Digital Commons Network^™

Molecular Simulation Of Crystal Nucleation And Growth In Pd-Ni Alloys, Serges Eric Tatsinkou Nguelo

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Work/Family Role Conflict & Work Place Flexibility Policies, Stephanie M. Gullickson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Interception In Open-Grown Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga Menziesii) Urban Canopy, Mitchell Bixby

Dissertations and Theses

I hypothesized that Douglas-fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii) standing apart from other trees ('open-grown') will intercept more rainfall than Douglas-fir trees standing near other trees ('closed-canopy'). Open-grown trees differ structurally and are more common in urban settings, yet have been infrequently studied. Existing literature, based primarily on closed-canopy trees, suggests Douglas-fir trees in Pacific Northwest forests intercept approximately 25% of rainfall annually. Because open-grown trees have more vertical leaf area than individual trees in closed-canopy forests, I expected to find higher interception by open-grown trees.

I collected throughfall under four open-grown Douglas-firs using six static collectors ('buckets') per tree, …

Pedagogical Catalysts Of Civic Competence: The Development Of A Critical Epistemological Model For Community-Based Learning, Stephanie Taylor Stokamer

Dissertations and Theses

Civic competence is critical to the successful functioning of pluralistic democracies. Developing the knowledge, skills, and motivations for effective democratic participation is a national and global imperative that many higher education institutions have embraced through the teaching strategies of community-based learning and service-learning. Yet, scant research literature has focused on the relationship between pedagogical approaches and civic competence outcomes. This five-year longitudinal study of 11,000 students in 700 senior-level capstone courses at an urban research university empirically tested a new theoretically constructed model of civic competence development in order to identify epistemological and pedagogical elements that enhance civic competence. Eight …

Feedbacks Of Methane And Nitrous Oxide Emissions From Rice Agriculture, Alec Sithole

Dissertations and Theses

The effect of global warming on methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from agriculture was investigated and simulated from a soil warming experiment. Experiments were designed and installed in a temperature controlled greenhouse. The relationships between elevated temperatures and CH₄ and N₂O emissions were determined and calculated as the Q₁₀s of production, emission and oxidation. A study of the populations of methanogens and methanotrophs at a range of soil temperatures was performed based on soil molecular DNA analysis. This study showed that global warming would increase CH₄ emissions from rice agriculture and that the resultant emissions will be potentially …

Disordered Thought, Disordered Language: A Corpus-Based Description Of The Speech Of Individuals Undergoing Treatment For Schizophrenia, Lucas Carl Steuber

Dissertations and Theses

The characteristics of patient speech are used in clinical settings to make assumptions about the thought processes of people with psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. However, there have not been any studies of the language of people with schizophrenia that present evidence drawn from a large group of speakers. This study employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to determine whether 140 medicated individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia exhibit the linguistic abnormalities claimed in the literature. It also compares the speech of people with schizophrenia with that of people diagnosed with depression in order to assess whether there is a …

The Dynamics Of Change Among Community Development Corporations In Inner North/Northeast Portland, 1987-2006, Louisa Jenkins Brown

Dissertations and Theses

This project is a comparative case study of five Community Development Corporations (CDCs) that emerged in the seven central neighborhoods of Inner North/Northeast Portland, Oregon in the late 1980s. Of the five organizations that began at that time, only two exist currently. Analyzing how and why these organizations rose and fell, merged and failed, struggled and survived in a compressed time frame and geographic area will elucidate the different paths that each organization chose in a neighborhood that changed from derelict to gentrified. Drawing on the overlapping bodies of literature that cover low-income and affordable housing development, CDC structure and …

Development Of An Objective Motor Score For Monitoring The Progression And Severity Of Parkinson's Disease, Timothy W. Albers

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis describes the development of an objective motor score (OMS) of Parkinson's disease that utilizes the Quantitative Motor Assessment Tool (QMAT) developed through efforts by the Intel Corporation and the Kinetics Foundation. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a movement disorder which is a member of a group of neurodegenerative diseases marked by the depletion or impairment of dopamine-producing cells in the brain. Since PD is chronic and degenerative, treatments are intended to either improve the quality of life for sufferers by superficially treating symptoms or slow and ultimately reverse the progression of the disease. No blood test or biomarker exists, …

