Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Photoemission From Localized Surface Plasmons In Fractal Metal Nanostructures, Robert Campbell Word, Rolf Könenkamp, T. T. Dornan

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We use photoemission microscopy to characterize localized surface plasmon distributions in nanostructured gold layers on indium-tin-oxide/glass substrates. The Au films have a fractal dimension of ∼1.3 and smallest feature sizes of ∼100 nm. We use femtosecond laser pulses at a wavelength of ∼800 nm for the plasmon excitation. Photoelectron emission occurs by a three-photon process in localized areas of indium-tin-oxide with ∼70 nm diameter. In these areas the photoemission rate is enhanced several thousand fold compared to nonstructured surface areas. The results show that plasmon enhanced photoemission can be induced in a nonabsorbing material in proximity to a plasmon-active metal …

Are Biotechnology And Sustainable Agriculture Compatible?, David E. Ervin, Leland L. Glenna, Raymond Adelard Jussaume

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Agricultural biotechnology has been largely opposed by advocates in the sustainable agriculture movement, despite claims by the technology’s proponents that it holds the promise to deliver both production (economic) and environmental benefits, two legs of the sustainability stool. We argue in this paper that participants in this polarized debate are talking past each other because assumptions about biotechnology and sustainability remain simplistic and poorly defined. Genetically engineered (GE) herbicide-resistant and insect-resistant crop varieties are the most visible current forms of agricultural biotechnology, and thus the form of biotechnology that many in the sustainability movement react to. However, these crops represent …

Interview With Steve Jones, Us Forest Service, 2010 (Audio), Steve Jones

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Interview of Steve Jones by Scott Swenson at Hood River, Oregon on May 25th, 2010.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Stephanie Noll, Bicycle Transportation Alliance, 2010 (Audio), Stephanie Noll

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Interview of Stephanie Noll by Sean Cochran in NW Portland, Oregon on May 24th, 2010.

The interview index is available for download.

Examining The Effects Of Climate Change And Urban Development On Water Demand: A Multi-Scale Analysis Of Future Water Demand In Hillsboro, Oregon, Lily Arielle House-Peters

Dissertations and Theses

In the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area, suburban cities such as Hillsboro are projected to grow as people seek affordable housing near a rapidly growing metropolis. This thesis examines the combined impact of climate change and urban development on both neighborhood and municipal scale residential water demand in Hillsboro, Oregon. I use two models, a surface energy balance model, Local-scale Urban Meteorological Parameterization Scheme (LUMPS), and a system dynamics model, CCDomestic, to investigate changes in residential water demand in the 2040s at two distinct spatial scales, the neighborhood and the municipality. I calibrate and validate each model to the reference period …

Interview With Judy Combs, Kaiser Permanente, 2010 (Audio), Judy Combs

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Interview of Judy Combs by Nazer Frias at Clackamas, Oregon on May 17th, 2010.

The interview index is available for download.

The Hydro-Ecology Of Everyday Life: Assessing The Social And Environmental Determinants Of Water Use In The Portland Region, Vivek Shandas

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Driven in part by the imminent threats of population growth and climate destabilization, recent studies suggest that urban areas face severe water scarcity, with some areas in Australia and the United States already instituting moratoria on water use. While water managers traditionally avoid such crises by developing demand forecasts based on population estimates, technological developments, and weather predictions, their analysis are often at a regional scale with aggregate measures of water consumption. To date, there exists limited empirical evidence about how urban spatial structure and concomitant socio-demographic and temperature characteristics mutually interact to affect water demand at the scale of …

Interview With Jeff Luebbers, Us Forest Service, 2010 (Audio), Jeff Luebbers

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Interview of Jeff Luebbers by Chelsea Saurman on May 13th, 2010.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Michael Burri, Us Forest Service, 2010 (Audio), Michael Burri

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Interview of Michael Burri by Jeff Pullen-Sayles at Sandy, Oregon on May 9th, 2010.

The interview index is available for download.

