Digital Commons Network^™

The Associations Between Environmental Quality And Mortality In The Contiguous United States, 2000-2005, Yun Jian, Lynne C. Messer, Jyotsna S. Jagai, Kristen M. Rappazzo, Christine L. Gray, Shannon C. Grabich, Danelle T. Lobdell

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Assessing cumulative effects of the multiple environmental factors influencing mortality remains a challenging task.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the associations between cumulative environmental quality and all-cause and leading cause-specific (heart disease, cancer, and stroke) mortality rates.

Methods: We used the overall Environmental Quality Index (EQI) and its five domain indices (air, water, land, built and sociodemographic) to represent environmental exposure. Associations between the EQI and mortality rates (CDC WONDER) for counties in the contiguous United States (n=3109) were investigated using multiple linear regression models, and random intercept, random slope hierarchical models. Urbanicity, climate and their combination were …

Assessing The Protective Quality Of Wax Coatings On Bronze Sculptures Using Hydrogel Patches In Impedance Measurements, Alice H. England, Kathryn N. Hosbein, Capri A. Price, Morgan K. Wylder, Kenna S. Miller, Tami Lasseter Clare

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this work, we used chemically cross-linked acrylamide-based hydrogel patches that have been specifically developed for use as solid electrolytes in Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy to measure the impedance of two waxed bronze sculptures at the Seattle Art Museum’s (SAM) Olympic Sculpture Park (OSP) and compare those results to laboratory test panels. We determined that the impedance response in the frequency range in which measurements may be taken (10 kHz to 1 MHz) is mostly capacitive and that a freshly applied wax coating should ideally be less than 1 nF·cm⁻²for optimal protective performance.

Hitting The Goalpost: Calculating The Fine Line Between Winning And Losing A Penalty Shootout, Ralf Widenhorn

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Portland Timbers won their first Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup Championship in December 2015. However, if it had not been for a kind double goalpost miss during a penalty shootout a few weeks earlier, the Timbers would never have been in the finals. On Oct. 30th, after what has been called "the greatest penalty kick shootout in MLS history," featuring a combined 22 penalties that included penalties by both goalkeepers, the Timbers won their first-round playoff against Sporting Kansas City. During the thrilling shootout, which can be watched on the MLS website, Sporting had two potentially game-winning penalties miss …

Temporal Order Of Alzheimer's Disease-Related Cognitive Marker Changes In Blsa And Wrap Longitudinal Studies, Murat Bilgel, Rebecca L. Koscik, Yang An, Jerry L. Prince, Susan M. Resnick, Sterling C. Johnson, Bruno Jedynak

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Investigation of the temporal trajectories of currently used neuropsychological tests is critical to identifying earliest changing measures on the path to dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD). We used the Progression Score (PS) method to characterize the temporal trajectories of measures of verbal memory, executive function, attention, processing speed, language, and mental state using data spanning normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and AD from 1661 participants with a total of 7839 visits (age at last visit 77.6 SD 9.2) in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging and 1542 participants with a total of 4467 visits (age at last visit …

Puddle Jumping: Spontaneous Ejection Of Large Liquid Droplets From Hydrophobic Surfaces During Drop Tower Tests, Babek Attari, Mark M. Weislogel, Andrew Paul Wollman, Yongkang Chen, Trevor Snyder

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Large droplets and puddles jump spontaneously from sufficiently hydrophobicsurfaces during routine drop tower tests. The simple low-cost passive mechanism can in turn be used as an experimental device to investigate dynamic droplet phenomena for drops up to 104 times larger than their normal terrestrial counterparts. We provide and/or confirm quick and qualitative design guides for such “drop shooters” as employed in drop tower tests including relationships to predict droplet ejection durations and velocities as functions of drop volume, surface texture, surface contour, wettability pattern, and fluid properties including contact angle. The latter is determined via profile image comparisons with numerical …

Integrative Public Transport In A Segmented City: Reflections From Jerusalem, Galit Cohen-Blankshtain

PSU Transportation Seminars

Jerusalem is perhaps an extreme case of residential and travel market segmentation. It is comprised of four different 'cities', which partially overlap in space: The Jewish-Zionist city; the Palestinian city; the Jewish ultra-orthodox city and the global-tourist city. While the specific delineation of these cities is unique, Jerusalem can be seen as representative of other cities where ethnic and religious tensions create highly segmented urban spaces and travel markets.

