Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Human Resource Management System, Saurabh Dixit

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to design and create the Online Human Resource System (HRMS) that can be used by a wide variety of groups who deal with the employee. This system is specially designed for the medium-level company which has employees in different locations. The system also tracks the duration of work, experience in different fields and it eliminates a lot of manual paper work between the employee and the human resource department. The important feature of this product is to calculate the W4-form for California employers.

There Are Only Four, Danielle Josette Mccoy

Theses Digitization Project

This paper is an investigation of finite-dimensional normed algebras over the reals from both an abstract and concrete point of view.

Tachyons, Oleksa-Myron Bilaniuk

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Mitigation Under Section 404 Of The Clean Water Act: Where It Comes From, What It Means, Palmer Hough, Morgan Robertson

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

The requirement to mitigate impacts to wetlands and streams is a frequently misunderstood policy with a long and complicated history. We narrate the history of mitigation since the inception of the Clean Water Act Section 404 permit program in 1972, through struggles between the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Army Corps of Engineers, through the emerging importance of wetland conservation on the American political landscape, and through the rise of market-based approaches to environmental policy. Mitigation, as it is understood today, was not initially foreseen as a component of the Section 404 permitting program, but was adapted from …

Thresholds Of Climate Change In Ecosystems: Final Report, Synthesis And Assessment Product 4.2, Craig D. Allen, Charles Birkeland, F. Stuart Chapin, Iii, Peter M. Groffman, Glenn . R. Guntenspergen, Alan K. Knapp, A. David Mcguire, Patrick J. Mulholland, Debra P.C. Peters, Daniel D. Roby, George Sugihara

United States Geological Survey: Publications

As defined in this Synthesis and Assessment Report, ‘an ecological threshold is the point at which there is an abrupt change in an ecosystem quality, property, or phenomenon, or where small changes in one or more external conditions produce large and persistent responses in an ecosystem’.
Ecological thresholds occur when external factors, positive feedbacks, or nonlinear instabilities in a system cause changes to propagate in a domino-like fashion that is potentially irreversible. This report reviews threshold changes in North American ecosystems that are potentially induced by climatic change and addresses the significant challenges these threshold crossings impose on resource and …

Trends In Streamflow Characteristics Of Selected Sites In The Elkhorn River, Salt Creek, And Lower Platte River Basins, Eastern Nebraska, 1928–2004, And Evaluation Of Streamflows In Relation To Instream-Flow Criteria, 1953–2004, Benjamin J. Dietsch, Julie A. Godberson, Gregory V. Steele

United States Geological Survey: Publications

The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources approved instream-flow appropriations on the Platte River to maintain fish communities, whooping crane roost habitat, and wet meadows used by several wild bird species. In the lower Platte River region, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission owns an appropriation filed to maintain streamflow for fish communities between the Platte River confluence with the Elkhorn River and the mouth of the Platte River. Because Elkhorn River flow is an integral part of the flow in the reach addressed by this appropriation, the Upper Elkhorn and Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources Districts are involved in overall management …

Geomorphic Segmentation, Hydraulic Geometry, And Hydraulic Microhabitats Of The Niobrara River, Nebraska—Methods And Initial Results, Jason S. Alexander, Ronald B. Zelt, Nathaniel J. Schaepe

United States Geological Survey: Publications

The Niobrara River of Nebraska is a geologically, ecologically, and economically significant resource. The State of Nebraska has recognized the need to better manage the surface- and ground-water resources of the Niobrara River so they are sustainable in the long term. In cooperation with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the U.S. Geological Survey is investigating the hydrogeomorphic settings and hydraulic geometry of the Niobrara River to assist in characterizing the types of broad-scale physical habitat attributes that may be of importance to the ecological resources of the river system. This report includes an inventory of surface-water and ground-water hydrology …

White-Nose Syndrome Threatens The Survival Of Hibernating Bats In North America, U.S. Geological Survey

