M.A. / This research study is focused on the influence that racial stereotypes have on South African students’ perceptions of the work environment. A multi-factorial experiment was conducted by randomly assigning 90 male Accounting students (mean age = 22.4 years) to three groups. All participants viewed identical information about a fictitious organisation. In the two experimental groups the race of the manager was manipulated by means of a picture. No picture was displayed in the control group. The hypothesis (which was based on research of traditional stereotypes) was disconfirmed. The highest ratings of organisational attractiveness were provided by participants in the control group, and the lowest ratings by those who viewed the white manager, χ2 (5) = 29.48, p < .05. Further, both black and white participants showed in-group bias on the Loyalty scale, χ2 (5) = 12.11, p < .05. The results are discussed in terms of racial stereotypes, the emergence of a new form of racism, and the prominence of in-group bias.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Listeria monocytogenes has been established as a food-borne pathogen since the early 1980s and has become a big concern for the food industry and Public Health authorities (Doyle 2001; Oliveira et al. 2003; Capita et al. 2005; Conly and Johnston 2008). It is a Gram-positive, opportunistic facultative intracellular bacterium which is frequently present in nature and may be found in any food environment (Liu 2006; Chen et al. 2007; Conly and Johnston 2008). Of the six species of Listeria, L. monocytogenes is the only one capable of causing listeriosis, a severe food-borne illness in humans (de Vasconcelos et al. 2008). For the average healthy person, although the incidence of infection is low, symptoms of febrile gastroenteritis may be presented (Gianfranceschi et al. 2007; Kersting et al. 2010). In immunocompromised individuals however, the hospitalization and mortality rates are amongst the highest for pathogenic organisms (Tran and Kathariou 2002; Lin et al. 2006; Schuppler and Loessner 2010). Illnesses such as septicaemia and central nervous system infections may also occur in these individuals (Roberts et al. 2006; Schuppler and Loessner 2010). Pregnant women and their fetus are also largely at risk where pre-term delivery and birth defects may occur as a result of listeriosis (Doyle 2001; Garrido et al. 2008). The epidemiological surveillance systems for the reporting of listeriosis are poor as it is a non-notifiable disease in many countries. Therefore, the incidence of infection that is regarded as low must be reconsidered (Mammina et al. 2009; Pinto et al. 2010). Listeria monocytogenes can reproduce in a wide variety of reservoirs within food processing plants, thereby contaminating the food which then poses a risk for food-borne illness. It can be transmitted from infected animals to humans and also through the consumption of foods from animal origin (Kalender 2003; Kersting et al. 2010). Animals are infected by Listeria spp. found in the environment; the organism is then transmitted through the blood, milk and excrement of the animal back into the environment where manure, soil, feed and water can become contaminated again (Akpolat et al. 2004; Kersting et al. 2010). Poultry products and ready-to-eat (RTE) food that support the growth of L. monocytogenes, including soft cheeses, unpasteurized milk, hotdogs, deli meats, vegetables and fruits have been linked to cases of listeriosis (Rørvik et al. 2003; Chen et al. 2007; Conly and Johnston 2008; Ford 2010; Kersting et al. 2010). Regardless of HACCP systems that are in place in the food processing plants, listeriosis outbreaks still occur as a result of the ingestion of these food products. Serotyping, based on the serological reaction between somatic (O) and flagellar (H) antigens and their corresponding sera, has identified 13 L. monocytogenes serotypes (Nadon et al. 2001; Wiedmann 2002; Kérouanton et al. 2010). Of the 13 serotypes of L. monocytogenes, 1/2a, 1/2b and 4b are responsible for more than 95% of listeriosis infections in humans (Mereghetti et al. 2002; Moorhead et al. 2003; Borucki et al. 2004;de Vasconcelos et al. 2008). L. monocytogenes serotypes 1/2a and 1/2b are mainly associated and isolated sporadically from food and 4b is responsible for the major human epidemic cases (Gilbreth et al. 2005). L. monocytogenes serotypes 1/2a and 1/2b are also responsible for sporadic cases of human illness (Wiedmann 2002). / South Africa

This paper interrogates local South African news media coverage of environmental issues affecting the poor and marginalized, particularly in regard to issues such as pollution, water contamination and the destruction of natural habitats. As such, this study focuses on content from The Weekend Post and The Herald from 2010 onwards. Issues such as pollution, in its various forms (air, water and land), are often under reported and not discussed. Essentially, these issues become matters about which little-to-nothing is done, particularly when it affects the poor. This notion of ‘dumping’ or moving environmental issues to affect poorer or disadvantaged people (normally of colour), is known as ‘environmental racism’. This paper will explore the media’s role in regard to these environmental issues and how it depicts, emphasizes or de-emphasizes the importance and urgency of these issues, especially those issues affecting poor or working class people.

