Robert Kroetsch\u27s Open Field: A Study In Canadian Postmodernism

Critics of Robert Kroetsch\u27s fiction have praised his willingness to take risks employ new and difficult forms, but many of the same critics decried this openness and difficulty of form when it was carried to an extreme in his later novels. This thesis considers the development of Kroetsch\u27s work from the perspective that his latest, most adventurous work is also his best and most typical. The focus of the thesis is Kroetsch\u27s fiction, with relatively brief examinations of his poetic and critical works, chiefly in terms of how they pertain to the direction his fiction takes.;Kroetsch\u27s main theme is the impossibility of fixing anything in the flow of reality. This theme takes many forms, most typically the problem of identity and the related problem of place: how does one know who and where one is when the nature of the individual and of the individual\u27s personal geography shifts radically from instant to instant. Kroetsch\u27s response to this continual shift is not to assert solidity of meaning against the flux of existence, but rather to posit only provisional answers to the questions of person and place, open always to adjust those answers to changing circumstances and perceptions.;The form of Kroetsch\u27s novels increasingly partakes of the same challenging approach as he moves further from his modernist influences into the realm of the postmodern. By virtue of numerous narrative strategies designed to stymie any reader\u27s attempt to make coherent sense out of the novel Kroetsch all but forces his reader to recognize the provisional nature of knowledge and the falseness of any knowledge that aspires to completeness and solidity.;Kroetsch\u27s radicalization of the form of the novel reaches a peak with What the Crow Said. With Alibi, he focuses on the radicalization of character. Throughout his varied career as novelist, poet, and critic, setting out on a new departure with virtually every project, Kroetsch is remarkably consistent, both in terms of theme and in striving always to remain open, flexible, and challenging

High-Altitude Air Mass Zero Calibration of Solar Cells

Air mass zero calibration of solar cells has been carried out for several years by NASA Glenn Research Center using a Lear-25 aircraft and Langley plots. The calibration flights are carried out during early fall and late winter when the tropopause is at the lowest altitude. Measurements are made starting at about 50,000 feet and continue down to the tropopause. A joint NASA/Wayne State University program called Suntracker is underway to explore the use of weather balloon and communication technologies to characterize solar cells at elevations up to about 100 kft. The balloon flights are low-cost and can be carried out any time of the year. AMO solar cell characterization employing the mountaintop, aircraft and balloon methods are reviewed. Results of cell characterization with the Suntracker are reported and compared with the NASA Glenn Research Center aircraft method

Developing Ecological Criteria for Prescribed Fire in South Florida Pine Rockland Ecosystems

The pine rocklands of South Florida, characterized by a rich herbaceous flora with many narrowly endemic taxa beneath an overstory of south Florida slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa), are found in three areas: the Miami Rock Ridge of southeastern peninsular Florida, the Lower Florida Keys, and slightly elevated portions of the southern Big Cypress National Preserve. Fire is an important element in these ecosystems, since in its absence the pine canopy is likely to be replaced by dense hardwoods, resulting in loss of the characteristic pineland herb flora. Prescribed fire has been used in Florida Keys pine forests since the creation of the National Key Deer Refuge (NKDR), with the primary aim of reducing fuels. Because fire can also be an effective tool in shaping ecological communities, we conducted a 4-year research study which explored a range of fire management options in NKDR. The intent of the study was to provide the Fish and Wildlife Service and other land managers with information regarding when and where to burn in order to perpetuate these unique forests

Defining Sickle Cell Disease Mortality Using a Population-Based Surveillance System, 2004 through 2008

Population-based surveillance data from California and Georgia for years 2004 through 2008 were linked to state death record files to determine the all-cause death rate among 12,143 patients identified with sickle cell disease (SCD)

Tree Mortality following Prescribed Fire and a Storm Surge Event in Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii var. densa) Forests in the Florida Keys, USA