In recent years particular emphasis has been placed on integrating transport systems, both across modes and with land use, in order to facilitate and encourage the use of public transport. Spatial …

Distribution, Quantification And Toxicity Of Cinnamaldehyde In Electronic Cigarette Refill Fluids And Aerosols, Rachel Z. Behar, Wentai Luo, Sabrina C. Lin, Yuhuan Wang, Jackelyn Valle, James F. Pankow, Prue Talbot

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the distribution, concentration and toxicity of cinnamaldehyde in electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) refill fluids and aerosols.

Methods The distribution and concentration of cinnamaldehyde were determined in 39 e-cigarette refill fluids plus 6 duplicates using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC/MS). A cinnamaldehyde toxicity profile was established for embryonic and adult cells using a live cell imaging assay, immunocytochemistry, the comet assay and a recovery assay.

Results Twenty of the 39 refill fluids contained cinnamaldehyde at concentrations that are cytotoxic to human embryonic and lung cells in the MTT assay. Cinnamon Ceylon aerosol …

Modeling Of Historic Columbia River Flood Impacts Based On Delft 3d Simulations, Lumas Terence Helaire

Dissertations and Theses

Natural and anthropogenic processes over the past 150 years have altered the bathymetry of the Lower Columbia River (LCR) and have changed the long wave propagation of tides and floods. Possible causes for the increase in tidal amplitudes (+7% in tidal range in Astoria) are decreases in river discharge, lengthening of the river channel due to the construction of jetties at the mouth, dredging and deepening of the shipping channel, and reduction of the tidal prism due to the filling and diking of tidal wetlands. In this study, changes in the characteristics of long waves are elucidated by developing two …

Minimum Conditions For Visible Mold Growth, G. A. Tsongas, Frank Riordan

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Considerable confusion and misunderstanding exists over the conditions required for visible mold growth at a surface in buildings. That is evident in papers and articles authored by engineers and other scientists, including various ASHRAE, ASTM and Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation publications. One of the major problems is that many HVAC engineers, building scientists, practitioners and others believe there exists a single critical value of the relative humidity (RH) of the indoor or ambient air well away from surfaces, below which mold will not grow on surfaces. However, that is not the case. The purpose of this article is to clarify …

Tidal-Fluvial And Estuarine Processes In The Lower Columbia River: Ii. Water Level Models, Floodplain Wetland Inundation, And System Zones, David A. Jay, Amy B. Borde, Heida Diefenderfer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Spatially varying water-level regimes are a factor controlling estuarine and tidal-fluvial wetland vegetation patterns. As described in Part I, water levels in the Lower Columbia River and estuary (LCRE) are influenced by tides, river flow, hydropower operations, and coastal processes. In Part II, regression models based on tidal theory are used to quantify the role of these processes in determining water levels in the mainstem river and floodplain wetlands, and to provide 21-year inundation hindcasts. Analyses are conducted at 19 LCRE mainstem channel stations and 23 tidally exposed floodplain wetland stations. Sum exceedance values (SEVs) are used to compare wetland …

Consistency Thresholds For Hierarchical Decision Model, Mustafa S. Abbas, Dundar F. Kocaoglu

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The objective of this research is to establish consistency thresholds linked to alpha (α) levels for HDM's (Hierarchical Decision Model) judgment quantification method. Measuring consistency in order to control it is a crucial and inseparable part of any AHP/HDM experiment. The researchers on the subject recommend establishing thresholds that are statistically based on hypothesis testing, and are linked to the number of decision variables and a level. Such thresholds provide the means with which to evaluate the soundness and validity of an AHP/HDM decision. The linkage of thresholds to a levels allows the decision makers to set an appropriate inconsistency …

Technology Planning For Emerging Business Model And Regulatory Integration: The Case Of Electric Vehicle Smart Charging, Kelly Cowan, Tugrul U. Daim