Creating A Game Plan For The Transition To A Sustainable U.S. Economy, Jeffrey Hollender, Robert Costanza, Gar Alperovitz, Christina Asquith, Bill Becker, Elliot Hoffman, Ellen Kahler, David Levine, L. Hunter Lovins, David Rapaport

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

The article focuses on the plan for the transition to a sustainable U.S. economy. It states that the economic crisis is viewed as an opportunity to reprioritize goals to emphasize sustainable design and healthy living over economic growth in the U.S. It discusses the five broad concepts and actions of the plan that includes cost estimation, getting off fossil fuels, and changing the ownership and purpose of the corporation.

Science And Practice Of Integrated River Basin Management : Lessons From North And Central American Unesco-Help Basins, Heejun Chang, Anne Browning-Aiken

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy (HELP) program, a cross-cutting component of the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP), has as its goal to facilitate dialogue among hydrologists, social and economic scientists, water resource managers, water lawyers, policy experts, and river basin stakeholder communities in setting a research agenda driven by local management and policy issues. HELP seeks to improve the benefits to society by applying the principals of integrated water-resources management to complex, interdisciplinary issues within catchments.

This Monograph is the culmination of a workshop held in 2010 in which the managers from the six North American basins …

Remote Plasma Assisted Growth Of Graphene Films, Gopichand Nandamuri, Sergei Rouvimov, Raj Solanki

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Single and multiple layers of graphene films were grown on 111 oriented single crystals of nickel and polycrystalline nickel films using remote plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition. Remote plasma was employed to eliminate the effect of the plasma electrical field on the orientation of the grown graphene films, as well as to reduce the growth temperature compared to conventional chemical vapor deposition. The electrical and optical properties, including high resolution transmission electron microscopy of these films, suggest that this approach is both versatile and scalable for potential large area optoelectronic applications.

Charge Diffusion In The Field-Free Region Of Charge-Coupled Devices, Ralf Widenhorn, Alexander Weber-Bargioni, Morley M. Blouke, Albert J. Bae, Erik Bodegom

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The potential well in back-illuminated charge-coupled devices (CCDs) does not reach all the way to the back surface. Hence, light that is absorbed in the field-free region generates electrons that can diffuse into neighboring pixels and thus decreases the spatial resolution of the sensor. We present data for the charge diffusion from a near point source by measuring the response of a back-illuminated CCD to light emitted from a submicron diameter glass fiber tip. The diffusion of electrons into neighboring pixels is analyzed for different wavelengths of light ranging from 430 to 780 nm. To find out how the charge …

Predicting Global Change Effects On Forest Biomass And Composition In South-Central Siberia, Eric J. Gustafson, Anatoly Z. Shvidenko, Brian R. Sturtevant, Robert M. Scheller

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Multiple global changes such as timber harvesting in areas not previously disturbed by cutting and climate change will undoubtedly affect the composition and spatial distribution of boreal forests, which will, in turn, affect the ability of these forests to retain carbon and maintain biodiversity. To predict future states of the boreal forest reliably, it is necessary to understand the complex interactions among forest regenerative processes (succession), natural disturbances (e.g., fire, wind, and insects), and anthropogenic disturbances (e.g., timber harvest). We used a landscape succession and disturbance model (LANDIS-II) to study the relative effects of climate change, timber harvesting, and insect …

Exploring Mitigation Options To Reduce Vehicle-Caused Mortality For The Oregon Silverspot Butterfly, Speyeria Zerene Hippolyta, Along Highway 101 At The Siuslaw National Forest, Sara B. Zielin

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

The Oregon Silverspot Butterfly (OSB), Speyeria zerene hippolyta, is federally listed as "threatened." It historically inhabited coastal regions of Washington, Oregon, and California (USFWS 2001). OSB populations only remain at five sites, four of which are in Oregon; one remaining population is in California, and none exist in Washington state as they have been extirpated (BFCI 2009; USFWS 2001). The site selected for this study was Rock Creek-Big Creek, adjacent to the Siuslaw National Forest. At this site OSB habitat is bisected by Highway 101; butterflies are observed to use both sides of the highway throughout their life cycle. …

