Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are common contaminants of sediment, soils and biological tissues. These compounds pose a significant risk to biological and ecosystem health and functioning due to these compounds being mutagenic, carcinogenic and are known to disrupt the endocrine system. The bioaccumulation and biomagnification potential that these compounds possess mean that they are capable of affecting the entire food chain and are not limited to the organisms that are directly in contact with the compounds Even though there has been an increase in the attention on identifying the presence and impacts that these compounds may have in South Africa, the level of attention is lower than what it is in other countries around the world. Although South Africa has guidelines in place for other pollutants, such as metals, there are no such guidelines in place to monitor PAHs and PCBs.. Industries are known to release both PAHs and PCBs, mainly from incomplete burning processes and the release of oils and fuels in the case of PAHs, and from heat transfer fluids in the case of PCBs. Durban Bay and surrounding areas of eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal are highly industrialised with many aquatic systems, in which these contaminants are likely to deposit. The aim of this research was to determine the concentrations of these compounds by means of chemical analysis and additionally biological analysis, using the H4IIE-luc bioassay and compare these levels to international guideline levels. It was found that the concentrations of the 23 analysed PAHs were 6.5–3 235.6 ng.g-1 and the concentration of the PCBs analysed were 0–113.83 ng.g-1. Many sites were found to be in exceedance of the guideline limits, particularly in the harbour. Toxic equivalency factors (TEF) were used to gauge the toxic equivalency (TEQ) of the PAHs and PCBs that were found. The TEQs were generally low, and were below any guideline levels. The assay revealed the extract containing the PCBs had a bioassay equivalence (BEQ) of 0–93.54 pgTCDDeq. g-1 and the extract containing the PAHs of 0–776.08 pgTCDD-eq.g-1. With a proportion of the sites exceeding guideline limits. The BEQ results were two to three orders of magnitude greater than the TEQs calculated from the concentrations determined by the instrumental analysis, however, followed a similar trend. Additionally chemical analysis was not performed on a full suite of compounds that are able to elicit a response from the cells, which could be a reason why the BEQ and TEQ did not follow a similar trend among some of the samples. It would have been more beneficial to have performed chemical analysis on the 16 priority PAHs (as determined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency), the dioxin-like PCBs and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) which are all capable of eliciting a response from the cells and have TEF values. The areas that were most affected by contamination of these compounds was the harbour and surrounding canals, and there was point source contamination along the Umhlatuzana, Umbilo, and Amanzimnyana Rivers. All dl-PCBs should be chemically analysed at all the sample areas, as these cause adverse effects to biota. In addition to this, biota should be sampled to determine concentrations of the compounds to determine bioavailability and the degree of bioaccumulation in the food chain. Utilising biomarkers it would be possible to determine stresses of fish. / MSc (Environmental Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

My thesis focuses on philosophical themes implicit in corridor conservation, using the Big Thicket National Preserve as an example. The way in which corridors, boundaries and communities are ambiguous, as both limits and connections, is dealt with. Corridor-patch matrices assemble ecological and human groups into temporary communities, often with conflicting interests. Such constellations foreground how a foreigner's boundary crossing is a notion important to both conservation and a philosophical study of being, seen as being always in relation with otherness. In this context, the notion of foreignness and Jean-Luc Nancy's idea of being-with is explored. Understanding the complex network of relations in which an entity exists leads to an awareness of its ambiguous nature. To facilitate judgment with such ambiguity, one needs a contextual understanding of a situation.

