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Nutrient pollution as a result of excessive fertilizer application is of major concern for Florida's water resources. Excess fertilizer can be lost either via surface runoff or by leaching through the soil mass eventually reaching water bodies and leading to eutrophication. The focus of this study is to analyze the effect of low rainfall intensities and overland flow from an adjacent roadway surface on the loss of nutrients from two different fertilizers. This study focuses on the fate of the nitrogen and phosphorus present in fertilizers utilized by the Florida Department of Transportation for the stabilization of highway embankments. This research was performed on a field-scale test bed and rainfall simulator located at the Stormwater Management Academy at the University of Central Florida. The loss of nutrients was measured from two soil and sod combinations typically found in Florida and used for highway stabilization -Pensacola Bahia on AASHTO A-2-4 soil and Argentine Bahia on AASHTO A-3 soil. Two different fertilizers were analyzed, an all-purpose, quick-release 10-10-10 (N-P-K) fertilizer previously used by FDOT, and the new slow-release 16-0-8 (N-P-K) fertilizer, both applied at a rate of 0.5 lb/1000 ft2 consistent with FDOT's practice. Each combination was analyzed under two rainfall intensities: 0.1 in/hr and 0.25 in/hr at a slope consistent with typical highway cross-sections found in Florida. Nutrient losses were measured by collection of runoff and/or baseflow that escaped the test bed. Additionally, from the soil samples collected throughout the testing period, the mass of the nutrients was compared to the mass balances values based on literature from a previous study on fertilizers performed at the Stormwater Management Academy. The experimental findings of this study showed that there was a reduction in total nitrogen and total phosphorus on both A-2-4 soil and A-3 soil at the 0.25 in/hr intensity as a result of switching to the slow-release 16-0-8 (N-P-K) fertilizer. Results from the 0.1 in/hr rainfall intensity, which were available only for the A-2-4 soil, showed that at this intensity there was no apparent benefit to the switch in fertilizers. Furthermore, it was found that less total nitrogen and total phosphorus was lost from A-3 soil than A-2-4 soil at 0.25 in/hr when using 10-10-10 (N-P-K). At 0.1 in/hr, there was no apparent difference in total nitrogen lost. However, less total phosphorus was lost at this intensity. The results of this study showed that there is an environmental benefit to applying slow-release fertilizers. This was more significant for the 0.25 in/hr intensity than the 0.1 in/hr intensity at which no apparent benefit was found. In addition, it was found that runoff was a greater source of nutrient loss than baseflow, although baseflow losses were substantial. Furthermore, it was found that total nitrogen tends to be lost via both pathways of runoff and baseflow while phosphorus has a lower tendency to leach through the soil but readily runs off the soil surface. It was also observed that because fresh sod tends to be heavily fertilized, applications of fertilizer could be reduced or avoided entirely after sod placement and applied as needed.

Rendering of natural scenes has interested the scientific community for a long time due to its numerous applications. The targeted goal is to create images that are similar to what a viewer can see in real life with his/her eyes. The main obstacle is complexity: nature scenes from real life contain a huge number of small details that are hard to model, take a lot of time to render and require a huge amount of memory unavailable in current computers. This complexity mainly comes from geometry and lighting. The goal of our research is to overcome this complexity and to achieve real-time rendering of nature scenes while providing visually convincing dynamic global illumination. Our work focuses on grass and trees as they are commonly visible in everyday life. We handle geometry and lighting complexities for grass to render millions of grass blades interactively with dynamic lighting. As for lighting complexity, we address real-time rendering of trees by proposing a lighting model that handles indirect lighting. Our work makes extensive use of the current generation of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to meet the real-time requirement and to leave the CPU free to carry out other tasks.

The problem investigated in this study was how individuals participate in the local units of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and particularly how their participation relates to the program and policy initiatives of the national association. The purpose was to understand and describe how individuals experience branch membership, how they respond to the current program and policy initiatives of the association, and to examine some of the differences between members with regard to the salience of the initiatives. The research issues concerned why women join and retain their membership in local units, how they participate, and how they promote the program and policies of the national association. The grounded theory method was used to perform this qualitative study. Ten participants, in two branches, were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed, using The Ethnograph tool, and then open, axial, and selective coding was carried out to discern patterns and themes from the data. The findings, which emerged from the data, resulted in a model of four stages of increasing social activism and responsiveness to the national agenda. Attending to the mission of the association--to promote equity, lifelong education, and positive societal change--became increasingly important to some members as they moved through the stages. During the first stage, Participates, members simply attended meetings, took part in activities and fund-raisers, and some performed a branch role. During the second stage, Supports, they promoted education opportunities for specific women and girls, by setting up study groups, providing for local scholarships, or other educational activities. During the third stage, Facilitates, members actually promoted equity by disseminating information in the community concerning the association's issues. During the fourth stage, Advocates, members worked in the community to make changes based on issues from the national agenda. The conclusions addressed member motivation, the importance of the social capital built through participation, and the internal consequences of membership. While most women joined and retained their membership in the local units for social contact, some joined because of the organization's mission. Their motivation to join and retain their membership made a difference in their level and kind of branch involvement. The importance of the social capital built during participation in branch activities, often diminished, is of utmost importance to the usually, conservative members as some of them became more engaged in the activist, national agenda. The internal consequences of membership in the local units of the voluntary association were more important to members than the external consequences, which led to incongruence between the national office and the branches. This study adds to the body of knowledge regarding voluntary associations, particularly with respect to understanding how individuals experience membership at the local level, their goal orientation, and their motivation to participate over time. / Ed. D.

