Dissertations / Theses: 'Environmental analysi'

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BOLFI, BIANCA. "Target and non-target LC-MS/MS analysis of cosmetic, food and environmental samples." Doctoral thesis, Università del Piemonte Orientale, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11579/97187.

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LAMONACA, EMILIA. "Analysis of Socio-Economic and Environmental Sustainability of Barley Supply Chain: a Healthy Crop for Human Nutrition." Doctoral thesis, Università di Foggia, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11369/362032.

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La ricerca ha lo scopo di fornire evidenze sui benefici, in termini di salubrità, sostenibilità ambientale ed efficienza produttiva, dell’orzo (Hordeum vulgare L.), una coltura ampiamente diffusa in Puglia (Italia). Al fine di perseguire questo obiettivo generale, lo scopo della ricerca è duplice: (i) studiare la percezione dei consumatori circa la qualità dei prodotti biologici, in termini di sostenibilità e salubrità, e analizzare come e in che misura la qualità percepita dei prodotti biologici è influenzata dalla presenza di informazioni in etichetta relative alla qualità e dal profilo socio-demografico dei consumatori; (ii) confrontare la coltivazione dell’orzo in regime biologico e convenzionale, in condizioni pedo-climatiche favorevoli, al fine di valutare i potenziali impatti ambientali ed individuare la migliore soluzione in termini di sostenibilità ambientale ed efficienza produttiva. È stato usato un approccio basato su una Combinazione tra una variabile casuale Uniforme discreta e una variabile casuale Binomiale traslata, denominato modello CUB per analizzare le preferenze dei consumatori in termini di due componenti latenti, il livello di attrazione verso l’item considerato (feeling) e l’incertezza connessa alle modalità della raccolta delle risposte (uncertainty). È stata usata la metodologia della valutazione del ciclo di vita, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), usando alternativamente come Unità Funzionali (FU) 1 ha di terra destinata alla coltivazione di orzo per testare la sostenibilità ambientale, e 1 kg di granella secca di orzo per testare l’efficienza produttiva. I risultati del modello CUB evidenziano che la presenza di informazioni specifiche sull’etichetta dei prodotti (e.g. etichetta ambientale, certificazione biologica, indicazioni salutistiche) fanno percepire i prodotti biologici come prodotti di qualità superiore. I risultati sottolineano anche come il profilo socio-demografico dei consumatori svolge un ruolo fondamentale ne determinare il meccanismo di acquisto dei prodotti. I risultati di LCA mostrano che la coltivazione di orzo biologico è più sostenibile da un punto di vista ambientale (ma non è produttivamente efficiente), viceversa la coltivazione di orzo convenzionale è più efficiente da un punto di vista produttivo (ma non è sostenibile per l’ambiente). I risultati relativi all’efficienza produttiva e alla sostenibilità ambientale dovrebbero essere bilanciate da assunzioni metodologiche (la scelta dell’unità funzionale, il procedimento di allocazione) e da elementi qualitativi (la qualità della coltura, l’adattabilità a specifiche condizioni pedo-climatiche). L’unità funzionale di superficie (1 ha) è preferibile per l’analisi delle fasi di coltivazione in campo, mentre l’unità funzionale di massa (1 kg) è consigliabile per la valutazione di un contesto più ampio, quale un’intera filiera. La ricerca tenta di colmare la mancanza esistente nella letteratura economica relativa alla coltura dell’orzo, che rappresenta un punto di forza per le aziende agricole e di trasformazione pugliesi, grazie alle sue caratteristiche di sostenibilità e salubrità
The scope of the research is to provide evidences about the benefits, in terms of healthiness, environmental sustainability, and productive efficiency, related to barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), a widespread crop in the Apulia region (italy). Seeking to pursue this general goal, the aim of the research is twofold: (i) investigating consumers’ perception about quality of organic food, in terms of sustainability and healthiness, and analyzing how and to what extent perceived quality of organic food is influenced by the presence of information related to quality on food products’ label, and consumers’ socio-demographic profile; (ii) comparing organic and conventional cultivation of barley, under favorable pedo-climatic conditions, to evaluate the potential environmental impacts related to the cultivation of barley and to identify the most suitable solution in terms of environmental sustainability and productive efficiency. An approach based on Combination of Uniform and shifted Binomial random variables, named CUB model, was performed to analyze consumers’ preference in terms of two latent components, feeling and uncertainty. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed alternatively using, as Functional Units (FUs), 1 ha of land involved in cultivation of barley to seek environmental sustainability and 1 kg of dry matter grains of produced barley to check productive efficiency. Findings from CUB models highlight that the presence of specific information on food’s label (e.g. environmental label, organic certification, healthy claims) contributes to perceive organic food as food of superior quality. Results also underline how consumers’ socio-demographic profile plays a significant role in driving food purchasing decision mechanism. Findings from comparative LCA show that organic barley cultivation is the most environmentally sustainable solution (but not efficient in production), vice versa conventional barley cultivation is the solution most efficient in production (but not environmentally sustainable). Efficiency in production and environmental sustainability may be balanced with methodological assumptions (choice of functional unit, allocation procedure) and qualitative elements (crop quality and adaptiveness to specific pedo-climatic conditions). A land-based FU is preferred in the analysis of the agricultural stage, while a mass-based FU is suitable for the assessment of a wider context, such as the entire supply chain. The research seeks to fill the lack, existing in economic literature, about barley crop, which is a potential strength for Apulian farms and firms, thanks to its sustainability and healthiness properties.

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LUZZI, MATTEO. "Small scale Cogenerative Energy Systems with low Environmental impact for Naval applications." Doctoral thesis, Università degli studi di Genova, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/11567/1082823.

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Considering the recent introduction of restrictions on air pollutant onboard ships and the increasing interest towards more energy efficient naval transportation, an effort is made in the present thesis to assess the possible design of a novel engine unit. More specifically, in the current regulation context, Gas Turbines are a promising alternative to current diesel engines, thanks to lighter fuel requirements, low NOx pollutants and the potential to run in combined cycle architecture with cogeneration strategies. While their application has shown clear advantages and drawbacks on large ships, there seems to be little if no data concerning smaller units. The present work tries to assess the possible design of a radial turbine for an engine to be employed onboard ships as a Mini Gas Turbine, i.e. up to 5 MW output power, taking into account cycle, aerodynamic and structural design. To this purpose, a platform was built in Ansys Workbench to perform Computational Fluid Dynamics and thermo-mechanical Finite Element simulations aimed to design and optimize such a novel radial turbine.

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Cairo, V. "MOTIVAZIONI, VALUTAZIONE E PROSPETTIVE NELLA PARTECIPAZIONE DEGLI AGRICOLTORI ALLE MISURE AGRO-AMBIENTALI:ANALISI QUALI-QUANTITATIVA SU UN CAMPIONE DI AZIENDE LOMBARDE." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2434/341976.

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Agro-environmental measures (AEMs) are policy instruments in the European Union that pay farmers for voluntary environmental commitments and protection of the European countryside. The first AEMs were introduced by Reg. 2078/1992, thank to the MacSharry Reform. In this time they were “accompanying measures” and they were used to sustain rural income after decoupling and the abolishment of internal price support. In the following programming period it became mandatory to every Member State to consider Agro-environmental measures part of their Rural Developing Programs and they became one of the most important instrument of the EU for rural areas. Investigating literature about AEMs, we understand that the determinants of farmers’ participation were not only to be searched on farm structure and farmers’ characteristics, but also in personal attitudes using the Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (1991). We collect 227 questionnaires of farmers participating in Agro-environmental measures in Lombardy during the last programming period in order to evaluate the perceptions of the respondents on the policy and explore motivations that drive farmers in the participation, evaluating both farm structural factors and their attitudes. The study is composed by two main parts: one is focused on the construction of the identikit of the “standard participant” through a Likert scale survey and a qualitative analysis, and the other one is focused on modeling factors affecting the subscription of agro-environmental contracts. In the first part, farmers answer questions concerning their perceptions about the role of conventional and environmental friendly agriculture, the impact of AEMs in their daily practices and economic aspects associated with them. They identify the reasons that push them to participate, the functions of the farm and the future they imagine for their business. Through a classifications of farmers using personal and farm characteristics, we subdivides the sample and we try to understand how this parameters influence the answers and to typify the AEMs’ participant. In the second part we implemented a logit model in order to answer the question “which are the determinants for the participation in agro-environmental measures in the next programming period?”, matching farm characteristics and farmers’ personal attitudes. Farmers choose to participate in AEMs for environmental reasons and to value their own production on the market. Most of them are interested in increasing their income through the measures. They are strongly aware of agriculture’s role of environmental manager and public goods producer but they aren’t satisfied with the recognition that is given by the decision-maker. In particular farmers criticize the Administration for procedures, bureaucracy and inspection but, finally, they want to continue to participate in AEMs. Factors affecting the participation are linked to farm characteristics, such as its UAA or its membership to organic farms, and to the farmers perceptions on some issues, such as stiffness of control and satisfaction on the environmental performances of the measures.

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ROTA, GRAZIOSI ANDREA. "EVALUATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF DIETARY STRATEGIES ON ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY OF DAIRY COW MILK PRODUCTION." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/2434/924352.