Cette présente recherche vise à défendre le point de vue selon lequel le don de l’Esprit dans le récit de la Pentecôte (Ac 2, 1-13) s’interprète principalement comme l’investissement d’une puissance habilitant au témoignage. À cette fin, nous posons l’hypothèse que le contenu d’Ac 2, 17-21 est un axe fondamental de la théologie pneumatique de l’œuvre lucanienne, lequel interprète la manifestation pentecostale dans une perspective prophétique. La démonstration se fait par le biais d’une analyse rédactionnelle d’Ac 2, 17-21, une citation de Jl 3,1-5 insérée dans un discours explicatif de Pierre du phénomène pentecostal. Nous examinons d’abord le lieu d’inscription de ce passage dans l’œuvre lucanienne afin d’évaluer la valeur stratégique de son emplacement (chapitre 1). Nous étudions ensuite l’interprétation que fait Luc de cette prophétie pour en venir à la conclusion qu’il envisage l’intervention de l’Esprit essentiellement dans une perspective d’habilitation à la prophétie (chapitre 2). Nous vérifions cette première conclusion dans l’Évangile de Luc (chapitre 3); puis ensuite dans les Actes des Apôtres (chapitre 4). Nous en arrivons ainsi à établir un parallélisme entre les étapes initiatiques du ministère de Jésus dans le troisième évangile et celui des disciples dans les Actes, pour y découvrir que, dans les deux cas, l’effusion de l’Esprit habilite à l’activité prophétique. Le ministère des disciples s’inscrit de la sorte dans le prolongement de celui du Maître. Nous soutenons, en fait, que tout le discours pneumatique de l’Évangile de Luc converge vers l’effusion initiale de l’Esprit sur les disciples dans le récit pentecostal, d’une part, et que cette effusion jette un éclairage sur l’ensemble de l’œuvre missionnaire des Actes, d’autre part. Bref, le passage explicatif du phénomène pentecostal, en l’occurrence Ac 2, 17-21, met en lumière un axe central des perspectives de Luc sur l’Esprit : Il s’agit de l’Esprit de prophétie. Dans cette optique, l’effusion de l’Esprit à la Pentecôte s’interpréterait essentiellement comme l’investissement du croyant d’une puissance en vue du témoignage. / This present research argues that the gift of the Spirit in the Pentecost account (Ac 2.1-13) is to be understood as a source of empowerment for the task of witnessing. The thesis that I defend is that the passage of Ac 2.17-21 is in fact a fundamental axis of the pneumatic theology of Luke’s work, which in turn interprets the pentecostal gift as a prophetic endowment. I will demonstrate this affirmation by performing a redactional analysis of Ac 2.17-21, which is, in fact, a citation from Jl 3.1-5 quoted in Peter’s pentecostal speech whose purpose is to interpret the pneumatic phenomenon of Ac 2.1-13. I start by examining the specific position of Ac 2.17-21 in order to assess the strategic value of its location (chapter 1). I will then carefully look at how Luke interprets this prophecy, only to conclude that he understands the work of the Spirit mainly as a source of empowerment for a prophetic task (chapter 2). I will verify this conclusion throughout the Gospel of Luke (chapter 3), and then in the Acts of the Apostles (chapter 4). This exercise will bring to light an important parallel between the circumstances surrounding the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry in the Gospel of Luke and that of the disciples in Acts, which shows that, in both cases, the Spirit is given as a source of power for a prophetic ministry. The disciples’ ministry is therefore to be understood to lie in the continuity of the one of the Master. Consequently, we will see that all of the pneumatic discourse of Luke’s Gospel converges towards the initial outpouring of the Spirit on the disciples in the Pentecost account, and that this same passage subsequently sheds light on the missionary work in Acts. In short, the interpretative passage of the pentecostal phenomenon, Ac 2.17-21, brings to light a fundamental axis of Luke’s perspectives on the Sprit; It is the prophetic Spirit. The gift of Spirit at Pentecost is then in turn to be understood primarily as a prophetic endowment enabling the disciples to witness.

