The West African savanna is characterized by limited and erratic rainfall in one rainy season, increasing degradation of plant and soil resources, a rapidly growing population, and annual food shortages. Zorse is a Kusasi village in Bawku District, Upper Region, northeast Ghana. The Kusasis are intensive farmers of millet and sorghum who live in villages of houses dispersed over the savanna. Surrounding each house is the continuously cultivated field called the saman whose fertility is maintained by annual applications of manure and compost. Field work in Zorse from October, 1978, to March, 1978, included an intensive study of a 50% sample of all houses in the village (n = 126) containing 900 people. In the traditional farming system each household grows and consumes its food as a unit. During the wet season there is a high demand for labor, especially for weeding, but food supplies are at an annual low. In the dry season farming activity is limited to those with dry season gardens. Agricultural development began in earnest in the 1930's but annual food shortages continue to worsen and famine, such as the one in 1976-77 has not been uncommon. Population growth and structure is determined by fertility, mortality, and migration, and reflects the population's relationship to its environment. Population pyramids for Zorse are like those for other areas of the savanna. Their broad bases reflect high mortality and fertility and their skewed sex ratios are the result of excessive outmigration by males 15-45 years old. Migration has been increasing since the beginning of the century and presently about 50% of males 15-45 years old are absent from Zorse and the Upper Region for extended periods of time. Fertility has also been increasing, primarily as a result of decreasing birth intervals, but also as a result of decreasing age at marriage. Birth intervals are controlled by postpartum sexual abstinence. Kusasi couples make the decision to resume intercourse based on the health and development of the youngest child. The shortening of birth intervals reflects the decreased mortality and increased personal security. The pace of social change has increased greatly since the establishment of the British in 1900. The endemic warfare and feuding were stopped and personal security was greatly increased. Public health programs and Western medical treatment were introduced and links with the rest of Ghana and the world were established and began to grow. The savanna environment is fragile and agriculture in Bawku depends on highly variable rainfall of about 1000 mm per year, and on maintaining fertility on the thin, erosion-prone soils. In areas of high population density like Bawku, there is much evidence of soil erosion, loss of soil structure and fertility, and degraded vegetation. The rapid population growth and high emigration rate in Bawku and similar areas of the savanna jeopardize the possibility of improving the food supply. People's decisions about migrating and birth spacing are adaptations to an intensive agricultural system in an environment where productive potential is decreasing under the present system. For the situation to improve it will be necessary for community resources management systems to develop so that demographic and farming behavior by individuals and households will be linked to community well being.

Η παρούσα εργασία σκοπό έχει να συμβάλει στην αποτύπωση της διαφορετικότητας των περιφερειών και να αξιολογηθούν ως προς τον βαθμό αποτελεσματικότητας των διαδικασιών R&D μέσω των πατεντών. Επιπλέον, μέσα από την αξιολόγηση των περιφερειών επιδιώκεται να εξαχθούν συμπεράσματα ως προς τις βέλτιστες πολιτικές που πρέπει να ασκηθούν ώστε κάθε περιφέρεια να χαρακτηρίζεται πλήρως αποτελεσματική. Για τον σκοπό αυτό μελετήθηκαν 186 περιφέρειες της Ευρώπης. Χρησιμοποιήθηκε η μη παραμετρική μέθοδος DEA για υπολογισμό των τιμών Τεχνική Αποτελεσματικότητας καθώς και της Αποτελεσματικότητας Κλίμακας χρησιμοποιώντας ως εισροή μεταξύ άλλων τις δαπάνες σε έρευνα και ανάπτυξη. Να σημειωθεί πως στην παρούσα ανάλυση χρησιμοποιήθηκε η προσέγγιση πολλαπλών εκροών. Είναι κοινά αποδεκτό πως η Έρευνα και Ανάπτυξη δεν επιφέρει μόνο πατέντες αλλά επιδρά και στην οικονομία. Επομένως ως εκροές, ελήφθησαν υπόψη ο αριθμός πατεντών και το ακαθάριστο προϊόν των περιφερειών. / -

A Handbook Prepared by The University of Arizona for the City of Tucson.

Eurosclerosis is gripping Europe; one suggested remedy is higher mobility of people. That is what this thesis aims to address: Inter-municipality commuting mobility in Sweden. This essay is investigating the Swedish commuting as of 2005. The hypothesis is duly formed as such: High education is significant for the outcome of the commuting decision. The regional pattern of commuting is also considered to a degree. Aggregated data on Swedish commuting between municipalities is used. The theory used to investigate this is basic agglomeration theory including the simplest form of gravity model. Theories on utility, human capital and distance friction complement the analysis. Concluding comments include: higher education is significant for the commuting decision, and living in more densely populated areas like “big” cities increases chances of people commuting.

