Digital Commons Network^™

Multilevel Spectral Coarsening For Graph Laplacian Problems With Application To Reservoir Simulation, Andrew T. Barker, Stephen V. Gelever, Chak Shing Lee, Sarah Osborn, Panayot S. Vassilevski

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We extend previously developed two-level coarsening procedures for graph Laplacian problems written in a mixed saddle point form to the fully recursive multilevel case. The resulting hierarchy of discretizations gives rise to a hierarchy of upscaled models, in the sense that they provide approximation in the natural norms (in the mixed setting). This property enables us to utilize them in three applications: (i) as an accurate reduced model, (ii) as a tool in multilevel Monte Carlo simulations (in application to finite volume discretizations), and (iii) for providing a sequence of nonlinear operators in a full approximation scheme for solving nonlinear …

Life Satisfaction In Division Iaa And Division Iii Football Players, Krista Haunani Francisco

Dissertations and Theses

Level of life satisfaction is not something of which many sit down and take appraisal. However, levels of life satisfaction, especially low levels of life satisfaction, can have a direct effect on health. Low levels of life satisfaction cause an increase in self-reported stress. Inversely, high levels of stress cause a decrease in life satisfaction. This decrease in life satisfaction is associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes. A majority of student-athlete healthcare is centered around the physical aspects of health, with mental health just recently becoming a concern. It was apparent through the research for this study that …

Pro-Life Ends At Birth: Race As A Primary Driver Of State Abortion And Concurrent Natalist Policy, Tasha Danner

University Honors Theses

The year 2019 saw the most restrictive state abortion policies introduced and passed since Roe v Wade. The same states passing this legislation are often states also cutting funding for policies that improve the health and socio-economic mobility of mothers and children, which disproportionately affects African-American residents of those states. Outside of reproductive justice advocacy, there is not much research on the role that race plays in the introduction and passing of state abortion policy. I examine and analyze the role of racial prejudice in passing restrictive abortion policy in southern states. Using historical context in southern states, a survey …

Power Efficiency Enhancement And Linearization Techniques For Power Amplifiers In Wireless Communications, Haider Al-Kanan

Dissertations and Theses

Wireless communication systems require Power Amplifiers (PAs) for signal transmissions. The trade-off between power efficiency and nonlinear distortion in PAs degrades the communication performance. Thus, power efficiency and nonlinearity are two main concerns of operating PAs in communication systems. Nonlinear behavioral models are typically used to quantify and mitigate the distortion effects of PAs on communication systems. This dissertation presents an estimation approach for modeling and linearizing the PA Amplitude-to-Amplitude (AM/AM) nonlinearity using the design specifications of PAs, such as gain, the third-order intercept point, and 1dB compression point. Furthermore, an enhanced approach for modeling solid-state power amplifiers is developed …

Exploring Consumer Psychographics Of Ethnic Representation Within The Cosmetic Industry, Johnny A. Hickman

University Honors Theses

Consumers are more sensitive than ever to a brand that has contrived messaging. Despite brands like Maybeline and Covergirl featuring famous women of color in their ads, there has never been a reaction to their brand like there has been for Fenty Beauty. This is because of Fenty Beauty's authentic mission to fulfill a need for consumers. This is a level of authenticity that cannot be matched by simply show-casing women of various skin tones and proceeding to provide a limited amount of products. Is brand authenticity the key to winning over consumers and significant enough for consumers' ability to …

Performance Of Us Concrete Highway Bridge Decks Characterized By Random Parameters Binary Logistic Regression, Omar Ghonima, Jason C. Anderson, Thomas Schumacher, Avinash Unnikrishnan

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study employs a random parameters binary logistic regression (LR) to characterize the impact of environmental and structural parameters on concrete highway bridge deck deterioration nationwide. Two specific gaps in the literature are addressed: (1) the use of a nationwide dataset for analysis, and (2) the implementation of a methodology to account for unobserved heterogeneity. A total of 3,262 bridge deck deterioration observations derived from the authors’ nationwide concrete highway bridge deck performance inventory (NCBDPI) database were used in this study. The deterioration rate (DR) was computed as the decrease in the concrete bridge deck condition rating ( …

The Pacific Sentinel, March 2020, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

The Pacific Sentinel

Editor: Jake Johnson

Articles in this issue include:

• Letter From the Editor
• Safe Together?
• Vaccination: Spreading Misinformation Spreads Disease
• Impeachment? What Just Happened?
• Vote Local
• Under the Red Lights
• Homeschool Pride
• The Utopia of Animal Crossing
• Not Too Cold to Canvas for Bernie
• The Top 5 Shoegaze Albums of 2019
• Nick Fish’s Untimely Death and Enduring Legacy
• Harry Styles Is a Mess
• Dump Those Dumplings in My Mouth
• The Real Horror of The Turning is Its Disappointing Story

