The Saints & Sinners Quarry preserves the only known vertebrate body fossils in the Nugget Sandstone and the most diverse fauna known from the Nugget-Navajo-Aztec erg system. The fauna includes eight genera and >18,000 bone and bone fragments assignable to >76 individuals, including theropods, sphenosuchians, sphenodontians, drepanosaurs, procolophonids, and a dimorphodontid pterosaur. Cycadeoid fronds are the only plant fossils. There are two depositional environments at the site – dune and interdune, each consisting of two or more faces. The dune facies are (1) Trough Cross-Stratified Sandstone (TCS) representing dry dunes, and (2) Massive and Bioturbated Dunes (MBD) representing bioturbated, damp dunes. The interdune facies are (1) Wavy Sandstone (WSS) representing wet and damp flats with biofilms and tridactyl tracks, (2) Green Clays and Silts (GCS) representing quiet lacustrine waters, (3) Planar Laminated Sandstone (PLS) representing lacustrine dust and sand storm deposits which grade laterally into (4) Massive Bone Bed (MBB) shoreline deposits. The vertical and lateral relationships of the dune and interdune facies suggests that an interdune flat developed (WSS facies) likely by deflation of dunes down to, or near to, the water table. As the water table rose, a shallow lake developed (GCS facies) and trapped wind-blown sediment during sand storms (PLS Facies). The taxonomically diverse vertebrate fauna suggest a mass die-off occurred, likely due to drought. The carcasses and bones were buried by three distinct depositional events, each a bone bed (MBB facies) - separated by very thin clays (GCS facies). Thereafter the water table dropped resulting in several cm-scale sandstone beds with tridactyl tracks (WSS facies). Then migrating dunes buried the interdune flat. These dunes hosted burrowing invertebrates for a moderate time resulting in the destruction of nearly all primary sedimentary structures (MBD facies). Ultimately, as the area dried further, more dunes migrated over these bioturbated surfaces and the area returned to dune field conditions (TCS facies). The Saints & Sinners site indicates that a previously unrecognized, remarkably diverse vertebrate fauna thrived in wet interdunes of western North America's Late Triassic erg system. A massive-die-off, likely due to a drought, provided a wealth of carcasses and their bones. The dynamic shoreline representing the interface of dunes and standing water provided favorable conditions for rapid burial of small carcasses and the disarticulated bones of larger individuals.

Research purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which both employees and leaders in extreme environments perceive the same levels of safety participation. Furthermore, this study examines the association between empowering leadership and team performance as well as empowering leadership and safety participation. Research design, approach and methods This study follows a quantitative approach as its main purpose is to establish relationships between constructs. As such, correlations and multiple regression analyses were conducted. Convenience sampling was applied to obtain the data. Firefighters and their immediate line officers (lieutenants) were surveyed. Five fire departments in small to medium cities were chosen in the Great Lakes and south-eastern regions in the United States (US). Questionnaires were distributed to 263 firemen, of which 186 were firefighters and 78 were their line officers/lieutenants. Main findings Results indicated that a positive association does not exist between firefighters' perceptions of safety participation and their leaders' perception of safety participation when control variables are added. Therefore, no significant relationship exists between firefighters' perceptions of safety participation and their leaders' perception of safety participation. Furthermore, the results also showed a positive association does not exist between empowering leadership and safety participation when control variables are added. Consequently, no significant relationship exists between firefighters' reports of empowering leadership and lieutenants' reports of safety participation. Lastly, regarding empowering leadership and team performance, the results did not support a direct relationship between these two constructs. Limitations The results should be interpreted bearing in mind that they are applicable to the United States of America and may not be generalised to the South African context. Additionally, very little research has been conducted on empowering leadership and safety behaviour in extreme environments, and therefore the literature review was limited to other organisational environments. Lastly, only three cultural groups (White, Black and Hispanic) and only men participated in this study, so results may not be generalisable to other demographic groups. The study was only positioned in extreme environments, specifically in firefighting, therefore it is unclear whether the results can be generalised to other work environments. Future Research It is suggested that this study is replicated, firstly because little research has been done in extreme environments but, secondly, that it also be specifically replicated in South Africa. Indicated by the data, a lieutenant's age has a positive association with how he perceives his team's safety participation. This could be due to various reasons. For example, the more experienced the lieutenant the more comfortable he gets towards the extreme environment. Lastly, it is suggested that research is conducted to determine other leadership styles which could be effective in extreme environments. Conclusion Insight was given into the empowering leadership style in terms of team performance and safety behaviour. Furthermore, the relation between firefighters' perceptions of safety participation and their leaders' perceptions of safety participation was not confirmed. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Human Resource Management / MCom / Unrestricted

