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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
161

Spring-fed streams in Virginia and assessment of livestock impacts

Yow, David Lee 20 August 2008 (has links)
The first of two studies surveyed fish communities and habitats in first-order spring streams in Virginia. Springs exhibited low species (3.3) and trophic guild (2.5) richness, and fish densities averaged 0.47 individuals/m². Two species, blacknose dace (Rhinichthys atratulus) and sculpins (Cottus sp.) dominated most sites. Spring size and location factors more effectively predicted fish community structure than did instream habitat or riparian condition, indicating that composition of Virginia spring fish communities was limited by access to colonization sources. Location, size, and instream habitat of springs were related to presence of common fish species and trophic guilds. The second study evaluated livestock impacts on biotic communities of ten Virginia spring streams. Riparian and instream habitat was significantly altered and nitrate levels were elevated in heavily grazed watersheds. Within the fish community, piscivores and young-of-year benthic invertivores were adversely affected by habitat loss associated with increasing cattle densities. Benthic macroinvertebrate communities showed significant trends in composition across the gradient of grazing intensities. Fish communities were correlated with riparian condition, whereas benthic invertebrate communities were correlated with benthic habitat degradation and nitrate enrichment. Benthic macroinvertebrate community structure was a reliable indicator of cattle-related spring stream degradation, but fish metrics were related to riparian condition. / Master of Science
162

"From the smoke of the town, to the fields and the groves": gender, class and the pursuit of leisure in London's eighteenth-century pleasure gardens

Wohlcke, Anne Elizabeth 22 August 2008 (has links)
Any historian of eighteenth-century England, especially London, examines the emerging "middle ranks", but they often neglect to address how gender shaped the growing middle-class identity. The importance of gender in the formation of a middle-class identity is often not apparent because the arenas in which gender was regularly debated, like pleasure gardens, are not studied. Examining public spaces like pleasure gardens demonstrates the limitations imposed on women's history by "separate spheres” historiography and contributes to our understanding of women's work because it shows that women worked outside a domestic economy. In pleasure gardens, middling and working women encountered each other while they challenged gender expectations and with their behavior, they laid the cultural foundations of a later feminist movement. The ability to pursue leisure was an important facet of middle-class life and in studying places of public democratic leisure like pleasure gardens, we begin to see shared ideas of gender emerging in popular culture. / Master of Arts
163

The hermeneutics of airphoto interpretation

Whittemore, Martin P. 22 August 2008 (has links)
This thesis examines the cultural and political applications of aerial photography. The thesis emphasizes the historical development of aerial photography technologies and the incorporation of these systems into national policy. The Majority of the discussion details the U-2 reconnaissance program. There is an account of the evolution of the system under Eisenhower, explanation of its selection over other intelligence programs, development of photographic equipment, and the formation of a professional staff to analyze the U-2 imagery. This thesis analyses the use of U-2 imagery under Kennedy to precipitate and then monitor the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The analysis of the technologies and historical record utilizes a methodology defined as hermeneutical. Hermeneutics is the study of communication, or the exchange of knowledge accomplished through a text. The treatment of aerial photography as a text provides insight into the multiplicity of roles it played in national policy. Normative logic has knowledge emanating from photography, deciphered by science, and passed on to policymakers. There has been no concerted effort to integrate the politics and the science of aerial photography. This thesis challenges that discursive separation of science and politics. By examining the entire process, from flight planning to analysis to briefing of policymakers and finally, to the formation of policy, a different model of information exchange emerges. The science and politics of airphoto interpretation share a co-dependency where knowledge transfer is not a one-way street, but an interactive, co-dependent exchange. / Master of Science
164

Penetrable walls

Vermeulen, Susan E. 09 September 2008 (has links)
This thesis explores the architecture of openings between and through layered, parallel walls. Light, orthogonal form, and layering is used to create a rich palette of spatial events. Arural dwelling is the vehicle for this inquiry. The openings that cut through the layers maintain an orthogonal edge. They are designed to frame views, regulate moments of light and reinforce the scale of the exterior walls. The openings between the layers are larger and more complex in shape. They open the ends of the house to greater vistas, define the public and private sectors and allow for horizontal and vertical movement through the house. The exterior walls are positioned to compress the inner portions. A change in material clarifies the distinction between the two sections. Concrete block gives mass and strength to the container, and plaster expresses the contained. The exterior walls assert their presence by allowing for clean edges on the exterior and glimpses of their entirety on the interior. The shifting of the walls permits one to see the layering from each elevation. The service core is positioned to divide the house into a narrow portion to the north and wide cavity to the south. The public rooms step down along the south side and are easily accessible from each landing of the stairs and entryways. The private rooms are stacked. Passage along hallways and through the service and storage core lead to the private rooms. / Master of Architecture
165

A visual arts center

Tanyeri, Gozde January 1996 (has links)
The thesis idea of "A Visual Arts Center" for the Nation's Capital came to life based on my desire to visual arts and artists, exhibition and working, under the same roof, and mainly to solve the problem of appreciation and ignorance towards arts. What I have observed was that Washington, D.C. is the Capital of the superpower Nation, the Capital of the U.S. government, the Capital of politics. "...In science, I found everything was very clear. Art? Art was always art appreciation, or reading poetry or looking at paintings to appreciate them and so on, but not making paintings, making poetry, making architecture. Art is still on the margin. It is not really absorbed or integrated into the whole. This goes away only by a deep educational system starting from the nursery on through the whole system." Walter Gropius, On Science and Art. The Visual Arts Center, in my vision, is a center where making, seeing, learning and touching become as one cultural activity. Appreciation of the arts literally lies at the back of learning more about the materials, ideas, styles and making things. One can only understand himself and his abilities through making things. / Master of Architecture
166

