Digital Commons Network^™

A Comparative Study Of Phonemic Segmentation Skills In First Grade Children With Normal, Disordered, And Slow Expressive Language Development, David J. Andrews

Dissertations and Theses

Children with slow expressive language development often catch up to their normally developing peers in expressive language, but may still exhibit difficulties with metalinguistic skills. Research shows that children who have difficulty with phonemic awareness also have difficulty with reading, which is important for success in school. Speech-language pathologists assist children who have difficulty with expressive oral language and facilitate language development in children who have difficulties with learning metalinguistic skills, such as phonemic awareness.

The purpose of the present study was to compare the phoneme segmentation skills in three groups of children: (a) children with a history of oral …

A Study Of Understory Plant Recovery After A Forest Fire In The Columbia River Gorge, Mark Alan Pittsenbarger

Dissertations and Theses

Between October 9, 1991 and October 16, 1991 a fire burned 577 hectares in the Columbia River Gorge near the west end on the Oregon side. All of the area burned consisted of second growth Pseudotsuga menziesii and the accompanying understory. This was the first disturbance of this magnitude in this part of the Columbia River Gorge since 1902. The purpose of this study was to examine the pattern of understory recovery in the first two years following the fire. This study also sought to learn: 1) how Pseudotsuga menziesii seedlings are recruited into the population, 2) how quickly the …

Adult English As A Second Language Literacy Programs In The Non-Profit Sector Of Multnomah County, Oregon, Susan Edna Binford

Dissertations and Theses

The present study identified and described the general education English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in Multnomah County, Oregon, offered by nonprofit organizations, in order to promote a more coordinated effort to meet the needs of the community. The study asked the following questions: 1) What are the non-profit organizations providing general adult ESL instruction in Multnomah County, Oregon?; 2) What are the nature and characteristics of these adult ESL education programs, including methods of recruiting, assessing, and tracking students?; 3) What are the methods of recruiting, training, and tracking volunteer teachers?; and 4) What, if any, ESL resource …

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: A PSU professor sails the central coast of British Columbia studying and photographing pristine rain forests; one of PSU’s first graduates looks back at the challenge of growing up Japanese-American; mass transit, business growth, and a bigger PSU are part of a new plan for south downtown; a PSU grad oversees a unique cultural collection at the New York Public Library; and more.

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet May 1994, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The May 1994 Monthly packet includes the May agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held April 1994.

The Impact Of Collective Bargaining On The Civil Service Merit System In Oregon, David K. Blanchard

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the impact of collective bargaining on the civil service merit system in the State of Oregon. Four topics of current interest are explored. The first is a discussion of the status of collective bargaining and the civil service merit system legislation. The second topic is an analysis of the extent to which the day-to-day administration of public sector personnel functions is determined by the relative influence of collective bargaining agreements and civil service rules. The third is the impact of the collective bargaining model on the integrity of the merit principle. The final topic addressed by this …

Extracellular Matrix Proteins Of The Nurse Cell Capsule In Trichinella Spiralis Infections, Mary Louise Taylor

Dissertations and Theses

The infectious first-stage larvae of the nematode Trichinella spiralis is an intracellular parasite of altered skeletal muscle. Invasion of the muscle cell initiates a series of morphological changes in the host muscle cell which ultimately results in a specialized unit called the nurse cell. The completed nurse cell consists of a collagenous capsule, matrix of altered sarcoplasm, and a circulatory rete.

The purpose of this study was to determine the types of collagen present in the nurse cell capsule. Additionally, the presence of the glycoproteins, laminin and tenascin was determined. This study also sought to demonstrate the location of the …

Logic Synthesis With High Testability For Cellular Arrays, Andisheh Sarabi

Dissertations and Theses

The new Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technologies and their structures have opened up new approaches to logic design and synthesis. The main feature of an FPGA is an array of logic blocks surrounded by a programmable interconnection structure. Cellular FPGAs are a special class of FPGAs which are distinguished by their fine granularity and their emphasis on local cell interconnects. While these characteristics call for specialized synthesis tools, the availability of logic gates other than Boolean AND, OR and NOT in these architectures opens up new possibilities for synthesis. Among the possible realizations of Boolean functions, XOR logic is …

An Analysis Of The Linked-Pulse In Steady-State Free Precession In Mri, Fang Li

Dissertations and Theses

The steady-state free precession (SSFP) is one type of the fast scanning technique in MRI. So far most of its analysis are concentrated on the gradient echo SSFP (GR SSFP), very few paper discuss the spin echo SSFP (SE SSFP), and they are usually based on the simplified the hard pulse assumption. The advantage of the SE SSFP is that it can refocus the dephasing caused by the magnetic field inhomogeneity, which is the disadvantage of the GR SSFP. Also the hard pulse model can provide very limited information.

