Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T17:36:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2014_Diss_Anderson_Santin.pdf: 2075563 bytes, checksum: c35b4b0d2b620adb609fb0e13986da25 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The use of cover crops and planting density is directly related to productivity of strawberry plants grown in the field. Given to above, the aim of the present work was to evaluate the productive characteristics and levels of photosynthetic pigments of two cultivars of strawberry on types of mulchings, and numbers of rows per bed planting in the open system The experiments were carried out between May and December/2012 at the Experimental Farm "Prof. Dr. Antônio Carlos dos Santos Pessoa belonging to Unioeste, Campus of Marechal Cândido Rondon, PR. The first experiment was conducted in a randomized block design, factorial 2x4 (Two cultivars, being 'Camarosa' and 'Camino Real' x 4 types of mulchings, being black low-density polyethylene, silver low-density polyethylene, non woven tissue and no mulching) containing three replications. The second experiment was conducted in randomized complete blocks, 2x4 factorial (two cultivars being Camarosa and 'Camino Real' x 4 arrangements of plants per plot, with 1, 2, 3, 4 rows per plot), containing four replication. It was evaluated as pigment, the chlorophylls a and b, chlorophyll a+b and a/b ratio, average number of fruits plant-1, productivity (ton ha-1) or average mass plant-1, average fruit weight-1, soluble solids (Brix), total acidity, pH and soluble solids/total acidity. The mulchings of silver low-density polyethylene and non woven tissue presented lower productivity, not being recommended for the cultivation of strawberry cultivars Camarosa and Camino Real. From among the mulchings used in the present work, black low-density polyethylene was what gave better results, being recommended its use for cvs. Camarosa and 'Camino Real'. The spatial arrangement of plants with two and three rows were presented better results in productivity in the cultivation of the strawberry field / A utilização de cobertura de solo e densidade de plantio estão diretamente relacionadas a produtividade de morangueiros em cultivo a campo. Diante do exposto, objetivou-se com o presente trabalho avaliar as características produtivas e teores de pigmentos fotossintéticos de duas cultivares de morangueiro, sobre tipos de mulchings, e números de linhas por canteiro em sistema de plantio a céu aberto. Os experimentos foram realizados entre maio e dezembro/2012, na Fazenda Experimental Prof. Dr. Antônio Carlos dos Santos Pessoa , pertencente a Unioeste, Campus Marechal Cândido Rondon, PR. O primeiro experimento foi realizado no delineamento de blocos ao acaso, esquema fatorial 2x4 (duas cultivares, sendo Camarosa e Camino Real x 4 tipos de mulchings, sendo polietileno de baixa densidade preto, polietileno de baixa densidade prata, tecido não tecido e ausência de mulching), contendo três repetições. O segundo experimento foi realizado em delineamento de blocos ao acaso, esquema fatorial 2x4 (duas cultivares, sendo Camarosa e Camino Real x 4 arranjos de plantas no canteiro, sendo 1, 2, 3, 4 linhas por canteiro), contendo quatro repetições. Avaliaram-se como teores de pigmentos, as clorofilas a e b, clorofila a+b e relação a/b, número médio de frutos planta-1, produtividade (ton ha-1), massa média fruto-1, sólidos solúveis (°Brix), acidez total, pH e relação sólidos solúveis/acidez total. A Camarosa apresentou maior produtividade que a Camino Real . O TNT não é recomendado como mulching, pois não resistiu ao período de cultivo, e não se mostrou eficaz no controle de plantas daninhas. No PEBD preto obtiveram-se melhores resultados no cultivo de Camarosa e Camino Real . A Camarosa apresentou maior produtividade média e maior número de frutos por planta que a Camino Real . A Camino Real apresentou frutos maiores e de melhor qualidade. O cultivo com duas e três linhas por canteiro apresentaram melhores resultados para MMP e NMFP, podendo empregar três linhas a fim de otimizar a área de plantio, ou duas linhas quando se busca facilitar colheita e tratos culturais

