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The Messages Of The Restoration: A Study Of The Doctrinal Development Of The Missionary Message Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Sheldon Nixon Jul 2010

The Messages Of The Restoration: A Study Of The Doctrinal Development Of The Missionary Message Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Sheldon Nixon

Theses and Dissertations

Proselyting has always been an important part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in recent history the proselyting message has remained primarily the same. But that was not the case in the earliest days of the Church. When Joseph Smith received his First Vision and started to share that experience to others, the proselyting message of the Church was born. But that message, the message of the Restoration, did not linger on that event for too long. In fact the message of the Restoration underwent a series of evolutions and modifications as the Lord continued to …

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Development Of Psychometrically Equivalent Speech Recognition Threshold Materials For Native Speakers Of Samoan, Jennifer Lane Newman Jul 2010

Development Of Psychometrically Equivalent Speech Recognition Threshold Materials For Native Speakers Of Samoan, Jennifer Lane Newman

Theses and Dissertations

The speech recognition threshold (SRT) is an important measure, as it validates the pure-tone average (PTA), assists in the diagnosis and prognosis of hearing impairments, and aids in the identification of non-organic hearing impairments. Research has shown that in order for SRT testing to yield valid and reliable measures, testing needs to be performed in the patient's native language. There are currently no published materials for SRT testing in the Samoan language. As a result, audiologists are testing patients with English materials or other materials not of the patient's native language. Results produced from this manner of testing are confounded …

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A Computationally-Assisted Methodology For Rapid Exploration Of Design Possibilities In Conceptual Design, Garrett J. Barnum Jul 2010

A Computationally-Assisted Methodology For Rapid Exploration Of Design Possibilities In Conceptual Design, Garrett J. Barnum

Theses and Dissertations

One of the most important decisions in the product development process is the selection of a promising design concept because of the large influence it has on the final product. A thorough search for the best design is a significant challenge to designers, who are trying to balance the objective and subjective performance of the designs they create. In this thesis, a computationally-assisted design methodology is developed and used in the early stages of design to more thoroughly search for designs that perform well according to objective physics-based models and subjective designer-specific preference-based models. The method presented herein uses an …

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Anti-Depressive And Anti-Obesity Changes Following Either Dietary Isoflavone Treatment Or Injection Treatment With The Isoflavonoid Equol: Positive Response Dependent On Animal Age And Ovarian Status In Female Long Evans Rats, Crystal Blake Jul 2010

Anti-Depressive And Anti-Obesity Changes Following Either Dietary Isoflavone Treatment Or Injection Treatment With The Isoflavonoid Equol: Positive Response Dependent On Animal Age And Ovarian Status In Female Long Evans Rats, Crystal Blake

Theses and Dissertations

Two conditions associated with ovarian depletion are increased potential for depressive episodes and increased abdominal weight gain. In five different experiments we examined the effect of soy-containing diets or equol injections on depression, serotonin levels, weight gain (BW) and white adipose tissue (WAT) deposition of female Long-Evans rats in various stages of life. Rats were intact, ovariectomized or experienced natural ovarian failure (NOF). While this paper will present each experiment, only experiment 5 is outlined here due to space limitations. From conception the rats were exposed to either a soy-rich (Phyto-600) or low-soy diet (Phyto-low). Animals experienced NOF at approximately …

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Chronic Amp-Activated Protein Kinase Activation And A High-Fat Diet Have An Additive Effect On Mitochondria In Rat Skeletal Muscle, Natasha Fillmore Jul 2010

Chronic Amp-Activated Protein Kinase Activation And A High-Fat Diet Have An Additive Effect On Mitochondria In Rat Skeletal Muscle, Natasha Fillmore

