Orientador: Luiz fernando Costa Nascimento / Banca: Ana Cristina Gobbo Cesar / Banca: Gilson Fernandes Ruivo / Resumo: A poluição do ar é uma das principais causas de internação por doenças do aparelho respiratório. Efeitos negativos na saúde devido à exposição aos poluentes atmosféricos vêm causando aumentos nas internações hospitalares. O objetivo desse estudo consiste em identificar a associação entre a exposição ao material particulado fino, ajustado pelo monóxido de carbono sobre as internações hospitalares da rede pública por algumas doenças respiratórias na população de Cuiabá, MT, no período de 01 de janeiro de 2012 a 31 de dezembro de 2013. A metodologia utilizada fundamenta-se na pesquisa de estudo ecológico de série temporal. A variável dependente considerada foi o número de internações hospitalares concernentes às doenças: traqueite e laringite (J04.0 - J04.9), pneumonia (J12.0 - J18.9), bronquite e bronquiolite (J20.0 - J21.9), doença pulmonar obstructiva cônica (J44.0 - J44.9) e asma (J45.0 - J45.9), que representam em torno de 75% do total das doenças respiratórias (J00.0 - J99.9) e cujos códigos correspondem à CID 10, esses dados foram obtidos do DATASUS. As variáveis independentes consideradas foram as concentrações diárias dos poluentes PM2,5 e CO, estimados pelo modelo matemático CCATT-BRAMS. Os dados temperatura mínima e umidade relativa do ar foram obtidos do Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia e número de focos de queimadas do Sistema de Informações Ambientais. A abordagem estatística utilizou o modelo linear generalizado da regressão de Poisson com defasagens de 0 a 7 di... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Air pollution is one of the main causes of hospitalization for respiratory diseases. Negative health effects due to exposure to air pollutants are causing increases in hospital admissions. The objective of this study is to identify the association between exposure to fine particles, adjusted for carbon monoxide and hospitalizations in Public Health System by some respiratory diseases in the population of Cuiabá, MT, in the period of January 1, 2012 To December 31, 2013. The methodology used is based on the ecological study of time series. The dependent variable was the number of hospital admissions in relation to diseases: tracheitis and laryngitis (J04.0 - J04.9), pneumonia (J12.0 - J18.9), bronchitis and bronchiolitis (J20.0 - J21. 9), congestive pulmonary disease (J44.0 - J44.9), and asthma (J45.0 - J45.9), which account for about 75% of all respiratory diseases (J00.0 - J99.9) And whose codes correspond to ICD-10, these data were obtained from DATASUS. The independent variables were the daily concentration of pollutants PM2,5 and CO, estimated by the mathematical model CCATT-BRAMS. Data of minimum temperature and the relative humidity were obtained from the National Institute of Meteorology and the number of fires from the system of environmental information. The statistical approach used the linear model of Poisson regression with delay of 0 to 7 days (lag0 to lag7). Financial expenses and increases in the number of hospitalizations due to the increase in the PM2,5 concentration in the air were estimated. The coefficients provided by the Poisson regression became the relative risk of hospitalization considering alpha = 5%. There were 4998 hospitalizations according to J-00 to J99 diagnoses in the study period, with 3876 hospitalizations (76.8%) for the specific diseases. Exposure to PM2,5 when adjusted for CO, constitutes a ... (Complete Abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-08-10Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:38:03Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 lima_d_me_sjrp.pdf: 725372 bytes, checksum: 4c5a9d3b5a4993c307ce225938e61681 (MD5) / Ambientes naturais próximos a áreas urbanas e industrializadas são comumente contaminadas com descargas de poluentes, as quais são muitas vezes compostas por agentes químicos que não são removidos por sistemas de tratamento de efluentes convencionais, resultando num grande aporte de substâncias