Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-86).

Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

The aim of this study was to explore how land degradation influences the living conditions of a farming community in Kenya. Investigation method used was qualitative research and data collection through semi -structured interviews with chosen farmers, interview with a professional in the relevant profession, and field observation within a farming community in central province of Kenya. In developing countries many families live in rural areas and depend on small scale farming for livelihood. These communities are however faced with poverty from degraded lands as is indicated by the interviews conducted in this rural community where farming activities has resulted in degradation of land. Unhealthy agricultural practices threaten human survival by not only eating innutritious food, but reduction in economic capability, as well as causing loss of biodiversity which is indispensable for environmental sustainability.

This study focuses on women vendors' perspectives on plastic bag consumption in markets in Mali. It also investigates how women across the urban and rural divide are affected by plastic bag pollution and to what extent women in Mali are included in policy formulation addressing plastic bag issues. I interviewed thirty women vendors in three research sites: Bougouni, Koulikoro and Bamako. In addition, I interviewed five Mali Officials including the Prime Minister and the Minister of Environment. Plastic bags continue to be used widely in all African countries, including Mali. This has created increased environmental pollution as there is no recycling due to the lack of appropriate technology or political will. Reducing the use of plastic bags, and thus pollution, requires social and economic change that may be difficult to implement without involving one of the largest consumers of plastic bags, women, specifically those selling at the market.

CORREIA, Mary Lúcia Andrade. Análise das normas de proteção ambiental nos campos de dunas na praia do futuro Fortaleza-Ce. 2004. 179 f. : Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Ceará, Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação, Programa Regional de Pós-Graduação em Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente - PRODEMA, Fortaleza-CE, 2004. / Submitted by Nádja Goes (nmoraissoares@gmail.com) on 2016-03-30T13:09:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2004_dis_mlacorreia.pdf: 7785475 bytes, checksum: 6dce2f88e9218e01174928db164135e7 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Nádja Goes(nmoraissoares@gmail.com) on 2016-03-30T13:12:03Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2004_dis_mlacorreia.pdf: 7785475 bytes, checksum: 6dce2f88e9218e01174928db164135e7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-30T13:12:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2004_dis_mlacorreia.pdf: 7785475 bytes, checksum: 6dce2f88e9218e01174928db164135e7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004 / The urbanization through which the coastal lowlfand areas of Fortaleza, especially in the “Praia do Futuro”, including the areas of environmental protection (beach, postbeach and dunes), has caused alterations in the dynamics of the geo-environmental elements which compound this unit. The unrestrained construction of houses, buildings and other real estate undertakings in dune areas is increasing in the “Praia do Futuro”, jeopardizing the amount and quality of water resources, as well as the physical and environmental landscape, and contributing to the environmental degradation of the coastline, since the action of any external factors in the dune formation could carry unbalancing consequences which are later compensated with difficulties. In view of the environmental degradation be in an advanced stage in these areas, our interest in studying the dunes in the coastal lowland areas of Fortaleza, including the area of the “Praia do Futuro”, was aroused in order to develop a research dissertation entitled ‘Analysis of the norms for the environmental protection of the dunes in the “Praia do Futuro”, Fortaleza-Brazil’. This investigation has as a general object of analyzing the environmental protection norms towards the ecosystem protection and conservation. Concerning specific objects, we aim at analyzing the types of occupation existing in the dunes in the “Praia do Futuro”, demonstrating the main environmental impacts on this ecosystem, and raising the norms for the environmental protection in the investigated area. The purpose of this research is providing information which may contribute with the formulation of new public policy for the coast of Fortaleza, seeking to transform the current reality, and to provide the society with knowledge about the current situation, as well as with recommendations, which may be used in the environmental conservation and a more rational and sustainable exploration of the natural resources. / A urbanização por que vem passando a Planície Litorânea de Fortaleza, especialmente o trecho Praia do Futuro, compreendendo as áreas de proteção ambiental praia, pós-praia e campo de dunas, tem causado alterações na dinâmica dos elementos geoambientais que compõem esta unidade. A construção desenfreada de casas, edifícios, e outros empreendimentos aliados à especulação imobiliária em áreas de dunas aumenta a cada dia que passa na Praia do Futuro, comprometendo a quantidade e qualidade das reservas aqüíferas, e da paisagem físico-ambiental e contribuindo para a degradação ambiental da zona costeira, pois a ação de qualquer fator externo nas formações dunares poderá acarretar conseqüências desequilibrantes dificilmente compensáveis. Em face da degradação ambiental já se apresentar em avançado estádio nestas áreas, nos fez despertar o interesse para o estudo dos campos de dunas na Planície litorânea de Fortaleza compreendendo a área da Praia do Futuro, que tem por título o trabalho de dissertação: “Análise das normas de proteção ambiental nos campos de dunas na Praia do Futuro Fortaleza - CE”. A pesquisa tem por objetivo geral de estudo analisar as normas de proteção ambiental voltadas para preservação e conservação desse ecossistema. E, por objetivos específicos, caracterizar os tipos de ocupações existentes nas dunas na Praia do Futuro, demonstrar os principais impactos ambientais neste ecossistema e ainda levantar as normas de proteção ambiental na área em estudo. Mencionada pesquisa tem por finalidade fornecer subsídios que possam contribuir na formulação de políticas públicas no litoral de Fortaleza, visando a transformar a realidade, oferecendo à sociedade de hoje, conhecimento sobre o quadro atual e recomendações que poderão ser utilizadas com o intuito de conservação do meio ambiente e utilização mais racional e sustentável dos recursos naturais.

