Effective conservation requires efficient population monitoring, which can be challenging for rare species like the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). We compared two alternative survey methods that can be used to monitor tortoise populations: distance sampling and site occupancy estimation. In 2005 and 2006 combined, we surveyed 120 1-km transects to estimate density and 40 3-ha plots with five presence-“absence” surveys to estimate occupancy of Sonoran desert tortoises in two mountain ranges in southern Arizona. We found that monitoring programs based on an occupancy framework were more efficient and had greater power to detect linear trends. We also found that habitat use by Sonoran desert tortoises was influenced most by slope and aspect, contrasting with patterns observed in the Mojave Desert. Given its efficiency, power, and ability to gauge changes in distribution while accounting for variation in detectability, occupancy offers a promising alternative for long-term monitoring of Sonoran desert tortoise populations.

The purpose of this study is to reduce the energy cost of the low-income households in the hot and humid climates of the U.S. and thereby to help them afford comfortable homes. In this perspective, a new HVAC energy saving strategy, i.e. “partial conditioning” was modeled and its potential to reduce the HVAC energy consumption of the low income homes in Texas was quantified. The “partial conditioning” strategy combined three primary ideas: 1) using historic courtyard building schemes to provide a buffer zone between conditioned spaces, 2) zoning and applying occupancy based heating/cooling in each zone, and 3) reusing the conditioned air returning from the occupied zones in the unoccupied zones before it is returned to the system. The study was conducted in four steps: 1) data collection, 2) baseline design and modeling, 3) partial conditioning design and modeling, and 4) analyses and recommendations. First, a site visit was held to the Habitat for Humanity office in Bryan, Texas to collect data on the characteristics of the Habitat for Humanity houses built in Bryan. Second, a base-line Habitat for Humanity house was designed and modeled based on this information along with multiple other resources including International Energy Conservation Code 2012 and Building America benchmark definitions. A detailed comparison was made between the commonly used energy modeling tools (DOE-2.1e, EnergyPlus and TRNSYS) and a modeling method was developed for the estimation of the baseline energy consumption. Third, the “partial conditioning” strategy was introduced into the baseline energy model to simulate a partially conditioned atrium house. As the occupied zone and the direction of the airflow changed throughout the year in the partially conditioned house, this step required an innovative air loop model with interzonal air ducts that allowed for sched- uled bi-directional airflow. This air loop was modeled with the AirflowNetwork model of EnergyPlus. Fourth, the modeling results were analyzed and discussed to determine the performance of the partial conditioning strategy in a hot and humid climate. It was found that partial conditioning strategy can provide substantial (37%-46%) reduction in the overall HVAC energy consumption of small residences (∼1,000 ft2) in hot and humid climates while performing better in meeting the temperature set points in each room. It was also found that the quantity of the energy savings that can be obtained with the partial conditioning strategy depends significantly on the ground coupling condition of the house for low rise residential buildings.

No description available.

The occurrence and ecology of the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii in arctic wildlife is not well understood. Transmission cycles, especially in terrestrial systems, are enigmatic because environmentally resistant oocysts, shed by felid definitive hosts, might be less responsible for transmission in the Arctic than in more southern latitudes. Toxoplasma gondii can also be transmitted through the food web by carnivory, and by transmission from mother to fetus during gestation, and these routes are thought to play a large role in the ecology of T. gondii in the Arctic. In this thesis, I examine T. gondii in a well-described part of the food web at Karrak Lake, Nunavut, in the central Canadian Arctic and through experimental infections of domestic waterfowl. In the field over 3 years, I sampled generalist carnovires (arctic foxes), migratory herbivores (Ross’s Geese and Lesser Snow Geese), and resident herbivores (lemmings). Using an occupancy modeling approach that accounted for imperfect detection, I compared commonly used serological assays to estimate prevalence of T. gondii antibodies in sera from arctic foxes and eluted blood on filter paper from Ross’s geese and Lesser Snow Geese and compared commonly used serological assays. I also used a naïve estimator to determine prevalence of T. gondii antibodies in sera from Ross’s Geese and Lesser Snow Geese, and blood on filter paper from lemmings. I detected antibodies against T. gondii in sera from arctic foxes (47-60%, depending on age category), Ross’s Geese (32%) and Lesser Snow Geese (28%). I also detected antibodies in blood on filter paper from Ross’s Geese (39% seropositive) and Lesser Snow Geese (36% seropositive) but not in lemmings. These findings suggest that light geese might introduce T. gondii to the Karrak Lake ecosystem with the annual spring migration and that oocyst transmission might not occur in the terrestrial system, because the parasite was not detected in resident rodents. For the in vivo experimental infections, we used a novel application of a multi-scale occupancy framework to determine within-host detection probability of T. gondii in experimentally inoculated domestic geese and then used those results to guide tissue sampling in wild Ross’s Geese and Lesser Snow Geese. In the experimental inoculation trial, the heart and brain had the highest detection probability for T. gondii through a real-time PCR with melt-curve analysis. Toxoplasma gondii DNA was not detected in tissues from wild geese, suggesting that the parasite was either not present, or methodological difficulties prevented its detection. The research presented in this thesis forms the groundwork for further T. gondii studies in this region.

The purpose of this thesis is to devise a system based on RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) that can be used for smart healthcare applications. Location estimation, eloping prevention and occupancy detection are monitoring applications of smart healthcare which can provide very useful information for the nursing and administration staff of the nursing-home/hospital. The introduction of ubiquitous networking along with the concepts such as Internet of Things (IoT) can certainly help achieve the goals of smart healthcare. RFID technology has features, such as low power and small size, which makes this technology suitable for researching solutions for smart healthcare. Today several nursing-home/hospital monitoring solutions exist in the market and academia alike. The solutions marketed commercially are very expensive whereas the solutions from academia provides solutions to isolated problems but a comprehensive all in one solution that can meet the need of smart healthcare monitoring applications is missing. In this thesis we present a system that is low cost and suitable for accommodating a number of the smart healthcare applications including occupancy detection, location estimation, eloping prevention and access control. The solution is implemented on a customized Openbeacon Active RFID System (OARS). Active RFID based proximity detection is the core of our system. Practical experiments based on novel Proximity Detection based Weighted Centroid Localization (PD-WCL) method were done to analyze the performance of the system with different applications to highlight the applicability of the system.

No description available.

Thesis (M.H.A.)--University of Michigan, 1969.

Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 82-85)

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2008. / Description based on contents viewed May 30, 2008; title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-79).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 409-426). Also available in print.