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Working Paper No. 97, Business Sabotage in Theory and Practice
No full textThis inquiry seeks to establish that theoretical advances offered earlier on by one Karl Marx and some decades later by one Thorstein Veblen offer insights into forms of business sabotage. Drawing upon their writings, this inquiry considers how in the writings of Marx, already in the mid-nineteenth century surplus value extraction and pecuniary sabotage serve as structural features found in a market-based economy. Marx’s consideration of surplus labor and artificial scarcity reveals how private investment seeks to constrain production in order to preserve and enhance profitability. Veblen’s theory of institutional sabotage complements Marx’s view by showing how firms could delay introducing efficiency measures and/or manipulating scarcity in order to protect a market position. These approaches to sabotage advanced by Marx and Veblen are then applied to offer insights into recent economic events using evidence from Isabella Weber, Evan Wasner and the UN Conference on Trade and Development. What is demonstrated is that inflation in contemporary times has been driven less by supply disruptions and more by corporate coordination, financial speculation, and market concentration. These findings lead us to conclude that sabotage does not suggest a breakdown of the market system—rather, sabotage should be understood as integral and even intentional
Sabin CDC Affordable Infill Initiative
No full textGrounded Growth Planning Cooperative partnered with Sabin Community Development Corporation (CDC), a non-profit affordable housing developer in North/Northeast Portland. The project goal was to examine 11 sites in their Scattered Sites Portfolio for the possibility of infill development to increase the portfolio’s financial performance and to provide additional housing to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) were the primary focus of the evaluation, as they can be constructed without modifying the existing housing and displacing existing tenants. The report identifies opportunities for Sabin CDC to take advantage of Portland zoning code changes that allow increased dwelling unit density on lots in single-family residential zones. This new zoning allowance gives Sabin CDC the opportunity to leverage small scale housing development to improve the financial performance of their Scattered Sites Portfolio and ensure their long-term financial sustainability
Projections of Lightning‐ignited Wildfire Risk in the Western United States
No full textCloud‐to‐ground (CG) lightning is a major source of summer wildfire ignition in the western United States (WUS). However, future projections of lightning are uncertain since lightning is not directly simulated by most global climate models. To address this issue, we use convolutional neural network (CNN)‐based parameterizations of daily June‐September CG lightning. CNN parameterizations of daily CG lightning occurrence at each grid cell use fields of three thermodynamic variables—ratio of surface Moist Static Energy (MSE) to 500 hPa saturation MSE, 700–500 hPa lapse rate, and 500 hPa relative humidity. Applying these parameterizations to the Community Earth System Model version 2 Large Ensemble, we find widespread increases in CG lightning days across much of the region by the mid‐21st century (2031–2060) under a moderate warming scenario. Projected increases are pronounced in the northern WUS where many grid cells experience 4–12 additional CG lightning days compared to 1995–2022 and are driven by increases in all three thermodynamic variables. To assess the risk of lightning‐ignited wildfire (LIW) ignition, we also quantify the concurrence of CG lightning with high Fire Weather Index (FWI) days. By 2031–2060, CG lightning will coincide more frequently with high FWI, but the magnitude of increases relative to CG lightning days varies across the region. Future projections of CG lightning and LIW risk can be useful for understanding the changing risks of associated hazards, and guide wildland fire management and suppression planning
Kolmogorov–smirnov-Based Edge Centrality Measure for Metric Graphs
No full textIn this work, we introduce an edge centrality measure for the Helmholtz equation on metric graphs, a particular flow network, based on spectral edge energy density. This measure identifies influential edges whose removal significantly changes the energy flow on the network, as indicated by statistically significant p-values from the two-sample Kolmogorov–Smirnov test comparing edge energy densities in the original network to those with a single edge removed. We compare the proposed measure with eight vertex centrality measures applied to a line graph representation of each metric graph, as well as with two edge centrality measures applied directly to each metric graph. Both methods are evaluated on two undirected and weighted metric graphs—a power grid network adapted from the IEEE 14-bus system and an approximation of Poland’s road network—both of which are multigraphs. Two experiments evaluate how each measure’s edge ranking impacts the energy flow on the network. The results demonstrate that the proposed measure effectively identifies influential edges in metric graphs that significantly change the energy distribution
Recovery of Daily Water Levels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, 1915–2023
