Coal mining is a significant industry in Appalachia. Herbaceous groundcovers are commonly planted to reduce soil erosion and protect water quality during mine reclamation, but many groundcovers may be too competitive to be compatible with trees. The objectives of this research were to investigate the performance of trees planted within different groundcovers and to measure how different groundcovers influence resource availability, specifically soil moisture and light Two studies were performed; one in a greenhouse and the other on 3 mine sites in east Tennessee where seedlings were planted and grown in competition with different groundcovers. Growth, biomass, leaf area, and foliar transpiration of tree seedlings, percent cover of groundcovers, percent volumetric soil moisture, and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) were measured. In the greenhouse, root-to-shoot ratios of northern red oak seedlings in the presence of competition from switchgrass and in bare treatments were found to be greater than in alfalfa and annual rye treatments. Specific leaf area of seedlings in the annual rye treatment was found to be lower than the other treatments. Seedlings in the bare and switchgrass treatments were found to have greater transpiration rates than in the annual rye and alfalfa treatments. On the mine sites, growth and transpiration of northern red oak, American chestnut, black cherry, and shagbark hickory seedlings did not differ among groundcover treatments. In both studies, percent soil moisture was found to be greatest in the bare and switchgrass treatments, and percent full PAR at 14 cm was found to be greatest in the bare treatment. In the greenhouse, percent full PAR was lowest in the switchgrass treatment and was lowest in the alfalfa treatment in the field. Many factors may explain differences in seedling growth and performance between the greenhouse study and the field study such as tremendous variability in substrates and percent groundcover in the field, micro-site influence, and other unknown factors. Results from this study suggest that of the groundcover species studied, switchgrass may be the most compatible with the hardwoods studied, but more research is warranted to definitively determine the competitive interactions between the tree and groundcover species studied.

Background: Childhood obesity is a critical public health problem. There is a crucial need to identify environmental factors that either encourage or prevent obesogenic behaviors. The home food environment is one of the primary environments in which children are exposed to food. Therefore, it is crucial to study how the home food availability influences dietary intake and weight status. Objective: This study examines parental report of household food availability of fruits, vegetables, and milk, and its association with child weight status and child dietary intake of these foods. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, based on surveys from 489 students in grades 3-12 their parents in 2009. Child participants were Destination ImagiNation® finalists. Child data collection included surveys based on the Youth Risk Surveillance Survey and anthropometric measurements of height and weight used to calculate child z-BMI. Parents self-reported their heights and weights and home food availability. Descriptive statistics were conducted and multiple linear regression was used to predict whether or not a relationship existed between home food availability, child weight status, and dietary intake of fruits, vegetables, and milk. Results: Overall, 12.5% of participants were overweight and 6.7% were obese. Approximately26% of participants consumed 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day and 17% consumed 3 or more glasses of milk per day. However, a no significant relationship was found between home availability of fruits, vegetables, and milk and the reported intake of these foods. Although a significant association was also found between parent and child weight status, no significant association was found between home food availability and child weight status. Conclusions: Compared to national data, a larger proportion of this sample was classified as normal weight and consumed the recommended intake of fruits and vegetables and milk. Parents reported high availability of fruits, vegetables, and milk products. However, no significance was found between the reported availability of these foods and weight status or dietary intake of fruits, vegetables, or milk.

The purpose of my research was to test the hypothesis that the availability of fresh, naturally occurring water may limit the distribution of Florida Key Deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium). More specifically, I was trying to determine if there was enough fresh, drinkable water for the deer on each of the islands. To test the hypothesis, I developed a model that simulated likely seasonal fluctuations in fresh water availability in naturally occurring waterholes within the Key Deer range. I estimated 60 scenarios representing different weather (precipitation and evaporation) conditions, different literature estimates of the daily water requirement of Key Deer and also different upper salinity thresholds for drinkable water. Results showed that 1) even under the most favorable conditions in terms of fresh water availability, there was not enough fresh, drinkable water for the deer on any of the islands. Results also showed that 2) high salinity was important in determining the fresh water availability to the deer, in addition to the lack of water volume. Although these results suggest a prolonged seasonal shortage of fresh, naturally occurring water on each of the islands, deer were present on all of the islands during all seasons. One possible reason for the lack of correlation between Key Deer distribution and naturally occurring waterholes is the availability of man-made water sources (e.g. birdbaths, swimming pools).

