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2007

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Evaluation Of Consolidation Parameters Of Cohesive Soils Using Pcpt Method, Rohit Raj Pant Jan 2007

Evaluation Of Consolidation Parameters Of Cohesive Soils Using Pcpt Method, Rohit Raj Pant

LSU Master's Theses

The piezocone penetration test (PCPT) has emerged as most widely used in situ method for obtaining soil profile as well as physical properties. The PCPT method provides three independent and nearby continuous measurements with the depth; they are: tip stress (qc), sleeve friction (fs) and pore pressure (u1, u2, or u3). These measurements have been successfully used to correlate various soil properties such as undrained shear strength, unit weight and consolidation parameters. This study presents the evaluation of the PCPT interpretation methods for their capability to reasonably estimate the consolidation parameters namely constrained modulus, overconsolidation ratio and vertical coefficient of …

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Relationships Between Macroinvertebrate Communities And Environmental Characteristics Of Headwater Streams In Central Louisiana, Adrienne Viosca Jan 2007

Relationships Between Macroinvertebrate Communities And Environmental Characteristics Of Headwater Streams In Central Louisiana, Adrienne Viosca

LSU Master's Theses

Headwater streams are an integral part of any watershed system because they strongly influence the physical, chemical, and biological components of downstream reaches. Little information exists about macroinvertebrate community structure, spatiotemporal variation, or their relationships with environmental factors in low-gradient headwater streams of the subtropical coastal plain region in the Southern US. These headwater streams are typically slow moving, capable of accumulating large amounts of organic material, and often become intermittent during the dry season. Research is needed to understand the effects of these unique characteristics on stream health and ecology. This study aimed to determine aquatic macroinvertebrate community structure, …

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Analysis Of Miocene Stratigraphy And Sedimentology In The Ross Sea, Antarctica: A First Order Test Of Proxy Based Climate Interpretations, Samuel Gray Jan 2007

Analysis Of Miocene Stratigraphy And Sedimentology In The Ross Sea, Antarctica: A First Order Test Of Proxy Based Climate Interpretations, Samuel Gray

LSU Master's Theses

During the Cenozoic, the climate progressed from global warmth into an icehouse world. This study investigates the links between the development of the climate and cryosphere using sediment flux and stratal geometries. The current polar conditions are characterized by dry basal conditions, which due to minimal melt water produce significantly less sediment than their temperate counterparts. Therefore, the transition from temperate to polar conditions should have resulted in marked decrease in sediment flux and change in stratal geometries in adjacent marine margins. Regional seismic stratigraphic evidence clearly suggests that ice has been intermittently grounded on the Ross Sea outer continental …

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Use Of An Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution Model To Assess Impacts Of Development And Management Practicies [Sic] In An Urban Watershed, John Admiral Cross Jan 2007

Use Of An Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution Model To Assess Impacts Of Development And Management Practicies [Sic] In An Urban Watershed, John Admiral Cross

LSU Master's Theses

A Geographical Information System (GIS) linked to a Non-Point Source (NPS) model are being used to predict the effectiveness of storm water management strategies and examine the impact of proposed land use changes on Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) attainment. This study tests a methodology for analyzing land use changes and management using GIS analyses of impervious surfaces and AGricultural Non-Point Source (AGNPS) pollution modeling in an approximate 1100 acre urban watershed located in East Baton Rouge Parish (EBRP), Louisiana. The GIS analyses of Total Impervious Area (TIA) quantified increases in urbanization and provided land use data utilized in AGNPS …

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Accuracy Of Cranial Coplanar Beam Therapy With Brainlab Exactrac Image Guidance, Justin Vinci Jan 2007

Accuracy Of Cranial Coplanar Beam Therapy With Brainlab Exactrac Image Guidance, Justin Vinci