Theses and Dissertations

Factors that stimulate mitochondrial biogenesis in skeletal muscle include AMPK, calcium, and circulating FFAs. Chronic treatment with either AICAR, a chemical activator of AMPK, or increasing circulating FFAs with a high fat diet increases mitochondria in rat skeletal muscle. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the combination of chronic chemical activation of AMPK and high fat feeding would have an additive effect on skeletal muscle mitochondria levels. We treated Wistar male rats with a high fat diet (HF), AICAR injections (AICAR), or a high fat diet and AICAR injections (HF+AICAR) for six weeks. At the end of …

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Modeling And Support Tools For Studying Disease Spread In Livestock Using Networks, Joel Francis, Greg Klotz, Neil Harvey, Deborah Stacey Jul 2010

Modeling And Support Tools For Studying Disease Spread In Livestock Using Networks, Joel Francis, Greg Klotz, Neil Harvey, Deborah Stacey

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The natural occurrence or intentional release of highly contagious agents of livestock disease can have serious consequences for any country’s agricultural economy. Successful control and management of animal disease outbreaks require that adequate response strategies be developed beforehand. Disease spread simulation models are being used by veterinary epidemiologists to evaluate strategies for the control of disease spread. These models enable decision-makers and emergency preparedness personnel to explore many different scenarios to determine the effects of control measures such as vaccination, and study the likely size, duration and cost of outbreaks. This paper presents an overview of livestock disease spread modeling …

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From Landscape-Scale Models Of Forest Biodiversity Change Towards An Integrated Planning Tool – A Gui For Building Empirical Ecological Extrapolation Models Based On Land Cover Data –, Tobias Lung, Gertrud Schaab Jul 2010

From Landscape-Scale Models Of Forest Biodiversity Change Towards An Integrated Planning Tool – A Gui For Building Empirical Ecological Extrapolation Models Based On Land Cover Data –, Tobias Lung, Gertrud Schaab

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Spatially explicit models linking biological field data with remotely-sensed landcover data have become commonplace for landscape-scale biodiversity assessments, butthey usually neither consider time series data nor include future scenarios. Extrapolationmodels addressing these deficiencies for three keystone species/groups of the Kakamega-Nandi forests in western Kenya proved to be a suitable means for investigating the effectsof long-term land change processes on the development of forest biodiversity in space andtime. However, the experimental modelling design of the approaches is not consideredconvenient for a more comprehensive, interlinked assessment including morespecies/groups and also ecosystem functions and services, nor is it adequate for a stronglocal stakeholder …

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Advances In The Integration Of Watershed And Lake Modeling In The Lake Winnipeg Basin, Luis F. León, William Booty, I. Wong, Craig Mccrimmon, S. J. Melles, G. Benoy, J. Vanrobaeys Jul 2010

Advances In The Integration Of Watershed And Lake Modeling In The Lake Winnipeg Basin, Luis F. León, William Booty, I. Wong, Craig Mccrimmon, S. J. Melles, G. Benoy, J. Vanrobaeys

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Estimating non-point source pollution from watersheds and the effects of mitigation measures (e.g. beneficial management practices or BMPs) is an important step in managing and protecting water quality, not only at the basin level where it originates, but also at the receiving waters such as reservoirs, lakes or oceans. Lake Winnipeg is a prime example of such land-lake interactions, where eutrophication and increased algal blooms in the lake are fueled, as evidence suggests, from agricultural sources of nutrients in the region. Over the years, simulation models at the watershed level have been applied to aid in the understanding and management …

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Evaluating Ecosystem Services Of Afforestation On Erosion-Prone Land: A Case Study In The Manawatu Catchment, New Zealand, Anne-Gaelle Ausseil, John Dymond Jul 2010

Evaluating Ecosystem Services Of Afforestation On Erosion-Prone Land: A Case Study In The Manawatu Catchment, New Zealand, Anne-Gaelle Ausseil, John Dymond