The Traveling Burito King is a novel split into two narratives that work to compare the virtual to the real world and push against the politic climate created by anonymity It is a novel centered around the development of Denver and his avatar Dovim The novel demonstrates a confrontation with the fantasy of change and how that culminates in little more than a shift and an impossibility to turn back time / Includes bibliography / Thesis (MFA)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016 / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

<div>The use of virtual reality technologies in education and training can provide an opportunity to reduce training costs while increasing the attractiveness and safety for trainees in the manufacturing industry. This thesis strives to show a virtual world which is based upon real world imagery can be embedded in a virtual reality environment and augmented with underlying real world mathematical models to show in real time the consequences of user selected parameters on a running manufacturing process.</div><div>An interactive virtual operator training environment is presented utilizing a VR headset in conjunction with a VR gaming engine which supports the headset and also embeds the behavior details of the underlying manufacturing process.</div><div>To demonstrate this approach an example is developed based on a steel industry roughing mill in which steel slabs are ultimately rolled into coils. This example shows the software application development process given as applied to an interactive training simulator intended for plant operator training which includes the use of the gaming engine Unity 3D, 360-degree video, 3Ds Max and several other software tools.</div><div>The resulting example is a controllable model of the steel plant roughing mill which can be used to enhanced the knowledge of plant operational personnel as to the effects various operating parameters have on the final rolled product while enhancing the understanding of this mill operation for new plant operators.</div>

The World Health Organization has recognised Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as a public health concern and have recommended access to appropriate assessment and interventions. Psychoeducation and parent support soon after diagnosis are considered global best practice. Parent Education &amp; Training (PET) programmes provide education, skills and support to parents. Despite the high need for PET there has been limited research in this field and few programmes are available, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This project aimed to 1) evaluate the evidence-base for a UK-developed PET (EarlyBird/EarlyBird Plus); 2) evaluate the evidence-base for a broader range of PET; 3) generate a framework for evaluating global PET programmes; 4) conduct a comparative feasibility study of two PET programmes in South Africa. The EarlyBIrd/EarlyBird Plus scoping review identified a low level of evidence for the efficacy of the PET, and showed that relatively little implementation science examination of the programmes had been performed to date. Review of a broader range of PET showed very similar findings, suggesting that the field of PET (rather than any specific intervention) was still relatively immature. We proceeded to use an implementation science and participatory approach to generate a multi-stakeholder evaluation framework for PET in future studies. A mixed-methods quasi-experimental design was then used for a comparative feasibility study of two PET in a low-resource South African setting. In the feasibility study parents/carers found both programmes to be acceptable and adaptable for a South African context. Limited efficacy-testing showed positive outcomes for parents, children and families. Application of the Evaluation Framework proved to be a useful structural technique to identify the strengths and weaknesses of PET across the implementation themes of outcomes, processes &amp; procedures, and implementation landscape. Taken together, our results highlighted the relative infancy of this important field of ASD research and identified the need for multi-site, randomized controlled trials of PET, particularly in low-resource settings. In addition, results underlined the importance not only of efficacy of programmes, but of a range of implementation-related factors, that are crucial to ensure sustainable and scalable PET in real-life settings around the globe.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / There have been increasing calls to monitor Groundwater-Dependent Ecosystems (GDEs) more effectively, since they are biodiversity hotspots that provide several ecosystem services. The accurate monitoring of GDEs is an indispensable under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15, because it promotes the existence of phreatophytes. It is imperative to monitoring GDEs, since their ecological significance (e.g., as biodiversity hotspots) is not well understood in most environments they exist. For example, vegetation diversity in GDEs requires routine monitoring, to conserve their biodiversity status and to preserve the ecosystem services in these environments. Such monitoring requires robust measures and techniques, particularly in arid environments threatened by groundwater over–abstraction, landcover and climate change. Although in–situ methods are reliable, they are challenging to use in extensive transboundary groundwater resources such as the Khakea-Bray Transboundary Aquifer.

Refactoring is the process of making changes to the internal structure of existing code without changing the external behavior of that code, The resulting code is more flexible, reusable, and maintainable. While refactoring is becoming more popular in the software development community, manual refactoring can be a long and tedious process. Tools that support refactoring are becoming available; however, many provide only limited types of refactorings and require heavy user intervention. This paper presents an open source framework for an adaptive refactoring tool. The framework allows easy addition of new refactorings or modification of existing ones. An implementation of the framework is described in this paper.

The aim of this project was to examine how four music teachers work to create beneficial learning environments in music education in Swedish elementary schools. Data was collected through interviews and photography of music classrooms. Data was analysed in relation to research, the sociocultural perspective on learning and perspectives on aesthetics. Two concepts turned out to be central for the results: direction and interaction. Direction proved to be central in creating a specific learning environment, and learning environments proved to have the role of promoting different types of interaction.

