Dissertations / Theses on the topic '1289'

In 2007 Germany’s Left Party (DIE LINKE) won its first seats in the regional parliament of a western federal state, Bremen. This success contrasted with the failure of its predecessor, the PDS, to establish an electoral base beyond the eastern states. Today the Left Party is represented in eastern and western legislatures and challenges established coalition constellations both at federal and regional level. How can we understand the Left Party’s significant breakthrough in the West? The existing literature has sought to analyse and interpret the Left Party’s origins, success and challenges, and has also emphasised the importance of the western states, both for the PDS and the Left Party. This thesis offers new insights by evaluating the respective strengths of two distinct theories, Cartel Theory and Social Cleavage Theory, as explanatory frameworks for the Left Party’s breakthrough. The theories are also appraised in a detailed case study of Bremen. The study examines whether the party displayed the organisational traits, parliamentary focus and electoral strategy identified in Cartel Theory. The investigation of Social Cleavage Theory explores the mobilisation and framing of class-based protest in the anti-Hartz demonstrations, and analyses election results for evidence of a realignment of class-based support. The existing empirical data is supplemented by qualitative evidence obtained through questionnaire responses from Left Party members and sympathisers in Bremen. The final chapter considers the evidence as to whether Bremen is representative of other western states or an exceptional case. The overall findings suggest that indications of organisational features and the parliamentary focus associated with Cartel Theory did not explain the increase in Left Party support. Also, the redistributive character of the party’s programme countered, rather than converged with, the prevailing policy offer. However, WASG ties to organised labour and the SPD helped establish the Left Party in the tradition of social democracy and the political mainstream. Protest and the demand for social justice were indeed mobilised and framed in class terms and the Left Party attracted the votes of the unemployed and workers, as well as organised labour, with a partial realignment towards the Left Party, notably in SPD strongholds. The thesis concludes that class cleavage and class-based voting more strongly account for the Left Party’s electoral breakthrough. The originality of the thesis lies in its approach of combining theoretical analysis with an in-depth local case study, supplemented by empirical evidence. The thesis also suggests avenues of future research that may validate or challenge the strength of the two explanatory frameworks over time.

Disabled women’s social history of institutionalisation and spatial segregation has, over time and space, set them apart from mainstream society and rendered them invisible in the spaces and places of everyday life. In more contemporary times, when disabled women ‘invade’ reproductive spaces, their presence as prospective parents, ‘becoming mothers’ or mothers, is often regarded as ‘out of place’. This study hence incorporates a historical review that traces the spatial realities of disabled women’s and girl’s lives between 1796-1910 in Glasgow and Edinburgh. This reveals the development of social stereotypes and misunderstandings of disabled women’s lives and bodies, particularly their assumed asexuality and inappropriateness for undertaking reproductive or mothering roles. Disabled women’s ‘voices’ are to the fore in the contemporary chapters of the thesis, reflecting the reproductive and non-reproductive experiences of 27 disabled women resident in the Glasgow and Edinburgh areas. These narratives offer an insight into the embodied experiences of ‘disability’ in private and public space. Being placed sexually ‘off limits’, and rendered ‘out of place’ in and by reproductive or mothering environments, constitute some of the social and spatial barriers to motherhood encountered by disabled women. It is hoped that this study contributes to the process of recovering the forgotten histories and neglected experiences of disabled women, particularly in terms of their social exclusion, infantilisation and desexualisation that have reduced disabled women’s participation in child-rearing and motherhood across time and space. The chronological framework of this study reveals slow but positive changes in social attitudes towards disabled women expressing reproductive choices, raising children and creating a ‘place’ for themselves as mothers in contemporary society.

This thesis seeks to reveal, to understand, and to outline some of the reliable schematics (Thomas & Baas, 1992/3) or narrative positions which currently shape the psychological climate of partnership love in Britain. Q methodology, a factor-analytic approach designed to facilitate the systematic study of subjective experience (Stephenson, 1953), is first reinterpreted in order to demonstrate its consonance with the discursive turn or second cognitive revolution in British psychology (Harre & Gillett, 1994), along lines prescribed by Bohm & Hiley's (1993) `Ontological' interpretation of the quantum theory. It is then employed in a series of studies tailored to our initial aim. The secular religion of partnership love -a love which demands that we valorise and celebrate the passionate feelings that love can induce, and which stresses the importance of finding a significant `Other' on the basis of these feelings - is identified by these studies, and is put forward, as the currently dominant construction of partnership love in Britain. Other revealed factors are shown to position themselves in relation to the `orthodox' narrative of the secular religion. Such a narrative, it is argued, attempts to make companionship reconcilable with the often incommensurate demands of individualism. As a result, love in our culture is increasingly shaped by capitalist (rather than charitable) principles, a development which compromises the institution of companionship. Divorce rates rise and the `glue' of our individualistic culture comes unstuck. The secular religion, we conclude, is a love which is directed primarily at the self and which duly demands personal gain, satisfaction, and growth as a first priority. The problems and implications of this are discussed in relation to the data.

The doctrine of conversion is central to Christian community life. There are a number of issues that influence how one conceives the phenomenon of conversion. Among these are one's view of spirituality, human nature, and basic notions of the 'self'. This thesis begins with the claim that contemporary views of Christian spirituality, particularly in the American Evangelical tradition, disproportionately emphasise the interior and individual nature of spiritual experience. This has a direct influence on doctrines of conversion in that their salient feature emerges as the redemption of an inner self or `salvation of the soul'. In order to promote a Christian community life that places discipleship at a premium, the author argues that a new model of conversion is needed within American Evangelicalism. Resources for such a model are found in the Wesleyan theological tradition as well as gathered from philosophical and scientific insights found in a nonreductive physicalist view of human nature. This thesis represents an integrated work in science and religion in that the author considers` data' from both theology and science. The author claims that Christian conversion is a process involving normal human biological capacities. It is characterised by a change in socio-moral attitude and behaviour, and is best understood as the acquisition of virtues intrinsic to Christian faith. Such acquisitions are facilitated through social interaction and participation in practices inherent to the Christian community. Furthermore, the conversion process should be viewed as the co-operant result of Divine grace and human participation.

Nel tentativo di rispondere alle esigenze valutate in seguito all’analisi del centro storico in base a differenti profili investigativi, si è formulato un programma di intervento con obiettivi e strategie codificate. In modo particolare viene privilegiata l’indagine effettuata a livello sociale sulla popolazione del centro storico, ambito di ricerca necessario per una buona premessa per un progetto che ha come oggetto l’abitare. Da queste considerazioni nasce l’idea del progetto dove il tema della residenza si inserisce in un contesto urbano in stretta relazione con il tessuto storico della città di Forlì. L’individuazione dell’area di progetto, situata in una posizione di confine tra due realtà differenti, il centro storico e la circonvallazione che lo racchiude, suggerisce la necessità di stabilire attraverso collegamenti perdonali e ciclabili fra l’area in esame e la periferia esterna una configurazione dinamica, dove il vuoto urbano che si presenta è lo scenario ideale per ristabilire una porta moderna alla città, ricomponendo la leggibilità tra la sfera naturale e quella insediativa. Alla scala urbana l’obiettivo è quello di stabilire il ruolo di centralità dell’area, nel suo insieme, restituendo ai fatti urbani della città le funzioni di interesse pubblico generale. La zona oggetto di discussione è un nodo urbano in cui coesistono manufatti di pregio architettonico e storico come quello della Filanda in oggetto e dell’Ex Complesso conventuale della Ripa, in grado di essere potenziali contenitori di funzioni pubbliche di alto livello, e aree verdi da riqualificare, con forte propensione all’uso pubblico, come gli Orti di via Curte. Sotto questo profilo deve essere valutata anche la tematica del rapporto con l’architettura antica, tenendo in considerazione l’effetto di impatto che i nuovi interventi avranno sull’esistente. È dunque il sito di progetto che detta le metodologie di approccio legate alla necessità di un intervento sostenibile e non invasivo. Partendo da queste considerazioni si sviluppano le tematiche legate alla flessibilità e alle sue coniugazioni. La società contemporanea che ci impone ogni giorno modelli di vita sempre nuovi e la necessità di movimento e trasformazione, ci mette di fronte più che mai al bisogno di progettare spazi non rigidi, ma aperti alle molteplici possibilità d’uso e ai cambiamenti nel tempo. La flessibilità viene dunque concepita in relazione ai concetti di complessità e sostenibilità. Se da una parte è necessario riconoscere la molteplicità dei modi d’uso con i quali l’oggetto dovrà confrontarsi ed assumere il carattere aleatorio di qualsiasi previsione relativa ai modelli di comportamento dell’utenza, dall’altra occorre cogliere all’interno del progetto della residenza flessibile la possibilità di pervenire a un costruire capace di riconfigurarsi di volta in volta, adattandosi alle differenti condizioni d’uso, senza dover procedere a drastiche modifiche che impongono la dismissione di materiali e componenti. Il sistema della stratificazione a secco può essere quello che attualmente meglio risponde, per qualità ed economicità, ai concetti della biologia dell’abitare e della casa intelligente, nozioni che acquisiscono sempre più importanza all’interno di una nuova concezione della progettazione. Si sceglie dunque di riportare la Filanda, quanto possibile, alla riconfigurazione originaria, prima che la corte interna fosse completamente saturata di depositi e magazzini come ci si presenta oggi e di concepire una nuova configurazione di quello che diventa un isolato urbano integrato nel tessuto storico, e nodo strutturante per un’area più vasta. Lavorando sulla residenza occorre mettere in primo piano il protagonista dell’architettura che si va a progettare: l’uomo. Per questo la scala urbana e la dimensione umana devono essere concepite parallelamente e la progettazione della cellula di base che si struttura secondo le modalità premesse di flessibilità e sostenibilità si sovrappone all’obiettivo di individuare all’interno del vuoto urbano, una nuova densità, dove il dialogo tra pubblico e privato sia il presupposto per lo sviluppo di un piano integrato e dinamico.

The work described in this thesis investigates the application of enterprise document management techniques to better support documents discovery and reuse across a learning organisation. It examines the nature of documents and organisations, and the roles that documentation plays within modern enterprises. This thesis recognises the increasing need to reuse documents at a number of levels of abstraction, so leveraging an enterprise's valuable document resources. Enabled by Internet developments and document mark-up languages, particularly the extensible mark-up language (XML) and its associated standards, this thesis describes the development of ideas that have led to the design and initial implementation of the Model-driven Reuse Architecture MRA The concept underlying the design of the MRA have developed from an initial feasibility study undertaken with the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MoD) to provide management techniques for military support documentation. A range of current approaches to document management and enterprise-wide information model based approach to document management permits access to and reuse of document fragments for new purposes. An extensible mechanism permits the inclusion of other document approaches to facilitate document discovery, potentially lead into reuse. This thesis describes the approach taken undersigning a new document architecture that provides a work-focussed approach to document management encouraging social collaboration rather than automation, and supporting a range of users within the same environment. This thesis presents the overall Model-driven Reuse Architecture and preliminary implementation that has been developed to support the specific needs of teaching and learning in higher education. The resulting web-base implementation, MRA-HE, is evaluated in terms of how it performs against a set of realistic scenarios within the domain of higher education. Upon evaluating the MRA-HE implementation, the final chapter of this thesis generalises some of the MRA approaches to the diverse demands of other types of organisation.

Thesis: S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2003.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (page 41).
Observations of lightcurve of Koronis family member asteroid (1289) Kutaïssi were taken in January, 2003, at MIT's Wallace Astrophysical Observatory. The goal of these observations included obtaining a precise rotation period and direction of rotation for the asteroid extracted from data obtained in two different filters. By combining the new data with data from previous epochs, a rotation rate and direction of spin were found; results give a period of 3.62424 ± 0.00001 hrs and the asteroid was found to be spinning retrograde to its orbital motion. The results obtained from this project will be useful in the future for determining a shape and pole solution for (1289) Kutaïssi.
by Alison J. Klesman.
S.B.

