Occurrence and fate of organic contaminants in wastes

This thesis deals with the determination of organic contaminants in wastes and is part of the multidisciplinary faculty programme 'Biological waste in circulation between urban and rural areas - biology and flow of energy and material' which started at SLU in 1994. To ensure long-term sustainability of food production it is important to recycle resources such as the nutrients and organic material in organic waste. The biodegradable fraction of source separated household waste is attractive as raw material for composting and anaerobic digestion, because the products can be used in agriculture and horticulture. Quality is an important aspect on compost and anaerobically digested organic household waste, and it is important to ensure that the products are not contaminated. As the available information on organic contaminants in the biodegradable fraction of household waste and the products thereof is limited, an important goal with this work was to increase the knowledge of organic contaminants in these material as a foundation for future studies to reduce the environmental risk from these materials. Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) were found in fresh household waste. CPs are a complex mixture of chlorinated alkanes with varying (10-30) carbon chain lengts and varying (30- 70%) unspecific chlorination. The high numbers of isomers and homologues complicates the determination of CPs. We found that multivariate analysis can be used to interpret chromatographic data of CPs and this was used to characterise the CP contamination of houshold waste. It is presently impossible to pin-point the source of CP contamination using the data available, but most probably the contamination occurs during the collection of the waste. To further improve the determination of CPs an extraction method using high diffusion liquids, pressurised liquid extraction (PLE) was developed. PLE was shown to be a suitable technique for extracting CPs from complex matrices such as fresh household waste. A source close to the collection chain is also indicated for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). The PCB-profile found in the fresh household waste resembles that of a low chlorinated technical product. The PCB-profile expected in this type of material would originate from waste of animal origin in which the low chlorinated congeners have been degraded and the more highly chlorinated and persistent congeners dominate. Differences in the degradation rate of PCBs between composting and anaerbically degestion of the waste were also observed. A third indication of a contamination source in the collection chain is the presence of the n-alkanes in the fresh and anaerobically digested household waste, which suggest a petrogenic rather than a biogenic origin. Since the major part of the organic fraction of household waste is of plant origin, much of which is treated with pesticides, it was expected to find pesticides in the waste. Many of the pesticides were not degraded during composting or anaerobic digestion, and two that were not found in the waste were found in compost or anaerobically sludge. In these cases the organic bulk material is mineralized more rapidly than the pesticides. The anaerobic biotransformation of nonylphenol mono- and diethoxylates (NPEOI-2) was studied in sludge, landfilled sludge and landfilled municipal solid waste. The NPEO1-2 are degradation products of nonylphenol ethoxylates (heavy duty surfactants) and are further degraded to nonylphenol (NP) which is far more persistent and ecotoxic than its parental compo

The Paradox of Modernity : A study of girl discrimination in urban Punjab, India

This study has brought attention to the paradox of modernity, in which certain elements of tradition tend to survive the forces of modernisation and may even, as in this case, be amplified in society. The study demonstrated that modernity, when seen from a gendered perspective generates processes and results that favour men, not women. It has also argued that India is in a transition period, between the traditional and modern India, where old norms and expectations clash with modern ideas. The paradox of modernity was illustrated by the phenomenon of sex selection favouring sons over daughters at birth. With the purpose of examining attitudes towards son preference among urban middle class youth, the study has highlighted a situation in which modern and traditional views coexist in a sometimes paradoxical and contradictory manner. The analysis was based on field work conducted in Punjab in northern India, September - October 2004. Primary data was collected through focus groups discussions with university students and semi structured interviews with various other actors. The essay identified themes which are crucial components in the phenomenon of sex selection, themes which exemplify the paradox of modernity

Psychosocial situation and work after breast cancer surgery - women's experiences

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. Nowadays, most women survive the disease, and many working women continue in paid employment. Nevertheless, there is little scientific knowledge of working after breast cancer surgery and of how various stakeholders support women after a breast cancer diagnosis. Aim: The aim of this thesis is to explore women’s work situation after breast cancer surgery, with special focus on how women experience interactions with different stakeholders, and on women’s reflections and actions with regard to work. Methods: Four studies, based on information about women aged 26-63, living in Stockholm, who had had breast cancer surgery, were conducted. In studies I and II, data from four focus group interviews with 23 women, who had had breast cancer surgery three to thirteen months previously, were analyzed by means of qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis, respectively. For studies III and IV, questionnaire and treatment registry data on 605 women working at time of diagnosis were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics, and univariate and multivariable logistic regressions. Results: Study I revealed that the women had encountered many different stakeholders regarding issues of paid employment. These encounters involved information exchange and adjustments, and reflected attitudes towards sickness absence and the women themselves. Examples concern the issues of job retention or sickness absence, e.g., of an inflexible interpretation of sickness absence regulations, and of a lack of information on the side-effects of treatment. Study II focused on women’s reflections and actions with regard to work. Several of the women had worked, at least to some extent, during the cancer trajectory. The following three action themes were identified: returning to work or not, asking for adjustments or not, and disclosing one’s disease or not. Five themes with regard to reflections were found: health and function, the value of work, self-esteem and integrity, social circumstances, and relationships at work. Women who continued to work throughout the treatment period tended to refer to work as a normalizing factor, but others wanted to focus on rehabilitation and were on sick leave. At the time of breast cancer were the vast majority of women working full-time and when answering the questionnaire were 61% sickness absent, whereof the majority on full-time. The results of Study III furthermore showed that women shortly after breast cancer surgery valued their paid work highly, and found it to be one of the most important aspects of life. Low job satisfaction and younger age were associated with being on sick leave. Social support at work and adjustment of work was explored in Study IV. It was found that many women received social support from their colleagues and supervisors. Low perceived social support from supervisors and low work-adjustment opportunities were associated with being on sick leave, even after controlling for socio-demographic factors, work posture, axillary surgery, and planned adjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusion: All stakeholders involved in women’s circumstances after breast cancer surgery need to pay great attention to psychosocial factors, such as being flexible in providing support, solutions and information, and taking into account women’s preferences and perceived competence. These are considerations of essential importance to the women, and may have a bearing on being sickness absent or returning to work

