This thesis examines fatty acid (FA) and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) dynamics in a marine top predator, the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus,) and their transfer during lactation from mother to offspring. It examines regional and annual variations in FA composition and PCB loads, and also how the physical and chemical characteristics of these molecules (e.g. their polarity and size) can affect the rates of accumulation, mobilization and transfer of specific FAs or PCBs. Two UK grey seal colonies (North Rona (NR) and Isle of May (IOM) were studied during three consecutive years (1996-1998 and 2004-2006). Lactating grey seals and their pups were repeatedly captured during the lactation period and sampled for blubber, serum and milk and analysed for FAs and PCBs. Overall, the two colonies were clearly distinguished from each other, suggesting that the main prey species had different FA composition, and possibly that the seals from these colonies had different diets . These differences are probably a direct consequence of differences in prey community structure in the two regions where seals from these two colonies are thought to feed. Within each colony, annual differences could be detected between some years but not between others. During 1996-98, IOM seals showed a clear change in their FA profiles while NR seals did not. In contrast, during 2004-2006 NR seals showed a clear change while IOM seals did not. The changes observed in IOM during 1996-1998 are consistent with the large-scale regime shift that occurred in the North Sea during the 1990‟s. The relative proportions of each FA that were mobilized from blubber and transferred to the milk during lactation were very similar between colonies, and could be explained to a large degree by their physico-chemical properties. For a given carbon chain length the mobilization increased with increasing number of double bonds; and for a given number of double bonds the mobilization decrease with increasing carbon chain length. However, the mobilization also appeared to be influenced by the specific nutritional requirements of the growing pups. For instance, FAs that are considered essential for pup development or efficient energy storage (e.g. saturated FAs) were more highly mobilised than expected. This selectivity was also reflected in the FA composition of the different body compartments (maternal blubber and milk, pup blubber) that persisted throughout lactation. These changes were also similar between the colonies. Colonies could also be clearly distinguished by their blubber PCB profiles. IOM seals had higher total concentrations on average than NR seals (1327.9 vs. 680.2 ng/g lipid in 2005 and 1199.7 vs. 819.0 ng/g lipid in 2006). IOM seals also had higher total amounts in both years (79.2 vs. 38.0 mg in 2005 and 61.7 vs. 53.4 mg in 2006). One of the main differences between colonies was that females from IOM had higher concentrations of highly chlorinated congeners than NR seals. PCB concentrations in blubber increased towards the end of lactation. Serum and milk PCB concentrations also increased rapidly, especially for the highly chlorinated congeners. These results were consistent with other studies showing the increase in concentrations as a result of lipid loss. Serum concentrations stayed constant during the first part of lactation and increased at late lactation. This was also observed in milk PCB concentrations. The changes in the PCB profiles in the three body compartments were very similar between colonies. However IOM seals always had higher total concentrations of PCBs in all of the body compartments. The concentrations of individual congeners relative to PCB-153 showed that blubber contained higher proportions of the highly chlorinated PCBs relative to other tissues. There were no clear changes in these proportions in blubber during lactation, but the relative proportions of highly chlorinated PCB In serum and milk increased throughout lactation while the less chlorinated PCBs stayed constant. The highly chlorinated PCBs were found in lower concentration in the milk compared to the less chlorinated compounds suggesting a selective release from blubber to blood and a selective transfer of PCBs to the milk.

Over the past decades technological developments have both changed and increased human in influence on the marine environment. We now have greater potential than ever before to introduce disturbance and deplete marine resources. Two of the issues currently under public scrutiny are the exploitation of fish stocks worldwide and levels of anthropogenic noise in the marine environment. The aim of this thesis is to investigate and develop novel analyses and simulations to provide additional insight into some of the challenges facing the marine ecosystem today. These methodologies will improve the management of these risks to marine ecosystems. This thesis first addresses the issue of competition between humans and grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) for marine resources, providing compelling evidence that a substantial proportion of the sandeels consumed by grey seals in the North Sea are in fact H. lanceolatus, which is not commercially exploited, rather than the commercially important A. marinus. In addition, we present quantitative results regarding sources of bias when estimating the total biomass of sandeels consumed by grey seals. Secondly, we investigate spatially adaptive 2-dimensional smoothing to improve the prediction of both the presence and density of marine species, information that is often key in the management of marine ecosystems. Particularly, we demonstrate the benefits of such methods in the prediction of sandeel occurrence. Lastly this thesis provides a quantitative assessment of the protocols for real-time monitoring of marine mammal presence, which require that acoustic operations cease when an animal is detected within a certain distance (i.e. the "monitoring zone") of the sound source. We assess monitoring zones of different sizes with regards to their effectiveness in reducing the risks of temporary and permanent damage to the animals' hearing, and demonstrate that a monitoring zone of 2 km is generally recommendable.

