Digital Commons Network^™

Book Review: Resisting The Dehumanization Of Refugees, Staci Martin

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Resisting the Dehumanization of Refugees, edited by Abu-Laban, Frishkopf, Hasmath, and Kirova, has a familiar quality when I read it. The book explores the profound struggle to cocreate a sense of home and belonging amidst the relentless dehumanization refugees face from restrictive policies, biased media portrayals, and societal prejudice. It adopts a transdisciplinary approach, featuring contributions from scholars, practitioners, and refugees themselves, who focus on the Canadian context and draw on broader international comparisons that support both the mechanisms of dehumanization and strategies for resistance.

Renewal Of The Mind: Forgiveness Through The Lens Of Christian Faith And Neuroscience, Khelen Walsh

University Honors Theses

Within Christian theology, forgiveness is a foundational concept that is often understood as a divine command, a spiritual practice, and a path toward reconciliation and personal growth. Recent neuroscientific research further supports this viewpoint, providing data that shows forgiveness engages neural systems responsible for emotional regulation, empathy, moral reasoning, and perspective-taking. Through neuroplasticity, repeated acts of forgiveness reshape the brain, strengthen connections between prefrontal and limbic regions, reduce amygdala reactivity, and enhance emotional stability and cognitive flexibility. Although forgiveness offers many benefits, modern culture frequently distorts its meaning, framing it as a sign of weakness, gullibility, or a form of …

Understanding The U.S. Maternal Healthcare System At The Intersection Of Asian American Birth Outcomes And The Model Minority Stereotype: A Literature Review, Sophia Hevel

University Honors Theses

This thesis aims to explore the maternal healthcare system in the United States as it pertains to Asian American birthing people, the ways in which their racial, ethnic, and cultural identities are interacted with within the U.S. Healthcare system, and subsequently the detrimental effects of the medical system's devaluation of culturally specific birthing and postpartum practices have on Asian American birthing experiences. This will be accomplished through an exploration of the United States' maternal healthcare system, or rather, its crisis; how Asian Americans navigate a system that has not been structured to support their specific needs; and lastly, a discussion …

An Examination Of Disparities In Adhd Diagnosis Between Men And Women, Julia Holloway

University Honors Theses

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has become an increasingly popular area of study over the last decade. The rise in cases over the same period likely explains this trend, as does ADHD’s status as one of the most commonly encountered neurodevelopmental disorders. While much of this research has served as an invaluable asset to both practitioners and patients there are still blind spots which have yet to be addressed by the existing body of research. This progress in our understanding of ADHD has gone far in illuminating the biases which have set the precedent for treatment and diagnosis, however, widespread understanding …

Art And Critical Thinking, Audrey Nixon

University Honors Theses

The voice of art molds and dictates norms and behaviors of society. Art eases people into sitting with discomfort or alternate ideas of the world. I work with mixed-media collage to respond and react to culture and the current American political climate. Through the act of expressing and working through thoughts and emotions, art teaches people how to process, it teaches histories of resistance, and empathy. Artists have the ability to engage their audience to critically think about what is happening in our world. By channeling expression and passion, art can help people make necessary connections about concepts that lead …

Hpv Prevention In Men: A Narrative Review Of Strategies, Risks, And Public Health Implications, Martin S. Lipsky, Bayler Gunnell, Justin Nguyen, Samantha Lee, Geo Wolfe, Man Hung

Institute on Aging Publications

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection worldwide, impacting both males and females. In men, HPV causes genital warts, more than 90% of anal cancers, and 60% of oropharyngeal cancers. Given that one in three men are infected with HPV worldwide, there is a pressing need for enhanced public health strategies focusing on prevention. This comprehensive narrative review presents an overview of HPV in men, key risk factors, and primary prevention in men. The most effective preventive measure for HPV in males is vaccination. Males at high risk for HPV include those who smoke, have human immunodeficiency …

Future Vision And Action Recommendations, Sondoss Elsawah, Melissa Haeffner, Anthony Jakeman

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Let us imagine a future world where water management is more fully integrated and supported by the science of sociohydrology and related metadisciplines. This is a vision for the future where the social, cultural, environmental, and economic values of water are explicitly considered through the lens of the science–water policy interface. The ultimate value of research will be measured by how much it supports improvements in water resources and hazards management and, in particular, completes and enriches the science–water policy interface.

