Impacts of climatic changes on in-land waters of Turkey is a topic that has not been sufficiently investigated yet. In this study, some exploratory work have been performed to form the core of further studies on the subject. EOF (Empirical Orthogonal Function) analysis has been applied to SLP (Sea Level Pressure) field with a wide coverage (20-70N, 50W-70E). The dominant sources of variability in this atmospheric system have been shown to be driven by 3 circulation indices, NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation), EAWR (East Atlantic - West Russia) and EA (East Atlantic) patterns. Linkages between this atmospheric system and the hydro-meteorological properties (data compiled from governmental organizations) of major Turkish lake ecosystems has been investigated with use of ordinary correlation analysis and CCA (Canonical Correlation Analysis). The results revealed the heavy forcing of large scale SLP field on regional temperature and E--P (evaporation minus precipitation) fields. The 15-year data set of Lake Mogan, as the longest available found, was used to exemplify the approaches and methodologies that can be employed for understanding the influence of climate variability on biological properties of lakes. It was suggested that temperature and salinity, being effective on phytoplankton and zooplankton groups, mediate the climatic impacts in Lake Mogan.

South Africa is a semi arid country and the provision of water clean water to a steadily growing population is currently one of the major challenges facing governmental organisations. Water resources in South Africa are subject to many forms of pollution. resulting in eutrophication and salinisation. Hence, there is a need to monitor chemical and organic pollution in South African rivers. Chemical monitoring is expensive and not all the elements of water quality can be monitored and measured in a particular sample. The synergistic effects of water quality determinants cannot be demonstrated if only the chemical composition of a water resource is monitored. Biological monitoring can provide a rapid indication of water quality and at a lower cost than traditional monitoring. Organisms within a river are exposed to all water quality variables present in a system and can provide an integrated reflection of the health of their environment. Diatoms are found in all aquatic ecosystems and have demonstrable responses to many of the elements of water quality that have been identified as causing aquatic pollution. These elements include total dissolved solids, pH and plant nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. The relationship between the structure of a given diatom community and the water quality to which the community is exposed, has lead to the development of several indices of water quality. Diatom indices of aquatic pollution have been developed in France, Belgium, Germany, Britain and Japan. Existing diatom indices have been tested for use in Finland, Poland, Britain, the Himalayas and South America. Several diatom indices were tested in this study for application in the Vaal and Wilge Rivers. The tested diatom indices correlated well with measured water quality variables such as pH and the chemical variables responsible for eutrophication and salinisation. The demonstrated correlations were comparable to those demonstrated by European authors. Several indices proved successful in indicating general water quality, namely the Biological Diatom lndex (BDI), the Specific Pollution sensitivity lndex (SPI) and the Generic Diatom lndex (GDI). The Eutrophication and Pollution lndex (EPI) successfully indicated levels of plant nutrients together with the ionic composition measured at various sites in the Vaal and Wilge Rivers. It is recommended that these indices be further tested in different regions within South Africa. / Thesis (M. Omgewingswetenskappe)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Nation states of the world are driven by socio-economic imperatives that are rapidly degrading the natural resources that sustain life on Earth. This paradox has led to numerous initiatives to better understand and measure sustainability and sustainable development through indices. The primary objective of this research is to critically analyse the plethora of indices developed and used by institutions and organisations globally that have a role to play in measuring the sustainability and sustainable development of nation states, and distil the analysis into one integrated Sustainable Development Index (SDI) that compares all countries. A secondary objective is to review South Africa‟s response to measure sustainability and determine how well it performs compared to other nation states. A qualitative approach is used to review the literature in three steps, namely to consider the challenges of measuring what matters, to reflect on the response to govern and measure sustainability, and then to identify outcomes in terms of specific indices related to triple bottom line dimensions. The review considers the scope and level of integration of global indices as well as South Africa‟s response to measure sustainability. The analysis phase normalizes all the data to establish an integrated SDI for all countries, it then analyses and interprets the data to determine the variation and correlation between all the global indices, and then benchmarks countries and specifically South Africa. The review finds that twenty-one years after the Agenda 21 agreement at the Rio Earth Summit, no acceptable or established SDI has been developed and implemented by the United Nations, and the analysis develops two options for an integrated SDI at nation state level. In terms of both these SDI‟s South Africa performs poorly from a benchmarked perspective. From both the nation state and global indices perspectives, the appraisal of the single integrated SDI finds