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[Truncated abstract] This thesis investigates the phenomenon of organisational guanxi in business in the SOE hotel environment in south-west China. A general aim is to give the reader a sense of how organisational guanxi operates in this environment. It identifies the characteristics and roots of organizational guanxi and discusses the significance of its operation in this environment. This thesis also analyses the implications of the continued practice of organizational guanxi and the prospects of its future as the Chinese economy continues to evolve toward a more market orientation. In Chapter One, the phenomena of guanxi, mainzi and renqing are defined and the importance of their role in conducting business in mainland China proposed. … The findings of this new research in south-west China provide conclusive evidence that in this region the guanxi network remains the lifeblood of the business community (Kao, 1993). In addition, this research throws up some conclusions that are not aligned with that of Guthrie?s (2002) Shanghai-based findings. In Chapter Nine, The Conclusion, the major findings of this thesis are revisited and include the acknowledgement and definition of organisational guanxi, the exploration of the roots of organisational guanxi inside the danwei, the differentiation of intra-organisational guanxi from inter-organisational guanxi, the definition of the concept of guanxi neglect, and a comparison of the decay in the strength and usage of guanxi in south-west China with that in the Shanghai region.

Understanding the mechanisms that regulate local species diversity and community structure is a perennial goal of ecology. Local community structure can be viewed as the result of numerous local and regional processes; these processes act as filters that reduce the regional species pool down to the observed local community. In stream ecosystems, the natural flow regime (including the timing, magnitude, and duration of high and low flow events) is widely recognized as a primary regulator of local diversity and community composition. This is especially true in aridland streams, where low- and zero-flow events can occur frequently and for extended periods of time (months to years). Additionally, wetted habitat patches in arid-land stream networks are often fragmented within and among stream networks. Thus dispersal between isolated aquatic patches may also play a large role in regulating local communities. In my dissertation, I explored the roles that drought, dispersal, and local habitat factors play in structuring arid-land stream communities. I examined the impact of flow permanence and seasonal variation in flow and other abiotic factors on aquatic communities at both fine spatial scales over a long time period (8 years; Chapter 2) and at a broad spatial scale over a shorter time period (1-2 years; Chapter 4). Additionally, I quantified aquatic invertebrate aerial dispersal over moderate spatial scales (��� 0.5 km) by conducting a colonization experiment using artificial stream pools placed along and inland from two arid-land streams (Chapter 4). Finally, I examined the roles of spatial isolation, microhabitat type, and local abiotic and biotic factors in structuring aquatic communities in freshwater oases scattered across one of the most arid regions of North America, the southern Sonoran Desert (Chapter 5). In Chapter 2, I found that severe drought caused an unprecedented drying event in isolated perennial stream pools, and that several additional drying events occurred over the following four years. This transition to intermittent flow caused the extirpation of several large, long-lived species with low dispersal abilities (including the top predator) and drove the local community into an alternative state. In the colonization experiment described in Chapter 3, I found that several arid-land stream invertebrate taxa disperse widely and frequently. The widespread dispersers identified by this experiment included several of the earliest colonist taxa observed following the severe drought described in Chapter 2. Other taxa, though, only dispersed overland after receiving an environmental cue (rainfall) or preferentially dispersed along stream corridors. In Chapter 4, where I examined invertebrate community structure across a large network of well-connected intermittent and perennial reaches, I found low diversity in intermittent reaches, regardless of their connectivity to diverse upstream perennial reaches. These species-poor, intermittent communities were composed of a unique suite of species with lifehistory adaptations that conferred desiccation resistance, including extended egg and larval diapause stages. The short flow duration of intermittent reaches (<100 days) likely precluded upstream perennial taxa from establishing populations in downstream intermittent reaches before drying occurred, while the relative predictability of flow timing (Dec-Apr) likely allowed for a small number of species to develop appropriate life-history traits (e.g., diapause stage, rapid development time) to exploit these temporally-fleeting habitats. In Chapter 5, I found over 220 species of aquatic animals (including ��� 5 undescribed species) in the 19 desert oases that were sampled across the southern Sonoran Desert. Local community composition in these oases was strongly driven by microhabitat type. Additionally, native aquatic species richness and abundance in these oases were significantly reduced by the introduction of tilapia, an exotic fish species. The threats to arid-land streams presented by increased drought severity, anthropogenic water withdrawals, and local habitat degradation (e.g., introduced species, unmanaged recreational use) are grave across the southwestern US and northwestern Mexico. I hope that in addition to furthering our understanding of ecological processes in arid-land streams, this dissertation makes a small contribution towards the efforts to preserve these habitats. / Graduation date: 2013 / Access restricted to the OSU Community at author's request from July 18, 2012 - July 18, July 2013

Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) in southwestern Alberta were studied to determine the water sources used and the effect of changing soil moisture on tree ecophysiological function. The hydrogen stable isotope ratios of water from local groundwater and precipitation were compared to tree stem water to determine the amount of stem water coming from those two sources. There were no significant differences between species in the portion of summer precipitation taken up. However, Douglas-fir shifted towards using more groundwater as shallow soil moisture declined. In addition, Douglas-fir showed large changes in shoot water potential, but maintained relatively constant rates of oxygen evolution, whereas lodgepole pine exhibited smaller changes in shoot water potential and had severely reduced rates of oxygen evolution during mid-summer drought. Lower leaf-area to sap-wood area and higher leaf δ13C (carbon isotope composition) suggested a less efficient hydraulic system in Douglas-fir compared to lodgepole pine. / x, 91 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm

