The United States Army land managers are facing a difficult task of balancing environmental quality and military land carrying capacity when planning missions. The increase in soil erosion and landscape fragmentation caused by intensive military training degrades environmental quality and restricts military missions simultaneously. So far, no effective tools can be applied to quantitatively assess the environmental quality of military training facilities. This study aims at overcoming the existing gaps in land management of the U.S. Army installations. In this study, spatial metrics were selected and used to quantify landscape quality and further their correlations with landscape aesthetics indicators were investigated to seek surrogates of the immeasurable indicators. The spatial metrics were then combined with other environmental variables including soil erosion, water quality, and noise to create an integrated indicator that comprehensively measures environmental quality for the U.S. Army installations using spatial multi-criteria decision analysis. The methodology proposed in this study was tested at Fort Riley Installation, Kansas. The obtained important results included i) Landsat Thematic Mapper TM imagery was better at identifying land cover categories than India Remote Sensing Imagery and their Brovey transformations and Principal Component Analysis (PCA); ii) Too fine of a spatial resolution of imagery led to a great number of small patches and degraded the accuracy of landscape segmentation; iii) both landscape shape index (LSI) and Aggregation Index (AI) had statistically significant correlation with military training intensity and quantified the landscape fragmentation well along with both LSI and AI had a significant negative correlation; iv) there were moderate correlations of LSI and AI with landscape complexity and Interspersion and Juxtaposition index (IJI) with disturbance; v) the landscape level environmental quality indicator obtained comprehensively and well quantified the overall environmental health and its dynamics, while the patch level indicator detailed the local environmental quality. The significant contributions made in this study included i) exploring the relationships of landscape aesthetic evaluations with spatial metrics variables and further incorporating the spatial metrics as surrogates of the landscape aesthetic evaluations into derivation of comprehensive environmental quality indicator; and ii) developing a practical method to integrate the individual factors into a comprehensive environmental quality indicator at both landscape and patch levels based on sustainable environmental health and military land carrying capacity. Without doubt, this study can provide effective tools for the Army land managers to accurately assess environmental quality and effectively plan military training on the installations. It is also expected this methodology can be applied to management of other lands such as agricultural, forested, and industrial lands, etc.

<p> An integrating sphere system has been developed to study the optical properties of biological tissues non-invasively, over a broad spectral range with the ultimate goal of quantifying erythema resulting from external beam radiotherapy. An empirical model was defined to calculate the absorption coefficient, μa, from the normalized integrating sphere signal, R *, and the reduced scattering coefficient, μ's As erythema is associated with an increase in the apparent concentration of oxygenated haemoglobin in the skin, the potential of the technique in quantifying erythema was assessed using measurements made in homogenous tissue simulating phantoms containing whole horse blood. After system validation in this simple model, a two-layer model was investigated. Whole blood from a horse was added to the bottom layer, while the top layer was fixed at an optical thickness simulating the epidermis. Reflectance measurements were made through the top layer while the bottom layer was deoxygenated using yeast. The retrieved concentrations of oxy- and deoxygenated haemoglobin were used to calculate the total haemoglobin concentration and the haemoglobin oxygen saturation. Errors in estimating the total haemoglobin concentration ranged from 3-12%; decreasing as a broadband absorber was added to the top layer. Preliminary in vivo measurements were also performed on areas of erythema induced by a topical anesthetic. For regions of erythema there was an increase in the apparent haemoglobin oxygenation which correlates to values of the erythema index calculated from the definition established by Dawson et al. These results demonstrate that the apparent