Digital Commons Network^™

Four Narratives Of Cross-Dressing In Twentieth-Century Art : Marcel Duchamp, Claude Cahun, Eleanor Antin, And Diane Torr, Chrisoula Gardiakos

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This essay looks at cross-dressing as a trope in fine art across the twentieth century. The respective contemporaneous discourse that was taking place informed artists Marcel Duchamp, Claude Cahun, Eleanor Antin and Diane Torr's art practice. These separate artistic engagements are referred to as narratives. Duchamp was engaged with the Victorian era's notion of allegorical alchemy, which was widely accepted as an artistic endeavor by many modern artists, and its connection to androgyny. Cahun was engaged in the medical models of homosexuality, which was synonymous with cross-dressing during the early part of the twentieth century and questioned rigid gender roles. …

Digital Patent Infringement In An Era Of 3d Printing, Lucas S. Osborn, Timothy R. Holbrook

Scholarly Works

The digital revolution has now moved beyond music and video files. A person can now translate three-dimensional objects into digital files and, at the press of a button, recreate those items via a 3D printer or similar device. Just as digitization placed pressure on the copyright system, so will these digital computer-aided design (“CAD”) files stress the patent system. Patents directed to physical objects can now have their value appropriated not only by the transfer of physical embodiments but also by the transferring of CAD files designed to print the invention. We term this phenomenon digital patent infringement.

In this …

A Case For Weakening Patent Rights, Lucas S. Osborn, Joshua M. Pearce, Amberlee Haselhuhn

Scholarly Works

This Article contributes to the patent debate by observing that new and emerging technologies are radically altering the relative costs and benefits of the patent system. Although analysts cannot measure the patent system's numerous absolute costs and benefits, this Article demonstrates that new and emerging technologies are significantly reducing the research, development, and commercialization costs ("innovation costs") that are used by adherents to the incentive and prospect theories to justify the patent system's existence. All things being equal, if significantly, the relative need for the patent system has decreased and will continue to decrease. Thus, this Article argues that patents …

An Ornithological Investigation Of The Relationships Among Species Assemblages In Diverse Landscapes In Portland, Oregon, Trevor Attenberg

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

This study involves geographic variables of the urban landscape and how they affect bird species assemblage. I utilized bird point count data from observation sites in the Portland, OR metropolitan region provided by Portland Environmental Services. Species data and its relationship with environmental variables were evaluated using Bray-Curtis Dissimilarity measurements together with Non-metric Multidimensional scaling (NMDS) to provide a clear image of the spatial relationships between sites. Land classification, water and canopy in 500 m buffers were quantified in order to describe important geographic variability among collection areas of bird data. Patterns indicating spatial trends in the urban landscape emerged. …

To This Day: College Graduates On The Lasting Significance Of Relationality And Experiential Learning, Ann Fullerton, Vicki L. Reitenauer

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the past twenty years, much research has been conducted into the effects of community-based learning and service-learning on students, but studies into the long-term impacts that persist after graduation have been fewer in number. In this article, the authors share perspectives from Portland State University alumni on the lasting significance of their participation in a community-based learning course that has been operating continuously for more than two decades and the key features of significant learning experiences more generally.

In The Name Of The Child: Race, Gender, And Economics In Adoptive Couple V. Baby Girl, Bethany Berger

Faculty Articles and Papers

On June 25, 2013, the Supreme Court decided Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, holding that the Indian Child Welfare Act did not permit the Cherokee father in that case to object to termination of his parental rights. The case is ostensibly about a dispute between prospective adoptive parents and a biological father. This Article demonstrates that it is about a lot more than that. It is a microcosm of anxieties about Indianness, race, and the changing nature of parenthood. While made in the name of the child, moreover, the decision supports practices and policies that do not forward and may …

Impacts Of Climate, Geography And White-Nose Syndrome Mortality On The Population Genetic Structure And Variation Of Myotis Lucifugus In The Eastern United States, Shannon Marie Dodge Morgan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

A myriad of biotic and abiotic factors contribute to the fluctuations in geographic range and size of animal populations. In the Nearctic, bat species have experienced drastic historic changes in available habitat due to Pleistocene glaciations, and are recently imperiled by the introduction of a novel fungal pathogen, Pseudogymnoascus destructans within the last decade. Myotis lucifugus in particular has lost 90-95% of the population in the eastern US due to the fungal disease White-Nose Syndrome (WNS). A population decline of this magnitude will likely result in a loss of allelic diversity as a result of a genetic bottleneck. My study …

