No description available.

This study has specifically developed and applied new methodologies and successfully captured very high‐resolution palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic data over a period ≤55 years in the Mid‐Devonian Orcadian Basin, Scotland. Analysis of 110 successive discrete laminae (55 varve sets) in a lacustrine sequence has produced the most detailed archive of environmental and climatic change through time ever from ancient sediments. Geological and geochemical data sets have captured intra‐annual (seasonal) variation in palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment as well as short‐term cyclical change. Varve compositions (carbonate/clastic pairs) indicate a climate with substantial intra‐annual variation in rainfall. Cycles with an average periodicity of 12 years which have previously been attributed to sunspot solar forcing also show a shift in compositional dominance from allochthonous clastic material to authochthnonous carbonate precipitate over 12 years. This indicates that climatic wetness also varied cyclically. The abundance of specific biomarker compounds – particularly β,β‐carotane but also squalane and pristine/phytane coupled with elemental data (C/S) indicate that lake waters were hypersaline. Changes in the abundance and ratios of these salinity dependant proxies show that salinity varied seasonally as well as cyclically. Stable isotope data (δ13Ccarb / δ18Ocarb) show that temperature and primary productivity also varied on a seasonal and cyclical scale, while δ13Corg and the n‐alkane skew confirm that the organic carbon present was sourced predominantly from within‐lake algal sources at all timescales observed. The rate of carbon burial (MARcarbon) also exhibits cyclical variation. An antithetic relationship between δ18O–derived palaeotemperatures and a carbon burial efficiency parameter (forganic) at cycle scale shows that the fraction of organic carbon buried decreased as temperature increased.

No description available.

This study examines injury in competitive bodychecking and non-body checking youth ice hockey in male and female leagues in Ontario and Quebec. This study consisted of three parts: (1) quantifying the amount of injuries; (2) document situational factors in which hockey injuries occur; (3) observe play and interview parents to understand deeper subjective feelings towards injury and bodychecking. The research utilized a mixed method approach consisting of game observation, postgame injury assessments and semi-structured interviewing with parents. For this thesis, 56 games total were attended and only parents from the bodychecking team were interviewed. All games were video recorded through a dual camera video system. Game footage was then analyzed frame by frame to pinpoint injury locations, points of impact and situational factors surrounding the injury. Field-notes and interviews with parents allowed for a comprehensive look into the feelings and emotions surrounding injury and bodychecking. Results from the research revealed; 1) a disproportionately higher rate of injury in bodychecking hockey comparared to non-bodychecking male and female hockey; 2) an overwhelming percentage of injuries were the result of player and board contact; 3) majority of injuries occurred on legal play; and 4) parents support the concept of delaying bodychecking till later ages.

This thesis is a study of change and adaptability in a social-ecological system. In order to contribute to efforts toward sustainability on the British Columbia coast, the study focuses on the fisheries and aquaculture sector in Ucluelet, BC to investigate four specific issues, including: how coastal communities experience and deal with change; how global environmental change affects coastal communities; the key factors that build or threaten social-ecological resilience in coastal communities; and how resilience and adaptive capacity can be built to adapt to change and, in turn, shape change for sustainability. The findings of this thesis have relevance for systems on the British Columbia coast and at large. Above all, the experience in Ucluelet shows that the resilience of these communities is not in their maintenance of stability, but rather in their ability to turn successive experiences of change into opportunities for new cycles of more sustainable development and renewal. / Graduate

Climate change is one of the factors that pose new challenges to the sustainability of the capture fishery and aquaculture sector around the world. As concerns over the impacts of climate change on ecosystems have been increasing over the last few decades, this study investigated how anticipated changes in climatic conditions would affect Manila Clams and Pacific Oysters bottom culture in British Columbia (BC) and assessed the extent to which the environmental databases that have been assembled by various agencies and institutions in BC could support this type of analysis. This study examined changes in sea surface salinity (SSS) and sea surface temperature (SST) developed scenarios of these changes and analyzed the trends based on projections of SST and SSS of open ocean adjacent waters of BC’s coast. In addition, this study quantified beach exposure/inundation as result of sea level rise (SLR). Moreover, this study identified areas along the Strait of Georgia (SoG) that have capability for shellfish culture and defined capability indices for Manila Clams and Pacific Oysters bottom culture based on the physical conditions that characterize existing commercial aquaculture operations. Finally, this study assessed how bottom shellfish culture sites’ capability in the SoG will be affected by changes in SST, SSS and beach exposure/inundation associated with SLR. Results of the analysis indicate that the annual average projections of SST of open ocean adjacent waters of BC’s coast will increase approximately 10C between 2012 and 2050 at a rate of 0.1110C/year, and between 2051 and 2100 the SST will increase approximately 20C at a rate of 0.0330C/year. The annual average projections of SSS of open ocean adjacent waters of BC’s coast will decrease approximately 0.2 ppt between 2012 and 2050 at a rate of 0.0055 ppt/year. Furthermore, projections from 2051 to 2100 indicate that SST will decrease approximately 0.5 ppt at a rate of 0.0088 ppt/year. In addition to the performed analysis, this study selected and simulated SLR on three sites (Buckley Bay and Fanny Bay in Baynes Sound, and Henry Bay on Texada Island). The results indicate that an increase of 1.2 m in sea level will inundate 121 ha of Buckley Bay and Fanny Bay combined and 37 ha of Henry Bay. An increase of 2 m in sea level will inundate 195.2 ha of Buckley Bay and Fanny Bay, and, 51.4 ha of Henry Bay. Capability indices’ classes defined and mapped in this study for Manila Clams bottom culture are: Not advisable, Poor, Medium and Good; and Not Advisable, Medium and Good for Pacific Oysters. This study concluded that the existing datasets provided by various agencies and institutions are accessible, and can be used to investigate the impacts of climate change on coastal aquaculture in BC, although there is lack of some datasets as well as there is a need to improve some available datasets. This study also demonstrated and concluded that site capabilities to support Manila Clams and Pacific Oysters culture in the SoG will not be affected by the expected changes of SST, SSS. Changes in SST and SSS associated with SLR will not adversely affect shellfish bottom culture in the SoG. In contrary, SLR will have a negative impact on shellfish bottom culture. / Graduate