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Smart grid has been described as the Energy Internet: Where Energy Technology meets Information Technology. The incorporation of such technology into vast existing utility infrastructures offers many advantages, including possibilities for new smart appliances, energy management systems, better integration of renewable energy, value added services, and new busiss models, both for supply-and demand-side management. This paper proposes to build upon existing roadmapping processes by considering an integrated set of factors, including policy issues, that are specifically tuned to the needs of smart grid and have not generally been considered in other types of roadmapping efforts. It will also incorporate expert …

Managing The Ethical And Risk Implications Of Rapid Advances In Artificial Intelligence: A Literature Review, Taylor Meek, Husam Barham, Nader Beltaif, Amani Kaadoor, Tanzila Akhter

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The development of emergent technologies carries with it ethical issues and risks. We review ways to better manage the ethical issues and risks of one emerging technology: Artificial Intelligence (AI). Depending on how AI's development is managed, it may have beneficial and/or deleterious effects. The processing capacity of Tianhe-2, the world's fastest supercomputer, by some measures, exceeds the processing capacity of a single human brain. but at a prohibitive processing/power consumption ratio and physical size. Given the current pace of AI R&D activities, some estimates in the literature suggest that the technology could become capable of self-determination and super intelligence …

Comparative Analysis For Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping, Byung Sung Yoon, Antoine J. Jetter

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping (FCM) is a semi-quantitative system modeling technique that is used in technology management to capture, synthesize and analyze expert and stakeholder knowledge for the purpose of technology assessment, product planning, and scenario studies. The resulting FCM models are generated in interviews, focus groups, or workshops and represent complex and dynamic systems as elements (so-called concepts) and cause-and-effect relationships. Researchers often compare FCM to investigate cognitive differences between individuals or groups, identify unique perspectives on a specific topic, or track changes in knowledge (i.e. learning). Using a variety of metrics, comparison studies investigate diverse characteristics of FCMs, such …

Transients In The Synchronization Of Asymmetrically Coupled Oscillator Arrays, Carlos E. Cantos, David K. Hammond, J.J.P. Veerman

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We consider the transient behavior of a large linear array of coupled linear damped harmonic oscillators following perturbation of a single element. Our work is motivated by modeling the behavior of flocks of autonomous vehicles. We first state a number of conjectures that allow us to derive an explicit characterization of the transients, within a certain parameter regime Ω. As corollaries we show that minimizing the transients requires considering non-symmetric coupling, and that within Ω the computed linear growth in N of the transients is independent of (reasonable) boundary conditions.

Frequency Based Noise Coherence-Function Extension And Application To Passive Bottom-Loss Estimation, Lanfranco Muzi, Martin Siderius, Peter L. Nielsen

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Accurate modeling of acoustic propagation in the ocean waveguide is important to SONAR-performance prediction. Particularly in shallow waters, a crucial contribution to the total transmission loss is the bottom refection loss, which can be estimated passively by beamforming the natural surface-noise acoustic field recorded by a vertical line array of hydrophones. However, the performance in this task of arrays below 2 m of length is problematic for frequencies below 10 kHz" role="presentation" style="display: inline; line-height: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px 2px 0px …

Decision-Making Model On Dslr Camera Choosing For 18 ∼ 30 Years Old College Students, Pei Zhang, Chih-Jen Yu, Jiabing Zhang, Monticha Khammuang, Dundar F. Kocaoglu

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

A 3-level Hierarchical Decision Model (HDM) 111 is established in this paper to help 18-30 year old college students make a decision of choosing a desirable digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR) from 5 famous DSLR camera manufacturers. The HDM has been utilized in this paper, because it measures the relative contribution of each criterion to the final decision based on quantified judgments of the respondents. A group of experts, consists of 12 male and 9 female provided their quantified judgements with different weighted value in each element at each level of the decision hierarchy. By applying desirable functions, there was …

Exploratory Modeling Of Tbi Data, Martin Zwick, Stephanie Kolakowsky-Hayner, Sadie Carney, Maya Balamane, Tracie Nettleton, D. Wright

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

Most data analyses are confirmatory, but exploratory studies can find unexpected non-linear & many-variable interaction effects. The methodology of reconstructability analysis (RA) is explicitly designed for exploratory modeling. It analyzes both nominal and continuous (binned) variables, is easily interpretable, takes standard text input, is web-accessible, and is available for research use. This presentation reports some results of applying RA to data sets from Preece (auto accidents) and Wright (auto/motorcycle/bike accidents, hit pedestrians, and falls).

