No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The literature review identified the current scientific understanding of element and lime interactions with clay minerals and the leaching protocols used to assess contaminant mobility. This understanding formed the basis for the mechanisms postulated for clay-contaminant-lime interactions and the appropriate methods of chemically assessing time-dependent interactions. Two refined clay minerals English China Clay (predominantly kaolinite) and Wyoming Bentonite (predominantly sodium-montmorillonite) were used to assess the time-dependent effects of mineral structural chemistry on clay-contaminant-lime interactions. (Continues...).

In a world where natural environments are under increasing threat, environmental education has become a global imperative. Research in the field has so far stressed its cognitive rather than its affective components. The development of positive attitudes towards the environment was identified as a goal in Jordanian schools, particularly in the primary school curricula. However, at present environmental education in Jordan remains oriented towards cognitive outcomes. The study follows systematic procedures for: developing and delivering a Fourth Grade Environmental Education Programme (FGEEP); designing a scale to assess children's attitudes towards the environment, and evaluating the impact of the programme on these attitudes. A representative random sample of 360 fourth grade primary school children (180 boys, 180 girls) aged 9-10 years attending government or UNRWA schools in Irbid/Jordan in the academic year 1995/1996, was selected for the research. The sample was divided into two equal and equivalent groups: the experimental which received FGEEP alongside their normal curriculum and the control group which did not. The programme involved the creation, development and evaluation of both teacher and pupil learning materials. Consisting of three books: a pupil's textbook, a pupil's workbook and a teacher's manual. A specially designed and trialled 30-items Environmental Attitudes Scale for Primary School Children (EASPSC) was found valid and reliable for use in Arabic and English. Also developed were an environmental knowledge scale and a scale for assessing parents' environmental attitudes. The scales were given to both the experimental and the control groups, pre- and post-programme exposure. Participating pupils are shown to have developed strong, positive attitudes towards the environment and high level of environmental knowledge, as did their parents. The results suggest that FGEEP was effective and appropriate for developing environmental understanding in primary school children in Jordan. Since content and methods of delivery of the programme differed from the normal curriculum, both contribute to the programme's achievement. The researcher advocates the adoption of the programme in Jordan and, with suitable modifications, in a wide range of schools in other societies.

Many global problems in society relate to issues of environment and development. This research explores different connotations of environmental management and development. Development models for Third World countries are found to be most effective when they promote the participation of people in the communities they serve. The thesis demonstrates that development is a process through which members of society develop themselves and their institutions to enhance their ability to mobilize and manage resources to produce sustainable and distributed improvements in their life. The thesis shows that environmental impact assessment (EIA) is an environmental management instrument that allows people to participate in the management of large development proposals. My research demonstrates that the integration of public participation for environmental impact assessment makes the ETA process more meaningful and satisfactory for those who are most frequently affected by infrastructures and commercial enhancement. The thesis reviews European legislation which identifies major projects such as nuclear and fossil fuel power stations, coal mines, oil and gas projects, airports, tunnels, barrages, roads and manufacturing plants for compulsory EIA. The thesis identifies then public participation as a necessary requirement for these assessments. My work shows that the existence of NGOs and other community groups may guarantee more realistic representation than those circumstances where such groups are discouraged, prohibited or ill formed because of inadequate local leadership. My investigation indicates that grass-roots participatory movements, in which people are encouraged to take the initiatives to manage the environment, develop their expertise and capacity to survive in particular circumstances are numerous. In order to investigate EIA in a country well on the way to industrialisation I examined the environmental impact assessment of development projects incorporating public participation in Portugal. I found that public participation in EIA in Portugal is weak because of historical political constraints. Participation is integrated with environmental management and development in grass-roots sustainable development initiatives in Africa and Asia. I demonstrated that local/regional resource management and development is often promoted from the grass-roots by NGOs with diverse histories. Some relate to people in different communities who have come together with different degrees of participation according to their individual, family, social, economic, political and environmental concerns. They challenge their situations by making responsible decisions, planning, implementing and monitoring their objectives through processes of consultation, action and reflection. I further demonstrated that community objectives are achieved through involvement in each stage of the development process. If it is believed that human potentials are to be discovered and developed, then meaningful participation can realise this by people's active involvement at all level of society in decision making. I demonstrated that NG0s, historically, have been effective in this task by removing obstacles and educating communities to participate. suggested it is through the promotion of participation that EIA can exert its effectiveness.

