Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Mean productivity'

Cette thèse étudie comment le taux de change effectif réel (TCER) et ses mesures associées (volatilité du TCER et désalignement du TCER) affectent la croissance de la productivité totale des facteurs (CPTF). Elle analyse également les canaux par lesquels le TCER et ses mesures associées agissent sur la productivité totale des facteurs (PTF). La première partie étudie comment le TCER lui-Même, d'une part, et la volatilité du TCER, d'autre part, influencent la productivité. Une analyse du lien entre le niveau du TCER et la PTF dans le chapitre 1 indique qu'une appréciation de taux de change cause une augmentation de la PTF. Mais cet impact est également non- inéaire: en-Dessous du seuil, le TCER influence négativement la productivité tandis qu'au-Dessus du seuil il agit positivement. Les résultats du chapitre 2 illustrent que la volatilité du TCER affecte négativement la CPTF. Nous avons également constaté que la volatilité du TCER agit sur PTF selon le niveau du développement financier. Pour les pays modérément financièrement développés, la volatilité du TCER réagit négativement sur la productivité et n'a aucun effet sur la productivité pour les niveaux très bas et très élevés du développement financier. La deuxième partie examine les canaux par lesquels le TCER et ses mesures associées influencent la productivité. Les résultats du chapitre 3 illustrent que la volatilité du TCER a un impact négatif élevé sur l'investissement. Ces résultats sont robustes dans les pays à faible revenu et les pays à revenu moyens, et en employant une mesure alternative de volatilité du TCER. Le chapitre 4 montre que le désalignement du taux de change réel et la volatilité du taux de change réel affectent négativement les exportations. Il démontre également que la volatilité du taux de change réel est plus nocive aux exportations que le désalignement. Ces résultats sont corroborés par des résultats sur des sous-Échantillons de pays à bas revenu et à revenu moyen<br>This dissertation investigates how the real effective exchange rate (REER) and its associated asurements (REER volatility and REER misalignment) affect total factor productivity growth (TFPG). It also analyzes the channels through which the REER and its associated measurements act on total factor productivity (TFP). The first part studies how the REER itself, on the one hand, and the REER volatility, on the other hand, influence productivity. An analysis of the link between the level of REER and TFP in chapter 1 reveals that an exchange rate appreciation causes an increase of TFP. But this impact is also nonlinear: below the threshold, real exchange rate influences negatively productivity while above the threshold it acts positively. The results of chapter 2 illustrate that REER volatility affects negatively TFPG. We also found that REER volatility acts on TFP according to the level of financial development. For moderately financially developed countries, REER volatility reacts negatively on productivity and has no effect on productivity for very low and very high levels of financial development. The second part examines the channels through which the REER and its associated measurements influence productivity. The results of chapter 3 illustrate that the exchange rate volatility has a strong negative impact on investment. This outcome is robust in low income and middle income countries, and by using an alternative measurement of exchange rate volatility. Chapter 4 show that both real exchange rate misalignment and real exchange rate volatility affect negatively exports. It also demonstrates that real exchange rate volatility is more harmful to exports than misalignment. These outcomes are corroborated by estimations on subsamples of Low- ncome and Middle-Income countries

Software development is an area in which companies not only need to keep up with the latest technology, but they additionally need to continuously increase their productivity to stay competitive in the industry. One company currently facing these challenges is Storytel - one of the strongest players on the Swedish audiobook market - with about a fourth of all employees involved with software development, and a rapidly growing workforce. With the purpose of understanding how the Storytel Tech Department is performing, this thesis maps Storytel’s productivity defined through the Four Key Metrics - Deployment Frequency, Delivery Lead Time, Mean Time To Restore and Change Fail Rate. A classification is made into which performance category (Low, Medium, High, Elite) the Storytel Tech Department belongs to through a deep-dive into the raw system data existing at Storytel, mainly focusing on the case management system Jira. A survey of the Tech Department was conducted, to give insights into the connection between human and technical factors influencing productivity (categorized into Culture, Environment, and Process) and estimated productivity. Along with these data collections, interviews with Storytel employees were performed to gather further knowledge about the Tech Department, and to understand potential bottlenecks and obstacles. All Four Key Metrics could be determined based on raw system data, except the metric Mean Time To Restore which was complemented by survey estimates. The generalized findings of the Four Key Metrics conclude that Storytel can be minimally classified as a ‘medium’ performer. The factors, validated through factor analysis, found to have an impact on the Four Key Metrics were Generative Culture, Efficiency (Automation and Shared Responsibility) and Number of Projects. Lastly, the major bottlenecks found were related to Architecture, Automation, Time Fragmentation and Communication. The thesis contributes with interesting findings from an expanding, middle-sized, healthy company in the audiobook streaming industry - but the results can be beneficial for other software development companies to learn from as well. Performing a similar study with a greater sample size, and additionally enabling comparisons between teams, is suggested for future research.

Cette thèse étudie comment le taux de change effectif réel (TCER) et ses mesures associées (volatilité du TCER et désalignement du TCER) affectent la croissance de la productivité totale des facteurs (CPTF). Elle analyse également les canaux par lesquels le TCER et ses mesures associées agissent sur la productivité totale des facteurs (PTF). La première partie étudie comment le TCER lui-même, d'une part, et la volatilité du TCER, d'autre part, influencent la productivité. Une analyse du lien entre le niveau du TCER et la PTF dans le chapitre 1 indique qu'une appréciation de taux de change cause une augmentation de la PTF. Mais cet impact est également non-linéaire: en-dessous du seuil, le TCER influence négativement la productivité tandis qu'au-dessus du seuil il agit positivement. Les résultats du chapitre 2 illustrent que la volatilité du TCER affecte négativement la CPTF. Nous avons également constaté que la volatilité du TCER agit sur PTF selon le niveau du développement financier. Pour les pays modérément financièrement développés, la volatilité du TCER réagit négativement sur la productivité et n'a aucun effet sur la productivité pour les niveaux très bas et très élevés du développement financier. La deuxième partie examine les canaux par lesquels le TCER et ses mesures associées influencent la productivité. Les résultats du chapitre 3 illustrent que la volatilité du TCER a un impact négatif élevé sur l'investissement. Ces résultats sont robustes dans les pays à faible revenu et les pays à revenu moyens, et en employant une mesure alternative de volatilité du TCER. Le chapitre 4 montre que le désalignement du taux de change réel et la volatilité du taux de change réel affectent négativement les exportations. Il démontre également que la volatilité du taux de change réel est plus nocive aux exportations que le désalignement. Ces résultats sont corroborés par des résultats sur des sous-échantillons de pays à bas revenu et à revenu moyen.

Submitted by (ana.araujo@ufrpe.br) on 2016-06-28T16:41:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dennis Marinho Oliveira Ramalho de Souza.pdf: 1003295 bytes, checksum: 60937307ae603aef0fcf28c69dd304b6 (MD5)<br>Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-28T16:41:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dennis Marinho Oliveira Ramalho de Souza.pdf: 1003295 bytes, checksum: 60937307ae603aef0fcf28c69dd304b6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-02-16<br>When choosing the ideal test to perform the comparison of the experimental treatments means, there is no standard way or a manual or a solution to define the optimal test. The authors of each test set only a few theoretical restrictions or small details, but none of them determines to which experiment the test should be applied. As there is a need to establish which tests are best indicated and illustrate with an application it was used in this paper a design located in the region of the Gypsum Pole of the Araripe-PE with 15 clones of Eucalyptus spp. that were measured every six months over seven years, from 2002 to 2009,. In this paper, the tests used were the most widespread in the literature and applied the original methodologies in order to analyze the similarities among the tests at the levels of 1% and 5% of probabilities, and establish which clones presented mean of productions more significant. According to the results presented it was concluded that the tests of Tukey and Conagin are the most recommended and clones C41, C11 and C39 were the most productivies for biomass production in the region of Gypsum Plaster Pole of Araripe-PE.<br>Na escolha do teste ideal para realização da comparação das médias dos tratamentos no delineamento experimental, não existe uma maneira padrão ou manual ou uma solução que defina o teste ótimo. Os autores de cada teste estabelecem apenas algumas restrições teóricas ou pequenos detalhes, mas nenhum deles determina a que experimento o seu teste é indicado, dificultando assim para o experimentador conhecer o teste que deveria adotar. Como existe a necessidade de estabelecer quais testes são os mais indicados e ilustrar uma aplicação utilizou-se neste trabalho um delineamento localizado na região do Pólo Gesseiro do Araripe, com 15 clones de Eucalyptus spp. que foram mensurados a cada seis meses durante sete anos, no período 2002 a 2009,. Neste trabalho os testes utilizados foram os mais difundidos na literatura sendo aplicadas as suas metodologias originais com a finalidade de analisar as semelhanças entre cada teste nos níveis de significância 1% e 5%, bem como estabelecer nesse delineamento qual(is) clone(s) possui(em) a(s) média(s) de produção mais significativas. De acordo com os resultados apresentados se conclui que o teste de Tukey e Conagin são os mais recomendados e os clones C41, C11 e C39 são os mais indicados para produção de biomassa na região do Pólo Gesseiro do Araripe, Pernambuco.