Comparison Of Depression Risk And Depression-Related Ambulatory Care Utilization In Sarcopenia Patients With And Without Chinese Herbal Medicine., Hang-Che Li, Hanoch Livneh, Wei-Chiao Chang, Yu-Han Wang, Ming-Hsien Yeh, Bo-Chyuan Chen, Ming-Chi Lu, Wei-Jen Chen, Tzung-Yi Tsai

Leadership, Learning and Counseling Faculty Publications and Presentations

The impact of psychiatric disorder, especially depression, on the prognosis of sarcopenic patients is gaining prominence. Yet, there have been very few studies focusing on this issue, let alone the related targeted mental health prevention. This cohort-based nested case-control study is geared to compare risk of depression and the depression-related ambulatory care utilization for sarcopenia persons with and without receiving add-on Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) treatment.

Real-World Evidence For Herbal Medicine Benefit In 9728 Type 2 Diabetes Patients-Peridonotitis Risk And Ambulatory Care Utilization., Wen-Wei Lin, Chieh-Tsung Yen, Hanoch Livneh, Hua-Lung Huang, Ming-Chi Lu, Wei-Jen Chen, Tzung-Yi Tsai

Leadership, Learning and Counseling Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent evidence manifests that individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) are increasingly affected by oral disorders. Although medicinal herbs have shown promise in managing T2D, their benefit in managing periodontitis risk and subsequent healthcare utilization remains uncertain.

Culture Clash: New Majority Students At Psu, David Peterson Del Mar, Alejandra Vazquez

PDXOpen: Open Educational Resources

At the heart of this open access book are nearly 100 interviews that the authors conducted with New Majority Portland State University undergraduates, especially first-generation students from immigrant families. These young adults have a lot to say about the practical and emotional challenges of balancing their warm cultures and extensive family obligations with college and classroom experiences that are often intimidating and impersonal. The book includes suggestions from the students and some of the faculty and staff they praised for how Portland State might become a place where many more feel at home and fulfill their dreams.

Interfacial Gap Prediction In Laser Welding Of Pure Copper Overlap Joints Using Multiple Sensors., Hyeonhee Kim, Cheolhee Kim, Minjung Kang

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this study, a novel approach was proposed for predicting the interfacial gap in copper overlap joints by using deep learning and multi-sensor fusion. In this method, an image sensor, a spectrometer, and optical sensors tomography (OCT) sensors were used to develop and validate deep learning models under various gap conditions. The results revealed that the variation in melt pool dimensions, changes in keyhole behavior, intensity variations at specific wavelengths, and keyhole depth derived from the OCT data could be used to accurately predict the interfacial gap. Among the proposed models, a binary gap classification model achieved the highest accuracy …

A Credibility-Driven Evaluation Of A Community-Based Perinatal Substance Use Disorder Collaborative Care Model, Christina M. Jäderholm, Teshanee T. Williams, Brad M. Wipfli, Lynne C. Messer, Liana B. Winett

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction:

Effectively treating substance use disorder (SUD) during pregnancy is critical to preventing adverse health outcomes for both parents and children, including overdose death and family separation. Although evidence supports investing in parental recovery through comprehensive care and support, these approaches remain under-examined, with community perspectives often marginalized due to evaluation challenges. This study evaluated the Substance Use Network (SUN) program, a community-based perinatal SUD recovery model in North Carolina.MethodsWe used a patient-focused journey mapping approach to assess participant engagement, health outcomes, and alignment between participant and provider experiences. The evaluation used a mixed-methods approach, incorporating participant medical record review …

Practice Research Collaboratives: Promising Communities Of Research?, Sidsel Natland, Bowen Mcbeath, Heidi Muurinen, Marianne Wyder, Mike Austin

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose: This article reflects an analysis of the establishment and development of the Practice Research Collaborative on Organizational Supports (PRC-OS) within the International Community of Practice Research. The basic thesis concerns the importance of building intersecting special interest groups to form communities of research practice.

