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The Portland Spectator, February 2009, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

Portland Spectator

Editor: Sarah J. Christensen

Articles in this issue include: Employee Freedom of Choice Act: Unions, not as friendly as they used to be; Fitness corner: The paradox: the battle between working out and looking good while doing it; From the mind of Kelly: What exactly do we get from University Studies?; Better media: A discussion on our dependence to our beloved media; Salesman of the year: Firearm enthusiasts rush to get their guns before the new administration changes gun laws.

Characterization Of Putative Self-Resistance Genes In The Biosynthetic Gene Cluster Of Hygromycin A From Streptomyces Hygroscopicus Nrrl 2388, Vidya Dhote

Dissertations and Theses

Streptomyces hygroscopicus NRRL 2388 produces an aminocyclitol antibiotic called hygromycin A (HA), which targets bacterial protein synthesis by inhibiting the peptidyl transferase reaction. The hyg6, hygl9, hyg21, hyg28, and hyg29 genes in the biosynthetic gene cluster of HA are predicted to confer self-resistance to the producer strain by different mechanisms. Targeted gene disruptions and in vitro characterization of recombinant proteins were carried out to elucidate the functions of these genes. The hyg21 gene encodes an O-phosphotransferase with a proposed role in HA inactivation by phosphorylation. Disruption of hyg21 led to a significant decrease in HA production but did not …

Synthesis Of Aptamer-Porphyrin Conjugate For Photodynamic Therapy & Synthesis And Stability Of Mixed Thiol/Lipid Coated Gold Nanoparticles, Sarita Sitaula

Dissertations and Theses

An underlying problem in Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is low selectivity of photosensitizers currently being used for the treatment of tumors. This thesis is focused on developing new PDT drugs and is divided into two parts. The first chapter describes a method for selective delivery of the photosensitizers to the tumor site by conjugating porphyrins to an aptamer for the targeted PDT. To achieve this, a novel synthesis of 2'-porphyrin-modified uridine was developed. The 3'-H-phosphonate derivatives of both 2'-porphyrin and 2'-dithiaporphyrin modified uridine were also synthesized. The 3'41-phosphonate derivative of 2'-porphyrin-modified uridine was conjugated to a 19-mer DNA and to a …

Eportfolios, The Harvesting Gradebook, Accountability, And Community, Gary R. Brown, Nils Peterson, Meriem Chida, Theron Desrosier

Office of Academic Innovation Publications

Article discusses a project at Washington State University that engaged students in projects that combined a portfolio approach with emerging technologies, as well as involvement with professionals from outside the campus community. The article discusses the results, impact and implications of this experiment for learning and assessment in the university environment.

Global Methane Emissions From Wetlands, Rice Paddies, And Lakes, Qianlai Zhuang, John M. Melack, Sergey Zimov, Katey Marion Walter, Christopher Lee Butenhoff, M. A. K. Khalil

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The current concentration of atmospheric methane is 1774±1.8 parts per billion, and it accounts for 18% of total greenhouse gas radiative forcing [Forster et al., 2007]. Atmospheric methane is 22 times more effective, on a per-unit-mass basis, than carbon dioxide in absorbing long-wave radiation on a 100-year time horizon, and it plays an important role in atmospheric ozone chemistry (e.g., in the presence of nitrous oxides, tropospheric methane oxidation will lead to the formation of ozone). Wetlands are a large source of atmospheric methane, Arctic lakes have recently been recognized as a major source [e.g., Walter et al., 2006], and …

Determinants Of Cross Organizational Software Project Success, And Ozbay

Dissertations and Theses

The importance of software development (SWD) has been rapidly increasing over the past few decades. As this industry has grown, there has been an increasing deployment of cross organizational (C/O) SWD (also called distributed development or global software development) projects. These C/O SWD projects have adversely impacted the already low success rates of SWD projects. Methods to address problems of C/O SWD projects are not available to SWD managers primarily because challenges that underlie C/O SWD are incompletely understood.

This dissertation explored the problems associated with C/O SWD in real-life contexts. Inductive case study research methods and grounded theory were …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet February 2009, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The February 2009 Monthly packet includes the February agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held February 2009.