La tesi mira innanzitutto a verificare l’esistenza delle differenze tecnologiche tra i sistemi bancari islamici e quelli convenzionali nelle regioni MENA e SEA, e in secondo luogo ad investigare l’impatto della produttività bancaria sulla crescita economica nella regione MENA. Questa tesi è stata strutturata con lo scopo di rispondere ai seguenti quesiti di ricerca: 1. Le banche islamiche sono più efficienti sotto il profilo dei costi rispetto alle loro controparti convenzionali? 2. Esistono differenze nella tecnologia (o nelle tecnologie impiegate) tra le banche islamiche e le banche convenzionali? 3. Quale impatto ha l’efficienza bancaria dei costi sulla crescita economica della regione MENA? E la crescita influenza a sua volta l’efficienza stessa? Abbiamo iniziato con una panoramica del sistema bancario islamico, le radici della finanza islamica e le sue fondamenta. Poi abbiamo condotto un’analisi empirica con lo scopo di rispondere al primo e al secondo quesito della ricerca. I nostri risultati suggeriscono che le banche islamiche sono leggermente meno efficienti dal lato dei costi rispetto alle loro omologhe banche convenzionali. Interessante notare che le differenze evidenziate in termini tecnologici tra le due industrie bancarie sono state piccolissime. È emerso il fatto che le banche islamiche non sono sufficientemente coinvolte negli schemi di condivisione dei profitti e perdite ma tendono a replicare i prodotti delle banche convenzionali attraverso una “islamizzazione” degli stessi. La nostra seconda analisi empirica nel quarto capitolo ci ha consentito di rispondere al terzo quesito della ricerca. Il nostro scopo in questa analisi era quello di rintracciare il nesso tra l’efficienza bancaria (dei costi) e la crescita. Con i nostri risultati abbiamo potuto evidenziare che le banche, nei paesi scelti nella regione MENA mostrano elevati livelli di efficienza dei costi. Abbiamo trovato un significativo e positivo nesso di causalità e una relazione inversa tra il maggior grado di sviluppo dei mercati finanziari e la produttività delle banche. Infine possiamo suggerire che bisognerebbe concentrare gli sforzi sull’efficienza negli investimenti e nell’incrementare la regolamentazione per spronare un sistema finanziario stabile e favorire un maggior grado di sviluppo del sistema finanziario nel futuro, visto che questo potrà permettere un ciclo virtuoso tra sviluppo finanziario e la produttività delle banche.<br>This thesis investigates, through three essays, the cost efficiency of the banking system in the Middle East and North Africa, and the South East Asia regions. Firstly, it provides empirical evidence on the technology gap between Islamic and conventional banking in both regions, and then investigates the nexus between cost efficiency and economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa region specifically. The first chapter provides a theoretical framework for Islamic finance and banking beforehand and aims to explain the foundations of Islamic finance along with an overview of the two banking models in practice. We underline the importance of the profit and loss sharing schemes as a cornerstone for Islamic finance contribution to social welfare. The second chapter offers an empirical study to investigate the existence of a technology gap between Islamic and conventional banking (due to Quranic law compliance) resulting in different cost efficiency levels. By focusing on twelve emerging countries from the Middle East and North Africa, and the South East Asia regions, between 2000 and 2006. We apply a Metafrontier approach finding that, on average, both types of bank display similar mean cost efficiency and technology levels. At the country level, we find substantial cost efficiency differences, but these are not due to the technology gap. The third chapter examines the nexus between cost efficiency and economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa region. We apply a causality analysis between cost efficiency and financial deepening using the Generalized Methods of Moments and our findings show a significant and positive causality and reverse relationship between financial deepening and banking productivity. We introduce a set of control variables associated with the long run growth and find an interesting interaction with banking productivity and financial deepening suggesting that efforts should be focusing on the investments’ efficiency and the increase of regulation to spur a more stable financial system and foster financial deepening in the future.

The use of biological waste as a primary energy source for the production of biogas, by the process of anaerobic digestion, has been commonly used in the past by small communities and on a larger scale by waste water treatment plants. In the latter, the biogas is traditionally used for heating of the digesters in order to increase process performance. Smaller scale anaerobic digesters using food waste as a primary energy source for biogas production could be implemented for residences and restaurants. The biogas produced could be used for cooking and heating purposes. Whilst common designs for such smaller digesters do not provide for heating, there may be warm waste water on site to elevate the operating temperature and thus improve gas yield. This dissertation reports an experiment aimed at improving the performance of an existing anaerobic digester located at the Leo Marquard Hall (LMH) residence of the University of Cape Town. The 6 m³ digester has been operated using food waste as its sole substrate. The volume of gas produced is unknown as there are no gas measurement devices on site. In the past it has been roughly estimated from pressure readings before and after gas use. The digester operates at ambient temperature which averages 16 °C over the year, which is suboptimal. The anaerobic digester is not equipped with a temperature measurement device to monitor operating temperature. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested. The first stated that the temperature profile of the waste water leaving the LMH residence will have peaks in the morning and evening periods when the majority of students shower. The peak temperature periods will be in the morning before breakfast and in the evening after dinner. The temperature during these times is expected to be above 30 °C. In order to test the first hypothesis, a thermocouple with temperature data logger was installed to record the temperature of waste water in the manhole drain leaving the LMH residence. The temperature data recordings confirmed the temperature peak of waste water leaving LMH residence at an average temperature of 30.5 °C in the morning. However, a clear evening temperature peak was not identified. Thus the hypothesis was only true for the morning temperature peak of waste water leaving LMH residence for weekdays when lectures take place. The second hypothesis stated that, adding a portion of the 30 °C waste water into the LMH anaerobic digester will result in the digester running at 5 °C above the normal average operating temperature, and thus increase the productivity of the anaerobic digester. In order to test the second hypothesis the design and installation of a pumped pipe system was completed in order to pump waste water from the LMH residence waste water outlet manhole gravity sewer to the LMH anaerobic digester. By loading the LMH anaerobic digester with 600 ℓ of warm waste water, the maximum digester temperature increase obtained was 5 °C relative to the normal cold water operation. The maximum increases in total weekly biogas and methane production achieved were 238 % and 260 % respectively, relative to the average weekly cold water operation. The operating temperature of small scale anaerobic digesters is a very important factor for the performance of the anaerobic digester. This research shows that increasing the operating temperature of a small scale anaerobic digester by as little as 5 °C could double the performance of the anaerobic digester. The site location for the installation of small scale anaerobic digesters should be investigated at design stage by taking into consideration the operating temperature. The digester could be installed in close proximity to both an organic waste stream and warm waste water stream that could affect the feasibility of a particular project installation.

