Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Heat, Wildfire And Energy Demand: An Examination Of Residential Buildings And Community Equity, Chrissi Argyro Antonopoulos

Dissertations and Theses

Extreme heat and wildfire events are becoming more prolific and exacerbated by climate change, carrying significant implications for environmental and social systems. Residential buildings play a central role in protecting people from heat and pollutant exposure during extreme weather events, but the level of protection varies dramatically depending on building energy efficiency and technology availability. Low-income and communities of color have higher energy burdens compared to affluent populations, and underserved communities often do not have financial resources for, or access to, advanced building technologies. This dissertation explores the impacts of extreme heat and wildfire on residential buildings, focused specifically on …

More Than Words: Articulating The Multisensory Experiences Of Protected Area Visitors In Southern Nevada, Sara Nicole Temme

Dissertations and Theses

The complex sensory experiences of visitors to U.S. protected areas are not well understood. Previous research investigates visitor activities, motivations, and the ways place attachment cultivates support for conservation activities and other pro-environmental behavior. However, it is unclear how protected area visitor sensory experiences contribute to these behaviors. This study aims to articulate the multisensory experiences of visitors to the Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex and the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area in southern Nevada, U.S.A. Specifically, it demonstrates the complexity of these experiences as present, intertwined, and embodied in all visit phases: before, during, and after. Utilizing a mixed-method …

Identifying And Prioritizing Urban And Commercial Stormwater Concerns: City Of Grants Pass, Oregon, Amie Nicole Siedlecki

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

For many communities, drinking water comes from surface water sources, or source water, such as rivers and creeks. Within the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, this is the case. The Rogue River, which spans 215 miles, beginning near Crater Lake and emptying into the ocean at Gold Beach, is Grants Pass' Rogue River, in relation to drinking water, is rarely an issue for the City of Grants Pass' Public Works Department, the potential contaminant sources (PCS) from the urban, commercial, and industrial geographical areas of Grants Pass is a concern. In order to deploy treatment processes that are capable of …

Patterns Of Interdisciplinary Collaboration Resemble Biogeochemical Relationships In The Mcmurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica: A Historical Social Network Analysis Of Science, 1907–2016, Stephen M. Chignell, Adrian Howkins, Poppie Gullett, Andrew G. Fountain

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Co-authorship networks can provide key insights into the production of scientific knowledge. This is particularly interesting in Antarctica, where most human activity relates to scientific research. Bibliometric studies of Antarctic science have provided a useful understanding of international and interdisciplinary collaboration, yet most research has focused on broad-scale analyses over recent time periods. Here, we take advantage of a ‘Goldilocks’ opportunity in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, an internationally important region of Antarctica and the largest ice-free region on the continent. The McMurdo Dry Valleys have attracted continuous and diverse scientific activity since 1958. It is a geographically confined region with …

Estimating Transport Of Diesel Particulate Emissions In The Portland Metro Using Lagrangian-Based Dispersion Modeling, Andrew Mckinley Rogers

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Air pollution from diesel combustion is a well-known and serious problem which adversely impacts human and environmental health throughout the world. One of the primary pollutants of concern from diesel combustion are the solid particles formed as a byproduct of the incomplete combustion of the diesel, also known as diesel particulate matter. As a result of the ubiquitous use of diesel-fired engines in urban environments, understanding the transport of diesel particulate matter from the exhaust is paramount in assessing human exposure to this toxic pollutant. Air dispersion modeling is one method to study how diesel particulate matter is transported and …

Stakeholder Perceptions Of Microplastics Management In Oregon, Maya Hurst-Mayr

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

There is currently no federal policy in the United States that specifically addresses microplastics (MPs) pollution. However, states are beginning to act on this issue; California's SB 1422 initiates measurement of MPs in drinking water resources and Senate Bill 1263 requires the state to adopt a strategy to reduce the ecological impact of MPs in marine ecosystems. Other West Coast states like Oregon and Washington are expected to follow California's example. It is important to know what the actors who are a part of shaping MPs policy in Oregon would see as barriers and opportunities to doing so. We conducted …

