published_or_final_version / Orthopaedic Surgery / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty verification regime mandates atmospheric monitoring for the four radioxenon isotopes that are produced in high abundance in a nuclear explosion: [superscript 131m]Xe, [superscript 133m]Xe, [superscript 133g]Xe, and [superscript 135g]Xe. This mandate has driven the development of improved xenon detectors, including a phoswich detector, which has potential to replace the ARSA detector in the International Monitoring System. In this experiment, the four relevant radioxenon isotopes were produced through neutron activation and the phoswich detector was used to attain spectra from the gas. Spectral characteristics and resolution of the phoswich spectra were compared to an ARSA-type [beta]-[gamma] coincidence detector to perform an overall evaluation of the phoswich detector. The results indicated that spectral characteristics and resolutions for the phoswich were comparable to the ARSA-type detector, with slightly improved beta detection. As an additional test of the new detector's capabilities, a tailored spectrum designed to mimic a nuclear explosion signature was produced and analyzed with the detector. / text

The popularity of Craigslist has enabled users worldwide to find almost any product at prices significantly less than retail prices or market-prices. Craigslist has thus enabled lot of resellers to enter the market and has created a huge market for used/pre-owned products. The key to find products at prices less than their market-prices is to find the right classified and act immediately before other users. Craigslist search agents, with ability to search classifieds, that run on mobile/handheld devices are increasing in popularity with ubiquitous internet connectivity, convenience and speed. AnveShA is an automatic search and monitoring agent for craigslist that has been developed for Android platforms. AnveShA provides easy access and a rich feature-set that is not available in the state-of-the-art craigslist search applications available on the Android market. AnveShA has been developed to provide the user a rapid and intelligent search agent that can proactively search and monitor classifieds for desired products, contact sellers and increase the chances of obtaining the desired product at the best possible price. To achieve this, AnveShA has many unique features like the ability to schedule and execute automatic searches, search classifieds based on geographical location, automatically respond to classifieds, store price history for classifieds, get comparative prices from other retail/shopping websites, store favorite classifieds/reminder lists and predict the offer price based on a number of parameters. With such unique features, AnveSha assists users or resellers to find desired products at the best possible prices on Craigslist and hence have a significant advantage over the competition. / text

<p>The Swedish National Rail Administration, Banverket, has the overarching sector responsibility for Swedish railways, including a responsibility for implementing and managing the government decision for an ecologically sustainable development. In support of achieving ecologically sustainable development and fulfilment of the national environmental objectives and environmental legislation, Banverket initiated the implementation of an Environmental Management System (EMS) in 1998. The overall aim of this thesis is to examine the EMS applied at Banverket with regard to the identification and monitoring of environmental aspects at the administrative Railway Regions of Banverket. The analysis is based on a qualitative approach comprising questionnaires, interviews, document analysis and participating observations.</p><p>Areas for potential improvements are identified. A more stringent use of the EMS is needed in the organisation. Furthermore, a link between activity, aspect and impact when identifying environmental aspects would improve the procedure. Like in other public organisations, the monitoring of environmental aspects at Banverket is insufficient. Introducing indicators and integrating different Government requirements for environmental monitoring into one system, using EMS as a tool would make the system more effective. In the thsesis a framework is proposed for the identification of environmental aspects pertaining to operation and maintenance at Banverket. This framework has an input–output perspective and provides a clear connection between activity, aspect and impact. Furthermore, by establishing the framework on a system used mainly for environmental performance evaluation, a better connection between the identification and monitoring of aspects is created, possibly improving both processes. The framework for the identifica-tion of environmental aspects, as proposed in the thesis, could also be modified and applied in other organisations.</p><p>A major conclusion of the study is that the EMS applied at Banverket, in its present form, is not an effective environmental management tool for achieving ecologically sustainable development within the rail sector. Adapted methods for identification and monitoring of environmental aspects for public organisations such as Banverket would facilitate the application of EMS and increase its effectiveness as an environmental tool.</p>

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9 pp. / Principles of obtaining and interpreting utilization data on rangelands / Rangeland monitoring is essential for making sound management decisions. Monitoring requires repeated measurements of the same attributes over time. Perhaps the earliest and most widespread rangeland management monitoring data collection protocol was the development and establishment of the Parker 3-step Method on U. S. Forest Service rangelands, beginning in 1948. This method collected both objective and subjective data and provided a scoring technique for assessment purposes. This paper describes the development of the Method and suggests ways to summarize the ecological attributes collected on Parker transects, analyze the data and reinterpret them based on trends in plant species abundance, composition and soil cover.

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