Parmi les grandes œuvres picturales de l'époque de Kamakura (1185-1333) réalisées en rouleaux (emaki-mono), l'Ippen hijiri-e (rouleaux peints du renonçant Ippen) est une des plus réussies par son style novateur, son témoignage sur la vie du moine Ippen (1239-1289) et des contemporains de tous rangs. L'Ippen hijiri-e, "Trésor National" est constitué de 12 rouleaux dans lesquels les calligraphies et les illustrations alternent sur 48 sections. La date d'achèvement de la réalisation, mentionnée à la fin de l'œuvre, se situe en l'an 1299. Les peintures réalisées sur de la soie de très bonne qualité, sont de Hôgen Eni et son atelier et le texte qui les accompagne a été rédigé par Saihô gyônin Shôkai, disciple d'Ippen, tous deux contemporains d'Ippen. Onze des rouleaux sont, de nos jours, gardés pour une part au Musée national de Kyôto et pour une autre au Musée national de Nara. L'œuvre met en images la vie et les voyages d'Ippen, moine itinérant, qui fut à l'origine de l'école Ji. Présenter l'état des recherches le plus complet possible, en dégageant de la confusion polémique les hypothèses les mieux étayées, en prenant en compte l'apport des recherches qui en chaque discipline ont pu, dans l'optique de l'histoire de l'art choisie pour cette étude, contribuer à sa connaissance (recherches littéraires, sociologiques, historiques, etc. ), tel a été le programme de cette étude. J'espère également avoir mis en évidence dans ce travail les particularités de l'Ippen hijiri-e par rapport aux autres œuvres de son époque, et sa singularité lorsqu'on le compare aux œuvres de même thème. Dans le 1er chapitre, j'ai concentré mon travail sur les auteurs et commanditaires de l'Ippen hijiri-e. Puis dans le 2e chapitre, le style de l'œuvre a donné des indications sur le peintre, le commanditaire et la destination de l'œuvre. Enfin dans le 3e chapitre, je me suis penchée sur la manière dont Ippen et ses disciples sont montrés par les auteurs
Among the important pictorial works of the Kamakura period (1185-1333) produced in scroll form (emaki mono), the Ippen hijiri-e scrolls (scrolls of monk Ippen) are one of the most outstanding scrolls for their innovative style and as a testimony of the life of the monk Ippen (1239-1289) and his contemporaries of all social ranks. The Ippen hijiri-e are made of 12 scrolls in which calligraphy texts and illustrations alternate in 48 sections. At the end of the scroll 1299 is mentioned as the date of completion. According to the signatures at the end of the last scroll, the illustrations, painted on excellent quality silk are by Hôgen En-i whereas the text is by the disciple Saihô gyônin Shôkai, both contemporaries of Ippen. For conservation purposes, eleven of the scrolls are kept in the National Museum of Kyôto and Nara. The works illustrate the life and travels of Ippen (139-1289), an itinerant monk who founded the Ji school. The purpose of my study of the Ippen hijiri-e took into account the most complete perspectives (literature, sociology, history of art, history. . . ). I also hope that my studies have shown the particularities of the Ippen hijiri-e as compared to the other works of the same period and theme

Des del marc de l'anàlisi del discurs i dels estudis literaris, i des d'una perspectiva sistèmica, hem desenrotllat aquesta tesi per estudiar la comunicació no verbal en un text literari narratiu. L'objectiu principal es basa en la classificació morfològico-descriptiva i funcional dels sistemes no verbals més propers al cos humà -la kinèsica i la Proxèmica- en una obra literària, concretament en "El Guepard". Amb aquesta finalitat, he desenrotllat el meu Model Semiòtic de Transcripció de la Comunicació No Verbal en Literatura. Per demostrar la seva viabilitat, i tenint en compte l'amplitud del terme "no verbal", he decidit acotar el meu camp d'investigació cenyint-me en la Classificació Categorial i Funcional de l'Expressió Facial en la novel.la suara esmentada. Tot això té per finalitat intentar millorar la comprensió lectora, afegint un nou enfocament a l'anàlisi de l'obra literària. Des d'una perspectiva interdisciplinar, hem profunditzat en la interpretació del significat de tots els casos comptabilitzats d'expressió facial en "El Guepard", relacionant les aportacions de la Comunicació No Verbal, la Psicoanàlisi i els postulats de la Intel.ligència Emocional. La finalitat última del meu treball és sensibilitzar el lector en la percepció no verbal, ajudar-lo a desenrotllar la capacitat de valorar la lectura i de reconèixer-la com una font de plaer, d'enriquiment cultural i creixement personal.
He estructurat la tesi en tres nivells d'anàlisi: a) en el Primer Nivell d'Anàlisi exposo la base metodològica i presento els recursos per expresar la comunicació no verbal en "El Guepard", així com un estudi de l'expressió facial; b) en un Segon Nivell d'Anàlisi mostro de forma gràfica els valors numèrics i percentatges d'aquells aspectos relacionats amb l'expressió facial; y c) en un Tercer Nivell d'Anàlisi realitzo la Classificació Categorial i la Interpretació de tots els casos de cada una de les vint-i-vuit expressions facials registrades en la novel.la. Acabo el meu treball d'investigació amb les conclusions que he obtingut a partir dels objectius de la meva tesi, tant generals com específics, donant resposta a les preguntes d'investigació que m'he formulat en el procés de desenvolupament d'aquesta tesi. Per últim, estableixo una sèrie de conclusions generals que es repeteixen de forma sistemàtica en les vint-i-vuit expressions facials registrades en "El Guepard". En conjunt, aquestes conclusions m'han portat a determinar la importància que, efectivament, té la comunicació no verbal en un text literari i la seva implicació en la Intel.ligència Emocional.
Desde el marco del análisis del discurso y de los estudios literarios, y desde una perspectiva sistémica, hemos desarrollado esta tesis para estudiar la Comunicación No Verbal en un texto literario narrativo. El objetivo principal se basa en la clasificación morfológico-descriptiva y functional de los sistemas no verbales más cercanos al cuerpo humano -la kinésica y la proxémica- en una obra literaria, concretamente en "El Gatopardo". Con esta finalidad, hemos desarrollado un Modelo Semiótico de Transcripción de la Comunicación No Verbal en Literatura. Para demostrar su viabilidad, y dada la amplitud del tema, hemos decidido acotar nuestro campo de investigación, ciñéndonos a la Clasificación Categorial y Funcional de la Expresión Facial en la novela anteriormente citada. Todo esto tiene por finalidad intentar mejorar la comprensión lectora, añadiendo un nuevo enfoque al análisis de la obra literaria. Desde una perspectiva interdisciplinar, hemos profundizado en la interpretación de todos los casos contabilizados de expresión facial en un texto literario, relacionando las aportaciones de la Comunicación No Verbal, el Psicoanálisis y los postulados de la Inteligencia Emocional. El fin último de nuestro trabajo es ayudar al lector a desarrollar la capacidad de valorar la lectura y de reconocerla como una fuente de enriquecimiento cultural y de placer personal.
Hemos estructurado la tesis en tres niveles de análisis: a) en el Primer Nivel de Análisis exponemos la base metodológica de nuestra tesis y presentamos los recursos para expresar la Comunicación No Verbal en El Gatopardo, así como un estudio de la Expresión Facial; b) en un Segundo Nivel de Análisis mostramos de forma gráfica los valores numéricos y porcentajes de aquellos aspectos relacionados con la Expresión Facial; y c) en un Tercer Nivel de Análisis realizamos la Clasificación Categorial y la Interpretación de todos los casos de cada una de las veintiocho Expresiones Faciales registradas en la novela. Terminamos nuestro trabajo con las Conclusiones que hemos obtenido a partir de los objetivos de nuestra tesis, tanto generales como específicos, dando respuesta a las preguntas de investigación que nos hemos formulado en el proceso de desarrollo de esta tesis. Por último, establecemos una serie de conclusiones generales que se repiten de forma sistemática en las veintiocho Expresiones Faciales registradas en El Gatopardo. En conjunto estas conclusiones nos han llevado a determinar la importancia que, efectivamente, tiene la Comunicación No Verbal en un texto literario.

PALABRAS CLAVE: Análisis del discurso, estudios literarios, perspectiva sistémica, Comunicación No Verbal, Expresión Facial, Modelo Semiótico de Transcripción en Literatura, El Gatopardo, Inteligencia Emocional, Psicoanálisis.
From the Discourse Analysis and the Literary Studies fields, and from a Systemic perspective, we have developed this thesis in order to study the non-verbal communication in a literary text. The main target is based on the morphological-descriptive and functional classification of those non-verbal systems closer to the human body - kinesics and proxemics- in a novel, particularly in The Leopard. To fulfil this objective, we have developed a Semiotic Model of Non-Verbal Communication Transcription in literature. Due to the extension of the theme and in order to show its feasibility, we have decided to set limits in our investigation field. Therefore, we will base our analysis on the Categorical and Functional Classification of Face Expression in the novel above. The main goal of this analysis is to improve reading comprehension and, at the same time, give a new approach to the analysis of the novel. From an interdisciplinary point of view, we have studied in depth the interpretation of every single face expression in a novel, relating them to the contribution of Non-verbal Communication, Psychoanalysis and the Emotional Intelligence postulates. The main goal of our project is to help the reader to develop his/her capacity of giving value to the reading act and recognising it as a source of cultural enrichment and personal pleasure.
We have structured the thesis in three levels of analysis: a) in the first level of Analysis, we unfold the morphological basis of our thesis and we display the resources to express the Non-Verbal Communication in The Leopard, as well as, an analysis of Face Expression; b) in a second level of analysis, in a graphic way, we show the numerical values and the percentages of those traits in relation to the Face Expression; c) and in a third level of analysis, we carry out the Categorical Classification and the interpretation of every single twenty-eight face expressions present in the novel. We finish our research with the conclusions we have obtained from, either general and specific, objectives of our thesis by answering all the searching questions we have asked throughout the development of this thesis.
We unfold some general conclusions which can be applied, in a systematic way, to the twenty-eight face expressions present in ElGatopardo. On the whole, these conclusions have led us to establish the importance the non-verbal communications plays in a literary text.

KEY WORDS: Discourse analysis, literary studies, systemic perspective, non-verbal communication, face expression, semiotic transcription model in literature, "The Leopard", emotional intelligence, psychoanalysis.

Previous literature has shown that depression is the most common major emotional result following a stroke. Although the prevalence and severity of this issue have been well documented, limited research has been done to identify the evolution of post-stroke depressive symptoms in the acute phase following a stroke. During this period of time, the patient is faced with a number of significant changes from his / her previous level of functioning. These issues can include loss of physical functioning, loss of independence, changes in living arrangements, and an increased reliance on the support and care of others. The purpose of the current study was to examine fluctuations in depressive symptoms as each participant progressed through rehabilitation and discharge, and to gather qualitative information pertaining to the contributing factors that could play a role in this issue. A sample of nine participants between the ages of 50 and 85 was obtained from a regional rehabilitation unit. Data and clinical information were collected using an intensive case study design. Participants were asked to complete the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) at three-day intervals while on the rehabilitation unit and following discharge. This information was interpreted in the context of qualitative information gathered through reports from the participant, his or her significant other / family member, nursing and professional staff members on the rehabilitation unit, and patient records. Other analyses performed included an examination of the interactions between performance and motivation during the rehabilitation process and role of discharge site in the development and course of depressive symptoms. When examined as a whole, the information collected across all nine participants would suggest that following discharge there was a statistically significant increase in the level of post-stroke depressive symptoms. While the individuals were on the rehabilitation unit, the depressive symptoms decreased significantly and this trend continued following discharge, but the slope was not as significant as that which was observed on the rehabilitation unit. The results also suggested that there is a significant difference between the progression of depressive symptoms between groups separated based on discharge site.