significant variations in the results, coupled with a wide range of correlation outcomes which distil into well correlated single integrated SDIs. The findings indicate that recent SDI developments are moving towards human wellbeing indicators, however although environmental priorities are considered, they play a secondary role. This “inconvenient truth” alludes to a “business as usual” approach as the policy makers of the world continue to focus on short-term socio-economic imperatives. Environmental thresholds and “limits to growth” considerations need to be fundamental aspects of all SDIs. This argument continues by factoring thresholds and priorities into the triple bottom line dimensions - a Sustainability Intelligence Quotient is developed from the integrated SDI, which suggests that only two countries meet the requirements. / (Master of Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The present power system is loaded with sophisticated energy conversion technologies like solid state converters. With the rapid advance in semiconductor technology, power electronics have provided new devices that are highly efficient and reliable. These devices are inherently non-linear, which causes the current to deviate from sinusoidal conditions. This phenomenon is known as harmonic current distortion. Multiple consumers are connected to the utility at the point of common coupling. Harmonic currents are then transmitted into the distribution system by various solid state users and this could lead to voltage distortion. Harmonic distortion is just one of the power quality fields and is not desirable in a power system. Distortion levels could cause multiple problems in the form of additional heating, increased power losses and even failing of sensitive equipment. Utility companies like Eskom have power quality monitors on various points in their distribution system. Data measurements are taken at a single point of delivery during certain time intervals and stored on a database. Multiple harmonic measurements will not be able to describe distortion patterns of the whole distribution system. Analysis must be done on this information to translate it to useful managerial information. The aim of this project is to develop a benchmarking methodology that could aid the supply industry with useful information to effectively manage harmonic distortion in a distribution system. The methodology will implement distortion indexes set forth by the Electrical Power Research Institute [3], which will describe distortion levels in a qualitative and quantitative way. Harmonic measurements of the past two years will be used to test the methodology. The information is obtained from Eskom’s database and will benchmark the North-West Province distribution network [40]. This proposed methodology will aim to aid institutions like NERSA to establish a reliable power quality management system. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Nuclear Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Nation states of the world are driven by socio-economic imperatives that are rapidly degrading the natural resources that sustain life on Earth. This paradox has led to numerous initiatives to better understand and measure sustainability and sustainable development through indices. The primary objective of this research is to critically analyse the plethora of indices developed and used by institutions and organisations globally that have a role to play in measuring the sustainability and sustainable development of nation states, and distil the analysis into one integrated Sustainable Development Index (SDI) that compares all countries. A secondary objective is to review South Africa‟s response to measure sustainability and determine how well it performs compared to other nation states. A qualitative approach is used to review the literature in three steps, namely to consider the challenges of measuring what matters, to reflect on the response to govern and measure sustainability, and then to identify outcomes in terms of specific indices related to triple bottom line dimensions. The review considers the scope and level of integration of global indices as well as South Africa‟s response to measure sustainability. The analysis phase normalizes all the data to establish an integrated SDI for all countries, it then analyses and interprets the data to determine the variation and correlation between all the global indices, and then benchmarks countries and specifically South Africa. The review finds that twenty-one years after the Agenda 21 agreement at the Rio Earth Summit, no acceptable or established SDI has been developed and implemented by the United Nations, and the analysis develops two options for an integrated SDI at nation state level. In terms of both these SDI‟s South Africa performs poorly from a benchmarked perspective. From both the nation state and global indices perspectives, the appraisal of the single integrated SDI finds significant variations in the results, coupled with a wide range of correlation outcomes which distil into well correlated single integrated SDIs. The findings indicate that recent SDI developments are moving towards human wellbeing indicators, however although environmental priorities are considered, they play a secondary role. This “inconvenient truth” alludes to a “business as usual” approach as the policy makers of the world continue to focus on short-term socio-economic imperatives. Environmental thresholds and “limits to growth” considerations need to be fundamental aspects of all SDIs. This argument continues by factoring thresholds and priorities into the triple bottom line dimensions - a Sustainability Intelligence Quotient is developed from the integrated SDI, which suggests that only two countries meet the requirements. / (Master of Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