Methods: The study is a qualitative case study, consisting of diverse data as written documents, field notes, and participative observation. A thematic and abductive analysis was conducted.

Results: Sharing of practices and knowledge, values and ethos are important factors to develop the PRC-OS, as is also negotiations on participation and organization. These themes are intertwined …

Framework And Methodology For Risk-Based Bridge And Tunnel Asset Management: Risk-Based Asset Ranking And Corridor Prioritization, David Y. Yang, Arash Khosravifar, Diane Moug, Avinash Unnikrishnan

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This report presents the results of Phase II of the project, "Framework and Methodology for Risk-based Bridge and Tunnel Asset Management". The research was carried out at Portland State University in collaboration with engineers and officials at the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Using the framework and methodology developed in Phase I of the project, the primary goal of Phase II is to showcase the practical application in risk-based asset management. In particular, the report includes the following two case studies: Case Study I — Weighted hazard scenarios for seismic risk assessment of Oregon Highway …

First-Principles Theory Of Five-And Six-Phonon Scattering, Yi Xia

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

igher-order phonon scatterings beyond fourth order remain largely unexplored despite their potential importance in strongly anharmonic materials at elevated temperatures. We develop a theoretical formalism for first-principles calculation of five- and six-phonon scatterings using Green’s function techniques based on a diagrammatic formalism, and systematically investigate multi-phonon interactions in Si, MgO, and BaO from room temperature to near melting points. Our calculations reveal dramatically different material-dependent behaviors: while five- and six-phonon processes remain negligible in Si even at high temperatures, they become increasingly important in MgO near its melting point (3100 K) and in BaO at intermediate temperatures (1200 K). Most …

Building Oregon's Statewide Multimodal Transportation Inventory With Ai And Interagency Collaboration, Ben Stabler, Theresa Conley

PSU Transportation Seminars

ODOT and 48+ local agencies are collaborating on the development of a multimodal data set for transportation planning within metropolitan areas. Revisions to Oregon's Transportation Planning Rules (TPR) set in motion the need for more multimodal data and analysis in local plans. The multimodal data inventory includes vehicle and freight facilities, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, transit facilities, and other relevant data such as key destinations and crashes. Starting from the local agency GIS systems and supplemented with real world use of AI for developing bicycle and pedestrian facilities, the team is defining and constructing a shared statewide multimodal data set. …

Power, Benefits, And Visibility In Qualitatively Driven Mixed Methods Research, David L. Morgan

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article demonstrates the importance of power, benefits, and visibility in understanding the past, present, and future of qualitatively driven mixed methods research. For power, I examine the past roles played by both quantitative and qualitative methods, and the greater influence of quantitative methods in the development of mixed methods. For benefits, I discuss the need for value added in our current studies, and sequential designs that give equal attention to both qualitatively driven and quantitatively driven approaches. For visibility, I emphasize the future importance of promoting qualitatively driven designs, such as sequential sampling and sequential transferability. The article contributes …

Applying The One Health Approach To Study The Policy And Institutional Determinants To Control And Prevent Zoonoses In A Low-Resource Setting, Lisset Dumet, Erin S. Kenzie, Veronika Merino, Vanessa Cruz, Ruth Atto, Percy Vilchez, Seth O'Neal, Julia Goodman

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Zoonoses - diseases transmitted between animals and people - disproportionally affect low-resource countries (LRCs). The complex nature of zoonoses adds substantial barriers to implementing multisectoral policies to address them. Research on the policy process could help illuminate the significant factors influencing policy change among the complex systems involved in managing zoonoses. We applied the One Health (OH) approach to describe the policy process among the systems involved in preventing and controlling zoonoses in Peru. The study's purpose is to (1) describe the priority-making process and the driving or limiting factors, (2) describe the process for selecting policy solutions and (3) …

