Tag: Poster 32

Pulse Laser Physics: Constructing a Stretched Pulse Fiber Laser and Autocorrelator

Presenter: Alexander Muhr

Mentor: Stephen Gregory

PM Poster Presentation

Poster 32

Creation of laser pulses in the sub picosecond range has become increasingly important over the past couple of decades as the number of applications for ultrashort laser pulses has expanded. There are a number of ways to create sub picoseconds laser pulses; one such method is to use a stretched pulse fiber laser. This method is advantageous because stretched pulse fiber lasers are relatively inexpensive to build, compact, and operate efficiently. For practical purposes, it is also important to be able to characterize and measure sub picosecond pulses, especially their temporal duration. Due to the incredibly short duration of such pulses standard detection methods will not work. A solution to this problem is to use techniques which marginalize the slow response of the detector, one such technique being autocorrelation. This study has identified a number of important features essential to producing both a stretched pulse fiber laser and autocorrelator. At this point in time, we have created a stable stretched pulse fiber laser but have not been able to produce an autocorrelation of the laser pulses. Consequently, we do not exactly know the temporal duration of the laser pulses produced by the stretched pulse fiber laser.

Architecture-Focused Case Study on the Erb Memorial Union Atrium’s Environmental Performance

Presenter: Mauricio Underwood

Co-Presenters: Jiawei Mai

Mentor: Alison Kwok

Poster: 32

Major: Architecture

The Erb Memorial Union acts today as the center of the University of Oregon Campus and is subjected to the most diverse and frequent student traffic. Yet it is one of the oldest, largest, and most poorly insulated buildings on the University of Oregon campus. This research studies the southeast atrium, where many students tend to congregate. The space is well lit due to the expanse of windows covering the entire southeast side of the building and most of the roof. While this allows for plenty of natural light, the single-paned windows also cause enormous amounts of heat loss in the atrium. But does the amount of heat gain through solar-oriented windows compensate for the heat loss during winter months? The result of the temperature data analysis shows that the solar gains in Btu/Hour through the atrium windows is about twelve times greater than the heat loss to the exterior. However, the steam profile of the building indicates that the atrium is still being heated. Our finding suggests infiltration to be the primary source of heat loss, which was initially overlooked in the study. This further indicates the importance of airtightness in the passive cooling/heating of architecture.

Consumer Behavior of Generation Y in the Performing Arts

Presenter: Taylor Jones

Mentor: Patricia Lambert, Arts and Administration

Poster: 32

Major: Public Relations and Art Management 

This research seeks to understand how arts managers have adapted to changes in consumer behavior in order to maintain youth audiences. Both quantitative and qualitative research provide insight on the demographic and psychographic backgrounds of Generation Y, which is categorized as people born between 1980-2000 and are popularly known as Millennials. Through citing multiple case studies, this paper evaluates positive and negative trends in modern consumer behavior and its impact on the performing arts industry. Key findings of this research were the social and technological trends that influence Generation Y, the impact of arts education on consumers, and how performing arts organizations have responded to changes in consumer behavior. These topics all relate to arts administrators’ effective use of marketing tools to better define and engage audiences. To understand consumer behavior of Generation Y is to understand the trends of performing arts attendees for decades to come.

Anthropogenic Effects on Procyon lotor: Detecting a Secular Trend

Presenter: Carly M. Pate

Faculty Mentor: Frances J. White, Andrea R. Eller

Presentation Type: Poster 32

Primary Research Area: Science

Major: Anthropology, General Science

The Common Raccoon (Procyon lotor) is an ecologically flexible mammal that occupies many N. American suburban environments. Their dietary range, dexterous hands, and plastic phenotype allows them to navigate human landscapes. Due to the food availability of human N. American areas, we hypothesize that raccoons will experience increased body size through time. We compiled body masses over a 70 year period, and report results on the use of cranial data to predict body size.

To document body size in Procyon lotor, we include published body masses, museum data (records and new metrics; n=26), whole body measures (n=2), and cranial measures (n=21). Whole body measures were retrieved through museum records, or obtained in necropsy. Cranial measures (n=24) were based on published protocols. We used cranial and external measurements as a proxy for body weight. Of 25 measurements, 36% (n=9) had less than a 20% error (2.47-17.71); four of these measures had an R2 above 0.40. Combining data to chart size over time, we plotted the masses by year collected. Our results show a slight negative slope between log-transformed body weight and time, (m=-0.0023, n=51) between 1940 and 2016; we believe this result is influenced by small sample size. Procyon lotor provides a model for understanding anthropogenic ecologies, and potentially other areas of population and health.

The Effect of Blocked and Interleaved Training on Associative Inference

Presenter(s): Rennie Kendrick − Biology

Faculty Mentor(s): Dasa Zeithamova, Caitlin Bowman

Poster 32

Research Area: Cognitive Neuroscience

Memory allows us to link across multiple experiences to derive new information. For example, if we see a person walking a dalmatian, and later see another person walking the same dalmation, we may infer that the two people are married. There are two models of how we accomplish this associative inference. According to the flexible retrieval model, individuals retrieve separate memories (person 1-dalmatian; person 2-dalmation) and infer about their relationship (person 1-person 2) when needed. According to the integrative encoding model, we retrieve the memory of the first person we saw with the dalmation while seeing the second, and form an integrated memory that links the two. I hypothesize that how readily we integrate older memories with new experience depends on how well established the prior knowledge is. To test this hypothesis, participants encoded object pairs (AB and BC) that shared an object B (e.g., banana-clock, clock-keyboard). Each pair was repeated three times. Half of the AB and BC pairs were presented in a blocked format (AB, AB, AB, BC, BC, BC) and half in an interleaved format (AB, BC, AB, BC, AB, BC). Later, participants were tested on the indirect AC association (banana-keyboard). I predicted that participants would infer more quickly in the interleaved condition because the two episodes were already linked at encoding via integrative encoding. Preliminary data show faster inference in the interleaved condition. Further investigation into the effect of blocked vs. interleaved training on learning could lead to enhanced teaching methods.

Communicating Change: A Study of Current and Proposed Communication Strategies for Prompting Individual Behavior Towards Ocean Conservation

Presenter(s): Kayla Thomet

Faculty Mentor(s): Dean Mundy & Hollie Smith

Poster 32

Session: Sciences

Due to the volatile state of our oceans, I am studying the effectiveness of different environmental campaigns on individual behavior towards reducing plastic waste in the ocean. Results indicate that individuals are most likely to change their behavior based on a moderately emotional advertisement which provides specific direction on how to alter behavior. Individuals appear willing to advocate for policy change to solve the overall problem. Currently, there is a shortage in research regarding the area of oceanic environmental communication. Through surveys, focus groups, and interviews, this study will address the effectiveness of current campaign strategies used to communicate environmental issues and provide suggestions for communicators to prompt sustained behavior change towards ocean conservation. The theoretical foundations of this study are the awareness-action gap, the effects of Grunig’s Theory of Publics, and the effectiveness of broad environmental campaigns. There is a profound lack of awareness regarding the health of the ocean; nearly half the survey respondents indicated that the ocean’s health is neutral, moderately healthy, or very healthy. Preliminary results from the survey indicate greater impact of emotional advertisements on prompting desire for action. Furthermore, advertisements depicting a consumer product directly harming an animal are the most effective in generating a visceral response. With the current status of the health of the ocean, it is crucial to take action as communicators and create lasting change. The environment is at a turning point; if communicators don’t act immediately, there will be no chance to reverse the damage done to the planet.