The purpose of this thesis was to develop the best practices for completing a comparative analysis for a cultural landscape World Heritage nomination document. The research focused on existing secondary documents including written reports and nomination documents, as well as experts’ opinions. The two objectives of the research were to complete an examination of the existing World Heritage literature and to establish the best practices to undertake the comparative analysis. A comparative analysis is required to provide comparisons of the nominated site with sites that are on the World Heritage List and those that are not. The material emphasis of the World Heritage Committee review process is challenging for associative cultural landscape nominations. The individuality of each landscape and associated culture is what makes traditional sites unique and challenging to compare to other global sites.

It is recognized that the World Heritage Site (WHS) status is a strong brand with exceptional quality and excellent reputation that attracts tourists to visit. This study applies and adapts the brand knowledge model to examine local stakeholders’ understanding of the WHS status as a brand. A case study approach was applied and a WHS in China was selected as the case. In total, 13 interviewees from local government, private business owners and residents participated in the study. The study showed that the three local stakeholders were familiar with the WHS status and shared the importance of the WHS status as intended by the WHS program to tourists. However, local stakeholders over emphasized the economic importance of the WHS status, and conservation became a tool to fulfill economic benefits. The results challenged the standpoint of the WHS program and showed that the WHS status was not a strong brand.

The present elemental analysis workhorse worldwide is Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Atomic Emission Spectrometry (AES) and Mass Spectrometry (MS). Due to the high power requirements, large gas consumption and the more obvious attribute, size, the ICP is tethered to the lab. Usually, samples must be collected, bottled, sometimes stabilized by acids and then shipped back to the lab for analysis (hours to days to weeks turnover rate). Due to the demand for a portable analyzer this thesis will focus on further development of microplasma devices (MPDs) for portable on-site analysis, in (near) real-time. Mini-In-Torch Vapourization (mini-ITV) is the sample introduction method for MPDs which removes the need for sample preparation (further necessitates portability). Mini-ITV introduces the sample into the MPD via electrothermal vapourization of a dry (water-free) nano- to micro- volume sample. Pneumatic nebulization, the commercially available ICP sample introduction method would extinguish the microplasma. Microplasma stability is the first issue addressed by confining the microplasma to a quartz tube (“wall-stabilized”) in hopes of a more stable MPD background emission. Once stabilized MPD conditions were found key microplasma parameters were studied including MPD power, HVac frequency, operating mode, inter-electrode distance (IED) and observation location, in hopes of improved MPD analytical performance. Microplasma excitation mechanism and maximum energy available in the microplasma for analyte are discussed. Some fundamental characteristics such as excitation temperature (Texc) and changes in atom/ion population with variation in some of the key MPD parameters were also determined.

Needle trap device (NTD) is a technique that is useful for a wide variety of applications involving the sample preparation of compounds with a wide range of chemico-physico properties, and varying volatilities. A newly designed NTD that improves the performance relative to previous NTD designs is simple to produce is developed. The NTD utilizes a side-hole needle with a modified tip to improve the sealing between the NTD and narrow neck liner of the GC injector, thereby increasing the desorption efficiency. The slurry packing method was applied, evaluated, and NTDs prepared by this method were compared to NTDs prepared using the vacuum aspiration method. NTD geometries including blunt tip with a side-hole needle, tapered tip with side-hole needle, dome tapered tip with side-hole, sliding tip with side-hole and blunt tip with no side-hole needle (expanded desorptive flow) were prepared and evaluated. Sampling performance and desorption efficiency were investigated using automated headspace extraction of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, p¬-xylene (BTEX), anthracene and pyrene. The tapered tip and sliding tip NTDs were found to have increased desorption efficiency. SPME and NTDs are valuable sample preparation tools for on-site analysis. Combining both extraction techniques allows for the differentiation of free and particle-bound compounds in a sample matrix. Portable GC/MS instrumentation can achieve fast separation, identification, and quantitation of samples prepared by the above techniques on-site without the need for transport to the laboratory. This minimizes the effects of volatiles lost and sample degradation during storage time. Here, SPME and tapered tip NTDs combined with portable GC/MS are used to investigate free and total emissions of BTEX and select PAHs from gasoline and diesel exhaust. Using the above optimized technologies, cigarette smoke in a smoking area where people were actively smoking and inside a smoker’s car were also investigated. Target contaminants were found in the investigated matrices at ng/mL levels.

Until recently, multiple SPME fibres could not be automatically evaluated in a single sequence without manual intervention. This drawback had been a critical issue until recently, particularly during the analysis of numerous on-site samples. Recently, GERSTEL® has developed and commercialized a Multi-Fibre Exchanger (MFX) system designed to overcome this drawback. In this research, a critical evaluation of the MFX performance in terms of storage stability and long term operation is presented. It was established in the course of our research that the MFX can operate continuously and precisely for over 200 extraction/injection cycles. However, when the effect of residence time of commercial fibres on the MFX tray was evaluated, the results have shown that amongst the evaluated fibre coatings, carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane (CAR/PDMS) was the only coating capable of efficient storage on the MFX tray for up to 24 hours after field sampling without suffering significant loss of analytes. Additionally, the MFX system capability for high-throughput analysis was demonstrated by the unattended desorption of multiple fibres after on-site sampling of two different systems, indoor air and biogenic emissions. Subsequently, a protocol based on a new, fast, reproducible, reusable and completely automated method that enables quick assessment of SPME coatings was developed. The protocol consists of an innovative in-vial standard generator containing vacuum pump oil doped with McReynolds probes and subsequently mixed with a polystyrene-divinylbenzene resin. According to our results, the protocol has proven to be a useful tool for the quick assessment of inter-fibre reproducibility prior to their application in on-site analysis. The implications of such protocols include, but are not limited to: time-saving, assurance of reliable and reproducible data, and a dependable guide for novice users of the technique. Finally, an innovative, reusable and readily deployable pen-like diffusive sampler for needle traps (PDS-NT) is proposed. Results have shown that the new PDS-NT is effective for air analysis of benzene, toluene, and o-xylene (BTX). In addition, no statistically significant effects of pen geometry on the uptake of analytes were found.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Computer Science Department, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (ℓ. 70-76)

Thesis (M.S.)--Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, 2007. / Typescript, photocopy. Includes bibliographical references (l. 16-17).

Thesis (M.S.)--Baylor University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-136).

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Technology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.