Nitrogen removal from municipal wastewater with the application of deammonification process offers an operational cost reduction, especially if it is combined with a maximal use of organic content of wastewater for biogas production. In this thesis, two approaches for integration of the deammonification process into the municipal wastewater treatment scheme were studied. The first approach is based on ammonium concentration from municipal wastewater by ion exchange followed by biological removal of ammonium from the concentrated stream by deammonification process. Experiments with synthetic and real municipal wastewater showed that strong acid cation resin is suitable for ammonium concentration due to its high exchange capacity and fast regeneration. Since NaCl was used for regeneration of ion exchange materials, spent regenerant had elevated salinity. The deammonification biomass was adapted to NaCl content of 10-15 g/L by step-wise salinity increase. The technology was tested in batch mode with 99.9 % of ammonium removal from wastewater with ion exchange and up to 95 % of nitrogen removal from spent regenerant by deammonification process. The second studied approach was to apply anammox process to low-concentrated municipal wastewater in a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) and integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) system without a pre-concentration step. After a 5 months period of transition to mainstream wastewater the pilot plant was operated during 22 months and stable performance of one-stage deammonification was proven. Clear advantage of IFAS system was shown. The highest stable nitrogen removal efficiency of 70 % and a nitrogen removal rate of 55 g N/(m3·d) was reached. Moreover, the influence of operation conditions on competition between ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) was studied by literature review, batch tests and continuous pilot plant operation. / <p>QC 20170309</p>

This thesis revolves around the subject of fake news, a phenomenon that has been highly discussed with the advent of the internet-based media. It aims to shed light on the problem of fake news and its implications in the Turkish mainstream media by mainly departing from the discourse theory, as well as by using additional theoretical approaches over fake news and media in polarized settings. In that sense, five research questions were developed to understand how fake news items disseminate in the Turkish media ecosystem, and what this could mean for the Turkish mainstream media specifically from the contexts of political partisanship and polarization. In order to answer the research questions, a total number of 687 fake news items have been analyzed in three different data sets. After providing an overall picture of the problem of fake news in the Turkish media ecosystem, the thesis specifically focuses on fake news items that circulate within the Turkish mainstream media. Overall, 77 fake news items are further subjected to an analysis of discourse activity schema in order to find out the narratives that the fake news items are connected to the Turkish political and social context. The research shows that the use of fake news items in the Turkish mainstream media indicates divergent and conflicting epistemologies over certain social and political themes, which are government- opposition divide, secular religious divide, economy, and education. Moreover, the research also indicates that certain social and political themes are under the discursive hegemony of certain groups within the Turkish mainstream media organizations. These themes are found to be anti-immigration, anti-US, anti-Israel, and FETO. Eventually, two main points are discussed in relation to the given theoretical background. First, the problem of fake news in the Turkish mainstream media indicates a damaged understanding of journalism in the country, which requires a reorientation and reexamination. Second, media in polarized settings may increase partisan alignments and divergent epistemologies, which can lead to the use of fake news items in order to empower certain agendas.

Este trabalho apresenta uma análise sobre a difusão do rap no cenário cultural, a partir da influência de um dos principais mediadores culturais presentes nesse processo, a mídia hegemônica. Dessa maneira, buscou-se identificar as consequências desse fenômeno nos processos de produção, difusão e recepção cultural, a partir da análise da cobertura midiática sobre o rap e o hip-hop no Brasil, entre os anos 1980 e 2000. Partindo da premissa de que o rap figura como uma ferramenta de instrumentalização da luta pelo reconhecimento de direitos das minorias políticas, além de revelar uma linguagem estética relevante, que rompe com os padrões tradicionais de produção artística, a presente pesquisa foca no processo de mediação do rap pelo agente midiático, especificamente, a partir da veiculação de seu conteúdo no jornal Folha de S.Paulo, nas revistas Veja e BIZZ e na programação da emissora MTV. Considerando o fato de que o rap se constitui em uma expressão inovadora, tanto no campo cultural quanto social, durante a trajetória da pesquisa ficou evidente o seu apelo mercadológico e o crescente interesse com que a mídia acompanhou a evolução desse fenômeno. Considerando a aproximação da mídia à cena rap, foi possível verificar a influência exercida da primeira sobre a segunda, revelando as relações simbióticas e recíprocas entre as esferas de mediação, produção e de circulação no campo cultural. A análise também revelou que a abordagem da mídia tradicional sobre o rap mobiliza códigos que o associam a três perspectivas: moda, movimento e mercado. A alternância do predomínio de uma dessas abordagens se alinha às transformações sociais e à emergência de novos discursos que ecoam em um determinado contexto. Contudo, a partir da ocupação de um espaço definitivo do rap na mídia hegemônica e da consolidação de um mercado próprio, o rap passa a contar com uma nova frente dentro do movimento que se mobiliza a partir dos recursos materiais e simbólicos em voga para elaborar estratégias alternativas de produção, difusão e comercialização cultural. / This work presents an analysis about the rap diffusion in the cultural scene, starting from the influence of one of the main cultural mediators present in this process, the mainstream media. Therefore, it was identified the consequences of this phenomenon in production processes, dissemination and cultural reception, from the analysis of media coverage of the rap and hip-hop in Brazil, between the years of 1980 and 2000. Considering that rap figures as tool of instrumentalization of the struggle for recognition of rights of political minorities, besides proves itself a relevant aesthetic language, which breaks with traditional patterns of artistic production, the following research focuses on the process of mediation by rap media agent, specifically, based on the diffusion of their content in Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, in the magazines Veja and BIZZ and on MTV station. Considering the fact that rap constitutes an innovative expression, both in the cultural field as social, while devoloping this research, it became clear its marketing appeal and the growing interest that the media followed the evolution of this phenomenon. Considering the approach of the media to rap scene, it was possible to identify the influence exerted from media to rap, revealing the symbiotic and reciprocal relationship between mediation spheres, production and circulation in the cultural field. The analysis also revealed that the approach and influence of traditional media over the rap mobilizes codes that combines it into three perspectives: fashion, moviment and market. The alternation of the predominance of one of these approaches is aligned with the social changes and the emergence of new discourses that echo in a determinated context. However, from the occupation of a definitive rap space in the mainstream media and the consolidation of its own market, the rap now has a new front in the movement that is mobilized from the material and symbolic resources in vogue to develop alternative strategies production, dissemination and cultural marketing.