Robust estimates of forest above-ground biomass (AGB) are needed in order to constrain the uncertainty in regional and global carbon budgets, predictions of global climate change and remote sensing efforts to monitor large scale changes in forest cover and biomass. Estimates of AGB and their associated uncertainty are also essential for international forest-based climate change mitigation strategies such as REDD+. Mangrove forests are widely recognised as globally important carbon stores. Continuing high rates of global mangrove deforestation represent a loss of future carbon sequestration potential and could result in significant release into the atmosphere of the carbon currently being stored within mangroves. The main aims of this thesis are 1) to provide information on the current AGB stocks of mangrove forests in Kenya at spatial scales relevant for climate change research, forest management and REDD+ and 2) to evaluate and constrain the uncertainty associated with these AGB estimates. This thesis adopted both a ground-based statistical approach and a remote sensing based approach to estimating mangrove AGB in Kenya. Allometric equations were developed for Kenyan mangroves using mixed-effects regression analysis and uncertainties were fully propagated (using a Monte Carlo based approach) to estimates of AGB at all spatial scales (tree, plot, region and landscape). In this study, species and site effects accounted for a large proportion (41%) of the total variability in mangrove AGB. The generic biomass equation produced for Kenyan mangroves has the potential for broad application as it can be used to estimate the AGB of new trees where there is no pre-existing knowledge of the specific species-site allometric relationship. The 95% prediction intervals for landscape scale estimates of total AGB suggest that between 5.4 and 7.2 megatonnes (Mt) of AGB is currently held in Kenyan mangrove forests. An in-depth evaluation of the relative contribution of various components of uncertainty (measurement, parameter and residual uncertainty) to the magnitude of the total uncertainty of AGB estimates was carried out. This evaluation was undertaken using both the mixed-effects regression model and a standard ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model. The exclusion of measurement uncertainty during the biomass estimation process had negligible impact on the magnitude of the uncertainty regardless of spatial scale or tree size. Excluding the uncertainty due to species and site effects (from the mixed-effects model) consistently resulted in a large reduction (~ 70%) in the overall uncertainty. Estimates of the uncertainty produced by the OLS model were unrealistically low which is illustrative of the general need to account for group effects in biomass regression models. L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) was used to estimate the AGB of Kenyan mangroves. There was an observable relationship (R2 = 0.45) between L-band HH and AGB with HH backscatter found to decrease as a function of increasing AGB. There was no significant relationship found between L-band HV and AGB. The negative relationship between HH and AGB in this study can possibly be attributed to enhanced backscatter at lower AGB due to strong double-bounce and direct surface scattering from short stature/open forests and attenuation of the SAR signal at higher AGB. The SAR-derived estimate of total AGB for Kenyan mangroves was 5.32 Mt ± 18.6%. However, due to the unexpected nature of the HH-AGB relationship found in this study the SAR-derived estimates of mangrove AGB in this study should be considered with caution.

Lime stabilisation is a ground improvement technique used to improve the engineering properties of cohesive fill materials. During earthworks operations, specialist plant is used to rotovate the clay fill material and intermix lime binder around clay clods. After completion of the lime treatment, the layer is compacted in the usual way. Immediately after mixing, the lime instigate a series of physico-chemical reactions within the clay soil. Where the chemical reactions are favourable and with time after compaction (curing) the material becomes progressively stronger and durable to environmental influences, e.g. inundation by surface or ground water. However, where sulphate is present within the soil, the reactions may change and the ingress of water into the layer can result in the expansive growth of deleterious minerals e.g. ettringite. While sulphate swell issues are relatively rare, when they do occur the degree of expansion can be very high. A high profile sulphate swell failure developed during the construction of the M40, Oxford, UK in 1989. Over the winter period after the lime stabilisation works, a 250mm deep lime treated layer heaved by up to 150mm - destroying the overlying road construction. Since the M40 failure, a substantial amount of effort has been undertaken to better understand the sulphate swell reactions and in this regard the state of scientific knowledge is relatively strong. A fundamental issue for field applications of lime stabilisation is that the vast majority of research has been undertaken on laboratory specimens prepared using methods which do not reflect site practice. Laboratory studies often use oven dried and finely crushed clay, whereas site operations will treat much larger clay clods to result in a more heterogeneous distribution of lime through the compacted soil body. With large clay clods, the chemical reactants must migrate through clods and this may cause the sequence of chemical reactions to change. A further challenge is that laboratory studies are typically undertaken with cure temperatures of 20°C, whereas a typical near surface temperature in the UK is <10°C. This is of particular relevance to sulphate swell failures which are reported to coincide with a reduction in ambient temperature over winter periods. Thus, the direct relevance of laboratory studies to site application was unclear. A series of laboratory experiments using a preparation method which reflects field applications of lime stabilisation was used to investigate the influence of large clay clods on the durability of lime stabilised clay soil. This method was applied to both low and high sulphate clay soils. A fundamental discovery from work on low sulphate clay is that the addition of lime binder to the surface of the clay clods causes a physico-chemical boundary to form. This boundary develops due to the rapid increase to the plastic limit of the clay preventing adjacent clods from joining together during compaction. This causes the engineering properties of each individual clod to develop independent to its neighbours and for each clay clod to be separated by an inter-clod pore space. The strength of each individual clay clod will increase with curing as the added lime dissociates into Ca2+ and OH- and migrates to form C-S-H deep within the clods. Where the material is compacted wet of the optimum water content, this condition improves ion migration and enables development of diffuse cementation deep within clods. The inter-clod porosity remains as a weakness throughout curing especially during specimen soaking, where the pore channels comprise a pathway, accelerating the ingress of soaking water. With low sulphate soil, the soaking water softens the treated material, however, with high TPS soil substantial sulphate swelling may develop. Thus, efforts to minimise this porosity during preparation is important and the use of quicklime with longer mellowing periods can cause the clay clods to develop high strength before compaction. The high strength clods resist compaction and the degree of inter-clod porosity in the compacted mass increases, worsening specimen durability to water ingress. The investigations into high sulphate clays included the development of a Novel Swell Test (NST) to assess volume change. A unique aspect of the NST was that the sulphate swell response of the lime treated material was investigated at site realistic temperatures of 8°C. It was identified that, when compared with standard laboratory test temperatures of 20°C the rate of sulphate swell is substantially higher at the low temperature. The mineralogical testing has permitted the hypothesis that, at 8°C the growth of crystalline ettringite becomes slower and the ettringite precursor, which has a high affinity to imbibe water, remains in this state for much longer. Thus, laboratory swell tests at 20°C may substantially underestimate the degree of swell that may develop in the field. As a pressing need, it is recommended that the industry adapt sulphate swell test methods to appraise the degree of swell at field realistic temperatures i.e. < 10°C. The work also identifies that the primary defence against sulphate swell is to condition the fill so that the risk of post compaction water ingress, via inter-clod porosity, is minimised. The use of GGBS and water addition during extended mellowing periods also reduces the degree of sulphate swell in natural clay soils. This work concludes that working methods for lime stabilisation of medium high plasticity soils of a potentially high sulphate content, should be adapted to encourage diffuse cementation and minimise the degree of (post compaction) inter-clod porosity. Practically this involves the use of hydrated lime and the addition of mixing water throughout extended mellowing periods. Fundamentally, the study recommends that where construction programmes allow, the long term durability of a fill material should be the priority over immediate strength.

