Heavy metal pollutants are a worldwide concern. It causes negative effects on aquatic organisms and human health. Heavy metals concentration and transport of copper, zinc and cadmium were investigated in high and low flow conditions in Trönningeån River, southern Sweden. A total of 33 surface water samples collected from the river and Kistingebäcken tributary were analyzed. Concentration (high to low) of heavy metals in the Trönningeån   river and its tributary were- copper(Cu) > zinc (Zn) > cadmium (Cd). The concentration of Copper was found to be high in low flow condition whereas in the case of zinc, high concentrations were found in both the flows (high and low). Study further showed that, the tributary has high pH and conductivity. And finally, the study concluded that there is high concentration and transport of heavy metals in the above-mentioned industrial tributary.

This thesis examines the potential links between political behavior and the Prague metal scene. Many authors have suggested theories on links between music and politics, but there are few empirical studies on the topic. This thesis focuses on one genre of music in one space and cultural context: heavy metal music in Prague, Czech Republic. The literature on metal subcultures claims that they exist to perpetuate rebellion and transgression, and that members of these subcultures reject "politics"; however, metal is seen as political in some cases. Because of this, it is hypothesized that metal subculture members will have negative opinions on the political system and political participation, and will express support for anti-system parties or ideas. These hypotheses are tested through a qualitative thematic analysis of interviews and survey responses from 22 members of Prague's metal subculture. It is found that members of the subculture vote at a similar rate to the rest of the Czech population, and that the majority of participants identify as center-right or right-wing. The participants expressed ideas that were critical of the political system and of society discourses relating to politics. Furthermore, respondents viewed metal in Prague as apolitical, but felt metal could be political in some...

The present study was carried out to determine the levels of heavy metals, Arsenic (As), Chromium (Cr), Cadmium (Cd) and Lead (Pb) in samples of water, sediments, and specimens from sheep known to graze and drink from Wonderfontein stream around the Khutsong area in the North West Province of South Africa. Determination of heavy metal levels was carried out using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Abundance of metals in water samples followed the trend As>Pb>Cd>Cr, while that in sediments followed the trend: Pb>As>Cr>Cd. Faecal levels were highest for Cr, followed by Cd, As then Pb, while serum levels were highest for As, Cd Cr and then Pb. The metal concentration in liver, kidney and muscle showed the following trends respectively: As>Cd>Cr>Pb ; As>Pb>Cd>Pb and As>Cd >Cr> Pb. The liver, kidney and muscle samples had higher concentration of As compared to other heavy metals. Generally, most samples showed a higher concentration in As. The mean concentrations of heavy metals in ppm were compared with European Commission Regulation, World Health Organisation, Korean Soil Environmental Conservation Act and the Australian New Zealand Food Standards maximum acceptable levels. The metal levels generally tended to be higher than the permissible levels and thus, public health risks. A survey conducted also revealed that the community in Khutsong does not have the knowledge on environmental contamination due to mining effluents and the effects thereof. The varying levels of water and sheep specimen contamination with As, Cd, Cr and Pb revealed in this study imply public health risks. Further biomonitoring, public and animal health studies are therefore indicated in this area. / Thesis (Msc in Agric Animal Health) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2012

This mini-dissertation presents a discussion of the qualitative study exploring how South African youth, between the ages of 18 and 35, who are active listeners of Heavy Metal music experience this genre of music. The sample in the present study consists of 26 South African youths, living in various parts of the country, who listen to Heavy Metal music. Participants were recruited from attendees of the Heavy Metal music festival, Witchfest, which took place in Newtown, Johannesburg during 3-5 April 2015. An explorative qualitative research design was used. Three methods were used to gather data for the research study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individual participants, and one focus group session was also carried out. Participants were approached at random times throughout Witchfest. Interview questions for both the semi-structured interviews and for the focus group session consisted of themes relating to the participants’ introduction to Heavy Metal music, how they experience Heavy Metal music, whether or not the music influences their relationships, and whether they experience Heavy Metal music as dangerous or violent in nature. Data was also gathered using unstructured nonparticipant observation, and therefore the behaviour and appearance of festival attendees was also observed at varying times throughout Witchfest. The results show that many participants were introduced to Heavy Metal music via their families and friends. This was mostly because these family members and friends listened to Heavy Metal music themselves. This, participants stated, was a very important factor in their experiences of Heavy Metal music because