Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Nov. 18, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 117-121).

The Avon-Heathcote Estuary is of significant value to Christchurch due to its high productivity, biotic diversity, proximity to the city, and its cultural, recreational and aesthetic qualities. Nonetheless, it has been subjected to decades of degradation from sewage wastewater discharges and encroaching urban development. The result was a eutrophied estuary, high in nitrogen, affected by large blooms of nuisance macroalgae and covered by degraded sediments. In March 2010, treated wastewater was diverted from the estuary to a site 3 km offshore. This quickly reduced water nitrogen by 90% within the estuary and, within months, there was reduced production of macroalgae. However, a series of earthquakes beginning in September 2010 brought massive changes: tilting of the estuary, changes in channels and water flow, and a huge influx of liquefied sediments that covered up to 65% of the estuary floor. Water nitrogen increased due to damage to sewage infrastructure and the diversion pipeline being turned off. Together, these drastically altered the estuarine ecosystem. My study involves three laboratory and five in situ experiments that investigate the base of the food chain and responses of benthic microalgae to earthquake-driven sediment and nutrient changes. It was predicted that the new sediments would be coarser and less contaminated with organic matter and nutrients than the old sediments, would have decreased microalgal biomass, and would prevent invertebrate grazing and bioturbation activities. It was believed that microalgal biomass would become similar across new and old sediments types as the unstable new sediments were resuspended and distributed over the old sediments. Contact cores of the sediment were taken at three sites, across a eutrophication gradient, monthly from September 2011 to March 2012. Extracted chlorophyll a pigments showed that microalgal biomass was generally lower on new liquefied sediments compared to old sediments, although there was considerable site to site variation, with the highly eutrophic sites being the most affected by the emergence of the new sediments. Grazer experiments showed that invertebrates had both positive and negative site-specific effects on microalgal biomass depending on their identity. At one site, new sediments facilitated grazing by Amphibola crenata, whereas at another site, new sediments did not alter the direct and indirect effects of invertebrates (Nicon aestuariensis, Macropthalmus hirtipes, and A. crenata) on microalgae. From nutrient addition experiments it was clear that benthic microalgae were able to use nutrients from within both old and new sediments equally. This implied that microalgae were reducing legacy nutrients in both sediments, and that they are an important buffer against eutrophication. Therefore, in tandem with the wastewater diversion, they could underpin much of the recovery of the estuary. Overall, the new sediments were less favourable for benthic microalgal growth and recolonisation, but were less contaminated than old sediments at highly eutrophic sites. Because the new sediments were less contaminated than the old sediments, they could help return the estuary to a noneutrophic state. However, if the new sediments, which are less favourable for microalgal growth, disperse over the old sediments at highly eutrophic sites, they could become contaminated and interfere with estuarine recovery. Therefore, recovery of microalgal communities and the estuary was expected to be generally long, but variable and site-specific, with the least eutrophic sites recovering quickly, and the most eutrophic sites taking years to return to a pre-earthquake and non-eutrophied state. changes in channels and water flow, and a huge influx of liquefied sediments that covered up to 65% of the estuary floor. Water nitrogen increased due to damage to sewage infrastructure and the diversion pipeline being turned off. Together, these drastically altered the estuarine ecosystem. My study involves three laboratory and five in situ experiments that investigate the base of the food chain and responses of benthic microalgae to earthquake-driven sedimen tand nutrient changes. It was predicted that the new sediments would be coarser and less contaminated with organic matter and nutrients than the old sediments, would have decreased microalgal biomass, and would prevent invertebrate grazing and bioturbation activities. It was believed that microalgal biomass would become similar across new and old sediments types as the unstable new sediments were resuspended and distributed over the old sediments. Contact cores of the sediment were taken at three sites, across a eutrophication gradient, monthly from September 2011 to March 2012. Extracted chlorophyll a pigments showed that microalgal biomass was generally lower on new liquefied sediments compared to old sediments, although there was considerable site to site variation, with the highly eutrophic sites being the most affected by the emergence of the new sediments. Grazer experiments showed that invertebrates had both positive and negative site-specific effects on microalgal biomass depending on their identity. At one site, new sediments facilitated grazing by Amphibola crenata, whereas at another site, new sediments did not alter the direct and indirect effects of invertebrates (Nicon aestuariensis, Macropthalmus hirtipes, and A. crenata) on microalgae. From nutrient addition experiments it was clear that benthic microalgae were able to use nutrients from within both old and new sediments equally. This implied that microalgae were reducing legacy nutrients in both sediments, and that they are