Thesis (MA. Agric. (Animal Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2014<br>This study determined the effect of carrot meal supplementation on productivity and carcass characteristics of Arbor acres broiler chickens aged one to six weeks. Experiment I determined the effect of carrot meal supplementation on productivity of Arbor acre broiler chicks aged one to 21 days. Two hundred unsexed Arbor acre broiler chickens were randomly assigned to five treatments with five replicates, each replicate having ten birds. A completely randomized design was used in the first experiment. The treatments were 0 (UA0), 20 (AU20), 50 (AU50), 75 (AU75) or 100 (AU100) g of carrot meal supplementation per kg DM feed. Quadratic equations were used to determine levels of carrot meal supplementation for optimal feed intake, metabolisable energy intake and nitrogen retention of Arbor acre broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. Linear equations were used to determine relationships between carrot meal supplementation and productivity variables. Dietary carrot meal supplementation had no (P>0.05) effect on growth rate, live weight and feed conversion ratio of unsexed Arbor acre broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. Carrot meal supplementation, however, improved (P<0.05) metabolisable energy intake and nitrogen retention of the chickens. Dietary metabolisable energy intake and nitrogen retention of the chickens were optimized at different carrot meal supplementation levels of 40.5 and 53.57 g/kg DM feed, respectively. No chicken deaths were recorded. Experiment II determined the effect of carrot meal supplementation on productivity and carcass characteristics of female Arbor acre broiler chickens aged 22 to 42 days. The chickens were randomly allocated to five treatments with five replicates, each having 10 birds, in a completely randomized design. The supplementation levels were 0 (FA0), 20 (FA20), 50 (FA50), 75 (FA75), or 100 (FA100) g of carrot meal per kg DM feed. Quadratic equations were used to determine levels of carrot meal supplementation for optimal feed intake, feed conversion ratio, live weight, metabolisable energy intake and nitrogen retention of broiler chickens aged 22 to 42 days. Linear equations were used to determine relationships between carrot meal supplementation and production variables. Dietary carrot meal supplementation had no (P>0.05) effect on growth rate, live weight and carcass parts of female Arbor acre broiler chickens aged 22 to 42 days. Carrot meal supplementation improved (P<0.05) feed intake, feed conversion ratio, metabolisable energy intake and nitrogen retention of Arbor acre broiler chickens aged vi 22 to 42 days. Dietary feed intake, feed conversion ratio, live weight, metabolisable energy intake and nitrogen retention were optimized at different dietary carrot meal supplementation levels of 52.8, 63.8, 38.0, 42.0 and 44.3 g/kg DM feed, respectively. Dietary carrot meal supplementation had no effect (P>0.05) on tenderness and flavour of female Arbor acre broiler meat. Broiler chickens on diets supplemented with 20, 50 or 100 g of carrot meal per kg DM feed produced meat with better (P<0.05) juiciness values than those of meat from chickens not supplemented with dietary carrot meal and those supplemented with 75 g/kg DM feed. There was a positive relationship between carrot meal supplementation and chicken meat juiciness. It is concluded that carrot meal supplementation improved (P<0.05) metabolisable energy intake and nitrogen retention of unsexed Arbor acre broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. However, carrot meal supplementation had no effect (P>0.05) on growth rate, live weight and feed conversion ratio of unsexed Arbor acre broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. Carrot meal supplementation improved (P<0.05) intake, feed conversion ratio, metabolisable energy and nitrogen retention of female Arbor acre broiler chickens aged 22 to 42 days. However, carrot meal supplementation did not (P>0.05) improve growth rate and live weights of the chickens.

Thesis (MSc. Agriculture (Animal Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2014<br>Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of moringa seed meal supplementation on productivity and carcass characteristics of Ross 308 broiler chickens. The first experiment determined the effect of moringa seed meal supplementation on productivity of Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. Two hundred and fifty unsexed day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly allocated to five dietary treatments, replicated five times, and each replication having 10 chickens. A completely randomized design was used. The chickens were fed on a grower diet supplemented with 0 (M0), 5 (M5), 10 (M10), 15 (M15) and 20 (M20) g of moringa seed meal/bird/day. Moringa seed meal supplementation had no effect (P>0.05) on feed intake, metabolisable energy intake, nitrogen retention, feed conversion ratio and live weight of unsexed Ross 308 broiler chickens. Moringa seed meal supplementation improved (P<0.05) growth rates of unsexed Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. A moringa seed meal supplementation level of 13.3 g/kg DM feed optimized growth rate of Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. The second experiment determined the effect of moringa seed meal supplementation on productivity and carcass characteristics of female Ross 308 broiler chickens aged 22 to 42 days. The chickens weighing 558 ± 10 g/bird were randomly allocated to five treatments with five replications having 10 birds. The chickens, aged 21 days, were allocated to the treatments in a completely randomized design. The chickens were fed on a grower diet supplemented with 0 (FM0), 5 (FM5), 10 (FM10), 15 (FM15) and 20 (FM20) g of moringa seed meal per kg DM. Moringa seed meal supplementation had no effect (P>0.05) on feed intake, growth rate, feed conversion ratio, live weight, metabolisable energy intake, carcass weight, breast meat weight, abdominal fat pad weight, liver weight, heart weight, thigh weight, meat flavour, juiciness and tenderness of female Ross 308 broiler chickens. However, moringa seed meal supplementation improved (P<0.05) nitrogen retention and gizzard weights of female Ross 308 broiler chickens. vi It was concluded that moringa seed meal supplementation improved growth rate of unsexed Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. Similarly, moringa seed meal supplementation increased nitrogen retention and gizzard weights of female Ross 308 broiler chickens aged 22 to 42 days.

Thesis (MSC. Agriculture (Animal Production)) --University of Limpopo, 2014<br>Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of moringa seed meal supplementation on productivity and carcass characteristics of Ross 308 broiler chickens. The first experiment determined the effect of moringa seed meal supplementation on productivity of Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. Two hundred and fifty unsexed day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly allocated to five dietary treatments, replicated five times, and each replication having 10 chickens. A completely randomized design was used. The chickens were fed on a grower diet supplemented with 0 (M0), 5 (M5), 10 (M10), 15 (M15) and 20 (M20) g of moringa seed meal/bird/day. Moringa seed meal supplementation had no effect (P>0.05) on feed intake, metabolisable energy intake, nitrogen retention, feed conversion ratio and live weight of unsexed Ross 308 broiler chickens. Moringa seed meal supplementation improved (P<0.05) growth rates of unsexed Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. A moringa seed meal supplementation level of 13.3 g/kg DM feed optimized growth rate of Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. The second experiment determined the effect of moringa seed meal supplementation on productivity and carcass characteristics of female Ross 308 broiler chickens aged 22 to 42 days. The chickens weighing 558 ± 10 g/bird were randomly allocated to five treatments with five replications having 10 birds. The chickens, aged 21 days, were allocated to the treatments in a completely randomized design. The chickens were fed on a grower diet supplemented with 0 (FM0), 5 (FM5), 10 (FM10), 15 (FM15) and 20 (FM20) g of moringa seed meal per kg DM. Moringa seed meal supplementation had no effect (P>0.05) on feed intake, growth rate, feed conversion ratio, live weight, metabolisable energy intake, carcass weight, breast meat weight, abdominal fat pad weight, liver weight, heart weight, thigh weight, meat flavour, juiciness and tenderness of female Ross 308 broiler chickens. However, moringa seed meal supplementation improved (P<0.05) nitrogen retention and gizzard weights of female Ross 308 broiler chickens. vi It was concluded that moringa seed meal supplementation improved growth rate of unsexed Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. Similarly, moringa seed meal supplementation increased nitrogen retention and gizzard weights of female Ross 308 broiler chickens aged 22 to 42 days.

The purpose of this thesis has been to investigate the market structure, profitability, competitiveness and productivity of commercial banks operating in the MENA economies for the period 1999-2012. The study first measures whether the banking industry in MENA economies has been concentrated or not, and aims to investigate the relationship between market structure and banks’ profitability; then examines whether a bank’s performance can be better explained by the Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) hypothesis, that claims that a highly concentrated market leads to collusive behaviour among larger banks, resulting in superior performance hypothesis or by the efficient hypothesis (EH) that claims that the positive association of market share of a bank and higher performance is caused by the bank’s superior efficiency. Empirically, I apply the Panzar-Rosse model to investigate which can be beneficial to policy makers, by illustrating how to shape policies which positively affect the market competition and safeguard stability of the financial sector. Finally, the study assesses changes in banking productivity by employing Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), and the findings will be able to show bank managers, market participants and policy makers the sources of productivity of commercial banks and to assist them for optimum resource allocation strategies. This study examines markets that were found to have different degree of market concentration, and assesses the relevance of SCP and EH paradigm. The results of panel analysis and GMM estimators, provide evidence that the SCP hypothesis is not rejected, emphasising that increased market power yields monopoly profits. The fact that the impact of market concentration is positive in MENA economies is vital evidence, at least to a certain extent. On the other hand, Market share (MS) is found in most regressions using fixed effects to be positive and highly significantly different from zero, whilst market concentration is equal to zero, supporting the argument that if a bank enjoys a higher degree of efficiency in respect to good management and technology than its competitors, it can easily gain a larger market share by lowering its prices and earning economic profits However, also the thesis finds a positive and significant relationship between net interest margins, profitability and capital adequacy, suggesting that commercial banks in the MENA economies still need to be highly capitalised so as to be viable and to operate profitably. Spending on technology and fixed assets is found to contribute in making banks more profitable, but banks’ size not, indicating that policymakers, regulators and managers of banks in the MENA region should encourage mergers that lead to significant investments, instead of simply increasing the size of the new scheme. Poor cost management is one of the largest contributors to poor performance for commercial banks in the examined period. Overall, the thesis finds evidence of structural reforms and uncovers measures that have led to the improvement of regulation, and the implementation of frameworks which should continue to improve competitiveness within MENA banking sectors. In addition, future policy on the banking sector should take account of differences in the factors that affect bank productivity in these countries which are distinctively different.