the commonality of listening to the music brings people closer together and strengthens the bonds between them. Apart from the music enhancing their relationships, participants also noted that Heavy Metal music evokes positive emotions within them and contributes to their well-being, owing to the fact that they often experience the act of listening to this genre of music as therapeutic and as an outlet for their negative feelings. These findings contradict dominant views held by non-listeners of Heavy Metal music, namely that this music causes dangerous and negative feelings and behaviours, and shed light on the influence that this genre of music has on South African youth. On the other hand, findings also showed that the social setting surrounding Heavy Metal is associated with the frequent consumption of drugs and large amounts of alcohol. Although participants claimed that drugs and alcohol tend to enhance their experiences of Heavy Metal music festivals and of the music itself, the potentially harmful consequences of this practice cannot be ignored and requires additional investigation. The mini-dissertation is concluded with a chapter that outlines the conclusions and limitations related to the study, and on this basis, several recommendations were proposed for future research and practical application of the findings. Some of these recommendations include that future studies include a broader range of data gathering, and a wider variation of participants. It is suggested that future researchers attend one or two more Heavy Metal music festivals to attain this varied sample. Also, due to the fact that most Heavy Metal music listeners are older in age, further studies on the topic could increase the age in the sample selection criteria to 35 and above. Also, in order to avoid including participants that are intoxicated in any way, prospective studies could obtain participants by means other than from Heavy Metal music festivals, in settings free from drugs and alcohol.

This mini-dissertation presents a discussion of the qualitative study exploring how South African youth, between the ages of 18 and 35, who are active listeners of Heavy Metal music experience this genre of music. The sample in the present study consists of 26 South African youths, living in various parts of the country, who listen to Heavy Metal music. Participants were recruited from attendees of the Heavy Metal music festival, Witchfest, which took place in Newtown, Johannesburg during 3-5 April 2015. An explorative qualitative research design was used. Three methods were used to gather data for the research study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individual participants, and one focus group session was also carried out. Participants were approached at random times throughout Witchfest. Interview questions for both the semi-structured interviews and for the focus group session consisted of themes relating to the participants’ introduction to Heavy Metal music, how they experience Heavy Metal music, whether or not the music influences their relationships, and whether they experience Heavy Metal music as dangerous or violent in nature. Data was also gathered using unstructured nonparticipant observation, and therefore the behaviour and appearance of festival attendees was also observed at varying times throughout Witchfest. The results show that many participants were introduced to Heavy Metal music via their families and friends. This was mostly because these family members and friends listened to Heavy Metal music themselves. This, participants stated, was a very important factor in their experiences of Heavy Metal music because the commonality of listening to the music brings people closer together and strengthens the bonds between them. Apart from the music enhancing their relationships, participants also noted that Heavy Metal music evokes positive emotions within them and contributes to their well-being, owing to the fact that they often experience the act of listening to this genre of music as therapeutic and as an outlet for their negative feelings. These findings contradict dominant views held by non-listeners of Heavy Metal music, namely that this music causes dangerous and negative feelings and behaviours, and shed light on the influence that this genre of music has on South African youth. On the other hand, findings also showed that the social setting surrounding Heavy Metal is associated with the frequent consumption of drugs and large amounts of alcohol. Although participants claimed that drugs and alcohol tend to enhance their experiences of Heavy Metal music festivals and of the music itself, the potentially harmful consequences of this practice cannot be ignored and requires additional investigation. The mini-dissertation is concluded with a chapter that outlines the conclusions and limitations related to the study, and on this basis, several recommendations were proposed for future research and practical application of the findings. Some of these recommendations include that future studies include a broader range of data gathering, and a wider variation of participants. It is suggested that future researchers attend one or two more Heavy Metal music festivals to attain this varied sample. Also, due to the fact that most Heavy Metal music listeners are older in age, further studies on the topic could increase the age in the sample selection criteria to 35 and above. Also, in order to avoid including participants that are intoxicated in any way, prospective studies could obtain participants by means other than from Heavy Metal music festivals, in settings free from drugs and alcohol.

