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

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

Affärsplan

Målet med detta examensarbete är att ta fram ett underlag för ett eventuellt verkställande av en företagsidé samt att få en god inblick bland aktörerna inom anläggningsbranschen i nordvästra Skåne. För att uppnå detta måste dem viktigaste komponenterna det vill säga grundstenarna för en affärsplan identifieras. Grundstenarna diskuteras utifrån jämförelse med teori och resultatdel där möjligheter och svårigheter med dessa som grund för en praktisk affärsplan tas upp. De grundstenar jag har valt att arbeta utifrån är hämtade från Magnus Klofstens bok Affärsplattformen, vilka är; Idé, Produkt, Marknad, Organisation, Drivkraft, Kompetens samt Övriga relationer. Detta därför att jag anser att de täcker upp den bredd på arbetet jag efterlyser och ger en helhetsbild av vilka faktorer ett företag är beroende. För att kunna genomföra detta arbete har en litteraturstudie gjorts för att få en bra teoretisk grund för vidare arbete. Jämförelser mellan olika böcker har gjorts för att få fram en bättre bild av de olika grundstenarna som Klofsten tar upp, samt tillsammans med kompletterande litteratur hitta kärnan i respektive grundsten. Det har även gjorts en marknadsundersökning bland fem olika trädgårdsanläggningsföretag för att få en bred inblick i hur olika företag arbetar, marknadsför sig och vilka kundgrupper de vänder sig till. Marknadsundersökningen och litteraturstudien tillsammans med annan information ligger till grund för resultatdelen i detta arbete. Resultatet av marknadsundersökningen har vägts och jämförts med teori delen under respektive grundsten för att få ett resultat som kan användas som underlag vid eventuell företagstart. Diskussionsdelen i detta arbete har en liktydig struktur som övriga arbetet där Klofstens grundstenar behandlas var och en då dessa ger en helhetssyn på vilka delar som är viktiga vid nyföretagande. Denna används för att få en tydlig bild över vilka delar som har blivit mest betydelsefull och viktigast för att nå målet om ett fungerande underlag just i denna affärsidé. Grundstenarna diskuteras utifrån jämförelse med teori och resultatdel där möjligheter och svårigheter med dessa som grund för en praktisk affärsplan tas upp. Ger dessa grundstenar i affärsplanen tillsammans med marknadsundersökningen tillräckligt med kunskap och stöd för att kunna och vilja förverkliga min tanke? Affärsplanen är ett hjälpmedel för att få företagaren att tänka till om sin affärsidé och klargöra strategier om hur man förverkligar den, dock är en väl arbetad affärsplan ingen garanti för att lyckas utan ger bara en bra grund för en väl genomtänkt affärsidé! Målet med detta examensarbete var att ta fram ett underlag för ett eventuellt verkställande av en affärsidé, detta har gett mig en mycket bra grund att utgå ifrån. Att arbeta utifrån den struktur som valdes har gett ett resultat där det tydligt har visats vikten av de olika komponenterna som bör ingå i grunden i ett företag, vilket har resulterat i en väl genomarbetad och tydlig affärsidé som ger möjligheten att genomföra den

Anopheles gut microbiota provide possibilities for the development of new strategies to prevent transmission of malaria

Every year, millions of people around the world are affected by malaria and many die from it. Attempts at eliminating and eradicating malaria have been made for over a hundred years but not succeeded, even though progress has been made. The most used prevention methods today are insecticides and drugs. However, the threat of resistance development in the mosquitoes and the parasites are forcing science to find new ways to prevent transmission and disease. One area of research involves the midgut bacteria of the vector mosquitoes. It has been shown that this has an effect on the parasite development. Studies have shown that there is a big diversity of bacteria found and different studies identify different numbers and different species of bacteria. The methods used for identifying the microbiota however has changed with technical development that might explain some of the differences observed. The identification of the midgut microbiota and what determines it, will hopefully lead to the identification of bacteria that can be used in one way or another to block the transmission of parasites in the malaria mosquitoes. A bacterium that has been suggested for disease reduction is Wolbachia, which modifies the host reproduction in order to spread. The identification of new malaria prevention methods is an opportunity to improve the lives of millions and the study of malaria-mosquito midgut bacteria might help towards this

