Rates of snowmelt distributed across Emerald Lake watershed, an alpine basin located in the Sierra Nevada, California, were estimated for water year 1987 using a point snowmelt model applied to regions that were classified based on distributed snow water equivalence and net solar radiation (NSR). A 5-m resolution digital elevation model (DEM) and a 5-m classified digital terrain model of snow water equivalence (SWE) were resampled to coarser resolutions (25-m, 30-m, 50-m, and 100-m) using the nearest neighbor approach. These images were used to define other snowmelt physical parameters and the initial state of the snowpack before melting. Topographic parameters calculated at 50-m and 100-m resolution exhibited significant differences in their histogram distribution as compared to the 5-m DEM. The most important were variations in slope, aspect, sky view factor, and terrain configuration factor, which influenced radiation calculations and the definition of distributed parameters for snowmelt calculations. Elevations, however, did not change significantly from one resolution to the other. The distribution of topographic parameters modeled at 25-m and 30-m, remained almost unchanged. Four, seven and ten classes of snow water equivalence and net solar radiation were combined using a band interleave process to determine the maximum number of combined classes. The point snowmelt model was then applied to these areas, which shared similar SWE and NSR characteristics, to obtain hourly melt rates. Modeled snowmelt rates were compared to the total daily discharge observed at the outlet of Emerald Lake watershed. There was good agreement for resolutions S-, 25-, 30-, and 50-m but not for the 100-m OEM, as modeled net solar radiation was too high and water was released from the basin too early. Model performance using three tests (Nash-Sutcliffe criteria, sum of squares of the deviations and the sum of the absolute differences between observed discharge and computed melting) showed that the 30-m resolution OEM with combined classes of 7 SWE and 7 NSR provided the best snowmelt performance for this distributed approach. Finally, fractional snow cover area at one month intervals were estimated, showing that this approach offers the potential to model spatially distributed snow covered area in alpine regions.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of ‘home food’ in the lives of Sierra Leoneans living in Durban who are members of the Sierra Leonean Association. Another aim was to find out if communal sharing of ‘home food’ in social networks assisted migrants in maintaining their home identity. To collect thick descriptive narratives from the twenty six members of the Sierra Leonean Association, this qualitative study used semi-structured, open-ended interview questions, participation observation and focus groups. The preliminary results of this study showed that for this group of migrants, ‘home food’ such as cassava leaves, egusi and okra play a significant role in mentally transporting these migrants vicariously back to their home country. Narratives showed that ‘home food’ acts as an ‘agent’ for maintaining home identity for Sierra Leonean migrants. The atmosphere in which ‘home food’ was eaten was said to have contributed to minimizing their longing for home as through food-related routines migrants brought’ home’ to their current living places. The conclusion can also be drawn that ‘home food’ plays a crucial role in preserving identity for Sierra Leoneans. It is one of the means by which culture can be maintained even when migrants are very far from home. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