Humans are continuously exposed to mixtures of environmental pollutants. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), such as 2-naphthol, and heavy metals, such as lead, are some of these pollutants. Results from epidemiological studies show associations between exposure to 2-naphthol, exposure to lead, and obesity. However, the individual and combined effects of 2-naphthol and lead on fat cell development (adipogenesis) have not been directly characterized in a biological system. In this study, we evaluated the effects of 2-naphthol and/or lead on adipogenesis using mouse 3T3-L1 cells. Cells were exposed to different doses of 2-naphthol and/or lead. Induced terminal differentiation was evaluated by cell morphology, lipid production, and mRNA expression of marker genes characteristic of either early adipocyte differentiation: CCAAT-enhancer-binding protein β (C/EBPβ), insulin receptor substrate 2 (IRS2), and sterol responsive element binding protein 1 c (SREBP1c); or terminal differentiation: C/EBPα, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ), and fatty acid binding protein 4 (aP2). Production of antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin (Camp), which is produced by differentiating adipocytes and modulates inflammation and immunity, was also evaluated. Cell morphology changes and increased lipid accumulation indicated that, individually, 2-naphthol and lead induced 3T3-L1 differentiation; however, the highest dose of lead (10 μM) showed the lowest induction level. During terminal differentiation, 2-naphthol and low doses of lead increased C/EBPα, PPARγ, and aP2 expression, whereas 10 μM lead suppressed PPARγ and aP2. During early differentiation, 2-naphthol stimulated C/EBPβ, IRS2, and SREBP1c expression, while lead upregulated C/EBPα and aP2. The 2-naphthol/10 μM lead mixture induced a counterbalancing effect on 3T3-L1 adipogenesis, where 10 μM lead suppressed 2-naphthol-induced adipogenesis. Moreover, 2-naphthol elevated Camp expression in a dose-dependent manner, whereas lead slightly increased Camp at lower doses but suppressed it at 10 μM. The 2-naphthol/10 μM lead mixture showed no effect on Camp expression. In conclusion, 2-naphthol and low lead doses accelerate adipocyte differentiation and Camp production in 3T3-L1 cells; however, high doses of lead attenuate the induction. This effect of lead at high dose counterbalances the upregulation of adipocyte differentiation and Camp production by 2-naphthol. Together, these findings indicate that 2-naphthol and lead play potential roles in the development of inflammation and obesity.

