Digital Commons Network^™

Comparison Of Ion Adsorption To Phophatidylcholine/Phosphatidylserine And Sarcoplasmic Reticulum Membranes, Martin Mense

Dissertations and Theses

Artificial lipid membranes have been used in biophysical studies as well defined models of biological membranes. In the present work we studied adsorption of ions to artificial lipid membranes, composed of phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylserine (PS), and to biological membrane from sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). The studies of ion adsorption and electrokinetic characterization of membranes were done by means of microelectrophoresis of PC/PS liposomes and SR vesicles. The ions of interest were positively charged potassium (K), calcium (Ca), tetraphenylarsonium (TPAs), tetraphenylphosphonium (TPP) and negatively charged pentachlorophenol (PCP).

Electrophoretic mobility of PC/PS liposomes and SR vesicles has been measured as a function …

A Cognitively Motivated System For Software Component Reuse, Michael Joseph Mateas

Dissertations and Theses

Software reuse via component libraries suffers from the twin problems of code location and comprehension. The Intelligent Code Object Planner (ICOP) is a cognitively motivated system that facilitates code reuse by answering queries about how to produce an effect with the library. It can plan for effects which are not primitive with respect to the library by building a plan that incorporates multiple components. The primary subsystems of ICOP are a knowledge base which describes the ontology of the library, a natural language interface which translates user queries into a formal effect language (predicates), a planner which accepts the effect …

A Retarding-Potential Analyzer For Measuring Energy Distributions In Electron Beams, Li Zhou

Dissertations and Theses

An energy analyzer for electron beams, based on a retarding-potential method, has been studied both experimentally and theoretically. In this method a potential energy barrier at right-angles to the beam acts as a high-pass energy filter allowing electrons having energies greater than the barrier height to pass through while turning back electrons of lower energy. The potential barrier in the present study was created by applying a negative potential to an electrode consisting of a 600/inch hexagonal copper mesh or an electrode having a pair of single apertures in series (compound aperture). Two different compound apertures, of diameters 0.4 mm …

Detecting Chaotic Signals With Nonlinear Models, Qin Cai

Dissertations and Theses

In this thesis we apply chaotic dynamic data analysis to the area of discrete time signal processing. A newly developed Hidden Filter Hidden Markov Model is introduced in detection of chaotic signals. Numerical experiments have verified that this novel nonlinear model outperforms linear AR model in detecting chaotic signals buried by noise having similar power spectra. A simple Histogram Model is proposed which can also be used to do detection on the data sets with chaotic behavior. Receiver Operating Characteristics for a variety of noise levels and model classes are reported.

Scattering Of A Light Beam From Waves At An Air-Sea Interface, Donald D. Duncan, W. H. Carter

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The authors report a new theory that describes the scattering of an upward propagating laser beam from the sea through the air-sea interface in the presence of sea waves. The sea is assumed to be a uniform dielectric and conventional scattering theory is employed by using a modification to the first Born approximation that permits treatment of surface refraction phenomena. Methods of statistical radiometry are also used in a new manner by assuming that the surface scattering function for the sea waves can be treated by a quasi-homogeneous source model to calculate the second-order correlation functions for the partially coherent …

Hydrogeochemical Characterization Of The Alvord Valley Known Geothermal Resources Area, Harney County, Oregon, Anna Maria St. John

Dissertations and Theses

The Alvord Valley Known Geothermal Resources Area (KGRA), located east of the Steens Mountain-Pueblo Mountains fault block in southeastern Oregon, is within the northern Basin and Range province. This investigation focuses on three thermal areas in the Alvord Basin: Borax Lake and the hot springs north of Borax Lake, Alvord Hot Springs and Mickey Springs.

Performance Analysis Of A Hierarchical, Cache-Coherent, Shared Memory Based, Multi-Processor System, Raman Nayyar

Dissertations and Theses

We have conducted a performance analysis of a large scale multiprocessor system based on shared buses organized in a hierarchical fashion and employing an easy to implement snoopy cache protocol. · This arrangement, named TREEBUS [ 5], presents a logical extension path for multiprocessor systems based on a single shared bus whose scalability is limited by the available system bus bandwidth [26]. The multiple, independent, hierarchical buses overcome the bus bandwidth limitation and the architecture can scale to relatively large sizes. We have developed an easy to use, reasonably accurate and computationally efficient analytic model for analyzing the performance of …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet June 1993, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The June 1993 Monthly packet includes the June agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held May 1993.