Trafficking in human beings is a major problem worldwide. Human trafficking is as a result of a complex set of interrelated push and pull factors. Push factors includeinter alia poverty, a lack of opportunities, dislocation of families, gender, racial and ethnic inequalities and the break-up of families. Research shows that pull factors include the promise of a better life, consumer aspirations and lack of information on the risks involved, established patterns of migration, porous borders and fewer constraints on travel. It is as a result of the global epidemic of this trafficking in persons that certain instruments on an international level as well as legislation on a national level have been enacted. The question which arises is: are these pieces of legislation effective in dealing with the scourge of human trafficking? Every legislation passed will have its strengths, as well as weaknesses but the main objective of such legislation should always be to combat, criminalise and prosecute the specific criminal act. Furthermore, the enacted legislation should be designed to effectively combat the challenges which threaten to exacerbate the criminal act. Failing to fulfil this intention will render such legislation nugatory. This treatise will be looking at various international instruments that have been passed abd v adopted by various countries, which specifically deal with trafficking in humans generally and specifically in relation to the children. International instruments that will be discussed include inter alia, slavery Convention, Convention on the Rights of the child, Worst forms or Child Labour Convention, Parlemo Protocol, United Nations Transnational Organised Crime Protocol to mention but a few. All these instruments have in a way dealt with and made provisions for the criminalisation of the act of trafficking in humans and a the scrounge of trafficking escalates the international governments strive to enact instruments that are going to be able to curtail this pandemic of trafficking. As more focus will be on the South African legislation this treatise is also going to examine all the relevant piece of legislation that have been passed by the South African government in order to deal with human trafficking. These will include the discussion of the Constitution, Child Care Act, Children’s Act, Children’s Amendment Act, Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) and Related matters. Amendment Act Prevention of Organised Crime Act as well as the Prevention and combating of Trafficking in Persons Bill. The treatise will listen critically discuss the Bill in so far as its strengths and weaknesses are concerned.

The objective was to develop and validate a method for estimating food intake of nursing home residents. The study was conducted with certified nursing assistants (CNAs) at a 180-bed nursing facility. CNAs assisted in the development of the new method by providing feedback on existing estimation methods. Four simulated resident trays were used to estimate both food intake and overall meal intake. Twelve CNAs' intake estimates for 34 simulated food items (n=384 estimates) were compared to weighed values. Eightyfive percent of the 384 intake estimates for the simulated food items were correct; Cohen's kappa was 0.80, p

Alluvial springs are an interesting feature of braided river flood plains. The aim of this study was to quantify and characterise the fauna and physicochemistry of these springs. The distribution and occurrence of springs was assessed using a GIS analysis in 20 South Island braided rivers. The greatest number of springs was found in east coast inter-montane valleys, 65% of which were associated with obstructions in the river valley, such as alluvial fans, bluffs or flood retention works. A comparison between springs, hill slope streams and main channels in the upper Waimakariri River revealed physically disparate environments, which were reflected by their invertebrate communities. Springs contained the greatest number of unique taxa, which was attributed to high stability and the presence of phreatic taxa. In spring-sources the presence of aquatic plants were found to be a powerful structuring influence on benthic invertebrate communities. The generalist, asynchronous nature of New Zealand benthic invertebrate fauna, and the high diversity and evenness of predatory taxa are also thought to be influential on the high levels of taxonomic richness at spring-sources. Away from the spring-source taxonomic richness decreased due to the decline in stability and habitat complexity. Spring age, or time since major disturbance, was important in structuring benthic invertebrate communities. Older springs were dominated by non-insect taxa, whereas younger springs, were dominated by insects which are rapid dispersers. A macrophyte manipulation experiment was conducted in four spring-sources. The removal of macrophytes from treatment plots resulted in a decrease in taxa abundance, but an increase in evenness. Mayflies and caddisflies increased, replacing mollusca and diptera. This shift in community composition may have been due to changes in available living space, food resources, flow characteristics and physical structure between the cobble and macrophyte habitats. Springs contributed a major proportion of the benthic invertebrate biodiversity to the upper Waimakariri River and this study confirms that they deserve commensurate consideration in regional river management planning.

This thesis focuses on the idea that food insecurity and access are real issues in the lives of many Americans. Simply stated, food insecurity is when a person does not have enough food to eat or does now know where his/her next meal is coming from. More importantly when looking at food insecurity is the realization that healthy, local food access is even more prevalent an issue – with increasingly more under-resourced individuals and families being food insecure and unhealthy at the same time. This thesis includes a literature review on diet and nutrition in the United States, a chapter on methodology, history of Bowling Green, Kentucky, where this case study is focused, the benefits of shopping at farmers’ markets, perceived barriers to shopping at those farmers’ markets, and suggestions for overcoming these barriers. Local, sustainable food is the hope for a future of planet earth. It is what nourishes and sustains lives. And, it should not be a privilege. Through researching the benefits and barriers to farmers’ markets, examining these barriers, developing suggestions for overcoming these barriers, and implementing as many as these initiatives as possible in Bowling Green, Kentucky, I have not only compiled a detailed thesis, but I have also been a small part of creating change in the food community in Bowling Green. This thesis can serve as a nationwide model and describes the way to overcome food accessbarriers in urban/rural communities.

Ribonuclease II (RNase II) is a bacterial enzyme responsible for 90% of the exonucleolytic degradation of mRNA in bacteria, and has bacterial homologues known to be involved in virulence. The goal of this project was to examine the structural dynamics of RNase II using fluorescence. Prior to the beginning of this project, little was known regarding the structural composition of RNase II – required information in the study of structural dynamics. Consequently, the structure of RNase II was studied by constructing a series of deletion mutants in order to map the domains. The publication of an atomic resolution structure of RNase II allowed the project to move directly into the study of RNase II structural dynamics as it degrades mRNA. As a step towards this, RNase II was fluorescently labeled, and preliminary binding studies of DNA – a competitive inhibitor – to RNase II using fluorescence were conducted.
xii, 90 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 29 cm

Advances in semiconductor technology have been driven by the continuous demands of market forces for IC products with higher performance and greater functionality per unit area. To date industry has addressed these demands, principally, by scaling down device dimensions. However, several unintended consequences have undermined the benefits obtained from the advances in technology, firstly, the growing impact of process variations on interconnectivity delay, aggravated by the increase in the amount of interconnectivity as circuit complexity increases. Overall, the difficulty of establishing delay parameters in a circuit is adversely impacting on the attainment of the timing closure for a design. Secondly, the increase in the susceptibility of the circuits , even at ground level, to the effects of soft errors due to the reduction in supply voltages and nodal capacitances, together with the increase in the number of nodes in a circuit as the functionality per unit area increases. The aim of this research has been to model and analyse the reliability of logic circuits with regard to the impact of process variations and soft errors, and to finds ways to minimise these effects using different process technologies such as fully depleted silicon on insulator (FDSOI) and partially depleted silicon on insulator (PDSOI) technologies, together with the implementation of different circuit architectures. In view of the increased susceptibility of logic elements to the effects of process variations and soft errors as device geometries are reduced, a logic element which is not only widely used but also typical to asynchronous design is the Muller C-element, which can be realised in a number of different circuit configurations. The robustness of various C-element configurations implemented in different technologies with regard to the effects of process variations and soft errors was examined using the design of the experiment (DoE) and response surface (RSM) techniques. It was found that the circuits based on SOI technology were more robust compared with bulk silicon technology. On the other hand, from the circuit architecture perspective, the differential logic implementations of C-element were found to be more resilient to the effects of process variation and soft errors in comparison with the other C-element implementations investigated.

1. Purpose of study: Water is a scarce and valuable resource in South Africa Most parts of the country do not have a high rainfall and the greater part of South Africa is semi-arid and subject to variable rainfall. Furthermore, access to water in terms of the previous Water Act 54 of 1956 was directly tied to ownership. The distribution of water rights has as a consequence been influenced by apartheid patterns of landownership. Due to this situation in South Africa, more than I6 million people do not have access to clean water for domestic use. Water is one of the most important resources determining a nation's health and wealth. The sustainable use and management of this scarce resource is of utmost importance. The National Water Act 36 of 1998 attempts to transform the injustices of the past with regard to restricted access to water and poor sustainable management of water as a scarce resource. The purpose of this research project was of a dual nature. Firstly, the aim was to make an in-depth study of the changes that the Natural Water Act 36 of 1998 brought about to the rights of all water users and secondly, to determine if the principles in the National Water Act 36 of I998 constituted deprivation or expropriation of the property rights of water users in terms of section 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 108 of 1996. 2. Conclusions: The purpose of the National Water Act 36 of I998 as stated in the preamble, is 10 provide for water resource management, which achieves sustainable use of water for the benefit of all water users. The National Water Act 36 of 1998 fundamentally changes the manner in which persons obtain the right to use water from the position prior to 1998. The Water Act 54 of 1956 was in operation for more than 40 years, governing the water law in South Africa. Central to the operation of the Water Act 54 of I956 is the distinction between public and private water. The owner of the land on which private water was found had exclusive use and enjoyment of such water. It wasn't clear from the principles in the Act if water users could after 1994, vest property rights with regard to water. The conclusion made during the research is that water users had no right of ownership towards water as the Act only stated that owners of land on which water was found had the exclusive right to the use of such water. Furthermore, case law did not give a clear indication on the matter of the legal status of water found on a landowner's land. On the other hand, there was no right of ownership in public water. Generally, riparian owners used public water but it was clear from the Act that there was no right of ownership towards public water. It was realised that the Water Act 54 of 1956 did not comply with the demand of water allocation and management in South Africa's new constitutional dispensation and a process of intensive public participation resulted in the promulgation of the National Water Act 36 of 1998. The Act drastically changed the basis of water management and the legal status of water. The most important change in the new Act is the principle that all water is placed under the trusteeship of the national government. With this principle, the distinction between public and private water is done away with. The result of this principle is that no individual can have exclusive rights to the use of water and that the water resources in South Africa is a national asset managed by the state for the benefit of all The Act provides that in general any water use must he licensed. Even though no water user had ownership of water in terms of the previous Act, these water users did have rights in property as constituted in section 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, in the form of limited real rights and other rights as recognised in terms of the previous Act. The question arises if the principle in the new Act, which terminates the right to use water exclusively, is in accordance with section 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 108 of 1996. Section 25 of the Constitution regulates the principles underlying deprivation and expropriation of property rights. As a result of the research conducted, it is held that the principles in the National Water Act 36 of 1998 constitute a deprivation of water users' property. This argument is followed due to the fact that the principles in the National Water Act regulate the property which water users had before the commencement of the Act. A deprivation of property may not be arbitrary and must be affected by a law of general application. Expropriation on the other hand, is a form of deprivation which is subject to more stringent safeguards, namely the public interest requirement and the payment of compensation. On this definition of expropriation, it seems as if the regulating of water rights in terms of the National Water Act constitute a deprivation of property by means of law of general application that operates non-arbitrary. The National Water Act passes the test of general application as well as non-arbitrary nature of the Act. Water users who are deprived from the exclusive right to use water, have no right to compensation as the taking of the rights in property do not constitute expropriation. South Africa is in the unique position to develop new water law legislation which will regulate the use of water and ensure that all people in the country have fair and equal access to water resources. Few guidelines exist towards the interpretation of the constitutionality of the principles in the National Water Act and case law on this matter is eagerly awaited.
Thesis (LL.M.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2002

