Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

An Ecosystem Approach To Wildlife Management In Wilderness Areas: A Case Study Of The Greater Kluane Region, Lori Katherina Krebs

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This research examines the implications of an ecosystem approach to planning and management for sustainable wildlife populations within a wilderness setting. Kluane National Park Reserve and the surrounding region are the focus of the study, providing a relatively unaltered ecosystem in which to explore certain questions regarding ecosystem-based wildlife management. The ever increasing human population and constant surge of development are placing more and more pressure on remaining natural resources. Wilderness areas and wildlife habitat are disappearing rapidly, and the north is receiving unprecedented activity in the search for remaining resources. Management strategies must be created which will be capable …

Studies Directed Toward The Synthesis Of Germacranolides Via [2+2] Cycloaddition Followed By Ring Expansion/Elimination Of Β-Lactones, Bryan E. Yates

Masters Theses

Exposure of α-trimethylsilyl β-lactones to magnesium bromide or boron trifluoride etherate in diethyl ether solvent resulted in the smooth generation of β,γ-unsaturated acid derivatives in good yield and isomeric purity. It is believed that this reaction occurs via the formation of a stable tertiary carbocation at the γ-carbon resulting from cleavage of the carbon-oxygen sigma bond due to the complexation of the Lewis acid with the ring oxygen atom. Rapid loss of an adjacent electrofuge then furnishes the unsaturated acids. The β-lactone precursors were prepared by a [2+2] cycloaddition of an aldehyde and an alkyl trimethylsilyl ketene. This method was …

A Thermoelastic Model Applied To Stress Control In Laser Heating Of Ceramics, Jeff Alexander Wagner

Theses

Localized laser heating is widely used in materials processing. In extending these techniques to materials with relatively low thermal conductivities and ductilities such as ceramics and glasses, existing methods must be modified to control the high thermal stresses which are associated with the localized heating of these materials. Thermal profiles must be designed to minimize damage to regions adjacent to the processed area. To achieve this with single beam sources the power and radius can be varied in time, or the beam can be moved across the surface in a programmed pattern to achieve the desired thermal profile.

In this …

Catalytic Oxidation Of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons Over Powdered Transition Metal Oxide, Sanmei Xu

Theses

This study addresses the ability of powdered transition metal oxides such as manganese oxide, iron oxide and copper oxide to catalytically oxidize low concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons with air. The catalytic oxidation of trichloroethylene and dichloromethane in a tubular reactor system was evaluated experimentally as a function of temperature and space velocity. Gas chromatography with electron capture detector and flame ionization detector was used for quantitative analysis of feed and product streams. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and gas chromatography/Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to identify all oxidation products. The results indicate that over 99% conversion of trichloroethylene is achieved at …

Source Rock Geochemistry Of The Southern Tyee Basin, Southwest Oregon, David E. Long

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined source rock geochemistry of the southern Tyee Basin. Total organic carbon, rock-eval pyrolysis, vitrinite reflectance, thermal alteration index and visual assessments were performed on splits from cutting samples from five wells and on outcrop samples from four measured sections. Organic matter was found to be dispersed, averaging about 0.5 weight percent. The organic matter is primarily terrestrial in origin, or type I l l , with low potential for gas production and no oil potential. Three coal samples are clearly the richest sources of organic matter examined in this study.

Mesozoic Tectonic Evolution Of The Tiefort Mountains, Ne Mojave Desert, Ca, Kirk A. Stephens

WWU Graduate School Collection

Detailed geologic mapping, petrologic and structural analyses, and U-Pb dating in the Tiefort Mountains, northern Mojave Desert, California, provide constraints on Paleozoic paleogeography and Mesozoic intra-arc tectonics. Geologic mapping in the Tiefort Mountains was used to identify metasedimentary, metaplutonic, and undeformed plutonic rocks. The metasedimentary rocks consist primarily of quartzose schists and gneisses that are correlated with the late-Precambrian Cordilleran miogeoclinal-cratonal sequence of the Johnnie Formation, Stirling Quartzite, and Wood Canyon Formation. Recognition of Precambrian augen gneiss and metasedimentary rocks with miogeoclinal protoliths provides new data on the location of the cratonal-miogeoclinal and miogeoclinal/eugeoclinal paleogeographic boundaries in the Mojave Desert. …

Modelling Time Series Using Time Varying Coefficient Autoregressive Models : With Application To Several Data Sets, Retno Maharesi

