Suchergebnisse

This thesis is an attempt to better understand the sometimes tumultuous relations between international oil companies (IOCs) and the Russian state by examining conflicts over regulatory practices and the enforcement of environmental regulations, and their interpretation in the Western media. This research focuses on two cases, one involving Royal Dutch Shell, the majority owner of company Sakhalin Energy, and the other involving BP's Russian joint venture, TNK-BP. The two cases were selected as windows on the changing relationship between the state and IOCs in Russia during a specific political era – the first two presidencies of Vladimir Putin. This was also a period during which oil prices rose steadily and remained at historically high levels. Such periods tend to strengthen the hand of oil-producing states and strain their relations with IOCs. Sakhalin Energy is the operator of the Sakhalin II project, and was until December 2006 controlled by Shell and later by the Russian state company Gazprom. TNK-BP was the main owner of the Kovykta natural gas field which was central to the conflict – initially between the Russian authorities and a united TNK-BP and later on between the Western and Russian shareholders in TNK-BP. In the cases of both BP and Shell, the Russian authorities accused the IOCs of violating formal regulations, such as environmental regulations. The sanctions that the Russian authorities imposed on the IOCs and their motivations for doing so were the subject of extensive discussion among IOCs, other Western actors and the Western media. This dissertation aims to find out how Western actors such as the media and IOCs understand the rules of the game in Russia, relating it to Alena Ledeneva's work. Ledeneva (2006) outlines a framework explaining the enforcement of regulations and regulatory practices in Russia and their use and abuse for informal purposes. Her main point is that law enforcement practices in Russia differ from those in the West because in Russia regulations are often used selectively and manipulatively for purposes unrelated to the actual legal dispute. Ledeneva's framework is written from a Russian perspective, assuming that Russians understand law enforcement and regulatory pressure in Russia as selective and manipulative. The lack of respect for the law among the Russian public, in combination with the great difficulty of complying with the complicated legal framework, results in a situation in which the law can be used against anyone at any time. The two cases analysed in this dissertation are clear examples of this phenomenon. On the background of shortcomings in Russia's legal and regulatory system, such as incoherency and the use of informal practices to bypass complicated formal procedures, the Russian authorities were effectively able to pressure Shell and BP into giving up control over major oil and gas projects. The analysis of both conflicts shows that regulatory pressure on Shell and BP increased gradually, until both companies ultimately gave in, resulting in a reduction or take-over of their shares in oil and gas projects by Gazprom. It also shows that both companies actively involved the public in their conflicts with the Russian authorities by launching public debate emphasizing the negative aspects of the investment climate and the impact on foreign investment in Russia, in unsuccessful attempts to put counter-pressure on Russian policy-makers. The storylines in the Western media made clear these negative impacts by stressing how the enforcement of formal regulations in Russia is driven by ulterior motives. However, uncertainty remains as to whether these storylines were the direct result of the influence of BP and Shell and their strategies towards the Western media. Both Shell and TNK-BP clearly understood that the core issue was not the violation of environmental regulations or licence agreements, but competing interests in large-scale oil and gas projects. Both companies faced situations in which full compliance with the formal rules was impossible due to the shortcomings of the law itself. For Shell, compliance with the regulations would have meant violating the company's own environmental action plan. Similarly, complying with the licence agreements of the Kovykta field was impossible without the approval of gas exports to China from the field. Both Shell and BP appeared to understand Russian society as Ledeneva stipulates that it works, as a system of interconnected formal and informal levels in which the informal level is dominant. However, their strategy of challenging the authorities within this system by publicly pressuring them indicates that they either still failed to understand the system fully, or misread the policy shift towards foreign companies in the petroleum sector, or overestimated their own strength. Most likely it was a combination of these misconceptions that got the two companies entangled in protracted conflict. Moreover, Western actors forgot an important lesson that has been repeated many times in the past around the world: when oil prices rise, oil-producing states tend to lean forward and IOCs need to be prepared for tough negotiations.

This dissertation examines the political participation and political incorporation of Hmong American communities across three states--California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin--between 1980 and 2012. This study asks two main questions: First, given Hmong Americans' particular contexts of exit and contexts of reception, how and to what extent have Hmong former refugees and their U.S.-born children been incorporated into the U.S. political system? Second, how do broader political contexts or homeland circumstances shape Hmong American politics and the state's treatment of Hmong in the U.S. and abroad? I address these questions through two historical analyses of Hmong Americans' non-electoral and electoral participation and two detailed case studies of Hmong Americans' social movements. The first historical analysis focuses on Hmong Americans' protest events from 1980 to 2011. Through news media reports and relevant archival materials, I examine 84 Hmong American protests, their contents, and their consequences on public policies and mobilizers' organizational capacity. My findings show that during the past three decades, Hmong Americans' patterns of protest participation are oriented toward both the host society and the homeland. Homeland-oriented protests, rather than declining in frequency, have occurred at a rate almost equal to domestic-oriented protests. The findings also show that Hmong Americans' engagement in protest activities, regardless of domestic or international orientations, has helped them nurture their civic sense and strengthen their organizational capacity. Specifically, protest mobilization has offered ample opportunities for Hmong Americans to develop younger leaders, form new civic organizations, and cultivate a broad alliance system. Protest mobilization has also helped Hmong to refine methods for building collective identity and building collective consensus through the use of common protest symbols such as the uniformed Hmong veteran and master frames such as the military service frame. My second historical analysis focuses on Hmong Americans' electoral participation across three U.S. states--California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin--between 1990 and 2012. I find evidence that Hmong Americans have achieved greater descriptive representation in Minnesota and Wisconsin compared to California. This difference in the level of descriptive representation appears to be due to differences in state and local political contexts. But a significant relative ethnic population size and the presence of ethnic collective mobilization are common to places with higher levels of descriptive representation. The first extended case study examines two interrelated social movements of the early to late-1990s: Hmong Americans' multi-site movements against the benefit ineligibility provisions in the federal Welfare Reform Act of 1996 and their movements in support of the Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act since 1990. This study reveals that framing plays a crucial role in the success of protest/social movements. In both the movements against Welfare Reform and for naturalization provisions, `ordinary' Hmong social actors were able to construct and their institutional allies were able to make effective use of a specific collective action frame--the military-service frame--to bring about benefits and naturalization accommodations in existing state policies specifically for Hmong veterans. I argue that the state's dominant ideology and its foreign policy interests influenced its positive reception of the military-service frame.The second extended case study builds on the first case study to the extent that it examines in detail the contentious, interactive processes of social problem construction that underlie two other Hmong American movements for greater political inclusion. However, this second case differs from the first in that its central focus is on understanding how intra-ethnic conflict affects competing groups' ability to construct social problems and subsequently their ability to make claims upon the state--a state that is usually highly suspicious of ethnic movements for political inclusion. Drawing on interviews and primary written sources, I examine a Hmong American-led social movement that sought to incorporate Hmong history into the social science curriculum of California's public schools and the emotionally intense ethnic counter-movement that arose to meet it. My findings suggest that the mass media play crucial roles in creating cultural opportunities for the emergence of certain social problems and in (de)legitimizing such social problems. Although the California State Legislature showed deference to the military service frame and was willing to give token recognition to a broad, informal, quasi-racial category such as Southeast Asians, it trivialized and refused to hear the claims of an ethnolinguistic group regarding institutionally-produced language material inequity.I conclude that the collective mobilization of endogenous and exogenous resources in response to perceived political opportunities has been the key mechanism through which Hmong Americans have been able to participate in the U.S. political system. Hmong Americans' degree of political incorporation is a byproduct of the interplay between Hmong-led mobilization and the responses of the state.

