Browsing Master's Theses by Title
Now showing items 15166-15185 of 15204
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X-window based user interface and network communications for an image networkRecent advances in the field of high speed computer network have opened many new applications. One such application is the transfer of color image data between geographically distributed color image databases. ImageNet is a distributed color image database system with multiple database nodes and user workstation linked by a communication network. The work presented here is the design and implementation of user-interface and communication software for a workstation. The system was emulated on the Ethernet in Computer Engineering Research Laboratory. Dedicated servers running at a database node simulate database operations. Experimental comparison between RPC with UDP and RPC with TCP was made and the use of RPC/UDP for image-transfer is investigated. The X-window user interface is user friendly. It enables users to retrieve image lists and images from remote workstations. The use of wscrawl for the remote consultation enables more than two users to participate in remote consultation from different workstations.
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Y chromosome polymorphisms and the peopling of the AmericasPolymorphisms at four paternally-inherited loci (DYS287, SPY1, DYS199 and DXYS156) were surveyed in twenty-seven populations (n = 997) world-wide to trace the origins of Native Americans. One of the haplotypes (6) is found at relatively high frequencies in all seven Native American populations representing two of the major linguistic divisions in the New World. The same haplotype was found at low frequencies in Siberian Eskimos and was absent from eleven other Asian populations. A second haplotype (7) was present at high frequencies in all the Native American and several Siberian populations. It was present at moderate frequencies in European populations and at low frequencies in several Asian populations. These data best support the hypothesis of a single male-mediated migration wave for the early peopling of the Americas, although a multi-wave hypothesis is not rejected.
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Years of Life Lost (before they can ossify)The forced extraction of raw materials and life forms from the Earth’s biosphere sustains human feats of modernity. From precious metals to fossil fuels, from copper to uranium, and the rare earth minerals essential to modern infrastructure and electronics, the history of mining is deeply rooted in the unfolding sociopolitical climate of the Sonoran Desert. By transforming ore into commodities, corporate mining throughout the Sonoran Desert has been a source of immense wealth for some, but has also led to waste, environmental contamination, illness and premature death in rural, low-income, predominantly communities of color. Years of Life Lost (before they can ossify) is a multimedia art installation that visualizes this toxic aftermath through slag rock, a mining byproduct left behind in massive mounds of waste, and glass bones that both represent the years of life lost by people living near waste due to the harmful chemicals that enter their body without their consent. The promise of industrialization to modernize and improve our lives is contrasted with the reality of the underlying intentions of corporate operations that produce and prioritize value in monetary form while devaluing and harming ecosystems necessary for life and the environmental health of local communities. The state’s supporting role is revealed through a mathematical calculation used in policy decision-making that figures the years of life lost in relation to human productivity and profit. Within the exhibition, the viewer is witness to the political and economic forces that are enmeshed in constellations of flesh, tissue, rock, bone, soil, and precious moments of life that were never lived.
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Yemen's Migrant Networks as Critical Factor in Political Opposition to the ImamateNineteenth and twentieth century migratory networks had a formative, yet unrecognized, impact in the lead-up to the 1962 establishment of the Yemen Arab Republic. Migrants from Northern Yemen to Aden built discursive spaces for contesting economic and political oppression that served as a foundation for later channels of political dissidents and reformists to oppose the Imamic regime, often walking a tightrope between their own calls for reform and the interests of foreign state actors. Those spaces were preserved in the later development of similar networks after 1962 and paved the way for generations of migrants to contest or advance reigning economic and social orders via labor migration to oil-rich states.
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Yield and physiological aspects of 17 varieties of corn grown in runoff farmingA micro-catchment water harvesting agrisystem in Avra Valley, west of Tucson, Arizona, was utilized to grow 17 varieties of drought tolerant corn (Zea mays). The primary objective of this study was to isolate and evaluate the grain yield performance of these cultivars. Additional measurements were also taken on transpiration rate (TR), leaf water potential (0), stress degree day (SDD), and crop water stress index (CWSI), during the period 24 October to 2 November, between two irrigations, in search of possible physiological mechanisms of drought adaptability and their impact on production. The system's performance in terms of economical crop growth is subject to further research. The analysis of grain yield indicates a significant varietal difference. Physiological parameters monitored also show trends of differences among cultivars. It was found that cultivars capable of maintaining a higher plant water content, by preserving their TR, Ψ1, CWSI, and SDD are not necessarily the better yielding cultivars. Possible justifications of this phenomena are discussed. It is suggested that a distinction has to be made between crop adaptability to drought and preservation of a high grain yield since under limited moisture conditions, one might be attained through the suppression of the other.
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Yield risk in wheat production: A policy study for the Alentejo of PortugalThis study attempts to determine whether or not Portuguese wheat policies have resulted in a stabilization of the wheat price and/or the stabilization of income for wheat growers in the Alentejo region. It was found that these policies have contributed to a stabilization of price rather than a stabilization of income. It was also found that the income variability caused by yield variability was greater for the Alentejo farmers than that for the country as a whole. Weather uncertainties measured by rainfall were found to be a major source of that variability in both area and yield equations. Therefore, it was concluded that rainfall is significant in explaining variations in wheat supply and cannot be eliminated from the model specification. Finally, this study looked at a policy that would stabilize output returns to Alentejo farmers since high yield variability will continue to constrain farmers' willingness to invest in wheat production. An insurance program may be the policy to implement in this region since yield risks are the predominant source of income variability. However, the cost of financing an agricultural insurance scheme as well as the delineation of homogeneous areas are crucial determinants to the success of an all-risk insurance program.
