Chemical substance abuse is a major problem affecting young people of all races, in particular teenagers, not only in South Africa but globally as well. Although this phenomenon continues to be a serious condition that impacts on teenagers’ growth, learning and relationships with their parents, there is limited knowledge-based research on the experiences, challenges and coping strategies of parents living with teenagers abusing chemical substances. A qualitative research approach was employed to explore, describe and contextualize the experiences, challenges and coping strategies of parents living with teenagers abusing chemical substances in Ramotse, Hammanskraal in Gauteng Province. The researcher used purposive and snowball sampling methods to draw the sample. Data was collected through the semi-structured interviews and analysed using Tesch’s eight steps (Creswell, 2009). Data was verified against four criteria developed by Guba and Lincoln’s model to test the trustworthiness of a qualitative research study. The ethical considerations adhered to throughout this study were informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, debriefing of participants and management of information. The findings confirm that there is lack of support for parents living with teenagers abusing chemical substance. From the findings, recommendations for policy, education, practice and future research were made. The results were disseminated by means of a written research report to management of SANCA and the participants. / Social Work / M. A. (Social Work)

The topic of my thesis is: "Leaks of dangerous chemical substances in the territory of the town Pilsen". I have been dealing with this very hot issue, because there are more and more chemical substances around us. We can find a lot of companies producing, using and having these substances in stock, so we cannot rule out smaller or larger leaks. They usually have negative impacts on human health and life, animals, environment or the leak can cause high material damage. It is necessary to take new measures to decrease results of leak of dangerous chemical substances. In the theoretical part of my work I described some dangerous chemical substances, rules for behaviour and arrangments during the leaks of dangerous chemical substances. In the practical part I evaluated statistic records about leaks of dangerous chemical substances and I valuated talks with experts of public administration in the area of Pilsen town. I carried out my own modulation of ammonia leak in the programme ,,TerEx? and by that I gained an area of public danger where I performed an investigation among people. In my work there was verified a hypothesis whether the people living round the object with dangerous chemical substances have some knowledge about the individual protection. I came to conclusion that this hypothesi can be confirmated due to out comes of my questionary research ? our inhabitants are endowed with the needy useful knowledge (as I have been persuaded by). In my work I found out and important piece of knowledge that there had been only one leak of dangerous chemical substance some ammonia leak from the Pilsner ´´PRAZDROJ a.s.´´. It was an acceptional situation and it did not have any serious effect on people and environment. I would like to recommend only one thing ? to increase public awareness about possible danger in the place of domicile. It is necessary to say that people are only exceptionally interested in these safety questions. This work can be used within the public administration in the field of emergency management and accidental planning for (preparation of) inhabitants´ protection. It can also be used as some study material.

Este trabalho consiste em uma análise epistemológica do conceito de substância apresentado, direta ou indiretamente, nos livros didáticos de 5a e 8a séries do Ensino Fundamental. O trabalho foi aliçercado na epistemologia de Gaston Bachelard utilizando, principalmente, as noções de obstáculo epistemológico e perfil epistemológico para estabelecer os critérios de análise. A partir destas considerações, procuramos identificar a presença de obstáculos epistemológicos e a existência, ou não, de uma preocupação dos autores com os diferentes momentos epistemológicos relacionados ao conceito de substância ao longo da história da evolução deste conceito. Foram analisados os livros de 5a e 8a séries, das seis coleções aprovadas pelo PNLD/2002, entendendo que estas refletem o ensino de ciências desenvolvido pela maioria dos professores das escolas públicas brasileiras, já que estes são distribuídos gratuitamente pelo governo federal. Pudemos detectar que, na maioria das coleções analisadas, prevalece a presença de obstáculos substancialistas e realistas, não havendo, também, uma preocupação com os diferentes momentos epistemológicos relacionados à evolução do conceito de substância. Enfim, a análise dos resultados indica que as coleções, em sua maioria, não apresentam uma preocupação maior com a construção do conceito de substância e, tão pouco, com as questões epistemológicas relacionadas a este conceito. / This dissertation consists of an epistemologic analysis of the definition of chemical substance given directly or indirectly in school books from 5th to 8th grades in Junior High Schools in Brazil. The dissertation was supported in the epistemology of Gaston Bachelard utilizing, mainly, the notions of epistemologic obstacle and epistemologic profile to establish the criteria for the analysis. Starting from these considerations the study seeks to identify the presence of epistemologic obstacles and whether the book authors are concerned or not about the different epistemologic moments related to the concept of substance through the history of the evolution of this concept. Books from 5th to 8th grades, from six volumes approved by PNLD/2002, were analysed. These books are considered to reflect the scientific studies developed by the majority of Brazilian public High School teachers, considering that the books are complimentarily disgtributed by the federal government. It was possible to detect that, in the majority of the volumes analysed, the presence of substancialistic and realistic obstacle prevails and that there isn''t any concern about the different epistemologic moments related to the evolution of the concept of substance. Finaly, the analysis of the results shows that most of the volumes don''t present any major concern about the construction of the concept of substance, and not even with the epistemologic matters related to this concept.

The main theme of the diploma thesis is simulated accident of a truck transporting pressure barrels with chlorine.The study is focused on evaluating the effects of the accident on the lives and health of the local population and assessing the risks (and the level of hazards) with the use of selected methods.In this study, the truck accident is described in detail and the risks are evaluated through using the IAEA-TECDOC-727 method, which is based on quantitative risk assessment of sources according to the level of hazard to lives.