haemoglobin oxygenation has the potential to be used as a surrogate in quantifying erythema. </p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In the remarkable developments that have occurred recently in all sectors of society, e.g. environmental, social, and governance (ESG) integration, responsible investing, social entrepreneurship, and strategic philanthropy, the measurement of extra-financial (or non- financial or external) information remains a key issue. While 'making a difference' is the goal of such developments, no integrated externality measurement framework (IEMF) has been proposed, recognized as a reasonable candidate, or adopted by practitioners. The overall objective of this thesis is to develop such an IEMF which would facilitate meaningful measurements and interpretations of the 'quantum of difference' (e.g. in the context of ESG information) and applications thereof towards resource allocation strategies. The aim is not so much to develop some putative 'perfectly accurate model of reality' but an epistemic framework which would serve as a communicative and organizational anchor. The overall objective derives to five research imperatives, which are responded to by five core chapters in the thesis. The following key findings emerge: Finding 1. The ESG metric landscape exists in a patchwork. In particular, while social impact metrics have proliferated recently, they constitute an incoherent domain of its own, separate from the environmental and governance metric literatures. In devising an IEMF, the key challenges include aggregating disparate metrics and disaggregating causalities. Once such a framework has been devised and adopted by practitioners, one can innovate various resource allocation strategies. Finding 2. The attitudes and approaches toward measurement and metrics can broadly be typologized as being fetishistic, positivistic, cynical, and pragmatic. Taking the pragmatic stance allows us to ascribe an appropriate epistemic status to metrics and calibrates the philosophical proclivity of the culminating IEMF. Finding 3. A geography of philanthropic governance exists. In particular, there are variegated similarities and differences in the perceptions and usage of ecosocial metrics. Significant overlaps in the domain and geographic foci of giving signify the feasibility of meaningful comparison, competition and collaboration among such organizations with metrics at the centrepiece. Finding 4. While best practice benchmarks in the usage of metrics in driving positive tangible changes are rare, a highly innovative integrated rural development program known as Saemaul Undong serves as a solid example. It is possible to maximize the efficiency in resource-deployment, induce participation and competition, and scale a parochial initiative to a national level through the usage of performance metrics. Finding 5. Calibrating appropriate philosophical stance, aggregating widely disparate measuranda, disaggregating casual attribution are among the key challenges towards developing an IEMF. Identifying and adopting appropriate formalisms facilitate addressing such challenges. For adoption in practice, however, one must factor in human expertise and judgements when making resource deployment decisions along with the numbers calculated through such a framework. The findings above constitute a series of 'firsts' of the kind in each relevant bodies of literature, paving the way for further explorations.

Název práce: Quantifying Determiners from the Distributional Semantics View Autor: Maria Ximena Gutierrez Vasques Katedra: Ústav formální a aplikované lingvistiky Vedoucí diplomové práce: doc. RNDr. Markéta Lopatková, Ph.D. Abstrakt: Distribuční sémanika představuje moderní přístup k zachycení sémantiky přirozeného jazyka. Jedním z témat, kterým zatím v rámci tohoto přístupu nebyla věnována dostatečná pozornost, je možnost automatické detekce logických relací jako vyplývání. Tato diplomová práce navazuje na práci autorů Baroni, Bernar- di, Do and Shan (2012), kteří se zabývají relací vyplývání mezi kvantifikujícími výrazy. Citovaná práce využívá detekce pomocí SVN klasifikátorů natrénavaných na sémantických vektorech reprezentujících relaci vyplývání. Popisované exper- imenty se nezaměřovaly na nastaveni parametrů SVN klasifikátoru, proto se v této práci vracíme k původním experimentům popisujícím relaci vyplývání mezi kvantifikovanýmo jmennými konstrukcemi, navrhujeme nové konfigurace klasi- fikátoru a optimalizujeme nastavení parametrů. Dosaženou přesnost predikce porovnáváme s původními výsledky a ukazujeme, že SVM klasifikátor s kvadrat- ickým polynomiálním jádrem dosahuje lepších výsledků....

