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Smeddle-Thompson, Lisa. "Implementing sustainable human settlements." Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/20153.
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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In our rapidly urbanising world, the need for sustainable settlement planning, particularly for the poor in developing countries, is essential. In South Africa, apartheid spatial constructs segregated black population groups, denying them equal access to economic opportunities; housing; as well as basic and social services. After the first democratic elections in 1994, policy makers attempted to redress these inequalities. Though early housing policy aimed to provide secure tenure: permanent residential structures, and access to basic services for the poor, these policies failed to meet the objectives of the policy makers. In articulating that the state could not meet the needs of the homeless, and that housing for the poor should be delivered within a normalized market in order to attract private investment, these policies (which promoted private sector, contractor-driven development) only served to heighten inequalities previously entrenched by the apartheid regime. In 2004, after measuring delivery failures, policy makers empowered the state to become an enabler of subsidised and low-income housing delivery, rather than leaving housing provision solely to the market. The new policy included the use of multiple finance and delivery mechanisms, multiple housing typologies, and clearly expressed the need for capacity development. It also espoused the need for citizens to become participants in sustainable settlement delivery. Despite this, policy implementation continues to be fragmented and mostly ineffectual. Interviews, survey results and site visits reveal that there are some examples of integrated sustainable human settlements in the South African (SA) context. A few recent examples showcase better quality houses, a broader variety of housing options and typologies, better locations, functioning developmental relationships and the use of multiple financing mechanisms. Conversely, case studies and comparative analysis of developments reveal that most projects designated as Breaking New Ground (BNG) responsive by government officials (as defined in the study) fail to meet BNG policy objectives. This study argues that low-income housing provision continues to focus on the delivery of free-standing subsidy houses without providing a range of typologies and tenure options. It argues that basic and socialservice provision is intermittent and, at times, non-existent. It argues that current funding models for the development of sustainable human settlements in low-income communities are unable to meet basic needs within communities. It shows that skills scarcities within government prevent the acceleration of housing delivery and that participation strategies have failed to meet the policy objective of enabling citizens to become participants in sustainable settlement development. In conclusion, it recommends that the current focus on and allocations of subsidies toward ownership models for shelter and housing delivery be re-examined. It suggests that support should be provided for lending institutions to extend finance to creditworthy, low- and middle-income families. Additionally, accredited capacitybuilding programmes should be developed and funded for local authorities, enabling local government to be the sole driver of local development. It argues that capacity should be built in community organisations to speed up delivery processes, and recommends that provincial government’s power and authority be incrementally devolved to local government as capacity is increased within local authorities.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Weens die snelle verstedeliking in Suid-Afrika het die behoefte aan beplanning van volhoubare nedersettings noodsaaklik geword, veral vir armes in ontwikkelende lande. Tydens apartheid is gesegregeerde swart gemeenskappe gelyke toegang tot ekonomiese geleenthede, behuising, sowel as basiese en maatskaplike dienste ontneem. Na 1994 het beleidmakers gepoog om hierdie ongelykhede reg te stel. Hoewel vroeë behuisingsbeleid daarop gemik was om permanente residensiële strukture wat toegang tot basiese dienste sou verseker, het hierdie beleid egter gefaal. Toe die staat nie sy doelwitte kon bereik nie, is daar besluit om private beleggings te lok. Hierdie privaatsektor gedrewe beleid, wat ontwikkeling binne 'n genormaliseerde mark sou bevorder, het egter slegs gedien om ongelykhede te verskerp. Dit is dan ook dieselfde ongelykhede wat voorheen in die apartheidsbeleid verskans is. In 2004, na besef is dat verskaffing misluk het, het beleidmakers die staat bemagtig om te verseker dat gesubsidieerde behuising vir lae-inkomste groepe verskaf word, eerder as om behuising slegs aan die private sektor oor te laat. Die nuwe beleid het ingesluit die gebruik van verskeie finansiële en leweringsmeganismes, meervoudige behuising-tipologieë, en het duidelik die behoefte aan kapasiteitsontwikkeling vergestalt. Dit het ook die behoefte onderstreep wat daar bestaan vir landsburgers om deel te neem aan die proses van lewering van volhoubare nedersettings. Ten spyte hiervan is min sukses behaal. Hierdie studie voer aan dat daar 'n paar voorbeelde van geïntegreerde volhoubare menslike nedersettings in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks bestaan. Onlangse voorbeelde dui op huise van ‘n beter gehalte, 'n groter verskeidenheid van behuisingsopsies en tipologieë, geskikter ruimtes, die funksionering van die ontwikkelingsverhoudings en die gebruik van verskeie finansieringsmeganismes. Aan die ander kant, alhoewel regeringsamptenare die meeste projekte aanvaar as synde dat hulle voldoen aan die vereistes van Breaking New Ground (BNG), voldoen hulle nie aan die vereistes van die BNG se beleid nie. Hierdie studie voer aan dat die voorsiening van lae-inkomste-behuising bly fokus op die lewering van subsidies vir vrystaande huise sonder dat 'n reeks tipologieë en ook opsies ten opsigte van verblyfreg verskaf word. Basiese en maatskaplike diensvoorsiening is gebrekkig en soms totaal afwesig. Hierbenewens is die huidige finansiële modelle vir die ontwikkeling van volhoubare menslike nedersettings in lae-inkomste gemeenskappe nie in staat om in die basiese behoeftes van die gemeenskappe te voorsien nie. Dis duidelik dat ‘n tekort aan vaardighede binne die regering verhoed dat die lewering van behuising versnel en dat die strategieë vir deelname deur burgers aan die proses ook gefaal het. Ten slotte beveel hierdie studie aan dat die huidige stelsel vir die toekennings van subsidies vir die lewering van skuiling en behuising weer nagegaan word. Ondersteuning moet gegee word aan instellings wat finansiering voorsien en dit behoort uitgebrei te word na lae- en middel-inkomste families wat kredietwaardig is. Kapasiteitsbou-programme behoort geskep te word vir plaaslike owerhede wat dan alleen sal omsien na plaaslike ontwikkeling. Gemeenskapsorganisasies behoort ook bemagtig te word om leweringsprosesse te bespoedig. Die provinsiale regering se magte en gesag moet inkrementeel oorhandig word aan plaaslike regering soos kapasiteit binne plaaslike owerhede self uitbrei.
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Rounsefell, Vanda Barbara. "From egocity to ecocity : an ecological, complex systems approach to humans and their settlements." Title page, contents and abstract only, 2001. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phr8595.pdf.
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Fabri, Adriano. "Ecovilas: uma análise comparativa a partir das dimensões da sustentabilidade." Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, 2015. http://repositorio.utfpr.edu.br/jspui/handle/1/1362.
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O projeto de dissertação tem como tema central a sustentabilidade, assunto que está cada vez mais em evidência devido à crise socioambiental vivida pela sociedade contemporânea. Analisar o nível de desenvolvimento das práticas relacionadas com as dimensões da sustentabilidade (ecológica, social, econômica e cultural) presentes nas ecovilas é o seu objetivo principal. A pesquisa é exploratória utiliza método bibliográfico para a contextualização teórica e para o embasamento empírico faz uso de levantamento de dados por amostragem (survey) com a aplicação de questionário on-line a representantes de (50) cinquenta ecovilas originárias da América Latina, a qual resultou em (9) nove respostas efetivas, das quais foram selecionadas 2 (duas) ecovilas para a realização das visitas de campo. Visa à investigação da forma como os moradores das ecovilas se relacionam entre si, com a natureza e quais tecnologias utilizam. Entre os resultados encontrados, ressalta-se o mapeamento das principais práticas, além do nível de desenvolvimento destas de acordo com a percepção dos respondentes e da observação realizada em campo. Finalmente destaca-se que os resultados encontrados na pesquisa podem auxiliar no aprimoramento de comunidades já existentes e no planejamento de novas iniciativas.The dissertation project is focused on sustainability, an issue that is increasingly evident due to the environmental crisis in contemporary society. Analyze the level of development of practices related to the dimensions of sustainability (ecological, social, economic and cultural) present in the ecovillage is your main goal. The research is exploratory uses literature method for the theoretical context and the empirical support makes use of data sample survey by applying online questionnaire to representatives of (50) fifty ecovillages from Latin America, which resulted in (9) nine effective responses, of which were selected two (2) ecovillages to carry out the field trip. Visa to the investigation of how the residents of the ecovillage relate to each other, with nature and which technologies they use. Among the results, we emphasize the mapping of the main practices, and the development level of these according to the perception of the respondents and observation performed in the field. Finally, we highlight that the results found in the research may help in the improvement of existing communities and planning new initiatives.
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Kristoffersen, Siv. "Organohalogenated Contaminants in Eggs of Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) from Human Settlements in Svalbard." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for biologi, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-16811.