Climate change represents a challenging problem in public policy. This project examines various policy solutions to rising emissions, and suggests one that might be best suited to Canada, a highly-integrated, highly-developed economy which relies on natural resources, including fossil fuels, for its balance of payments, governmental revenues, and a small portion of its GDP. It adopts a public policy framework from Simpson, Rivers and Jaccard (2008) to analyze policy solutions using the following criteria: political acceptability, economic efficiency, administrative feasibility and effectiveness at reducing emissions. Additionally, it offers substantial discussion relating to the potential constraints and opportunities to climate change policy presented by NAFTA, compliance with which is key to the viability of any emissions regime. It advocates an upstream cap-and-trade system, integrated with the NAFTA area and regulated by an empowered Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), as well as complementary policies to lower emissions in inelastic sectors. / Graduate / mat.huff@gmail.com

Business processes and information technology are two areas that are very closely related to the sustained competitive advantage in organisations. However, investment in information technology often leads to disappointment, which may in part be due to the non-alignment of the information system domain with the business process domain. Simulation modelling is an established technique often used in business process change projects, as it allows a comparison of different possible scenarios without the expense of physically implementing the system. However business process simulation fails to effectively capture the information systems perspective in the model. This thesis contends that by combining information systems modelling techniques with business process simulation the model will be able to capture all the four perspectives (functional, behavioural, organisational and informational) of an organisation, and the design of the business processes and the information system will be better aligned. Initially, attempts were made to integrate business process simulation with computer network simulation in a simple two- or three-layered simulation model, but this gave rise to significant problems the most significant being the underlying assumptions of the original hypothesis. This led to a refined hypothesis in which the layered models were discarded along with the network domain. The revised hypothesis aimed to capture the informational changes that occur in the information system and therefore combines prototyping with business process simulation. This overcomes the unsafe assumptions of the initial hypothesis about whether the system is 'correct' and provides a method of validating the design of the information system within the context of the business processes. The integrated model allows concurrent design of the information system domain and the business process domain and therefore ensures that the domains are better aligned. The framework is tested on a case study and the results indicate that it is an effective tool in the combined design of business processes and information systems.

Observations of the temperature structure of the stratosphere made by the selective chopper radiometer on the Nimbus 5 satellite are used to analyse the energetics of the sudden warming of January/February 1973. A method of retrieving vertical profiles of zonal Fourier coefficients of temperature from the Fourier coefficients of the measured radiances is described. Some retrievals are compared with conventional observations and quite good agreement is obtained. Comparison of independent estimates of the mean meridional circulation shows that the retrieved temperature and height fields are not sufficiently accurate to give precise values for the zonal mean vertical and meridional velocities. The implication of this result for the energy budget is demonstrated. The sudden warming is analysed first in terms of wave structure and changes in temperature and zonal wind. No evidence for an upward propagating temperature or geopotential disturbance is found. Wave amplifications are observed to occur simultaneously at all levels or to propagate downwards. Largest temperature changes occur in the upper middle stratosphere and maximum zonal flow accelerations in the upper stratosphere. The energy cycle of the lower middle stratosphere is found to be in agreement with observations of previous warmings except in that little increase in eddy energy occurs during the event. A marked baroclinic energy cycle below 10 mb in high latitudes is shown to enhance vertical energy propagation prior to the warming, leading to increased eddy available potential energy between 10 and 2 mb. The variation with latitude of the energetics during the warming is shown to be significant. In the upper stratosphere barotropic conversion from zonal to eddy kinetic energy dominates in mid-latitudes causing deceleration of the zonal flow there first. In high latitudes the deceleration of the zonal flow occurs through the action of the induced mean meridional circulation, while the major source of eddy kinetic energy here is convergence of the vertical eddy energy flux. Examination of the relationship between the latitudinal distributions of the vertical eddy energy flux and the zonal flow reveals that maximum upward propagation of energy is centred con- sistently to the north of the polar night jet until the onset of the warming when coincidence occurs. Some aspects of the observed warming are compared with numerical simulations of sudden warmings. Although the 1973 event is characterised by a wavenumber one disturbance some striking resemblances are found in two numerically simulated wavenumber two type warmings.

Plenary session from the Living the Future 7 Conference, April 30-May 3, 2008, University of Arizona Libraries, Tucson, AZ. / During this interactive – and lively – session together, practical techniques will be presented for applying the varied lessons learned in a fast-paced, often-changing environment. Tangible practices to support the over-arching values of organization change will include: Creating focus, Integrating various concepts into an initiative, Prioritizing efforts to ensure strategic alignment, Creating an environment of influence, Knowing what "done" looks like.