Gates to Gregg High Voltage Transmission Line Study

The usefulness of LANDSAT data in the planning of transmission line routes was assessed. LANDSAT digital data and image processing techniques, specifically a multi-date supervised classification aproach, were used to develop a land cover map for an agricultural area near Fresno, California. Twenty-six land cover classes were identified, of which twenty classes were agricultural crops. High classification accuracies (greater than 80%) were attained for several classes, including cotton, grain, and vineyards. The primary products generated were 1:24,000, 1:100,000 and 1:250,000 scale maps of the classification and acreage summaries for all land cover classes within four alternate transmission line routes

What is behind the variation in mate quality dependent sex ratio adjustment? - A meta-analysis

Theory predicts that parents adjust the sex ratio of their brood to the sexually selected traits of their mate because the reproductive success of sons may be more dependent on inherited paternal attractiveness than that of daughters. Empirical studies vary in terms of whether they support the theory, and this variation has often been regarded as evidence against sex ratio adjustment or has been ascribed to methodological differences. Applying phylogenetic meta-analyses, we aimed to find biological explanations for the variation observed in songbirds. In particular, we tested the role extra-pair paternity, because infidelity occurs in the majority of these species and may reduce the adaptive value of adjusting brood sex ratio to the phenotype of the social mate. However, we found that the variation in effect sizes was unrelated to the proportion of extra-pair paternity. Thus future studies should consider that mate quality dependent sex ratio adjustment may be driven by direct (material) rather than indirect (genetic) benefits. We also tested if the effect sizes are influenced by whether the focal male trait is indeed under sexual selection as it is assumed by the sex allocation theory. We found that for male traits with proven role in sexual selection, effect sizes significantly differed from the null expectation of random production of sons and daughters. For male traits with only presumed sexual role in sexual selection, the deviation from the null expectation was less convincing, and the effect sizes were significantly smaller. This result indicates that studies that neglect the assumptions of the hypotheses concerned, may lead to the underestimation of the mean effect size and, eventually, false conclusions

Stadium Neighborhood Underground Parkade and Water Storage

We have prepared a detailed design report for the University of British Columbia (UBC), Campus and Community Planning department, as part of the Social, Ecological, Economic Development Studies program. Our team has been retained as the owner’s engineer on the Stadium Road Neighbourhood Underground Parkades and Water Storage project. This report will provide a summary of work completed, including stormwater analysis, geotechnical considerations, hydraulic analysis, culvert design, parkade design, and construction plan, construction schedule, and financial costs. The project has both primary and secondary objectives. The primary objective of the project is stormwater management of the site area, and the secondary objective is the design and integration of a parkade into the Stadium Neighbourhood. To meet client requirements, both daily precipitation and emergency storm water events will be included in the stormwater analysis. The parkade design will be inclusive of both current and future residential needs. The majority of the stormwater storage capacity will be provided by a bioswale running between the travel lanes of West 16th Avenue. The bioswale will be 380m in length and range from 6.1m to 10.6m in width. The depth of the swale will be 2m from the top of wall to the top of bedding soil. The bedding soil will be 0.2m deep to allow it to act as an adequate growing median for the plants, including bullrush. The retaining walls of the swale will be 0.15m wide, and 4.3m deep and secure with anchor rods to prevent overturning. The bottom slab of the swale will be 0.45m deep, with 20M rebar at 300mm spacing to provide appropriate structural capabilities. Three pumps in series will recirculate water from the bottom of the swale to the top. In addition, a 2% slope will be maintained through the length of the swale; both of these measures will prevent water from remaining stagnant throughout the swale. A pedestrian crossing will be constructed midway along the length, with an 870mm corrugated steel pipe. The underground parkade will measure 110m by 62m and be integrated into the stadium structure. The parkade will act as event parking, in addition to considering transportation projections and sustainable development. The parkade will require a 250mm thick, 13m deep concrete diaphragm wall with 9m anchor rods. The base slab will consist of 420mm concrete slab with 6-25M rebar, and a 450mm slab with 25M rebar at 80mm will form the roof. In each direction, ten Concrete beams sized 800mm x 400mm with 4-25M rebar will carry the loads to 970mm x 970 mm columns with 12-20M rebar. The parkade will replace the current number of stalls that are provided, coming to a total of 150 stalls. This will include 15 electric vehicle charging stations. Finally, the parkade will include 50 class A bike storage spaces. The construction of the bioswale and parkade is expected to take 264 and 511 days respectively. The total project time is expected to be 796 days with 3 months of weathering allowance. The construction cost is estimated to be $3.16M for the swale,$4.97M for the parkade, $4.67M for fees and contingency, and a total cost of$12.8M. A service life maintenance plan yielded annual costs of $7k and$17k for the swale and parkade respectively. Converted to net present value over the 100-year design life yields a cost of $570K, bringing the total lifetime project cost to$13.4M. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”Applied Science, Faculty ofCivil Engineering, Department ofUnreviewedUndergraduat