering the past 30 years of research. It offers nuance to traditional positive and negative affect conceptualization by utilizing Van Kleef's four social emotion categories (i.e., affiliation, appeasement, dominance, supplication) along with general positive and negative valanced emotional expressions as antecedents of emotional contagion. Using …

Beyond First Thoughts: Understanding The Essence Of Equitable Decision-Making, A Phenomenological Study, White Practitioners As Equitable Educational Decision-Makers, Zinnia Un

Dissertations and Theses

This interpretive phenomenological study aims to understand the lived experience of White educational decision-makers (EDMs) as they make equitable decisions for racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse (RCLD) students. Six decades after the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education, the landscape of American education changed. Many scholars theorized the impact of colorblindness in decision-making and the connection to disproportionate outcomes for RCLD students.

The Student Success Act (2019) brings an additional $1 billion in investment to schools in Oregon annually. This allocation of school resources required an initial and ongoing community engagement process to ensure funding supports well-rounded education …

The Double Dutch Retention Framework: A Grounded Theory Study On Increasing Racial Staff Diversity At Pacific Northwest Community Colleges, Dominique S. Austin

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation examines the troubling underrepresentation of staff of color in Pacific Northwest community colleges. Despite the proven benefits of racial staff diversity in promoting student success, community colleges face challenges in recruiting and retaining staff of color. Existing literature concerning non-teaching staff at community colleges is limited. This study adds to the existing literature by investigating the experiences and perceptions of staff of color in Pacific Northwest community colleges to identify effective strategies for increasing racial staff diversity.

This study used a constructivist grounded theory approach in a comprehensive data collection process involving surveys, individual and focus group interviews, …

Formalizing Stack Safety As A Security Property, Sean Noble Anderson, Roberto Blanco, Leonidas Lampropoulos, Benjamin C. Pierce, Andrew Tolmach

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The term stack safety is used to describe a variety of compiler, runtime, and hardware mechanisms for protecting stack memory. Unlike “the heap,” the ISA-level stack does not correspond to a single high-level language concept: different compilers use it in different ways to support procedural and functional abstraction mechanisms from a wide range of languages. This protean nature makes it difficult to nail down what it means to correctly enforce stack safety.

A Call To Action For Disability And Rehabilitation Research Using A Discrit And Disability Justice Framework, Toni Saia, Rana Yaghmaian, Rachel Cuesta, Carlyn Mueller, Roxanna N. Pebdani

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose: Disability and ableism exist within a societal context that does not ignore the many facets of a person’s identity, however often our disability research does not recognize how experiences vary based on the intersecting identities individuals hold. This article utilizes Intersectionality, Dis/ability Critical Race Studies (DisCrit), and Disability Justice to identify ways for rehabilitation researchers to adapt their research practices for maximum inclusivity and representation.

Materials and Methods: Using these three frameworks, we have developed a call to action including recommendations for rehabilitation researchers to consider as they design and implement research projects.

Results: Incorporating these frameworks provides an …

Understanding The Crisis: The Evolution Of Indigent Defense In Oregon, Molly Pettit

University Honors Theses

On any given day in Oregon, hundreds of people charged with a crime do not have an attorney to represent them. Many of these people are in custody, and some face charges as serious as murder. How did our public defense system reach the point of crisis? What can be done about it? This paper provides a general overview of the right to counsel nationally before narrowing the focus to the state of Oregon. Using scholarly articles, historical documents, footnotes, meeting transcripts, and interviews, I explore the beginnings of court-appointed counsel in Oregon, and document how it has grown and …

Low Internal Air Space In Plants With Crassulacean Acid Metabolism May Be An Anatomical Spandrel, Alistair Leverett, Anne Borland, Emma Inge, Samantha Hartzell

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) is a photosynthetic adaptation found in at least 38 plant families. Typically, the anatomy of CAM plants is characterised by large photosynthetic cells and a low percentage of leaf volume comprised of internal air space (% IAS). It has been suggested that reduced mesophyll conductance (g_m) arising from low % IAS benefits CAM plants by preventing the movement of CO₂ out of cells and ultimately minimising leakage of CO₂ from leaves into the atmosphere during day-time decarboxylation. Here, we propose that low % IAS does not provide any adaptive benefit to …

