published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

published_or_final_version / Chemistry / Master / Master of Philosophy

The pine beetle is transforming BC's lush greenery into a sea of red death. Jorg Bohlmann looks to the conifer tree for clues on how to halt the beetle's rampant spread.

Educational compact discs or CD-ROM's are appearing more frequently in the classroom. An educational science laboratory safety CD was developed at the University of Lethbridge in 1994. This case study is an evaluation of the U. of L. safety CD to determine how well the disc facilitates independent, student directed learning. The study involved forty four High School students at Matthew Halton Community School in Pincher Creek, Alberta. The students used the CD in Biology and Chemistry classes. The survey included observations, questionnaire, and interviews to solicit student reaction to the disc. Students agreed that the CD was easy to use and that it was well suited for independent learning. They also made suggestions for further improvements. / 1 compact disk ; 4 3/4 in.

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Dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements of the Masters Degree in Technology: Chemistry, in the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the Durban University of Technology, 2008. / In this work, a holistic approach to validate analytical methods was assessed by virtue of Monte Carlo simulations. This approach involves a statement of the methodsâ s scope (i.e. analytes, matrices and concentration levels) and requisites (internal or external); selection of the methodâ s (fit-for-purpose) features; pre-validation and validation of the intermediate accuracy and its assessment by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Validation of the other methodâ s features and a validity statement in terms of a â fit-for-purposeâ decision making, harmonized validation-control-uncertainty statistics and short-term routine work with the aim of proposing virtually â ready-to-useâ methods. The protocol could be transferred to other methods. The main aim is to harmonize the work to be done by research teams and routine laboratories assuming that different aims, strategies and practical viewpoints exist. As a result, the recommended protocol should be seen as a starting point. It is necessary to propose definitive (harmonized) protocols that must be established by international normalisation/accreditation entities. The Quality Assurance (Method verification and Internal Quality Control, IQC) limits, as well as sample uncertainty were estimated consistently with the validated accuracy statistics i.e. E U (E) and RSDi + U (RSDi). Two case studies were used to assess Monte Carlo simulation as a tool for method validation in analytical laboratories, the first involves an indirect polarographic method for determining nitrate in waste water and the second involves a direct determination of heavy metals in sea water by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry, as an example of the application of the protocol. In this sense the uncertainty obtained could be used for decision making purposes as it is very tempting to use uncertainty as a commercial argument and in this work it has been shown that the smaller the uncertainty, the better the measurement of the instrument or the laboratoryâ s reputation.

Medical research is not only a necessary part in the quest to improve the quality of life for people by finding new diagnostic procedures and treatment; it is also a multi billion rand endeavour. Africa itself poses a huge challenge in providing facilities to respond to the global network engaged in medical research. South Africa has responded in part to this need, and is a pioneer in medical research for the continent. In essence, the continent not only provides great challenges, but also great opportunities for research. Many of its facilities engage in collaborative research with global institutions, but these established ties do not adequately fulfil the capacity required. In addition to this, the research environment is constantly evolving. Not only is the process constantly changing, but also the environments in which the research is conducted and the attitude as to how research should be conducted. To stay as current in the field of medical research, new institutions need to respond to the technical, practical and philosophical changes in the field. The National Health Laboratory Services, a South African chapter 21 institution involved in research and diagnosis, is the proposed client for the cancer research institute to be designed. It has established research credentials in cancer; pioneering the national cancer register; and has established links to other national organisations, such as the Medical Research Council of South Africa. / Thesis (M.Arch.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

The innovation laboratories support and foster the systematic development of innovations by bringing the people, environment and the methodological expertise together. Such type of structures play a major role in leveraging the existing methods and tools in the field of service innovation on one hand, and adapting the new methodological approaches to the field on the other hand. Thus, we argue that they can act as intermediaries in adapting the concept of round trip engineering to the field of service innovation. In this context, to develop the deeper understanding of the phenomenon, the innovation laboratories were thoroughly investigated through in-depth expert interviews. The interviews were intended to develop deep understanding of the structural and functional aspects of innovation laboratories in order to identify the current practices and potential of innovation labs in applying the systematic approaches to different phases of innovation life cycle. They were also aimed to identify the methodological and technological support that the innovation labs might need.

This creative project explores the principles of permaculture, within the context of environmental sustainability, applying them to the development of the master plan for Camp Goodfellow. Camp Good Fellow is the also known as the Indiana Dunes Environmental Learning Center, part of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore located in northwestern Indiana.This project involves design of an overnight environmental education facility within the Goodfellow site. Permaculture principles are applied to the development of a third camp cluster at Goodfellow, focused on sustainable systems demonstration. This demonstration provides further direction for the existing draft concept master plan and generates typical site details. The project shows how concepts of permaculture can be integrated and oriented towards sustainability education in the northern Indiana landscape. / Department of Landscape Architecture

This thesis describes a novel application of an artificial neural network and links together the two diverse disciplines of electroanalytical chemistry and information sciences. The artificial neural network is used to process data obtained from a Differential Pulse Anodic Stripping (DPAS) electroanalytical scan and produces as an output, predictions of lead concentration in samples where the concentration is less than 100 parts per billion. A comparative study of several post analysis processing techniques is presented, both traditional and neural. Through this it is demonstrated that by using a neural network, both the accuracy and the precision of the concentration predictions are increased by a factor of approximately two, over those obtained using a traditional, peak height calibration curve method. Statistical justification for these findings is provided Furthermore it is shown that, by post processing with a neural network, good quantitative predictions of heavy metal concentration may be made from instrument responses so poor that, if using tradition methods of calibration, the analytical scan would have had to be repeated. As part of the research the author has designed and built a complete computer controlled analytical instrument which provides output both to a graphical display and to the neural network. This instrument, which is fully described in the text, is operated via a mouse driven user interface written by the author.