Municipal Heritage Planning in Canada: A Profile of Ten Cities The need to conserve physical evidence of the past or "heritage", in a changing urban environment, has manifest itself in a new aspect to municipal planning. This thesis examines municipal heritage planning in Canada from the following perspectives: (a) the events leading to and comprising municipal involvement in its heritage; (b) the role of the heritage planner; (c) the tools available to municipalities for heritage preservation. Based on the premise that the appointment of the heritage planner is a significant point in the evolution of the planning profession and the conservation movement, the thesis focuses on those cities which have a heritage planner. A questionnaire was sent to sixteen cities where heritage activity was taking place. Ten of these qualified for inclusion in the analysis by virtue of having one or more Heritage Planners on staff. While the primary jurisdiction for the regulation of heritage property rests with the Provincial Government, the provinces have recently given municipalities the power to protect their own cultural resources through designation. These powers are rarely sufficient and have compelled municipalities to use other tools to achieve protection either with or without designation. These mechanisms can range from "soft" incentives which require little commitment from the municipality in terms of time and money spent (for example, moral suasion), to "harder" mechanisms such as outright purchase. The role of the Heritage Planner will continue to be the development and administration of these tools together with other heritage programs such as the Inventory and Evaluation of the city's cultural resources and the education of the public and private sectors about heritage preservation. A central conclusion of this thesis is that current municipal activity in heritage preservation is directed, in large part, towards ameliorating the negative economic consequences of heritage designation. More could be done by setting designation aside as a primary concern and using the existing tools at the municipality's disposal to encourage the private sector to undertake preservation activities. The opportunity for the Heritage Planner rests in using these tools and developing new ones. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Ecological restoration is quickly becoming a major approach to how humans interact with the natural world. Some view restoration as another land management technique on par with conservation and preservation. Others view it as a way to make reparations for our misdeeds and to reincorporate humans into the natural world. Ideas regarding restoration from key academics and restorationists are evaluated here. Their views have set the stage for the contemporary paradigm. Values that may be attributed to restoration and received from it are evaluated. I discuss my own reservations regarding potential problems with the product and practice of restoration. What is at stake regarding the involvement of people in restoration is examined, focusing on the different impacts volunteers and paid workers have on the value of the practice and outcome of the product.

For rare book collections, a considerable challenge is involved in evaluating collection materials in terms of their inherent value, which includes the textual and intangible information the materials provide for the collection's users. Preservation management in rare book collections is a complex and costly process. As digitization and other technological advances in surrogate technology have provided new forms representation, new dilemmas in weighing the rare book's inherently valuable characteristics against the possibly lesser financial costs of surrogates have arisen. No model has been in wide use to guide preservation management decisions. An initial iteration of such a model is developed, based on a Delphi-like iterative questioning of a group of experts in the field of rare books. The results are used to synthesize a preservation management framework for rare book collections, and a small-scale test of the framework has been completed through two independent analyses of five rare books in a functioning collection. Utilizing a standardized template for making preservation decisions offers a variety of benefits. Preservation decisions may include prioritizing action upon the authentic objects, or developing and maintaining surrogates in lieu of retaining costly original collection materials. The framework constructed in this study provides a method for reducing the subjectivity of preservation decision-making and facilitating the development of a standard of practice for preservation management within rare book collections.

Human watershed activities such as converting land cover to agriculture and livestock grazing have negatively impacted stream water quality worldwide. One such case is Utah’s Upper Sevier River where a loss of woody bank vegetation (reduced shading) and accelerated bank erosion (increased fine sediment inputs) has led to increased stream temperature and water turbidity. As a result, the state of Utah sought to improve water quality conditions using streambank restoration. While commonly recommended and performed, the effectiveness of this sort of restoration has rarely been quantified. Here, I evaluated a restored reach of the Upper Sevier River near Hatch, UT using continuous monitoring data and a historical photo analysis. As Utah wishes to continue performing this type of restoration in additional locations on the Upper Sevier River, I applied a simple sediment budget model to test its value in informing future streambank restoration decisions. Continuous monitoring data at the upstream and downstream extent of restoration showed that both stream temperature and turbidity increased downstream along the restored reach. In addition, I found that stream temperature violated Utah’s cold-water stream threshold at both sites but did not violate thresholds for rainbow trout. Turbidity violated state and biological thresholds at both sites. I was unable to conclude whether the streambank restoration directly altered water quality because I lacked monitoring data before restoration occurred. Results of the historical aerial photo analysis showed that restoration practitioners were successful in reducing cut bank erosion. My use of SIAM as a simple sediment budget model proved insufficient due to poor data quality and quantity. Overall, streambank restoration was successful at reducing cut bank erosion, and I recommended monitoring future restoration before and after project completion, identifying and monitoring upstream sources of fine sediment, and pursuing more comprehensive sediment models to inform future streambank restoration.

Overabundance of shrubs poses a major threat to semiarid ecosystems due to degraded understory vegetation. Previous efforts suggest a need for greater understanding of which management practices work best to improve these ecosystems. I sought to develop a better understanding of how the relative performance of commonly seeded species is influenced by three sagebrush removal techniques. I calculated effect sizes for cover and frequency to estimate relative changes in abundance of 15 common plant species seeded at 63 restoration sites throughout Utah. Shrubs were reduced by fire or mechanical treatment. Effect sizes were assessed using meta-analysis techniques for two post-treatment timeframes. Introduced grasses and shrubs had greater increases in cover and frequency following treatment, respectively. The introduced shrub Bassia prostrata experienced the largest increases in abundance following treatments. Forb abundance was highest when treated with fire. Over the long term the fire treatment resulted in greater increases for four of the seven grass species. Large increases in perennial grasses over time suggest that seeding efforts contributed to enhancing understory herbaceous conditions. My results provide new insights regarding the interactive effects of species and shrub-reduction treatments. Secondly, I evaluated emergence patterns of six commonly seeded restoration species in soils collected from Wyoming big sagebrush (A. t. ssp. wyomingensis [Beetle & A. Young] S.L. Welsh) and mountain big sagebrush (A. t. ssp. vaseyana [Rydb.] Beetle) plant communities. I developed a novel experimental design that regularly wetted soils to field capacity and allowed them to naturally dry by evaporation, which resulted in distinct differences in the duration of wet-dry cycles. Results showed that inherent differences in soil texture and organic matter between vaseyana and wyomingensis soils translated into fundamental differences in soil water holding capacity. Although species collectively exhibited greater emergence in vaseyana soils than wyomingensis soil, patterns were vastly different among species and differences between soils became more pronounced under low soil water for two of the test species. I concluded that the manner in which soils and water uniquely influenced emergence patterns provide new insights in species suitability for restoration sites and how inherent soil differences may constrain seeding success.

No description available.

There is a need for spinal implants that have nonlinear stiffness to provide stabilization if the spine loses stiffness through injury, degeneration, or surgery. There is also a need for spinal implants to be customizable for individual needs, and to be small enough to be unobtrusive once implanted. Past and ongoing work that defines the effects of degeneration on the torque rotation curve of a functional spinal unit (FSU) were used to produce a spinal implant which could meet these requirements. This thesis proposes contact-aided inserts to be used with the FlexSuRe™ spinal implant to create a nonlinear stiffness. Moreover, different inserts can be used to create customized behaviors. An analytical model is introduced for insert design, and the model is verified using a finite element model and tests of physical prototypes both on a tensile tester and cadaveric testing on an in-house spine tester. Testing showed the inserts are capable of creating a non-linear force-deflection curve and it was observed that the device provided increased stiffness to a spinal segment in flexion-extension and lateral-bending. This thesis further proposes that the FlexSuRe™ spinal implant can be reduced in size by joining LET joint geometries in series in a serpentine nature. An optimization procedure was performed on the new geometry and feasible designs were identified. Moreover, due to maintaining LET joint geometry, the contact-aided insert could be implemented in conjunction with this new device geometry.

No description available.

No description available.

Området submarin miljö och dentala förhållanden finns det få studier inom. Detta ger behandlare svårigheter att ta evidensbaserade behandlingsbeslut för grupper som utsätts för hyperbariskt tryck. För att kunna föra fram kvalitativa studier och odontologisk kunskap krävs tillförlitliga metoder. Syfte: Syftet är att utvärdera om den presenterade metoden är tillförlitlig när det gäller att utvärdera exponering för tryck över atmosfärstryck har en inverkan på mikroläckage av temporära restaureringsmaterial. Material och metod: 27 extraherade tänder utan visuella defekter, preparerades under standardiserade former och fyllda med glasjonomermaterial. Dessa objekts rötter kapades och två lager av bonding applicerades som blockering av infärgning. Dessa 27 objekt delades in i 3 grupper trycktes i tryckkammare till 1, 3, respektive 5 bar, liggandes i infärgning med 2% metylenblått. Dessa sektionerades och granskades visuellt enligt binära mätmetoder under förstoringsobjektiv. Resultat: Resultatet var liknande mellan grupperna oavsett utsatt tryck. Samtliga testade objekt visade på permeabilitet i tand-fyllningsgränsen. 77,8-100% av objekten hade infärgningsläckage från dentintubuli via pulpakavum sett till alla grupper. Glasjonomerfyllningar visade ingen mätbar permeabilitet i något objekt. Persisterande glasjonomer-glaze noterades på 55,6-66,6% av testobjekten beroende på testgrupp. Slutsats: Några av faktorerna inkluderade i den presenterade metoden behöver övervägas på nytt och möjligtvis ändras innan en mer tillförlitlig metod för syftet kan etableras. De faktorer som här syftas till är relaterade till termocykling, sektionering av testobjekt, utvärdering av testresultat, blockering av permeabilitet-indikator, mätning av läckage av permeabilitet-indikator, och användning av glasjonomer-glaze. / There are few studies in the area of ​​dental material science concerning submarine environments. This gives practitioners difficulties in making evidence-based decisions in the treatment of the group of patients who are exposed to hyperbaric pressures. In order to carry out qualitative studies and further odontologic knowledge in this field, reliable methods are required. Aim: The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the presented method is reliable and accurate in evaluating and measuring micro-leakage of temporary restoration materials exposed to hyperbaric pressures. Materials and methods: 27 extracted teeth without visual defects were prepared under standardized forms and filled with glass ionomer material. The roots of the teeth were cut, and two layers of bonding were applied in the pulpal cavities as blockage for the dye. The teeth were divided into 3 groups, the groups were pressurized to 1, 3 and 5 bar respectively, lying in 2% methylene blue dye. The teeth were sectioned and visually inspected according to binary criteria standards under magnification lens. Results: Similar results irrespective of what pressurized environment they had been subject to were seen. Every test object displayed permeability along both the tooth-filling interface. A high incidence rate(=77,8-100%) of dye permeability via dentinal tubules through the open pulpal cavities was seen in all groups. The glass-ionomer material body showed no significant permeability of the dye for either of the subjects. Persistent glass-ionomer glaze was noted in each group, with an incidence of 55,6-66,6%. Conclusions: Some of the factors included in the presented method need to be reevaluated and perhaps be changed before a more reliable method for the purpose can be established. These considered factors are related to thermal cycling, slicing of test objects, test result evaluation, blockage of permeability indicator, measurement of permeability indicator leakage, and usage of glass-ionomer glaze.