The purpose of this study was to examine the independent effects of anterior knee pain (AKP) on bilateral ground reaction force (GRF) during running, with a focus on GRF applied to the uninvolved leg, which, prior to this study, had never been evaluated. Twelve volunteers completed three data collection sessions, that corresponded to one of three conditions (control, sham, and pain), in a counterbalanced order. For each session, subjects ran for five minutes. For the pain and sham sessions, respectively, hypertonic and isotonic saline were infused into the infrapatellar fat pad of the right leg during the running, while no infusion was involved in the control session. GRF data were collected during the final 30 seconds of running. Functional statistics were used to determine the effects of session and leg (right and left) on vertical and anterior-posterior GRF throughout the stance phase of running. A mixed model ANOVA was used to determine the effect of session and leg on vertical GRF load rate, impulse due to vertical, propulsive, and braking GRFs. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to determine the effect of session and time on subject-perceived pain. Alpha was set to 0.05 for all statistical comparisons. Unexpectedly, no significant session × leg interaction existed for vertical GRF at any time point during stance phase of running. Similarly, the experimental AKP did not affect impulse due to vertical GRF or load rate for the vertical GRF. There was, however, a significant session × leg interaction for anterior-posterior GRF. For the pain session, involved-leg braking GRF was 11% greater than uninvolved-leg braking GRF, during the first 9% of stance phase. There was also a significant between-session difference for involved-leg braking impulse (p = 0.023) and uninvolved-leg propulsive impulse (p = 0.027). The mean involved-leg braking impulses were 11.3 Ns (± 0.6), 13.2 Ns (± 0.6) and 13.2 Ns (± 0.6) for the pain, control, and sham sessions, respectively. Mean uninvolved-leg propulsive impulses were 14.8 Ns (± 1.3), 13.6 Ns (± 1.3), and 13.5 Ns (± 1.3) for the pain, control, and sham sessions, respectively. These differences in anterior-posterior GRF might reflect a compensatory unloading of the involved leg due to AKP.