A Livelihood Intervention To Improve Economic And Psychosocial Well-Being In Rural Uganda: Longitudinal Pilot Study, Bernard Kakuhikire, Diego Suquillo, Elly Atuhumuza, Rumbidzai Mushavi, Jessica M. Perkins, Atheendar S. Venkataramani, Sheri D. Weiser, David Bangsberg, Alexander C. Tsai

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

HIV and poverty are inextricably intertwined in sub-Saharan Africa. Economic and livelihood intervention strategies have been suggested to help mitigate the adverse economic effects of HIV, but few intervention studies have focused specifically on HIV positive persons. We conducted three pilot studies to assess a livelihood intervention consisting of an initial orientation and loan package of chickens and associated implements to create poultry microenterprises. We enrolled 15 HIV-positive and 22 HIV-negative participants and followed them for up to 18 months. Over the course of follow-up, participants achieved high chicken survival and loan repayment rates. Median monthly income increased, and severe …

The Economic Value Of Forest Park Ecosystem Services: Results Of Five Focus Groups Conducted In Spring 2016, Randall A. Bluffstone, Pablo Barreyro, Jenny Dempsey Stein, Cody Kent, Antonia Machado

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: This initial phase of research lays the foundation for a survey using contingent valuation (CV) and choice experiment (CE) methods. We asked select Portland residents what they care about most in Forest Park, their willingness to pay (WTP) for improving ecosystem services and how they generally think about the value of those goods and services. These results will help us narrow the experimental design of the forthcoming CV/CE study.

Approach: We conducted a focus group in each of Portland’s 5 “quadrants.” We chose each location - Skyline, St. John’s, Cully, Foster-Powell and Hillsdale - based on either its proximity …

Reproductive Output Of Mosses Under Experimental Warming On Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, Maritime Antarctica, Angélica Casanova-Katny, G. A. Torres-Mellado, Sarah M. Eppley

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Mosses dominate much of the vegetation in the Antarctic, but the effect of climatic change on moss growth and sexual reproduction has scarcely been studied. In Antarctica, mosses infrequently produce sporophytes; whether this is due to physiological limitation or an adaptive response is unknown. We studied the effect of experimental warming (with Open Top Chambers, OTCs) on sporophyte production on Fildes Peninsula, King George Island for four moss species (Bartramia patens, Hennediella antarctica, Polytrichastrum alpinum, and Sanionia georgicouncinata). To determine whether reducing cold stress increases sexual reproduction as would be predicted if sex is …

Cycle Structures Of Orthomorphisms Extending Partial Orthomorphisms Of Boolean Groups, Nichole Louise Schimanski, John S. Caughman Iv

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

A partial orthomorphism of a group GG (with additive notation) is an injection π:S→G for some S⊆G such that π(x)−x ≠ π(y) for all distinct x,y∈S. We refer to |S| as the size of π, and if S=G, then π is an orthomorphism. Despite receiving a fair amount of attention in the research literature, many basic questions remain concerning the number of orthomorphisms of a given group, and what cycle types these permutations have.

It is known that conjugation by automorphisms of G forms a group action on the set of orthomorphisms of G. In this paper, we consider the …

Clatsop County Latinos: A Demographic And Economic Profile, Marisa Zapata, Amanda Hudson

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Demographic change continues at an unprecedented rate across Oregon. In part driven by Latino population growth, the state’s future will include a population that only recently began to call Oregon home. Clatsop County is one area that is experiencing this population change (See Figure 1). Clatsop County has long remained ethnically homogenous. Yet, the rapid growth of the Latino population coincides at a time where the White population decreases in much of the county. There are few reports, describing the needs of the Latino population in the areas of planning and community. This report details several key demographic and economic …

Use Of Water Indices Derived From Landsat Oli Imagery And Gis To Estimate The Hydrologic Connectivity Of Wetlands In The Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, Debra Sue Blackmore

Dissertations and Theses

This study compared two remote sensing water indices: the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) and the Modified NDWI (MNDWI). Both indices were calculated using publically-available data from the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI). The research goal was to determine whether the indices are effective in locating open water and measuring surface soil moisture. To demonstrate the application of water indices, analysis was conducted for freshwater wetlands in the Tualatin River Basin in northwestern Oregon to estimate hydrologic connectivity and hydrological permanence between these wetlands and nearby water bodies. Remote sensing techniques have been used to study wetlands in recent …