В статті окреслено основні можливості залучення української діаспори США до інвестиційних процесів в Україні. Детально аналізуються фінансові, управлінські та технологічні можливості діаспори з точки зору економічних інтересів України, лобіювання представниками діаспори найбільш важливих економічних і політичних рішень у парламентах західних країн та міжнародних організаціях. Окремо автор визначає необхідні кроки, які необхідно здійснити державі походження діаспори з метою залучення капіталу її представників, що може стати можливим після проведення ряду заходів на загальнодержавному рівні. Автор звертає увагу на необхідність вирішення питання про прийняття закону, що надає право на одержання подвійного громадянства тим представникам української діаспори, які здійснюють інвестування, працюють в реальному секторі економіки, займаються бізнесом та благочинністю. Це змінило б їхній політичний статус, надало право безвізового в'їзду в Україну і можливість користування на її території національним режимом цивільних правовідносин. Не менш важливим, на думку автора, є питання про відновлення прав власності етнічних українців на націоналізоване майно. Реалізація вказаних заходів зробила б великий психологічний вплив на українську діаспору і сприяла б у її сфері позитивному ставленню до інвестування капіталу в економіку України. У свою чергу, в законодавчій сфері необхідно підтвердити гарантії приватної власності і створити механізм її правового захисту, забезпечити стабільність правового режиму інвестиційного процесу. ; В статье очерчено основные возможности привлечения украинской диаспоры США к инвестиционным процессам в Украине. Детально анализируются финансовые, управленческие и технологические возможности диаспоры с точки зрения экономических интересов Украины, лоббирования представителями диаспоры наиболее важных экономических и политических решений, в парламентах западных стран и международных организациях. Отдельно автор определяет необходимые шаги, которые необходимо осуществить государству происхождения диаспоры с целью привлечения капитала ее представителей, что может стать возможным после проведения ряда мероприятий на общегосударственном уровне. Автор обращает внимание на необходимость решения вопроса о принятии закона, который предоставляет право на получение двойного гражданства тем представителям украинской диаспоры, которые осуществляют инвестирование, работают в реальном секторе экономики, занимаются бизнесом и благотворительностью. Это изменило бы их политический статус, предоставило право безвизового въезда в Украину и возможность пользования на ее территории национальным режимом гражданских правоотношений. Не менее важным, по мнению автора, есть вопрос о возобновлении прав собственности этнических украинцев на национализированное имущество. Реализация указанных мероприятий оказала бы большое психологическое влияние на украинскую диаспору и способствовала бы в ее сфере позитивному отношению к инвестированию капитала в экономику Украины. В свою очередь, в законодательной сфере необходимо подтвердить гарантии частной собственности и создать механизм ее правовой защиты, обеспечить стабильность правового режима инвестиционного процесса. ; In the article the main possibilities of enlisting of the Ukrainian Diaspora to the investment processes in Ukraine are researched. Financial, management and technological advantages of the Diaspora from the point of view of Ukraine's economical interests are analyzed in details as well as lobbing of its main economical and political decisions in the parliaments of international organizations and western countries. Separately, the author determines necessary steps which should be conducted by the state of Diaspora's origin with the aim of enlisting the capital of its representatives. This can be possible after implementing a wide range of measures at the national level. The author attracts attention to the necessity of solving the issue concerning the law of the doublecitizenship for those representatives of Ukrainian Diaspora who invest, work in the real sector of economy, and are engaged with the business activities and charity work. This, in its turn, would change their political status and give them a right for the non-visa entrance and the right to use on the Ukrainian territory the national mode of civil and legal relations. In the author's opinion, proceeding in the ownership rights of the ethnic Ukrainians for the national property is also important. Realization of the aforementioned measures would make a great psychological impact on the Ukrainian Diaspora and would promote its positive attitude towards investing the capital to the economy of Ukraine. In its turn, in the legislative sphere it is necessary to confirm the guarantees of private ownership and to create the mechanism of its legal protection and provide the stability of the legal mode of the investment processes. In the frame of the structural reorganization of the Ukrainian economy, the issue of the foreign investments is urgent. In most developed countries (United States, Canada, Germany, France, Great Britain) foreign capital became the intensifier of the investment processes. Over the last years this tendency is especially characteristic for the countries of the south-eastern Asia. The amount of foreign investments to these comparatively small countries at the beginning of 90-ties exceeded 20 billion dollars. Success of the economics of China and South Korea are determined by a great amount of foreign investments. Taking into consideration the experience of economy transformation, the process of enlisting foreign investments of Ukrainian Diaspora to the country of their origin is very important.

by Andrea Luka Zimmerman, text and voiced by John Berger "A work as profound as it is protesting". (Sight & Sound Critic's Choice, best films of 2013, Sukhdev Sandhu). "Do not miss!" (Sabah newspaper; Istanbul Film Festival, 2013) "A whisper of what we do to people" (Hackney Citizen, London Film Festival, October 2013) "In other words, what is true of dogs and other animals – that some humans seek to exclude them from their lives for the sake of a 'sanitised' (bourgeois?) existence – seems also to be true of people". (WJRC Brown, Notes from the LFF) "At once a genuinely singular portrait of a world city in transition, an affecting and committed study of those marginalized by globalization and an empathetic vision of resistance through a wholly different register of belonging, Taskafa is that rarest of breeds, a work of poetry and praise, singing of the heightened daily joys that come from a true comradeship between species." (Gareth Evans, Film curator Whitechapel Gallery, London). --- SYNOPSIS: Taşkafa is a feature length documentary essay about memory and the most necessary forms of belonging, both to a place and to history, through a search for the role played in the city by Istanbul's street dogs and their relationship to its human populations. Through this exploration, the film opens a window on the contested relationships between power and the public, community and categorisation (in location and identity), and the ongoing struggle / resistance against a single way of seeing and being. Despite several major attempts by Istanbul's rulers, politicians and planners over the last 400 years to erase them, the city's street dogs have persisted thanks to an enduring alliance with widespread civilian communities, which recognize and defend their right to co-exist. Taşkafa gathers the voices of diverse Istanbul residents, shopkeepers, and street-based workers, all of whom display a striking commitment to the wellbeing and future of the city's canine population (a community of street dogs - and cats - free of formal ownership but fed and cared for by numerous individuals). From the rapidly gentrifying city centre district of Galata to the residential islands of the Sea of Marmara and beyond, Taşkafa navigates a history of empathy with, and threats to this highly distinctive urban community. Taşkafa is structured around readings by John Berger, from his novel King, a story of hope, dreams, love and resistance, told from the perspective of a dog belonging to a community facing disappearance, even erasure. In Taşkafa, this voice is gifted to a wider community and range of perspectives: to dogs, a city and, finally, to history. John Berger's text and delivery take the viewer on a journey from Karakoy to Hayirsiz'ada, the island where, in the 1800s, tens of thousands of dogs were exiled to die. Offering a collage of testimonials to the inestimable value of non-human populations to the emotional and psychological health of the city, and a striking statement of witness both to advocacy and persecution across the centuries, Taşkafa portrays - and embodies – the vibrant, collective spirit of protest and enduring solidarity with which it closes (mass demonstrations opposing current municipal proposals to expel the street animals). --- DIRECTOR STATEMENT: I wanted to explore how public space becomes a battleground for the contested relationship between corporate making - through demolition and redevelopment of vast swathes of the city (an increasingly international process of erasure) - and the unfolding of everyday lives within this idea of what is commonly called 'progress', one embedded with promises of high tech security measures to keep us safe (inside gated housing complexes, shopping malls etc…). What if, instead, we could hold onto a curious gaze, one that resists what comes - with its own pre-ordained rules and intentions - to a place? In such a location, this fixed looking would view a dishevelled street dog as abject, while our warmer attention might appreciate it as an emblem of love and endurance. To us in Europe, the fate of such animals is perhaps a reminder of the violence of modernity, where all that did not belong to its idea was banished from sight. Taşkafa is not finally about dogs as such. It is about the way people seek, still and especially now, to belong to a larger context than themselves, one which respects other creatures and wishes them to play a significant role in their lives. The key issue is not whether we live securely, especially in its 'official' sense, but rather that we don't lose touch with the shared reality that surrounds us.