United States Geological Survey: Publications

During the winter of 2006/2007, an affliction of unknown origin dubbed “White-Nose Syndrome” (WNS) began devastating colonies of hibernating bats in a small area around Albany, New York. Colonies of hibernating bats were reduced 81-97% at the affected caves and mines that were surveyed. Since then, White-Nose Syndrome has been detected more than 700 kilometers (450 mi) away from the original site, and has infected bats in eight surrounding states. Most species of bats that hibernate in the region are now known to be affected and little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus), northern long-eared bats (M. septentrionalis), …

Water-Level Changes In The High Plains Aquifer, Predevelopment To 2007, 2005–06, And 2006–07, V. L. Mcguire

United States Geological Survey: Publications

The High Plains aquifer underlies 111.6 million acres (174,000 square miles) in parts of eight States—Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. Water-level declines began in parts of the High Plains aquifer soon after the beginning of substantial irrigation with ground water in the aquifer area. This report presents water-level changes in the High Plains aquifer from the time before substantial ground-water irrigation development had occurred (about 1950 and termed “predevelopment” in this report) to 2007, from 2005–06, and from 2006–07. The report also presents the percentage change in saturated thickness of the aquifer, from predevelopment …

Quantifying Equid Behavior—A Research Ethogram For Free-Roaming Feral Horses, Jason I. Ransom, Brian S. Cade

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Feral horses (Equus caballus) are globally distributed in free-roaming populations on all continents except Antarctica and occupy a wide range of habitats including forest, grassland, desert, and montane environments. The largest populations occur in Australia and North America and have been the subject of scientific study for decades, yet guidelines and ethograms for feral horse behavioral research are largely absent in the scientific literature. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fort Collins Science Center conducted research on the influences of the immunocontraceptive porcine zona pellucida (PZP) on feral horse behavior from 2003–2006 in three discrete populations in the American …

Climate Change And Water Resources Management: A Federal Perspective, Levi D. Brekke, Julie E. Kiang, J. Rolf Olsen, Roger S. Pulwarty, David A. Raff, D. Phil Turnipseed, Robert S. Webb, Kathleen D. White

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Many challenges, including climate change, face the Nation’s water managers. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has provided estimates of how climate may change, but more understanding of the processes driving the changes, the sequences of the changes, and the manifestation of these global changes at different scales could be beneficial. Since the changes will likely affect fundamental drivers of the hydrological cycle, climate change may have a large impact on water resources and water resources managers.

The purpose of this interagency report prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Bureau of Reclamation …

Mercury, Methylmercury, And Other Constituents In Sediment And Water From Seasonal And Permanent Wetlands In The Cache Creek Settling Basin And Yolo Bypass, Yolo County, California, 2005−06, Mark Marvin-Dipasquale, Charles N. Alpers, Jacob A. Fleck

United States Geological Survey: Publications

This report presents surface water and surface (top 0-2 cm) sediment geochemical data collected during 2005-2006, as part of a larger study of mercury (Hg) dynamics in seasonal and permanently flooded wetland habitats within the lower Sacramento River basin, Yolo County, California. The study was conducted in two phases. Phase I represented reconnaissance sampling and included three locations within the Cache Creek drainage basin; two within the Cache Creek Nature Preserve (CCNP) and one in the Cache Creek Settling Basin (CCSB) within the creek’s main channel near the southeast outlet to the Yolo Bypass. Two additional downstream sites within the …

Geophysical Log Analysis Of Selected Test Holes And Wells In The High Plains Aquifer, Central Platte River Basin, Nebraska, J. Alton Anderson, Roger H. Morin, James C. Cannia, John H. Williams

United States Geological Survey: Publications

The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Central Platte Natural Resources District is investigating the hydrostratigraphic framework of the High Plains aquifer in the Central Platte River basin. As part of this investigation, a comprehensive set of geophysical logs was collected from six test holes at three sites and analyzed to delineate the penetrated stratigraphic units and characterize their lithology and physical properties. Flow and fluid-property logs were collected from two wells at one of the sites and analyzed along with the other geophysical logs to determine the relative transmissivity of the High Plains aquifer units. The integrated log …

Circulation And Water Property Variations In The Nearshore Alaskan Beaufort Sea (1999 – 2007), Thomas J. Weingartner, Seth L. Danielson, Jeremy L. Kasper, Stephen R. Okkonen

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Six years of current meter and water property data were collected year-round (1999 – 2007) from the landfast ice zone of the nearshore Alaskan Beaufort Sea (ABS). The data show large seasonal differences in the circulation that is defined by the set-up and breakup of the landfast ice. During the open water season (July – mid-October) mid-depth currents often exceed 20 cm-s-1, whereas during the landfast ice season (mid-October – June) these currents are generally <10 cm-s^-1. Tidal currents are feeble (<3 cm-s^-1) year-round and probably do not play a dynamically significant role on the inner shelf.