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2006.

abstract: This dissertation examines how direct selling organizations compel women to believe that direct selling is, among other things, centered on the needs of women. Drawing upon feminist interdisciplinary methodologies, this dissertation brings together qualitative, archival, and ethnographic materials to analyze direct selling through a technologies of gender framework. I argue that multi-level marketing direct selling companies (like Avon, Tupperware, Mary Kay, etc.) are able to turn belief into profits because they strategically tap into gender ideologies. I show that discursive technologies of gender coalesce with race and class discourses and are put to work by direct selling companies to construct a specific type of direct seller. This dissertation attempts to unpack the complex technologies of gender that direct selling women engage with while constructing their identities as workers and women. I argue that the companies in this study deliberately tap into women's anxieties and desires to blend their perceived gender roles with their need for income. I find that direct selling companies are exceptional at branding their businesses as uniquely suited for women and that this branding hinges upon the construction of a direct sales imaginary. I argue that the direct sales imaginary taps into powerful discourses of race, class, and gender to market the American dream to women who are seeking out a space that is empowering and inclusive. Because the direct selling industry tends to see an increase in profits and recruitment during economic recessions, it is likely that the current economic situation has channeled even more women toward direct sales as a fallback for uncertain economic futures. While some women may be inclined to view direct sales as an attractive employment alternative it is not a realistic means of supporting families during difficult economic times and this study might help some women make more informed decisions. Furthermore, this study brings to light how gender might be used to organize structural relationships between markets, people, and businesses. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Gender Studies 2013

This study investigates the use of larger foraminifera in determining the biostratigraphy of the Avon Park Formation and the Ocala Limestone in central Florida. Sedimentary rocks of the Avon Park Formation are the oldest exposed deposits in the state of Florida, and together with the Ocala Limestone comprise a part of the confining unit of the Floridan Aquifer, a major source of Florida’s water supply. Material from the ROMP 29A core collected by the U. S. Geological Survey was evaluated and compared to previous studies of the biostratigraphy of the formations. The larger foraminifera of the Avon Park Formation were examined in thin section, and those of the Ocala Limestone were free specimens. The larger foraminifera from both units were described and identified, and the biostratigraphy determined. The morphological features of the larger foraminifera of the Ocala Limestone were measured and analyzed at various depths within the ROMP 29A core. The Avon Park Formation contains predominantly the shallow-water, conical foraminifera Fallotella cookei, Fallotella floridana, Pseudochrysalidina floridana, Coleiconus christianaensis, Coleiconus sp. A, Coskinolina sp. A, Coskinolina sp. B, Fallotella sp. A, Fallotella sp. B, Fabularia vaughani and larger miliolids. The Ocala Limestone contains a different, deeper water assemblage that included the larger foraminifera Heterostegina ocalana, Lepidocyclina ocalana varieties, Lepidocyclina chaperi, Lepidocyclina pustulosa, Nummulites willcoxi, Nummulites striatoreticulatus, Nummulites floridensis and Pseudophragmina spp. A, B, and C. The age of the Avon Park Formation was corroborated by the occurrence of the biomarker echinoid Neolaganum dalli as Eocene, and the Ocala Limestone also contained Eocene larger foraminifera with Eocene to possibly Oligocene calcareous nannofossils. The distribution of the larger foraminifera of the Avon Park Formation was correlated with the subtidal and peritidal zones of the continental shelf. Analyses of variance showed that the changes in measurements of the morphology in Heterostegina ocalana, Lepidocyclina spp. and Nummulites spp. were correlated with change in the depositional environments.