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In this thesis the state space approach and the Kalman recursions are used for modelling univariate time series data. The models that are examined in this thesis are time varying Coefficient Autoregressive models, which can be represented in state space form. The coefficients are assumed to change according to a stationary process, a non-stationary process or a random process. In order to be able to estimate these changing unknown coefficients, they will be treated as state variables and the equation describing the changes of the state variables will be given by the state equation. The model can then be expressed …

Downstream Fining In A Mountain Stream Channel Affected By Debris Flow, Craig Emerson Cooper

WWU Graduate School Collection

Grain size of particles tend to become smaller in the downstream direction. Abrasion and selective transport are two sets of processes commonly accepted as explanations for observed trends in fining of sediment. Most recent studies have emphasized the effectiveness of selective transport in producing downstream fining in streams with abundant sediment supply. The contribution of abrasion to particle fining of the coarsest class of particles was investigated in Finney Creek, a high gradient mountain stream in northwest Washington that has a high incidence of sedimentation from debris slides and debris flows. Two dominant rock types comprise the coarsest bed material …

Visualisation Of Inshore Marine Water Depth Data, Karen Powell

Theses : Honours

The literature review performed as part of this Project concentrated on two objectives. The first objective was the identification of techniques applicable to the visualisation of the inshore marine water depth data obtained from the Department of Marine & Harbours (M&H). The second objective involved examining how colour is best used within data visualisation. The experimentation investigated a simple method for interpreting movement between depth surveys undertaken by M&H. Although it achieved the objective of creating a longer and smoother animation, it was concluded that the movement of the harbour floor was not accurately represented. The Project applied an optical …

The Near-Shore, Soft-Substrate Bivalves Of The Swan Estuary: An Assessment Of Their Use As Biological Indicators, Graham Bailey

Theses : Honours

The soft-substrate bivalves of the Swan Estuary were evaluated for their suitability as biological indicators. The major requirement of a biological indicator is that a response to changing conditions can be shown. Demonstrating that bivalve community and populations respond to changing environmental conditions within The Estuary would fulfill this criteria. To make this assessment the study conducted a quantitative sampling program which established the current structure of the near-shore soft-substrate bivalve community and this was compared with the community established in 1973-74. To evaluate the predictive potential of bivalve structure as an indicator, major environmental conditions in the Estuary were …

A Study Of The Approaches And Attitudes Of Information Systems Executives To Measuring Information Systems Effectiveness, Falantina Tjakra

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of the research is to examine the attitudes of IS executives to the current and future importance of some of the approaches to measuring IS efficiency and IS effectiveness in large Australian organisations. The study identified the nature of IS effectiveness approaches along the lines of whether they are business-oriented, IS internal/operational, financial, quantitative or qualitative measures. It also examined whether the structure of the IS management and industry sector had an effect on attitudes towards these measures.

Software Metrics For Monitoring Software Engineering Projects, Edwin C. Lim

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

As part of the undergraduate course offered by Edith Cowan University, the Department of Computer Science has (as part of a year's study) a software engineering group project. The structure of this project was divided into two units, Software Engineering l and Software Engineering 2. ln Software Engineering 1, students were given the group project where they had to complete and submit the Functional Requirement and Detail System Design documentation. In Software Engineering 2, students commenced with the implementation of the software, testing and documentation. The software was then submitted for assessment and presented to the client. To aid the …

The Management Of Information Technology Investments In The Australian Ambulance Services, Anthony J. Ahern

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Information Technology plays a significant role in the administration and operation of most organisations today. This is certainly the case with each of the Australian Ambulance Services. With the rapid increase in the use of Information Technology and the expectation about its use by both staff and the general public, the Ambulance Service managements' are faced with the dilemma of trying to ensure that their organisations are able to get the full advantage of advances in Information Technology and at the same time ensure that investments in IT are maintained at appropriate levels that will ensure the maximum return on …

Applications Of Fuzzy Counterpropagation Neural Networks To Non-Linear Function Approximation And Background Noise Elimination, I. M. Wiryana

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

An adaptive filter which can operate in an unknown environment by performing a learning mechanism that is suitable for the speech enhancement process. This research develops a novel ANN model which incorporates the fuzzy set approach and which can perform a non-linear function approximation. The model is used as the basic structure of an adaptive filter. The learning capability of ANN is expected to be able to reduce the development time and cost of the designing adaptive filters based on fuzzy set approach. A combination of both techniques may result in a learnable system that can tackle the vagueness problem …