Most ( …

Greater Platte River Basins–Science To Sustain Ecosystems And Communities

United States Geological Survey: Publications

The Greater Platte River Basins (GPRB), located in the heartland of the United States, provides a collaborative opportunity for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and its partners to understand the sustainability of natural and managed ecosystems under changing climate and resource requirements. The Greater Platte River Basins, an area of about 140,000 square miles, sustains thousands of acres of lakes and wetlands, which provide a staging and resting area for the North American Central Flyway. Part of the GPRB is within the U.S. Corn Belt, one of the most productive agricultural ecosystems on Earth. Changes in water and land use, …

Channel Morphology And Bed Sediment Characteristics Before And After Habitat Enhancement Activities In The Uridil Property, Platte River, Nebraska, Water Years 2005–2008, Paul J. Kinzel

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Fluvial geomorphic data were collected by the United States Geological Survey from July 2005 to June 2008 (a time period within water years 2005 to 2008) to monitor the effects of habitat enhancement activities conducted in the Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust’s Uridil Property, located along the Platte River, Nebraska. The activities involved the removal of vegetation and sand from the tops of high permanent islands and the placement of the sand into the active river channel. This strategy was intended to enhance habitat for migratory water birds by lowering the elevations of the high islands, thereby eliminating a …

Hydrodynamic Simulations Of Physical Aquatic Habitat Availability For Pallid Sturgeon In The Lower Missouri River, At Yankton, South Dakota, Kenslers Bend, Nebraska, Little Sioux, Iowa, And Miami, Missouri, 2006–07, Robert B. Jacobson, Harold E. Johnson Iii, Benjamin J. Dietsch

United States Geological Survey: Publications

The objective of this study was to assess the sensitivity of habitat availability in the Lower Missouri River to discharge variation, with emphasis on habitats that might support spawning of the endangered pallid sturgeon. We constructed computational hydrodynamic models for four reaches that were selected because of evidence that sturgeon have spawned in them. The reaches are located at Miami, Missouri (river mile 259.6–263.5), Little Sioux, Iowa (river mile 669.6–673.5), Kenslers Bend, Nebraska (river mile 743.9–748.1), and Yankton, South Dakota reach (river mile 804.8–808.4). The models were calibrated for a range of measured flow conditions, and run for a range …

Riparian And Associated Habitat Characteristics Related To Nutrient Concentrations And Biological Responses Of Small Streams In Selected Agricultural Areas, United States, 2003–04, Ronald B. Zelt, Mark D. Munn

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Physical factors, including both in-stream and riparian habitat characteristics that limit biomass or otherwise regulate aquatic biological condition, have been identified by previous studies. However, linking the ecological significance of nutrient enrichment to habitat or landscape factors that could allow for improved management of streams has proved to be a challenge in many regions, including agricultural landscapes, where many ecological stressors are strong and the variability among watersheds typically is large. Riparian and associated habitat characteristics were sampled once during 2003–04 for an intensive ecological and nutrients study of small perennial streams in five contrasting agricultural landscapes across the United …

U.S. Pacific Marine Mammal Stock Assessments: 2009, James V. Carretta, Karin A. Forney, Mark S. Lowry, Jay Barlow, Jason Baker, Dave Johnston, Brad Hanson, Robert L. Brownell Jr., Jooke Robbins, David K. Mattila, Katherine Ralls, Marcia M. Muto, Deanna Lynch, Lilian Carswell

