The following study is a demonstration of the effectiveness of porous pavement and an infiltration trench as Best Management Practices (BMPs) in the reduction of stormwater and its constituents. The field work of the study was conducted from 1986 through 1988 and the report was written in 1990 and finalized in 1996. Results of the study show that porous pavement and the infiltration trench significantly reduced the volume of stormwater runoff as well as its constituents from an urban parking lot area. In addition, wetfall and dryfall were found to be the major contributors to the runoff loading and yet were not comparable to associated studies. Peak and total flow runoff volumes were reduced significantly thereby reducing the overall pollutant loading. Antecedent dry period was found to be related to pollutant loading but only up to about 5 days total. / Master of Science

Published Article / Knowledge is universally considered to be a public good and something that should be developed and supported. The information explosion and enabling technologies (such as the Internet and cellular technologies) of the past decade has firmly established the Age of Knowledge. Knowledge has normative value that extends far beyond a single discipline and the Age of Knowledge has resulted in a paradigm shift with regard to the way in which knowledge is generated, applied and stored. As the custodians of knowledge, universities should pay particular attention to the management of knowledge as they take the lead not only in generating new knowledge, but also in converting new and existing knowledge into innovative ideas, products and practices that benefit society at large. Knowledge should, for this reason, be strategically managed to be of value to universities. It is thus imperative that universities should ascertain the nature and extent of their knowledge resources and pay special attention to their Knowledge Management practices that include the way in which knowledge is acquired, disseminated and rewarded. Universities of Technology (UoTs), with their distinct emphasis on applied research, innovation and knowledge transfer, need to manage knowledge in such a way that it enhances the creation of solution-based technologies. This paper provides a theoretical basis for understanding Knowledge Management in a UoT context and reflects on the Knowledge Management practices of a UoT in the South African context.

Master of Science / Agronomy / Ignacio Ciampitti / P. V. Vara Prasad / Mid-west grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) producers are currently obtaining much lower than attainable yields across varying environments, therefore, closing yield gaps will be important. Yield gaps are the difference between maximum economic attainable yield and current on-farm yields. Maximum economic yield can be achieved through the optimization of utilizing the best genotypes and management practices for the specific site-environment (soil-weather) combination. This research project examines several management factors in order to quantify complex farming interactions for maximizing sorghum yields and studying nutrient partitioning. The factors that were tested include narrow row-spacing (37.5 cm) vs. standard wide row-spacing (76 cm), high (197,600 seeds haˉ¹) and low (98,800 seeds haˉ¹) seeding rates, balanced nutrient management practices including applications of NPKS and micronutrients (Fe and Zn), crop protection with fungicide and insecticide, the use of a plant growth regulator, and the use of precision Ag technology (GreenSeeker for N application). This project was implemented at four sites in Kansas during 2014 (Rossville, Scandia, Ottawa, and Hutchinson) and 2015 (Topeka, Scandia, Ottawa, Ashland Bottoms) growing seasons. Results from both years indicate that irrigation helped to minimize yield variability and boost yield potential across all treatments, though other factors affected the final yield. In 2014, the greatest significant yield difference under irrigation in Rossville, KS (1.32 Mg haˉ¹) was documented between the ‘low-input’ versus the ‘high-input’ treatments. The treatment difference in grain sorghum yields in 2014 was not statistically significant. In 2014, the Ottawa site experienced drought-stress during reproductive stages of plant development, which resulted in low yields and was not influenced by the cropping system approach. In 2015 the treatments were significant, and in Ottawa, narrow row spacing at a lower seeding rate maximized yield for this generally low-yielding environment (<6 Mg haˉ¹) (treatment two at 6.26 vs. treatment ten at 4.89 Mg haˉ¹). Across several sites, including Rossville, Hutchinson, Scandia, Topeka, and Ashland, a similar trend of narrow row spacing promoting greater yields has been documented. Additionally, when water was not limiting sorghum yields (i.e., under irrigation), a balanced nutrient application and optimization of production practices did increase grain sorghum yields (‘high-input’ vs. ‘low-input’; the greatest difference was seen in 2014 in Rossville, 1.2 Mg haˉ¹, and in 2015 in Ashland, 1.98 Mg haˉ¹). In the evaluation of nutrient uptake and partitioning in different plant fractions, there was variability across all site-years which did not always follow the same patterns as the yield, however, the low-input treatment was shown to have significantly lower nutrient uptakes across all the nutrients evaluated (N, P, K, S, Fe, Zn) and across most fractions and sampling times. The objectives of this project were to identify management factors that contributed to high sorghum yields in diverse environments, and to investigate nutrient uptake and partitioning under different environments and crop production practices.