En Sierra Leone, la marginalisation de l'agriculture est une composante essentielle de la crise économique, sociale et politique dont la manifestation la plus tragique a été la guerre civile entre 1991 et 2001. À l'échelle nationale, le secteur agricole représente toujours la majorité des actifs, mais la production alimentaire a chuté depuis les années 1970. Parallèlement au développement du secteur diamantifère, les importations massives de riz à bas coût, ont dévalorisé le travail des producteurs nationaux. Cette marginalisation se poursuit avec l'émergence, récente, d'un secteur agro-industriel financé par des capitaux internationaux.A l'échelle d'une petite région, cette crise des agricultures paysannes se décline selon une trajectoire spécifique. La diversité de la mosaïque paysagère témoigne de la transformation profonde des modes d'exploitation du milieu. Les paysans combinent la culture sur brûlis historique avec la riziculture inondée, le billonnage des savanes, les plantations pérennes, … La pression démographique a pesé sur ces dynamiques mais c'est la marchandisation des rapports sociaux qui a constitué la tendance déterminante. Les grands groupes domestiques, structurés par les rapports lignagers, ont éclaté. Aujourd'hui, les échanges de force de travail entre producteurs sont à l'origine de disparités économiques non négligeables. Cependant, dans des conditions d'intégration économique défavorables, la productivité du travail a stagné voire à reculé. De ce fait, la persistance de rapports sociaux d’antériorité, notamment l'adoption enfantine comme modalité d'accumulation, limite les processus de différenciation au sein de la paysannerie. / In Sierra Leone, the marginalization of the agriculture is inherent to the economic, social and political crisis that embroiled the country into a tragic civil war between 1991 and 2001. While, at the national scale, the agricultural sector still represents the larger part of the workforce, the food production has declined since the 1970s. Massive low cost rice imports, fuelled by the development of the diamond industry, have devalued the work of the national producers. Such marginalization continues with the recent emergence of agro-industrial units financed by international capitals.At the regional scale, the crisis of the peasant agriculture has followed a specific trajectory. The diversity of the landscape mosaic reflects the profound changes that affected the farming systems. Local farmers combine the historical slash and burn farming with swamp rice cropping, mounds cropping in savannah and tree plantations. Even if population pressure has impacted these dynamics, it is the commodification of social relations that was the decisive trend. The large domestic groups, structured by lineages, have broken up. Nowadays the labor exchanges between producers explain significant economic disparities. However, under unfavorable economic integration conditions, labor productivity has stagnated or even declined. Then, the persistence of social relations of precedence, including child fosterage as a form of accumulation, restricts the scope of the differentiation processes within the peasantry.

Se buscará analizar cómo a través de la representación de paisajes y descripciones dadas por viajeros que visitaron el Perú en el siglo XIX se definió una imagen del país, mostrando una diversidad de desigualdades en torno a la geografía, habitantes, costumbres y climas respecto a la Costa. Estas descripciones se fueron consolidando en el siglo XIX y se definieron algunas de las construcciones culturales que prevalecen hasta el día de hoy sobre el espacio geográfico. Los Andes se van presentando de una manera desfavorable para la integración nacional a diferencia de la Costa donde es evidente la circulación de bienes y personas entendiéndose como más fluida. Es en la Sierra donde se hace presente la imagen del indio que está acompañado de lo geográfico, donde indios y Andes se encuentran en un mismo vínculo, donde se inventa la tradición del paisaje como un lugar sombrío, deshabitado y nostálgico-, constituyendo un obstáculo que retarda el progreso nacional. Por medio de las descripciones y representaciones de paisajes, ejecutados por viajeros extranjeros como Antonio Raimondi, George Squier y Charles Wiener se intentará analizar los distintos puntos de vista que contribuyeron a la formación del paisaje de la Sierra del Perú en el siglo XIX. / Tesis

Magister Legum - LLM (Criminal Justice and Procedure) / Transitional justice mechanisms have become commonplace as a tool for recovery for societies emerging from conflict and repressive regimes. The extent to which women's rights concerning development and long-term economic advancement in the arena of transitional justice is dealt with is almost negligible. The significance of including development as a means of protecting marginalised groups such as women has been mostly disregarded in the transitional justice context. Currently, the discourse on gender justice has placed civil and political rights as well as sexual crimes against women at the centre stage. Transitional justice mechanisms have failed to give effect to long-term sustainable and substantive change in women's lives following conflict and periods of repressive rule. The core aims of transitional justice are prosecution of offenders, reconciliation and reparations for the victims of gross human rights abuses. Reparations are usually used as a medium through which restitution and compensation for the harm suffered by victims are made possible. Reparations are also deemed as an essential element for the healing and recovery of the individual victim and the society affected by egregious human rights violations.