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Land-use change from pasture to forestry can have multiple effects on the environment. In this project, we assessed the impacts of afforestation on erosion-prone land on several ecosystem services in the Manawatu catchment, New Zealand. For 500 high priority farms requiring soil conservation, the land mapped as highly erodible was assumed to be afforested, with two distinct scenarios: conversion of pasture into pine forest or indigenous shrubland. Several models were used to quantify indicators of different ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, non-CO2 gas emission, sediment yield, nitrate export, natural habitat provision, and water yield. The results showed that the pine …

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The Comparision Among Four Carbon Footprint Estimation Boundaries Of The Sectors Using Chongqing As A Case, Liping Ju, Bin Chen Jul 2010

The Comparision Among Four Carbon Footprint Estimation Boundaries Of The Sectors Using Chongqing As A Case, Liping Ju, Bin Chen

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

International negotiations of reducing CO2 emissions address the question of how to meet commitments with more explicit engagment with subnational action and how to account annual CO2 emissions of each sector of one city. This study is to establish the CO2 inventories focused on four tiers of CO2 emissions form each sector, e.g. agriculture, industry, transportation and tertiary industry. Carbon footprint is chosen to evaluate 28 sectors of Chongqing, from four tiers, including direct emissions, emissions from purchased energy, the total supply chain, supply chain plus industrial process. Results showed that the first two tiers, only cover a small fraction …

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Modeling The Adaptation Of Land-Use Decisions To Landscape Changes Using An Agent-Based System: A Case Study In A Mountainous Catchment In Central Vietnam, Quang Bao Le, Roman Seidl, Roland W. Scholz Jul 2010

Modeling The Adaptation Of Land-Use Decisions To Landscape Changes Using An Agent-Based System: A Case Study In A Mountainous Catchment In Central Vietnam, Quang Bao Le, Roman Seidl, Roland W. Scholz

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

A key challenge of land-use modeling for supporting sustainable land management is to understand how environmental feedbacks emerged from land-use actions can reshape land-use decisions in the long-term. To investigate that issue, we use an agentbased land-use change model (LUDAS) developed by Le et al. [2008] based on a case study that was carried out in Hongha watershed (Vietnam). In LUDAS, goal-directed landuse decisions by household agents are explicitly modeled (i.e. agents calculate utilities for all land-use and location alternatives and likely select the alternative with highest utility). The model is run for two mechanisms of adaptation in land-use decisions …

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Linking Wildfire Behaviour And Land-Use Modelling In Northern Mongolia, Christian Schweitzer, Joerg A. Priess Jul 2010

Linking Wildfire Behaviour And Land-Use Modelling In Northern Mongolia, Christian Schweitzer, Joerg A. Priess

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Numerous approaches of modelling wildfires have been published covering the regime itself, ignition probabilities, spreading patterns, risks and impacts. However, there is less research linking these validated mature approaches to dynamics of the terrestrial environment. We contribute to filling this gap via integrating a newly developed wildfire module into a land-use model, enabling us to include wildfire-impacts in dynamic simulations of socio-environmental systems. In the forest steppe region of Northern Mongolia, wildfires are a major concern, threatening grassland and forest areas, which are already under pressure of droughts, heavy grazing, (illegal) logging and increasing firewood demand. We employ the generic …

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Evaluation Of Odour Impact From A Landfill Area And A Waste Treatment Facility Through The Application Of Two Approaches Of A Gaussian Dispersion Model, Y. Ubeda, M. Ferrer, E. Sanchis, S. Calvet, J. Nicolas, P. A. López Jul 2010

Evaluation Of Odour Impact From A Landfill Area And A Waste Treatment Facility Through The Application Of Two Approaches Of A Gaussian Dispersion Model, Y. Ubeda, M. Ferrer, E. Sanchis, S. Calvet, J. Nicolas, P. A. López

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Odour emission from landfill areas has a high potential to cause significantannoyance to people living in their surroundings. In order to avoid odour nuisance, it iscrucial to select the best location in the project phase of these facilities. In the present work,two approaches of the Gaussian atmospheric dispersion model were employed to predictodour impact from a projected landfill area and a waste treatment facility. The firstapproach was a simplified bi-Gaussian Atmospheric Dispersion model developed by theauthors. Calculated odour concentrations were represented using GIS tools (Esri®ArcMapTM software). Regarding the second approach, a commercial bi-GaussianAtmospheric Dispersion one was used. The odour impact …