Mining communities are the subject of a rich tradition of ethnographic study. As the major industry and employer in any region where they are located, mining operations provide a physical, social and economic focal point for the anthropologist. Approaches to the subject have varied greatly. From June Nash's (1993) study of a Bolivian mining community, We Eat the Mines and the Mines Eat Us, to Michael Taussig's polemical and literary reflections on capitalism, greed and exploitation in The Devil and Commodity Fetishism (1980) and My Cocaine Museum (2004), there has been close scrutiny of the complex inter-relationships between mines, their owners (whether individuals or corporations), and the people who live around them or work in them. The search for mineral wealth has long been associated with colonisation, economic exploitation and economic transformation. In contemporary Papua New Guinea, large-scale mining has become the most significant export industry, generating income for government and for the people whose lands are affected. Extractive industry is now viewed as the main means of economic development. Controversies over the environmental degradation and social disruptions generated by mining operations have hardly dampened the enthusiasm for mining. International companies continue to explore and take out leases, the government continues to facilitate their activities, and in most places local people welcome the associated prospect of 'development'. Lihir has been no exception. My own association with Lihirians and the Lihir gold mine began just before the construction phase, in 1995. At that time the excitement was almost palpable, as people contemplated the wealth that they were sure would be generated by the project. Over the following nine years I worked as a consultant, monitoring the social changes that occurred and recording the local responses to environmental change and degradation. As I observed many of the dramatic confrontations and the innovative strategies that Lihirians adopted in their dealings with the mining company, I often wished that I could find a graduate student who would be able to engage with these changes in the sort of concerted, day-to-day, ethnographic research that is characteristic of our discipline. Nick Bainton became that ethnographer. Participant observation has had a bad press over the last two decades – decried as oxymoronic, partial and ideologically suspect – but it has survived this intellectual buffeting. This book is testament to its continued strength as a methodology, and to the ways that direct observation of events, conversations with a variety of people, and reflection upon change over time enriches interpretative endeavours. The author's participation — in the training for 'Personal Viability', in feast preparations, and in the everyday lives of the villagers with whom he lived — generates insights and descriptions that are unavailable to a casual observer. The book is a revised version of a doctoral thesis. It incorporates archival and historical research, and engages with debates about the ways that contemporary Melanesians construct models of their identity and culture as they embrace modernity. It tells a story of the complicated making of the 'roads' that Lihirians have taken as they strive to reach their 'destiny'. It also reveals the tensions generated, within the local community and between Lihirians and others, as they struggle to gain control over the processes of change and the wealth generated by the mine. The social and economic changes ushered in by the mining project on Lihir have been profound. They are readily observable. When I first arrived, I was struck by the relative poverty of people there. Many children still went naked, women's clothing was usually a drab length of cloth, houses were invariably made of bush materials, and there was a meagre strip of dirt road linking a few villages. The airstrip was tiny and involved the rather tricky piloting manoeuvre of landing a small plane on an uphill slope. Now there is an airport that regularly ferries hundreds of workers to and from the island; children wear shorts and sneakers, or frilly dresses from the large Filipino-owned supermarket. Where there was an overgrown and abandoned plantation there is now a township. A well-equipped modern hospital serves the local community as well as the mining company's employees. But as Nick Bainton demonstrates in this study, the material changes have brought with them new distinctions, new inequalities, and conflicts that were previously absent. The abundance of introduced goods, the enthusiastic embrace of modernity, and associated power struggles do not mean that customs have been abandoned or that Lihirians have 'lost' their cultural traditions, their sense of their uniqueness, or their dreams of the future. Custom, like everything else on Lihir, has been transformed. This book documents and analyses the complex interactions between local people, migrants, foreign workers and mine managers, and the ways that new values associated with a monetary economy are established. It stands as a fine contribution to the anthropology of mining communities.

International audience ; African trypanosomiases are vector-borne diseases of human and their livestock, with devastating socio-economical consequences for the Sub-Saharan African continent. These diseases are caused by flagellated unicellular parasites named African trypanosomes that are almost exclusively transmitted by the bite of tsetse flies. Here, both male and female tsetse flies are obligatory blood feeders able to carry and transmit trypanosomes during their entire life span. Two species of African trypanosomes are responsible for Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), also known as sleeping sickness: Trypanosoma brucei gambiense in Central/West Africa and T. b. rhodesiense in East/Southern Africa. The T. b. gambiense transmission cycle is mostly from human to human with an occasional involvement of an animal reservoir. The T. b. rhodesiense transmission cycle mainly involves wild and domestic animals, but intensified human-to-human transmission may occur during epidemics. There are no prophylactic drugs or vaccines available to prevent HAT and the few available treatments present a complex posology and severe side effects (Fevre et al., 2006; Brun et al., 2009). In 2011, less than 10,000 new cases were reported (Simarro et al., 2012), with many more cases probably remaining undetected as sleeping sickness occurs in remote rural areas. It is estimated that approximately 70 million people within tsetse-fly infested areas are at different levels of risk of contracting HAT, especially in countries as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, South-Sudan, and the Central African Republic (Simarro et al., 2012; WHO, 2012). In addition to their importance in public health, at least seven other species of African trypanosomes cause severe disease in livestock known as African Animal Trypanosomiasis (AAT) or nagana. T. vivax and T. con-golense are the major pathogens of cattle and other ruminants, while T. simiae, T. godfreyi, and T. suis causes high mortality in domestic pigs. Animal African Trypanosomiasis restricts agricultural development on the African continent despite the availability of prophylactic and curative drugs. Moreover, it is worrying to see drug effectiveness seriously threatened by an increasing resistance in animal trypanosomes (Delespaux et al., 2008). Successful transmission is primarily the outcome of a crosstalk between the trypanosomes and the tsetse fly vector. This enables the parasite to undergo successive rounds of differentiation, proliferation , and migration in different locations of the fly, resulting in a final infective stage that is transmitted to a new mammalian host during each tsetse fly blood-feeding event. This Research Topic hosted in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology focuses on the state-of-the-art on some key aspects of the fascinating biological interplay between African trypanosomes and the tsetse fly. To prepare for life cycle progression, T. brucei parasites present in the bloodstream of an infected mammalian host have to generate stumpy forms that are pre-adapted to survive in the tsetse fly once they are taken up by the fly blood feeding. The molecular mechanisms that underpin the production of these stumpy forms and their signal perception pathways upon entry into the tsetse fly are detailed under the lights of recent discoveries in the review of Vidal et al., 2013. In the tsetse fly, trypanosomes have to go through specific developmental programs in order to survive and produce transmissible stage. Here, a mini-review will focus on the major advancements in our understanding of this trypanosome development in the tsetse fly (Rotureau and Van Den Abbeele, 2013). The different types of parasite cycle and the critical stages of the three epidemiologically most relevant try-panosome species, namely T. vivax, T. congolense and T. brucei will be compared. More emphasis is on T. brucei development since the parasite undergoes multiple morphological changes during the successive invasion of the tsetse alimentary tract to finally achieve the mammalian-infective stage in the salivary glands. Another review will attempt to elucidate how these morphological changes are possible for a parasite that has evolved a highly robust cell structure to survive the chemically and physically diverse environments in the fly (Ooi and Bastin, 2013). During their journey in the tsetse fly, trypanosomes are challenged by a robust innate defense system. This is reviewed in the paper of Haines (Haines, 2013) with a focus on the tissues intimately associated with host defense. Moreover, the established symbiotic associations of tsetse flies with bacterial and viral microorganisms also modulate its vector competence for trypanosomes. A first review article will provide a detailed description of the tsetse symbiotic microbiome, and describes the physiology underlying host-symbiont and symbiont-symbiont interactions that occur in this fly (Wang et al., 2013). The diversity of the gut bacterial flora in the tsetse fly and the possible impact of newly identified bacteria to the vector competence will also be discussed in mini-review of Geiger et al. (2013). In combination to the multiple trypanosome-tsetse crosstalk, environmental factors can also affect the parasite developmental barriers in the fly. Here, experimental work from Burkina Faso demonstrated that temperature stress could increase the