In recent years, the business world is a fast moving and rapidly changing economical environment. From the practices of Human Resource management, it is an issue that many business organizations have lots of interests in how to maintain their competitive workforces, effectively reduce turnover, and to minimize the training cost. As we all are aware that Human Resource Management department is recognized as one of business partners in the organization. We deploy the limited resources provided to the critical activity of Human Resource Management, to elevate job satisfaction and to remain the employees in company. The research is focus on exploring the effects of Human Resource Management practices on job satisfaction and retention. And also discuss the mediating effects of job satisfaction between the Human Resource Management practices and retention. The results indicated that (1) The Human Resource Management practices will improve job satisfaction. (2) Job satisfaction will advance the intention to retain of the employees. (3) The implementation results of the Human Resource Management practices will advance the intention to retain of the employees. (4) Job satisfaction does have mediating impact on some Human Resource Management practices and the intention to retain of the employees.

Sustainable urban parks provide social and economical benefits to the residents and contribute to the urban ecosystem health. Municipalities are responsible for development and management of urban parks and the goal of this study was to better understand if, and why, the municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) have utilized sustainable development strategies in the planning, design, construction and management for their new park projects. A qualitative study utilizing an in-depth interview format was created based on the principles of sustainable development compiled from the Sustainable Sites Initiative. A sample of four municipalities in the GTA was selected based on population and development growth and the park authorities were contacted. The results indicated few sustainable initiatives implemented in the design and management stages of park development. Understanding the constraints against these suggest that there may be potential to increase the sustainability of urban parks. / The Goal of this thesis was to explore if, and why, the municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) have or have not adopted sustainable development strategies in planning, design, construction and management of their new parks.

As the world’s increasing human population demands greater agricultural intensity, concerns regarding environmental nutrient loading are also rising. Landowners in the Tobacco Creek Model Watershed (TCMW) in southern Manitoba, Canada, have implemented beneficial management practices to reduce nutrient loading to surface waters. Among these practices is a network of small reservoirs that have been shown to reduce nutrient concentrations downstream. It is unclear what is contributing to this ecosystem service, but bacterial denitrification is thought to be important. To understand the role of these reservoirs in excess nitrate removal and assess how this ecosystem service can be optimized, denitrification activity in reservoirs and stream pools of the watershed was measured via the chloramphenicol-amended acetylene block technique. Results indicated that denitrification activity was positively correlated with measured nitrate concentrations and sediment organic carbon (SOC), and negatively correlated with sediment particle size and pH. Regression trees typically identified nitrate as the primary node in partitioning denitrification activity. Importantly, reservoirs exhibited higher denitrification activity and were at times less likely to be nitrate-saturated than stream pools. This finding was attributed mainly to higher levels of SOC, and lower concentrations of dissolved oxygen found in reservoirs. Nitrate was added to a set of samples to test for nitrate saturation, which is an indicator of poor ecological status, as nitrate concentrations exceed the denitrification capacity of microbes. Almost half of measurements (49%) demonstrated nitrate saturation, indicative of the need for additional remediation activity in the watershed. Classification trees suggested a threshold for nitrate saturation across sites at 0.68 mg L-1 NO3 + NO2. Findings from this research reveal that reservoirs not only improve nitrate removal capacity, but could inform the proposed construction of additional reservoirs in the TCMW. Understanding nutrient retention in this system could also have implications for downstream ecosystems such as Lake Winnipeg; an intensely eutrophic lake that has become a high priority area for remediation.

