This thesis begins with Toronto’s Spadina Avenue. Admiration for its social and cultural past and present contrasts with its seemingly inevitable future; ethnically charged sections of the avenue will succumb to real estate pressures and be lost to new market-driven development. Focusing on the section of Spadina Avenue bound by College Street to the north and Queen Street West to the south, its central location and surrounding diversity; partially deteriorating urban fabric; history of immigrants and the working class; and demographic transitions are conditions that inform the framework for the generation of a “creative milieu” as means of perpetuating the inherent spirit of Spadina Avenue. Charles Landry defines the “creative milieu” as a place – either a cluster of buildings, a part of a city, a city as a whole or region – that contains the necessary preconditions in terms of “hard” and “soft” infrastructure to generate a flow of ideas and inventions. To understand its greater context, this thesis examines the merits of the original “creative city” concept developed by Landry along with the implications of globalization and gentrification which affirms the vital role of the working class and their communities in the city. The “creative milieu” can form the genesis for the “creative city”, acting as catalytic sites where creativity and culture can be expressed, explored and nurtured. This thesis presents a catalogue of proposed typologies for Spadina Avenue that consider four characteristics of a “creative milieu” – diversity, interactivity, locality, capacity – and range in scale from small to large interventions.

This thesis begins with Toronto’s Spadina Avenue. Admiration for its social and cultural past and present contrasts with its seemingly inevitable future; ethnically charged sections of the avenue will succumb to real estate pressures and be lost to new market-driven development. Focusing on the section of Spadina Avenue bound by College Street to the north and Queen Street West to the south, its central location and surrounding diversity; partially deteriorating urban fabric; history of immigrants and the working class; and demographic transitions are conditions that inform the framework for the generation of a “creative milieu” as means of perpetuating the inherent spirit of Spadina Avenue. Charles Landry defines the “creative milieu” as a place – either a cluster of buildings, a part of a city, a city as a whole or region – that contains the necessary preconditions in terms of “hard” and “soft” infrastructure to generate a flow of ideas and inventions. To understand its greater context, this thesis examines the merits of the original “creative city” concept developed by Landry along with the implications of globalization and gentrification which affirms the vital role of the working class and their communities in the city. The “creative milieu” can form the genesis for the “creative city”, acting as catalytic sites where creativity and culture can be expressed, explored and nurtured. This thesis presents a catalogue of proposed typologies for Spadina Avenue that consider four characteristics of a “creative milieu” – diversity, interactivity, locality, capacity – and range in scale from small to large interventions.

Planning researchers believe that property losses from natural hazards, such as floods can be reduced if governments address this issue and adopt appropriate policies in their plans. However, little empirical research has examined the relationship between plan quality and actual property loss from floods. My research addresses this critical gap in the planning and hazard research literature by evaluating the effectiveness of current plans and policies in mitigating property damage from floods. Specifically, this study: 1) assesses the extent to which local comprehensive plans integrate flood mitigation policies in Florida; and 2) it examines the impact of the quality of flood mitigation policies on actual insured flood damages. Study results show that fifty-three local plans in the sample received a mean score for total flood mitigation policy quality of 38.55, which represents 35.69% of the total possible points. These findings indicate that there is still considerable room for improvement by local governments on flooding issues. The scores of local plans varied widely, with coastal communities receiving significantly higher scores than non-coastal communities. While most communities adopted land use management tools, such as permitted land use and wetland permits as primary flood mitigation tools, incentive based tools/taxing tools and acquisition tools were rarely adopted. This study also finds that plan quality associated with flood mitigation policy had little discernible effect on reducing insured flood damage while controlling for biophysical, built environment and socio-economic variables. This result counters the assumption inherent in previous plan quality research that better plans mitigate the adverse effects associated with floods and other natural hazards. There are some possible explanations for this result in terms of plan implementation, land use management paradox and characteristics of insurance policies. The statistical analysis also suggests that insured flood loss is considerably affected by wetland alteration and a community's location on the coast. Another finding indicates that very strong leadership and dam construction are factors in mitigating flood loss.

In the 10-mer RNA duplex model system a 4-isocyano TEMPO spin-label is individually attached to one strand and two strands are annealed to measure distances. This methodology is limited to systems in which two oligonucleotides are annealed together. To circumvent this limitation and also to explore single-strand dynamics a new methodology was implemented, double spin-labeling. Double spin-labeled single-stranded RNA was investigated as a single-strand and within a duplex via MALDI-TOF-MS, EPR spectroscopy and RP-HPLC. A double spin-labeling strategy in this work will be applicable to large complex RNAs like Group I intron of Tetrahymena thermophilia. Captain Daniel Lawrence, was one of four sloops detailed to serve as a transport to supply the British Florida garrisons. The Industry ran aground on the bar outside of St. Augustine's harbour on May 6, 1764. The transport was carrying six-pound cannons, ammunition and artificer's tools. Further investigation of documents describing eighteenth-century trade and shipping to St. Augustine led to the discovery that the Lawrence family of sea captains provided a vital link between British New York and Spanish St. Augustine. An examination of the materials recovered from Site 8SJ3478 sheds light on exactly what a particular vessel carried during a period of transition in Florida's history.

Coastal outwelling of organic carbon from mangrove wetlands contributes to near-shore productivity and influences biogeochemical cycling of elements. I used a flume to measure fluxes of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) between a mangrove forest and adjacent tidal creek along Shark River, Florida. Shark River’s hydrology is influenced by diurnal tides and seasonal rainfall and wind patterns. Samplings were made over multiple tidal cycles in 2003 to include dry, wet, and transitional seasons. Surface water [DOC], temperature, salinity, conductivity and pH were significantly different among all sampling periods. [DOC] was highest during the dry season (May), followed by the wet (October) and transitional (December) seasons. Net DOC export was measured in October and December, inferring the mangrove forest is a source of DOC to the adjacent tidal creek during these periods. This trend may be explained by high rates of rainfall, freshwater inflow and subsequent flushing of wetland soils during this period of the year.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2008. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 182 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2007. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 142 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2007. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 252 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2007. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 237 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2008. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 199 pages. Includes bibliographical references.