Digital Commons Network^™

The Output Of Compression Hearing Aids With A Transient Input Signal, Michael Andrew Berg

Dissertations and Theses

The output characteristics of five compression hearing aids in response to a transient signal were examined to determine if, the input-output function (i.e. output levels of the hearing aid as a function of input level) for a transient signal could be made to approximate that of a continuous signal, by activating the compression circuit with a second signal (activator). Input-output functions for three input compression and two output compression hearing aids were obtained in order to determine if: 1. the automatic gain control (AGC) was activated by the second signal and the transient signal output approximates that of a continuous …

Toward Predicting Completion Of Substance Abuse Treatment, Rebecca Lee Bragg

Dissertations and Theses

This investigation attempts to identify factors which influence whether or not someone is likely to drop out of a chemical dependency treatment program. Dropping out is defined as someone who leaves treatment against medical advice.

The subjects were patients from a private, non-profit, medically based, residential program. Nine demographic characteristics were abstracted from the charts on file for the patients at the treatment center. Two groups of 45 patients each were selected from the inpatient population. One group, the Completed Treatment group, comprised patients who had completed the 28 day program. The second group, the AMA Discharge group, comprised patients …

Parallel Architectures For Solving Combinatorial Problems Of Logic Design, Phuong Minh Ho

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis presents a new, practical approach to solve various NP-hard combinatorial problems of logic synthesis, logic programming, graph theory and related areas. A problem to be solved is polynomially time reduced to one of several generic combinatorial problems which can be expressed in the form of the Generalized Propositional Formula (GPF) : a Boolean product of clauses, where each clause is a sum of products of negated or non-negated literals.

Something Old, Something New : Marriage Customs Among The Druze In The Shouf Mountains Of Lebanon, Nancy Scarlette Beaini

Dissertations and Theses

The focus of this research was to obtain, specifically, data on the marriage customs of the Druze in the Shouf Mountains of southeastern Lebanon. Ten Druze informants were selected and classified according to sex, age, marital status and religious status (sheik/sheika). A detailed questionnaire was designed to use during the interviews with these informants. However, after two interviews, it became apparent that a variable questionnaire was necessary to take advantage of the new, richly-detailed, cultural information that emerged with each informant. New questions were developed, in the field, to reflect and gather this new ethnographic data on Druze marriage customs.

Women Of The Tudor Court, 1501-1568, Carol De Witte Bowles

Dissertations and Theses

Writing the history of Tudor women is a difficult task. "Women's lives from the 16th century can rarely be constructed except when these women have had influential connections with notable men.This is no less true for the court women of Tudor England than for other women of the time.

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss some of the more memorable court women of Tudor England who served the queens of Henry VIII, Mary I, and Elizabeth I, 2 and to determine what impact, if any, they had on their contemporary times and to evaluate their roles in Tudor …

An Analysis Of The Inhibitory Effects Of Linolenic Acid Upon Photosystem Ii Of Higher Plants, Mark Edward Iven

Dissertations and Theses

This study utilizes steady state fluorescence measurements, flash-induced P680+ absorption transients, and DCIP reduction kinetics to study the inhibitory effects of linolenic acid (LA) upon Photosystem II (PSII) in whole spinach chloroplasts and insideout wheat thylakoids. It confirms the presence within PSII of LA-induced inhibition of energy trapping and/or primary charge separation (i.e., primary inhibition), in addition to donor side inhibition. The latter is diminished in the presence of 1,5-Diphenylcarbohydrazide (DPC) and probably takes place at the oxygen evolving complex. Primary inhibition, which is more controversial, probably occurs between Ph and QA, with a likely contribution at the level of …

Spanish Expeditions To The Northwest Coast During The Bucareli Administration, 1771-1779, Mark Cronlund Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

No discreet study of the Spanish voyages of discovery and exploration to the northwest coast of North American during the 1770's has been published in English. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the Spanish expeditions of 1774, 1775, and 1779, directed by New Spain's Viceroy Antonio Maria Burareli y Ursua (1771-1779).

The Use Of Auditory Brainstem Responses In Determining The Maximum Outputs Of Hearing Aids, Kathryn Jean Merry

Dissertations and Theses

Uncomfortable listening level (UCL) is a behavioral measure which is currently used to set the maximum outputs of hearing aids. This study explored the feasibility of prescribing the maximum outputs of hearing aids by using results obtained from auditory brainstern response (ABR) testing. More specifically, this study compared ABR wave latencies with behaviorally-measured UCLs for a single cycle 3 kHz stimulus in normal-hearing adults.

