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open access

Analysis of Micro Enterprise Clusters in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Toluca, Mexico.

Description: Businesses cluster to achieve agglomeration benefits. However, research in developing countries suggests that the economic environment limits small business’ propensity to benefit from agglomerations. The study examines the location, networking patterns, formal structures and owner characteristics of 1256 micro businesses from ten industries and thirteen sample areas in Toluca, Mexico. First, the thesis analyses whether clustering has a positive impact on the success rates of the surveyed enter… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Drauschke, Kristin
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Archaeological Site Vulnerability Modeling for Cultural Resources Management Based on Historic Aerial Photogrammetry and LiDAR

Description: GIS has been utilized in cultural resources management for decades, yet its application has been largely isolated to predicting the occurrence of archaeological sites. Federal and State agencies are required to protect archaeological sites that are discovered on their lands, but their resources and personnel are very limited. A new methodology is evaluated that uses modern light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and historic aerial photogrammetry to create digital terrain models (DTMs) capable of i… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Helton, Erin King
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Are Streams Protected? Outcomes of Environmental Regulation

Description: Urban areas experience the loss of natural stream channels through conversion to artificial conveyances. This process tends to target headwater and other low order streams. The purpose of this study is to determine the patterns of stream loss in Denton, Texas, and explore the regulatory structure that manages these streams. Historic and current maps and stream data are used to map Denton's streams and categorize them according to their vertical connectivity as: 1) "intact", streams that are … more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Rowen, Zachary
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Assessment of Post-earthquake Building Damage Using High-resolution Satellite Images and LiDAR Data - a Case Study From Port-au-prince, Haiti

Description: When an earthquake happens, one of the most important tasks of disaster managers is to conduct damage assessment; this is mostly done from remotely sensed data. This study presents a new method for building detection and damage assessment using high-resolution satellite images and LiDAR data from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A graph-cut method is used for building detection due to its advantages compared to traditional methods such as the Hough transform. Results of two methods are compared to unders… more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Koohikamali, Mehrdad
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Comparative Analysis of Diseases Associated with Mining and Non-Mining Communities: A Case Study of Obusai and Asankrangwa, Ghana

Description: Disease prevalence varies with geographic location. This research pursues a medical geographic perspective and examines the spatial variations in disease patterns between Obuasi, a gold mining town and Asankrangwa, a non gold mining town in Ghana, West Africa. Political ecology/economy and the human ecology frameworks are used to explain the prevalence of diseases. Mining alters the environment and allows disease causing pathogens and vectors to survive more freely than in other similar environ… more
Date: August 2005
Creator: Reddy, Sumanth G.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Contribution of Hurricane Ike Storm Surge Sedimentation to Long-term Aggradation of Coastal Marshes in Southeastern Texas and Southwestern Louisiana

Description: Coastal marshes and wetlands are vital natural resources that offer habitats for plants and animals, serve as ecological filtration for soil and water pollutants, and act as protection for coastlines. Fishing, both commercial and sport, has a large economic impact in the study area – the Gulf Coast between Galveston Bay, TX and Oak Grove, LA. The objective of this research was to determine the contribution of Hurricane Ike storm surge sedimentation to long-term marsh aggradation in Texas and … more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Denlinger, Emily E.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

County Level Population Estimation Using Knowledge-Based Image Classification and Regression Models

Description: This paper presents methods and results of county-level population estimation using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images of Denton County and Collin County in Texas. Landsat TM images acquired in March 2000 were classified into residential and non-residential classes using maximum likelihood classification and knowledge-based classification methods. Accuracy assessment results from the classified image produced using knowledge-based classification and traditional supervised classification (maxim… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Nepali, Anjeev
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Determining the Suitability of Functional Landscapes and Wildlife Corridors Utilizing Conservation GIS Methods in Denton County, Texas.

Description: Denton County's unique cultural and natural landscape has undergone dramatic transformations during the past two centuries due to agricultural, urban and suburban processes which accelerated the loss and removal of native habitat and wildlife. This research sought out to identify the remaining natural areas which retain their natural features and support wildlife. Research methodology included fundamental principles of Conservation Planning, Geographical Information Systems, and Habitat Evaluat… more
Date: August 2007
Creator: Sales, Joshua
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Differential use of space: An analysis of the Aubrey Clovis site.