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The rediscovery of a number of Walt Whitman's early fictions prompts a discussion of where they belong within the larger web of Whitman scholarship. Though we have been aware of the existence of these writings for quite some time, frequently these works return to obscurity soon after being discovered due to the lack of research regarding them. This thesis presents an alternative framework whereby these novels can be integrated into a hypertextual model centered on Leaves of Grass (1855) and Whitman's overall authorial identity. I build on Ed Folsom and Kenneth Price's work creating a hypertext archive incorporating Whitman's works, allowing constraints associated with traditional print form to be overcome. My analysis centers on the recently rediscovered novel The Life and Adventures of Jack Engle (1852) due to its unique publication date. Because we possess so little of Whitman's public writing from the immediate leadup to his first publication of Leaves of Grass, I focus on tracing linguistic and thematic development across the two works. With the help of digital textual analytical tools, I find specific links between the works and argue that Whitman used the novel to experiment with transcendental language and themes that would characterize his later poetic voice. Based on this connection, novels like The Life and Adventures of Jack Engle thrive due to their ability to offer new perspectives on the source text of Leaves of Grass. Within this model, Leaves of Grass also gains new importance due to highlighting the value of the satellite texts like The Life and Adventure of Jack Engle, remedying their previous ambiguous value when isolated. I then discuss how this hypertextual model aids scholars to more easily incorporate Whitman's fiction into future research due to the increased accessibility it provides. Finally, the thesis discusses how this model repositions the role of the archive as more than simply a receptacle of preservation. Instead, it now operates as a source of redefinition by providing artifacts that reimagine period and authorial narratives through this hypertextual model.

Seedlings of Indian rice grass Oryzopsis hvmenoides (Roem. & Shult.) Ricker. were studied to determine the effect of soil moisture, photoperiod, depth of burial of germinated grains, temperature, and the rate of soil accumulation on seedling growth and tillering. The study was performed in two phases: Field observations and laboratory studies. Field observations were made on a system of sand dunes located northwest of Lynndyl, Utah. General observations were made from January, 1966 to May, 1968.

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The implementation of grass tracks is uncommon in Stockholm compared to Central Europe where it is more popularized. As more tram projects are planned in the future such as the Spårväg Syd project, the aim of this study is to explore the role of grass tracks in the public transport sector by theoretically conceptualising grass tracks as a green infrastructure strategy. The research questions were to study how residents perceive the grass track between Sicka Udde and Sickla Station, and how the grass track could contribute to noise concerns, traffic safety, and financial resource in the Spårväg Syd project. Qualitative methods were used in which online surveys were sent out to residents in Hammarby Sjöstad and interviews with the municipality and county workers from Lund, Norrköping and Stockholm were conducted. The result showed that the resident was more positive about the grass track compared to the municipality and county workers which highlighted the additional cost and work effort to provide the public with a well-maintained and visually attractive grass track. The conclusion of this study has covered previous and new discoveries which open discussions for further reflection on what project planners shall consider before deciding to implement grass tracks in future tram projects.

A 2-yr grazing study quantified pasture and animal responses of four forage systems (FS) grazed at two stocking rates (SR; 3 or 6 animals ha-1). Using „Marshall? annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) and „Durana? white clover (Trifolium repens L.), FS treatments included spatially separated grass and legumes within the same paddock (SS), monoculture grass (MG), monoculture legume (ML), and a binary grass and legume mixture (MIX). Annual herbage mass (HM) was similar among FS at high SR (1900 kg ha-1), but at low SR, grass plots had greater HM (2900 vs. 2000 kg ha-1) than plots of legume monocultures. Animals on SS (1.12 kg) had greater average daily gain (ADG) than ML (0.97 kg), but neither was different from MG (1.08 kg) or MIX (1.00 kg). Low SR animals had greater ADG than high SR (1.09 vs. 0.99 kg). These results indicate that SS grazing system can improve pasture productivity.