Wireless network access protocols are used in numerous safety critical applications. Network availability is essential for safety critical applications,since loss of availability can cause personal or material damage. An adversary can disrupt the availability of a wireless network using denial of service (DoS) attacks. The most widely used wireless protocols are vulnerable to DoS attacks. Researchers have published DoS attacks against IEEE 802.11 local area networks (LANs), IEEE 802.16 wide area networks (WANs) and GSM andUMTS mobile networks. In this work, we analyze DoS vulnerabilities in wireless network protocols and define four categories of attacks:  jamming attacks, flooding attacks, semantic attacks and implementation specific attacks. We identify semantic attacks as the most severe threat to current andfuture wireless protocols, and as the category that has received the least attention by researchers. During the first phase of the research project we discover semantic DoS vulnerabilities in the IEEE 802.11 communication protocols through manual analysis. The 802.11 standard has been subject to manual analysis of DoS vulnerabilities for more than a decade, thus our results indicate that protocol vulnerabilities can elude manual analysis. We conclude that formal methods are required in order to improve protocol robustness against semantic DoS attacks.We propose a formal method that can be used to automatically discover protocol vulnerabilities. The formal method defines a protocol model, adversary model and cost model. The protocol participants and adversary are modeled as finite state transducers, while the cost is modeled as a function of time. Our primary goal is to construct a formal method that is practical, i.e. does not require a vast amount of resources to implement, and useful, i.e. able to discover protocol vulnerabilities. We verify and validate our proposed method by modeling the 802.11w amendment to the 802.11 standard using Promela as the modeling language. We then use the SPIN model checker to verify the model properties and experiments to validate the results. The modeling and experiments result in the discovery and experimental validation of four new deadlock vulnerabilities that had eluded manual analysis. We find one deadlock vulnerability in 802.11i and three deadlock vulnerabilitiesin 802.11w. A deadlock vulnerability is the most severe form of communication protocol DoS vulnerabilities, and their discovery and removal are an essential part of robust protocol design. Thus, we conclude that our proposed formal method is both practical and useful.

<p>The research was driven by a need to increase the knowledge base concerning wetland ecological responses, as well as to identify and evaluate the factors driving the functioning of the Franschhoek Trust Wetland. An ecohydrological study was undertaken in which vegetation cover, depth to groundwater, water and soil chemistry were monitored at 14 sites along three transects for a 12 month period. The parameters used include temperature, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, chloride, bicarbonate, sulphate, total nitrogen, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and phosphorus. T-tests and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were used to analyze trends and to express the relationship between abiotic factors and vegetation.</p>