Determination Of Current Density Distribution In An Electron Beam, Yudhishthir Prasad Kandel

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Electron beams are useful in many applications because they can be focused down to a spot far exceeding the physical limit of focusing visible light or x-rays. Additionally, electron beams are useful in transferring concentrated amounts of energy to a very small well defined region of a target for a fixed duration. This has led to the development of both scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) and electron beam lithography. The goal of this work was to develop a general method that accurately and easily yields the best estimate of the electron current density distribution of a focused electron beam, known as …

Scholarly Collaboration And Information & Communications Technologies (Icts) In Information Sciences : A Longitudinal Analysis Of The Research Collaboration Social Network, Xiao Liang

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation investigates the changing effect of geodesic, cultural (organization, profession, and country), and knowledge boundaries on scholarly collaboration. It also examines how the change can relate to the development of Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs).

Physician Density And Location Of Physician Training : The Impact On Avoidable Hospitalizations, Robert Martiniano

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Avoidable hospitalizations are those hospitalizations that could have been avoided had there been appropriate levels of primary care, and higher levels of avoidable hospitalizations have been linked to higher rates of poverty and of race/ethnicity and to individuals who are on Medicaid or who are uninsured. The association with physician density has, however, been inconsistent, with research linking both better and worse physician density to higher rates of avoidable hospitalizations. Very little research, however, has been conducted on other physician characteristics and the rate of avoidable hospitalizations.

The Impact Of Heat Event On Emergency Department Visits Due To Cardiovascular Diseases Among Elderly During Transitional Seasons And Summer In New York State, 2005-2013, Mengxuan Li

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Background: Prior studies have reported the association between heat exposure and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in summer, but transitional season effects are rarely studied. Additionally, the elderly has not received enough attention as a high risk group. Emergency department (ED) visits can capture heat response at the early stage, but few studies have used it as an outcome.

Understanding Transcriptional Enhancement In Monoclonal Antibody-Producing Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells, Sarah E. Nicoletti

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

With the demand for monoclonal antibody (mAB) therapeutics continually increasing, the need to better understand what makes a high productivity clone has gained substantial interest. Monoclonal antibody producing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells with different productivities were provided by a biopharmaceutical company for investigation. Gene copy numbers, mRNA levels, and mAb productivities were previously determined for two low producing clones and their amplified progeny. These results showed an increase in mRNA copy number in amplified clones, which correlated to the observed increases in specific productivity of these clones. The presence of multiple copies of mRNA per one copy of DNA …

Untreated Depression In Persons Living With Hiv In Kazakhstan, Dina Terloyeva

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Objective:This study investigates the occurrence of depressive symptoms among persons living with HIV, and the relationship between depressive symptoms and HIV treatment initiation and adherence.

The Structural Heterogeneity And Dynamics Of Base Stacking And Unstacking In Nucleic Acids, Ada Anna Sedova

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Base stacking provides stability to nucleic acid duplexes, and base unstacking is involved in numerous biological functions related to nucleic acids, including replication, repair, transcription, and translation. The patterns of base stacking and unstacking in available nucleic acid crystal structures were classified after separation into their individual single strand dinucleotide components and clustering using a k-means-based ensemble clustering method. The A- and B-form proximity of these dinucleotide structures were assessed to discover that RNA dinucleotides can approach B-form-like structures. Umbrella sampling molecular dynamics simulations were used to obtain the potential of mean force profiles for base unstacking at 5'-termini for …

Human Feeding Biomechanics : Intraspecific Variation And Evolution, Justin Ledogar

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study examines feeding biomechanics in modern human crania and those of extinct early members of the human lineage in order to better understand the selective pressures that influenced human craniofacial evolution. Specifically, this study uses finite element analysis to examine: 1) human feeding performance, in terms bite force production and craniofacial strength; 2) intraspecific variation in human feeding biomechanics; 3) feeding biomechanics in fossil hominins, including Australopithecus sediba and Homo habilis, species that are potentially at the root of modern human lineage, and 4) the functional role of purported facial buttresses.

Optical Metrology For Directed Self-Assembly Patterning Using Mueller Matrix Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Based Scatterometry, Dhairya J. Dixit

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The semiconductor industry continues to drive patterning solutions that enable devices with higher memory storage capacity, faster computing performance, lower cost per transistors, and higher transistor density. These developments in the field of semiconductor manufacturing along with the overall minimization of the size of transistors require cutting-edge metrology tools for characterization.