A Model Of Visual Recognition Implemented Using Neural Networks, Vincent C. Phillips

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The ability to recognise and classify objects in the environment is an important property of biological vision. It is highly desirable that artificial vision systems also have this ability. This thesis documents research into the use of artificial neural networks to implement a prototype model of visual object recognition. The prototype model, describing a computtional architecture, is derived from relevant physiological and psychological data, and attempts to resolve the use of structural decomposition and invariant feature detection. To validate the research a partial implementation of the model has been constructed using multiple neural networks. A linear feed-forward network performs pre-procesing …

Multigrid Acceleration Of Time-Dependent Solutions Of Navier-Stokes Equations, Sarafa Oladele Ibraheem

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Recent progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics is encouraging scientists to look at fine details of flow physics of problems in which natural unsteady phenomena have hitherto been neglected. The acceleration methods that have proven very successful in steady state computations can be explored for time dependent computations. In this work, an efficient multigrid methods is developed to solve the time-dependent Euler and Navier-Stokes equations. The Beam-Warming ADI method is used as the base algorithm for time stepping calculations. Application of the developed algorithm proved very efficient in selected steady and unsteady test problems. For instance, the inherent unsteadiness present in …

Quaternary Seismic Stratigraphy Of The Inner Shelf And Coastal Zone, Southern Delmarva Peninsula, Virginia, Anthony M. Foyle

OES Theses and Dissertations

The Pleistocene stratigraphic record beneath the Virginia inner shelf is largely unknown. On the adjacent lower Atlantic Coastal Plain of southeastern Virginia, the Pleistocene record consists of seven stacked transgressive sequences, while on the southern Delmarva Peninsula, a series of three transgressive to highstand sequences are developed. Reconstruction of the mid-Atlantic basin margin response to high-frequency Quaternary glacioeustasy is limited by this sparse record of late transgressive through early regressive deposition. Knowledge of high-frequency depositional sequence architecture, developed under conditions of low subsidence (to net uplift) and low sediment input, is also incomplete. The Atlantic inner shelf and coastal zone, …

Invariant Manifolds Of A Toy Climate Model, Michael Toner

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

According to astronomical theory, ice ages are caused by variations in the Earth's orbit. However, ice core data shows strong fluctuations in ice volume at a low frequency not significantly present in orbital variations. To understand how this might occur, the dynamics of a two dimensional nonlinear differential equation representing glacier/temperature interaction of an idealized climate was studied. Self sustained oscillation of the autonomous equation was used to model the internal mechanisms that could produce these fluctuations. Periodic parametric modulation of a damped internal oscillation was used to model periodic climate response at double the external modulation period. Both phenomena …

Invariance Properties Of Statistical Tests For Dependent Observations, Akhil K. Vaish

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

In this dissertation we assume that the observations are from normal populations but are correlated and study the problem of characterizing the class of covariance structures such that the distributions of the popular test statistics remain invariant, that is, they remain the same except for a constant factor. We first obtain some simple extensions and variations of the well known Cauchy-Schwarz inequality. Incidentally, several inequalities that are useful in the detection of outliers can be deduced from our results.

Our main result is a characterization of the class of all nonnegative definite solutions W to the matrix equation AWA = …

Materials Recovery Facilities In The United States Virgin Islands: A Regional Facilities Location Model Study, Lloyd O. Prince Jr.

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Continental municipalities have derived many benefits from the economies of scale associated with a regional approach to facilities location and management planning. Centralized solid waste processing facilities is an example. Island communities, however, surrounded by miles of ocean, are constrained to a fragmented approach to the facilities location solution. This research was conducted to determine if the regional paradigm suggested in the literature is applicable to a set of island communities connected by an ocean transportation infrastructure. A linear programming (LP) model, constraints and data requirements were developed and applied to a network of islands. A series of hypothetical material …

Diagenetic Controls Of Reservoir Quality In The Mississippian Wayne Beds In The Williston Basin, Bottineau County, North Dakota, Michael M. Wetmore

Theses and Dissertations

The carbonate Wayne beds of the Frobisher-Alida interval (Mississippian Mission Canyon Formation) in the Williston Basin, North Dakota, are capable of producing as much as 400,000 barrels of oil per well at depths of only 3,100 feet. Wayne production is from structural traps in the intertidal packstone-wackestone lithofacies; however, the ultimate recoverable reserves of oil per well is controlled neither by structure, nor by depositional environments.