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Contaminants in the Arctic environment are mainly transported from lower latitude areas by atmospheric transport. However, the Russian settlements (Barentsburg and Pyramiden) in Svalbard have shown to be heavily influenced by local pollution of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), as high concentrations have been found in vegetation, soil and sediments. The Norwegian settlements (Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund) are to a lesser extent influenced by local pollution of PCB. Birds have been utilized as sentinels for environmental pollution in several studies, as the use of bird-eggs is considered as a non-invasive method. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the snow bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) is influenced by local pollution of PCB in the Russian settlements. During the 2010 field season and the 2011 field season, 32 eggs of snow buntings were collected in Longyearbyen (n=8), Ny-Ålesund (n=8), Barentsburg (n=9) and Pyramiden (n=7). The analysis was conducted at the Norwegian Institute of Air Research (NILU) in Tromsø. The eggs were analyzed for PCBs, organochlorinated pesticides (OCPs), brominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and perfluoroalkylated compounds (PFASs). The results showed that PCBs were the most abundant contaminant group in the Russian settlements, while PFASs was the most abundant contaminant group in the Norwegian settlements. Significant higher concentrations (ng/g wet weigth) of ∑7PCB (sum of the seven most common PCBs) were found in the eggs from the Russian settlements (Barentsburg and Pyramiden) than in the eggs from the Norwegian (Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund). Further on, the PCB congener composition in the eggs was comparable with the technical PCB-mixtures previous used in the Russian settlements. The results thus indicate influence of local pollution of PCB in eggs of snow buntings in the Russian settlements. Further on, local influence of dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p’-DDE) and PFASs cannot be excluded. However, the contaminant burden of hexachlorobenzen (HCB), trans-nonachlor, p,p’-DDE and PFASs in the eggs of snow buntings in Svalbard are mainly explained by; I: atmospheric transport of contaminants to the Arctic environment, II: transport of contaminants by sea birds, III: exposure during migration, IV: exposure in overwintering areas. The concentration of organohalogenated compounds (OHCs) in eggs of snow buntings in this study is considerable lower than concentrations in previously studies that have reported to cause adverse effect in other bird species. Further are the concentrations of OHCs in this study in general lower when compared with other studies on Svalbard seabirds. However, it should be noted that the concentration of ∑PCB in eggs of snow buntings is comparable with previous studies on Svalbard seabirds. The results in this study indicate that the snow bunting may be utilized as a sentinel of local pollution in Svalbard in the future.
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Anderson, Jamie Kathleen. "Human and environmental change at North Atlantic coastal settlements, ca. AD 900-1700 : a chronological perspective." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2017. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:f1e55ad1-c690-4935-93df-249e59314171.
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How environmental change affects human settlement is a research question that is becoming increasingly important to us in the twenty-first century. The North Atlantic, from ca. AD 900-1800, is currently one of the most well-studied regions and times for answering this research question. Norse exploration of the North Atlantic and subsequent colonisation and settlement - both short- and long-term - of the various islands there has been interpreted as a narrative of adaptation to new and changing environmental conditions. Although there is a relative wealth of archaeological and environmental data from the region, chronology remains an area needing further study. This thesis synthesises a wide range of scientific chronological data - constructing new chronologies for two small-scale landscapes in case studies from Iceland and Orkney, and then using Bayesian modelling to derive new analyses from published dating information throughout the region - in order to work towards a cohesive narrative of North Atlantic settlement and adaptation that includes scientific chronologies.
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Bernardo, Sandra Maria de Vasconcelos. "Socioeconomic and Environmental Aspects in settlements that produce Mammon: A Case Study in Recreation and New Canaan, Quixeramobim - CE." Universidade Federal do CearÃ, 2010. http://www.teses.ufc.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=9088.
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FundaÃÃo Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnolÃgicoA busca de novas alternativas de energia renovÃvel à de grande relevÃncia, pois a problemÃtica do aquecimento global tem causado consequÃncias adversas para a populaÃÃo. Fontes advindas dos Ãleos vegetais para a produÃÃo do biodiesel tÃm sido adotadas no Brasil e constituem uma boa opÃÃo para que os produtores rurais possam se inserir na cadeia produtiva dos biocombustÃveis. No contexto do semiÃrido nordestino, a mamona tem sido usada, pois à uma cultura adequada Ãs condiÃÃes de semiaridez. A partir desta compreensÃo, este trabalho teve o objetivo geral de analisar e comparar os aspectos econÃmicos, sociais e ambientais dos grupos de produtores e nÃo produtores de mamona nos assentamentos Recreio e Nova Canaà e, os objetivos especÃficos foram: (i) analisar os indicadores de qualidade de vida, capital social, ambiental, econÃmico e de sustentabilidade entre os nÃo produtores e produtores de mamona, (ii) mensurar os custos e renda da produÃÃo dos produtores de mamona com o plantio e venda no ano de 2009 e (iii) avaliar a situaÃÃo ambiental atravÃs da anÃlise da variaÃÃo dos atributos quÃmicos do solo em funÃÃo dos plantios . A metodologia se baseou em trÃs aspectos visando abranger uma interdisciplinaridade. Primeiramente adotou-se o mÃtodo estatÃstico usando uma amostragem nos dois assentamentos em estudo e a partir dessas amostras foram calculados os Ãndices de qualidade de vida, capital social, ambiental, econÃmico e a partir destes o Ãndice de sustentabilidade. No segundo aspecto foi calculada a renda dos agricultores atravÃs do calculo dos custos, receita e lucro com o plantio da mamona tomando como base o ano de 2009. No terceiro aspecto, o solo foi avaliado nas Ãreas cultivadas e nas Ãreas preservadas coletando-se amostras compostas e realizando-se anÃlises fÃsicas e quÃmicas do material em laboratÃrio. Entre os resultados verificados concluiu-se que nÃo houve diferenÃa significativa entre os grupos de produtores e nÃo produtores de mamona em relaÃÃo aos Ãndices de capital social e ambiental, porÃm houve diferenÃa nos Ãndices de qualidade de vida, econÃmico e de sustentabilidade. NÃo se comprovou incremento de renda entre os produtores de mamona. No aspecto pedolÃgico foi comprovado que as Ãreas preservadas se mostraram com teores mais elevados de matÃria orgÃnica e de nutrientes, representando indÃcios de degradaÃÃo na Ãrea cultivada.
The search for new alternatives of renewable energy is of great importance, since the issue of global warming has caused adverse consequences for the population. Resulting sources of vegetable oils for biodiesel production have been adopted in Brazil and are a good option so that farmers may be inserted in the production chain of biofuels. Within the semiarid Northeast, castor bean has been used because it is an appropriate culture semiarid condition. From this understanding, this work was the general purpose of analyzing and comparing the economic, social and environmental groups of producers rather than producers of castor in the settlements Recreio and Nova CanaÃ, and the specific objectives were: (i) review the indicators quality of life, social equity, environmental and economic sustainability among non-producers and producers of castor, (ii) measure the costs of production and income of producers of castor oil with the planting and sale in 2009 and (iii) assess the environmental situation by analyzing the variation of soil chemical properties depending on the plantations. The methodology was based on three aspects in order to cover an interdisciplinary approach. First, we adopted the method using statistical sampling in a study in two settlements and from these samples were calculated for quality of life, social equity, environmental, economic and from these sustainability index. The second aspect was calculated farmers' income through the calculation of costs, revenue and profit with the planting of castor beans using as a base year of 2009. In the third aspect, the soil was evaluated in cultivated areas and preserved areas by collecting composite samples and performing chemical and physical analysis of the material in the laboratory. Among the results obtained it was concluded that there was no significant difference between groups of producers rather than producers of castor oil o growth of capital and environmental, but there was difference in the indices of quality of life and economic sustainability. No consistent increase in income between the producers of castor oil. In pedological point was proven that the preserved areas are shown with a higher content of organic matter and nutrients, suggesting a degradation in the cultivated area
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Nguyen, Khanh Hoang. "Analysis of emerging environmental contaminations using advanced instrumental tools : application to human and environmental exposure." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2018. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/8662/.
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High throughput analytical methods based on UPLC-APCI-HRMS and/or UPLC-ESI-HRMS were developed for the multi-residue analysis of pharmaceuticals, personal care products (PPCPs), brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and their degradation/transformation products. The PPCPs method was successfully applied to analysis of freshwater samples from Egypt. Target PPCPs were ubiquitous in the Egyptian aquatic environment and displayed relatively high concentrations in an effluent sample from a hospital wastewater treatment plant. The BFRs method was applied to screen for legacy BFRs, novel BFRs and their potential degradation/transformation products in simulated landfill leachate samples. In vitro bioassays were developed to study for the first time the metabolism of the novel BFRs TBECH by human liver microsomes and EH-TBB and FM550 by human skin S9 fractions. TBECH was metabolised by hepatic CYP450-mediated enzymes to produce a complex mixture of hydroxylated, debrominated and α-oxidation metabolites. EH-TBB and TPhP (in the FM550 mixture) underwent biotransformation by carboxylesterases in human skin S9 fractions. Kinetic modelling of the studied hepatic and dermal human biotransformation reactions revealed that exposure to multiple chemicals significantly influences the metabolic rates of target compounds. In vitro – in vivo extrapolations were also modelled to investigate the xenobiotic clearance capacities of human liver and skin.
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Shearer, Megan Marie. "Tibetan Buddhism and the environment: A case study of environmental sensitivity among Tibetan environmental professionals in Dharamsala, India." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2005. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/2904.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate environmental sensitivity among environmental professionals in a culture that is assumed to hold an ecocentric perspective. Nine Tibetan Buddhist environmental professionals were surveyed in this study. Based on an Environmental Sensitivity Profile Insytrument, an environmental sensitivity profile for a Tibetan Buddhist environmental professional was created from the participants demographic and interview data. The most frequently defined vaqriables were environmental destruction/development, education and role models.
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Van, Herwerden L. "Human recreational activity and its impact on a metropolitan coastline." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14356.