The topic of this master thesis is the international legal regulation of the protection of marine mammals. The thesis concentrates primarily on the analysis of the species based international law instruments for the protection of the individual marine mammal species. This thesis is divided into six chapters. The first chapter addresses the main principles of the international environmental law, which have the biggest influence on the protection of marine mammals (biodiversity protection, precautionary principle and sustainable development). The second chapter describes the regulation of fisheries, which is closely related to the protection of marine mammals. This part deals with the historical beginning of the international regulation of fisheries, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the division of the sea areas, regulation of individual fish species and the regulation of fisheries after the UNCLOS. The particular instruments of protection of individual species of marine mammals except Cetaceans are described in the third chapter (i.e. polar bears, Pinnipeds and Sirenidae). The protection of Cetaceans is analyzed in detail in the fourth chapter. The protection of whales on the ground of International Whaling Commission is accented. This chapter describes also the standpoint of the whaling countries...

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T14:18:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Reginaldo Pedroso.pdf: 2099790 bytes, checksum: 4b19b44e344bc7e876830b05b09d7d11 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-18 / The present claim for a change in the economic model for production and consumption is due to the inefficiency of these models in reduce the problems derived from the impact on the environment. Applying the behavior analysis to understanding the behaviors related to sustainability may shows that the way to achieve a sustainable world may be increased. Upon this idea, the aim of this work was to analyze knowledge and choice related to the theme Sustainable Development. For that, it was analyzed trough the behavior analytical point perspective, followed by three studies: 1) identifying the knowledge of environmental certification seals and for sustainable behaviors, comparing the effects of seals name or pictures; 2) analyze brands levels of knowledge and quality of three products and its relationship with the sustainable production; 3) analyze of the effects of an environmental friendly instruction on hypothetical choices between different brands of three products (phase 1) and the presence or absence of certification seals in the choices between brands of clothes softener, with varying levels of knowledge and quality. The participants were undergraduate and graduate students. In general, the results showed a small control of the variables related to sustainability. I Study 1, most participants did not know the certification seals and did not described them appropriately. In Study 2, the sustainability levels were lower than those obtained for knowledge and quality. In Study 3, indifference prices were higher for sustainable brands, without significant effects of the instructions, and lower differences due to the presence or absence of the certification seals. The data of this work show a low discriminative control of the stimuli associated to the sustainability, so indicating the ineffectiveness of the strategies used in the present days to obtain this behavior change, as the insertion of the certification seals. / A atual necessidade de uma mudança no modelo econômico de produção e consumo se deu pela ineficácia do atual modelo em sanar problemas oriundos do impacto sobre o meio ambiente. A aplicação da análise do comportamento à compreensão dos comportamentos relacionados à sustentabilidade pode demonstrar como o caminho que se vem seguindo para alcançar um mundo sustentável pode ser incrementado. A partir disso, o objetivo geral do presente trabalho foi analisar o conhecimento e a escolha em relação à temática do Desenvolvimento Sustentável. Para isso, foi realizada uma análise do desenvolvimento sustentável sob a ótica analítico comportamental, seguida de três estudos, sendo: 1) identificação do conhecimento de diversos selos de certificação ambiental e rótulos de comportamentos pró-ambientais, comparando a apresentação do selo e do nome-sigla referente; 2) análise do nível de conhecimento e qualidade de marcas de três produtos e sua relação com processos de produção sustentáveis; 3) análise dos efeitos de instrução pró ambiental em escolhas hipotéticas entre diferentes marcas de três produtos (fase 1) e da presença ou ausência dos selos ambientais na escolha entre marcas de amaciante de roupas com diferentes níveis de conhecimento e qualidade. Os participantes foram universitários e funcionários de uma instituição universitária, de ambos os sexos. Os resultados, no geral, demonstraram pouco controle das variáveis relacionadas à sustentabilidade. No Estudo 1, a maioria dos participantes não conhecia os selos e não souberam descrevê-los apropriadamente. No Estudo 2, os níveis de sustentabilidade foram bem mais baixos e ancorados aos níveis de conhecimento e qualidade. No Estudo 3, os preços de indiferença foram maiores para as marcas sustentáveis, sem efeito significativo das instruções e pouca diferença relacionada à presença ou ausência do selo. Os dados do presente trabalho evidenciam um baixo controle discriminativo de estímulos que apontam para sustentabilidade, indicando a ineficácia das estratégias que até então vem sendo utilizada para essa mudança, como a inserção de selos ambientais em produtos.

