Both the ECB and the Fed implemented various unconventional measures in response to the last crisis. While the ECB's policies were based on direct lending to banks, the FED adopted large-scale asset purchases. According to the empirical evidence these policies had economically beneficial effects in the US and the Eurozone but these measures have also certain spillovers which scope and exact impacts are quite difficult to estimate. There have been already many papers focusing on cross-border impacts of the FED's policies, but far less studied the spillovers of the ECB's policies. This work provides a theoretical background concerning the unconventional monetary policies implemented by the ECB and the FED after 2008 and analyse the impacts of ECB's policies on six particular countries outside euro area. The Impulse Responses of output, inflation, domestic interest rate and exchange rate are analyzed via block-restricted VAR model. My results confirm that euro area monetary policy does have an impact on non-euro area countries, although the response of macroeconomic variables in analysed countries are heterogeneous and also differ in the period before and after September 2008. Countries seem to be indeed affected more by conventional monetary policies until September 2008, but the euro-area monetary policy spills over via unconventional policies after September 2008. Overall, the ECB's policies affect economic activity outside euro area, but does not have significant impact on inflation. Furthermore, the exchange rate just initially drops in response to monetary tightening, but this reaction usually does not last for more than four months.

Results of past studies on the spring-fed salt marshes of Utah indicated that waterfowl production on these areas was much lower than on Utah's river-fed marshes. Waterfowl production on the newly-established Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, a spring-fed marsh, increased considerably, however, after its waters were impounded. It was believed that by determining what caused this increased production at Fish Springs it would be possible to obtain greater waterfowl production a t other spring-fed marshes. Consequently waterfowl populations and factors affecting waterfowl production on this marsh were studied during the summers of 1966, 1967, and 1968. Populations of breeding ducks averaged approximately 900 pairs a year in 1967 and 1968. Mallards, cinnamon teal, and redheads comprised about 80 percent of these birds. Nesting densities, on plots representing available habitat, averaged about one nest per acre during these two years. In 1967 and 1968 a total of 312 duck nests representing 10 species were studied and their fates determined. Overall nest success was 63 percent, and predators, principally coyotes and striped skunks, destroyed 25 percent of all nests. Calculated duckling mortality rates during 1967 and 1968, respectively, were 19 and 16 percent. Duck production at Fish Springs averaged about 3,000 birds or about 430 ducks per square mile of marsh habitat a year during this period. At present the sparsity of adequate nesting cover for gadwalls appears to be an important limitation to breeding by this species at Fish Springs. Nesting cover apparently has not limited the use of this marsh by other waterfowl species, however, as evidenced by a high incidence (76 percent) of nesting on dry ground by redheads and ruddy ducks. Aquatic insect sampling in waters inundating portions of the original Fish Springs marsh indicated that these waters produced large quantities of proteinaceous foods for ducklings. Populations of aquatic insects in the original marsh were probably low except in recently disturbed areas. It appears that limitations of brood-rearing habitat were primarily responsible for low waterfowl production in the past. Newly-created impoundments, rich in animal food, were probably the key to the increase in waterfowl production on this marsh.

Any marsh is a distinctive land-forrm of varied interest. To the agriculturist it is wasteland to be reclaimed; to the naturalist, a habitat of aesthetic value. To the ecologist, however, a marsh represents a complexity of vegetation under the influences of many and often inseparable factors. It becomes a place of challenging study. There exists a notable lack of information treating the ecology of inland salt-marshes. Still less known are the ecological conditions imposed upon plant life in marshes arising from saline springs. The presence of such a wetland in western Utah afforded the opportunity to study salt-marsh vegetation in a highly specialized habitat. The study had two phases. First was a study of the vegetation. Data were secured from collections and study plots within each of the major marsh communities. General descriptions of other plant life were additionally compiled. It is not within the scope of this paper to discuss or rigidly define the requirements embraced in the use of "community" as a unit of vegetation. Sufficient references are available for those who wish to pursue the point. In this study, a community is a congregation of plants exhibiting differences in appearance and species composition from other plant congregations. Secondly, studies were directed to the influences of soil and water on the ecology of each community. Transects were used to investigate many of these relationships. Transition zones between communities were narrow and usually sharply delineated. Transects intersected ecotones of this sort; environmental differences which may have occurred in the few broader ecotones were assumed to be of equal magnitude but of more gradual rate of change . Relatively short transects thus adequately represented each community yet allowed collection of intensive data. Information and data were collected during a 5-week period in August and September 1959 and a 6-month period beginning in March 1960.

