Rural development and communication: a community media project in Uttar Pradesh (India)

Loaded with 16% of the world’s population, India is a challenged country. More than a third of its citizens live below the poverty line - on less than a dollar a day. These people have no proper electricity, no proper drinking water supply, no proper sanitary facilities and well over 40% are illiterates. More than 65% live in rural areas and 60% earn their livelihood from agriculture. Only a meagre 3.63% have access to telephone and less than 1% have access to a computer. Therefore, providing access to timely information on agriculture, weather, social, health care, employment, fishing, is of utmost importance to improve the conditions of rural poor. After some introductive chapters, whose function is to provide a comprehensive framework – both theoretical and practical – of the current rural development policies and of the media situation in India and Uttar Pradesh, my dissertation presents the findings of the pilot project entitled “Enhancing development support to rural masses through community media activity”, launched in 2005 by the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lucknow (U.P.) and by the local NGO Bharosa. The project scope was to involve rural people and farmers from two villages of the district of Lucknow (namely Kumhrava and Barhi Gaghi) in a three-year participatory community media project, based on the creation, implementation and use of a rural community newspaper and a rural community internet centre. Community media projects like this one have been rarely carried out in India because the country has no proper community media tradition: therefore the development of the project has been a challenge for the all stakeholders involved.

Developing a smoking cessation program for Turkish-speaking migrants in Switzerland: novel findings and promising effects

Introduction: Recent studies show that smoking prevalence in the Turkish-speaking migrant population in Switzerland is substantially higher than in the general population. A specific group treatment for Turkish-speaking migrants was developed and tested in order to provide the migrant population with equal access to smoking cessation programs and to improve the migration-sensitive quality of such programs by sociocultural targeting. Methods: The evaluation of the program included quantitative (questionnaires t1 and t2 and follow-up by telephone) and qualitative methods (participant observation and semi-structured interviews). Results: The results showed that 37.7% of the 61 participants were smoke free at the 12-month follow-up. The factors of being in a partnership and using nicotine replacement products during the program were positively associated with successful cessation. We also demonstrated the importance of “strong ties” (strong relationships between participants) and the sensitivity of the program to sociocultural (e.g., social aspects of smoking in Turkish culture, which were addressed in relapse prevention), socioeconomic (e.g., low financial resources, which were addressed by providing the course for free), and migration-specific (e.g., underdeveloped access to smoking cessation programs, which was addressed using outreach strategy for recruiting) issues. Conclusions: Overall, the smoking cessation program was successfully tested and is now becoming implemented as a regular service of the Swiss Public Health Program for Tobacco Prevention (by the Swiss Association for Smoking Prevention).

Geology and Ore Deposits of the Clinton Mining District

This report includes the results of geological investigation of the Clinton Mining District and the Hidden Treasure Mine.The Clinton Mining District is an unorganized mining dis­trict situated in the Garnet Range two and one-half miles northeast of the town of Clinton, Montana, which is on the Northern Pacific Railway and the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad seventeen miles east of the city of Missoula. The district is in the same range of mountains as the Gar­net Mining District and the drainage from the district covered is to the south into the Hell Gate or Clarks Fork of the Colum­bia River. The main stream is known as Trail creek, which runs in a southerly direction from the area studied.

Testing and Concentration of a Low Grade Gold Ore from Marysville, Montana

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate and attempt to concentrate low grade cyanided tailings rejected from the old Montana Mining and milling Company's mill situated 4 miles below the town of Marysville, Montana.

Geology and Mines of the Upper Blackfoot Valley, Montana

The purchase and continued operation of the Mike Horse mine in the Heddleston district, by the American Smelting and Re­fining Company, gives the Blackfoot Valley a renewed promise of a prosperous future in its role as a mining district. In the past, large amounts of placer gold were recovered from the gulches of the area, however, because of the transporta­tion facilities, only the upper portions of a few lodes were exploited by the early miners.

