Effects of electrostatic fields on insects were studied using cabbage loopers, Trichoplusia ni (Hubner) and houseflies, Musca domestica L. Two series of tests were conducted; one to determine the electrostatic field effect on the locational preference and the other to determine the field effect on wingbeat. Among the field gradients examined (250, 500, 750, 1000, 1250, 1500 v/crn), those with 750 v/cm and up had significant influence on the locational preference of houseflies at the five percent significance level. With a choice between two regions, having no field and with field at an e.f.i. of 750 v/cm, houseflies preferred to be in the field. For gradients above 750 v/cm the houseflies preferred the region with no field. Electrostatic fields with gradients 500, 750, 1000, 1250, and 1500 v/cm had significant effect on the wingbeat frequency of male cabbage loopers and no effect on females. The change in wingbeat among males was found to increase linearly with increasing e.f.i. Removal of part or full antenna did not effect the response of loopers to electrostatic fields. / Master of Science

The capability of the activated sludge process to operate with sea water included in the influent substrate. Sea water was added at various percentages from 5-40. The study concluded that from a biological standpoint the activated sludge process could operate successfully. However, rapid settling problems because of a build up of total solids became the limiting factor. / Master of Science

This study investigated the effectiveness of teaching basic food safety principles by programmed instruction for consumers. A linear-type programmed text was developed and evaluated. The difference between initial behavior and terminal behavior of subjects using the programmed text was assessed in relation to the terminal objectives of the programmed material. The terminal objectives of the programmed material were expressed in a criterion test used as a pretest and post-test. The criterion test and programmed text were administered to 2 groups of consumers consisting of 20 subjects and 17 subjects, respectively. A positive change in scores between the pretest and post-test was significant at the 0.001 level for both groups. The error rate of the programmed text was within the specified 10 per cent level. The maximum time required to complete the programmed text was estimated to be 1 hour. The results obtained indicated that food safety could be taught effectively to consumers through programmed instruction. / Master of Science

This thesis describes the system of timber limits used in Canada's Quebec Province and the methods of wood transportation associated with it. Each of these wood-transportation methods is weighed, and its future under the New Land-Management System proposed by the Department of Lands and Forests is assessed. This New Land-Management System is analyzed, primarily from the viewpoint of wood transportation. The base of a transportation model using linear programming is introduced. The supply sources are defined, and the method of calculating the allowable cut of timber is presented. The wood industries which produce chips are considered as supply sources additional to roundwood from the forests. For the purpose of this paper, the demand sources or destinations are the 59 pulp and paper mills presently operating in Quebec. The proposed transportation model would be subject to some exogenous constraints. These are political constraints--e.g., laws governing transportation; economic constraints, which include wood coming from the private forests; social constraints, such as those imposed by the desirability of maintaining employment in each community; and the constraints introduced by forest fires, insects, and diseases. Methods for handling these constraints are discussed. / Master of Science

The mixed oak-pine cover type was evaluated as white-tailed deer range on four study areas by measuring dry matter production of key forages and determining their nutrient composition. Composite diets containing plant species which represented the major portions of each seasonal diet as indicated by food habits studies, were mixed for the summer, fall and winter seasons. For the spring flush and spring seasons, individual key forages were analysed. All samples were assayed for soluble carbohydrates, lignin, phosphorus, gross energy, proximate composition, and in vitro dry matter digestibility. Digestible energy production in kcal/ha/day was calculated seasonally for key forages. The ratios of digestible energy available in key forages to that required by the estimated deer herd were 3.01, 5.94, 0.96, 2.14, and 1.23, for the spring flush, spring, summer, fall, and winter, respectively. These ratios indicate the potential of the study areas to support the estimated population density of 1 deer per 16.4 ha. The mixed oak-pine cover type appears to be adequate to support the estimated deer herd if 50 percent of the key forages are consumed seasonally but inadequate if only 25 percent are used. During all seasons, forage protein appeared to be adequate and phosphorus was possibly lower than that required for optimal animal performance. / Master of Science

This study is concerned with the simultaneous detection and least squares estimation of vector random processes. The problem is formulated in the following context: A random process, out of a countably infinite collection of (not necessarily Gaussian) vector random processes with known distributions, is observed with additive white Gaussian noise. The <i>a priori</i> probability, that a specific random process will be observed, is specified for each one in the collection. The least squares estimate of the random process that is being observed is to be found in terms of the hypothesis conditioned estimates. It is shown that the best estimate is the linear combination of the hypothesis conditioned estimates weighted by the <i>a posteriori</i> probabilities of the hypotheses conditioned on the observations. A Radon-Nikodym derivative representation is derived for the <i>a posteriori</i> probability by using the specific structure of the product probability measure for this problem. It is shown that this Radon-Nikodym derivative can be expressed in terms of the Radon-Nikodym derivatives of measures induced by the random processes in the collection with respect to Wiener measure. By using the recent results on likelihood functions, an expression for the <i>a posteriori</i> probability is found in terms of the conditioned estimates. In this connection, an extended version of the partition theorem of parameter adaptive estimation is proved. The unique stochastic differential equation, that each <i>a posteriori</i> probability satisfies with its associated <i>a posteriori</i> probability as the initial condition, is derived for the case of finitely many hypotheses along with an expression for the conditional error covariance in terms of the hypothesis conditioned error covariances. The results are applied to the parameter adaptive estimation problem in linear continuous and discrete stochastic dynamic systems. In the continuous case, the solution is also obtained through an alternate approach using nonlinear filtering theory. An application of the theory to the design of a digital flight control system which is tolerant of sensor failures is presented with real-time hybrid computer simulation results. A review of random processes and statistical decision theory is also included. / Ph. D.

No description available.

L'objectif de la thèse est de réaliser une mise au point critique portant sur la spécificité des méthodes cartographiques généralement employées pour la représentation quantitative des phénomènes de répartition. Dans un premier temps, cette mise au point permet de dégager, grâce à une analyse de l’information et en tenant compte des règles définies par la sémiologie graphique, les méthodes cartographiques qui, du point de vue méthodologique, sont les plus satisfaisantes, c'est-à-dire, qui correspondent à la nature de l'information à communiquer. Dans un second temps, cette mise au point porte sur la spécificité des diverses méthodes cartographiques à répondre à certains besoins des utilisateurs. Le premier besoin retenu dans l’analyse est la précision de la carte ou sa généralisation. L'utilisation de deux critères, la fidélité d'une part à la nature de 1'information et d'autre part aux caractéristiques spatiales de la distribution de cette information, permet de classifier les diverses méthodes cartographiques sur une échelle précision-généralisation. Le second besoin que l'on introduit dans cette étude est 1'automatisation de la rédaction cartographique. Quelques constatations générales portant sur les contraintes inhérentes à ce nouveau besoin, introduisent une brève critique de divers programmes de cartographie automatique. Enfin, en conclusion, l'on discute brièvement d'un troisième besoin que 1'utilisateur peut manifester, à savoir l'analyse spatiale de la distribution d'un phénomène. L'on montre finalement comment cet utilisateur peut, par le choix de certaines méthodes cartographiques, satisfaire simultanément, quelques-uns de ses besoins, c'est-à-dire, comment il peut intégrer le choix des diverses méthodes cartographiques qui permettent d'aborder les divers aspects tant cartographiques que statistiques de la répartition d'une population.

No description available.

No description available.