Improved retrieval of land ice topography from CryoSat-2 data and its impact for volume-change estimation of the Greenland Ice Sheet

A new methodology for retrieval of glacier and ice sheet elevations and elevation changes from CryoSat-2 data is presented. Surface elevations and elevation changes determined using this approach show significant improvements over ESA's publicly available CryoSat-2 elevation product (L2 Baseline-B). The results are compared to near-coincident airborne laser altimetry from NASA's Operation IceBridge and seasonal height amplitudes from the Ice, Cloud, and Elevation Satellite (ICESat). Applying this methodology to CryoSat-2 data collected in interferometric synthetic aperture mode (SIN) over the high-relief regions of the Greenland Ice Sheet we find an improvement in the root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 27 and 40 % compared to ESA's L2 product in the derived elevation and elevation changes, respectively. In the interior part of the ice sheet, where CryoSat-2 operates in low-resolution mode (LRM), we find an improvement in the RMSE of 68 and 55 % in the derived elevation and elevation changes, respectively. There is also an 86 % improvement in the magnitude of the seasonal amplitudes when compared to amplitudes derived from ICESat data. These results indicate that the new methodology provides improved tracking of the snow/ice surface with lower sensitivity to changes in near-surface dielectric properties. To demonstrate the utility of the new processing methodology we produce elevations, elevation changes, and total volume changes from CryoSat-2 data for the Greenland Ice Sheet during the period January 2011 to January 2015. We find that the Greenland Ice Sheet decreased in volume at a rate of 289 ± 20 km3a−1, with high interannual variability and spatial heterogeneity in rates of loss. This rate is 65 km3a−1 more negative than rates determined from ESA's L2 product, highlighting the importance of CryoSat-2 processing methodologies.</p

Mass changes in Arctic ice caps and glaciers: implications of regionalizing elevation changes

The mass balance of glaciers and ice caps is sensitive to changing climate conditions. The mass changes derived in this study are determined from elevation changes derived measured by the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) for the time period 2003–2009. Four methods, based on interpolation and extrapolation, are used to regionalize these elevation changes to areas without satellite coverage. A constant density assumption is then applied to estimate the mass change by integrating over the entire glaciated region. <br><br> The main purpose of this study is to investigate the sensitivity of the regional mass balance of Arctic ice caps and glaciers to different regionalization schemes. The sensitivity analysis is based on studying the spread of mass changes and their associated errors, and the suitability of the different regionalization techniques is assessed through cross-validation. <br><br> The cross-validation results shows comparable accuracies for all regionalization methods, but the inferred mass change in individual regions, such as Svalbard and Iceland, can vary up to 4 Gt a⁻¹, which exceeds the estimated errors by roughly 50% for these regions. This study further finds that this spread in mass balance is connected to the magnitude of the elevation change variability. This indicates that care should be taken when choosing a regionalization method, especially for areas which exhibit large variability in elevation change

Australian dental school academics' perceptions of gerodontology education in the undergraduate curriculum

Introduction: Australia's rapidly growing population of dentate, frail, care-dependent older people require graduates skilled in managing the health needs of this patient group. The perceptions of academics teaching gerodontology may inform future dental curricula recommendations. This study explored the perceptions of gerodontology education amongst Australian dental school academics. Materials and Methods: All nine Australian dental schools providing entry-to-practice dentistry programs were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews. Academics from six dentistry programs took part, and the data were analysed using a thematic approach. Results: The three main themes identified from interviews included ‘clinical exposure’, ‘organisational levers’, and ‘sociological barriers’. The attitudes of students, as well as society and health professionals, were seen as strongly influential in preparing the workforce for managing the oral health of older people. The themes inter-linked with a knock-on effect where societal attitudes and organisational levers impact on the ability to successfully support students' preparation for gerodontology practice. Limited resources were barriers to achieving ideal learning and teaching and continued upon graduation as oral health care for older people was perceived as undervalued and under-resourced. Conclusion: There has been a continued cycle of failure in healthcare schemes and advocacy for the improvement of oral health for older people which has contributed to the inadequate preparation of dental graduates for managing frail and care-dependent older people. Organisational, societal, and political change is needed to support the education of dental students in this area to ensure graduate dentists are competent to manage the oral care needs of this growing population

Kivukoni Waterfront: public place or neglected space?