Existence Of High-Order Superlattices In Orientationally Ordered C_{60}, J. E. Fischer, D. E. Luzzi, K. Kniaź, A. R. Mcghie, D. A. Ricketts-Foot, W. R. Romanow, Gavin B. M. Vaughan, Dayin Li, Allan L. Smith, Robert M. Strongin, M. A. Cichy, Laurent Bard, Amos B. Smith Iii

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

We correlate the presence or absence of high-order modulated structures in solid C₆₀ with the differential scanning calorimetry signature of the orientational ordering transition and other diagnostic data. We have searched for, but not observed, the 2a face-centered cubic structure recently observed in low-temperature electron and single-crystal x-ray diffraction. We conclude that the intrinsic ground state is the previously reported simple cubic structure [space groupPa3¯, a(14 K)=14.06 Å], and that other structures may be stabilized by defects or impurities.

Coherence Peak And Superconducting Energy Gap In Rb_{3}C_{60} Observed By Muon Spin Relaxation, R. F. Kiefl, W. A. Macfarlane, K. H. Chow, S. Dunsiger, T. L. Duty, T. M. S. Johnston, J. W. Schneider, J. Sonier, Laurent Brard, Robert M. Strongin, J. E. Fischer, Amos B. Smith Iii

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Muon spin relaxation resulting from spin exchange scattering of endohedral muonium (μ+e-) with thermal electronic excitations has been observed in the fullerene superconductor Rb₃C₆₀. The temperature dependence of T₁^-1 shows a coherence peak just below T_c and can be fit to the conventional Hebel-Slichter theory for spin relaxation in a superconductor with a broadened BCS density of states. The average energy gap for electronic excitations, Δ/k_B=53(4) K or 2Δ/ k_BT_c=3.6(3), is consistent with the BCS weak coupling limit.

The Relationship Between Precipitation And Temperature Over The Contiguous United States, Weining Zhao, M. A. K. Khalil

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The correlation between monthly total precipitation and monthly mean temperature over the 80-year period from 1905 to 1984 at nearly 1000 stations in the contiguous United States was calculated and analyzed. Both local and field significances were tested by using statistical methods. Areas of both negative and positive precipitation-temperature correlations were found. Over most of the United States, summer precipitation and temperature were negatively correlated, which indicates that warm summers tended to be dryer. This is particularly true in the central and southern Great Plains. The area south of the Great Lakes covering the eastern portion of the Corn Belt …

An Exploratory Study Of Student Retention In Kindergarten And Grade One And The Associated Decision Making Processes As Perceived By Principals And Teachers, Doris Cameron-Minard

Dissertations and Theses

Students who fail to achieve in school are frequently retained in grade to remediate their lack of satisfactory progress. In this study, elementary school principals, kindergarten, and first grade teachers were interviewed to explore their perceptions of the decision making processes used in recommending retention. The belief systems which underlie their reliance on retention as a remedial option were also examined.

Three research questions were addressed:

1. What is the relationship between the written retention policy of a selected school district and the actual decision making process used by its schools?
2. What are the influences by district socio-economic level which impact …

Gravity Sedimentation: A One-Dimensional Numerical Model, Joanna Robin Karl

Dissertations and Theses

A large fraction of the current cost of wastewater treatment is from the treatment and disposal of wastewater sludge. Improved design, energy efficiency, and performance of dewatering facilities could significantly decrease transport and disposal costs.

Dewatering facilities are designed based on field experience, trial and error, pilot plant testing, and/or full scale testing. Design is generally time-consuming and expensive. A full-scale test typically consists of side-by-side operation of 4 to 5 full-scale dewatering units for several weeks to more than 6 months. Theoretical modeling of the physics of dewatering units such as the belt filter press, based on laboratory determined …

Assessing The Impact Of An Esl/Bilingual Program By Means Of Instrumental Variable Estimation, John Akanbi Babatunde

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the Portland (Oregon) public school district's ESL/bilingual program on the academic performance of limited English proficiency (IEP) students. The study attempted to correct a statistical bias that might lead to underestimating the effectiveness of ESL/bilingual programs. This statistical bias is caused by a negative correlation between student achievement and the characteristics which result in a student being placed in the ESL/bilingual program. Several variables and proxies representing characteristics of the school, the neighborhood, and the student's personal background were examined for their contribution to explaining the academic progress of …

Quasi-Static Deflection Compensation Control Of Flexible Manipulator, Jingbin Feng

Dissertations and Theses

The growing need in industrial applications of high-performance robots has led to designs of lightweight robot arms. However the light-weight robot arm introduces accuracy and vibration problems. The classical robot design and control method based on the rigid body assumption is no longer satisfactory for the light-weight manipulators. The effects of flexibility of light-weight manipulators have been an active research area in recent years. A new approach to correct the quasi-static position and orientation error of the end-effector of a manipulator with flexible links is studied in this project. In this approach, strain gages are used to monitor the elastic …

Distributed Economic Systems With Agents That Learn, Stanley Foster Perry

Dissertations and Theses

Economic systems are distributed in the sense that economic agents make decisions without any central control. Prices, quantities, wealth, and market structure emerge from the interaction of agents acting in their own self interest. The concepts and language of systems science are used to define economic systems in a manner that captures and articulates the distributed nature of economic systems. Further, the systems definition permits multiple views of the economic system, and in addition, allows the agents to "step outside" the system in order to study it.

