The effect of landuse change on the hydrologic, biogeochemical and ecological response of watersheds is a concern throughout the world. To help characterize the potential magnitude of such changes, and of the potential to remediate or avoid undesirable features, studies focused on the cumulative watershed effects of site level change are necessary. The current state of the art model for water quality in agricultural lands, Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), was used to estimate the effects of a set of future landscape scenarios on water quality in the Corn Belt region of the United States. These results indicated that changes to the current water quality management strategies will be necessary to significantly improve water quality in the Corn Belt region. In addition, the experience of implementing SWAT suggested a variety of changes to the model structure and study design with potential to improve the quality of the results. These changes include improved treatment of hydrologic process, full integration of input data and model code, different methods of distributing data across space, the use of fewer parameters, more sophisticated numerical techniques, and improved methods for generating potential landscape scenarios. A new model structure (WET_Hydro) was developed to address these issues. The hydrologic components of the model focus on a conceptual physically based characterization of the movement of water in soils, as overland flow, and in channels. Tests using a variety of input data sets, including both synthetic inflows and real watershed data were developed to verify the hydrologic components of the model. Additional model analyses evaluate how model scale interacts with parameters and with measurements. These analyses point toward additional criteria that may prove useful to the determination of correct model scales and to the utility of the flexible model structure which provides automatic changes to model scale. In addition to the scale analysis, a method of estimating the average new water contribution to storm discharge was developed.. This additional model criterion was shown to provide further understanding of model utility under different hydrologic regimes. The hydrologic model was extended to produce estimates of erosion and sediment export. Sensitivity to various restoration options were developed focusing on simple descriptions of remediation potential, and a minimum of parameters. In addition, the water quality model was coupled with a Decision Support System (DSS). Example applications demonstrate the potential of the combination to improve the process of restoration planning at the watershed scale. / Graduation date: 2003 / Best scan available. Figures in original are very light.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2007. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 152 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

The Black Shale Basin of West Texas covers an area in excess of 21,000 square miles and includes the region from Terrell and Pecos Counties eastward to Menard and Kimble Counties. It extends from Real, Edwards, and Val Verde northward beyond Glasscock and Upton Counties. This basin includes such local basins as the "Midland Basin," and "Val Verde Basin," of Frank E. Lewis, the "Sheffield Channel," and the "Kerr Basin." Reasons are given for the belief that the black shale sediments in this basin were derived from rocks south of this area. The shale ranges in age from Bend (lower Pennsylvanian) through Clear Fork (middle Permian). The shale of the Midland Basin has been divided into three distinct zones. Pre-Cretaceous erosion has removed the offlapping Permian shale in the extreme southern portion of the area leaving Pennsylvanian directly beneath the Trinity. The problem of stratigraphy is complicated by gradation and lack of diagnostic fossils. There is a great divergence of opinion as to correlative formational units derived from a study of the well cuttings. / text

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The thesis examines the consumption of electricity and gasoline in the Ivory Coast, Ghana and Senegal. Its main objectives are (1) to investigate the determinants of the demand for gasoline and the demand for electricity by households and firms, (2) to forecast the level of electricity and gasoline consumption for the years 1980 to 1985, and (3) to recommend measures to curb the rate of increase in the demand for energy and to reduce the dependence upon imported oil. The choice of the models used in the estimation of the demand for gasoline and the demand for electricity by households and industries were greatly influenced by the fact that energy consumption is associated with that of other complementary durable goods. The models of gasoline demand fitted to annual data for the Ivory Coast were the stock-adjustment model and the Koyck model. The empirical results of the residential demand for electricity are based on the Koyck model, the flow-adjustment model and the new demand model. As to the estimates of the industrial demand for electricity they were obtained with the following models: The Koyck model, the new demand model, a model based on an overtime profit maximization by a firm. The results based on the gasoline demand equations indicate that income is a major determinant of gasoline consumption in Senegal, while in the Ivory Coast, habit formation and or stock adjustment are the determinant factors. As far as price is concerned, it has consistently negative elasticities both across countries and specifications, but is not significant. For the residential demand for electricity, the results are much more encouraging. All of the countries show that price and the social and demographic factors and per-capita income are major predictors of residential electricity consumption. Their relative importance differ, however, both across countries and specification. The lagged dependent variable is significant with the new demand for electricity for Senegal and Ghana, and with the Koyck model for the Ivory Coast. Finally, the results for the industrial demand for electricity indicate that price, capital stock, and wage have an influence on the level of electricity consumed in the Ivory Coast, Senegal and Ghana. In addition to the variables mentioned above, output is also an important predictor of industrial electricity consumption in the Ivory Coast. On the basis of these findings, we recommended the following measures: (1) to increase the price of electricity and gasoline over a reasonably long period so that the relative price of different fuels reflect the change in relative cost of alternative fuel production; (2) to adopt a development strategy based on the implementation of export-oriented industries and the progressive removal of the trade barrier behind which the import-substitution industries have been hiding; and, (3) to reconsider the non-commercial fuel (wood, charcoal) as an alternative source of energy.