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Includes bibliography.Recreation has an important social function in modern societies, with ever-increasing pressures in the day-to-day life being felt by most people. This study addresses the impact of recreational activity on metropolitan shorelines, with particular reference to the False Bay shoreline. During summer holiday periods shoreline utilization in the Western Cape peaks on the public holidays of 26 December, 1 and 2 January, beach attendances reaching levels of 2 to 10 times higher than attendances on other days during the summer holidays. The greatest proportion of visitors to the beach (94%) engage in non-exploitative activities, such as sunbathing and swimming. Most visitors occur on the beaches between 12h00 and 16h00, week-ends being most popular during out-of-season periods, but in-season week day attendances exceed those of weekends. Only 6% of visitors surveyed were engaged in exploitative activities such as angling and bait- or food-gathering. Conservation awareness of visitors to the shore is related to the place of residence of the person, as well as activity engaged in by the person. Fish numbers and their size frequency distributions in protected areas differs to those of unprotected areas. If boulders on a sheltered shore are over-turned during bait gathering it has an adverse effect on the boulder communities, whether the boulders are replaced or left over-turned. When bait gatherers target on mussel-worms as bait, they may cause inadvertent damage to the primary matrix of mussel bed or tube-worm reef in the process, thereby affecting ecological succession processes in the intertidal environment. Management of metropolitan shorelines must therefore provide for quality recreational experiences, while applying conservation measures to selected areas that are susceptible to over-exploitation under the onslaught of ever-increasing numbers of recreationists. For such measures to be of any benefit to the marine environment, it is essential that people are not only informed, but that the regulations are also properly enforced.
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Goins, Jeffrey P. (Jeffrey Paul). "Expendable Creation: Classical Pentecostalism and Environmental Disregard." Thesis, University of North Texas, 1997. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc278335/.
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Whereas the ecological crisis has elicited a response from many quarters of American Christianity, classical (or denominational) Pentecostals have expressed almost no concern about environmental problems. The reasons for their disregard of the environment lie in the Pentecostal worldview which finds expression in their: (1) tradition; (2) view of human and natural history; (3) common theological beliefs; and (4) scriptural interpretation. All these aspects of Pentecostalism emphasize and value the supernatural--conversely viewing nature as subordinate, dependent and temporary. Therefore, the ecocrisis is not problematic because, for Pentecostals, the natural environment is: of only relative value; must serve the divine plan; and will soon be destroyed and replaced. Furthermore, Pentecostals are likely to continue their environmental disregard, since the supernaturalism which spawns it is key to Pentecostal identity.
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Sompani, Thozamile Matthews. "Delivery of environmental health services to Ducats informal settlement." Thesis, Cape Technikon, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/796.
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Thesis (MTech (Environmental Health))--Cape Technikon, 2003This study provides information on the provision of environmental health services to informal housing settlements by local authorities. A standard for Environmental Health Service delivery according to Government policies and legislation has been provided. Actual environmental health services delivered to Ducats informal settlement at the time (1992), have been compared to the services that should have been delivered by law. Baseline data have been compiled by means of questionnaires, in order to assist the different levels of government in addressing the housing and environmental health needs of the Ducat community. The nature of Environmental Health and the history of informal housing, more specific that of the Ducat informal housing settlement, have been determined. Limited environmental health services were rendered to informal housing settlements occupying land illegally during 1992. These environmental health services were limited to basic sanitation, water supply and refuse removal. Only pit latrines or bucket latrines were required as a means of sanitation, tanks for water supply and skips for the disposal of waste. Amatola Regional Services Council however rendered all the environmental health services required. Other environmental health aspects such as pest control, communicable disease control, air pollution control, radiation, occupational health issues, temperature extremes, lighting, ventilation, noise, social environment, food and meat hygiene were not required. This study has provided a set of Government policies and legislation, which should be considered in rendering environmental health services for housing in future. Uncertainty of the past decade, about rendering of Environmental Health services to people occupying land illegally, still persists. The Municipal Structures Act, 117 of 1998 requires the rendering of Environmental Health services by local authorities, but it does not state whether these services should be rendered to people occupying land illegally as well. Since this has been the biggest restriction in providing environmental health services in the past, it is recommended that Government address this uncertainty.
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Gong, Wei, and 龔蔚. "A structural equation model to unveil the effect of human behaviour to the satisfaction of sustainable refurbishment for high-rise residential buildings." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/208029.
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Improving the energy performance of existing building refurbishment has been identified as one of the key measures to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and combat climate change. According to Environmental Protection Department, buildings in Hong Kong take up almost 90% of urban electricity consumption. Sustainable building refurbishment not only can help decrease energy consumption but may also improve building’s overall condition, and thus prolong its life, uplift the living conditions, ensure better health and safety as well as minimize the negative effects to environment.
To respond to the energy emission reduction, many researchers focus on technical improvements through various refurbishment methods. However, there is a research gap in determining the appropriate refurbishment solutions for high-rise residential buildings in developed cities like Hong Kong. The challenge is aggravated as there are a number of owners and occupants in multi-storey residential buildings and their behaviour can be very different. Albeit more and more attentions have been attributed to human behaviours and occupant satisfaction, little has been done to examine their effects to the choices and success of sustainable refurbishment solutions. This study aims to systematically analyse the effect of human behaviour to the satisfaction of sustainable refurbishment by setting up a unified model so as to maximize the opportunity for emission reduction without sacrificing the satisfaction of owners and occupants.
Literature review was first conducted to attain the knowledge of sustainable refurbishment and human behaviour. Then, a list of potential sustainable building refurbishment method items was compiled under five criteria through literature review. In order to further examine the suitability of sustainable building refurbishment methods in Hong Kong scenario from the perspective of owners and occupants, a questionnaire survey was administered. Following that, literature review and interviews were carried out to identify a set of critical success factors (CSFs) of electing sustainable refurbishment strategies as well as key performance indicators (KPIs) of a sustainable building refurbishment scheme. Based on that, another questionnaire survey was conducted to examine the occupants’ perception to the relative importance of the identified CSFs and KPIs. Finally, a structural equation model was set up to unveil the relationships between occupants’ satisfaction and project success, and the findings were validated through expert interviews. The results shows that disruption is the most important factors affecting occupants’ decisions, followed by Management and Organization; Comfort; Cost; and Health and Safety. The technological and environmental accomplishments are proven to be the most important KPIs to the success of a sustainable building refurbishment project. The model developed can help decision-makers select on suitable sustainable building refurbishment methods to meet the social expectations of occupants while achieving the carbon emission target.published_or_final_version
Civil Engineering
Master
Master of Philosophy
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Xing, Guanhua. "Human exposure and health risk assessment of polychlorinated biphenyls at two major electronic-waste recycling sites in China." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2008. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/994.
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Ho, King-yan, and 何景欣. "Ecological and human health risks associated with organotin contamination in the marine environment of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/208427.
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Organotin compounds (OTs), in particular tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPT), have caused widespread adverse effects on marine organisms ever since their wide application as biocides in 1960s. For instance, TBT can induce the abnormal development of imposex in marine gastropods, and inhibit development and growth in oysters. A mandatory global ban on the use of OT-based antifouling systems, therefore, has been enacted by the International Maritime Organization to minimize their environmental impacts since September 2008. As a result, it is anticipated to see a reduction of OT contamination in the marine environment around the world. This study, therefore, primarily aims to test the hypothesis that there is a reduction of both OT contamination and its associated adverse impact to a common biomonitor, the rock shell Reishia clavigera along the coast in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China through a series of field-based investigations.
Before the field study, a method was successfully developed to simultaneously quantify the concentrations of six common OTs (i.e., mono-BT, di-BT and TBT; mono-PT, di-PT and TPT) in molluscan tissues using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. These six compounds coexist in marine environments. They are highly toxic to marine organisms and are able to induce imposex in gastropods like R. clavigera.
First, a territory-wide survey on tissue concentrations of the OTs and imposex status in R. clavigera collected from 28 coastal sites of Hong Kong was conducted in 2010. The results indicated that all female R. clavigera suffered from imposex, and all rock shells contained high TPT concentrations. A probabilistic ecological risk assessment revealed that 17.6% of R. clavigera across all sites were at risk due to exposure to TPT, whereas the risk associated with TBT was relatively low. The same species collected from Dapeng Bay and Daya Bay, Shenzhen also exhibited high tissue concentrations of TPT. Second, R. clavigera transplanted from relatively clean sites to polluted sites for six months showed increases in both imposex status and tissue concentration of OTs, confirming the association between OT contamination and imposex development. Third, a 25-month population dynamics study of R. clavigera showed a limited recruitment of the species in the polluted sites.
To verify if the observed OT contamination was widespread to other marine species in Hong Kong waters, a survey on the tissue concentrations of OTs in 11 local seafood species was conducted. Among them, the tongue sole Paraplagusia blochii had the highest tissue concentration of total OTs, with TPT as the most abundant residue. Potential health risk for consuming this benthic fish species was identified as both hazard quotient of TPT and hazard index exceeded unity.
The overall results demonstrate that the coastal marine environments in this region are still heavily contaminated with OTs especially TPT, and there is no obvious sign of recovery of R. clavigera populations. Hopefully, with further scientific investigations, both Hong Kong and China governments will take appropriate management actions to control the use and release of these priority pollutants with a view to safeguarding the marine ecosystem and human health in this region.HKU 3 Minute Thesis Award, 2nd Runner-up (2013)
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Biological Sciences
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy
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Looney, Michael Keith. "The existential nature of architecture." Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1986. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/22390.