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The livestock sector is facing different challenges, and the demand for higher sustainability seems to be one of the most urgent. This PhD project debated, in particular, the environmental impacts related to ruminant nutrition, focusing on dairy cows, since nutrition is bound tightly to two of the most important sources of impact: enteric CH4 emission and land use change (LUC). Enteric CH4 emission from ruminants represents 29-38% of the total (anthropic + natural) emission of this powerful (21 CO2 equivalent) greenhouse gas. The production of CH4 is a physiological process used by ruminants to discharge the [H] resulting from rumen fermentation. Different strategies can be implemented to mitigate this impact, and they can be roughly grouped into three main categories: animal and feed management, diet formulation, and rumen manipulation. The second issue investigated in the project is the high reliance of European livestock on soybean meal as a protein source for diet formulation. A total of 30 million tonnes of this feedstuff was imported into Europe in 2020. The main countries of origin are in South America (65% of total import), where 20% of soybean meal production was linked with deforestation (and consequently LUC) in the last decades. Clearing these areas means loss of carbon sink and emission of CO2 in the atmosphere. Other feedstuffs, like grain legumes, oilseed meals alternative to soybean, and high quality forages could be considered to provide protein feed with a lower environmental cost. In this context, the PhD project was developed as follows:  To address the problem of CH4 emission, plant essential oils, as modulators of rumen fermentation, were evaluated (Experiment 1). Furthermore, the effect on CH4 emission of different forages in the diet of dairy cows was investigated (Experiment 2). For validation of mitigation strategies and inventory computation of emissions at a national scale, country-specific equations to quantify CH4 emission were evaluated (Experiment 3).  To address the problem of soybean meal environmental impact, soybean silage and responsible soybean meal (not connected with land use change) were evaluated as protein source alternatives to soybean meal in the diet of lactating cows (Experiments 4 and 5). Enteric methane direct emission In the first experiment, Achille moschata essential oil and its main pure components, namely bornyl acetate, camphor, and eucalyptol, were evaluated in an in vitro experiment. The trial comprehended a short-term in vitro incubation (48 h), with 200 mg of compound per L of inoculum, and a long-term one by continuous fermenter (9 d), with 100 mg/L for each compound. In the first incubation, no differences due to the treatments were found for in vitro gas production (on average, 30.4 mL/200 mg DM, P = 0.772 at 24 h and 45.2 mL/200 mg DM, P = 0.545 at 48 h). Camphor and eucalyptol reduced CH4 production when expressed as % of gas production at 48 h (P < 0.05): -7.4% and -7% compared to control. In the second incubation, CH4 was reduced by eucalyptol (-18%, P < 0.05). Regarding volatile fatty acids, the main effects were a decrease of total production for camphor (-19.5%, P < 0.05) and an increase in acetate production at 9 d with bornyl acetate and camphor (+13% and 7.6%, respectively, P < 0.05) compared to control. Total protozoa count was increased compared to the control (on average: +37%, P = 0.006, at 48 h and +48%, P < 0.001, at 9 d) with all the pure compounds tested. In the short-term incubation, all the treatments reduced Bacteroidetes (30.3%, on average, vs. 37.1% of control, P = 0.014) and Firmicutes (26.3%, on average, vs. 30.7% of control, P = 0.031) abundances but increased Proteobacteria (36.0%, on average, vs. 22.5% of control, P = 0.014). In the long-term incubation, eucalyptol increased the genus Ruminococcus abundance (2.60% vs. 1.18% of control, P = 0.011). An adaptation at long time incubation was observed. In particular, considering eucalyptol addition at 9 d incubation, VFA production was reduced (26.8 vs. 33.3 mmol of control, P < 0.05) contrary to the 48 h incubation (P = 0.189). Furthermore, the treatments affected protozoa genera relative abundances at 24 h (increased abundance for Entodinium with all the treatments, P < 0.001, and reduced for Diplodinium, P = 0.001); at 9 d, instead, protozoa genera relative abundances were not affected by the treatment. The additives tested showed potential in reducing CH4 production without compromising the overall fermentation efficiency. A meta-analysis (Experiment 2) investigated the effects on lactation performance and enteric CH4 of the main forage included in the diet. In the dataset, composed of in vivo experiments, four main forage bases were evaluated: corn silage, alfalfa silage, grass silage, and green forage. Cows fed corn, and alfalfa silages had the highest DMI (21.9 and 22.0 kg/d, P < 0.05) and milk yield (29.7 and 30.4 kg/d, P < 0.05). On the opposite, NDF digestibility was highest for grass silage and green forage (67.6% and 73.1%, P < 0.05) than corn and alfalfa silages (51.8% on average). CH4 production was lower (P < 0.05) for green forage (332 g/d) than the silage diets (on average 438 g/d). Instead, corn silage and alfalfa silage gave the lowest CH4 per kg of milk yield (14.2 g/kg and 14.9 g/kg, P < 0.05). Considering CH4 per kg of DMI, the only difference was between corn silage and grass silage (19.7 g/kg vs. 21.3 g/kg respectively for corn and grass silage, P < 0.05). Finally, prediction models for CH4 production were obtained through a step-wise multi regression. In particular, the models for the prediction of: CH4 in g/d (CH4 = - 65.3(±63.7) + 11.6(±1.67) × DMI - 4.47(±1.09) × CP - 0.86(±0.33) × Starch + 2.62(±0.78) × OM digestibility + 30.8(±9.45) × Milk fat) and for CH4 in g/kg of milk yield (CH4/milk yield = - 55.5(±20.1) - 0.37(±0.13) × DMI + 0.18(±0.05) × Total forage inclusion on diet DM - 0.10(±0.04) × Inclusion of the main forage on diet DM + 0.48(±0.21) × OM + 0.14(±0.06) × NDF + 1.98(±0.86) × Milk fat +4.34(±1.66) × Milk protein) showed high precision (R2 = 95.4% and 88.6%, respectively), but the best AIC value (320) was found for the model predicting CH4 in g/kg DMI: CH4/kg DMI = 6.16(±3.89) - 0.36(±0.03) × CP + 0.12(±0.05) ×OM digestibility + 3.77(±0.56) × Milk fat - 3.94(±1.07) × Milk fat yield. A dataset (66 observations in total) of three in vivo experiments conducted in Italy on lactating cows in respiration chambers was built to evaluate IPCC Tier 2 equations to estimate enteric CH4 production (Experiment 3). In the dataset, the CH4 conversion factor (conversion of gross energy intake into enteric CH4 energy) was lowest for a diet based on grass and alfalfa silages (5.05%, P < 0.05), while the others values ranged between 5.41 and 5.92%. On average, energy digestibility was 69.0% across the dataset, but the diet based on hays had a lower value (64.8%, P < 0.05). The IPCC (2019) Tier 2 (conversion factor = 5.7% or 6.1% for diet with NDF concentration < 35% or >35%, respectively; digestible energy = 70%) gave, on average, a value of CH4 production not statistically different from the ones measured in vivo (382 vs. 388 g/d in vivo, P > 0.05). The IPCC (2006) Tier 2 (conversion factor = 6.5%, digestible energy = 70%) over-predicted CH4 emission (428 vs. 388 g/d in vivo, P < 0.05; μ = -1.05). The most precise models were the two considering digestible energy equal to 70% and average values of conversion factor for IPCC (2006) and IPCC (2019) (R = 0.630); the most accurate models was the one considering a conversion factor equal to 5.7% and energy digestibility measured in vivo (Cb = 0.995). Overall, the best performance among the predicting models tested was for the one based on a conversion factor equal to 5.7% and energy digestibility of 70% (CCC = 0.579 and RMPSE = 9.10%). Use of alternative protein source to conventional soybean meal The dietary inclusion of soybean silage in partial replacement of soybean meal for dairy cows was evaluated in vivo in lactating cow diets (Experiment 4). Cows were fed two diets, one with 12.4% of DM from soybean silage in substitution of 35% of the soybean meal of the control diet. The treatment did not affect DMI and milk yield (on average, 23.7 kg/d, P = 0.659, and 33.0 kg/d, P = 0.377, respectively). Cows fed the soybean silage diet had lower milk protein concentration (3.43% vs. 3.55% of the control, P < 0.001) and higher milk urea (30.5 vs. 28.7 mg/dL, P = 0.002). The soybean silage had lower nutrient digestibility than the control: DMD 65.2% vs. 68.6%, OMD 66.4% vs. 69.8%, NDFD 31.5% vs. 38.8% (respectively for soybean silage and control diet; P < 0.001 for all of them). Regarding N balance, cows fed soybean silage excreted more nitrogen in the urines (32.3 % of N intake vs. 28.9%, P = 0.005) and less in the milk (31.3% vs. 32.7%, P =0.003) than the control. When used as a protein source alternative to soybean meal, soybean silage sustained comparable milk production, but NDF digestibility and N use efficiency should be improved. The environmental impact of the use of soybean silage in comparison to a control diet with soybean meal as the main protein source was evaluated through an LCA approach (Experiment 5). In addition, two scenarios were included in the study, considering the two diets mentioned before, but with soybean meal not connected to LUC (responsible soybean meal). Regarding the single forages, soybean silage had higher global warming potential than alfalfa hay (477 vs. 201 kg CO2eq/ton DM), also when this was expressed per tonnes of protein production (2439 and 1034 kg CO2eq/ton CP, respectively), probably due to the lower contribution of the cultivation phase for alfalfa, being a multi-year crop. The scenario with soybean silage reduced the global warming potential per kg of fat and protein corrected milk (1.17 kg CO2eq) compared to the control (1.38 kg CO2eq). Responsible soybean meal reduced the global warming potential per kg of fat and protein corrected milk (1.13 kg CO2eq/kg vs. 1.38 of the scenario with the control diet). Overall, the best result per kg of fat and protein corrected milk was obtained when responsible soybean meal and soybean silage were used in combination (1.01 kg CO2eq). Also, when global warming potential was evaluated per daily fed TMR, the impact was lowest for the scenario with responsible soybean meal (13.4 kg CO2eq/d) due to the lower contribution of soybean meal to the total impact (11% vs. 43% of the control). Therefore, the two alternative protein sources tested should be preferred when considering environmental impact compared to conventional soybean meals.

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Feldman, Alicia. "Environmental equifinality: (Re)Examining predictors of specific responsible environmental behaviours in Australian recreational fishing environments." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2021. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/208423/1/Alicia_Feldman_Thesis.pdf.

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Environmental stewardship is essential to conserving recreational fishing areas. This thesis explores the characteristics of Australians engaged in such stewardship. A novel theoretical perspective (complexity theory) and methodology (fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis) uncovers complex configurational mechanisms, with multiple equifinal solutions identified as sufficient for performance of stewardship behaviours. Configurations predictive of stewardship differ between environmental organisation members and non-members. While there are numerous, varied configurations sufficient for performance among environmental organisation members, there are fewer among non-members, indicating only a specific subset of non-members perform these behaviours. These findings can inform targeted recruitment and engagement strategies for environmental stewardship participation.

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Wall, Tamara. "A content analysis : health and environmental risk factors of children in methamphetamine living environments /." Available to subscribers only, 2008. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1559858731&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=1509&RQT=309&VName=PQD.

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Palmieri, Roberto Hoffmann. "Impactos socioambientais da certificação Rainforest Alliance em fazendas produtoras de café no Brasil." Universidade de São Paulo, 2008. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/91/91131/tde-01102008-143502/.

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O impacto da certificação foi o tema central desse projeto de pesquisa que consistiu em identificar o seu efeito sobre variáveis de interesse, isolado de outras fontes de variação. Para isso, uma metodologia de avaliação de impacto foi adaptada e testada para analisar a Certificação Socioambiental Rainforest Alliance da Rede de Agricultura Sustentável RAS na cafeicultura em Minas Gerais. A Certificação Socioambiental cresceu significativamente em fazendas produtoras de café no Brasil e no mundo desde sua criação em 1998 até o ano 2007. Os produtos vendidos com essa certificação carregam consigo a mensagem que vêm de sistemas de produção que promovem mais desenvolvimento humano e mais conservação da biodiversidade quando comparados aos sistemas convencionais. Contudo, o processo de Certificação Socioambiental não mede diretamente essas diferenças. Na rotina da certificação, o auditor avalia a conformidade dos sistemas de produção a padrões pré-estabelecidos. A ausência de avaliações de impactos pode acarretar questionamentos referentes às reais transformações decorrentes da certificação. Outro questionamento refere-se à elaboração das normas, as quais foram formuladas em processos de consulta pública com as partes interessadas, as quais estabelecem uma referência do que é desejável segundo a percepção de cada participante. Esses atores, num determinado momento ou contexto, podem ter dado maior ênfase a alguns aspectos que outros e não explicitam quais os problemas dos sistemas de produção conve ncional que pretendiam superar. Além disso, podem ocorrer mudanças de conduta e paradigmas nos sistemas convencionais que podem afetar no tempo as decisões das consultas públicas. Como parte do objetivo desse projeto pretendeu-se obter uma referência de sistemas de produção com e sem certificação como subsídio para elaboração das normas de certificação e para orientação dos trabalhos dos auditores. O método de avaliação de impacto utilizado foi comparar os empreendimentos agrícolas certificadas com os nãocertificados de forma a obter o cenário contrafactual, isto é, qual seria a situação dos empreendimentos certificados se, hipoteticamente, não tivessem passado pelo processo de certificação. A amostra foi de seis empreendimentos agrícolas do Sul de Minas e dez do Cerrado Mineiro, um total de 444 trabalhadores entrevistados. Os resultados foram gerados por meio da análise quantitativa dos dados primários obtidos por meio de entrevistas com os trabalhadores e com a administração da fazenda, análise de imagens de satélite e observações de campo. Os três temas selecionados para testar a metodologia foram bem estar dos trabalhadores, preservação da biodiversidade e conservação dos recursos hídricos e redução da poluição. Os resultados afirmaram a importância da Certificação Socioambiental para promoção da conservação da biodiversidade e do desenvolvimento humano no curto e longo prazo. Porém, não foram identificados impactos em alguns aspectos analisados, bem como uma manifestação distinta dos impactos nas regiões. A metodologia mostrou-se apropriada para identificar os impactos da certificação e para definir uma referência que contribua substancialmente para construção das normas e para orientar o trabalho de auditoria de forma a acentuar a contribuição da Certificação Socioambiental para promover a conservação da biodiversidade e o desenvolvimento humano.
The impact of certification was this research project´s major focus, which consisted of the identification of the effect of certification over interest variables, isolated from other sources of variation. Specifically in this dissertation, an impact assessment methodology was adapted and tested to analyze the impact of Rainforest Alliance socioenvironmental certification scheme, utilized by the Sustainable Agriculture Network - SAN (in Portuguese, RAS), in coffee plantations located in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Socio-environmental certification has increased significantly in coffee-producing farms in Brazil, as well as worldwide, since its creation in 1998 up to 2007. Commercialized products with this type of certification carry a message that they are rooted in production systems which promote greater human development and biodiversity conservation values when compared to conventional systems. However, the socio-environmental certification process does not currently measure these differences in a direct way. During certification procedures, an auditor assesses whether production systems are accomplishing pre-established standards. The absence of impact assessments might raise doubts regarding real transformations provoked by certification. Another doubt relates to the establishment of such standards, which were elaborated in public meetings among interested parties that established a reference about what is desirable according to each participants perception. These stakeholders, in a given moment or context, may have emphasized some particular aspects without clarifying which of the problems of the conventional systems they intended to solve. Moreover, changes might occur in the conduct or paradigms of conventional systems which can affect decisions made in public meetings. As part of this projects objective, it was intended to obtain a reference for production systems with and without certification, to subsidize the establishment of standards and to guide auditing procedures. The impact assessment method utilized was based on comparing certified and non-certified agricultural enterprises in such a way as to obtain a non-factual scenario, in other words, what would occur in the certified enterprises if, hypothetically, they had not been targeted by certification. The sample consisted of sixteen agricultural enterprises in Brazil. Results were generated through quantitative analyses of primary data gathered through interviews with farm workers and managers, satellite image analyses, and field observations. There technical issues selected to test the methodology were worker welfare, biodiversity preservation and water resource conservation, and pollution impact. Results indicate an important role of Socio-environmental Certification in promoting conservation of biodiversity and human development in the short and long run. Some analyzed aspects did not present impacts, however, and some impacts presented a differentiated response in different regions. The methodology used was concluded to be suitable for identifying certification impacts and for defining a reference to substantially contribute to building standards, as well as guide auditors´ work in such a way as to increase the contribution of socio-environmental certification to biodiversity conservation and human development.