South Africa is a semi arid country and the provision of water clean water to a steadily growing population is currently one of the major challenges facing governmental organisations. Water resources in South Africa are subject to many forms of pollution. resulting in eutrophication and salinisation. Hence, there is a need to monitor chemical and organic pollution in South African rivers. Chemical monitoring is expensive and not all the elements of water quality can be monitored and measured in a particular sample. The synergistic effects of water quality determinants cannot be demonstrated if only the chemical composition of a water resource is monitored. Biological monitoring can provide a rapid indication of water quality and at a lower cost than traditional monitoring. Organisms within a river are exposed to all water quality variables present in a system and can provide an integrated reflection of the health of their environment. Diatoms are found in all aquatic ecosystems and have demonstrable responses to many of the elements of water quality that have been identified as causing aquatic pollution. These elements include total dissolved solids, pH and plant nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates. The relationship between the structure of a given diatom community and the water quality to which the community is exposed, has lead to the development of several indices of water quality. Diatom indices of aquatic pollution have been developed in France, Belgium, Germany, Britain and Japan. Existing diatom indices have been tested for use in Finland, Poland, Britain, the Himalayas and South America. Several diatom indices were tested in this study for application in the Vaal and Wilge Rivers. The tested diatom indices correlated well with measured water quality variables such as pH and the chemical variables responsible for eutrophication and salinisation. The demonstrated correlations were comparable to those demonstrated by European authors. Several indices proved successful in indicating general water quality, namely the Biological Diatom lndex (BDI), the Specific Pollution sensitivity lndex (SPI) and the Generic Diatom lndex (GDI). The Eutrophication and Pollution lndex (EPI) successfully indicated levels of plant nutrients together with the ionic composition measured at various sites in the Vaal and Wilge Rivers. It is recommended that these indices be further tested in different regions within South Africa. / Thesis (M. Omgewingswetenskappe)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Existen crecientes problemas de degradación ambiental que afectan a los ecosistemas acuáticos y que han llevado a la necesidad de un monitoreo en la calidad biológica del agua. Para evaluar la calidad del agua en un sistema acuático es necesario el estudio de la fracción biológica del ecosistema, además de un monitoreo instrumental (mediante análisis químicos del agua). La evaluación biológica usando macroinvertebrados tiene una gran ventaja sobre los métodos químicos y es que éstos funcionan como integradores reflejando el estado de un cuerpo de agua durante un período de tiempo de semanas o meses, en cambio los métodos químicos, si bien son más exactos, poseen la desventaja de poder medir solamente un evento puntual en un momento determinado. Los Índices Bióticos se basan en la abundancia y diversidad de grupos de macroinvertebrados acuáticos y se utilizan para evaluar el grado de calidad ambiental. Numerosos estudios demostraron que la descarga de efluentes en los sistemas lóticos, puede producir cambios de variada importancia en la composición de las comunidades acuáticas. Desaparecen los grupos incapaces de sobrevivir en tales condiciones, siendo reemplazados por otros nuevos, algunos pueden persistir en número muy reducido y los que se benefician con la situación aumentan considerablemente su densidad poblacional (Armitage et al., 1983; Hellawell, 1986; Metcalfe, 1989; Alba-Tercedor, 1996; Alba-Tercedor et al., 2002). Actualmente existen diversos tipos de índices bióticos, la mayor parte de estos índices fueron desarrollados en Europa y Norte América, entre los más utilizados se encuentran el BMWP (Biological Monitoring Working Party), el BBI (Belgium Biotic Index) y el EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera). En Argentina, debido a las diferencias biogeográficas, Gualdoni & Corigliano (1991), Miserendino & Pizzolón (1999, 2000), Rodrigues Capítulo et al. (2001), entre otros, han desarrollado nuevos bioíndices ajustando los originales ya existentes en el hemisferio norte. En el trabajo de Miserendino & Pizzolón (1999), los autores proponen un índice para evaluar la calidad de agua de ríos y arroyos patagónicos, utilizando como base el BMWP desarrollado previamente en Inglaterra y lo denominaron BMPS (Biotic Monitoring Patagonian Streams). Se basaron en el estudio de 43 ríos, principalmente de la provincia de Chubut, en donde se colectaron más de 200 macroinvertebrados. El BMPS muestra una tabla con 95 familias con diferentes grados de sensibilidad a la contaminación: de 1 a 10. Dicho índice fue testeado con éxito en Esquel (Miserendino & Pizzolón, 2001a; Mierendino, 2009) y en San Martín de los Andes (Macchi & Dufilho, 2001). Históricamente, la Patagonia andina fue protegida de la contaminación antropogénica debido a su lejanía, baja densidad poblacional, acceso dificultoso y la existencia de numerosos Parques Nacionales y reservas. Sin embargo, en los últimos 30 años, la población se ha incrementado, principalmente debido a la inmigración de otras regiones de Argentina, involucrando cambios en las prácticas agrícolas y ganaderas, aprovechamiento forestal, construcción de presas hidroeléctricas, canalización de cursos de aguas y extracción de petróleo, lo que ha aumentado el riesgo de contaminación sobre los distintos recursos hídricos. Por lo tanto, monitorear los ambientes acuáticos permitirá evaluar la existencia de