University of Nevada, Reno

About: University of Nevada, Reno is a education organization based out in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 13561 authors who have published 28217 publications receiving 882002 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Nevada & Nevada State University.

The Interpretation of Shear‐Wave Splitting Parameters In the Presence of Two Anisotropic Layers

Abstract: SUMMARY We consider the behaviour of shear-wave splitting parameters that are made under the assumption of a single layer of anisotropic material when in fact two layers of differing anisotropic properties are present. It is shown that the resulting apparent splitting parameters are still meaningful quantities and in fact can (at fixed frequency) be written as trigonometric functions of the splitting parameters of the individual layers. These expressions reveal many properties of the apparent splitting parameters. For example, the apparent fast polarization 4, and delay time 6t, exhibit systematic variations as a function of incoming polarization with r/2 periodicity. The derived expressions can be used to invert for the individual properties of the two layers in many circumstances. We show that several stations along the San Andreas fault system display the properties of two layers, with the top layer being parallel to the local strike of the San Andreas fault. Finally, the derived expressions for the apparent splitting parameters are shown to be easily generalized to multiple layers.

Food for thought: social versus environmental sustainability practices and performance outcomes

Abstract: Sustainable supply management research generally focuses on environmental practices. We show through an analysis of the food industry that sustainability requires an expanded view to encompass both environmental and social elements. We interviewed and surveyed food and beverage producers in the U.S. Pacific Northwest to both validate expanded sustainability elements in the industry and assess subsequent performance outcomes. A path analysis reveals that food industry managers perceive both direct and mediated impacts of sustainability programs on performance. Specifically, the results indicate that sustainability program effects are limited to the impact of conservation and land management environmental practices on overall environmental performance and human resources practices on quality performance. However, environmental performance improvements lead to improved quality performance, which in turn improves cost performance. The results highlight the complexity of sustainability impacts on performance and suggest that performance benefits from sustainability programs may be difficult to recognize.

Empirical patterns of the effects of changing scale on landscape metrics

Abstract: While ecologists are well aware that spatial heterogeneity is scale-dependent, a general understanding of scaling relationships of spatial pattern is still lacking. One way to improve this understanding is to systematically examine how pattern indices change with scale in real landscapes of different kinds. This study, therefore, was designed to investigate how a suite of commonly used landscape metrics respond to changing grain size, extent, and the direction of analysis (or sampling) using several different landscapes in North America. Our results showed that the responses of the 19 landscape metrics fell into three general categories: Type I metrics showed predictable responses with changing scale, and their scaling relations could be represented by simple scaling equations (linear, power-law, or logarithmic functions); Type II metrics exhibited staircase-like responses that were less predictable; and Type III metrics behaved erratically in response to changing scale, suggesting no consistent scaling relations. In general, the effect of changing grain size was more predictable than that of changing extent. Type I metrics represent those landscape features that can be readily and accurately extrapolated or interpolated across spatial scales, whereas Type II and III metrics represent those that require more explicit consideration of idiosyncratic details for successful scaling. To adequately quantify spatial heterogeneity, the metric-scalograms (the response curves of metrics to changing scale), instead of single-scale measures, seem necessary.