Les succès et les échecs des politiques publiques sont, en large partie, sont influencés par le contexte politique et institutionnel des économies. Cette thèse analyse la manière dont les résultats socio-économiques des pays de la région MENA sont déterminées par l'environnement institutionnel et politique des différents pays. Trois essais sont proposés. Le premier étudie l'impact des qualifications sur la productivité à l'aide d'une comparaison entre deux pays, la Turquie et la Tunisie. Le second analyse l'impact des subventions sur les performances des firmes. Le troisième étudie l'effet de l'ouverture commerciale sur les importations des biens manufacturés selon que les firmes font partie des secteurs connectés au pouvoir politique ou pas, dans le cas de l'Égypte.L'étude comparative Turquie-Tunisie, montre que les compétences des travailleurs ont bien un impact mesurable sur la productivité de la Turquie, mais pas en Tunisie. En Turquie, l'industrialisation par substitution aux importations a été démantelée relativement tôt, alors qu'en Tunisie la politique postcoloniale a abandonné sa politique d’industrialisation par substitution aux importations relativement tard. En conséquence, le haut niveau des compétences de la main-d’œuvre en Tunisie n'a pas pu contribué à la productivité à la différence de la Turquie. Ensuite, l'étude de l'intervention gouvernementale sous forme de subvention auprès des firmes en Tunisie, montre que, comme attendu, les subventions permettent aux gouvernements d'étendre leur contrôle sur les entreprises privées. Cette politique a produit des effets contrastés sur les entreprises tunisiennes. Elle a favorisé l'emploi dans les petites entreprises, tandis que dans les grands entreprises, c'est le capital qui en a bénéficié. Enfin, le dernier essai concernant l'économie égyptienne montre que la réduction des barrières commerciales a davantage bénéficié aux firmes présentes dans les secteurs dans lesquels on n'observe pas de lien de connexion entre l’État et les entreprises. La réduction de l'évasion fiscalo-douanière favorise les firmes plus compétitives<br>The political economy is an important determinant of the successes and failures of public policies. This dissertation explores how the political economy has shaped socio-political outcomes. I use a comparative study, a study of a fiscal subsidies, and a case study of liberalization to elaborate this point. In the comparative study on Turkey and Tunisia, I observe that workforce skills have a measurable impact on productivity in Turkey, a country that abandoned import substitution industrialization at a relatively early stage. Whereas the post-colonial institutional setting of the economy and relatively later import substitution industrialization in Tunisia is not amenable to harnessing the skills of the workforce for productivity --- even if levels of education were historically higher than in Turkey. A case study on government intervention in the form of firm subsidies in Tunisia finds that governments can use firm subsidies to extend control over the private sector, while still reporting measurable and observable positive benefits to the economy. Lastly, a case study on liberalization demonstrated in Egypt that reforms to remove administrative and tariff barriers disproportionately helped firms in industries with no known government cronies and reduced tariff evasion. However, government cronies operating in the historically important natural resource sector still reaped benefits from liberalization reforms

Pastaraisiais metais, siekiant geriau panaudoti kiaulių genetinį potencialą, mažinti pašarų sąnaudas ir kiaulienos savikainą, apsaugoti nuo kai kurių virškinimo trakto ligų, pradėti naudoti biologiškai aktyvių medžiagų pašarų priedai. Vis plačiau naudojami mikrobinės kilmės produktai – probiotikai – jie normalizuoja žarnyno veiklą, gerina pašarų maistinę vertę, gerina pašaro maistingųjų dalių pasisavinimą ir didina gyvulių produktyvumą. Darbo tikslas. Ištirti probiotiko Yeasture kombinuotuosiuose pašaruose įtaką penimų kiaulių augimui, pa�����arų sąnaudoms ir mėsos fizinėms savybėms. Tyrimo metodika. Eksperimentinis darbas buvo atliktas Jono Juodžio vadovaujamoje UAB „Dainavos kiaulių veislynas“ kiaulių fermoje. Bandymo metu analogų principu buvo sudarytos dvi penimų kiaulių grupės – I (kontrolinė) ir II (bandomoji). Bandomosios grupės kiaulės buvo šeriamos visaverčiais kombinuotaisiais pašarais su probiotiku Yeasture, kuris buvo įmaišomas į kombinuotąjį pašarą, o kontrolinė grupė su kombinuotaisiais pašarais be probiotiko. Masės prieaugiui nustatyti kiaulės buvo sveriamos. Bandymo pabaigoje kiaulės buvo skerdžiamos ir paimti mėginiai mėsos kokybiniams rodikliams nustatyti. Mėginiai tyrimams buvo paimti iš ilgiausiojo nugaros raumens (musculus longissimus dorsi) tarpe 12 ir paskutiniojo šonkaulio. Mėsos kokybės rodikliai buvo nustatinėjami „Gyvulių mėsinių savybių ir mėsos kokybės vertinimo“ laboratorijoje. Tyrimo rezultatai. Per visą bandymo laikotarpį tiriamųjų gyvulių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]<br>The object of the work: To analyze the influence of the probiotic. Yeasture in combinet fodder on the growth of porkers, the fodder expenditure and physical characteristics of meat. The following tasks were set to perform the work: 1. to evaluate the speed or porker growth by using the ration of different structure; 2. to evaluate the fodder expenditure in kg necessary to gain 1kg increase in weight; 3. to analyze the physical characteristics of meat; 4. to calculate the economic efficiency . Research methods: On the basis of analogues, 2 porker groups (control and experimental) were formed. Porkers from the control group were foddered with a full-valued combined fodder without probiotic, and the probiotic Yeasture was mixed in the fodder for experimental group on the ratio 1 kg:ton. Porkers were weighed three times during the whole experimental period, and the average increase in weight within twenty-four hours was calculated. In all weighing, increases in weight within twenty-four hours were statistically reliably greater in the experimental group of porkers – by 15 per cent. Fodder expenditure in kg necessary to gain 1 kg increase in weight was considerably greater in the experimental group of porkers (4.1 kg-3,1 kg). Here data were also reliable (p < 0,001). The economic efficiency was calculated that has showed the positive influence of probiotic on raising the porkers. The probiotic Yeasture was economically efficient (expenditure necessary to produce a production unit... [to full text]

Thesis (Bsc. (Animal production)) --University of Limpopo, 2009.<br>Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of Hoodia gordonii meal supplementation at finisher stage on productivity and carcass characteristics of Ross 308 broiler chickens. Experiment 1 examined the effect of levels of Hoodia gordonii meal supplementation of grower diet fed to Ross 308 broiler chickens at the finisher stage (30 – 42 days of age) on productivity and carcass characteristics in a 12 day experimental period. The experiment was a completely randomized design with a 2 (two sexes of chickens) x 6 (levels of Hoodia gordonii meal [0, 100, 200, 300, 400 or 500 mg]) factorial arrangement of treatments in which three hundred and sixty broiler chickens at finisher stage were randomly allocated to twelve treatments with three replicates of ten birds each. Level of Hoodia gordonii meal supplementation had no effect (P>0.05) on diet intake, intake as percentage of live weight, growth rate, feed conversion ratio, live weight at 42 days of age and mortality of broiler chickens at finisher stage. All carcass characteristics were not affected (P>0.05) by the treatments except fat pads. Chickens given a daily dose of 300 mg of Hoodia gordonii meal had lower (P<0.05) fat pad weights than unsupplemented ones. Male broiler chickens had higher (P<0.05) feed intake and heavier drum sticks than female broiler chickens. Experiment 2 examined the effect of Hoodia gordonii meal dose interval at finisher stage in a 2 (two sexes of chickens) x 3 (dosage intervals) factorial, complete randomized design that involved three hundred and sixty chickens that were randomly allocated to six treatments with six replicates of ten birds each. Broiler chickens were fed either a grower diet without Hoodia gordonii meal; grower diet with 300 mg of Hoodia gordonii meal/ bird supplemented everyday for 12 days; or grower diet with 300 mg of Hoodia gordonii meal/ bird supplemented twice, on 30th and 36th days of age. Hoodia gordonii meal dose interval had no effect (P>0.05) on dry matter feed intake, intake as percentage of live weight, growth rate, live weight at 42 days of age, feed conversion ratio, mortality and all carcass characteristics except fat pad of broiler chickens. Daily dosing with 300 mg of Hoodia gordonii meal/ bird reduced (P<0.05) fat pad weights of broiler chickens by 18 percentage points. Male broiler chickens had higher (P<0.05) feed intake, nitrogen digestibility, nitrogen retention and live weight than female broiler chickens. It is concluded that chickens given a daily supplement of 300 mg of Hoodia gordonii meal had lower fat pad weights than unsupplemented ones. This could not be explained in terms of differences in feed intake, digestibility, or growth rate.