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Reddy, Shaada. "Adult conceptions of the environment: an analysis of a formal curriculum in Environmental Education." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/18323.

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This research reports on an evaluation of conceptions of the environment held by a group of students at the University of Cape Town. This group of students were all registered for the degree of Bachelor of Education, and included in their curricula the elective in Environmental Education. The research attempts to describe the constructivist approach as implemented in the course in Environmental Education over a prescribed period, and to explore the impact of such an approach on student conceptions. The research was conducted primarily through the use of two questionnaires together with unstructured interviews. The results of the questionnaires and interviews were used to assess both qualitatively and quantitatively the development of student conceptions of the environment. The first questionnaire was administered early on in the course, while the second was administered towards the end of the course. In this way it was possible to make a comparative study of the responses. The results indicate that the course contributed to some shift in student conceptions of the environment, and that it contributed also towards the development of environmental attitudes, values and behaviour. The work concludes with suggestions for developing aspects of the course design, in the light of insights gained by this research.

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Arndt, Stephanie, Gunnar Gaitzsch, Carsten Gnauck, Christoph Höhne, Anne-Karen Hüske, Thomas Kretzschmar, Ulrike Lange, Katrin Lehmann, and André Süss. "The Relation between Corporate Economic and Corporate Environmental Performance." Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2011. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-38454.

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For almost 40 years researchers have been trying to identify the relationship between corporate environmental and corporate economic performance. Neither theoretical debate nor empirical studies investigating the relationship show conclusive results. Within a field research seminar at Technische Universität Dresden, nine students conducted a meta-analysis of 124 studies to assess different aspects of the relationship between corporate economic and corporate environmental performance. In the first part of our paper, we analyze and present the theoretical background based on a review of literature. In the second part, we test for empirical evidence. At first, the conceptual frameworks and measurement methods for corporate economic and corporate environmental performance are discussed. We also look at the impact of environmental performance on shareholder value. Thereafter, we examine the influence of time, industries and publication bias. In conclusion, our research indicates that the quality of journals merits further examination to improve results.

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Goldblatt, David Steven. "Social theory and the environment : an analysis of the writings of Giddens, Gorz and Habermas on environmental degradation and environmental politics." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 1993. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/272672.

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Bradford, Andrew Ryan. "An Examination of the Prison Environment: An Analysis of Inmate Concerns across Eight Environmental Dimensions." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2006. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2216.

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This study was undertaken to better understand inmate concerns of the prison environment across 8 dimensions. The 8 dimensions examined in this study were activity, emotional feedback, freedom, privacy, safety, social, structure, and support. To determine the importance of these dimensions among inmates, secondary data were used in an attempt to replicate and validate the findings from Wright's (1985) study which used a prison environment inventory instrument to assess inmate concerns. The secondary data consisted of an inmate sample of 1,054 taken from 30 prisons of minimum, medium, maximum and close security across the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio. Principal component analysis did not support Wright's findings of 8 dimensions but indicated that safety was the primary dimension of concern. Confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling did find support for Wright's thesis.

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Rhead, Rebecca Danielle. "Concern for the natural environment and its effect on pro-environmental behaviour amongst the British public." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2015. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/concern-for-the-natural-environment-and-its-effect-on-proenvironmental-behaviour-amongst-the-british-public(dabf1d8e-1c31-4fdd-b431-8e3941ce0759).html.

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Reports from the IPCC have been consistent in their findings: climate change is happening and human activity is the cause. The temperature of the earth’s climate has been steadily rising since the industrial revolution, with profoundly negative consequences for the natural environment. Britain is amongst the top 10 global contributors towards climate change, producing more CO2 per capita than China, and yet little is known about the relationship the British public have with the natural environment. Drawing upon DEFRA’s 2009 Survey of Public Attitudes and Behaviours Towards the Environment, a nationally representative sample of the UK, this study aims to (1) explore environmental attitudes in the DEFRA sample; (2) identify the types of environmental concern that exist in the UK and; (3) examine how environmental concern is associated with pro-environmental behaviours. The overall goal is to develop a better understanding this attitude-behaviour relationship. The thesis has 3 main findings. First, environmental concern is formed of three environmental attitudes: (a) a cognitive appraisal of plant and animal welfare (ecocentric attitude); (b) welfare of the human race (human-centric attitude); and (c) a prioritisation of the self, alongside dismissal of environmental problems (denial).Second, members of the British public can be assigned to one of four groups based on their environmental concern: Pro-environment, Neutral, Disengaged and Paradoxical (the latter 2 groups are apathetic towards environmental issues though in different ways).Third, when examining behaviour variation across these environmental concern groups, it was found, unsurprisingly, that membership of the pro- environmental group is strongly predictive of pro-environmental behaviour. What was surprising was that pro-environmental concern predicts a variety of behaviours, both easy and challenging (i.e. easy behaviour such as recycling household waste as well more challenging behaviour such as an increase use of public transportation over driving), whereas previous studies have typically found such behaviours to be unaffected by attitudes. Membership of the Neutral group also predicts pro-environmental behaviours, although this relationship is weaker and exists for fewer measures of behaviour. Disengaged and Paradoxical forms of concern are not significant predictors of behaviour. Upon examining the effect of socio-economic status (SES) on group membership and this attitude-behaviour relationship, it was found that SES does not moderate the attitude-behaviour relationship, but it does influence group membership. Respondents with higher SES were more likely to belong to neutral or pro-environment groups. After reviewing these findings, it is concluded that environmental attitudes do clearly predict behaviour, but a large portion of the UK population do not possess environmental attitudes strong enough to do so (the Disengaged and Paradoxical groups amount to 36% of the population). Future studies should focus on these apathetic groups in an attempt to understand them, determine effective methods of engagement and identify factors that increase the probability of members transitioning out of these groups.

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Billgren, Charlotte. "Making Sense of Environmental Values : Wetlands in Kenya." Doctoral thesis, Linköpings universitet, Tema vatten i natur och samhälle, 2008. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-10413.

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En av de viktigaste frågorna i världen idag är naturresurshantering. Med en väx-ande befolkning och hoten från klimatförändringar kommer förvaltningen av jordens naturresurser bli än viktigare, såväl för dagens generation som kommande generationer. En viktig aspekt när det gäller naturresurshantering är hur människor uppfattar och värderar naturen. För att komma närmare dessa miljövärden har ett flertal olika vetenskapliga tillvägagångssätt föreslagits. Den här avhandlingen undersöker hur det är möjligt att närma sig miljövärden under olika omständighe-ter och utifrån olika behov. Detta görs genom att undersöka hur olika teorier har använts, och kan användas, avseende olika våtmarker i Kenya. I utvecklingslän-der har naturresurser, teoretiskt sett, ett högre värde eftersom fattiga människor till en högre grad är direkt beroende av naturresurser och ekosystemtjänster. Ut-gångspunkten i denna avhandling är sex våtmarksområden i Kenya under olika förvaltning och med ett flertal, både aktuella och potentiella, användare. I av-handlingen undersöks hur lokalsamhället, myndigheter, industrier och turister uppfattar och värderar våtmarkerna. Genom att applicera ett arenaperspektiv, som betonar vikten av tvärvetenskap, diskuteras i avhandlingen det ekonomiska värdet av miljön för att sedan applicera andra metoder såsom emergy analys, stakeholder analys, kulturteori och riskanalys för att bredda och berika värderingen av miljön.
One of the most important issues in the world, both for present and future genera-tions, concerns natural resource management. With a growing global population and the threat of climate change, issues relating to natural resource management will grow in importance with time. One fundamental aspect of natural resource management is how people perceive and value the environment. The value that is ascribed to natural resources will be one of the determinants in the choices that people face in regards to their management. A wide range of approaches have been suggested to approach environmental values. This thesis focuses on analys-ing the assessment of environmental values under different circumstances and needs. This is done by exploring the ways various theories have and can be used to approach natural resource valuation in different wetland management situations in Kenya. In the developing world the value of natural resources can, theoreti-cally, be seen as even higher than in the developed world, due to poor peoples’ direct dependency on their natural resources and the ecosystem services and goods that they provide. The point of departure in this thesis is six wetland areas with different management strategies and with multiple users. It examines how local communities, governmental authorities, industries and tourists perceive the value of the wetlands. By applying an arena perspective, that emphasises the need of interdisciplinarity, this thesis discusses the economic value of the environment and applies other methods such as, emergy analysis, stakeholder analysis, cultural theory and risk analysis, to enrich the valuation of environment.

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Alzuhairi, Fatin, and abdulfata Fatah. "Environmentally improved concrete is compared with ordinary concrete with respect to estimated environmental impact." Thesis, KTH, Byggteknik och design, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-296542.

