2,455 research outputs found
The construction of employee competency developmental plans for a private residential youth care facility
No full textStaffed residential youth care homes have been in existence in one form or another in North America since the 1700's. As time has passed, the field of child and youth care work has evolved considerably. The substance abuse issues, developmental, and behavioural conditions that afflict youth in care are often quite pronounced. Ever increasingly, practitioners working with at-risk youth populations require a more specialized skill set and knowledge. This paper qualitatively reviews past literature on competency model development and approaches, as well as linkages to organizational performance, retention, and morale. Utilizing past research and experience working in the child and youth care field, competency development plans were created for implementation at a private residential youth care facility. Specific organizational competencies identified as priorities for development included knowledge, teamwork, relationship building, conflict management, and leadership. --P. ii.The original print copy of this thesis may be available here: http://wizard.unbc.ca/record=b180547
Adopting national vegetation guidelines and the National Vegetation Information System (NVIS) framework in the Northern Territory
No full textGuidelines and core attributes for site-based vegetation surveying and mapping developed for the Northern Territory, are relevant to botanical research, forestry typing, rangeland monitoring and reporting on the extent and condition of native and non-native vegetated landscapes. These initiatives are consistent with national vegetation guidelines and the National Vegetation Information System (NVIS) framework. This paper provides a synopsis of vegetation site data collection, classification and mapping in the Northern Territory, and discusses the benefits of consistency between the guidelines, core attributes and the NVIS framework; both of which has an emphasis on the NVIS hierarchical classification system for describing structural and floristic attributes of vegetation. The long-term aim of the NVIS framework is that national attributes are adopted at regional levels to enable comparability of vegetation information within survey and jurisdictional boundaries in the Northern Territory and across Australia. The guidelines and core attributes are incorporated in current and future vegetation survey and mapping programs in the Northern Territory
FIGURE 1 in Five new Penaincisalia species (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Eumaeini) from the Andes of southern Ecuador and northern Peru
No full textFIGURE 1. Penaincisalia adults (dorsal surface on left, ventral surface on right) at x 1.6 lifesize. A, paratype ɗ P. caeruleanota, Cerro Palma, S. Ecuador (JHKW). B, paratype Ψ P. caeruleanota, km. 11 YanganaCerro Toledo rd., S. Ecuador (RCB). C, paratype ɗ P. juliae, km. 34 JimburaSan Andrés rd., S. Ecuador (JHKW). D, paratype Ψ P. juliae, La Playa, Huicungo, P. N. Río Abiseo, N. Peru (MUSM). E, holotype ɗ P. andreae, Río San Francisco, ZamoraLoja rd., S. Ecuador (USNM). F, holotype ɗ P. libertada, Cumpang, between Tayabamba and Ongón, N. Peru (MUSM). G, holotype ɗ P. i s m a e l i, km. 10 LojaZamora rd., S. Ecuador (USNM).Published as part of Hall, Jason P. W., Willmott, Keith R. & Busby, Robert C., 2005, Five new Penaincisalia species (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Eumaeini) from the Andes of southern Ecuador and northern Peru, pp. 1-20 in Zootaxa 797 on page 7, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17055
'Beats apart': a comparative history of youth culture and popular music in Liverpool and Newcastle upon Tyne, 1956 - 1965
No full textThis study explores the themes of continuity and change in twentieth-century British cultural history, particularities of place and regional identity in the North of England, and the cultural transfer of North American popular music in Britain between 1956 and 1965. By means of a comparative historical investigation of youth culture and popular music in Liverpool and Newcastle upon Tyne, the work engages with existing debate among historians surrounding the nature and extent of cultural change for the period usually referred to as „The Sixties?, and whether or not it is possible to speak of a „Cultural Revolution?. Spanning the years between the initial impact of rock „n? roll and the immediate aftermath of the Beat Boom of 1963-64, a phenomenon described by one commentator as representing „perhaps the North's greatest single cultural „putsch??, the thesis examines the role of urban and regional identity in the process of cultural production, reproduction, and consumption. Theoretical insights derived from the associated disciplines of sociology and cultural studies