Thesis (MSc. (Animal Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016<br>This study was conducted to determine the effect of supplementing diets with antimicrobials and effective microorganisms on productivity and carcass characteristics of Ross 308 broiler chickens. The study consisted of two parts. The first part determined the effect of antimicrobial and effective microorganism (EM) supplementations on growth performance of unsexed Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. A complete randomized design was used and 150 unsexed day-old chicks with an initial weight of 42 ± 2g were randomly assigned to five different treatments which were replicated 3 times with each replicate having 10 chicks. The five grower diets had the same nutrients (20% CP and 12MJ/kg) but different supplementation levels of 0g oxytetracycline and 0ml EMs/l of water (UAM0EM0), 0.01g oxytetracycline (UAM0.01EM0), 30ml EMs/l of water (UAM0EM30), 50ml EMs/l of water (UAM0EM50) and 100ml EMs/l of water (UAM0EM100). A quadratic regression model was used to determine dietary effective microorganism supplementation levels for optimal feed intake and live weight of Ross 308 broiler chickens. A linear model was used to determine the relationship between dietary effective microorganism supplementation levels and metabolisable energy intakes. Antimicrobial and effective microorganism supplementations did not have any effect (P>0.05) on growth rate, feed conversion ratio and mortality. Antimicrobial supplementation improved (P<0.05) feed intake and live weight of the chickens. Supplementation with 50ml of EMs/l of water improved (P<0.05) feed intake. Supplementation with 50 or 100ml of EMs per litre of water increased (P<0.05) ME intake of the chickens. Effective microorganism supplementation levels of 72.25 and 48.29ml of drinking water optimized feed intake and live weight, respectively. The second part of the experiment determined the effect of antimicrobials and effective microorganisms on productivity, blood, carcass characteristics and meat quality of male Ross 308 broiler chickens aged 22 to 42 days. The chickens were randomly allocated to five treatments with three replications, each having six chickens. A total of 90 male chickens, with the initial live weight of 452 ± 3g were allocated to the treatments in a complete randomized design. The chickens were fed a grower diet supplemented with 0g oxytetracycline and 0ml EMs/l of water (MAM0EM0), 0.01g oxytetracycline (MAM0.01EM0), 30ml EMs/l of water (MAM0EM30), v 50ml EMs/l of water (MAM0EM50) and 100ml EMs/l of water (MAM0EM100). Antimicrobial and effective microorganism supplementation did not have effect (P>0.05) on feed intake, growth rate, live weight, ME intake, blood glucose and mortality. Poorer (P<0.05) feed conversion ratio was observed with the supplementation of antimicrobial. Blood glucose levels were optimized at an effective microorganism supplementation level of 29.00ml of EM/l of drinking water (Figure 4.05). Supplementing diets with antimicrobials and effective microorganisms did not have effect (P>0.05) on crop, gizzard, proventriculus and large intestine pH values of male chickens. However, supplementation with of 100ml of EMs per litre of drinking water reduced (P<.0.05) the pH of ileum. Effective microorganism supplementation level of 85.00ml per litre of drinking water optimized the crop pH value. Antimicrobial and effective microorganism supplementations did not have influence (P>0.05) on gizzard, proventriculus, small intestine, caecum, large intestine, liver and heart weights of male chickens at 42 days. Effective microorganism supplementation level of 50ml per litre of drinking water reduced (P<.0.05) crop weight. Antimicrobial and effective microorganism supplementations did not have effect (P>0.05) on whole gastro-intestinal tract (GIT), small intestine and caecum length of the chickens. Antimicrobial supplementation reduced (P<0.05) the length of large intestine. Effective microorganism supplementation levels of 41.00, 45.50 and 85.00ml per litre of drinking water optimized crop weights and caecum and large intestine lengths, respectively. Antimicrobial and effective microorganism supplementations did not have any influence (P>0.05) on live weight, carcass weight, breast weight, drumstick weight ad thigh weight. Similarly, antimicrobial and effective microorganism supplementations did not have influence on meat tenderness, juiciness and flavour. There were no antibiotic and effective microbe residues in the meat. It is, therefore, concluded that effective microorganism supplementation did not have much effect on production parameters, carcass characteristics and meat quality of Ross 308 broiler chickens.

Lesinimo bandymas buvo atliktas su 1–35 dienų amžiaus Ross 308 linijų derinio viščiukais broileriais. 600 viščiukų broilerių buvo suskirstyti į 3 grupes po 200 viščiukų kiekvienoje grupėje su 4-iais kiekvienos grupės pakartojimais. Pirmoji grupė kontrolinė, likusios – tiriamosios. I grupės viščiukai broileriai buvo lesinami su standartiniais kombinuotaisiais lesalais. Į II grupės standartinius kombinuotuosius lesalus buvo įterpta 70 mg geležies sulfato ir 72 mg geležies glicinato. Į III grupės standartinius kombinuotuosius lesalus – 144 mg geležies glicinato. Analizuojant broilerių skerdenos morfologinę sudėtį, nustatėme, kad didžiausią įtaką turėjo geležies sulfatų ir glicinatų kiekiai, to pasekoje išeigos atitinkamai padidėjo 9,43 proc. ir 4,56 proc. Geležies sulfato ir glicinato priedai sumažino 0,4 proc. abdominalinių riebalų išeigą. Geležies sulfatai ir glicinatai, geležies susikaupimai viščiukų broilerių krūtinės raumenyse esminės įtakos neturėjo. Tiriamųjų grupių šlaunelių raumenyse geležies koncentracija padidėjo 0,59 -3,07 mg/kg palyginus su kontroline grupe. MDA koncentracija tiek kontrolinės, tiek tiriamųjų grupių šviežiuose krūtinės raumenyse buvo beveik vienoda. Naudojant viščiukams geležies sulfatų ir glicinatų mišinį šviežiuose šlaunelių raumenyse MDA padidėjo 0,688 µmol/kg, o naudojant tik glicinatus – 0,576 µmol/kg (p<0,01). Po 3 mėn sandėliavimo tiriamųjų grupių krūtinėlėse MDA koncentracija buvo 0,014-0,096 µmol/kg didesnė, lyginant su kontroline grupe... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]<br>The feeding test was carried out with broiler chickens, aged 1-35 days old combination of lines Ross 308. 600 broiler chickens were divided into 3 groups of 200 chickens in each group with 4 repeats of each group. The first group was control, the rest groups were tested. Group I chickens were fed with the standard combined diet. In group II, the standard combined feeds were added 70 mg of iron sulphate and 72 mg of iron glycinate. In Group III standard combined feeds were added with 144 mg iron glycinate. Analysing the morphology of broiler carcass composition, we found that the greatest impact was made by the quantities of iron sulphate and glycinate. As a consequence yield rose by 9.43 per cent and 4.56 per cent. Iron sulphate and glycinate accessories decreased abdominal fat yield by 0.4 percent. Iron sulphate and glycinate have no impact for iron accumulation in broiler chicken breast muscle. In tested groups in thigh muscle iron concentration increased 0.59 -3.07 mg /kg as compared with the control group. MDA levels in both the control and tested groups in fresh breast muscle were almost identical. For chickens using ferrous sulphate and glycinate mixture of fresh thigh muscle MDA increased by 0.688 µmol/kg, while using only glycinate - 0.576 µmol/kg/ kg (p <0.01). After 3 months of storage tested groups breasts were found with MDA concentration 0.014 - 0.096 µmol/kg higher compared with the control group. Using for chickens feeding iron sulphate and glycinate mixture... [to full text]

