79717 research outputs found
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Adaptive regulation : balancing ethical oversight with innovation in an AI-driven media landscape
No full textArtificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing how information is created, shared, and consumed, bringing unparalleled opportunities for efficiency and innovation. However, these advances risk exacerbating the spread of misinformation through synthetic media, algorithmic biases, and real-time content curation. My paper proposes a framework for “adaptive regulation” that strikes a balance between ethical oversight and sustaining AI-driven innovation in media environments. By synthesizing insights from case studies of regulatory successes and failures and evaluating various legislative proposals, my research underscores the need for transparency, accountability, and public resilience. Strategies such as digital watermarking, tiered liability frameworks, and fact-checking initiatives can mitigate misinformation threats while preserving AI’s transformative potential.Keywords: adaptive regulation, artificial intelligence, misinformation, media ethics, digital polic
Improving our understanding of how games can advance collective action towards shared sustainable goals
No full textThis thesis will look at how gaming can communicate learning regarding cooperation and sustainability, and in some cases may provide an example as to how to spur action. Popular game mechanics may mirror commonly shared social ideas on cooperation and market governance structures when they were created. A game was made, and feedback was taken to see how its gameplay could build understanding of cooperation around shared environmental resources. The goal of this thesis will be to improve our understanding of how games can advance collective action towards shared sustainable goals.Keywords: Collective Action, Gaming, Serious Games, Sustainability, Cooperatio
Conditional statistics in directed percolation models
No full textAsymptotic independence of first and last passage times in a directed percolation model is conjectured and the joint distribution of their associated paths is derived in a specific case. Through probabilistic analysis and Monte Carlo simulations, we consider the conjecture on a square lattice with exponential weights. The fluctuations in last passage times on a square lattice are known to lie within the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class, while the fluctuations in first passage times are only conjectured to be in the KPZ universality class. We provide numerical evidence that the covariance between the fluctuations of the first and last passage times decays under proper scaling, supporting a criterion for independence of the fluctuations. This implies that given a first passage time, the fluctuations of the last passage time converge to the same limiting law as the unconditional case, preserving KPZ universality. Additionally, we derive the joint distribution of the first and last passage paths on a simplified lattice, relating their positions to the extrema of Brownian motion and demonstrating a repulsion effect in their spatial structure. These results offer new insight into the interplay between extremal statistics in directed percolation models.Keywords: directed first passage percolation, directed last passage percolation, asymptotic independence, joint path geodesics, Brownian motio
The emotions of the human animal bond in a veterinary context : an oil painting series
No full textThis creative thesis will explore artistic interpretations of the emotional connection between humans and animals and contribute to the veterinary and art fields through an oil painting series of animal portraits set in a veterinary office. The project also provides context about the development of the veterinary profession as it relates to the evolution of human-animal interactions. A personal connection to animals, an interest in art history, and experience working as a veterinary assistant inspired the creation of this project. Working in a veterinary environment allowed me to observe the differing reactions of companion animals in an unfamiliar setting. My interest in art history and the veterinary field led me to realize the lack of art set in a veterinary environment. Compared to medical art, animals as emotional subjects of art are underrepresented. The project addresses this by bringing awareness to the skill of veterinary practitioners and issues in the field by evoking empathy for both the patient and the practitioner in the viewer. The goal of the emotional response is to improve awareness of the demanding work performed by veterinary practitioners, increase funding for advances in the profession, and encourage good animal welfare practices in clinics.Keywords: Human-Animal Bond, Veterinary Medicine, Animal Emotion, Oil Painting, Art Histor
Product Development of Hemp Based Menstrual Pad