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Swedish buildings account for a large part of Sweden's greenhouse gas emissions, which is why the construction industry within the framework of the concrete initiative has produced a Roadmap for Climate Neutral Concrete. The climate neutral targets meant that Sweden will have net carbon emissions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 2045. In order to achieve the national environmental goals, it is important to reduce the climate impact from concrete construction. Today, the concrete industry is facing a major challenge in minimizing the consumption of concrete, while at the same time the need for new buildings is increasing as a result of the increase in land populations.Concrete lifecycle analysis shows that 90 percent of carbon dioxide emissions come from the manufacturing process of cement clinker that is included in the cement binder. For this reason, the concrete industry has researched and developed various alternatives that contribute to reducing the environmental impact caused by concrete by reducing carbon dioxide emissions.The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the environmental impact of different types of concrete and to investigate two factors that contribute to reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere. The factors being investigated are choice of optimized concrete recipe by reducing proportion of cement and choice of concrete composition by replacing cement with alternative binders.A survey study was conducted to analyze the environmental impact of different types of concrete with different amounts of cement, water percentage and exposure class. In addition, a comparison study between ordinary concrete and climate-enhanced concrete was performed to analyze the climate impact of climate-enhanced concrete with different improvement steps compared to ordinary concrete. To carry out this study, a study of ordinary concrete has been carried out with documents (concrete quantity, strength class and water cement figures) from a reference project obtained by Specialfastigheter, and then replaced with climate-enhanced concrete in various improvement steps.The results show that concrete with lower cement volume and higher water cement numbers give a marked reduction in the building's climate impact. By reducing the amount of cement in the concrete, the proportion of cement clinkers included in the cement binder is lowered, which in turn reduces the climate impact. In addition, a comparison study also shows that the building's climate impact can be reduced between 10, 25 and 52 percent through the use of climate-enhanced charm. This is because climate-enhanced concrete is being replaced by some cement with alternative binders.The conclusion is that this study provides greater opportunity for the construction industry to gain additional knowledge and a better understanding of how environmental impact can be reduced by choosing the right type of concrete. Choosing concrete with lower strength, higher water cement ratio and higher proportion of alternative binders contributes to lower climate impact from concrete.
Svenska byggnader står till svars för en stor del av Sveriges utsläpp av växthusgaser, därför har byggbranschen inom ramen för betonginitiativet tagit fram Färdplan för Klimatneutral betong. Klimatneutralmålen innebär att Sverige ska uppnå nettonollutsläpp av koldioxid i atmosfär år 2045. För att kunna nå de nationella miljömålen är det viktigt att sänka klimatpåverkan från betongkonstruktion. Idag befinner sig betongbranschen inför stor utmaning att minimera konsumtion av betong, samtidigt som behovet av nybebyggelse ökar till följd av att jordbefolkningen ökar.Betonglivscykelanalys visar att 90 procent av koldioxidutsläpp kommer från tillverkningsprocess av cementklinker som ingår i bindemedlet cement. Av denna anledning har betongbranschen undersökt och utvecklat olika alternativ som bidrar till minskning av miljöpåverkan orsakad av betong genom att reducera koldioxidutsläpp.Syftet med detta examensarbete är att utvärdera miljöpåverkan från olika betongssorter samt att undersöka två faktorer som bidrar till minskning av koldioxidutsläpp i atmosfären. De faktorer som ska undersökas är val av optimerat betongsrecept och alternativa bindemedel. Det optimerade betongrecept sker genom minskning av andel av cement och val av betongsammansättning där cement ersätts med alternativa bindemedel.En undersökningsstudie utfördes för att analysera miljöpåverkan av olika betongssorter med olika cementsmängd, vattencementtal och exponeringsklass. Dessutom utfördes en jämförelsestudie mellan vanlig betong och klimatförbättrad betong för att analysera klimatpåverkan av klimatförbättrad betong med olika förbättringssteg jämfört med vanlig betong. För att genomföra denna studie har olika betongsmängder, hållfasthetsklass och vattencementtal undersökas. Betonginformation hämtas från ett referensprojekt erhållna av Specialfastigheter för att sedan ersättas med klimatförbättrad betong i olika förbättringssteg.Resultaten visar att betong med lägre cementmängd och högre vattencementtal ger uppmärksammade minskning av byggnadens klimatpåverkan. Genom att minska cementmängden i betongen sänks andelen av cementklinker som ingår i bindemedlet cement, vilket i sin minskar klimatpåverkan. Dessutom visar även jämförelsestudien att byggnadens klimatpåverkan kan minskas mellan 10, 25 och 52 procent genom användning av klimatförbättrad betog. Detta beror på att klimatförbättrad betong ersätter en del av cement med alternativa bindemedel.Slutsatsen är att denna studie ger större möjlighet för byggbranschen att få ytterligare kunskap samt bättre förståelse om hur miljöpåverkning kan minskas genom att välja rätt betongtyp. Att välja betong med lägre hållfasthet, högre vattencementtal och högre andel av alternativa bindemedel bidrar till lägre klimatpåverkan från betong.

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Shaddock, Bellamy Lucinda. "Classroom Environment: Content Analysis Examining Characteristics of Classroom Environments That Affect Students' Academic Achievement." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2016. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3133.

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The purpose of this qualitative study was to extend the understanding of the characteristics of a classroom environment that impact students’ engagement in academics and therefore has the potential to positively impact student achievement scores. Data were collected through content analysis to analyze for reoccurring themes to assess how the characteristics of the classroom environment impact student’s achievement. Ten classrooms within the Kingsport City District were observed and analyzed for this study. Six research questions guided this study, and qualitative data were analyzed for reoccurring themes. Findings from this study suggest that implementing certain characteristics in to the classroom environment can positively impact students’ academic success. The development and construction of classroom environments should include such characteristics as positive discipline, well laid out and organized classrooms, accountable talks, collaborative groups, positive teacher student interaction, and learning targets. As a result of this research a recommendation for practice is that districts support the development of classrooms that would positively impact student’s achievement.

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Wallington, Tabatha Jean. "Civic environmental pragmatism: a dialogical framework for strategic environmental assessment." Thesis, Wallington, Tabatha Jean (2002) Civic environmental pragmatism: a dialogical framework for strategic environmental assessment. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2002. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/385/.

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Questions of uncertainty and value conflict are increasingly pervasive challenges confronting policy makers seeking to address the range of environmental problems generated by contemporary technological systems. Yet these questions are ultimately political and moral in nature, and require a framework of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) that is marked by informed and democratic civic governance. Reflecting this, the original, civic purposes of environmental assessment (EA) embraced science and public participation as interdependent elements in the creation of more sustaining forms of human-nature interaction. However, formal models of EA have forsaken meaningful democratic engagement to technique. Based on the instrumentalist assumption that better science automatically leads to better policy, EA has externalised the civic source of political energy that underpins its environmental expertise. Moreover, debates become polarised when science is uncritically imported into the adversarial forums of interest-based politics, so that environmental science is increasingly unable to support political action. I shall argue that the revolutionary potential of SEA to transform the policy process rests upon a recovery of its original, civic purposes. My thesis is that a deeper understanding of the relationship between scientific knowledge and political action is required if SEA is to be rigorous, and also relevant to public concerns. Philosophical pragmatism contributes epistemological resources vital to this task. By situating knowledge in the context of practice, and by recognising the dialogical, judgmental nature of rationality, the practical philosophy of pragmatism reclaims the contextually embedded nature of inquiry. When science is embedded in a wider ethical context, the meaning and purposes of environmental knowledge become central questions of policy. The procedural ethics of both liberal and Habermasian politics cannot address these questions, however, because they relegate questions of the public good to the realm of individual choice. Instead, I argue that public dialogue, guided by a praxisoriented virtue ethics, is required to recover objective environmental goods in the policy process. I also argue that Aristotlean rhetoric, with its focus on the credibility of expertise, is the mode of persuasive argument most appropriate for dialogical public forums. The public philosophy of civic environmental pragmatism is therefore presented as a richer theoretical framework for understanding the contribution of both experts and citizens in the development of environmental knowledge for policy. As a dialogical framework for SEA, civic environmental pragmatism constructively combines the critical/normative and instrumental/descriptive aspects of policy inquiry, both of which are required in the development of socially robust knowledge and politically feasible policy decisions.

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Wallington, Tabatha Jean. "Civic environmental pragmatism : a dialogical framework for strategic environmental assessment /." Wallington, Tabatha Jean (2002) Civic environmental pragmatism: a dialogical framework for strategic environmental assessment. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2002. http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/385/.

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Questions of uncertainty and value conflict are increasingly pervasive challenges confronting policy makers seeking to address the range of environmental problems generated by contemporary technological systems. Yet these questions are ultimately political and moral in nature, and require a framework of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) that is marked by informed and democratic civic governance. Reflecting this, the original, civic purposes of environmental assessment (EA) embraced science and public participation as interdependent elements in the creation of more sustaining forms of human-nature interaction. However, formal models of EA have forsaken meaningful democratic engagement to technique. Based on the instrumentalist assumption that better science automatically leads to better policy, EA has externalised the civic source of political energy that underpins its environmental expertise. Moreover, debates become polarised when science is uncritically imported into the adversarial forums of interest-based politics, so that environmental science is increasingly unable to support political action. I shall argue that the revolutionary potential of SEA to transform the policy process rests upon a recovery of its original, civic purposes. My thesis is that a deeper understanding of the relationship between scientific knowledge and political action is required if SEA is to be rigorous, and also relevant to public concerns. Philosophical pragmatism contributes epistemological resources vital to this task. By situating knowledge in the context of practice, and by recognising the dialogical, judgmental nature of rationality, the practical philosophy of pragmatism reclaims the contextually embedded nature of inquiry. When science is embedded in a wider ethical context, the meaning and purposes of environmental knowledge become central questions of policy. The procedural ethics of both liberal and Habermasian politics cannot address these questions, however, because they relegate questions of the public good to the realm of individual choice. Instead, I argue that public dialogue, guided by a praxisoriented virtue ethics, is required to recover objective environmental goods in the policy process. I also argue that Aristotlean rhetoric, with its focus on the credibility of expertise, is the mode of persuasive argument most appropriate for dialogical public forums. The public philosophy of civic environmental pragmatism is therefore presented as a richer theoretical framework for understanding the contribution of both experts and citizens in the development of environmental knowledge for policy. As a dialogical framework for SEA, civic environmental pragmatism constructively combines the critical/normative and instrumental/descriptive aspects of policy inquiry, both of which are required in the development of socially robust knowledge and politically feasible policy decisions.

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TUCCI, MATTEO. "MICROBIAL ELECTROCHEMICAL SENSORS FOR FRESHWATER AND WASTEWATER MONITORING." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Milano, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/2434/702269.