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A Geosimulation Tool To Assess Intervention Scenarios In Relation To The Spread Of Infectious Disease And Environmental Factors, Mondher Bouden, Bernard Moulin, Pierre Gosselin Jul 2010

A Geosimulation Tool To Assess Intervention Scenarios In Relation To The Spread Of Infectious Disease And Environmental Factors, Mondher Bouden, Bernard Moulin, Pierre Gosselin

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Several approaches have been proposed to model and simulate the spread ofinfectious diseases such as the West Nile virus (WNV). However, these approaches such asmathematical modeling and cellular automata have some weaknesses when trying to modeland simulate the influence of geographic and climatic features on the disease spread and thespatio-temporal interactions of various kinds of actors (e.g. mosquitoes, birds, mammalsand humans in the WNV case). In this context, we propose to apply a geosimulationapproach to remedy some shortcomings of current methods. Using such an approach wedeveloped WNV-MAGS, a tool allowing public health decision policy makers to assessseveral intervention scenarios in …

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User Interaction During The Development Of The Waikato Integrated Scenario Explorer, Hedwig Van Delden, Derek Phyn, Tony Fenton, Beat Huser, Daniel T. Rutledge, Liz Wedderburn Jul 2010

User Interaction During The Development Of The Waikato Integrated Scenario Explorer, Hedwig Van Delden, Derek Phyn, Tony Fenton, Beat Huser, Daniel T. Rutledge, Liz Wedderburn

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The importance of user interaction for the design and development of Decision Support Systems is widely accepted in literature. How this interaction could best take place is however not yet common knowledge and examples of user involvement in the development of Decision Support Systems targeted at environmental policy and sustainable development are scarce. This paper provides a practical example of user involvement during the design, development and implementation of WISE, an Integrated Spatial Decision Support System for planning and policy support for the Waikato region in New Zealand. Focus will be on the process of user involvement during various development …

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Mirana: A Socio-Ecological Model For Assessing Sustainability Of Community-Based Regulations, Sigrid Aubert, Jean-Pierre Müller, Julliard Ralihalizara Jul 2010

Mirana: A Socio-Ecological Model For Assessing Sustainability Of Community-Based Regulations, Sigrid Aubert, Jean-Pierre Müller, Julliard Ralihalizara

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The Malagasy local communities managing forest resources have difficulties in assessing the impacts of the management plans they decide upon. To help them, we have designed an integrated model with the ecological processes, the various regulations (zoning, quota, etc..) and the resulting inhabitants behavior in order to explore the impacts of scenarios. The model MIRANA has been designed using the MIMOSA framework in which one must design a conceptual model using ontologies, annotate the conceptual model with the necessary processes, and design a concrete model from which to generate the simulation model. In MIRANA, the conceptual model is made of …

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Evaluating The Impact Of Climate Change On Global Hpai H5n1 Outbreaks, Zhijie Zhang, Dongmei Chen, Wenbao Liu, Lei Wang Jul 2010

Evaluating The Impact Of Climate Change On Global Hpai H5n1 Outbreaks, Zhijie Zhang, Dongmei Chen, Wenbao Liu, Lei Wang

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses H5N1 have spread throughout Asia, Europe, and Africa in the past decade, raising serious worldwide concerns about a potential new pandemic. Many studies have investigated the spread of the HPAI H5N1 virus and discussed its possible risk factors. However, the climate factor, which can affect the whole process of H5N1 outbreaks, has been greatly ignored. The objective of this preliminary study is to use a GIS-based approach to explore the potential impacts of temperature change on H5N1 outbreaks. We have divided the outbreaks into five epidemic waves. Although the temperature ranges of different epidemic waves …

