The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between the traits of average daily gain, backfat, loin muscle depth, feed intake and feed conversion measured in growing gilts and their subsequent feed intake (as estimated by feed delivery) in lactation, and to estimate the effects of lactation feed intake on subsequent maternal productivity and sow longevity. Phenotypic performance measurements and estimated breeding values (EBV) were compared with first and second parity lactation feed delivery in a group of selected nucleus gilts of 3 genetic lines. The effects of lactation feed delivery on weaning to conception interval, total piglets born in the subsequent litter and lifetime productivity measures were investigated. Genetic parameters for the growing period traits of average daily gain, backfat, loin muscle depth, daily feed intake and feed conversion, as well as maternal productivity traits of litter size (number alive at day 2), weaning to conception interval and litter weaning weight were estimated and EBV were computed. Phenotypes of growth rate, feed intake, backfat and loin muscle depth recorded in the growing period were not good predictors of lactation feed delivery. However, one genetic line (YO-A) showed significant correlations between second parity lactation feed delivery and growth rate and loin muscle depth measured in the growing period. EBV calculated for the growing period traits of growth rate, feed intake and feed conversion showed much stronger relationships with lactation feed delivery than the growing period phenotypes, particularly for parity 2. Parity 2 lactation feed delivery showed favorable correlations with EBV for growth rate and feed conversion and an unfavorable correlation with the growing period daily feed intake EBV. Lactation feed delivery in the first and second parity had significant effects on the odds of occurrence of the next litter, next litter total born, stayability to parity 3 or parity 4 and sow longevity. Since lactation feed intake is very important to subsequent productivity and longevity of sows and has a positive (unfavorable) genetic correlation with growth period feed intake, it is recommended that lactation feed intake be measured directly and included in the selection goal. The correlation between lactation feed delivery in parity 1 and parity 2 was low at 0.28 across genetic lines, leading to the conclusion that lactation feed delivery in the first and second parities appear to be different traits under different control mechanisms. It is concluded that a balanced selection program for maternal lines that includes selection for reduced feed intake, feed conversion or residual feed intake measured in the growing period, should also include selection for increased lactation feed intake (probably in combination with changes in sow body weight or backfat during lactation in order to prevent negative consequences for sow longevity or productivity). It is also recommended that lactation feed intake in the first and later parities be evaluated as separate traits.

I recorded acoustic and visual components of Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) mating displays at the Assiniboine Park Zoo, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I determined that males produce infrasound (<20 Hz) in their train displays, and documented responses of peafowl to playbacks of both audible and infrasonic components of their vocalizations and train displays. Peafowl responded to infrasonic signals by increasing alertness and locomotory behaviours, while males also responded by calling. In response to audible call playbacks, males called and faced the playback unit while females increased locomotion and alertness, though peafowl did not respond to audible signal components from the train display, suggesting that infrasonic components constitute the essential signal component within those displays. Beyond revealing a critical role of acoustic signals in modulating interactions among peafowl, my results provide the first empirical evidence of a bird producing and perceiving infrasound as a signal.

Statistical methods based on nonparametric and distribution-free procedures require the use of order statistics. Order statistics are also used in many parametric estimation and testing problems. With the introduction of modern high speed computers, order statistics have gained more importance in recent years in statistical inference - the main reason being that ranking a large number of observations manually was difficult and time consuming in the past, which is no longer the case at present because of the availability of high speed computers. Also, applications of order statistics require in many cases the use of numerical tables and computer is needed to construct these tables.In this thesis, some basic concepts and results involving order statistics are provided. Typically, application of the Theory of Permanents in the distribution of order statistics are discussed. Further, the correlation coefficient between the smallest observation (Y1) and the largest observation (Y,,) of a random sample of size n from two gamma populations, where (n-1) observations of the sample are from one population and the remaining observation is from the other population, is presented. / Department of Mathematical Sciences