potencialmente tóxicas no ambiente aquático. Os metais são componentes naturais presentes nos ecossistemas. Estes elementos são indispensáveis para processos bioquímicos e fisiológicos nos seres vivos. No entanto, muitos desses elementos, quando em níveis elevados, podem ter efeitos adversos na saúde humana. Sabe-se que as enzimas esterases são fortemente inibidas por praguicidas organofosforados (OP) e carbamatos (CM), porém estudos recentes apontam o potencial efeito de alguns metais como compostos interferentes na atividade das esterases. Portanto, a avaliação da inibição de esterases em organismos aquáticos tem sido amplamente utilizada como um indicador de contaminação ambiental por esses compostos. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo o estudo da interferência dos metais cobre, chumbo, ferro e cádmio, na atividade da acetilcolinesterase (AChE) e carboxilesterase (CbE), em zebrafish. A AChE foi significantemente inibida in vitro pelo cobre, ferro, chumbo e cádmio nas maiores concentrações testadas (10 e 20 mmol/L), enquanto CbE foi inibida apenas na concentração de 20 mmol/L. In vivo somente o chumbo e o cádmio foram capazes de causar inibição na AChE nas maiores concentrações testadas, o ferro não causou nenhuma alteração e o cobre promoveu um aumento na atividade da AChE na concentração de 0,06 mg/L. A CbE não sofreu nenhuma alteração em nenhum dos tempos e concentrações testadas, exceto na exposição ao cobre, onde apresentou decréscimo em sua atividade. Além disso, de acordo com dados cinéticos obtidos, observa-se que todos os inibidores... / Natural environments close to urbanized and industrialized areas are commonly contaminated by discharges of pollutants, which are often composed by chemicals that aren’t removed by conventional wastewater treatment systems. Metals are natural components in the ecosystems, being essential to biochemical and physiological process in living organisms. However, if these elements are in excess, they can impose adverse effects on living organisms. Esterases are strongly inhibited by organophosphate (OP) and carbamate (CM) pesticides, but recent studies pointed to the potential effect of some metals as interfering compounds on the esterases activity. The present work aimed to study the interference of the metals copper, lead, iron and cadmium in the activity of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and carboxylesterase (CbE) in zebrafish. AChE was significantly inhibited in vitro by copper, iron, lead and cadmium at higher concentrations (10 and 20 mmol/L), whereas CbE was inhibited only at a concentration of 20 mmol/L. In vivo, only lead and cadmium were able to cause AChE inhibition at higher concentrations, iron didn’t cause any changes and copper promoted an increase in the AChE activity at concentration of 0.06 mg/L. CbE activity did not change in any of the times and concentrations tested, except in the copper exposure, which showed a decrease in its activity. Furthermore, according to kinetic data obtained, it is noted that all inhibitors showed mixed inhibition type. Indeed, iodoacetamide treatment did not change AChE neither CbE activities, indicating that the metal inhibiting effect is probably not due to biding to thiol groups close the active site of the enzyme. These results indicate metals as important inhibitors of esterase in zebrafish, and should be considered in environmental monitoring studies that uses esterase inhibition as OP and CM exposure biomarkers