Gender Bias And The Evaluation Of Players: Voice And Gender In Narrated Gameplay Videos, Robin April Crowell

Dissertations and Theses

This study evaluates perception differences of male and female narrators in video game tutorials. Video games have long been considered a masculine pursuit, and because of this, women have endured unpleasant surroundings and interactions in gaming and related communities. With the proliferation of technologies like Twitch and YouTube gaming, gaming is more communicative than ever, increasing potential for problematic interactions. Recent booms in these technologies emphasize the importance of understanding how varying demographics are perceived, as these perceptions influence interactions, potentially limiting the likelihood of women and others' involvement and interest.

Involvement in technology during youth is associated with interests …

A Landscape Approach To Determining And Predicting Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus Kisutch) Movement Timing And Growth Patterns Prior To Ocean Entry, Amelia Lee Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) rely on unique habitats during the winter season, which may dictate how much individuals may grow and when migration from freshwater rearing habitat to the ocean occurs. Here I analyze movement timing and growth patterns for coho salmon through a field-based study and a literature review. For the field portion, I examined hatchery-stocked juvenile coho salmon across four stream basins in the Russian River watershed, California to determine the relative importance of climate, landscape, and fish size metrics in predicting movement and growth patterns over a winter rearing and spring smolt outmigration time period …

Watershed Response To Climate Change And Fire-Burns In The Upper Umatilla River Basin Using The Precipitation Runoff Modeling System, Kimberly Crystal Yazzie

Dissertations and Theses

This study provides an analysis of watershed response to climate change and forest fire impacts, to better understand the hydrologic budget and inform water management decisions for present and future needs. The study site is 2,365 km², located in the upper Umatilla River Basin (URB) in northeastern Oregon. The Precipitation Runoff Modeling System, a distributed-parameter, physical-process watershed model, was used in this study. Model calibration yielded a Nash Sutcliffe Model Efficiency of 0.73 for both calibration (1995-2010) and validation (2010-2014) of daily streamflow. Ten Global Climate Models using Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 experiments with Representative Concentration …

More Than Meets The Eye: Latino Students In A Two-Way Immersion Program And Stereotype Threat, Edgar Ubaldino Solares Vega

Dissertations and Theses

Figures from the 2010 Census indicate that there are 50.5 million Latinos (16% of the total population) living in the United States (US) today. From 2000 to 2010, the Latino population experienced a very rapid growth rate of 43%, which accounted for over half the total population growth. More and more Latino students are entering our public schools and face the reality that 62 years after the Brown V. Board of Education ruling to integrate schools and equalize educational opportunities, schools are more racially and economically segregated and more unequal than they were more than half a century ago. As …

Use Of Distance Weighted Metrics To Investigate Landscape-Stream Temperature Relationships Across Different Temporal Scales, Eric Craig Watson

Dissertations and Theses

Stream ecosystems have experienced significant negative impacts from land use, resource exploitation, and urban development. Statistical models allow researchers to explore the relationships between these landscape variables and stream conditions. Weighting the relevant landscape variables based on hydrologically defined distances offers a potential method of increasing the predictive capacity of statistical models. Using observations from three grouped watersheds in the Portland Metro Area (n=66), I have explored the use of three different weighting schemes against the standard method of taking an areal average. These four different model groups were applied to four stream temperature metrics: mean seven-day moving average maximum …

Orthomorphisms Of Boolean Groups, Nichole Louise Schimanski

Dissertations and Theses

An orthomorphism, π, of a group, (G, +), is a permutation of G with the property that the map x → -x + π(x) is also a permutation. In this paper, we consider orthomorphisms of the additive group of binary n-tuples, Zⁿ₂. We use known orthomorphism preserving functions to prove a uniformity in the cycle types of orthomorphisms that extend certain partial orthomorphisms, and prove that extensions of particular sizes of partial orthomorphisms exist. Further, in studying the action of conjugating orthomorphisms by automorphisms, we find several symmetries within the orbits and stabilizers of this action, and …