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: To develop a system for measuring 2D dose distributions in the cranium and to use this system to evaluate the accuracy of coplanar conformal therapy using ExacTrac image guidance. Methods: Techniques were developed to measure dose distributions in each principal plane using a CIRS anthropomorphic head phantom with a custom internal film cassette. Sections of EDR2 film were cut, processed, and digitized using custom templates. Spatial and dosimetric accuracy and precision of the film system was assessed. BrainScan was used to plan a coplanar-beam treatment conforming to irradiate a 2-cm diameter x 2-cm cylindrical target. Prior to delivery phantom …

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Early Flotant Establishment And Growth Dynamics In A Nutrient Amended Wetland In The Lower Mississippi River Delta, Caleb W. Izdepski Jan 2007

Early Flotant Establishment And Growth Dynamics In A Nutrient Amended Wetland In The Lower Mississippi River Delta, Caleb W. Izdepski

LSU Master's Theses

Nutrient dynamics and seasonal marsh growth were examined in a newly formed Panicum virgatum floating marsh at Thibodaux LA. The floating marsh formed in a cleared area of forested wetland receiving secondarily treated effluent. Net Areal Primary Productivity (NAPP), total belowground biomass, NO3, and δ15N ratios varied significantly (P <0.05) along a 75m marsh transect while mean δ13C varied between plant species. The upland end of the transect had the highest NAPP (3876 g m-2y-1), total belowground biomass (4079.0 ± 298.5 g m-2), and mean NO3 (5.4 ± 2.9 mg l-1). The mean floating-marsh …

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An Analysis Of The Processor Preferences For The Adoption Of Potential Crawfish Peeling Machines, Darius J. Lewis Jan 2007

An Analysis Of The Processor Preferences For The Adoption Of Potential Crawfish Peeling Machines, Darius J. Lewis

LSU Master's Theses

Over the past decade, the peeling segment of the Louisiana crawfish industry has faced the challenge of remaining competitive in an increasingly global market. Since the mid-1990’s, there has been escalated discussion among Louisiana crawfish processors on the need for a crawfish peeling machine. The International Trade Commission determined that the U.S. crawfish industry had been “materially injured” by the imported tailmeat and ruled China was, in fact, dumping crawfish in the U.S. by selling below fair market value in the host country. The development of a suitable crawfish peeling machine could potentially increase production and lower cost of production, …

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Quantifying The Edge Effects Associated With Predator Removal Blocks On The Nesting Success Of Upland Ducks In North Dakota, Margaret Jean Kuhn Jan 2007

Quantifying The Edge Effects Associated With Predator Removal Blocks On The Nesting Success Of Upland Ducks In North Dakota, Margaret Jean Kuhn

LSU Master's Theses

Much evidence suggests that nest success is one of the key drivers of duck production. Accordingly, for the past thirty years, waterfowl managers have focused their efforts on increasing nest success. One way to increase nest success is through predator trapping. Previous studies have shown that predator trapping increases nest success on different sized trapped blocks. This study attempted to answer the question: does trapping affect nest success on areas directly adjacent to trapped block boundaries? I hypothesized that predator abundance outside trapped blocks would be reduced. I predicted that nest success would decline with distance from the boundary while …

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Study Of Ranking Irregularities When Evaluating Alternatives By Using Some Electre Methods And A Proposed New Mcdm Method Based On Regret And Rejoicing, Xiaoting Wang Jan 2007

Study Of Ranking Irregularities When Evaluating Alternatives By Using Some Electre Methods And A Proposed New Mcdm Method Based On Regret And Rejoicing, Xiaoting Wang

LSU Master's Theses

Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) is one of the most widely used decision methodologies in the sciences, business, and engineering worlds. MCDM methods aim at improving the quality of decisions by making the process more explicit, rational, and efficient. One intriguing problem is that oftentimes different methods may yield different answers to the same decision problem. Thus, the issue of evaluating the relative performance of different MCDM methods is raised. One evaluating procedure is to examine the stability of an MCDM method’s mathematical process by checking the validity of its proposed rankings. The ELECTRE II and III methods are two well-known MCDM …

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Somatic Computationalism: Damasio's Clever Error, Christopher D. Pope Jan 2007

