The eight stories in Wild West Love Songs explore issues such as loss, suffering, and betrayal, but perhaps the most consistent theme is the examination of the ways we are haunted by our past. All the protagonists in these stories are haunted. Sometimes they are haunted literally, by a ghost...
The Disney Company is an inescapable force in American life that is often detached from the stigma of big business and instead viewed as something particularly valuable, the United States’ foremost storyteller. In addition to the stories that the Disney Company
produces through its animated and live-action productions, there is...
Numerous water supply systems and community based water boards have been created with the aid of international organizations and NGOs in developing countries. These water systems have great potential to improve people’s social life and health in these countries. However, in reality, these water systems are often not effectively managed;...
Oregon’s High Lava Plains Province (HLP) has strongly bimodal basalt and rhyolitic volcanism. The Province caps the northern margin of the Basin and Range Province and serves as a transitional region between westward extension of the Basin and Range Province and unextended crust to the north . The High Lava...
This collection of poems discusses the human body, the desires to have control over that body, and the memories contained within. In some poems, the body is overt; in others, the probing
spills from man into the animal world, and even poems that depict landscape often do so in bodily...
On piñon-juniper encroached sites that lack the understory fuels to carry a prescribed fire, treatment options are limited to mechanical methods. Cutting with chainsaws and leaving the trees on site has been the primary treatment method for such sites, however this method creates a potential fire hazard, particularly in the...
The net mass balance fluctuations of Arctic and Sub-Arctic glaciers, north of 47.5°
North latitude, are described over a 45-year period from 1957 to 2002 using two
parameters derived from a gridded climatology reanalysis. Variability among 185
measured glaciers was represented according to two main components. The first
component represents...
In the field of Human-Computer Interaction, provenance refers to the complete history and genealogy of a document. Provenance can be useful in identifying related resources, such as different versions of the same document or resources used in the creation of a new document. Though methods of provenance collection and applications...
Suspended sediment and in situ turbidity data from two western Oregon streams, Oak Creek and South Fork Hinkle Creek, were used to estimate annual sediment loads for the 2006 water year (October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006). Water samples and in situ turbidity observations were taken following the Turbidity...
A Mobile Ad-hoc NETwork (MANET) is collection of wireless mobile nodes without a network infrastructure or centralized administration. Although MANETs can be used in many applications, such as mobile Internet, military communication, and disaster relief networks, a number of challenges remain. These include routing, medium access control, security, scalability, energy...
Shifting climate patterns in the Columbia River basin are affecting snow pack, and, as a result, stream flow throughout the region. In the Oregon Cascades, ever growing populations, and their associated activities, place increasing stress on an already over allocated hydrologic system. Political pressures, including the possibility of renegotiation or...
As college students transition to life away from their parental home, the need to make independent decisions regarding their eating and exercise behaviors is evident. This life transition may be a critical period for establishment of long term behavior patterns with potential impact on health, disease and weight balance. This...
Low energy design techniques for digital circuits are examined to determine their suitability for use in a digital logic controller for wireless sensor network nodes. Transistor level simulations are used to evaluate the techniques and those demonstrating an energy reduction are used to implement a digital logic controller. The digital...
In Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC) or high frequency digital
ICs, there is a demand to probe the internal nodes for testing. The ultra low
capacitance RFIC probe presented in his work is a flexible tool for these
applications. The probe utilizes the coupling between a tungsten needle and the...
We consider the problem of tactical assault planning in real-time strategy games where a team of friendly agents must launch an assault on an enemy. This problem offers many challenges including a highly dynamic and uncertain environment, multiple agents, durative actions, numeric attributes, and different optimization objectives. While the dynamics...
Ensuring correctness of real-world software applications is a challenging task. Testing can be used to find many bugs, but is typically not sufficient for proving correctness or even eliminating entire classes of bugs. However, formal proof and verification techniques tend to be very heavy weight and are simply not available...
This thesis is a study of the changes in the cultural definition of the American Dream. I have chosen to use Superman comics, from 1938 to the present day, as litmus tests for how we have societally interpreted our ideas of “success” and the “American Way.” This work is primarily...
Ocean wave energy is a new and developing field of renewable energy with great potential. The energy contained in one meter of an average wave off the coast of Newport Oregon could supply dozens of homes with electricity. However, ocean waves are usually quite irregular which leads to large bursts...
