Digital Commons Network^™

The Port Of Providence: Perspectives On Development, Jerome F. Mcgourthy

Theses and Major Papers

The paper identified environmental, technological and socio-political factors which have contributed to the demise of the Providence River Port as a regional dry cargo distribution center and examines plans and policies contemplated by local government and business interests to counteract the Port's decline.

Federal/State Coordination In Coastal Permitting Procedures, James H. Asthalter

Theses and Major Papers

In 1972 Congress passed the Coastal Zone Management Act. Under Section 302 of the act Congress found that "there is a national interest in effective management, beneficial use, protection and development of the coastal zone." To this end, Congress in Section 303 declared that there is a national policy (a) to preserve, protect, develop and, where possible, to restore or enhance the resources of the nation's coastal zone for this and succeeding generations, (b) to encourage and assist the states to exercise effectively their responsibilities in the coastal zone through development and implementation of management programs to achieve wise use …

The Value Of The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission To Developing Nations, Georgia Cranmore

Theses and Major Papers

The purpose of this report is to investigate the structure and functions of the IOC in order to determine its statutory authority to serve developing nations; to evaluate its current and potential activities in terms of the specific requirements of less scientifically developed countries; and to suggest changes in operation and attitude needed to advance the IOC's stated purpose; the international promotion of marine science.

A Computerized Marine Data And Information System-Endex/Oasis, Steven J. Tibbitt

Theses and Major Papers

The volume of international and national environmental data and information in the marine, earth and atmospheric sciences has created the need to systematically organize, handle, manipulate, store and retrieve this material utilizing sophisticated computer hardware and provide the scientist, student, planner and decision-maker with the awareness and accessibility of available data and information. Consonant with the objectives outlined for NOAA and the need generated by the explosion of information and data in this area, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA), Environmental Data Service (EDS) and the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), have an ongoing development effort in the Envirorrmental Data …

The Legal And Institutional Status And Potential Of Aquaculture In Rhode Island, F. B. Montague

Theses and Major Papers

The types of aquaculture practiced in Rhode Island are divided into extensive and intensive forms. Current efforts are discussed with accompanying photographs, and depuration is presented as a means for expanding the waters available for aquaculture. To gain insight into the institutional nature for Rhode Island aquaculture, the relevant state agencies and possible required permits are outlined, along with the impact of existing state laws affecting aquaculture.

Evolution Of The Us-Ussr Draft Convention On The Prohibition Of Military Or Any Other Hostile Use Of Environmental Modification Techniques: New International Environmental Law, Howard L. April

Theses and Major Papers

One cannot pick up a newspaper or news magazine at this time in early 1976 without reading about possible threats to the environment such as Concorde SST's potential impact on the ozone layer or the possibility that the fluorocarbon propellants in aerosol cans will deplete the ozone layer. In February 1976, Secretary of Transportation Coleman in announcing his decision to permit the Concorde to land at Dulles Airport outside of Washington, D.C. and at JFK Airport in New York considered that the impact of the 16 months of test flights on the stratosphere would be miniscule and the speculation of …

An Examination Of New England's Coastal Wetlands Legislation, Joseph M. D'Eugenio

Theses and Major Papers

This paper will examine the different legislative schemes that have been created in New England for the protection of coastal wetlands. It will assess how they have worked in practice, both with respect to their administration and the judicial response to them, and will outline the arguments for and against upholding restrictions on the use of wetlands under the legislation.

Cost-Benefit Considerations In Routing Pipelines Through Offshore Fishing Grounds, James R. Sturges

Theses and Major Papers

The purpose of this work is to explore the technology and economics associated with the options which might be used to transport oil from Georges Bank with the least total cost objective in mind. First, we summarize background information on the existing usage of Georges Bank by fishermen and those offshore areas of greatest interest to the oil industry. A consideration of various alternatives of transportation to shore and their relative costs (and benefits) should allow one to get a handle, approximate as it may be, on which might be best for society as a whole in terms of least …

Systematics, Vertical Distribution, And Life History Of Anguilliform Leptocephali In The Bermuda Ocean Acre, Aimee A. Keller

Open Access Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

A Hydroclimatic Study Of The Narragansett Bay Drainage Basin: The Effects Of Climate And Urban Land Use On Runoff, Paul J. Jaillet