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Bertrand, Raymond docteur en droit. "Meaning and the built environment : an ethnographic approach to architectural programming." Thesis, McGill University, 1990. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=61260.
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The importance of programming the built environment is increasingly recognized, mostly because of the growing complexity of architecture. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to the meaning of architecture for its users. This thesis reviews the research on meaning in architecture, and proposes new directions in the investigation of meaning within the process of architectural programming.
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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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Ching, Hei-wai, and 程琋瑋. "A review on e-waste management and an analysis of human exposure to hazardous chemicals due to informal e-waste processing." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2012. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B48543020.
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This study compares the procedures of formal and informal e-waste recycling; and investigates the relationship between informal e-waste recycling and the health of residents living near the recycling facilities. The informal e-waste recycling facilities are mainly located in developing countries and are operated by illegally receiving e-waste from developed countries. In these informal recycling businesses, the procedures are raw and crude without any measures in pollution control and state-of-the-art technologies, suggesting the health of the workers and residents living nearby are at risk.
By conducting human health risk assessment based on the data from Guiyu town located in China, the actual exposure level of PCDD/Fs for infants is estimated. The total exposure level of infants to PCDD/Fs in Guiyu is 61.5 pg WHO-TEQ 〖kg〗^(-1) 〖day〗^(-1); among the total exposure level, dietary route accounts for over 90%. The total exposure value has also exceeded the WHO standards by 61 times at most, which reflects a harmful level of local PCDD/Fs exposure to the infants and management measures are needed. Implication can be drawn that not only the infants, but also people living near the facilities of informal e-waste recycling, including the mothers and residents are under high level of exposure to PCDD/Fs and other hazardous chemicals presented in the recycling process.
Management and regulations are the weaknesses of developing countries to handle the issues on e-waste. The study reviews the e-waste management and regulations in China, India and Nigeria; their common properties have been revealed, including the lack of enforcement and the misconceptions of e-waste. Regarding the national level of regulations and legislations, recommendations have been drawn. Measures in adopting licensing system for recycling business, adopting financial mechanism on top of the existing the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system to limit the use of hazardous chemicals, setting up special department for better regulating and enforcing e-waste related issues and enhancing the public education towards e-waste are of benefits. The study suggests an action plan using China as an example to illustrate how the country could act upon the existing regulations and legislations of e-waste issues. The plan could also be adopted by the other developing countries regarding their own conditions.published_or_final_version
Environmental Management
Master
Master of Science in Environmental Management
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Huang, Yanran. "Exposure and risk assessment of organic UV filters : from environmental occurrence to human biomonitoring study." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2020. https://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_oa/740.
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In recent years, the studies of emerging contaminants have received growing concerns due to their ambiguous fate and unclear effect to the water environment, aquatic organisms or even human. With the development of the analytical techniques, the increase detection rate of emerging contaminants is at a rapid pace that many of their fates and influence are still pending investigation. In this work, a group of organic UV filters, which is one of the vital categories of emerging contaminants are monitored. Organic UV filters, used as the major components in not only sunscreens but also other cosmetics products, have a widespread usage and large production volume for more than 80 years, causing the massive input towards the aquatic environment. To first investigate their environmental behaviours and impacts, the regional distribution of total nine commonly used organic UV filters was monitored along the southeast coastline of Shenzhen, which is the most rapid developing city in China with large population with the consideration of seasonal variation. In addition, the Shenzhen reservoirs, as the major sources of drinking water in Shenzhen, was also monitored together with the city tap water. The results indicated the extensive distribution of certain kinds of UV filters with obvious seasonal pattern, which may cause medium to high risk to aquatic organisms. And the incomplete removal of them in drinking water supply system resulting trace amount of UV filters to be detected in city tap water, may cause a general exposure of these UV filters towards all populations. Therefore, a quantitative analytical method for simultaneous detecting multiple classes UV filters in human urine samples has been developed and applied on more than 100 real samples for determining internal exposure. Similar UV filters were also detected in human urine samples compared with surface water while one of the most commonly used organic UV filters, Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate exhibited much lower detection rate and concentration in human urine. Then, biotransformation of Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate was examined in rats for the purpose of selecting suitable metabolites as exposure biomarkers. Several metabolites have been identified in urine and plasma by UHPLC-QTOF-MS. Two of its metabolites, 4-methoxycinnamic acid and 4' -methoxyacetophenone, were unambiguously identified by comparing with commercial standard. Excretion trend of Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate and its two metabolites confirmed that most of the parent compound were quickly metabolized and excreted through urine samples. Herein, these three targeted compounds were further evaluated in two populations - female university students and school-aged children. Although Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate was not detected in 49 female university students, significant internal correlations were discovered among these three analytes in school-aged students and extensive detection of metabolites instead of parent compound was also confirmed. The third part of this thesis is to comprehensively monitor the internal exposure of UV filters and their metabolites, and also discover their potential adverse health impacts - obesity in Shanghai children and adolescents. Urinary concentration of certain kinds of UV filters were significantly higher in girls than in boys. However, further associations have been found with urinary Ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate concentration and reduced adiposity outcomes only in boys, indicating it may have the potential to influence the metabolism in male population during growing stage. In short, a complete study of organic UV filters is presented in this thesis, from their environmental occurrence to metabolism in animal models, and finally to human exposure and potential health impacts. The widespread exposure and significant associations with adiposity outcomes can form a solid base for future comprehensive risk assessment of UV filters towards human health
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Viko, Iyadah John. "Assessing the possible approaches and the limitations of the human rights aspects of environmental harm under the International Bill of Rights : the need for a convention on the human rights to a healthy environment." Thesis, University of Aberdeen, 2017. http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=233655.
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The growing awareness of the inadequacy of international law as a means of addressing current environmental problems has led to calls for a new approach. In view of the links between the protection of the environment and the protection of human rights, according to the Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations Conference 1972, one such approach has been to focus on the development of international human rights law concepts and mechanisms to address environmental concerns. This thesis assesses the possible approaches and the limitations of the protection of the human rights to a healthy environment under the International Bill of Rights. The current international human rights law does not expressly provide for the human rights to a healthy environment. The thesis considers how the environment may be protected both through the application of presently accepted human rights and through the establishment of new human rights to a healthy environment. This thesis goes on to discuss the relationship between the international human rights law and the international environmental law, thereby giving an example of regime interaction. This is of strategic importance to understanding the meeting point of the two areas of law in this thesis. The need for sustainable development and the challenge of climate change have come to the fore and they both give urgency to the need for a human rights approach for the protection of the environment. There are concerns about whether there is a need for the provision of the human rights to a healthy environment in the international human rights law as existing rights are considered robust in themselves to protect the environment. This thesis will investigate the claim whether there are currently binding human rights to a healthy environment under the international law while building a solid argument on the need for a Convention on the human rights to a healthy environment. The thesis addresses the doctrinal and conceptual issues challenging the institutionalisation of the human rights to a healthy environment in the international human rights law. The thesis makes a case on the need for a Convention on the Human Rights to a Healthy Environment. It bolsters the point that the human rights to a healthy environment are long due; however what is lacking, is the doctrinal precision on the best way to institutionalise these rights. The research will attempt to proffer a proposal on the way forward by providing the institutional framework of the rights in a Convention. Before that, there is the need to discuss and settle several other possibilities and their limitations for the protection of the said human rights to a healthy environment. The proposed Convention could serve as a channel to offer a more coordinated, detailed, and well-documented approach for dealing with the linkages between human rights and the environment, as opposed to the fragmented approaches adopted across national and regional levels.
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Jones, Kayla Brooke. "Toward Sustainable Community: Assessing Progress at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2014. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc700019/.
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Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, an intentional community of roughly 70 members in Northeastern Missouri, is working to create societal change through radical sustainable living practices and creation of a culture of eco-friendly and feminist norms. Members agree to abide by a set of ecological covenants and sustainability guidelines, committing to practices such as using only sustainably generated electricity, and no use or storage of personally owned vehicles on community property. Situated within the context of a sustainability study, this thesis explores how Dancing Rabbit is creating a more socially and ecologically just culture and how this lifestyle affects happiness and well-being.
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Lam, Chi-kei Jacqueline, and 林哲奇. "Ecological modernization and environmental innovation: a case study of public transport industry in Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2007. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B39557145.
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Prather, Hannah Marie. "Examination of Human Impacts on the Biodiversity and Ecology of Lichen and Moss Communities." PDXScholar, 2017. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/3615.
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Globally, more than half of the world's population is living in urban areas and it is well accepted that human activities (e.g. climate warming, pollution, landscape homogenization) pose a multitude of threats to ecosystems. Largely, human-related impacts on biodiversity will hold consequences for larger ecological processes and research looking into human impacts on sensitive epiphytic lichen and moss communities is an emerging area of research. While seemingly small, lichen and moss communities exist on nearly every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth and contribute to whole-system processes (e.g. hydrology, mineral cycling, food web energetics) worldwide. To further examine human impacts on epiphytic communities, I conducted three studies examining urbanization and climate warming effects on epiphytic lichen and moss biodiversity and ecology.
In the first study I revisited a historic urban lichen community study to assess how urban lichen communities have responded to regional air quality changes occurring over the last nearly two decades. I further investigated, for the first time, the biodiversity of urban tree canopy-dwelling lichen communities in a native coniferous tree species, Pseudotsuga menziesii. I found that urban parks and forested areas harbor a species rich community of lichens epiphytes. Further, I found evidence for the distinct homogenization of urban epiphytic lichen communities, suggesting that expanding beyond simplistic measures of biodiversity to consider community composition and functional biodiversity may be necessary when assessing the ecology and potential ecosystem services of epiphyte communites within urbanizing landscapes.