Center For Real Estate Quarterly, Volume 3, Number 1, Portland State University. Center For Real Estate

Center for Real Estate Quarterly

Table of Contents:
--"An Adams Agenda? New Directions for Urban Development," by Professor Will Macht (pages 3-14)
--"Green Leasing: Implementing Sustainability Concepts in Commercial Leases," by Dominic Coletta (pages 15-23)
--"Workforce Housing: New Tools for Solving the Affordable Housing Dilemma," by Eugene Grant (pages 24-34)
--"Office Market Analysis," by April Chastain (pages 35-40)
--"Industrial Market Analysis," by April Chastain (pages 41-43)
--"Apartment Market Analysis," by April Chastain (pages 44-47)
--"Housing Market Analysis," by Elizabeth Warren (pages 48-60)

Evaluation Of The Oregon Dmv Medically At-Risk Driver Program, James G. Strathman, Hongwei Dong, Lois M. Bronfman

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Oregon is one of six states with requirements for mandatory reporting of drivers with medical impairments. In 2003, the state’s mandatory reporting program, administered by Oregon Driver Motor Vehicles (DMV) Services, was revised to cover an extensive range of cognitive and functional impairments. This report examines the safety risk of persons treated in Oregon’s revised Medically At-Risk Driver program. The incidence of crashes and traffic offense convictions before and after license suspension is documented and compared to crash and conviction incidence of persons treated in the DMV’s voluntary medical reporting program. Comparisons are also made to a representative sample of …

Spokane River In Idaho And Washington Tmdl Water Quality And Hydrodynamic Modeling Quality Assurance Project Plan -- Draft, Scott A. Wells, Chris Berger

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The focus of this present study is to perform the following tasks:

• Converting the Upper Spokane River CE‐QUAL‐W2 models (Washington and Idaho) to version 3.6

• Combining the Washington and Idaho models

• Reviewing and updating model boundary conditions

• Check model calibration

• Meet with stakeholders

• Develop and Run Modeling Scenarios

• Create reports on calibration and scenario runs

Is Parallel Programming Hard, And If So, Why?, Paul E. Mckenney, Maged M. Michael, Manish Gupta, Philip William Howard, Josh Triplett, Jonathan Walpole

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Of the 200+ parallel-programming languages and environments created in the 1990s, almost all are now defunct. Given that parallel systems are now well within the budget of the typical hobbyist or graduate student, it is not unreasonable to expect a new cohort in excess of several thousand parallel languages and environments to appear in the 2010s. If this expected new cohort is to have more practical impact than did its 1990s counterpart, a robust and widely applicable framework will be required that encompasses exactly what, if anything, is hard about parallel programming. This paper revisits the fundamental precepts of concurrent …

Japanese International Graduate Students In U.S. Higher Education Classrooms: An Investigation Of Their Pedagogical And Epistemological Challenges And Supports, Miki Yamashita

Dissertations and Theses

International students have long been an important part of the U.S. higher education community, but generally they have received inadequate attention in the classroom. Also, American teaching and learning strategies have not taken full advantage of international diversity. The purpose of this narrative study was to qualitatively understand the experiences of Japanese graduate students in U.S. higher education classrooms. The study highlights the challenges that Japanese graduate students faced due to cultural differences, pedagogical differences, and language problems and provides a number of suggestions for faculty, domestic students, and institutions to help create a more welcoming environment for Japanese graduate …

The Role Of Water And Other Resources In The Invasion Of Rubus Armeniacus In Pacific Northwest Ecosystems, Joshua Sundance Caplan

Dissertations and Theses

The factors influencing the invasive success of Rubus armeniacus (Himalayan blackberry) in the Pacific Northwest of North America are only partly understood, but have important implications for its management and for our understanding of the processes driving invasive plant proliferation in regions with seasonally fluctuating resources. I identified patterns of R. armeniacus occurrence and growth under widely ranging soil and light conditions in western Oregon. I found that light availability was a primary determinant of R. armeniacus occurrence and growth. I also found that R. armeniacus was tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions, notably coarse texture, and could …

Urban Ecology & Conservation Symposium 2009: 7th Annual -- Connecting Green Research, Lands And Partners (Abstracts), Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium Of Portland/Vancouver

Urban Ecosystem Research Consortium of Portland/Vancouver

The UERC is a consortium of people from various universities and colleges, state and federal agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations and independent professionals interested in supporting urban ecosystem research and creating an information-sharing network of people that collect and use ecological data in the Portland/Vancouver area.