Description: The Aubrey Clovis site is one of the oldest late-Pleistocene sites in North America, dated to ~11,550 B.P., and contains two camps with a range of lithic debitage, numerous hearths, and excellent faunal preservation. Couched in rules of classification, a series of artifact distributions are analyzed with qualitative and quantitative techniques, including maps produced in a geographic information system (GIS) and tests of artifact associations using correlation statistics. Theoretical and meth… more
Date: August 2005
Creator: Witt, Benjamin A.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Efficiency of Nitrate and Phosphorus Removal in a Working Rain Garden

Description: Rain gardens are low impact developments designed to mitigate a suite of issues associated with urban stormwater runoff. The site for this study was a Denton City rain garden at the Denton Waste Water Treatment Plant. Nitrogen and phosphorus removal was examined in light of two overflow events comprised of partially treated wastewater from an upslope anaerobic digester pond. Nitrate removal efficiency was examined across differing dry spell intervals of 5, 8, and 12 d, displaying a moderate neg… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Strong, Patrick
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An environmental justice assessment of the light rail expansion in Denton County, Texas.

Description: This study analyzes the proposed passenger rail line expansion along US Interstate Highway 35 in Denton County, Texas. A multi-dimensional approach was used to investigate potential environmental justice (EJ) consequences from the expansion of the transportation corridor. This study used empirical and historical evidence to identify and prioritize sites for potential EJ concerns. Citizen participation in the decision making process was also evaluated. The findings of this research suggest that … more
Date: August 2007
Creator: Moynihan, Colleen T.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Estimating Buruli Ulcer Prevalence in Southwestern Ghana

Description: Mycobacterium ulcerans is sweeping across sub-Saharan Africa, but little is known about the mode of transmission and its natural reservoirs. Since the only effective treatment is excision of the infection and surrounding tissue, early diagnosis and treatment is the only way to reduce the havoc associated with Buruli ulcer. Using data from a national case search survey conducted in Ghana during 2000 and suspected risk factors this study tests the hypothesized factors and probes the challenges of… more
Date: August 2007
Creator: Denton, Curtis James
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Examining the Role of Latitude and Differential Insolation in Asymmetrical Valley Development

Description: Valley development through erosional processes typically tends to create symmetrical valleys. Over time, water cuts through the substrate to create valleys, gorges, and canyons for which the sides are the valley are evenly sloped. However, there are anomalies to this process. Asymmetrical valleys have been well-documented even in areas of uniform substrate or little tectonic uplift. One proposed explanation for the asymmetry of these valleys is differential insolation. This may lead to diff… more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Curran, Lorna L.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Exceedance Frequency Analysis of Urban Stormwater Quality and Its Relation to Land Use Change, Denton, Texas

Description: Urbanization causes various environmental issues including water pollution, air pollution, and solid waste. Urbanization of watersheds has a profound influence on the quality of stormwater runoff. The quality of stormwater runoff is highly associated with land use. This study analyzed the exceedance frequency of stormwater quality in five watersheds of Denton over eleven years and also analyzed the relationship between stormwater quality and land use/cover of each watershed. The results showed … more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Shrestha, Manjul
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

An Exploration of the Ground Water Quality of the Trinity Aquifer Using Multivariate Statistical Techniques

Description: The ground water quality of the Trinity Aquifer for wells sampled between 2000 and 2009 was examined using multivariate and spatial statistical techniques. A Kruskal-Wallis test revealed that all of the water quality parameters with the exception of nitrate vary with land use. A Spearman’s rho analysis illustrates that every water quality parameter with the exception of silica correlated with well depth. Factor analysis identified four factors contributable to hydrochemical processes, electr… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Holland, Jennifer M.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Faunal Exploitation during the Depopulation of the Mesa Verde Region (A. D. 1300): A Case Study of Goodman Point Pueblo (5MT604)

Description: This analysis of faunal remains from Goodman Point Pueblo (5MT604), a large village occupied just before the ancestral Puebloans permanently left southwestern Colorado at the end of the thirteenth century, explores the effect of dietary stress during abandonment in the Four Corners region. As archaeologists, we interpret what these former cultures were like and what resources they used through what they left behind. By specifically looking at faunal remains, or remains from food resources, envi… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Hoffman, Amy Susan
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Finding Terroir in Southwest Iowa