Next, I present the first tall tree canopy study across a regional gradient of urbanization near Portland, Oregon, USA. I found that tall tree canopy epiphyte communities change dramatically along gradients of increasing urbanization, most notably by the transitioning of species functional groups from sensitive, oligotrophic species to a dominance of urban-tolerant, eutrophic species. The implications these dramatic shifts in species composition have on essential PNW ecosystem processes, like N-fixation and canopy microclimate regulation, is still not well understood and is difficult to formally evaluate. However, I find strong evidence that native conifer trees in urban areas may provide a diversity of essential ecosystem services, including providing stratified habitat for epiphyte communities and their associated micro arthropod communities and the scavenging of atmospherically deposited nutrients. Future work is needed to understand how losses in canopy N fixation and species with large biomass (both lichens and bryophytes) will affect nutrient and hydrologic cycling in the PNW region, which continue to undergo rapid growth and urbanization.
The final chapter investigates the impacts of passive warming by Open Top Chambers (OTCs) in moss-dominated ecosystems located on the Western Antarctic Peninsula, an area of increasing climate warming. I compared species-specific temperature effects, moss canopy morphology, sexual reproductive effort and invertebrate communities between OTC and control moss communities for two moss species, Polytrichastrum alpinum and Sanionia uncinata, that make up over 65% of the terrestrial vegetative cover in the area. I found distinct reproductive shifts in P. alpinum under passive warming compared to controls. Moss communities under warming also had substantially larger total invertebrate communities than those in control moss communities, and invertebrate communities were significantly affected by moss species and moss reproductive effort. Further, substantial species-specific thermal differences among contiguous patches of these dominant moss species were revealed. These results suggest that continued warming will differentially impact the reproductive output of Antarctic moss species and is likely to dramatically alter terrestrial ecosystems dynamics from the bottom up.
This combined work provides a diverse contribution to the field of epiphyte ecology and biology by providing new insights on how human impacts will affect epiphyte lichen and moss communities across diverse ecosystems, in light of a rapidly changing planet.
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Martignoni, Luciano. "Lazer no assentamento rural oito de junho: análise a partir da multifuncionalidade da agricultura." Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, 2013. http://repositorio.utfpr.edu.br/jspui/handle/1/480.
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O lazer tem sido apontado como um fenômeno relevante na análise do novo rural, entendido como um lugar para viver e não somente um lugar para a produção primária. Nesse sentido o objetivo principal neste trabalho foi analisar o lazer no Assentamento Rural 8 de Junho, tendo como referência a reprodução socioeconômica das famílias rurais, a manutenção do tecido social e cultural e a preservação dos recursos naturais e da paisagem rural. Inicialmente a construção dessa pesquisa foi marcada por um aspecto importante, a partir do vínculo com a orientadora, três trabalhos optaram por um espaço comum de pesquisa os assentamentos rurais oriundos do Movimento dos Sem Terra (MST), esse aspecto permitiu a troca de informações e a construção de um instrumento de coleta de dados compartilhado entre esta e uma das outras duas pesquisas, pelo fato de ambas utilizarem o mesmo espaço. Embasado teoricamente na perspectiva sociológica de reconstrução do rural, do lazer como elemento constituinte dessa perspectiva, bem como numa abordagem da multifuncionalidade da agricultura familiar, procurou-se, a partir dos dados empíricos, coletados a partir de formulário aplicado as famílias do assentamento e de entrevistas com lideranças e famílias, caracterizar o Assentamento 8 de Junho em relação a família, trabalho e produção, conhecer as relações históricas com o lazer nas famílias, identificar potencialidades para o lazer oriundas da cultura, da tradição e da interação com a natureza e apontar perspectivas para o lazer que possa congregar geração de trabalho e renda, interação e preservação ambiental e manutenção do tecido social. Neste cenário constatou-se uma riqueza cultural, social e ambiental expressiva no assentamento estudado, com destaque para a história de luta pela terra, o modo de produção familiar e para as riquezas naturais (cachoeiras, matas, pedreiras, etc.), onde o lazer desempenha um papel importante na sociabilidade da comunidade numa relação entre a tradição e a mudança, porém com relação às práticas de lazer em interação com a natureza e a paisagem percebeu-se um afastamento, principalmente das novas gerações. Com relação a geração de trabalho e renda o lazer ainda não foi considerado na comunidade. Nesse sentido, a pesquisa aponta para a abordagem do turismo rural comunitário, pois ele pode agregar renda e lazer, dois elementos essenciais para a reprodução das famílias no assentamento, em interação com a natureza, paisagem, cultura e tradição local. Fortalece o lazer na comunidade, pois refere-se a oferta à sociedade apenas de práticas que fazem parte do cotidiano da comunidade, com equipamentos construídos pela comunidade. Sob esse olhar ele pode promover um resgate das atividades junto à natureza que estão em desuso ou ainda invisíveis para maioria dos assentados. Promove a interação entre saberes, o saber tradicional dos antigos em relação à pesca, à orientação à fauna e à flora, associado ao saber técnico e científico atuando na manutenção do tecido social e cultural. Pode ainda promover a distribuição dos dividendos baseada na equidade, de acordo com a prática de cooperação.Leisure has been pointed out as a relevant phenomenon in the analysis of new rural, and it is understood as a place to live and not just a place for primary production. In this sense, the main objective of this study was to analyze leisure in the 8 de Junho rural settlement, having as reference the socioeconomic reproduction of rural households, the maintenance of the social and cultural structure and preservation of natural resources and landscape in the countryside. Initially, the construction of this research was marked by an important aspect, which is the bond between the supervisor and three different researches which chose a common space - rural settlements from Movimento sem Terra (MST). This aspect led to the exchange of information and construction of a data collection instrument shared between this and one of the other two studies, because both used the same space. Theoretically based on the sociological perspective of reconstruction of the rural and the concept of leisure as a constituent element of this perspective and approach of multifunctionality of family agriculture, this research was developed through empiric data collected from questionnaires applied to the households of the settlement and interviews with leaders and families. It aims to characterize the Settlement June 8, regarding to family, work and production, knowing the historical relations between leisure and the families, identifying potential for leisure originated from the local culture/tradition and the interaction with nature, and also to point out perspectives for leisure that can bring together employment and income generation, and environmental preservation and interaction, maintaining the social structure. In this scenario, an expressive cultural, social and environmental wealth was found in the settlement, especially for the history of the struggle for land, the family mode of production and the natural resources (waterfalls, forests, quarries, etc.), where leisure plays an important role in the community sociability, in a relationship between tradition and change. However, as for the leisure practices in interaction with nature and the landscape, we perceived a gap, especially in the younger generation. Regarding the generation of jobs and income, leisure has not been considered in the community, in this sense, the research pointed to the prospect of community rural tourism, by providing culture/nature interaction, the strengthening of leisure and enabling the generation of jobs and income. In this sense, the research points to the approach of rural tourism community, as it can add income and leisure, two essential elements for the reproduction of families in the settlement, in interaction with nature, landscape, local culture and tradition. It strengthens leisure in the community, because it refers to only offering to society the practices that are part of everyday life of the community, with equipment built by the community. Under this view it can promote the reestablishment of activities in nature that are in disrepair or invisible to most of the settlers. It promotes interaction between different knowledge, such as traditional knowledge of the ancients in relation to fisheries, guidance fauna and flora associated with the technical knowledge and scientific working in the maintenance of social and cultural fabric. It can also promote the distribution of dividends based on equity, according to the practice of cooperation.
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Mahmood, Marliyyah Abdullahi. "The interaction of pollution, meteorology and bioaerosols : implications on human health." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2018. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/8101/.
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The global incidence of allergic reaction has been rising for years, especially within westernised urban areas. There is evidence that the interaction between pollen grains, environmental pollution and meteorological change is increasing the allergenicity of the pollen grain and consequently, increasing the misery of hay fever sufferers. Laboratory experiments have shown that the interaction of pollen with atmospheric oxidants such as ozone and nitrogen dioxide NO₂ can alter protein molecules that are present within the pollen grains via post-translational modification of the protein. Within the laboratory, birch pollen was exposed to atmospherically relevant exposures of gas phase NO₂ and ozone under a range of environmentally relevant conditions (temperature and relative humidity RH). The effects of the exposures on the biochemistry of the pollen grains were probed using proteomic approach. The morphological changes of unexposed and exposed pollen samples to RH, rainwater and NO₂, where observed under fluorescence microscopy and scanning electron microscope. The discoveries suggest that interaction between gas pollutants and pollen do exist and cause protein specific modifications; nitration. Detailed analysis of London Ambulance data compared to London temperature data is presented. The relationships established will allow for prediction of likely changes in ambulance demand (and illness types) that will be caused by seasonal temperature changes, increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, due to climate change, in the future. The study applied statistical analyses to examine short-term associations between birch pollen count with allergic related illnesses recorded in the London Ambulance data, temperature and NO₂.
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Tsang, Hin Long. "Persistent organic pollutants in foodstuffs and human samples from Hong Kong." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2008. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/873.
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Warner, Gary E. "Predicting pedestrian use on outdoor urban plazas utilizing climate/behavior models." Thesis, This resource online, 1991. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-12302008-063811/.
