Structured decision making as a tool for facilitating stakeholder engagement in non-renewable resource management: using the case study of hydraulic fracturing in the Green Point Shale formation in western Newfoundland

This thesis examines the importance of effective stakeholder engagement that complies with the doctrines of social justice in non-renewable resources management decision-making. It uses hydraulic fracturing in the Green Point Shale Formation in Western Newfoundland as a case study. The thesis uses as theoretical background John Rawls’ and David Miller’ theory of social justice, and identifies the social justice principles, which are relevant to stakeholder engagement. The thesis compares the method of stakeholder engagement employed by the Newfoundland and Labrador Hydraulic Fracturing Review Panel (NLHFRP), with the stakeholder engagement techniques recommended by the Structured Decision Making (SDM) model, as applied to a simulated case study involving hydraulic fracturing in the Green Point Shale Formation. Using the already identified social justice principles, the thesis then developed a framework to measure the level of compliance of both stakeholder engagement techniques with social justice principles. The main finding of the thesis is that the engagement techniques prescribed by the SDM model comply more closely with the doctrines of social justice than the engagement techniques applied by the NLHFRP. The thesis concludes by recommending that the SDM model be more widely used in non- renewable resource management decision making in order to ensure that all stakeholders’ concerns are effectively heard, understood and transparently incorporated in the nonrenewable resource policies to make them consistent with local priorities and goals, and with the social justice norms and institutions.

Assessing and reducing vulnerability to climate change: Moving from theory to practical decision-support

As climate change continues to impact socio-ecological systems, tools that assist conservation managers to understand vulnerability and target adaptations are essential. Quantitative assessments of vulnerability are rare because available frameworks are complex and lack guidance for dealing with data limitations and integrating across scales and disciplines. This paper describes a semi-quantitative method for assessing vulnerability to climate change that integrates socio-ecological factors to address management objectives and support decision-making. The method applies a framework first adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and uses a structured 10-step process. The scores for each framework element are normalized and multiplied to produce a vulnerability score and then the assessed components are ranked from high to low vulnerability. Sensitivity analyses determine which indicators most influence the analysis and the resultant decision-making process so data quality for these indicators can be reviewed to increase robustness. Prioritisation of components for conservation considers other economic, social and cultural values with vulnerability rankings to target actions that reduce vulnerability to climate change by decreasing exposure or sensitivity and/or increasing adaptive capacity. This framework provides practical decision-support and has been applied to marine ecosystems and fisheries, with two case applications provided as examples: (1) food security in Pacific Island nations under climate-driven fish declines, and (2) fisheries in the Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia. The step-wise process outlined here is broadly applicable and can be undertaken with minimal resources using existing data, thereby having great potential to inform adaptive natural resource management in diverse locations.

Using landscape metrics to predict hydrologic connectivity patterns between forested wetlands and streams in a coastal plain watershed

Geographically isolated wetlands, those entirely surrounded by uplands, provide numerous ecological functions, some of which are dependent on the degree to which they are hydrologically connected to nearby waters. There is a growing need for field-validated, landscape-scale approaches for classifying wetlands based on their expected degree of connectivity with stream networks. During the 2015 water year, flow duration was recorded in non-perennial streams (n = 23) connecting forested wetlands and nearby perennial streams on the Delmarva Peninsula (Maryland, USA). Field and GIS-derived landscape metrics (indicators of catchment, wetland, non-perennial stream, and soil characteristics) were assessed as predictors of wetland-stream connectivity (duration, seasonal onset and offset dates). Connection duration was most strongly correlated with non-perennial stream geomorphology and wetland characteristics. A final GIS-based stepwise regression model (adj-R2 = 0.74, p < 0.0001) described wetland-stream connection duration as a function of catchment area, wetland area and number, and soil available water storage.

Human resource management reform in the Indonesian civil service : towards strategic fit?