Magister Scientiae - MSc / This project discusses whether the British prototype questionnaire called the Assessment Experience Questionnaire (AEQ) could be standardized as a quantifier of assessment and be used at a multicultural institute such as the University of the Western Cape (UWC). This questionnaire was created in the United Kingdom to assist lecturers in evaluating and developing their assessment systems. / South Africa

The focus of this study is to gain a better understanding of the hazards affecting the transportation of avocados from farm to packhouse by developing an effective risk assessment tool farmers can use. The transport related factors considered in this study encompass all hazards which may affect the avocado, from the point the fruit is picked to the point the avocado is packed at the packhouse. The study has been undertaken in five stages, namely:  A literature study split into four main stages, including an investigation into avocado specific hazards, transportation related hazards, market influencers and investigating analysis tools.  Data collection (including environmental indicators, accelerations and GPS measurements) stemming from field tests conducted with a smart avocado device (smAvo);  Data analysis of the smAvos, including assessing the kinetic energy the avocado experiences;  Risk analysis and Bayesian Network Development including those hazards identified in the literature study as well as from the smAvo, and  Bayesian Network analysis, using Delphi Fuzzy methodology and smAvo data to determine the influence of the combination of risk factors identified. The risk assessment tool was developed through the use of Bayesian Networks. This tool eliminates the guesswork of what causes the largest reduction in shelf life/waste and therefore profit. The Network considers the joint probability of these hazards, and posterior probabilities of any subset of variables when evidence is introduced. The Bayesian Network is analysed and optimised by means of finding factors that will cause the greatest improvement of shelf life and decreased damage. A converse analysis is done by determining the effect of, for example poor road conditions or truck type. The result of this analysis provides the farmer with a decision-making tool which will optimise processes, increase profits (by reducing waste) and eliminate any guesswork. The Network can be used by the farmer and updated as new evidence is discovered. The analysis concludes with the most damaging areas within the network is at harvest, followed by truck transportation effects, packhouse conditions and lastly farm transportation effects. In order to optimise the network, emphasis is put on the plant condition, followed by any delay in transportation and the picking technique used during harvest. A “what-if” analysis was done which concluded poor road conditions can increase overall damage by 0.44 per cent, whereas poor harvest conditions can increase this to 12.57 per cent. / Dissertation (MEng (Transportation Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Civil Engineering / MEng (Transportation Engineering) / Unrestricted

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The representation of physical processes by a climate model depends on its structure, numerical schemes, physical parameterizations and resolution, with initial conditions and future emission scenarios further affecting the output. The extent to which climate models agree is therefore of great interest, often with greater confidence in robust results across models. This has led to climate model output being analysed as ensembles rather than in isolation, and quantifying the sources of variation across these ensembles is the aim of many recent studies. Statistical attempts to do this include the use of variants of the mixed-effects analysis of variance or covariance (mixed-effects ANOVA/ANCOVA). This work usually focuses on identifying variation in a variable of interest that is due to differences in model structure, carbon emissions scenario, etc. Quantifying such variation is important in determining where models agree or disagree, but further statistical approaches can be used to diagnose the reasons behind the agreements and disagreements by representing the physical processes within the climate models. A process-based approach is presented that uses simulation with statistical models to perform a global sensitivity analysis and quantify the sources of variation in multi-model ensembles. This approach is a general framework that can be used with any generalised linear mixed model (GLMM), which makes it applicable to use with statistical models designed to represent (sometimes complex) physical relationships within different climate models. The method decomposes the variation in the response variable into variation due to 1) temporal variation in the driving variables, 2) variation across ensemble members in the distributions of the driving variables, 3) variation across ensemble members in the relationship between the response and the driving variables, and 4) variation unexplained by the driving variables. The method is used to quantify the extent to which, and diagnose why, precipitation varies across and within the members of two different climate model ensembles on various different spatial and temporal scales. Change in temperature in response to increased CO2 is related to change in global-mean annual-mean precipitation in a multi-model ensemble of general circulation models (GCMs). A total of 46% of the variation in the change in precipitation in the ensemble is found to be due to the differences between the GCMs, largely because the distribution of the changes in temperature varies greatly across different GCMs. The total variation in the annual-mean change in precipitation that is due to the differences between the GCMs depends on the area over which the precipitation is averaged, and can be as high as 63%. The second climate model ensemble is a perturbed physics ensemble using a