C - Reactive Protein Induced Rearrangement Of Phosphatidylcholine On Nanoparticle Mimics Of Lipoprotein Particles, Marilyn R. Mackiewicz, Heather L. Hodges, Scott M. Reed

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Lipid-coated metal nanoparticles are developed here as a mimic of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles and used to study C-reactive protein (CRP) binding to highly curved lipid membranes. A 12 nm shift in the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) was observed when CRP was added to the lipid-coated gold nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that CRP induced a structural change to the lipids, resulting in clusters of nanoparticles. This clustering provides a visualization of how CRP could cause the aggregation of LDL particles, which is a key step in atherosclerosis. The cluster formation and resultant LSPR shift requires the presence …

Complex Interactions Between Regional Dispersal Of Native Taxa And An Invasive Species, Angela L. Strecker, Shelley E. Arnott

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the event of an environmental disturbance, dispersal of native taxa may provide species and genetic diversity to ecosystems, increasing the likelihood that there will be species and genotypes present that are less vulnerable to the disturbance. This may allow communities to maintain functioning during a disturbance and may be particularly important when the perturbation is novel to the system, such as the establishment of an invasive species. We examined how dispersal of native species may influence crustacean zooplankton communities in freshwater lakes invaded by the invertebrate predator, Bythotrephes longimanus. Using large enclosures, we experimentally tested the effect of …

Alaska Spartina Prevention, Detection And Response Plan, Vanessa Howard Morgan, Mark Sytsma

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

This Alaska Spartina Prevention and Response Plan reviews the known impacts, biology, and invasion history of Spartina on the west coast. It outlines strategies for prevention, early detection and efficient organization of rapid response efforts following the confirmation of an infestation. The goal of the plan is to prevent the establishment of any Spartina populations and to eradicate established infestations if detected within the State’s estuaries or coastal wetlands. Five objectives and strategies are described and 31 specific tasks are outlined to achieve this goal. These include: • Prevention of establishment through vector and source population control. • Plan coordination …

Reconstructability Analysis Of Elementary Cellular Automata, Martin Zwick, Hui Shi

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Reconstructability analysis is a method to determine whether a multivariate relation, defined set- or information-theoretically, is decomposable with or without loss (reduction in constraint) into lower ordinality relations. Set-theoretic reconstructability analysis (SRA) is used to characterize the mappings of elementary cellular automata. The degree of lossless decomposition possible for each mapping is more effective than the λ parameter (Walker & Ashby, Langton) as a predictor of chaotic dynamics.

Complete SRA yields not only the simplest lossless structure but also a vector of losses of all decomposed structures, indexed by parameter, τ. This vector subsumes λ, Wuensche’s Z parameter, and Walker …

Interview With Susan Stelljes, Woodlawn Community Garden, 2010 (Audio), Susan Stelljes

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Interview of Susan Stellijess by Stephanie Mackey on March 6th, 2010.

The interview index is available for download.

Interview With Sonja Andreas, Mccoy Gardens, 2010 (Audio), Sonja Andreas

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Interview of Sonja Andreas by Ian McCreary in Portland, Oregon on March 5, 2010.

The interview index is available for download.

Siltcoos Lake Nonpoint Source Implementation Grant: Water Quality Conditions And Nutrient Sources, Mark D. Sytsma, Rich Miller

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

Siltcoos Lake is a large (1280 hectares), shallow (mean depth 3.3 m; maximum depth 6.7 m) lake located on the Central Oregon Coast, just south of Florence and bordered by Dunes City, Oregon. The outflow and water level of Siltcoos Lake is regulated by a dam on the Siltcoos River 4 km upstream from the Pacific. Several permanent streams feed the lake from its 176 square kilometer watershed including Fiddle Creek, Maple Creek, and Woahink Creek, the outflow from Woahink Lake. Much of the watershed is forested and used for timber harvest, residential development, and limited agricultural production.

The lake …

Interview With John Witte, Tenino Farms, 2010 (Audio), John Witte

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Interview of John Witte by Steve Rosin at Portland, Oregon on March 1st, 2010.