Theses and Major Papers

This study analyzes the relationship between the climate of the Narragansett Bay Drainage Basin and the increasing urban land use into a relative increase in runoff in the Basin streams. Data for thirty-five years were collected to discern the trends in runoff within the Basin. It was hypothesized that runoff is increasing in relation to an increase in urban acreage. Runoff data were analyzed in two forms. The Thornthwaite water budget was used to estimate runoff. For this, Basin temperature and precipitation records were necessary inputs. The estimated runoff was plotted against observed runoff by double-mass analysis. Deviations from the …

The Future Of Hard Minerals Mining On The New England Continental Margin, James D. Eger

Theses and Major Papers

As man's needs for all commodities increase with the rapid worldwide increase in technological development, new sources for these commodities must be sought. In the United States, shortages of many materials are already being experienced, and the health of our economy is dependent on the continued supply of these vital materials. In order to supply our needs for minerals, intensified and improved exploration methods, improved technology allowing utilization of lower grade ores, synthetics and substitutes, government sponsored research programs, and new exploitable areas all must be developed. This study will look at the current situation affecting hard minerals mining on …

Competition And Resource Partitioning In Two Species Of Cancer (Crustacea, Brachyura), Michael J. Fogarty

Open Access Master's Theses

Interspecific interactions of four decapod (Crustacea) species were assessed in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island using aspects of current community theory. Microhabitat distribution was analyzed for three brachyuran species, Carcinus maenas, Cancer irroratus and Cancer borealis and for the American lobster, Homarus americanus. Various microhabitats differed in spatial heterogeneity and ultimately in available shelter sites. Shelter may constitute a limiting resource and competition for this resource may be important in the structuring of the decapod community.

Habitat selection studies for two of the species, Cancer irroratus and Cancer borealis indicated s reduction in the fundamental niche of Cancer irroratus …

The Effect Of Two Competitive Conditions And A Non-Competitive Condition On Performance And Retention On A Recognition Task, Thomas J. Comiskey

Open Access Dissertations

Based on a review of the literature on competition, several hypotheses on the effects of competitive instructional set on both speed and accuracy measures were explored using a paired associate learning paradigm. One hundred and forty second graders (70 boys and 70 girls) were randomly assigned to three instructional treatments: speed competition, accuracy competition and non-competition. The competitive groups were further divided into relative positions of win, lose and tie; subjects were equally divided by sex, Although the subjects in the speed competition group performed significantly faster than subjects in the other conditions, no significant differences were found between any …

An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Self-Reported Anxiety And Belief In Internal Versus External Control Of Reinforcement, Caroline Salvatore

Open Access Master's Theses

The initial purpose of this study was to explore the reported relationship between subjective, debilitating anxiety and an individual’s perception that he lacks significant control over life situations.

While much previous research suggests the existence of' a positive relationship between anxiety and the variable Rotter has termed external locus of control (LC), these studies have utilized many different measures.

A more refined purpose of the present study thus became the clarification of these constructs through a factor—analytic approach to the following questions: (1) Precisely how are 'anxiety’ and perceived ‘locus of control’ operationally defined by some of the more widely …

An Aerial Photogrammetric Survey Of Long-Term Shoreline Changes, Southern Rhode Island Coast, Donald Robert Regan

Open Access Master's Theses

For shore protection analysis, the collection of data on coastal erosion by extensive field measurements is expensive and is complicated by the problem of extrapolating results obtained from short-term field observations into long-term erosional trends. On the other hand, surveys utilizing quantitative aerial photogrammetric techniques are less expensive than field surveys and accuracy on the order of three meters is possible. Aerial photographs show the location of the beach and features adjacent to the beach. These features can be used as stable locations to reference these shoreline and duneline photogrammetric measurements.

Photogrammetric measurements of the distance from a stable reference …

Particulate Matter In Surface Seawater: Sources, Chemical Composition, And Affinity For The Sea-Air Interface, Gordon T. Wallace Jr.

