Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, March, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-99)

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Ohio University, November, 2003. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-112)

Dans le monde des affaires d'aujourd'hui, les besoins des clients changent plus rapidement que jamais et le nombre de concurrents augmente chaque seconde. De plus, la capacité à gérer les changements et l'imprévisibilité sont devenus un facteur crucial pour que les entreprises gagnent en valeur et restent compétitives [Oracle 2013]. Il en résulte que les entreprises sont aujourd'hui confrontées non seulement à la gestion de processus métier structurés, mais également à des processus de plus en plus non structurés. Dans un processus métier structuré commun, tout ce qui concerne le processus peut être prédéterminé au moment de la conception, tel que les activités, la séquence d'exécution des activités, etc. Cependant, dans une structure non structurée, les activités ne peuvent pas être définies précisément au préalable, ainsi que la séquence à exécuter. Pour rester compétitives, répondre aux demandes du marché en constante évolution et améliorer l'efficacité opérationnelle de leurs processus d'affaires, les organisations ont besoin d'une approche de processus novatrice qui peut les aider à gérer les changements, la dynamique et l'imprévisibilité. Dans ce contexte, le concept de Case Management est proposé. Différent du Business Process Management (BPM) qui standardise et automatise les processus métier structurés, CM surmonte les limites de l'approche BPM et fournit une infrastructure pour gérer les changements, la dynamique et l'imprévisibilité dans les processus métier non structurés. Le CM procède en grande partie en fonction de l'évolution des circonstances, et les décisions sont prises à la volée. BPM nécessite un haut niveau de prévisibilité; considérant que le CM a un niveau de prévisibilité moindre mais un niveau d'adaptabilité et de flexibilité plus élevé. Avec l'approche CM, les entreprises sont en mesure de gérer leurs processus métier non structurés de manière plus souple et plus flexible.Cependant, pour ce nouveau domaine, il manque des méthodes de soutien et des outils logiciels. Les principales préoccupations sont: (1) la modélisation de cas (la construction de modéles de cas); (2) la découverte de modèles (l'établissement de modèles de cas à partir de données brutes); (3) l'analyse de modèles (l'analyse de modèles à la fois statiques et dynamiques, par exemple, la dérivation de propriétés avant la mise en place du cas); (4) amélioration du modèle (réduction des coûts, optimisation de la performance opérationnelle, etc.); et (5) la promulgation du modèle (l'exécution d'un scénario avec des case workers dans la boucle). Après un examen approfondi de la littérature, nous avons constaté que seulement quelques efforts ont été faits dans (1) et (5), et aucune contribution notable n'a été faite dans d'autres aspects.Ceci présente notre approche CM qui fournit aux assistants un support complet dans tout le cycle de vie du CM: de l'établissement de modèles de cas à partir de données brutes jusqu'à l'optimisation des modèles de cas. Process Tree est notre choix pour formaliser le modèle découvert, et CMMN (Case Management Model and Notation, une spécification de modèlisation de cas est choisie comme formalisme pour la présentation et la construction de modèles de cas.) En outre, nous adoptons le langage HiLLS. L'analyse de modèle dynamique est permise par le formalisme DEVS, l'analyse de modèle statique est fournie par des méthodes formelles. Quand à la mise en oeuvre de modèle, elle est permise par la mise en ?uvre d'une spécification orientée objet du cas. Nous proposons principalement deux modules: un module concernant la découverte du modèle de cas à partir des historiques d'événements, et un autre module concernant l'amélioration et l'optimisation du modèle de cas. / In today's business world, customer requirements change more rapidly than ever before, and new competitors are increasing every second. Moreover, the ability of managing changes and unpredictability has become a crucial factor for enterprises to make more value and stay competitive [Oracle 2013]. This results in a fact that nowadays enterprises are challenged with not only managing structured business processes, but also more and more unstructured ones. In a common structured business process, everything regarding the process can be predetermined at design time, such as activities, the execution sequence of activities, and so on. However, in an unstructured one the activities cannot be defined precisely beforehand, as well as the sequence to execute. To stay competitive, meet the ever-changing market demands and improve their business process operational efficiency, organizations need a novel process approach that can help them manage changes, dynamics and unpredictability. Under this context, the concept of Case Management is proposed. Different from Business Process Management (BPM) which standardizes and automates structured business processes, CM overcomes the BPM approach limitations and provides an infrastructure for managing changes, dynamics and unpredictability in unstructured business processes. CM proceeds largely depending on evolving circumstances, and decisions are made on the fly. BPM requires a high level of predictability; whereas CM has a lower level of predictability but a higher level of adaptability and flexibility. With CM approach, enterprises are able to manage their unstructured business processes in a more adaptive and flexible manner.However, for this new area it lacks supporting methods and software tools. Major concerns are: (1) case modeling (the construction of case models); (2) model discovery (the establishment of case models from raw data); (3) model analysis (the analysis of models in both static and dynamic manners, e.g., the derivation of properties before the case is enacted); (4) model improvement (the reduction of cost, the optimization of operational performance, etc.); and (5) model enactment (the execution of a case scenario with case workers in the loop). After a thorough literature review we found that only a few efforts have been done in (1) and (5), and no noticeable contribution has been done in other aspects.This these presents our CM approach that provides case workers full supports in the whole lifecycle of CM: from establishing case models from raw data to optimizing case models. Process Tree is our choice to formalize the discovered model, and CMMN (Case Management Model and Notation, a case modeling specification is selected as the formalism for presenting and constructing case models. In addition, we adopt the HiLLS (High Level Language for Systems Specification) formalism to conciliate usability, simulation ability and formal analysis capabilities together. Dynamic model analysis is enabled by DEVS formalism, static model analysis is provided by formal methods, and model enactment is given by the implementation of an object-oriented specification of the case. We propose mainly two modules in this these: one module concerning the discovery of the case model from historical event logs, and another module concerning the improvement and the optimization of the case model.