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Freshwater is essential for socioeconomic development, health of the population and equilibrium of the ecosystem. However, pollution generated by human activities often degrade the quality of this vital resource. In order to address this problem with effective management strategies, continuous assessment of freshwater and wastewater status is necessary. Microbial electrochemical systems (MESs) are attracting increasing attention as sensing tools, due to their low-cost, sustainability, portability, generation of continuous on-line signal and low involvement of operators. In this dissertation, the implementation of MESs as sensors in two different environmental contexts is discussed: wastewater treatment monitoring and agriculture-related pollutants detection. Different prototypes were designed according to their specific application and their detection capabilities were investigated. Regarding the monitoring of wastewater treatment process, floating Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) were tested as sensors for organic matter, a parameter that is currently measured with the labour-intensive and time-consuming BOD5 test. The first prototype consisted of a floating frame holding two carbon cloth electrodes separated by a polypropylene felt and a clay layer. The biosensor was tested in the lab using real wastewater as both electrolyte and inoculum, and a calibration curve was obtained. However, when the device was tested in the plant of Carimate (CO), a strong influence of light irradiation on the signal was noticed. During a month of operations, a correspondence between the peaks of voltage and of the peaks of organic load was present, but the signal was delayed of about two days. To further understand the influence of different environmental factors on the current signal, a new device was conceived and compared with the previous configuration. This time the experimentation was carried out at the plant of Bresso Niguarda (MI). The new setup consisted in a cylindrical terracotta separator sealed at one end and held perpendicularly to the wastewater surface by a plastic floater. The carbon cloth anode was placed outside the cylinder, while a cathode of the same material was located inside. Light irradiation, temperature, sCOD and nitrates were continuously monitored for about 20 days. An automatic sampler was built to obtain wastewater samples every two hour every day. The correlation between the physical-chemical parameters and the cell voltages was quite poor, especially for the floating type, which was often subjected to the inversion of the electrodes potential. This was probably due to oxygen diffusion in the first layer of wastewater. The microbial analysis of the biofilms confirmed this aspect, as aerobic strains (e.g. Nocardicaceae) were found on the anodes, and electrogenic bacteria usually present on anodes were found on the cathodes (i.e. Geobacteriaceae). To monitor agriculture-related pollutants (i.e. herbicides), amperometric biosensors based on the inhibition of cyanobacterial photocurrent were studied. Many herbicide compounds are harmful to humans and the environment, and they are currently measured with classic analytic techniques (e.g. HPLC, GC-MS, etc.), which are expensive and time consuming. To build the first prototype, Anabaena variabilis cells were entrapped on a carbon felt electrodes using an alginate hydrogel, and p-benzoquinone was used as electron shuttle to sustain the electron transfer. With this device it was possible to obtain concentration-current calibration curves for two commonly used herbicides (i.e. diuron and atrazine), and the obtained linear range was suitable for environmental analysis. However, to build a long lasting device, a mediatorless configuration is preferable, as the redox mediator is cytotoxic and can undergo photodegradation. For this reason, a new biosensor was created: a paper-based electrode coated with carbon nanotube paint and a titanium nanolayer was used as substrate for the formation of a Synechocystis wt. biofilm. Whit this configuration, only a presence/absence inhibition signal could be obtained for atrazine and diuron, while the herbicide paraquat temporarily enhanced the electron transfer due to its redox mediator capabilities. Nevertheless, this biosensor was able to maintain its sensitivity even after it was kept in the fridge for 22 days, proving its potential as long-lasting device which can be easily stored or shipped after preparation. These results demonstrated that microbial electrochemical sensors are a promising technology for sensing applications, with a great potential for the creation of a smart, diffuse grid of low-cost sensors for the continuous monitoring of water quality. However, further improvements are needed in order to reduce the response time, improve the sensitivity and discern between the influence of different environmental factors on the signal.

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Zach, Lorna S. "Environmental risk analysis : an application of proposed methods to frequent, small oil spills in the estuarine environment." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Chemical and Process Engineering, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/7523.

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Accidental spillage of chemicals by the process industries can pose both immediate and long-term threats to the natural environment. Long-term damage from frequent, low-level releases is difficult to predict and may not be evident until the damage is done. This thesis reviews techniques for environmental risk evaluation and proposes a number of improvements. These improvements include: • Definition of an endpoint in the natural environment around which to evaluate risk; • Estimation of risk from the cumulative stresses assaulting the endpoint; • Using a specially established maximum acceptable concentration for the endpoint, • rather than using an acute toxicity based on a fractional kill; • (III Using a probabilistic analysis rather than a deterministic analysis, thus avoiding the • use of an average or a worst-case scenario; • Including a sensitivity and an uncertainty analysis. Aspects of the improved environmental risk method are demonstrated in a case study. The case study considered in this thesis evaluates the potential long-term effects to an important shellfish bed in a harbour near an oil refinery. Modelling is the analytical tool used. It is a relatively inexpensive method, compared with ongoing field-sampling and laboratory analysis, to identify specific chemicals, industrial operations, and sites which might require further testing and investigation. The case study in this thesis focuses on an estimation of the annual volume of hydrocarbons spilled at the refinery wharf and also on the estimation of BTEX exposure from these spills. A large fraction of automotive petrol is composed of BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene) and this was selected as the contaminant. Benzene is present in concentrations of order 5% w/w and the combined mono-aromatics, BTEX, amount to 45% w/w in New Zealand motor fuel (premium grade, 96 octane). The exposure concentration was estimated from refinery wharf off-loading spills in Whangarei Harbour, New Zealand to a nearby shellfish bed, the Mair Bank, at the mouth of the tidal estuary. The shellfish bed is not only a fishing resource, but also lends stability to the coastline where the petroleum refinery stands. BTEX is a significant contaminant to evaluate in regard to shellfish bed health because molluscs are generally more sensitive to light fuel or refined oils than crude oils. The probable annual volume of all hydrocarbons spilled, as well as the probable exposure concentration over one operational year from small-scale, oil-spills were estimated from reconstructed historical frequency data and calculations of environmental transport. The frequency of harbour spills over 24 years was used from Northland Regional Council records. Unfortunately, only those spills estimated to be over one cubic meter in size were recorded and spills under one cubic meter were of most concern in this study. Therefore, in order to estimate the total number of spills per year, including those spills under one cubic meter, additional data were required. Detailed spills data collected over five years from marine terminals were obtained from the California State Lands Commission. Using these data, two methods of data reconstruction were used. In general, the shape of the Californian spill-size distribution was maintained, although a frequency proportionality factor was used since spills were more frequent at this refinery wharf. In addition, there were large spills at the refinery wharf (4 in 24 years), so the tail of the distribution needed to be lengthened and thickened. The result was that the mean spill size at the refinery wharf was estimated at 0.166 and 2.55 cubic meters for each of the two reconstruction methods. The average number of spills per year in loading and unloading operations predicted by these methods were 112 and 98. The exposure model combined and integrated the contaminant-transport rate processes. The significant rate processes affecting the exposure of BTEX or aromatic fraction of automotive petrol to the shellfish were evaporation, advection-induced dispersion, buoyancy-induced dispersion, and spill break-up or entrainment. Other transport processes were comparatively minor for the time frame of concern. The significant contaminant-transport rate processes were then combined with the dynamics of the natural environment to result in an exposure to the shellfish bed as a function of time. These dynamics included periodic tidal flow, temperature, and wind speed which fluctuated with the time of year. The modelled exposures over time were compared with published sub-lethal, sensitive life-stage and adult lethal marine toxicity criteria. The exposure concentration range of interest in this study was the sub-lethal range which affected reproduction and growth. Not only is the exposure concentration important, but also the frequency of exposure must be considered when evaluating shellfish health. Bivalves, in general, compared to fish and crustacea, have a very low level of activity of enzymes capable of metabolising organic contaminants, such as aromatic hydrocarbons and, once exposed, the time taken to rid tissue of the contaminant is critical. Monte Carlo simulation results of spillage at the refinery wharf showed that depending on the spill-size distribution used, the annual volume may range from 15 to 283 cubic meters. The lower range of this spillage volume compared well, proportionately, with Port Tauranga's published total of annual successful prosecutions for oil spillage. Monte Carlo simulation results of Mair Bank shellfish exposure to BTEX for one year are available for several scenarios of input spill-size distribution and spill frequency. These results indicate sub-lethal exposures greater than 10 pm BTEX at average intervals of 9 to 27 days and average exposure concentrations of 5000 to 19,500 ppb, respectively. This exposure frequency may not provide enough time between exposures for the shellfish to adequately recover. While a few excursions exceed the adult lethal toxic level, it is difficult to make fatality predictions for tidal creatures which have the ability to close up for long periods of time. What is of concern is that the exposures are closer together than the ability of the creatures to eliminate the toxins from their tissues. The output of the Monte Carlo simulation was sensitive to the input probability distributions, as well as the number of transfer events in a year, and the evaporation rate. Small spills under 1 cubic meter were almost as damaging to the shellfish in terms of sublethal exposure as the large ones, 20 to 70 cubic meters. Because the evaporation rate was significant in this analysis of mono-aromatic compounds, the volatile aromatics in the smaller spills (less than about 0.060 cubic meters) would often evaporate completely, depending on the spill size and the time it took for the slick to get to the shellfish bed. Therefore, the greater the proportion of spills under 0.100 cubic meters, the smaller the exposure and the exposure frequency. Because extensive chemical analyses or biological monitoring can be so expensive and because a natural community may appear healthy even when it is sick, the proposed methodology is a comparatively inexpensive way to check the need for further analysis. The results of this analysis are the first step to determine the long-term risk to a nonhuman population. The next step is to refine population and growth models to include the effect of sub-lethal contaminants. Given the presently available distribution of spillage size and frequency, damage to the long-term health and population of this shellfish bed is possible. Further, more detailed analysis and monitoring are recommended.

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21

Van, Noordwyk Arina. "Quantifying the sustainability of the built environment : the development of a complete environmental life cycle assessment tool." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/96923.