Besides habitat fragmentation, the introduction of invasive species is considered to be one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. Due to increased global trade, habitat degradation and climate change the number of species introductions has increased spectacularly during the last decades. This has led to changes in structure and functioning of ecosystems worldwide. In this study, the impact and spread of alien macroinvertebrates in surface waters in Flanders was investigated. To this end, a large database consisting of biological and physical-chemical data was used, which was collected by the Flemish Environment Agency and supplemented with own sampling campaigns. An integrated approach was aimed for, where the results from laboratory studies, long-term field data analysis and data-driven modelling were combined in order to gain insight in the ecology of alien macroinvertebrate species and the drivers that cause changes in macroinvertebrate community composition. A detailed study on the distribution of alien macroinvertebrates in Flanders revealed that in total, 65 alien macroinvertebrates are established of which 40 are regularly encountered in fresh and slightly brackish inland waters. Most alien taxa belonged to the crustaceans and molluscs originating from North America and the Ponto-Caspian region. Many alien species were first discovered in the east of Flanders from where they started the colonisation of the central and western parts of Flanders. Changes in the macroinvertebrate composition were discovered during the last two decades as a result of changing environmental conditions and the introduction of alien species. When analysing the factors that favoured the establishment and spread of alien macroinvertebrates it was found that shipping, hydro-morphological and physical-chemical factors were detrimental for the success of alien macroinvertebrates. Canals, harbours and the polder waters were hot spots for alien species introductions. Small streams were less invaded by alien macroinvertebrates probably because of a higher biotic resistance and the lack of proper vectors. Case studies of different aquatic ecosystems helped understanding the different factors contributing to successful invasions. The case study on the harbour of Ghent indicated that previously degraded ecosystems are favourable for the early establishment by alien macroinvertebrates. With improving chemical water quality due to the installation of wastewater treatment plants and a stricter environmental legislation not only indigenous, but also alien macroinvertebrates colonised the harbour of Ghent. In the polder waters the indigenous brackish water species decreased in abundance, whereas the American amphipod Gammarus tiginus quickly took in a dominant position after its establishment. These observed changes are probably caused by a decrease in salinity which coincided with an increase of freshwater asselids and the euryhaline species G. tigrinus . It was not only the introduction of the invasive amphipod, but the combination with changing environmental conditions that caused the changes in macroinvertebrate composition. The case study on the Belgian coastal harbours confirmed earlier findings that brackish waters are characterised by a low natural species diversity and a relatively high number of alien species. The harbour of Zeebrugge, which received most international ships, had the highest diversity of alien macroinvertebrates and was also characterised by a high site specific biocontamination index. The knowledge gathered during the case studies was used when making predictions on the future distribution of alien macrocrustaceans in Flanders. Based on data-driven classification and regressions trees it was found that alien macrocrustaceans prefer large rivers and canals with a good chemical water quality and that with increasing conductivity the abundance and species richness of alien macrocrustaceans increases in the brackish water environment. When incorporating the improvements in water quality, it was found that the number of alien species (alien species diversity) will increase in the future, but that the fraction of alien species (alien species abundance) will remain stable. In the last step, an integrated model coupling a habitat suitability model, a water quality model and a migration model was developed to predict the future distribution of a highly invasive alien amphipod species, Dikerogammarus villosus . It was found that D. villosus will invade more large watercourses in Flanders during the next fifteen years as a result of decreases in COD, nitrogen and phosphorous loads and an increase in oxygen concentration. It was calculated that D. villosus spreads with an average speed of five km per year and that given the relatively small size of Flanders, migration speed will not limit its maximal dispersal. The here developed model could be applied as an efficient tool by decision makers to perform risk analysis for (potential) invasive macroinvertebrate species to determine the future distribution range as this could help to reduce the number of species introductions and the impact they have on ecosystem functioning. Besides performing risk assessment several management measures, such as ballast water control, regulations regarding the trade of aquatic alien species and further insight in invaded ecosystems are necessary to reduce the further spread and minimise the impact of invasive alien species.

Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on tutkia itsenäisen ja vapaaehtoisen median itsesääntelyelimen Media Council of Tanzanian (MCT) tehokkuutta median itsesääntelyn valvojana nuoressa demokratiassa. Keskityn työssäni Tansaniaan, joka muiden Afrikan maiden lailla on käynyt läpi liberaaleja demokraattisia muutoksia 1980-luvun puolivälistä lähtien. Monet Afrikan maat kääntyvät Tansanian puoleen oppiakseen MCT:n kokemuksista median itsesääntelyn uranuurtajana, mutta tiedossa MCT:n tehokkuudesta taata median vastuullisuus on huomattavia aukkoja. Tämä väitöskirja yrittää vastata seuraaviin kysymyksiin: (i) Miten syvälle juurtuneet arvot ja historia, jotka erottavat afrikkalaiset yhteisöt länsimaisista, näkyvät viestinnän ja median sääntelyn kehyksissä Afrikassa? (ii) Millä tavoin ovat länsimaiset käsitykset median roolista ja sen sääntelyn kehyksistä liberaalissa demokratiassa relevantteja Afrikan demokratisoitumisessa? (iii) Mitkä ovat journalistien ja muiden osallisten näkemykset median roolista Tansanian nuoressa demokratiassa? Miten he näkevät median vastuullisuuden, ja erityisesti itsesääntelyn käsitteen? (iv) Mitkä ovat journalistien ja muiden osallisten näkemykset MCT:n tehokkuudesta itsesääntelyn valvojana. (v) Miten tehokkaat MCT:n sovintomenettelyt ovat? Onko ohjeiden noudattaminen useimmissa tai kaikissa sovintopäätöksissä tarpeeksi hyvä osoitus itsesääntelyelimen tehokkuudesta itsesääntelyn valvojana? Olen yrittänyt vastata yllä oleviin kysymyksiin ensinnäkin tekemällä kirjallisuuskatsauksen esikolonialistisista ja jälkikolonialistisista afrikkalaisista filosofioista, perinteistä ja arvoista, jotka ovat vaikuttaneet viestinnän ja median säädöksiin, erityisesti sääntelykehyksiin. Toiseksi, olen tutkinut journalistien ja alan asiantuntijoiden näkökulmia aiheeseen liittyen. Kolmanneksi, olen tarkastellut MCT:n sovintomenettelyjä kymmenen vuoden ajalta (1997 2006). Viisi tärkeintä tämän tutkimuksen johtopäätöstä: Ensinnäkin, suurin osa haastateltavista kokevat liberaalin demokratian, joka on sävyttänyt Tansanian uudistusta 1980-luvun puolivälistä ja 1990-luvulta lähtien, haitallisena tansanialaisten muutos- ja vapaustarpeille, koska se on pitkälti totellut kansainvälisten rahastojen ja lahjoittajien saneluja. Toiseksi, useimmat haastateltavat eivät erottele median roolia yhteiskunnassa ja demokratiassa, vaikka he selkeästi ymmärtävätkin median roolin haasteet uudessa demokratian tehtävässä. Kolmanneksi, suurin osa haastateltavista, kaikista kolmesta tämän tutkimuksen lähestymistavoista, kokevat, että medialait, omistajien väliintulo, ja poliitikkojen sekä yritysmaailman vaikutteet tekevät heidän työnsä demokratian edistäjinä ja ylläpitäjinä hankalaksi. Yleisesti ottaen haastateltavat ovat huolissaan vastuuttomasta journalismista, joka johtuu ammattitaidon puutteesta, huonoista palkoista, korruptiosta ja eturistiriidoista. Osa haastateltavista on sitä mieltä, että hallitus tai lakisääteinen julkisen sanan neuvosto voivat puuttua yllä mainittuihin ongelmiin. Neljänneksi, vaikka haastateltavat kokevat, että MCT on yleisesti ottaen tarpeellinen koneisto edistämään itsesääntelyä hallituksen kontrolloinnin sijaan heidän mielestään MCT on vielä tehoton, ja siltä puuttuu hampaat, jolla se voisi tehdä päätöksistään sitovia. Viidenneksi, vaikka MCT on tehnyt paljon valvoessaan median itsesääntelyä, kun sovittelutapauksia on tuotu sen eteen, MCT:n tehokkuus vaikuttaa olevan rajoitettua. ; In this research I set out to interrogate the effectiveness of an independent and voluntary media council, in spearheading self-regulation of media in a young democracy. My focus was on the Media Council of Tanzania (MCT), which was introduced in 1995 after the country had embarked on liberal democratic reforms. While many countries in Africa are turning to Tanzania to learn from the experience of the MCT in spearheading self-regulation of media, there appears to be a conspicuous lack of comprehensive knowledge about the effectiveness of the mechanism in ensuring media accountability. For example, in which ways do historical realities in Africa support notions such as liberal democracy and self-regulation that were re-introduced to Africa in the early 1990s? Or is there any evidence which suggests that self-regulation, spearheaded by a voluntary media council like MCT, can be effective in promoting media freedom and accountability in a young democracy like Tanzania? What do journalists and other media stakeholders think about the effectiveness of an independent, voluntary and non-statutory council like the MCT in spearheading self-regulation? Five key conclusions emerge from the findings of this research. Firstly, most respondents view liberal democracy which has characterized Tanzania s reform process since mid 1980s and 1990s as inimical to transformative and liberatory needs of Tanzanians in general because it has largely responded to the dictates of international financial institutions as well as donors. Secondly, most respondents do not differentiate the functions of media in general from the role of media in democracy although they demonstrate a clear understanding of the difficulties of their role in the new democratic dispensation. Thirdly, most respondents in all the three approaches of this study view media laws, ownership interference, politicians as well as corporate sector s influence on their work as major obstacles to their role in promoting and sustaining democracy. In general respondents further express concern about irresponsible journalism caused by lack of professionalism, poor pay, corruption and conflict of interests which, according to some of them, can be addressed by either government intervention or through a statutory media council. Fourthly, although respondents generally view MCT as a necessary mechanism to foster self-regulation as opposed to government control they still view it as ineffective and in need of teeth to make its decisions binding. Fifthly, although the MCT seems to have played a significant role in spearheading self-regulation of media as cases brought before it for arbitration demonstrate, its effectiveness seems to be limited.