cambios en la calidad de agua de los mismos. El objetivo general de este trabajo fue la aplicación de distintos índices bióticos en tres sistemas de ríos y tributarios dentro del Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi que presentaron diferentes disturbios antrópicos: el sistema Challhuaco-Ñireco, el Catedral-Gutiérrez y por último el Manso-Villegas. Para ello se realizaron dos muestreos uno durante la primavera tardía y otro en verano durante tres años consecutivos (2009-2011). Las estaciones en cada sistema se ubicaron en zonas pre-impacto, impactadas y post-impacto. Los muestreos consistieron en la toma de muestras de agua para análisis químicos de rutina. Se midieron, in situ, las variables físicas del agua como la temperatura, pH, oxígeno disuelto, porcentaje de saturación del oxígeno disuelto, salinidad, conductividad y TDS; y en laboratorio se midieron las concentraciones de nutrientes (amonio, nitritos, nitratos y fósforo reactivo soluble) y pigmentos fotosintéticos (clorofila-a y feofitina-a). Para los macroinvertebrados, en cada estación se realizaron muestreos con red de malla no superior a las 300 µm. Se realizaron muestreos cuantitativos con red Surber y cualitativos con metodología “Kick”. El material colectado se preservó en alcohol al 70%. En el laboratorio, se procesaron las muestras en bandejas blancas ya que permitieron separar fácilmente los macroinvertebrados para su posterior conteo y determinación de los distintos grupos (familia, género y en algunos casos especie) utilizando diferentes guías taxonómicas actualizadas (Croft, 1986; Domínguez et al., 1994, 2009; Lopretto & Tell, 1995; Merritt & Cummins, 1996). Los resultados obtenidos a partir de los análisis físico-químicos del agua, del análisis taxonómico de las comunidades de macroinvertebrados bentónicos, de la aplicación y la comparación de los diferentes índices bióticos y por último, del análisis estadístico multivariado (CANOCO), permitieron realizar una evaluación de la calidad de las aguas en dichos sistemas acuáticos y una comparación de los diversos índices considerados, pudiendo indicar cuál es el más apropiado para aplicar en la zona de estudio y para realizar futuros biomonitoreos en otros sistemas lóticos de Patagonia Norte. Este estudio aportará información sobre el estado de los cursos de agua y a su vez, permitirá detectar y cuantificar los efectos producidos por disturbios antrópicos y ambientales.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2007. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

abstract: Although the issue of factorial invariance has received increasing attention in the literature, the focus is typically on differences in factor structure across groups that are directly observed, such as those denoted by sex or ethnicity. While establishing factorial invariance across observed groups is a requisite step in making meaningful cross-group comparisons, failure to attend to possible sources of latent class heterogeneity in the form of class-based differences in factor structure has the potential to compromise conclusions with respect to observed groups and may result in misguided attempts at instrument development and theory refinement. The present studies examined the sensitivity of two widely used confirmatory factor analytic model fit indices, the chi-square test of model fit and RMSEA, to latent class differences in factor structure. Two primary questions were addressed. The first of these concerned the impact of latent class differences in factor loadings with respect to model fit in a single sample reflecting a mixture of classes. The second question concerned the impact of latent class differences in configural structure on tests of factorial invariance across observed groups. The results suggest that both indices are highly insensitive to class-based differences in factor loadings. Across sample size conditions, models with medium (0.2) sized loading differences were rejected by the chi-square test of model fit at rates just slightly higher than the nominal .05 rate of rejection that would be expected under a true null hypothesis. While rates of rejection increased somewhat when the magnitude of loading difference increased, even the largest sample size with equal class representation and the most extreme violations of loading invariance only had rejection rates of approximately 60%. RMSEA was also insensitive to class-based differences in factor loadings, with mean values across conditions suggesting a degree of fit that would generally be regarded as exceptionally good in practice. In contrast, both indices were sensitive to class-based differences in configural structure in the context of a multiple group analysis in which each observed group was a mixture of classes. However, preliminary evidence suggests that this sensitivity may contingent on the form of the cross-group model misspecification. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Psychology 2011

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. / Made available in DSpace on 2012-10-17T19:40:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0Bitstream added on 2014-09-25T18:33:05Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 174227.pdf: 17761084 bytes, checksum: c790dbb663af11b2c1c3ad07f6316076 (MD5) / Esta dissertação detêm-se em analisar a revista Escrita. Publicada em São Paulo entre 1975-1988, tendo como editor o jornalista e ficcionista Wladyr Nader, passou por algumas transformações durante os treze anos de sua existência, as quais possibilitaram a divisão da revista em três grandes fases. A partir da seleção de alguns textos e de dados colhidos na indexação do periódico, este trabalho se propõe a pensar sobre algumas das idéias que constituíram um passado recente, as décadas de 70 e 80 : literatura, imprensa, indústria cultural e como a relação desses elementos em Escrita é geradora de tensão.