Orientador: Pedro de Magalhães Padilha / Banca: Arnaldo Alves Cardoso / Banca: André Henrique Rosa / Banca: Eny Maria Vieira / Banca: Ana Rita de Araújo Nogueira / Resumo: O presente trabalho descreve a utilização de filmes de TiO2 e TiO2 modificados com prata, preparados pelo método sol-gel, na fotodegradação de fenol e fluidos de corte. Os filmes foram imobilizados em substratos de vidro pela técnica de "dip-coating" e caracterizados por espectrofotometria no UV-Vis, difração de raios-X, microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV) e microscopia eletrônica de varredura de alta resolução (FEG-MEV). Dentre os filmes de TiO2, o que apresentou maior atividade foi o filme denominado TiO2 misto 24 h, que degradou em torno de 65% (pH= 5,0) dos poluentes orgânicos estudados. O filme modificado apresentou um aumento de cerca de 20% na degradação dos mesmos poluentes quando comparado ao filme de TiO2 misto 24 h. Também foi estudada a fotodegradação de fluidos de corte empregando o TiO2 P 25 em função do pH das amostras. A maior porcentagem de degradação, foi obtida em pH= 8,0 para todos os fluidos estudados. / Abstract: The present work describes the use of immobilized films of TiO2 and TiO2 modified with silver, prepared by the sol-gel method, in the photodegradation of phenol and cutting fluids. TiO2 films had been immobilized in glass substrate by the dip-coating technique and characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and field emission gun - scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM). Among the TiO2 films, what presented greater activity was the one called film mixing TiO2 24 h, which degraded around 65% (pH= 5,0) of the studied organic pollutants. The modified film presented an increase of about 20% in the photodegradation of the same pollutants when compared to the film mixing TiO2 24 h. The fotodegradation of cut fluid using TiO2 P 25 as a function of pH of the samples was also studied. The greater percentage of photodegradation, was gotten in pH= 8,0 for all studied fluids. / Doutor

Orientador: Christiane Pienna Soares / Banca: Gisela de Aragão Umbuzeiro / Banca: Elza Tiemi Sakamoto Hojo / Banca: Daisy Maria Fávero Salvador / Banca: Eliana Aparecida Varanda / Resumo: O etanol obtido da cana-de-açúcar tem sido considerado um combustível alternativo. Entretanto, em países em desenvolvimento, a colheita de cana é realizada manualmente depois da queima, sendo responsável pela emissão sazonal de poluentes atmosféricos. A mutagenicidade dos resíduos de queima de cana (RQCA) e as partículas presentes na ROFA (residual oil fly ash) foram observados nos ensaios de micronúcleo em células sanguíneas de camundongos e de células mãe de grão de pólen de Tradescantia pallida (TRAC-MCN) particulado. O estudo também verificou a citotoxicidade, apoptose e genotoxicidade nas células tratadas com extrato orgânico contendo grande quantidade de HPAs e suspensão na biomassa do período de safra e entressafra. Uma alta freqüência de MN foi observada no TSP do período de safra que na entressafra e a porcentagem de células mortas foi maior em células tratadas com extrato orgânico contendo grande quantidade de HPAs e particulado. Elevada expressão de Bcl-2 e baixa expressão de p53 fosforilado foi verificado em células tratadas com extrato orgânico contendo grande quantidade de HPAs no período de safra e entressafra e em 24 e 48h pós-tratamento. É possível concluir que os HPAs presentes no período de safra e entressafra são genotóxicos e citotóxicos. Políticas públicas deveriam ser discutidas para se buscar alternativas que diminuam a emissão desse poluente. / Abstract: Ethanol obtained from sugar cane has been considered an alternative fuel. However, in developing countries, the handly harvesting is usually done after to sugar cane burning which is responsible for seasonal emission of air pollutants. The genotoxicity of sugar cane burning residues (SCBRs) and particle surrogates of residual oil fly ash (ROFA) were observed in micronuclei (MN) assay in mouse peripheral blood and bone marrow cells as well as in the pollen mother cells of Tradescantia pallida (TRAC-MCN). The study also verified cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of cells treated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and suspension, in harvesting and non-harvesting particulated biomass. Higher frequency of MN was observed in harvesting TSP than non-harvesting and the cell death was higher in cells treated with PHAs in both particulates. Bcl-2 overexpression of p53 phosphorylated low expression was verified in the cells treated with PHAs in harvesting and non-harvesting in 24 and 48 hours after treatment. We can conclude that PHAs presenting in harvesting time, which represents burning sugar cane biomass and non-harvesting time (fuel fossil combustion) are cytotoxic and genotoxic. Public politics should be discussed to found alternatives which could decrease air pollution emissions. / Doutor