Th e State boundary between Republics of Lithuania and Byelorussia forms part of the external European Union (EU) boundary. Demarcation of this boundary is very important step to the enforcement of use of correct tactics and regime for protecting the external boundaries of EU. State boundary demarcation process has taken 10 years from the date of the Agreement for the state boundary demarcation between Republics of Lithuania and Byelorussia, which has been agreed and signed by the Presidents of the Republics of Lithuania and Byelorussia and ratifi ed by the Parliament (Seym) of the Republic of Lithuania in 1996. Final state boundary demarcation documents between Lithuania and Byelorussia were prepared and signed by joint Demarcation Commission in 2006. During demarcation works Countries discussed a variety of legal, technical, practical questions, relating to state boundary demarcation: geodetic – cartographical works, works relating to creation of the state boundary safety zone, international works control procedures, preparation of fi nal demarcation documentation, ect. In situ state boundary was marked using approved construction boundary signs: central (poligonometric) post, installed on the boundary line and concrete or fi bre-glass posts constructed on side of the central (poligonometric) boundary post in land sections of the boundary. Sections of the state boundary between countries determined by water courses were marked by posts installed on both sides of the river, canal, brook, lake or pond. Boundary line, running across the lakes and ponds, was also marked installing fl oats (buoys), which determine state border position in the boundary waters. State boundary sign coordinates were established using GPS methods and electronic tachiometers; geodetic net stations in the 5 kilometre wide section along the state boundary line were used as base stations. Final demarcation documents - state boundary signs coordinates catalogue and boundary signs protocols – were completed using detailed site investigation data. State boundary topographical maps were produced using specialised aerophotographic data and existing cartographic information. Th en a detailed state boundary description was produced using all above fi nal documents. Th ere were 679 kilometres of the state boundary demarcated and 1955 state boundary signs installed during state boundary demarcation works between the Republics of Lithuania and Byelorussia. Article in Lithuanian Demarkuota valstybės siena su Baltarusijos Respublika Santrauka. Valstybės siena tarp Lietuvos Respublikos ir Baltarusijos Respublikos yra išorinės Europos Sąjungos sienos dalis, todėl jos demarkavimas yra itin svarbus žingsnis, leidžiantis tinkamai taikyti išorinės sienos apsaugos režimą. Šios sienos demarkavimas truko dešimtį metų – nuo Sutarties dėl valstybės sienos tarp Lietuvos Respublikos ir Baltarusijos Respublikos demarkavimo, kurią pasirašė Lietuvos Respublikos ir Baltarusijos Respublikos Prezidentai, o Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas 1996 m. ratifikavo, iki 2006 metų, kai Mišri demarkacijos komisija pasirašė galutinius šios valstybių sienos demarkacijos dokumentus. Vykstant demarkavimo darbams šalys tarpusavyje derino įvairius juridinius, techninius, praktinius klausimus, susijusius su valstybės sienos ženklinimu, geodeziniais-kartografiniais darbais, pasienio juostos įrengimu, tarpvalstybine darbų kontrole, galutinių sienos demarkacijos dokumentų sudarymu ir kt. Iki šiol Lietuvos rytinė siena niekada nebuvo demarkuota, todėl atliekant delimitavimo darbus sienai nustatyti buvo panaudota nelygiavertė ar nekokybiška kartografinė medžiaga, valstybės siena buvo tapdinama su neaiškiais arba neryškiais vietovės kontūrais, kartais ji ėjo vingiuotais lauko ar miško keliukais. Žymint valstybės sieną vietovėje kilo korektūros būtinybė. Pakoregavus sumažėjo sienos ženklų statymo ir pasienio juostos įrengimo išlaidų, išvengta nesisteminių sienos linijos vingių, išlinkių, įtraukta natūralios ribos (upės, kanalai, proskynos ir pan.), buvo išsaugoti inžineriniai-techniniai statiniai ir komunikacinė infrastruktūra bei jos priežiūros statiniai, siena sutrumpėjo, tačiau išliko perskirstomų plotų balansas. Pagal šalių suderintą valstybės sienos ženklų išdėstymo projektą vietovėje siena buvo paženklinta laikinaisiais sienos ženklais, vėliau jie pakeisti patvirtintos konstrukcijos nuostoviaisiais ženklais: centriniu (poligonometriniu) stulpeliu, įrengiamu tiesiog sienos linijoje sausumos ruožuose, ir gelžbetoniniais arba stiklo plastiko stulpais, įrengiamais iš abiejų centrinio (poligonometrinio) stulpelio pusių sausumos ruožuose ir ant abiejų kanalo, upės, upelio, ežero ar tvenkinio krantų, kai valstybės siena eina pasienio vandenimis. Be to, ežeruose ir tvenkiniuose valstybės sienai pasienio vandenyse paženklinti įrengti plūdurai (bujos). Valstybės sienos ženklų koordinatėms nustatyti taikyta GPS metodai ir elektroniniai tacheometrai. Kaip atraminiais remtasi valstybinio geodezinio tinklo 1–4 klasių punktais ir sutankinimo punktais, išdėstytais penkių kilometrų pločio juostoje pagal valstybės sieną. Naudojantis lauko matavimų duomenimis parengti galutiniai demarkacijos dokumentai: sienos ženklų koordinačių katalogas ir sienos ženklų protokolai. Pagal specialios aerofotografinės nuotraukos duomenis ir turimus kartografinius duomenis sudaryti sienos topografiniai žemėlapiai – Lietuvos specialistų – savos teritorijos, baltarusių – Baltarusijos teritorijos. Remiantis visais šiais galutiniais demarkacijos dokumentais, buvo parengtas valstybės sienos aprašas. Tarp Lietuvos Respublikos ir Baltarusijos Respublikos demarkuota 679 km valstybės sienos ir įrengti 1955 sienos ženklai. Reikšminiai žodžiai: valstybės siena, valstybės sienos ženklas, valstybės sienos linija, Mišri demarkacijos komisija, delimitavimas, demarkavimas, ekspertinis vertinimas.