The Vera Basin is used as a case study to examine the structural evolution and sedimentary response of a basin undergoing uplift and inversion during the Plio-Pleistocene. Particular emphasis is placed on the drainage evolution during that period. Located within the Internal zone of the Betic Cordilleras, the Vera Basin is defined within a large left-lateral shear zone and has evolved as a reponse to isostatic uplift from nappe emplacement during the Oligocene, and by regional compressive tectonics. Since basin formation during the Seravallian, sedimentary fill has been dominantly marine. During the Plio-Pleistocene a switch from marine to continental conditions occurred. These sediments (Cuevas, Espiritu Santo and Salmerbn Formations) represent the final stages of basin fill and form the focus of this study. The Cuevas Formation represents an early Pliocene marine transgression within the Vera Basin. Early sedimentation mulled a pronounced submarine topography produced by a rapid late Miocene fall in sealevel. A broad, shallow shelf platform area existed which opened out to the Pliocene Mediterranean Sea towards the east. Along the northern and western basin margins, wave dominated shorelines were formed. Structural activity was confined to low amounts of basin subsidence and limited left lateral strike-slip movement along the Palomares Fault Zone. The Espiritu Santo Formation marks a major palaeogeographic reorganisation and the final marine phases of the Vera Basin during the mid to late Pliocene. Unsteady strike-slip movement along the Palomares fault zone on the eastern basin margin partially enclosed the Vera Basin by northwards movement of a structurally detached landmass. Gilbert-type fan-delta bodies prograded westwards from the landmass (Sierra Almagrera), infilling the central region of the basin. Early fan-delta sediments were reworked into shoreline areas along the western and northern basin margins. Western margin shorelines retreated northwards as a response to partial enclosure and a gradual lowering of sea-level. Late stages of the Espiritu Santo Formation, saw a fan-delta body prograde from the northern basin margins. Interaction between the basinal and marginal fan-delta bodies enclosed the northern region of the Vera Basin. A swamp/mangrove environment developed within the enclosed northern basin area suggesting a humid, sub-tropical climate. Continental conditions were established during Salmerön Formation times in the late Pliocene. Along the western and northern basin margins, the retreating Pliocene shorelines provided a topography onto which the primary consequent drainage network developed. Three separate drainage systems can be identified on the basis of clast assemblages, palaeocurrents, depositional style and morphological expression. Early deposition was characterised by the progradation of alluvial fans of two drainage systems (Cuevas & Jauro), sourced from the northern and western basin margins. Distal areas of the northern fan system intercalated with an evaporitic playa lake. A third drainage system in the northwest of the basin (Salmerbn) developed within a topographic low between the two fan systems. An increase in structural activity towards the end of the Salmerbn Formation was characterised by a basin wide phase of north-south compression. Uplift and extensional faulting lead to abandonment of the primary drainage network. Fan entrenchment and minor rerouting of sediment supplies marked the establishment of a new secondary consequent drainage network during the Pleistocene. The Pleistocene drainage network records the progressive dissection of the Vera Basin as a response to ongoing regional epeirogenic uplift. During this post-inversion phase the Rios Antas, Almanzora and Aguas developed respectively along the western, northern and southern basin margins as- a series of braided streams. Distal, coastal areas of this drainage network are recorded by a series of Pleistocene shoreline sequences which developed as a response to fluctuating sea-level during the Pleistocene glacial and interglacial periods. Early Pleistocene proximal parts of the drainage network are well preserved. Distal parts of the Pleistocene fluvial system display limited evidence for interaction between the drainage network and shoreline sequences. This lack of preservation relates to the high energy, wave dominated depositional setting of the Pleistocene shoreline areas which reworked fluvial sediment inputs into the shoreline environment. The Plio-Pleistocene evolution of the Vera Basin, and in particular the development of the fluvial during system this period has been highly complex. Despite the importance of sea-level and climatic controls, tectonic activity during this period of basin inversion has been the dominant control on the positioning of the drainage networks, depositional styles and sediment supply.

Thesis (PhD (Pathology. Medical Microbiology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Due to modern high-throughput technologies, large numbers of compounds are produced by parallel synthesis and combinatorial chemistry. The pharmaceutical industry therefore requires rapid and accurate methods to screen new drugs leads for membrane permeability potential in the early stages of drug discovery. Around 50 % of all investigational new drugs fail in pre-clinical and clinical phases of development due to inadequate absorption/permeation, distribution, metabolism, excretion and/or unacceptable toxicity. This may be decreased by applying in vitro screening methods early in the discovery process. Reliable in vitro models can be applied to determine permeation of the test compounds, which will help avoid the wasting of valuable resources for the development of drugs that are destined to fail in preclinical and clinical phases due to insufficient permeability properties. It is important to decide as early as possible on the most promising compound and physical formulation for the intended route of administration. With awareness of the increasing importance of in vitro models in the investigations of the permeability properties of drug compounds, this research project was specifically devoted to determine the suitability of our in vitro model to evaluate and predict drug permeability. A continuous flow-through diffusion system was employed to evaluate the permeability of nine different compounds/drugs with different chemical properties, across three biological membranes. The biological membranes chosen for the present study were human vaginal mucosa, human skin tissue and human small intestine mucosa. The continuous flow-through diffusion system was furthermore utilised to investigate the effects of de-epithelialisation of mucosal surfaces, chemical enhancers, temperature, permeant concentration and formulation on the permeability of the test compounds/drugs. The in vitro permeability information and data from the flow-through diffusion model were compared to in vitro and in vivo literature studies and drug profile. An in vitro model that is able to reliably predict in vivo data will shorten the drug development period, economise resources and may potentially lead to improved product quality. In this thesis research results are reported on the permeability of the mentioned biological membranes to the various chemical markers, including anti-HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) drugs. The permeability studies will be discussed in three sections: vaginal mucosa, skin tissue, small intestine mucosa. The results of the vaginal permeability studies showed that the three peptides (MEA- 5, MDY-19 and PCI) readily penetrated the vaginal mucosa. MDY-19 had a higher flux rate than MEA-5, commensurate with its smaller molecular size (weight). The surfactant enhanced the flux rate of MDY-19 approximately 1.3 times and decreased the lag time of the peptide. Removal of the vaginal epithelium increased the flux rates of the peptides across the mucosa and may have implications for a more rapid uptake of these and other microbicides in vivo. The permeability of 1 mM MDY-19 and PCI at 37 °C were significantly (p<0.05) higher than at 20 °C. At 37 °C the AUCs of the overall mean flux values of MDY-19 and PCI increased with concentration according to well-established diffusion theory. The experiments on the permeability of different terbinafine hydrochloride formulations through human skin demonstrated that the terbinafine hydrochloride formulations used in this study, readily diffused into the skin tissue. However, no flux values for any of the terbinafine hydrochloride formulations through the skin into the acceptor fluid were found. The mean terbinafine concentrations in the skin after 24 h exposure to the three commercial, terbinafine hydrochloride formulations were 3.589, 1.590 and 4.219 μg/ml respectively. The mean terbinafine concentration in the skin exposed to the 10 mg/ml PBS/Methanol solution was higher than those from the three commercial formulations. The results of the temperature study demonstrated that an increase of 5 ºC caused a significant increase in flux values of tritiated water across skin. The flux values for tritiated water across skin at 37 ºC were on average double those at a temperature of 32 ºC. The permeability of excised human small intestine mucosa to different oral dosage drugs was investigated over a 24 h period. The four drugs selected were zidovudine, propranolol hydrochloride, didanosine and enalapril maleate. They were selected as representative model compounds of drug classes 1 (high solubility, high permeability) and 3 (high solubility, low permeability) according to the Biopharmaceutics Classification System. The flux rates of the four chosen test drugs were influenced by the length of the experiment. Between the time periods 2-4 h and 4-6 h, zidovudine’s mean flux values across small intestine tissue were respectively 1.8 and 2.0 times higher than didanosine and 2.3 and 2.2 times higher than enalapril. Propranolol’s mean flux values were respectively 1.2 and 1.4 times higher than didanosine and 1.6 higher than enalapril during both the 2-4 and 4-6 h time periods. Between both the time periods 2-4 and 4-6 h AZT’s mean flux values were 1.4 times higher than propranolol and didanosine’s mean flux values were respectively 1.3 and 1.1 times higher than enalapril during the mentioned time periods. Class 1 drugs showed a significantly higher flux rate across the jejunal mucosa compared to the class 3 drugs and these results are in line with their Biopharmaceutics Classification System classification. The in vitro model has proved to be reliable to predict permeability of class 1 and 3 drugs and also showed correlation with human in vivo data. It seems that the in vitro flow-through diffusion model used in the present study have the potential to overcome some of the problems and limitations demonstrated by other in vitro techniques and may potentially serve as a future tool for pharmaceutical companies to predict the diffusion characteristics of new drugs and different formulations, across different biological membranes. Furthermore, it may serve as a prospective method for assessing the bioequivalence of alternative (generic) vehicles or formulations containing the same drug/compound.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: As gevolg van moderne hoë spoed tegnologie kan groot hoeveelhede middels vervaardig word deur ooreenkomende sintese en kombinasieleer chemie. Die farmaseutiese industrie benodig dus vinnige en akkurate metodes om nuwe geneesmiddels te evalueer t.o.v. membraan deurlaatbaarheid. Hierdie evaluasie moet verkieslik so vroeg moontlik in die geneesmiddel se ontwikkelingsproses geskied. Ongeveer 50 % van alle potensiële geneesmiddels misluk in pre-kliniese en kliniese fases van geneesmiddelontwikkeling. Die mislukte pogings kan toegskryf word aan onvoldoende absorbsie/deurlaatbaarheid, distribusie, metabolisme, ekskresie en/of onaanvaarbare middel toksisiteit. Dit is daarom belangrik om so vroeg moontlik in die geneesmiddelontwikkelingsproses te besluit op die mees belowende middel, asook die geskikte formulasie vir die spesifieke roete van toediening van die middel. Die farmaseutiese industrie benodig tans in vitro modelle met die potensiaal om die deurlaatbaarheid van geneesmiddels te bepaal en te voorspel. Betroubare in vitro modelle kan aangewend word om die deurlaatbaarheid van potensiële geneesmiddels te toets. Sodoende sal die onnodige uitgawes op die ontwikkkeling van geneesmiddels wat in elk geval later gaan faal in pre-kliniese en kliniese fases van geneesmiddelproewe a.g.v. deurlaatbaarheidseienskappe, vermy word. Hierdie navorsingsprojek was dus spesifiek onderneem om die waarde en toepaslikheid van ‘n in vitro deurlopende-vloei perfusie model te ondersoek. Die model se potensiaal om geneesmiddels se deurlaatbaarheid en absorpsie te voorspel was geëvalueer. Die deurlopende-vloei perfusie apparaat was gebruik om die deurlaatbaarheidsvloede van drie verskillende biologiese membrane t.o.v. nege chemiese stowwe (MEA-5, MDY-19, PCI, terbinafien hidrochloried, getritieerde water, zidovudien, propranolol, hidrochloried, didanosien, enalapril maleaat) te bepaal. Die drie biologiese membrane wat gebruik was, was vaginale weefsel, vel en klein intestinale weefsel. Al drie weefsel tipes was van menslike oorsprong. Die deurlopende-vloei perfusie apparaat was ook gebruik om die effek wat verwydering van die mukosa se epiteellaag op deurlaatbaarheidsvloede het, te ondersoek. Verder was navorsing gedoen op die effek van temperatuur en die konsentrasie en formulasie van die toetsmiddels op hulle diffusie vloedwaardes. Daar was ook gekyk na die invloed van ander chemiese stowwe op die toetsmiddels se diffusie vloedwaardes. Die in vitro deurlaatbaarheidsinformasie en -gegewens was vergelyk met ander in vitro en in vivo literatuurstudies en geneesmiddel databasisse. ‘n In vitro model wat in staat is om in vivo resultate betroubaar te voorspel, het die potensiaal om die tyd wat dit neem om geneesmiddels te ontwikkel, te verkort, finansiële uitgawes te besnoei en om geneesmiddelkwaliteit te verseker. In die tesis word dan die resultate gerapporteer van die deurlaatbaarheidsvloede van die verskillende tipes weefsel ten op sigte van verskeie chemiese stowwe, insluitende anti-MIV (menslike immuniteitsgebreksvirus) middels. Die deurlaatbaarheidstudies word bespreek in drie afdelings: vaginale mukosa, vel en klein intestinale mukosa. Die resultate van die deurlaatbaarheidstudies op die vaginale weefsel dui daarop dat die drie peptiede (MEA-5, MDY-19 and PCI) die vaginale mukosa goed penetreer. Soos verwag, het MDY-19 hoër diffusie vloedwaardes as MEA-5 gehad. Dit kan toegeskryf word aan MDY-19 se kleiner molekulere grootte (gewig). Surfaktant het die diffusie vloedwaardes van MDY-19 1.3 keer vergroot en het ook die tyd na vaste vlak verminder. Die verwydering van die vaginale epiteel het die diffusie vloedwaardes van die peptiede verhoog en mag dus dui op die vinniger opname van peptiede en moontlike ander mikrobisiede in vivo, wanneer die belyning van die epiteel onderbreek. Die deurlaatbaarheid van 1 mM MDY-19 en PCI by 37 °C was satisties beduidend (p<0.05) hoer as teem 20 °C. Die area onder die kurwe (AOK) van die gemiddelde vloedwaardes van MDY-19 en PCI by 37 °C, het toegeneem met ‘n toename in die konsentrasie van hierdie peptiede. Die toename vloedwaardes ondersteun dus die alombekende diffusie teorie. Die transdermale diffusie eksperimente van verskillende terbinafien formulasies het getoon dat terbinafien geredelik vrygestel word vanuit hierdie formulasies na die vel. Geen terbinafien vloedwaardes, van enige van die formulasies, was egter gevind in die ontvangselle van die deurlopende-vloei perfusie apparaat nie. Die gemiddelde terbinafien konsentrasies in die vel na 24 h se blootstelling aan drie kommersiële terbinafien hidrochloried formulasies was onderskeidelik 3.589, 1.590 en 4.219 μg/ml. Die gemiddelde terbinafien konsentrasie in die vel wat aan 10 mg/ml PBS/metanol blootgestel was, was hoër as die konsentrasies in die vel wat aan die drie kommersiële formulasies blootgestel was. Die resultate van die temperatuurstudie op vel het aangetoon dat ‘n temperatuur toename van 5 ºC ‘n statisties beduidende toename in vloedwaardes van getritieerde water oor vel veroorsaak. Die vloedwaardes van die getritieerde water oor vel teen ‘n temperatuur van 37 ºC was gemiddeld dubbeld so veel as teen 32 ºC. Die deurlaatbaarheidsvloede van klein intestinale mukosa ten opsigte van verskillende geneesmiddels (wat oraal toegedien word) was ondersoek gedurende ‘n 24 h eksperiment. Die vier geneesmiddels wat gebruik was, was zidovudine, propranolol hidrochloried, didanosien en enalapril maleaat. Hierdie geneesmiddels is verteenwoordigers van die Biofarmaseutiese Klassifikasie Sisteem se klas 1 (hoë oplosbaarheid, hoë deurlaatbaarheid) en klas 3 (hoë oplosbaarheid, lae deurlaatbaarheid) geneesmiddels. Die vloedwaardes van die vier geneesmiddels het gewissel na aanleiding van die tydsverloop in die eksperiment. Zidovudien se gemiddelde vloedwaardes tussen 2-4 en 4-6 h was onderskeidelik 1.8 en 2.0 keer hoër as didanosien se gemiddelde vloedwaardes vir hierdie tyd periodes en onderskeidelik 2.3 en 2.2 keer hoër as enalapril se gemiddelde vloedwaardes. Tydens hierdie selfde periodes was propranolol se gemiddelde vloedwaardes 1.2 en 1.4 keer hoër as didanosien en vir beide periods 1.6 keer hoër as enalapril se gemiddelde vloedwaardes. Gedurende beide genoemde tyd periodes was zidovudien se gemiddelde vloedwaardes 1.4 keer hoer as propranolol en didanosien se gemiddelde vloedwaardes was onderskeidelik 1.3 en 1.1 keer hoër as enalapril tydens 2-4 en 4-6 h. Die klas 1 geneesmiddels het statisties beduidende hoër vloedwaardes gehad as die klas 3 geneesmiddels. Hierdie resultate stem ooreen met die geneesmiddels se Biofarmaseutiese Klassifikasie Sisteem klassifikasie. Dit wil dus voorkom asof die in vitro model wat gebruik was in die studie, gebruik kan word om die deurlaatbaarheidsvloede van klas 1 en 3 te voorspel. Die resultate van hierdie studie stem ooreen met ander in vivo studies. Dit wil voorkom asof die in vitro deurlopende-vloei perfusie apparaat die potensiaal het om sommige van die probleme en tekortkominge van ander in vitro modelle te oorkom en dat dit moontlik die potensiaal het om die diffusie-eienskappe van nuwe geneesmiddels en verskillende formulasies oor verskillende biologiese membrane te voorspel. Die model kan verder moontlik dien as ‘n potensiële toestel om biogelykbaarheid van alternatiewe (generiese) formulasies, wat dieselfde geneesmiddel/chemiese stof bevat, te bepaal.

