Tag: Poster 12

Oregon Health and Science University: A foundation to build upon. “Envisioning a multifunctional urban campus oriented around pedestrian experience and context connections

Presenter: Jonathan Haller

Mentor: David Hulse

PM Poster Presentation

Poster 12

This is a final comprehensive project for the BLA program, focusing on the design of a medical school campus. The design explores the campus from an urban scale down to detailed focus areas where elements are explored at a fine grain. The methods used break down the design into simple diagrams and build it up to a more complex level of understanding. The project looks at the design from multiple lenses and approaches. The result is a comprehensive look at how a campus is designed and presented in a way for people to understand the design intent. This project is successful in that it has a significant amount of resolution in the time frame of the project. OHSU is a critical part of Portland’s South Waterfront district and this design communicates how the city can benefit from this design as a model for how urban spaces can function.

Motionese: Subject to Preference?

Presenter : Natalie Brezack

Mentor : Dare Baldwin

Major :Psychology

Poster 12

Research by Kuhl, Coffey-Corina, Padden, and Dawson, 2005, demonstrated that typically developing infants prefer “motherese” speech to a non-speech analog. In contrast, children with autism spectrum disorder show the reverse preference, and the degree to which this is true predicts their developmental progress in processing properties of speech streams. I am investigating possible parallels to these findings in children’s processing of human action; specifically, whether developmental skills in preschool-aged children predict the degree to which they prefer “motionese” versus a non-action analog (or the reverse), and whether the strength of their preference predicts the sophistication of their processing of intentional action. Preliminary results based on participation from forty 2- to 3-year- olds indicate a significant correlation between executive function skills and degree of preference for motionese versus the non-action analog. Should these findings be borne out in the full sample, they point to important links between the development of language and intentional action processing, and they may have implications for designing interventions for children developing atypically.

Establishing Baseline Data at Strube Ponds

Presenter: James Lauder

Co-Presenters: Ella Deck, Emily Erickson

Mentor: Peg Boulay

Poster: 12

Major: Environmental Science

The South Fork of the McKenzie River historically supported a prolific spring Chinook salmon run, but it has been severely impacted by the construction of Cougar Dam in the 1960s. The flood control dam dramatically decreases the amount of water released below it and impedes natural transportation of large woody debris and sediment downstream. Additionally, leftover materials from the construction were used to create levees and revetments downstream, channelizing the historic floodplain near Strube Ponds. Our team of 11 students from the Environmental Leadership Program collected mapping and monitoring data in the general Strube Ponds area below Cougar

Dam in order establish baseline data for future restoration prioritization. To meet these goals our team conducted field monitoring with community partners from the McKenzie Watershed Council, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and U.S. Forest Service to: inventory and map levees, revetments, and historic side channels; survey macroinvertebrates, fish species, amphibian egg masses, and terrestrial herptile presence/absence; and evaluate western pond turtle habitat conditions. Compiled into a formal report, the results of our fieldwork include the egg mass locations of five herptile species which aid our community partners in prioritizing restoration activities amongst the ponds as well as maps of levees, revetments, and historic side channels to help them explore levee removal. This information will be used by our community partners to develop grant proposals for restoration work at Strube Ponds that is planned to start in 2016.

Morphological Signals and Mating Systems: Comparing Measures of Cranial Fluctuating Asymmetry and Second-to-Fourth Digit Ratio in Primates

Presenter: Kelsey Clarke

Mentors: Stephen Frost and Frances White, Anthropology

Poster: 12

Major: Anthropology

Fluctuating Asymmetry (FA) has been hypothesized to be related to testosterone levels and mating strategies; typically males are more asymmetrical than females. Second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) is correlated with developmental testosterone levels. Using 2D:4D and cranial FA from 19 primates, we compare the relationship between these variables to their respective mating systems. Forty-five landmarks were digitized using a Microscribe- 3DX© for 345 male and 307 female crania. Cranial FA was measured by calculating the Procrustes’ distance between each individual and its mirror-image. Mating systems, classified by intensity and frequency of male aggression, and sex-specific 2D:4D were taken from published studies. Cranial FA and 2D:4D were compared using parametric correlation. Two-way ANOVA of sex and species with a priori multiple comparisons between mating systems was used to examine variation in individual FA. Cranial FA and 2D:4D were correlated (r=-0.460,P<0.05). Cranial FA significantly differed among species (F=64.84,N=19,P<0.05), but there was no difference between sexes (F=1.08,ns) and no sex-species interaction (F=1.24,ns). Multiple comparisons grouping species by mating systems within this ANOVA showed significant differences between pair-bonded and non-pair bonded (F=30.79,P<0.05), between low intensity and high intensity (F=136.76,P<0.05) within non-pair bonded, and between low frequency and high frequency (F=154.62,P<0.05) within high intensity and non-pair bonded. These results support the hypothesis that cranial FA is correlated with testosterone and the variance in male aggression among mating systems.