Traffic Congestion Mitigation As An Emissions Reduction Strategy, Alexander York Bigazzi

Dissertations and Theses

Policy-makers, transportation researchers, and activists often assume that traffic congestion mitigation results in reduced vehicle emissions without proper justification or quantification of the benefits. If congestion mitigation is going to be tied to air quality goals, a better understanding of the impacts of traffic congestion on motor vehicle emissions is needed. This research addresses that need by investigating under which circumstances the commonly held assumption linking congestion mitigation to emissions reductions is valid. We develop and apply a mathematical framework to study the trade-offs between vehicle efficiency and travel demand that accompany travel speed changes. While the exact relationships among …

The Relationship Between Teachers' Multicultural Attitudes And Their Instructional Practice With English Language Learners: A Mixed Method Study, Adria Danielle Dodici

Dissertations and Theses

Teachers of English language learners (ELLs) are often ill prepared to provide content area instruction tailored to their students' needs. This explanatory mixed method study examined the relationship between 15 ELL teachers' multicultural attitudes and use of sheltered instruction (SI). The purpose of the study was to ascertain whether teachers' multicultural attitudes influenced their use of SI. Data were gathered using a Demographic Questionnaire, Multicultural Efficacy Scale (MES), Classroom Instruction Questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews. A correlational analysis found no statistically significant relationship (i.e., r = -.34; p = .22) between participants' scores on SI observations and the MES. A correlational …

The Influence Of Ambient Temperature On Green Roof R-Values, Bryce Kevin Cox

Dissertations and Theses

Green roofs can be an effective and appealing way to increase the energy efficiency of buildings by providing active insulation. As plants in the green roof transpire, there is a reduction in heat flux that is conducted through the green roof. The R-value, or thermal resistance, of a green roof is an effective measurement of thermal performance because it can be easily included in building energy calculations applicable to many different buildings and situations. The purpose of this study was to determine if an increase in ambient temperature would cause an increase in the R-value of green roofs. Test trays …

Gendering The Body: Exploring The Construction Of The Sexually Dimorphic Body, Sarah Kaye Lewis

Dissertations and Theses

Gender is a pervasive and regulating social institution that is operationalized in mainstream Western culture as a natural extension of the ontological difference perceived to exist between the binarily sexed bodies of male and female. Feminist theory has widely established, however, that gender is done - i.e., gender is not a naturally occurring phenomenon, but is an ongoing construction engaged and replicated by individual actors and which, while compulsory, is nevertheless optional. Within this canon is a small number of feminist theorists, notably Judith Lorber, Judith Bulter, and Nancy Tuana, who argue that the constructive manifestations of gender performativity (that …

Diminished Democracy? Portland Radio News/Public Affairs After The Telecom Act Of 1996, Rebecca Webb

Dissertations and Theses

News and public affairs on commercial radio dramatically changed following the 1996 Telecom Act, with rapid consolidation and economic efficiencies radically shrinking commercial radio's role in the provision of political information. By examining jobs data, public files, and the views of broadcast journalists, this project assesses the Act's impact through the lens of civic-minded Portland, Oregon. Because political information enables democracy, and because of radio's uniquely accessible qualities, this paper argues that market emphasis in media policy--especially in the Act's absolute manifestation--has diminished a significant channel of public discourse. Noticing radio's democratic potential, still relevant in the digital age, this …

Fpga Implementation And Acceleration Of Building Blocks For Biologically Inspired Computational Models, Mandar Deshpande

Dissertations and Theses

In recent years there has been significant research in the field of computational neuroscience and many of these biologically inspired cognitive models are based on the theory of operation of mammalian visual cortex. One such model of neocortex developed by George & Hawkins, known as Hierarchical Temporal Memories (HTM), is considered for the research discussed here. We propose a simple hierarchical model that is derived from HTM. The aim of this work is to evaluate the hardware cost and performance against software based simulations. This work presents a detailed hardware implementation and analysis of the derived hierarchical model. We show …