The aim of the diploma thesis is to assess contamination by chemical substances of selected operating premises at the FRS stations of the Pardubice Region. Elevated contamination by dangerous dangerous chemical substances of the mentioned premises can be results of many factors, from technical to organisational ones, and as a final consequence of this, it may influence firefighters´ health negatively. The theoretical part of the thesis presents basic information about the organisation, duties and securing the operability of chemical and technical services material equipment. Furthermore, knowledge of possible risks of contamination of material equipment and about inspections of the chemicals in operating environment are presented. In the survey part, air contamination of 13 selected areas is assessed during everyday operations and once in an intentionally contaminated area. As the measuring procedure in all the selected areas, air sampling through adsorption tube with Tenax sorbent was used. Specifying the chemical substances in the samples is implemented by the means of a thermodesorption equipment and a gas chromatograph with a mass spectrometer. Furthermore, sampling in sample bags with following analysis by the means of infrared spectroscopy is implemented in contaminated areas. There are 42 air sampling in Tenax adsorption tubes and 2 air sampling in sample bags implemented altogether. Numbers of volatile organic substances is identified in the surveyed areas, most of them benzene and toluene. From identified inorganic gases hydrogen sulfide is discovered in one case, which concentration exceeded strongly the hygienic standards set by the Czech legislation. The identified results not only can influence securing the operability of material equipment but also contribute to a general reduction of firefighters´ exposure to dangerous chemical substances.

Emergency preparedness includes the ability to recognize the occurrence of extraordinary events and, in particular, planning, organizing and management of emergency measures to deal with them. The objective of this thesis is to assess planned measures to avert the consequences of accidents depending on selected extraordinary events in the premises of the railway station in České Budějovice. Another objective is to assess the overall emergency preparedness of the railway station in České Budějovice in this respect. In order to meet the objectives as well as possible I defined the following hypothesis: Planned measures to avert the consequences of accidents in the premises of the railway station in České Budějovice are adequate and in accordance with applicable legislation. The thesis includes basic general information on extraordinary events, emergency planning and the integrated rescue system, and then it describes securing emergency preparedness within the organizational structure of the entities involved. The thesis also includes the issue of rail freight transport and the related transport of dangerous substances. To achieve the objectives of the thesis and to verify the hypothesis, I used interviews with relevant experts from railway companies ČD as, ČD Cargo and SŽDC, and the study of available literature and legislation. Then, I used a document analysis aimed at assessing the adequacy and suitability of planned measures depending on the selected extraordinary events ? both associated with the normal operation of the railway station and the transport of hazardous substances in tanks. The analysis showed that the planned measures to avert the consequences of accidents in the premises of the railway station in České Budějovice are currently to a great extent adequate and in compliance with applicable national and international legislation. In the discussion section, I presented the problems that occurred in dealing with this issue. At the end of the thesis, I tried to propose some measures that would be suitable for adding into the documentation of emergency preparedness of the railway station in České Budějovice. I believe that this thesis will be used as a document monitoring an aggregate of measures to ensure emergency preparedness of the railway station in České Budějovice and, in the light of the thesis results, it will be possible to recommend further improvements in securing the preparation of these measures.

An extensive bibliographic search of domestic and foreign resources was elaborated within the diploma thesis. In the sphere of major accident prevention, risk analysis and assessment are necessary to fulfill the aims. The development of this sphere is mentioned in the thesis. It also discusses reasons why the exact and detailed instruction for those analyses cannot be provided and why the standard methods of risk analysis cannot be introduced (as well as the methods for particular risk recipients). The thesis also discusses available software tools for evaluating the emergency impacts. The study suggests the optimal software tool for simulation of emergency impacts in the conditions of the Czech Republic and also recommends the possible technical precautions for increasing safety of dangerous chemical substances. The conclusion contains discussion on the finding the author revealed and their relation to the information found in the literature and it also summarizes author’s opinion.

The Master's Thesis deals with the usage of various software tools in emergency management and in environmental protection. Nowadays, on every step we make, we can face emergency situations which can cause great harm to the environment as well as to human life and property. The theoretical part provides an overview of software tools. Different software tools, their basic parameters, development and usage are described. There are also explained terms like geographic information system, etc. The practical part is focused on the instruments used in selected countries, including Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Hungary, USA, Canada and the United Kingdom. In the conclusion is the comparison of the effectiveness of software tools in emergency management and in environmental protection.

The Master's Thesis deals with the usage of various software tools in emergency management and in environmental protection. Nowadays, on every step we make, we can face emergency situations which can cause great harm to the environment as well as to human life and property. The theoretical part provides an overview of software tools. Different software tools, their basic parameters, development and usage are described. There are also explained terms like geographic information system, etc. The practical part is focused on the instruments used in selected countries, including Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Hungary, USA, Canada and the United Kingdom. In the conclusion is the comparison of the effectiveness of software tools in emergency management and in environmental protection.

In South Africa, substance use, abuse and dependency is twice the world norm. To address this trend, the continuum of care guides legislative prescriptions for the treatment of a substance use disorder. This study aimed to address the lack of a description of the utilisation thereof in literature and recent research findings. A qualitative approach was followed and purposive sampling was employed to collect data from both service providers and users of services. Tesch’s framework for qualitative data analysis (Creswell, 2014:218) was used to identify themes, sub-themes and categories, while the data was compared with existing literature on the identified themes. The trustworthiness of the findings was enhanced by the verification of the data through aspects of credibility/authenticity, transformability, dependability and conformability (Schurink, Fouché and de Vos, 2011:397). Informed consent, confidentiality , non-compensation, debriefing of participants, and the management of information were considered to ensure ethical practice. / Social Work / M.A.(S.S.)