No description available.

This thesis explores the ways in which a municipal government in Brazil developed itself as a learning system through the support of a capacity-building project funded by the Canadian International Development Agency. The project, which began in 1998, focuses on building capacity for adaptive, community based watershed management in the municipality of Santo Andre. It involves a team of Canadian partners led by the University of British Columbia Centre for Human Settlements. Santo Andre is a city of 600,000 people in the Sao Paulo metropolitan area. The focus of the thesis is on Santo Andre's planners' perspectives about the individual learning, and related organizational changes, that were induced by the project. In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty-one staff holding a variety of planning responsibilities. The findings are that, while not planned for in the design of the project, learning occurred at three levels: learning by the planners as individuals engaging in daily practices, learning through changes in the planners' relationships with one another and with residents of Santo Andre's Watershed Protection Area, and learning through and about the organisational processes of the municipal government itself. It is concluded that international capacity-building projects can contribute to the enhancement of local planning to the extent they are structured to address the potential for learning at all three of these levels.

No description available.

In this thesis, a smectite rich bentonite ore deposit from Porto Santo Island (Portugal) was characterized and then applied to prepare clay-biopolymer nanocomposite material. Natural clay sample is mainly composed of Fe rich smectite, having also feldspar, calcite and magnetite-maghemite minerals. Both montmorillonite from the clay source repository (SWy-2) and the Porto Santo bentonite were used for the nanocomposite synthesis. An exocellular polysaccharide – scleroglucan was used as a biopolymer. The X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy results show that smectite is well dispersed in the scleroglucan matrix with partial exfoliation. The study of various experimental parameters reveal that only the scleroglucan/clay mineral mass ratios determine the level of the clay sheets’ dispersion in the polymer matrix. Compared to SWy-2, the Porto Santo bentonite shows a smaller degree of dispersion within the polymer matrix, but nevertheless its potential outstanding mechanical properties could be of interest for further studies.

Zugl.: Berlin, Humboldt-Univ., Diss., 2005.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2005. / Title from title screen (viewed May 13, 2009) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Dept. of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts. Includes bibliography.

Mestre -- Escola Nacional de Saude Publica, Rio de Janeiro, 2000.

Mestre -- Escola Nacional de Saude Publica, Rio de Janeiro, 2002.

Mestre -- Escola Nacional de Saude Publica, Rio de Janeiro, 2001.

Resumo: Nesta dissertação são apresentados estudos taxonômicos das espécies de Melastomataceae ocorrentes no Parque Estadual do Forno Grande (PEFG), sul do Espírito Santo. Os resultados do trabalho são apresentados em dois capítulos. No capítulo 1 que tratou dos estudos taxonômicos foram descritas as 39 espécies ocorrentes na área de estudo. As espécies distribuem-se em nove gêneros: Leandra (12), Miconia (12), Tibouchina (9), Bertolonia, Lavoisiera, Marcetia, Meriania, Microlepis e Pleiochiton (1). Quatro espécies são novos registros para o estado: Bertolonia mosenii Cogn., Leandra aurea (Cham.) Cogn., L. tomentosa Cogn. e Tibouchina semidecandra Cogn. Três espécies encontram-se ameaçadas de extinção: Meriania tetramera Wurdack, Miconia octopetala Cogn. e Tibouchina castellensis Brade, endêmica do local. Uma chave de identificação, ilustrações e dados de distribuição geográfica das espécies são apresentadas. Uma espécie nova de Tibouchina foi encontrada na área de estudo e é descrita no Capítulo 2.