Somatic Computationalism: Damasio's Clever Error, Christopher D. Pope

LSU Master's Theses

Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio wrote a book entitled DESCARTES’ ERROR (1994) in order to address popular misconceptions about the mind, particularly those which relate to Cartesian philosophy. One of the author’s major goals for the book is to argue that emotion contributes to reason, that emotion is in fact necessary for rational thought to occur. In order to link emotion to reason, Damasio proposes a theory of mind which explains several mental functions in terms of neurological representations. Consciousness, reason, instinct and emotion all occur because the brain forms representations of the subject’s body and of the world in which the …

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Bulletin: General Catalog Issue 2007-2008, Portland State University Jan 2007

Bulletin: General Catalog Issue 2007-2008, Portland State University

Bulletin & Curriculum Change Documents

No abstract provided.

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Curriculum Change 2007-2008, Portland State University Jan 2007

Curriculum Change 2007-2008, Portland State University

Bulletin & Curriculum Change Documents

No abstract provided.

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Effects Of Predator Activity On The Nesting Of American Black Ducks And Other Birds On Barrier Islands In The Mid-Atlantic Coast, Brian Joseph Arquilla Jan 2007

Effects Of Predator Activity On The Nesting Of American Black Ducks And Other Birds On Barrier Islands In The Mid-Atlantic Coast, Brian Joseph Arquilla

LSU Master's Theses

Landscape change throughout North America has resulted in heightened nest predator population and declining avian productivity. Essential to establishing effective management design is an understanding of differential predation pressure among avian groups as group specific responses to predation impact may exist. The objective of this study was to examine the efficacy of predator trapping on the nest success and density of ground nesting avifauna in 2004-2005 in the Virginia Coast Reserve, specifically dabbling ducks, Canada Goose and Willet. Second, we determine the impact of predation on ground nesting birds by relating indices of predator abundance to nest density and nest …

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A Study Of Subsurface Vapor Intrusion From Exploration & Production Waste, Daniel Dawson Wascom Jan 2007

A Study Of Subsurface Vapor Intrusion From Exploration & Production Waste, Daniel Dawson Wascom

LSU Master's Theses

Expanding city growth is causing the inhabitants of Louisiana to move further into rural areas. Abandoned oil and gas production sites are being used for residential and light commercial purposes. This thesis will attempt to determine if known benzene levels in Exploration and Production (E&P) waste will be harmful to human health via subsurface vapor intrusion into the newly developed residential and light commercial structures. Louisiana does not currently regulate benzene during the closure of pits that contained E&P waste. Current pit closure techniques warrant testing for benzene Based on current Louisiana legislation, benzene contamination of groundwater is currently the …

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Direct White Sugar Production: Optimization And Chemical Regeneration Of Fixed-Bed Activated Carbon Adsorbers, Raul Alejandro Cortes Jan 2007

Direct White Sugar Production: Optimization And Chemical Regeneration Of Fixed-Bed Activated Carbon Adsorbers, Raul Alejandro Cortes

LSU Master's Theses

A system for the direct production of white sugar from clarified sugar cane juice in a raw sugar factory has been developed at the Audubon Sugar Institute. This Direct White Sugar Production (DWiSP) system employs a series of columns packed with adsorbent media. Activated carbon is used in the first column(s) as a filter and bulk decolorizer. Ion exchange resins are then used to remove ash and remaining color. Batch testing was performed in order to determine equilibrium parameters. An analytical model was utilized in conjunction with column loading tests to determine dynamic characteristics of the carbon adsorber for use …

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Hurricane Modeling In Gis: An Investigation Of Threshold Storm Events Affecting Special Medical Needs Populations In Coastal Louisiana, Kathryn Emily Streva Jan 2007

Hurricane Modeling In Gis: An Investigation Of Threshold Storm Events Affecting Special Medical Needs Populations In Coastal Louisiana, Kathryn Emily Streva

