Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Judith Hough-Goldstein, Dept. of Entomology & Wildlife Ecology. Includes bibliographical references.

As our society heads into aging society, along with more double-career family, economic pressure for young couples, and the increase of women employment rate, it becomes inevitable for the government to import alien nursing workers to meet domestic needs. Nowadays, we see these workers cross the border and fly over the ocean to Taiwan ¡V their promised land. Indeed, how much do we know about them? The current research, instead of studying on how these workers influence our society as most of other related literature, focuses on the situations of these alien nursing workers in the hospital, treat them as individuals with emotions and selves not just economic values to Taiwanese. In this thesis, the role that the alien nursing workers play in the medical system and the ways that they interact with other people are discussed. As ¡§role" and "interaction" are both abstract and complicated facets of social life, the research adopts qualitative methods of in-depth interviews and field observation. Six alien nursing workers, three nursing workers, three nurses, a service user, and two government section members are interviewed.

Thesis (M.Inst.Agrar)(Agronomy)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1981.

Thesis (M. Environmental Science)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Thesis (M. Environmental Science)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

This study encompasses an examination of the awards of the Iran-U. S. Claims Tribunal in cases of expropriation and nationalization of Foreign Investment. The question of compensation for expropriation and nationalization of alien property has always been a controversial issue in the relationship between the foreign investors and investees particularly in the third world countries. This question has been a major point of discussion in international law as well. The Iran-U. S. Claims Tribunal is the most recent body to deal with the question of expropriation; nationalization and compensation. In this study I have attempted to see what the awards of the Tribunal have contributed to the resolution of the controversial question of compensation for expropriation and nationalization. In 1982 when the Tribunal began work, the International law standard to be applied in determining compensation in cases of expropriation and nationalization was a controversial issue. The period from 1982 onwards might be considered as a new era in international law. Thus to explore the present status of the international law of compensation the awards of the Tribunal have been examined. I have attempted to find out what standard of compensation has been applied in the awards of the Tribunal; what has been the governing law; what has been the context of that. law; and finally what have been the justifications' for the application of that law. These issues are discussed within eight chapters. The ninth chapter, however, reviews the findings of the study and contains some general conclusions. The final assessment of this study is that, the decisions of the Tribunal have been given against a background of the increasing recognition of the need for foreign investment in the developing countries and have made an important contribution to the law in this field.

The problem of invasive alien species (IAS) is recognized as the second most serious threat to loss of biodiversity after habitat destruction. It is a problem largely created by humans as they transport and introduce species, deliberately and accidentally, from one part of the globe to another. The pressures exerted on biodiversity by international trade are one of the most serious aspects of the IAS problem. Although states are under obligations in international environmental law to prevent the entry of, and control, those alien species that threaten biodiversity, to date state practice has often been found wanting. In particular, quarantine regulation, which can be a state??s first line of defence against IAS, is mainly used by states to protect their farming and agricultural product sectors rather than biodiversity at large. The reasons for this include lack of domestic resources and lack of guidance at the international level. However, even if states were to expand the purview of quarantine, the question arises whether they would be able to use quarantine regulation to protect biodiversity from IAS while simultaneously fulfilling their international trade law obligations. This study seeks to answer this question by examining international environmental law and international trade law in their application to quarantine regulation. In doing so, the study identifies many areas of conflict. The different policies that underpin environmental and trade regimes mean that environmental concepts, such as the precautionary principle and the ecosystem approach, are difficult to apply within the international trade law regime. A way of achieving a more harmonized international response to the problem of IAS is suggested by incorporating environmental considerations into the international standards used by states to design and implement domestic quarantine measures. To facilitate the practical implementation of international standards the study further recommends appropriate financial and institutional capacity building mechanisms.