Introduction: Irish dance has evolved to become more athletically demanding, thus making the art form very hard on dancers' bodies. Irish dancers must land from difficult moves without letting their knees bend or heels touch the ground, causing large amounts of force to be absorbed by the body. Past studies have found dancers landing with a range of 4.5–6 times body weight, potentially causing high amounts of overuse injury. The majority of injuries incurred by Irish dancers are due to overuse (79.6%). The landings that occur in Irish dance have been minimally evaluated in current literature. Obtaining values of vertical ground reaction forces (GRFs) produced by Irish dancers will assist in understanding the causes of overuse injuries, fill significant gaps in the current literature, and identify which Irish dance moves should be used less frequently to possibly reduce the chance for overuse injury. Purpose: To determine vertical GRFs produced by female Irish dancers in hard and soft shoes during common movements. The purpose of this study was to determine peak force, rise rate of force, and impulse in selected Irish hard shoe and soft shoe dance movements. Materials and Methods: Sixteen female Irish dancers between 14 and 25 years of age were recruited from the 3 highest competitive levels. Each performed a warm-up, reviewed 8 common Irish dance moves, and then performed each move 3 times upon a force plate. Four moves each were performed in soft and hard shoes. GRFs were measured using a 3-dimensional force plate running at 1000 Hz. Peak force, rise rate, and vertical impulse were all calculated. It was hypothesized that the 8 moves would produce different GRFs. Results: Peak forces normalized by each dancer's body weight were significantly different across moves (F = 65.4, p < 0.01; F = 65.0, p < 0.01; and F = 67.4, p < 0.01 respectively). Years of experience was not correlated with peak force, rise rate, or impulse (p < 0.40). Conclusion: There is a large range in peak forces created by Irish dancers. Moves that have high average peak forces may have a higher risk in causing overuse injuries. All dancers should take care to limit the use of these moves in their choreography to prevent such injury.

En la presente tesis de investigación se busca encontrar las variaciones de parámetros como periodos, distorsiones y fuerzas internas al cambiar el número de pisos y condiciones geotécnicas cuando se realiza un análisis sísmico tradicional considerando empotrada la base y cuando se incorpora la interacción suelo–estructura por medio del modelo dinámico D.D. Barkan – O.A. Savinov en edificaciones comunes (hoteles). Para la obtención de los resultados de los parámetros se realizan análisis sísmicos de todos los modelos en el software SAP 2000. Asimismo, esta investigación se ha realizado porque en la actualidad no existen datos sobre en qué casos, según tipo de suelo y tamaño de edificación es representativo incluir la interacción suelo-estructura al realizar el análisis sísmico. Los modelos estructurales por utilizar son de 3, 5, 7 y 9 pisos en las condiciones geotécnicas S1 (suelos muy rígidos), S2 (suelos intermedios) y S3 (suelos blandos). Asimismo, el sistema estructural es una estructura aporticada sobre zapatas aisladas. Principalmente, se han encontrado que al incluir la interacción suelo – estructura en el análisis sísmico y a medida que la condición geotécnica se haga más desfavorable las variaciones de las distorsiones por cada modelo (3, 5, 7 y 9) aumentan. Adicionalmente, las variaciones de los periodos por cada tipo de suelo (S1, S2 y S3) disminuyen cuando se incrementa el número de pisos. Es decir, que la variación es mayor cuando son estructuras bajas. / This research thesis seeks to find the variations of parameters such as periods, distortions and internal forces by changing the number of floors and geotechnical conditions when a traditional seismic analysis is performed considering the base embedded and when the soil-structure interaction is incorporated by middle of the dynamic DD model Barkan - O.A. Savinov in common buildings (hotels). To obtain the results of the parameters, seismic analyzes of all the models are performed in the SAP 2000 software. Likewise, this research has been carried out because there are currently no data on in which cases, depending on the type of soil and size of the building, it is representative to include the soil-structure interaction when performing the seismic analysis. The structural models to be used are 3, 5, 7 and 9 floors in geotechnical conditions S1 (very rigid soils), S2 (intermediate soils) and S3 (soft soils). Likewise, the structural system is a structure contributed on isolated footings. Mainly, it has been found that by including the soil - structure interaction in the seismic analysis and as the geotechnical condition becomes more unfavorable, the variations of the distortions for each model (3, 5, 7 and 9) increase. Additionally, the variations of the periods for each type of soil (S1, S2 and S3) decrease when the number of floors increases. That is, the variation is greater when they are low structures. / Tesis

In an attempt to describe, explain, and show the demographic significance of annual variations in the nesting distribution of Uinta ground squirrels, a study was conducted during the summers of 1964 through 1967 in northern Utah. Procedures included both trapping and direct observation. It was found that females tended to nest in open, previously inhabited, grassy areas. Males resided throughout a variety of habitats. This typical nesting distribution was established initially in the summer by juveniles shortly after they first appeared aboveground. The extent to which the distribution was maintained the following spring depended largely upon the number of female s which emerged from hibernation and the pattern in which they emerged. The number of females which appeared depended upon the previous year's breeding density and productivity. The pattern of emergence appeared to be a function of an inherent pattern of physiological arousal from hibernation and the prevailing weather conditions. The number and sequence of emergence of females in the early spring affected breeding and social organization in a manner which limited the number of females which retained residences in the study area. This determined the actual breeding density. In addition, emergence influenced the production of offspring by altering both the breeding density and the number of non-productive females in the population. The adaptive significance of the system and its applicability to other species are discussed.