The results of a machine learning from user behavior can be thought of as a program, and like all programs, it may need to be debugged. Providing ways for the user to debug it matters because without the ability to fix errors, users may find that the learned program’s errors...
In this thesis, I conduct an analysis of paradigmatic background assumptions deployed in engineering decision-making processes, in order to understand how these assumptions, operating tacitly and in tension with each other, contribute to decisions that are ethically less effective and less substantial than they would otherwise be. I do so...
In previous work (Blakemore et al. Org. Lett. 2005, 7, 4721; Heterocycles 2006, 70, 609), successful elaborations of the lupine alkaloids (±)-α-isosparteine (dl-2) and (±)-β-isosparteine (dl-3) were realized from a common tetraoxobispidine precursor, 3,7-diallyl -2,4,6,8-tetraoxo-3,7-diazabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane (93). Herein, the tetraoxobispidine approach to lupine alkaloids was extended to a total synthesis of...
Within this thesis, I posit that poetry, rather than philosophical argument, is a more effective means of expressing and understanding the nature of mystical experiences. William James’ analysis of mysticism inspires the theoretical approach utilized in this thesis. An analysis of the unique qualities of poetic language within mystical discourse...
Tissue weighting factors, w[subscript T], used to convert equivalent dose to effective dose, account for differences in radiosensitivity of various organs in the human body and allow users to compare individual organ detriment to whole body risk. They are explicitly calculated in ICRP 26, 60, and 103, although the methods...
Water temperature is an important measure of water quality, as well as a dominant factor affecting aquatic life within the stream environment. Elevated water temperatures can decrease the survival rate of fish in each life stage. Cold water species, such as salmonids, are particularly susceptible to elevated water temperatures. For...
We studied the feasibility of using end-grain characteristics to match individual boards and cants back to their parent Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) logs. After reviewing marking/reading and biometric automated identification systems, we focused on end-grain biometrics because they appear to have the most promise for sawmills. Biometric identification requires that every...
This thesis is an exploration of Catch-22 (1961) and Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), two early documents of American postmodern literature. In particular, this thesis attempts to present the critical discussions surrounding each novel as parallel to the broader theoretical discussions surrounding the concept of postmodernism. My contention is that, in both of...
The impact of yeast on the aroma and flavor of Vitis vinifera L. cv. 'Pinot Noir' wine was investigated. Due to the presence of naturally occurring yeast and bacteria on grapes and wine equipment, and the influence these microorganisms have on wine, a means of eliminating microorganisms from grape must...
In recent decades, there has been a tremendous change in the college student
experience. In many ways this change has been driven by developments in
technology, which have in turn changed the way students conduct research,
socialize, and recreate. This thesis seeks to gain an understanding as to how
Internet...
Window displays are an important means by which retailers communicate with both current and potential consumers. The present study investigated how the use of context setting (with or without) in a window display and background music (with or without) influence consumers' mental imagery, arousal response, attitude toward the display, and...
Falls caused by slips are a major health risk to older adults and place a large financial strain on the health care system. Previous research has found that individuals can learn to recover their balance after being exposed to a series of simulated slips. However, training large numbers of older...
PURPOSE: The purpose of this research was to quantify the effects of a warm-up with static or dynamic stretching on countermovement jump height, reaction time, muscle onsets for tibialis anterior (TA) and vastus lateralis (VL), and low back/ hamstring flexibility.
METHODS: Twenty one recreationally-active males (24.4 ± 4.5 yrs), recruited...
Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco] bark (DFB),
sphagnum peat moss, and pumice are the most common substrate components used
in the Oregon nursery industry. Despite the widespread use of these three
components, little information is available on the effect of physical and hydraulic
properties of peat moss and pumice on...
Coagulation and flocculation are commonly used in drinking water treatment
as a means of destabilizing and aggregating particles and promoting adsorption of
dissolved organic carbon (DOC). In practice, jar tests are used to determine optimal
conditions for the removal of turbidity and DOC. However, beyond the inferences
that can be...
Ocean observing groups are currently making efforts to work with well-defined end-user groups, like boaters and fishermen, to provide meaningful and effective real-time data (RTD) products and visualizations. However, providing meaningful data products for undefined groups such as the general public is not straightforward. In Oregon, several industry, science, and...