Understanding Connections Between Mobility, Transportation, And Quality Of Life In Refugee Communities In Tucson, Arizona, Orhon Myadar, Arlie Adkins, Maia Ingram, Nicole Iroz-Elardo

TREC Final Reports

In this multidisciplinary research project we aimed to study mobility challenges that refugees in Tucson, AZ, experience after their resettlement. Using qualitative and quantitative data collected from interviews and survey data, we argue that mobility shapes the ways refugees foster social connections, attain employment and access educational opportunities. Accordingly, barriers to mobility negatively impact refugees’ perception of well-being in post resettlement. However, these challenges are not experienced evenly. Nor are refugees passive subjects who lack agency in overcoming various barriers they experience. The study reveals the resilience of the refugee community in navigating the intersectional challenges they confront related to …

Bought But Never Used: How And When Unused Utility Reduces Subsequent Spending, Shruti Koley, Brandon J. Reich

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

Consumers often buy products that they later do not use. How does failing to use purchased products affect subsequent spending? Six experiments demonstrate that when consumers do not use their purchased products, it decreases their subsequent discretionary spending across product categories due to an aversion to wasted money. We find that this effect is driven primarily by perceived money waste and not product waste. Consequently, the effect persists even when consumers avoid product waste, such as by donating their unused products, but is mitigated when they avoid money waste, such as when their unused products are freely acquired. We also …

A Content Analysis Of Social Media Discussions On Thc-Oacetate, Daniel J. Kruger, Amila Karahmet, Sydney M. Kaplan, Taylor Stacy, John Redfield, Vitush Agarwal, Mutaz Faqqouseh, Carlton Cb. Bone

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Novel cannabinoids require systematic research to inform policies and practices. There is a growing interest in semi-synthetic cannabinoids by consumers, manufacturers, and regulators. However, there is a scarcity of research on these substances. Online discussion forums can provide guidance for research questions when current knowledge is scarce. The current project investigates the topics and issues covered in a social media forum devoted to THC-O-acetate (THCO), a semi-synthetic cannabinoid with rapidly rising popularity. Reddit comments posted on the THCO subreddit from June 2021 through November 2021 were coded for major and minor themes by a team of five coders and a …

Wildfire Risk Governance From The Bottom Up: Linking Local Planning Processes In Fragmented Landscapes, Matthew Hamilton, Max Nielsen-Pincus, Cody Evers

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The growing scale of natural hazards highlights the need for models of governance capable of addressing risk across administrative boundaries. However, risk governance systems are often fragmented, decentralized, and sustained by informal linkages among local-level risk mitigation planning processes. Improving resilience to the effects of environmental change requires a better understanding of factors that contribute to these linkages. Using data on the patterns of participation of 10,199 individual stakeholders in 837 community wildfire protection plans (CWPPs) within the western U.S., we document the emergence of a locally clustered but spatially extensive wildfire risk governance network. Our evaluation of factors that …

Raps Sheet, Summer 2023, Retirement Association Of Portland State

RAPS Sheet: Monthly Newsletter

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of Power In A Triadic Model Of Parent–Child–Pediatrician Relationships Related To Early Childhood Gender Development, Eline Lenne, Christina J. Sun, Susanne Klawetter

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this paper, the authors introduce the Triadic Model of Pediatric Care, an innovative conceptual framework for pediatric practice with transgender and gender diverse children. The Triadic Model of Pediatric Care consists of three experts—pediatricians, primary caregiver(s), and children—who each possess unique insights, knowledge, and decision-making power. This model guides pediatricians to provide gender-affirming care that acknowledges children as experts of their own experience and worthy of bodily autonomy, while also working to ensure primary caregiver(s) have the information and support necessary to provide a safe and nurturing developmental environment for their child. The authors provide a recommendation for how …

