Vegetation and vegetation-environment relationships in a muskeg-fen near Thunder Bay, Ontario

This study takes place in an endangered peatland within the city of Thunder Bay Ontario. The study area, William Bog, is one of a few remaining peatlands in the Thunder Bay district which have developed on abandoned Minong phase lake basins on the north shore of Lake Superior. An Inventory of vascular plants, mosses, hepatics, and ground lichens reveals that the vascular flora is richer than the moss or hepatic flora and that ground lichens are rare. Vegetation zones identified in the study area are similar to communities described for peatlands in Ontario by Jeglum et.al. (1974). The study area is centered on a Carex spp. dominated graminoid fen which is bounded to the north and west by a conifer swamp, and to the east by a shrub rich treed bog. Ordination of vegetation data reveals that vegetation varies continuously from fen to swamp and from fen to bog. The nature and flow of groundwater is related to vegetation type such that within the fen, and to the north and west, vegetation can be classified as mlnerotrophic. East of the fen vegetation appears to be ombrotrophic in nature. The pH of both soil and water, calcium concentration , and conductance of water samples varies continuously along the vegetation gradients. This results in a corresponding environmental gradient which runs from strongly minerotrophic (fen) to weakly minerotrophic (conifer swamp) to the north and west, and from strongly minerotrophic (fen) to ombrotrophic (bog) in the east. William Bog exibits consistently higher and lower air temperatures when compared to the Thunder Bay Airport, 3 km SW, this peatland has a significantly shorter frost free period. Within the study area peats are coolest in ombrotrophic Sphagnum spp. hummocks east of the fen, and frost persists within these hummocks well into the growing season. West of the fen peats are warmer, likely the result of subsurface groundwater flow. There is no evidence of permafrost in the study area. The historical and evolutionary development of William Bog is based upon the lateral expansion of Phragmites communis marshes through paludification of the sandy lowland basin. This resulted in two developmental sequences which are based upon the flow of groundwater within the basin. Minerotrophic communities evolve where groundwater flow is concentrated. Ombrotrophic communities develop in drier sites where Sphagnum spp. growth elevates the surface above the influence of groundwater. Dynamics between these communities are based upon local climatic variations during the period following initial colonization of the site, and disturbance by wildlife. The proposed development of vegetation in William Bog appears to resemble sequences proposed by several peatland studies undertaken in northern Minnesota, southern Ontario, and southern Quebec

Intelligent states for angular momentum and Su(3) observables / by Benjamin R. Lavoie.

We generate expressions for all of the su(2) and su(3) intelligent states. To do so we combine well known coupling methods with unitary transformations; the construction is simple and efficient, and can be extended to generate intelligent states for any su(N) algebra. We also present a discussion of some of the properties of the su(2) and su(3) intelligent states

Predicting alcoholism treatment outcome

The detrimental effects of alcoholism on society have stimulated the growth of addiction treatment centers. These programs are characterized by low completion rates. This fact has promoted a great deal of research aimed toward predicting treatment completion. If those "at risk" for dropping out of programs can be identified, they can be singled out for special consideration which could result in their success with treatment. Alternatively, if it can be determined that clients with certain characteristics have a high probability of completing treatment at specific centers, then patient characteristics can be "matched" with the program shown to offer such people the best opportunity for treatment completion. The majority of studies in this area have used MMPI scales and/or combinations of demographic variables for prediction. In general, these studies have not been very successful or have failed to replicate. Some reasons for this are small sample sizes, a limited number of variables used in prediction, and lack of cross validation. The present research addresses these problems by using large numbers of subjects and predictor variables. Cross validation was performed on an independent sample. Phase One subjects were drawn from archival records; a sample of three hundred and seventy subjects was obtained; two hundred were treatment completers and one hundred seventy non completers. Variables included in the analysis were; age, sex, race, education. marital status, nnuummbbeerr of dependents, employment status, previous treatments, weeks sober prior to treatment, place of residence, prescription medication, referring agent, self reported reasons for referral, and the three validity and ten standard clinical scales of the MMPI, Through discriminant analysis, an overall successful classification rate of 65.4% was obtained. Treatment completers were classified correctly 74.0% and non completers 55.3%. The cross validation sample was obtained and variables collected in the same manner as in phase one. Data from one hundred treatment completers and eighty non completers was collected. The discriminant function from phase one derived an overall successful classification rate of 56.1%. Treatment completers were classified correctly 69.0% and non completers 40.0%. Results highlight a dramatic failure to predict treatment dropouts. However, treatment completers could be predicted. The relevance of this finding for treatment matching was discussed. It was concluded that, due to the heterogeneity of alcoholic samples, personality measures such as the MMPI should only be used to describe population characteristics at specific treatment centers; generalization should not be expected. It was hypothesized that, by looking for specific predictors at each treatment center instead of searching for global predictors, treatment matching is feasible, and may be very helpful in reducing dropout rates

Empirical recovery performance of fourier-based deterministic compressed sensing

Compressed sensing is a novel technique where one can recover sparse signals from the undersampled measurements. Mathematically, measuring an N-dimensional signal..