La gestion de l’eau douce est un problème majeur partout dans le monde. Les activités anthropiques liées à l’industrie, à l’agriculture et à l’implantation humaine sont les principales sources de pollutions de l’eau. Afin mettre en place des politique de prévention de la pollution, de réhabilitation des environnements aquatiques ou de recyclage des eaux usées, il est nécessaire d’acquérir des données massives sur la qualité de l’eau. Or, les méthodes actuelles de suivi des contaminants présentent des coûts élevés et de faibles débits de mesure du fait de leur incompatibilité avec un déploiement sur le terrain. Ces deux freins majeurs ne permettent pas de suivre les concentrations en polluant et notamment en métaux lourds dans les milieux aquatiques à des échelles spatiales et temporelles pertinentes. Plusieurs organisations internationales, dont l’ONU, ont de ce fait recommandé le développement de nouvelles méthodes analytiques plus performantes. Nous proposons ici une technique de mesure des contaminants métalliques lourds basée sur la diffusion Raman exaltée de surface (SERS). Le SERS présente de nombreux avantages pour l’analyse environnementale dont la sensibilité, la spécificité,la rapidité de mesure, l’adaptabilité aux matrices complexes ainsi que le coût modéré d’un instrument portable. Nous détaillerons donc la construction de la sonde SERS dédiée à la quantification de l’ion métallique lourd cible Zn2+, ainsi que les traitements de données nécessaire à l’établissement d’une quantification. Puis, nous examinerons la robustesse de la méthode de quantification vis-à-vis des sources de variabilités qui seront inévitablement rencontrées dans les eaux naturelles. / Freshwater management is a major problem all over the world. Anthropogenic activities related to industry, agriculture and human settlements are the main sources of water pollution. In order to makes policies for pollution prevention, rehabilitation of aquatic environments or waste water recycling, it is necessary to acquire massive data on water quality. Current contaminant monitoring methods have high costs and low frequency of measurement due to the incompatibility with field deployment. These two major brakes do not make it possible to monitor pollutant and especially heavy metal concentrations in aquatic environments at relevant spatial and temporal scales. Several international organizations, including the United Nations, have therefore recommended the development of new and better analytical methods.We propose here a technique for measuring heavy metal contaminants based on Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), which would allow a large scale deployment in the field.SERS has many advantages for environmental analysis including sensitivity, specificity, speed of measurement, adaptability to complex matrix and the moderate cost of portable instrument. We will therefore detail the construction of the SERS probe dedicated to the quantification of the target heavy metal ion Zn2+, which is a geochemical marker of anthropogenic contamination, as well as the data processing necessary for the establishment of quantification. Then, we will examine the robustness of the method of quantification with respect to the sources of variability that will inevitably be encountered in natural waters, when used directly in the field

The Bloomington Formation (~425 m thick) is a latest Middle Cambrian (~506.5-505 Ma), mixed, warm water, continental-shelf carbonate and fine-grained siliciclastic unit on the Cordilleran passive margin exposed in northern Utah and southern Idaho. Thicknesses of the Bloomington Formation at Calls Fort Canyon are 111 m in the Hodges Shale Member, 230 m in the middle limestone Member, and 84 m in the Calls Fort Shale Member. The Hodges Shale and Calls Fort Shale Members are shale dominated and represent outer detrital belt deposition. The Logan Canyon outcrop of the Hodges Shale Member shows an environmental change that may represent a transition form an open marine facies into what appears to be a lagoonal facies. The middle limestone member represents shallow marine carbonate deposition on the passive margin shelf. The Bloomington Formation has a low fossil abundance and diversity when compared to correlative units such as the Wheeler and Marjum Formations. There are, however, 10-50 cm thrombolite bioherms, associated with Girvanella oncoliths. These bioherms indicate a shallow-water carbonate facies that experienced a small flooding event that gives the bioherms time and proper conditions to build up. δ18O and δ13C results both show positive and negative shifts with δ13CVPDB values of 1.0 to -4.7 per mil and δ18OVSMOW values of -12.9 to -20.8 per mil. A negative δ13C excursion in the Hodges Shale may correlate to a similar excursion in the base of the Wheeler Formation that represents the DICE event. Lower and Middle Cambrian Formations in the Wellsville Range have been interpreted as being part of a second order transgressive system and containing third and higher-order cycles. The contact of the Hodges Shale Member and the underlying Blacksmith Dolomite represents a flooding surface and a sequence boundary, followed by a third order cycle. Flooding is indicated by shale deposits that overlie carbonates with a shallowing upward trend. High frequency fourth or fifth order cycles are expressed as laminated shale and thick-bedded limestones as well as thick packages of interbedded, thin limestones and shales. A PCA analysis of thin section point counts indicates that the limestone lithologies of all three members repeat throughout the entire Formation, suggesting cycles of relative sea level rise that cause repeating facies.