In non-relativistic quantum mechanics, stationary states of molecules and atoms are described by eigenvectors of the Hamiltonian operator. For one-electron systems, such as the hydrogen atom, the solution of the eigenvalue problem (Schro ̈dinger’s equation) is straightforward, and the results show excellent agreement with experiment. Despite this success, the multi electron problem corresponding to virtually every system of interest in chemistry has resisted attempts at exact solution. Perhaps the most popular method for obtaining approximate, yet very accurate results for the ground states of molecules is the coupled cluster approximation. Coupled cluster methods move beyond the simple, average field Hartree-Fock approximation by including the effects of excited configurations generated in a size consistent manner. In this paper, the coupled cluster approximation is developed from first principles. Diagrammatic methods are introduced which permit the rapid calculation of matrix elements appearing in the coupled cluster equations, along with a systematic approach for unambiguously determining all necessary diagrams. A simple error bound is obtained for the ground state energy by considering the coupled cluster equations as entries in the first column of a matrix whose eigenvalues are the exact eigenvalues of the Hamiltonian. In addition, a strategy is considered for treating the error in the ground state energy perturbatively.

As sea level rises, saltwater migration can threaten coastal ecosystems and beach-dune environments, which negatively impacts coastal flora. This study uses ground penetrating radar (GPR) to evaluate the spatiotemporal variability of saltwater migration in the near shore at high lateral resolution (i.e. cm) by using daily micro tidal cycles as analogs to infer saltwater migration. Time-lapse GPR profiles were collected at low and high tide capturing phase lags of the tidal flux through different substrates. GPR measurements were collected at two sites in Miami with contrasting lithologies: a) Crandon Park, composed of unconsolidated sand; and b) the Barnacle Historic State Park, composed of the Miami Limestone Formation. Laboratory-scale GPR measurements were collected over samples mimicking field conditions. The results may be helpful to identify regions vulnerable to saltwater migration in the near shore based on lithological variability, and to mitigate negative impacts for flora in beach-dune habitats during sea level rise. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

With the advancement of technology, medical imaging has become a fast growing area of research. Some imaging questions require little physician analysis, such as diagnosing a broken bone, using a 2-D X-ray image. More complicated questions, using 3-D scans, such as computerized tomography (CT), can be much more difficult to answer. For example, estimating tumor growth to evaluate malignancy; which informs whether intervention is necessary. This requires careful delineation of different structures in the image. For example, what is the tumor versus what is normal tissue; this is referred to as segmentation. Currently, the gold standard of segmentation is for a radiologist to manually trace structure edges in the 3-D image, however, this can be extremely time consuming. Additionally, manual segmentation results can differ drastically between and even within radiologists. A more reproducible, less variable, and more time efficient segmentation approach would drastically improve medical treatment. This potential, as well as the continued increase in computing power, has led to computationally intensive semiautomated segmentation algorithms. Segmentation algorithms' widespread use is limited due to difficulty in validating their performance. Fusion models, such as STAPLE, have been proposed as a way to combine multiple segmentations into a consensus ground truth; this allows for evaluation of both manual and semiautomated segmentation in relation to the consensus ground truth. Once a consensus ground truth is obtained, a multitude of approaches have been proposed for evaluating different aspects of segmentation performance; segmentation accuracy, between- and within -reader variability. The focus of this dissertation is threefold. First, a simulation based tool is introduced to allow for the validation of fusion models. The simulation properties closely follow a real dataset, in order to ensure that they mimic reality. Second, a statistical hierarchical Bayesian fusion model is proposed, in order to estimate a consensus ground truth within a robust statistical framework. The model is validated using the simulation tool and compared to other fusion models, including STAPLE. Additionally, the model is applied to real datasets and the consensus ground truth estimates are compared across different fusion models. Third, a statistical hierarchical Bayesian performance model is proposed in order to estimate segmentation method specific accuracy, between- and within -reader variability. An extensive simulation study is performed to validate the model’s parameter estimation and coverage properties. Additionally, the model is fit to a real data source and performance estimates are summarized.