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A Model-Based Quantitative Assessment Of Ecosystem Services In The Scenarios Of Environmental Management, Peter A. Khaiter, Marina G. Erechtchoukova Jul 2010

A Model-Based Quantitative Assessment Of Ecosystem Services In The Scenarios Of Environmental Management, Peter A. Khaiter, Marina G. Erechtchoukova

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

It is well recognized that ecological systems generate a spectrum of diverse benefits that are vital to humankind. Sustainable environmental management requires an adequate consideration of ecosystem goods and services. The problem, however, is that many of the ecological and social amenities are not currently incorporated into the decision-making process. A fundamental issue is getting at the quantitative characteristics of the ecosystem services. Publications on this matter note that simulation models of the phenomena in question have to be used for this purpose. In fact, a whole family of simulation models is required. Such models should represent the main components …

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Choosing The Right Data Mining Technique: Classification Of Methods And Intelligent Recommendation, Karina Gibert, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, Víctor Codina Jul 2010

Choosing The Right Data Mining Technique: Classification Of Methods And Intelligent Recommendation, Karina Gibert, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, Víctor Codina

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

One of the most difficult tasks in the whole KDD process is to choose the right data mining technique, as the commercial software tools provide more and more possibilities together and the decision requires more and more expertise on the methodological point of view. Indeed, there are a lot of data mining techniques available for an environmental scientist wishing to discover some model from her/his data. This diversity can cause some troubles to the scientist who often have not a clear idea of what are the available methods, and moreover, use to have doubts about the most suitable method to …

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Modeling And Support Tools For Studying Disease Spread In Livestock Using Networks, Joel Francis, Greg Klotz, Neil Harvey, Deborah Stacey Jul 2010

Modeling And Support Tools For Studying Disease Spread In Livestock Using Networks, Joel Francis, Greg Klotz, Neil Harvey, Deborah Stacey

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The natural occurrence or intentional release of highly contagious agents of livestock disease can have serious consequences for any country’s agricultural economy. Successful control and management of animal disease outbreaks require that adequate response strategies be developed beforehand. Disease spread simulation models are being used by veterinary epidemiologists to evaluate strategies for the control of disease spread. These models enable decision-makers and emergency preparedness personnel to explore many different scenarios to determine the effects of control measures such as vaccination, and study the likely size, duration and cost of outbreaks. This paper presents an overview of livestock disease spread modeling …

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The Environmental Systems Modelling Platform (Ensym) To Assess Effects Of Land Use Changes On Groundwater Recharge, J. Ha, M. Eigenraam, G. Forbes, W. Lewis, J. Chua Jul 2010

The Environmental Systems Modelling Platform (Ensym) To Assess Effects Of Land Use Changes On Groundwater Recharge, J. Ha, M. Eigenraam, G. Forbes, W. Lewis, J. Chua

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

This paper describes an application of EnSym (Environmental Systems Modelling Platform)to assess the impacts of climate change on the groundwater levels in Victoria. EnSym isa modular and user-friendly software platform to facilitate the use of environmental modellingtools. It enables easy and rapid evaluation of environmental outcomes due to changes in landmanagement and climatic conditions. It contains a number of toolboxes that deal with differentaspects of the environment including land based biophysical process, groundwater dynamics,spatial and contextual connectivity, and finally, a set of tools for systematic spatial and temporalreporting. In this paper, we apply the biophysical modelling (BioSym) toolbox of EnSym …

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Present Situation Of The Zooplankton Of The Azerbaijani Sector Caspian Sea, A. G. Jalilov Jul 2010

Present Situation Of The Zooplankton Of The Azerbaijani Sector Caspian Sea, A. G. Jalilov