Medieval cartularies have been the focus of many studies in the past few decades. Rather than simply repositories for charter texts, cartularies are now regarded by those who study them as carefully curated collections of texts whose contents and arrangement reflect the immediate concerns and archival environment of the communities that created them. One feature of cartularies which has not received attention is the ‘growth’ of their manuscripts beyond the initial phase of creation. This growth refers not only to the addition of fresh gatherings but also to the piecemeal addition of texts into the available spaces, often in a haphazard order and by many scribes working across a number of decades. ‘Manuscript growth’ is not an uncommon feature of cartularies from the central middle ages, particularly from the thirteenth century onwards. As a phenomenon, however, it has not been recognised or studied, for the good reason that it is difficult to discuss haphazard manuscript growth in a systematic way. This thesis offers a new methodology which engages with multi-scribe contributions to ‘active’ cartularies. It takes a holistic approach which integrates the textual and ‘physical’ evidence of cartularies, and embraces all forms of scribal activity. By studying the growth of cartulary manuscripts, we can gain significant insights into the contemporary use and perception of these valuable objects. This thesis therefore takes a fresh look at the ‘genre’ of medieval cartularies through the eyes of the manuscript evidence itself, and what this can reveal about its medieval scribes and readers. Two manuscripts are taken as the basis of this study: the older cartulary of Glasgow Cathedral (AUL SCA MS JB 1/3) and the older cartulary of Lindores Abbey (in private ownership in Caprington Castle). Chapter 1 introduces the field of cartulary studies, with reference to new work in this area (particularly in relation to cartularies in France and England). Central questions in this field are introduced, such as the definition of a cartulary, their creation and function. It also discusses approaches to analysing complex codices and multi-scribe activity within other manuscript genres. In Chapter 2, a new methodology will be introduced for analysing manuscript growth. This involves rethinking our approach to some familiar elements of manuscripts: their codicology, binding history, the scribes, as well as the challenge of dating the various contributions to the cartularies. New concepts and terminology will be introduced (such as ‘relative dating’ and ‘series’) that have been developed in response to these two complex cartularies. By applying this new methodology, the creation and subsequent growth of each manuscript can be examined in detail in Chapter 3 (for Glasgow Cathedral’s cartulary) and Chapter 4 (for Lindores Abbey’s). It is shown that the contemporary experience of these two cartularies was as a collection of simultaneously ‘active’ units (either unbound or in temporary bindings), offering new scribes a choice of where to place their material. Chapter 5 draws together the analysis, and focuses on the initial creation of the cartularies, the nature of their growth by piecemeal additions, and the reasons for this growth. This reveals two communities that took an active approach to reading and extending their cartularies, treating these manuscripts as a shared space. The vexed question of ‘repeated’ texts within cartularies is reconsidered in this light. The analysis allows us to develop a deeper understanding of the cartularies’ function and the role of their scribes as primarily readers, whose interactions with the manuscript were responsive and dynamic. The institutional setting is also discussed. The thesis concludes by considering the implications of this study for our understanding of the function and typology of cartularies, their relationship to archives of single-sheet documents, and as sources for institutional identity, as well as the potential of the methodology to act as a starting point for studying scribal interactions and scribes as readers in other manuscript genres with multi-scribe growth.

Digne héritier de l’Empire romain d’Occident, l’Empire romain d’Orient plus communément appelé Empire byzantin est la scène de nombreux changements politiques et socio-économiques depuis sa création au IVème siècle. Parmi les acteurs de ces évolutions se trouvent les Comnènes, une famille issue de l’aristocratie dite militaire que rien ne prédestinait à occuper les hautes sphères de l’administration impériale de 1057 à 1204. En se basant prioritairement sur les sceaux regroupés sous la forme d’un catalogue, il s’agira de mettre en lumière l’histoire de la famille qui prend petit à petit la dimension d’un réseau basé sur une forte politique matrimoniale modifiée par les empereurs Comnènes jusqu’à atteindre son apogée au XIIe siècle. Organisé en trois partie le premier tome de cette étude peint un tableau exhaustif de la famille en extrayant des sources l’ensemble des informations se rapportant aux Comnènes et à leurs parents afin, dans un deuxième temps de mieux comprendre comment le mariage est utilisé pour étendre son attraction et son pouvoir sur le reste de la population byzantine et sur le reste du monde médiéval du XIIe siècle, enfin une étude du corpus iconographique propre au réseau des Comnènes sera étudié afin de montrer l’existence ou non d’une évolution des cultes sous l’action de cette famille. Ce travail repose sur un corpus de sceaux dédié aux Comnène qui compose le second tome. / Worthy heir to the Roman Empire of Occident, the Roman Empire of the East more commonly called Byzantine Empire is the scene many political changes and socio-economic since his creation at the 4th century. Among the actors of these evolutions are Komnenian, a family resulting from the aristocracy known as military that nothing predestined to occupy the higher realms of the imperial administration of 1057 to 1204. By firstly basing on the seals gathered in form the shape of a catalogue, it will be a question of clarifying the history of the family which gradually size up a network thanks to a strong matrimonial policy which is modified by the Komnenian emperors until reaching her apogee at the 12th century. Organized into three part the first volume of this study paints an exhaustive painting of the family by extracting from the sources the whole of information referring to Komnenian and with their parents so, in the second time to better understand how the family uses the marriage to extend her attraction and her power on the rest of the Byzantine population and on the rest of the world medieval of the 12th century, finally a study of the iconographic corpus suitable for the network of Komnenian will be studied in order to show the existence or not evolution of the worships under the action of this family. This work is based on a corpus of seals dedicated to Komnenian who composed the second volume.