abstract: ABSTRACT The accretion of juvenile island-arc lithosphere by convergent tectonism during the Paleoproterozoic, in conjunction with felsic volcanism, resulted in the assembly, ductile to partial brittle deformation, uplift, and northwest-directed thrusting of rocks in the McDowell Mountains region and adjacent areas in the Mazatzal Orogenic belt. Utilizing lithologic characteristics and petrographic analysis of the Proterozoic bedrock, a correlation to the Alder series was established, revising the stratigraphic sequences described by earlier works. The central fold belt, composed of an open, asymmetric syncline and an overturned, isoclinal anticline, is cut by an axial-plane parallel reactivated thrust zone that is intruded by a deformed Paleoproterozoic mafic dike. Finite strain analyses of fold geometries, shear fabrics, foliations, fold vergence, and strained clasts point to Paleoproterozoic northwest-directed thrusting associated with the Mazatzal orogen at approximately 1650 million years ago. Previous studies constrained the regional P-T conditions to at least the upper andalusite-kyanite boundary at peak metamorphic conditions, which ranged from 4-6 kilobars and 350-450⁰ Celsius, although the plasticity of deformation in a large anticlinal core suggests that this represents the low end of the P-T conditions. Subsequent to deformation, the rocks were intruded by several granitoid plutons, likely of Mesoproterozoic age (1300-1400 Ma). A detailed analysis of Proterozoic strain solidly places the structure of the McDowell Mountains within the confines of the Mazatzal Orogeny, pending any contradictory geochronological data. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Geological Sciences 2012

Master of Science / Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources / Adam A. Ahlers / The Flint Hills ecoregion in Kansas, USA, represents the largest remaining tract of native tallgrass prairie in North America. Anthropogenic landscape change (e.g., urbanization, agricultural production) is affecting native biodiversity in this threatened ecosystem. Our understanding of how landscape change affects spatial distributions of carnivores (i.e., species included in the Order ‘Carnivora’) in this ecosystem is limited. I investigated the influence of landscape structure and composition on site occupancy dynamics of 3 native carnivores (coyote [Canis latrans]; bobcat [Lynx rufus]; and striped skunk [Mephitis mephitis]) and 1 nonnative carnivore (domestic cat, [Felis catus]) across an urbanization gradient in the Flint Hills during 2016-2017. I also examined how the relative influence of various landscape factors affected native carnivore species richness and diversity. I positioned 74 camera traps across 8 urban-rural transects in the 2 largest cities in the Flint Hills (Manhattan, pop. > 55,000; Junction City, pop. > 31,000) to assess presence/absence of carnivores. Cameras were activated for 28 days in each of 3 seasons (Summer 2016, Fall 2016, Winter 2017) and I used multisession occupancy models and an information-theoretic approach to assess the importance of various landscape factors on carnivore site occupancy dynamics. Based on previous research in other ecosystems, I expected a negative relationship between both coyote and bobcat occurrence with increasing urban development but a positive relationship for domestic cat and skunk occurrence with increasing urban landcover. I also predicted grassland landcover to positively influence site occupancy for all carnivores except domestic cats. I expected that coyotes, the apex predator in this ecoregion, may limit domestic cat distributions through intraguild competition. Thus, I predicted a negative relationship between site occupancy of domestic cats and coyote occupancy probabilities. Because urban development results in habitat loss and fragmentation, I expected native species richness and diversity to decline with increased urban development. Coyotes had lower occupancy and colonization rates in areas with increased urban landcover. Bobcat occupancy was insensitive to urban landcover and colonization rates were greater in grassland landcover and row-crop agriculture fields. Site occupancy of bobcats was highly influence by forested areas and greater edge densities. Contrary to my hypothesis, striped skunk occupancy and colonization rates were negatively related to urban landcover. As expected, domestic cats were more likely to occur in and colonize sites with increased urban development and less likely to occur at sites with high coyote occupancy probabilities. Native carnivore species diversity and richness were negatively related to urban landcover. Occupancy dynamics of carnivores were shown to be influenced by landscape structure and composition as well as intraguild interactions. My results show urban landcover has a strong influence on the spatial distributions of carnivores in the northern extent of the Flint Hills.