Si la théologie lucanienne de la résurrection a largement été étudiée dans le livre des Actes des Apôtres, Jésus n’a jamais été considéré comme personnage principal, à l’inverse des apôtres, de l’Esprit saint ou même de Dieu. Pourtant, le premier verset des Actes laisse entendre que Jésus va continuer de faire et d’enseigner ce qu’il avait commencé dans l’évangile, même si, peu de temps après l’ouverture du récit, il quitte la scène. Pour chercher à comprendre ce paradoxe, une analyse approfondie de la mise en récit du personnage Jésus dans les Actes était nécessaire. Le premier chapitre de cette thèse introduit le sujet, l’état de la question et deux approches méthodologiques empruntées aux experts de la caractérisation narrative. Au chapitre deux, après avoir introduit la difficulté d’identification du personnage qui se trouve derrière le titre Seigneur des Actes, le cadre épistémologique d’Elizabeth Struthers Malbon permet d’observer le comment en classant toutes les péricopes qui participent à la rhétorique de la caractérisation christologique en cinq catégories : (1) la christologie représentée qui montre ce que Jésus fait, (2) la christologie détournée qui permet d’entendre ce que Jésus dit en réponse aux autres personnages, (3) la christologie projetée qui laisse entendre ce que les autres personnages ou le narrateur disent à Jésus et à son sujet, (4) la christologie réfléchie qui montre ce que les autres personnages font en reflétant ce que Jésus a dit et (5) la christologie reflétée qui montre ce que les autres personnages font en reflétant ce que Jésus a fait. Ensuite, avec le chapitre trois, l’approche de John Darr donne à comprendre le pourquoi de la caractérisation par l’observation de quatre activités cognitives du lecteur : (1) l’anticipation et la rétrospection, (2) la recherche de cohérence, (3) l’identification et/ou l’implication et (4) la défamiliarisation. Enfin, au chapitre quatre, les résultats des deux méthodes sont comparés pour proposer une solution au cas de l’ouverture paradoxale des Actes. D’abord les différentes observations de la thèse montrent que le personnage Jésus n’est pas si absent du récit; puis la rhétorique narrative de la caractérisation conduit le lecteur à comprendre que c’est essentiellement au travers des personnages du récit que Jésus est présent en actes et en paroles. / Though Luke’s theology of resurrection is widely studied in the Book of Acts, Jesus is never seen as its main character, unlike the apostles, the Holy Spirit or God. However, the first verse of Acts suggests that the Jesus character will continue to do and teach what he began in the Gospel, even if soon after the opening, he leaves the scene. To resolve this paradox, a thorough analysis of Jesus characterization in Acts is needed. The first chapter of this dissertation introduces the subject, what has already been said, and two narrative scholars’ methodologies selected for this study. In chapter two, the difficult identification of the Lord of Acts is discussed. Then, the epistemological framework of Elizabeth Struthers Malbon is considered. It shows how characterization works, by ranking all episodes involving Jesus in five groups : (1) enacted Christology : what Jesus does; (2) deflected Christology : what Jesus says in response to other characters; (3) projected Christology : what other characters and the narrator say to and about Jesus; (4) mirroring Christology : what other characters do that mirrors what Jesus says and (5) reflected Christology : what other characters do that mirrors what Jesus does. Chapter three discusses the method of John Darr which helps us to understand the why by observing four cognitive activities of the reader: (1) anticipation and retrospection; (2) consistency-building; (3) identification and (4) defamiliarization. In the conclusion in chapter four, the results of the two systems are compared to resolve the case of the paradoxical opening of Acts. The main conclusion of the different observations of this thesis shows that Jesus is not so absent from the story. Thus the narrative rhetoric of characterization leads the reader to understand that Jesus is mainly present through the characters of the story in acts and words.