The waters of the open ocean constitute the largest living space on Earth but despite its obvious significance to the biosphere, the open ocean remains an unexplored frontier. With a regional focus on the Indian Ocean, this thesis investigates (i) the distribution of pelagic biota on basin scales, (ii) the effect of abrupt topography on pelagic biota and their predator-prey relationships, and (iii) the use of genetic techniques to elucidate population connectivity and dispersal of pelagic taxa. (i) Pelagic scattering layers (SLs) were surveyed with scientific echosounders across the southwest (SWIO) and central Indian Ocean to investigate their vertical and geographical distribution. Structurally distinct SL regimes were found across the Subantarctic Front, and may explain recently observed foraging behaviours of southern elephant seals. Regression models indicated a close relationship between sea surface temperature and mean volume backscatter, with significantly elevated backscatter in the subtropical convergence zone. The heterogeneous distribution of scattering layer biota may have implications for predator foraging and carbon cycling in the Indian Ocean. (ii) Acoustic surveys revealed diverse interactions between SLs, aggregations and topography around islands as well as shallow ( < 200m) and intermediate (200-800m) seamounts at spatial scales from 1 to 100 km. Epi-and mesopelagic backscatter was increased around reefs and banks of the Chagos archipelago, indicating connectivity between oceanic and neritic systems. SWIO seamounts harboured summit-associated aggregations, but the distributions of surrounding SLs did not follow a general pattern. Downstream SL depletion was observed in one location and combined with stomach content analyses, provides an insight into the mechanics of prey flux between open-ocean and seamount ecosystems. (iii) A mitochondrial marker was used to assess the population structure and demography of the hatchetfish Argyropelecus aculeatus in the SWIO. The results are suggestive of a single, well-connected population and indicate a recent population expansion around 0.14 million years ago. This highlights that even highly abundant mesopelagic populations are vulnerable to global climatic changes. Dispersal and recruitment are key ecological processes structuring seamount communities and are directly relevant for the management of exploited populations. Genetic barcoding was evaluated as a means to identify cryptic larval specimens of eels (leptocephali) and spiny lobsters (phyllosomata). Identification success was limited, but indicated the presence of 3-4 phyllosoma clades and 5-6 leptocephalus clades along the SWIR.

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) in a flat-plate configuration require a hermetic seal between the fuel and air sides of the electrodes, and this seal must withstand a variety of thermally-induced stresses over the lifetime of the cell. In this study, quantitative microstructure-property relationships are developed to predict optimum seal structures for mechanical properties and thermal expansion coefficient criteria. These relationships are used to create an inverse approach to characterizing the processing method from the desired microstructure. The main focus of the work concentrates on providing tools to enable macroscopic property predictions from the constituent properties using homogenization techniques based on the individual phase properties and microstructure morphology. The microstructure is represented by two-point correlation functions. Statistical continuum mechanics models were then employed and developed to predict the mechanical and thermal properties of the material. The models enable the prediction of elastic modulus and coefficient of thermal expansion of the multi-phase material. The inelastic mechanical behavior was also studied, indicating microstructure dependence. These models will aid in predicting the a proper seal microstructure (with desired elastic stiffness, coefficient of thermal expansion, and viscoelastic behaviors) based on a desired level of crystallization glass-ceramic materials.