A photolytic cell system suitable for the treatment of wastewater streams containing three pesticides, i) acephate, ii) glyphosate and iii) malathion is reported. The system is capable of destroying these three organic compounds, commonly present in wastewater streams originating from agrochemical industries in Malaysia, and can lead to complete mineralisation under the optimum conditions. The system is based on an advanced oxidation process and involves the production of hydroxyl free radicals in the presence of a UV source. The performance of the system, for the three pesticides, was optimised by investigating the effects of i) UV source, ii) pH of the solution, iii) initial concentration of the substrate, iv) addition of oxidants, v) hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the presence and absence of single and mixed metal ions. To monitor the degradation efficiency of the system, the residual concentrations of these organic compounds and metal ions were analysed using five analytical techniques i) total organic carbon (TOC), ii) high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), iii) ion chromatography (IC), iv) UV/Visible spectroscopy (UV/Vis), and v) atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The data show that the developed photolytic cell system is capable of achieving complete mineralisation of the three pesticides with the use of both 400 W and 600 W UV lamps. However, the 400W UV lamp was used, for economic reasons, to optimise the system for the remaining factors. Changes in the pH of aqueous solutions influenced the degradation efficiency and a complete degradation of the three pesticides was achieved at their self-pH values ranging from 5.0-5.5. The degradation of acephate increased and malathion decreased at their higher initial concentrations whereas no significant effect related to concentration was observed for glyphosate. Results show that the degradation followed a first order kinetics and the degradation rates were: malathion > acephate > glyphosate. The addition of 30 mg/L of H2O2 enhanced the degradation of the pesticides and after 5 hours irradiation these were 95.7%, 91.5% and 81.3% for malathion, acephate and glyphosate respectively. The presence of metal ions was observed to affect degradation (Table 1). With 5.0 mg/L of Fe(II) the degradation of all three pesticides increased, and in all cases acephate removal was improved. Removal of both malathion and glyphosate was negatively affected by copper, an effect that work with mixtures indicated was stronger than the positive effect of iron. The addition of H2O2, in the presence of single metal ions, increases the degradation. However, the addition of H2O2, in the presence of mixed metal ions, has no significant effect on the degradation of glyphosate and malathion. The effect of mixed metal ions on the three pesticides and the effect of Zn(II) ions on acephate and malathion are reported for the first time in this thesis. The developed photolytic cell system can be used for the treatment of wastewater streams originating from point sources, for example, agrochemical industries, under the optimum conditions. The synergistic combination of the developed system with the existing standard technologies is also proposed for the treatment of surface water at water treatment facilities in Malaysia. The application of the developed system can also be extended, with minimum modifications, for the treatment of wastewater streams originating from different manufacturing industries in Malaysia, for example, textile, paper/pulp, printing, coke, petroleum, paint, solvent, pharmaceuticals and wood-preserving chemicals. All these industries produce wastewater streams containing low concentrations of organic pollutants and heavy metal ions.

Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 est la bactérie Gram négative considérée comme organisme-modèle pour l’étude de la résistance aux métaux lourds. Notre travail a porté sur sa résistance au cuivre, codée par les gènes cop du plasmide pMOL30. Ces gènes, responsables des différentes étapes de la résistance (compartimentation des systèmes d’efflux entre périplasme et cytoplasme, modification de valence, et d’autres fonctions totalement inconnues) ont suscité notre intérêt. On distingue dans l’îlot cop des gènes codant pour des fonctions de résistance proprement dite (essentiellement par détoxication active du cytoplasme et du périplasme). En effet, les mutants de copSRABCD, copF, et dans une moindre mesure copJ et copE deviennent sensibles. Les phénotypes des mutants divergent toutefois suivant que la mutation soit sur un cosmide qui ne porte que l’îlot (pMOL1024) ou dans son plasmide d’origine (pMOL30). Un second groupe de mutants (copVTMK, copG, copL, copQ) se distingue par un phénotype plus résistant ou identique à la souche parente, sauf autour de la CMI. Ces gènes interviendraient donc à la CMI pour assurer la résistance la plus élevée et le maintien d'un état viable latent. La