[pt] Esta dissertação propõe um estudo ensaístico acerca de um conjunto de filmes cujos personagens irrompem em movimento e dançam, partindo de três intuições fundamentais: o corpo não se aguenta trancado e precisa se movimentar, o fato de ver alguém dançando é contagiante, e o cinema é uma forma de expressão artística privilegiada de apresentação do corpo e da vida em movimento. Este inventário de corpos dançantes no cinema não aborda filmes musicais, nem filmes sobre dança, mas filmes em que momentos de dança acontecem, potencializando a narrativa cinematográfica e criando um espaço de ressonância entre o espectador e o filme. Neste sentido, os ensaios que compõem este trabalho versam sobre a explosão do corpo dançante em uma coleção de filmes tais como, Cría Cuervos, Le livre de Marie, Beau Travail, 35 Rhums, Mauvais Sang, construindo formas de olhar e escutar os corpos em movimento, dialogando principalmente com o pensamento de Jean-Luc Nancy sobre o corpo, a dança e o cinema. / [fr] Ce mémoire propose une étude essayiste sur un ensemble de films dans lesquels les personnages éclatent en mouvement et dansent, à partir de trois intuitions fondamentales : que le corps ne se tient pas enfermé en soi et qu il a besoin de se mouvoir, que le fait de voir quelqu un danser est contagieux, et que le cinéma est une expression artistique privilégiée de présentation du corps et de la vie en mouvement. Dans cet inventaire de corps dansants, il ne s agit pas de comédies musicales, ni de films au sujet de la danse, mais de films dans lesquels des moments de danse ont lieu de manière inattendue, où une grande énergie se dégage, créant ainsi un espace puissant de résonance entre le spectateur et le film. Dans ce sens, les essais qui composent ce mémoire touchent l explosion du corps dansant dans des films tels quels, Cria Cuervos, Le livre de Marie, Beau Travail, 35 Rhums, Mauvais Sang, et présentent des formes de regarder et d écouter les corps en mouvement, en dialogue avec la pensée de Jean-Luc Nancy sur le corps, la danse et le cinéma.

In Outside the Metropolitan Frame: The Nouvelle Vague and the Foreign, 1954-1968 I examine the significance of the Nouvelle Vague directors’ engagement with the world beyond metropolitan France, through formal analyses of seminal films by Jean-Luc Godard, Chris Marker, Alain Resnais, and Jean Rouch, as well as close readings of archival documents pertaining to their promotion and reception. I contend that the directors of the Nouvelle Vague were concerned with the shifts in national, transnational and colonial dynamics that marked their era. I demonstrate that their texts and films are structured by a dialectical relationship between a gaze turned outwards onto the world beyond metropolitan France, and a gaze turned inwards, onto the French. In my first three chapters, I inscribe the Nouvelle Vague in a cultural longue durée by examining its formal and thematic continuities with the tradition of French ethnography; the inter-war artistic movement, Surrealism; and the cinéma vérité documentary tradition of the early 1960s. I illustrate that the films of the Nouvelle Vague were fundamentally shaped by their directors’ engagement with the decolonization of the French empire. In my final chapter, I reexamine the most conspicuous example of foreign influence on the Nouvelle Vague, American cinema, in light of my preceding demonstrations. I determine that there are two levels of foreign influence on the Nouvelle Vague, and that the influence of American cinema was above all textual and superficial, whereas a grappling with the end of the French empire was, though far less conspicuous, fundamental to the form of the Nouvelle Vague films themselves.