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Poluentes orgÃnicos emergentes (POEs) ou simplesmente contaminantes emergentes referem-se a qualquer composto quÃmico presente numa variedade de produtos comerciais como medicamentos, produtos de uso veterinÃrio, embalagens de alimentos, produtos de higiene, agrotÃxicos, ou alguns microrganismo. Os POEs podem ser encontrados em matrizes ambientais e biolÃgicas, nÃo sÃo usualmente monitorados ou ainda nÃo possuem legislaÃÃo regulatÃria correspondente, e apresentam risco potencial à saÃde humana e ao meio ambiente. Neste trabalho, foi desenvolvido e validado um mÃtodo para a determinaÃÃo de cafeÃna, ciprofloxacina, 17β-estradiol, 17α-etinilestradiol e dietilestilbestrol, considerados interferentes endÃcrinos. O mÃtodo desenvolvido utilizou extraÃÃo em fase sÃlida (SPE) e cromatografia lÃquida de alta eficiÃncia acoplada a um detector de arranjo de diodos. Foram estabelecidas condiÃÃes cromatogrÃficas com eluiÃÃo por gradiente utilizando acetonitrila e Ãgua ultrapura pH 2,0. O planejamento fatorial realizado por SPE indicou que melhores respostas sÃo alcanÃadas quando utiliza-se o cartucho C18, 500 mL de volume de amostra, pH 3,0 e volume de eluiÃÃo igual a 2,0 mL de metanol 100%. As figuras de mÃrito de validaÃÃo do mÃtodo indicaram seletividade, sensibilidade, linearidade, precisÃo, exatidÃo e robustez satisfatÃrias para a maioria dos compostos estudados. Os limites de detecÃÃo (LD) variaram entre 0,283 e 1,543 μg/L (ppb) e os limites de quantificaÃÃo (LQ) variaram entre 0,944 e 5,142 μg/L (ppb). Foi proposta uma nova estratÃgia de controle de qualidade utilizando padrÃo surrogate, e estabelecido um fator de relaÃÃo (FR) a fim de corrigir as concentraÃÃes dos compostos de interesse em amostras reais. O mÃtodo validado foi aplicado nas anÃlises de Ãgua superficial dos aÃudes que fazem parte do abastecimento de Ãgua da RegiÃo Metropolitana de Fortaleza/CE. Os compostos 17β-estradiol, 17α-etinilestradiol foram detectados numa concentraÃÃo mÃxima de 989 e 980 ng/L, respectivamente. / Emerging organic pollutants (EOP), or Emerging Contaminants, is a term that is used to refer any chemical compound insert in variety of comercial products such as medicines, veterinary products, food packaging, pesticides, or any microorganism. The EOP can be found in environmental and ecological arrays not usually monitore or government unregulated, and poses risks to human health na environment. The methodological approach of this thesis included a developed and validated method to determine caffeine, ciprofloxacin, 17β-estradiol, 17α-ethinylestradiol and diethylstilbestrol, considered endocrine disruptors. The method uses a Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE) and high performance liquid cromatography coupled to a diode array detector. Chromatografic conditions were established by gradiente elution using acetonitrile and ultrapure water (pH = 2). The experimental design performed by SPE showed that better responses are achieved when it is used the cartridge C18, 500 mL sample volume, pH 3,0 and 2,0 mL 100% methanol elution volume. The method validation parameters indicated satisfatory selectivity, sensitivity, linearity, precision, accuracy and robustness. Detection limits (DL) ranged from 0,283 to 1,543 μg/L (ppb) and quantification limits (QL) ranged from 0,944 e 5,142 μg/L (ppb). A new quality control strategy using surrogate standard was proposed, and a relation factors (RF) was established to correct of concentrations of compounds of interest in real samples. The validated method was applied to the analysis of surface waters reservoirs from water supply system in metropolitan region of Fortaleza. The compounds 17β-estradiol, 17α-ethynyl estradiol was detected in a maximum concentration of 989 to 980 ng / L, respectively.

