Research in sustainable macroalgae aquaculture has been gaining hype (e.g. Seafarm) to provide advancements in new significant sources of food, feed, materials and bio-energy. Despite the fact that in Asia the offshore production of macroalgae is established for many decades, in Europe is still in its infancy. The issue on where to find suitable cultivation areas without conflicting with current uses to respect the environment and the socio-economic activities is a great challenge. This Master of Science thesis aimed to find suitable offshore areas in order to facilitate implementations of macroalgae cultivations in the Swedish West Coast. Thirteen criteria in environmental, economic and social sustainability aspects were identified and employed (e.g. Depth, Distance to Ports, and Natural and Preserved areas (NPAs)), and the tools Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-criteria Analysis (MCA) were used in the form of GIS-MCDA, an integrated method available in Idrisi. To aggregate the criteria, Boolean and Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) techniques were applied. The results showed that Boolean areas cover 537 km2 (6,98% of the study area). The best suitable areas, possessing the maximum suitability index 10, that resulted from two WLC models comprise 5 km2 (0,07% of the study area) and 26 km2 (0,34% of the study area) including and excluding the criterion NPAs as constraint, respectively. The results further indicated that GIS-MCDA models excelled in providing an overview for effective spatial decision-making. Both techniques play a role in suitability analysis and complement each other in finding an optimal site which could be carefully selected out of the identified areas. It is recommended that areas with a suitability index 10 be chosen inside Boolean suitable areas. Moreover, this study could act as a driving force to build a resilient planning framework that would boost sustainable placement and development of offshore macroalgae cultivations.

La maladie de l’œdème est une maladie connue depuis de nombreuses années chez le porc. Les premiers cas recensés dans une population de suidés sauvages sont apparus en 2013 en Ardèche. Un nouveau foyer de cette maladie est ensuite apparu en 2016 dans les Pyrénées-Orientales à la frontière entre la France et l’Espagne. Comprendre les facteurs permettant son apparition ainsi que sa transmission est nécessaire afin d’anticiper de futures mortalités dues à cette maladie. Dans cette thèse, une analyse épidémiologique de cette maladie chez le sanglier a été réalisée. Des clusters de mortalités sont alors apparus et ont permis de mettre en évidence une possible source de contamination unique et récurrente dans le temps. La mise en place d’une nouvelle méthode pour étudier la détectabilité des cadavres de sanglier a souligné la difficulté de retrouver des cadavres de sanglier en forêt. La dernière analyse épidémiologique à partir d’un modèle de type « Spatial point pattern » a mis en avant de possibles facteurs de risque d’apparition et de transmission qui ont ensuite été analysés plus précisément. L’analyse des données issus des tableaux de chasse en Ardèche a été réalisée afin de détecter des variations de la densité et du ratio J/A des populations de sanglier suggérant un stress alimentaire chez le sanglier, un prodrome ou une conséquence de la maladie. Aucun stress alimentaire ne fut détecté lors de cette analyse. Des hypothèses ont pu être émises pour expliquer certaines variations observées : i) la conséquence directe de la maladie, ii) un phénomène environnemental particulier et iii) un évènement pathogénique. La piste de l’événement pathogénique a été approfondie avec la découverte du SDRP (syndrome dysgénésique et respiratoire du porc). Les interactions porcs-sangliers, nombreuses en Ardèche, ont été déterminées comme potentiellement responsables du passage de la bactérie entre le compartiment domestique et sauvage. Une étude génétique a également été effectuée pour investiguer le gène alpha-1-fucosyltransferase associé à la sensibilité du porc à la maladie. Tous les sangliers analysés étaient sensibles à la maladie. D’autres analyses complémentaires sont nécessaires afin de comprendre au mieux cette maladie ainsi que les différents facteurs de risque pour l’apparition mais également la transmission. / Edema disease has been a known disease in pigs for many years. The first cases recorded in a population of wild suids appeared in 2013 in Ardèche. A new outbreak of this disease then emerged in 2016 in the Pyrénées-Orientales on the border between France and Spain. Understanding the factors that enable its onset and transmission is necessary to anticipate future mortality from this disease. In this thesis, an epidemiological analysis of this disease in wild boar was carried out. Clusters of mortalities then emerged, highlighting a possible single and recurrent source of contamination over time. The introduction of a new method to study the detectability of wild boar corpses highlighted the difficulty of finding wild boar corpses in the forest. The latest epidemiological analysis using a Spatial point pattern model highlighted possible risk factors for onset and transmission, which were then analysed more precisely. Analysis of data from hunting tables in the Ardèche was carried out in order to detect variations in the density and J/A ratio of wild boar populations suggesting food stress in the wild boar, a prodrome or consequence of the disease. No dietary stress was detected during this analysis. Assumptions could be made to explain some observed variations: i) the direct consequence of the disease, ii) a particular environmental phenomenon and iii) a pathogenic event. The trail of the pathogenic event was deepened with the discovery of the PRRS (Pork Respiratory and Dygesic Syndrome). The pig-boar interactions, numerous in the Ardeche, were determined as potentially responsible for the passage of the bacteria between the domestic and wild compartment. A genetic study was also conducted to investigate the alpha-1-fucosyltransferase gene associated with the susceptibility of pigs to the disease. All the wild boars tested were susceptible to the disease.Further further analysis is needed in order to better understand this disease as well as the different risk factors for both onset and transmission.