Antibiotics, The Microbiome, And Immunity : A Case Study In Bangladesh, Carmen Fagnani

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this study was to establish a theoretical impact of antibiotic misuse on the microbiome and its effects on immunity. Recent studies indicate the importance of a microbiome on the immune system. Both the leptin signaling pathways and CD4T cell production are influenced by the microbiome (Mazmanian, et al. 2005). The use of antibiotics has been associated with dysbiosis, a microbial imbalance in the digestive tract. The immune system is limited when the microbiome is dysbiotic.

Characterization Of R-Plasmid Dependent Single-Stranded Rna Phages : Interactions Of Phage Hgal1 With Five Enterobacteriaceae Species, Sherin Kannoly

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Viruses in general have a narrow host range, usually infecting a single or very closely related host species. Recently, emerging diseases in human populations have been increasingly attributed to host range expansion in animal viruses. Many studies have investigated host range expansion in model systems involving animal viruses and potential hosts. My study describes the development of a model system that uses a single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) phage and five Enterobacteriaceae species. The study involved: I) Characterization of two ssRNA phages, Hgal1 and C-1, and assessing their abilities to infect multiple hosts, II) Developing and characterizing a model system involving an …

Francisella Tularensis Catalase Restricts Immune Function By Impairing Trpm2 Channel Activity, Nicole Lynn Flaherty

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

As an innate defense mechanism, macrophages produce reactive species that weaken pathogens and serve as secondary messengers to modify signaling responses involved in immune function. The gram-negative bacterium F. tularensis utilizes its antioxidant armature to limit the host immune response but the mechanism behind this suppression has not been defined. Here we establish that F. tularensis limits Ca2+ entry thereby limiting actin reorganization and IL-6 production in a redox-dependent fashion. Wild-type (LVS) or catalase deficient F. tularensis (∆katG) show distinct profiles in their H2O2 scavenging capacity, 1 pM/sec and 0.015 pM/sec, respectively. Murine alveolar macrophages infected with ∆katG display distinct …

Theories Of Political Resistance : The Making Of Resistance From The Sixteenth Century To The Present, Onur Bilginer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study discerns political resistance from everyday resistance and then develops on a distinction between a morally and politically justifiable resistance and the kind that is not. Drawing on different historical periods, it demonstrates why the conceptual clarification and moral justification of political resistance cannot rely upon the categories of non-violence, visibility, and legality alone. This study has five main arguments. First, a genuine political resistance is collective and occurs in public. It is conducted with the cooperation of similar-minded people out in the open, as long as there is room for politics. Therefore, it is not hidden like everyday …

The Trends Study : Examining The Relationship Between Executive Function, Temperament, Quality Of Life, And Bmi In Young Adults, Renata Vaysman

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study examined the relationship between executive function (EF) abilities, quality of life (QoL),temperamental qualities (EC: effortful control and NA: negative affect), and Body Mass Index (BMI) in a sample of young adults. Previous studies indicated that deficits in various domains of EF are associated with higher BMI and lower QoL. This study did not find statistically significant differences in EF skills based on BMI. Additionally, in this sample, there were no significant relationships between BMI and QoL. However, interesting relationships emerged between EF skills and NA, as well as EF skills and physical QoL. Furthermore, there is some evidence …

The Queen's Three Bodies : Representations Of Female Sovereignty In Early Modern Women's Writing, 1588-1688, Erin V. Casey-Williams

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Sovereignty, a mechanism of power around which a state is organized, has emerged as a way to understand the twenty-first-century biopolitical moment. Thinkers including Michel Foucault, Michael Hardt, Antonio Negri, and Roberto Esposito find sovereignty essential to understanding modern regimes of bodily domination and control. These thinkers look back to early modern England as an originary moment when older theories of sovereign power became attached to emerging modern political systems. Despite the sophistication of these arguments, however, no recent biopolitical theory accounts for the situation of women in historical or current system of power, nor do they discuss the role …

Gendered Patriots And Post-Revolutionary Ladies : Girl Guiding And Twentieth Century Mexican Girlhood, Maryann Kelly