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T17:55:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cintia Fiorotti Lima.pdf: 921111 bytes, checksum: 742c444dfc33772bb2e04b5a26d2c65c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-02-27 / This scientific work argues the process of changes in the world of the work in the present time from the experiences lived deeply for the saleswomen of products of Avon and the Natura. The research of training sources such as manual, catalogues, news and codes of behavior produced by these companies, made possible to identify the form with that the involved force of work in the sales for catalogues is organized. The analysis of this material also allowed to understand the used mechanisms to convince these salesmen to fulfill the goals of sales. However, dialoguing with the stories of these workers, one became evident the tensions and conflicts between the practical ones intended by the companies and the practical ones effectively materialize by the saleswomen. In this context, the disputes around the meaning of this work had questioned the vision defended for the companies who define such independent occupation as, attributing denominations to it as peddlers or consultants with the purpose to deprive of characteristics any type of work relation and employment bond. Therefore, I looked for in such a way to analyze the changes in the world of the workers from these conflicts and tensions, valuing the subjectivity of the workers who live deeply this process, as the changes lived throughout the process of capitalist accumulation / Esta dissertação discute o processo de mudanças no mundo do trabalho na atualidade a partir das experiências vivenciadas pelas vendedoras de produtos da Avon e da Natura. A pesquisa de fontes tais como manuais de treinamento, catálogos, informativos e códigos de conduta produzidos por essas empresas, possibilitou identificar a forma com que a força de trabalho envolvida na venda por catálogos é organizada. A análise desse material permitiu também compreender os mecanismos utilizados para convencer essas vendedoras a cumprirem as metas de vendas. No entanto, dialogando com os relatos dessas trabalhadoras, tornou-se evidente as tensões e conflitos entre as práticas pretendidas pelas empresas e as práticas efetivamente concretizadas pelas vendedoras. Nesse contexto, as disputas em torno do significado desse trabalho questionaram a visão defendida pelas empresas que definem tal ocupação como autônoma , atribuindo-lhe denominações como revendedoras ou consultoras com a finalidade de descaracterizar qualquer tipo de relação de trabalho e vínculo empregatício. Portanto, procurei analisar as mudanças no mundo dos trabalhadores a partir desses conflitos e tensões, valorizando tanto a subjetividade dos trabalhadores que vivenciam este processo, como as mudanças vividas ao longo do processo de acumulação capitalista

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-212).

In the warehouse of a large cosmetics company, a mechanized order picker is restocked from nearby shelving, and the shelving is restocked from bulk storage, forming a three-tier inventory system. We consider such multi-tier inventory systems and determine the storage areas to which to assign items, and the quantities in which to store them, in order to minimize the total cost of picking items and restocking storage locations. With this research, we increase the number of inventory systems for which simple search algorithms find a provably near-optimal solution. The model and method were tested on data from the Avon Products distribution center outside Atlanta; the solution identified by the model reduced picking and restocking costs there by 20%. The sales forecasts of items stored in the warehouse may change, however, and new items will be introduced into the inventory system and others removed. To account for these changes, some warehouses may periodically reassign items to storage areas and recompute their storage quantities. These reassignment activities account for additional costs in the warehouse. The second focus of this research examines these costs over several time periods in a simple multi-tier inventory system. We develop heuristics to determine the storage areas to which to assign items and the quantities in which to store them in each time period, in order to minimize the total cost of picking items, restocking storage locations, and reassigning skus over multiple periods.

The Kennet and Avon Canal in southern England is experiencing severe water quality problems caused by inorganic sediment and algae. These water quality problems are affecting the angling sport of fishermen downstream of the confluence of the canal with the River Kennet. The Environment Agency has been called upon to remedy these issues, but before proceeding they desire a computer model capable of predicting the water quality impacts of various scenarios under consideration. No such model was available to them. This project identified the key solids generation and transport processes to be included in a water quality model for inland navigational canals. Where available, equations from the literature describing relevant processes were used or modified for inclusion in a canal modeling algorithm. Where literature was not available, water quality samples were taken to characterize needed relationships. The final algorithm was coded and tested using a simplified dataset that allowed clear evaluation of the simulated processes. After successful testing, the canal model was applied to the Kennet and Avon Canal. The time series predicted by the model were compared to observed hydrological, solids, and chlorophyll-a (representing algae) data at multiple points in the canal. The model adequately predicted all of these constituents at the monitored locations. The final task in the project required evaluation of six management scenarios proposed by the Environment Agency to address the water quality problem. The model suggests that filtration or other treatment of water in the canal near the confluence with the river is the best management option, as it will address both the elevated inorganic sediment and algae concentrations at the most critical point in the canal. Less desirable options include efforts that only target inorganic sediment, which could increase algal concentrations by increasing light availability; and diversion of surface flows from the canal, which could possibly damage the hydrologic balance of the canal while encouraging undesirable algal growth.