The purpose of this paper is to establish the soft pulse …

Relationships Between Avian Diversity And Vegetational Parameters In Forested Patches Of The Tualatin Mountains, Oregon, Jerry Sexton Fugate

Dissertations and Theses

The effect of contiguous forested habitat area on local avian diversity and species richness in the Tualatin Mountain area of northwestern Oregon was investigated. Observations of eight forested stands representing seven area values (1, 2, 7, 14, 18, 24 and 40 hectares) were made during the spring and summer of 1991 and 1992. The variables measured were chosen in an attempt to show possible relationships between vegetation factors, spatial patterns and bird communities. Kendall's rank correlation coefficients were used to analyze the data. Avian species richness and diversity were significantly correlated with forest stand (patch) size. The only significant correlation …

Evidence For The Eutrophication Of Selected Coastal Dunal Lakes: Historical Comparison Of Indices For Nutrient Enrichment, Steven Gregory Dagget

Dissertations and Theses

Three coastal Oregon dunal lakes, Mercer Lake, Munsel Lake, and Woahink Lake, were studied in an effort to determine if eutrophication has occurred since initial studies were conducted in 1938 and to determine each lake's current trophic status. Data collected in 1991 and 1992 for phytoplankton primary productivity; chlorophyll a; phytoplankton species, biovolumes, and densities; nutrients; optical characteristics; and dissolved oxygen were compared with historical data sets. Additional data for zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, and other relevant limnological data were used to more completely characterize each lake.

Phytoplankton primary productivity measurements indicate that biological productivity has increased at each lake …

Soil Properties And Behavior Of Earthflows In The Mt. Hood National Forest, Oregon, Douglas Andrew Smith

Dissertations and Theses

Soils from two active earthflows, two earthflow deposits, and three non-earthflow landforms are examined to determine if a connection exists between near-surface soil properties and rates of earthflow movement. The study area is located in the Clackamas Ranger District of the Mt. Hood National Forest in the northern Oregon Cascades. Its geology consists of clay-bearing volcaniclastic formations overlain by unaltered flows of andesite and basalt, a combination that contributed to large-scale landsliding during the late Pleistocene. Deposits from these landslides now cover much of the valley floor, and it is from these deposits that earthflows tend to mobilize. The main …

Simultaneous Interpretation (Si): An Information Processing Approach And Its Implications For Practical Si, Doris Maria Ecker

Dissertations and Theses

Simultaneous interpretation (SI) is a special kind of translation where the interpreter listens to a speaker, processes the spoken (or signed) source language message and produces an equivalent output in a target language, i.e., the interpreter produces one part of the message in the target language while simultaneously listening to the next part of the message in the source language. This thesis examines the process of simultaneous interpretation from an information processing point of view and describes the implications of such an approach for practical SI. Following an overview of research issues in SI literature, a definition of SI is …

Studies On The Role Of Cellular Factor, Yy1, In Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Late Gene Expression, Xuehui Liu

Dissertations and Theses

The herpes simplex virus 1 (HSVl) VP5 gene codes for the major viral capsid protein. Understanding of the mechanism of how the VP5 gene is regulated in host cells will help us to understand the molecular action of the HSV 1 life cycle and its interplay with the host cell gene expression machinery (transcription and translation). This may ultimately provide scientific bases for both better prevention and cure of HSV 1 caused diseases. Previous work from Dr. Robert L. Millette' s laboratory has indicated that a 164 base pair region of the VP5 promoter gene could activate the transcription of …

The Holocene Sedimentary Framework Of The Lower Columbia River Basin, Edward Breed Gates