Environmental, health and safety cost benefit analysis in the United States chemical industry

The purpose of this research project is to determine whether there is a cost/benefit to allocating financial and other company-related resources to improve environmental, health and safety performance beyond that which is required by law. The issue of whether a company benefits from spending dollars to achieve environmental, health and safety performance beyond legal compliance is an important issue to the chemical manufacturing industry in the United States because of the voluminous and complex legal requirements impacting environmental, health and safety expenditures. The cost/benefit issue has practical significance because many U.S. chemical manufacturing companies base their environmental, health and safety management strategies on just achieving and maintaining compliance with legal requirements when in reality this strategy may actually be a higher cost way of managing environmental, health and safety practices. This difference in environmental, health and safety management strategy is being investigated to determine if managing environmental, health and safety to achieve performance beyond that which is required by law results in a greater benefit to companies in the U.S. chemical manufacturing sector.

Tidally Driven Exchange in an Archipelago Strait: Biological and Optical Responses

Measurements in San Bernardino Strait, one of two major connections between the Pacific Ocean and the interior waters of the Philippine Archipelago, captured 2-3 m s(-1) tidal currents that drove vertical mixing and net landward transport. A TRIAXUS towed profiling vehicle equipped with physical and optical sensors was used to repeatedly map subregions within the strait, employing survey patterns designed to resolve tidal variability of physical and optical properties. Strong flow over the sill between Luzon and Capul islands resulted in upward transport and mixing of deeper high-salinity, low-oxygen, high-particle-and-nutrient-concentration water into the upper water column, landward of the sill. During the high-velocity ebb flow, topography influences the vertical distribution of water, but without the diapycnal mixing observed during flood tide. The surveys captured a net landward flux of water through the narrowest part of the strait. The tidally varying velocities contribute to strong vertical transport and diapycnal mixing of the deeper water into the upper layer, contributing to the observed higher phytoplankton biomass within the interior of the strait.

Multi-proxy summer and winter precipitation reconstruction for southern Africa over the last 200 years

This study presents the first consolidation of palaeoclimate proxy records from multiple archives to develop statistical rainfall reconstructions for southern Africa covering the last two centuries. State-of-the-art ensemble reconstructions reveal multi-decadal rainfall variability in the summer and winter rainfall zones. A decrease in precipitation amount over time is identified in the summer rainfall zone. No significant change in precipitation amount occurred in the winter rainfall zone, but rainfall variability has increased over time. Generally synchronous rainfall fluctuations between the two zones are identified on decadal scales, with common wet (dry) periods reconstructed around 1890 (1930). A strong relationship between seasonal rainfall and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the surrounding oceans is confirmed. Coherence among decadal-scale fluctuations of southern African rainfall, regional SST, SSTs in the Pacific Ocean and rainfall in south-eastern Australia suggest SST-rainfall teleconnections across the southern hemisphere. Temporal breakdowns of the SST-rainfall relationship in the southern African regions and the connection between the two rainfall zones are observed, for example during the 1950s. Our results confirm the complex interplay between large-scale teleconnections, regional SSTs and local effects in modulating multi-decadal southern African rainfall variability over long timescales.

Does the Use of Mobile Devices (Tablets and Smartphones) Affect Stated Choice Behavior in Web Surveys? An Application to Environmental Valuation

Web surveys are becoming increasingly popular in survey research. Compared with face-to-face, telephone and mail surveys, web surveys may contain a different and new source of measurement error and bias: the type of device that respondents use to answer the survey questions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that tests whether the use of mobile devices affects survey characteristics and stated preferences in a web-based choice experiment. The web survey was carried out in Germany with 3,400 respondents, of which 12 per cent used a mobile device (i.e. tablet or smartphone), and comprised a stated choice experiment on externalities of renewable energy production using wind, solar and biomass. Our main finding is that survey characteristics such as interview length and acquiescence tendency are affected by the device used. In contrast to what might be expected, we find that, compared with respondents using desktop computers and laptops, mobile device users spent more time to answer the survey and are less likely to be prone to acquiescence bias. In the choice experiment, mobile device users tended to be more consistent in their stated choices, and there are differences in willingness to pay between both subsamples.