“Le Soleil De France”: Warm Translations Of Guy De Maupassant In Works By Isaak Babel’ And Ivan Bunin, Cassio De Oliveira

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the wake of Lev Tolstoi’s appraisals of his work, Guy de Maupassant was embraced by Russian twentieth-century authors who admired his mastery of the short story. The Soviet writer Isaak Babel’ and the émigré writer Ivan Bunin reference stories and other texts by Maupassant in their stories ‘Guy de Maupassant’ and ‘Bernard’. To these authors, Maupassant constitutes a means of expressing their own outlook on the craft of literature. Mediated by the act of translation from French into Russian, Maupassant’s writing enables the Russian authors to articulate distinct identities regarding their national literature: as Soviet and émigré.

How Oregon’S Racist History Can Sharpen Our Sense Of Justice Right Now, Walidah Imarisha

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Writer Walidah Imarisha on eight years of talking about the brutal history of race in Oregon.

Name a small town in Oregon. I have most likely been there, talking about race.

For the past eight years, starting as part of Oregon Humanities’ Conversation Project, I’ve stood in front of thousands of attendees in packed libraries, community centers, senior homes, college campuses, and prisons.

I’ve seen it all: multiple people arguing the Ku Klux Klan was and remains a “civic organization,” chiding me for focusing solely on the “negatives” while adamantly denying they support racism or are themselves racist. I’ve received …

The Political-Economy Trilemma, Joshua Aizenman, Hiro Ito

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper investigates Rodrik’s political-economy trilemma: policy makers face a trade-off of choosing two out of three policy goals or governance styles, namely, (hyper-) globalization, national sovereignty, and democracy. We develop a set of indexes that measure the extent of attainment of the three factors for 139 countries in the period of 1975-2016. Using these indexes, we examine the validity of the hypothesis of the political-economy trilemma by testing whether the three trilemma variables are linearly related. We find that, for industrialized countries, there is a linear relationship between globalization and national sovereignty (i.e., a dilemma), and that for developing …

Ten Questions Concerning The Implications Of Carpet On Indoor Chemistry And Microbiology, Sarah R, Haines, Rachel I. Adams, Brandon E. Boor, Thomas A. Bruton, John Downey, Andrea R. Ferro, Elliott T. Gall, Multiple Additional Authors

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Carpet and rugs currently represent about half of the United States flooring market and offer many benefits as a flooring type. How carpets influence our exposure to both microorganisms and chemicals in indoor environments has important health implications but is not well understood. The goal of this manuscript is to consolidate what is known about how carpet impacts indoor chemistry and microbiology, as well as to identify the important research gaps that remain. After describing the current use of carpet indoors, questions focus on five specific areas: 1) indoor chemistry, 2) indoor microbiology, 3) resuspension and exposure, 4) current practices …

The Development Of An Art Practice: Reflecting On My Experiences In The Undergraduate Art Programs At Clackamas Community College And Portland State University, Justin M. Taylor

University Honors Theses

In this essay, I will be discussing the content and overall experience of my thesis exhibition, The Development of an Art Practice, on display at the Alexander Gallery, Oregon City, Oregon, from November 6^th through December 6^th 2019. The exhibition showcased my development in the undergraduate art practice programs at Clackamas Community College, and Portland State University. Featured in the exhibition was a selection of two-dimensional visual works, which I produced in the programs.

My work was process driven with an emphasis on experimentation. While the selection of work revealed reoccurring themes, both in process and content, …

The Rise And Infiltration Of Pac-Man And Street Fighter, Angelic Phan

University Honors Theses

With the social, cultural, and economic influence of video games, it is important to examine why they have become such popular forms of entertainment. Particularly, why certain franchises have continued to persist among the growing industry. Two notable franchises are Pac-Man and Street Fighter, which are also most frequently discussed in scholarly texts. I supplement a literature review with an analysis of marketing texts to illuminate a series of shared factors that help explain both games' popularity despite the apparent dissimilarities of their content. First, my work helps us look across multiple scholarly papers to create a bigger picture …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet February 2020, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The February 3, 2020 Monthly packet includes the February agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held January 6, 2020.