Dissertations and Theses

The Columbia River is the largest fluvially dominated estuary in the Pacific Northwest, yet the Holocene transgressive fill of this system has not previously been studied. Nearly 1500 industry borehole and water well records in the lower Columbia River basin (LCRB) were analyzed. These records document the sedimentary infilling of the lower 120 miles of the drowned river valley that occurred during the Holocene marine transgression (10-0 ka). Of particular importance is a key stratigraphic marker horizon of volcanic tephra that has been identified throughout the LCRB. INAA was used to determine the geochemical composition of the target tephra layer. …

Performance Evaluation Tools For Interconnection Network Design, Anna Kolinska

Dissertations and Theses

A methodology is proposed for designing performance optimized computer systems. The methodology uses software tools created for performance monitoring and evaluation of parallel programs, replacing actual hardware with a simulator modeling the hardware under development. We claim that a software environment can help hardware designers to make decisions on the architectural design level. A simulator executes real programs and provides access to performance monitors from user's code. The performance monitoring system collects data traces when running the simulator and the performance analysis module extracts performance data of interest, that are later displayed with visualization tools. Key features of our methodology …

An Investigation Of The Prevalence Of Severe Visual Impairment Among Handicapped Children: Implications For Educators, James Bickford

Dissertations and Theses

Since the inception of special education legislation, the identification of severely visually impaired children has become a difficult task. Official prevalence rates for severe visual impairment currently vary from 8 per 10,000 to 120 per 10,000 school aged children. With such a large discrepancy in rates, it is difficult to plan and provide appropriate specialized services to this group of children.

Given this wide variance of reporting, several questions have arisen: (1) What is the prevalence of severely impaired vision as a secondary handicap when another handicapping condition is already known and identified? (2) Is there a significant difference between …

Smallpox In The Pacific Northwest: The First Epidemics, Robert T. Boyd

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The article examines the first epidemics of small pox in the Pacific Northwest.

Decentralization Of Urban Service Activities: An Empirical Study, Wonseon Kyung

Dissertations and Theses

Post-war metropolitan development in the United States has been mainly due to suburban growth which resulted in dispersal of population, retailing, manufacturing, wholesaling and services. What is known about service suburbanization is primarily derived from survey research on location choices done in localized cases. There has been no comprehensive work done using secondary data on revealed behavior.

This dissertation attempts that comprehensive study. The research analyzes the dynamics of locational structure of services in U.S. metropolitan areas from 1969 to 1989. The descriptive analysis of changes in the location coefficients provides evidence to demonstrate a spatial shifting of consumer oriented …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Some Flourine-Containing Lithium Alkyl Sulfonates: Flourinated Sulfonates And Sf5-Containing Sulfonates, Steven A. Ullrich

Dissertations and Theses

Lithium salts of pentafluorothio alkyl sulfonic acids and perfluoroalkyl disulfonic acids were prepared for testing for possible use as polymer electrolytes. Most of these lithium salts were made from the corresponding sodium, potassium or calcium salts. Aqueous solutions of these salts were passed through polystyrene sulfonate ion exchange resin in the acid form to obtain aqueous solutions of the corresponding acids. The acids were then neutralized with lithium hydroxide using a pH meter. One salt was made by reacting the barium salt of the corresponding acid with lithium sulfate. A sulfonyl fluoride polymer (-0-CH2-C (CH20CF2CF2S02F) H-) n was reacted with …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet March 1994, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The March 1994 Monthly packet includes the March agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held February 1994.

A Bootstrapped Regression Model Of Psychological Predictors Of Success In Naturopathic Medical School, Christa Claire Louise

Dissertations and Theses

In response to a need for more primary care physicians and patients' growing attraction to alternative health care, greater numbers of individuals are applying to naturopathic colleges. With increasing numbers of applicants, better methods of predicting potential effectiveness as an N.D. are needed. This study examined factors (both academic and psychosocial) that best predict success in naturopathic school.

Demographic, academic, and psychosocial survey data were collected from thirty-three students who had just completed their second year of naturopathic medical school. This information was correlated with scores on the NPLEX Basic Science exams which were taken the following summer.

Because of …

Culture And Consensus: The Use Of Mathematical Models To Examine A Culture Of Sports In The Portland Metropolitan Area, Phillip M. Crawford

Dissertations and Theses

The question of what constitutes a culture has often been answered in one phrase: shared knowledge. Recent developments in both the theory and mathematics of examining this shared cultural knowledge allow researchers to produce mathematical models of informants' knowledge and perceptions of the culture they belong to. Many studies in cognitive anthropology have utilized these theoretical and mathematical tools: the present research sought to integrate a research design (based on the theory and mathematics mentioned above) with a relatively new cultural domain: the culture of sports.