Orientador: Celso Aparecido Bertran / Dissertação (mestrado profissional) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-15T06:28:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sperl_Andre_M.pdf: 9852829 bytes, checksum: eb971c769176d86c8d4dd5564c6ed768 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: Nas últimas décadas as normas de emissões de poluentes vêem tornando-se cada vez mais exigentes, assim como a competição acirrada de produtos, implicando em desenvolvimento de tecnologias para melhoria das emissões de poluentes, que atendam as rígidas normas de emissões de poluentes que estão por vir, como Euro V e Euro VI, porém, com sistemas de uma complexidade e custo que atendam a realidade de mercado. Dentro deste escopo, neste trabalho, foram ensaiados seis diferentes tipos de combustível foram estudados: Diesel Comum Metropolitano, Diesel Euro IV, Diesel Comum Metropolitano apenas com surfactante sem água, e três outras formulações de emulsões chamadas 1, A e B respectivamente, porém com o mesmo conteúdo de água em massa - 22% - no entanto com surfactantes diferentes e patenteados com o objetivo de melhorar a densidade e viscosidade para funcionamento em motor de combustão interna ciclo Diesel. Os resultados de emissões foram obtidos com uma única estratégia de calibração inalterada utilizando o ciclo estacionário de 13 pontos conforme NBR15634 (2008), em um motor de alta rotação 3.0L, o qual possui calibração que atende os requisitos Euro III Heavy Duty. As emissões de NOx e Material Particulado pesado foram reduzidas em relação ao Diesel convencional em 22% e 42%, respectivamente utilizando a emulsão B, enquanto o consumo de específico de combustível aumentou em média 8%. Baseado nestes resultados, alguns mecanismos de redução de emissões de NOx e material particulado são propostos, e estes, podem ser os responsáveis pela redução de poluentes observadas com a utilização destas emulsões de água em óleo Diesel como combustíveis. / Abstract: In the last decades the emission of pollutants are becoming more stringent, also the fierce competition of products, resulting in development of technologies to improve emissions of pollutants that meets the fore coming stringent pollutant emission standards, as Euro V and Euro VI, but with systems of complexity and cost that match market reality. In this work six different kinds of fuels were studied: Diesel Standard Metropolitano, Diesel Euro IV, Diesel Standard Metropolitano only with surfactant without water, and three other formulations of emulsions called 1, A and B respectively, but with the same water content by weight - 22% - but with different patented surfactants, these ones with the aim of improving the density and viscosity for operation in internal combustion Diesel engines. The emission results were obtained with a single dataset strategy unchanged using the stationary cycle for 13 points as NBR15634 (2008) standard requirements in a high-speed engine 3.0L, which dataset meets the requirements of Euro III Heavy Duty emission standard. The NOx and particulate matter emissions were reduced compared to conventional Diesel by 22% and 42% respectively using emulsion B, while the best specific fuel consumption increased on average 8%. Based on these results, some mechanisms for reducing emissions of NOx and particulate matter are proposed, which may be responsible for the reduction of pollutants observed with the use of these emulsions as fuels. / Mestrado / Motores / Mestre em Engenharia Automobilistica

M.Tech. (Chemistry) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Abstract Three different studies were conducted to elucidate the effects of copper (Cu) and nickel (Ni) on Scots pine needles. One was the Monchegorsk smelter emission gradient study on the Kola Peninsula, Russia, the second was the 3-year seedling and 6-year adult tree low-level CuNi and acid rain (H2SO4 at pH 3) irrigation study at Kevo, Finland. In the third study seedlings were exposed to Cu and Ni for a one season in Oulu, Finland. Ni accumulated efficiently in needles, and this accumulation was seen in each of the different studies. The Cu concentrations remained low in needles, except near the Monchegorsk smelters. The addition of Ni together with Cu in Oulu seemed to enhance the accumulation of Ni into the needles of Scots pine seedlings. Plasmolysis may be related to both drought and the Ni treatment, as observed in Oulu, because plasmolysis was statistically more abundant in the 15 mg Ni kg-1 dry soil treated needles than in other treatments except in 25 mg Ni kg-1 dry soil. Cu induced lipid peroxidation of chloroplast membranes was visible under transmission electron microscope (TEM) as light colored, swollen thylakoids in chloroplasts near the Monchegorsk smeltersand also in needles exposed to 25 Ni+50 Cu mg kg-1 in soil in Oulu. Some year to year variation in the frost hardening process was seen in metal and acid treated needles, which may have caused the maximum frost hardiness level drop after CuNi, pH3 and CuNi/pH3 treatments. Root growth was increased by 5 mg Ni kg-1 dry soil in soil in Oulu, but 15 mg Ni kg-1 dry soil Ni in soil decreased root growth and increased root tip dieback. 25 Ni+50 Cu mg kg-1 dry soil in soil markedly decreased root growth. The proportion of oxidized glutathione in Cu-treated needles was smaller than in Ni-treated needles, but roots had higher peroxidase activity levels. However, Ni seemed to cause more oxidative stress to seedlings than copper.