Just Mossin’ Around: Factors in the Growth of Moss and Mold in Glass Staircase

Presenter: Harley Elliot

Co-Presenters: Champe Holbeck, Amanda Stanton

Faculty Mentor: Alison Kwok, Alyssa Franco

Presentation Type: Poster 12

Primary Research Area: Science

Major: Architecture

This case study looks at the overall air quality in the western glass stairwell of Lawrence Hall. Upon initial inspection, the air feels stagnant, humid, and uncomfortable. The stairwell is constructed of sheer glass walls on the north/south sides and concrete on the east/west sides. The glass has direct contact with the surrounding environment (i.e. trees and moisture). The materials used in the stairwell, combined with the exterior environment do have an effect on the interior climate of the stairwell. The CO2 levels are analyzed and compared to the ASHRAE 62.1-2013 standards. The humidity, light intensity, and temperature levels are compared to ideal environments for moss and mold. The most important factor contributing to the growth of moss and mold (MEEB Table 5.1) is humidity. The growth of moss/mold contribute to the overall air quality of the staircase. Observations of the staircase led to two hypotheses:

1. The air quality of the glass stairwell in Lawrence Hall is below the ASHRAE 62.1-2013 standard.
2. The variation of materials used in the stairwell aids in the growth of moss and mold.
Through testing using a CO2 meter, the first hypothesis was proved wrong, indicating healthy CO2 levels in the staircase. Using HOBO dataloggers, the temperature, light intensity and relative humidity the second hypothesis was proved right, indicating the perfect environment for growth of moss and mold. Studies such as these are important in the design and construction of new buildings when considering materials and environmental factors.

Implementing Sobel Filtering Algorithm to Search for Particle Signatures In Proton-Proton Collisions at the Large Hadron Collider

Presenter(s): Adrian Gutierrez − Physics And Mathematics

Faculty Mentor(s): Stephanie Majewski

Poster 12

Research Area: Physics

ATLAS is one of four particle detector experiments constructed at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. The experiment is designed to take advantage of the high-energy proton-proton collisions to search for rare, interesting events. Each collision produces different types of particles that will deposit energy in the detector; the interactions between these particles are described by the Standard Model of particle physics. At the High Luminosity LHC, planned for 2026, the ATLAS trigger system must select these interesting events amidst 200 background collisions per proton-proton bunch crossing within 10 microseconds. In order to detect interesting events among the large amount of data collected, a filtering method is needed. Such techniques can exploit the unique type of signature that each elementary particle has. A technique that has shown to give promising results is edge detection, in particular a Sobel filter. Applying a Sobel filter to the energy depositions in our events defines boundaries around so-called “jets”, or splashes of energies in our detector. The main goal of my study is the application of edge filtering techniques which can be implemented in our trigger system to look for areas of topological interest in our detector in hope that it will shed light on new particles or forces beyond the Standard Model.

Aggregate Packing Structure and Photophysical Properties of Pseudoisocyanine Thin Films

Presenter(s): Rima Pandit

Faculty Mentor(s): Kelly Wilson & Cathy Wong

Poster 12

Session: Sciences

Electronic coupling between organic molecules in an aggregate gives rise to distinct features in the measured linear absorption spectra. Electronic coupling is determined by the physical arrangement of the molecules within the aggregate packing structure, and this results in specific photophysical properties of the aggregate. In dropcasted thin films of pseudoisocyanine (PIC), in situ absorption spectra reveal a distinct intermediate aggregation stage with potentially useful photophysical properties. Single-shot transient absorption (SSTA) spectroscopy can measure the exciton dynamics of the intermediate aggregation stage and of the entire aggregation process. This work describes improvements to a novel SSTA spectrometer that can concurrently measure exciton dynamics, absorption, and fluorescence during the PIC aggregation process. These measured photophysical properties are correlated with aggregate packing structure and composition inferred from fitting in situ absorption spectra with a Holstein-Hamiltonian. This strategy provides insight into the evolving composition and properties of aggregates during the process of aggregation, and can inform initiatives to tune aggregate packing structure to yield aggregates with desired electronic properties for photovoltaics and semiconductors.