Using coarse-scale physical lake characteristics to model lake sturgeon (acipenser fulvescens) feeding habitat and their prey

Coarse-scale, physical lake characteristics (lake fetch, shoreline exposure, and littoral-zone slope) were investigated as to their ability to predict benthic macroinvertebrate communities and lake sturgeon feeding along shorelines in the southern portion of Rainy Lake. Rainy Lake is a large water body and hosts a fishery shared between Minnesota, U.S.A. and Ontario, Canada. Benthic samples were drawn from different sections the littoral zone during a period of three months in the summer of 2010 and in August 2011

Changing climate of outdoor education in the Quebec CEGEP system

This study examined the manner in which outdoor education programming has changed in the English Quebec College D'Enseignement General et Professionnel (CEGEP) system during the last 20-30 years and the factors contributing to that change. It employs a qualitative case study approach involving participant interviews and document analysis in identifying four major themes of change: curriculum reform, risk management, aging teachers, and student change. Factors contributing to this change include: global educational reform trends, increased risk management awareness and litigation, teacher experience and age, lack of student experience in the outdoors, prevalence of technology, physical health, employment, and student enrolment. The outcome is the recommendation for more course hours, increased professional development for teachers, a dispelling of the misconceptions of outdoor education, new approaches to attracting and connecting with students, as well as continued research in the field in order to verify themes in the broader context of outdoor education

An assessment of juvenile lake sturgeon movement and habitat use in the Namakan River of Northwestern Ontario

The Namakan River of Northwestern Ontario is home to a recovering population of lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens). Although the adult portion of this population has been well studied in recent years, very little information has been available for the juvenile (< 61 cm) portion. This study was designed to gather baseline information focused primarily at locating "nursery areas" used by juvenile lake sturgeon. Netting at 5 locations returned catches ranging from 0.9 juveniles per net at the mouth of the Namakan River and Little Eva Lake to 4.1 juveniles per net in Bill Lake, about 14 km upstream from the river mouth. Movements of ten juvenile lake sturgeon caught in Bill Lake and later aged at 4-6 years were tracked and matched to local water depth and flow

Participatory action research as a tool for community development : experiences from Northwestern Ghana

This study reports on a community development project conducted in Charia, a small village in northwestern Ghana. The primary intent of the study was to field-test the participatory action research approach of actively involving local people in their own development efforts. Traditional approaches to helping rural communities have seldom provided the opportunity for people in problem situations to influence the solutions to those problems. In this study, a participatory action research approach was used to actively involve local people and other stakeholders in the design, execution, evaluation and implementation of activities influencing the lives of the people of Charia. Through strategic planning processes, community members envisioned the desired conditions for their village, the obstacles preventing them from achieving those conditions, the strategic directions to overcoming those obstacles, and the necessary actions required to fulfill those strategic directions. Results from this West African village seem to verify the predictions of intervention theory that was developed within a North American business and professional context. Specifically, I found that when people are helped to develop valid information about their situation and to make free and informed choices about the remedies to their own problems, then feelings of emancipation, empowerment, and psychological success are enhanced. The end result is internal commitment to implement the necessary actions leading to their own development

Using metacognitive strategies to enhance reading comprehension for students with learning disabilities

Research has suggested that students with learning disabilities can became actively involved in their cun learning. A metacognitive orientation provides a conceptual base on which to build instructional interventions. In this study twenty students with learning disabilities in special classes in Thunder Bay participated. Students were From three intact classes at different schools. Three general expectations guided the investigation: First, through explicit teaching, students with learning disabilities can be instructed to employ self-questioning learning strategies for identification cf main ideas in a reading passage; Second, reading comprehension will be enhanced through metacognitive training as measured by: Miscue Analysis; Canadian Tests of Basic Skills. Form 3 and 4:.- and Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests. Form 1 and g. Third, students who perceive an external control of reinforcements, as measured by the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility Questionaire, will experience more difficulty using an intervention strategy. A simple pre-posttest design was used supplemented with observational and interview methods. The comprehension subtests of Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test. Form 1 (MacGinitie, Kamons, Koualski & MacGinitie, 1979) and Canadian Tests of Basic Skills. Form 3 (King & Hieryonymus, 1975) were administered to each student and baselines for reading comprehension established. Using a reciprocal teaching procedure, a self-questioning strategy was developed while studying a Canadian novel. Hunter in the Dark by M. Hughes. Miscue analysis and observation were employed to monitor the training sessions. Results indicated that the participants’ reading comprehension did improve on all criteria, miscue analysis and Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test were at a statistical significant level. The students’ belief in their own control, as measured by the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility questionnaire, was found not to be a predictor of achievement. Interventions which incorporate a teaching methodology that promotes strategic learning appear to hold the most promise for enabling students with learning disabilities to become more successful learners

Effectiveness of self-restoration for two small mine impacted shield lakes

Cleaver Lake and Horneblende Lake in the Whitesand Watershed were studied for the impact of mining and milling activities. No release of zinc, copper, iron, or manganese was detected in aerated sediment samples and there were reductions in metals, sulphate, calcium, and conductivity, reflecting the eroding stratification