présence de l’îlot cop permet de contenir le taux d’oxygène radicalaire qui reste à un taux basal lorsque les cellules sont adaptées au cuivre environnent. Après un choc de Cu (ou stress aigu), l’îlot cop répond de façon « explosive » au stress, en consommant l’énergie du potentiel membranaire et en augmentant fortement l’activité de la chaîne respiratoire. La résistance au cuivre est inductible, mais de façon différenciée pour la souche sauvage (CH34) et celle qui ne porte qu l’îlot cop (AE1744) : la CMI de CH34 triple après adaptation au cuivre, alors que celle d’AE1744 est inchangée. Après un choc de Cu, la résistance au cuivre est plus fortement induite pour AE1744 que pour CH34. Ces observations suggèrent que l’îlot cop ait été sélectionné pour sa capacité à répondre à un stress aigu puis intégré dans un ensemble de gènes plus vaste qui répond à des impératifs de stress chronique. L’analyse biochimique de CopI, une petite protéine bleue à cuivre, montre qu’elle porte un site analogue à celui des oxydases multicuivre. Son rôle pourrait dès lors être celui d’une réductase multicuivre. La protéine CopK lie de façon très spécifique le Cu(I) et il semble que la liaison du cuivre modifie sa structure. L’analyse écologique a montré que des homologues de copK pourraient être présents dans l’ADN extrait de la terre de biotopes chargés en cuivre, et dans les souches cuprorésistantes qu’on y trouve. La contribution majeure de cette thèse est de montrer que l’effet d’un stress métallique ne se résume pas à deux états physiologiques « mort ou vif ». Il y a lieu de considérer des états transitoires (choc de Cu, adaptation au métal, survie autour de la CMI, persistance) où interviennent des gènes spécifiques dans un ou plusieurs états donnés. Les résultats biochimiques et physiologiques ne nous éclairent pas encore assez sur les interconversions Cu(I)/Cu(II) ni sur les flux de cations notamment vers l'espace extracellulaire. Cette thèse ouvre des perspectives sur des mécanismes (protection à la CMI, phénotype persistant) assurant la survie des bactéries ou leur potentiel de recolonisation lors d'une diminution de la pression toxique : les gènes copT, copV, copK, copM, copB, copG, copL et copQ semblent impliqués dans ces fonctions.

Musik idag är inte enbart en skiva eller en konsert. Det är en enorm industri som bara växer och där artister och band tidigt ses som varumärken. Hårdrocken är en genre med starka normer, traditioner och strukturer, särskilt kring kvinnans roll inom genren. Medan musikbranschen i Sverige prioriterar jämställdhetsarbetet ses hårdrocksbranschen inte alls ta frågan med samma prioritet och genren ligger sämst till när det kommer till kvinnors representation på inom livescenen. Vad händer med kvinnorna inom scenen och hur påverkar de rådande strukturerna deras varumärken? Genom att studera detta område i ett varumärkesperspektiv vill vi få fram vilka strukturer som förekommer kring den yrkesverksamma, professionella kvinnan som är musiker inom hårdrocksscenen och hur den möjliggör, begränsar eller på annat sätt upplevs och arbetas med i ett varumärkesperspektiv. För att få svar på vår frågeställning valde vi att utföra kvalitativa intervjuer med aktörer inom branschen i Sverige. Sex stycken musiker som är kvinnor och fyra stycken från olika bolag inom genren. Genom att intervjua ett fåtal aktörer kunde vi få en djupare förståelse för hur strukturer påverkar och upplevs och även om strukturerna ens förekommer inom den svenska scenen. Vi valde ut områden som var viktiga för att besvara frågeställningen Hur upplevs och framställs varumärket hos kvinnor som är musiker inom den svenska hårdrocksscenen? och identifierade dessa till: varumärke, identitet, fält, habitus och genusidentitet och maktstrukturer generellt mellan könen men även specifikt för hårdrocksgenren. Vi presenterade även tidigare forskning inom området för genus och hårdrock respektive genus och varumärke för att se vilka tidigare strukturer som upptäckts. I vår studie fick vi fram att många av de strukturer som rådde inom hårdrocksscenen även reproducerades i varumärkesarbetet. Stora kunskapsluckor och en brist på medvetenhet hos aktörer i branschen ledde till att stort ansvar för varumärket låg på musikerna själva. Att som musiker se sig som ett varumärke var hos våra respondenter delade meningar om. Mindre än hälften var direkt positiva, resterande såg sig inte alls som varumärke eller var delade till att vara det. Det som var gemensamt för alla att det inte fanns något aktivt varumärkesarbete. I kombination med tidigare identifierade strukturer och det krav som ställs när musiker blir en offentlig person med ett ansikte utåt orsakade två typer av begränsningar: begränsning av utrymme och begränsning av identitet. Dessa i sin tur bidrog till en press att kvinnor inom branschen upplevde sig behöva vara betydligt bättre än männen, trots det får de inte samma status och värde / Today’s music isn’t just about records and concerts. It’s a huge industry