Master of Arts / Department of Geography / J. M. Shawn Hutchinson / Grasslands of the Flint Hills are often burned as a land management practice. Remote sensing can be used to help better manage prairie landscapes by providing useful information about the long-term trends in grassland vegetation greenness and helping to quantify regional differences in vegetation development. Using MODIS 16-day NDVI composite imagery between the years 2001-10 for the entire Flint Hills ecoregion, BFAST was used to determine trend, seasonal, and noise components of the image time series. To explain the trend, 4 factors were considered including hydrologic soil group, burn frequency, and precipitation deviation from the 30 year normal. In addition, the time series data was processed using TIMESAT to extract eight different phenometrics: Growing season length, start of season, end of season, middle of season, maximum value, small integral, left derivative, and right derivative. Phenometrics were produced for each year of the study and an ANOVA was performed on the means of all eight phenometrics to assess if significant differences existed across the study area. A K-means cluster analysis was also performed by aggregating pixel-level phenometrics at the county level to identify administrative divisions exhibiting similar vegetation development. For the study period, the area of negatively and positively trending grassland were similar (41-43%). Logistic regression showed that the log odds of a pixel experiencing a negative trend were higher in sites with clay soils and higher burning frequencies and lower for pixels having higher than normal precipitation and loam soils. Significant differences existed for all phenometrics when considering the ecoregion as a whole. On a phenometric-by-phenometric basis, unexpected groupings of counties often showed statistically similar values. Similarly, when considering all phenometrics at the same time, counties clustered in surprising patterns. Results suggest that long-term trends in grassland conditions warrant further attention and may rival other sources of grassland change (e.g., conversion, transition to savannah) in importance. Analyses of phenometrics indicates that factors other than natural gradients in temperature and precipitation play a significant role in the annual cycle of grassland vegetation development. Unanticipated, and sometimes geographically disparate, groups of counties were shown to be similar in the context of specific phenology metrics and this may prove useful in future implementations of smoke management plans within the Flint Hills.

This is a report of the use that farm operators make of twenty-seven different sources of agricultural information and the attitudes that they hold toward these sources. In addition, several concepts are described and delineated in order to precisely define the areas of concern of the study. Personal interviews were conducted with a stratified random sample of 147 farm operators in the County of Two Hills in the province of Alberta. A primary purpose was to determine any associations that might exist between seventeen selected socio-economic characteristics of the farm operator and his use of and attitude toward each source of agricultural information included in the study. The study also suggests that farmers may be grouped according to their information seeking activity. It presents a model for such groupings and identifies some of the socio-economic characteristics which may describe the persons in each group. Scaling techniques were used and correlation coefficients were calculated for all possible associations. The data were processed at the Computing Centre at the University of British Columbia. The study reports the associations existing between each socio-economic characteristic and the use of all sources of information as well as attitude toward each source of information. Each source of information was examined with respect to the use of the other sources of information. Attitudes were also examined on a similar basis. The final examination of data identifies 3 groups of respondents based on their information seeking activity. It also determines that certain socio-economic characteristics may be useful to identify these groups. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

No description available.

We examine the transition between extension and strike-s lip in the San Felipe Hills, western Salton Trough, southern California using new and compiled geologic mapping, measured stratigraphic sections, magnetostratigraphy, and structural analysis. A 625 m measured section describes the Borrego, Ocotillo , and Brawley formations in the SE San Felipe Hills and constrains a regional disconformity and correlative angular unconformity at ~ 1 Ma. Sedimentation rates for the Brawley Formation above the disconformity range from 1.0 to 1.2 mm/yr, palcoflow was to the ENE. The Brawley Formation consists of three interbeddcd lithofac ics; (I) fluvial and fluvio-d eltaic, (2) lacustrinc, (3) and eolian depo sits. Changes in facies, provenance , and paleoflow , with deposition of Ocotillo and Brawley formations record onset and evolution of cross cutting strike- slip faults other than the San Jacinto fault zone in the western Salton Trough at ~ 1 Ma. Since deposition of the Brawley Formation (~ 0.5 Ma), rocks of the San Felipe hills have been uplifted and complexly deformed. new data suggest that strands of the Clark fault persist SE of its previously mapped termination, transferring slip into folded rocks in the central and southern San Felipe Hills. Equivalent right lateral slip form folding for the Clark fault in the San Felipe Hills is 5.6 km. Minimum slip rates for the Clark strand are between 9 and 11 mm/year. Since ~ 0.5 Ma, evolving strands of the San Jacinto fault zone, including the Coyote Creek and Clark faults, have deformed rocks of the San Felipe Hills.

No description available.