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Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sustainability is becoming an increasingly important aspect in all facets of engineering. It is in particular an important consideration in the structural engineering industry, due to the prominence of the negative impact this industry has on the environment, both on a national and international scale. The problem, however, is that sustainability is a mostly unknown and highly debated topic. It is not only difficult to quantify, but even difficult just to define. In the field of structural engineering it is an especially difficult task to consider sustainability. It is still a very new field of research and difficult to apply. It is therefore important that continued research be done in order for there to be a better understanding of how sustainability should be considered and applied in the context of structures. In an attempt to assess the environmental impact of building structures, there are two basic approaches that are followed. The first, the application-oriented method, is a simple, points-based system. The second, the analysis-oriented method, makes use of detailed indices and factors to quantify the impact. This study aims to develop an analysis-oriented method, specifically designed for the complete life cycle of buildings in the South African environment. This is accomplished by continuing the work that was started by Brewis (2011), and continued by Brits (2012). Brewis developed the approach for the pre-use phase, while Brits developed the approach for the end-of-life phase. Both focussed their application on low-cost housing development. However, the approach is defined for the use of the analysis of a building envelope. The details of developing the environmental life cycle assessment (LCA), as well as the approaches for the pre-use phase and the end-of life phase are discussed in Chapter 3. The study develops the use phase of the proposed environmental life cycle assessment for buildings in Chapter 4. It discusses in detail the two main components of the use phase, namely maintenance and operation. While maintenance is concerned with the replacement of building materials in the structure, the operation component is concerned with the energy needs during the use phase. It is determined that the energy use that is directly related to the building envelope is the energy required for the space heating and cooling of the building. This is due to the fact that the thermal properties of the building envelope influence the thermal environment within the building, and thereby impact the use of energy to regulate that thermal environment. In order to make the most use of both of these components within the application of the proposed LCA, it was decided to model a residential building structure that uses consistent energy to regulate the thermal environment within the structure. However, it is not only the objective to use the proposed LCA as an assessment tool, but also as a comparative and optimisation tool. Therefore one component, the external walls, was selected as a variable component. This component was varied to form a total of nine different buildings. These nine buildings were then used in a comparative study in order to try to determine an optimum choice of external walling system, based on the results of the environmental impacts determined in the LCA. It is also used to try to explain exactly how and to what extent the external walling system contributes to the environmental impact, and what useful application value we can gain from this knowledge. The results showed that a minor increase in the materials impact (due to attempts to improve the thermal capacity of the external walls) were in most cases countered by a decrease in the energy impact, which in seven of the eight alternative external walling systems led to a net decrease in environmental impact (EI) categories one to four. It was also found that with the increase of the R-value of the external walling systems, the environmental impact of the building steadily decreased, in terms of four of the five impact categories. The only exception to these trends was found in the fifth impact category: waste generation. The reason for this is the fact that energy impact in this environmental impact category is negligible, and therefore does not contribute much to the net change in environmental impact.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die belangrikheid van volhoubaarheid neem al hoe meer toe in alle aspekte van ingenieurswese. In die industrie van struktuuringenieurswese is dit van besonderse belang as gevolg van die prominente negatiewe impak van hierdie industrie op die omgewing, op beide ’n nasionale en internasionale skaal. Die probleem is egter dat volhoubaarheid nog meestal gesien word as ŉ onderwerp wat onbekend en hoogs debatteerbaar is. Dit is nie net moeilik om te kwantifiseer nie, maar selfs moeilik om dit net te definieer. In struktuuringenieurswese is dit veral ŉ moeilike taak om volhoubaarheid in ag te neem. Dit is nog ŉ baie jong studieveld wat moeilik is om toe te pas. Dit is dus van uiterse belang dat verdere navorsing gedoen word sodat daar ŉ beter begrip kan wees van hoe volhoubaarheid op die lewensiklus van strukture toegepas kan word. In 'n poging om die omgewingsimpak van die geboustrukture te evalueer, is daar twee basiese benaderings wat gevolg kan word. Die eerste, die toepassingsgeoriënteerde metode, is 'n eenvoudige, punte-gebaseerde stelsel. Die tweede, die analise-georiënteerde metode maak gebruik van gedetailleerde indekse en faktore om die omgewingsimpak te kwantifiseer. Hierdie studie beoog om 'n analise-georiënteerde metode te ontwikkel, wat spesifiek ontwerp is vir die analise van die volledige lewensiklus van geboue in die Suid-Afrikaanse omgewing. Dit word gedoen deur die voortsetting van die werk wat begin is deur Brewis (2011), en voortgesit is deur Brits (2012). Brewis het die benadering vir die eerste fase (voor-gebruik) ontwikkel, terwyl Brits die benadering vir die finale fase (einde-van-lewe) ontwikkel het. Beide het die fokus van hul toepassings geplaas op lae-koste behuising. Die benaderings is egter gedefinieer vir die algemene analise van ŉ gebou se raamwerk. Die besonderhede van die ontwikkeling van die omgewingslewensiklus analise (OLA), asook die benaderings vir die eerste en finale fases, word in Hoofstuk 3 bespreek. Die studie ontwikkel die gebruiksfase van die voorgestelde omgewingslewensiklus analise vir geboue in Hoofstuk 4. Dit bespreek die twee hoofkomponente van die gebruiksfase, naamlik die instandhouding en bedryf. Terwyl instandhouding gemoeid is met die vervanging van boumateriale in die struktuur, is die bedryfskomponent gemoeid met die energie behoeftes tydens die gebruiksfase. Dit word bepaal dat die energie verbruik wat ŉ direkte verband het met die gebou se raamwerk, die energie is wat nodig is vir die verhitting en verkoeling van die gebou. Dit is te danke aan die feit dat die termiese eienskappe van die gebou se raamwerk die termiese omgewing binne die gebou beïnvloed, en sodoende 'n impak het op die energie wat benodig word om die temperatuur te reguleer. In ŉ poging om die spektrum van die voorgestelde OLA ten volle te benut, is dit besluit om die toepassing daarvan te illustreer op 'n residensiële gebou wat van konsekwente energieverbruik gebruik maak om die termiese omgewing binne die gebou te reguleer. Dit is egter nie net die doel om die voorgestelde OLA te gebruik as 'n assesseringsinstrument nie, maar ook om die OLA se funksie as ’n vergelykende en optimaliseringshulpmiddel te illustreer. Dus is een komponent, die eksterne mure, gekies as 'n veranderlike komponent. Hierdie komponent is gewissel om 'n totaal van nege verskillende geboue te vorm. Hierdie nege geboue is gebruik in 'n vergelykende studie in 'n poging om 'n optimale keuse van eksterne mure te bepaal, gebaseer op die resultate van die omgewingsimpak wat in die OLA te bepaal is. Dit word ook gebruik om te probeer om te verduidelik presies hoe en tot watter mate die eksterne mure bydra by tot die omgewingsimpak, en watter nuttige toepassingswaarde geput kan word uit hierdie kennis. Die resultate het getoon dat 'n toename in die materiaal impak (weens pogings om die termiese kapasiteit van die eksterne mure te verbeter) in die meeste gevalle teengewerk is deur 'n afname in die energie impak. In sewe van die agt alternatiewe eksterne muurstelsels het dit gelei tot 'n netto afname in omgewingsimpak vir kategorieë een tot vier. Dit is ook gevind dat die omgewingsimpak van die gebou stelselmatig gedaal het met die toename van die Rwaarde van die eksterne muurstelsels, ook in terme van kategorieë een tot vier. Die enigste uitsondering op hierdie tendense is gevind in die vyfde impak kategorie: die afval wat gegenereer word. Die feit dat die effek van energie verbruik gering is in hierdie omgewingsimpak kategorie, lei tot die feit dat dit nie veel bydra tot die netto verandering in die omgewingsimpak nie.

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22

Lillah, Riyaadh. "Environmental literacy: a needs analysis." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011029.

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An impending environmental crisis has been predicted by many which has led to an increased awareness and concern regarding the ability of the planet to sustain human development. Furthermore, organisations expected to be leaders in society, such as businesses and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), have been identified as some of the main drivers behind the ever increasing rate of destruction of the natural environment. Business schools have even been singled out as some of the main drivers behind the degradation of the natural environment by not addressing the knowledge gap of managers in this regard. Given this, the problem statement of this research is to determine how effective existing NMMU curricula are at shaping environmentally literate business graduates. The problem will be investigated from two perspectives. Firstly, from a supply side perspective - investigating the pro-environmental behaviours, ecological and business knowledge, „green‟ management skills and environmental values that students registered in the Business and Economics Sciences faculty at NMMU exhibit. Secondly, the problem will be investigated from a demand side perspective – investigating the pro-environmental behaviours, ecological and business knowledge, "green‟ management skills and environmental values that potential employers of NMMU students require. The focus will be on prospective employers in the mining and automotive industries. To address the problem to be investigated in this study a theoretical framework was developed and tested. This theoretical framework was based on the assumption that environmental literacy is measurable in terms of the behaviours of individuals towards the natural environment and that these behaviours are in turn dependent upon the ecological and business knowledge, "green‟ management skills and environmental values that the individual possesses. To test the theoretical framework an online survey was conducted amongst students registered in the Business and Economic Sciences Faculty at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), while semi-structured personal interviews were used to assess the demand for environmentally literate business graduates in the mining and automotive industries. In total 308 business students participated in the online survey. The findings suggest that students are highly sensitive to moral issues pertaining to the natural environment and have a better understanding of traditional ecological concepts than "green‟ business concepts. It was also found that ecological and business knowledge had the greatest influence on pro-environmental behaviours followed by environmental values and "green‟ management skills. The findings of this study will be used to enhance environmental literacy in the faculty. In terms of the semi-structured personal interviews, the views of eight environmental experts in the South African mining industries were obtained. The general analytical procedure was applied to identify prominent themes which existed in the qualitative data. This involved developing codes and identifying data which related to those specific codes in order to provide a description of and provide some dimension to these codes. Codes were categorised according to their similarity to each other. The different categories identified were ecology, legal compliance, technology, environmental management, sustainable development, pollution and waste management, financial implications and corporate citizenship. Some of these themes were not entirely expected based on the literature review. These additional insights add depth to the analysis of environmental education in South Africa and highlight the gaps in environmental literacy literature. In terms of environmental literacy, these categories had implications for the knowledge, skills, values and behaviours of business graduates. From the findings of this study the researcher concluded that a certain level of enthusiasm for environmental education exists among NMMU students, as well as individuals in the mining and automotive industries in South Africa. However, the level of environmental literacy exhibited by students registered in the Business and Economic Sciences Faculty at NMMU (between nominal and functional) was not considered to be sufficient to operate effectively in the mining and automotive industries.

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23

Adolfsson-Erici, Margaretha. "Fish bile in environmental analysis." Doctoral thesis, Stockholm : Department of Applied Environmental Science, Stockholm University, 2005. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-494.

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24

Ratti, Carlo. "Urban analysis for environmental prediction." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.421692.

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25

Scotland, W. R. "Luminescence techniques in environmental analysis." Thesis, Heriot-Watt University, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/10399/877.

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26

McIntyre, Stuart G. "Regional economic and environmental analysis." Thesis, University of Strathclyde, 2012. http://oleg.lib.strath.ac.uk:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=18912.

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Scotland has a set of legislative targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, measured on a territorial basis, introduced by the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. In addition, the Scottish Government have adopted as a 'national outcome' target a reduction in the emissions embodied in Scottish consumption activities. These targets differ in terms of whether the emissions embodied in exports are included (territorial) or whether the emissions embodied in imports are included (consumption) in the emissions total. The first area of work in this thesis is quantifying the different emissions totals that can be calculated under both of these accounting principles using the currently available data for Scotland. Using the input-output framework, we explore the construction, and the implications, of this range of measures. We also identify some wider issues that arise in the adoption of different emissions targets for a region within an interdependent national economy. The second area of work focuses on understanding the sectoral level relationships which underpin national output and CO2 emissions in Scotland. It is often the case that the focus of policy and public debate is on 'the number' (i.e. the emissions total) and changes in it. Underpinning this 'number', however, is a series of complex economic relationships at the sectoral level which we want to better understand. We seek to better understand these relationships in Scotland using the tools of linkage and key sector analysis. The final strand of work in this thesis looks to explore the compatibility of the current focus of economic policy in Scotland on increasing export demand, with the environmental objectives of reducing Scottish territorial and consumption emissions. There is great emphasis placed by the Scottish Government on the economic impacts of investing in 'green' industries, while little is said of the environmental impact of more general growth in export demand, even though this is a clear economic policy priority.Using a CGE model framework, we explore the implications on both the territorial and consumption emissions totals of a general increase in export demand with flow migration and no-migration. These two cases provide interesting insights on both the long-run impact on these emissions totals, as well as on the dynamic adjustment to the long-run total. The analysis in this thesis answers a number of interesting research questions, and uncovers some additional questions which will be the focus of future research. It is clear that the economy and the environment are interdependent. What needs to be better understood is which parts of the economy impact on the environment, how trade influences the impact of our economy on the environment, and how economic and environmental policy objectives are interdependent.

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Edberg, Elin. "Environmental Development around Falun Copper Mineduring Late Holocene." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för geovetenskaper, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-244313.

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The area at and around the Falun copper mine has always been of great interest. To begin with it was the valuable ore that drew people to the area. Now it is the historical, archaeological and environmental aspects that draw researchers from different fields of study to Falun. Peat cores were taken in several peatlands throughout an area extending toward about 2 kilometres to the west, southwest and south of the Falun mine. One core was selected for more extensive studies including plant macrofossil analysis, loss on ignition (LOI) and 14C – analysis. These methods are combined to give a picture of the environmental conditions at different periods in time, using plants and their preferred growth environment as an aid. The untouched environment changing into the well-known mining landscape that prevailed in the hey-day of the mine, with the change being the focal point, is the reason for this study.The cores presented in this thesis generally show lake areas drying up and transforming into peatlands, some peatlands may however have been formed in other ways. The location chosen for further studies is now almost transformed to a forest floor. This study provides a solid foundation for further studies as well as adds more information to existing knowledge. However, more research is needed to fully understand how the environment changed due to the opening of the mine.
Området vid och runt Falu koppargruva har alltid varit av stort intresse. Till en början var det den dyrbara malmen som lockade människor till platsen. Numer är det de historiska, arkeologiska och miljörelaterade aspekterna som lockar forskare från olika forskningsfält hit. Torvkärnor togs från flera torvmarker inom ett område som sträcker sig ungefär 2 kilometer i väst-, sydväst-, och sydlig riktning från Falu gruva. En torvkärna valdes ut för mer omfattande undersökningar, dessa inkluderar växt-makrofossil-analys, LOI och 14C – analys. Dessa metoder kombineras för att få en bild av de rådande miljöförhållandena vid olika tidpunkter, genom att använda växters föredragna växtplats som hjälp. Det är hur den orörda naturen förändrats till det välkända gruvlandskapet som rådde under gruvans storhetstid, med förändringen i centrum, som är anledningen till denna studie.Torvkärnorna som visas i denna rapport visar i stort sett hur sjömiljöer torkat ut och förändrats till våtmarker, vissa våtmarker kan dock ha utvecklats på annat sätt. Den plats som valdes ut för vidare studier har idag nästan helt omvandlats till skogsmark. Denna studie ger en stadig grund för vidare studier och tillför viss information till den redan befintliga. Det behövs dock mer forskning för att fullt ut förstå de miljöförändringar som gruvdriften medförde.