Stratigraphy, Diagenesis, And Depositional Environment Of The Cowlitz Formation (Eocene), Northwest Oregon, Leonard Carl Farr Jr.

Dissertations and Theses

The Upper Eocene Cowlitz Formation is exposed in surface outcrops southwest of the town of Vernonia, in Columbia County, Oregon. The Cowlitz Formation also occurs in the subsurface of the Mist gas field where its Clark and Wilson (C and W) sandstone member (informal) acts as a natural gas reservoir, and its upper Cowlitz mudstone member (informal) acts as a cap rock. Surface exposures and continuous core were studied in order to determine Cowlitz Formation stratigraphy, and its depositional environment. Fresh core samples were also studied petrographically, and with a scanning electron microscope, in order to determine the effects of …

Reading Comprehension In Dementia Of The Alzheimer's Type : Factual Versus Inferential, Donna Jensen Graville

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reading comprehension abilities of those with mild and moderate dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) and compare their performance to that of a sample of non-demented elderly. Thirty-eight male subjects were used, 20 non-demented elderly, nine mild DAT and nine moderate DAT. All were administered level B of the NRST. This test contains questions requiring three levels of inference: literal, translational, and high-level inference.

A Cmos Circuit Generator Using Differential Pass Transistors For Implementing Boolean Functions, Rabe'eh Mahooti

Dissertations and Theses

This study uses differential pass transistor methodology for implementing and evaluating Boolean functions. The main goal is investigation of CMOS and nMOS approaches in pass transistor logic design. Pass-transistor logic is most effective in the implementation of Boolean functions when the vectors are in the same format. It has been demonstrated that nMOS pass transistor logic driven by a control signal voltage above the V_dd level offers a significant improvement in speed. nMOS pass transistorsalso offer less area consumption in comparison to the CMOS approach.

The philosophy developed here has been used in the design of a program for …

Coverbal Behavior Of Aphasic And Right Hemisphere Damaged Subjects In Conversation, Jill Duvall

Dissertations and Theses

The frequency and duration of six coverbal behaviors were examined in two experimental groups and one control group. Conversational samples of ten aphasic subjects, ten right hemisphere damaged (RHD) subjects, and ten matched, non-brain damaged (NBD) control subjects were scored for frequency and duration of eye contact, head nod, head shake, head tilt, smile and eyebrow raise. Only the frequency of smile was found to differ significantly; the RHD subjects smiled less often than either of the other two groups.

A Fractal Analysis Of Diffusion Limited Aggregation, Cliff Myers

Dissertations and Theses

A modified Witten-Sander algorithm was devised for the diffusion-limited aggregation process. The simulation and analysis were performed on a personal computer. The fractal dimension was determined by using various forms of a two-point density correlation function and by the radius of gyration. The results of computing the correlation function with square and circular windows were analyzed. The correlation function was further modified to include the edge from analysis and those results were compared to the fractal dimensions obtained from the whole aggregate. The fractal dimensions of 1.67 ± .01 and 1.75 ± .08 agree with the accepted values. Animation of …

A Comparative Study Of Chinese Efl Reading Instruction And American Esl Reading Instruction, Changhua Wang

Dissertations and Theses

Reading instruction in China and that in the United States are so different that they are not compatible. In fact, they seem to go in opposite directions. This study examined some of the differences between Chinese EFL reading instruction and American ESL reading instruction through analyzing selected tape-recordings of reading classes from China and the United States, and comparing Chinese EFL reading textbooks with American ESL reading textbooks.

This study was intended to answer the following questions.

1. Is a bottom-up method of reading really taught in China while a top-down method is taught in the United States?

2. Compared …

Limited Horizons On The Oregon Frontier: East Tualatin Plains And The Town Of Hillsboro, Washington County, 1840-1890, Richard P. Matthews

Dissertations and Theses

The evolution of the small towns that originated in Oregon's settlement communities remains undocumented in the literature of the state's history for the most part. Those accounts that do exist are often amateurish, and fail to establish the social and economic links between Oregon's frontier towns to the agricultural communities in which they appeared. The purpose of the thesis is to investigate an early settlement community and the small town that grew up in its midst in order to better understand the ideological relationship between farmers and townsmen that helped shape Oregon's small towns.