Waste-generating industrialisation is intrinsically associated with population and economic proliferation. This places considerable emphasis on South Africa's water shortage due to the integral relationship between population growth rate and infrastructure development. Of the various types of industry-generated effluents, those containing organic pollutants such as phenols are generally difficult to remediate. Much work has been reported in the literature on the use of enzymes for the removal of phenols from these waste-streams but little application of this bioremediation approach has reached practical fruition. This study focuses on integrating and synergistically combining the advantages of enzyme-mediated dephenolisation of synthetic and industrial effluent with that of membrane teclmology. The ability of the enzyme polyphenol oxidase to convert phenol and a number of its derivatives to chemically reactive o-quinones has been reported extensively in the literature. These o-quinones can then physically be removed from solution using various precipitation or adsorption techniques. The enzyme is, however, plagued by a product-induced phenomenon known as suicide inactivation, which renders it inactive and thus limits its application as a bioremediation tool. Integrating membrane technology with the enzyme's catalytic ability by immobilising polyphenol oxidase onto polysulphone and poly(ether sulphone) capillary membranes enabled the physical removal of these inhibitory products from the micro-environment of the immobilised enzyme which therefore increased the phenol conversion capability of the immobilised biocatalyst. Under non-immobilised conditions it was found that when exposed to a mixture of various phenols the substrate preference of the enzyme is a function of the R-group. Under immobilised conditions, however, the substrate preference of the enzyme becomes a function of certain transport constraints imposed by the capillary membrane itself. Furthermore, by integrating a quinone-removal process in the enzyme-immobilised bioreactor configuration, a 21-fold increase in the amount of substrate converted per Unit enzyme was observed when compared to the conversion capacity of the inunobilised enzyme without the product removal step. Comparisons were also made using different membrane bioreactor configurations (orientating the capillaries transverse as opposed to parallel to the module axis) and different immobilisation matrices (poly(ether sulphone) and polysulphone capillary membranes). Conversion efficiencies as high as 77% were maintained for several hours using the combination of transverse-flow modules and novel polysulphone capillary membranes. It was therefore concluded that immobilisation of polyphenol oxidase on capillary membranes does indeed show considerable potential for future development.

The quality of electricity infrastructure and supply to a nation is seen as vital for the development of the local and regional economy. In recent times, electricity generation industries worldwide have undergone significant changes pertaining to the kind of technologies used. These changes were made in order to address concerns related to energy security and sustainability. South Africa has been identified as a carbon-intensive economy, with the electricity sector being at the high end of the carbon intensity spectrum. The need to analyse the socio-environmental impacts of existing electricity generation techniques becomes vital when taking into account the transitions in the South Africa electricity industry. Socio-environmental impacts are categorised into public, environmental and occupational impacts, based on the point of impact. The methodology used to quantify these impacts is based on the Impact Pathway Approach used in the Externalities of Energy study. The Externalities of Energy study was devised in Europe and has gained prominence particularly in developing countries because of its ability to adapt to local conditions. Since South Africa is a developing country, the methodology is suitable for the quantification of externalities when analysing scenarios that have a dearth of local data. iii South Africa historically focused on non-renewable electricity generation mechanisms. This was done primarily because of the abundant supplies of coal and secondly because of the need to provide electricity at affordable prices to the masses. The focus of the analysis is set on impacts caused by coal and nuclear electricity in South Africa, since these two technologies together contribute to more the 95% of the electricity generated. The impacts in each category are identified, prioritised, analysed and quantified. Once impacts are quantified, monetary costs are attributed to the impacts. The aggregation of the costs caused by the impacts results in determining the damages associated with the quantified impacts. Monetary damages individually are not of much use, and therefore the significance of such damages are underlined once calculated. Determined monetary damages are interpreted in average and total terms relative to the total electricity generated with the intention of highlighting the significance of the costs. The average damage costs are compared to existing electricity prices, which enables policy- and decision-makers to segregate the damages relative to electricity prices. The results of this analysis should enable policy-makers to prudently make decisions about the significance of the social and environmental impacts associated with the dominant non-renewable electricity generation technologies in the country while prioritising the sustainability of the society and environment. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / cp2013 / Graduate School of Technology Management / PhD / Unrestricted