Data From: Inventory Of Glaciers And Perennial Snowfields Of The Conterminous Usa, Andrew G. Fountain, Bryce Glenn, Christopher Mcneil

Geology Faculty Datasets

This is an updated inventory of glaciers and perennial snowfields of the contiguous United States. All perennial snow and ice features greater than 0.01 km² are included. Outlines are mostly derived from aerial imagery provided by the National Agricultural Imagery Program, US Department of Agriculture with some satellite imagery in places where aerial imagery was not suitable. Imagery dates range from 2013 to 2020. Most (70%) of the outlines were acquired from 2015 imagery.

Equivalence Of The Transition Heat Capacities Of Proteins And Dna, Matthew W. Eskew, Albert S. Benight

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

It has been reported for many globular proteins that the native heat capacity at 25°C, per gram, is the same. This has been interpreted to indicate that heat capacity is a fundamental property of native proteins that provides important information on molecular structure and stability. Heat capacities for both proteins and DNA has been suggested to be related to universal effects of hydration/solvation on native structures. Here we report on results from thermal denaturation analysis of two well-known proteins, human serum albumin and lysozyme, and a short DNA hairpin. The transition heat capacities at the Tm for the three molecules …

Carli Creek Regional Water Quality Project: Assessing Water Quality Improvement At An Urban Stormwater Constructed Wetland, Christopher L. Desiderati

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Stormwater management is an ongoing challenge in the United States and the world at-large. As state and municipal agencies grapple with conflicting interests like encouraging land development, complying with permits to control stormwater discharges, “urban stream syndrome” effects, and charges to steward natural resources for the long-term, some agencies may turn to constructed wetlands (CWs) as aesthetically pleasing and functional natural analogs for attenuating pollution delivered by stormwater runoff to rivers and streams. Constructed wetlands retain pollutants via common physical, physicochemical, and biological principles such as settling, adsorption, or plant and algae uptake. The efficacy of constructed wetlands for pollutant …

Assessing Inter-Metric Correlation For Multi-Document Summarization Evaluation, Michael Ridenour

Maseeh Summer Undergraduate Research Experience

Background: (i) Automatic Text Summarization involves generating concise summaries of natural language text documents by using machine learning systems. (ii) Most prior research has focused on developing systems that can summarize a single document (for example a news article), but recent research has developed systems that can summarize a cluster of multiple documents (for example Tweets or customer reviews). (iii) Multi-document summarization is more challenging due to the higher diversity of information in the source documents.

Reconstructability Analysis: Discrete Multivariate Modeling, Martin Zwick

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

An introduction to Reconstructability Analysis for the Discrete Multivariate Modeling course and for other purposes.

A One-Dimensional Field Dislocation Mechanics Model Using Discontinuous Galerkin Method, Ja'nya Breeden, Dow Drake, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Saurabh Puri

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

A numerical solution strategy for a one-dimensional field dislocation mechanics (FDM) model using the Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method is developed. The FDM model is capable of simulating the dynamics of discrete, nonsingular dislocations using a partial differential equation involving a conservation law for the Burgers vector content with constitutive input for nucleation and velocity. Modeling of individual dislocation lines with an equilibrium compact core structure in the context of this continuum elastoplastic framework requires a non-convex stored energy density. Permanent deformation and stress redistribution caused by the dissipative transport of dislocations is modeled using thermodynamics-based constitutive laws. A DG method …