This thesis explores whether or not it is possible to positively inflect – via digital means – people’s orientations toward nature through connecting their duration to the time of animals. The thesis opens with an overview of the contemporary environmental crisis, mapping related significant discourses, events and responses from the early 1960s onward. In this regard, after thematizing the relatively ineffective global institutional response to the environmental crisis to date – in spite of both consistent criticisms proffered by a range of stakeholders and widely available information on the scope of current environmental degradation – the lack of any concerted effort to deal with this issue is accounted for in terms of the dimensions of what Kilbourne, Beckmann and Thelen refer to as the ‘Dominant Social Paradigm’ (DSP). However, it is argued that of these dimensions, the technological dimension is most amenable to pro-environmental inflection, particularly through recent developments within information technology. That is, despite the latter being the privileged technology of neoliberalism, and despite the environmental cost of its current material infrastructure, it is also highly unlikely that societies will abandon their dependence on information technology in the near future. Given this, the importance of considering how such technology can be harnessed to positively re-orientate users’ perceptions of the natural world, in a way that also avoids the pitfall of technophilia, is advanced. In terms of this, both positive and negative appraisals of information technology by prominent new media theorists are discussed, and information technology is put forward as a tool that remains indeterminate in terms of its use. After this, and with a view to exploring how the technological dimension of the DSP might possibly be inflected in a pro-environmental manner, the thesis draws on the works of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari who promote desire and difference outside the ambit of capitalism, particularly through desubjectivation in relation to their concept of ‘becoming-animal.’ Finally, after dealing in addition with some potential theoretical challenges to the application of Deleuze’s ideas within the digital realm, focus shifts to three contemporary digital artefacts which have the capacity, albeit to varying degrees, to facilitate a becoming-animal. In this regard, a distinction is made between those artefacts that precipitate first-, second- and third-order hybrid durationality, and it is argued that the latter category presents the greatest promise of interfacing the time of humans with the time of animals.

Globalisation and the falling of trade barriers across the world have changed the way organisations conduct their business. Organisations have to become more competitive to compete against local rivals and imported products. Employees fulfil a vital role in this strategy and productive employees can enable organisations to accomplish this goal. Employees need to be motivated to contribute to the challenges of globalisation and ultimately the success of the organisation. Organisations therefore need to create a motivating climate wherein employees can perform. A number of motivational theories are recorded, but older theories make the assumption than an average human being exists. The more modern theories, which identify the relationship between dynamic variables, are more relevant but to a large extent do not consider the influence of trade unions. Trade unions are still very active in South Africa, and a combined effort by organisations and trade unions could result in a win-win outcome for both parties. Rewards and recognition drive behaviour which will result in enhanced productivity. Monetary rewards are the preferred incentive amongst employees, but the effect of training and development opportunities are often underestimated and under-utilised. Employees are generally eager to improve their skills levels, which could have a positive medium to long term impact on the organisation. Effective leadership is crucial to improved productivity and leaders have to create the environment for employees to perform. Traditional management styles are no longer effective and modern leaders have to develop their skills to achieve sustainability of the organisation.

Chapter One: When is Free Trade Good for the Environment? This paper provides the conditions under which free trade reduces the emission of pollution. In this paper, we construct a computable general equilibrium model of free trade and environment. Using data from different countries with different characteristics with respect to the stringency of their environmental and trade policies and factor endowments, we simulate a reduction on import tariffs and measure the impact on the volume of emission. Our main findings show that, for a combination of relatively high capital to labour ratio and low level of protectionism, if a country exports the polluting good then, trade liberalization increases the level of emission. Whereas if the country exports the clean good, then the effect of an import tariff reduction on the emission level is positively related to the variation in the producer’s price of the polluting good. Furthermore, we find that under a relatively low level of capital endowment for a country that exports the polluting good, the impact of free trade on the environment depends on the degree of protectionism. // Chapter Two: Ageing and the Environment in an Overlapping Generations Model. We empirically investigate the impact of population ageing on the environment using an overlapping generations model. We decompose the impact into scale, composition, and cohort effects. Using data from the Canadian economy, we simulate the impact of demographic shock on the volume of emission. Population ageing results mostly from a baby bust that follows a baby boom. The demographic transition is characterized by an increase then a decline in the population growth rate. Under the first part of the transition, we find that the scale effect generates more pollution. However, if young generations are more concerned about the environment, an increase in the population growth rate may improve the environment via the composition effects. On the other hand, a decline in the population growth rate (population ageing) creates the opposite results. We further find that cohort effect is positively related to the environment when there is a higher degree of awareness towards a cleaner environment. By comparing scale to both composition and cohort effects, we find that scale dominates both effects, so population ageing causes the level of pollution to fall. // Chapter Three: Does Population Ageing in the North Leads to More Pollution in the South? We construct a two-country model: a rich country (the North) with relatively high level of capital endowment and stringent environmental policy and a poor country (the South) with less stringent environmental policy. Both countries produce a clean and a polluting good and both have access to an exogenous abatement technology. The paper has three main foci. First, it provides an empirical test for the pollution haven and the factor endowment hypotheses. Second, it introduces the issue of population ageing in the North into the question of trade liberalisation and the environment. Finally, it investigates the impact of demographic and trade shocks on the level of emissions in both countries. Results from simulations suggest that an increase in the population growth rate increases the volume of emission in the long run. However, population-ageing generates an opposite effect. In the short term, the scale dominates the composition effect. Empirical evidences show that the level of emission is positively related to the size of population. With respect to trade, pollution increases in the North and falls in the South. Also, we find that demographic changes dominate trade liberalization. Finally, worldwide free trade is bad for the environment, but its effect is marginal.

