Many commercially grown apple cultivars have a biennial cropping habit, producing many small fruit in one year and few or none in the following year. The production of fruits is known to inhibit flower initiation for the following year. This undesirable trait is frequently managed by removing (thinning) some flowers or young fruit in years of heavy flowering which improves the size of remaining fruits, but does not reliably improve flowering in the following year. The effect of thinning on flower initiation is not well understood. Two mathematical models are developed describing the relationship between flowering in one year and the next. The first models the effects of thinning on return bloom and attempts to define maximum repeatable flower number. The second models how proximity of growing points may impact biennial bearing and maximum annual flower number. This second model may be useful to advance research into biennial bearing in apple.

A recent growth in textual analysis research in the accounting and finance literature relies heavily on context to draw conclusions about the readability or sentiment of the text under study. Yet the complexity of the text used in the financial disclosure is also relevant in evaluating readability and sentiment. Experimental results in this dissertation thesis show that a change in annual report complexity is associated with a change in the probability that a subject will comprehend the information being communicated in the disclosure. Specifically, increasing the complexity of an annual report disclosure dampens the probability that a subject will understand good news disclosures and accentuates the probability that a subject will understand bad news disclosures. Experimental results in this dissertation thesis also demonstrate that a change in annual report complexity is associated with a change in the probability that a subject will be optimistic about the nature of the news being communicated in the disclosure. Specifically, an increase in the complexity of an annual report disclosure reduces the probability that a subject will be optimistic about neutral news disclosures, decreases the probability that a subject will be optimistic about good news disclosures, and increases the probability that a subject will be optimistic about bad news disclosures. Further, experimental results show that subjects utilize the Financial Statements, Management's Discussion and Analysis, and Business Data sections of the annual report more frequently than the Notes to Financial Statements section of the annual report. These results should be of interest to regulators, public corporations, and readers of annual report disclosures.

No description available.

One major acknowledged challenge in daily precipitation is the inability to model extreme events in the spectrum of events. These extreme events are rare but may cause large losses. How to realistically simulate extreme behavior of daily precipitation is necessary and important. To that end, a hybrid probability distribution is developed. The logic of this distribution is to simulate the low to moderate values by an exponential distribution and extremes by a generalized Pareto distribution. Compared with alternatives, the developed hybrid distribution is capable of simulating the entire range of precipitation amount and is much easier to use. The hybrid distribution is then used to construct a bivariate discrete-continuous mixed distribution, which is used for building a daily precipitation generator. The developed generator can successfully reproduce extreme events. Compared with other widely used generators, the most important advantage of the developed generator is that it is apt at extrapolating values significantly beyond the upper range of observed data. The major challenge in monthly streamflow simulation is referred to the underrepresentation of inter-annual variability. The inter-annual variability is often related with sustained droughts or periods of high flows. Preserving inter-annual variability is thus of particular importance for the long-term management of water resources systems. To that end, variables conveying such inter-annual signals should be used as covariates. This requires models that must be flexible at incorporating as many covariates as necessary. Keeping this point in mind, a joint conditional density estimation network is developed. Therein, the joint distribution of streamflows of two adjacent months is assumed to follow a specific parametric family. Parameters of the distribution are estimated by an artificial neural network. Due to the seasonal concentration of precipitation or the joint effect of rainfall and snowmelt, monthly streamflow distribution sometimes may exhibit a bimodal shape. To reproduce bimodality, nonparametric models are often preferred. However, the simulated sequences from existing nonparametric models represent too close a resemblance to historical record. To address this issue, while retaining typical merits of nonparametric models, a multi-model regression-sampling algorithm with a few weak assumptions is developed. Collecting hydrometric data is the first step for building hydrologic models, and for planning, design, operation, and management of water resource systems. In this dissertation, an entropy-theory-based criterion, termed maximum information minimum redundancy, is proposed for hydrometric monitoring network evaluation and design. Compared with existing similar approaches, the criterion is apt at finding stations with high information content, and locating independent stations.

主催：JST/CREST，Vrije University, ALTERRA, IBPC

Charities are important in modern Australian society because they provide a substantial proportion of the health, community welfare, education and religious services available in the community (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2002). Yet despite their social and economic importance, charities are often characterised in the media as being less accountable than either for-profit entities or government sector organisations. Annual reports are widely regarded as an important means of acquitting accountability in the corporate and government sectors and may be one of the means by which charities can improve stakeholders' perceptions of their accountability. Yet little is known of the annual reporting behaviours of charities or whether annual reports have the potential for improving perceptions of accountability among their stakeholders and the wider community. This research focuses on a class of charities termed &quotpublic fundraising charities" (those that raise funds from the public rather than just their members), and the role that annual reports play in acquitting accountability and improving perceptions. The research uses a new combination of theories that have previously been used separately to explain accountability and annual reports in other sectors, and using the insights from these theories, examines the role of annual reports in a population of public fundraising charities in Queensland. The major findings of this research are that annual reports have both functional and symbolic roles in the system of accountability of public fundraising charities. Functionally, annual reports are a useful and generally valued means by which public fundraising charities communicate a wide range of types of information about their activities and their performance to interested parties. Symbolically, annual reports also serve as an important signal of assurance to those who receive them. For those who prepare them, annual reports serve as useful signals of managerial and governance competence to those whose opinion is salient to preparers. Annual reports also have a role in the system of accountability for the maintenance of the mission of these organisations, in ways that statutory reports and returns do not. This research makes three original contributions to the literature. First, it provides for the first time a detailed analysis of the role of annual reports in a system of accountability for public fundraising charities in Australia. Second, a new theoretical lens is proposed and tested for its descriptive and explanatory power in the examination the accountability of nonprofit organisations. Third, it makes an original contribution to accountability theory by identifying the importance of the annual report as a quality signaling device. The results of this research will be of use to public fundraising charities, regulators and policy makers, as they respond to the calls for charities to demonstrate that they are accountable.