Periodic Points Of Polynomials Over Finite Fields, Derek Garton

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Fix an odd prime p. If r is a positive integer and f is a polynomial with coefficients in Fpr, let Pp,r⁡(f) be the proportion of P1⁢(Fpr) that is periodic with respect to f. We show that as r increases, the expected value of Pp,r⁡(f), as f ranges over quadratic polynomials, is less than 22/(log⁡log⁡pr). This result follows from a uniformity theorem on specializations of dynamical systems of rational functions over residually finite Dedekind domains. The specialization theorem generalizes previous work by Juul et al. that holds for rings of integers of number fields. Moreover, under stronger hypotheses, we effectivize …

Workflow Critical Path: A Data-Oriented Critical Path Metric For Holistic Hpc Workflows, Daniel D. Nguyen, Karen L. Karavanic

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Current trends in HPC, such as the push to exascale, convergence with Big Data, and growing complexity of HPC applications, have created gaps that traditional performance tools do not cover. One example is Holistic HPC Workflows — HPC workflows comprising multiple codes, paradigms, or platforms that are not developed using a workflow management system. To diagnose the performance of these applications, we define a new metric called Workflow Critical Path (WCP), a data-oriented metric for Holistic HPC Workflows. WCP constructs graphs that span across the workflow codes and platforms, using data states as vertices and data mutations as edges. …

Distribution And Characterization Of Rhyolites Of The Strawberry Volcanics -- Evolution Of A Major Rhyolite Field Associated With Columbia River Basalt Magmatism, Eastern Oregon, Usa, Chanel Leigh Dvorak

Dissertations and Theses

The Strawberry Rhyolites constitute a significant rhyolite field among the largest in Oregon. Aerial coverage of approximately 386 km² and an overall estimated volume of ~67 km³ using a median thickness for each unit. On the other hand, the total volume could be greater than 100 km³ if greater thicknesses apply. The Strawberry Rhyolites, a largely unknown mid-Miocene silicic volcanic rocks, crop out amongst voluminous flood basalt flows of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) in eastern Oregon. The eruptive activity of the Strawberry Rhyolites is currently constrained to span a period of about 2 million years, …

An Instructional Guide To Environmental Campaigns For K-12 Schools, Erin Mccarty

University Honors Theses

Evidence suggests environmental education can correlate with both short- and long-term behavioral changes, but existing research on the effectiveness of popular environmental education tactics show mixed results. Qualitative research was used in this study to assess student engagement and behavioral change within the context of environmental education campaigns. Ideally, students exposed to environmental campaigns become more informed on environmental issues and adjust their behavior to align with the campaign’s objectives. However, only a portion of environmental campaigns have these desired effects on their students. Based on a preliminary literature review, I anticipated the defining catalyst on post-campaign behavioral engagement would …

Characterization And Interpretation Of Feldspathic Chromite Assemblages (Fcas) In Four Ordinary Chondrites: An Electron Backscatter Diffraction (Ebsd) Study, Kimberly Louisa Maccini

Dissertations and Theses

Feldspathic Chromite Assemblages (FCAs) are chemically distinctive assemblages rich in Na, Al, and Cr that are found in a variety of chondrites. They consist of concentrations of chromite associated mainly with feldspathic material, either feldspar or the glassy material known as maskelynite. Professor Alan Rubin (2003) has proposed that some FCAs formed by shock melting, but the origin of different types of feldspathic chromite assemblages are unclear and have not been studied with more modern techniques such as Electron Backscatter Electron Diffraction (EBSD).

Here EBSD was used to study FCAs in four metamorphosed ordinary chondrites of different shock stages, including …

Ecological Exposure And Effects Of Microplastics In Crabs Along The Pacific Coast, Dorothy A. Horn

Dissertations and Theses

Microplastics have been documented across the global oceans as an ubiquitous pollutant. Found in the water column, sediment, shorelines, estuaries, freshwater streams and rivers along with terrestrial soils, flora and fauna. The continuous input of plastic waste into the marine environment doesn't seem to be slowing as the amount of plastic created each year increases globally.