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Under the 1994 amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) are required to publish Stock Assessment Reports for all stocks of marine mammals within U.S. waters, to review new information every year for strategic stocks and every three years for non-strategic stocks, and to update the stock assessment reports when significant new information becomes available. This report presents revised stock assessments for 11 Pacific marine mammal stocks under NMFS jurisdiction, including six “strategic” and five “non-strategic” stocks (see summary table in Appendix 3.). A new …

Spatial Modelling And Prediction On River Networks: Up Model, Down Model Or Hybrid?, Vincent Garreta, Pascal Monestiez, Jay M. Ver Hoef

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Preservation of rivers and water resources is crucial in most environmental policies and many efforts are made to assess water quality. Environmental monitoring of large river networks are based on measurement stations. Compared to the total length of river networks, their number is often limited and there is a need to extend environmental variables that are measured locally to the whole river network. The objective of this paper is to propose several relevant geostatistical models for river modeling. These models use river distance and are based on two contrasting assumptions about dependency along a river network. Inference using maximum likelihood, …

Regional Differences In The Spatial And Temporal Heterogeneity Of Oceanographic Habitat Used By Steller Sea Lions, Michelle E. Lander, Thomas R. Loughlin, Miles G. Logsdon, Glenn R. Vanblaricom, Brian S. Fadely, Lowell W. Fritz

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Over the past three decades, the decline and altered spatial distribution of the western stock of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in Alaska have been attributed to changes in the distribution or abundance of their prey due to the cumulative effects of fisheries and environmental perturbations. During this period, dietary prey occurrence and diet diversity were related to population decline within metapopulation regions of the western stock of Steller sea lions, suggesting that environmental conditions may be variable among regions. The objective of this study, therefore, was to examine regional differences in the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of …

Demography And Population Viability Of Polar Bears In The Gulf Of Boothia, Nunavut, Mitchell Taylor, Jeff Laake, Philip Mcloughlin, H. Dean Cluff, Francois Messier

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

We estimated demographic parameters and harvest risks for polar bears (Ursus maritimus) inhabiting the Gulf of Boothia, Nunavut, from 1976 to 2000. We computed survival and abundance from capture–recapture and recovery data (630 marks) using a Burnham joint live–dead model implemented in program MARK. Annual mean total survival (including harvest) was 0.889 ± 0.179 ( x ± 1 SE) for cubs, 0.883 ± 0.087 for subadults (ages 1–4), 0.919 ± 0.044 for adult females, and 0.917 ± 0.041 for adult males. Abundance in the last 3 yr of study was 1,592 ± 361 bears. Mean size of newborn …

Development And Application Of Dna Techniques For Validating And Improving Pinniped Diet Estimates, Dominic J. Tollit, Angela D. Schulze, Andrew W. Trites, Peter F. Olesiuk, Susan J. Crockford, Thomas S. Gelatt, Rolf R. Ream, Kristina M. Miller

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

Polymerase chain reaction techniques were developed and applied to identify DNA from .40 species of prey contained in fecal (scat) soft-part matrix collected at terrestrial sites used by Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in British Columbia and the eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Sixty percent more fish and cephalopod prey were identified by morphological analyses of hard parts compared with DNA analysis of soft parts (hard parts identified higher relative proportions of Ammodytes sp., Cottidae, and certain Gadidae). DNA identified 213 prey occurrences, of which 75 (35%) were undetected by hard parts (mainly Salmonidae, Pleuronectidae, Elasmobranchii, and Cephalopoda), and …

Transformation Of The Offshore Benthic Community In Lake Michigan: Recent Shift From The Native Amphipod Diporeia Spp. To The Invasive Mussel Dreissena Rostriformis Bugensis, Thomas F. Nalepa, David L. Fanslow, Gregory A. Lang

United States Department of Commerce: Staff Publications

1. The native amphipod Diporeia spp. was once the dominant benthic organism in Lake Michigan and served as an important pathway of energy flow from lower to upper trophic levels. Lake-wide surveys were conducted in 1994 ⁄1995, 2000 and 2005, and abundances of Diporeia and the invasive bivalves Dreissena polymorpha (zebra mussel) and Dreissena rostriformis bugensis (quagga mussel) were assessed. In addition, more frequent surveys were conducted in the southern region of the lake between 1980 and 2007 to augment trend interpretation.