Intensification of tropical Pacific biological productivity due to volcanic eruptions

Major volcanic eruptions generate widespread ocean cooling, which reduces upper ocean stratification. This effect has the potential to increase nutrient delivery into the euphotic zone and boost biological productivity. Using externally forced last millennium simulations of three climate/Earth System models (Model for Interdisciplinary Research On Climate (MIROC), Community Earth System Model (CESM), and LOch-Vecode-Ecbilt-CLio-agIsm Model (LOVECLIM)), we test the hypothesis that large volcanic eruptions intensify nutrient-driven export production. It is found that strong volcanic radiative forcing enhances the likelihood of eastern Pacific El Niño-like warming in CESM and LOVECLIM. This leads to an initial reduction of nutrients and export production in the eastern equatorial Pacific. However, this initial response reverses after about 3 years in association with La Niña cooling. The resulting delayed enhancement of biological production resembles the multiyear response in MIROC. The model simulations show that volcanic impacts on tropical Pacific dynamics and biogeochemistry persist for several years, thus providing a new source for potential multiyear ecosystem predictability.

Does the use of mobile devices (tablets and smartphones) affect survey quality and choice behaviour in web surveys?

Web surveys are becoming increasingly popular in survey research including stated preference surveys. Compared with face-to-face, telephone and mail surveys, web surveys may contain a different and new source of measurement error and bias: the type of device that respondents use to answer the survey questions. This is the first study that tests whether the use of mobile devices, tablets or smartphones, affects survey characteristics and stated preferences in a web-based choice experiment. The web survey on expanding renewable energy production in Germany was carried out with 3182 respondents, of which 12% used a mobile device. Propensity score matching is used to account for selection bias in the use of mobile devices for survey completion. We find that mobile device users spent more time than desktop/laptop users to answer the survey. Yet, desktop/laptop users and mobile device users do not differ in acquiescence tendency as an indicator of extreme response patterns. For mobile device users only, we find a negative correlation between screen size and interview length and a positive correlation between screen size and acquiescence tendency. In the choice experiment data, we do not find significant differences in the tendency to choose the status quo option and scale between both subsamples. However, some of the estimates of implicit prices differ, albeit not in a unidirectional fashion. Model results for mobile device users indicate a U-shaped relationship between error variance and screen size. Together, the results suggest that using mobile devices is not detrimental to survey quality.

Oil and gas companies' corporate social responsibility: Policies and HIV initiatives in Nigeria

This dissertation study describes the health and HIV related initiatives of multinational oil and gas companies that operate in Nigeria, perceptions of oil and gas company employees, oil and gas company leaders, and key informants from government, public health, community and the Nigerian business coalition on HIV. A mixed method approach was used. Study participants include employees and leaders that worked for multinational oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria and key informants residing in Nigeria. The oil and gas companies that were sampled all had initiatives in place that were consistent with accepted recommended best practices for companies responding to HIV. All of the companies provided comprehensive health and HIV services to employees and dependents; all had HIV initiatives in the community and had formed partnerships with government or NGO/civil societies. Study participants shared the perception that corporate social responsibility was integral to the oil and gas companies conducting business in Nigeria due to the economic gains of the companies from the country/communities and because of the negative impact that oil and gas exploration activities had on communities. Themes identified that played a role in oil and gas companies' response and how decisions were/should be made were: 'business interest', 'social or government influence', 'pressure to respond', and 'community factors'. The study produced information that can be used to inform and guide oil and gas companies' health and HIV initiatives in Nigeria.^

Great Barrier Reef coral element/Ca and stable isotope data and U-Th ages from IODP Expedition 325

Tropical south-western Pacific temperatures are of vital importance to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), but the role of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the growth of the GBR since the Last Glacial Maximum remains largely unknown. Here we present records of Sr/Ca and d18O for Last Glacial Maximum and deglacial corals that show a considerably steeper meridional SST gradient than the present day in the central GBR. We find a 1-2 °C larger temperature decrease between 17° and 20°S about 20,000 to 13,000 years ago. The result is best explained by the northward expansion of cooler subtropical waters due to a weakening of the South Pacific gyre and East Australian Current. Our findings indicate that the GBR experienced substantial meridional temperature change during the last deglaciation, and serve to explain anomalous deglacial drying of northeastern Australia. Overall, the GBR developed through significant SST change and may be more resilient than previously thought.

Oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of shells from Radix sp. in lakes across the Tibetan Plateau

The Tibetan Plateau (TP), including its surrounding mountain ranges, represents the largest store of ice outside the polar regions. It hosts numerous lakes as well as the head waters of major Asian rivers, on which billions of people depend, and it is particularly sensitive to climate change. The moisture transport to the TP is controlled by the Indian and Pacific monsoon and the Westerlies. Understanding the evolution of the interaction of these circulation systems requires studies on climate archives in different spatial and temporal contexts. The objective of this study is to learn more about the interannual variability of precipitation patterns across the TP and how different hydrologic systems react to different climatic factors. Aragonite shells of the aquatic gastropod Radix, which is widely distributed in the region, may represent suitable archives for inferring hydrologic and climatic signals in particularly high resolution. Therefore, sclerochronological studies of d18O and d13C ratios in Radix shells from seven lakes were conducted, each representing a different hydrologic and climatic setting, on a transect from the Pamirs across the TP. The shell patterns exhibit an increasing influence of precipitation and a decreasing influence of evaporation on the isotope compositions from west to east. d18O values of shells from lakes on the eastern and central TP (Donggi Cona, Yamdrok Yumco, Tarab Co) mirror monsoon signals, indicated by more negative values and higher variabilities compared to the more western lakes (Karakul, Bangong/Nyak, Manasarovar). In Yadang Co, located on the central southern TP, the monsoon rains did not reach the lake in the sampling year, although it is located in a region which is usually affected by monsoon circulation. The d18O values are used to differentiate the annual hydrological cycle into ice cover period, melt water period, precipitation period and evaporation period. d13C compositions in the shells particularly depend on specific habitats, which vary in biological productivity and in carbon sources. d18O and d13C patterns show a positive covariance in shells originating from large closed basins. The results show that Radix shells mirror general climatic differences between the seven lake regions. These differences reflect both regional and local climate signals in sub-seasonal resolution, without noticeable dependence on the particular lake system.

Geochemistry and stratigraphy on sediment cores from Leg198 and Leg 208

The first complete cyclic sedimentary successions for the early Paleogene from drilling multiple holes have been retrieved during two ODP expeditions: Leg 198 (Shatsky Rise, NW Pacific Ocean) and Leg 208 (Walvis Ridge, SE Atlantic Ocean). These new records allow us to construct a comprehensive astronomically calibrated stratigraphic framework with an unprecedented accuracy for both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans covering the entire Paleocene epoch based on the identification of the stable long-eccentricity cycle (405-kyr). High resolution X-ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanner and non-destructive core logging data from Sites 1209 through1211 (Leg 198) and Sites 1262, 1267 (Leg 208) are the basis for such a robust chronostratigraphy. Former investigated marine (ODP Sites 1001 and 1051) and land-based (e.g., Zumaia) sections have been integrated as well. The high-fidelity chronology is the prerequisite for deciphering mechanisms in relation to prominent transient climatic events as well as completely new insights into Greenhouse climate variability in the early Paleogene. We demonstrate that the Paleocene epoch covers 24 long eccentricity cycles. We also show that no definite absolute age datums for the K/Pg boundary or the Paleocene - Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) can be provided by now, because of still existing uncertainties in orbital solutions and radiometric dating. However, we provide two options for tuning of the Paleocene which are only offset by 405-kyr. Our orbitally calibrated integrated Leg 208 magnetostratigraphy is used to revise the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale (GPTS) for Chron C29 to C25. We established a high-resolution calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy for the South Atlantic which allows a much more detailed relative scaling of stages with biozones. The re-evaluation of the South Atlantic spreading rate model features higher frequent oscillations in spreading rates for magnetochron C28r, C27n, and C26n.