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Speldewinde, Peter Christiaan. "Ecosystem health : the relationship between dryland salinity and human health." University of Western Australia. School of Population Health, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0127.
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Australia is experiencing widespread ecosystem degradation, including dryland salinity, erosion and vegetation loss. Approximately 1 million hectares (5.5%) of the south-west agricultural zone of Western Australia is affected by dryland salinity and is predicted to rise to 5.4 million hectares by 2050. Such degradation is associated with many environmental outcomes that may impact on human health, including a decrease in primary productivity, an increase in the number of invasive species, a decrease in the number of large trees, overall decrease in biodiversity, and an increase in dust production. The resulting degradation affects not only farm production but also farm values. This study examines the effects of such severe and widespread environmental degradation on the physical and mental health of residents. Western Australia has an extensive medical record database which links individual health records for all hospital admissions, cancer cases, births and deaths. For the 15 diseases examined in this project, the study area of the south west of Western Australia (excluding the capital city of Perth) contained 1,570,985 morbidity records and 27,627 mortality records for the 15 diseases examined in a population of approximately 460,000. Environmental data were obtained from the Western Australian Department of Agriculture?s soil and landscape mapping database. A spatial Bayesian framework was used to examine associations between these disease and environmental variables. The Bayesian model detected the confounding variables of socio-economic status and proportion of the population identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. With the inclusion of these confounders in the model, associations were found between environmental degradation (including dryland salinity) and several diseases with known environmentally-mediated triggers, including asthma, ischaemic heart disease, suicide and depression. However, once records of individuals who had been diagnosed with coexistent depression were removed from the analysis, the effect of dryland salinity was no longer statistically detectable for asthma, ischaemic heart disease or suicide, although the effects of socio-economic status and size of the Aboriginal population remained. The spatial component of this study showed an association between land degradation and human health. These results indicated that such processes are driving the degree of psychological ill-health in these populations, although it remains uncertain whether this 4 is secondary to overall coexisting rural poverty or some other environmental mechanism. To further investigate this complex issue an instrument designed to measure mental health problems in rural communities was developed. Components of the survey included possible triggers for mental health, including environmental factors. The interview was administered in a pilot study through a telephone survey of a small number of farmers in South-Western Australia. Using logistic regression a significant association between the mental health of male farmers and dryland salinity was detected. However, the sample size of the survey was too small to detect any statistically significant associations between dryland salinity and the mental health of women. The results of this study indicate that dryland salinity, as with other examples of ecosystem degradation, is associated with an increased burden of human disease.
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Shaw, Sylvie. "Wild at heart : creating relationship with nature." Monash University, School of Political and Social Inquiry, 2001. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/7963.
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Hillenbrand-Nowicki, Cathy. "The effect of plants on human perceptions and behavior within an interior atrium." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/41917.
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Plants are frequently used as design components for various types of interior settings. Design professionals may specify plants because of a subconscious awareness of the human need for natural contact, or as in may cases, such as in a "sunspace", because it is traditional to do so. Past studies by behavioral and horticulture researchers have documented human preference for plants, and have shown that plants positively affect people psychologically, but little research has been done to determine whether the use of plants in interior environments can influence human behavior.
Interior plantscaping is a vital and expanding type of agribusiness, with millions of dollars being spent each year to install and maintain plants specified by design professionals. Plants are frequently used for clients in industry, health care, hospitality, retail, education, and in personal residences. Demonstrating that plants influence human physical behavior in interior environments would increase their value as interior design components, and provide a powerful sales tool to the plantscaping industry. Because of the potential importance of understanding more about the influence of plants in interior spaces on human behavior, this research examines whether user behavior patterns and spatial perceptions can be changed by the simple addition of interior plantscaping.
This study was conducted to determine whether the introduction of trees and plants into an underutilized area of a newly constructed interior atrium would affect user perceptions of, and/or behaviors in the space. User perceptions of and activities within the atrium were recorded on questionnaires and behavioral maps, both before and after the installation of Ficus trees and Chinese Evergreen plants. Surveys were used to collect demographic information, suggestions for improving the atrium, and to determine user perceptions via the use of 13 polar adjective pairs on a six point semantic differential scale. Maps were used to record user behaviors on the lower atrium level where the plants were placed.
The majority of data were analyzed descriptively by frequencies and percentages. Semantic differential analysis was done using two-tailed t-tests at p = .05. T-tests did not prove to be significant. There was mean movement of perceived perceptions from pre- to post-test. User behavior on the lower atrium level appeared to be affected by plant installation. A preference was shown for napping under the trees, and users spent more time on that atrium level when the trees and plants were present.Master of Science
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Ibekwe, Anieno Abasiofiok. "High school lessons on human sprawl in the Inland Empire." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2008. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/3360.
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The aim of this project was to develop curriculum that educators could use to assist high school students (ages 14-17 years) in the Inland Empire of Southern California to apply critical thinking skills to understanding the negative effects of uncontrolled urban sprawl. The problems and issues which result from sprawl are emphasized in the learning activites.
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Cox, William E. "Towards a genius loci : Atlanta architecture and urbanism." Thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/30739.
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Song, Kyungsoo. "Documentation and demonstration of naturalistic method for measuring climate/behavior relationships." Thesis, This resource online, 1987. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-04122010-083558/.
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Shehab, Maryam. "Use of novel sensors to assess human exposure to airborne pollutants and its effects on cognitive performance." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2018. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/8161/.
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Exposure to air pollution can cause adverse health effects, may also adversely affect the central nervous system and affect cognitive performance. Epidemiological studies depend on central site monitors as surrogates to assess personal exposure to air pollution, which can be inaccurate because they do not assess personal exposure in a variety of activities and microenvironments. This thesis aims to assess the level of misclassification in data from central site monitors by using portable modern sensors with high temporal resolution to characterize personal inhaled doses of BC, PM2.5, and UFP, and compare the measurements with surrogate exposure metrics. It also seeks to identify contributing activities and sources associated with the highest concentrations of the three pollutants, and to determine the contribution of these activities and microenvironments to personal exposure, and to study the impact of short-term exposure to air pollution on cognitive function. The first finding is that central site monitors are not a good surrogate for personal exposure. Secondly, travelling in vehicles is linked to the highest concentrations of the three pollutants, while other outdoors activities and outdoors commuting are linked to the highest concentrations of BC and PM2.5, cooking is linked to the highest concentrations of UFP, and activities and time spent indoors are the highest contributors to personal exposure. Thirdly, the results provide strong evidence that short-term exposure to PM2.5 from candle burning and commuting has an adverse effect on cognitive performance.
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Hung, Chui-shan Bonnie, and 洪翠珊. "Human impact on the structure and water status of urban park soils in Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2001. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31226103.
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Holmes, Vaughan. "A critical analysis of the Gqunube Green Ecovillage Project /." Thesis, Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10019/549.
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Huang, Minjuan. "Risk assessments of human exposure to metal(loid)s via urban dust and airborne particles in Guangzhou, South China." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2013. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/1494.
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Dempsey, Paula Jane. "Genetic and environmental contributions to morphological variation in the human permanent dentition : a study of Australian twins." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1998. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phd389.pdf.
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Bibliography: leaves 348-366. Elucidates the nature and extent of genetic and environmental contributions to variation in permanent tooth crown size. Sibling correlations are compared to find evidence of sex-linked genes contributing to crown size. This hypothesis was tested by comparing mean tooth size in female-male opposite-sex twins with same-sex twins, and singletons.
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Lam, Wai-ching, and 林惠展. "The level of economic development in China." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2002. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B3195358X.
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Qin, Yanyan. "Health risk assessment of POPs and heavy metals in Hong Kong residents based on their concentrations in selected food items and different human tissues (blood plasma and adipose tissues)." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2010. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/1234.
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Gou, Zhonghua, and 苟中华. "Addressing human factors in green office building design : occupant indoor environment quality survey in China." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/194619.
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Although requirements in relation to indoor environment quality (IEQ) have been made in green building rating systems such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and China GBL (Green Building Label) to promote occupant comfort, health and productivity, in practice, very little is known about user perception and satisfaction with IEQ in green buildings. Recruitment and post-occupancy evaluation of 10 office buildings (8 green buildings and 2 non-green buildings) and their 696 occupants for this study generated a dataset representing many potential avenues of inquiry. From the occupant’s point of view, the green offices in buildings with whole-building certification were significantly more satisfactory than the non-green offices, whereas the green offices certified only on the basis of their interiors were comparable to the non-green offices. Mixed-mode ventilation performed much better than other ventilation types (central air-conditioning and split air-conditioning). However, the mixed-mode green buildings were invariably perceived to be too cold in winter. A correlation model showed that green building users tended to appreciate a well ventilated, daylit, and quiet indoor environment for their health and productivity. The findings in the study made critical suggestions with regard to pursuing green building certification and addressing human factors in sustainable building design and research. The strengths and weaknesses of this study were discussed to inform future studies.published_or_final_version
Architecture
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy
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Smith, Ivan Graham. "Subduers of the earth? : the Bible, Christian faith and environmental ethics." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/53073.
