Bøger af Ralph Matthews

Plastic is a material that contains an organic substance of large molecular weight as an essential ingredient. Microplastics are the tiny plastic particles that are produced during commercial product development and from breakdown of larger plastics. The increasing concentration of plastics and microplastics in various ecosystems is a major environmental concern across the globe. Microplastics are classified into primary microplastics and secondary microplastics. The plastic fragments or particles that are less than or equal to 5.0 mm before they enter the environment are called primary microplastics, such as microfibers and microbeads. Environmental factors such as ocean waves and sun's radiation lead to the breakdown of larger plastic items, such as water bottles, into smaller parts which are called secondary microplastics. A major disadvantage of microplastics and plastics is their inability to break up into smaller particles. Several studies have suggested that the exposure to microplastics in humans can potentially cause toxicity through oxidative stress. This book covers in detail various topics related to plastics and microplastics in the environment as well as their measurement, health risks and management. It is appropriate for students seeking detailed information in this area of study as well as for experts.

Certain regions of Canada suffer chronically from social and economic underdevelopment. Economists, geographers, and sociologists have written voluminously about the problem; politicians and policy-makers have mounted grand schemes in a vain effort to rectify imbalances; and planners have created and implemented programs in order to satisfy political exigencies, vested power elites, or the discontent of the Canadian citizens who inhabit these regions. Matthews, in a lucid, systematic analysis of regionalism and regional underdevelopment in Canada (particularly Atlantic Canada), takes us through the academic cant, political puffery, and bureaucratic bumbling to show how regional disparity and regional underdevelopment are the result of exploitation by powerful central Canadian interests - often acting in concert with and aided by the federal government, and too often armed with theoretical models and justifications designed by 'establishment' economists to legitimate their self-interests.He provides a devastating critique of the neo-classical economic and other models that have been created to analyse regional disparities, and in their place champions an approach that rejects economic determinism and structural determinism. He maintains that individuals bring about change and development and individuals, he asserts, are capable of acting in the general interest and not simply out of class interest.The Creation of Regional Dependency makes a landmark contribution to our understanding of the causes of regional dependency in this country and original contribution to the study of Canadian society.