Open Access Dissertations

An adsorptive bubble separation technique was used to examine the ability of bubbles to transport particulate matter in surface seawater samples. A substantial fraction of the particulate organic carbon (POC) and particulate organic nitrogen (PON) could be recovered in the froth generated by this technique from both estuarine and open-ocean surface waters. Recovery values were lower in samples taken during periods of high productivity. C/N ratios of the particulate matter recovered in the froth were generally not significantly different from the particulate matter not recoverable by this technique. Budget calculations indicated that there was no significant conversion of dissolved organic …

Effect Of Continuous Inhalation Of Ethanol Vapors In The Rat, Steven W. Mann

Open Access Master's Theses

Rats were exposed to continuous inhalation of ethanol vapors in an inhalation chamber plus daily injections of an alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitor pyrazole (68 mg/kg, i.p.). Ethanol vapors entered the inhalation chamber at flow rates of from o.45 liters/min. to 0.95 liters/min. which when mixed with a constant stream of air (5.0 liters/min) produced chamber concentrations of from approximately 8.8 mg/liter to 26.5 mg/liter. Rats exposed to these conditions for 5 to 7 days developed blood ethanol levels of 0.83± 0.09 mg/ml/blood to 2.19 ± 0.14 mg/ml/blood. Administration of pyrazole with or without ethanol caused weight loss in these rats. Rats …

Infrared Photoconductivity In Thin Silver Sulfide Films, Paul Joseph Aceto

Open Access Master's Theses

A study of thermally generated conductivity and photoconductivity in thin layers of silver sulfide is presented.

Silver layers were vacuum deposited on sapphire substrates and transformed into silver sulfide in a sulfur atmosphere at 120° C. The dark current of single element sensors was investigated as a function of temperature and photocurrent was measured as a function of photon flux and wavelength . The samples were photosensitive to radiation in the spectral range 0.7 μm to 1 .8 μm. A maximum photoresponse occurred at a wavelength of 0.8 μm. The photocurrent in general increased with decreasing temperature. The absorption edge …

The Determination Of The Apparent Dissociation Constants For Arsenic Acid In Seawater, Douglas H. Lowenthal

Open Access Master's Theses

The object of this study was the determination of the first, second and third apparent dissociation constants for arsenic acid in seawater, based on a free molal hydrogen scale. This was accomplished through potentiometric monitoring of acid-base titrations of arsenate in artificial seawater and data analysis using a computerized curve fitting technique. Experiments were carried out at atmospheric pressure over a range of salinities and temperatures. Constants determined in artificial seawater and sodium chloride solutions at equal effective ionic strengths were compared in order to evaluate the effects of specific ion interactions on the dissociation of arsenic acid in seawater. …

School Climate And Career Commitment, Joyce P. Allen

Open Access Master's Theses

This study examines the relationship between school climate and career commitment among recruits to the merchant marine. In a crossnational sample of academies in England, Spain and the United States, commitment to a maritime career is found to be associated with the school climate in which training takes place. Specifically, recruits being trained in a climate of high structural rigidity are more likely than recruits being trained in less rigid environments to have made a career decision and to have made that decision in favor of a short career at sea.

Furthermore, the above relationship is shown to be contextual …

Participatory Metaphysics: A Study Of The Thought Of Gabriel Marcel, Theresa Tonon

Open Access Master's Theses

This thesis is concerned with the Philosophy of Gabriel Marcel. Specifically, the emphasis will be on what Marcel takes to be the unique epistemological demands of metaphysical subject matters.

Metaphysics, once considered the "Queen of the Sciences" has for some time been challenged in its position as a legitimate and/or viable philosophical discipline. This attitude toward metaphysics has been expressed in the philosophical community as either active, direct attack or, more recently, passive neglect -- ‘ignore-ance’ -- which perhaps suggests that the dominant feeling among members, the philosophical community may be that metaphysics simply no longer warrants any attention at …

Hypnotic Susceptibility Of Undergraduates: Class Standing, Major, And Sex, Randall B. Plourde

Open Access Master's Theses

The present study in basic research designed to investigate the relationships among the variables of class standing, major, and sex and hypnotic susceptibility of undergraduate students. The results were also to be assessed for indirect indications of a relationship between age and HS and for indirect indications of an increase in HS of undergraduates as a result of contemporary trends such as the popularization of mind altering chemicals. From a pool of over 1,200 volunteers recruited from University of Rhode Island classrooms, 240 undergraduate participants were selected on the basis of specified criteria. The Harvard Group Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale: Form …

