1,721,042 research outputs found
Quality of environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports on biological pest control
Get PDFThesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007Decision making regarding the release of biological control agents for invasive species such as lantana, Lantana camara, requires the consideration and evaluation of environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports by a competent authority. Although various biological control agents have been authorised for release into the environment for the control of lantana, the quality of the EIA reports that form the basis for decision making has never been evaluated. The evaluation of the quality of EIA reports on the release of biological control agents by means of an adapted Lee-Colley review package was the focus of this research. The main conclusion was that the quality of the EIA reports on the release of biological control agents for the control of Lantana camara (lantana) was poor by the standards of the review package, the literature reviewed, and the legal requirements. The main deficiencies in the EIA reports related to impact identification, impact evaluation, scoping, mitigation measures and monitoring programmes, while the project descriptions, non-technical summaries and layout and presentation of information in the reports were of good quality. These results correspond to reports in literature that affirms that essential information about impact identification and evaluation and subsequent mitigation and monitoring, the crux of the EIA, is mostly insufficient in EIA reports.Master
Stakeholder perspectives of the key challenges and opportunities in implementing organic waste diversion in the Western Cape
Get PDFMaster of Environmental Management with Waste
Management , North-West University, Vanderbijlpark CampusOrganic waste diversion from landfill presents challenges in both developed and developing countries, where it accounts for 32% and 50% of the total waste stream respectively. From international research these challenges included a lack of clear government policies, deficiencies in planning, poor communication and awareness campaigns, and shortages of funds to provide the required infrastructure, logistics, and processing capacity to manage organic waste. In addition, three key factors were identified as being the biggest barriers to implementing organic waste diversion; the fact that organic waste has no monetary value, fees are charged to manage the waste, and the public’s general negative attitude towards organic waste management. In contrast, diverting organic waste from landfill presents several opportunities including rescuing edible food for human consumption, using food waste as animal feed, extending the lifespan of landfills, preventing greenhouse gas production, producing compost for agriculture, extracting energy through anaerobic digestion, and creating jobs and enterprises within the circular economy. In South Africa, both the national government and the Western Cape Provincial Government have prioritised diverting organic waste from landfills in order to improve waste management and grow the circular economy in the country. The National Waste Management Strategy 2020 emphasises the need to source separate waste so that the value can be extracted. In addition to national strategies, the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP) has set targets of 50% diversion of organic waste from landfill by 2022 and 100% by 2027. In order for them to achieve the targets set, municipal solid waste managers (SWM) are required by government to implement programmes to extract organic waste streams from municipal solid waste and find alternative means of processing it. As of the end of 2022 none of the municipalities in the Western Cape had achieved the target of 50% diversion from landfill. The objectives of this research was therefore to understand the key challenges that stakeholders face when implementing organic waste diversion and identify opportunities that diverting this waste could present. A qualitative approach was adopted for the research and interviews were conducted with solid waste managers from nine Western Cape local municipalities to identify what they perceive to be both the challenges and the opportunities of diverting organic waste. Two officials from the DEA&DP: Waste Directorate were also interviewed to understand their perspectives of the efforts of municipalities to divert organic waste from landfill. A questionnaire with both closed-ended, ranking and open questions was used to extract views. Economic challenges followed by social challenges were found to be the most important. Limited finances restricted the ability of municipalities to provide additional resources to separate, collect
and process organic waste. Convincing waste generators to correctly sort waste in an acceptable form for processing was regarded as the biggest social challenge. Source separating food waste appeared to be a very low priority for municipal solid waste managers with a focus on separating
garden waste for chipping and composting. With respect to the challenges faced with separating organic waste from mixed solid waste there were concerns that separating using mechanical biological treatment (MBT) would yield contaminated compost and be prohibitively expensive.