No full textCommon feminine hygiene pads on the market consist of approximately 90% plastics, totaling to about 4 grocery bags. Once used, the pad is disposed and can accumulate in landfills for hundreds of years. Although there are many cotton pad alternatives on the market, they still present environmental challenges. Specifically, cotton relies heavily on water resources and land, which can be detrimental to many communities. As a more environmentally friendly option, hemp fibers are investigated to reduce the amount of cotton used in feminine hygiene products. Hemp fibers were incorporated into a feminine hygiene pad up to 50-55%. Pads were characterized through absorbency, wetback, and biodegradation testing. Results for the hemp blend formulations were competitive to common pads on the market.Key Words: Menstrual pad, Hemp, Plastic, Sustainability, Biodegradabl
Quantification of amyloid-β aggregation
No full textAmyloid-β (Aβ) peptides aggregate into plaques characteristic of Alzheimer's Disease, and previous research suggested that hemodialysis-like blood processing could potentially remove these peptides. This paper aims to verify previous findings regarding hydrogel-based Aβ capture using the iCore medical device platform and develop improved methodologies for quantifying Aβ peptides in solution. Poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) and PVA/PEGDA hybrid hydrogels were synthesized and tested for Aβ capture capabilities using spectrophotometric analysis at 280 nm, following modified protocols from previous work. The verification experiments failed to reproduce previous findings, showing unstable readings influenced by solution components and Aβ aggregation dynamics above the critical aggregation concentration (~1 μmol/L). Follow-up experiments employing Thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence assay, which specifically binds to beta-sheet structures in amyloid formations, provided more reliable detection and successfully distinguished specific aggregation states of Aβ fibrils. This research demonstrates that ThT fluorescence offers superior precision for Aβ detection compared to direct absorbance measurements and provides procedures for Aβ solution and hydrogel synthesis, which may be useful in future experimentation regarding methods for potential Alzheimer's Disease therapeutic applications.Keywords: Amyloid-β, Hydrogel, Dialysis, Alzheimer's Disease, Fibri
The OctoDrum: Exploring Robot-Human Musicianship through Generative Algorithms
No full textThis thesis documents the design and implementation of generative musical algorithms for the OctoDrum, a robotic steel tongue drum that explores new modes of human-robot musical collaboration. Unlike traditional automata or opaque machine learning systems, the OctoDrum foregrounds transparency, interactivity, and musicality through a rule-based generative algorithm enhanced by stochastic processes. The system operates autonomously, modulating its behavior based on environmental factors such as time of day and audience proximity via infrared sensors. A novel lick-based framework, augmented by real-time mutation, repetition, and energy-level control, enables the OctoDrum to produce evolving, expressive performances within constrained musical parameters (eight notes, three dynamics). User studies conducted at Oregon State University’s Kelley Engineering Center and during a public installation at PRAx revealed both the strengths and limitations of audience engagement. Feedback indicated that while the OctoDrum invites curiosity and sustained interaction, intuitive design and further personification could enhance accessibility and deepen the perceived musical relationship. A serendipi- tous rhythmic “bug” further underscored how algorithmic imperfections can enrich generative systems. This work ultimately positions the OctoDrum not as a tool for musical replication, but as a co-creative partner—one that supports reflective, human- centered composition practices and challenges the boundaries between algorithm and artistry.Key Words: robot, music, algorithm, ar
Feminist speculative fiction as abolitionist future-making in the WGSS classroom
No full textAmid escalating political repression of social justice disciplines, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies classrooms remain critical sites for resistance and transformation. Grounded in intersectional and abolitionist feminist frameworks, this project posits the use of speculative, Afrofuturist, and visionary fiction as pedagogical tools for interrogating policing, prisons, and carceral logics while imagining worlds free of gendered and state violence. Through a critical literature review, the thesis situates itself within scholarly conversations on carceral and abolitionist feminisms, trauma-informed pedagogy, and feminist world-building. The project includes a fully developed course syllabus titled “Reimagining Justice: Feminism Beyond the Carceral State,” designed to cultivate students’ political imagination, deepen understanding of structural harm, and facilitate praxis-oriented responses rooted in care and relational accountability. This thesis ultimately argues that abolitionist feminist pedagogy offers a vital world-building practice, fostering classrooms that serve as sites of resistance, co-creation, and hope