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Knight, Jan E. "Building an Environmental Agenda: A Content and Frame Analysis of News about the Environment in the United States, 1890 to 1960." Ohio : Ohio University, 2010. http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?ohiou1268687765.

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29

Rodriguez, Simonetta Andrea 1952. "Human/environmental relations analysis & simulation using human-centered systems methods for design and evaluation of complex habitable environments." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/84809.

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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, February 2002.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-75).
by Simonetta Andrea Rodriguez.
S.M.

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30

To, Man-ping Mandy. "Environmental impact assessment in Hong Kong /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 2001. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk:8888/cgi-bin/hkuto%5Ftoc%5Fpdf?B23425131.

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31

Meehan, Anna, and Henrik Evertsson. "Genetic and Environmental Influences on Psychopathic Personality Traits : A Meta-Analytic Review." Thesis, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för juridik, psykologi och socialt arbete, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-27685.

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To understand the etiology of psychopathic personality traits and thus in the long run to be able to develop successful prevention, a first step is to find out what role genetic and environmental effects play. A meta-review of 15 twin studies (N=26, 981), was conducted to estimate the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences on psychopathic personality traits. The results show that additive genetic (heritable) factors and non-shared environmental factors each explain 50% of the variance in psychopathic personality traits, while shared environmental factors were of no importance. Measure, informant, age, and sex were investigated as potential moderators showing that informant had an impact on the findings. This meta-analysis provides a structured synthesis of the relative genetic and environmental contributions in psychopathic personality traits through various stages of development and across sex.
För att förstå etiologin av psykopatiska personlighetsdrag och därmed i det långa loppet kunna utveckla framgångsrik prevention, är ett första steg att klargöra vilken roll genetiska och miljömässiga effekter spelar. En meta-översikt på 15 tvillingstudier (N=26,981), genomfördes för att uppskatta i vilken grad genetiska och miljömässiga faktorer påverkar psykopatiska personlighetsdrag. Resultaten visade att additiva genetiska (ärftliga) och unika miljömässiga faktorer förklarar 50% var av variansen i psykopatiska personlighetsdrag, medan delade miljömässiga faktorer inte var av betydelse. Mått, informant, ålder och kön undersöktes som potentiella moderatorer och visade att informant påverkade resultaten. Denna meta-analys ger en strukturerad syntes av de relativa genetiska och miljömässiga bidrag som påverkar psykopatiska personlighetsdrag genom olika utvecklingsstadier och mellan könen.

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32

Rodeia, José Pedro dos Santos. "Analysis and recognition of similar environmental sounds." Master's thesis, FCT - UNL, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/2305.

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Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Informática
Humans have the ability to identify sound sources just by hearing a sound. Adapting the same problem to computers is called (automatic) sound recognition. Several sound recognizers have been developed throughout the years. The accuracy provided by these recognizers is influenced by the features they use and the classification method implemented. While there are many approaches in sound feature extraction and in sound classification, most have been used to classify sounds with very different characteristics. Here, we implemented a similar sound recognizer. This recognizer uses sounds with very similar properties making the recognition process harder. Therefore, we will use both temporal and spectral properties of the sound. These properties will be extracted using the Intrinsic Structures Analysis (ISA) method, which uses Independent Component Analysis and Principal Component Analysis. We will implement the classification method based on k-Nearest Neighbor algorithm. Here we prove that the features extracted in this way are powerful in sound recognition. We tested our recognizer with several sets of features the ISA method retrieves, and achieved great results. We, finally, did a user study to compare human performance distinguishing similar sounds against our recognizer. The study allowed us to conclude the sounds are in fact really similar and difficult to distinguish and that our recognizer has much more ability than humans to identify them.

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Ahammed, A. K. M. Rafique. "Development of environmental impact assessment in Bangladesh." Title page, contents and abstract only, 2001. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09ENV/09enva285.pdf.

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34

Martin, Flore. "Impact of organizational characteristics of Environmental Management Systems on environmental performance of private companies in France." Thesis, KTH, Skolan för industriell teknik och management (ITM), 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-279513.

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Effects of the environmental degradation in the last century rose awareness on the need to manage natural resources in a more sustainable manner. The role of the private sector in greenhouse gases emissions and resources use is significant and hence encompasses huge potential to mitigate the environmental impact of human activities. Environmental Management Systems (EMS) has been regarded as an effective way to manage the environmental impact of enterprises. Factors impacting the performance of EMS in French enterprises are investigated. Three aspects of EMS are studied: managerial processes, policy-making process and tools used to monitor environmental impact. Influence of sectorial activity on EMS is studied. In the first phase, a qualitative research approach is used, and twenty-one French enterprises from different sectors are interviewed. Two types of employees are surveyed: employees in charge of the environmental policy within the enterprise, and employees not related to environmental policies. In the second phase, exploratory factor analysis is employed to identify practices leading to best environmental performance. Results from the exploratory analysis reveal that firms with the highest environmental performance tend to have a long-term agenda and consult external stakeholders, namely their customers, to elaborate their environmental policy. Regarding communication channels to educate employees on sustainable practices, it is found that executives are often more informed on sustainable practices and are not responsive to same channels. Results from the qualitative analysis show lack of financial support is still the first obstacle to EMS implementation, and business strategy is rarely aligned with the environmental strategy of the company. Therefore, there is a strong need to create a compelling business case for EMS.
Effekterna av miljöförstöring under förra seklet ökade medvetenheten om behovet av att hantera resurser på ett mer hållbart sätt. Den privata sektorns roll i utsläpp av växthusgaser och resursanvändning är betydande och omfattar därför en enorm potential för att påverka miljöns hållbarhet. Environmental Management Systems (EMS) har betraktats som ett effektivt sätt att hantera företagens miljöpåverkan. Faktorer som påverkar resultatet av EMS i franska företag undersöks. Tre aspekter av EMS studeras: ledningsprocesser, beslutsfattande och verktyg som används för att övervaka miljöpåverkan. Påverkan av sektoraktivitet på EMS studeras. I den första fasen används en kvalitativ forskningsmetod och 21 franska företag från olika sektorer intervjuas. Två typer av anställda undersöks: anställda som ansvarar för miljöpolitiken inom företaget och anställda som inte är relaterade till miljöpolitiken. I den andra fasen används undersökande faktoranalys för att identifiera metoder som leder till bästa miljöprestanda. Resultat från den undersökande analysen visar att företag med högsta miljöprestanda tenderar att ha en långsiktig agenda och konsultera externa intressenter, nämligen deras kunder, för att utarbeta sin miljöpolicy. Beträffande kommunikationskanaler för att utbilda anställda om hållbar praxis, konstateras att chefer ofta är mer informerade om hållbara metoder och inte svarar på samma kanaler. Resultat från den kvalitativa analysen visar att bristen på ekonomiskt stöd fortfarande är det första hinderet för implementering av EMS, och affärsstrategi är sällan i linje med företagets miljöstrategi. Därför finns det ett starkt behov av att skapa ett övertygande affärsfall för EMS.

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Gen, Sheldon. "Meta-Analysis of Environmental Valuation Studies." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/4843.

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Cost-benefit analysis has long been a dominant method of policy analysis. When applied to policies affecting the environment, however, it faced a serious problem. Many policies exert environmental impacts that are external to market transactions, so the values of these impacts resist monetary measurement. This shortcoming in cost-benefit analysis led some researchers to develop indirect and nonmarket methods of valuing environmental goods monetarily. They include the travel cost method, hedonic pricing, and contingent valuation. The popularity of these methods has grown since their inceptions, but so have controversies over their use. Economists and others have taken all sides of the debate over the validity of the methods and their normative implications. These methods popularity and controversies necessitate their critical evaluation. This research fills this need through an extensive meta-analysis of 228 existing environmental valuation studies representing the contemporary practices in each method, and capturing varieties of environmental goods and settings. The analysis tested the convergent validity of the three valuation methods, and measured the moderating effects of select variables. The results show that effect sizes of the hedonic pricing and travel cost methods converge, but contingent valuation produces effect sizes that average 40% to 55% less than the other two methods. This difference varies significantly with the environment good being valued. Other significant moderating variables include the magnitude of the environmental change, the description of the change, and the location of the study. The year of study does not significantly moderate effect sizes. These results supplement descriptive and normative frameworks for environmental valuation described by Barbier (1994), Navrud and Pruckner (1997), and Norton (1995). When the evidence and these frameworks are considered together, the defensible uses of these three valuation methods become very limited. Valuation efforts should focus on multiple dimensions of environmental value, besides economic dimensions, that reflect ecological health and public concerns for the environment.

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Filipsson, Monika. "Uncertainty, variability and environmental risk analysis." Doctoral thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för naturvetenskap, NV, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-11193.

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The negative effects of hazardous substances and possible measures that can be taken are evaluated in the environmental risk analysis process, consisting of risk assessment, risk communication and risk management. Uncertainty due to lack of knowledge and natural variability are always present in this process. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate some tools as well as discuss the management of uncertainty and variability, as it is necessary to treat them both in a reliable and transparent way to gain regulatory acceptance in decision making. The catalytic effects of various metals on the formation of chlorinated aromatic compounds during the heating of fly ash were investigated (paper I). Copper showed a positive catalytic effect, while cobalt, chromium and vanadium showed a catalytic effect for degradation. Knowledge of the catalytic effects may facilitate the choice and design of combustion processes to decrease emissions, but it also provides valuable information to identify and characterize the hazard. Exposure factors of importance in risk assessment (physiological parameters, time use factors and food consumption) were collected and evaluated (paper II). Interindividual variability was characterized by mean, standard deviation, skewness, kurtosis and multiple percentiles, while uncertainty in these parameters was estimated with confidence intervals. How these statistical parameters can be applied was shown in two exposure assessments (papers III and IV). Probability bounds analysis was used as a probabilistic approach, which enables separate propagation of uncertainty and variability even in cases where the availability of data is limited. In paper III it was determined that the exposure cannot be expected to cause any negative health effects for recreational users of a public bathing place. Paper IV concluded that the uncertainty interval in the estimated exposure increased when accounting for possible changes in climate-sensitive model variables. Risk managers often need to rely on precaution and an increased uncertainty may therefore have implications for risk management decisions. Paper V focuses on risk management and a questionnaire was sent to employees at all Swedish County Administrative Boards working with contaminated land. It was concluded that the gender, age and work experience of the employees, as well as the funding source of the risk assessment, all have an impact on the reviewing of risk assessments. Gender was the most significant factor, and it also affected the perception of knowledge.
Negativa effekter orsakade av skadliga ämnen och möjliga åtgärder bedöms och utvärderas i en miljöriskanalys, som kan delas i riskbedömning, riskkommunikation och riskhantering. Osäkerhet som beror på kunskapsbrist samt naturlig variabilitet finns alltid närvarande i denna process. Syftet med avhandlingen är att utvärdera några tillvägagångssätt samt diskutera hur osäkerhet och variabilitet hanteras då det är nödvändigt att båda hanteras trovärdigt och transparent för att riskbedömningen ska vara användbar för beslutsfattande. Metallers katalytiska effekt på bildning av klorerade aromatiska ämnen under upphettning av flygaska undersöktes (artikel I). Koppar visade en positiv katalytisk effekt medan kobolt, krom och vanadin istället katalyserade nedbrytningen. Kunskap om katalytisk potential för bildning av skadliga ämnen är viktigt vid val och design av förbränningsprocesser för att minska utsläppen, men det är också ett exempel på hur en fara kan identifieras och karaktäriseras. Information om exponeringsfaktorer som är viktiga i riskbedömning (fysiologiska parametrar, tidsanvändning och livsmedelskonsumtion) samlades in och analyserades (artikel II). Interindividuell variabilitet karaktäriserades av medel, standardavvikelse, skevhet, kurtosis (toppighet) och multipla percentiler medan osäkerhet i dessa parametrar skattades med konfidensintervall. Hur dessa statistiska parametrar kan tillämpas i exponeringsbedömningar visas i artikel III och IV. Probability bounds analysis användes som probabilistisk metod, vilket gör det möjligt att separera osäkerhet och variabilitet i bedömningen även när tillgången på data är begränsad. Exponeringsbedömningen i artikel III visade att vid nu rådande föroreningshalter i sediment i en badsjö så medför inte bad någon hälsofara. I artikel IV visades att osäkerhetsintervallet i den skattade exponeringen ökar när hänsyn tas till förändringar i klimatkänsliga modellvariabler. Riskhanterare måste ta hänsyn till försiktighetsprincipen och en ökad osäkerhet kan därmed få konsekvenser för riskhanteringsbesluten. Artikel V fokuserar på riskhantering och en enkät skickades till alla anställda som arbetar med förorenad mark på länsstyrelserna i Sverige. Det konstaterades att anställdas kön, ålder och erfarenhet har en inverkan på granskningsprocessen av riskbedömningar. Kön var den mest signifikanta variabeln, vilken också påverkade perceptionen av kunskap. Skillnader i de anställdas svar kunde också ses beroende på om riskbedömningen finansierades av statliga bidrag eller av en ansvarig verksamhetsutövare.