Film marketing is gaining new features every day and is underlying a dynamic development. This work is devoted to two categories of films - art house and mainstream films in European and American markets. Film is a very complex and unique product and therefore requires specific distribution and communication strategies. This thesis analyses the differences in marketing and promotion between art house and mainstream films. The aim of this paper is to explore contemporary means of marketing art house and mainstream films as well as the differences in the perception of these film categories by the viewers. The theoretical part is devoted to set light upon the differences in expectations of the viewer and the various marketing strategies with regard to these film categories. The practical part is dedicated to the analysis of the qualitative research, which was carried out for the purposes of this thesis. The research is based on personal interviews as well as on a questionnaire survey. The conclusion resulting from this research is applied on the hypotheses stated in the beginning of the thesis and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different marketing tools used by these two film categories as well as their anticipated future development.

Take that woman explores social issues as a piece of mainstream fiction. The story revolves around realistic characters, in a contemporary setting, facing situations which many people encounter in their lives. The piece isn't didactic. Nor does it force-feed the reader; rather it provides information in bite-sized pieces so it can be easily digested. Take that woman is the story of a group of people brought together by a wedding. Set in the present, the action takes place in Canberra on a day in early November. The story moves between Australia and England, between the present and the past as it examines the conflicts the day generates for the couple's families and friends. Not only does the wedding serve as a device to bring the characters together, it also highlights the seriousness of the issues being explored. The account is a fictional piece as fiction can be an effective communication tool. Information is disseminated in different forms through a variety of media, both electronic and print. But, however widely, or creatively, the material is distributed, there is nothing to ensure the recipient will read or understand the information. Mainstream fiction can be a means of raising awareness about serious social issues, of changing attitudes, and, ultimately, behaviours. The research for the piece involved a search of literature, films and videos, and relevant websites. It also consisted of personal interviews with subject experts, workers in the field of domestic violence, and people who have been exposed to violence in their own relationships.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.

In the following study I probe the social world of hard-rock music. By conducting interviews with four young male enthusiasts of this music I try to develop a general picture of this social world, as well as of the basic elements on which this particular subculture is constructed. The identity of a hard-rocker is based upon a number of factors beyond just a preference for that music. Throughout the interviews I encountered many implicit norms that one must followed in order to be able to see oneself as a true hard-rocker. I also found that from the respondents’ perspective, the mainstream culture has, throughout the history of metal music, used various ways to counter the spreading of this genre. Such measures include both the launching of moral panics as well as attempts to incorporate elements of heavy metal into the so-called mainstream genres. Finally, I also noted an interesting relationship between the identitiy of being a hard-rocker and related cultural practices. There is a circuit between these practices and the identitiy, in which the practices fuel and deepen the identity, and the idenity in turn promotes the particular practices.

With the advances in technology and popularization of the Internet, the interaction of human beings in real society has extended to the Internet forum. Due to the low barrier for entering the Internet, people can always speak their mind freely and make comments on whatever they want to. Behind a world that seems to have freedom and equality of speech, the expression of opinions is being tested by standards of different cultures and living backgrounds. Using Gossiping¢wthe most popular and interactive board on PTT¢w as the source data, this study identifies the spiral of silence between the mainstream opinions and non-mainstream opinions. Where the spiral of silence occurred, the study also examines the force which affected the spiral based on the theories of stigma and analyze its accompanying meanings. With different positions, people resulted in different critical standards and stigma phenomenon. When facing stigma, people should realize the causes of things from the social and cultural dimensions, and rethink the positive meanings that stigma brings to us instead of being afraid of it.

<p>In the following study I probe the social world of hard-rock music. By conducting interviews with four young male enthusiasts of this music I try to develop a general picture of this social world, as well as of the basic elements on which this particular subculture is constructed. The identity of a hard-rocker is based upon a number of factors beyond just a preference for that music. Throughout the interviews I encountered many implicit norms that one must followed in order to be able to see oneself as a true hard-rocker. I also found that from the respondents’ perspective, the mainstream culture has, throughout the history of metal music, used various ways to counter the spreading of this genre. Such measures include both the launching of moral panics as well as attempts to incorporate elements of heavy metal into the so-called mainstream genres. Finally, I also noted an interesting relationship between the identitiy of being a hard-rocker and related cultural practices. There is a circuit between these practices and the identitiy, in which the practices fuel and deepen the identity, and the idenity in turn promotes the particular practices.</p>

Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2006.