O objetivo da presente pesquisa é explorar a mobilização legal de causas políticas, a partir de um estudo de caso sobre quatro entidades de defesa de direitos brasileiras: Sociedade Paraense de Direitos Humanos - SDDH , Centro de Defesa de Direitos Humanos Petrópolis – CDDH, Grupo de Assistência Jurídica às Organizações Populares – GAJOP, e Cidadania, Estudo, Pesquisa, Informação e Ação - CEPIA. Com base predominantemente no uso da metodologia qualitativa, foram analisados relatórios de atividades anuais, revistas e folhetos, produzidos pelas referidas ONGs no período que abrange 1998 até 2010. Visando explorar os distintos formatos de atuação destas entidades no processo de defesa e construção de causas políticas, foram construídas categorias analíticas, que anunciam os principais argumentos emergentes. Os argumentos mais recorrentemente mobilizados caracterizam uma tendência de ativismo por parte das agentes das entidades estudadas. Questões de gênero, diversidade racial e vulnerabilidade social são temas tratados como sendo questão de “direitos humanos”, revelando a apropriação de distintos recursos do universo jurídico e diferentes usos do direito enquanto forma estratégica de mobilização política. / The objective of the current research is to explore legal mobilization of political causes starting with a case study about four brazilian human right’s institutions: Paraense Human Rights Society – SDDH, Petrópolis Human Rights Defence Center – CDDH, Popular Organizations Legal Assistance Group – GAJOP, and Citizenship, Studies, Research, Information and Action – CEPIA. Mainly based in the use of qualitative methodology, anual activity reports, magazines and flyers produced by refered NGOs within the years 1998 to 2010 were analyzed. With the aim of studying these institutions’ distinct performance formats in the process of putting up and defending political causes. Analytical categories were built, announcing the main emerging arguments. The most recurringly mobilized arguments feature an activism tendency by agents of the researched institutions, which are within a point of view related to Law and Feminism, gender issues, racial diversity and social vulnerability as a matter of “human rights”, prioritizing the appropriation of distinct uses of Law, as well as, resources from law universe as a form of strategic political mobilization.

Orientador: José Geraldo Trani Brandão / Banca: Luiz Carlos de Queiroz Faenquil / Banca: Mauro Pedro Peres / Resumo: Na fisioterapia existem procedimentos que dependem da percepção manual do fisioterapeuta por estarem relacionados à aplicação de forças graduadas. Alguns estudos demonstraram que há uma grande dificuldade na percepção da força, ocorrendo grande variabilidade em sua aplicação. O objetivo deste estudo foi desenvolver um equipamento portátil para a medida de forças aplicadas por fisioterapeutas durante a realização da técnica de pressão póstero anterior central na coluna lombar e analisar alguns parâmetros envolvidos no método de mobilização articular. Houve variabilidade na forma de aplicação das cargas em diferentes aspectos. Dessa forma, podemos demonstrar com esses resultados, que a percepção manual do fisioterapeuta durante a realização da técnica de pressão póstero anterior central não foi tão precisa comparando os valores estimados com os valores das cargas aplicadas durante o intervalo de coleta. / Abstract: In Physical Therapy there are some procedures that depend on manual sensibility of physical therapist because that involves graded forces. Some studies have shown that there is a great difficulty in the perception of the force, occuring great variability on the application. The purpose of this study is to develop a portable device to measure the forces applied by physical therapists during the procedure of posteroanterior central pressure in the lumbar spine and to analyze some parameter involved in the method of articular mobilization. There was variability in application of the technique in many ways. Therefore, we can show with these results that the manual sensibility of the physical therapists during the application of the posteroanterior central pressure technique wasnþt accurate comparing the estimated values to the actual results obtained during the experiment interval of time. / Mestre

O objetivo da presente pesquisa é explorar a mobilização legal de causas políticas, a partir de um estudo de caso sobre quatro entidades de defesa de direitos brasileiras: Sociedade Paraense de Direitos Humanos - SDDH , Centro de Defesa de Direitos Humanos Petrópolis – CDDH, Grupo de Assistência Jurídica às Organizações Populares – GAJOP, e Cidadania, Estudo, Pesquisa, Informação e Ação - CEPIA. Com base predominantemente no uso da metodologia qualitativa, foram analisados relatórios de atividades anuais, revistas e folhetos, produzidos pelas referidas ONGs no período que abrange 1998 até 2010. Visando explorar os distintos formatos de atuação destas entidades no processo de defesa e construção de causas políticas, foram construídas categorias analíticas, que anunciam os principais argumentos emergentes. Os argumentos mais recorrentemente mobilizados caracterizam uma tendência de ativismo por parte das agentes das entidades estudadas. Questões de gênero, diversidade racial e vulnerabilidade social são temas tratados como sendo questão de “direitos humanos”, revelando a apropriação de distintos recursos do universo jurídico e diferentes usos do direito enquanto forma estratégica de mobilização política. / The objective of the current research is to explore legal mobilization of political causes starting with a case study about four brazilian human right’s institutions: Paraense Human Rights Society – SDDH, Petrópolis Human Rights Defence Center – CDDH, Popular Organizations Legal Assistance Group – GAJOP, and Citizenship, Studies, Research, Information and Action – CEPIA. Mainly based in the use of qualitative methodology, anual activity reports, magazines and flyers produced by refered NGOs within the years 1998 to 2010 were analyzed. With the aim of studying these institutions’ distinct performance formats in the process of putting up and defending political causes. Analytical categories were built, announcing the main emerging arguments. The most recurringly mobilized arguments feature an activism tendency by agents of the researched institutions, which are within a point of view related to Law and Feminism, gender issues, racial diversity and social vulnerability as a matter of “human rights”, prioritizing the appropriation of distinct uses of Law, as well as, resources from law universe as a form of strategic political mobilization.