This study investigated (1) the effects of microplastic ingestion in the indicator species, the Pacific mole crab (Emerita analoga), testing the predator avoidance behavior, reproductive output and parasitism effects when an adult female gravid crab had ingested microplastics (2) adult mortality, hatching …

Quantum Field Theories, Topological Materials, And Topological Quantum Computing, Muhammad Ilyas

Dissertations and Theses

A quantum computer can perform exponentially faster than its classical counterpart. It works on the principle of superposition. But due to the decoherence effect, the superposition of a quantum state gets destroyed by the interaction with the environment. It is a real challenge to completely isolate a quantum system to make it free of decoherence. This problem can be circumvented by the use of topological quantum phases of matter. These phases have quasiparticles excitations called anyons. The anyons are charge-flux composites and show exotic fractional statistics. When the order of exchange matters, then the anyons are called non-Abelian anyons. Majorana …

Modifying The Aspect Survey To Support The Validity Of Student Perception Data From Different Active Learning Environments, Nicole Naibert, Erin E. Shortlidge, Jack Barbera

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Measuring students’ perceptions of active learning activities may provide valuable insight into their engagement and subsequent performance outcomes. A recently published measure, the Assessing Student Engagement in Class Tool (ASPECT), was developed to assess student perceptions of various active learning environments. As such, we sought to use this measure in our courses to assess the students’ perceptions of different active learning environments. Initial results analyzed with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated that the ASPECT did not function as expected in our active learning environments. Therefore, before administration within an introductory biology course that incorporated two types of active learning strategies, …

Uniting Non-Empirical And Semi-Empirical Density Functional Approximation Strategies Using Constraint-Based Regularization, Trine K. Quady

University Honors Theses

In this work, we present a general framework that unites the two primary strategies for constructing density functional approximations (DFAs): non-empirical (NE) constraint satisfaction and semi-empirical (SE) data-driven optimization. The proposed method employs B-splines--bell-shaped spline functions with compact support--to construct each inhomogeneity correction factor (ICF). This choice offers several distinct advantages over a polynomial basis by enabling explicit enforcement of linear and non-linear constraints as well as ICF smoothness using Tikhonov regularization and penalized B-splines (P-splines). As proof of concept, we use this approach to construct CASE21--a Constrained And Smoothed semi-Empirical global hybrid generalized gradient approximation that completely satisfies all …

Error Propagation And Algorithmic Design Of Contour Integral Eigensolvers With Applications To Fiber Optics, Benjamin Quanah Parker

Dissertations and Theses

In this work, the finite element method and the FEAST eigensolver are used to explore applications in fiber optics. The present interest is in computing eigenfunctions u and propagation constants β satisfing [sic] the Helmholtz equation Δu + k²n²u = β²u. Here, k is the freespace wavenumber and n is a spatially varying coefficient function representing the refractive index of the underlying medium. Such a problem arises when attempting to compute confinement losses in optical fibers that guide laser light. In practice, this requires the computation of functions u referred to as …

Conserved And Divergent Features Of Neuronal Camkii Holoenzyme Structure, Function, And Highorder Assembly, Olivia R. Buonarati, Adam P. Miller, Steven J. Coultrap, K. Ulrich Bayer, Steve L. Reichow

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Neuronal CaMKII holoenzymes (^a and ^b isoforms) enable molecular signal computation underlying learning and memory but also mediate excitotoxic neuronal death. Here, we provide a comparative analysis of these signaling devices, using single-particle electron microscopy (EM) in combination with biochemical and live cell imaging studies. In the basal state, both isoforms assemble mainly as 12-mers (but also 14-mers and even 16-mers for the b isoform). CaMKIIa and ^b isoforms adopt an ensemble of extended activatable states (with average radius of 12.6 versus 16.8 nm, respectively), characterized by multiple transient intra- and interholoenzyme interactions associated with distinct functional properties. The …

Rapid Method For Consistency And Concentration Reporting Of Cannabidiol Using 1H-Nmr And Computer-Assisted Chemical Software, Michael A. Fernando

University Honors Theses

An integrated computational method was demonstrated with hemp-derived Cannabidiol for an assessment of its purity and concentration. The sample was structurally verified, high purity, and 2.98 mmol/L in dissolved DMSO. The method presented is a general approach to assessing purity and concentration for any small organic molecule in CMC-Assist.