that’s growing larger by the minute where artists and bands early on are viewed as brands. Heavy metal is a genre with clear and strong standards, traditions and structures. Particularly when it comes to women’s role in the genre. While the music industry in general in Sweden prioritize gender equality the heavy metal genre doesn’t prioritize this issue. The heavy metal scene have the lowest representation of women on their live scenes. What happens to the women in this genre and how does this affect the prevailing structures of their brands? By studying this area in a brand perspective, we want to bring out the structures that exist around the ‘professional female musician’ in the heavy metal genre. We also want to see how this might enable or limit their brands and also how other industry professionals manage and experience their brands To answer our question, we chose to conduct interviews with six female musicians and four industry professionals in form of managers, booking agents and record labels. These interviews were able to give us a deeper understanding of how these believed structures work or if they even exist at all in the Swedish heavy metal scene. We identified five areas that would help us answer our research question; How female musicians brands are presented and experienced by others in the Swedish heavy metal scene? These areas were gender identity, brands, industry, ideals and power structures between the genders in general but also more specific for the heavy metal scene. We also presented previous research in the area of gender and heavy metal but also in the area of gender and brands, this was to see if any structures had been discovered previous to our study. In our study we found that many of the prevailing structures were reproduced in the branding of the female musicians. There were large gaps in the knowledge and awareness from the industry professionals working with branding which lead to the musicians taking over the branding themselves. There was different opinions when it came to if the musicians saw themselves as brands or not. Less then half had a very positive attitude and the remaining female musicians didn't see themselves as brands or had split opinions about wanting to be a brand. They all had one thing in common, there was no direct or clear work structure when it came to branding the musicians. In combination with previous identified structures and the requirements that come with being a public figure we saw two types of limitations: limited space and limited identity. These two types of limitations contribute to the pressure that a lot of female musicians feel in the heavy metal genre. The musicians feel like they have to prove themselves to be twice as good as their male counterparts and they still don’t get the same amount of respect or value in the industry.

Whilst drum replacement, the act of replacing the sound of a particular drum with a pre-recorded sample, has been in practice since the 1970s it is only towards the end of the first decade of the 21st century that software drum machines such as Toontrack’s Superior Drummer 2.0 and Steven Slate Drums have become an popular alternative to actual drum recordings within music production. With the increasing popularity there have been voices from the music community in protest claiming that a machine could never replace an actual drummer. What I aimed to do in this project was to do a comparative study, where I analyse and compare various aspects of both alternatives – a recorded performance with an actual drummer and a MIDI programmed performance sampled drum machine – and see whether or not a human drummer could possibly be replaceable. The results indicated that, given the circumstances and project restrictions, the differences were mostly too miniscule to have any practical value and therefore a drummer was in this scenario replaceable by a MIDI programmable drum machine. / Trots att “drum replacement”, att ersätta ljudet av en specifik trumma med ett förinspelat ljudklipp, har använts sedan 70-talet så är det först mot slutet av 2000-talets första decennium som mjukvarubaserade trumbibliotek, så som Toontracks Superior Drummer 2.0 och Steven Slate Drums, har blivit ett populärt alternativ för faktiska truminspelningar inom musikproduktion. I och med den ökade populäriteten har många från musikvärlden protesterat och hävdat att en maskin aldrig kan ersätta en riktig trumslagare. Tanken med det här projektet var att göra en jämförande studie där jag analyserar och jämför olika aspekter av de båda alternativen - ett inspelat framförande med en riktig trumslagare och ett framförande programmerat i MIDI med en samplingsbaserad trummaskin - för att se huruvida en mänsklig trummis skulle kunna vara ersättningsbar. Resultaten visade, med hänsyn tagen till projektets begränsningar, att skillnaderna var för små för att ha något praktiskt värde och att en trummisen i det här scenariot därför kunde ersättas med en midiprogrammerbar trummaskin.