A desconfiança em instituições e atores políticos pode favorecer a desmobilização do cidadão quando mantida por prazos mais longos. Este estudo, baseado na análise estatística de dados do Estudo Eleitoral Brasileiro de 2002, encontrou evidências de que a participação eleitoral e não-eleitoral e o interesse por política são menores entre aqueles que consideram os políticos mais desonestos e declaram menor adesão a partidos. A exposição à mídia jornalística teve impacto reduzido na confiança política, mas mostrou influência positiva para a mobilização, no contexto das eleições brasileiras de 2002. / Distrust in political actors and institutions may foster citizen\'s political demobilization, if sustained for longer periods. This study, based on statistical analysis of data gathered by Estudo Eleitoral Brasileiro of 2002, found evidences that electoral and non-electoral participation, as well as interest in politics, are lower among those expressing less confidence in politicians\' honesty and less attachment to parties. Journalistic media exposure showed little impact on political trust, but consistent influence on mobilization, in the Brazilian electoral context of 2002.

Legacy mine sites are of concern due to their prevalence and associated environmental and human health risks. The United States Bureau of Land Management estimates as many as 500,000 abandoned mine sites in the US (BLM, 2017). Sites requiring costly management and long-term response to the environmental hazardous risks can be designated to a National Priority List (NPL) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) (EPA, 2017). One such site, located in Central Arizona, is the Iron King Mine Humboldt Smelter Superfund Site (IKMHSSS). The site was designated to the NPL in 2008 due to concerns regarding the size of the tailing pile, the proximity of contaminated materials to the town of Dewey-Humboldt and waterways, and the dangerous concentrations of arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) of the tailings (EPA, 2017). Remediation efforts have been ongoing since the designation of the site to the NPL, including sampling, yard soil removal, and distribution of information to the local community regarding risks from the site. The University of Arizona Superfund Research Program (UA SRP) has conducted greenhouse and phytostabilization studies of the site in an attempt to understand the processes and mechanisms employed to stabilize the tailings materials as well as reduce dust emissions from the tailings to the town of Dewey-Humboldt (Gil-Loaiza et al., 2016). This effort has successfully demonstrated a reduction of dust emissions (Sáez, 2016), however chemical changes to the tailings due to phytostabilization are the focus of this research. This work attempts to ascertain whether adverse effects from the method of phytostabilization are observed in the pore waters of the tailing material, in particular the potential for contamination of water sources by mobilized As through chemical or microbiological means. Recent studies have proposed potential mechanisms that can promote mobilization of As by dissolved organic matter (DOM) (Mladenov et al., 2015). Heterotrophic microbial respiration under O2 limited conditions can cause the reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+, enhancing desorption or dissolution of As from Fe containing minerals (Hasan et al., 2007). Additionally, DOM competes with As for sorption sites at mineral surfaces (Grafe et al., 2002). In this study, batch and column experiments were used to investigate the mechanisms of sequestration and release of As in compost amended mine tailings. Mine tailings were reacted in triplicate in the presence and absence of DOM using plain tailings and radiated tailings for microbiological control and under anoxic and oxic conditions at timescales from ranging from 3 to 900 hours for batch experiments and 1 to 900 pore volumes in column experiments. The highest As release to pore waters was observed under anoxic conditions in the presence of DOM both with microbial activity inhibited and uninhibited through 60Co gamma irradiation after 3 and 910 h of reaction. The release of As from batch experiments was lowest in the control treatment with no DOM added to tailings in both anoxic and oxic treatments after 24 h. Column flow-through experiments were also carried out to better understand the kinetic biogeochemistry of the tailings interacting with DOM. Columns were completed under suboxic conditions to best mimic field scenarios. To test the effect of microbes, control tailing samples were sterilized by 60Co gamma irradiation prior to flowing DOM. Pore volumes (PV) were collected using fractionation equipment from 1 to 900 PVs. The release of As was highest in the presence of DOM after approximately 40 PVs when As release began increasing to its maximum release of 50 μmol l-1. No significant difference between irradiated and non-irradiated tailings was observed in either irradiated or non-irradiated tailings. Lowest release of As to effluent solutions was in the absence of DOM. These results were consistent with the findings from batch experiments. Batch and column experiments show that DOM influences the mobilization of As from mine tailings, and demonstrates the potential risk to proximal ground water resources in the absence of attenuation processes between the oxidized tailings and groundwater.