Urbanization is occurring faster in Sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else in the world (Africa Research Institute 2012, p. 1). The World Bank (2012b, pp. 181-182) states that Dar es Salaam is one of the fastest growing cities in Sub-Saharan Africa with an annual population growth rate of about 8 percent. Due to strained resources and incoherent governance the Dar es Salaam City Council is not able to provide basic urban services for the residents (UN-HABITAT 2009, p. 9). As a result, the urban environment is degraded and urban poverty increases (The World Bank 2002, p. 6). Buildings, roads and other services are prioritized in the planning process in many cities in developing countries, which exterminates green spaces (Mng’ong’o 2005, p. 6). This is also the case in Dar es Salaam, where green spaces are disappearing rapidly. The city center, referred to as the Central Business District, is characterized by a stressful city pulse of congestions, traffic jams and business people being an overrepresented target group. There is a lack of formal public spaces in the city center where people can elude the stressful city pulse, relax and recharge their batteries. What is interesting is that right in the Central Business District, in the exact area where Dar es Salaam was once founded, is an unplanned beach area known as Kivukoni Waterfront. The waterfront stretch is about one kilometer and is situated in a bay between two ferry terminals which act as major nodes. There are also several major landmarks adjacent, which mean a large amount of people are moving in this area. Kivukoni Waterfront is earmarked and mentioned as a site that should be developed as a public space for recreational purposes in the strategic document Dar es Salaam Central Area Redevelopment Plan and in the current master plan Dar es Salaam Master Plan 2012-2032. However, most parts of the waterfront are inaccessible today due to steep slopes and dense vegetation. Further, the area is littered and polluted, there are restaurant facilities of poor standard and homeless people are moving in the area, making it unhealthy and insecure. This thesis contains a design proposal of how the waterfront can be transformed into a public space, with the objectives of optimizing accessibility for everyone and increasing safety. The design is based on three main keys: connect, concentrate and commit, which help to enhance the existing strengths of the waterfront and address its weaknesses. We suggested five main destinations of different characters and activities, and a continuous beach promenade that acts as a spine by connecting the destinations and the waterfront with existing walkways and roads. The design language is a mix of organic shapes inspired by the ocean waves and strict shapes inspired by the urban landscape of the city center. If well-designed and wellfunctioning, the waterfront can have several positive impacts on the Central Business District and Dar es Salaam in general, which in turn can improve the well-being of many people