Active learning using arbitrary binary valued queries

January 1990 (has links)
S.R. Kulkarni, S.K. Mitter, J.N. Tsitsiklis. / Cover title. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 11-12). / Research supported by the U.S. Army Research Office. DAAL03-86-K-0171 Research supported by the National Science Foundation. ECS-8552419 Research supported by the Department of the Navy under an Air Force contract. F19628-90-C-0002
167

Avaliação e desempenho do sistema bancário brasileiro. 1988 a 1996

Almeida, Ilton dos Santos 18 June 1997 (has links)
Made available in DSpace on 2008-05-13T13:16:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 1997-06-18
168

Effect of field-of-view on perceived representativeness and preference of visual simulations

Evans, Eric 17 December 2008 (has links)
The purpose of this study was to contribute to an analytical framework for creating and validating simulations. This was achieved by investigating viewer response to changes of a single-image variable (field-of-view). Eight images of two different test sites, with fields-of-view that ranged from 40 to 120 degrees, were judged by 47 people. Image representativeness was analyzed by evaluating viewer response of the images to the actual scene. Statistical analysis revealed that simulations with fields-of-view > 40 and ≤ 90 degrees may best represent the test sites, regardless of the scenes viewshed. Preference ratings for the same images were analyzed and compared with response to representativeness. The results of the study reveal no relationship between image preference and the perceived accuracy of the images to represent the test sites. Implications of the findings suggest further research is needed on methods of estimating the validity of visual simulations. / Master of Landscape Architecture
169

Color removal in textile dye wastewaters by means of coagulation

Inge, Thomas Benjamin 18 September 2008 (has links)
In textile mill wastewater effluent, highly colored and stable dyes are formidable and somewhat insusceptible to removal treatment processes. Recent governmental regulations have made it necessary to remove most color before discharging the treated wastewater to surface waters. Chemical coagulation is successful in some cases at reducing wastewater color to acceptable levels. Also anaerobic biological treatment is usually successful in destroying the dyes and color in the wastewater. Aerobic biological treatment often does not degrade the dyes or remove significant color, but aerobic treatment, unlike anaerobic treatment, removes a large amount of organics. This thesis explored the color removal in two textile dye wastewaters by means of coagulation in conjunction to the following treatments: no prior treatment, aerobic treatment, anaerobic treatment, and anaerobic-aerobic treatment. In the first industry, a reactive azo dye washwater (or rinsewater) was evaluated, and the influent into the municipal treatment facility that receives the azo dyes was also evaluated. Polymer coagulation proved to be successful following anaerobic-aerobic treatment in reducing color, solids, and organics. Color removals were most favorable at low pHs of 3 to 5 when using polymer dosages less than 100 mg/L in the washwater and less than 25 mg/L in the municipal wastewater. At higher amounts of coagulant over 100 mg/L in the washwater and 25 mg/L in the municipal wastewater, color removals were similar at pHs 3 to 8. The second industry uses many dyes that include acid and disperse dyes. Alum addition of 300 to 400 m/L at pH 5 compared favorably to the polymers presently added by the industry. Both the currently used polymers and alum were successful in removing color when utilizing proper settling techniques. / Master of Science
170

Labor-management training programs established and funded through collective bargaining agreements at firms employing 1000 or more persons

Hensley, Stephen Michael 06 June 2008 (has links)
Throughout the United States, workers are participating in training programs jointly established by their union and their company. These joint training programs have emerged as a significant innovation in employee training programs during the past fifteen years and are helping workers learn new technical skills, develop Better basic skills, and enrich their personal lives. These programs share unique characteristics including their contract language, funding arrangements, programmatic content, educational approach, and shared governance. Unfortunately, comprehensive information regarding these programs' origins, distribution, governance, organization, structure, operation, and management has been reported only using anecdotal approaches. This research void has constrained policy, pedagogical, and technical application of these programs' principles. This study used content analysis methodology to systematically collect and analyze information regarding 798 existing joint training programs that were established and conducted through the collective bargaining process. In addition, the study synthesized the existing literature regarding joint training programs including information from three previous studies. Specific research questions were used to analyze four types of existing joint labor-management training programs: skills training, apprenticeships, tuition assistance, and educational leave programs. Information regarding these programs' governance, organization, structure, operation, and management was also collected, analyzed, and reported. Selected findings and conclusions from the study include: 1. Current joint training programs for active workers are oriented toward providing technical skills needed in today's workplace rather than building the individual worker's basic skills. Over 90% of the agreements included in this study supported training workers in currently required job skills, general job skills, and new technology implementation. 2. Though popular literature indicates that reading, writing, and mathematics skills are becoming more important skills for today's workers, companies appear inclined to believe that these skills only obliquely impact their profitability or, more likely, see these activities as the individual workers' responsibilities. Among the agreements included in this study, support for career counseling, personal development courses, or high school diploma completion programs was limited to relatively few companies, unions, and standard industrial classifications. 3. Apprenticeship programs are the most common joint training program model and are found in all industrial classifications. This training process is not, as previously reported, overwhelmingly dominated by the construction industry. Apprenticeship provisions at companies in construction oriented standard industrial classifications represented just 39% of the total agreements with apprenticeship provisions. This percentage is only slightly higher than these agreements' representation within the study population as agreements with construction oriented companies represented 34% of the agreements included in the study. / Ed. D.

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