Power And Planning: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Tribal And Non-Tribal Oregon Wildfire Protection Plans, Christian J. Heisler, Max Nielsen-Pincus, Douglas Deur, Gabe Sheoships

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background:

Since the late 1800s, the US government has largely removed Indigenous fire stewardship practices from the landscape by implementing a top-down fire suppression system that criminalized traditional fire practices and denaturalized the role of fire in forested environments. A century of routine fire suppression produced dense, homogenous forests capable of sustaining high-intensity wildfire that exceeds the suppression capabilities of land management organizations in many regions, spurring federal leaders to modify management approaches. As part of this change, numerous federal policies and plans have advocated for further involvement of Native American tribes and incorporation of Indigenous knowledge within management decisions. …

A Generalized Lehmer Conjecture For The Trace Of T ₃, Liubomir Chiriac, Erin Williams

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The expectation that Ramanujan’s tau function does not vanish, commonly known as Lehmer’s Conjecture, has inspired several extensions to broader settings. In this paper, we focus on one such direction, proposed by Rouse, concerning the non-vanishing of traces of Hecke operators Tn. We refine an algorithm originally introduced by Rouse to resolve the case n = 2, and, together with tools from our earlier work on the case n = 3 in level one, we settle the conjecture for T₃ in full generality. We also discuss an implication of our result for the non-vanishing of all coefficients of the …

2025 Point In Time Count Findings -- Summary Report: Count Of People Experiencing Homelessness In Clackamas, Multnomah, And Washington Counties, Oregon, Marisa Zapata, Carolyn Niehaus, Franklin H. Spurbeck, Minji Cho

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires continuums of care (CoC) across the country to routinely count people experiencing homelessness. This count, called the Point in Time Count (PITC), enumerates the number and characteristics of people who are experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. As a result, the count provides a snapshot of homelessness within a CoC. In the Portland metropolitan region, Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties administer their respective CoCs. These, referred to as the tri-counties in this report, are responsible for submitting PITC data every year.

The PITC is a survey of people …

Trends In Private Equity Acquisitions Of Assisted Living Facilities., Jennifer N. Bunker, Yashaswini Singh, Gauri Gadkari, John Bowblis, Lindsey Smith, Paula Carder, Sean Huang, Momotazur Rahman, Kali S. Thomas

Institute on Aging Publications

This cross-sectional study examines trends in private equity acquisitions of assisted living facilities across the US.

Reducing Motor Vehicle – Bicycle Conflicts At Controlled Intersections, Jason C. Anderson, Sirisha Kothuri

PSU Transportation Seminars

One of the most common locations for fatal motor vehicle-bicyclist crashes is at intersections, which inherently have a large number of turning conflicts. Reducing these conflicts is a key objective in improving intersection safety across all modes. Of particular concern for bicyclists’ safety at intersections are the conflicts between straight-through bicyclists and motor vehicle right-turns and opposing left-turns. The objective of this research was to develop guidance and tools for transportation practitioners to use to reduce turning conflicts between motor vehicles and bicycles at controlled intersections and improve the safety and comfort of intersections for bicyclists.

Obesity Vs. Overweight Status: Differential Predictions To Poly-Substance Use In Young Adulthood, H. Isabella Lanza, Kailey Waller, Lalaine Sevillano

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background:

Though past research has identified links between higher weight status and substance use in young adulthood, prospective studies are scarce and mixed, the role of higher weight status on vaping is less clear, and little empirical work has examined differences between obesity vs. overweight on poly-substance use. The current study assessed the role of weight status on poly-substance use trajectories across young adulthood.Methods1,303 young adults (20.5 ± 2.3 years; 63% female; 41% Latina/o/x, 30% Asian-American/Asian, 18% Caucasian/White) from a public, urban university were surveyed at six-month intervals from spring 2021 (W1) to spring 2023 (W5). Weight status was measured …

Bottled Water, Daniel Jaffee

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Bottled water has transformed from a niche product into the most-consumed packaged beverage worldwide. This commodity is linked to broader struggles over human rights and social justice, the question of who owns nature, and the future of public goods. Bottled water's negative environmental externalities include high energy and carbon footprints and major plastic waste pollution caused by disposal of hundreds of billions of single-serving plastic bottles. These dynamics have generated oppositional movements that are both contesting bottled water consumption and resisting the industry's extraction of groundwater. Recent scholarship emphasizes bottled water's impacts on public tap water and its relationship to …