Respecting Tribal Voices In The Development Of A Gestational Diabetes Risk Reduction Preconception Counseling Program For American Indian/Alaska Native Adolescent Females: A Qualitative Study, Kelly R. Moore, Sarah Stotz, Martha Ann Terry, Ellen Seely, Kelly Gonzales, Gale Marshall, Jay Nadeau, Aletha Akers, Yesenia Garcia-Reyes, Multiple Additional Authors

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) are disproportionately affected by adolescent obesity, adolescent pregnancy and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). GDM is associated with increased risk for perinatal death, obesity, and subsequent type 2 diabetes (T2D) for the offspring. Moreover, mothers with GDM are also at increased risk for T2D post-partum. Yet few lifestyle interventions exist to reduce GDM risk prior to pregnancy. We describe the process of adapting an existing validated preconception counseling intervention for AI/AN adolescent girls at-risk for GDM and their mothers. Perspectives and recommendations were gathered from a diverse array of stakeholders to assure the new …

All Chronic Rhinosinusitis Endotype Clusters Demonstrate Improvement In Patient Reported And Clinical Outcome Measures After Endoscopic Sinus Surgery, Nikita Chapurin, Rodney J. Schlosser, Jorge Gutierrez, Jess C. Mace, Todd Bodner, Timothy L. Smith, Jose L. Mattos, Vijay R. Ramakrishnan, Jeremiah Alt, Zachary M. Soler

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

It is unclear if chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) endotypes show differential response to endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). We explored mucus inflammatory cytokine expression in a cohort with CRS and associations with both patient-reported and clinically measured postoperative outcome measures.

Methods

Patients with CRS were prospectively recruited between 2016-2021 into a multi-center observational study. Mucus was collected from the olfactory cleft preoperatively and evaluated for 26 biomarkers using cluster analysis. Patient reported outcome measures included the Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) and Questionnaire of Olfactory Dysfunction (QOD). Additional clinical measures of disease severity included Threshold, Discrimination, and Identification (TDI) scores using Sniffin’ …

How Unequal Access To Personal And Professional Networks Impacts Success Among Construction Apprentices, Cameron Elliot Arnold

Dissertations and Theses

The construction industry is still primarily white male dominated, and while there is significant research on gendered experiences in the trades, there is not research on experiences and attitudes towards support that occurs outside of the trades across gender and other intersectional identities. My study aims to start filling the gap and answer the questions: How does access to personal and professional networks impact success among Oregon apprentices? How is access to and attitudes towards receiving support impacted by gender and race? To answer these questions this study uses qualitative interviews of Oregon apprentices who completed or terminated in 2018-2019. …

Rift-Induced Disruption Of Cratonic Keels Drives Kimberlite Volcanism, Thomas M. Gernon, Stephen M. Jones, Sascha Brune, Thea K. Hincks, Martin Palmer, John C. Schumacher, Rebecca M. Primiceri, Matthew Field, William L. Griffin, Suzanne Y. O'Reilly, Derek Keir, Christopher J. Spencer, Andrew S. Merdith, Anne Glerum

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Kimberlites are volatile-rich, occasionally diamond-bearing magmas that have erupted explosively at Earth’s surface in the geologic past^1,2,3. These enigmatic magmas, originating from depths exceeding 150 km in Earth’s mantle¹, occur in stable cratons and in pulses broadly synchronous with supercontinent cyclicity⁴. Whether their mobilization is driven by mantle plumes⁵ or by mechanical weakening of cratonic lithosphere^4,6 remains unclear. Here we show that most kimberlites spanning the past billion years erupted about 30 million years (Myr) after continental breakup, suggesting an association with rifting processes. Our dynamical …

Understanding Veteran Perceptions About Mental Health And Its Treatment, Quinn Turner Stoddard

Dissertations and Theses

Mental health illnesses are a growing issue for a large part of the country, and veterans in particular are vulnerable to the numerous negative effects they pose. Despite the high number of people that may benefit from treatment, a variety of issues with trust, stigma, and attitudes may act as barriers to care utilization. In response, this study investigated the perceptions that veterans within the Pacific Northwest hold in regards to mental health treatment as well as their intentions to seek it out should they require it. Using the integrated model of behavioral prediction (IMBP), data was gathered about veterans’ …