This study examines the spatial distribution of surface charcoal after a managed fire and its relationship to fire intensity and site characteristics. Such studies are lacking for the southern Appalachian Mountains. In April 2010, The Nature Conservancy conducted a ~150ha prescribed burn in pine- and oak-dominated forests on the eastern slope of Middle Mountain in western Virginia. Data were from three randomly located transects totaling 2751m from the base of the slope extending to the highest elevations. At 50m intervals I collected 400cm° surface samples (n=56) down to mineral soil, and recorded the nearest four trees, their diameters and bole char height, and other site and understory characteristics. Charcoal fragments >2mm were wet-sieved from 200mL subsamples of the surface material, dried, and weighed. Charcoal deposition and char heights on trees examined in this study showed high spatial variability in fire intensity. Average charcoal deposition across all samples was 103 kg/ha, with individual samples ranging from 0-884kg/ha, which was in the range of findings from other studies. Char height was weakly correlated with charcoal abundance suggesting a relationship between fire intensity and charcoal production. Slope was moderately correlated with charcoal deposition, with higher deposition on steeper slopes. Average char height for all trees and species was in the range of 1-3m, but char height on pines averaged 7.3m, where fires intensity appeared to increase. This work can inform land managers on fire behavior and carbon flux and has implications for reconstructions of long-term fire history from soil charcoal. / Master of Science

It is of great importance to be able to unambiguously interpret deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) profiles, especially with Low Template (LT) DNA and mixture DNA that may contain major and minor contributors. Reducing stochastic effects, such as heterozygote peak imbalance, dropouts, and stutter artifacts have been studied by scientists in order to improve the evaluation of low quality DNA profile. There has been much research on a compatible solute, trehalose, in its effectiveness in enhancing the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), especially with GC-rich templates of DNA, and thermal stabilizing Thermus Aquaticus (Taq) DNA polymerases. Based on previous research, the effect of trehalose on peak heights, peak height ratios, and stutter ratios (n-1) from 15 short tandem repeats (STR) loci of the AmpFℓSTR® Identifiler® Plus PCR Amplification Kit was evaluated with 0.025ng, 0.05ng, 0.1ng, and 1ng of DNA, through the addition of 0M (control), 0.2M, and 0.4M of trehalose for each quantity of DNA. Although there was an observation regarding changes in average peak heights at 1ng of DNA with the addition of 0.2M, and 0.4M of trehalose, no conclusions could be made with the average peak heights for 0.025ng, 0.05ng, 0.1ng, and 1ng of DNA. The reason is that the propagation of pipetting error during the preparation of each batch could have contributed to the difference in the amount of DNA between each conditions which can be directly reflected in peak heights. Furthermore, unexpected discrepancy between the average peak heights for 0.1ng of DNA from the first and the second experiments rendered 0.1ng of DNA incompatible for comparison. With regards to average peak height ratios for 0.025ng, 0.05ng, 0.1ng, and 1ng of DNA, and average reverse stutter ratios for 0.1ng, and 1ng of DNA, there were no evidence to suggest that 0.2M or 0.4M of trehalose had any effects. Consistent trends for 0.1ng (Exp. 1 and 2) and 1ng of DNA from a statistical analysis through one-way ANOVA of individual loci, suggested that trehalose may have varying effects on certain loci. However, this observation must be approached with caution as it is uncertain whether unique trends across each data sets for certain loci were observed by chance due to small sample sizes or due to mechanisms of stutters and trehalose that are currently unknown. Future studies regarding the effect of trehalose on peak heights should be done with more precision through minimizing pipetting error, which can be accomplished by preparing one batch from which aliquots are taken. The result of the research does not show enough evidence to prove the usefulness of trehalose since the addition of trehalose does not yield consistently higher average peak heights and peak height ratios, and lower average reverse stutter ratios across 15 STR loci. Therefore, our results do not support that 0.2M and 0.4M of trehalose are useful within the parameter of forensic DNA analysis as they do not enhance the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and improve stochastic effects for DNA profiles.

In recent years, many researches focused on the supervised machine learning classification methods using Lidar and remotely sensed image to provide buildings, trees, roads, and grass categories for urban ground feature classification. First, this research performed urban ground feature classification based on true color aerial imagey and Lidar Intensity. Second, Lidar derived normalized DSM (nDSM) was added to the classification. Finally, the concept of height level rules was applied. This research utilized two-level height rule-based classification exteneded from three-level height rule-based classification (Huang, 2007). It is obvious to observ the overlap for the roads and houses, and grass and trees in the feature space plot where result in the classification confusion. These confusions can be resolved by fusion the height information. After comparing classification accuracy, the two-level height is better than three-level height classification scheme. This research proposed hybrid classification method based on Maximum likelihood classification (MLC) and two-level height rules. This method reveals the role of height information in urban ground feature classification. The height level rules were also applied to other supervised classification method such as Back-Propagation Network (BPN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM). The classification results show that the accuracy of hybrid method is better than the orgional classification method. However, the time required to look for the classification parameters for BPN and SVM is greater than MLC but only can derived considerable results. Therefore, the hybrid classification method based on MLC is better than other two methods.

