As technologies like 3D printing increase in prevalence and capabilities, having a robot hand specifically designed for a given manipulation task also becomes more feasible. Leading to the question of how to design a robot hand for a specific manipulation task. To answer this question, I propose we need three...
This thesis describes a method for automatically generating and evaluating small-scale off-grid energy systems. Such systems are comprised of components such as solar panels, residential-scale wind turbines, batteries, inverters and charge controllers. These disparate components are assembled into feasible networks through the use of topological optimization and graph grammar rules....
Microtechnology was used to study the chemical reduction of dissolved carbon dioxide into useful products. A novel TiO₂ photocatalyst was used to activate the reaction under ultraviolet irradiation. CO₂ was dissolved in aqueous and 50% BMIM-BF₄ (ionic liquid) solutions. The introduction of an ionic liquid increased the solubility of CO₂...
This research was aimed at providing the foundation for changing standards of care in a critical care setting using Catholic concepts of respect for human dignity, subsidiarity, common good, and solidarity as a matter of social justice. I first unpacked the nature of ICU care and the inevitability of the...
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Professor Courtney Campbell
This research was aimed at providing the foundation
In order to solve some classic problems in traditional topology optimization, such as unknown material distribution, checker-boarding and curse of dimensionality, this thesis introduces a new method to construct a mechanical structure that can reduce mass and increase stiffness. It uses a graph to represent the skeleton of a structure....
As the human population grows, the need for alternative and clean forms of energy is greater. The installation of offshore wind energy has been on the rise over the past decade, however the fossil fuel energy generation sectors, such as coal and natural gas, are still major players in the...
Washington State fisheries and Washington State Treaty Tribes are becoming increasingly restricted in harvest of wild salmon due to US Endangered Species Act listings of salmon species, marine mammal predation by both ESA listed Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) and US Marine Mammal Protection Act protected pinnipeds, salmon habitat destruction,...
The intent of this research is to explore the entire design space of mechanism topologies by using a graph grammar synthesis approach. A new graph representation of planer mechanism has been developed to represent the planar mechanism with revolute (R), prismatic (P), and pin-in-slot (RP) joints. Following Gruebler's equation, the...
Dedicated to recording, portraying, and indicting
the social inequities that he witnessed in nineteenth
century Victorian England, one of Charles Dickens' many
concerns was the roles assigned to women both in the
public and private spheres.
The purpose of this thesis is to examine the
narratives of Amy Dorrit and...
This thesis explores the metaphor of hospice nurses as "midwives to the dying" by
applying philosophical inquiry to the field of hospice. I focus on the history of the
movements, their professional approaches to caregiving, and the core commitments of
both the modern midwifery and hospice movements. Although focused on...
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________________________________________________________________________
Courtney S. Campbell
This thesis explores the metaphor of hospice nurses as “midwives to
This thesis analyzes the ways in which the practices of yoga, mindfulness and meditation can be of benefit to hospice and palliative care practitioners in addressing job-related stress. The research suggests that these contemplative practices can be effective in addressing compassion fatigue among hospice and palliative care professionals. The thesis...
Considering human factors in early engineering design stages can improve expensive late stage processes, facilitate user safety, improve product quality and help reduce the need for physical prototyping. Currently, car pillar design (the vertical pillars between windows which connect the roof and car body) provide safety for the passengers in...
An investigation concerning the acceptance of a new, legend drug
product was conducted within a community of 15,000 population.
Twenty-eight physicians within the community were chosen for evaluation
relative to acceptance of the new drug product.
Data were obtained by means of a prescription audit of nine retail
pharmacies in...
Two concurrent studies were conducted to evaluate the effect
of selenium (Se) supplementation on beef cows. Trial 1 was designed
to evaluate the safety and efficacy of two intrareticular Se supplementation
delivery systems. Trial 2 was designed to evaluate the
transfer of Se across the placenta and through the colostrum...
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of inorganic
and organic components of molasses on the laxative problem
encountered when molasses makes up a large portion of livestock
rations. In a series of four trials 280 male Long Evans rats weighing
approximately 50 grams each were placed...
The author presents a "state of the art" of the use of polymers
for better settling in domestic waste treatment and evaluates the
published research in the field.
Polymers have only recently been used to obtain better settling
in domestic waste treatment. Due to the number of polymer types
available...
Despite evidence that juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) utilize North Pacific estuaries for growth and salinity acclimation, research in the Columbia River estuary has lead to opposing hypotheses about the estuary’s importance as a salmon rearing environment. Many contemporary tagging studies indicate that salmon residency within the estuary is short...
A considerable amount of research and literature exists that attempt to explain the policymaking processes of central banks and, in particular, the Federal Reserve Bank (FRB). As with those studies, the purpose of this study is to explain FRB policymaking in order to understand FRB policy shifts during financial crises....
Siletz Bay is a drowned river valley filled with Holocene alluvial
and estuarine sediments and is separated from the ocean by a sand
spit 3.8 km in length. Since the area was settled by white man in the
1890's, the bay has apparently experienced rapid siltation, due to
increased farming...
The vegetative communities in the subalpine meadows of Hunts
Cove, Mt. Jefferson, and some of the major environmental factors
affecting them were studied in the summer of 1971. Hunts Cove is in
the subalpine Tsuga mertensiana parkland of the Central Oregon High
Cascades. Habitats within the Cove vary considerably; elevation...