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Through the lens of the Guías de México (Girl Guides of Mexico), Gendered Patriots and Postrevolutionary Ladies examines Girl Guide efforts to advance international cooperation and peace by promoting international friendship among the world’s youth between 1919 and 1980. From its birth as a branch of the British Girl Guide Movement, Mexican Guides participated in the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scout’s (WAGGGS) international conferences, encampments, and global initiatives. During the first half of the twentieth century Western European and United States members established WAGGGS global agenda for social reform and the advancement of women and youth. At …

Developing A Weibull Model Extension To Estimate Cancer Latency Times, Diana L. Nadler

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

More than one-third of all Americans will be diagnosed with cancer sometime in their lives. Though their illness may be invisible now, it presents a great, and largely unexamined, opportunity to find and treat their cancers early. Early detection represents one of the most promising approaches to reduce the growing cancer burden by identifying cancer while it is localized and curable, preventing not only mortality, but also reducing morbidity and costs.

Preparation, Chemistry, And Characterization Of Hypervalent Organosulfur Fluorides, Paul R. Savoie

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Since the discovery of the pentafluorosulfanyl (SF5) group around the 1960s, progress in exploring the chemistry of aliphatic SF5-containing compounds stagnated because of a lack of efficient synthetic methods. More recent developments in the preparations of SF5-containing compounds afforded easier access to these compounds, and sparked great interest in exploring their chemistry. Chapter 1 discusses the development of efficient methods used to prepare SF5-containing aliphatic compounds.

Role Of Antibody Isotypes In Providing Passive Protection Against Ricin Toxin, Ipneet Kaur Dhaliwal

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Ricin toxin is a glycoprotein produced by the castor bean plant, Ricinus communis. Ricin is an extraordinarily potent inducer of cell death and inflammation, especially following inhalation. The toxin’s enzymatic subunit (RTA) is transported via retrograde transport into the cytoplasm of mammalian cells by the toxin’s B subunit (RTB). Once in the cytoplasm, RTA inactivates ribosomes through cleavage of ribosomal RNA. In this study, I characterized a ricin-specific monoclonal IgA antibody (mAb) known as 23D7. I confirmed that 23D7 reacts with RTA and is effective at neutralizing ricin in a Vero cell cytotoxicity assay in vitro. To localize the epitope …

Implementation Of Strategies To Improve The Reliability Of Iii-Nitride Photodetectors Towards The Realization Of Visible And Solar-Blind Imaging Arrays, John Bulmer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation detectors are being heavily researched for applications in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) communication systems, flame monitoring, biological detection, and astronomical studies. These applications are currently being met by the use of Si-based photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), which are bulky, fragile, expensive and require the use of external filters to achieve true visible-blind and solar-blind operation.

Separating The Signal From The Noise In Electrocorticographic (Ecog) Signals : Novel Analytic Methods And Their Application To Experimental And Theoretical Neuroscience, William Grey Coon

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Measurements are comprised of two parts: signal, that is, the true quantity one wishes to measure, and noise, that is, measurement fluctuations that are unrelated to the true signal.

The Effects Of Landscape On Malaria Vectors Of The Neotropics, William David Lainhart

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Worldwide malaria control efforts have had varying degrees of success, leaving many countries either eliminating malaria or controlling malaria. In order to maintain forward momentum toward malaria elimination, malaria-eliminating and –controlling countries require different information regarding risk factors, spatial distributions of cases and vectors, vector biology metrics, and vector population genetics. The goal of this dissertation work was to provide information that addresses the knowledge gaps preventing the creation of effective vector and malaria control programs in one malaria-eliminating country (Panama) and two malaria-controlling countries (Peru and Brazil). Case data from Panama were analyzed to assess differences in risk factors …

Rna Aptamer Mediated Manipulation Of The 70 Kilodalton Heat Shock Protein Chaperone Machinery, Deepak Thirunavukarasu

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Protein quality control involves refolding of damaged proteins and facilitating degradation of irreparable proteins. Understanding the protein quality control mechanism is critical, since defects in it has been implicated in a number of age-related diseases like neurodegenerative diseases and also in cancer. A vast network of molecular chaperones and proteolytic systems collaborate to maintain protein quality control. The 70 kilodalton Heat shock protein (Hsp70) is a highly conserved and ubiquitous chaperone, which interacts with a variety of protein substrates including newly synthesized polypeptides, unfolded, partially misfolded and native proteins to maintain protein quality control. Hsp70 chaperone function is coupled to …