2. Between 1994 ⁄1995 and 2005, lake-wide density of Diporeia declined from 5365 to 329 m^-2, …

Spatial Partitioning Of Predation Risk In A Multiple Predator–Multiple Prey System, Todd C. Atwood, Eric Gese, Kyran Kunkel

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Minimizing risk of predation from multiple predators can be difficult, particularly when the risk effects of one predator species may influence vulnerability to a second predator species. We decomposed spatial risk of predation in a 2-predator, 2-prey system into relative risk of encounter and, given an encounter, conditional relative risk of being killed. Then, we generated spatially explicit functions of total risk of predation for each prey species (elk [Cervus elaphus] and mule deer [Odocoileus hemionus]) by combining risks of encounter and kill. For both mule deer and elk, topographic and vegetation type effects, along with …

Development And Evaluation Of A Novel Automated Physchophysical Instrument For The Investigation Of Nyctalopia Using Multiple Stimulus Light Emitting Diode Matrix Display Arrays., David M.C. O'Brien

Doctoral

Vitamin A deficiency primarily affects young children in developing countries, the symptoms of which initially present as nyctalopia, an inability of the eyes of ‘see’ in low luminance levels, specifically at twilight or at night. Vitamin A deficiency is a major cause of blindness in developing countries and is associated with significant increases in child morbidity and mortality. Nyctalopia may be examined using dark adaptometry; however, current methods of dark adaptometry have many practical limitations, including their unsuitability for use with children. This thesis reports on the design, construction, testing and evaluation of a novel automated dark adaptometer for use …

Automated Network Planning For Industrial Ethernet Networks, Holger Machens

Theses

Engineers usually use computer aided methods to ease the increasingly complex planning task of automation plants. One such computer aided method for automated planning of Industrial Ethernet networks under given network QoS requirements is presented in this thesis. The method is based on partitioning the given set of network nodes according to specified communication relationships between the nodes, thereby creating subsets of nodes which are joined using given networking algorithms. Several networking algorithms may be applicable for each subset of nodes and any complete solution is a combination of several partial solutions, one for each subset of nodes. Enumeration through …

The Geometry Of The Space Of Oriented Geodesics Of Hyperbolic 3-Space, Nikos Georgiou

Theses

In this thesis we construct a Kähler structure (J, Ω, G) on the space L(H³) of oriented geodesics of hyperbolic 3-space H³ and investigate its properties. We prove that (L(H³),J) is biholomorphic to (see thesis pdf), and that the Kähler metric G is of neutral signature, conformally flat and scalar flat.

We establish that the identity component of the isometry group of the metric G on L(H³) is isomorphic to the identity component of the hyperbolic isometry group. We show that the geodesics of G correspond to ruled minimal surfaces in H3, which …

A Phenomenographic Study Of Introductory Physics Students: Approaches To Problem Solving And Conceptualisation Of Knowledge., Laura Walsh

Doctoral

This phenomenographic study presents a description of the approaches to problem solving and conceptualisation of physics knowledge of introductory physics students, specifically in the context of the Irish higher education system. Much research has been carried out that has shown that physics students are not developing the conceptual knowledge necessary to become adept problem-solvers. This may be due to the traditional physics education assumption that students will develop an understanding of the conceptual nature of physics by repetitively solving quantitative problems. However, research has shown that this is not the case and that education and the curriculum needs to explicitly …

Enhanced Absorption Metal Oxides For Photocatalytic Applications, Reenamole Georgekutty

Doctoral

Environmental pollution and industrialization on a global scale has drawn attention to the vital need for developing new hygienic and environmentally friendly purification technologies. The most common indoor and outdoor purification process have their corresponding limitations of electricity and/or other energy sources. To address such enormous tasks, advance oxidation technology like heterogeneous photocatalytic systems via metal oxide semiconductors such as TiO2, ZnO, that are capable to operate effectively and efficiently under UV and visible light must be established. Due to the wide band gap of semiconductors, they are unable to absorb visible light. Hence, numerous research efforts have been done …