Uppsatsen ämnar undersöka huruvida politiska möjlighetsstrukturer och inramningar i sociala medier kan förklara det ökade stödet för miljöorganisationen Sierra Club. De politiska möjlighetstrukturerna har analyserats utifrån McAdams (1996) fyra dimensioner för att förstå den politiska strukturen i USA. Inramningsperspektivet har använts som verktyg i innehållsanalysen av Sierra Clubs Twitterinlägg som systematiskt valts ut under en treveckorsperiod under 2015 respektive 2016. Inramningsperspektivet inom rörelseforskningen utvecklades av David Snow och Robert Benford som en anpassning av Erving Goffmans ramteori, för att möjliggöra analys på gruppnivå. För att kunna urskilja förändringar i Sierra Clubs retorik har två olika tidsintervaller granskats. Innehållsanalysen visar att Twitter-inläggen ändrat karaktär 2016 och bär på stridslystna undertoner med en tydligt definierad skuldbärare. I analysen av de politiska möjlighetsstrukturerna framkommer en bild av att valet 2016 bidragit till instabilitet i elitgrupperingar. De valda teoriperspektiven har möjlighet att kombinerat förklara Sierra Clubs ökade stöd. Med detta sagt betyder det inte att dessa perspektiv utgör den enda förklaringsmodellen. / This study explores the evolution of the environmental organisation Sierra Club, in relation to the United States presidential election in 2016, through a theoretical perspective. It examines if the theories of framing and political opportunity structures can explain the organisation’s success. The political context was analysed using McAdam’s four dimensions of political opportunity structures in order to determine its restrictions for social movements. A content analysis was applied to Sierra Club’s Twitter posts from a three week period in 2016 and 2015 respectively for the purpose of comparing the rhetoric during the two different time periods based on the key concepts of Benford and Snow’s framing theory. The results show that the election itself contributed to instability between elite alignments while Sierra Club’s Twitter-posts changed tone to become more aggressive and more specific in focusing the blame. The chosen theories proved suitable for analysing the occurrence but we cannot however disregard the possibility of other results emerging when using a different theoretical approach.

"In response to President Kabah's request of June 2000, the United Nations Security Council called on the Secretary-General to negotiate an agreement with the government of Sierra Leone for the creation of a special court for Sierra Leone (hereafter SCSL), to investigate the atrocities committed within the country, by Resolution 1315 of 14 August 2000. Under the agreement concluded in February 2001, the SCSL has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed since November 1996. The author assesses in detail the efficacy of the SCSL in dispensing justice up to date. The author concludes that, although the SCSL has accomplished much, it has shortcomings and faces changes that hamper the attainment of its objectives. ... This study is divided into five chapters. Chapter one provides the context in which the study is set, the focus and objectives of the study, its significance and other preliminary issues, including a statement of the problem and the literature review. Analysis of the conflict in Sierra Leone are necessary to grasp the graveness and the nature of the human rights violations and to understand the nature and extent of justice already meted out. Chapter two focuses particularly on the historical background of the conflict and the reasons that necessitate the establishment of the SCSL. The SCSL was established specifically to respond to human rights abuses committed during the civil war in Sierra Leone. Chapter three examines the major achievements of the Court in dispensing justice, and chapter four identifies the shortcomings and the challenges that confront the Court in its aim to fulfil its mandate." -- Chapter one. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Professor Lovell Fernandez, Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Today, the effect of the most common ways to improve the performance of embedded systems and real-time operating systems is stagnating. Therefore it is interesting to examine new ways to push the performance boundaries of embedded systems and real-time operating systems even further. It has previously been demonstrated that the hardware-based real-time operating system, Sierra, has better performance than the software-based real-time operating system, FreeRTOS. These real-time operating systems have also been shown to be similar in many aspects, which mean that it is possible for Sierra to accelerate FreeRTOS. In this thesis an implementation of such acceleration has been carried out. Because existing real-time operating systems are constantly in development combined with that it was several years since an earlier comparison between the two real-time operating systems was per-formed, FreeRTOS and Sierra were compared in terms of functionality and architecture also in this thesis. This comparison showed that FreeRTOS and Sierra share the most fundamental functions of a real-time operating system, and thus can be accelerated by Sierra, but that FreeRTOS also has a number of exclusive functions to facilitate the use of that real-time operating system. The infor-mation obtained by this comparison was the very essence of how the acceleration would be imple-mented. After a number of performance tests it could be concluded that all of the implemented functions, with the exception of a few, had shorter execution time than the corresponding functions in the original version of FreeRTOS. / Idag är effekten av de vanligaste åtgärderna för att förbättra prestandan av inbyggda system och realtidsoperativsystem väldigt liten. På grund av detta är det intressant att undersöka nya åtgärder för att tänja prestandagränserna av inbyggda system och realtidsoperativsystem ytterliggare. Det har tidigare påvisats att det hårdvarubaseraderealtidsoperativsystemet, Sierra, har bättre prestanda än det mjukvarubaseraderealtidsoperativsystemet, FreeRTOS. Dessa realtidsoperativsystem har även visats vara lika i flera aspekter, vilket betyder att det är möjligt för Sierra att accelererera FreeRTOS. I detta examensarbete har en implementering av en sådan acceleration genomförts. Eftersom befintliga realtidsoperativsystem ständigtär i utveckling i kombination med att det är flera år sedan som en tidigare jämförelse mellan de båda systemen utfördes, så jämfördes FreeRTOS och Sierra i fråga om funktionalitet och uppbyggnad även i detta examensarbete.Denna jämförelse visade att FreeRTOS och Sierra delar de mest grundläggande funktionerna av ett realtidsoperativsystem, och som därmed kan accelereras av Sierra, men att FreeRTOS även har ett antal exklusiva funktioner för att underlätta användningen av det realtidsoperativsystemet. Informationen som erhölls av denna jämförelse var sedan grunden för hur själva accelerationen skulle implementeras. Efter ett antal prestandatesterkunde det konstateras att alla implementerade funktioner, med undantag för ett fåtal, hade kortare exekveringstid än motsvarande funktioner i ursprungsversionen av FreeRTOS.