Economic systems are defined in such a way that it is feasible to …

Unusual Thermal Stability Of A Site-Ordered Mc60 Rocksalt Structure (M=K, Rb, Or Cs), Q. Zhu, O. Zhou, J. E. Fischer, Andrew R. Mcghie, W. R. Romanow, Robert M. Strongin, M. A. Cichy, Amos B. Smith Iii

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry of M_xC₆₀, with x∼1 and M=K, Rb, or Cs, reveal an unusual T-dependent phase sequence. A low-symmetry ground state is found, while the high-T limit is an ordered rocksalt structure in which only the octahedral sites are occupied. The unusual high-T stability of this ordered phase is attributed to the entropy of molecular orientational disorder and/or thermal disorder of the alkali-metal ions within the octahedral sites. Unique to K_xC₆₀ with x≥1.4, we find at intermediate temperatures an fcc site-disordered lattice gas …

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: Four former PSU students are winners of the Milken Family Foundation’s 1992 National Educator Award; state legislators dealing with the fallout of Measure 5 tell higher education it must be 15 percent more productive; Richard Toscan, dean of the school of fine and performing arts, seeks to forge more ties with the local arts community; Jack Ohman, editorial cartoonist for The Oregonian, writes about his decision to enroll at PSU; Professor Devorah Leiberman says misunderstandings caused by cultural differences can be avoided; Professor Marek Perkowski’s research may someday result …

Spontaneous Coherent Pulsations In Standing-Wave Laser Oscillators: Stability Criteria For Homogeneous Broadening, Pitak Chenkosol, Lee W. Casperson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The stability criteria for single-mode standing-wave laser oscillators in the homogeneously broadened limit are reported, and two types of criteria are distinguished. The first type (type 1) corresponds to the minimum value of the threshold parameter for which an infinitesimal perturbation away from steady state grows into an oscillatory solution. A second type (type 2) corresponds to the minimum value of threshold parameter for which large-amplitude oscillations do not decay to the steady-state solution. Undamped pulsations in single-mode homogeneously broadened standing-wave laser oscillators are found to occur at a much higher excitation level than in ring-laser oscillators with homogeneous broadening. …

The Effects Of Airline Deregulation On Airline Safety: An Econometric Analysis, William Charles De Jager

Dissertations and Theses

After an unfortunate series of accidents in the mid 1930's the Air Transport Association (ATA) lobbied Congress for regulation of the industry. The ATA claimed that unfair competition was endangering the public safety. The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 created the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) and gave the CAB the authority to regulate the industry.

During the regulation era airline ridership increased and safety improved. During the regulation period, opportunity for comparing the safety record of the regulated industry with the record of the unregulated portions of the industry was limited. The few attempts made rendered inconclusive results.

During a …

Geochemistry, Alluvial Facies Distribution, Hydrogeology, And Groundwater Quality Of The Dallas-Monmouth Area, Oregon, Rodney R. Caldwell

Dissertations and Theses

The Dallas-Monmouth area, located in the west-central Willamette Valley, Oregon, consists of Tertiary marine and volcanic bedrock units which are locally overlain by alluvium. The occurrence of groundwater with high salinities has forced many rural residents to use public water supplies. Lithologic descriptions from driller's logs, geochemical (INAA), and x-ray diffraction analyses were used to determine alluvial facies distribution, geochemical and clay mineral distinctions among the units, and possible sediment sources. Driller's log, chemical and isotopic analysis, and specific conductance information from wells and springs were used to study the hydrogeologic characteristics of the aquifers and determine the distribution, characteristics, …

Temperature Dependence Of Optical Properties For Amorphous Silicon At Wavelengths Of 632.8 And 752 Nm, P.T. Leung, Nhan Do, Oguz Yavas, Andrew C. Tam, Wing P. Leung, Hee K. Park, Costas P. Grigoropoulos, Johannes Boneberg, Paul Leiderer

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The temperature dependence of the optical properties for amorphous silicon is studied at wavelengths of 632.8 and 752 nm. Both the refractive index and extinction coefficient increase linearly with temperature for 752 nm, while the refractive index decreases and the extinction coefficient increases for 632.8 nm. The rate of increase of the extinction coefficient at 632.8 nm is twice as much as that for 752 nm.