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Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: I begin this assignment with an examination of verses such as Gen. 1:28 from the period of primeval history in the Old Testament (0. T.) of the Christian Bible which have been seen by some commentators, particularly Lynn White, as being responsible for a despotic attitude towards the natural environment and consequently for much of the damage that has been done to the environment. These texts are critically examined to determine whether one may interpret them in that manner but also taking into account the form and context of writing. The 'despotic' interpretation of these texts is contrasted with the views of others, such as Robin Attfield who see in them a call to stewardship, not a licence to ruthlessly subjugate. Attfield particularly does not believe that these ancient texts can be held responsible for the present ecological crisis. Thereafter an examination is made ofO.T. texts which refer to the concept of rest for the earth which, for our present-day context is interpreted in this assignment as a rest from the rigours of environmental degradation and from the over-exploitation of the earth's resources. New Testament (N.T.) texts are also critically examined in section 4, examining in the gospels Jesus' attitude towards the natural environment, and also other N.T. texts, particularly from the epistles ofSt Paul. The conclusion in this section is that the N.T. writers portray a benevolent attitude towards non-human nature and portray God as caring for even those inhabitants of the natural realm which humans may deem insignificant, eg, the sparrows referred to in Luke 12: 6. In section 5, there is once again an examination ofN.T. texts, but this time for the purposes of re-interpreting the concept of salvation so that it embraces the whole of creation and not only humankind. The point of departure here is that humans cannot be separated from their non-human environment on this earth. Salvation and reconciliation is for the whole of the created order, as St Paul seems to indicate. Therefore in this section of the assignment an holistic view of salvation is adopted: we are saved in our world and with our world, not apart from it and out of it. Section 6 endeavours to draw together the criteria that would inform an environmental ethic that Christians can subscribe to, given the approach that has been taken in the previous sections of the assignment; 6.2 lists the features necessary for such an ethic. An examination is also made of various ethical theories such as Natural Law (Teleology), Utilitarianism, and Deontology and what impact they would have if applied in an environmental framework. This section ends in 6.5 with an overview of the main tenets of the Deep Ecology movement, not viewing it so much as an ethical system, but more as a set of values which accord with a deep respect for all of nature and which may guide humankind to transform destructive attitudes towards the environment. Because this assignment deals with Christian morality in respect of the environment, it is necessary to critically examine the concept of stewardship which is the thrust of section 7, titled 'Stewardship Revisited'. The views of Robin Attfield, John Passmore and William Dyrness with regard to stewardship in the Bible and Christian tradition are contrasted. Thereafter Elizabeth Dodson Gray's views are referred to and supported as the way towards a much-needed transformation of humans' attitude to the natural environment. Gray rejects the notion of stewardship as an acceptable environmental ethic because it retains the overtones of domination and paternalism. It is concluded that stewardship, even if it is biblically justified and is supported by Christian tradition, has failed to arrest the degradation and destruction of the natural environment caused by human activities. This then leads on to the next section where this assignment supports Gray's 'Ethic of Attunement'. 'Becoming Attuned', the heading of the section describes in two words the basis of Elizabeth Gray's environmental ethic. It is noted here that she calls upon humankind to become attuned to our ecosystems and the life-support systems in the biosphere and to plan and structure our industries and activities to 'fit in'. Gray's ethic of attunement is also supported because it is practical, down-to-earth and takes into account the needs of human beings as part of nature. Section 9 gives a brief overview of some practical implications and applications of an ethic of attunement. The fields of education, industry, farming, energy and nature-conservation are touched on. The last subsection under 9, 9.6, gives a recent example of a clash between human and non-human nature in the Cape Peninsula, namely, the so-called invasion of residential areas by baboons. How this problem may be dealt with under an ethic of attunement is discussed. This assignment concludes in section 10 with the exhortation to move beyond an ethic of stewardship of the natural environment to one ofattunement. Moreover, the urgency of doing so is emphasised. If we do not change our ways to fit in with nature, planet Earth is doomed to eco logical destruction.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die begin van hierdie taak word verskei Bybelse verse uit die oergeskiedenis in die Ou Testament (O.T.) ondersoek om te bepaal ofhulle verantwoordelik gehou kan word vir die mens se despotiese gesindheid teenoor die natuurlike omgewing en die gevolglike skade wat so 'n gesindheid veroorsaak. Verklaarders soos veral Lynn White is van mening dat verse soos Genesis 1: 28 wel aanleiding gegee het tot so 'n despotiese gesindheid teenoor die omgewing. Hierdie mening word in teenstelling geplaas met die sienswyse van skrywers soos Robin Attfield wie meen dat die verse onder bespreking te doen het met rentmeesterskap eerder as despotisme. Bowendien glo Attfield dat hierdie oeroue tekste nie verantwoordelik gehou kan word vir ons hedendaagse ekologiese krisis nie. Daarna word ondersoek ingestel in die O.T. tekste wat te doen het met die konsep van rus vir die aarde. Die konsep word in hierdie deel van die taak vertolk in ons hedendaagse konteks as 'n_rus vir die aarde van omgewingsdegradasie en die onmatige ontginning van die aarde se hulpbronne. Tekste uit die Nuwe Testament (N.T.) word ook ondersoek. In afdeling 4 word gekyk na Jesus se woorde en gesindheid met betrekking tot die natuurlike omgewing asook ander verse uit die sendbriewe van Paulus. Hier is die gevolgtrekking dat die N.T. skrywers welwillendheid betoon teenoor die nie-menslike natuur en dat hulle vir God afbeeld as besorgd oor die geringste van wesens in die natuurlike wêreld, dit wat die mens as nietig mag beskou, soos die mossies waarna verwys word in Lukas 12: 6. In afdeling 5 word daar weereens N. T. tekste ondersoek, maar hierdie keer met die doelom die tradisionele dogma van verlossing om te skep sodat dit die hele skepping omhels en nie net die mensdom nie. Hier is die uitgangspunt dat ons nie die mens kan afsonder van die res van die skepping nie. Verlossing en versoening is vir die hele skepping, soos dit blyk in party dele van Paulus se briewe. 'n Alomvattende benadering tot verlossing word in hierdie deel van die taak bevorder: ons word verlos in en met die res van die skepping, en nie apart daarvan nie. Afdeling 6 poog om die maatstawwe te identifiseer wat behoort deel te wees van 'n omgewingsetiek vir Christene, gegewe die rigting wat ingeslaan is in die vorige afdelings van die taak. In 6.2 is daar 'n lys opgestel van die maatstawwe wat nodig geag is. Verskeie etiese teorieë soos Utilitarisme en Teleologie word nagegaan om hulle uitwerking op omgewingsetiek te bepaal. Hierdie afdeling eindig met 6.5 waar die grondbeginsels van die 'Deep Ecology' beweging voorgehou word as die soort waardes wat die mensdom kan lei om 'n_innige respek vir die hele natuur te koester. Daar word saamgestem met die mening dat 'Deep Ecology' nie 'n praktiese, stelselmatige omgewingsetiek is nie, maar, as ons die ideale en grondbeginsels daarvan aanneem, mag dit die nodige transformasie veroorsaak in mense se verkeerde gesindheid teenoor die natuur. Omdat hierdie taak met Christelike omgewingsetiek te doen het, is dit nodig om die konsep van rentmeesterskap as omgewingetiek te ondersoek, want dit is deesdae die oorheersende nadering in die Christelike kerk. Die menings van Robin Attfield, John Passmore en William Dyrness met betrekking tot rentmeesterskap word in teenstelling getrek. Daarna word gekyk na Elizabeth Dodson Gray se sienswyse aangaande die etiek van rentmeesterskap teenoor die omgewing. Haar sienswyse word ondersteun - dat rentmeesterskap hoofsaaklik 'n etiek van heerskappy of baasspeel is. Die gevolgtrekking hier is dat rentmeesterskap nie meer voorgehou kan word as 'n paslike omgewingetiek nie. Dit het nie tot dusver geslaag om die degradasie en vernietiging van die natuur deur die mens stop te sit nie. Gray sê dat die mens in ooreenstemming moet kom met die natuur ('become attuned'). Dit is die inhoud van afdeling 8 - 'n uitleg van haar 'Ethic of Attunement'. Haar uitgangspunt is dat die mens homlhaarself moet sien as deel van die natuur en nie as oorheerser nie. Al die mens se aktiwiteite, en veral die nywerheid, moet inpas by die natuur se siklusse. Gray se etiek word ondersteun omdat dit prakties is en omdat dit die belangstellings en benodighede van die mensdom in ag neem, maar as deel van die natuur. Afdeling 9 word gebruik om kortliks te skets wat sommige van die implikasies en praktiese toepassings van hierdie etiek in die samelewing mag wees. Hier word gekyk na die uitwerking op opvoeding, nywerheid, boedery, energie en natuurbewaring. In die laaste onder-afdeling in hierdie afdeling, 9.6, is daar 'n beskrywing van 'n spesifieke probleem wat te doen het met die botsing tussen die mens en nie-menslike natuur. Die onlangse botsings tussen mense en bobbejane in die Kaapse Skiereiland word gebruik om te sien hoe Gray se omgewingsetiek van 'attunement' in so 'n situasie gebruik kan word om 'n oplossing te kry. Die taak eindig met afdeling 10 waar mense aangespoor word om die omgewingsetiek van 'attunement' aan te neem en die etiek van rentmeesterskap af te skaf Bowendien word daar gepleit dat dit dringend moet gebeur want as ons nie ons algemene gesindheid van oorheersing verander nie, is die aarde verdoem tot vernietiging van die natuur.
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Magosha, Tendani Amos. "Social development versus saving nature? : a case study in environmental ethics." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/49787.