Essentialism And Effluvia 1700-1740: A Thematic Study, Robert E. Barletta

Open Access Master's Theses

There have been many explanations offered for the transformation which occurred in natural philosophy during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. One such explanation was that this “scientific revolution” was philosophical, i.e. the chances which occurred in natural philosophy were marked by the transition from an essentialist to a non-essentialist view of nature. The validity of this explanation was investigated by selecting an essentialist theme, effluvial theory, and tracing its development from its origins in renaissance occult philosophy to the incorporation of effluvia into the physical theory of the 17^th and 18^th century natural philosophy. This was accomplished by …

The Solubility Of Calcium Oxalate As A Function Of Dielectric Constant, Justina A. Molzon

Open Access Master's Theses

The solubility of calcium oxalate inonohydrate was determined via atomic absorption spectroscopy in a series of 1-alkanols and ethanol-water mixtures at 25°C., having known dielectric constants. It was found that solubility was linearly related to the dielectric constant of the 1-alkanols. In the ethanol-water mixtures, the solubility isotherm was curvilinear and on a dielectric constant basis an apparent break occurred in the isotherm, at a dielectric constant of sixty. This can be considered to be the point of ionization of divalent cations. The solubility isotherms in the cosolvent mixtures can be considered as repressive ionization phenomena.

Relationships Between Dynamic Nearshore Processes And Beach Changes At Napatree Beach, Rhode Island, Wayne John Coddington

Open Access Master's Theses

The purpose of this project was to study the relationships between dynamic nearshore processes and beach changes at Napatree Beach, Rhode Island. Beach surveys performed from December, 1974 to August, 1975 at six transects show that slight to moderate accretion of sediment occurred at all but one station. Although an overall seasonal cycle of erosion and accretion exists, erosional and accretional beach profiles are not unique to any one season. With the exception of glacial till in the vicinity of Napatree Point, sediment sampling indicated that the dominant sediment size was fine sand. There was little seasonal variation in sediment …

Perception And Evidence, Donald H. Wacome

Open Access Master's Theses

The question as to whether empirical knowledge has any foundations and, if it does, just what those foundations might be, has long been an important epistemological question. The problem with which I am concerned is that of taking primitive sensory experience as the ground of empirical knowledge. I consider three attempts on the part of 20th century British and American analytical philosophers to substantiate our ordinary knowledge claims about an extra-mental, empirical reality. The first of these is the sense-datum approach to the problem, in which by using the act-object analysis of simple sensations, the independent status of things sensed …

Recreation Matrix Study Manual, Charles Eric Abrahamson Jr., Craig Thomas Estes

Open Access Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Land Banking As A Redevelopment Tool For The City Of Providence, Joseph J. Seymour

Open Access Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Agency/Communion Balance And Its Relationship To Sex Role Stereotyping, Dorothy Thompson

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to examine a model of interacting with life situations which does not carry with it the restrictions implicit in the masculinity-femininity-androgeny concepts. However, the model includes positive aspects of behavior generally imbedded in the masculinity- femininity concepts. This model utilizes David Bakan's (1966) concepts of agency and communion, modifying his description of these modes of interacting and positing a complementary (completing, non-conflicting) relation between them. An agency/communion theoretical model was developed which emphasizes the potential for balance between the modes. Problems with the traditional gender dichotomy were discussed. The transcending of sex roles and …

Hydrocarbon Analysis Of Surface Seawater And Beach Sand By Infrared Absorption Methods, Wai-Ping Teresa Lee

Open Access Dissertations

Qualitative and quantitative measurements of hydrocarbon contents in the marine environment are very important because of their persistence and the possible toxicity to all aquatic organisms A rapid method for analyzing hydrocarbons in marine surface estuarine waters and beach sands was developed Infrared spectroscopy was employed as the main analytical tool for both qualitative and quantitative determination of. hydrocarbons found in the marine environment. In addition to infrared spectroscopy, gas chromatography was also used in some parts of this study for characterizing the samples. Thin-layer chromatography was used to separate the sample to its separable fractions according to different polarities. …