Thesis (M.S.)--Portland State University, 1993. / Computer-produced typeface. "Technical report EWR-003-93."--Cover. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-76). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Underpinning the elements of strategy design and execution are assumptions, norms and beliefs which can be broadly characterised as strategic management practices. These strategic management practices are in evidence in all schools of strategy academic theory. Whilst there has been a great deal of work conducted into the processes of strategy design and execution, there is little study of strategic management practices. This research sought to uncover the contemporary strategic management practices in evidence at a select number of leading organisations through qualitative analysis of secondary data in the form of case studies and other publically available material. A nascent content based definition for the concept of strategic management practices was developed from the literature review and tested against the evidence uncovered. Additional themes uncovered from the data were incorporated into the proposed definition and a synthesised version developed based on the strength of the evidence uncovered. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The goal of the Mississippi State University Extension Service (MSU-ES) is to improve the quality of life for all Mississippians. One specific group that agricultural change agents work with at the county level is beef producers. Grazing lands have received much attention over the last few years regarding environmental concerns and Best Management Practices (BMPs) for beef cattle operations. The adoption of these practices was voluntary during the time this study was conducted, however; adoption was highly encouraged by the MSU-ES and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). By knowing the level of adoption of BMPs that Mississippi beef producers have implemented, change agents can more effectively plan educational programming efforts for producers to better understand the importance of BMP adoption. The purpose of this study was to describe the adopter categories of Mississippi beef producers as determined by Rogers (2003) adopter characteristics generalizations based on their (1) socioeconomic status, (2) personality values and communication behavior, and (3) opinions. It also examined the correlations between the adopter categories to predict the level of the three BMPs being studied. The adopter categories were innovator, early adopter, early majority, late majority, and laggard. The three BMPs that were the focus of the study were rotation grazing, riparian buffers, and pasture renovation. The results of the study indicated that Mississippi beef producers could be correctly identified in the adopter categories. By identifying the adopter categories of the Mississippi beef producers and then examining the correlations among the variables, prediction of BMP adoption of rotational grazing and riparian buffers was possible. The relationships between MSU-ES agents and their programming efforts, as well as the relationships between NRCS district conservationist and their programs, were studied. Nonoption, though not an adopter category, was also examined and the reasons for it were cited.

Current site scale stormwater management designs typically include multiple distributed stormwater best management practices (BMPs), necessary to meet regulatory objectives for nutrient removal and groundwater recharge. Selection of the appropriate BMPs for a particular site requires consideration of contributing drainage area characteristics, such as soil type, area, and land cover. Other physical constraints such as karst topography, areas of highly concentrated pollutant runoff, etc. as well as economics, such as installation and operation and maintenance cost must be considered. Due to these multiple competing selection criteria and regulatory requirements, selection of optimal configurations of BMPs by manual iteration using conventional design tools is not tenable, and the resulting sub-optimal solutions are often biased. This dissertation addresses the need for an objective BMP selection optimization tool through definition of an objective function, selection of an optimization algorithm based on defined selection criteria, development of cost functions related to installation cost and operation and maintenance cost, and ultimately creation and evaluation of a new software tool that enables multi-objective user weighted selection of optimal BMP configurations. A software tool is developed using the nutrient and pollutant removal logic found in the Virginia Runoff Reduction Method (VRRM) spreadsheets. The resulting tool is tested by a group of stormwater professionals from the Commonwealth of Virginia for two case studies. Responses from case study participants indicate that use of the tool has a significant impact on the current engineering design process for selection of stormwater BMPs. They further indicate that resulting selection of stormwater BMPs through use of the optimization tool is more objective than conventional methods of design, and allows designers to spend more time evaluating solutions, rather than attempting to meet regulatory objectives. / Ph. D.