Tailings are a fine-grained waste product produced during the metal recovery process. Tailings consist mostly of different silicates but also sulfides (e.g. pyrite), since 100 % metal recovery is not possible. Freshly processed tailings are deposited in large impoundments. If the mine tailings in the impoundments are exposed to water and oxygen, the sulfides will oxidize and release acidity and metals such as Fe, Cu, Zn, and Pb. The sulfide mineral oxidation reactions are catalyzed by sulfur and iron oxidizing bacteria (principally Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans) that oxidize ferrous iron to ferric iron, which then oxidizes pyrite. When the leachate produced by this process discharges from the impoundment, it is called acid mine drainage, which may lead to the pollution of adjacent streams and lakes. The intention with this thesis is to investigate and quantify mineral weathering processes and element release rates occurring in water-saturated and soil-covered sulfidic mine tailings. The study was performed in different batch and column experiments in room temperature and in the laboratory. The batch experiments were conducted for ca. three months and investigated: a) microbial and abiotic sulfide oxidation in freshly processed tailings under oxic conditions at pH 2-3 and pH 8, b) microbial oxidation of pure pyrite grains at pH 2-3 under different oxygen concentrations ranging from anoxic to oxic conditions. The column experiments, consisting of unoxidized tailings in water-saturated columns, were conducted for up to three years. In these experiments, an oxygen-saturated solution was continually pumped into the column inlet, and investigated: a) differences in oxidation rates between tailings of two different grain sizes, b) factors affecting element discharge rates, acid neutralization, and sulfide oxidation, c) the effect of ions released in a soil cover on release rates in the tailings. Sulfide oxidation processes within the batch experiments were limited by surface kinetics. The microbial oxidation of pure pyrite at atmospheric conditions produced the most rapid rate, while the microbial oxidation of pure pyrite at anoxic conditions was slower by 1.8 orders of magnitude. Microbial and abiotic oxidation of pyrite in freshly-processed tailings resulted in pyrite oxidation rates that were intermediate between these two extremes. The results from the microbial experiments with pure pyrite indicated a positive correlation between the concentration of dissolved oxygen, ferric iron and bacterial cells (at a total cell concentration &gt; 106 cells/mL and a dissolved oxygen concentration ≥ 13.2 µM), which implies an interdependence of these factors. The results from these batch experiments support the indirect mechanism for microbial oxidation by the ferric oxidation pathway. Pyrite oxidation rates estimated from the batch experiments may be comparable with oxidation rates in the unsaturated zone and at the groundwater table in a tailings impoundment. Acid neutralization reactions in the column experiments resulted in the release of base cations to the column leachate. Calcite was the most important neutralizing mineral despite that it was only present in minor amounts in the tailings. It was confirmed that acidity forced the calcite dissolution. Element release rates in the column experiments were controlled by the availability of dissolved oxygen, which was a function of the water flow rate into the column. These column experiments also showed that the results are comparable with results from field studies, justifying the use of column experiments to study processes within tailings impoundments.

Purpose/Aim: In the information and communication technology society (ICT) we live in today it is easy to feel that we are constantly expected to be available. The daily contact with the Internet and the use of cell phones has changed our way to communicate. With this in mind in combination with the increased stress among young adults my aim is to investigate how young adults, aged 23-26 years, experience to be constantly connected and available through the Internet and the cell phone. What are their opinions, attitudes and feelings about what this entails in their lives? Material/Method: The essay is based on four focus group interviews with sixteen students from Uppsala University aged 23-26, two groups consisting of women and two groups consisting of men. The ICT &amp; Internet research is developing rapidly which led me to do an exploratory study that is hypothesis-generating and which I hope can be used for forthcoming research of the consequences of the ICT society. The empiric result has been analyzed from a behavioural science perspective. Main results: The results have been interesting from several perspectives. The focus groups seem to think that the Internet and cell phone use is the best thing that has happened. They are so-called "Multitaskers" and have no problems to do several things simultaneously. The relationship between ICT and stress becomes slightly more noticeable among the girls. I dare to say that the constant availability do result in a certain stress, which I based on the clear statements about stress that came up between the lines. The focus groups are highly dependent on both their cell phone and access to Internet. They have also developed new cell phone behaviours that are customized to different situations and people.

Background: The increasing globalization of business and research has led to an increased demand for international meetings. This is a market that a number of countries wish to access and the competition is fierce to get the chance to host major conferences. Stockholm has a pronounced good position in the international meeting market and this essay will examine what it takes to be a successful meeting destination for international congresses. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the fundamental factors that must be met for a meeting destination to be successful in the international market for conventions. Question at issue: How can a city develop into a more attractive meeting destination for international congresses? Method: Persons with key positions in the Stockholm meeting industry have been approached by qualitative interviews by the authors. Theory: As a theoretical framework the authors used the value of the physical meeting, generally on the congresses, the planning process for site selection for the meeting, the meeting platform and image. Conclusion: The authors' findings are based on the empirical material gathered during the study interviews. The results from these interviews show the importance of facilities and hotels, availability, and the image. / Bakgrund: Den ökade globaliseringen av företag och forskning har lett till en ökad efterfrågan av internationella möten. Detta är en marknad som många länder vill ta del av och konkurrensen är hård om att få chansen att arrangera större kongresser. Stockholm har idag en uttalad god position på den internationella mötesmarknaden och denna uppsats ämnar undersöka vad som krävs för att bli en framgångsrik mötesdestination för internationella kongresser. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka vilka grundläggande faktorer som måste uppfyllas för att en mötesdestination ska bli framgångsrik på den internationella marknaden för kongresser. Frågeställning: Hur kan en stad utvecklas till att bli en mer attraktiv mötesdestination för internationella kongresser? Metod: Författarna har använt sig av kvalitativa intervjuer med några av Stockholms mötesindustris nyckelpersoner. Teori: Som teoretisk referensram har författarna använt sig av värdet av det fysiska mötet, allmänt om kongresser, planeringsprocessen för val av plats för möte, mötesplattformen samt image. Slutsats: Författarnas slutsatser baseras på det empiriska material som insamlats under studiens intervjuer. Resultaten från dessa intervjuer visar på vikten av faciliteter och hotell, tillgänglighet samt image.