Studies of strategic HRM have dominated HRM research over the last three decades. Focusing on the HRM-organisation performance relationship, researchers take various themes and perspectives in their approach to strategic HRM. Among these themes, two contrasting approaches of strategic HRM continue to flourish: first, the best practice approach suggests that certain HRM practices will have the same effect irrespective of context and, second, the best fit approach suggests that the choice of HRM practices should be designed in accordance with an organisations’ specific context. While there is little consensus on what constitutes strategic HRM, the most common feature agreed in this field is the notion of the strategic integration; aligning HRM practices with organisations’ overall strategic objectives (vertical fit) and with each other (horizontal fit). Utilising the best fit approach as its theoretical framework, this study examines how vertical and horizontal fit is practised in the Indonesian civil service and what factors likely influence the prevalence of vertical and horizontal fit in the Indonesian civil service context. This study is significant for two important reasons. Firstly, the literature suggests that there are limited studies examining the best fit concept in the civil sector despite its implementation in the private sector positively contributing to organisational performance improvement. Secondly, the study provides enlightenment on how the best fit approach could contribute to performance improvement in the Indonesian civil service. This is in line with the fact that negative images of the Indonesian civil service are continuously highlighted although various HRM reform initiatives have been put in place. To achieve the objectives of the study, the qualitative case study approach accompanied by semi-structured interviews was employed involving 53 senior officials and one focus group discussion from eight Indonesian government agencies, consisting of three central agencies mandated to manage human resources, the National Bureaucratic Reform Team and four line agencies from both central and local governments. Thematic analysis was employed for data analyses and NVIVO software was used to manage the data. The study suggests three main findings. First, various HRM initiatives in relation to the HRM reform have been introduced in the Indonesian civil service differentiating them from the old HRM practices. However, the findings indicate that some HRM policies are still contradicting and hinder vertical and horizontal fit. Second, despite the contradictory policies, vertical and horizontal fit can be seen in the line agencies which have been acknowledged as ‘reformed agencies’. This demonstrates that the line agencies play an important role in aligning HRM practices with the line agencies’ goals and objectives and with one another although they are bounded by HRM policies that are unlikely to support the vertical and horizontal fit concept. Third, factors influencing the prevalence of vertical and horizontal fit include knowledge of contemporary HRM in both central agencies and line agencies, commitment from the line agencies’ leaders, devolvement of HRM to the line agencies and the socio-political and economic environments of the Indonesian civil service. The findings of the study raise policy, practical and theoretical implications. In terms of policy implications, the study highlights the importance of fit in HRM policies to support the achievement of the line agencies’ goals. Therefore, when formulating an HRM policy, the central agencies need to ensure that the HRM policy is linked to line agencies’ goals and to other HRM policies. This is to ensure synchronisation among the policies and thus maximising the achievement of the line agencies’ goals. From the practical perspectives, the study highlights important points which can be learned by the central agencies in carrying out their strategic role with regard to the formulation of HRM policies; by the line agencies in maximising the contribution of HRM to the achievement of the goals and objectives of the agencies through the implementation of the best fit concept, and by the leaders of the agencies in providing continuous support to each of the involved parties in the line agencies and involving the HRM department in all agency’s strategic decision-making. In relation to the theoretical implication, it is clear that the best fit approach is not thoroughly applied due to factors discussed previously. However, this does not mean that the best fit concept cannot be implemented. As argued by McCourt & Ramgutty-Wong (2003), instead of adopting the whole concept of best fit, a modulated approach reflecting the best fit concept, such as selecting individual HRM practices and experimenting with devolution, is possible for civil service organisations which still embrace centralised HRM systems. As demonstrated in the findings, some of the line agencies being studied seem to be ready to adopt the best fit approach given that they have knowledge of the best fit concept, strong support from the top leader, less political intervention and less corruption, collusion, and nepotism practices in their HRM practices.