Numerous small alpine glaciers occupy the high elevation regions of the central and southern Siena Nevada, California. These glaciers change size in response to variations in climate and are therefore important indicators of climate change. An inventory based on USGS topographic maps (l :24,000) revealed 1719 glaciers and perennial snow and ice features for a total area of 39.l5 ±7.52 km2. The number of 'true' glaciers, versus non-moving ice, is estimated to be 118, covering 15.87 ± 1.69 Km2. All glaciers were located on north to northeast aspects, at elevations >3000 m. Historical photographs, geologic evidence, and field mapping were used to determine the magnitude of area loss over the past century at 14 glaciers. These glaciers decreased in area by 31% to 78%, averaging 55%. The rate of area change was determined for multiple time periods for a subset of seven glaciers. Rapid retreat occurred over the first half of the twentieth century beginning in the 1920s in response to warm/dry conditions and continued through the mid-1970s. Recession ceased during the early 1980s, when some glaciers advanced. Since the 1980s each of the seven study glaciers resumed retreat. The uniform timing of changes in area amongst study glaciers suggests a response to regional climate, while the magnitude of change is influenced by local topographic effects. Glacier area changes correlate with changes in spring and summer air temperatures. Winter precipitation is statistically unrelated to changes in glacier area. Headwall cliffs above the glaciers alter the glacier responses by reducing incoming shortwave radiation and enhancing snow accumulation via avalanching.

The rapid demand for wood products globally has put pressure on natural forests. Therefore, global efforts are now being directed toward establishing plantation forests to fill the wood supply gap while reducing the pressure on natural forests. This study conceptualized the socio-economic contribution of large-scale plantation forests to adjacent rural communities in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone based on the local perceptions of 125 households interviewed during data collection. To complement the household survey data, two forest-plantation experts were interviewed. The study found that local communities mainly benefit from plantation forestry through employment, improved road conditions, and water well constructions. However, the delivery of these benefits differed among the communities depending on the spatial distance from the plantation forestry central office. Benefits related to improvements in road conditions were perceived higher in the more far away communities. The trend is similar for the perception of benefits from plantation forestry activities: the farthest community with limited opportunities for alternative livelihood options appreciated the plantation forestry benefits highly and as fairly distributed. The results further revealed that perceived benefits from the plantation forestry industry, specifically employment and income, were rather unevenly distributed because the elites were able to capture more benefits than the others. These people were also identified to be influential in the distribution of benefits from the plantation industry. It is suggested that the plantation industry makes a conscious effort to extend the delivery of benefits to more community members regardless of their landholding, social status, or education level to ensure equal access to employment and land lease income, as well as CSR benefits.