The interview index is available for download.

Quasispecies-Like Behavior Observed In Catalytic Rna Populations Evolving In A Test Tube, Carolina Diaz Arenas, Niles Lehman

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: During the RNA World, molecular populations were probably very small and highly susceptible to the force of strong random drift. In conjunction with Muller's Ratchet, this would have imposed difficulties for the preservation of the genetic information and the survival of the populations. Mechanisms that allowed these nascent populations to overcome this problem must have been advantageous.

Results: Using continuous in vitro evolution experimentation with an increased mutation rate imposed by MnCl2, it was found that clonal 100-molecule populations of ribozymes clearly exhibit certain characteristics of a quasispecies. This is the first time this has been seen …

Correction Of Dark Current In Consumer Cameras, Justin Charles Dunlap, Erik Bodegom, Ralf Widenhorn

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

A study of dark current in digital imagers in digital singlelens reflex (DSLR) and compact consumer-grade digital cameras is presented. Dark current is shown to vary with temperature, exposure time, and ISO setting. Further, dark current is shown to increase in successive images during a series of images. DSLR and compact consumer cameras are often designed such that they are contained within a densely packed camera body, and therefore the digital imagers within the camera frame are prone to heat generated by the sensor as well as nearby elements within the camera body. It is the scope of this work …

Automated Nanocrystal Orientation And Phase Mapping In The Transmission Electron Microscope On The Basis Of Precession Electron Diffraction, Edgar F. Rauch, Joaquin Portillo, Stavros Nicolopoulos, Daniel Bultreys, Sergei Rouvimov, Peter Moeck

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

An automated technique for the mapping of nanocrystal phases and orientations in a transmission electron microscope is described. It is primarily based on the projected reciprocal lattice geometry that is extracted from electron diffraction spot patterns. Precession electron diffraction patterns are especially useful for this purpose. The required hardware allows for a scanning-precession movement of the primary electron beam on the crystalline sample and can be interfaced to any older or newer mid-voltage transmission electron microscope (TEM). Experimentally obtained crystal phase and orientation maps are shown for a variety of samples. Comprehensive commercial and open-access crystallographic databases may be used …

Gauge Invariance And Reciprocity In Quantum Mechanics, P.T. Leung, K. Young

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reciprocity in wave propagation usually refers to the symmetry of the Green's function under the interchange of the source and the observer coordinates, but this condition is not gauge invariant in quantum mechanics, a problem that is particularly significant in the presence of a vector potential. Several possible alternative criteria are given and analyzed with reference to different examples with nonzero magnetic fields and/or vector potentials, including the case of a multiply connected spatial domain. It is shown that the appropriate reciprocity criterion allows for specific phase factors separable into functions of the source and observer coordinates and that this …

Forest Restoration In A Mixed-Ownership Landscape Under Climate Change, Catherine Ravenscroft, Robert M. Scheller, David J. Mladenoff, Mark A. White

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The article presents a study regarding forest management associated with climate change. It mentions that preservation endeavors and restoration schemes should diminish current threats like unsuited forest management and development while integrating possible effects of climate change. It also stresses that an adaptive approach to management can be the most efficient strategy of forest restoration given the doubts of climate change impacts.

Water And Land Use Planning: A Case For Better Coordination, Vivek Shandas

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Over the next 30 years, the population of Oregon is expected to grow by 1.6 million residents, of which half is expected to locate in the three counties comprising the Portland metropolitan region. At current rates of population growth and water use, by 2040 the region will consume the amount of water equivalent to Crater Lake. Combine with this demand, climate projections which suggest a substantial decrease in available water during summer months when water use is highest. Since Oregon's industries and households depend on the Cascade Mountains for water supply, these challenges pose serious threats to economic development plans …

Interview With Jacquin Dole, Riverside Farms, 2010 (Audio), Jacquin Dole

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Interview of Jacquin Dole by Paul Hopper at Riverside Farm McMinnville, Oregon on February 28th, 2010.

The interview index is available for download.