The Wayne beds underwent cementation and micritization in the marine phreatic diagenetic environment. Hypersaline diagenesis caused minor dolomitization and anhydritization. Dissolution and minor cementation occurred in the freshwater vadose zone. Freshwater phreatic diagenesis resulted …

Isostatic Rebound In The Lake Agassiz Basin Since The Late Wisconsinan, Eric C. Brevik

Theses and Dissertations

This study addressed three main questions: I) how thick was the ice that covered the southern Lake Agassiz basin during the Wisconsinan and how much that ice depressed the crust, 2) how much rebound has occurred since deglaciation and whether or not rebound is complete, and 3) what were the effects of this rebound on the basin.

The most direct method of measuring rebound in the Lake Agassiz basin is from strandlines left by glacial Lake Agassiz. The oldest complete strandline, the Herman, presumably rebounded, with the northern end rebounding more because the ice was thicker there and had melted …

Preferential Flow Mechanisms : Their Interaction And Effect On Dye Movement In Till And Glaciolacustrine Sediment, Calvin D. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

Contamination of groundwater by agricultural chemicals is of concern to the population of the Northern Great Plains. Preferential flow (macropore, finger, and funnel) allows such chemicals to move relatively rapidly through materials considered to be aquitards. Preferential flow mechanisms at two sites in North Dakota, one in till, the other in glaciolacustrine sediments were determined by application of blue dye (FD&C No 1) solution to framed sites (9m2 & 4m2) with the topsoil removed. The sites were then cored and blocks hand-excavated to depths of 1.5 and 2.5-meters. The three types of preferential flow (macropore, finger, and funnel) were analyzed …

The Dinoflagellate Flora Of The Late Oligocene - Early Miocene Old Church Formation Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, Alan P. Hoffmeister

OES Theses and Dissertations

The Old Church Formation contains the only presently known exposed Oligocene sediments in the North American mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain. Some ambiguity concerning the exact age of the Old Church Formation exists because it may include both Oligocene and Miocene sediments. Two outcrops and four cores containing the Old Church Formation were examined for dinoflagellates to determine the composition of the dinoflagellate flora in the Old Church Formation, the age of the Old Church Formation as indicated by this flora, general depositional environment of the Old Church Formation and correlative relationships of the Old Church Formation with other Coastal Plain units. …

A High Resolution Gravity Survey For The Detection Of Pleistocene Aquifers Underlying The Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, North Dakota, Mark R. Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

A high resolution gravity survey was performed over portions of McLean, Mountrail, and Ward Counties in central North Dakota during the fall and winter of 1990-1991. The study was performed to locate and map Pleistocene sand and gravel aquifers. Well data indicate that aquifers beneath the study area range in thickness from 1 to 60 meters. The Bouguer gravity anomalies resulting from these shallow aquifers was estimated to be on the order of 1 to 2 mgals. Previous studies have focused on available well data and by mapping topographic lows. Due to the inferential nature of these studies, the detailed …

A Comparison Of Wellhead Protection Area Delineation Methods At Larimore, North Dakota, Barbara L. Sahl

Theses and Dissertations

Many communities in North Dakota rely on water from shallow, unconfined aquifers that are vulnerable to contamination. A strategy to protect public groundwater supplies is the delineation of wellhead protection areas (WHPAs) around the area which contributes water to a well. Several delineation methods are available, all of which have simplifying assumptions which affect the size or shape of a predicted WHPA.

Five WHPA delineation methods were compared to determine which simplified the aquifer/well system while preserving essential hydrogeologic features. A simple system may not require a complex model to predict an accurate WHPA. Sensitivity of each to changes in …

Evaluation Of A Possible Subsurface Impact Crater: The Newporte Structure, Northwestern Renville County, North Dakota, Timothy R. Gerlach

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if enough evidence exists to support an impact origin hypothesis the Newporte structure. Newporte, a petroliferous, subsurface, crater-shaped feature is located one mile south of the North Dakota - Saskatchewan border in Renville County. It is evident in Precambrian through Ordovician strata at depths of 9100 to 9600 ft (2774 to 2926 m) structure is approximately 2.0 miles (J.2 km) in diameter. Shell Oil company discovered Newporte field when testing this seismically-defined structure in 1977.

Seismic reflection profiling data and synthetic seismograms were used to generate maps that confirmed the circularity of …