Sammanfattning Syfte och frågeställningar Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka vilken eller vilka somatiska mätmetoder som har störst tillämpbarhet för att praktiskt genomföra en biologisk åldersuppskattning för en tränare. Metod För att besvara studiens frågeställning har sökningar genomförts i databaserna PubMed och Google Scholar. Information har även sökts i relevant facklitteratur inom barn- och ungdomsträning samt i relevanta studiers referenslistor. Resultat Tre somatiska mätmetoder kunde presenteras i form av tid för högst tillväxtspurt (PHV) av Mirwald et al (2002), Fysiskt utvecklingsindex (KEI) av Bauer från 1982 (Tonkonogi & Bellardini 2012, s 25) och uppskattad vuxenlängd mot Tannerkriterierna (PAH) (Khamis & Roche 1995; Cumming et al 2017). Resultatet indikerar att KEI-metoden är den mätmetod som har störst validitet (r > 0,89). För praktisk tillämpbarhet verkar en kombination av PHV och PAH-metoderna vara mest lämpad för en biologisk åldersuppskattning för tränare i en fältmiljö. Slutsats Studiens slutsats är att tränare rekommenderas att använda sig av en kombination av PHV och PAH. De är två metoder som används flitigt inom den internationella litteraturen och verkar kunna användas ihop för att indikera tiden för PHV, som är en frekvent använd indikator för vilka delkapaciteter som är träningsbara för en individ i puberteten. Nyckelord: biologisk ålder, peak height velocity, predictive adult height, tannerkriterierna

An analytical and numerical investigation is conducted for the lateral torsional buckling analysis of wooden beam with a mid-span lateral brace subjected to symmetrically distributed loading. Two models are developed; one for the case of a rigid brace and another one for the case of a flexible brace. The analytical solutions are based on the principle of stationary potential energy and a Fourier expansion of the buckling displacement fields and bending moments. The validity of both models are verified against 3D finite element analyses in ABAQUS. Where applicable, verifications were also conducted against available solutions from previous studies. Parametric studies were conducted to investigate the effect of geometric and material parameters on the critical moments. The results indicate the presence of two separate groups of potential buckling modes, symmetric and anti-symmetric, with fundamentally different behavioural characteristics. The governing buckling mode is shown to depend on the bracing height, load height and lateral brace stiffness. The study shows that beyond a certain threshold bracing height, the critical moment is governed by the antisymmetric mode of buckling. Also, above a certain optimum bracing stiffness, no increase is observed in the critical moments. The models developed are used to construct a comprehensive database of parametric investigations which are then employed for developing simplified equations for determining the threshold heights, associated critical moments, and optimum stiffness.

Delaunay refinement is a mesh triangulation method with the goal of generating well-shaped triangles to obtain a valid Delaunay triangulation. In this thesis, an approach of using this method for meshing continuous height field terrains is presented using Perlin noise as the height field. The Delaunay approach is compared to grid-based meshing to verify that the theoretical time complexity O(n log n) holds and how accurately and deterministically the Delaunay approach can represent the height field. However, even though grid-based mesh generation is faster due to an O(n) time complexity, the focus of the report is to find out if Delaunay refinement can be used to generate meshes quick enough for real-time applications. As the available memory for rendering the meshes is limited, a solution for providing a cohesive mesh surface is presented using a hole filling algorithm since the Delaunay approach ends up leaving gaps in the mesh when a chunk division is used to limit the total mesh count present in the application. The methods were implemented in the programming language C++ using the open source library libnoise to generate the Perlin noise and the off-the-shelf solution CGALmesh provided a Delaunay refinement implementation. The video game engine Unity was used to render the output meshes created by the Delaunay and grid approach by interfacing with C++ via a Windows DLL. The time complexity of Delaunay refinement was verified to hold, although it was not possible to draw any conclusions regarding the Delaunay refinement's impact on the mesh's accuracy due to the test parameters used. It was also found that the CGALmesh implementation failed to provide a deterministic generation which is a significant drawback compared to the grid-based approach. Disregarding this, the Delaunay approach was found to be suitable for real-time applications as the generation time took less than 1 second, and is promising for volumetric terrain mesh generation. / Delaunay-raffinemang är en trianguleringsmetod med målet att generera reguljära trianglar för att uppnå en giltig Delaunay-triangulering. I denna avhandling presenteras en metod användandes Delaunay-raffinemang för att skapa polygonytor av kontinuerliga höjdfältsterränger, där Perlin noise används som höjdfält. Delaunay-metoden jämförs med en rutnätsbaserad metod för att verifiera att tidskomplexiteten O(n log n) gäller och hur exakt och deterministiskt som Delaunay-metoden förhåller sig till att representera höjdfältet. Även fast rutnätsmetoden är snabbare på grund av en O(n) tidskomplexitet är rapportens fokus att ta reda på om Delaunay-raffinemang är snabb nog för att användas i realtidsapplikationer för att generera polygonytor. Eftersom det tillgängliga minnet för att rendera polygonytorna är begränsat presenteras en lösning för att få sammanhängande ytor genom en hålutfyllningsalgoritm då Delaunaymetoden lämnar hål i ytan när chunk-uppdelning används för att begränsa det totala antalet polygonytor i applikationen. Metoderna implementerades i programmeringsspråket C++ användades biblioteket libnoise för att generera Perlin noise och den färdiga lösningen CGALmesh användes som implementation av Delaunay-raffinemang. Datorspelsmotorn Unity användes för att rendera polygonytorna som skapades av Delaunay- och rutnätsmetoden genom ett C++-gränssnitt via en Windows DLL. Tidskomplexiteten av Delaunay-raffinemang gällde, men det var inte möjligt att dra några slutsatser gällande hur exakt metoden förhållde sig till höjdfältet på grund av testparametrarna som användes. Ytterligare visade det sig att CGALmesh-implementationen var oförmögen att deterministiskt generera ytorna vilket är en stor nackdel jämfört med rutnätsmetoden. Bortsett från detta så visade sig Delaunay-metoden användbar för realtidsapplikationer då generingstiden tog mindre än 1 sekund, och metoden har dessutom potential för volymetrisk terränggenerering.