Th e State boundary between Republics of Lithuania and Byelorussia forms part of the external European Union (EU) boundary. Demarcation of this boundary is very important step to the enforcement of use of correct tactics and regime for protecting the external boundaries of EU. State boundary demarcation process has taken 10 years from the date of the Agreement for the state boundary demarcation between Republics of Lithuania and Byelorussia, which has been agreed and signed by the Presidents of the Republics of Lithuania and Byelorussia and ratifi ed by the Parliament (Seym) of the Republic of Lithuania in 1996. Final state boundary demarcation documents between Lithuania and Byelorussia were prepared and signed by joint Demarcation Commission in 2006. During demarcation works Countries discussed a variety of legal, technical, practical questions, relating to state boundary demarcation: geodetic – cartographical works, works relating to creation of the state boundary safety zone, international works control procedures, preparation of fi nal demarcation documentation, ect. In situ state boundary was marked using approved construction boundary signs: central (poligonometric) post, installed on the boundary line and concrete or fi bre-glass posts constructed on side of the central (poligonometric) boundary post in land sections of the boundary. Sections of the state boundary between countries determined by water courses were marked by posts installed on both sides of the river, canal, brook, lake or pond. Boundary line, running across the lakes and ponds, was also marked installing fl oats (buoys), which determine state border position in the boundary waters. State boundary sign coordinates were established using GPS methods and electronic tachiometers; geodetic net stations in the 5 kilometre wide section along the state boundary line were used as base stations. Final demarcation documents - state boundary signs coordinates catalogue and boundary signs protocols – were completed using detailed site investigation data. State boundary topographical maps were produced using specialised aerophotographic data and existing cartographic information. Th en a detailed state boundary description was produced using all above fi nal documents. Th ere were 679 kilometres of the state boundary demarcated and 1955 state boundary signs installed during state boundary demarcation works between the Republics of Lithuania and Byelorussia. Article in Lithuanian Demarkuota valstybės siena su Baltarusijos Respublika Santrauka. Valstybės siena tarp Lietuvos Respublikos ir Baltarusijos Respublikos yra išorinės Europos Sąjungos sienos dalis, todėl jos demarkavimas yra itin svarbus žingsnis, leidžiantis tinkamai taikyti išorinės sienos apsaugos režimą. Šios sienos demarkavimas truko dešimtį metų – nuo Sutarties dėl valstybės sienos tarp Lietuvos Respublikos ir Baltarusijos Respublikos demarkavimo, kurią pasirašė Lietuvos Respublikos ir Baltarusijos Respublikos Prezidentai, o Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas 1996 m. ratifikavo, iki 2006 metų, kai Mišri demarkacijos komisija pasirašė galutinius šios valstybių sienos demarkacijos dokumentus. Vykstant demarkavimo darbams šalys tarpusavyje derino įvairius juridinius, techninius, praktinius klausimus, susijusius su valstybės sienos ženklinimu, geodeziniais-kartografiniais darbais, pasienio juostos įrengimu, tarpvalstybine darbų kontrole, galutinių sienos demarkacijos dokumentų sudarymu ir kt. Iki šiol Lietuvos rytinė siena niekada nebuvo demarkuota, todėl atliekant delimitavimo darbus sienai nustatyti buvo panaudota nelygiavertė ar nekokybiška kartografinė medžiaga, valstybės siena buvo tapdinama su neaiškiais arba neryškiais vietovės kontūrais, kartais ji ėjo vingiuotais lauko ar miško keliukais. Žymint valstybės sieną vietovėje kilo korektūros būtinybė. Pakoregavus sumažėjo sienos ženklų statymo ir pasienio juostos įrengimo išlaidų, išvengta nesisteminių sienos linijos vingių, išlinkių, įtraukta natūralios ribos (upės, kanalai, proskynos ir pan.), buvo išsaugoti inžineriniai-techniniai statiniai ir komunikacinė infrastruktūra bei jos priežiūros statiniai, siena sutrumpėjo, tačiau išliko perskirstomų plotų balansas. Pagal šalių suderintą valstybės sienos ženklų išdėstymo projektą vietovėje siena buvo paženklinta laikinaisiais sienos ženklais, vėliau jie pakeisti patvirtintos konstrukcijos nuostoviaisiais ženklais: centriniu (poligonometriniu) stulpeliu, įrengiamu tiesiog sienos linijoje sausumos ruožuose, ir gelžbetoniniais arba stiklo plastiko stulpais, įrengiamais iš abiejų centrinio (poligonometrinio) stulpelio pusių sausumos ruožuose ir ant abiejų kanalo, upės, upelio, ežero ar tvenkinio krantų, kai valstybės siena eina pasienio vandenimis. Be to, ežeruose ir tvenkiniuose valstybės sienai pasienio vandenyse paženklinti įrengti plūdurai (bujos). Valstybės sienos ženklų koordinatėms nustatyti taikyta GPS metodai ir elektroniniai tacheometrai. Kaip atraminiais remtasi valstybinio geodezinio tinklo 1–4 klasių punktais ir sutankinimo punktais, išdėstytais penkių kilometrų pločio juostoje pagal valstybės sieną. Naudojantis lauko matavimų duomenimis parengti galutiniai demarkacijos dokumentai: sienos ženklų koordinačių katalogas ir sienos ženklų protokolai. Pagal specialios aerofotografinės nuotraukos duomenis ir turimus kartografinius duomenis sudaryti sienos topografiniai žemėlapiai – Lietuvos specialistų – savos teritorijos, baltarusių – Baltarusijos teritorijos. Remiantis visais šiais galutiniais demarkacijos dokumentais, buvo parengtas valstybės sienos aprašas. Tarp Lietuvos Respublikos ir Baltarusijos Respublikos demarkuota 679 km valstybės sienos ir įrengti 1955 sienos ženklai. Reikšminiai žodžiai: valstybės siena, valstybės sienos ženklas, valstybės sienos linija, Mišri demarkacijos komisija, delimitavimas, demarkavimas, ekspertinis vertinimas.

Paper 3 of this thesis is not available in Munin: 3. Brondbo PH, Mathiassen B, Martinussen M, Handegard BH and Kvernmo S.: 'Agreement on diagnoses and severity of mental health problems between a research and a naturalistic clinical setting' (manuscript). ; During the last decade, child psychiatry has been a focus of the Norwegian government's plan to improve mental health care. Psychiatric assessment of children and adolescents is more complex than that of adults, and rating scales and diagnostic instruments have become increasingly important tools in both research and clinical practice. This dissertation investigates standardized assessment instruments used in routine clinical practice to assign diagnoses and severity of mental health problems. Both the reliability and the validity of some instruments were examined, and a main focus was the clinical usefulness of these instruments and their potential for more effective use of limited clinical resources. In paper 1 the agreement between diagnoses and severity ratings assigned by clinical specialists who were trained Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) researchers examined. Information on 100 youths was obtained from multiple informants through a webbased Development and Well-Being Assessment (DAWBA). Based on this information, four experienced clinicians independently diagnosed (according to the International Classification of Diseases Revision 10) and rated the severity of mental health problems according to the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents (HoNOSCA) and the Children's Global Assessment Scale (C-GAS). Agreement for diagnosis was - =0.69-0.82. Intra-class correlation for single measures was 0.78 for HoNOSCA and 0.74 for C-GAS, and 0.93 and 0.92, respectively for average measures. Information obtained with the online DAWBA may be a sound basis on which to establish reliable clinical diagnoses and severity ratings for common mental health disorders in a clinical setting. A clinical practice that includes systematic, multiple independent assignments of diagnosis and severity, is preferable due to the resulting improved reliability of the severity ratings. In paper 2 the application of specific scoring algorithms for the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was examined. Could available online norms be useful in screening for mental health disorders among children and adolescents in the CAMHS North Study? A total of 286 outpatients, aged 5 to 18 years, were assigned diagnoses based on the DAWBA. The main diagnostic groups (emotional, hyperactivity, conduct and other disorders) were then compared to the SDQ scoring algorithms using two dichotomisation levels: 'possible' and 'probable' levels. Sensitivity for the diagnostic categories included was 0.47-0.85 ('probable' dichotomisation level) and 0.81-1.00 ('possible' dichotomisation level). Specificity was 0.52-0.87 ('probable' level) and 0.24-0.58 ('possible' level). The discriminative ability, as measured by ORD, was in the interval for potentially useful tests for hyperactivity disorders and conduct disorders when dichotomised on the 'possible' level, but outside the interval for potentially useful tests for all diagnostic categories when dichotomised on the most common used 'probable' level. In conclusion, the ability of the SDQ to detect mental health disorders among patients referred to CAMHS is not sufficient for clinical purposes. When used as a screening instrument to determine whether further evaluation is warranted in a clinical CAMHS sample, the SDQ seems best suited to identify children and adolescents who do not require further psychiatric evaluation, although this also is problematic from a clinical point of view. In paper 3 the agreement between diagnoses and severity assigned by clinical specialists trained as CAMHS researchers, based only on DAWBA information collected online, and the routine clinical assignments by CAMHS clinicians was examined. Routine clinical assignment of diagnoses was compared to online clinical assignment of diagnoses for 286 patients from the CAMHS North study. Chi square analysis, kappa statistics and multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed. Raw agreement for diagnostic categories varied between 74% and 90%, resulting in kappa values of 0.41-0.49. The final multinomial regression models were significant. Agreement on mental health diagnoses can be fair when online clinical assignments and routine clinical assignments of mental health diagnoses are compared. This may be sufficient to replace the routine clinical assignment of diagnoses with an online clinical assignment in order to save time and resources. We also examined factors contributing to agreement or disagreement on the diagnoses. Age, gender and number of informants significantly contributed to the explanation of agreement and disagreement for 'emotional diagnosis' and 'hyperkinetic/conduct diagnosis'. However, the changes in odds were small in magnitude and the factors probably do not consistently contribute to the understanding of agreement or disagreement in any clinically meaningful way. Lastly, implications for further research on reliable and effective assessment methods are discussed.

