published_or_final_version / Earth Sciences / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Earth Sciences / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Using Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in China as a case study, the thesis addresses the interconnectedness between water and energy and investigates the regional water-energy nexus to assess the coherence of relevant policies and to explore opportunities to achieve sustainable development. Ningxia is extremely scarce in water but abundant in coal. On one hand, the government sets stringent targets to conserve water; on the other hand, the region has ambitious plans to develop the water intensive coal and relevant industries. Based on current development status and policies, the water and energy systems are modeled by WEAP and LEAP, respectively. The regional water-energy nexus is mapped to reveal the interactions between water and energy sectors. From the water policies, it is estimated that the water demand would decrease slightly in 2015; from the energy policies, the energy demand and production would increase greatly. Through the nexus approach, it is found that while energy is abundant to satisfy the increasing demand by the water sector for production and supply, water, however, cannot support the aggressive energy development. The huge water deficit indicates the potential incoherence of current policies and the unsustainable development mode. Nevertheless, there are opportunities to secure resources sustainability. This thesis highlights the viability of the water-energy nexus approach for comprehensive cross-sectorial assessment in policy making and resource management.

The poverty problem in China is highly stereotyped since it was perceived. It has been suggested that poverty alleviation be exclusively concerned with the revival of the regional economy by means of large-scale capital investment or the improvement of the livelihoods of the recipients by means of rural integrated development programmes. The strategy of sustainable development is regarded as an ideal meeting point in supporting environmental rehabilitation, while maintaining acceptable living standard. However, upon a broad review of poverty alleviation in China, the strategy has to be re-examined. On the one hand, since space is too widely defined, the integrative aspect has been overlooked, in that the political process connecting the region, the county, the township and the village is not explored adequately. On the other hand, since poverty is too narrowly pursued, the segregate aspect has been neglected, such that the spatial process connecting the county and the township has not been assessed. The purpose of this research is to expose the hidden agenda of poverty alleviation in China, in which economic growth and basic needs are made sub-regional issues, while the designation of poverty is a concern of national development. The Xihaigu Poverty Alleviation Project situated in the eight counties in the Southern mountainous District of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region during the period 1983 to 1992 was investigated. Both policy analysis and household survey were undertaken. It is found that, when space is more narrowly defined and when poverty is more widely pursued, a targetting mechanism emerges by involving the government more deeply in an inclusive approach. As such, mainstream thinking on poverty alleviation can be more critically reassessed by reinstating basic needs to the core of the inquiry on the poverty problem. / Ng Wing-fai. / "November 2000." / Adviser: Yeung Yue-Man. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 62-01, Section: A, page: 0281. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 287-359). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest dissertations and theses, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Logos Evangelical Seminary, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 223-234).

According to previous studies, schoolwork is the major source of adolescent-parent conflicts in Mainland China. Adolescents' personal reasoning over schoolwork conflicts reveals their desire for achieving autonomy in schoolwork. Meanwhile, their avoiding and obeying conflict resolution strategies co-exist with self-assertion. Parental psychological control is found among Mainland Chinese parents in the situations about offspring's schoolwork, which has detrimental effects on children's autonomy development. With the theoretical underpinnings of social domain theory, ecological systems theory, self-determination theory and family systems theory, the present study aims to examine the patterns of adolescent-parent conflicts over schoolwork in Ningxia of Mainland China, and explore the role of parental psychological control and the development of teenagers' autonomy in schoolwork conflicts. This study adopted grounded theory approach. Convenience and snowball sampling were conducted at the initial stage of sampling while purposeful and conceptual sampling were adopted to develop the grounded theory. There were 63 parents and teenagers participating in the present research. Specifically, 28 parents and 35 adolescents joined in this research. Data was collected through semi-structured individual interview and joint interview. Coping coding, axial coding and selective coding were used to analyze data. A grounded theory on patterns of conflicts over schoolwork, as well as parental psychological control and teenagers' autonomy revealed in schoolwork conflicts is developed in this study. Adolescents' reasoning about adolescent-parent conflicts over schoolwork is reactive to parental expectation and investment. Their resolution strategies in schoolwork conflicts also respond to parents' strategies in the process of conflict resolution. Psychological control is revealed in parents' conflict resolution strategies, which brings controlled motivation revealed in children's reasoning about schoolwork conflicts. Controlled motivation discourages the development of adolescents' autonomy over schoolwork. Contributions are made to fill up the gaps of adolescent-parent conflicts over schoolwork in Chinese families, as well as the advancement of adolescents' autonomy development in the context of adolescent-parent conflicts over schoolwork in Chinese families

The extinct insect group of Palaeodictyopteroida (Insecta: Palaeoptera) comprised mainly phytophagous species and occurred from Upper Carboniferous to Upper Permian. Megasecoptera is one of several orders of belonging to this group. Although, the order Megasecoptera comprised over 20 described families, morphology of some body structures are insufficiently studied. The present thesis deals with evaluation of new material comprising the extensive set of 76 fossil insect specimens from the Upper Carboniferous (Bashkirian) of northern China. The fossils having excellent state of preservation of the wings and other body structures provide new insights concerning the external morphology of Megasecoptera. All studied specimens were attributed based on wing venation pattern into two known megasecopteran genera within families Brodiopteridae and Sphecopteridae. The aim of the present thesis is examine the morphology and variability of wing venation of two newly proposed species Brodioptera sp. n. and Cyclocelis sp. n. from site in northern China. In addition the following methods of geometric morphometrics based on landmarks were used for comparison of venational characters: a comparison of centroid size, procrustes analysis, principal component analysis and thin plate spline. Variability of wing venation...