This thesis investigates the effects that cultural ideals of height in the United States have upon how males react to and contend with their physical stature. Anthropological and psychological approaches are used to examine and interpret ways that height is culturally constructed, altered, and perceived by young adult males in the United States. Height has been demonstrated to have economic, political, reproductive, educational, and social consequences that are often overlooked in everyday life. In the United States, certain cultural ideals appear to grant advantages to taller individuals. Understanding how these cultural ideals are constructed and investigating cultural reactions to such ideals provides insight into culture in the United States. Cyberspace holds some of the answers for understanding how individuals construct and perceive height. Two studies were conducted employing MySpace, a social networking community, to investigate factors that may affect the self-reporting of male height. The self-reporting of height is a manifestation of how individuals chose to culturally represent themselves. MySpace provides a rich source of information and data for investigating the self-reporting of height. The first study determined that median household income had no association with how users choose to self-report their height. The second investigation found that there are significant differences in the way males self-report their height according to ethnicity and sexual orientation. The results underscore the tendency for males to positively distort their self-reported heights to approximate cultural ideals.

Background: As overnutrition rises along with nutrition transition in low- and middle-income settings such as Bangladesh, evaluating metabolic risk factors using overnutrition measures in adolescents is important. Before doing such evaluation, a preliminary step should be taken to attest the independence of overnutrition measures from total height. Moreover, sitting height measures are recognized as important metabolic risk indicators. This study aims to understand the association of attained height –total and sitting– with overnutrition measures including body mass index (BMI), percent body fat (PBF), fat mass index (FMI) and fat free mass index (FFMI) and to assess modification by sex. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of the MINIMat study’s 15-year follow-up data from October 2017 to December 2018 was undertaken. The associations of attained height –total and sitting– with each of the overnutrition measures were analysed using multiple linear regressions. Results: Overnutrition measures were non-independent of total height among male adolescents. The taller they were, the higher their BMI would be. This increase of BMI along with the height would have been contributed relatively more by the increase of fat free mass (FFM) than that of fat mass (FM). When total heights of both sexes were kept equal at the median, female adolescents had lower lean mass (FFMI) and higher fat mass (FMI) than the males although there was no difference in BMI on average between them. Sitting height was associated with all overnutrition measures with varying extents depending on the sex. Conclusion: When assessing overnutrition measures, it is important to examine beyond BMI and into FMI and FFMI. Again, when assessing the metabolic risks using overnutrition measures among adolescents, normalizing those indices for height is important to be considered to avoid inferring the implication from growth as risks.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Mathematics / Christopher G. Pinner

We introduce decompositions determined by Galois field and degree of the space of algebraic numbers modulo torsion and the space of algebraic points on an elliptic curve over a number field. These decompositions are orthogonal with respect to the natural inner product associated to the L² Weil height recently introduced by Allcock and Vaaler in the case of algebraic numbers and the inner product naturally associated to the Néron-Tate canonical height on an elliptic curve. Using these decompositions, we then introduce vector space norms associated to the Mahler measure. For algebraic numbers, we formulate L[superscript p] Lehmer conjectures involving lower bounds on these norms and prove that these new conjectures are equivalent to their classical counterparts, specifically, the classical Lehmer conjecture in the p=1 case and the Schinzel-Zassenhaus conjecture in the p=[infinity] case. / text