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Genetic selection for improved performance has necessitated the frequent update of amino acid requirements to support this improvement. The first objective of this dissertation was to investigate the tryptophan requirement of laying hens in peak production and the lysine and sulfur amino acid requirements of broiler chicks under a phase feeding scenario using different models. Digestible tryptophan requirements were estimated to be 137 for egg production, 133 for egg mass, and 133 for feed efficiency using the linear broken-line model. The lysine and sulfur amino acid requirement were estimated by conducting 3 experiments within the starter phase from 2 to 5, 5 to 8, and 8 to 11 days of age. The linear broken line estimate for digestible lysine was 1.22, 1.17 and 1.16% for BWG and 1.31, 1.21, and 1.14% for FCR in experiments 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The linear broken line estimate for sulfur amino acids was 0.82, 0.81 and 0.94% for BWG and 0.82, 0.80, and 0.90 for FCR in experiments 4, 5, and 6, respectively. The lysine requirements decreased from 2 to 5 to 8 to 11 days, however the sulfur amino acid requirements increased during that same period. This could be due to other roles that sulfur amino acids play in the body other than growth. The second objective of this dissertation was to investigate the effects of a direct fed microbial (DFM) on broilers exposed to a cyclic heat stress in 2 consecutive experiments. In this experiment, the heat stress treatment reduced body weight gain and lean tissue accretion from 0 to 35 d in both experiments. In Experiment 2, when the litter was reused BWG was increased by 36 g/bird with supplementation of DFM. Ileal digestibility at 28 d (2 hr post HS) was improved with DFM supplementation in both experiments. Serum FITC-d increased with HS at both 28 and 35 d. Serum FITC-d was generally decreased with DFM at 28 d but the response was inconsistent at 35 d. Overall, the results suggest that HS reduced broiler performance and DFM treatment improved intestinal permeability and nutrient digestibility responses to HS in both experiments but did not improve performance until built up litter was used in Experiment 2. The last objective of this dissertation was to investigate the effects of sulfur amino acids (SAA) on broilers exposed to a cyclic heat stress. As expected, HS reduced BWG and worsened FCR. The supplementation of SAA had no effect on live performance. At 28 d of age, supplementation of SAA to birds exposed to HS resulted in reduced intestinal permeability. The interaction was lost at 31 d, but HS still increased intestinal permeability (P ≤ 0.05). Potential oxidative damage was reduced by increased SAA supplementation as indicated by an increase in the reduced glutathione to oxidized glutathione ratio. These data suggest that intestinal permeability is compromised acutely to at least three days of heat exposure before the bird can adjust, but oxidative damage is more chronic building over the entire 7 d HS period. SAA might have some protective effect on both intestinal permeability and oxidative stress responses to HS. / Doctor of Philosophy / To provide low-cost meat and eggs to consumers, the poultry industry must focus on improving efficiency as well as reduce the impact of stressors within the environment. This is achieved mostly by genetic selection which has resulted in significant improvements in both egg production in laying hens and body weight in broiler chickens. To support this improvement in growth rate birds would require a higher amino acid dense diet to support the increased protein output. One objective of this dissertation was to update the requirement of three key amino acids (tryptophan, lysine, and sulfur amino acids) in both laying hens and broilers for better formulation of diets. These amino acids that were investigated are essential in poultry diets and cannot be produced by the birds. The results from the tryptophan experiment indicated that laying hens need 137 mg of tryptophan per day to maintain maximum egg production. Results from the lysine and sulfur amino acid requirement experiment in broiler chickens indicated that broilers need 1.31% lysine and 0.90% sulfur amino acids to support maximal growth, but these requirements change over time and would need to be adjusted based on the broiler's age. Heat stress in the poultry industry is a major challenge which can affect the growth rate as well as the welfare of broiler chickens. The second objective of this dissertation was to investigate different strategies to ameliorate the effects of heat stress. Supplementing direct fed microbials or probiotics in broiler diets has been proposed as one of those strategies. An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of the supplementation of a DFM on broiler chickens exposed to heat stress. The results indicated that the DFM was able to ameliorate the negative impacts of the heat stress on nutrient digestibility and intestinal permeability but did not improve the growth of the chickens. Another experiment was conducted to evaluate another strategy to ameliorate the effects of heat stress on broiler chickens which was the supplementation of sulfur amino acids. The sulfur amino acids are not only used for protein synthesis but have other physiological roles in the body that are important specifically during heat stress. Results from this experiment indicated that sulfur amino acids were able to ameliorate the negative effect of heat stress on intestinal permeability and oxidative stress but did not improve the performance of chickens subjected to the heat stress.

This thesis develops and implements a testbed for the evaluation of inverter fed motor drives used in electric vehicles. The testbed consists of a computer-controlled dynamometer connected to power analysis and data collection tools. The programming and operation and of the testbed is covered. Then it is used to evaluate three pairs of identical rating inverters. The goal is to analyze the effect of topology and software improvements on motor drive efficiency. The first test analyzes the effect of a soft-switching circuit on inverter and motor efficiency. The second test analyzes the difference between space vector modulation (SVM) and current-band hysteresis. The final test evaluates the effect of both soft-switching and SVM on drive performance. The tests begin with a steady state analysis of efficiency over a wide range of torque and speed. Then drive cycles tests are used to simulate both city and highway driving. Together, these dynamic and steady state test results provide a realistic assessment of electric vehicle drive performance. / Master of Science