Imperialism: A Case Study Of America's Neorealist Domination Of Power, Hannah Daniels

University Honors Theses

The international policy of the United States has been historically characterized by the promotion of democracy and freedom. However, historical analyses of U.S. policies and intervention in countries such as Iran, Chile, Guatemala, Syria, Brazil, and Nicaragua demonstrate that American aid more often than not ends in a military dictatorship replacing a democracy. This paper investigates the discrepancies between these values that the United States claims to uphold and the actual operation efforts carried out, proposing that U.S. international politics are defined by a neorealist framework rather than the liberal structure that is commonly thought of as the basis for …

The Pacific Sentinel, February 2020, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

The Pacific Sentinel

Editor: Jake Johnson

Articles in this issue include:

• Letter from the Editor
• Putting a Stop to PPOP?
• Portlanders Say "No War With Iran"
• Hospitals Penalized for Readmissions
• Dying Young
• Flower Power
• "Take a Nap!"
• Making People Homeless: Our Country's Collective Shame
• Draft Dodging: My New Favorite Sport
• A Century of Socialism
• Spoiler Alert Alarmism
• Mo Troper Delivers in New Album

The Tokyo Olympic Stadium: Site Of National Memory, Akiko Hashimoto

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Olympic Games are burdened with this inherent paradox of universal humanism and chauvinistic nationalism. Japan took palpable national pride in being the first ever Asian host of the modern Olympic Games in 1964 and in executing the mission with zeal, precision and order. Hosting the 2020 Olympics again represents Japan’s aspiration to play a significant role in the global world – and rebranding Tokyo as a leading global city -- but this grand scheme has also invoked some antagonistic sentiments at home.

Brain Health Innovation Diplomacy: A Model Binding Diverse Disciplines To Manage The Promise And Perils Of Technological Innovation, Kylie Ternes, Vijeth Iyengar, Helen Lavretsky, Walter D. Dawson, Laura Booi, Agustin Ibanez, Ipsit Vahia, Charles Reynolds, Steven Dekosky, Jeffrey Cummings, Bruce Miller, Carla Perissinotto, Jeffrey Kaye, Harris A. Eyre

Institute on Aging Publications

Background: Brain health diplomacy aims to influence the global policy environment for brain health (i.e. dementia, depression, and other mind/brain disorders) and bridges the disciplines of global brain health, international affairs, management, law, and economics. Determinants of brain health include educational attainment, diet, access to health care, physical activity, social support, and environmental exposures, as well as chronic brain disorders and treatment. Global challenges associated with these determinants include large-scale conflicts and consequent mass migration, chemical contaminants, air quality, socioeconomic status, climate change, and global population aging. Given the rapidly advancing technological innovations impacting brain health, it is paramount to …

Teaching Doppler Ultrasound In An Introductory Laboratory For Pre-Health Students, Theodore Stedmark, Thomas Allen, Ralf Widenhorn

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present a novel activity to demonstrate the Doppler shift of a sound wave, incident at an angle, upon a moving reflector. This activity is intended for use in an introductory physics laboratory focused on preparing students for the health and medical fields. The activity is designed to simulate Doppler velocity measurements from ultrasound imaging. While there have been previous qualitative discussions of blood flow measurements in the physics education literature, they were without associated laboratory activities.1 The lab can be part of a life science physics curriculum that has been identified in need of reforms to meet the …

Exploring Experiences Of Postsecondary Education For Adult Learners From Communities Of Color In Oregon, Roberta Hunte, Gita R. Mehrotra, Miranda Mosier, Eva Skuratowicz, Kylee Sanders, Kevin Cherry, Anita Gooding

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

In 2018, the State of Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) received funding from Lumina Foundation1 through a Talent, Innovation, and Equity (TIE) partnership grant to help reduce educational disparities faced by students of color. A key component of this work included focus group research on adult learners – those aged 25 to 64 years old – around the state. Through this research HECC aims to improve the success rates of underrepresented students in postsecondary education and training (specifically African American, Hispanic/Latinx, Native American/Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Oregonians) and make progress toward the State’s Adult Attainment goal. Strategies …

Pine Rosin As A Toxic Cannabis Extract Adulterant, Jiries Meehan-Attrash, Robert Strongin

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Pine rosin (colophony) has been identified as a new adulterant in cannabis oil. Its inhalation toxicity poses a significant health concern to users. For example, pine rosin fumes are released during soldering, and have been cited as a causative agent of occupational asthma. Symptoms also include desquamation of bronchial epithelium, which has also been observed in EVALI patients. The sample analyzed herein was acquired from a cannabis industry source, also contains medium chain triglycerides and oleamide, the latter of which is a hypnotic that is commonly found in the synthetic marijuana product Spice, or K2. A combination of NMR and …

Pdxscholar Annual Report 2019, Karen Bjork, Sherry Buchanan, David Coate, Bertrand Robinson, Stacey Schlatter

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

This report details the ninth year of operation for PDXScholar, Portland State University's institutional repository, as well as the growth of Portland State University Library's publishing services. The report covers the period between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019.