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This research is aimed at the formulation of a model for the processing of demography as a determinant of the education system. The inadequate understanding of demography in the education system causes flawed management of the target group by educational providers worldwide. Enrolment rates, school life expectancy, put-through rates and school completion rates (especially in developing countries) are not up to standard in most countries. Although developed regions manage most of these imperatives satisfactory, other education system aspects are experienced as challenges, for example inclusivety and equality. To steer the formulation of the model for the processing, a literature study was undertaken to elucidate demography in the context of the education system. The concept demography is investigated from a theoretical perspective. Research about the worldwide demographic tendencies was undertaken and the different aspects concerning demographic challenges were exposed. This was followed by a study concerning demographic challenges with respect to the four components of the education system. The literature clearly showed that the way in which demographic imperatives influence the four components, determines the criteria according to which a particular education system might measure it's success. Within this context demography as determinant of the education system is explained and an awareness is cultivated about how demographic demands of the target group can be approached by the education provider. A local investigation was undertaken to understand demographic demands in regional context. The North-West Province was used as a case study to present a local perspective of demographic demands on the education system. As the North-West Province is one of the nine provinces of South Africa, it was also necessary to indicate the wider South African demographic trends. Although the North-West Province does experience certain demographic challenges similar to those of the South African set-up as a whole, it also possesses has a number of unique aspects, for instance its geography and economy, which have direct demographic influence on the education system. The general population data and the education data of the province was scrutinised in the context of the educational region to emphasis the implications for the Department of Education. Typical examples of demographic imperatives (especially migration between regions of the province and migration to and from the province) which operate in the North-West Province can be attributed to the farming and mining activities prevalent in the province. The empirical investigation of the research was aimed at the experiences of schools in the North-West Province concerning demographic challenges. The investigation is focused on the leadership of schools and the management of the school leaders regarding demography. The demographic impact in the school- and regional context is also investigated in detail. Administrative problems experienced by principals as a result of inefficient planning are investigated and a policy analysis is done from a management perspective. The responses regarding the above-mentioned aspects show the challenges facing the Department of Education because of the demographic impact. A model is formulated with general demographic guidelines, relevant demographic imperatives and a structural education system approach. Suggestions are made about the adequate application of the model. This contribution to demographic processing is intended to broaden the understanding of educational providers regarding demography as a determinant of the education system and to address the gaps in educational provision and management. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

In June, 1959, I entered into a contract with the United States Atomic Energy Commission (Contract No. AT(04-3-315) to direct a programme of human geographical studies in Northwestern Arctic Alaska. These studies were part of the bio-environmental programme for Project Chariot. They were centred on the Eskimo village of Point Hope but included the villages of Noatak and Point Lay. Although the contract terminated on June 1st, 1961 I remained in arctic Alaska for an additiona1 year of research. [...]

Glaciated areas offer a unique opportunity to study the dispersal of animals. During glaciation the fauna of glaciated areas was either destroyed or forced into unglaciated refugia. When the icesheets retreated the glaciated regions were open to reinvasion. [...]

The contribution of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to mineral weathering was investigated under the changing Eh and pH conditions in three subarctic fens, near Schefferville, Quebec. No evidence of increased weathering rates nor different weathering patterns were found in the fen basal sediment despite DOC-rich and low Eh (0 to +200 mV) conditions. / Solutions containing 50 mg DOC/L derived from subarctic fen peat, and of 50 and 300 mg DOC/L, derived from deciduous leaf litter were used as weathering agents. Clinochlore, microcline and the Fe-rich basal till from the Schefferville fens were used as weatherable mediums. The DOC rich solutions and controls (made of distilled water buffered to the same initial pH) were used to investigate the relative weathering ability of DOC-rich waters under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The relative ability was determined by comparing the changing cation concentrations in the solutions.

The existence of anchor ice in supercooled water can have a profound impact on the management of water resource infrastructures in cold regions. For example, it can raise a tailrace water level and cause significant losses in generation revenue. So far, there have been limited studies on anchor ice, therefore, many problems still exist and much more study is needed. In the present research, experimental and mathematical studies of anchor ice were carried out. Experiments were conducted in a counter-rotating flume, located in a cold room at the University of Manitoba. The experiments were mainly focused on anchor ice evolution around rocks and on gravel beds under different hydro-meteorological conditions. The results are compared to a mathematical model developed herein and some important parameters such as anchor ice porosity and frazil ice deposition coefficient are examined. The growth process of anchor ice was monitored by two CCD cameras. A digital processing program was developed to analyze anchor ice images and determine the growth rate of anchor ice. In addition, anchor ice density, an important factor when studying anchor ice, was estimated and the effect of air temperature, Froude number and Reynolds number is explored. By analyzing torque load signals from the counter-rotating flume, the variation of bed roughness with the growth of anchor ice is elucidated. The deposition coefficient of anchor ice growth was also determined from the experiments. A mathematical model was developed based on a two-stage method to simulate the process of frazil ice transportation and deposition. Both frazil ice attachment and heat transfer between the supercooled water and ice crystals are considered in the model. Four governing equations related to the distribution of velocity and frazil ice transportation and deposition inside and outside the roughness layers were built. A fourth-order Runge- Kutta numerical method was used and programmed in Matlab to solve the governing equations. The growth rate of anchor ice under different hydro-meteorological conditions can be simulated by this numerical model. The proposed experimental and mathematical studies of anchor ice are presented intuitively in this paper and the results from this study contribute to a better understanding of the anchor ice growth mechanism. This study will help to develop better management strategies to mitigate ice related complications associated with hydroelectric generating stations and other hydraulic structures in cold regions.