LSU Master's Theses

Recent hurricane events in coastal Louisiana have emphasized the severe vulnerability of medical special needs (MSN) patients during flood disasters. MSN populations may be comprised of hospital, nursing home or hospice patients; the physically or mentally disabled; medically-dependent individuals requiring life-sustaining equipment or medicines; and frail elderly. Over 150 hospital and nursing home fatalities resulted from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. More than four hundred elderly over the age of seventy perished. Chronic diseases and mental health illness were among the top conditions reported in field hospitals, emergency rooms and shelters immediately following the storm. Louisiana MSN facilities and residences …

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Evaluation Of Harvesting Disturbance And Establishment Practices On Early Height Growth Of Loblolly Pine (Pinus Taeda L.), Shanna Marie Mccarty Jan 2007

Evaluation Of Harvesting Disturbance And Establishment Practices On Early Height Growth Of Loblolly Pine (Pinus Taeda L.), Shanna Marie Mccarty

LSU Master's Theses

Land for forest plantations is declining while demand for forest products is increasing, creating concern over sustainable forest management. Maintenance of site productivity is fundamental to forest sustainability, and an assessment of cumulative height growth is a useful index of productivity. Loblolly pine height data were used from four research plantations installed by the project Cooperative Research in Sustainable Silviculture and Soil Productivity from Texas to Georgia. The sites vary in soil characteristics, management history, nutrient status at time of planting, and age (from 4 to 9 years). Each site is a randomized complete block design with a factorial treatment …

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The Ecology Of Blacktail Redhorse Moxostoma Poecilurum In West Fork Thompson Creek, Louisiana, Jesse Adam Bahm Jan 2007

The Ecology Of Blacktail Redhorse Moxostoma Poecilurum In West Fork Thompson Creek, Louisiana, Jesse Adam Bahm

LSU Master's Theses

This study was designed to examine home range sizes and habitat use of blacktail redhorse Moxostoma poecilurum in West Fork Thompson Creek, Louisiana. Blacktail redhorse are a common non-game species found in Louisiana and other southeastern states. Adult blacktail redhorse (N=40; 187-273 mm total length) were implanted with radio transmitters and tracked twice weekly from February to September 2006 and from February to July 2007. To assess blacktail redhorse diet I analyzed 32 stomachs from fish collected by backpack electrofishing. I also conducted mark-recapture surveys of fish sampled monthly from May 2006 until July 2007. To assess homing ability in …

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Protocol Development For Pro-Active Emergency Responses By Veterinary Clinics And Hospitals, Laura Marie Basirico Jan 2007

Protocol Development For Pro-Active Emergency Responses By Veterinary Clinics And Hospitals, Laura Marie Basirico

LSU Master's Theses

The Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2005 necessitated the development of a guidance document concerning emergency preparedness and response for veterinary clinics and hospitals. The aftermaths of the largest natural disasters in United States' history, namely Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, brought to light the need for a protocol designed specifically for veterinarians and veterinary practitioners. Disaster management information was synthesized and modified to be subject-specific for the veterinary community. This synthesis resulted in the creation of the Veterinary Emergency Preparedness and Response (VEPR) manual and website. Two types of data were collected to develop the emergency protocol; interviews with veterinarians and …

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Assessment And Analysis Of Quikscat And Coamps Model Vector Wind Products For The Gulf Of Mexico: A Long-Term And Hurricane Perspective, Neha Sharma Jan 2007

Assessment And Analysis Of Quikscat And Coamps Model Vector Wind Products For The Gulf Of Mexico: A Long-Term And Hurricane Perspective, Neha Sharma

LSU Master's Theses

Global weather changes have become a matter of grave concern in hurricane prone areas as intensities of hurricanes are observed to be increasing every year, necessitating improved monitoring capabilities. NASA’s QuikSCAT satellite sensor has provided significant support in analyzing and forecasting winds for the past 8 years. In this study, the performance of QuikSCAT products, including JPL’s latest L2B 12.5km swath winds, was evaluated against buoy-measured winds in the Gulf of Mexico. The long-term study period was 1/2005 – 2/2007. The Coupled Ocean/Atmospheric Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS) was also assessed. The regression analyses showed very good results for QuikSCAT products, …