A novel approach to reduce fire exposure and promote nature conservation in Mediterranean ecosystems: the case study of Reserva Natural da Serra da Malcata, Portugal

Mestrado Mediterranean Forestry and Natural Resources Management - Instituto Superior de Agronomia - UL

Improving Resource Management in Virtualized Data Centers using Application Performance Models

The rapid growth of virtualized data centers and cloud hosting services is making the management of physical resources such as CPU, memory, and I/O bandwidth in data center servers increasingly important. Server management now involves dealing with multiple dissimilar applications with varying Service-Level-Agreements (SLAs) and multiple resource dimensions. The multiplicity and diversity of resources and applications are rendering administrative tasks more complex and challenging. This thesis aimed to develop a framework and techniques that would help substantially reduce data center management complexity. We specifically addressed two crucial data center operations. First, we precisely estimated capacity requirements of client virtual machines (VMs) while renting server space in cloud environment. Second, we proposed a systematic process to efficiently allocate physical resources to hosted VMs in a data center. To realize these dual objectives, accurately capturing the effects of resource allocations on application performance is vital. The benefits of accurate application performance modeling are multifold. Cloud users can size their VMs appropriately and pay only for the resources that they need; service providers can also offer a new charging model based on the VMs performance instead of their configured sizes. As a result, clients will pay exactly for the performance they are actually experiencing; on the other hand, administrators will be able to maximize their total revenue by utilizing application performance models and SLAs. This thesis made the following contributions. First, we identified resource control parameters crucial for distributing physical resources and characterizing contention for virtualized applications in a shared hosting environment. Second, we explored several modeling techniques and confirmed the suitability of two machine learning tools, Artificial Neural Network and Support Vector Machine, to accurately model the performance of virtualized applications. Moreover, we suggested and evaluated modeling optimizations necessary to improve prediction accuracy when using these modeling tools. Third, we presented an approach to optimal VM sizing by employing the performance models we created. Finally, we proposed a revenue-driven resource allocation algorithm which maximizes the SLA-generated revenue for a data center.

Strategic Diplomacies: Indigenous Governance, International Politics, and Natural Resources in Canada

International Relations theory would predict that central governments, with their considerable material resources, would be unlikely to face a challenge from a substate government. However, substate governments, and particularly Indigenous governments, are pushing back against central government control in both domestic and international spheres. Indigenous governments are leveraging their local mining sectors to realize their interests and express local identities—interests and identities that may not be congruent with those of the central government. Applying the case study of the resource extraction sector in Canada, this thesis asks: under what conditions are substate governments able to challenge the authority of central governments in the international arena? Canada’s reliance on the global extractive resource sector is a major driver of its international policy preferences, but the increased engagement of Indigenous governments in the sector challenges the control of the federal government. Focusing on the resource extraction sectors in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Ontario, this thesis argues that there is a mutually reinforcing relationship between Indigenous governments’ international engagement and their domestic autonomy; both challenge the parameters of state authority. Both force the state to respond to claims of control from multiple sites and to clarify convoluted policy environments. A confluence of factors—including increased Indigenous connections to the globalized economy, new Canadian regulatory frameworks, and recent Supreme Court of Canada cases regarding Indigenous lands—have all altered the space in which Indigenous governments in Canada participate in the resource extraction sector and produce overlapping or multilevel governance structures. This thesis demonstrates that Indigenous international engagement entrenches the authority and political legitimacy manifest in Indigenous governments’ insistence on equitable and horizontal negotiations in Canada’s lucrative resource extraction sector. A cumulative process occurs in which domestic and international expressions of political autonomy reinforce each other, produce further opportunities to express authority in both environments, and trouble the state’s capacity to fully realize its international policy preferences.

Defending the 'public interest': an assessment of competing actor representations of 'solutions' to growing natural resource deficiencies.