UERC Mission Statement:

To advance the state of the science of urban ecosystems and improve our understanding of them, with a focus on the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan region, by fostering communication and collaboration among researchers, managers and citizens at academic institutions, public agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations, and other interested groups.

The principal organizers span …

Bridging The Partisan Divide: A City Club Report On Reducing Excessive Partisanship In The Oregon Political System, City Club Of Portland (Portland, Or.)

City Club of Portland

No abstract provided.

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet January 2009, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The January 2009 Monthly packet includes the January agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held January 2009

Winter Precipitation Intensity And Enso/Pdo Variability In The Willamette Valley Of Oregon, Sarah Praskievicz, Heejun Chang

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

There is growing concern about the effects of inter-annual climatic variability, such as the El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), on regional hydrology and water resources. We analyzed patterns of wintertime precipitation intensity, using both simple intensity and number of heavy precipitation days per year, for eight stations in northwestern Oregon’s Willamette Valley for the period 1972–2006, and examined the separate and combined influence of ENSO and PDO on precipitation intensity. The analysis was accomplished using Kendall’s tau and analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine differences in precipitation intensity among combinations of positive and negative ENSO …

Beyond Gdp: The Need For New Measures Of Progress, Robert Costanza, Maureen Hart, John Talberth, Stephen Posner

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

This paper is a call for better indicators of human well-being in nations around the world. We critique the inappropriate use of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of national well-being, something for which it was never designed. We also question the idea that economic growth is always synonymous with improved well-being. Useful measures of progress and well-being must be measures of the degree to which society?s goals (i.e., to sustainably provide basic human needs for food, shelter, freedom, participation, etc.) are met, rather than measures of the mere volume of marketed economic activity, which is only one means …

Occupational Health And Safety Status Of Indigenous And Latino Farmworkers In Oregon, Stephanie Farquhar, Nancy M. Goff, Nargess Shadbeh, Julie Samples, Santiago Ventura, Valentin Sanchez, Pamela Rao, Shelley Davis

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Exposure to pesticides poses great risk to agricultural workers and their families. Of the approximately 174,000 agricultural workers in Oregon, studies estimate that up to 40% of the workers in Oregon are indigenous and may be particularly vulnerable to the health risks of working in pesticide treated areas. Surveys conducted with Oregon farmworkers suggest that Latino and indigenous farmworkers differ demographically and may have diverse occupational and health needs. All Latino workers reported Spanish as their native language, while indigenous workers spoke several different native languages. Latino workers were employed mostly in orchards (28%) and nurseries (24%), while indigenous workers …

Annual Faculty Senate Minutes October 2009 - June 2010, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Annual Compilations of the Faculty Senate Minutes (Minutes Only)

Minutes of the Faculty Senate for October 2009 to June 2010.

Sex Work And Moral Conflict: Enhancing The Quality Of Public Discourse Using Photovoice Method, Crystal Renee Tenty

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis uses an advocacy/participatory framework and moral conflict theory to examine the opposing ideas: and interests of parties involved in the issue of prostitution on 82^nd Avenue in Portland, Oregon. It locates areas of contention within the larger dominant feminist discourse, which views sex work as either a form of violence and exploitation or as a form of legitimate free-contract labor. The thesis shows how the intractable moral conflict between these differing feminist theories and values can be mediated using participatory data collection techniques.

