Carbon Leakage: The Case of Norway

MasteroppgaveECON391PROF-SØKMASV-SØ

Livelihood impacts of solid waste management in informal settlements of Windhoek, Namibia.

Master thesis development management- University of Agder, 2014Solid waste management (SWM) is a growing global concern, especially in urban areas and even more so in urban areas of developing countries. Informal settlement areas, slums, face grave challenges of inadequate municipal service delivery. The impact of solid waste management is related to impacts caused by lacking water and sanitation, through the common issue of public health. Service delivery varies among the residents within a city, and reflects the historical background and the current priorities of the municipality. Livelihood opportunities in the informal settlements are shaped by the organisation of urban space, setting the preconditions for access to services, level of inclusion in decision-making and forming of the ‘social self’. This paper investigates the solid waste management system within the capital of Namibia, Windhoek, with a special focus on the informal settlement areas. The direct livelihood impacts of inadequate SWM and general service delivery are visible through unhealthy living environments. The physical surroundings reflect the marginalised and peripheral status of the informal and illegal settlers in Windhoek. The residents’ awareness of connections between waste and livelihood varies, and is often limited to concrete issues in the neighbourhood, and not to structural arrangements and inequities within Windhoek. The research finds a divided city, where the traditional apartheid neighbourhoods are growing into large informal settlements due to continual urban migration. These settlements located in north-western Windhoek present the municipality with vast challenges related to basic service delivery. The residents are aware of their low priority in the city, which impact negatively on their livelihood opportunities. Key words: waste, solid waste management, livelihoods, ‘social self’, Namibia, Windhoek, municipal service delivery, informal settlements, slum

Genekspresjonsanalyse av muc5, muc18 og il4/13a fra gjellevev i atlantisk laks ved bruk av RT-qPCR – før, under og tre uker etter brønnbåttransport

Genekspresjon av muciner og interleukiner i kommersiell atlantisk laks kan gi en indikasjon på fiskens helse og velferd. I denne studien blir det sett på fiskens fysiologiske respons på transport fra settefiskanlegg på land til oppdrettsanlegg i sjø. Økt kunnskap om hvordan fiskens fysiologiske respons på en slik transport er, kan danne et viktig grunnlag for fremtidig transport av atlantisk laks i oppdrettsnæringen på en effektiv og minst mulig stressende måte. Denne studien baserer seg på vevsprøver tatt fra laksens gjeller før, under og tre uker etter transport. RT-qPCR ble brukt som analysemetode for tre gener og ett normaliseringsgen, henholdsvis muc5, muc18 og il4/13a, og actb. Relativ genekspresjon ble bestemt med ΔΔCt- og 2-ΔΔCt-metoden etter bearbeidelse av rådata fra Aligent AriaMx 1.8 i Microsoft Excel. Dataene ble fremstilt grafisk og resultatene viste en oppregulering av de aktuelle genene under transport og tre uker etter transport. Signifikansen ble bestemt ved utførelse av t-test. Oppreguleringen viser at det har skjedd en fysiologisk respons i fisken som følge av transporten. Det anbefales videre forskning rundt de aktuelle genenes funksjon i fisk, for å få en bedre forståelse av hvordan den fysiologiske responsen påvirker fisken.Gene expression of mucins and interleukins in commercial Atlantic salmon may provide an indication of the health and welfare of the fish. In this study, the physiological response the fish get from transportation from land-based hatcheries to fish farms at sea is discussed. Increased knowledge of the physiological response in fish to such transport, can make an important foundation for future transport of Atlantic salmon in the aquaculture industry. In the future, the main goal should be to make the transport efficient and less stressful. This study is based on tissue samples taken from the gills of salmon before, during and three weeks after transport. RT-qPCR was used as the assay method for three genes and one normalization gene, muc5, muc18, and il4/13a, and actb, respectively. Relative gene expression was determined by the ΔΔCt- and 2-ΔΔCt-method after processing raw data from Aligent AriaMx 1.8 in Microsoft Excel. The data were presented graphically and showed a significant upregulation of the relevant genes during transport as well as three weeks after transport. The significance was determined by performing a t-test. The upregulation shows that there has been a physiological response in the fish as a result of the transport. Further research on the functions of the relevant genes in fish is recommended, in order to gain a better understanding of how the physiological response affects the fish

Safety education of pedestrians for injury prevention

Original article can be found at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ Copyright The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [Full text of this article is not available in the UHRA]Background: Each year about one million people die and about 10 million are seriously injured on the world's roads. Educational measures to teach pedestrians how to cope with the traffic environment are considered to be an essential component of any prevention strategy, and pedestrian education has been recommended in many countries. However, as resources available for road safety are limited, a key question concerns the relative effectiveness of different prevention strategies. Objectives: To quantify the effectiveness of pedestrian safety education programmes in preventing pedestrian-motor vehicle collisions. Search strategy: We searched the Cochrane Injuries Group's Specialised Register, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, TRANSPORT, MEDLINE, EMBASE, ERIC, PSYCHLIT, SPECTR, and the WHO database on the Internet. We checked reference lists of relevant reviews and papers and contacted experts in the field. Most database searching was conducted in 1999, and updated in May 2003. Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials of safety education programmes for pedestrians of all ages. Data collection and analysis: One author screened records. Two authors independently extracted data and assessed methodological quality of trials. Because of differences in the types of interventions and outcome measures used in the trials, meta-analyses were not carried out. Main results: We found 15 randomised-controlled trials of pedestrian safety education programmes, conducted between 1976 and 1997. The methodological quality of the included trials was generally poor. Allocation concealment was adequate in three trials, outcome assessment was blinded in eight, and in most of the studies large numbers of participants were lost to follow up. Study participants were children in 14 studies and institutionalised adults in one. Eight studies involved direct education of participants, seven used parents as educators. No trials were conducted in a developing country and there were none of pedestrian safety training in the elderly. None of the trials assessed the effect of pedestrian safety education on the occurrence of pedestrian injury, but six assessed the effect on observed behaviour. Some trials showed evidence of behavioural change following pedestrian safety education but it is difficult to predict what effect this might have on pedestrian injury risk. Authors' conclusions: Pedestrian safety education can result in improvement in children's knowledge and can change observed road crossing behaviour, but whether this reduces the risk of pedestrian motor vehicle collision and injury occurrence is unknown. There is evidence that changes in safety knowledge and observed behaviour decline with time, suggesting that safety education must be repeated at regular intervals.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio