Category: 2020

Yerba Mate—Production Analysis and Education of Sustainable Alternatives

Presenter(s): Cian Whalen—Environmental Studies

Co-Presenter(s): Sarah-Anne Bedrosian, Garren Lum

Faculty Mentor(s): Sarah Stoeckel, Kathryn Lynch

Session: Environmental Leaders ARC

Students at the University of Oregon are highly reliant on prepackaged food and drinks to keep energized throughout the day . Many students consume multiple caffeinated beverages each day, often served in a single use container . Due to its popularity on campus, we are using Guayaki brand Yerba Mate as a case study to exemplify the impact of the high consumption of single use products . We hypothesize when analyzing the environmental harm and pollution created by the production of packaging materials, packaging for loose leaf tea will have an overall lower environmental impact than glass bottles or aluminum cans . Our group will research the production analysis of glass bottles, aluminum cans, and packaging of loose leaf tea looking at the embodied energy, waste materials, and overall environmental impact from production . The research will be presented in a video presentation that will educate the UO population about the production analysis of aluminum cans, glass bottles . We argue consumers should consider purchasing loose leaf Yerba Mate and brewing their own tea instead of creating waste by consumption of the drink in a glass bottle or aluminum can . By exploring the production analysis and the environmental, social, and economic components of the different variations of Guayaki Yerba Mate, we hope to educate the student body on the implications of their consumerism and prompt them to make more sustainable consumer choices .

Human Trafficking in Haiti

Presenter(s): Sydnee Warren—Exploring

Co-Presenter(s): Sara Harvey

Faculty Mentor(s): Matthias Vogel

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

The State Department of the United States of America has in 2019 raised concerns about human and sex trafficking taking place in the Dominican Republic and in Haiti . Our research project examines the many factors contributing to human trafficking in the nation of Haiti, where thousands are affected by human trafficking every year . As a developing country, Haiti struggles to overcome this problem . We seek to expose the main developments and causes for the Haitian sex and labor trafficking market by reviewing and compiling government data, reports issued by international non-governmental organizations, and individual case studies over the past decade . We will show that the Haitian government has not taken sufficient action to hold traffickers accountable or to eradicate the “Restavek” system, a system that has delivered one quarter of Haitian children into domestic servitude and harsh labor . We contend that Haiti continues to be in a human rights struggle of devastating consequences for individual lives . Our project aims to bring to widespread public attention the violations of basic human rights in developing and often ignored countries like Haiti and we hope to shine a spotlight onto human trafficking in Haiti in an effort to try and gain support for the movement to overcome human trafficking .

Women Most Vulnerable: The Role Traditional Gender Roles Played in the Salem Witch Trials

Presenter(s): Maya Ward—Political Science

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

This project looks at what were the largest influences in the accusation of a person during the Salem Witch Trials . After preliminary research the main question of inquiry became, why were women more likely to be persecuted in the Salem witch trials and what factors further increased likelihood of accusation and conviction? This question was answered through both analysis of court documents, recorded sermons, and secondary scholarship on the lives of the people accused . It was concluded that the women of Salem, especially the poor and outcast, supposedly influenced by the Devil, became the primary justification for instability in the community . The largest factors that amplified the likelihood of being accused, especially for a woman, was her age, economic status, and outspokenness in the community . These conclusions can help to explain why the moral panic in Salem occurred, and help to demonstrate the danger of oppressive genderroles in a society that, when not strictly followed, can create an ambiguity manipulated by powerful figures that can hurt those most vulnerable .