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1962. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Os cereais destinados a produção de grãos (trigo) e de pastagens (azevém) são alvos espectralmente semelhantes, o que dificulta a sua identificação e discriminação em imagens de satélite ao usar sensoriamento remoto. Entretanto, o ciclo fenológico destas culturas é diferente. A análise do perfil multitemporal dos talhões torna-se a estratégia mais adequada para a discriminação destes alvos, os quais apresentam ciclos fenológicos diferentes, porém são espectralmente semelhantes. Usaram-se as imagens bissemanais (vermelho, infravermelho próximo e infravermelho médio) do produto MOD13q1 do sensor MODIS para aplicar um modelo linear de mistura espectral, do qual foram geradas as imagens fração: vegetação, solo e sombra (água). Utilizou-se a distância de Bhattacharyya para realizar uma análise prévia de separabilidade das classes de trigo e azevém geradas. As composições NDVI do produto MOD13q1 foram utilizadas para a segmentação de imagens e para a geração dos perfis multitemporais, os quais foram elaborados usando pontos de controle (lavouras) coletados em saída de campo com auxílio de GPS. Usaram-se as imagens NDVI 129, 177 e 257 do ano de 2009 na segmentação. O mapeamento foi realizado usando o Isodata implementado no Spring 5.0.3, e várias classificações foram testadas. Os dados do mapeamento final foram comparados com dados do IBGE. A estimativa oficial do IBGE para as pastagens é de 118.657 ha para os 42 municípios da área de estudo (metade sul do RS), uma diferença de 18.018 ha a mais quando comparada com a estimativa do mapeamento, de 100.639 ha. Dos 42 municípios que compõem a área de estudo, 19 apresentaram uma diferença menor do que 1.000 ha ao compararem-se os dados do IBGE com o mapeamento. A estimativa dos cereais destinados a produção de grãos foi de 73.690 ha de acordo com o IBGE, uma diferença de 9.543 ha a menos quando comparada com a estimativa do mapeamento, de 83.233 ha. Dos 42 municípios que compõem a área de estudo, 25 apresentaram uma diferença menor do que 1.000 ha. / When employing remote sensing, the cereals destined for grain production (wheat) and pasture (ryegrass) become spectrally similar targets, which makes their identification and distinction more difficult on satellite images. Nevertheless, the phenological cycle of both cultures is different. Thus, the analysis of the multi-temporal profile of plots results in the most suitable strategy for the distinction of those targets, which have unalike phenological cycles but are spectrally similar. Biweekly images (red, near-infrared and mid-infrared) of the product MOD13q1 from MODIS sensor were employed in order to apply a linear model of spectral mixture, from which fraction images were rendered: vegetation, soil and shade (water). The Bhattacharyya distance was used to perform a previous analysis of the separability of generated wheat and ryegrass classes. The NDVI composites of the product MOD13q1 were used in image segmentation and in the multi-temporal profiles rendering, which were elaborated by exploiting control points (crops) gathered in trip field with the aid of GPS. Images NDVI 129, 177 and 257 from the year 2009 were used in the segmentation. The mapping was carried out by employing the Isodata implemented in Spring 5.0.3, and several classifications were tested. The final mapping’s data were compared with IBGE’s data. According to IBGE’s official estimate, there are 118.657 ha of pastures in the 42 cities of the study area (south half of RS), a difference of 18.018 ha more in comparison to the mapping’s estimate, which is of 100.639 ha. Out of the 42 cities that totalize the study area, 19 presented a difference of less than 1.000 ha when comparing IBGE’s data to the mapping’s data. As stated by IBGE, the estimate of cereals destined for grain production was of 73.690 ha (a difference of 9.543 ha less in comparison to the mapping’s estimate of 83.233 ha. Out of the 42 cities that totalize the study area, 25 showed a difference of less than 1.000 ha.

This study is concerned with the effect that mean annual precipitation (P) has on the relationship between bankfull channel width (Wbf) and drainage area (Ada). Several other studies have been conducted in which relationships were developed for predicting Wbf as a function of Ada and P. In most cases, however, the relationships were developed for specific regions, e.g., physiographic regions. This study is unusual in that it evaluates the relationship between Wbf, Ada, and P over a broad area (i.e., across a range of geologic, terrestrial, and climatic environments). In one study, where a broad area was considered, the relationship between Wbf, Ada, and P was found to be linear. The dataset for this study was compiled from data in U.S. Geological Survey flood-flow-frequency reports, regional curve studies (i.e., studies in which Wbf vs. Ada relationships are developed) and other sources. A total of 435 sites that span across 12 states of the continental U.S. are represented in the dataset. Streams represented in the dataset are alluvial and have widths from 1 to 110 m, drainage areas from 0.50 to 22,000 km2, and mean annual precipitation depths ranging from 22 to 277 cm/yr. Data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Wadeable Streams Assessment study were employed in validating the results of this study. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) model was developed and it was determined that the intercept coefficient for the relationship between Wbf and Ada varies as follows: for P < 50 cm/yr the intercept coefficient (α) is constant; for 50 cm/yr ¡Ü P ¡Ü 100 cm/yr, α increases with P, and for P ¡Ý100 cm/yr, α is again constant. Across all values of P, the slope coefficient is constant (90% Confidence level). Changes in the relationship between Wbfand Ada are attributed to vegetation by noting that biome types changes from shrubland to forest as P increases from 50 to 100 cm/yr. These findings can be incorporated in regional curve studies and landscape evolution models (i.e., models which aim to integrate hydrology, land use history, geomorphology and climate change with models of vegetation succession).