Photodeflection Probing Of The Explosion Of A Liquid Film In Contact With A Solid Heated By Pulsed Excimer Laser Irradiation, P.T. Leung, Nhan Do, Leander Klees, Andrew C. Tam, Wing P. Leung

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The explosion or rapid vaporization of a liquid film on an opaque surface by a pulsed laser is studied experimentally. Using a probe-beam deflection sensing (PDS) scheme, together with a previously developed transmission monitor, the distortion of the PDS signal due to the generation of shock waves by the exploding liquid is investigated. Various liquids, including alcohols and pure water in contact with substrates such as polyimide, amorphous carbon, and silicon, are studied for a wide range of excimer laser fluences. It is concluded that the present PDS technique is highly sensitive to the explosion threshold.

Difficulties Experienced Procedural Programmers Encounter When Transferring To An Object-Oriented Programming Paradigm, Scott Andrew Machaffie

Dissertations and Theses

Experienced procedural programmers seem to have difficulty when transferring from a procedural language to an object-oriented language. The problem is how to assist the experienced procedural programmers to make this shift. The long term goal of this research is to identify areas where programmers have problems and to develop an automated system to help them overcome these difficulties.

This study examines the class designs produced by procedural programmers and the effect of specifications and domain knowledge on class designs. Two types of specifications were used: those written from a procedural point of view which emphasized the functions and those written …

Comprehension Of Literate Programs By Novice And Intermediate Programmers, Christopher Forrest Bertholf

Dissertations and Theses

The studies reported herein compare comprehension of Lit style literate programs to that of traditional modular programs documented by embedded comments. Novice and intermediate programmers participated in three experiments designed to determine the comprehensibility of literate programs written using a language-independent system for abstraction-oriented literate programming compared with programs written using traditional modular programming techniques (traditional modular programs). Programs were written in either the C or FORTRAN programming language. Half of the subjects in each group received a literate program, while the other half received a traditional modular program with embedded documentation. Subjects received a problem specification, input and output …

Shapes Of Venusian "Pancake" Domes Imply Episodic Emplacement And Silicic Composition, Jonathan H. Fink, Nathan T. Bridges, Robert E. Grimm

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The main evidence available for constraining the composition of the large circular "pancake" domes on Venus is their gross morphology. Laboratory simulations using polyethylene glycol show that the height to diameter (aspect) ratios of domes given total volume depend critically on whether their extrusion was continuous or episodic, with more episodes leading to greater cooling and taller domes. Thus without observations of their emplacement, the compositions of venusian domes cannot be uniquely constrained by their morphology. However, by considering a population of 51 venusian domes to sent a sampling of many stages during the growth of domes with comparable histories, …

Exact Modeling Of Time-Interval-Modulated Switched Networks, Weihe Niu

Dissertations and Theses

The frequency response analysis of switched networks plays a very important part in designing various kinds of power converter circuits. In this thesis two frequency response techniques for analyzing switching power converters are discussed. One method provides a mathematical description which treats the converter as a periodic time varying system. A linearized small signal model is subsequently derived. The major part of the thesis concentrates on this accurate exact small-signal technique. The derivation involves state space representation and the use of the time varying transfer function. A Fourier analysis is performed to show the relationship between the frequency response of …

Matching Points To Lines: Sonar-Based Localization For The Psubot, Kevin Blythe Stanton

Dissertations and Theses

The PSUBOT (pronounced pea-es-you-bought) is an autonomous wheelchair robot for persons with certain disabilities. Its use of voice recognition and autonomous navigation enable it to carry out high level commands with little or no user assistance. We first describe the goals, constraints, and capabilities of the overall system including path planning and obstacle avoidance. We then focus on localization-the ability of the robot to locate itself in space. Odometry, a compass, and an algorithm which matches points to lines are each employed to accomplish this task. The matching algorithm (which matches "points" to "lines") is the main contribution to this …

An Analysis Of The Involvement Of Ten High Schools In Scholastic Aptitude Testing Student Preparation, Elaine Drakulich

Dissertations and Theses

The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is taken each year by two fifths of the high school graduates (Cameron, 1989). The perception that high SAT scores will either open the door of selective colleges and generate scholarships or that low SAT scores will close off opportunities for the rest of one's life, makes virtually every student who invests the three hours of time required to take the test extremely anxious about doing as well as possible (Whitla, 1988). Significant relationships between identified preparation techniques and the perceived effectiveness of those techniques by students and staff can be very useful information for …

On Matching Ann Structure To Problem Domain Structure, George G. Lendaris, Martin Zwick, Karl Mathia

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

To achieve reduced training time and improved generalization with artificial neural networks (ANN, or NN), it is important to use a reduced complexity NN structure. A "problem" is defined by constraints among the variables describing it. If knowledge about these constraints could be obtained a priori, this could be used to reduce the complexity of the ANN before training it. Systems theory literature contains methods for determining and representing structural aspects of constrained data (these methods are herein called GSM, general systems method). The suggestion here is to use the GSM model of the given data as a pattern for …