This paper applies a SRT framework to the study of two case studies, namely the recent campaign of opposition to the legalization of hydraulic fracking in the State of New York and the more ongoing debate on land leasing in Africa. In relation to both campaigns, the analysis accounts for the arguments of a major financial institution and industry representatives who stress the safe and value-adding dimensions of these practices, as well as the views of opponents who refute the validity of industry's position and point to the unacceptable risks posed to the community, health and the environment. In spite of a number of obvious differences between these two case studies, not least differences arising from contrasting socio-economic and geo-political settings, there were also some notable similarities. First, was a tendency amongst protesters in both cases to formulate their role as contemporaries in a historically extended struggle for democratic justice. All perceived of themselves as guardians of their community's right to resist a corporate 'invasion' of their territories, like their forefathers and mothers before them. A theme of colonialism was explored in both settings through various identity and thematic anchoring devices that deliberately evoked shared understandings and historical memories of exploitation and human suffering. The evocation of powerful symbols of identity through visual narratives of protest further reinforced the cultural comprehensibility of opponents' message of protest in both contexts.

Soil attributes and grain yield of upland rice as affected by cover crops.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of pearl millet intercropped with other cover crops on mineral forms of N and urease activity in soil, nitrate reductase activity in the leaves of the follow-up rice crop, as well as the yield components of this rice crop. The experiment was performed in the year 2012/2013 at two locations of the Brazilian Cerrado.

Rice affected by seed treatment, soil compaction and nitrogen at no-tillage and conventional tillage.

The objective of this study was to determine the best combination of management options for upland rice production: seed treatment, N management and soil compaction in zero and conventional tillage methods.

Characterization and natural history of different phenotypes in hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis: 40-year experience at a single Italian referral center

- Aims: Hereditary Transthyretin Amyloidosis (ATTRv) is one of the leading etiologies of systemic amyloidosis with more than 135 mutations described and a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations. We aimed to provide a systematic description of a population of individuals carrying pathogenic mutations of transthyretin (TTR) gene and to investigate the major clinical events during follow up. - Methods: Observational, retrospective, cohort study including consecutive patients with mutations of TTR gene, admitted to a tertiary referral center in Bologna, Italy, between 1984 and 2022. - Results: Three hundred twenty-five patients were included: 106 asymptomatic carriers, 49 cardiac phenotype, 49 neurological phenotype and 121 mixed phenotype. Twenty-three different mutations were found, with Ile68Leu (41.8%), Val30Met (19%), and Glu89Gln (10%) being the most common. After a median follow-up of 51 months data from 290 subjects were analyzed; among them 111 (38.3%) died and 123 (42.4%) had a major clinical event (death or hospitalization for heart failure). Nine (11.5%) of the 78 asymptomatic carriers showed signs and symptoms of the disease. Carriers had a prognosis comparable to healthy population, while no significant differences were seen among the three phenotypes adjusted by age. Age at diagnosis, NYHA functional class, left ventricular ejection fraction, mPND score and disease-modifying therapy were independently associated with survival. - Conclusions: This study offers a wide and comprehensive overview of ATTRv from the point of view of a tertiary referral center in Italy. Three main phenotypes can be identified (cardiac, neurological and mixed) with specific clinical and instrumental features. Family screening programs are essential to identify paucisymptomatic affected patients or unaffected carriers of the mutation, to be followed through the years. Lastly, disease-modifying therapy represents an evolving cornerstone of the management of ATTRv, with a great impact on mortality.

Antimycobacterial and cytotoxicity activity of synthetic and natural compounds

Antimycobacterial and cytotoxicity activity of synthetic and natural compounds. Secondary metabolites from Curvularia eragrostidis and Drechslera dematioidea, Clusia sp. floral resin, alkaloids from Pilocarpus alatus, salicylideneanilines, piperidine amides, the amine 1-cinnamylpiperazine and chiral pyridinium salts were assayed on Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. N-(salicylidene)-2-hydroxyaniline was the most effective compound with a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 8 µmol/L. Dihydrocurvularin was moderately effective with a MIC of 40 µmol/L. Clusia sp. floral resin and a gallocatechin-epigallocatechin mixture showed MIC of 0.02 g/L and 38 µmol/L, respectively. The cytotoxicity was evaluated for N-(salicylidene)-2-hydroxyaniline, curvularin, dihydrocurvularin and Clusia sp. floral resin, and the selectivity indexes were > 125, 0.47, 0.75 and 5, respectively.