Internal parasites (strongylid gastrointestinal helminths) have been reported to decrease lamb productivity in extensive grazing sheep enterprises. Increased interest into intestinal, protozoan parasites; Cryptosporidium and Giardia, has arisen due to their potential public health risks. Little research has examined their prevalence and impact on productivity in extensively managed livestock. Despite molecular diagnostic techniques having the capability to facilitate rapid identification, improve control and enhance prevention strategies for disease pathogens, little investigation has been conducted to compare molecular tests with traditional diagnostic methods. Longitudinal studies observed that 47–81% of lambs sampled, tested positive for Cryptosporidium or Giardia at least once in their lives over five sampling occasions. Cryptosporidium xiaoi and G. duodenalis assemblage E were the most common species/genotypes isolated from Pingelly (Farm A) and Arthur River (Farm B). Zoonotic species/genotypes were also isolated but in low numbers. Cryptosporidium xiaoi was isolated on two occasions from dam water on Arthur River, while C. ubiquitum and G. duodenalis assemblage E were detected in dam water from Frankland. A novel, possibly new genotype (sheep genotype I) was identified in six Cryptosporidium isolates from Arthur River. Cryptosporidium parvum and C. ubiquitum were the most common species detected in Boyup Brook and Kojonup flocks. Statistical analyses revealed lambs positive for Cryptosporidium on at least one sampling occasion had lighter HCWs and lower dressing percentages when compared to lambs never positive for Cryptosporidium for Farms A and B, respectively. On Farm B, lambs positive for Giardia on at least one occasion had lighter HCWs and lower dressing percentages when compared to lambs never positive for Giardia. Cryptosporidium-positive lambs at the second sampling were 3.84–4.72 times more likely to have non-pelleted faeces (faecal consistency score [FCS] ≥ 3), when compared to Cryptosporidium-negative lambs for Farms A and B. Lambs on Boyup Brook and Kojonup farms that were positive for Cryptosporidium, Giardia or both, were 2.4–14.0 times more likely to have non-pelleted faeces. Furthermore, a higher number of internal parasites detected per lamb was associated with lower body condition score (BCS) and higher FCS on the Boyup Brook and Kojonup farms. Cryptosporidium-positive lambs were 3.36–2.96 times more likely to have moderate to severe breech fleece faecal soiling scores (3 – 5), when compared to Cryptosporidium-negative lambs at the second sampling for Farms A and B. Live weight, growth rate and BCS were inconsistently associated with protozoa detection across different samplings and farms. A further study compared the performances of two lamb flocks exposed to different natural strongylid larval challenges. A new innovative, molecular approach was developed to recover strongylid larvae from pasture, which had a strong, negative correlation (r2=0.91–0.95) with pasture larval counts used to detect and quantify strongylid larvae species on pasture. Flock L (exposed to a low larval challenge) had greater dressing percentages greater than Flock S (exposed to a higher larvae challenge). Within flock analyses of the Frankland flocks found lambs positive for Giardia at least once had lighter HCWs and lower dressing percentages, when compared to lambs never positive for Giardia. A written questionnaire which surveyed 139 (41.4%) meat lamb enterprise owners/managers in southern Western Australia, found evidence of diarrhoea was reported on 64.8% of farms. A binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the source of livestock drinking water was associated with the incidence of diarrhoea. Lamb flocks that sourced water from a dam, were 117 times more likely to have active or recent evidence of diarrhoea. Overall, 10.1% and 14.4% of respondents were aware of Cryptosporidium and Giardia, respectively. Comparison between a molecular diagnostic technique (identifying strongylid species by screening genomic DNA extracted directly from faeces) and the traditional McMaster WEC method, found high levels of agreement (kappa statistic ≥0.93) between the test results for detecting patent strongylid infections in two separate epidemiological studies. The findings that some lambs tested negative for strongylid infections while grazing pastures known to be infested with larvae, together with the strong correlations between WEC and the number of strongylid species detected per lamb, both suggest that strongylid eggs are the likely main source of strongylid DNA. The findings of this thesis suggest that molecular identification of internal parasites is potentially negatively associated with phenotypic performance traits of lambs. Protozoa-positive lambs had reduced production performances (lighter carcase weights and reduced dressing percentage), when compared to protozoa-negative lambs. For such molecular techniques as that were employed in this research to be introduced into routine veterinary diagnostics, they need to: (1) quantify the magnitude of infections, (2) provide cost-benefits to sheep producers, (3) display consistent associations/correlations with phenotypic performance traits of livestock and (4) be cost-beneficial for diagnostic laboratories to conduct (sales volume and equipment costs). The future development of multiplex, real-time, quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays capable of detecting and quantifying multiple pathogen infections (parasites and bacteria) in a single assay, would facilitate the uptake of such tests for both veterinary and human diagnostics

Cette thèse vise à étudier la relation entre la concurrence, l'efficience coût et la stabilité bancaire d'une part et, la relation entre la gouvernance et la stabilité bancaire d'autre part pour un échantillon des banques commerciales opérantes dans la région MENA au cours de la période 1999-2020. Pour atteindre cet objectif, nous nous sommes basés sur les théories de l'économie industrielle, de la concurrence (modèle structure-comportement-performance ; indicateur de lerner ; la Statistique H de Panzar-Rosse), de l'efficience productive (modèle de frontière stochastique) et de la gouvernance. Les résultats obtenus à l'aide des modèles des données de panel et de la méthode des moments généralisés (GMM-Système) ont montré que l'efficience coût, le ratio de capital, le ratio de liquidité, la rentabilité et le taux de croissance économique affectent positivement la stabilité bancaire. Cependant, les résultats ont révélé l'existence d'une relation négative entre le pouvoir de marché et la stabilité bancaire. En ce qui concerne la relation entre la gouvernance et la stabilité bancaire, les résultats ont montré l'existence d'une relation négative entre la stabilité et la dualité de fonction de président et de directeur général d'une part, et d'une relation positive entre le comité de risque, la taille du conseil d'administration, la diversité des genres et la stabilité bancaire d'autre part. Enfin, les résultats ont révélé que les facteurs institutionnels (contrôle de la corruption, qualité de la régulation, l'État de droit, etc.) sont considérés comme des facteurs explicatifs de la stabilité bancaire dans la région MENA<br>The objective of this thesis research is two-fold: on the one hand, to examine the relationship between competition, cost efficiency, and banking stability; and on the other, to assess the relationship between governance and banking stability both of which relate to commercial banks operating in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The research covers the period from 1999 to 2020. To meet this two-fold objective, we based our analysis on theories of industrial organization economics and competition (i.e. structure-conduct- performance paradigm; Lerner index; Panzar-Rosse model), productive efficiency (stochastic frontier model) and governance. The results obtained using panel data models and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM-System) demonstrate that cost efficiency, capital ratio, liquidity ratio, profitability, and investment rate of economic growth positively affect banking stability in the MENA region. In addition, the results show that there is a negative relationship between market power and banking stability. Regarding the relationship between governance and banking stability, the results indicate the existence of a negative relationship between stability and the role duality of the chairperson and CEO on the one hand, and a positive relationship between risk committee, board size, gender diversity, and banking stability on the other. Finally, the results demonstrate that institutional factors (i.e. control of corruption, quality of regulation, rule of law, etc.) are considered as explanatory factors for banking stability in the MENA region

Darbo tikslas – įvertinti fitobiotikų Sangrovit® ir prebiotikų Agrimos® poveikį viščiukų broilerių augimo rodikliams ir mėsos savybėms. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Ištirti prebiotikų ir fitobiotikų įtaką viščiukų broilerių augimo intensyvumui, lesalų sąnaudoms ir gaištamumui; 2. Nustatyti prebiotikų ir fitobiotikų įtaką viščiukų broilerių mėsos (krūtinės ir kojų raumenų) pH po0, 24, 48, 72 val.; 3. Ištirti prebiotikų ir fitobiotikų įtaką viščiukų broilerių mėsos (krūtinės ir kojų raumenų) sausųjų medžiagų kiekiui; 4. Ištirti prebiotikų ir fitobiotikų įtaką viščiukų broilerių krūtinės raumenų riebalų rūgščių sudėčiai; 5. Ištirti prebiotikų ir fitobiotikų įtaką viščiukų broilerių mėsos morfologinei sudėčiai; 6. Nustatyti prebiotikų ir fitobiotikų įtaką viščiukų broilerių mėsos (krūtinės ir kojų raumenų) juslinėms savybėms. Darbo pobūdis ir darbo objektas: Bandymas buvo atliekamas su 800 vienadieniais viščiukais broileriais suskirstytais į 4 grupes, po 200 viščiukų kiekvienoje grupėje su keturiais kiekvienos grupės pakartojimais. Paukščiai buvo lesinami iki soties 5 savaites (iki 35 dienų amžiaus) kombinuotais lesalais (pirma grupė – kontrolė), antrą grupę sudarė lesalai, į kuriuos įmaišyta fitobiotikų Sangrovit® (Macleaya cordata) (30g/t lesalų), į trečios grupės – prebiotikai mananooligosacharidai Agrimos® (2 kg/t lesalų), į ketvirtą – Sangrovit® (30g/t lesalų) ir Agrimos® (2 kg/t lesalų) kombinacija. Fitobiotikai Sangrovit® yra sudaryti iš augalo Macleaya cordata, priklausančio... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]<br>The aim: Evaluation the effect of prebiotics Agrimos® and phytobiotics Sangrovit® on productivity and meat quality of broiler chickens. Objectives of the study: 1. Evaluation the effect of prebiotics and phytobiotics on growth performances, feed conversion ratio and mortality of broiler chickens; 2. Evaluation the effect of prebiotics and phytobiotics on pH of breast and thighs meat after 0, 24, 48, 72 hours of storage; 3. Evaluation the effect of prebiotics and phytobiotics on quantity of dry matter of breast and thighs meat; 4. Evaluation the effect of prebiotics and phytobiotics on quantity of fatty acids of breast meat; 5. Evaluation the effect of prebiotics and phytobiotics on morphological composition of the meat of broiler chickens; 6. Evaluation the effect of prebiotics and phytobiotics on the sensory attributes of breast and thighs meat of broiler chickens. The character and object of the work: Experiment was made with 800 broiler chickens, they were divided into 4 group with 200 chickens at each group. Each group had four replications. Broilers were fed ad libitum 5 weeks (35 days) with compound. First group – control group, the diet of second group was supplemented with phytobiotics Sangrovit® (Macleaya cardata) (30 g/t of feed), the diet of third group supplemented with prebiotics mannanoligosaccharides Agrimos® (2 kg/t of feed), diet of group four supplemented with a combination of Sangrovit® (30 g/t of feed) and Agrimos® (2 kg/t of feed). Phytobiotics Sangrovit®... [to full text]