2d Vs 3d Tracking In Bacterial Motility Analysis, Jacqueline Acres, Jay Nadeau

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Digital holographic microscopy provides the ability to observe throughout a large volume without refocusing. This capability enables simultaneous observations of large numbers of microorganisms swimming in an essentially unconstrained fashion. However, computational tools for tracking large 4D datasets remain lacking. In this paper, we examine the errors introduced by tracking bacterial motion as 2D projections vs. 3D volumes under different circumstances: bacteria free in liquid media and bacteria near a glass surface. We find that while XYZ speeds are generally equal to or larger than XY speeds, they are still within empirical uncertainties. Additionally, when studying dynamic surface behavior, the …

Community College Geoscience Faculty Perspectives On Critical Thinking Instructional Tools, Mariela Salas Bao

Dissertations and Theses

Research has shown that modern courses and programs designed to foster critical thinking vary in both content and delivery, in turn leading to differences in their effectiveness. Few studies have investigated critical thinking among nontraditional students at community colleges taking STEM courses, especially within the geosciences. Furthermore, such research has focused primarily on the students with few if any studies involving faculty. This study examined the perceptions held by community college geoscience faculty regarding critical thinking and how such perceptions influenced their choice of instructional strategies. This study used a basic qualitative methodology and a maximum variation sampling to select …

Exploring The Potential Use Of Porous Silica Nanoparticles In Cest-Mri, Lydia Makotamo

Dissertations and Theses

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a widely used modality in diagnostics, treatment, and monitoring various conditions due to its ability to generate high-resolution images using non-ionizing radiation. The advent of contrast agents, which generally work by increasing the spin relaxation rate constants of water protons, has led to image enhancement. Despite the usefulness of this class of agents in diagnostic medicine, their inability to provide in-depth functional and anatomical information, coupled with their high detection limits, has led to new agents being explored.

Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) presents an alternative route to generate signals via repetitive saturations transfers between …

Designing Environmentally Responsible And Highly Effective Bioorthogonally Functionalized Chiral Mri Contrast Agents, Karley Breann Maier

Dissertations and Theses

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revolutionized diagnostic imaging and modernized the characterization of numerous diseases. The clinical success of MRI is in large part due to the employment of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs). Due to sensitivity limitations, GBCAs are indicated at markedly high dosages (~1 g Gd³⁺ per exam). The routine use of such large quantities of gadolinium poses significant health and environmental risks. There are growing concerns over the effects of dechelation of the metal in vivo and the possible effect of resulting gadolinium deposition. Concurrently, there is a rising awareness of gadolinium anomalies borne by GBCAs which undergo …

Situate: An Agent-Based System For Situation Recognition, Max Henry Quinn

Dissertations and Theses

Computer vision and machine learning systems have improved significantly in recent years, largely based on the development of deep learning systems, leading to impressive performance on object detection tasks. Understanding the content of images is considerably more difficult. Even simple situations, such as "a handshake", "walking the dog", "a game of ping-pong", or "people waiting for a bus", present significant challenges. Each consists of common objects, but are not reliably detectable as a single entity nor through the simple co-occurrence of their parts.

In this dissertation, toward the goal of developing machine learning systems that demonstrate properties associated with understanding, …

Geometric Characterization Of Continuously Defective Elastic Crystals, Marek Z. Elźanowski

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We show how some differential geometric structures associated with a concept of a homogeneous space appear naturally in a kinematic model of continuously distributed defects in an elastic crystal solid and discuss how one can use them to describe the defectiveness of such a continuum.