In the North Scandinavian area of investigation, which is in focus in this dissertation, seal-hunting has been an important means of livelihood from prehistoric times up to the present. The Swedish-speaking seal-hunters' conceptual system for seal during the 20th century is analysed here. The analysis is mainly based on oral recorded interviews with hunters from the coastal areas around the Gulf of Bothnia – from Norrbotten and Västerbotten in Sweden, and Österbotten in Finland. A cognitive perspective is applied in the analysis, in which focus is on the hunters' knowledge of the seal with the purpose of investigating the construction of the hunters' conceptual system for seal. The dissertation's theoretical starting-point is taken in cognitive linguistics and cognitive anthropology. The investigated vocabulary contains 150 different words for seal. The analysis also includes the cultural and ecological context of the hunt. The hunters' conceptual system for seal is characterised by breadth and variation. There is regional variation in the construction of the conceptual system in the investigated area. In addition to that there is also variation with regard to different hunting seasons, something which is apparent both in the vocabulary and in the structure of the conceptual system. The summer and autumn hunt was not particularly complicated and there was consequently no need for categorising the seal. During this season a limited conceptual system with more general terms was used, which included all seals that were hunted at that time. The late winter and early summer hunt, on the other hand, required an immense amount of knowledge, for example with regard to ecology. In that connection the hunters used an extended conceptual system for seal. The analysis of the conceptual system of the late winter and early summer hunt is based on three different scenarios in which the categories for seal direct the actions of the hunters – in locating the seals in the ice environment, in the hunters' actions during the hunt and in the utilisation of the seal as a resource. A number of categories for seal which were used during the late winter and early spring hunt are the same in the whole area of investigation and can be said to constitute a cognitive and communicative basic level. / digitalisering@umu

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:09:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6388.pdf: 21386897 bytes, checksum: cefe21747b085edb2abd307e6772d66f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-06 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / This paper addresses the concept of sustainability and its application in construction sites. The construction sector seen as great usufruidor of natural resources and the waste generator to interfere in the natural characteristics of the environment. In order to change this paradigm is a set of necessary actions related to the integration of sustainable practices that seek to reduce waste indices, improve quality processes and qualify manpower. Seeking to identify how sustainable a construction site can be, this work proposes a methodology for evaluating the implementation of sustainability based on practices aimed at execution phase adopted by seals environmental certifications existing, through a checklist of six items: sustainable site, rational use of water, rational use of energy, materials and resources, environmental quality, and innovation processes. The main purpose of this tool is to identify good practices, scoring the situations observed and classify sites in sustainability levels. The checklist was applied in six construction systems sites and geographies distinct, aiming at studying the different occurrences. In a final step the results of the visits were compiled, and from exposure of the analyzed data it was found that the checklist should function as a guide of recommendations in the execution phase of construction. It was found a list of viability for different types of works, such as Housing Development Social Interest (EHIS), certified environmentally or not, located in different geographical regions. It was concluded that the companies visited are concerned with environmental issues in accordance with the business strategy adopted, and that sometimes occurs lack of planning, knowledge and support tools for adequate insertion of sustainable practices at construction sites. / Esta dissertação aborda o conceito da sustentabilidade e a sua aplicação nos canteiros de obras. O setor da construção civil é visto como grande usufruidor dos recursos naturais e gerador de resíduos que interferem nas características naturais do meio ambiente. Para mudar esse paradigma é necessário um conjunto de ações ligadas à inserção de práticas sustentáveis que busquem diminuir índices de desperdício, melhorar a qualidade nos processos e qualificar a mão de obra. Buscando identificar o quão sustentável um canteiro de obras pode ser, este trabalho vem propor uma metodologia de avaliação da sustentabilidade com base em boas práticas adotadas pelos selos de certificações ambientais existentes, por meio de uma lista de verificação com seis itens: canteiro sustentável, uso racional da água, uso racional de energia, materiais e recursos, qualidade do ambiente, inovações e processos. O objetivo principal desta ferramenta é identificar as boas práticas, pontuar as situações observadas e classificar os canteiros em níveis de sustentabilidade. A lista de verificação foi aplicada em seis canteiros de sistemas construtivos e localidades distintas, com intuito de observar as diferentes ocorrências. Numa etapa final foram compilados os resultados das visitas, e a partir da exposição dos dados analisados foi possível constatar que lista de verificação pode funcionar como um roteiro de recomendações para a fase de execução das obras. Verificou-se a viabilidade da lista para diferentes tipos de obras, como Empreendimento Habitacional de Interesse Social (EHIS), certificadas ambientalmente ou não, localizadas em diferentes regiões geográficas. Concluiu-se que as empresas visitadas preocupam-se com as questões ambientais de acordo com a estratégia empresarial adotada, e que algumas vezes ocorre falta de planejamento, de conhecimento e de ferramentas de apoio para inserção adequada de práticas sustentáveis nos canteiros de obras.