At the Costa Rica Dome (CRD), upwelling associated with cyclonic circulation and the presence of a shallow thermocline support a highly productive biological habitat, exploited by marine fauna at several trophic levels. During January 2008, a cruise to the CRD by the R/V Pacific Storm was conducted to relocate blue...
High concentration and low efficiency have plagued the Chinese banking industry since the establishment of the national banking system in China. Recently, foreign banks have been allowed to enter the Chinese market, and small and medium-sized commercial banks have expanded their market share. At the same time, Chinese bank efficiency...
The adsorption behavior of a human recombinant Factor VIII (rFVIII) in the presence of the nonionic, poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-PPO-PEO) triblock surfactant Pluronic® F-68 was evaluated by dynamic air-water tensiometry. Surface tension kinetics were recorded for F-68 in the absence of protein at concentrations ranging from 0 to 10,000...
It has been demonstrated that walking is the most common form of physical activity for adults with intellectual disabilities, including Down syndrome (DS). The pedometer is common measurement tool to quantify steps walked, yet there is little evidence of the psychometric properties for individuals with intellectual disabilities, particularly DS. Thus,...
The City of Woodburn, Oregon's Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) has been investigating several natural alternatives for improving effluent quality. Based on its current National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, the WWTP will require additional reduction of temperature and ammonia levels in the summer, especially in the critical month of...
Caregiving circumstances frequently evoke high levels of stress for caregivers and have consistently been linked to adverse psychological and physical health consequences. Within the caregiving literature, researchers have sought to answer questions about why some individuals seem to be particularly vulnerable to the well-established deleterious consequences of caregiving stress. Several...
Iron epoxy composite materials were made and their relative magnetic permeability was measured. A measurement device was created to measure the relative magnetic permeability for the specific application. This device proved to be accurate and reliable. The magnetic properties of composite materials have been shown to be controllable, with a...
The ability to non-destructively assess fish condition and subsequently track fish behavior and survival can be vital in understanding natural and anthropogenic stressors and sources of mortality, especially in populations of fish listed as threatened or endangered. I investigated the use of a quick, non-lethal, external examination technique to assess...
An experimental and numerical study of absorption of ammonia vapor bubbles into a constrained thin film of ammonia-water solution is presented in the context of a potential reduction in size of a heat-actuated heat pump component. A large-aspect-ratio channel with a depth of 600 µm restricts the thickness of the...
A recent and steady increase in student participation in study-abroad programs
has caused international educators and student affairs professionals to reevaluate the
current study-abroad paradigm and redesign and implement new curricula better suited
to meet the changing needs of international education. Recent emphasis has been
placed on understanding outcomes of...
Communicating dynamic motion content, such as exercise, with a static medium, such as paper, is difficult. The technology exists for presenting 3D animated exercise content to patients; however, the tools for allowing exercise domain experts to effectively author the content do not exist. We conducted two formative studies with exercise...
This study examines stream channel erosion processes in a small urbanizing watershed influenced by deposits of the Columbia Basin catastrophic floods: Kelley Creek, a 12-km² tributary of Johnson Creek, located just east of Portland, Oregon. Information on landscape history, stream channels, and sediment dynamics was compiled. The effects of future...
Low levels of copper have been shown to impair the olfactory system of threatened and
endangered (T&E) salmon, decreasing their predator avoidance behavior and likely
increasing mortality. However, only dissolved copper (dissCu) present as the cupric ion
(Cu2+) and weakly complexed species are truly bioavailable. Previous studies indicate the
vast...
Droplet and spray impingement cooling are typically used in high heat flux
thermal management. In this thesis, droplet impingement and evaporation heat transfer
characteristics are determined from measured spatially- and temporally- varying fluid
and surface temperatures. Unique to this study is the documentation of the effects of
using a nanofluid...
The Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) has two possible core configurations, a hexagonal prismatic and a pebble bed. It is essential that an experimental facility be built for the validation of computer codes for the safe operation of the VHTR. The scaling of the prismatic core configuration has been analyzed...
The ultimate goal of large-scale design organizations are mainly to reduce costs and improve reliability and performance of systems while assessing how much risk (cost, schedule, scope) they can take and still remain competitive. To achieve this goal they need to develop tools to reach the most preferred design product...