Cette thèse interroge les fondements de la pensée d’Ivan Illich et ses implications pour la manière d’être les uns avec les autres et pour le langage. La pensée d’Illich s’ancre dans une vision singulière de l’être humain en tant que créature qui atteint la perfection en s’engageant dans une relation à l’autre, une relation libre, gratuite, et pleinement incarnée. J’explore les formes que prend cette idée à travers trois grands axes qui traversent l’oeuvre d’Illich : la relation entre soi et l’autre, le rôle des institutions et la pratique du langage. Dans un premier temps, j’examine le geste de pensée d’Illich, c’est-à-dire la manière dont il tente de faire de la quête de vérité une pratique conviviale, entre amis. Il s’inscrit par là en lien avec la figure du Samaritain issue de la parabole des Évangiles, qu’il interprète toutefois de manière très personnelle, hors de la tradition chrétienne. Ce lien étroit au Samaritain ouvre la question du jeu entre la foi et l’intellect dans sa pensée. Dans un deuxième temps, partant de cette interprétation, j’expose la vision du monde et des rapports entre les êtres qui en découlent. Selon Illich, Jésus révèle qu’aucune règle ne peut me dicter qui est mon prochain : je me porte vers lui d’un geste libre et gratuit qui émerge des entrailles, comme celui du Samaritain envers le Juif. Les Évangiles ouvrent ainsi une possibilité inédite d’être les uns avec les autres au-delà des règles d’appartenance à un groupe (clan, ethnie, nation etc). Cette idée particulière amène Illich à percevoir les institutions et les organisations qui structurent la société occidentale comme le résultat d’une perversion de cette relation, puisqu’elles cherchent à garantir, par une structure ou un service, ce qui devait rester une vocation personnelle librement assumée. Pour Illich, c’est en renonçant à toute garantie et au pouvoir dans le monde, que nous pouvons encore être les uns avec les autres à la hauteur de notre vocation de créature. Les réflexions de Jean-Luc Nancy sur l’être-les-uns-avec-les-autres offrent ici un contrepoint qui répond aux intuitions d’Illich et montre à quel point elles débordent la tradition chrétienne en se tenant au plus près de la condition simplement humaine. Enfin, dans un troisième temps, j’aborde le langage comme revers incorporel de cette irréductible condition d’être les uns avec les autres. Selon Illich, la perversion atteint aussi la langue dans laquelle nous nous parlons. Il en retrace l’origine au Moyen-Âge, au moment où émergent la notion de « langue maternelle » et l’idée de l’enseigner. Illich montre néanmoins, par sa pratique et dans ses textes, qu’une parole non ii pervertie continue d’exister, rythmée par le silence de l’ascèse et de l’écoute. Les mots de Paul Celan sur la persistance de la parole dans un monde corrompu rejoignent ici ceux d’Illich, ils les relaient et y répondent : s’ouvre ainsi un riche dialogue sur la possibilité toujours présente, mais jamais garantie, de se parler les uns aux autres. À travers tous ces enjeux, la pensée d’Illich revient sans cesse à la dimension temporelle du hic et nunc, l’ici et maintenant entre nous, difficile à saisir par l’esprit. / This thesis explores the foundations of Ivan Illich’s thinking and its implications for language and for our ways of relating to one another. His thinking is rooted in a singular vision of the human being as a creature who achieves perfection by establishing a relationship that is free and fully incarnate. I explore this fundamental idea through three major lines of thought running through Illich’s oeuvre : relations between self and other; the role of institutions; the practice of language. In the first chapter I examine this vision through Illich’s way of thinking together with friends, a convivially practiced search for truth. He thus places himself in the filiation of the Good Samaritan from the parable of the Gospels. In Illich’s highly personal interpretation, which stands outside the mainstream Christian tradition, this parable bears on the relationship between faith and reason. In Illich’s view, Jesus reveals that no rule dictates who is my neighbor: the Samaritan’s gesture of charity toward the Jew is completely gratuitous and comes from a deeply felt unease (Illich refers to the Hebrew word rhacham, often translated as mercy). In the second chapter I discuss the worldview that results from such an interpretation. For Illich, the Gospels open up a unique opportunity to be with each other beyond the rules that frame various groups (clan, tribe, nation etc). This thinking leads him to perceive the institutions and organizations of Western society as resulting from a perversion of that opportunity, because they seek to guarantee—through a structure or a service—precisely what should remain a freely-chosen, personal inclination. Illich demonstrates that by renouncing any guarantee and power in the world, we can still be with each other and live up to our personal inclination as creatures. Jean-Luc Nancy’s thinking on being-one-with-another offers here a counterpoint to Illich’s intuition and shows how this intuition goes beyond the Christian tradition by fully adhering to the human condition. Finally, in the third chapter, I approach language as the intangible reverse side of the irreducible condition of being with one another. According to Illich, the language we speak has also been corrupted through institutionalization. He traces the origin of this corruption to the Middle Ages, with the emergence of the notion of "mother tongue" and of its transmission via teaching. Through both his practice and his writing, however, Illich shows that uncorrupted speech remains possible, when punctuated by the silence of asceticism and listening. The iv words of Paul Celan on the persistence of speech in a corrupt world relays and responds to Illich’s thoughts on this theme, thus opening a rich dialogue on the possibility—always present, but never guaranteed—to speak with one another. Interwoven throughout these themes is the temporal dimension of hic et nunc, the here and now between us, which constantly surfaces in Illich’s writings yet remains difficult to grasp with the human mind.