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Implied World Views In Pictures: Reflections From A Cognitive Psychological And Anthropological Point Of View, Michael Ranta Jan 2007

Implied World Views In Pictures: Reflections From A Cognitive Psychological And Anthropological Point Of View, Michael Ranta

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

In traditional art history, iconological attempts to analyze visual works of art by treating their formal and semantic features as symptoms of more general, implied world views or cultures have occurred rather frequently. Still, such attempts have been criticized for permitting subjective and non-verifiable interpretations. In this paper, however, I will argue that (i) pictorial works of art indeed imply wider world views or schemata, and (ii) that our comprehension of these schemata can be explained by taking into account recent research within cognitive psychology. More specifically, I will argue that intelligence partly consists of the storage and retrieval of …

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Nietzsche's Debt To Kant's Theory Of The Beautiful In 'Birth Of Tragedy', R. Kevin Hill Jan 2007

Nietzsche's Debt To Kant's Theory Of The Beautiful In 'Birth Of Tragedy', R. Kevin Hill

Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nietzsche describes Birth of Tragedy as a contribution to “the science of aesthetics”. In this paper, I will argue that a crucial influence on his emerging views was Kant’s Critique of Judgment. Nietzsche’s early aesthetic views are often attributed to some combination of Schopenhauer’s analyses of the plastic arts (inspiring Nietzsche’s conception of the Apollinian) and his analysis of music (inspiring Nietzsche’s conception of the Dionysian) along with Nietzsche’s own original insights into how these combine to form the tragic. As we shall see, the resources of Schopenhauer’s aesthetics were unavailable to Nietzsche due to epistemological commitments he had …

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Portland State Magazine, Portland State University. Office Of University Communications Jan 2007

Portland State Magazine, Portland State University. Office Of University Communications

Portland State Magazine

PSU’s alumni magazine, published 2-3 times a year. In this issue: It’s murder told in an unusual way that has this English professor fascinated; students chronicle their Education Abroad experiences through winning photographs; new chemistry faculty and facilities are advancing drug discovery and development; and more.

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Forbidding And Enforcing Of Formal Languages, Graphs, And Partially Ordered Sets, Daniela Genova Jan 2007

Forbidding And Enforcing Of Formal Languages, Graphs, And Partially Ordered Sets, Daniela Genova

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Forbidding and enforcing systems (fe-systems) provide a new way of defining classes of structures based on boundary conditions. Forbidding and enforcing systems on formal languages were inspired by molecular reactions and DNA computing. Initially, they were used to define new classes of languages (fe-families) based on forbidden subwords and enforced words. This paper considers a metric on languages and proves that the metric space obtained is homeomorphic to the Cantor space. This work studies Chomsky classes of families as subspaces and shows they are neither closed nor open. The paper investigates the fe-families as subspaces and proves the necessary and …

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Johnson’S System Of Distributions And Microarray Data Analysis, Florence George Jan 2007

Johnson’S System Of Distributions And Microarray Data Analysis, Florence George

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Microarray technology permit us to study the expression levels of thousands of genes simultaneously. The technique has a wide range of applications including identification of genes that change their expression in cells due to disease or drug stimuli. The dissertation is addressing statistical methods for the selection of differentially expressed genes in two experimental conditions. We propose two different methods for the selection of differentially expressed genes. The first method is a classical approach, where we consider a common distribution for the summary measure of equally expressed genes. To estimate this common distribution, the Johnson system of distribution is used. …

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Transfer Track Versus Workforce Development: Implications For Policy Change In Florida Community Colleges, Karen Griffin Jan 2007

Transfer Track Versus Workforce Development: Implications For Policy Change In Florida Community Colleges, Karen Griffin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Policy-makers intend community colleges to be the primary vehicles for workforce development education and training. In support of this intent, community college mission statements and curricular patterns should clearly indicate a workforce emphasis. Do these statements and curricular patterns reflect policy intent? If not, are resources being directed appropriately? This study was conducted to determine whether the current composition of the overall Florida public community college curriculum and the content of Florida public community college mission and planning statements provided evidence to support Florida leadership policy statements that portray workforce development as a primary component of the community college mission. …