Final Report, NOAA Contract 1-35241, Second Year / Prepared for: Environmental Data Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce / No publication date on item; publication date from WorldCat entry. / Introduction: In an earlier paper by Douglas (1972) the summer climatology of tropical storm development is reviewed with reference to Sea Surface Temperature (SST) distribution and upper- and lower -level winds. An apparent increase in yearly storm totals recorded since 1965 is believed to be the direct result of satellite detection of small, well off -shore storms. However, monthly variations in storm totals appear to be caused by anomalous SST either off Baja California or along the equator west of South America. During the tropical storm season the region of greatest storm formation is found to shift towards the northwest and then southeast. This regional variation in storm development may be caused by changes in SST and upper troposphere shearing off Baja California and in the movement of the Inter- Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) off mainland Mexico. Data presented by Douglas (1972) indicate that tropical storm formation is most common during the months of July, August and September. During the latter part of August through the first part of October, tropical storms can enter the southwestern United States from either a track up the Gulf of California or up the Pacific Coast of Baja California. This report will review some additional circulation features associated with tropical storm activity in the eastern North Pacific. The major emphasis will be directed towards the effects of these storms upon the climatological conditions of the southwestern United States.

No description available.

This study analyzed the economic welfare implications of the 1990 intraregional trade liberalization scheme within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on member country producers and consumers. Four countries were chosen as a point of focus: Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Mali, and two commodities: millet and sorghum. The supply and demand functions were estimated using time series data from 1970 to 1990 obtained at the level of administrative regions within each of the four countries. Optimal production, consumption, trade quantities and trade flows were determined using the REACTT model, a spatial price equilibrium solution algorithm. Two trade scenarios were simulated. The first examined trade flows under the 1990 tariff structures and the second examined trade flows under the proposed zero tariff rates. / The REACTT model results showed that removal of the tariffs would increase the crossborder trade flows between the four countries by about 12% for millet and 38% for sorghum. The welfare calculations showed that in the case of millet, all four countries would have net positive gains to the tune of $4.6 million in total. For sorghum, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mali would have net positive gains, C ote d'Ivoire would have a net welfare loss, and the net impact on all four countries would be a positive gain of about $9.3 million. The results of the REACTT model and the welfare calculations suggest that intra-ECOWAS trade liberalization would increase total trade flows and total economic well being of the member countries.

Work groups are a major component of newspaper newsrooms. Similar to other organizations, newsrooms divide employees into work groups based on work roles and titles such as reporters, graphic artists, and photographers. Studies have shown that although intergroup bias can help group members to create and maintain a positive view themselves, it can also contribute to members' levels of alienation toward opposing work groups.Based on the premise that group-based interactions may be negatively affecting newspaper productivity, the purpose of this study was to assess the relationships between reporters, designers, and photographers in Midwestern newsrooms. From this study, it was found that ingroup favoritism is more prominent among reporters than designers and photographers. It was also determined that education plays a role in the formation of in- and out-groups in the newsroom. Additionally, it was found that job satisfaction has little or no bearing on an employee's level of bias or ingroup favoritism within the newsroom. / Department of Journalism

The purpose of this study is to reinterpret the influence of domestic ideology on middle-class Anglo women during westward migration using the Oregon Trail as a case study. By analyzing traditional cultural constructs which portrayed women as "reluctant drudges" or " stoic helpmates," a new paradigm for trail women emerged. The inculcated tenets of domesticity, comprised of a domestic routine and a values system, seemed to have equipped women with domestically-related role identities, and thus facilitated the accommodation of these women to the challenges of trail life. In addition, this ideology served as the basis for establishing relationships with Native American women, for Anglo women recognized similaritiesbetween the domestic routine of Native Americans and themselves. Finally, shared domestic chores and values enabled Anglo women to develop non-competitive, mutually beneficial relationships with each other, in contrast to the often competitive nature of interaction between men. / Department of History