Ethnographic data was collected and analyzed from 11 women working in the sex industry …

The Nature Of People's Perceptions Of Wolves, Laura Briana Nobel

Dissertations and Theses

European immigrants once regarded wolves as the "devil in disguise" (Lopez, 1978, p.40). With our growing awareness of other cultural perspectives and flourishing body of scientific knowledge with regard to wolves' behavior, our perceptions of wolves have become more complicated and nuanced. Our collective awareness of the environment in which we live also gathers complexity. I examine these issues in this study. Wolves are returning to Oregon. The arrival of wolf B-45 in 1999 heralded the beginning of the return of wild wolves to Oregon. More wolves are expected to cross the border as young sub-adults disperse from the growing …

Dynamic Task Prediction For An Spmt Architecture Based On Control Independence, Komal Jothi

Dissertations and Theses

Exploiting better performance from computer programs translates to finding more instructions to execute in parallel. Since most general purpose programs are written in an imperatively sequential manner, closely lying instructions are always data dependent, making the designer look far ahead into the program for parallelism. This necessitates wider superscalar processors with larger instruction windows. But superscalars suffer from three key limitations, their inability to scale, sequential fetch bottleneck and high branch misprediction penalty. Recent studies indicate that current superscalars have reached the end of the road and designers will have to look for newer ideas to build computer processors.

Speculative …

Factors Associated With Inclusion Of Spirituality In Secular Social Work Education, Leslie Grace Wuest

Dissertations and Theses

In a diverse society, social work practitioners must be able to work with and respect people from a wide variety of cultures and ethnicities and with different value systems and ideological perspectives, including spiritual or religious beliefs. Accordingly, social work education has begun to incorporate the topic of spirituality. This study builds upon previous studies by Dudley and Helfgott (1990) and Sheridan et al. (1994) which focused on views of faculty members regarding spirituality in social work education and support for a course on spirituality in the social work curriculum. This study goes on to examine inclusion of spirituality in …

Portland State Magazine, Portland State University. Office Of University Communications

Portland State Magazine

PSU’s alumni magazine, published 2-3 times a year. In this issue: The largest gift in Portland State’s history is also a gift to the city; Shattuck Hall gains new life; faculty and students research incorporates social and economic considerations alongside environmental ones; and more.

Forecasting The Adoption Of Emerging Energy Technologies: Managing Climate Change And Evolving Social Values, Kelly R. Cowan, Tugrul Daim, Wayne Wakeland, Hosein Fallah, Gerald Sheble, Loren Lutzenhiser, Aaron Ingle, Robert Hammond

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

With the linkage between fossil fuel use and climate change now almost universally accepted, addressing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) has become a subject of great social urgency and technological challenge. A variety of models exists or are under development for analyzing the role of more sustainable systems, such as renewable energy technologies, in mitigating climate change. However the direct cost of these technologies is generally higher than that of fossil fuel systems. Methods are needed to more fully account for externalities, societal impacts, and social values associated with fossil fuels versus sustainable energy systems. This paper presents a conceptual model …

Curriculum Change 2009-2010, Portland State University

Bulletin & Curriculum Change Documents

No abstract provided.

Bulletin: General Catalog Issue 2009-2010, Portland State University

Bulletin & Curriculum Change Documents

No abstract provided.

An Idealized Model And Systematic Process Study Of Oxygen Depletion In Highly Turbid Estuaries, Stefan A. Talke, Huib E. De Swart, Victor De Jonge

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The sensitivity of oxygen depletion in turbid estuaries to parameters like freshwater discharge, depth, and sediment availability is investigated using an idealized model. The model describes tidally averaged circulation and suspended sediment concentration (SSC), which are input into an advection–diffusion sink module of dissolved oxygen (DO). Based on the analysis of field data collected in the Ems estuary, the modeled oxygen depletion rates are proportional to SSC. The model is calibrated to the observed variation of DO with SSC and temperature. Modeled DO closely tracks changes to the estuarine turbidity zone (ETZ): increased channel depth, decreased freshwater discharge, and decreased …

Precession Electron Diffraction And Its Advantages For Structural Fingerprinting In The Transmission Electron Microscope, Peter Moeck, Sergei Rouvimov

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The foundations of precession electron diffraction in a transmission electron microscope are outlined. A brief illustration of the fact that laboratory-based powder X-ray diffraction fingerprinting is not feasible for nanocrystals is given. A procedure for structural fingerprinting of nanocrystals on the basis of structural data that can be extracted from precession electron diffraction spot patterns is proposed.