Since 1986 and especially during the early 90s, environmental protection has become a constitutional principle in Vietnam as regulated by Articles 17 and 29 of the 1992 Constitution. The first Law on Environmental Protection, passed by the National Assembly on December 27, 1993 created a foundation for environmental legislation becoming an important field in Vietnam's legal system. In the following, Vietnam enacted its very first Law on Water Resources (No. 08/1998/QH10) in January 1999 aiming to provide a foundational framework for managing the water sector in Vietnam. In recent years, the legislative framework on water resources management has further developed. Important water-related regulations on the guidance and implementation of the Law on Water Resources have been issued and often amended to meet the requirements of the country's development, and its international integration. To date, Vietnam's legislation on the water sector consists of a complex system of legal documents issued by different state agencies. Though legislation of water sector management in Vietnam has greatly improved during the last decade, it has obviously not yet come to full fruition. Hence, the paper intends to provide an overview of achievements as well as problems and conflicting issues within Vietnam's current water sector management legislation. Kểtừnăm 1986, đặc biệt là những năm đầu của thập kỷ90, bảo vệmôi trường đã trởthành nguyên tắc hiến định (được quy định tại Điều 17 và 29 Hiến pháp 1992). Luật Bảo vệmôi trường đầu tiên được Quốc hội thông qua ngày 27 tháng 12 năm 1993 đã đặt nền móng cho việc hình thành hệthống pháp luật vềmôi trường ởViệt Nam.Tiếp theo đó, ngày 20 tháng 05 năm 1998, Quốc hội nước Cộng hòa xã hội Việt Nam khóa X, kỳhọp thứ3 đã thông qua văn bản luật đầu tiên vềtài nguyên nước -Luật Tài nguyên nước số08/1998/QH10 hình thành một nền tảng pháp lý cho hệthống pháp luật bảo vệnguồn tài nguyên nước ởViệt Nam. Trong những năm gần đây, hầu hết các văn bản dưới luật quan trọng và cần thiết cho việc hướng dẫn thi hành Luật Tài nguyên nước đã được ban hành và không ngừng được sửa đổi, bổsung nhằm đáp ứng nhu cầu phát triển và hội nhập quốc tếcủa đất nước trong nhiều lĩnh vực khác nhau.Tuy nhiên, khung pháp lý hiện hành vềtài nguyên nước ởViệt Nam bao gồm một hệthống các văn bản quy phạm pháp luật khá phức tạp, nhiều tầng nấc, được ban hành bởi nhiều cơ quan có thẩm quyền khác nhau. Mặc dù hệthống pháp luật vềtài nguyên nước đã được liên tục sửa đổi, bổsung và hoàn thiện trong suốt một thập kỷqua, nhưng rõ ràng vẫn chưa thực sựđi vào cuộc sống.Bài viết dưới đây đềcập chủyến đến một sốcácthành tựu cũng nhưnhữngvấn đềmâu thuẫn hiện tại của pháp luật bảo vệnguồn tài nguyên nước ởViệt Nam. ; Kể từ năm 1986, đặc biệt là những năm đầu của thập kỷ 90, bảo vệ môi trường đã trở thành nguyên tắc hiến định (được quy định tại Điều 17 và 29 Hiến pháp 1992). Luật Bảo vệ môi trường đầu tiên được Quốc hội thông qua ngày 27 tháng 12 năm 1993 đã đặt nền móng cho việc hình thành hệ thống pháp luật về môi trường ở Việt Nam. Tiếp theo đó, ngày 20 tháng 05 năm 1998, Quốc hội nước Cộng hòa xã hội Việt Nam khóa X, kỳ họp thứ 3 đã thông qua văn bản luật đầu tiên về tài nguyên nước - Luật Tài nguyên nước số 08/1998/QH10 hình thành một nền tảng pháp lý cho hệ thống pháp luật bảo vệ nguồn tài nguyên nước ở Việt Nam. Trong những năm gần đây, hầu hết các văn bản dưới luật quan trọng và cần thiết cho việc hướng dẫn thi hành Luật Tài nguyên nước đã được ban hành và không ngừng được sửa đổi, bổ sung nhằm đáp ứng nhu cầu phát triển và hội nhập quốc tế của đất nước trong nhiều lĩnh vực khác nhau. Tuy nhiên, khung pháp lý hiện hành về tài nguyên nước ở Việt Nam bao gồm một hệ thống các văn bản quy phạm pháp luật khá phức tạp, nhiều tầng nấc, được ban hành bởi nhiều cơ quan có thẩm quyền khác nhau. Mặc dù hệ thống pháp luật về tài nguyên nước đã được liên tục sửa đổi, bổ sung và hoàn thiện trong suốt một thập kỷ qua, nhưng rõ ràng vẫn chưa thực sự đi vào cuộc sống. Bài viết dưới đây đề cập chủ yến đến một số các thành tựu cũng như những vấn đề mâu thuẫn hiện tại của pháp luật bảo vệ nguồn tài nguyên nước ở Việt Nam.

Debates over the relationship between professional practice, professional standards and professional identity have been a feature of Australian and international educational and political discourse for the last two decades (Ball, 1997; Bodman, Taylor & Morris, 2012; Doecke, Howie & Sawyer, 2006; Power, 1994; Sachs 2001). The discourse is replete with neo-liberal claims about educational reform that supposedly benefits everyone. It invariably includes appealing rhetoric about greater transparency, democratic participation, individual choice, and the freedom for individuals within the system to express themselves openly. Much research has shown that these claims are belied by the increasingly dominant regimes of performativity (Ball, 2003) and audit cultures (Avis, 2003; Power, 1994) that seek to standardise and narrow educators' professional practice. In their quest for professional recognition, teachers and teaching communities are obliged to engage with the twin banner of standardisation and accountability as a measure of whether young Australians are meeting important educational outcomes. Yet, the literature shows that teachers in Australia have engaged with their working practices in different ways (see Gannon, 2012; Parr, 2010). This inquiry investigates how a small number of (mostly) experienced educators in Australia have engaged with this rhetoric and this neo-liberal policy making. It explores and reflects on the actions and professional choices they have made in their day to day professional lives, and the attitudes and emotions that have underpinned these actions. Adopting institutional ethnography (Smith, 2005, 2006) as an important dimension to this research, I map out how educators, individuals and groups act and are acted upon across time and space, drawing attention to the complex negotiations they undertake in their particular educational sites. The study involves interviews with twelve secondary school teachers (most of them with more than 20 years' experience, but some beginner teachers, too) and school leaders in Melbourne and overseas. A multifaceted narrative, this thesis is also informed by references to literature in the fields of philosophy, autobiography (Florio-Ruane, 200 I), poetry, and literary fiction as well as the expected literature in educational theory. One element that draws this perhaps disparate range of literature together is my interest, as both a literature teacher and a researcher, in language. Language, with its creative and educational possibilities, and also its power to control and contain, is centre-stage in this study. Through close attention to the language I use, I make explicit the impact on the research of my own professional and personal background (Mackenzie & Knipe, 2006) and this same close attention to language enables me to explore how my activities, feelings and experiences hooked me into "extended social relations" (Smith, 2004, p. 5) in my work in the classroom and in conducting this research. I explore these institutional relations and practices reflexively through journal entries and autobiographically as part of the "memory work" of this study (Haug et aI., 1987). 3 A key focus of this study is to explore the extent to which emotion is an important dimension of the intellectual, critical and relational practices of teachers. This exploration is underpinned by socio-cultural (e.g., Ball, 2003) and dialogic (e.g., Bakhtin, 1981) theory. I challenge traditional psychologistic studies that see emotion located in the individual, a 'natural' phenomenon that one must learn to 'control' (e.g., Boler, 1999; Rose, 1998). This study critically and reflexively teases out some ofthe consequences of practitioners engaging in their work, rather, with a degree of "emotionality" (Denzin, 1984). Expression of feelings may often be considered 'inappropriate' in neo-liberallandscapes and political agendas that are pre-occupied with standardised learning outcomes and professional performance (see Zembylas, 2003). When teachers repress their feeling, they learn - sometimes at great emotional cost - how to self-regulate emotions and know which ones may be expressed and which may not. While this study shows some examples of this, it also shows the potential for the relational and emotional dimensions of teaching to re-form subjectivities and 're-embody' professional practice. The research accentuates the diverse local, contextual and social factors that shape teachers' everyday work in ways that challenge neo-liberal politics of standardisation, regulation and technicism. It illustrates how in any open and democratic society the social world can be "a site of debate" (Smith, 2004, p. 27), opening up for engagement with all members of a professional community the mUltiple views and intellectual positions that exist in that community. As the narratives from the participants in this study reveal, in educational settings which understand and appreciate the complex interplay of intellectual, emotional and relational dimensions of teachers' work, teachers are best able to commit to a vision of participating, caring and learning. They can forge trusting professional relationships and collaboratively work together to create rich and robust professional practice and professional learning that ultimately benefit their students and the futures they hope to build.