regional climate model (RCM). This ensemble is used for three different applications. Firstly, by using lapse rate, saturation specific humidity and relative humidity as drivers of daily-total summer convective precipitation at the grid-point level over southern Britain, up to 8% of the variation in the convective precipitation is found to be due to the uncertainty in RCM parameters. This is largely because given atmospheric conditions lead to different rates of precipitation in different ensemble members. This could not be detected by analysing only the variation across the ensemble members in mean precipitation rate (precipitation bias). Secondly, summer-total precipitation at the grid-point level over the British Isles is used to show how the values of the RCM parameters can be incorporated into a GLMM to quantify the variation in precipitation due to perturbing each individual RCM parameter. Substantial spatial variation is found in the effect on precipitation of perturbing different RCM parameters. Thirdly, the method is extended to focus on extreme events, and the simulation of extreme winter pentad (five-day mean) precipitation events averaged over the British Isles is found to be robust to the uncertainty in RCM parameters.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T14:58:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2006-Rogerio Pontes Xavier.pdf: 723603 bytes, checksum: 615984d840258441caab97f579633aff (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-04-25 / Funda??o Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Despite sugarcanes Biological Nitrogen Fixation (BNF) research efforts which have been carrying on in Brazil, most of its varieties still need nitrogen fertilizer complement, and the cost of this supply trends to raise following the petroleum price. Thus, the scientific research has worked on finding alternatives to nitrogen fertilizer through varieties with higher potential to the BNF; crops practical handling that would be able to increase BNFs contribution; and also, through selection and inoculation of bacterias lineage efficient to BNF. Seeking some of these answers, three experiments were developed at Embrapa Agrobiologia in Seropedica-RJ heading to identify the most efficient sugarcanes varieties to BNF based on balance techniques of N-Total on the system soil/plant; 15N natural abundance; and 15N isotopic dilution. The experiment results allowed concluding that: 1) The N total balance of soil/plant system after 8 and 13 years of harvesting was positive to the most varieties studied, showing a significant entry of nitrogen from de atmosphere by BNF to the soil/plant system; 2) The varieties Krakatau, SP 70-1143, SP 79-2312 and SP 71- 6163 confirmed potential to BNF as observed on previous studies; 3) The varieties RB 72-454, RB 82-5336, RB 75-8540 and RB 83-5089 showed high potential to BNF. 4) The soil type and the crops cycle have great influence on the BFN contribution; 5) The BNF is an important source of N for the soil/plant system; got a glimpse of right handling possibility (systems of sugar cane harvesting with crop residue remaining on the soil surface) and with the utilization of efficient varieties to BNF may be possible to reduce or even eliminate crops nitrogen fertilizers. / Apesar dos esfor?os da pesquisa em FBN na cultura de cana-de-a??car, que vem sendo desenvolvida no Brasil, as soqueiras da maioria das variedades de cana-de-a??car ainda precisam de uma complementa??o com fertilizantes nitrogenados, e o custo deste insumo tende a elevar-se, acompanhando o pre?o do petr?leo. Assim, nos ?ltimos anos, a pesquisa cient?fica, vem trabalhando em busca de alternativas ? aduba??o nitrogenada, atrav?s de gen?tipos com maior potencial para FBN, pr?ticas de manejo da cultura que poderiam amplificar a contribui??o da FBN e pela sele??o e inocula??o de estirpes de bact?rias eficientes para FBN. Buscando alcan?ar algumas dessas respostas, na Embrapa Agrobiologia, localizada em Serop?dica-RJ, foram instalados tr?s experimentos com o objetivo identificar as variedades de cana-de-a??car mais eficientes para FBN, com base nas t?cnicas de balan?o de N-total no sistema solo/planta, abund?ncia natural de 15N e dilui??o isot?pica de 15N. Os resultados desses experimentos permitiram concluir que: 1) o balan?o de N-total do sistema solo-planta ap?s 8 e 13 anos de cultivo foram positivos para a maioria das variedades estudadas, mostrando um significativo ingresso de nitrog?nio proveniente da atmosfera via FBN para o sistema solo-planta; 2) os gen?tipos Krakatau, SP 70-1143, SP 79-2312 e SP 71- 6163 confirmaram o potencial para FBN j? observados em estudos anteriores; 3) as variedades RB 72-454, e RB 82-5336, RB 75-8540 e RB 83-5089 apresentaram alto potencial para FBN; 4) o tipo de solo e o ciclo da cultura teve grande influ?ncia na contribui??o da FBN; e 5) a FBN ? uma importante fonte de N ao sistema solo planta, e vislumbram a possibilidade de que com o manejo adequado (colheita de cana crua) e com a utiliza??o de variedades eficientes para FBN, talvez, seja poss?vel reduzir ou mesmo eliminar a aduba??o com fertilizantes nitrogenados na cultura.

The West has lost up to 60% of its historic aspen stands over the last century, probably as a result of the successional tendency of aspen to be replaced by coniferous species in the absence of periodic fires. One of several major impacts of this change is the loss of understory forage as conifer canopy cover increases. I measured understory biomass in aspen stands ranging from 0% to 81 % absolute conifer cover in the canopy Ill and found that understory production declines exponentially as conifers replace aspen. I also did an economic analysis to determine the value of the forage that is not being produced by aspen sites due to a presence of coniferous species within the tree canopy. Study results indicate significant losses in forage, marketable through the sale of livestock, and losses in revenue generated through grazing fees for the USDA Forest Service.