Generic brands : private labels within ICA

På dagens livsmedelsmarknad blir innovation och utveckling allt mer aktuellt när kunderna ställer högre och högre krav på livsmedelsbutikerna. När kraven blir högre använder sig företagen av olika strategier, att nischa sig är ett alternativ för att uppfylla kundernas krav. Det finns många aktörer på livsmedelsmarknaden men de med störst marknadsandelar är ICA, Coop och Axfood. ICA har stora andelar på området egna märkesvaror (EMV) och deras EMV-sortiment är uppdelat i sex olika EMV-kategorier. ICA är som tidigare nämns ett av de ledande företagen inom egna märkesvaror. Deras EMV är ett viktigt verktyg då detta medför att de kan erbjuda ett bredare sortiment till kunden. ICA har i dagsläget sex olika starka sortiment av EMV som ska tilltala olika kundgrupper. ICAs sex EMV är ICAs Egna märken, ICA Basic, ICA Selection, ICA Gott liv, ICA Glutenfritt och ICA I love Eco. Detta arbete syftar till att med hjälp av akademisk litteratur identifiera hur EMV kan användas som ett verktyg för ICA för att uppnå olika faktorer såsom bland annat image och butikslojalitet. Det tas även upp hur ICAs EMV påverkar varumärket ICA i stort. I arbetet kommer vi ej ta upp andra företags EMV. Arbetet har begränsats ytterligare genom att endast ta upp ICAs EMV inom livsmedelssortimentet. Frågorna har besvarats med hjälp av insamlad sekundärdata och följande begrepp har utnyttjats: marknadsmix, SWOT, 4 generationer och segmentering. Uppsatsens resultat påvisar att ICA har stora marknadsandelar på EMV-marknaden och enligt uppsatsens SWOT-analys kartläggs många styrkor av att nyttja sig av EMV. ICA har utvecklat sex olika inriktningar av EMV för att möta kundernas efterfrågan och genom uppfyllelse av kundens behov kan ICA öka marknadsandelar. ICA använder sina förpackningar strategiskt för att ge en tydlig och bra marknadskommunikation till kund. Det finns dock en risk med ICAs breda sortiment som samlas under samma varumärke, då olika varor signalerar olika mervärden med mera till kund, vilket kan medföra förvirring. Detta har ICA löst genom att externt sett marknadsföra alla produkter under det gemensamma varumärket ICA.When the consumer enters a grocery store he or she will face a variety of choices product wise. The shelves have become fields of options and this makes for a bigger importance put into branding and labeling of products on behalf of the supplier. The competitiveness has lead suppliers and commerce to look at differentiation and segmentation of their products and markets as useful tools to win the battle of the consumers attention. In order to attract costumers suppliers have to attend to their needs with a suitable product. The needs vary a lot between segments and target groups and has resulted in the wide range of different variations of items in stores today. ICA is the leader on the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) market and has met this demand for different solutions by offering a selection of different private-label products. Each brand possesses an individual added value depending on its targeted market but are all sold under the same “core-brand”, namely ICA. This study will look into how ICA successfully manages six different private-label brands which all have a unique image and perceived value. Specific interest has been given to the corporate brand ICA and whether its image is affected by the several private-labels. The work with this study has been based on academic literature, secondary data- mainly published articles, and tools to help with analyzing the elements and situations encountered throughout the process. What the writers found was that the differentiation and segmentation of the private-labels was focused to the packaging of each label and the content of the product. Each category of private label was easily distinguished and its added value well communicated to its target group through product design and quality. However, external specific marketing of the different labels is not made. This led to an answer to the question of how the main label ICA is affected by the subordinated private-labels. The external marketing that is made to customer is made through the core-label, ICA. By doing so, the company avoids customer confusion in marketing and a uniform, clear and strong message reaches the whole market

An Essay on the Formation of the Meditating on the Past 懷古 Poetry in Chinese Poems-mainly from Han Dynasty Period to the Six-Dynasties Period

Detta arbete är skrivet för inköpsavdelningen på enheten PGI4, representerat på Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery i Finspång (SIT), med målet att reducera kostnader genom ett förbättrat arbete med Cash Management. Då inköpt material utgör en så pass stor del av värdet på slutprodukten, nära 60 procent, inses genast vilket stort inflytande inköpsfunktionen har på företagets totala kostnader. Även om Cash Management ägnas störst fokus hos företag med likviditetsproblem, finns det mycket att vinna genom att arbeta aktivt med konceptet också i goda tider. Därmed är syftet med arbetet att; ”analysera möjligheterna för inköpsavdelningen på Siemens PGI4 att utnyttja Cash Management för att reducera de totala kostnaderna”. Längs arbetets gång har en totalkostnadsmodell tagits fram för att tydliggöra kostnaderna relaterade till inköp, och därefter har områden specifikt intressanta ur ett Cash Management-perspektiv identifierats. Utgående från dessa områden har undersökts hur dagens verksamhet ser ut på SIT samt hur andra företag hanterar liknande aktiviteter. På så vis har lösningarna tagits fram angående vad inköp på SIT bör arbeta annorlunda med, samt hur de kan nå förbättringar. Genom tydligare riktlinjer för standardkontrakt, ekonomistyrning och villkor för transporter och prognostisering kan arbetssätt inom inköp förbättras. Ett utnyttjande av kassarabatter kan ge kostnadsbesparingar motsvarande 1% av köpesumman. Rekommendationer kopplade till orderprocessen och fakturering syftar till att undvika de årliga kostnaderna på 2,4 miljoner SEK och 300 000 SEK för tidiga leveranser respektive räntefakturor. Ett utnyttjande av inköparnas kompetens inom lagerstyrning, kan resultera i sänkningar av lagernivåer genom att styra lager per leverantör