Darbo tikslas: ištirti padidintų geležies sulfato ir geležies glicinato kiekių įtaką viščiukų broilerių produktyvumui ir paukštienos kokybei. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Ištirti padidintų geležies sulfato ir glicinato kiekių įtaką viščiukų broilerių augimo intensyvumui; 2. Ištirti padidintų geležies sulfato ir glicinato kiekių įtaką viščiukų broilerių lesalų sąnaudoms bei išsaugojimui; 3. Ištirti padidintų geležies sulfato ir glicinato kiekių įtaką viščiukų broilerių skerdenos morfologinei sudėčiai; 4. Ištirti padidintų geležies sulfato ir glicinato kiekių įtaką viščiukų broilerių krūtinėlės ir šlaunelių raumenų pH dinamikai, geležies ir malondialdehido (MDA) kiekių susikaupimui, bei mėsos juslinėms savybėms. Tyrimo metodika: Lesinimo bandymas buvo atliekamas 35 dienas su Ross 308 linijų derinio viščiukais broileriais. Viščiukai broileriai buvo suskirstyti į 3 grupes po 200 viščiukų kiekvienoje grupėje. Pirmoji grupė kontrolinė, likusios – tiriamosios. Kontrolinės grupės viščiukai broileriai buvo lesinami standartiniais kombinuotaisiais lesalais, į kuriuos buvo įterpta 70 mg geležies sulfato. Į I tiriamosios grupės standartinius kombinuotuosius lesalus – 144 mg geležies glicinato, o II tiriamosios grupės lesalus buvo įterpta 150 mg geležies sulfato. Tyrimo rezultatai ir išvados: Analizuojant 35 dienų amžiaus duomenis, abiejuose tiriamosiose grupėse viščiukų broilerių kūno masė padidėjo 1 proc., lyginant su kontroline grupe (p>0,05), o lesalų sąnaudos 1 kg priesvorio gauti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]<br>The aim of work (research): investigate the increased quantities of ferrous sulfate and glycinate influence on broiler chickens productivity and poultry meat quality. The tasks of the work: 1. to investigate the increased quantities of ferrous sulfate and glycinate influence to the intensity of broiler chickens’ growth; 2. to investigate the increased quantities of ferrous sulfate and glycinate influence to the input and preservation of broiler chickens’ feed; 3. to investigate the increased quantities of ferrous sulfate and glycinate influence to the morphological composition of broiler chickens’ carcase; 4. to investigate the increased quantities of ferrous sulfate and glycinate influence to the breast and thigh muscle pH dynamics, iron and malondialdehyde (MDA) quantities accumulation and sensory properties of the broiler chickens’ meat. Research methodology: The feeding experiment took 35 days and was performed with the Ross 308 broiler chickens line combination. Broilers were divided into 3 groups of 200 broilers in each. The fowl of all 3 groups were fed with a standard composite feed. The first control group, the rest - the test. The control group of chickens were fed the standard composite feed, containing 70 mg of ferrous sulfate. In the I treatment group compound feeds was added- 144 mg ferrous glycinate, and group II feeds has been added to 150 mg of ferrous sulfate. Broiler chickens were fed ad libitum. Research results and conclusion: Analysis of 3... [to full text]

Tyrimas atliktas 2012-2014 metų laikotarpiu Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitete, Veterinarijos akademijoje, GTF Paukščių lesalų ir paukštininkystės laboratorijoje, prie Gyvulininkystės katedros, AB „Vilniaus paukštynas“ ir KTU maisto instituto juslinių tyrimų laboratorijoje. Darbas turi 46 puslapius, 18 lentelių, 6 paveikslus. Darbo tikslas yra ištirti lesalų, papildytų skirtingų koncentracijų fermentinio priedo, įtaką viščiukų broilerių linijos Ross-308 produktyvumui bei mėsos kokybei. Darbo uždaviniai yra ištirti fermentinio priedo įtaka viščiukų broilerių produktyvumui, išgyvenimui, virškinamojo trakto turinio sausųjų medžiagų kiekiui, krūtinės ir kojų raumenų pH, vidinių organų, žarnyno svoriui ir ilgiui, viščiukų skerdenos rodikliams ir viščiukų mėsos juslinėms savybėms. Gauti rezultatai: Skirtingi fermentinio preparato kiekiai viščiukų broilerių augimo intensyvumui esminės įtakos neturėjo, tačiau juos naudojant lesalų konversija pagerėjo 1-2 proc. Tiriamosiose grupėse buvo nustatytas didesnis broilerių išsaugojimas 1,5-2 proc., palyginus su kontroline grupe. Analizuojant sausųjų medžiagų ir vandenilio jonų koncentracijas viščiukų broilerių virškinamajame trakte statistiškai patikimų skirtumų tarp kontrolinės ir tiriamųjų paukščių grupių nenustatyta. Tiriamųjų viščiukų broilerių žarnyno ir aklosios žarnos bendras ilgis padidėjo 4-5 proc., liaukinio skrandžio išsivystymas 5-43 proc., vidaus organų, kaip širdies ir kepenų, svoriai didėjo 8-27 proc., tačiau kasos ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]<br>Name of work: “The influence of different concentrations of xylanase, beta-glucanase and cellulase on productivity and meat quality of broilers chickens cross line Ross-308”. The work was performed in year 2012-2014 at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Veterinary Academy, in Poultry Feed and Poultry Products Laboratory, JSC „Vilniaus paukšynas“ and Food Institute of Kaunas University of Technology, in Sensory Analysis Laboratory. The work has 46 pages, 18 tables and 6 images. The aim of the work was to investigate the effect of different concentrations of NSP enzymes on Productivity and meat quality of broiler chickens. The tasks of the work were to investigate the effect of different concentrations of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) enzymes for productivity of broiler chickens; effect on broiler chickens mortality, intestinal dry mass, intestinal pH value, breast muscle and leg muscle pH, internal organ weight, intestinal length, broiler carcass results and meat sensory and textual properties. Results: Different enzyme concentrations did not influence broiler chicken growth performance in general. Though feed conversion was better by 1-2 percent than in the control group. In enzyme treatment groups Broiler chicken mortality was lower by 1,5-2 percent compared to the control group. During the analysis of dry mass and hydrogen ion concentrations in the gastrointestinal tract of Broiler chickens, results showed that statistically significant differences could not... [to full text]