Magister Scientiae - MSc / The primary origin of this project is due to a high demand for freshwater supply in the Berg Water Management Area (WMA). Most of the Berg WMA`s freshwater supply does not live up to the high ecological standards. This is mainly due to high sediments loading in the Berg River which is one of the water supplies to the Berg WMA. The project was conducted on a small-scale catchment at Langgewens experimental farms in Swartland district. The focus of this study was to address some of the hydrological processes active in the research catchment: infiltration, run-off and sediment mobilization on different soil types under wheat and canola vegetation cover. This was done to investigate the origin of sediments in the Berg River. Considering the results, one might conclude that the decayed root systems from the canola and wheat vegetation covers, organic matter content, soil cracks, slope orientation, and soil composition, all played a major role in influencing the ability of the soil to absorb the simulated rainfall. Because the infiltration was calculated using the difference between the incoming simulated rainfall and the measured run-off, there was an inverse relationship between run-off and infiltration. When run-off was low, the infiltration was high and vice versa. iv Factors that governed sediment mobilisation within the ring area are micro topography within the ring area, the slope gradient and vegetation covers. Considering the results, vegetation cover played a pivotal role and it must be maintained at all times. It is advisable that the land users leave crop residual cover behind after the annual harvest and not expose the land surface in bare form for too long as this will generate more run-off and increase sediment mobilisation. The analyses showed that wheat crop protects the soil from rain drop impact than on canola crop.

This paper seeks to examine the impact of electoral websites on young people’s electoral engagement, focusing on the 2012 London Mayoral and US Presidential election. It does so by employing an innovative research design to connect the supply and demand side of the equation, including quantitative content analysis and an innovative experiment that allows for qualitative evaluation as well as for an examination of the causal effects of exposure to specific websites. The three specific types of websites examined in each election are: youth mobilization websites, the official candidate campaigning websites and Vote Advice Applications. We explore the effects of these websites on behavioural, cognitive and attitudinal aspects of engagement: likelihood of voting, attention to news, internal and external efficacy and political trust. Research to date on the effect of electoral websites on young people has produced mixed results on political engagement and efficacy (e.g. Tedesco, 2007; Xenos and Kyoung, 2008). We find no direct effect on young people for voting across the websites but we do find a number of significant effects across the other variables, which are occasionally found only amongst those with the lowest pre-existing levels of engagement. This leads us to conclude that the web can create a pathway to participation for young people but this is dependent on the specific type and attributes of the website, the election context and the young person themselves.

This thesis seeks to analyse the role of the Gambian diaspora activists in Gambian politics particularly during the December 1st, 2016, Presidential election in which the long-time dictator Yahya Jammeh was defeated by the less experienced and known Adama Barrow. Despite an extensive mobilization effort over the past twenty-two years, spanning across continents, the fragile and disorganized Gambian diaspora has been unable to exert influence in Gambian politics due to unfavourable domestic conditions such as the unwillingness of the opposition to unite as well as state repression. However, the formation of coalition 2016 provided the diaspora activists an opportunity to engage effectively in mobilizing against the Jammeh regime through their online media platforms as well as financial contribution.  By using a multi-level research design using interviews and document analyses, the thesis explores the mobilization strategies of the Gambian diaspora as means of influencing at both the homeland and international levels.

The objective of this dissertation was to evaluate an integrated knowledge translation intervention in a community-based service agency providing services to adults with intellectual disabilities. The dissertation had two objectives: 1) to understand how stakeholders create knowledge, collaborate, and make decisions to implement knowledge on supporting sexuality, and 2) to examine the underlying processes of integrated knowledge translation and how these interplay in the context of community and intellectual disability research. First, we conducted a scoping review to identify strategies to support the sexuality of persons with intellectual disabilities. This knowledge was made available and discussed with stakeholders of the participating agency (i.e., persons with intellectual disabilities, front-line staff, caregivers, supervisors, and senior management) using various methods such as focus groups, an evidence brief and a stakeholder dialogue. Data collection included transcripts of discussions with stakeholders, facilitator notes, notes from the primary researcher, and two self-report questionnaires. The intervention resulted in two in-person workshops and an online program on sexual health for persons with intellectual disabilities and front-line staff. Second, we identified barriers and facilitators to conducting an integrated knowledge translation intervention in a community and disability setting. These included power dynamics and the accessibility of the integrated knowledge translation intervention to knowledge users. The findings from these two aims presented in this dissertation inform changes that may further increase the relevance and applicability of knowledge translation interventions in the community and disability setting.

Magister Commercii - MCom / This minithesis aims to determine whether South Africa's microfinance institutions are operating efficiently and whether efficiency can be enhanced. Using the United Nations model and framework for efficiency, it examines the key principles of operational efficiency in the South African microfinance context. The paper begins with an overview of the literature relating to the principles of efficiency as underscored in the United Nations model.