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In the present work the basic attention is given to research of zooplankton which within several years (1999-2006) was under the strongest influence Mnemiopsis leidyi. Last from spontaneous invasion found out on Caspian Sea was Mnemiopsis leidyi. For two (1999 - 2000) year this kind completely "occupied" Average, Southern and a part of Northern Caspian Sea therefore has suffered zooplankton. Have sharply decreased a biodiversity of zooplankton and weight characteristics. The number of kinds of zooplankton was considerably reduced. In 2000 on the average Caspian sea it was totaled 36, in Southern-24 kinds of zooplankton, and in 2001 the qualitative …

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Ecological And Economic Analysis Of Planting Greenhouse Cucumbers With Anaerobic Fermentation Residues, N. Duan, C. Lin, R. Y. Gao, Y. Wang, J. H. Wang, J. Hou Jul 2010

Ecological And Economic Analysis Of Planting Greenhouse Cucumbers With Anaerobic Fermentation Residues, N. Duan, C. Lin, R. Y. Gao, Y. Wang, J. H. Wang, J. Hou

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In this study, the effect of different fertilizers on the nutritional quality, sanitaryquality and the yield of greenhouse cucumbers were analyzed by comparative experimentswith chemical fertilizer and anaerobic fermentation residues (biogas fertilizer). Particularlythe properties of bio-fertilizer and diseases and pests inhibition of biogas fertilizer weredemonstrated and its comprehensive benefits were evaluated. The results show that comparedwith chemical fertilizer, biogas fertilizer increased the dry matter, solids, reductive sugar, Vc,soluble protein of cucumbers by 4.62%, 4.08%, 29.05%, 20.83%, 10.85% respectively; thechlorophyll of leaf was 9.18% higher and the incidence of aphids and mildew 20% and 25%lower respectively. After calculation, the yield was …

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Theoretical Environmental Disciplines In Support Of Sustainable Chemistry, Kristina Voigt, Hagen Scherb, Rainer Brüggemann Jul 2010

Theoretical Environmental Disciplines In Support Of Sustainable Chemistry, Kristina Voigt, Hagen Scherb, Rainer Brüggemann

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

It has been evident for decades that environmental chemicals pose an enormousrisk to the environment as well as to humans. However, this important topic is stillunderestimated in every part of society. The effects of environmental contaminants onhealth are a major concern because exposure is associated with a number of diseases,including cancer, diabetes, congenital malformations and infertility. Sustainable Chemistryis a chemical philosophy encouraging the design of products and processes that reduce oreliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. Sustainability and sustainabledevelopment are effectively ethical concepts, expressing desirable outcomes fromeconomic and social decisions. The important matter of principle, therefore, becomes avictim …

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Choosing The Right Data Mining Technique: Classification Of Methods And Intelligent Recommendation, Karina Gibert, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, Víctor Codina Jul 2010

Choosing The Right Data Mining Technique: Classification Of Methods And Intelligent Recommendation, Karina Gibert, Miquel Sànchez-Marrè, Víctor Codina

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

One of the most difficult tasks in the whole KDD process is to choose the right data mining technique, as the commercial software tools provide more and more possibilities together and the decision requires more and more expertise on the methodological point of view. Indeed, there are a lot of data mining techniques available for an environmental scientist wishing to discover some model from her/his data. This diversity can cause some troubles to the scientists who often have not a clear idea of what are the available methods, and moreover, frequently have doubts about the most suitable method to be …

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Modelling Needs Assessment For Social Adaptation To Climate Change In Siberia, G. A. Alexandrov, G. Inoue, T. Matsunaga Jul 2010

Modelling Needs Assessment For Social Adaptation To Climate Change In Siberia, G. A. Alexandrov, G. Inoue, T. Matsunaga

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Despite the common expectation that climate change may make Siberia a warm heaven, this would not be good for local people. Surprisingly the people of Siberia do rely on the winter cold. Warming may be a serious challenge here. Climate change threatens Siberian forests, lakes and permafrost. In the region where landscapes are unstable this implies the risks of losing the traditional means of subsistence, at least for a while. Social adaptation to climate change is becoming an urgent issue, as the first signs of warming are becoming noticeable to local people. This article reports an attempt to explore the …

