To understand human social environments and interaction, it is often necessary to examine them in creative and metaphorical terms. In this thesis, a model of chemical interaction, atomic and molecular bonding, and the role of electrons, nuclei, and other chemical principles are used to describe the social environment of human...
The optical characterization of transparent conductive thin films is demonstrated. The basics of transparency and conductivity, as they relate to transparent conductor research, are explained. A functional model of the reflectance and transmittance of a sample film, including interference fringes, is derived from the Fresnel electric field amplitude coefficients. The...
In this project we measure the neutron capture cross section of ²⁰⁸Pb. We began by calibrating our silicon detector with ²⁰⁴Tl. Two experiments were then performed, the first in December of 1999 and the second in March of 2000. Both experiments were performed in the nuclear reactor of the Radiation...
We consider development of sand ripples in shallow water flows which do not reach an equilibrium height but have a time-varying ripple height that slowly reaches a maximum value and then is quickly destroyed by the fluid. A simple scenario to explain the time periodic behavior of the sand ripples...
One method of fabricating intermetallic nickel-aluminum MECS devices involves diffusion bonding together pre-patterned elemental foils of nickel and aluminum. This process shows good potential for the mass-production of NiAl devices, but several quality issues remain. Of large concern is the deformation of internal features during the bonding process. This research...
Research was conducted to determine the thermoelectric behavior of Co₉S₈, Co₉Se₈, CoSe, CoTe₂, CoSbSexSl-x (x=O, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.0), CoSbTe, AuTe₂, AuTe₁.₉₀Sb₀.₁₀, Au₀.₉₅Pt₀.₀₅Te₂, Au₀.₉₅Ag₀.₀₅Te₂, MnTe₂, MnTe₁.₉₅Sb₀.₀₅, MnTe₁.₉₀Sb₀.₁₀, CoSb₂, and Co₀.₉₅Fe₀.₀₅Sb₂. Recently discovered sodium cobalt oxide compounds have been found to have large Seebeck coefficients coupled with favorable thermal and electrical...
When a nucleus is in an excited state, it will decay to lower energy by emitting photons. Often there are several intermediate stages in a decay cascade. Occasionally the photons in a cascade will be emitted in coincidence. This will be resolved by the detector not as two distinct photons,...
A series of seven magnesium-doped copper scandium oxide films were made by radio frequency sputtering, and intercalated at various oxygen pressures to create different oxygen concentrations in each film. The objectives of this study were to verify the p-type nature of these transparent conductive thin films, to determine the correlation...
This project calculates the value of β for ice particles based on wavelength dependent values of their refractive and absorptive indices. β is the ratio of the force due to radiation to the force due to gravity acting on a particle in the solar system. This parameter can later be...
The present study sought to identify the personality traits associated with emotional intelligence. Eighty three students (30 male, 53 female) ranging between 17 and 42 years of age completed the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) and a personality inventory known as the California Q-Sort as part of a 10 week...
When a student participates in a service break trip, a process called reorientation occurs after the trip is over, when the student is trying to connect what they’ve learned on the trip to their normal lives. The objective of this project was to explore the concepts of volunteerism, community service,...
Multinational corporations must be aware of the business and financial reporting issues that await them abroad. Investors also must have this knowledge in order to adequately interpret the financial information they receive from these companies. This study compares and contrasts the business environments in the US and Mexico, with a...
This thesis consists of an autoethnography of a sexual assault survivor written using poems, journal entries, annotations, photographs and song lyrics. The ethnography is a chronological record of feelings the author experienced during the day prior to the attack and emotions she navigated during the year and a half after...
Decades of experimental work has illustrated the high degree to which the partitioning of most elements is dependent on phase composition, temperature and pressure. In order to quantitatively describe clinopyroxene partitioning it is required to derive expressions using theoretical constraints calibrated with experimental data.
The experimental database available for such...
In the days following Oct. 5, 2007, the staff of The Daily Barometer - the student newspaper at Oregon State University - was left scrambling for understanding. The paper published a image of a man wearing black face paint for an event called "Blackout Reser." That black face paint looked...
With more and more adolescent girls having lower self-esteem due to the pressures from society to be thin and beautiful, programs have been developed to help increase young girls’ self-esteem while teaching them about nutrition and self-image as well as encouraging them to be physically active. I analyzed one of...
A financial processor is the most important component of a credit union‘s IT infrastructure. A database storing member demographic information, account balances, and transaction history, it performs financial calculations, such as interest, dividends, and maturities. It also provides a user interface, allowing tellers and financial service representatives to manage accounts...
My project is designed to determine how the English major and English Studies exist at OSU, through the collection of perceptions and opinions about English Studies at OSU from students and faculty (both inside and outside of the English department) via email surveys. I used secondary research to determine how...
During summer and fall 2007, I traveled across Europe and studied in Spain. My experiences abroad shaped my reading of certain literary texts as I gained insight into the cultures and settings in which they were produced. In my thesis, I recount some of these experiences and show how my...
The healthcare system of India can be categorized into three different sectors. The public sector can be characterized by lower cost and is financed through tax subsidies. The private sector can be characterized by diversity of techniques and niches. Costs associated with the private sector are generally larger than public...
This research focused on the accuracy of trait judgments at zero acquaintance and after five minutes of interaction. Thirty-five undergraduates judged the neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness of four to six others whom they did not know. Participants then interacted in one-on-one conversations with each target for five minutes....
The intention of this honors thesis was to define the boundaries of the basins responsible for feeding sedimentary materials to the core sites taken for the 2007 OSU Sumatra Cruise. These boundaries were defined with the specific use in mind of tracking potential sources of material that would likely be...
The goal of this project was to determine whether an equine business in which the sole income is from the short term retraining and resale of horses could be successful. Horses would hypothetically be kept for not less than six months and not longer than one year, and priced from...
A collection of short stories in the style of flash fiction. The themes of the stories include relationships, legality, and friendship. The stories are connect by themes, cross self-referencing, repetition, fragmentation, and characters. The main unifying feature is the characterization of the narrator through his response and commentary. The styles...
Presented in this report is an investigation of the design, construction, and operation of scaled-up cloth electrode assembly (CEA) air-cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs). 40 mL MFCs were designed and constructed using either single or double CEAs with carbon cloth electrodes. The MFCs were evaluated using acetate media, municipal wastewater,...
The Oregon Department of Education requires children to receive vision screening before entering elementary school, but does not require follow-up with an eye care professional after a failed screening. Whether such preventative vision care is effective at detecting children with vision problems was investigated through research from the American Optometric...
We present a model for running that combines active control with passive dynamics,
in an attempt to approach the economy and robustness of animal running. Our
work is inspired by examples of guinea fowl encountering an unexpected drop in
ground surface, with little a ect on their running gait. Previous...