In fire-dependent forests, managers are interested in predicting the consequences of prescribed burning on postfire tree mortality. We examined the effects of prescribed fire on tree mortality in Florida Keys pine forests, using a factorial design with understory type, season, and year of burn as factors. We also used logistic regression to model the effects of burn season, fire severity, and tree dimensions on individual tree mortality. Despite limited statistical power due to problems in carrying out the full suite of planned experimental burns, associations with tree and fire variables were observed. Post-fire pine tree mortality was negatively correlated with tree size and positively correlated with char height and percent crown scorch. Unlike post-fire mortality, tree mortality associated with storm surge from Hurricane Wilma was greater in the large size classes. Due to their influence on population structure and fuel dynamics, the size-selective mortality patterns following fire and storm surge have practical importance for using fire as a management tool in Florida Keys pinelands in the future, particularly when the threats to their continued existence from tropical storms and sea level rise are expected to increase

Mapping and Assessing Fire Damage on Broadleaved Forest Communities in Big Cypress National Preserve

Within Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY), oak-dominated forests and woodlands as well as tropical and temperate hardwood hammocks are integral components of the landscape and are biodiversity hotpots for both flora and fauna. These broadleaved forest communities serve as refugia for many of the Preserve’s wildlife species during prolonged flooding and fires. However, both prolonged flooding and severe fires, which are important and necessary disturbance vectors within this landscape, can have deleterious effects on these forested communities. This is particularly true in the case of fires, which under extreme conditions associated with drought and elevated fuel loads, can burn through these forested communities consuming litter and understory vegetation and top killing most, if not all, of the trees present

Industrial Sponsor Perspective On Leveraging Capstone Design Projects To Enhance Their Business

Capstone design projects have become commonplace among engineering and engineering technology programs.  These projects are valuable tools when assessing students, as they require students to work in teams, communicate effectively, and demonstrate technical competency.  The use of industrial sponsors enhances these projects by giving these projects more of a “real world” feel.  Most of the research into capstone design projects focuses on student learning as well as the overall design process.  However, very little research has been performed from the perspective of the industrial sponsor.  In this paper, an industrial sponsor who has sponsored several large-scale capstone design projects presents their perspective on working with students on these projects.  These projects serve as training systems for their existing employees and clients, and offer the sponsor the opportunity to evaluate the students as prospective future employees

Exploring Phytoplankton Population Growth to Enhance Quantitative Literacy: Putting Vision & Change into Action

Quantitative literacy is essential to biological literacy (and is one of the core concepts in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action; AAAS 2009). Building quantitative literacy is a challenging endeavor for biology instructors. Integrating mathematical skills into biological investigations can help build quantitative literacy. In our plankton population laboratory sequence, students test hypotheses about the influence of abiotic factors on phytoplankton populations by sampling experimental and control flasks over multiple weeks. Students track and predict changes in planktonic populations by incorporating weekly sample estimates into population growth equations. We have refined the laboratory protocols on the basis of student commentary and instructor observations. Students have reviewed the lab positively, and approximately one-quarter of them reported building their math skills by participating in the lab

Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Habitat Monitoring and Assessment - 2010 Final Report

For the last two decades, the Cape Sable seaside sparrow (CSSS), a federally endangered species, has been a pivot point for water management operations in the Everglades, primarily because a decline in sparrow population in the early 1990s was attributed in part to managementinduced alterations in hydrologic regimes. With a goal of understanding the response of landscape-level processes to hydrological restoration and its interaction with fire, a study intended to monitor vegetation structure and composition throughout the marl prairie landscape has been conducted since 2003 with funding from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). In the first three years (2003-2005), vegetation structure and composition was characterized in relation to the existing hydrologic regime and fire history. During 2006-2010, vegetation was resampled to assess vegetation change within the sparrow habitat. This document summarizes the vegetation change pattern observed between the two sampling periods in sub-population A, C, E and F, emphasizing the work accomplished in FY 2010