The Republic of Cameroon (8-16°E; 2-13°N) is a Central African nation that borders the Bight of Biafra. It is home of about 20 million people and a country with great environmental and agricultural diversity that reflects Africa. It is known as ‘Africa Miniature’. Recent policies and administrative malfunctions has plunged the SWR into severe environmental problems that led to a cholera outbreak, claiming many lives. Community respond to these severe environmental problems in the SWR greatly left behind resilient strategies to reduce its spread. A mixed method of both qualitative and quantitative research approach was used by the researcher to come up with community strategies which this research seeks to address. Various conclusions such as community demand for support from the local government, sustainable irrigation programs, availability of pipe-borne water and environmental education were put in place, as possible solutions to the persisting environmental problems in the SWR.

Amostras de água subterrânea provenientes de uma área industrial contaminada por hidrocarbonetos monoaromáticos foram utilizadas para a obtenção de bactérias degradadoras de BTEX (benzeno, tolueno, etilbenzeno e isômeros de xileno), com o intuito de realizar sua identificação, caracterização e avaliação do potencial de degradação. Foram estudados os perfis de crescimento dos consórcios de bactérias enriquecidos em BTEX, isoladamente e com diferentes substratos. Apenas parte das cepas isoladas apresentaram capacidade de crescimento quando expostas individualmente aos compostos em que foram previamente adaptadas. Foram identificadas, por análises de ácidos graxos e seqüenciamento do DNAr 16S, as espécies Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Serratia marcescens, Burkholderia cepacia, Enterobacter sp., Bacillus cereus e Bacillus tropicalis. / Groundwater samples from an industrial area contaminated with monoaromatic hydrocarbons were used to obtain BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene isomers) degrading bacteria, for the purpose of do their identification, characterization and evaluate their degradation potential. The growth rate of bacterial consortia enriched on BTEX was studied, individually and with different substrates. Just some of the strains isolated showed growth capacity when individually exposed to the compounds in which they were previously adapted. Were identified, by fatty acid analysis and 16S rDNA sequencing, the species Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Serratia marcescens, Burkholderia cepacia, Enterobacter sp., Bacillus cereus and Bacillus tropicalis.

Magister Legum - LLM / The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa ‘despite being one of the world’s most liberal constitutions, South Africans still have no transparent and participatory mechanisms for deciding democratically on the uptake of new technologies or development projects, even those which impact on millions of lives and livelihoods. There are limited opportunities for intervention in very circumscribed public participation processes, which are often derisory in the sharing of any sovereignty with citizens in the name of producing better public policy. When citizens are left out of debates confined to government and the business community, the only means of influencing policy is to petition, protest, or litigate, usually after the horse has bolted.’ Public participation is a very delicate issue in South Africa due to the history of the exclusion of certain people from the process of governance. When governments and business sectors make decisions about land development and natural resources, they certainly impact on the health, livelihoods and quality of life of local communities.

Semen is one of the most common biological fluids encountered by a forensic serologist on varying substrate types. Seminal fluid contains many enzymes, proteins, and cellular material such as acid phosphatase (AP), prostate-specific antigen (PSA), semenogelin (Sg), and spermatozoa; detection of these components can aid in the forensic identification of body fluids. Forensic laboratories usually follow a prescribed testing workflow (from visual examination including an alternate light source (ALS) and AP testing to PSA or Sg testing followed by a microscopic examination for sperm cells) to ensure laboratory resources are being used in a proper manner with minimal waste of both time and resources. However, this approach can be problematic when degradation of semen stains results in the inability to detect the presence of certain seminal components. When a stain yields negative results for an AP reaction, no further analyses for semen may be performed and analysis comes to an end. In common practice, evidentiary items containing biological fluids may not be immediately recovered following an incident and/or may not be stored properly, causing contamination or exposure of these biological fluids to harsh environments, potentially degrading the sample. This study investigates how exposure to different environmental conditions and packaging types affects the degradation of the four most common semen components targeted in forensic testing: AP, PSA, Sg, and spermatozoa. Semen stains were prepared and exposed to ten different storage and/or environmental conditions to compare their effects on the detectability of seminal components (fluorescence, AP, PSA, Sg, and spermatozoa as well as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing) for a period of approximately four months. Samples from each condition were tested on select days throughout the study. Minimal changes in detection of the seminal components were observed under the five conditions in which the stains remained dry: packaged in paper stored at room temperature, packaged in paper stored at high temperatures, exposed to sunlight, exposed to ultraviolet light, and stored in high humidity. Two of the conditions involved exposure to outdoor environments. The stains openly exposed to the elements or buried in soil exhibited the most notable degradation of all components when compared to other conditions. Negative results were obtained for nearly all seminal components (AP, PSA, or Sg) on Day 8 for stains openly exposed outdoors and Day 32 for buried samples. The remaining three conditions exposed the stains to damp or wet conditions and gave variable results throughout the study. DNA quantification was performed for select samples from each condition to assess DNA degradation. Most samples did not exhibit DNA degradation on quantification results up to Day 112; however, two samples exposed to outdoor environments exhibited DNA degradation as early as Day 8 (earliest day quantified). More notably, two samples from Day 112 demonstrated the presence of non-degraded DNA in sufficient quantity for profiling, while the presumptive semen analyses (AP, PSA, and Sg) for the same samples exhibited negative results when using an AP reaction cut-off time of 2 minutes. These results suggest that an allotted time of 2 minutes for AP detection may not be sufficient in some samples, and that valuable DNA evidence may go undiscovered, especially when other presumptive tests show negative results. Overall, the results revealed variation in the sequence and rate of degradation for seminal components in semen stains exposed to different environmental conditions. It was not possible to predict which of the remaining components of semen would be detectable based on the outcome of any one of the tests. Therefore, it is recommended that comprehensive testing of possible semen stains is performed, even after negative presumptive results are obtained, when the case scenario suggests exposure to damp/wet or otherwise less than ideal conditions.