Degradation of rangeland resources leading to the desertification process is viewed in terms of human and climatic influences. While climatic impacts are important, resource utilization as practiced by man is the major cause of desertification. A multi-objective .decision methodology is developed here which is intended for the analysis of alternative management plans of rangeland watersheds under climatic variability. First, a system model is employed to portray the dynamics of a rangeland as it would respond to climatic changes and different grazing intensities. This approach allows for an interaction of inputs such as rainfall, solar radiation, and temperature with the state of the system which is a range condition index, and with outputs such as production and sediment yield. A simulation package is developed to implement the system model by actually using available data and providing some output values for production and sediment yield. At this stage a number of alternative management plans are identified. The information obtained from the simulation as well as other information of interest are represented by performance criteria, leading to an array of alternative versus criteria. Then, management plans need to be evaluated as they would impact the criteria. A multiobjective decision making technique is selected to perform the analysis for an identification of prefered management alternatives.

At the stage of basic study, according to the constitution and historical evolution of rural human settlements, the study puts an emphasis on the three main aspects, which influence the strategies of sustainable development of rural construction in the Southwest: comprehensive developing situation of poor rural areas, national policies related to villages and theories of rural sustainable development. The results of the comprehensive analysis show that: directed by the philosophy of ecological sustainable development with the principle of 'high science and low technology', the strategy study of technology and organisation based on improving vernacular traditional technology, is a significant breakthrough to the current research of sustainable architecture within the poor rural areas of the Southwest, and is also a most practicable and effective way towards the sustainable development of human settlements in the rural Southwest. / Following the above guideline and principles, various achievements of both domestic and oversea researches and practices on related topics were systematically analysed, categorized and assorted at the strategy study stage. Through a further verification and emendation by the Maan Village Rebuild Demonstration Project at the case-based study stage, a strategical framework of the research on the technology and its practical organization for rural sustainable architecture is carried out, considering the particular conditions of the poor rural areas in the Southwest. Based on this study result, it is expected that future related researches in this domain could be more focused and systematic; and that a series of feasible guidelines indicating more clearly the direction of practice could be provided to the decision making bodies for their practices of rural construction. / In the rural Southwest with a densest impoverished population of China, the current conditions of human settlements are generally less desirable, limited by the local conditions in economy, topography, resource, etc.. In particular, disasters from such as the several recent several earthquakes fully exposed the grim situation of local housing safety and quality of the living environment. / In view of the background, by taking into considerations of the local comprehensive situation, the paper systematically studied strategies of research and its extension on sustainable development of rural construction in impoverished rural areas from the standpoint of rural building construction, combining related achievements of both domestic and oversea researches and practices. The study focuses on the macroscopic and moderate level, and consists of three stages: foundation study, strategy study and case-based study. / Since the Wenchuan Earthquake, with the national New Countryside Construction's increasing investment in the western part of China, a summit of government-promoted construction has been arriving in impoverished rural areas in the Southwest. Nevertheless, through analysing the existing practical problems arising from New Countryside Construction in recent years, it can be discovered that the decision-making bodies of various levels who lead the rural construction, is short of both a sustainable and suitable strategical guideline and theoretical basis. Currently, research and practice related to sustainable architecture development in poor rural areas of China is still at its early case-based stage with a lack of focused and systemic view, and hence is inadequate to act as professional guidelines for governments' practices. Consequently, it is exigent and critical to gradually establish a strategical system and theoretical framework for guiding rural construction in the Southwest toward a sustainable approach. / 穆鈞. / Adviser: Edward Ng. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-01, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (doctoral)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 290-296). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in Chinese and English. / Mu Jun.

2 pp. / Pine Bark Beetles, Cypress Bark Beetles / Life cycle of the bark beetles and how to detect in firewood. Source of firewood is important. Dry wood is a poor host for bark beetles. Most bark beetles are host specific. Insecticides should not be applied to firewood to prevent bark beetle infestation.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the direct instruction and guided practice of question-generating as a thinking skill was an influence on students' higher-level thinking skills. Additionally, this study investigated the levels of questions generated by the students throughout the five week study. Thirty sixth grade students in a Southwestern urban public elementary school were instructed daily in the use of Bloom's taxonomy as a guide in designing and composing questions. Higher levels of the taxonomy were emphasized for higher-level question generating (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation). A pre- and posttest measuring cognitive abilities was given to determine the level of the students' higher-level thinking skills. Scores were analyzed to determine the influence of the treatment. A significance difference was found between means by use of a t-test for correlated samples. Student questions generated throughout the study were coded according to Bloom's taxonomy levels by independent coders with a reliability of .93. Qualitative matrices were developed to display the levels, numbers, and percentages of the questions generated. A significant increase of higher-level questions were generated between week one (3.8%) and week five (80.5%). A shift occurred in the fourth week, with a higher percentage (61.7) of higher-level questions generated than lower-level (38.3). The results indicate support for the proposition that the direct instruction and guided practice in question generating as a thinking skill influenced students' higher-level thinking skills. The analysis of the question levels suggest support for recommendation that autonomy follows with mastery of instruction and guided practice in the thinking skill before using that skill in a new content area. Guided practice in this study was in the familiar content area of reading.