The present studies determine the accumulation of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in three pinniped species, evaluate the relationship with relevant biomarkers of exposure, and calculate toxic effect thresholds. Stranded harp and hooded seals were found to be accumulating PBDEs at levels which could pose a based on threshold levels determined in this study. Northern fur seals are accumulating all three classes of POPs (PCBs, PBDEs, and OCPs) with significant relationships being seen with blubber percent lipid. Correlations between contaminant concentrations and expression levels of relevant biomarkers were seen potentially indicating an effect on multiple pathways. Overall risk can be hard to determine due to factors such as sex and age. Broad threshold response values and hazard quotients were calculated for toxic effect endpoints in pinnipeds. Overall these results suggest that certain populations of pinnipeds are at high risk of experiencing toxic effects due to POP exposure, but it is important to understand effects even at lower concentrations. The relationship between exposure, toxic effects, and other stressors, both environmental and physiological, can impact the overall fitness and survival of pinnipeds.

The objectives of this research were to investigate the heat resistant performance of a structural adhesive and to analyze the contribution of the adhesive to the chemical emissions from the glued wood products affected by the elevated temperatures. Phenol-resorcinolormaldehyde (PRF) and two wood species, southern pine (Pinus palustris) and Douglasir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), were investigated. The dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) test results showed that the heat durability performance of cured PRF resin was better than that of the two wood species used in this study. The results indicated that the fire safety of PRF bonded wood products should be comparable to solid wood products. The pyroysis products obtained from pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) system showed that most of the pyrolysis products of glued wood samples were same as those of wood and adhesive samples at the same temperature level except a few compounds, such as carbon disulfide, Cyclopropyl carbinol, acetaldehyde, furfural and others.

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Hillsborough County, Florida is subject to a variety of natural and technological hazards, which have the potential to threaten both the population and the built environment. This research focuses on several natural hazards (coastal flooding, sink hole, and hurricane) and technological hazards (toxic transportation spills and toxic release from fixed storage facilities) and the population that is potentially exposed to these hazards. Social vulnerability for this population was determined using racial composition, gender, age and household rental/ownership status. Both social vulnerability and exposure to hazardous conditions occur as a continuum across geographical space. The determination of who is exposed; the extent of exposure; and the hazardousness of their environment; requires converting this continuum into discreet values. There is little agreement on how this should be accomplished. The goal of this project is to improve on this situation by developing a multiple hazard map and a social vulnerability map using the best available data with a focus on data integration. The resulting maps were used to determine the extent that the community of Hillsborough County is exposed to hazardous conditions and the social vulnerability of that exposed community. The impact of hazard analysis is dependant on the creation of the hazard map. The hazard map can be affected by application of weighting factors to the individual or groups of hazards. Weighted linear combinations were used to examine how the exposed population changes when different hazard models are used. A technique of cumulative frequency mapping was used to examine how the composition of the exposed population changed as the hazard scores increased. This was useful in visualizing that different vulnerable communities were not exposed to hazards equally. This technique will be useful for future vulnerability/hazard assessments. The results of this research show that the most vulnerable populations in Hillsborough County, Florida are not exposed to the most extreme hazards. Instead the preponderance of the population is moderately vulnerable and is exposed to moderate hazards. It is important to focus on this population to help prepare for and respond to hazardous events and to work toward diminishing their social vulnerability.

published_or_final_version / Ecology and Biodiversity / Master / Master of Philosophy

What various roles exist in corporate toxicity? In what environment does toxicity thrive? Do toxic leaders exhibit certain characteristics? Questions such as these can be discovered using this classroom tool! / This case study provides a real-world example of corporate toxicity to illustrate the toxic triangle model and show how situations like this one come to pass (Padilla, 2013). The primary focus will be on WorldCom/MCI and the events leading to the world famous accounting scandal that came to light in 2003. This case briefly examines the three major triangle elements, (1) the role of the leader, (2) the enabling efforts of colluding and conforming followers, and (3) the conducive nature of the specific organizational context, all in correlation with the eventual destruction of the organization. Identifying these elements provides an opportunity for students to analyze an actual account of corporate toxicity through critical thinking and discussion. The questions provided are intended to stimulate a discussion focused on the: (1) events leading to the demise of the organization, (2) characteristics of the primary leader and followers, (3) role the environment played in escalating the situation, and (4) the influences of social pressures.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2008. / Title from PDF title page (October 20, 2008) Includes bibliographical references (p. 40-47)