The first chapter of this dissertation estimates the relative contributions of two major exchanges on crude oil futures to the price discovery process-- Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), using trade-by-trade data in 2008. The study also empirically analyzes the effects of trading characteristics on the information share of these two markets. Trading characteristics examined in the study include trading volume, trade size, and trading costs. On average, CME is characterized by greater volume and trade size but also slightly greater bid-ask spread. CME leads the process of price discovery and this leadership is caused by relative trade size and volatility before the financial crisis of 2008; however post-crisis period this leadership is caused by trading volume. Moreover, this study presents evidence that, in times of large uncertainty in the market, the market maker charges a greater bid-ask spread for the more informative market. The second chapter examines the influence of expected oil price volatility, the behavior of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and the US Dollar exchange rate volatility on the backwardation of crude oil futures during the period from January 1986 to December 2008. The results indicate that oil futures are strongly and weakly backwardated 57% and 69% of the time, respectively. The regression analysis of weak backwardation shows that oil volatility, OPEC overproduction (difference between quota and the actual production), and the volatility of the US Dollar against the Japanese Yen have a positive significant effect on oil backwardation, while OPEC production quota imposed on its members has a negative significant effect on oil backwardation. However the volatility of US Dollar against the British Pound has no significant effect on oil backwardation. The regression analysis of strong backwardation produces qualitatively the same results except that volatility has no effect. In a sub-period analysis, evidence also indicates that trading volume of oil funds and backwardation are negatively related, suggesting that oil funds increase the demand of futures relative to that of spot.

Tese de Doutoramento em Educação.
Este trabalho tem como motes primordiais oferecer contributos para uma melhor compreensão da transição para o mundo do trabalho dos estudantes universitários em fase final de ciclo de estudos, analisar a confiança destes alunos no que diz respeito à sua empregabilidade após terminarem o ano letivo, entender as suas expectativas e verificar qual a importância atribuída ao suporte social neste processo. Segundo Bandura (1997), a persuasão verbal e as influências sociais são elementos que concedem ao individuo esclarecimento sobre a perceção que os outros têm das suas capacidades. Do ponto de vista das possibilidades de uso da investigação da autoeficácia em Orientação Profissional, Betz e Borgen (2000) e mais recentemente Teixeira e Gomes (2005) afirmam que esse construto funciona como um mediador do comportamento de escolha. Neste estudo, assente no modelo hipotético-dedutivo, é atribuído ênfase ao apoio social percebido pelos indivíduos que vivenciam a transição para o mercado de trabalho, assim sendo, todas as referências que faremos a apoio social, referem-se ao apoio social percebido pelo individuo. A amostra do estudo apresentado é constituída por 239 estudantes universitários finalistas, de ambos os géneros, dos cursos de licenciatura e de mestrado de Educação Física e Desporto do Instituto Superior da Maia – ISMAI. Os instrumentos utilizados neste estudo são a Escala de Autoeficácia para o Trabalho (AETT; Vieira & Coimbra, 2005), a Escala de Apoio Social (SSA; Antunes e Fontaine, 1994/1995) e o Inventário Demográfico e Vocacional (IDV; Souza & Costa Lobo, 2011). O tratamento dos dados colhidos envolveu recurso ao Software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), na sua versão 20.0, no sentido de realizar a análise descritiva das variáveis quantitativas, a análise de frequência das variáveis qualitativas, bem como a análise bivariada para testar as hipóteses de investigação formuladas. Como verificado por Bowers, Dickeman & Fuqua, (2001) os sujeitos aqui estudados, sugerem não acreditar que somente a preparação académica os garante um emprego apos o término dos estudos, mas que outros factores estão envolvidos, tornando então esta uma situação mais complexa. Este estudo, na sequência do trabalho de Vieira e Coimbra (2006), aponta para a utilidade das instituições oferecerem programas de assistência aos alunos para que se sentissem mais seguros nesta fase de transição do estudo ao mercado de trabalho. Os resultados deste estudo, na sequência do estudo de Sarrico (2013), no que respeita à empregabilidade dos licenciados, dá uma perspetiva muito otimista, já que 96% dos estudantes, afirmaram estarem no curso de sua 1ª opção. Assim, segundo o referido estudo, o número de colocados em 1ª opção face ao número total de colocados está associado a menor desemprego, podendo então ter uma perspetiva otimista. Destaca-se que 71% dos alunos perspetivam positivamente a aceitação de uma vaga de emprego no estrangeiro, o que é convergente com as conclusões de Cardoso, Escária, Ferreira, Madruga, Raimundo e Varanda, (2013) no que diz respeito à problemática da migração de diplomados. Os resultados a nivel de autoeficácia para a procura de emprego, foram analisados e discutidos tendo em conta que não temos a informação se estamos perante um quadro de desemprego voluntário, ou se, por outro lado, é um cenário causado pela falta de vagas de emprego. O facto de pesquisas longitudinais recentes de Lent (2011, 2013), pesquisas realizadas com amostras de graduados do ensino superior, indicarem que a escolha ocupacional pode ser guiada pela acessibilidade das ocupações concretas, pela autoeficácia e pelas expectativas de resultados, mais do que pelos interesses vocacionais, fez-nos aumentar a percepção da utilidade de prosseguir a análise destas variáveis, em abordagens longitudinais, para perceber o real impacto destes factores neste contexto social.
This work has as main motes offer contributions to a better understanding of the transition to the labor market of college students in the final phase of the course, students analyze their confidence with regard to their employability after finishing the school year, understand the your expectations and check what is the importance attributed to social support in this process. According to Bandura (1997), verbal persuasion and social influence are elements which give the individual insight into the perception that others have of their capabilities. From the point of view of the possible use of self-efficacy research in vocational guidance, Betz and Borgen (2000) and more recently Teixeira and Gomes (2005) argue that this construct acts as a mediator of choice behavior. The sample of the present study consists of 239 finalists university students, of both genders, of undergraduate and Masters of Physical Education and Sport Higher Institute of Maia - Maia. The instruments used in this study are the Self- Efficacy Scale for Work (AETT; Vieira & Coimbra, 2005), the Social Support Scale (SSA; Antunes and Fontaine, 1994/1995) and the Demographic and Vocational Inventory (IDV; Souza & Costa Lobo, 2011). The treatment of collected data involved use of software Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), in its version 20.0, in order to conduct a descriptive analysis of the quantitative variables, the frequency analysis of qualitative variables and the bivariate analysis to test the hypotheses formulated research. As noted by Bowers, Dickeman & Fuqua, (2001) the subjects studied here, suggest not believe that only the academic preparation guarantees a job after completing their studies, but that other factors are involved, so making this a more complex situation. This study, following the work of Vieira and Coimbra (2006), points to the usefulness of institutions offering programs assisting students to make them feel safer in this transitional phase of the study to the labor market. The results of this study, following the study of Sarrico (2013), with regard to the employability of graduates, gives a very optimistic perspective, since 96% of students said they were in the course of your 1st choice. Thus, according to the study, the number of placed 1st option compared to the total number of placed is associated with lower unemployment and you can then have an optimistic perspective. It is noteworthy that 71% of students perspetivam positively accepting a job vacancy abroad, which is convergent with the findings of Cardoso, Escária, Ferreira, Madruga, Raimundo and Balcony (2013) with regard to the issue of migration of graduates. The results of the level of selfefficacy for seeking employment, were analyzed and discussed taking into account that we do not have information if we have a picture of voluntary unemployment, or if, on the other hand, is a scenario caused by lack of jobs. The fact that recent longitudinal surveys of Lent (2011, 2013), research conducted with samples of higher education graduates, indicate that occupational choice may be guided by the accessibility of specific occupations, by the self-efficacy and outcome expectations, rather than by vocational interests, made us raise awareness of the usefulness of continuing the analysis of these variables in longitudinal approaches to realize the real impact of these factors in this social context.
Orientação: Prof. Doutora Cristina Costa Lobo e Prof. Doutora Paula Santana.

O aparecimento de ecrãs sensíveis ao toque levou a que se abrissem novos caminhos na interacção entre utilizadores e aplicações multimédia, tornando‐a mais intuitiva, através do movimento e controlo de elementos multimédia num interface apenas com os dedos. O aparecimento do multi‐touch, veio permitir a detecção de vários toques, aumentado o número de gestos possíveis, originando uma interacção mais rica e trazendo também a possibilidade de interacção multi‐utilizador. Na actualidade a interacção e tecnologia multi‐touch são uma área de pesquisa muito importante na Interacção Humano ‐ Computador e no Design de Interacção. Desde os meados do ano 2000, a tecnologia multi‐touch assistiu a um crescimento espectacular, com aplicações nos mais variados sistemas, desde telemóveis (Apple) a paredes em grande escala. Este projecto investiga a interacção e interfaces multi‐touch mediante o desenvolvimento duma instalação interactiva multi‐touch Guide…me Covilhã para um espaço público.
The emergence of touch screens, opened new ways for interaction between users and multimedia applications, making it more intuitive, through movement and control of multimedia elements in an interface, just using our fingers. The emergence of multitouch, has enabled the detection of various touches, increasing the number of possible gestures, creating a richer interaction and also bringing the possibility of multi‐user interaction. Nowadays, interaction and multi‐touch technology is a very important research area in Human ‐ Computer Interaction and Interaction Design. Since the mid 2000, the multi‐touch technology has seen spectacular growth, with applications in various systems, from mobile phones (Apple) to large‐scale walls. This project investigates the interaction and multi‐touch interfaces by developing a multi‐touch interactive installation Guide me ... Covilhã to a public space.