The main scope of this thesis is to select alternative landfill sites for Ankara based on the growing trends of Ankara towards the Sincan and G&ouml / lbaSi municipalities and to eventually select the best alternative. Landfill site selection was carried out utilizing Geographic Information System (GIS) and Multi-Criteria-Decision-Analysis (MCDA). A number of criteria were gathered in a GIS environment. Each criterion was assigned a weight value by applying the Pairwise Comparison Method (PCM). &ldquo / The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS)&rdquo / , was applied and the best landfill site alternative was determined. The geotechnical properties of the clay samples, obtained from selected locations in G&ouml / lbaSi and Sincan were determined in order to design a landfill liner system using compacted &ldquo / Ankara Clay&rdquo / as the liner material. The permeability values for the clay samples were determined by performing falling head tests and consolidation tests. The coefficient of permeability value of the compacted clay was determined to be in the order of 10-10 m/s for the G&ouml / lbaSi samples and 10-11 m/s for the Sincan samples for both of the tests performed. These tests indicated that the native clay was suitable to be utilized as a landfill liner material. The HELP and POLLUTE was employed for the purpose of landfill design and predicting the landfill hydrological processes. The landfill profile with a double lining system composed of geomembrane/compacted clay composite top and bottom liners with a drainage layer was determined to show the best performance amongst the others.

Submitted by Lucienne Costa (lucienneferreira@ufcg.edu.br) on 2018-03-23T17:19:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 RICARDO DA CUNHA CORREIA LIMA - TESE (PPGRN) 2017.pdf: 7969849 bytes, checksum: fd8ce7fe6de0c51c5a626249abf8395f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-23T17:19:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RICARDO DA CUNHA CORREIA LIMA - TESE (PPGRN) 2017.pdf: 7969849 bytes, checksum: fd8ce7fe6de0c51c5a626249abf8395f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-26 / A desertificação é um fenômeno de escala global caracterizado pela degradação das terras nas zonas áridas, semiáridas e subúmidas secas para o qual concorrem fatores de ordem ambiental, social, econômica e institucional. Definir um conjunto de ações para seu enfrentamento requer o conhecimento das complexas relações estabelecidas entre a sociedade e o meio ambiente de modo a identificar e monitorar as causas e consequências do processo. A modelagem dessa realidade permanece um desafio para pesquisadores em todo o mundo, especialmente no Brasil, em virtude da grande quantidade de aspectos a serem considerados para os quais nem sempre há informações confiáveis e disponíveis. Procurando reduzir essa lacuna, o presente estudo estruturou um sistema de avaliação e comparação espacial da desertificação para os 32 municípios das microrregiões geográficas do Seridó paraibano e potiguar a partir de um conjunto de 27 indicadores recomendados na literatura relacionada, organizados segundo o modelo conceitual DPSIR - força motriz, pressão, estado, impacto e resposta. Os indicadores, discretos ou continuamente distribuídos, foram calculados, normalizados, ajustados à relação direta ou inversa com a desertificação, ponderados por especialistas de diferentes áreas do conhecimento e organizados em planos de informação do tipo raster. Técnicas de análise de decisão multicritério incorporadas a um sistema de informações geográficas foram utilizadas para desenvolver índices multicriteriais de desertificação, para cada categoria DPSIR, como instrumentos de avaliação das causas estruturais, causas diretas, susceptibilidade, consequências e respostas da sociedade para o problema. Os resultados apontaram que causas estruturais do processo, entre elas a concentração de terra, desigualdade social e cultura do consumo, mantêm 49,7% da área estudada em níveis de severidade moderado, forte ou muito forte de desertificação. Já as causas diretas, representadas pelo desmatamento e manejo inadequado da terra, afetam 19,7% da área com a mesma gravidade. Quanto à susceptibilidade ambiental, econômica e social, 83% da área está sujeita a iniciar ou agravar processos de desertificação em níveis de severidade moderado, forte e muito forte. Os impactos do processo, observados pela migração do campo para a cidade e pelo declínio da participação da agropecuária no PIB municipal, ocorrem com igual gravidade em 73,5% da área. Por fim, apenas 19,9% da área está relativamente preparada para enfrentar o problema através da organização do poder público e da sociedade civil em virtude dos níveis baixo e muito baixo de desertificação registrados. Numa avaliação global, considerando simultaneamente os 27 descritores do problema, observou-se que 59,7% da região está submetida a níveis moderado, forte ou muito forte de desertificação. Diante dos resultados alcançados, o estudo em questão sugere a promoção de ações governamentais e da sociedade civil para ampliar o acesso da população rural, nas áreas mais afetadas, à terra, à programas de geração ou transferência de renda, à educação básica universalizada, à assistência técnica agroecológica, à programas de recomposição da vegetação nativa, à serviços de proteção social dos contingentes que migram para as cidades, entre outras iniciativas, visando o enfrentamento do processo de desertificação e mitigação de suas consequências. / Desertification is a global phenomenon characterized by the degradation of land in the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas for which environmental, social, economic and institutional factors compete. Define a set of actions to address it requires knowledge of the complex relationships established between society and the environment to identify and monitor the causes and consequences of the