Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1929. / Bibliography: p. 110-111.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 1914. / "Essay ... awarded the Justin Winsor Prize in American history for 1914." Includes bibliographical references (p. 331-345) and index.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1967. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 1998. / "May 1998." eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 221-225).

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: B, page: 3460. Adviser: Carl S. Hacker. Includes bibliographical references.

The main aim of this thesis was to investigate the occurrence of dolphins in Pacific waters adjacent to the Panama Canal in the context of biological, temporal and spatial factors. Acoustic data were collected at 101 sites at a range of distances and depths from the shipping region. Data were collected between March 2010 and April 2011 in a diurnal cycle over a total of 114 recording days. Received sound levels were split into 1/3 Octave bandwidths to study variation in sound pressure levels and then converted to spectrum density levels to show the sound components of the background noise in this region. Generalised Linear Models were used to relate dolphin whistle detections to temporal, spatial, environmental and acoustic variables. The major sources of background noise were biological noise from soniferous fish and snapping shrimp and anthropogenic noise from vessels characterised by mid to high frequencies produced by artisanal fishing boats. There was monthly and diurnal variation with some locations characterised by loud sounds in the mid to high frequencies at night. Whistle characteristics analysis revealed that the frequencies and range of the whistles were different to those previously reported under similar conditions. Whistles varied diurnally and in the presence of fish chorus and fishing boats. The study highlights a strong correlation between fish choruses and whistle detection. Temporal and spatial models showed that whistle detections varied monthly and in relation to fish noise and small vessel engine noise. Dolphins were distributed throughout most of the study area; however, whistle detections varied with distance from the coast. The results provide new knowledge about background noise composition in this region and provide the first information on the ecology of dolphin whistles in relation to this background noise, especially to fish chorus.

No description available.

This thesis explores the controversial Panama Canal expansion proposals using an analytical framework developed by Herman Daly, an ecological economist at the University of Maryland and a critic of traditional models economic development. At a time when nearly every nation seeks to increase the size of its economy, Daly has been an ardent advocate of setting limits to economic growth, arguing that, as the earth is materially closed, there cannot be infinite growth of the consumption of material and energy resources within a finite (nongrowing) biosphere. These limits should be defined by the regenerative and waste absorptive capacities of the biosphere. My objective here is to test the feasibility of implementing a policy at the local resource management level that is guided by the recognition of ecological limits to economic growth. I employ a water management technique developed by The Nature Conservancy called the Range of Variability Approach (RVA) and test its utility in setting an ecologically-based limit to water withdrawal and river system modification in the Panama Canal watershed. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The transportation of containerized shipments will continue to be a topic of interest in the world because it is the primary method for shipping cargo globally. The primary objective of this study is to analyze the impact of the Panama Canal Expansion (PCE) on the trade flows of containerized shipments between the United States and its trade partners for US exports and imports. The results show that the Panama Canal Expansion would affect the trade flows of US imports and exports significantly. The major findings are as follows: (1) the PCE affects not only US domestic trade flows, but also international trade flows since inland transportation and ocean transportation are interactive, (2) delay cost and toll rate at the Panama Canal do not have a significant impact on trade volume and flows of US containerized shipments after the Panama Canal Expansion mainly because delay cost and toll rate at the canal account for a small portion of the total transportation costs after the PCE, (3) West Coast ports would experience negative effects and East Coast ports would experience positive effects from the PCE, while Gulf ports would experience no effects from the PCE, and (4) an optimal toll rate is inconclusive in this study because changes in toll rate at the canal account for a small portion of the total transportation costs and the PNC competes with shipments to/from Asia shipping to the US West. / Mountain Plains Consortium (MPC) / U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)

Throughout most of the modern history of the Western hemisphere, explorers, engineers and merchants have been interested in finding or building a waterway that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. By the early part of the sixteenth century most of these people had settled their attention on the Central American Isthmus. Several major commercial nations showed an interest in the project at one time or another, including France, Spain, Great Britain and the United States. Serious attention to building a canal started in the late nineteenth century with two areas, southern Nicaragua and central Panama becoming the two most logical sites for canal construction. By the middle of the 1880's the United States had private interests trying to start a canal in Nicaragua, while· the end of that decade saw the formation of a French canal in Panama. The United States seemed committed to a Nicaraguan canal.as late as 1901, yet the U.S. government eventually bought a concession, interceded in a revolution and built a canal through Panama. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the major characters in the struggle to determine a canal route and to build a canal, and to investigate the role played by the several presidential commissions established to discern both the feasibility of any canal and in the final analysis determine which canal route would be the best. Special emphasis was paid to the Isthmian Canal Commission of 1899-1901, popularly known as the Walker Commission.