The purpose of this study is to evaluate how, and if, Sweden's municipalities contribute to their preschools work for a toxic free environment, and what the schools think of the support they are receiving. The study will also focus on the municipality of Uddevalla and evaluate status and progress of making a chemical-safe environment for preschool children. The study was performed by sending out two different surveys by email to preschool principals and municipalities. The results of the study showed that Sweden's municipalities mostly support the preschools by offering information, education, action plans and procurement. A majority of the preschool principals answered that the support they receive was partially the reason for why they are able to work with such a project. They also think in most cases that the support is sufficient to carry out the work. The support of the municipality in the work is for some preschools crucial. The result of the study of Uddevalla shows that in 72 % of the preschools have or are working with a project to eliminate children's exposure to toxic chemicals. The remaining 28 % are not working with such a project and have no plan to do so. The results based on the survey in Uddevalla is in good agreement with the rest of Sweden, where 86 % of the principals answered that they have or are working with such a project. These results show that Swedish preschools are heading for a more chemical safe environment, although a lot needs to be done before it is accomplished.

This thesis is focused on an analysis of the working atmosphere in one international company which is producing and distributing fuel cards and registering trucks to different European toll systems. The aim is to analyze the influence of a toxic person on the people around him/ her and the working atmosphere in general. This thesis consists of two parts: theoretical and practical. The first part deals with the theoretical basis of the topic including toxic leadership in general, toxic working place, health reasons for such destructive behavior, different types of toxic behavior, and the influence of a toxic person on people around him/her. These points form the basis of the practical aspect of the thesis which focuses on a case study of toxic leadership behavior in the fuel cards company mentioned above. I conclude that a toxic leader can have a profound impact on the workplace environment, in particular employee rotation.

Mängden människor som spelar datorspel ökar, och det gör även bekymmerna om den ökande ‘toxiciteten’ inom tävlings inriktade online spel, som League of Legends och Overwatch. Detta är ett beteende som både Blizzard och Riot Games har erkänt och därmed har utvecklat mer avancerade system som har som syfte att stimulera positivt beteende istället för att bara straffa negativa beteenden. Nämligen Honor level systemet och Endorsement-systemet. I denna studie har vi valt att genomföra en teoretisk analys där vi jämför dessa två system för att avgöra hur de hindrar eller underlättar en negativt påverkande spelestetik. För att vi ska kunna beskriva hur en negativt påverkande spelestetik underlättas använder vi ‘underlättande estetik’, som representerar de kontextuella faktorerna som ger upphov till ett negativt påverkande spelarbeteende i tävlingsinriktade och lagbaserat spel. För att vi ska kunna avgöra hur en negativt påverkande spelestetik hindras använder vi ‘motiverande estetik’, som beskrivs som det "roliga" i spel. Vi börjar vår analys med att visualisera heders systemen, vi använder sedan denna visualisering för att bestämma spelmekaniken och deras dynamik för att vi ska kunna förutsäga det estetiska resultatet av dessa spelmekaniker i enlighet med MDA-ramverket och jämföra dem. Vi har upptäckt att, för att en spelmekanik ska underlätta en negativt påverkande spelestetik måste den ge upphov till en underlättande estetik. För att en spelmekanik ska hindra en negativt påverkande spelestetik måste den ge upphov till en motiverande estetik, men också stimulera positivt beteende. / As the amount of people that play video games is growing, so is the concern surrounding the increasing toxicity within competitive online games, such as League of Legends and Overwatch. This is a concern that both Blizzard and Riot Games have acknowledged, and have thus developed more advanced systems that intend to incentivize positive behavior instead of just punishing toxic behavior. Namely the Honor level system and Endorsement system. In this study, we intend to conduct a comparative theoretical analysis of these two systems to determine how they hinder or facilitate a toxic game aesthetic. For us to describe how a toxic game aesthetic is facilitated, we use facilitative aesthetics, which represents the contextual factors that give rise to toxic player behavior in competitive team-based games. For us to determine how a toxic game aesthetic is hindered, we use motivational aesthetics, which is described as the ‘fun’ in gameplay. We start our analysis by visualizing the honor systems to help us determine their mechanics and dynamics allowing us to predict the aesthetic outcomes in accordance with the MDA framework and compare them. We discovered a pattern that in order for a mechanic to facilitate a toxic game aesthetic, it needs to give rise to a facilitative aesthetic. For a mechanic to hinder a toxic game aesthetic it needs to give rise to a motivational aesthetic, but also incentivize positive behavior.