Abstract Title: When the cat is away… A study of pedagogical leadership at a distance Level: Final assignment for Degree of Master of science (one year) in Educational Management Author: Evelyn Joelsson Supervisor: Ulla Sebrant Date: 2013 may Leadership is a subject that has been discussed for many generations. Today’s leadership is something completely different than what has been practiced before, in the more hierarchical companies, when leadership was something you were born to do and the workers had no choice but to follow. In the globalised world that we live in today there are demands of a different kind than before and physical distance between leaders and their followers gets more and more common. Communication is the focus and the catchwords are patency, trust and availability. In our information society it is important to have an open dialog and to aim for continuous development. Often this is built with close and supportive leadership. My question is; how can you be a close and supportive leader when you are physically somewhere else? To find the answer to my questions I began with studying some previous work that has been done in this area, Maria Nordengren &amp; Bengt Olsen (2006) among others. I interviewed ten people who all have some kind of experience with working at a distance and the professional leadership from afar. Two of them were leaders, four were employees that worked at a distance from the leader and four were employees working physically close to the leader. I asked them about communication, trust, patency and availability and found out that educational leadership is possible at a distance but also at a price. If you are a leader placed at a distance from your employees you need to be clearer in your communication than the leader close at hand and give the right information at the right time. Trust is very important as well as the physical meetings they have twice a year. Availability is important and many claimed that it was working satisfactory. The physical contact proved to be irreplaceable even if there are many technical tools available in today’s businesses. Employees at a physical distance from their leaders automatically need to take more decisions on their own and learn to take initiative faster than the ones who can just walk over to the leader and ask. For future research I suggest that you could look at the different kinds of distance between leaders and their followers, not just de physical, and maybe also the gender aspect of leadership at a distance. One could conduct a comparative study between different kinds of companies and see if IT-businesses differ from producing- or service companies. The communication strategies that were used was something I found interesting and is probably something you can look more into, for example when you use what tool for communication. I think my thesis has contributed to the understanding of the complexity of leadership at a physical distance and what it takes to be an educational leader in a scattered company today concerning communication, patency, trust and availability. Keywords: leadership, educational leadership, leadership at a distance, communication, distance, development opportunity, trust, patency and availability.

The future is uncertain. We therefore make predictions and forecasts of the future in order to be able to plan and react to future events. For this purpose, financial analysts are argued to have a responsibility towards investors and the market, in helping to keep the market efficient. Given that financial analysts act in a rational way we argue that analysts should strive to maximize forecast accuracy. The purpose of this study is to investigate how accurate financial analysts’ forecasts of Swedish firms’ future values are, and what information that analysts use that significantly affect the analysts’ forecast accuracy. To investigate this we first examine whether financial analysts contribute with value to investors by comparing their forecast precision against a simple time-series model. Our findings show that financial analysts produce significantly more accurate forecasts than a time-series model in the short term. Furthermore, given that rational analysts act in their own best interest while making accurate forecasts, we argue that analysts will incorporate and use the information that is available to them for the purpose of maximizing forecast accuracy. We investigate this by testing if the analysts’ forecast accuracy is affected by; the forecast horizon, the number of analysts following a firm, the firm size, the corporate visibility, the predictability of earnings, and trading volume. We find that the forecast accuracy is better when the amount of analysts following a firm is high, the firm size is larger, the forecasted company’s corporate visibility in the news is more frequent, and the predictability of earnings is higher. The trading volume does not have a significant effect on analysts’ forecast accuracy. To conclude, we question the value of financial analysts’ forecasts for longer forecast horizons.