El Programa Radial “Surco Norteño” y su rol como una radio comunitaria - Pítipo – Lambayeque, es el título de la presente investigación; el cual tiene el objetivo de conocer si el programa Radial “Surco Norteño”, con sus características, asume las funciones de una radio comunitaria. Analizar si la comunicación bidireccional se da entre el programa radial y los oyentes en el programa Radial Surco Norteño y conocer si el programa radial influye en las decisiones de mejora de prácticas agrícolas de los agricultores del distrito de Pítipo. Con esta tesis se pretende demostrar que el programa radial cumple las funciones de una radio comunitaria, impulsando a la organización de los agricultores a través de sus mensajes, brindando educación a través de sus asesorías en campo y a través del micrófono, brindando noticias de su interés, entre otras. Asimismo se busca demostrar que está presente la comunicación bidireccional un ida y vuelta, entre el programa y su audiencia, y finalmente demostrar que el programa influye en las decisiones sobre práctica agrícolas en los agricultores.
Tesis

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Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a nematode of rodents, their definitive hosts. When infects humans, its unusual host, it causes eosinophilic meningoencephalitis. So far no drug has been demonstrated clinical efficacy for the treatment of angiostrongyliasis, although albendazole has been employed as a drug of choice. The idea of seeking a drug that would reduce or prevent morbidity is an alternative approach for usual vermicides, which presents poor results in angiostrongyliasis. In this sense, the present study aimed, among other things, to evaluate the effect of three substances with the potential capacity to inhibit oviposition in A. cantonensis. Rodent species Rattus norvegicus were inoculated with 100 L3 larvae of A. cantonensis and after 42 days of infection L1 larvae began to be shed in feces. The substances were administered to animals with 42 days of infection and, for 5 days for lovastatin (400 mg/kg) orally, phenanthroline for 4 days (20 mg/kg) intraperitoneally using carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) 1% and 3 days as an adjuvant, 12 in 12 hours, for nitazoxanide (8,3 mg/kg) orally. The results showed a decline in the elimination of larvae R. norvegicus when was used nitazoxanide compared to untreated infected animals and demonstrate a potential effect on the inhibition of this parasite oviposition. These results demonstrate that some degree of reduction in egg production is attainable and further studies should be performed to persue this new idea of virulence reduction as an alternative to parasite killing.
Angiostrongylus cantonensis é um nematódeo de roedores, seus hospedeiros definitivos. Ao infectar o ser humano, um hospedeiro não habitual, causa meningoencefalite eosinofílica. A droga indicada para o tratamento é o albendazol, porém não existe, até o presente momento, droga de eficácia clínica demonstrada para o tratamento das angiostrongilíases. Assim, a idéia de buscar uma substância que reduza ou previna a morbidade é uma alternativa à abordagem usual de drogas vermicidas. Neste sentido, o presente estudo objetivou verificar o efeito de três substâncias com potencial capacidade de inibição da oviposição em A. cantonensis. Roedores da espécie Rattus norvegicus foram inoculados com 100 larvas L3 de A. cantonensis e após 42 dias de infecção larvas L1 começaram a ser eliminadas nas fezes. As substâncias foram administradas aos animais com 42 dias de infecção durante 5 dias para a lovastatina (400 mg/Kg) pela via oral, 4 dias para a fenantrolina (20 mg/Kg) pela via intraperitoneal diluindo-se em carboximetilcelulose (CMC) a 1% como coadjuvante e 3 dias, de 12 em 12 horas, para a nitazoxanida (8,3 mg/Kg) pela via oral. Os resultados mostraram um declínio na eliminação de larvas por R. norvegicus quando foi utilizada a nitazoxanida em relação aos animais infectados e não tratados demonstrando um potencial efeito na inibição da oviposição deste parasito. Estes resultados demonstram que esta idéia deve ter continuidade e mais estudos devem ser realizados para aprimorar essa nova hipótese.

Dissertation Master of Technology Mechanical Engineering Faculty of Engineering Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2014
Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBC’s) created by Electron Beam Physical Vapour Deposition (EB-PVD) are widely used in the aerospace industry. Advancements in the field however are hindered by the cost and time required for research and development. Hence, there exists a need for a more comprehensive understanding of coating parameter interactions to better predict response values without the need for extensive pre-production testing. This thesis seeks to provide a response surface for EB-PVD coatings, by investigating the following EB- PVD independent input variables: electron beam emission current, gas ratio, vacuum pressure, substrate temperature, roughness and process time in order to generate a predictive statistical model. Output variables were numerous, however emphasis was placed on: TBC coating thickness and density of columns generated during the process. It is impossible to select an “optimum process recipe”; rather, there exists many optimal combinations suited to specific coating structure and its application. Therein lies the need for this model, able to predict TBC properties according to input variables. Using ALD’s Smart Coater (ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH), a ceramic top coat (Yttria partially stabilized zirconia, YPSZ, ZrO2-7%Y2O3) was deposited onto 40x30x5mm Inconel 617 samples with NiAl bond coat. These samples were subsequently tested to determine coating properties. The research will show that the complex nature of EB-PVD TBCs may be simplified, at least to a certain degree through a statistical analysis of the interactions between process variables.

Mestrado em Educação em Ciências no 1º CEB
Vivemos numa época caracterizada pela vertiginosa evolução da Ciência e da Tecnologia. Do nosso dia-a-dia às nossas ocupações profissionais, a Ciência e a Tecnologia trouxeram, por um lado, uma qualidade de vida nunca antes experimentada. Por outro lado, fizeram despoletar uma série de problemas que são os verdadeiros desafios dos cidadãos de hoje e do futuro. A escola, enquanto contexto privilegiado de socialização e de formação, enfrenta o desafio de preparar os indivíduos para uma vida em sociedade que exige, cada vez mais, competências relacionadas com a resolução de problemas e a tomada de decisões. Nesse sentido, torna-se fundamental promover o PC dos alunos, porquanto o uso de capacidades de PC ajuda o indivíduo a eficazmente resolver problemas com que se confronta, a tomar decisões racionais e a participar plenamente numa sociedade democrática. Neste contexto, surge a necessidade de estabelecer estratégias que se afigurem como promotoras do PC no âmbito da construção de um referencial que apoie os professores no desenvolvimento de práticas, fundamentadas pela investigação, promotoras do PC dos alunos. Neste enquadramento, o estudo, de natureza qualitativa, realizado teve como finalidade operacionalizar, implementar e avaliar a estratégia Aprendizagem Baseada em Problemas (ABP) orientada para o desenvolvimento de capacidades de Pensamento Crítico, no contexto da Educação em Ciências, no 1º CEB. Tendo como quadros teóricos de referência a taxonomia de Ennis, no caso do PC e a metodologia proposta por Delisle no âmbito da estratégia Aprendizagem Baseada em Problemas, operacionalizou-se e implementou-se esta estratégia, entre Janeiro e Junho de 2006, numa turma de 12 alunos do 1º e 3º anos do 1º CEB. Na recolha de dados para avaliar o impacte da estratégia ABP orientada para o PC: (i) no desenvolvimento de capacidades de PC; (ii) na (re)construção de conhecimento; (iii) na promoção de atitudes, de alunos do 1º CEB, recorreu-se à observação e à análise das produções dos alunos. Utilizaram-se diversos instrumentos, nomeadamente, listas de verificação, questionários e diário do professor/investigador. Da análise dos resultados, pode concluir-se que a estratégia ABP orientada para o PC se afigura como promotora do desenvolvimento de capacidades de PC, da (re)construção do conhecimento e de atitudes nos alunos do 1º CEB. ABSTRACT: We live in a time, characterized by the constant evolutions in Science and Technology. From our daily lives to our professional occupations, Science and Technology brought, in one hand, a life quality never seen before. On the other hand, set off an amount of problems which are the real challenges of citizen’s today and in the future. School, as privileged context of socialization and formation, faces the challenge of preparing individuals to live in a society, that demands more and more skills related to problem solving and making decisions. In this sense, it becomes essential to promote students Critical Thinking, therefore the use of critical thinking abilities helps the individual to solve problems, to make rational decisions and to participate in a democratic society. In this context, comes into view the need of establishing strategies that appears as promoters of critical thinking, in the scope of the construction of a source, based on investigation, to support teachers work with students in the development of critical thinking skills. In this line of thought, this study, of qualitative nature, had as main purpose to operate, implement and assess the strategy Problem Based Learning (PBL) focussed in the development of critical thinking skills in the context of Science Education, in elementary school. Based on Ennis taxonomy, in the case of critical thinking, and Delisle methodology for PBL, this strategy was operated and implemented between January and June of 2006, in a twelve student’s class on first and third year of elementary school. In data assortment to evaluate the impact of the strategy PBL focussed to critical thinking: (i) in the development of critical thinking skills; (ii) the (re)construction of knowledge; (iii) improvement of dispositions, of students in elementary school, several instruments were used like check lists, questionnaires and teacher/investigator diary. From data analysis, we outcome that PBL focussed on critical thinking, supports the development of critical thinking skills, as well as (re)construction of knowledge and improvement of dispositions in elementary school students.

For my thesis, I have chosen to adapt the abandoned office/warehouse at 1207 North Boulevard for use as a community workshop for all of Richmond's urban neighborhoods. The community workshop's focus will be to provide open workshops, classes, a resource library and design consultation to low and middle income homeowners, affordable housing properties, and community parks. In addition, the center welcomes all of Richmond city residents to join and partake in 1207's resources in order to grow a multi-faceted community focused on improving the lives of all of Richmond City's residents. The center will function as a gathering space for all urban residents and will promote both the individual and the community through a ‘Do It Yourself' approach to home design and care that will instill pride and self reliance to all members of the community.

The present study aims to investigate whether or not Saudi ESL learners have difficulty pronouncing and perceiving the final consonant clusters of English words in the coda position. The focus is on two points. The first is identifying the most difficult sound cluster in the word-final position, whether it is two or three consonants, and second is to examine the repairs employed by Saudi learners. Eleven participants were recruited for this study. Their participation was elicited using production and perception. The production task consisted of pronouncing 14 words to elicit their pronunciation of the final consonants of English words. Those words were divided into two groups, eight for a coda of two consonants and six for a coda of three consonants. In the perception task the participants listened to a recording of their pronunciation. Using the multiple choice technique, they looked at the words that they pronounced orthographically along with the pronunciation options in transcription and chose the one they think they pronounced. The study concluded that markedness plays a key role in pronouncing word-final consonant clusters, particularly tri-literals. Therefore, the speech learning model (SLM) indicates that non-exiting sounds in the Arabic language pose difficulties in pronouncing and perceiving word-final consonant clusters.