No full textThis manuscript documents the data rescue, digitization, and quality assurance of archival daily maximum and minimum water levels at twenty-five sites within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The records encompass 1846 total unique years, where 915 years are newly digitized from the 1915–1985 era. The period of record for each gauge location varies from 40 to 109years (median=80 years). Quality assurance procedures and datum corrections were applied to both archival and digital records to generate a time series referenced to a common geocentric datum. Both riverine and coastal influences on mean sea level and great diurnal range are evident in the time series. During the winter months, when river discharge is large, mean sea-level increase and great diurnal ranges decrease. The strongest river influence is observed at more landward sites, where daily mean sea levels can increase by 1–10m. The data also include spatially and interannually varying extreme water levels and show evidence of the influence of seasonal tidal barrier construction/dismantling, which began in the late 1980s. The data records thus enable future analysis of multiple intertwined issues, including sea-level rise, subsidence, tides, climate patterns, atmospheric conditions, shoreline/habitat changes, bathymetric modifications, water resource management, and flood hazards
Guided Modes Through the Dual Perspectives of Geometrical Optics and Wave Equation
No full textIn an optical waveguide, only finitely many electric field intensity profiles travel without loss, and these are aptly named guided modes. This paper uses fundamental concepts from the two paradigms of interpreting light, geometrical and physical optics, to derive guided modes axiomatically. First, basic principles of geometrical optics are demonstrated in a slab waveguide to explain characteristics of optical waveguides such as total internal reflection and numerical aperture. Dispersion curves are assembled from the same principles and used to show that only finitely many guided modes exist for a given waveguide. Next, Maxwell’s equations are used to derive the famous electromagnetic wave equation. PDE theory is used to investigate the resulting Helmholtz eigenproblem, with comparison drawn to the Schrödinger equation of quantum physics. Afterward, semi-analytical means of calculating both guided mode field profiles and their corresponding propagation constants for step-index optical fibers are developed. In the final section, this semi-analytical method is compared to a numerical finite element solution of the aforementioned Helmholtz eigenproblem on the fiber cross-section
Cartographic Dialogue: A Pedagogy for Emotion and Critical Consciousness in Language Teacher Educator Identity Development
No full textLanguage teacher educators (LTEs) enter their roles with complex personal histories and experiences. Little research exam-ines the ways in which LTEs of varying backgrounds reflect on these histories, their emotional responses to these reflections,and their connections to cultural contexts or systemic (in)justice. In this article, we treat the examination of our own personalhistories and their intersections with systems of power, as well as our related emotions, as pedagogy or as a reciprocal way ofteaching and learning. We critically map out and discuss our journeys towards an LTE identity, including our emotions, througha reflective, collaborative, and ongoing method we call cartographic dialogue. We demonstrates that our LTE identity journeysare strongly influenced by five key factors: emotion, place, relationships, collaboration, and positioning. We also highlighted thepotential for emotionally informed teaching and embodied critical consciousness to be built through this work
Direct Numerical Simulation of Unstably Stratified Turbulent Flow Over Riblets
No full textRiblets are micro-groove elements which can reduce the skin friction drag coefficient for wall-, channel-, and pipe-flows. It is unclear how robust these drag-reduction capabilities are when external forces are acting on the fluid and affecting turbulent structures. Here, buoyancy forces are introduced by varying the wall Richardson number (Riτ = 0, 18, 60) to create unstable stratification. Direct numerical simulations (DNS) are performed on streamwise-aligned riblets of triangular and bladed geometries in a horizontal half-channel pressure-driven turbulent flow (Reτ = 395). The Fukagata-Iwamoto-Kasagi (FIK) identity is used to decompose how changes in stresses contribute to changes in the skin friction drag coefficient. It is observed that an increase in the Richardson number increases drag, regardless of riblet geometry. The largest contributor to the coefficient of drag and changes in drag is the turbulence contribution from Reynolds stresses. The riblet size providing the greatest drag reduction for a given Richardson number remained the same, with only one clear exception being bladed riblets at Riτ = 60. Smaller riblet sizes experience increases in drag like that of a smooth wall, while larger riblet sizes have an additional increase in drag that grows linearly with its groove size. The drag change for a given riblet geometry and Richardson number can be modeled as a piecewise function of its groove size. The cross-stream plane shows that riblets that experience an additional size-dependent drag increase due to the Richardson number have increased Reynolds stresses near their groove walls. Reynolds stresses were found to decrease or remain the same in groove centers and above riblet tips, regardless of geometry type, groove size, or magnitude of the Richardson number. Regions of dispersive stresses and riblet-generated vorticity increase in the grooves as riblet size and Richardson number increases. These results may help better understand how the drag-related mechanisms of riblets behave across a variety of environments and provide insight into the significance of external forces when designing riblets
Quantum Pseudorandom Primitives Beyond Pseudorandom States
No full textQuantum pseudorandomness is an emerging research area. Ji, Liu, and Song defined pseudorandom states (PRSs) and pseudorandom unitaries (PRUs) as quantum analogs of pseudorandom generators and pseudorandom functions. A unitary oracle separation result between one-way functions and PRSs/PRUs, established by Kretschmer, suggests that certain quantum primitives may remain secure even if classical cryptography is compromised. This insight has spurred extensive work on quantum pseudorandomness and its applications in quantum cryptography.