process. The modeling of this reality remains a challenge for researchers worldwide, especially in Brazil, due to the large number of aspects to be considered for which there is not always reliable and available information. To reduce this gap, this study structured a system of evaluation and spatial comparison of desertification for the 32 municipalities of Seridó geographical microregions in Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte from a set of 27 indicators recommended in the related literature, organized according to the conceptual model DPSIR - forces, pressures, state, impacts, and responses. The indicators, either discrete or continuously distributed, were calculated, normalized, adjusted for the direct or inverse relationship with desertification, weighted by experts from different areas of knowledge and organized into raster type information plans. Multicriteria decision analysis techniques incorporated into a geographic information system were used to develop multicriteria desertification indexes for each DPSIR category as instruments for assessing the structural causes, direct causes, susceptibility, consequences and society’s responses to the problem. The results pointed out that the structural causes of the process, including land concentration, social inequality and consumption culture, hold 49.7% of the area in a moderate, strong or very strong level of desertification. Direct causes, represented by deforestation and inadequate land management, affect 19.7% of the area in the same way. Regarding environmental, economic and social susceptibility, 83% of the area is subject to initiate or aggravate desertification processes at moderate, strong and very strong levels. The impacts of the process, observed by migration from the countryside to the city and by the decline of agriculture and livestock’s contribution to local GDP, occur equally in 73.5% of the area. Finally, only 19.9% of the area is relatively prepared to tackle the problem through the organization of government and civil society. In an overall assessment, 59.7% of the region is subjected to moderate, strong or very strong levels of desertification, considering all the 27 descriptors of the problem. Most of the region, according to the study, demand actions of governments and society to expand rural population access to land, income generation or transfer programs, universal basic education, agroecological technical assistance, native vegetation recovery programs, social protection services for the contingents that migrate to the cities, among other initiatives, aiming to confront the desertification process and mitigate its consequences.

Turkey is one of the most earthquake prone countries in the world. The study area, Erbaa, is located in a seismically active fault zone known as North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ). Erbaa is one of the towns of Tokat located in the Middle Black Sea Region. According to the Earthquake zoning map of Turkey, the study area is in the First Degree Earthquake Zone. The city center of Erbaa (Tokat) was previously settled on the left embankment of Kelkit River. After the disastrous 1942 Niksar-Erbaa earthquake (Mw = 7.2), the settlement was moved southwards. From the period of 1900s, several earthquakes occurred in this region and around Erbaa. The 1942 earthquake is the most destructive earthquake in the center of Erbaa settlement. In this study, the geological and geotechnical properties of the study area were investigated by detailed site investigations. The Erbaa settlement is located on alluvial and Pliocene deposits. The Pliocene clay, silt, sand, and gravel layers exist in the southern part of Erbaa. Alluvium in Erbaa region consists of gravelly, sandy, silty, and clayey layers. The alluvial deposits are composed of stratified materials of heterogeneous grain sizes, derived from various geological units in the vicinity. The main objective of this study is to prepare a seismic microzonation map of the study area for urban planning purposes since it is getting more essential to plan new settlements considering safe development strategies after the disastrous earthquakes. In this respect, seismic hazard analyses were performed to deterministically assess the seismic hazard of the study area. Afterwards, the essential ground motions were predicted regarding near fault effects as the study area is settled on an active fault zone. 1-D equivalent linear site response analyses were carried out to evaluate the site effects in the study area. Amplification values obtained from site response analyses reveal that the soil layers in the study area is quite rigid. Furthermore, liquefaction potential and post liquefaction effects including lateral spreading and vertical settlement were also delineated for the study area. The above-mentioned parameters were taken into account in order to prepare a final seismic microzonation map of the study area. The layers were evaluated on the basis of overlay methodologies including Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). Two different MCDA techniques, Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) and Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP), were carried out in GIS environment. The seismic microzonation maps prepared by SAW and AHP methods are compared to obtain a final seismic microzonation map. Finally, the map derived from the AHP method is proposed to be the final seismic microzonation map of Erbaa. As an overall conclusion, the northwestern part of the study area where the loose alluvial units exist is found to be vulnerable to earthquake-induced deformations. On the other hand, the Pliocene units in the southern and alluvial units in the northeastern part are quite resistant to earthquake effects. In addition, the proposed final seismic microzonation map should be considered by urban planners and policy makers during urban planning projects in Erbaa.