Whisper, Christina Struyk-Bonn

Dissertations and Theses

Whisper was a reject, living in a world so polluted and damaged that many humans and animals alike were born with defects. She'd grown up in an outcast camp far from any village, and those who lived in the camp were like her: disfigured. But on her sixteenth birthday, Whisper's father came to take her back to the village where she was to fill her mother's vacated spot and perform duties for the family. Her job was to cook, clean, wash the clothes, and maintain the family property. At night she was chained to the doghouse. Her uncle decided that …

Visual Field Preference In Emotion Recognition For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders And Typical Development, Rachelle Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Reliability Analysis Of A Support System For Uas, Micah D. Kary

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Freedom Through Colonization : An Examination Of Maryland In Liberia And Black Emigration To Cape Palmas During The Antebullum Period, Matthew Dean Helm

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Culture And Class In Theatre : Analysis And Direction Of Lucy Thurber's Scarcity, Benjamin J. Klipfel

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Optimized Torque Pulse For Motion Production, Jared A. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Sludge Digestion And Management At The Grand Forks Wastewater Treatment Plant, Brian Thomas Kistner

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Cerebellar Development And Neurovascular Integration : Regulatory Role Of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (Vegf), Matthew A. Berosik

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Potential Sediment And Nutrient Loading From Rural/Agricultural To Urban Land Use Transition On The English Coulee, Grand Forks, Nd, Rhonda L. Olson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Mobile World Wide Web Focused Search Engine Using Implicit Feedback, Malvika K. Pimple

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Social Networking Platforms And Online Fundraising : Fan Culture, Political Expression, And User-Generated Incentives, Eric Netterlund

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Stalking Experience, Jill M. Pokryfke

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Extraction Of Aromatics Generated From Soy Oil Using Sulfolane, Azilahatul Sarah H Rosli

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Evaluation Of Moderating Influences Of Employee Proactive Personality: Empowerment And Political Skill, Deborah Kaylee Ford

Dissertations and Theses

An action-orientation within the workplace is often sought out by organizations as a source for competitive advantage. Organizational leaders are increasingly reliant on independently driven employees that will take action without being instructed to do so. Toward this effort, proactive personality has become increasingly popular within the literature as a personality trait associated with an employee's propensity to take charge of situations and demonstrate initiative to make a positive impact. In identifying potential variables that will moderate the effects of proactive personality, a highly relevant construct is empowerment. Proactive personality is thought of as a trait, whereas empowerment can be …

Population Structure Of Island-Associated Pantropical Spotted Dolphins (Stenella Attenuata) In Hawaiian Waters, Sarah Shelby Courbis

Dissertations and Theses

Understanding gene flow, diversity, and dispersal patterns is important for predicting effects of natural events and anthropogenic activities on dolphin populations. With the very recent exceptions of false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens), spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris), and common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Hawaiian odontocete species are managed as single stocks within the U.S. Hawaiian Exclusive Economic Zone. These exceptions are a result of recent studies that have indicated that some species have populations that show fidelity to individual islands or groups of islands, resulting in genetic differentiation, often with management implications. The first part …

The Technological Role Of Bone And Antler Artifacts On The Lower Columbia: A Comparison Of Two Contact Period Sites, Kristen Ann Fuld

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explore the technological role of bone and antler artifacts from two contact period southern Northwest coast archaeological sites, the Cathlapotle site (45CL1) and the Meier site (35CO5). Technological measures of sedentism are based on lithics, and predict residential sedentism promotes technological expediency in hunter-gatherers (Parry and Kelley 1987). Cathlapotle and Meier lithic assemblages consist of expedient and opportunistic assemblages and raw material stockpiles, with the exception of highly curated projectile points and endscrapers (Hamilton 1994). The expectation that residential sedentism promotes technological expediency in hunter-gatherers was tested on the Cathlapotle and Meier bone and antler artifact assemblages in …