Proteomics is an increasingly important area of biological research and has gathered much attention over recent years. Major challenges that make a proteomic analysis difficult are sample complexity, diversity and dynamic range. Progress in the area of proteomics relies heavily on new analytical tools for the sensitive, selective, and high-throughput studies of target analytes. It is estimated that there are several hundred thousand proteins in a human cell. In order to be able to analyze such a complex sample, an analytical method must be capable of separating and detecting many different sample peaks. The complexity of such samples indicates that a single separation method will not be able to provide the needed resolution. If two methods that are orthogonal are combined, then the peak capacity of the combined system is the product of the two individual peak capacities. Development of such systems would cater to the current demands of proteomics studies. Matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry has evolved into a primary analytical tool for proteomics research. MALDI is fast and efficient and has a high tolerance to non-volatile buffers and impurities. The samples for MALDI are typically applied to solid supports after having been subjected to off-line liquid or gel separations. Several methods have been reported involving various chromatographic or electrophoretic separation methods. However, the current methods often require highly sophisticated sample handling systems, which are often expensive and in need of skilled human resources. The current demands of proteomic analyses require fast, efficient and inexpensive methods for separation to fully harness the capability of MALDI mass spectrometry. In this work a microfluidic device has been designed to perform dynamic isoelectric focusing (DIEF) based protein separation with digital sample deposition directly on a MALDI target for offline analysis. DIEF is related to capillary isoelectric focusing which and can facilitate the interface without the loss of the separation resolution. Compared to traditional capillary isoelectric focusing (cIEF) DIEF uses additional high-voltage power supplies to control the pH gradient by manipulating the electric field. The proteins can be focused at a desired sampling position according to their isoelectric point, to be collected for further analysis by MALDI mass spectrometry. DIEF has a peak capacity of over a thousand and offers an ease of interfacing to other techniques making it a preferred separation method for the interface with mass spectrometric techniques such as MALDI. The design of the microfluidic device is based on a digital droplet fractionation. Multiple fractions of the sample solution from DIEF are generated to retain the resolution and to act as an additional separation mode. The microfluidic device is controlled by actuating pneumatic valves built into the device. The DIEF operational parameters were optimized according to the surface functionality and the design of the microfluidic device. A suitable MALDI sample preparation method was found by studying different existing methods. The methods were studied using test proteins prepared in solutions having the additives used in the experiment. A simple mixture of three proteins was used to demonstrate the application of the developed method. The separation between the proteins insulin, hemoglobin and the myoglobin was demonstrated by varying the separation resolution in three experiments.

Within the worldwide business community, many analysis tools and techniques have evolved to assist in the evaluation and encouragement of financial health and fiscal viability. However, in the educational community, such analysis is uncommon. It has long been argued that educational institutions bear little resemblance to, and should not be treated like, businesses. This research identifies an educational environment where educational institutions are, indeed, businesses, and may greatly benefit from the use of business analyses. The worldwide effort of Education for All (EFA) has focused on primary education, particularly in less developed countries (LDCs). In Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda increased its primary school enrollments from 2.7 million in 1996 to 7.6 million in 2003. This rapid primary school expansion substantially increased the demand for secondary education. Limited government funding for secondary schools created an educational bottleneck. In response to this demand, laws were passed to allow the establishment of private secondary schools, operated and taxed as businesses. Revenue reports, filed by individual private schools with the Uganda Revenue Authority, formed the database for the financial analysis portion of this research. These reports, required of all profitable businesses in Uganda, are similar to audited corporate financial statements. Survey data and national examination (UNEB) scores were also utilized. This research explored standard business financial analysis tools, including financial statement ratio analysis, and evaluated the applicability of each to this LDC educational environment. A model for financial assessment was developed and industry averages were calculated for private secondary schools in the Mukono District of Uganda. Industry averages can be used by individual schools as benchmarks in assessing their own financial health. Substantial deviations from the norms signal areas of potential concern. Schools may take appropriate corrective action, leading to sustainable fiscal viability. An example of such analysis is provided. Finally, school financial health, defined by eight financial measures, was compared with quality of education, defined by UNEB scores. Worldwide, much attention is given to education and its role in development. This research, with its model for financial assessment of private LDC schools, offers a new and pragmatic perspective.

Personal interviews exploring attitudes toward prescription drug abuse were completed by 17 residents over 18 years of age from Kentucky's Pike and Letcher counties. In respect to prescription drug abuse research nationwide, much research has been conducted in eastern Kentucky; however, there are seemingly few studies measuring the thoughts and feelings of community members toward the issue. Data gathered during these interviews were coded and themed for emergent content that revealed the prevalence of drug abuse in communities, the role of medical professionals in prescription drug abuse, and a lack of preventative measures to control the cyclic pattern of prescription drug abuse in eastern Kentucky communities. The thesis concludes by examining why the need for eliminating underlying social problems is most important in decreasing the amount of prescription drug abuse in the area.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to assess the role of socio-demographic, dietary, behavioral, and environmental factors in Mutans Streptococci (MS) colonization in young children from low socio-income families. METHODS: This study involves secondary analyses of data collected from 6 to 24 months old children (N=129) enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Program at WIC, Iowa. They were followed for 18 months assessing different socio-demographic, dietary, behavioral, and environmental factors at 5 time-points. Total 3 clinical examinations were conducted at baseline, 9 months, and 18 months. Salivary samples collected during the examinations by semi-quantitative method, serve to determine the subjects' MS levels, who were grouped into either 1) No MS at any time during the study (n=58); 2) MS at baseline (n=35); or 3) Acquired MS during the study period (n=36). Prediction of the group membership (1or3) over the three time points is used as outcome for this study. This paper reports important findings from pairwise comparison of the three groups at baseline, 9 months and 18 months. RESULTS: Consumption of sugar-rich beverages and tooth-related factors like plaque and number of teeth were significantly (p<0.05) higher in Group 2 children, than the others at baseline. Group 2 also had the oldest children (mean age at baseline - 16.7 months) than Group 1 (10.8 months) and Group 3 (12.6 months). The effect of age was reflected in longitudinal comparison of group1 and 3 as well. Different behavioral and dietary factors were significant at different time-points, specific to that age-group under observation. Higher maternal education was found to be a protective factor, whereas tooth-related factors such as, history of caries and number of teeth, were risk factor in longitudinal analyses. CONCLUSION: Time measured as age of the child is the key factor in MS infection in youg children. Dietary, behavioral, environmental, and tooth related factors acquire importance depending on age of the child. Future longitudinal analyses will further explore these relationships.

Many practitioners commonly deal with implementing a change that is imposed by an organization. Some imposed changes require practitioners to alter more than what they do in practice but also to change their identity. Many researchers have studied identity change through the lens of sociocultural theory, specifically utilizing communities of practice theory (CoP). However, the majority of these studies used CoP theory as a vehicle to implement the imposed change. Yet some studies have found that after the trial period ends many practitioners revert back to the way they performed in practice prior to the study. One reason for this problem could be that the nature of the change experience that practitioners must undergo is not understood. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to reveal the nature of the change experience of six released-time seminary teachers in response to the adoption of the teaching and learning emphasis (TLE) within the Seminaries and Institutes of Religion (S&I) for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Specifically, the research question was "What is the nature and meaning of the change experience of a sample of released-time seminary teachers who are considered to be effective at learning to understand and implement TLE"? Researching S&I teachers' change experience is important because it may relate not only to the needs of the S&I organization, but also in a broader sense to the nature of the experience of practitioners who undergo an imposed change by the organization for which they work that alters their professional identity. Three central themes were found that represented the nature of the change experience for the sample group. The themes were represented as transformational, sociocultural, and self-reflective change. Each participant's experience varied in the particular details of his individual change experience. Nevertheless, all participants experienced some degree or kind of transformational change within their particular configuration of knowledge, character, and professional practice. Furthermore, all study participants engaged in sociocultural learning practices to facilitate their change. Finally, study participants experienced self-reflective changes.

A proliferation of social movements and a large group of young, politically active individuals have pushed corporate firms to pay more attention to increase resource allocation to corporate social responsibility. As of now, corporate social responsibility refers to a wide definition of general efforts made by firms to support society through social impacts. A review of current literature on corporate social responsibility reveals a gap in the way the quality is calculated as well as does not take into account the influence of social movements in the past couple of years. This paper assesses the specific social and political justice positions that firms have taken and whether these positions have had an effect on financial performance given the more actively conscious consumer base. Tobin’s Q is used to quantify these effects and show that positive corporate social responsibility increases financial performance, supporting the hypothesis, while negative corporate social responsibility does not significantly affect financial performance. Future research recommends a closer look at the industry differences in the subject as well as a clearer definition of the variance between the different issues that constitute corporate social responsibility.

The purpose of this study was to develop and test an instrument to measure client satisfaction among families who are clients of a child protective services agency. With the growing numbers of families coming into contact with CPS agencies, the burgeoning numbers of children in foster care, and the increasing attention to the effectiveness of services within this population, client feedback is one approach that has been largely ignored by CSP administrators. The basic problem this dissertation addressed is the issue of obtaining feedback from the involuntary client, such as the family in a child abuse case. Specifically, this dissertation addressed the following four research questions: 1. Can a client satisfaction instrument be developed for CPS clients largely through the input of the clients? 2. What are the domains of satisfaction that are applicable to CPS families? 3. How much involvement do the CPS families feel that they have in the planning and decision-making in their cases? What impact does this have on their overall level of satisfaction? 4. What are the relationships among the various domains of satisfaction and the overall level of satisfaction? Two rounds of interviews were held with families who had been clients of the CPS agency serving the State of Oregon, Children's Services Division. These interviews served as the major source of information for the identification of satisfaction domains and for the development of a closed-ended instrument to measure these domains. The responses to the interviews were content analyzed and four specific domains of client satisfaction were identified. These were: (a) Helpfulness, (b) Partnership, (c) Choice, and (d) Information Sharing. Items were also developed to comprise a "General Satisfaction" domain. A closed-ended instrument was constructed and pre-tested in two large Branch offices of the agency. This instrument included five items to address the interest of the agency in the issue of "convenience." It also included seven items to gather information concerning the opinions of clients on the agency mission and goals. Results of the pre-test were analyzed and the instrument revised. The final instrument was mailed to a population of 4,337 CPS families. Surveys were returned by 489, or 11%, of the families. Analyses, including correlational analysis, factor analysis, and internal consistency reliability analysis, provided empirical support for the domains identified through the client interviews Analysis provided very little support for the "convenience" domain. Satisfaction on the four scales measuring the four domains of satisfaction was positively correlated with measure of overall satisfaction. The overall theme which ran through the entire client survey instrument was that of empowerment. Three of the four domains of satisfaction which were identified were: Ca) "Partnership," (b) "Choice," and (c) "Information Sharing." The challenge is for CPS agencies to incorporate these issues into their practice.

Comic books are a unique and increasingly popular form of entertainment combining visual and textual elements of communication. This work pertains to making comic books more accessible. Specifically, this paper explains how we detect elements such as speech bubbles present in Japanese comic book panels. Some applications of the work presented in this paper are automatic detection of text and its transformation into audio or into other languages. Automatic detection of elements can also allow reasoning and analysis at a deeper semantic level than what’s possible today. Our approach uses an expert system and a machine learning system. The expert system process information from images and inspires feature sets which help train the machine learning system. The expert system detects speech bubbles based on heuristics. The machine learning system uses machine learning algorithms. Specifically, Naive Bayes, Maximum Entropy, and support vector machine are used to detect speech bubbles. The algorithms are trained in a fully-supervised way and a semi-supervised way. Both the expert system and the machine learning system achieved high accuracy. We are able to train the machine learning algorithms to detect speech bubbles just as accurately as the expert system. We also applied the same approach to eye detection of characters in the panels, and are able to detect majority of the eyes but with low precision. However, we are able to improve the performance of our eye detection system significantly by combining the SVM and either the Naive Bayes or the AdaBoost classifiers.