The cost of converting existing compactor waste truck fleets to organic waste transport vehicles was regarded as a significant challenge when implementing organic waste diversion programmes. Processing of organic waste was limited in most municipalities to the chipping of garden waste, the collection of food waste from restaurants and hotels by pig farmers, and the composting of abattoir waste at abattoirs. The accumulation of large stockpiles of chipped garden waste presented a challenge as municipalities had failed to develop markets or off takers for the chippings. The preserving of landfill airspace was regarded as the most important opportunity that diverting organic waste created. This was due to the severe shortage of municipal landfill airspace available and the associated high costs of transporting waste to regional landfills. Creating jobs and enterprise development was also considered a valuable opportunity although there was uncertainty as to how this could be achieved practically. In addition, reducing waste transport costs through decentralising the chipping of garden waste and composting, was regarded as an important benefit of diverting organic waste. Preventing the generation of greenhouse gases, protecting ground water from contamination, and recovering nutrients for agriculture and animal feed were also regarded as opportunities by stakeholders who participated in the research. None of the participants mentioned food recovery or anaerobic digestion as potential opportunities that diverting organic waste could offer.Master
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Thrombotest in antistolkontrole:'n Vergelykende studie met quick se een-stadium protrombien-bepaling
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Die Fakulteit van Geneeskunde, Universiteit van die Oranje- Vrystaat: Die Eerste Vyf Jaar
Get PDFThe fifth anniversary of the founding of South Africa's sixth Medical School was celebrated on 6 June 1974 at the University of the Orange Free State, Bloemfontein. The Faculty's conception and growth are reviewed and its philosophy of education outlined. At the end of 1974 we have students in the fourth year of undergraduate medical study (a total of 204 students in all years), 125 paramedical students and trainee meqical technologists, and more than 60 postgraduates in specialist training (M.Med.) or enrolled for doctorates. The two teaching hospitals, Pelonomi (non-White patients) and the National (White patients), have a total of 1 340 beds, with extensive additions being planned at Pelonomi Hospital. The main Faculty buildings are virtually on the University campus and next to the new Universitas Hospital, which should be completed by 1976. With an academic staff of 53 full-time lecturers (20 professors) and 46 part-time medical lecturers, the Faculty has much reason to be satisfied with a reasonably troublefree initial growth phase, due largely to optimal co-operation between the University, the OFS Provincial Hospital Department and, recently, the Department of Health
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Critical review of the quality of environmental authorizations in South Africa
Get PDFM (Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015This dissertation critically reviews the quality of South African environmental authorisations through
the application of a methodology adopted from the Lee and Colley (1999) environmental impact
assessment (EIA) report review package. The literature review shows that to date limited research
has been conducted on the quality of environmental authorisations nationally. Anecdotal evidence
suggests that environmental authorisations are of weak quality; hence the development of guidelines
on the compilation of environmental authorisations by the Department of Environmental Affairs
(DEA). In this dissertation, the quality of the environmental authorisations is critically reviewed
against the requirements of the National Environmental Management Act (Act No. 107 of 1998) and
departmental guidelines. The research concludes that only 64% of reviewed authorisations are
deemed satisfactory, while 36% were unsatisfactory. When the basic assessment report (BAR) and
scoping and environmental impact assessment (S&EIA) process authorisations are compared it is
concluded that the there is a minimal difference in quality. The BAR achieved a 69% satisfactory
rating while the S&EIA process achieved a 61% satisfactory rating. The dissertation concludes by
making recommendations to improve the quality of authorisations.Master
Assessing the consideration of health impacts in environmental impact assessment
Get PDFMSc (Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom CampusRampant industrialisation, urbanisation and other activities pertaining to developmental actions have contributed to the deterioration of the environment. Environmental impact assessments (EIAs) are therefore now conducted worldwide to gather positive or negative information pertaining to proposed development projects. EIAs enable governments to make decisions on the basis of the potential impact of projects on the environment. However, previous studies that were conducted around the globe have shown that not much importance has been placed on issues of human health in EIAs. The motive for conducting this study was to determine whether the above situation was also true in the South African context. Consequently, the objective of the study was to establish the amount of emphasis placed on health issues in EIA practices and the extent to which health impacts are considered in EIAs in South Africa. The research question that guided this study was: “To what extent are health impacts considered in South African EIA practice?” The Lee-Colley review package, which was adapted to predominately address health impacts, was utilised to conduct a thematic analysis of 23 EIA reports that were produced in several developmental sectors in South Africa, such as mining, power stations, road and rail, and buildings. The review areas were designed using the International Association of Impact Assessment (IAIA) international health guidelines. The results suggest that developmental sectors incorporate health impacts differently within the EIA reports with mining and power station developmental projects taking the leading in considering health impacts in EIAs even thought there were inadequacies which can be due to lack of standardised method of addressing health impacts. The overall assessment revealed that EIA reports incorporated health impacts to a lower extend. Focus of health impacts were mainly on how the projects degraded the air or water quality, or could increase the noise pollution. The direct and indirect effects of health determinants aspects of affected populations, health equity were omitted in the reports. It is essential to educate the environmental practitioners about the need to include health impacts in their EIAs, with an adherence to the IAIA international guidelines. There is a need to allocate a section in the reports to address all health impacts, irrespective of the type of development.Master
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