Friends In Our Lives: Perspectives Of Young People Who Participated In A Professional Mentoring Program, Kristian Jones, Karryn Satchell, Lakindra Mitchell Dove, Julissa Muñiz, Erik Hulman, J Mark Eddy, Kevin Haggerty, Deborah Cohen, Martie Skinner, Koren Hanson

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Mentoring programs are popular interventions to support holistic development for young people. One specific model of mentoring that has emerged over the past few decades in the United States is professional mentoring. Research has illustrated that this model of mentoring may be particularly helpful for young people who could benefit from extra support in their lives that a volunteer mentoring program does not have the capacity to provide. Despite the emerging utilization of professional mentoring programs, little is known about the ideal characteristics of a professional mentor and young people's experiences in these professional mentoring programs. This study interviewed 12 …

Unmasking The 1920s Ku Klux Klan In Tillamook County, Oregon, David A. Horowitz

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) arrived in Oregon in the early 1920s, during the history of the second Klan. The Klan quickly spread throughout the state, aided by a mostly white, Protestant population, as well as by racist and anti-immigrant sentiments which were already embedded in the region.

Much of the influence of KKK Tillamook Chapter No. 8 came between 1921 and 1928, when the lodge pursued an anti-Catholic agenda and supported Prohibition and law enforcement through its dominance of local government, the police, and the courts.

Ultimately, the struggles and decline of the Klan in Oregon coincided with the …

The Realities Of Roadkill: Challenges And Opportunities For Wildlife Transportation Mitigation, Rachel Wheat

PSU Transportation Seminars

Transportation infrastructure is critical for our communities and economies, but the roadways we depend on for travel have significant negative impacts on wildlife populations. Roadkill is the most visible consequence, with tens of millions of animals injured or killed on Oregon’s roadways each year. Beyond direct mortality, transportation corridors fragment habitat and can alter wildlife behavior, creating barriers that disrupt wildlife movement and access to critical resources, contributing to population declines. Despite these challenges, opportunities exist for mitigation, including the use of wildlife crossing structures, autonomous animal detection systems, and smarter project siting. This talk will explore the multifaceted challenges …

Ambient Air Pollution And The Sex Ratio At Birth: A Systematic Review And Narrative Synthesis., Ursula Gazeley, Hallie Eilerts-Spinelli, Jasmin Abdel Ghany, Ana Bonell, Joshua Wilde

Publications, Reports and Presentations

Ambient air pollution is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as stillbirth, miscarriage, and preterm birth. However, its effects on the viability, implantation, and survival of conceptuses-largely unobserved before the clinical detection of pregnancy-remain poorly understood. Shifts in the sex ratio at birth (SRB) provide a sensitive, population-level indicator of sex-biased conception and pregnancy loss. This systematic review examined whether maternal exposure to ambient air pollution before conception and during pregnancy is associated with deviations in the SRB. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, and Global Health from inception to 12 February 2025 for observational studies assessing both ambient air pollution exposure …

Al-Driven Interfacial Gap Prediction In Overlapped Al/Cu Laser Weld Joint For Battery Applications, Hyeonhee Kim, Sanghoon Kang, Cheolhee Kim, Yong Hoon Jang, Minjung Kang

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The battery tab-to-busbar welding process forms the primary electrical path in battery packs and is directly linked to both performance and safety. Variations in jig alignment, material tolerance, and forming quality can cause small interfacial gaps that lead to weak welds. An artificial intelligence (AI)-driven method was proposed in this study for predicting interfacial gaps in aluminum-copper overlap joints by integrating deep learning with multi-sensor data. A charge-coupled device (CCD) camera, spectrometer, and optical coherence tomography (OCT) sensors were employed to develop and validate deep learning models under varying gap conditions. The results revealed that the variation in melt-pool dimensions, …