The genus Dryandra, in the family Proteaceae, is endemic to south-western Australia. It consists of 92 named species and is an important component of some kwongan communities. Various aspects of the ecology of three threatened species of Dryandra (Dryandra ionthocarpa, D. mimica and D. serra) were studied. Threats to these species include weed invasion, inappropriate fire regimes, disturbance from roads, recreational activities, grazing, trampling, clearing and chemical drift from adjacent farms. Knowledge presented within on the ecology and biology of these three species is needed to develop appropriate conservation and management strategies.Population measurements of plant dimensions and seed bank size were assessed. Seed banks of all three species were shown to increase with increasing plant size. D. ionthocarpa and D. serra produced large numbers of viable seeds which was related to their mode of regeneration after fire. Experimental fires killed both species and seedling recruitment occurred following the death of adult plants. This indicated that both species are nonsprouters. D. mimica produced extremely small numbers of seeds, and had a high level of barren cones. Following an experimental burn, resprouting of adult plants was observed, but no seedling recruitment, indicating that this species is a resprouter.Granivore exclusion experiments showed that the seed banks of D. ionthocarpa and D. serra increased after the application of insecticide or bagging. Granivores are therefore considered to be a significant factor limiting the size of the seed bank. Timing of attack for D. ionthocarpa was shown to occur early in inflorescence development. However, the seed predators did not start to consume the seeds until after the infructescence was almost fully developed.Translocation studies were used to investigate whether D. ionthocarpa could survive and grow on other soil types or under the same edaphic conditions in other areas. Survival after nine months was better in spongolite or heavy clay soils. The highest survival and growth was for spongolite soils in a nature reserve near to the two known populations indicating that this species will grow well, at least initially in other areas, and that this area can be considered suitable for a larger' scale translocation. Reciprocal translocations were used to assess whether D. serra shows adaptation to local conditions across its distribution. No clear pattern was found, with only seedlings from the South Sister population surviving better at their original locality. Monitoring over a longer time period is recommended to assess whether a clearer pattern develops after flowering and fruiting.Plants of D. ionthocarpa with orange leaves were found to be under greater water stress during summer and autumn than green plants. The levels of chlorophyll a and b were also lower in orange plants in summer and autumn than green plants. These differences were attributed to a drought response, and the orange colour of this species during summer can therefore be used as an indicator of the health of the populations.An important objective of these investigations was to provide baseline information that could be used in the development of conservation and recovery strategies for these species. Several management actions are recommended. The health of the D. ionthocarpa populations should be assessed regularly using the orange foliage colour and total plant numbers as indicators. In the event the population is in decline the use of small scale controlled burns in autumn is recommended to stimulate seedling recruitment. This should be undertaken in conjunction with the control of seed predators pre-burn, and the watering of any seedlings recruited post-burn, for at least the first summer. In addition, translocation to other matched sites, particularly the spongolite soils of the Kalgan Plains Nature Reserve is recommended. No exclusion from fire is deemed necessary for D. mimica, as this species appears to tolerate fire. Active management of D. serra is not considered necessary, instead the species should be monitored regularly.

Il settore alberghiero ha conosciuto negli ultimi anni uno sviluppo significativo soprattutto in alcune economie, come l’Italia, in cui il movimento ha dimostrato quasi sempre una crescente capacità di produrre risultati positivi (Jones Lang Lasalle Hotels, 2009). In letteratura un criterio unico per definire le modalità con cui migliorare un portafoglio in base alla segmentazione settoriale (vedi Hartzell, 1986) e/o geografica (vedi ad esempio Mueller e Ziering, 1992) non è ancora disponibile. La presente tesi cerca attraverso due metodologie diverse (da una parte attraverso la diversificazione di portafoglio – Markovitz – e dall’altra attraverso una regressione lineare) di colmare questa lacuna e cercare di capire se questa diversificazione geo-settoriale possa portare benefici in questo specifico settore. Prendendo dunque spunto da alcuni lavori che hanno applicato l’approccio proposto da Markowitz agli investimenti immobiliari al fine di identificare la composizione ottimale di un portafoglio (tra gli altri Friedman, 1971), il contributo analizza i vantaggi e i limiti derivanti dalla diversificazione del rischio per gli investimenti nel settore alberghiero considerando le potenzialità della frontiera efficiente per la misurazione dell’impatto della diversificazione su un portafoglio di immobili destinati unicamente ad uso alberghiero. Lo studio dei benefici/costi della diversificazione completa, quindi, l’analisi delle performance degli investimenti realizzati da investitori istituzionali nel settore alberghiero fornendo indicazioni utili per la definizione dei criteri di costruzione un portafoglio di alberghi che massimizzi il risultato derivante dall’investimento e/o minimizzi la loro esposizione al rischio. Dall’altro lato usando un modello proposto da Heaston e Rouwenhorst (1994) la tesi analizza il ruolo dei fattori geo-settoriali nell’industria alberghiera italiana (uno dei mercati turistici più importanti al mondo). I risultati ottenuti dalla verifica empirica su uno dei mercati più importanti a livello mondiale (Italia)[1] dimostrano come la composizione di un portafoglio ottimale di investimenti alberghieri differisca significativamente in funzione della presenza o meno di vincoli di diversificazione. Il sacrificio collegato alla riduzione del rendimento per unità di rischio assunto può essere ritenuto accettabile anche in funzione della maggiore persistenza dei risultati che caratterizza i portafogli costruiti utilizzando vincoli di diversificazione visto che la distanza media dei portafogli identificati in passato rispetto alla frontiera efficiente corrente risulta più ridotta. Inoltre l’applicazione della regressione lineare dimostra come siano le caratteristiche geografiche più significative di altre variabili, sempre in relazione alla performance della struttura.
Hotel sectors represent an atypical real estate industry in which daily inflows and outflows are affected by some specific external factors that impact deeply on the demand and supply of the service. Literature considers these unpredictable dynamics related to some geographical and sectoral characteristics but an empirical study of the relative importance of these two factors is still not available. Following approaches proposed for stock market dynamics and applied also to the overall real estate industry, the paper study the relative importance of sector and geographical feature in explaining the hotel performance. In order to test this hypothesis the paper considers the Italian hotel industry, one of the most important world market for tourism and leisure, that is never analysed using these approaches. The paper proposed tries to evaluate the benefits related to a Markowitz’s diversification approach for the construction of a real estate portfolio specialized in the hotel real estate market. The thesis considers a database collected by AICA, Italian Association Hotel Companies, in order to evaluate revenue dynamics in the hotel real estate market. On the basis of Markowitz’s theory, the analysis proposed tries to define the best diversification strategy for the portfolio’s construction in the hotel real estate market. Results achieved demonstrate that the standard geo-sectorial diversification allows to achieve good results only if some concentration constraints are established because there are some cities and/or hotel categories that are outperforming for all the time period analysed. Using GOPPAR as a performance measure, the empirical analysis with the linear regression demonstrate that an overall national trend explains more than 50% of monthly performance of all Italian hotels and the regional features allow to explain better the misalignment respect to the national trend.

CONTRIBUTO DELL¡¯IDROKINESI Attivit¨¤ motoria in acqua; non solo nuoto. In un ambiente accogliente, facilitando gli accessi alla vasca, utilizzando una temperatura oscillante fra i 30 ed i 33¡ã, si potr¨¤ offrire un luogo di esercitazione eccellente, in cui il paziente pu¨° rilassarsi, sentirsi leggero, agile e attivo. Il ¡°peso acquatico¡±. Immerso in acqua il corpo riduce il proprio peso in base alla profondit¨¤ e quindi all¡¯altezza dell¡¯acqua, con l¡¯acqua al ginocchio il peso del corpo ¨¨ ridotto del 20%, con l¡¯acqua alla coscia la riduzione arriver¨¤ al 40%, 50%con l¡¯acqua all¡¯ombellico, 80% alle spalle, per giungere alla situazione di acqua al collo in cui il peso acquatico equivale al 5% del proprio peso reale. I vantaggi e le esercitazioni da proporre sono assolutamente consequenziali. In acqua infatti non esiste solamente la possibilit¨¤ di praticare le classiche discipline olimpiche, poco proponibili all¡¯anziano inesperto, ma si possono proporre, e sono ancor pi¨´ indicate per le nostre popolazioni speciali, altre attivit¨¤ motorie di ginnastica con variazioni della tipologia di esercizio e con diverse finalit¨¤ in funzione del protocollo di programmazione di attivit¨¤ che pu¨° essere adottato. Il presente lavoro vuole verificare l¡¯impatto addizionale sul profilo glicemico di soggetti con diabete tipo 2 in buon compenso con BMI di partenza pari a ¡Ý 29 e con un discreto livello motorio, senza complicazioni acute della malattia diabetica.

The purpose of this study to investigate the morality of persons in organisations and especially the effect of organisations on the moral autonomy of persons. In addition to reviewing the literature of moral autonomy in philosophy, psychology, sociology and organisation studies and management, the thesis also examines the ontology of organisations, moral agency and the organisation as a context. Based on this knowledge, a model is developed that addresses the relations of the organisation to society and the person to the organisation in ethical decision making. From this model the thesis develops three moral decision making categories. These are: moral autonomy. Where persons are allowed to use their moral values, moral heteronomy, where the organisation provides such values and moral anomy, where there is a lack of moral deliberation and moral values. Four research propositions are developed from this model. The propositions are that people are more likely to make morally autonomous decisions in personal life dilemmas than in organisational life dilemmas. In organisational dilemmas it is proposed that the organisation will affect the morality of its members. In bureaucratic organisations, people are expected to make more anomous organisational decisions when faced with an easy and simple dilemma and more heteronomous decisions when faced with complex and difficult dilemmas. In clan organisations, people are expected to make more autonomous organisational decisions. In a market organisation, people are expected to make more anomous organisational decisions. An exploratory primary research project is undertaken to test the model and the propositions developed. People from three Australian organisations that approximate Ouchi's (1980) typology of bureaucracy, clan and market organisations participated in the research. Managers and supervisors from each organisation were asked to assess the ethical climate of their organisation using Victor and Cullen's (1987, 1988) Ethical Climate Questionnaire. They also responded to Forsyth's (1980) Ethics Position Questionnaire and resolved and justified their resolutions six organisational and six personal ethical dilemmas. These dilemmas had been assessed by two groups of MBA students for relevancy, complexity and difficulty. The analysis of the primary data reveals that the three organisations have different ethical climates. It also reveals that the respondents from the three organisations do not differ insofar as they share similarly idealistic end relativistic ethical ideologies. They do however differ in the reasoning they use to resolve organisational and in some cases personal ethical dilemmas. People In organisation Alpha, the bureaucratic organisation, are more likely to make heteronomous decisions. People from organisation Beta, the clan organisation, are more likely to make autonomous moral decisions, and people from organisation Gamma, the market organisation, are more likely to make anomous moral decisions. These findings support the research propositions developed. More importantly, some people in organisations Alpha and Gamma did not perceive some organisational dilemmas as ethical issues but only as business issues that are void of ethics. In addition, people from organisation Alpha in particular were more likely to try to avoid making a decision and suggest that someone else in the organisation should make the decision not the person facing the dilemma. The findings suggest that organisations that rely on rules and regulations are more likely to remove the responsibility from ethical decision-making, and lead to avoidance of such decisions. The implications of these findings are discussed and opportunities for further research are identified.

Il nostro lavoro nasce dall’esigenza di voler delineare i confini tra metafora e similitudine al fine di distinguere il campo d’indagine di ognuna delle due figure. Il rapporto analogico che le caratterizza ha provocato nel tempo un’associazione costante tra i due procedimenti retorici che tendono, pertanto, ad essere sovrapposti. La nostra tesi si propone di dimostrare che seppur si tratti di due figure affini, similitudine e metafora si realizzano attraverso processi stilistici diversi. Questo studio presenta due grandi parti: una prima parte teorica e una seconda parte applicativa. La prima consta di tre capitoli: nel primo abbiamo esaminato le diverse definizioni che, nel corso degli anni, sono state assegnate alla similitudine e alla metafora; nel secondo, abbiamo presentato le teorie che, nel differenziare le due figure, hanno confuso, a nostro avviso, i loro campi d’indagine; nel terzo capitolo abbiamo analizzato e descritto il procedimento comparativo. Nella seconda parte, abbiamo applicato alla raccolta poetica Gaspard de la Nuit di Aloysius Bertrand, le analisi teoriche presentate nella prima parte del nostro lavoro. Per ogni testo poetico è stato affrontato uno studio di tipo linguistico e retorico: abbiamo analizzato le varie tipologie di similitudini e di metafora presenti in ciascun componimento.
The purpose of this work has its origins in the necessity of defining the boundary between metaphor and simile in order to demarcate the analytical fields corresponding to the two figures. The analogical relationship that characterizes them has provoked over the course of time a constant association between the two rhetorical procedures which have thus tended to become overlapped. This thesis intends to demonstrate that even though treating of related figures, simile and metaphor are produced by means of different stylistic procedures. This study is divided into two main parts: the first theoretical and the second of practical application. The first part consists of three chapters: in the first are examined the diverse definitions that have been assigned over the course of time to simile and to metaphor; the second presents theories which, in differentiating the two figures, have only served to confuse the fields of inquiry; in the third chapter the comparative method is analyzed and described. In the second part of the thesis the theoretical analyses presented in the first part of the work are applied to Gaspard de la Nuit, a collection of poetry by Aloysius Bertrand. Each text is subjected to a linguistic and a rhetorical analysis, thus analyzing the various typologies of similes and metaphors present in each of the compositions.