Three main question pertaining to cultural knowledge were addressed in this research:

1. Did an …

Laser Resonators Using Tiered Fresnel Mirrors, Bruce Dale Ulrich

Dissertations and Theses

A reflective Tiered Fresnel Zone Plate, herein called a Tiered Fresnel Mirror TFM, with a focal length on the order of a meter is studied for use as the mirror(s) in a Fabry-Perot interferometer type of laser. The relative phase transition within the individual zones (ideally smooth from zero to pi) is stair-stepped or tiered in the longitudinal direction of the mirror. Within an individual zone the step height is constrained to a constant whereas the width of the tiers are monotonically decreased when traversing radially outward so that the overall profile follows the ideal smooth curve. The effectiveness of …

Recovery Of Marsh Vegetation At Malheur Lake Following An Extended Flood, Sherry Vlasta Spencer

Dissertations and Theses

Water levels of Malheur Lake in southeastern Oregon fluctuate widely with seasonal and cyclic climatic changes. Seven years of severe flooding from 1978 to 1984 produced the highest water levels in recorded history and covered almost all marsh vegetation. Seven years of drought followed the flooding, and by 1992 the water level had dropped to the lowest point in nearly 60 years. A survey of vegetation colonizing the lakeshore as flood water receded was conducted from 1989 to 1992 to describe the reestablishment of marsh vegetation. Six transects were placed in three different ecological units of the lake. Frequency and …

Solubility Studies Of Iron(Iii) Oxides And Hydroxides, Victor L. Menting

Dissertations and Theses

The hydrolysis of iron(III) ions in aqueous solution forms a series of soluble hydroxide complexes with associated equilibrium constants. The solubility of iron(III) is controlled by the various soluble hydroxide complexes, and can, in theory, be calculated from the pH and equilibrium constants. Experimental verification of the calculated solubility has proven difficult due to the lack of sensitive analytical techniques and the presence of colloidal ferric hydroxide interferences. Recently, electrochemical methods for the determination of low levels of iron(III) have been developed using adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry which relies on the interfacial accumulation of the chelate of iron with Solochrome …

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Different Video Imagery Upon Adult Esl Students' Comprehension Of A Video Narrative, Scott Alan Thompson

Dissertations and Theses

This study was meant to provide empirical evidence to support or challenge the assumption that a nonfiction video narrative will be better comprehended by students of ESL if it includes a variety of relevant visual information compared to only seeing a single speaker or "talking head" reciting a narration. The overarching goal of this study was to give teachers of ESL greater knowledge and confidence in using video materials to develop the listening skills of their students. It compared two video tapes which contained the identical soundtrack but different visual information.

The first tape (also called the "lecture tape") showed …

Questions-Asking Strategies Of Aphasic And Normal Subjects, Sharla Rae Harvey

Dissertations and Theses

Problem-solving abilities of individuals with aphasia have received limited attention in their assessment and remediation. At this time, there is substantially more information available on the linguistic performance of persons with aphasia than on their cognitive processing performance. Assessment of problem-solving abilities in this population has typically used tasks with low verbal loadings. However, both linguistic and cognitive competence are required for effective communication and activities of daily life.

The purpose of the present study was to determine if mild-to-moderate subjects with aphasia differed in their question-asking strategies as compared with normal subjects. A modification of Mosher and Hornsby's (1966) …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet February 1994, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The February 1994 Monthly packet includes the February agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held January 1994.

The Impact Of Enterprise Zones On Employment, Terry William Van Allen

Dissertations and Theses

The objectives of this study are to investigate the impact of Enterprise Zones (EZs) on the employment of zone residents in 14 states and 60 communities. The author's investigation constitutes the "first" national study to evaluate the employment impacts on zone residents.

The results show that the impact of EZs on decreasing the unemployment rates of zone residents is significant. Also, the interventionist factors of length of time since designation, type of incentives, and number of incentives are all significant indicators of different performances between zones. The employer-based incentives of property tax abatements and income tax credits are the types …