Thesis (M. Environmental Science (Water Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The Atlantic Forest of south-eastern Brazil is a hot-spot for biodiversity and should be conserved. It is also at the center of the largest municipalities in Brazil and therefore has a severely fragmented landscape. Iracambi, a working farm near the Serra do Brigadeiro state park in Minas Gerais, is working for conservation in an area of intense agricultural production and expanding forestry industry. Most households in this rural area have some amount of eucalyptus on their property and consequently the director of Iracambi is developing the preliminary foundation for a forest corridor program comprised of primarily eucalyptus with the goal of integrating native species whenever possible. In this research, an exploratory case study was conducted with the purpose of determining if an integrated forest corridor should be considered as a viable option for Iracambi in the greater Serra do Brigadeiro region (near the communities of Araponga, Ervália, Fervadouro, Miradouro, Pedra Bonita, and Sericita). The majority of the survey participants revealed interest in the proposed forest corridor program and many expressed further interest if this would help them achieve compliance with the environmental law requiring a Legal Reserve Area (ARL) on private property. There is a need and a desire for programs that would subsidize ARL adherence in this area, since many studies recognize that adherence levels are at approximately ten percent nationally. Barriers to implementation, however, include cultural barriers that would primarily require acceptance with influential community members, knowledge and cost barriers associated with proper stand management, and current economic circumstances which lack a market for sustainably produced, higher quality eucalyptus timber. Additionally, policy barriers, which do not provide sufficient incentives to comply with environmental laws, further impede implementation of an integrated forest corridor program in this area. If these key barriers to implementation could be addressed, an integrated forest corridor program could prove as a viable option for Iracambi and this area and therefore, this thesis offers some recommendations for the successful implementation of this proposed program.

Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin made in 1970 a “political film politically” about the Palestinian Revolution, Jusqu’à la victoire, which remained unfinished. Under the framework of their audio-visual research project, Sonimage, Godard edited the Palestinian footage with Anne-Marie Miéville. Working through the collapse of the revolutionary project, imaging the Palestinian resistance became a matter of the restitution of speech to the absent and to the dead Palestinians – to whom, as Godard laments self-critically in the film, they had not listened to. Godard’s and Miéville’s compass for action was reconfigured as “audiovisual journalism,” addressing the changing conditions in political engagement, challenging the mediatization of mediation prompted by the Leftist utopian belief in the emancipatory potential of the media. The hegemonic discourse circulating within Leftist intellectual culture abandoned the iconic referent of “The Revolution,” which became the fatal harbinger of totalitarianism. Since then, Third World subjects have been figured as terrorists or victims who are incapable of determining themselves politically, or to “develop” economically. Such a turn has given leeway to new models of engagement and emancipation that account for the real of reality, embedded in the non-discourse of rights or counter-memory, while beckoning for a politics of infinite restitution. Godard returned to the Palestine Question thirty years later in Notre musique, by stopping-over in post-war Sarajevo, a place where it became possible for Godard to host a gathering of the Trojan poets and storytellers of sorts. Reconciliation and rehabilitation are the reverse-shot of a world of violent ethnic strife evidencing the futility of the politization of forgiveness. By way of a montage, Godard vouches for the mobilization of the powers of the false in order to save the real. The beautiful becomes necessary to “cover” memories of catastrophe. The aesthetico-political task is the regulation of the distance between the viewer and the screen. The conditions are the belief in images, faith and the desire to see as our links to the world. Within the pervasiveness of the hyperreal and culture, which Godard equates to ruins, the exiles and vanquished call for the exception, which is art.