[...] The present study, which is intended to supplement the growing body of literature concerned with small-scale traders and marketers in peasant economies, will investigate the nature of the distributive activities of rural Negro women in the Scotland District of Barbados. The various types of distribution will be described in terms of the economic relationships within which internal distribution is conducted. The household roles of Scotland District women will be examined to determine possible relationships between particular roles and particular distributive occupations, and changes from one type of distribution to another will be related to the life cycle of the woman. The household situtations of Scotland District distributors will be compared to those of non-distributors. [...]

Systems biologists use interaction graphs to model the behaviour of biological systems at the molecular level. In an iterative process, such biologists observe the reactions of living cells under various experimental conditions, view the results in the context of the interaction graph, and then propose changes to the graph model. These graphs represent dynamic knowledge of the biological system being studied and evolve as new insight is gained from the experimental data. While numerous graph layout and drawing packages are available, these tools did not fully meet the needs of our immunologist collaborators. In this thesis, we describe the data display needs of these immunologists and translate these needs into visual encoding decisions. These decisions led us to create Cerebral, a system that uses a biologically guided graph layout and incorporates experimental data directly into the graph display. Our graph layout algorithm uses simulated annealing with constraints, optimized with a uniform grid to have an expected runtime of o(E/V). Small multiple views of different experimental conditions and a measurement-driven parallel coordinates view enable correlations between experimental conditions to be analyzed at the same time that the measurements are viewed in the graph context. This combination of coordinated views allows the biologist to view the data from many different perspectives simultaneously. To illustrate the typical analysis tasks performed, we analyze two datasets using Cerebral. Based on feedback from our collaborators, we conclude that Cerebral is a valuable tool for analyzing experimental data in the context of an interaction graph model.

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No description available.

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Anaerobic conditions resulting from flooding often lead to enhanced release of phosphorus (P) to overlying water. This study examined the effect of flooding and anaerobic conditions on soil P dynamics. A field ponding study using Scanterbury heavy clay soil (unamended, inorganic fertilizer- or manure-amended), and a laboratory incubation study using 12 soils (unamended or manure-amended) from Manitoba showed that P release to flood water under reduced conditions varied substantially. In the field ponding study, flooding and development of anaerobic conditions did not enhance P release into surface flood or soil pore water. In the incubation study, the response to flooding and anaerobic conditions ranged from a small decrease to a 15-fold increase in dissolved reactive P concentration (DRP) in flood water. Partial least squares analysis indicated that measures of degree of P saturation in soils can effectively predict DRP concentration changes in surface flood water under anaerobic conditions.

Banking is a major employment sector, which has experienced phenomenal growth over the last decade. Following the de-regulation of the financial marketplace and the entry of ‘new players', the industry has suffered from an almost ruinous internal struggle between its traditional, gentlemanly ethos (Clarke and Vincent, 1989) and the enforced adoption of aggressive sales and marketing strategies (Knights and Tinker, 1997). My research has investigated the various ways that ‘change’ (particularly strategic change consequential to the piecemeal adoption of ‘Japanese-style' systems of working and management -'HRM, TQM and lean production) have been met, experienced, negotiated, and to some extent contested, by branch-based employees working for Bank UK (one of the historic 'big four' clearing banks). Data was gathered through varying periods of participant observation in seven branches of Bank UK over two years, supplemented by group and individual interviews with managers and staff. A key informant was later recruited, who added both depth and a greater understanding of raw data. My thesis suggests that changing strategies (particularly those introduced in order to strengthen market position and expand sales opportunities) have created multiple paradoxes in the management and organisation of work in Bank UK, mostly through issues of cost At the same time as attempting to drive through a whole raft of changes that clearly involved increasing employee participation and commitment through teamworking, Kaizen activity, performance related pay and individual sales bids, the bank had been concerned to decrease operating costs in an attempt to improve key economic ratios. Between 1999 and 2000, Bank UK reduced staff expenditure by £72 million by shedding 7,300 employees. This significant loss of staff created huge difficulties in the everyday operation of branches, resulting in growing customer dissatisfaction with the service on offer, at the same time that weekly individual and branch sales targets were introduced, which clearly demanded extended customer interaction. The composition of the workforce in Bank UK has become increasingly flexible (both numerically and functionally) and two-tiered. Permanent staff enjoy the traditional 'perks' of employment, including performance related pay, whilst the growing number on 'casual' or flexible contracts (mostly ex-permanent staff) do not. Yet, paradoxically my research reveals that Bank UK's successful integration of sales and marketing strategies into the branch network can be generally attributed to the attitudes of its ‘casual' workforce who appear to have made a bigger contribution in terms of sales results and commitment to flexible working practices than their 'permanent' colleagues, despite lacking the same level of recognition and reward.

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Graduation date: 1974

Graduation date: 1976