California has long been credited for being an environmental policy pioneer. It only achieved this status after allowing pollution to develop for decades, however. As the aerospace and other manufacturing industries took off during World War II, the environment was sacrificed for industrial capitalism. In the 1950s, California began to respond to pollution after concern was expressed by the state and its residents. Today, the US EPA has adopted California emissions standards and looks to the state for guidance when establishing its policies regarding mobile emissions; California is an environmental policy leader. While California is recognized as an environmental leader, China is perceived as having forfeited the environment in exchange for rapid industrial growth starting in 1978. As pollution has worsened in China, the rest of the world has watched the Chinese Communist Party ignore its growing problem. Recently, the Chinese government started to acknowledge the growing concerns and expressed an interest in learning what it can do to mitigate its pollution problem. To this end, the Chinese government has been sending delegations of policymakers and researchers to California to learn from California’s successes and failures regarding environmental policy. This thesis compares California’s and China’s environmental degradation and policy response to the issue of pollution. Both California and China developed by way of industrial capitalism and have worked together in the past. California and China are inextricably linked, and have an opportunity to learn from one another and to work together to reach a common goal of pollution reduction.

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The diploma theses Visual Media in the Urban Space deals with the issue of commercial visual media in the public space and the way they are incorporated to the city centers. I am focusing on that kind of media that invade the public space with the biggest force, such as billboards, bigboards, citylights, video screens, wraps, etc. The goal of the research is to compare the placement and the quantity of the out-of-home advertisements in the center of Prague and Barcelona. The research is done from the historical, cultural and geographical point of view (I am not going to investigate the visual messages from the semiotic point of view). I have chosen these two cities because they are the economic and cultural centers of the region and they have a very long history. Since these two cities are placed in the European cultural space and there are global agencies operating on the market I suppose there will be some parallels in the placement and appearance of the visual messages. My hypothesis is that most of the advertisements will be placed in the new-built neighborhoods and the historical centers will be less "visually polluted". Another hypothesis is that the public space in Prague will be filled more with aggressive media forms than the public space in Barcelona. According to my hypothesis there is...

This study examines the readability of text books used by Year 11 students at a Secondary College in the A.C.T. Twenty-seven texts are examined with the majority being taken from the area of Social Science. The texts are examined using the following measures, The Fry Readability Index, The SMOG Formula, The Cloze Measure, The number of Words per T-Unit and the level of Abstraction of the text. According to these indices between 60% and 84% of the texts are too difficult for students commencing Year 11. This study also examined the interrelationship between the indices. A feature of this study is that it introduces into readability measures a consideration of the number of words per T-Unit and level of Abstraction

Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Chimie. Structure et dynamique des systèmes réactifs : Lille 1 : 2006. / N° d'ordre (Lille 1) : 3846. Titre provenant de la page de titre du document numérisé. Bibliogr. p. 309-329. Liste des publications et des communications.

This thesis examines social and political responses to poor air quality in Vancouver, British Columbia from the 1950s through the early 1970s. Businesses dependent on local markets, the City of Vancouver and medical health officers organized the first civic efforts to strengthen air pollution control in the early 1950s. The provincial government only engaged with the air pollution issue publicly in the early 1960s, and delayed developing clear policy until 1969. Social Credit politicians and representatives of exporting industries generally characterized pollution impacts as aesthetic rather than as harmful to health. This characterization helped justify keeping air policy implementation at the municipal level. Excepting Vancouver, this level proved incapable of dealing with the problem. Public protests of poor air quality increased over time even as visible pollutants decreased. The capitalist state’s imperative to support large corporate interests helps explain the Province’s consistently weak stance on air pollution policy. However, the contradictory imperative of democratic legitimation helps explain policy shifts during the Bennett administration, such as occurred during the public wave of environmental concern in the late 1960s. Vancouver’s consistently stronger stand on air pollution was supported by the local market oriented business community, market shifts to liquid fuels and deindustrialization. Vancouver’s policy experience and federal-provincial political rivalries best explain Greater Vancouver’s retention of industrial air pollution management when the Bennett administration finally asserted control over this pollution source for the rest of the province. / Graduate