Teacher selection is an important component in the way schools and school corporations hope to attain their overall goals and objectives. This study was designed to partially replicate a study completed by H. Bradford Allison in 1981 at the University of Wisconsin - Madison which looked at the effect of candidate age, candidate experience, and administrator position in the teacher selection process.Randomly selected administrators (300 principals and 300 superintendents) were sent a packet of information which included a candidate summary containing hypothetical information about a teacher candidate and a position description which outlined the teaching position to be filled. The candidate summary varied age two ways (29 years and 49 years) and experience level three ways (no experience, three years experience, and eight years experience). After reviewing the information, respondents were asked to rate the hypothetical candidate on the following six criteria:1. Candidate's knowledge of the curricular area.2. Candidate's ability to transmit knowledge.3. Candidate's likelihood to contribute to overall school operations.4. Candidate's ability to maintain a disciplined teaching environment.5. Candidate's ability to create a friendly classroom environment.6. Candidate's potential to grow in the profession.The dependent variable was the composite score or overall candidate rating computed from the six criteria on the candidate evaluation form. A 3X2X2 factorial design was used for this experiment and analysis of variance was used to analyze the effects of the variables on the composite rating.An alpha level of .05 was established as the critical value. The analysis yielded a significant F ratio (.033) for the three way interaction of administrator position, candidate age, and candidate experience. There was no significant F value for any of the two way interactions (administrator position X candidate experience, administrator position X candidate age, and candidate experience X candidate age). Nor was there a significant F value for any single main effect.Further analysis of the statistically significant three way interaction found that superintendents rated 49-year-old candidates with eight years experience significantly lower than they rated 29-year-old candidates with eight years experience. These findings suggest that under the conditions utilized in this study, age discrimination was not universally evident but occurred in the way superintendents rated 49-year-old candidates with eight years experience. / Department of Educational Leadership

This study was formulated around the critical issues of teacher selection, potential discrimination, and candidate competence. This study investigated the effects of teacher candidate's age, ethnic name and undergraduate Grade Point Average (G.P.A.) on the school principals' evaluation of the candidate in the resume screening stage of selection.One hundred secondary school principals from a national random sample rated the hypothetical teacher candidates with different age conditions and resume conditions (ethnic name and G.P.A.). The principals' ratings for each candidate on the six selection criteria on the evaluation form were computed to yield a composite score for the candidate. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to examine the differences among composite scores for the candidates with different age and resume conditions. There was no statistically significant difference found in the principals' ratings for the candidates with different age conditions. This finding indicated that candidate's age did not have an effect on the principals’ evaluation. There was a statistically significant difference in the principals' ratings for the candidates with different resume condition. This finding indicated that candidate's resume condition had influence on the principals' evaluation.A post-hoc procedure, Tukey (HSD), was further used to detect the specifics of the resume condition effect. The data analyses indicated that candidate's G.P.A. had a direct effect on the principals' evaluation only for the Anglo-Saxon name candidates not for the Hispanic name candidates The data analyses also indicated that candidate's ethnic name had an indirect effect on the principals' evaluation, and the effect was in favor of the Hispanic name candidates with a high G.P.A. / Department of Educational Leadership

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

It is well known in image processing in general, and hence in image segmentation in particular, that computational cost increases rapidly with the number and dimensions of the images to be processed. Several fields, such as astronomy, remote sensing, and medical imaging, use very large images, which might also be 3D and/or captured at several frequency bands, all adding to the computational expense. Multiresolution analysis is one method of increasing the efficiency of the segmentation process. One multiresolution approach is the coarse-to-fine segmentation strategy, whereby the segmentation starts at a coarse resolution and is then fine-tuned during subsequent steps. Until now, the starting resolution for segmentation has been selected arbitrarily with no clear selection criteria. The research conducted for this thesis showed that starting from different resolutions for image segmentation results in different accuracies and speeds, even for images from the same dataset. An automated method for resolution selection for an input image would thus be beneficial. This thesis introduces a framework for the selection of the best resolution for image segmentation. First proposed is a measure for defining the best resolution based on user/system criteria, which offers a trade-off between accuracy and time. A learning approach is then described for the selection of the resolution, whereby extracted image features are mapped to the previously determined best resolution. In the learning process, class (i.e., resolution) distribution is imbalanced, making effective learning from the data difficult. A variant of AdaBoost, called RAMOBoost, is therefore used in this research for the learning-based selection of the best resolution for image segmentation. RAMOBoost is designed specifically for learning from imbalanced data. Two sets of features are used: Local Binary Patterns (LBP) and statistical features. Experiments conducted with four datasets using three different segmentation algorithms show that the resolutions selected through learning enable much faster segmentation than the original ones, while retaining at least the original accuracy. For three of the four datasets used, the segmentation results obtained with the proposed framework were significantly better than with the original resolution with respect to both accuracy and time.