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Transport Characteristics Using Nor- Dihydroguaiaretic Acid (Ndga)- Polymerized Collagen Fibers As A Local Drug Delivery System, Eric Guegan Jan 2007

Transport Characteristics Using Nor- Dihydroguaiaretic Acid (Ndga)- Polymerized Collagen Fibers As A Local Drug Delivery System, Eric Guegan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dexamethasone and dexamethasone 21-phosphate were loaded into NDGA-polymerized collagen fibers and release rate studies were performed to calculate their diffusion coefficients. Dexamethasone loaded fibers were placed in a PBS solution for specified time intervals (1, 3, 6, 7, 12, 24, 30, and 48 hours) after which the eluant was removed and analyzed by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). CZE is a tool that can be utilized for quantitative analysis of chemical compounds. This data was incorporated into mathematical models to determine the diffusion coefficient. The diffusion coefficient (D) for dexamethasone in NDGA-polymerized collagen fibers is D = 1.86 x 10-14 …

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Comprehensive School Reform In The Wake Of No Child Left Behind: Teacher Perceptions In Dodgeland, Allyson Regina Haag Jan 2007

Comprehensive School Reform In The Wake Of No Child Left Behind: Teacher Perceptions In Dodgeland, Allyson Regina Haag

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an analysis of teacher perceptions of the implementation of their school's comprehensive school reform, and the George W. Bush administration's federal educational policy, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Data were collected by a research team as a part of the National Longitudinal Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reform (NLECSR), a project under the direction of the American Institutes for Research (AIR). The thesis is a supplemental qualitative analysis by the author who was part of the NLECSR research team from 2004 through 2005. The NLECSR had a quantitative component (called the Core Study) consisting of a …

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Development Of A Method To Determine Vapor Pressure Data Of Low Volatile Chemicals From A Knudsen Effusion Technique, Andrew R. Harshman Jan 2007

Development Of A Method To Determine Vapor Pressure Data Of Low Volatile Chemicals From A Knudsen Effusion Technique, Andrew R. Harshman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Vapor pressure data are vital to understanding impacts that substances, specifically pesticides, may exert on the environment. They enter into atmospheric deposition models for such chemicals which determine the fate and transport of these species in the environment. At normal application temperatures (i.e. room temperature) the vapor pressures of many of these chemicals are too low to be determined by conventional means. An isothermal Knudsen effusion technique was designed and developed in our laboratory for such measurements. The effusion mass as a function of time is measured in our technique using a thickness shear mode (TSM) acoustic wave sensor, which …

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A Gis-Based Inventory Of Terrestrial Caves In West-Central Florida: Implications On Sensitivity, Disturbance, Ownership, And Management Priority A Gis-Based Inventory Of Terrestrial Caves In West-Central Florida: Implications On Sensitivity, Disturbance, Ownership, And Management Priority, Grant L. Harley Jan 2007

A Gis-Based Inventory Of Terrestrial Caves In West-Central Florida: Implications On Sensitivity, Disturbance, Ownership, And Management Priority A Gis-Based Inventory Of Terrestrial Caves In West-Central Florida: Implications On Sensitivity, Disturbance, Ownership, And Management Priority, Grant L. Harley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Active cave management, which represents any continuous action to conserve, restore, or protect a cave environment, is virtually non-existent in west-central Florida. This study focuses on developing an inventory to rank terrestrial caves in west-central Florida by management priority. A GIS-based cave inventory system, including a cave sensitivity index and cave disturbance index, were used as a tool to gain an understanding of the management priority of west-central Florida caves. The inventory was applied to 36 terrestrial caves in west-central Florida, which demonstrated a wide range of sensitivity and disturbance. The results show that by relying solely on sensitivity and …

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