Description: Terroir combines the physical landscape of the vineyard with the grapevines and the methods and techniques used to produce wine from the grapes. This study used a GIS to identify the characteristics of the physical landscape in Pottawattamie, Mills, Montgomery, Fremont, and Page counties in southwestern Iowa. The components were combined in the GIS using a weighted linear index to identify areas suitable for vineyard development and to identify the general characteristics of the area. Vineyard … more
Date: August 2013
Creator: Deines, Dory
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Gentrification in Oklahoma City: Examining Urban Revitalization in Middle America

Description: Gentrification applies not only to the largest and oldest cities; it is a multi-scalar phenomenon playing out in smaller and less prominent settings as well. This study examines temporal changes in property values, demographic characteristics, and types of businesses in the central Oklahoma City area. A major urban revitalization project which began in 1993 created strong gentrification characteristics near the renewal's epicenter, the Bricktown entertainment district. Data suggest that seve… more
Date: August 2011
Creator: Petty, Clint C.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Geoarchaeological Investigation of Site Formation in the Animas River Valley at Aztec Ruins National Monument, NM

Description: This paper presents an investigation of sedimentary deposition, soil formation, and pedoturbation in the Animas River Valley to determine the provenience of archaeological deposits in an open field at Aztec Ruins National Monument, NM outside of the Greathouse complex. Four stratigraphic pedounits correlated with active fan deposition have been proposed for the lower terrace in the project area with only one of these units retaining strong potential for buried archaeological deposits from the A… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Caster, Joshua
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Geography of HIV Infection Among Adults Aged 50 Years and Older in Texas From 1999-2009

Description: Twenty four percent of all HIV infections in the United States occur among adults aged 50 and older (mature adults), yet little is understood of the dynamics of HIV infection among this group in Texas. Data from 1999 to 2009 examined the relationship between HIV spatial and temporal patterns affecting socio-economic and demographic variables including poverty, gender, race/ethnicity and mode of exposure. Results revealed highest HIV infection rates among White homosexual men, Black males engag… more
Date: August 2012
Creator: Hedrich, Mara Nicole
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

GIS application in emergency management of terrorism events on the University of North Texas campus.

Description: This thesis presents a Web-based geographic information system (GIS) application for campus emergency management that allows users to visualize, integrate, and analyze student population, facilities, and hazard data for efficient emergency management of University of North Texas before, during, and after a terrorism event. End-users can locate and search the source area of an event on a digital map from the ArcIMS-based Website. The website displays corresponding population information and attr… more
Date: August 2008
Creator: Tsang, Yuenting
Partner: UNT Libraries

Hyperspectral and Multispectral Image Analysis for Vegetation Study in the Greenbelt Corridor near Denton, Texas

Description: In this research, hyperspectral and multispectral images were utilized for vegetation studies in the greenbelt corridor near Denton. EO-1 Hyperion was the hyperspectral image and Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) was the multispectral image used for this research. In the first part of the research, both the images were classified for land cover mapping (after necessary atmospheric correction and geometric registration) using supervised classification method with maximum likelihood algorithm and accu… more
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Date: August 2006
Creator: Bhattacharjee, Nilanjana
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Identifying Cultural and Non-cultural Factors Affecting Litter Patterns in Hickory Creek, Texas

Description: Plastic deposition in hydrological systems is a pervasive problem at all geographic scales from loci of pollution to global ocean circulation. Much attention has been devoted to plastic deposition in marine contexts, but little is known about inputs of plastics into local hydrological systems, such as streams. Any attempt to prevent plastic litter must confront people’s behaviors, so archaeological concepts are used to distinguish between various cultural inputs (e.g., littering) and non-cultur… more
Date: August 2014
Creator: Carpenter, Evan S.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Impact of Chinese Privet (Ligustrum Sinense) on the Survival and Re-Establishment of Native Plants at the Dallas Floodway Extension

Description: Invasive woody shrubs are a problem when they displace native species and threaten habitats, especially those that harbor rare or endangered species. They not only compete with native plants, but also alter habitat and food that many organisms depend upon. Invasive plants undergo a release from their specialist predators in the nonnative range, providing them advantages over native species. Because modes and pathways of how invasive species spread are not fully understood, predicting spread and… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Barnett, Jennifer M
Partner: UNT Libraries
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