are employed which offer an opportunity for a novel and dynamic analysis and interpretation of the empirical historical evidence. This research is especially pertinent at a time when historians are increasingly looking to the regional and inter-regional, as opposed to the national and international, for explanations of continuity and change. There is a burgeoning interest in the history of popular culture inspired by the transition of post-modern society from one of production to consumption. Cultural and economic theorists have called for more historical investigation to inform current debates regarding the post-modern city?s ability to attract a „creative class? as a means towards urban regeneration. This study informs these debates by bringing the above themes together in a unique historical analysis of cultural continuity and change, Northern identity, and popular music
Poem
No full textTitle(s): Dad's Army
Charles Jason Lee is the author of The Metaphysics of Mass Art (Mellen, 1999) and Pervasive Perversions (Free Association Books, 2005). His poetry collections include The Day Elvis Died, Polaroid Noise, and God's Potato Peeler. Lee has taught at the universities of Central Lancashire, Essex, East London, and St Martin's College
Biogeography and potential factors regulating shallow subtidal reef communities in the western Indian Ocean
No full textIncludes bibliographical references (p. 209-274).The biogeography and ecology of benthic shallow subtidal reef communities in the western Indian Ocean is poorly known, particularly in north-eastern South Africa and southern Mozambique. This thesis uses quantitative information to resolve biogeographic patterns, define reef community types, elucidate potential abiotic determinants of community composition, and evaluate whether subsidies of riverine-derived particulate organic matter (POM) support filter-feeder biomass and drive biogeographic patterns. A large-scale biogeographic analysis was conducted using quantitative biomass data derived from 55 shallow subtidal reefs spanning five countries in the western Indian Ocean. Two statistically distinct marine provinces, Tropical Indo-West Pacific and Subtropical Natal, were recognised by differences in community composition and separated by a biogeographic break in the vicinity of Cape Vidal, South Africa. The biogeographic break took the form of a transitional or overlap area corresponding in location to the Delagoa Bioregion, one of three bioregions also revealed by post-hoc analyses. Significant differences in total average biomass and trophic structure were evident among bioregions, with a number of inter-bioregional trends in trophic groups being apparent. In total, 12 reef community types were recognised, based on similarity profile permutation tests. Most reefs in the Subtropical Natal Bioregion were dominated by a community type characterised by a high biomass of the filter-feeding ascidian Pyura stolonifera and various species of articulated coralline algae. In the Delagoa Overlap Bioregion, a comparatively high diversity of community types was defined, many dominated by algal turf, P. stoloniferaand various Alcyonacea and Scleractinia. Further north, P. stolonifera diminished and the contributions of Scleractinia, especially Porites spp., Pocilloporaspp. and Galaxea spp. increased. Many of these community types are not represented within protected area networks, particularly those in southern Mozambique. When the biomass data were correlated with nine abiotic variables, likely determinants of community composition emerged at both inter- and intra-regional scales. Sea surface temperature, significant wave height, chlorophyll-a and suspended inorganic sediment were the variables highly correlated with community composition and therefore most likely to drive biogeographic differences. Within each bioregion, different sets of abiotic variables were found to be important in driving community differences among sites, including turbidity, chlorophyll-a, reef susceptibility to sand inundation, reef heterogeneity and sea surface temperature. Striking differences in the oceanographic conditions of bioregions were evident, especially between Subtropical Natal and Delagoa Overlap bioregions. In particular, the strong influence of wave height emerged as a novel and unexpected correlate at a biogeographic scale. These differences initiated a trophic study conducted in the Subtropical Natal Bioregion, aimed at determining the importance of riverine-derived POM subsidies in supporting the high filter-feeder biomass in this bioregion. Using carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotopes and a three-source Bayesian mixing model to calculate proportional contributions, I determined that marine-derived POM formed the bulk of the diets of four species of filter-feeders, but the assimilation of riverine-derived POM was nevertheless notable, ranging from 8 to 33 %. I concluded that riverine POM is likely to play an important but secondary role to factors such as increased levels of turbidity and productivity in explaining the high filter-feeder biomass in the Subtropical Natal Bioregion. These findings provide the first evidence of riverine-inshore-pelagic coupling in filterfeeder communities in this bioregion, and throw light on the factors linked to large-scale biogeographic patterns