Tree structure and richness in an Atlantic Forest fragment: distance from anthropogenic and natural edges

Approximately 7.2% of the Atlantic rainforest remains in Brazil, with only 16% of this forest remaining in the State of Rio de Janeiro, all of it distributed in fragments. This forest fragmentation can produce biotic and abiotic differences between edges and the fragment interior. In this study, we compared the structure and richness of tree communities in three habitats - an anthropogenic edge (AE), a natural edge (NE) and the fragment interior (FI) - of a fragment of Atlantic forest in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (22°50'S and 42°28'W). One thousand and seventy-six trees with a diameter at breast height > 4.8 cm, belonging to 132 morphospecies and 39 families, were sampled in a total study area of 0.75 ha. NE had the greatest basal area and the trees in this habitat had the greatest diameter:height allometric coefficient, whereas AE had a lower richness and greater variation in the height of the first tree branch. Tree density, diameter, height and the proportion of standing dead trees did not differ among the habitats. There was marked heterogeneity among replicates within each habitat. These results indicate that the forest interior and the fragment edges (natural or anthropogenic) do not differ markedly considering the studied parameters. Other factors, such as the age from the edge, type of matrix and proximity of gaps, may play a more important role in plant community structure than the proximity from edges.

Ecology and natural history of Akodon lindberghi (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) in southeastern Brazil

We studied the ecology and natural history of the globally threatened and poorly known Akodon lindberghi Hershkovitz, 1990 in Parque Nacional da Serra da Canastra (PNSC) and Juiz de Fora (JF), southeastern Brazil. From November 1998 to September 2001 a total of 131 individuals were captured in wire-cage live-traps and 52 by pitfalls traps. They were all marked and released at the site. The largest abundances were registered during the dry season, and most of the captures occurred in open habitats. The mean body mass of the two populations was significantly different (18.1 g at PNSC versus 13.1 g at JF; H = 46.2678, g.l.=2, p<0.001). In PNSC, individuals were reproductively active from August to February, and juveniles were present from May to August. The results suggest that the changes in vegetation structure caused by deforestation and intensive agricultural activities could increase the predation rate, affecting the mean body mass of the population.

Entomological characterization and natural infection of anophelines in an area of the Atlantic Forest with autochthonous malaria cases in mountainous region of Espírito Santo State, Brazil

No Espírito Santo, os casos de malária autóctone estão distribuídos na região serrana próximo aos fragmentos de Mata Atlântica. Uma vez que alguns aspectos da doença são obscuros, a detecção das possíveis espécies de vetores pode auxiliar na elucidação de incertezas epidemiológicas. Estudos entomológicos e de infecção natural foram realizados com anofelinos (Diptera: Culicidae) capturados no município de Santa Tereza, ES. Capturas mensais foram realizadas de março de 2004 a fevereiro de 2006. Armadilhas CDC-CO2 foram utilizadas do crepúsculo (18:00h) ao amanhecer (6:00h), para capturar anofelinos nos seguintes habitats: próximo ao domicílio e área aberta (solo), margem e interior da mata (solo e copa). Armadilhas Shannon também foram utilizadas nos mesmos locais que as de CDC-CO2. Capturou-se o total de 2.290 anofelinos distribuídos em 10 espécies. A maior frequência relativa foi de Anopheles (Kerteszia) cruzii Dyar & Knab / A.(K.) homunculus Komp, sendo a maioria capturada em CDC-CO2 instalada na copa da mata. A principal espécie capturada em armadilha Shannon foi A.(Nyssorhynchus) strodei Root. O maior número de anofelinos foi capturado entre julho e setembro das 18:00h às 22:00h. Provavelmente A.(K.) cruzii é responsável pela transmissão da malária dentro ou próximo aos fragmentos de Mata Atlântica. Entretanto, a participação de outras espécies não pode ser ignorada, visto que 53 por cento da amostragem foi constituída pelo subgênero Nyssorhynchus. A detecção de Plasmodium vivax no tórax de A. cruzii, A. parvus (Chagas) e A. galvaoi Causey, Deane & Deane por meio de PCR reforça esse argumento