Dans le cadre de l’étude de l’évolution du système climatique terrestre, comprendre la composition gazeuse et particulaire de l’atmosphère est un enjeu majeur dans notre compréhension de la Terre et de son atmosphère, de son passé et de son évolution à venir. Les aérosols secondaires, i.e. formés par nucléation, représentent la source la plus importante en nombre des aérosols atmosphériques mais prédire où, quand et en quelle proportion ces aérosols sont formés dans l’atmosphère demeure à ce jour un exercice peu fiable. C’est dans ce contexte que cette étude s’est attachée à compléter nos connaissances des processus conduisant à la formation et à la croissance des particules atmosphériques secondaires. Des études réalisées à partir de mesures de terrain à long terme sur différents sites d’altitude en Europe ont permis de mettre en évidence différentes spéciations verticales de la nucléation démontrant que ce phénomène semble être jusqu’à deux fois plus fréquents à la frontière avec la basse troposphère libre que dans la couche limite planétaire. D’autre part ces mêmes études ont pu mettre en évidence que les mécanismes conduisant à la nucléation de nouvelles particules se différencient avec l’altitude impliquant un rôle plus important de la voie de formation induite par les ions ainsi que des composés organiques volatils. La contribution de cette dernière famille de composés à la nucléation a été également testée durant plusieurs campagnes d’expérimentation en systèmes réactifs ainsi qu’en chambre de simulation atmosphérique. Différents comportements et paramétrisation de la nucléation selon la nature chimique du composé parent ont pu être mis en évidence. Enfin, des études numériques réalisées à partir de données de terrain et d’expérimentation ont permis d’explorer, d’infirmer, de confirmer et de proposer différentes approches numériques afin de simuler les évènements de formation des aérosols secondaires. / As part of the study of the evolution of Earth’s climate system, understanding the composition of gaseous and particulate atmospheric matter is a major issue in our understanding of Earth and its atmosphere, its past and its evolution. The secondary aerosols, i.e. formed from nucleation, represents the largest source in a number concentration of atmospheric particles but predicting, where, when and in what proportion these aerosols are formed in the atmosphere are still challenging. It is in this context that this study focused to complete our understanding of the process leading to the formation and growth of atmospheric secondary particles. Investigations conducted from long term field measurements at different altitude sites across Europe have made possible to highlight different vertical speciation of the nucleation process and that this phenomenon seems to be occur two times more frequently at the interface between the planetary boundary layer and the free troposphere than in the low planetary boundary layer. In addition these studies have been able to show that different nucleation path are enhanced according to the altitude, implicant a greater role in the process of formation induced by ions and volatile organic compounds at altitude sites. The contribution of this last family of compounds to the nucleation has also been examinated through numerous experimenal campaigns using reactive system as well as smog chambers experiments. Different behaviors of the new particle formation and nucleation parametrization depending on the chemical nature of the parent compound were pointed out. Finally, numerical studies based on both field and smog chamber experiments were conducted to confirm or explore, different numerical approaches to simulate the new secondary aerosol formation.

La connaissance de l'impact des aérosols sur le climat, au cours de leur cycle de vie, est aujourd'hui un enjeu majeur de la communauté scientifique. En particulier, les aérosols organiques secondaires (AOS) constituent une part importante de la fraction fine des aérosols et pourtant leurs propriétés optiques et hygroscopiques présentent encore des fortes incertitudes. Cette étude avait pour objectif de comprendre et d'évaluer l'évolution des propriétés optiques et hygroscopiques de l'AOS produit dans la chambre de simulation atmosphérique CESAM à partir de l'ozonolyse de l'α-pinène au cours de sa formation et de son vieillissement dans l'atmosphère. Afin de mener à bien ce projet, un HTDMA a été développé et validé. Cette approche a été complétée en mesurant les propriétés hygroscopiques de l'ensemble de la population polydispersé d'aérosols par humidification au sein de la chambre de simulation. Afin de mettre en évidence des modifications de propriétés optiques, l'évolution temporelle de l'indice complexe de réfraction a été déterminée. La méthodologie a été validée et l'effet du temps de contact des particules avec la vapeur d'eau a été investigué. Cette méthodologie a ensuite été appliquée à l'étude des propriétés optiques et hygroscopiques de l'AOS généré par ozonolyse de l'α-pinène au cours de sa formation et du vieillissement par différents processus: dans le noir, en présence d'un excès d'ozone et par photolyse. Les liens avec des modifications possibles de la composition chimique ont été investigués par des observations et par modélisation / The impact of aerosols on climate represents a major challenge in atmospheric science. This is particularly true for secondary organic aerosols, representing a major fraction of the fine aerosols. However, their optical and hygroscopic properties are poorly understood. The present work investigates the optical and hygroscopic properties of SOA generated from the ozonolysis of α-pinene at first and after having undergone atmospheric ageing reactions using the laboratory smog chamber CESAM. For that purpose, an HTDMA has been built and a new approach has been developed to measure hygroscopic properties of polydispersed aerosols by humidifying them directly in the smog chamber. The refractive index has been calculated to investigate the optical properties changes. The methodology has been validated and the residence time of particles with water vapor has been investigated. Then, it has been applied to study the optical and hygroscopic properties of α-pinene SOA during its formation and during ageing by various processes: reaction in the dark, with ozone, and photolysis. The link with changes in the composition has been investigated by measurements and modeling