Adaptive hidden Markov model estimation and applications
No full textInitially introduced in the late 1960's and early 1970's, hidden Markov models (HMMs) have become increasingly popular in the last decade. The major reason for the increasing popularity of HMMs has been the richness of the model class and the power of the signal processing tools. \ud
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In this thesis we propose several algorithms for estimation of HMM parameters. Initially, we propose recursive prediction error algorithms for separately estimating the state values and the state transition probability matrix. Local convergence results and corresponding convergence rates are obtained via an ordinary differential equation (ODE) approach. Suboptimal extended least squares algorithms are also presented and convergence results are established in idealized situations. These algorithms exploit the discrete-valued nature of HMMs. \ud
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Following this, globally convergent parameter estimators for HMMs are presented. These estimators have parallels to the well known Baum-Welch EM algorithm for off-line estimation of HMM parameters. Almost sure convergence results and convergence rates results are established using martingale convergence results, the Kronecker lemma and an ODE approach. This inspires the proposal of globally convergent parameter estimators for partially observed linear systems and hybrid linear systems. Almost sure convergence results are established using martingale convergence results, the Kronecker lemma and an ODE approach. Finally, as a contribution towards applications, optimal HMM filters are developed for demodulation of differentially encoded transmission systems and a decision feedback equalizer is proposed
Reconnaissance land resource survey of Auvergne Station and sections of Spirit Hill Station, Northern Territory
No full textA survey was undertaken on Auvergne station and a section of Spirit Hills Station for the purposes of assessing the similarity of these areas with those outlined in the M2 Development Area report (the Keep, Weaber and Knox Creek plains). The survey was primarily based on assessing the flora and vegetation communities (ie as a surrogate for 'habitat') of these two regions. Soil surface textures were also taken though time and money constraints precluded the digger of deep soil pits.1. Acknowledgements -- 2. Introduction -- 3. Vegetation descriptions: associations/communities -- 4. Geology and geomorphology -- 5. Landforms and soil relationships -- 6. Outcomes -- 7. Comparison with M2 development area -- 8. Conclusions -- 9. References -- 10.Appendices.Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT
Lasioglossum (Dialictus) coreopsis
No full textLasioglossum (Dialictus) coreopsis (Robertson 1902) County records: none. Notes. Michigan and Wisconsin are among the northern limits of its range. No Michigan specimens were examined, but the species was included based on Mitchell (1960). It is most likely to occur in the southwest near Lake Michigan.Published as part of Gibbs, Jason, Ascher, John S., Rightmyer, Molly G. & Isaacs, Rufus, 2017, The bees of Michigan (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), with notes on distribution, taxonomy, pollination, and natural history, pp. 1-160 in Zootaxa 4352 (1) on page 80, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4352.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/106385
Melissodes (Apomelissodes) apicatus Lovell & Cockerell 1906
No full textMelissodes (Apomelissodes) apicatus Lovell & Cockerell 1906 County records: Allegan, Missaukee, Tuscola, Wexford. Notes. Specialist on Pontederia (Pontederiaceae), which grows on lake and river margins. First recorded from Michigan by Tuell et al. (2009). Its occurrence in Wexford County is a notable northern extension of its range.Published as part of Gibbs, Jason, Ascher, John S., Rightmyer, Molly G. & Isaacs, Rufus, 2017, The bees of Michigan (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila), with notes on distribution, taxonomy, pollination, and natural history, pp. 1-160 in Zootaxa 4352 (1) on page 46, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4352.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/106385
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