Härskarsymbol och högsäte - om betydelsen av västmarkeringar i romanska kyrkor

While the liturgical centre of the church is the high altar in the chancel, the western part of the Romanesque church has often been ascribed a more secular character. This seems to be an area where those in power could assert their authority in a religious setting. The magnitude of these manifestations vary greatly, from the ostentatious westworks of the cathedrals and the miscellaneous forms of western towers of many ordinary country churches, down to the humble elevated western benches of the towerless houses of worship. The variation in scale and form has mostly been viewed as a consequence of varying economic resources among the builders, but in this article it is argued that different expressions were chosen because they also had different functional, social and symbolic connotations

International Corporate Governance-A Comparison of the Corporate Governance Systems in Germany and Sweden

The purpose of the study is to investigate how much interest media has shown selected topics in the corporate governance systems in Germany and Sweden. The four selected aspects are: ownership structure, employee representation on the boards, disclosure of board members’ compensation and female directors on the boards. The reasons for and consequences of the similarities and differences will also be discussed. The German and Swedish corporate governance systems construct the key basis of the study, emphasised on the four chosen aspects. Theories and previous research within the subject are presented and the convergence issue is discussed. The quantitative content analysis method is applied when conducting the research of the newspaper articles from Die Welt (Germany) and Svenska Dagbladet (Sweden). Based on the empirical findings of the study could the four hypotheses be accepted, more or less. The topics debated within the aspects were different between the two countries. Cultural and societal differences were central reasons for these results. As the study of the German and Swedish media has been conducted, several interesting differences in the debates on the four aspects have been found. The conclusion drawn based on these results is that the German corporate governance system, compared to the Swedish system, is less flexible and has more problems to be competitive and keep up with the international competition

IKEA: Crossing Borders

The organizational culture differs widely among the countries in the world. IKEA has a very special culture which is one of its competitive advantages and used in their organizations in the countries they are situated in. This research is about how IKEA handles their organizational culture in the border crossing and what problems that may come in the way. It is mainly focused on the implementation strategy and the cultural differences that have created both success and obstacles when IKEA with its “culture carriers” are expanding their organization into other countries

Gendered Structures of Mine Action

To examine the relevance of gender in the mine-action sector, the Swiss Campaign to Ban Landmines conducted a global survey and in-depth interviews. The author presents the findings of this research and its implications

The Silenced Discourse: Students with Intellectual Disabilities at the Academy of Music in Sweden

In this article, based on a larger research project, the ambition is to critically discuss the first collaboration between students with intellectual disabilities and the Academy of Music in Sweden. The article presents an analysis of video observations of lessons in rhythmics, related to an encounter between the students with intellectual disabilities and a group of student teachers. The theoretical and methodological framework emanates from post-structuralist and social constructionist theories. The results show that the silenced discourse, the unspoken, is constructed from the fact that the students with disabilities both are insufficiently skilled for the task as leaders in rhythmics, and less skilled than the student teachers. Finally, the silenced discourse is discussed, where assumptions of normality and issues of inclusion are addressed as well as a hegemonic discourse in the Swedish politics of education

Gender and Land Release: The Responsibility of the Mine-action Community

In many countries, men are considered the sole landowners, leaving women with few property rights. Yet women are disproportionately affected when men are killed or injured by landmines, as they can be left with few resources after such tragedies

Local ethnic composition and Natives’ and Immigrants’ geographic mobility in France, 1982-1999

This article provides empirical results on patterns of native and immigrant geographic mobility in France. Using longitudinal data, we measure mobility from one French municipality (commune) to another over time and estimate the effect of the initial municipality’s ethnic composition on the probability of moving out. These data allow us to use panel techniques to correct for biases related to selection based on geographic and individual unobservables. Our findings tend to discredit the hypothesis of a “white flight” pattern in residential mobility dynamics in France. Some evidence does show ethnic avoidance mechanisms in natives’ relocating. We also find a strong negative and highly robust effect of co-ethnics’ presence on immigrants’ geographic mobility