Many constructions of PRSs have been established under standard assumptions, yet building a secure PRU was a long-standing open problem. This dissertation aims to narrow the gap between PRSs and PRUs and presents results that go beyond PRSs.
We introduce Pseudorandom State Scramblers (PRSSs), a new primitive that lies between PRSs and PRUs. A PRSS maps any pure state to a pseudorandom state, a property shared with PRUs but not with PRSs. We present a construction of PRSSs inspired by the well-known Kac’s walk, and in particular, we develop a parallel variant that significantly accelerates the mixing time, enabling an efficient construction. PRSSs support cryptographic tasks not known to be achievable from PRSs alone, including a quantum encryption scheme and a succinct quantum state commitment. Additionally, when suitable classical randomness is provided, our construction exhibits a special dispersing property not known to be satisfied by any existing construction of quantum pseudorandom primitives.
Our subsequent work shows that, without asymptotically increasing the number of steps, our construction based on the parallel Kac’s walk yields PRUs with standard or even strong security. The proof builds on a recently developed technique for establishing adaptive security, known as the path-recording method. This result provides an alternative construction of PRUs and further showcases the power of this proof technique.
In addition, this dissertation includes two side projects. The first revisits the Hidden Subgroup Problem over ℤn, providing a simplified analysis of a known quantum algorithm using elementary lattice tools. The second establishes a quantum analogue of a classical impossibility result for statistical non-interactive zero-knowledge arguments, showing limitations of black-box reductions under classical-query quantum adversaries
Occurrence of Pesticides in Oregon Coastal Waters and Effects on the Intertidal Sea Anemone, \u3ci\u3eAnthopleura elegantissima\u3c/i\u3e
No full textPesticides are used globally for a wide range of applications including agricultural, forestry, roadsides, freshwater systems, and personal use. While pesticides have ensured efficient crop production, they are frequently transported away from application sites and are ubiquitous in terrestrial and aquatic environments. Pesticides are often detected in watersheds and rivers globally, which can have unintentional toxic effects on non-target organisms by interfering with cellular processes, behavior, feeding, reproduction, and disrupting endocrine processes. The aggregating anemone, Anthopleura elegantissima, is an important species along the North American Pacific coast due to its symbiotic relationships that contribute to high productivity, and its clonal abundance that structures the rocky intertidal habitat. Despite frequent detection in inland water bodies, pesticide contamination in marine environments is less understood, and studies examining effects on sea anemones are limited. To address these data gaps, this study investigated pesticides presence in Oregon coastal waters, and based on the most frequently detected compounds, a toxicology study was conducted to examine their effects on A. elegantissima at environmentally relevant concentrations. Polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) were deployed at six sites along the Oregon coast to examine the occurrence of pesticides. Between two and seven different pesticides were detected at every site, with herbicides diuron, and atrazine, and fungicides carbendazim, propiconazole, and tebuconazole being the most frequently detected at three sites. These findings provide new insights into the presence of pesticides in coastal nearshore and offshore waters and suggest that a comprehensive monitoring effort could enhance our understanding of sources, transport, and pesticide risks for marine species both nearshore and offshore. The detected pesticides, atrazine, diuron, and carbendazim, were used to examine potential effects on reproduction, symbiont concentrations, and behavior of A. elegantissima over an eight-week period. Most pesticides individually and in combination led to a decrease in male gonad development across atrazine (p \u3c 0.001), carbendazim (p \u3c 0.001), two-way mixture (p = 0.05), and three-way mixture (p = 0.08) treatments. All pesticide treatments significantly increased cloning behavior compared to the control, suggesting that cloning is an important stress response. This study is the first to document behavioral changes in anemones from pesticide exposure, as tentacle retraction significantly increased, and movement significantly decreased, suggesting possible metabolic or energy impairments. All three pesticides significantly impacted a non-target marine invertebrate at environmentally relevant concentrations, which underscores the importance of studies that focus on effects on marine invertebrates, paired with comprehensive pesticide monitoring in coastal areas