Les aérosols organiques secondaires (AOS) représentent une fraction significative de l'aérosol fin, et contribuent donc fortement à leurs impacts sur la santé, l'environnement et le climat. Connaitre les sources, l’évolution et les propriétés des AOS constitue actuellement un véritable enjeu pour la communauté scientifique. Ces AOS sont formés par condensation sur des aérosols préexistants des espèces de faible volatilité produites au cours de l’oxydation progressive de la matière organique gazeuse. L'objectif de ce travail de thèse vise à évaluer nos connaissances sur les processus de formation de l’AOS. La méthodologie mise en place consiste à (i) représenter les processus dans un modèle déterministe et explicite, (ii) confronter le modèle à des expériences de formation d’AOS effectuées dans des environnements contrôlés et (iii) examiner la sensibilité des évolutions simulées aux paramètres peu contraints. Le modèle GECKO-A (Generator for Explicit Chemistry and Kinetics of Organics in the Atmosphere) développé au LISA permet de générer des schémas chimiques explicites sur la base de principes fondamentaux et de renseigner les grandeurs cinétiques et thermodynamiques associées. Sa capacité à représenter la formation des AOS a été évaluée par comparaison avec des expériences en chambres de simulation atmosphérique (CSA). Les comparaisons modèle/mesures des rendements finaux en AOS montrent que l’outil GECKO-A restitue correctement l’influence de la structure moléculaire sur la formation d’AOS. Cependant l’analyse quantitative montre que ces rendements sont systématiquement surestimés. Ceci suggère que des processus sont manquants ou mal représentés dans le modèle, en particulier la perte de composés organiques gazeux aux parois des CSA. L’intégration de ce processus dans le modèle conduit à (i) une diminution des rendements finaux simulés pouvant atteindre un facteur 2, (ii) une modification de la composition de l’AOS avec une sensibilité importante pour les espèces de premières générations (nitrates, hydroxynitrates et carbonylesters) et (iii) une vitesse de production de l’AOS plus faible lorsque la vitesse de transfert vers les parois augmente. La dynamique de formation des AOS n'est cependant pas correctement reproduite par le modèle. Les résultats montrent que les incertitudes sur les paramètres d’accommodation à la surface des particules et de pertes gazeuses aux parois permettent d’encadrer les données expérimentales. Aucune configuration unique de ces deux paramètres ne permet, toutefois, de représenter l’ensemble des expériences / Secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) represent a large fraction of fine particle matter, and contribute therefore to their impacts on human health, environment and climate. Understanding the sources, the evolution and the properties of SOAs is a challenge for the scientific community. These SOAs are produced by condensation onto preexisting aerosols of low volatility compounds formed during the progressive oxidation of gaseous organic matter. The objective of this thesis is to assess our knowledge of SOA formation processes. The methodology aims at (i) representing the processes in a deterministic and explicit model, (ii) comparing the modeling results with SOA measurements performed in controlled environments and (iii) examining the sensitivity of simulated results to poorly constrained parameters. The GECKO-A model (Generator for Explicit Chemistry and Kinetics of Organics in the Atmosphere) developed at LISA generates explicit chemical schemes on the basis of fundamental principles and provides the related kinetic and thermodynamic constants. Its ability to represent SOA formation was evaluated by comparisons with experiments performed in environmental chambers. The comparisons between modeled and measured final SOA yields show that the GECKO-A tool accurately reproduces the influence of molecular structure on the SOA formation. However, quantitative analysis shows that these yields are systematically overestimated. This suggests that processes are missing or misrepresented in the model, in particular the loss of gaseous organic compounds on the chamber walls. The implementation of this process into the model leads to (i) a decrease of the simulated final yields up to a factor 2, (ii) a change on SOA composition with a high sensitivity for the first generation species (nitrates, hydroxynitrates and carbonylesters) and (iii) a decrease in the SOA production rate when the mass transfer rate to the wall is increased. The model fails however to reproduce the dynamic of SOA formation. The results show that the uncertainties on particle surface accommodation and wall losses allow to encompass the experimental data. However, no unique configuration of these two parameters can be selected for all of the experiments

Relative to traditional methods, air-liquid interface (ALI) exposures constitute a superior in vitro model for assessing the toxicological activity of complex aerosols. By removing the medium barrier, aerosols can be delivered to the cells at their apical surface. This project investigated the utility of the commercially available VITROCELL® exposure system for comparative toxicological assessment of complex aerosols (freshly-generated diluted diesel exhaust and simulated urban smog). The system setup was modified to improve control of aerosol properties (temperature and humidity) and cellular responses (dynamic range). Following optimization, cytotoxicity (WST-1 and LDH assays) and expression of selected genes involved in proinflammatory signalling and oxidative stress responses (via quantitative RT-PCR) were quantified following 1 hour aerosol exposures. The results showed only limited, variable responses following exposures to high concentrations of diesel exhaust. Lack of consistent and robust responses are likely due to poor deposition of particulate matter from the test aerosols.