A Lagrangian For A System Of Two Dyons, Rainer Georg Thierauf

Dissertations and Theses

Maxwell's equations for the electromagnetic field are symmetrized by introducing magnetic charges into the formalism of electrodynamics. The symmetrized equations are solved for the fields and potentials of point particles. Those potentials, some of which are found to be singular along a line, are used to formulate the Lagrangian for a system of two dyons (particles with both electric and magnetic charge). The equations of motion are derived from the Lagrangian. It is shown that the dimensionality constants k and k*, which were introduced to define the units of the electromagnetic fields, have to be equal in order to avoid …

Dynamics Of Intermediate-Size Stream Outlets, Northern Oregon Coast, Ellen Eberhardt

Dissertations and Theses

This study measured and evaluated the relation of coastal foredune morphology to stream beach outlets, and investigated the processes associated with the stream outlet. Intermediate-size streams were studied, and defined as those that flow across the beach most of the year but have no tidal influence. Fifty-four of these streams were found along the northern Oregon coast between the Columbia River and Yaquina Bay. Crescent Lake Outlet, Saltair Creek and Daley Lake Outlet were chosen as study streams for further investigation.

Effects Of Flat Panel Display Parameters Across Three Application Areas Upon Similarity Judgments, Novia Weiman

Dissertations and Theses

A human performance experiment was conducted to investigate pixel parameter requirements for three types of flat-panel display images: an alphanumeric character, an oscilloscope waveform, and a real-world image. Subjects performed similarity judgments between an extremely high-quality image and an image composed of different levels of anti-aliasing and pixel width-plus-pixel separation (pitch). It was found that the effect of pitch had greater influence on perceived image quality for the alphanumeric character and oscilloscope waveform than for the real-world image. The results of this research provide empirical evidence showing that the pixel pitch requirements for flat-panel systems that are used to display …

Intestinal Granules Found In The Parasitic Nematodes Ancylostoma Caninum, And Oesophagostomum Radiatum, Alan Joseph Gianotti

Dissertations and Theses

The parasitic nematodes Ancylostoma caninum and Oesophagostomum radiatum were collected and analyzed for intestinal inorganic granules. Three means of identification were utilized to determine the composition granules, including birefringence, x-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectrometric (EDS) analysis. Initial x-ray diffraction results of the two worms showed a calcium sulfide presence within the worms. Closer examination of the granules within Ancylostoma caninum however, utilizing EDS analysis revealed their composition to be zinc sulfide. These results concur with those of Rogers (1940) and Clark (1956) who found zinc sulfide granules in several species of Strongylus. The ZnS granules seem to be …

Logic Design Using Programmable Logic Devices, Loc Bao Nguyen

Dissertations and Theses

The Programmable Logic Devices, PLO, have caused a major impact in logic design of digital systems in this decade. For instance, a twenty pin PLO device can replace from three hundreds to six hundreds Transistor Transistor Logic gates, which people have designed with since the 60s. Therefore, by using PLD devices, designers can squeeze more features, reduce chip counts, reduce power consumption, and enhance the reliability of the digital systems.

This thesis covers the most important aspects of logic design using PLD devices. They are Logic Minimization and State Assignment. In addition, the thesis also covers a seldomly used but …

The Distribution Of Zooplankton In Selected Oregon Lakes, Mary Elizabeth Claska

Dissertations and Theses

Zooplankton samples were collected from 166 Oregon lakes. The lakes included a wide range in size, trophic status, and water quality. Lakes were located throughout the state. Zooplankton were identified using standard taxonomic keys and counted. Seventy-four species were identified from the 200 total samples, including 32 species of cladocera, 22 copepods, and 11 rotifers. Two species of copepod were recorded for the first time in Oregon: Diaptomus mississippiensis and Diaptomus pallidus. Seven species had widespread distributions throughout most of the watersheds in the state. Seventeen other species had distributions restricted to eastern, central, or western Oregon. The remaining …

Analysis Of Ferredoxin And Flavodoxin In Anabaena And Trichodesmium Using Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography, Karen Lorraine Jones

Dissertations and Theses

Iron is an essential nutrient for growth of photosynthetic microorganisms such as cyanobacteria and algae. Iron is required for proteins involved in the important processes of carbon and nitrogen assimilation. Low concentrations of iron in cultures or natural waters can lead to iron limitation which affects many aspects of algal metabolism. In natural waters, iron limitation can have effects on the patterns and rates of primary productivity.

The cellular content of certain proteins can be affected by media iron concentrations. Methods have been used that assay components of the cell as an indirect measure of iron nutritional status. For example, …

Advertising In Restrooms, Karsten C. Hofmann

Dissertations and Theses

There is a common belief that the special situation one encounters in restrooms is likely to evoke negative associations between the setting and a potential product, and that these presumed associations make advertising in restrooms incompatible with the objectives of advertisers.