A number of international documents, NGOs and scholars have predicted that due to global environmental/climate change, the increased frequency and intensity of phenomena such as natural disasters, flooding, sea-level rise, pollution, and drought will be felt particularly in less developed regions of the world, and may force millions of people to leave their homelands. Given the far-reaching humanitarian and security concerns that have arisen with regard to the issue of environmentally-motivated migration, there have been calls for more empirical work to investigate this phenomenon, and particularly with respect to international movement. This thesis project takes a qualitative approach to investigating how environmental conditions in the Philippines are influencing migration to Ottawa, Canada. Using semi-structured focus group and personal interviews, it contributes some of the first ever empirical research on the links between environment and international migration to Canada. In taking a qualitative approach, it focuses on the perceptions and experiences of migrants themselves, and suggests that an emphasis on personal agency should be privileged to a greater extent in the environmental migration field. Additionally, by conducting research from a “receiving” country in the Global North, this research separates itself from the majority of previous empirical work in its field which has primarily been conducted in environmentally marginal areas in the Global South. In so doing, it provides a novel perspective particular to the experiences of long-distance and more permanent migrants. The results show that environmental factors are not currently perceived as migration influences for Filipino newcomers in Ottawa, although environmental factors do interact with political and economic factors in complex ways to influence migration decisions. This paper utilizes a transnational lens to demonstrate that environmental conditions in the Philippines may not act as direct migration influences, but they do impact migrants and their families through the social fields that are created between the Philippines and Canada. Previous work has primarily investigated the environment as a “push” factor of migration, making the transnational perspective an important theoretical contribution for addressing links between environmental change and remittances, family separation, and agency and power in relation to (im)mobility.

The influence of the major environmental forces on the attitude response of gravity gradient satellites is investigated using analytical and numerical techniques. The study establishes not only the effect of these forces on system performance but also their relative importance. The problem is investigated in the order of increasing difficulty which corresponds to a systematic reduction in altitude. In general, the non-linear, non-autonomous nature of the system renders the determination of a closed form solution virtually impossible. Hence, numerical techniques are employed, in conjunction with invariant surfaces or integral manifolds, to analyse the system. For a given set of parameters, the largest such surface defines the bound of stable motion; on the other hand, the smallest surface that can be found (i.e., a line or set of lines) represents the dominant periodic solution with which these manifolds are associated. The analysis establishes the importance of periodic solutions as they provide the 'frame' about which stability charts are built. Furthermore, a variational stability analysis of these solutions, using Floquet theory, accurately determines the termination of the spikes and establishes the critical eccentricity for stable motion. Phase I investigates the attitude dynamics of satellites at high altitudes where gravity gradient and direct solar radiation constitute the predominant torques. The approximate closed form solution, obtained using the WKBJ and Harmonic Balance methods, was found to predict the librational response of a satellite with considerable accuracy. As the satellites requiring station keeping permit only small amplitude motion, the analytical results are of sufficient accuracy to be useful during preliminary design stages. The response and stability bounds of the system, obtained numerically, are shown through the use of 'system plots' and 'stability charts'. The results indicate a considerable effect due to solar radiation on the attitude dynamics of a satellite. The use of solar radiation in controlling the satellite attitude is explored. The optimized results show this system to be quite effective, being capable of providing a pointing accuracy of 0-5° depending on orbit eccentricity. The extension of the analysis to the intermediate altitude ranges, where direct earth radiation, its albedo and shadow become significant, is undertaken in phase II. A comprehensive investigation was made possible by the determination of closed form expressions for earth radiation forces. This was accomplished through the concept of cutting plane distance ratios. The analysis shows only local variations due to earth radiations without substantially affecting the maximum librational amplitude or mainland stability area. Hence, for all practical purposes, direct earth radiation, its albedo and shadow can be neglected in such studies. Phase III investigates the dynamics of close earth satellites in the presence of aerodynamic and radiation forces, thus covering the remaining altitude range. The results show that a precise dynamic analysis requires the consideration of both aerodynamic and direct solar radiation forces. The investigation helps in establishing an altitude range in which a pure gravity gradient analysis is likely to be most applicable. The application of this analysis to the representative gravity gradient satellite, GEOS-A, over the entire altitude range, exemplifies the findings of the parametric study. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Mechanical Engineering, Department of / Graduate