Characterization Of Inertial Particles In The Turbulent Wake Of A Porous Disk, Kristin Nichole Travis

Dissertations and Theses

This study presents the findings of a wind tunnel experiment investigating the behaviour of micrometric inertial particles in the turbulent wake of a stationary porous disk. Various concentrations [Φ_v ∈ (2.95 x 10^-6 - 1.22 x 10^-5)] of polydisperse water droplets (diameter 13-41 µm) are compared to sub-inertial tracer particles. Hot-wire anemometry, phase Doppler interferometry and particle image velocimetry were implemented in the near and far wake regions to study the complex dynamics of the particles. Turbulence statistics and particle size distributions are presented and used to explore the particle wake interaction.

Rebranding Empire: Consumers, Commodities, And The Empire Marketing Board, 1926-1933, Ashley Kristen Bower

Dissertations and Theses

The Empire Marketing Board (EMB) was a British government organization established in 1926 by the Conservative Party, under the authority of Colonial Secretary Leopold Amery. Its goal was to encourage Britons to "Buy Empire," namely, to buy products from the Dominions and colonies of the British Empire. To encourage consumption, the EMB funded scientific research and economic analyses, as well as publicity for Empire trade in the form of posters, films, educational materials, and government-sponsored events. The Empire Marketing Board attempted to sell the concept of "Empire" to the masses as a new cooperative project which stressed the value of …

Competing Narratives: The Struggle For The Soul Of Egypt, Ahmed El Mansouri

Dissertations and Theses

In January 2011, Egypt witnessed an uprising against ex-military president Hosni Mubarak, which resulted in his removal after ruling Egypt for thirty years. Yet, while the revolution targeted Mubarak, it also targeted to end the era of military rule, which started in 1952 with President Gamal Abdel Nasser, then was passed down to Anwar Sadat in 1970 and later to Hosni Mubarak in 1981. Thereafter, dissatisfied with existing national policies, political leaders and revolutionaries battled to redefine Egyptian national identity by contesting the writing of a new Egyptian constitution. The debates over the constitution exhibited an ample of destructive communication …

Crania Japonica: Ethnographic Portraiture, Scientific Discourse, And The Fashioning Of Ainu/Japanese Colonial Identities, Jeffrey Braytenbah

Dissertations and Theses

Japan's colonial activities on the island of Hokkaido were instrumental to the creation of modern Japanese national identity. Within this construction, the indigenous Ainu people came to be seen in dialectical opposition to the 'modern' and 'civilized' identity that Japanese colonial actors fashioned for themselves. This process was articulated through travel literature, ethnographic portraiture, and discourse in scientific racism which racialized perceived divisions between the Ainu and Japanese and contributed to the unmaking of the Ainu homeland: Ainu Mosir. The resulting narrative was used to legitimize Japanese imperialism, transforming the Empire of Japan into the only non-Western member state …

Led Down The Garden Path: Cognitive Processing Of English Language Idioms, Daniel Alan Vandehey

Dissertations and Theses

The discourse community surrounding the study of idioms often disagree regarding the proper classification of idioms. Some scholars believe that the figurative meaning of many idioms cannot be determined through the deconstruction of their lexical parts, and therefore should be classified as an irreducible lexical unit. Others believe that even though the figurative meaning of some idioms are obscured, people process these opaque idioms as they would a metaphor, constructing meaning through an integration process that includes the component pieces of the idiom, the surrounding context, and the message receiver's knowledge network. This study forwards research concerning whether idioms should …

Interview With Mel Gurtov, Mel Gurtov, Jacob Hutchins

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Professor Mel Gurtov was interviewed on May 21, 2020, by Jacob Hutchins in Portland, Oregon.

In this interview, Gurtov discusses his career trajectory and history, detailing his involvement with release of the Pentagon Papers and his work studying the Vietnam War for the government. He explains how he came to teach political science and international studies at Portland State University, and his part in building and implementing the Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution program. He gives his views on the nature and value of political science regarding international conflict, and answers questions about his shifting political position during the war …

Interview With Tom Hastings, Tom Hastings, Patricia A. Schechter

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Professor Tom Hastings was interviewed by Professor Patricia Schechter on May 8, 2020, in Portland, Oregon.

In this discussion, Dr. Hastings recounts his professional development as a scholar and practitioner of nonviolence. The first half of the story involves his youth, early activism, and college training in Wisconsin. The second half involves his move to Portland, Oregon in 2000 and his growing involvement with Conflict Resolution at PSU.

Interview With Mary Zinkin, Mary Zinkin, Stephanie Vallance

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Mary Zinkin was interviewed by Stephanie Vallance on May 6, 2020. Also participating in the interview were Liza Schade and Lady J.

In this interview, Zinkin describes her own self-designed interdisciplinary graduate degrees in Conflict Resolution at Portland State and her influence in the creation of those degree programs at PSU. She discusses her academic work in the field of conflict mediation, and her view of the need for a professional, skills-based degree that blended theory and practice. She describes the logistics of getting the program off the ground, noting the development of curriculum, number of students, and the conversation …