Language Proficiency and Lexical-Semantic Processing in Bilingual Toddlers

Presenter(s): Abbey Ward—Communication Disorders and Sciences; Spanish

Faculty Mentor(s): Stephanie De Anda

Session 6: Interact & React

Prior research suggests that language systems are not entirely separate but interact in bilingual individuals . The current study seeks to extend prior work by investigating whether or not bilingual toddlers organize vocabulary words and their meanings (i .e ., lexical-semantic networks) within and across languages as early as 2 years of age . Of interest is how the words a toddler hears (i .e ., language exposure) versus the words that they say (i .e ., language proficiency) influence this organization of dual vocabulary systems . This study presents findings from a group of Spanish- English bilingual toddlers (N = 20, Mage = 24 .65 months) to examine the association between (a) language exposure and (b) language proficiency with lexical-semantic processing . Four measures were used: the Language Exposure Assessment Tool (LEAT) captured exposure, whereas the Computerized Comprehension Task (CCT) and the English-Spanish Vocabulary Inventories (ESVI) measured vocabulary size in both languages . Lastly, eye-tracking measures assessed lexical- semantic processing within and across Spanish and English . Consistent with prior literature, results suggest that vocabulary systems interact in bilingual toddlers by 24 months of age . As a group, toddlers with larger vocabulary sizes and faster speed of word recognition in their stronger language (Spanish) demonstrated inhibition, such that they were more likely to efficiently discard words similar in meaning (i .e ., semantic competitors) in order to correctly identify the target . When processing semantic relationships between words in their weaker language (English), toddlers with slower speed of word recognition demonstrated facilitation in order to continue ongoing activation of their sparse vocabulary networks . However, language exposure was not associated with lexical- semantic processing . Together these findings demonstrate that the words bilingual toddlers say and understand (and not necessarily what they hear) influence the organization of dual language systems . Ultimately, our findings contribute to the current understanding of bilingual first language acquisition and emerging theoretical models on bilingual language development .

Government Response, Epidemiology, and Impacted Communities in New York during the Coronavirus Pandemic

Presenter(s): Angelique Wallmann—International Studies, French

Co-Presenter(s): Amelia Hardeman, Hannah Heskin

Faculty Mentor(s): Kristin Yarris

Session 2: US Outbreak Breakout—COVID-19 Research

During this unprecedented time of global health crisis, Covid-19 has impacted each state in the United States differently . A lack of guidance from the federal government has allowed state governments to develop varying responses to the crisis bringing individual results . New York has quickly become the epicenter for the disease in the US, because of this, I have chosen to follow the state-level response to Covid-19 in New York as part of the INTL Field Experience: GH Crisis course this term . My project uses social media to share and analyze important information related to disease epidemiology, government response through policies, and impacted communities . This research is ongoing as the crisis continues to unfold, at this time focus is being given to how and when the New York state government will begin to prepare for a transition out of emergency response to Covid-19 .

The Role of Semantic Predictability in Adaptation to Nonnative-Accented Speech

Presenter(s): Kayla Walker—Linguistics

Faculty Mentor(s): Melissa Baese-Berk

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

Nonnative-accented speech is more difficult for native listeners to understand than native-accented speech . However, listeners can improve their abilities to understand nonnative- accented speech through exposure and training . The goal of this project is to explore whether exposing native listeners to different sentence types affects listeners’ adaptation to nonnative speech . Listeners will be trained on high predictability sentences (e .g ., “The color of a lemon is yellow”), low predictability sentences (e .g ., “Mom said that it is yellow”), or semantically anomalous sentences (e .g ., “The green week did the page”) . Previous research has demonstrated that semantic predictability impacts speech perception, but its influence on adaptation to nonnative speech is unknown . This research aimed to answer the following questions: Does training with low predictability or anomalous stimuli require listeners to focus more attention on the acoustic-phonetic properties of the accent and thus lead to greater adaptation and generalizable learning? Or will training with high predictability stimuli provide valuable semantic information that will allow listeners to create a better framework for improving perception? Overall, preliminary results indicate that training with low predictability sentences provides listeners with an advantage over training with high predictability sentences . Using higher effort in training with more challenging sentences allows listeners to construct generalizable knowledge about the speech rather than relying on semantic prediction during a transcription task .

Quantification of Point Defects in Perovskite Solar Cells

Presenter(s): Nicole Wales—Chemistry and Physics

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Lonergan, Zack Crawford

Session 5: The Bonds that Make Us

In order to improve perovskite solar cell efficiency, it is necessary to minimize defects within the perovskite absorber layer, which may include crystallographic point defects . By understanding how these defects form and contribute to the material’s electronic structure, we will gain insight into routes of Shockley-Read-Hall recombination and associated efficiency loss . Theoretical studies have credited some point defects with the production of energy trap states within the bandgap. As such, we aim to measure and describe the nature and formation of traps in real materials. External quantum efficiency measurements are used to describe a gaussian distribution of traps . Additionally, capacitance techniques are applied with the added advantage of increased sensitivity to the absorber layer . However, capacitance techniques are complicated by the hysteretic perovskite system, which is discussed . The samples used in this study include methylenediammonium dichloride- stabilized alpha-formamidinium lead triiodide, a perovskite with interstitially incorporated chloride . External quantum efficiency measurements showed lower defect densities compared to devices of different compositions, however, one sample did show a small signal with a defect transition energy of 1 .08 ± 0 .01 eV . Findings may point to material suppression of sub-gap defects associated with methylenediammonium dichloride-stabilization compared to alternative compositions . It will be interesting to determine if methylenediammonium dichloride is the source of defect suppression in these samples . To understand how the composition might affect defect states, it will also be necessary to take measurements of other stabilizing agents with different compositions .