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Advances In The Integration Of Watershed And Lake Modeling In The Lake Winnipeg Basin, Luis F. León, William Booty, I. Wong, Craig Mccrimmon, S. J. Melles, G. Benoy, J. Vanrobaeys Jul 2010

Advances In The Integration Of Watershed And Lake Modeling In The Lake Winnipeg Basin, Luis F. León, William Booty, I. Wong, Craig Mccrimmon, S. J. Melles, G. Benoy, J. Vanrobaeys

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Estimating non-point source pollution from watersheds and the effects of mitigation measures (e.g. beneficial management practices or BMPs) is an important step in managing and protecting water quality, not only at the basin level where it originates, but also at the receiving waters such as reservoirs, lakes or oceans. Lake Winnipeg is a prime example of such land-lake interactions, where eutrophication and increased algal blooms in the lake are fueled, as evidence suggests, from agricultural sources of nutrients in the region. Over the years, simulation models at the watershed level have been applied to aid in the understanding and management …

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A Conservation Ontology And Knowledge Base To Support Delivery Of Technical Assistance To Agricultural Producers In The United States, Jack R. Carlson, David B. Butler, Olaf David, Ken W. Rojas, James C. Ascough Ii, George Leavesley, Wendall R. Oaks, Lane C. Price, L.R. Ahuja Jul 2010

A Conservation Ontology And Knowledge Base To Support Delivery Of Technical Assistance To Agricultural Producers In The United States, Jack R. Carlson, David B. Butler, Olaf David, Ken W. Rojas, James C. Ascough Ii, George Leavesley, Wendall R. Oaks, Lane C. Price, L.R. Ahuja

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Information systems supporting the delivery of conservation technical assistance by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to agricultural producers on working lands have become increasingly complex over the past 25 years. They are constrained by inconsistent coordination of domain knowledge across databases, business applications, science models, and other repositories. The extent to which they interoperate is due to implicit understanding of core concepts across business interests. Domain knowledge has been embedded in policy and technical documents for more than 60 years, and with the advent of computing systems, some transformed into metadata of entity-relationship models and data dictionaries. However, …

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Habitat Models As A Research Gap In Biodiversity Conservation In Tropical Rain Forest Of Southeast Asia, Mona Nazeri, Jusoff Kamaruzzaman, Nima Madani Jul 2010

Habitat Models As A Research Gap In Biodiversity Conservation In Tropical Rain Forest Of Southeast Asia, Mona Nazeri, Jusoff Kamaruzzaman, Nima Madani

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Tropical rain forests, the richest terrestrial ecosystem on earth are disappearing due to land use changes mainly agricultural activities and timber logging. Habitat alteration and as a result fragmentation have direct effect on species survival trough lose of connectivity between suitable habitats. Without a doubt the traditional strategies for protecting different wildlife species in this region was not successful enough to guarantee the survival of remaining biodiversity. Distribution modelling which, very little has been studied in the region, is significantly important for biodiversity conservation programs. Distribution data can determine all the areas that can have high potential of occupancy by …

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Decision Support For Environmental Monitoring And Restoration: Application Of The Partially Observable Markov Decision Process, David Tomberlin Jul 2010

Decision Support For Environmental Monitoring And Restoration: Application Of The Partially Observable Markov Decision Process, David Tomberlin

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Environmental monitoring programs can improve management over time, butgenerally require that correspondingly less time and money be put into direct restorationefforts such as revegetation or dam removal. Thus, budget constraints compelenvironmental managers to make difficult decisions regarding the allocation of scarcefunds and personnel between environmental monitoring and environmental restoration.Among other factors, the best allocation of resources between monitoring and restoration—or, more generally, learning and doing—will depend on the quality of information availablefrom a monitoring program. This paper demonstrates the application of the partiallyobservable Markov decision process (POMDP) as a framework for investigating theoptimal intensity of monitoring given stochastic state dynamics …

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