This general proposition was questioned on theoretical grounds. It was argued that the specific situation in a restroom would be conducive to advertising goals in a number of ways. In addition, while negative associations may occur with certain kinds of products, others were hypothesized to be unaffected. In particular, the potential value of restrooms for communicating public education issues …

Beyond Difference Scores: Testing Models Of Speed Of Information-Processing Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Gary A. Uhland

Dissertations and Theses

This study has two parts: Part I discusses the limitations of difference scores and exploratory factor analysis for representing speed of information-processing stages in the context of a reanalysis of a study by Vernon (1983). Vernon interpreted the differences between objectively measured reaction times on various simple cognitive tasks as components of speed of information processing. Correlations were calculated among these differences and subjected to exploratory factor analysis. The factors obtained from this analysis were interpreted by Vernon in terms of short-term and long-term memory processing constructs. The use of difference scores, however, implies an additive model allowance for random …

Gibbon Classification: The Issue Of Species And Subspecies, Erin Lee Osterud

Dissertations and Theses

Gibbon classification at the species and subspecies levels has been hotly debated for the last 200 years. This thesis explores the reasons for this debate. Authorities agree that siamang, concolor, kloss and hoolock are species, while there is complete lack of agreement on lar, agile, moloch, Mueller's and pileated. The disagreement results from the use and emphasis of different character traits, and from debate on the occurrence and importance of gene flow.

'Gewalt Gegen Gerechtigkeit": Reality And Morality In Heinrich BöLl's Die Verlorene Ehre Der Katharina Blum, Michelle Elizabeth Manicke

Dissertations and Theses

Heinrich Boll is West Germany's most controversial author of the post-war period, and Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum is probably his most widely contested work. Readers and literary critics alike have generally misunderstood or only partially understood Boll's purpose in writing this Erzählung. Many have discounted it as the author's personal revenge against press and police for their mutual attacks on his honor. Others have panned it for its "poor German" and its lack of realism. Such reviews tend to examine only selected formal and thematic aspects of Katharina Blum. In order to fully comprehend any of …

Holocene Fluctuations Of The Coe Glacier, Mount Hood, Oregon, Karl Douglas Lillquist

Dissertations and Theses

Numerous moraines front the Coe Glacier on the north side of Mount Hood, Oregon. These moraines were identified and dated using a multiple methodology approach in order to establish a chronology for the advances and stillstands of the Coe Glacier. This chronology was compared to chronologies established for other glaciers on Mount Hood, North Sister, Mount Rainier and Mount Baker as well as glaciers in Scandinavia. The chronology was also compared to a long term temperature record from Longmire, Washington.

The maximum identified extent of the pre-Little Ice Age Coe Glacier was indicated by moraines located at an elevation of …

An Investigation Of The Effect Of Using Varying Stimuli To Assess Normal Children's Comprehension Of Five Locative Prepositions, Kathleen G. Versteeg

Dissertations and Theses

A recurring concern in recent research appears to be the role that assessment variables play in accurately measuring children's knowledge and use of prepositions. Age and order of acquisition of prepositions has become a dynamic rather than static standard, as different ways of assessing prepositions also give different results. These researchers have investigated assessment variables such as context (picture, object, no context) and response (self actions, manipulating, pointing) in assessing normal children's understanding and use of prepositions. Most have considered these variables separately, but a few have contrasted a limited number of variables with significant results for some age groups. …

Eating Disorders: The Correlation Of Family Relationships With An Eating Disorder Continuum, Jana Schweitzer

Dissertations and Theses

For the purposes of this study, eating disturbances were placed on a continuum ranging from disordered to normal, and family factors were examined via this framework. Research on anorectics and bulimics indicates that a variety of family variables contribute to the etiology of eating disorders. Research suggests the presence of a subgroup of persons who experience some disturbance in their relationships with food but not to the severity observed among eating disordered individuals. This study examined the relationship between family factors and eating disturbances.

The Effectiveness Of Fiction Versus Nonfiction In Teaching Reading To Esl Students, Becky Kay Appley

Dissertations and Theses

In recent years with the growing emphasis upon communicative activities in the classroom, controversy has risen as to which type of reading material is best for teaching reading in the ESL classroom, fiction or nonfiction.

A study was conducted with 31 students of which 15 were taught with non-fiction and 16 were taught with fiction. Both groups were taught the same reading skills. Each group was given three pre-tests and three post-tests in which improvement in overall language proficiency and reading comprehension in the areas of main idea, direct statements and inferences was measured. Also, each group was observed for …