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Lundberg, Mikael. "Environmental analysis of zirconium alloy production." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Tillämpad kärnfysik, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-166178.

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The generation of electricity in light water nuclear power plants uses zirconium alloys as the primary containment and cladding of the nuclear fuel. The environmental impacts of the production of zirconium alloys have been analyzed form a lifecycle perspective. From the mining of the zirconium-bearing mineral zircon to the finished zirconium alloy tube. A qualitative study indentifying the production processes and their potential environmental impacts have been performed. A quantitative study to perform a lifecycle analysis of the zircon mining and mineral separation was carried out. The life cycle analysis for the zircon mining was compared to the current lifecycle analysis (LCA) in Vattenfall's Forsmark nuclear power plant environmental product declaration (EPD). The results showed that the additional impact on Forsmark's EPD, when including the mining of zircon, is below 0.1% of the current levels for all parameters analyzed. A lifecycle analysis for the production of zirconium metal and zirconium alloy tube could not be performed due to lack of data from the zirconium metal industry. The major direct emissions from the zircon mining industry are related to the use of fossile fuels in machinery. The major direct emissions from the zirconium metal manufactoring industry are related to the use of acids.

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Majid, Amran A. "Analysis of selenium in environmental waters." Thesis, Loughborough University, 1987. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/28139.

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14 MeV neutron activation analysis, based on the 82Se(n,2n) Se81m nuclear reaction, has been investigated for the measurement of selenium in environmental waters. The levels of the selenium present in environmental waters and the relatively high limit of detection achievable with fast neutron activation analysis resulted in the need to develop a concentration procedure for the extraction of selenium from large volumes of environmental water before neutron activation.

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Galli, Ester. "Towards frame analysis in environmental conflict /." Stockholm : Industrial Ecology, Royal Institute of Technology, 2007. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-4451.

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Barnabas, Ian Joseph. "Sample preparation in environmental organic analysis." Thesis, Northumbria University, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.245205.

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Baniszewski, Beth (Beth Ellen). "An environmental impact analysis of grinding." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32880.

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Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2005.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-40).
This thesis was intended to investigate the environmental impact of grinding in the United States manufacturing industry. Grinding is an ideal method for producing parts with a fine surface finish and high dimensional accuracy and for shaping hard or brittle workpieces. There are a wide variety of different types of grinding machines, each with different applications and slightly different energy requirements. Workpieces are generally flooded with a stream of coolant while being ground or placed in a spray of coolant mist. Coolant recycling systems are used to filter ground off chips out of coolant and to remove foreign oils and bacteria which pose health hazards. Oil mist collectors both clean mist coolant and prevent the toxic coolant from being inhaled by machinists. In total, 63 *10¹⁵ joules of energy are consumed per year by grinding in manufacturing, 57% of which is directly used in material removal. A total of 1.5*10¹⁰ pounds of scrap chips, spent grinding wheels, and used filters are produced each year as a result of grinding, over 99% of that being scrap chips. About 2.3 million gallons of fluids per year of grinding fluids are incinerated. Grinding creates a significant environmental footprint, creating a need for methods to reduce energy use in grinding and for ways to recycle solid waste that would otherwise be sent to landfills or incinerated.
by Beth Baniszewski.
S.B.

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Thiriez, Alexandre. "An environmental analysis of injection molding." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35646.

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Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2006.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 82-90).
This thesis investigates injection molding from an environmental standpoint, yielding a system-level environmental analysis of the process. There are three main objectives: analyze the energy consumption trends in injection molding machinery, explore the environmental performance of different technological alternatives, and provide a transparent life cycle inventory (LCI) identifying the mayor players in terms of environmental impact. The choice of injection molding machine type (hydraulic, hybrid or all-electric) has a substantial impact on the specific energy consumption (SEC), energy used per kg of processed polymer. The SEC values for hydraulic, hybrid and all-electric machines analyzed are 19.0, 13.2 and 12.6 MJ/kg respectively (including auxiliaries, compounding and the inefficiency of the electric grid). For hydraulic and hybrid machines SEC seems to exhibit a decreasing behavior with increasing throughput. This derives from spreading fixed energy costs over more kilograms of polymer as throughput increases. For all-electric machines SEC is constant with throughput. As viscosity and specific heat capacity increase so does SEC. Finally, SEC varies greatly with part shape. The thinner and the greater the projected area of the part the greater the SEC.
(cont.) When the polymer production stage is included in the analysis, the energy consumption values increase up to 100 MJ/kg. After polymer production, injection molding and extrusion have the greatest environmental impact in the whole LCI. The overall injection molding energy consumption (excluding polymer production) in the U.S. on a yearly basis amounts to 2.06 x 108 GJ. This value is of similar magnitude to the overall U.S. energy consumption for sand casting, and to the entire electricity production of some developed countries.
by Alexandre Thiriez.
S.M.

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Altaf, Muhammad Umair Bin. "Environmental sounds: acquisition, analysis, and representation." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/53953.

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The dissertation presents the design and development of a systematic signal analysis and representation framework beyond short-time Fourier power spectrum for sounds, in particular environmental sounds. This framework is consistent with the underlying assumptions of the analysis method and its elements are correlated with human perception. The sound signal has to conform to certain conditions for its power spectrum to have a physical and perceptual meaning. We contend that very few environmental sounds readily meet these criteria and argue that the quantities that are traditionally used to describe sounds need to be repurposed and, if necessary, redefined to represent sounds by non-Fourier means. We propose a perceptuo-analytic organization of sounds so that any environmental sound can be analyzed based on its signal characteristics and perception. We present environmental sound acquisition in the context of collection and annotation of a database for the footstep sounds, a common environmental sound, and show that it can be represented by these unconventional means and further analyzed to produce descriptions which are obscured with the traditional analysis. We present a novel application of extracting gait characteristics from the footstep sounds which is enabled by the proposed framework.

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Hidayanto, Eko. "Portable Elemental Analysis for Environmental Samples." 京都大学 (Kyoto University), 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/66207.

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Marquart-Pyatt, Sandra T. "A comparative analysis of environmental concern." Connect to this title online, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=osu1091579241.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004.
Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 248 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-194). Abstract available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2007 Aug. 4.

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Ahlroth, Sofia. "Valuation of environmental impacts and its use in environmental systems analysis tools." Doctoral thesis, Stockholm : Skolan för Arkitektur och samhällsbyggnad, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-11765.

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陳炳文 and Ping-man Chan. "Environmental accounting with ISO 14000." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1997. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B30497504.

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Chan, Ping-man. "Environmental accounting with ISO 14000 /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1997. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B18734637.

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Burns, Michael Edmund Reid. "Co-evolutionary relationships between environmental ethics and environmental assessment." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/52735.

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Thesis (PhD) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2002.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The dissertation traces the development of environmental assessment and environmental ethics as these disciplines have evolved independently in response to the global environmental crisis. The aim is to determine the extent to which they can promote the integration of the dissociated objective and subjective spheres of human valuation of the environment. This is a necessary condition, it is argued, for arresting the pathology in the human-environment relationship. The study concludes that both disciplines were initially trapped in narrow, monistic approaches, which rendered them largely ineffective. However, their evolutionary advancement, and a common grounding in a radical conceptualization of sustainable development, greatly enhances their usefulness in environmental decisionmaking.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die verhandeling ondersoek die evolusionêre ontwikkeling van omgewingsimpakbepaling en die filosofie van omgewingsetika, na die ontstaan van die twee disiplines in reaksie tot die globale omgewingskrisis. Die studiedoelwit is om te bepaal tot watter mate hulle die integrasie van die gedissosieerde objektiewe en die subjektiewe sfere van menslikeomgewingswaardering kan bevorder. Daar word geredeneer dat sodanige integrasie noodsaaklik is om die patologie in die verhouding tussen die mens en sy omgewing te stuit. Die belangrikste gevolgtrekking is dat beide disiplines, tydens hulle aanvangsstadia, vasgeval was in 'n monistiese benadering wat hul doeltreffendheid belemmer het. Die onlangse ontwikkeling van omgewingsimpakbepaling en omgewingsetika, sowel as 'n gemeenskaplike uitgangspunt binne 'n radikale vertolking van volhoubare ontwikkeling, versterk grootliks hulle bruikbaarheid vir omgewingsbesluitneming.

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Philipson, née Ammenberg Petra. "Environmental Applications of Aquatic Remote Sensing." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala University, Centre for Image Analysis, 2003. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-3328.

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Many lakes, coastal zones and oceans are directly or indirectly influenced by human activities. Through the outlet of a vast amount of substances in the air and water, we are changing the natural conditions on local and global levels.

Remote sensing sensors, on satellites or airplanes, can collect image data, providing the user with information about the depicted area, object or phenomenon. Three different applications are discussed in this thesis. In the first part, we have used a bio-optical model to derive information about water quality parameters from remote sensing data collected over Swedish lakes. In the second part, remote sensing data have been used to locate and map wastewater plumes from pulp and paper industries along the east coast of Sweden. Finally, in the third part, we have investigated to what extent satellite data can be used to monitor coral reefs and detect coral bleaching.

Regardless of application, it is important to understand the limitations of this technique. The available sensors are different and limited in terms of their spatial, spectral, radiometric and temporal resolution. We are also limited with respect to the objects we are monitoring, as the concentration of some substances is too low or the objects are too small, to be identified from space. However, this technique gives us a possibility to monitor our environment, in this case the aquatic environment, with a superior spatial coverage. Other advantages with remote sensing are the possibility of getting updated information and that the data is collected and distributed in digital form and therefore can be processed using computers.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Environmental analysi'

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