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Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research project has been purposed at shedding light and bringing clarity and practical resolution to the ethical dilemma brought about by seemingly incompatible principles and value positions associated with the two contentious issues: social development and nature conservation. In view of exposing the contentions between the two above-mentioned value positions, this project has pitted anthropocentrism against biocen trism / ecocen trism. However, as alluded to in this research, many people in developing countries, South Africa included, are victims of poverty and hunger which need redress. Unfortunately the alleviation of the same has been made possible through ruthless exploitation and maximum expansion of natural resources and in the process, the environment suffered much. However, with social development, the natural environment is often sacrificed and conversely with the protection and preservation of nature, man is then condemned to destitution. With the introduction and the case expose forming the introduction of this research project in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 is devoted to the research methodology used throughout this project. Also, given the problem statement, endeavours to search for answers to the central questions are outlined. An analysis of the case study is also made in this chapter. Chapter 3 deals with the weighing of the classical dilemmas namely: anthropocentrism versus biocentrism / ecocentrism and this further entails the notion of justice versus conservation pertaining the case in point. These classical dilemmas are put into critical perspective in Chapter 4 wherein monistic value approaches are exposed in terms of their failures. Precisely, the either-or choices following from pure theoretical principles are put into question with reference to the case under discussion. An alternative, namely the pragmatic approach, which maintains a multiplicity of values, is hereby brought into play. Chapter 5 entails a critical appraisal of the decision to be taken by the Makhado Municipality Council with regard to the development of the shopping complex or the protection of the indigenous tree sanctuary. In conclusion, recommendations and suggestions are stated within the context of the case in point. However, it is imperative to note that these recommendations and suggestions should be read in conjunction with one another, and not in isolation from one another. Furthermore, the same should not in anyway be indiscriminately used as a universal standard in any similar or related case. Further research on this ethical debate is encouraged.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie navorsingsprojek is om helderheid en 'n praktiese oplossing te kry met betrekking tot die etiese dilemma wat voortspruit uit die oeriskynlik onversoenbare beginsels en waardeposisies wat geassosieer word met twee omstrede kwessies, naamlik sosiale ontwikkeling en natuurbewaring. Met die oog daarop om die kwelpunte rondom bogenoemde twee waardeposisies aan die lig te bring, stel hierdie projek antroposentrisme teenoor biosentrisme / ekosentrisme. Baie mense in ontwikkelende lande, insluitend Suid-Afrika, IS slagoffers van armoede en hongersnood, soos aangedui word in die loop van hierdie navorsing. Hierdie situasie noodsaak regs telling. Pogings om verligting te bring in hierdie verband, lei egter tot die genadelose eksploitasie en maksimum ontwikkeling van natuurlike hulpbronne. In hierdie proses word die omgewing ernstig beskadig. Die ongelukkige toedrag van sake is dus dat sosiale ontwikkeling dikwels geskied ten koste van die omgewing, terwyl die beskerming en bewaring van die omgewing op sy beurt dikwels die mens behoeftig laat. Hoofstuk 1 van hierdie navorsingsprojek bevat 'n inleiding en beskrywing van die geval onder bespreking, terwyl Hoofstuk 2 gewy word aan die navorsingsmetodologie wat in hierdie projek gebruik word. Dit bevat ook 'n skets van die pogings om antwoorde te soek op die sentrale vrae van die probleemstelling, en 'n analise van die gevallestudie. In Hoofstuk 3 word die klassieke dilemmas wat verband hou met die betrokke probleem opgeweeg, naamlik antroposentrisme teenoor biosentrismej ekosentrisme, en die idee van geregtigheid teenoor die idee van bewaring. Bogenoemde klassieke dilemmas word in 'n kritiese lig beskou in Hoofstuk 4 deurdat die tekortkominge van monistiese waardebenaderings uitgewys word. Die 6f-6f keuses wat volg uit suiwer teoretiese beginsels word bevraagteken met verwysing na die geval onder bespreking. 'n Pleidooi word uiteindelik gelewer vir 'n alternatiewe pragmatiese benadering wat eerder 'n veelheid van waardes betrek. Hoofstuk 5 bevat 'n kritiese beoordeling van die keuse wat die Makhado Munisipaliteitsraad moet maak tussen die ontwikkeling van 'n winkelkompleks of die beskerming van 'n inheemse boomreservaat. Ter afsluiting word aanbevelings en voorstelle gemaak in verband met die kwessie onder bespreking. Dit is egter belangrik om daarop te let dat hierdie aanbevelings en voorstelle nie apart van mekaar beskou moet word nie, maar eerder saam gelees moet word. Dit is verder ook belangrik dat die aanbevelings en voorstelle wat met betrekking tot hierdie geval gemaak word nie sonder meer gebruik moet word as 'n universele standaard vir soortgelyke of verwante gevalle nie. Verdere navorsing oor hierdie etiese debat word aangemoedig.
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Seo, Hyun-Bo. "An investigation on task interruptions and the physical environment for human performance." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/41160.
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Many dangerous or tragic events such as airplane crashes and medical errors are often the result of human errors, and these errors are often the result of a professional worker being interrupted during a critical task. Although their impact can be serious, the ways that interruptions are affected by the physical environment have rarely been examined in the study of architecture. Therefore, this thesis investigates how the physical environment helps manage the interruptions by observing the process of medication administration by nurses in hospital units. Nurse shadowing observation data showed that the level of visibility of work areas in and around nurse stations significantly contributed to the number of interruptions initiated by others. Therefore, this thesis concludes that the physical environment affects interruption events and discusses the design implications of observation-based findings and the potential impact of the physical environment on major clinical errors. As for future directions for investigation, this thesis suggests that interruptions become a more prominent subject for consideration in architecture, and the physical environment as a subject for analyzing interruption and performance in human factors and health care.
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Matthysen, Megan. "The relevance of person-environment fit amongst human resource graduates from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University within the Nelson Mandela Metropole." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1186.
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This study sought to investigate the relevance of Person-Environment (P-E) fit amongst Human Resource (HR) graduates from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) within the Nelson Mandela Metropole (NMM). A secondary objective of this study was to determine whether P-E fit was a determinant of Human Resource (HR) graduates’ migration. The study comprised a pilot study and main study (n=50). The study was qualitative in nature, but incorporated a quantitative research component to support the qualitative research findings. Results showed that HR graduates from the NMMU perceived P-E fit as important. Immense emphasis was placed on achieving P-E fit by means of finding employment related to Human Resource Management (HRM). The lack of P-E fit, amongst HR graduates, was furthermore revealed as a determinant of graduate migration. HR graduates would relocate to pursue a career in HRM. Implications of the findings are that organisations should use the theoretical knowledge of HR graduates to develop their skills and broaden their practical knowledge. This will secure competent future HR managers for the NMM and help to combat scarce skills migrations from the area.
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Lee, Fung, and 李峰. "Climatic change and Chinese population growth dynamics over the last millennium." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2007. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B39558599.
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Bukamur, Said Mohamed 1948. "DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR HOUSING IN LIBYA BASED ON CLIMATIC AND SOCIAL CRITERIA." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/275300.
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Chan, Kit Yan. "Dietary exposure, human body loadings, and health risk assessment of persistent organic pollutants at two major electronic waste recycling sites in China." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2008. http://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_ra/943.
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Blanton, Paul 1968. "The distribution and impact of roads and railroads on the river landscapes of the coterminous United States." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/11186.
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xvi, 150 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.Floodplain roads and railroads are common features in river landscapes, but their distribution and impacts have not been explicitly studied. This dissertation discusses the impacts of floodplain roads and railroads on channel and floodplain processes in river landscapes at the continental, regional, and local scales. At the continental scale, I documented the spatial patterns of roads and railroads in the floodplains of the continental United States and the regional variability of their potential impacts. Based on these results, I developed a conceptual model based on topography and the interaction of transportation and stream networks that suggests that the area of lateral disconnection caused by transportation infrastructure should be most extensive in mid-sized alluvial valleys in relatively rugged settings, such as those located in the western United States. I used pre-existing digital geologic, hydrologic, and transportation data with Geographic Information Systems software to map floodplain areas and lateral disconnection along the floodplains of two river systems in Washington State. I developed methods to quickly and inexpensively delineate potential or historic floodplain surfaces, to analyze lateral floodplain disconnection caused by different types of structure, and to rank floodplain reaches in terms of salmon habitat potential. Although all floodplains exhibited disconnection, the floodplain maps and habitat rankings helped identify opportunities for habitat preservation and restoration. At the local scale, I mapped and measured the impacts of lateral disconnection, showing that channel and riparian habitat was degraded in locations with floodplain transportation infrastructure confining the channel compared with similar nearby sites lacking such confinement. Railroad grades and road beds function as confining structures in the riparian zone, disrupting flood pulses and the exchange of water, sediment, and biota between channels and their floodplains and within the floodplain. Over longer time periods, these structures can also impede the natural meandering and migration of channels across their floodplains, disrupting the erosional and depositional processes that drive the high habitat and biological diversity characteristic of floodplains. My results show that human-caused disconnections need to be further incorporated into river science and management. This dissertation includes previously published and unpublished co-authored material.
Committee in charge: W. Andrew Marcus, Chairperson, Geography; Daniel Gavin, Member, Geography; Patricia McDowell, Member, Geography; Joshua Roering, Outside Member, Geological Sciences
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Wada, Yoshihiko. "The myth of sustainable development, the ecological footprint of Japanese consumption." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape7/PQDD_0015/NQ46441.pdf.
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