Association between marital status and number of chronic health conditions among US Latinx adults

Presenter(s): Yessenia Villalobos—Family and Human Services

Faculty Mentor(s): Elizabeth Budd

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

Background: Being married versus single is associated with better health outcomes among non- Latinx White adults, especially for men . Although rates of chronic diseases are high among Latinx adults, the association between marital status and chronic diseases among US Latinx adults is unknown . Objectives: To examine the association of marital status and number of chronic health conditions among US Latinx adults and how this association varies by gender . Methods: 798 US Latinx adults (Mage = 39 .64 ± 15 .05y; 59% female; 46% married or in a civil union; 35 .6% single) answered a Qualtrics Panels survey . Marital status, current chronic health conditions, and gender were assessed using the Demographic and Health Data Questionnaire . One-way ANOVA stratified by gender was conducted . Results: Marital status was associated with the number of chronic health conditions (p< .001); respondents who were not married, but in a relationship had significantly fewer chronic health conditions than those married or in a civil union . Additionally, those widowed had significantly more chronic health conditions than those single and those not married, but in a relationship . Among women, those not married, but in a relationship had fewer chronic conditions than those married or in a civil union (p< .05) . Among men, those single and those not married, but in a relationship had fewer chronic health conditions than those married or in a civil union (p< .001) . Conclusions: Across genders among Latinx adults, not being married was associated with fewer chronic health conditions, inconsistent with literature on non-Latinx White adults . Health promotion efforts could target married Latinx adults .

Global Perspectives on Wide Scale Outbreaks

Presenter(s): Kira Veselka—Business Administration, International Studies, German

Co-Presenter(s): Meama Scott

Faculty Mentor(s): Matthias Vogel

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

With many modern viruses and bacteria becoming increasingly more deadly, how countries react to disease outbreaks becomes more crucial than ever . With the recent Coronavirus epidemic beginning in Wuhan, China, spreading across the globe, we are able to watch first-hand how modern industrialized societies react to massive viral outbreaks . In this research project, we examine how countries such as China, the United States of America, Germany, and Sweden react to a massive viral outbreak and how what they do to protect their citizens from these deadly diseases interacts with existing narratives of prejudice against certain countries or segments of their population . Examining and evaluating public news media in China, Germany, Sweden and the USA we find that large-scale outbreaks can affect the public’s perspective on the perceived ‘Other’ and push narratives of fear promoting confusion and misunderstanding . A country can take a number of precautions from only warning the public and suggesting enhanced hygiene practices to quarantining large segments of its population in an effort to prevent a more significant outbreak . Which measures are taken affects public opinion and could save or stifle the efforts to contain diseases . Our research ultimately promotes ongoing efforts of overcoming narratives of prejudice and fear which and contributes to progress in the prevention of disease .

Demographic Differences between Mothers with and without Substance Use Disorders

Presenter(s): Avery Turner—Psychology, Political Science

Session: Prerecorded Poster Presentation

The present study investigates the demographic differences between mothers with Substance Use Disorders (SUD) (n=67) and mothers without (n=84) . The data was collected as part of a larger study that found significant differences in brain reward activation between the two groups when looking at happy and sad faces of their own and unknown infants . Age of the mother, ethnicity, mother’s education level, employment, annual family income, and marital status were collected from each participant in both groups via a self-report questionnaire . The two groups were compared on each of these measures using an independent samples t-test . The differences between the non-substance abusing and substance abusing groups on all of these variables, except for age, was statistically significant . This finding indicates that brain activation results need to be adjusted for these
factors, in order to determine differences solely related to drug use . Further, it may imply that these demographic variables are themselves risk factors for the development of SUDs . More research must be done with demographically similar control mothers in order to conclude that differences between the two groups are the result of SUD status and not confounded by significant demographic differences .