Evolution can occur rapidly, along timescales that are traditionally regarded as 'ecological'. Despite growing acceptance among biologists of rapid evolution, a strong paradigm of contemporary evolution is still absent in many sub-disciplines. Here I apply a contemporary evolution viewpoint to conservation biology. Specifically, I examine the impact of cane toads (Bufo marinus) on Australian snakes. Toads were introduced into Australia in 1935, have spread rapidly and represent a novel, extremely toxic prey item to na�ve Australian predators (including snakes). Based on dietary preferences and geographic distributions I find that 49 species of Australian snake are potentially at risk from the invasion of the toad. Furthermore, examination of physiological resistance to toad toxin in 10 of these �at risk� species strongly suggests that most species of Australian snake are poorly equipped to deal with a likely dose of toad toxin. Even species that are highly resistant to toad toxin (such as the keelback, Tropidonophis mairii) face indirect fitness costs associated with consuming toads. Within a population of snakes however, the impact of toads is unlikely to be random. For example, the examination of several component allometries describing the interaction between snakes and toads revealed that, within a species, smaller snakes are more likely to ingest a fatal dose of toad toxin than are larger snakes. Further consideration of the interaction between snakes and toads suggests that toads will not only be exerting differential impact on snakes based upon morphology, but also exert non-random selection on prey preference and resistance to toad toxin in snake populations. To examine the possibility of a morphological response by snakes to toads, I examined changes in the body size and relative head size of four species of snake as a consequence of time since exposure to toads. Two of the species (green treesnakes and red-bellied blacksnakes) are predicted to face strong impacts from toads. These two species showed an increase in mean body size and a decrease in relative head size as a consequence of time since exposure to toads; both changes in an adaptive direction. In contrast, the other two species (keelbacks and swampsnakes) are predicted to face much lower impact from toads, and these two species showed little or no evidence of morphological change associated with time since exposure to toads. These results indicate an adaptive change in morphology at a rate that is proportional to the predicted level of impact for each species, strongly suggesting an evolved response. Red-bellied blacksnakes (a toad-vulnerable species) were further assessed for evolved responses in prey preference and toxin resistance. Comparisons between toad-exposed and toad-na�ve populations of blacksnakes revealed that snakes from toad-exposed populations exhibited slightly higher resistance to toad toxin and a much-reduced tendency to eat toads, when compared with toad-na�ve snakes. Na�ve snakes exhibited no tendency to learn avoidance of toxic prey, nor were they able to acquire resistance to toxin as a result of several sub-lethal doses, suggesting that the observed differences between populations is evolved rather than acquired. Together, these results strongly suggest that blacksnakes are exhibiting an evolved shift in prey preference and toxin resistance as a consequence of exposure to toads. Thus, it appears that snakes are exhibiting adaptation at multiple traits in response to exposure to toads. Given the high likelihood that these adaptive shifts have an evolved basis, it appears that the impact of toads will decrease with time in many snake populations. But what about toads? Because the outcome of the interaction between a toad and a snake is also mediated by the body size and relative toxicity of toads, it is important to understand how these traits vary in space and time. Exploratory analysis revealed that toads exhibit a decrease in body size and a decrease in relative toxicity as a consequence of time since colonisation, indicating that their impact on native predators decreases with time. Additionally, there appears to be meaningful spatial variation in toad relative toxicity, indicating that some populations of native predators are facing higher impact from toads than others. Overall, these results clearly indicate the importance of assessing the potential for rapid evolutionary response in impacted systems. Doing so may provide evidence that some species are in less trouble than originally thought. Additionally, and as more data accumulate, it may be possible to characterise certain categories of environmental impact by their potential for eliciting adaptive response from �impacted� species. This approach has strong implications for the way conservation priorities are set and the way in which conservation dependent populations are managed.

This dissertation is divided into six sections. The first section, the introduction and literature review, also covers the aim and objectives of the thesis. The second section discusses the labour migration from the Philippines to the outside world. It then explores the push forces and pull factors for Filipino migration in terms of: (i) economic issues, including unemployment and unchecked population growth, fiscal deficit and public-sector debt, natural disaster and globalisation; (ii) political factors, including a weak and inefficient state, security problems, and laws and policies; and (iii) dynamics of marriage and family migration, personal choice, wage difference and level of skills. The third section discusses the Philippines Government's roles in promoting migration, in implementing policies to protect its Filipino migrants and in providing supports for 'overseas contract workers' (OCWs). The fourth part of the thesis explains the importance of the remittances that overseas Filipinos send back to their home country. A series of case studies is presented on the fifth chapter; these focus on Filipino professional migration to Australia and particularly the state of South Australia. The case studies provide a more in-depth understanding of the Filipino migrants' role and position in a foreign country. The findings and observations made in the study are synthesised in the concluding sixth section.