Abstract

Background
Every five years since 1990, the European Heavy Metals in Mosses Survey provided data on atmospheric heavy metal bioaccumulations in mosses throughout Europe at a high spatial resolution. The moss data show the effectiveness of air quality control policies: for Germany the metal bioaccumulations decreased between 1990 and 2000, whilst they increased from 2000 to 2005. This investigation is intended to show how the moss data could be used to map atmospheric depositions of Cd and Pb, which later on might serve for the calculation of Critical Loads Exceedances. In addition, we compared how much heavy metal concentrations in mosses in Germany deviate from background data observed in Greenland.


Methods
Mapping heavy metals with a high spatial resolution for the German territory was conducted according to the following methodology: EMEP deposition maps (50 km by 50 km spatial resolution) were intersected within a GIS with Kriging maps on Cd and Pb accumulations in mosses (EMEP (European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme) is a scientifically based and politically driven programme under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution for international co-operation to solve transboundary air pollution problems). Subsequently, the statistical relations between the EMEP modelled depositions and the bioaccumulations in mosses were quantified by using regression analysis. The regression functions were used to transform the moss concentration maps into deposition maps. The resulting maps on Cd and Pb depositions have a spatial resolution of 5 km by 5 km and were added to the respective map on the residuals of the regression functions (Regression Kriging). Finally, the territory of Germany was extracted from the European maps on Cd and Pb depositions and the legends were adjusted accordingly in terms of n standard deviations from the German mean value. The concentrations of Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mo, Pb, Sb, Sn, and Zn in the mosses sampled in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005 in Germany were compared with background values derived from mosses sampled in north-eastern Greenland (Zackenberg Background Values). The differences between heavy metal concentrations in mosses in Germany and Greenland were calculated for the 16 federal states of Germany and mapped for Pb.


Results and discussion
The regression models corroborate that the Cd concentration in mosses is correlated with the EMEP modelled total Cd deposition across Europe (regression coefficient according to Pearson, r

p
= 0.67; regression coefficient according to Spearman, r

s
= 0.69). The coefficient of determination is r

2
= 0.44. The same is true for Pb with r

p
= 0.76 and r

s
= 0.77 and r

2
= 0.58. Based on the regression models and the respective residuals, maps on the total deposition of Cd and Pb were calculated for the year 2005. The German mean value of total Cd and Pb deposition was 0.342 g/ha/a (standard deviation 0.08 g/ha/a and 8.6 g/ha/a (standard deviation 2.1 g/ha/a) respectively. The maps depict the spatial patterns of the total Cd and Pb deposition in terms of n standard deviations from the respective German wide mean value. The spatial resolution of the maps is 5 km × 5 km and reflects the mesh size of the moss monitoring net. Even today, the bioaccumulation of several metals in Germany still exceeds the background values observed in Greenland. This is true especially for Cd, Cr, Cu, Mo, Pb, Sb, Sn and Zn. Comparing the results of this investigation with those from other methods it can be concluded that the mean values calculated for the total Cd and Pb deposition for Germany differ from such assessed by deposition measurements and models. The latter are used to calculate Critical Loads Exceedances, which complement the ecotoxicological endpoint 'accumulation'. The deposition measurements in Germany are mainly based on monitoring systems conducted by the federal states. When trying to use deposition measurements from the ICP Forests level II programme for the validation of the EMEP deposition modelling, problems arose due to a lack of methodical harmonization and the quality of the depositions measurements. That is why in this investigation the quality controlled and spatially high resolved moss data were used to empirically validate EMEP modelled deposition maps.


Conclusions
In Germany, the moss measurement data provide a valuable tool at a high spatial resolution for the validation of modelling and mapping of atmospheric heavy metal deposition and should as such be used for this purpose. The comparison of the metal concentrations in mosses in Germany with the values found in Greenland indicate that atmospheric deposition of heavy metals in Germany is still considerably higher than the natural background deposition.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, killing nearly two million adults annually, the majority of whom live in developing countries. Research has shown that multiple factors— individuals, misunderstandings of TB, economic hardship of patients, the fragmentation of health services, gender, and stigma all influence transmission, detection and treatment of TB. After a decade of implementation of the international TB control strategy centred on the Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS), TB incidence and prevalence in Cambodia remains among the highest in the world, with a considerable number of cases remaining undetected. However, little is known about the factors hindering the success of the TB control programs efforts. This thesis is based on ethnographic research conducted in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia, aiming to describe TB patients' pathways to the DOTS programs, and factors determining the pathways and treatment adherence. Methods used included in-depth interviews with TB patients, family members, health providers, community health volunteers and Kru Khmer (traditional healers); focus group discussions with community members; a community survey; participation in meetings and workshops aimed at health workers; and observation of daily activities at participating health facilities. The two most important challenges for TB control in rural Cambodia were delayed presentation for TB diagnosis and non-adherence to TB treatment programs. Both contributed to persistent TB infection within the community, and were influenced by the interaction and combination of individual, institutional (related to the health system), and socio-economic factors. TB patients and community members had limited understanding of TB symptoms, causation, and treatment; therefore they did not respond appropriately, and present with early symptoms for timely diagnosis and treatment. Lay explanations of these early symptoms were mostly influenced by folk information shared within community networks. Despite this, community members chose providers of western medicine as their first choice, and only used Kru Khmer when western medicine did not resolve their symptoms. Access to public health service presented significant barriers for obtaining early TB diagnosis, and was critically undermined by the interaction between the five dimensions: accommodation, availability, accessibility, affordability and acceptability. Low government salaries and shortages of health staff, limited supplies, and dual job practices of health staff all significantly impacted on public service delivery. This under-performance increased people's reliance on the private health sector which, due to the lack of collaboration between the two health sectors, contributed to delayed TB diagnosis and increased health care costs. Ineffective monitoring of the private health providers further exacerbated diagnostic delays. TB patients experienced prolonged pathways, consulted multiple providers, and spent substantial time and money before reaching DOTS. Large differences in delay were influenced by patients' ability to afford private treatment, TB diagnostics errors, and denial of the possibility of TB. Presentation to DOTS was resultant from social disruption, intervention by significant others and/or self-suspicion about TB. Patients usually enrolled in a directly observed treatment (DOT) promptly after TB diagnosis, however, although this required TB treatment to be taken under DOT by health worker or a community member, all patients self-administered TB medicines without observation. Thus treatment non-adherence was commonly reported, and discontinuation of treatment occurred mainly among vulnerable groups (elderly and poor) for two reasons: feeling better and side-effects. This study raised concerns related to the treatment of re-infection TB cases, as many such people return to treatment but are not correctly registered and treated. Socio-economic factors played an important role in TB treatment-seeking and shaped available family support, ability to pay and stigma associated with TB. Stigma played a considerable role in delaying TB diagnosis, and affected the psychological well-being of patients. It was derived from fears of contagion and the dangers presented by TB, the perceived association between HIV and TB, misunderstanding about TB causation, and attitudes of health staff. Rejection of TB patients was associated with perceptions that TB patients lacked a sense of moral responsibility to protect others from contracting TB; their extremely low social status was also significant. Although TB diagnosis and treatment was within reach of most of the population, obtaining timely diagnosis and compliance with TB treatment remained difficult, particularly for those who were most in need. Although challenges were caused by individual and socio-cultural factors, institutional factors related to the public health facilities created significant barriers for people in accessing the services. Improving TB patient outcomes requires effort and commitment to not only address individual and socio-cultural factors, but to redress shortcomings in health supply and staffing through effective public health system strengthening.