This project is intended to study the effectiveness of manmade vernal pools for creating habitat value, particularly within an urban setting. Natural vernal pool habitats are under threat across the United States as filling and development activities have led to permanent loss of habitat. Mitigation requirements or other restoration/creation activities...
This was a study designed to determine the occurrence of recovery
from radiation damage in Taricha granulosa. Irradiation with either
gamma or x-ray sources in the range of 96-10,000 rads was given. (The
mean or median survival times were determined.) Doses were fractionated
and the survival times for the same...
The undisputed cost-effectiveness of the anti-homelessness program “Housing First” is well established in the empirical literature, but fewer studies have considered the impact of the program on individual residents. This mixed-methods study examines the lives of a cohort of residents in a Portland-based Housing First project, seeking to determine whether...
In an attempt to better understand documentary theory and production, I
created Bowling Together; a documentary recounting the experiences of one bowling
team and looking at the relationship between participation in bowling leagues and civil
society. This thesis provided me a first-hand experience at producing a documentary,
allowing me to...
An increase in frequency and severity of hot, dry summers has been associated with a dramatic shift in the coniferous forests of western Oregon’s valleys, especially on the privately-owned properties along the low-elevation edges of these valleys. Various conifer species, including Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), are declining in these forests, leaving...
In this work, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are computationally represented, generated, and evaluated. The organic linker molecules are represented as graphs and use graph grammars where the atoms are represented by nodes and the bonds are represented by arcs. The grammar rules that dictate the graph generation process work on the...
The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effects
of early morning and evening bouts of aerobic exercise upon the diurnal
pattern of reaction time and body temperature. An effort was
made to classify subjects according to the rhythmic trends identified
with 'morning' and 'evening' type persons.
Eight...
A cinematographic analysis of hurdling technique was completed
using six high school women in the 100 meter hurdle event as
subjects. The study was descriptive in design, intending to make
objective comparisons of selected elements of the hurdling action.
Sixteen hypotheses were developed and tested, in an effort to describe...
Forty-eight young adult males were ranked on the basis of mean
hand-grip strength scores and the middle one-third, the medium
strength range, were chosen as subjects. These sixteen subjects were
given 30 serial trials in each of four tests; knee flexion, knee
extension, elbow flexion, and elbow extension. Each trial...
The purpose of this study was: 1) to compare the
change in QT interval values before, during, and after
exercise following carbohydrate depletion and loading, and
2) to assess the change following vitamin B-6 supplementation.
ECG monitoring devices and bicycle ergometers were
used to collect ECG tracings and control the...
The purpose of this investigation was to determine the
sprint start time to the first 10 and to the second 10
meters as a result of alteration of starting block angles
and lateral block spacings.
One male world class, two female college level, one
male and one female high school...
Forty-five subjects were given 30 trials of isometric elbow flexion
and 30 trials of elbow extension. Each trial consisted of maximum
exertion followed by a short rest in 10 second cycles. Subjects were
ranked on the basis of the addition of the median flexion and extension
scores and were divided...
Forty-five young adult males were given 30 trials of Isometric
knee extension and 30 trials of isometric knee flexion. Each trial
consisted of a maximum of three second exertion followed by a 10
second intertrial rest interval. Subjects were ranked on the basis
of the mean of the first three...
Eight male college students served as subjects in an investigation
to establish a procedural model for research of individual motor
units during sustained isometric contractions. Teca TE-4 electromyograph
system with needle electrode provided electrical potential
recordings from active muscle fibers in the right biceps. Various
experimental procedures were tested to...
In this work, a fully automated approach to synthesis Metal-Organic Frameworks is presented. We use graph to represent the structure of Metal-organic Frameworks and use graph grammars which are backbone rules and functional group rules to generate metal-organic framework. For a given parameter value of the user defined metal-organic framework,...
The purpose of this study was to monitor coronary responses
occurring in the S-T segment of an electrocardiogram before, during
and after exercise following a "standard" carbohydrate-loading schedule with varied vitamin B-6 supplementation. The study was conducted
using four college-aged males who had been training a minimum of two
years...
Creating effective packaging is about finding a balance between product protection during shipping and time consumption in the design process. Given time and cost constraints, it is hard to produce sufficiently protective padding while having it not be thicker than it needs to be. This thesis describes a method to...
Traditional electronic systems are usually fabricated via printed circuit boards (PCBs). In a regular PCB, the electronic components are placed and mounted on a two-dimensional board. Such a component layout limits the freedom in the component placement process which results in larger electronic devices. With the use of Additive Manufacturing...
Traditional electronic systems are usually fabricated via printed circuit boards (PCBs). In a regular PCB, the electronic components are placed and mounted on a two-dimensional board. Such a component layout limits the freedom in the component placement process which results in larger electronic devices. With the use of Additive Manufacturing...
This thesis details the applications of a new method of agent-based structure synthesis. The goal of this research is to create structures that meet a structural goal within a simulated physics environment. The method proposed works as an iterative process of changing the structure, evaluating the new structure and using...
Poor material utilization is inherent to conventional manufacturing processes, leading to high material waste and machining times. Additive manufacturing processes attempt to solve this issue by allowing production of near-net shapes, but the processes may be too expensive or infeasible. By leveraging both processes in a single part, the waste...
This thesis seeks to explore how an ecofeminist lens is currently the most useful approach for improving farmed animal welfare. Through examining Western conceptions of non-human animals, I seek to shed light upon the inconsistent treatment of domestic species. Species that are dependent upon us deserve, at a minimum, not...