The nuclear industry lacks a well documented, systematic procedure defining the requirements for power plant cycle selection and optimisation. A generic technoeconomic optimisation methodology is therefore proposed that can serve in the selection of balance-of-plant configurations and design conditions for High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) power plants. The example of a cogeneration steam plant coupled to a pebble bed reactor, with or without an intermediate buffer circuit, was used in search of a suitable methodology. The following analyses were performed: • First order thermal hydraulic analysis • Second order thermal hydraulic analysis including cost estimation • Third order steady state analysis to evaluate part-load operation • Third order transient analysis to test operability and controllability The assumptions, level of detail required, modelling methodology and the type of decisions that can be made after each stage are discussed. The cycles under consideration are evaluated and compared based on cycle efficiency, capital cost, unit energy cost and operability. The outcome of this study shows that it is worthwhile spending the effort of developing a second order costing model and a third order model capable of analysing off-design conditions. First order modelling could be omitted from the methodology. The advantage of a second order model is that the cycle configuration can be optimised from a unit energy cost perspective, which incorporates the effects of both capital cost and cycle efficiency. The optimum cycle configuration differs from that predicted by first order modelling, which illustrates that first order modelling alone is insufficient. Third order part-load operation analysis showed operability issues that were not apparent after first or second order modelling. However, transient analysis does not appear justified in the very early design stages. To conclude, the proposed methodology is summarised as follows: • Evaluate the user requirements and design constraints. • Apply design principles from the Second Law of thermodynamics in selecting cycle configurations and base case operating conditions. • Optimise the operating conditions by performing second order thermal hydraulic modelling which includes component design and cost estimation. • Evaluate part-load operation with third order analysis. • Select the cycle with the lowest Levelised Unit Energy Cost (LUEC) and simplest operating strategy. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Mechanical Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

While the phenotypic effects of sexual selection have been well studied, the consequences for population mean fitness remain unclear. Additionally, there is a need to more fully characterize how various forms of inter- and intrasexual selection combine to affect the evolution of traits under sexual selection. Here, I address these issues as they relate to male territoriality in Drosophila serrata, a model system for the study of female preference for male pheromones. First, I demonstrate that territoriality occurs and is a likely component of male sexual fitness. Results from a phenotypic manipulation indicate that territorial success was also condition-dependent, and that sexual selection against low condition males tended to be stronger given a high opportunity for territory defense. Territorial success depended on body size but not on pheromones. How this and other components of male mating success interact to affect trait evolution and population mean fitness remains an important area for future study.

I recorded acoustic and visual components of Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) mating displays at the Assiniboine Park Zoo, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I determined that males produce infrasound (<20 Hz) in their train displays, and documented responses of peafowl to playbacks of both audible and infrasonic components of their vocalizations and train displays. Peafowl responded to infrasonic signals by increasing alertness and locomotory behaviours, while males also responded by calling. In response to audible call playbacks, males called and faced the playback unit while females increased locomotion and alertness, though peafowl did not respond to audible signal components from the train display, suggesting that infrasonic components constitute the essential signal component within those displays. Beyond revealing a critical role of acoustic signals in modulating interactions among peafowl, my results provide the first empirical evidence of a bird producing and perceiving infrasound as a signal.