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Fluorinated fire fighting foams provide superior performance for extinguishing Class B flammable liquid fires when compared to other types of fire fighting foams. Perfluorocarboxylates and perfluorosulfonates have historically been surfactants used in these foams with a recent shift to fluorotelomer-based foams due to environmental and health concerns surrounding perfluorinated compounds such as PFOA and PFOS. Releases of aqueous film forming foams from training, accidental spills, or fire events where wastewater is not captured have, among other sources, led to detectable concentrations of fluorinated compounds in groundwater, surface water, and drinking water supplies globally. Persistence, toxicity, and bioaccumulation potential of these substances are areas of ongoing research. Biodegradability data for these AFFFs in published studies and manufacturers’ material safety data sheets may be based on a comparison of BOD and COD measures. The present study concludes that COD is an inappropriate measure of organic content for fluorinated compounds due to the carbon-fluorine bond strength, and thus published biodegradability data must be critically evaluated for validity. TOC measured an average of 91% of carbon content for four fluorinated test substances, recommending it for use as an analytical parameter in biodegradability tests when specific compounds’ identities are not required, e.g. in the absence of an LC/MS. Biodegradability of three fluorinated foams (AFFF, AR-AFFF, and FP) purchased from a major U.S. manufacturer measured in the range of 77-96% based on DOC die-away during a 28-day test using activated sludge inoculum. This meets OECD criteria for “ready biodegradability� and NFPA biodegradability recommendations in Standards 18, 18A, and 1150. Defluorination of two foams was measured using ion chromatography and, based on an estimate for total fluorine content developed in part from manufacturer MSDSs, was found to liberate a detectable level of fluorine that was 1 to 2 orders of magnitude less than the estimated value. In this 28-day test, foams underwent significant biodegradation but fluorinated compounds’ biodegradation was likely incomplete.

Every regiment that fought in the Civil, Union and Confederate, has a story to tell. Unfortunately, too many of these historic units’ legacies are not recorded and made available to modern-day scholars and citizens. Such was the case for the 5th Michigan Infantry before this thesis was written. This work is part one of a regimental history of the “Fighting Fifth,” covering the first year of the war. It draws from the unit’s soldiers’ diaries and letters, as well as those of members of the 5th Michigan’s “sister” regiments: the 2nd and 3rd Michigan and 37th New York. The perspectives of Detroit-area newspapers are included, as are the Regimental Descriptive Books and Order Book. No longer are these documents simply sitting in a vault, but now are largely included in this thesis and made available for all people. Here is the first part of the story of a unit that led charges against enemy lines frequently and suffered the fifth highest casualty rate of all Union regiments during the Civil War. / Master of Arts

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In this thesis we used genetic algorithms as a core gameplay mechanic for games. We created a flexible genetic algorithms framework that allowed us to iterate quickly through various designs and prototypes of games. We developed two iterations of fighting robots game and a racing game that used our framework to implement genetic algorithms. Playtesting showed that such a sophisticated game mechanic like this one can be fun and appealing to players.

In this thesis we used genetic algorithms as a core gameplay mechanic for games. We created a flexible genetic algorithms framework that allowed us to iterate quickly through various designs and prototypes of games. We developed two iterations of fighting robots game and a racing game that used our framework to implement genetic algorithms. Playtesting showed that such a sophisticated game mechanic like this one can be fun and appealing to players.

In this thesis we used genetic algorithms as a core gameplay mechanic for games. We created a flexible genetic algorithms framework that allowed us to iterate quickly through various designs and prototypes of games. We developed two iterations of fighting robots game and a racing game that used our framework to implement genetic algorithms. Playtesting showed that such a sophisticated game mechanic like this one can be fun and appealing to players.

Playing with Play: Movement and experience in the development of play fighting in rats. Juvenile rats are more gentle in the way they play fight than are adult rats. I used Laban Movement Analysis (LMA), a form of movement notation used in the theatre arts, to identify and characterize the movements that underlie this age-related difference in 'roughness'. To standardize the behavioural context for comparison, the rats were compared when in the 'pinning' configuration. During a 'pin', the attacker stands over the supine defender. In the first experiment, male and female rats, from the juvenile phase to early adulthood were videotaped and analyzed using LMA. The results show that with age, rats become more 'forceful' in the way they move. In part, this change in 'forcefulness' seems to be related to the degree of control an individual exercises, over its own body, and that of its partner. I have identified a reliable and objective behavioural makre for such 'control'. This marker, which I call anchoring, can be scored without prior knowledge of LMA. When anchored, the attacker stand with its hind feet on the ground and its fore feet on the supine defender, whereas when unanchored, the attacker stands on the defender with all four feet. With increasing age, the proportion of occasions with the attacker being anchored increases. One possibility is that younger rats are motorically less competent to gain and maintain an anchored posture. Therefore, in a second experiment, playful pins were anlayzed from around the time of weaning, when play fighting first begins, and onwards. The infant rats were just as able to anchor during pins as were postpubertal rats, and so motoric immaturity cannot account for the reduced levels of anchoring in juveniles. Additional experiments were conducted in an attempt understand what modulates this development modulation in anchoring. Thus, in the third main experiment of this study, rats were reared in isoloation from weaning and tested socially once at 30, 60 and 90 days. The results show that the age-related changes in anchoring is not dependent on social experience. Finally, in the fourth experiment, the cortex was removed in neonatal rats, and their play was examined from the juvenile period onwards. Anchoring in decorticates does not show the developmental modulation present in intact rats, rather, anchoring remains at the juvenile typical level at all ages. These data include that the developmental changes in anchoring are regulated by cortical mechanisms. The findings from this thesis suggest that juveniles have an age-modulated change in how strongly the rats control their own movements and those of their partners during play fighting. That is, juveniles exhibit reduced control just when they are the most playful. This reduced control may increase the range and variability of experiences gained during play fighting, and so may have evolved to maximize the benefits to be gained by engaging in play at the juvenile phase of the life cycle. / xiii, 130 leaves ; 28 cm.