The major digestive enzymes of larval Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi, the southern corn rcotworm (SCR), have been investigated. A number of proteases have been identified, the majority cysteine proteases, some aspartic acid proteases are also present. In vitro assays of cysteine proteases showed that almost all activity could be arrested by E64 or chicken egg-white cystatin. This activity was also affected by TLCK, CpTI and thaumatin. Two inhibitory activities were demonstrated in protein extracts from rice seed. The first, oryzacystatin-I, caused marked inhibition of both the insect cysteine proteases and papain. The second produced strong inhibition of insect cysteine proteases but left papain virtually unaffected. Amino acid sequence data for this novel inhibitor was obtained, and significant homology demonstrated to the rice allergenic proteins (Izumi et a].,1992; Adachi et al., 1993). Oryzacystatin-I was expressed as a fully functional fusion protein (Rozc) in Escherchia coli, isolated, characterised and employed in feeding trials with larval SCR, a significant rise in mortality was demonstrated. Other protease inhibitors were also assayed in vivo, but none exhibited the efficacy of Rozc. A single iso-form of a-araylase was identified and characterised. In vitro assays with amylase inhibitors demonstrated the effectiveness of WAAI and the weak effect of BAAI. WAAI, employed in bioassay, produced a significant decrease in survival. Five lectins were tested by bioassay. WGA and GNA caused marked alterations in larval development, GNA was most effective. Saporin caused little effect when incorporated into artificial diet. WAAI, CpTI and GNA were employed in combination bioassays. An enhanced level of effectiveness was demonstrated with the double and triple combinations assayed. While further work is necessary, especially assaying protein efficacy in planta and establishing mechanisms of action, this project has successfully demonstrated the clear potential of plant antimetabolic proteins for use in the enhancement of inherent resistance of crop plants to insects, and of employing a number of proteins in a multi-mechanistic defence.

No description available.

Demystifying the Commodification of Social Relations in the Ontario Child Protection System: A Marxist Approach to Textual Analysis Susan Elizabeth Preston Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Social Work University of Toronto 2013 In the space of quiet and disquiet, another read is possible. Abstract Capitalism invades all aspects of society, including the welfare state. Capitalist notions of the market appear to be encroaching into social services, wherein we see the “businessology” of social work; however, little empirical attention has been given to how capitalism appears to be replicated within social services. This research aims to make the invisible visible in order to agitate for radical change in the organization and practice of social service provision. In this inquiry, focusing on the child protection system in Ontario I examine some of the documentary actualities of the ruling apparatus of regulated parenthood and childhood by exploring the textualities of the state. Specifically, through the critical lens of Marxism and feminism, and drawing on my own experience of a classed and gendered world, I critically deconstruct the regulatory texts closest to the state, the legislation of the Child and Family Services and the regulations that expand the legislative intent. I also explore the procedural document of the Ontario Risk Assessment Model as an enacted text that operationalizes the legislation and regulation. By reading and re-reading these texts, at the surface but also above and below the surface, positioning the documents in context and recalling my social work practice, I seek answers to questions of how texts replicate capital, and commodify social relations through the ruling apparatus of the state. This work queries how the text itself in its active use of language has implications for social work, in practice, in research and in education.

Demystifying the Commodification of Social Relations in the Ontario Child Protection System: A Marxist Approach to Textual Analysis Susan Elizabeth Preston Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Social Work University of Toronto 2013 In the space of quiet and disquiet, another read is possible. Abstract Capitalism invades all aspects of society, including the welfare state. Capitalist notions of the market appear to be encroaching into social services, wherein we see the “businessology” of social work; however, little empirical attention has been given to how capitalism appears to be replicated within social services. This research aims to make the invisible visible in order to agitate for radical change in the organization and practice of social service provision. In this inquiry, focusing on the child protection system in Ontario I examine some of the documentary actualities of the ruling apparatus of regulated parenthood and childhood by exploring the textualities of the state. Specifically, through the critical lens of Marxism and feminism, and drawing on my own experience of a classed and gendered world, I critically deconstruct the regulatory texts closest to the state, the legislation of the Child and Family Services and the regulations that expand the legislative intent. I also explore the procedural document of the Ontario Risk Assessment Model as an enacted text that operationalizes the legislation and regulation. By reading and re-reading these texts, at the surface but also above and below the surface, positioning the documents in context and recalling my social work practice, I seek answers to questions of how texts replicate capital, and commodify social relations through the ruling apparatus of the state. This work queries how the text itself in its active use of language has implications for social work, in practice, in research and in education.