Thesis (M.S.)--University of West Florida, 2006. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 53 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2002. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 151 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2006. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 103 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2003. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 258 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of West Florida, 2007. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 99 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Se torna esencial en esta simbiosis entre ciudad y naturaleza, las áreas verdes urbanas. La falta de ellas y la repercusión que esto trae al ecosistema urbano se analizarán en el desarrollo de la memoria, pero es esta problemática urbana concreta la que se plantea resolver en el proyecto de titulación, mediante la ya mencionada inercia natural de la naturaleza, vista bajo el enfoque del Tercer Paisaje. En búsqueda de lograr una conciencia colectiva, un aprovechamiento correcto de las virtudes del Tercer Paisaje con su resiliencia natural y una forma de solucionar el importante déficit de áreas verdes urbanas que tiene la capital, es que se hace necesaria la investigación, educación y difusión de la correcta asociación en la que deberíamos convivir con los distintos ecosistemas planetarios y generar conciencia de su valor y como nuestros actos influyen en éste, aquello es esencial para conformar un habitar sustentable en el interior de nuestras ciudades, territorios, y por ende, en el planeta que vivimos. El proyecto de manera integral busca mostrar, utilizar y valorar particularmente la vegetación endógena que se desarrolla en la eco-región del matorral de Chile Central , que involucra la región metropolitana, con el fin de sentar precedente en el diseño y manejo de áreas verdes sustentables, para luego su aplicación en otros proyectos de desarrollo de áreas verdes acordes, dentro de la ecoregion, y de esta manera enfrentar la falta de infraestructura, a la vez de educar y familiarizar a los usuarios con el ecosistema en el que se desarrolla nuestra ciudad.

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Ozone readings which exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 120 ppbv were recorded in Miami, Florida during 1978 and 1980. Similar elevated concentrations of ozone extended across upper Florida and into the Southeastern portion of the United States. It is concluded that tropospheric transport of ozone into the Miami area occurs. This conclusion is supported by lead analyses of atmospheric samples taken in Miami and by isentropic trajectories. Six case studies are presented. In all cases transport of ozone into Florida appears to occur. In only four of the cases does this result in elevated ozone levels in Miami. In one case lower Florida was experiencing an oceanic influx of air and low ozone concentrations. In the other case Miami was experiencing a stagnation and high ozone concentrations apparently generated locally. The long range transport of ozone across the Southeastern United States appears to result from circulation within a weather pattern characterized by a stagnant high pressure system over the Southeastern United States.

This dissertation analyzes hospital efficiency using various econometric techniques. The first essay provides additional and recent evidence to the presence of contract management behavior in the U.S. hospital industry. Unlike previous studies, which focus on either an input-demand equation or the cost function of the firm, this paper estimates the two jointly using a system of nonlinear equations. Moreover, it addresses the longitudinal problem of institutions adopting contract management in different years, by creating a matched control group of non-adopters with the same longitudinal distribution as the group under study. The estimation procedure then finds that labor, and not capital, is the preferred input in U.S. hospitals regardless of managerial contract status. With institutions that adopt contract management benefiting from lower labor inefficiencies than the simulated non-contract adopters. These results suggest that while there is a propensity for expense preference behavior towards the labor input, contract managed firms are able to introduce efficiencies over conventional, owner controlled, firms. Using data for the years 1998 through 2007, the second essay investigates the production technology and cost efficiency faced by Florida hospitals. A stochastic frontier multiproduct cost function is estimated in order to test for economies of scale, economies of scope, and relative cost efficiencies. The results suggest that small-sized hospitals experience economies of scale, while large and medium sized institutions do not. The empirical findings show that Florida hospitals enjoy significant scope economies, regardless of size. Lastly, the evidence suggests that there is a link between hospital size and relative cost efficiency. The results of the study imply that state policy makers should be focused on increasing hospital scale for smaller institutions while facilitating the expansion of multiproduct production for larger hospitals. The third and final essay employs a two staged approach in analyzing the efficiency of hospitals in the state of Florida. In the first stage, the Banker, Charnes, and Cooper model of Data Envelopment Analysis is employed in order to derive overall technical efficiency scores for each non-specialty hospital in the state. Additionally, input slacks are calculated and reported in order to identify the factors of production that each hospital may be over utilizing. In the second stage, we employ a Tobit regression model in order to analyze the effects a number of structural, managerial, and environmental factors may have on a hospital's efficiency. The results indicated that most non-specialty hospitals in the state are operating away from the efficient production frontier. The results also indicate that the structural make up, managerial choices, and level of competition Florida hospitals face have an impact on their overall technical efficiency.