The effect of specific active environment on the fracture strength of glass and polymethyl methacrylate was investigated using an indirect tensile testing technique. The strength of glass was not affected by exposure to dry gaseous N₂ and CO₂. At low water vapour coverages, (<1/3 monolayer), the tensile strength of glass was reduced by approximately 50%. Further increase in water vapour pressure did not weaken the solid to a much greater extent. The existence of surface microcracks governs the absolute tensile fracture strength, and any process which varies the flaw geometry acts to vary the tensile fracture strength. Soaking in the liquid has the same effect as adsorption from the vapour phase near saturation. All vapour adsorbates caused a weakening, the magnitude of the decrease increasing with increasing ability of the adsorbate to screen the surface Si++++ cores. Moisture was the most active environment encountered. Polymethyl methacrylate did not weaken in the vapour phase despite multilayer adsorption, but stressing in wetting liquids did cause drastic failure, with a 57% decrease in tensile strength. Non-wetting liquids do not affect the strength of the acrylic plastics. Fracture experiments on a quartzitic rock in aqueous solutions of surfactant, (quartenary ammonium salts), show that the weakening due to surfactant adsorption is negligible, since water itself causes the maximum strength reduction. The adsorption of surfactant is only a secondary effect. A mechanism has been proposed for the stress-environmental failure of brittle solids. This mechanism recognizes the existence of micro-cracks, regards the stable crack propagation stage of the fracture process to be environment sensitive, and involves the strain-activated adsorption resulting in a decrease in cohesion at the flaw apex. The magnitude of the weakening is critically dependent on the nature of the bonding in the solid surface. A literature review of stress-sorption cracking, with an emphasis on non-metallic systems, is included. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Mining Engineering, Keevil Institute of / Graduate

Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and their metabolites are ubiquitous in the environment and their occurrence in the aquatic environment is of growing concern. However, despite the fact that these may cause harmful effects in organisms found within this niche, little is currently known about the effects of APIs in the aquatic environment. Chiral pharmaceuticals are of particular concern as the enantiomers may be metabolised differently, with the potential for the production of an array of harmful compounds. There are many racemic APIs for treating human and animal conditions, and even in these target organisms the pharmacodynamic effects of the enantiomers are not always known. Within recent years the importance of the interactions of these compounds within the aquatic environment has been realised and information regarding the fate and biodegradation of such environmental pollutants is of great importance. The advent of post-genomic technologies has proved advantageous in the study of the effects of these environmental pollutants. In this thesis, the effects of a range of chiral APIs, and other environmental pollutants, on environmentally relevant microorganisms were investigated at the metabolome level. The effects of chiral APIs were investigated in a number of prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems in order to provide a comprehensive study of the effects of the APIs in the aquatic environment. FT-IR spectroscopy was employed for metabolic fingerprinting of some environmentally relevant bacteria and GC-MS was subsequently employed for metabolite profiling of two pseudomonads that had shown differential chiral effects with Propranolol. In addition, FT-IR microspectroscopy was employed for the investigation of the phenotypic and localised effects of chiral APIs in a eukaryotic system. Furthermore, the effects of a range of environmental pollutants on a complex bacterial community were investigated with the use of FT-IR spectroscopy and multivariate analysis. Initial results indicated a large phenotypic response in relation to phenol, and this was further explored with a range of ageing experiments and metabolic fingerprinting. An FT-IR peak was found to be characteristic of the phenotypic changes in the actively degrading communities and this was likely to be a degradation product of phenol, and armed with this knowledge the activated sludge community was monitored during the active degradation of phenol with the use of GC-MS.The work presented in this thesis has shown for the first time that metabolomics allows subtle phenotypes in microorganisms to be revealed when they are exposed to chiral forms of APIs which are commonly found in the aquatic environment. Despite these APIs not being designed for any interaction with bacteria and aquatic life in general these are significant findings and may have implications as more and more APIs become detectable and concentrated in the environment due to continued use in man and indeed animals or aquaculture.