La microfinance est un moyen de lutte contre la pauvreté dans les pays en développement, à travers le financement des activités génératrices de revenus des ménages pauvres. Cependant, la meilleure manière d'aider les pauvres à avoir accès aux services financiers suscite des débats entre deux approches opposées : les welfarists et les institutionalists. Ces approches oscillent entre deux exigences fondamentales de la microfinance : le principe de solidarité qui renvoie à la performance sociale et la rentabilité de l'institution qui relève de la performance financière. Y-a- t- il arbitrage ou compatibilité entre ces deux performances? L'état d'avancement de la recherche sur cette question suggère la compatibilité, voire la complémentarité, de ces deux exigences de la microfinance.Une analyse factorielle en coupe instantanée (année 2008) sur un échantillon de 52 IMF dans 9 pays de la région MENA examine la relation entre ces deux performances. Les résultats de cette analyse soulignent que la plupart des IMF d'Egypte sont à la fois socialement et financièrement performantes alors que celles du Yémen ne sont que socialement performantes et celles de la Jordanie ne sont que financièrement performantes. Les facteurs déterminants de ces deux performances varient notamment selon le statut (ONG vs. non ONG), la maturité, la méthodologie de prêt (solidaire vs. individuel), la zone d'intervention (rurale vs. urbaine), le niveau de transparence informationnelle, la localisation géographique (pays) et la réglementation des IMF.Une étude économétrique en panel (1998-2008) examine la causalité univoque et interactive entre la performance sociale et la performance financière. Les résultats des régressions statistiquement significatives montrent que la performance sociale a un impact négatif sur la performance financière et inversement ; l'interaction à long terme entre ces deux performances est encore floue. Les résultats montrent aussi que les principaux déterminants de ces deux performances varient selon le cycle de vie de l'IMF ; la relation entre l'âge et la performance n'est pas linéaire ; la règlementation de l'IMF dépend non seulement de son pays mais aussi de son statut institutionnel ; les effets macroéconomiques sont importants dans l'atteinte de deux performances ; les IMF matures cherchent à assurer un bon taux de remboursement au lieu d'augmenter les rendements de leurs portefeuilles<br>Microfinance is a means of the struggle against poverty in developing countries through financing activities that generate incomes for poor households. The issue regarding the best way to provide financial services to the poor has fuelled intensive debates between two different schools of thought: institutionalists and welfarists. This opposition faces two requirements of microfinance: Targeting the poorest among the poor, which refers to the social performance and enhancing the profitability of the institution (financial performance). Is there a trade-off between these two performances or can they combine? The state of research upon this issue suggests that these two requirements are compatible and may even be complementary.Following a cross-section factor analysis, we examine the relationship between social performance and financial performance on a sample of 52 MFIs in 9 selected countries of the MENA region: Most MFIs in Egypt are both socially and financially successful, whereas those in Yemen are socially successful and those in Jordan are financially successful. The determinants of these performances vary according to the status (NGO vs. non NGO), maturity, credit methodology (collective vs. individual), the level of information disclosure, geographical location (countries) and regulations of MFIs.An econometric panel study (1998-2008) examines the unequivocal causality and causal interaction between social performance and financial performance. The regression results show that social performance has a negative impact on financial performance and conversely, and the causal interaction between these two types of performances remains unclear in the long run. The results also show that the main determinants of these two performances depend on the life cycle of MFIs, the relationship between age and performance is not linear, the regulation of MFIs depends not only on their countries but also on their institutional status, macroeconomic effects are important in achieving performances, mature MFIs seek to ensure good repayment rates instead of increasing portfolio yield

La durabilité du fonctionnement des agro-écosystèmes et la gestion des services écosystémiques associés représente un des enjeux majeurs des sciences agronomiques et environnementales.Les systèmes agro-sylvo-pastoraux d'Afrique de l'Ouest (SASP-AO), étudiés depuis longtemps par la communauté scientifique, offrent un cas d’étude pertinent. La fertilité de ces agro-écosystèmes repose traditionnellement sur un taux de recyclage des nutriments très élevé au sein de l'agro-écosystème via la pratique de la jachère et des transferts de nutriments par les mouvements du bétail.Les SASP-AO sont soumis à des pressions socioéconomiques et démographiques fortes qui entrainent des modifications de leur organisation spatiotemporelle et des pratiques agricoles, notamment celles relatives à l'élevage.Dans cette thèse, nous nous sommes intéressés à l'impact de ces modifications sur la production végétale et animale à l'échelle de l'agro-écosystème.Nous avons choisi d’étudier les SASP en développant et analysant des modèles mathématiques de type méta-écosystème. Dans chacun des trois modèles proposés, nous avons cherché à représenter un SASP le plus simplement possible, en incluant les mécanismes biogéochimiques les plus importants (croissance des plantes, minéralisation, lessivage, dépositions…) et les pratiques agricoles d’intérêt. L’objectif était à la fois de comprendre comment ces mécanismes interagissent en fonction des pratiques et d’identifier des propriétés émergentes à l'échelle de l'agro-écosystème.Chacun des modèles a été développé pour étudier l'effet d'un nombre limité de pratiques agricoles portant sur l'organisation des composantes spatiales ou sur la connectivité entre les composantes spatiales.Dans la première partie de cette thèse, nous avons étudié l'influence de la structure des SASP-AO sur la production agricole de ces systèmes. Dans le modèle, quatre sous-systèmes interconnectés sont représentés : l’auréole de case, l’auréole de brousse, la savane et le village. Le modèle est de plus saisonnalisé, la dynamique de la saison sèche étant différente de celle de la saison humide. Avec ce modèle, nous avons étudié l’influence de trois leviers : (1) la durée de rotation et la durée des jachères dans les rotations, (2) la proportion de surface allouée aux différentes zones cultivées (case/brousse) de l'agro-écosystème et (3) la présence/absence du bétail dans l'agro-écosystème. Les résultats issus de ces travaux ont mis en évidence les services écosystémiques fournis par la savane, le rôle de du bétail comme « pompe à nutriments » des zones de pâturage vers les zones cultivées et les interactions entre les effets du bétail et les effets de la jachère sur les flux de nutriments. Dans la seconde partie, nous avons utilisé des outils issus de la théorie du contrôle afin de tenir compte de la variabilité dans le temps des pratiques agricoles. Nous avons ainsi montré qu'en faisant varier la pression d'herbivorie de manière adéquate, un gain supplémentaire de production est possible par rapport à une pression d'herbivorie constante pour une même quantité de nutriments transférée des pâturages vers les cultures.Dans la dernière partie de ce travail, l’optimisation multicritère du fonctionnement de l’agro-écosystème permet d’aborder la complexité des objectifs des SASP-AO comme système de production et de prendre en compte la gestion des risques dans ces systèmes. Nos résultats mettent en avant que les compromis entre production végétale et animale sont liés au choix des plantes cultivées. Nos résultats montrent également que les sources extérieures de nutriments permettent d’augmenter les productions, mais que leur efficience diminue quand leur quantité augmente.À l’interface entre écologie et agronomie, et grâce à l’utilisation conjointe d'outils issus d'autres disciplines, ces travaux de modélisation offrent de nouvelles perspectives pour l'optimisation de la production végétale et la gestion de la fertilité dans les SASP<br>The sustainability of agro-ecosystem functioning and the management of the associated ecosystem services is one of the major challenges of agronomic and environmental sciences. West African agro-sylvo-pastoral systems (WA-ASPS), which have been studied by the scientific community for a long time, offer an interesting case study. Traditionally, the fertility of these agro-ecosystems relies on a very high rate of nutrient recycling within the agro-ecosystem maintained by both fallowing and livestock induced nutrient transfers.Socio-economic and demographic pressures lead to major changes in the spatial and temporal organization of WA-ASPS and in the associated agricultural practices, including those related to livestock. In this thesis, we are interested in the impact of these changes on crop and meat production at the scale of the agro-ecosystem.We chose to study ASPS by developing and analyzing mathematical models using the ecological concept of meta-ecosystems. In each of the three models proposed, we tried to represent the ASPS as simply as possible, by including the key biogeochemical mechanisms (plant growth, mineralization, leaching, deposition...) and the agricultural practices of interest. The aim was both to understand how mechanisms interact according to the practices and to identify emerging properties at the scale of the agro-ecosystem.Each model was developed to study the effect of a limited number of agricultural practices on the organization of spatial components or on the connectivity between spatial components.In the first part of this work, we studied the influence of the structure of the WA-ASPS on the agricultural production of these systems. In the model, four interconnected subsystems are represented: the compound ring, the bush ring, the savanna and the dwellings. The year is decomposed in two seasons: the dry and the rainy seasons, the dynamic of the system being different for each season. With this model, we studied the influence of three driving-forces on the crop production: (1) the rotation duration and duration of fallows within rotations, (2) the proportion of the agro-ecosystem surface allocated to the different cropland areas (compound/bush) and (3) the presence/absence of livestock in the agro-ecosystem. The results of this work highlight the ecosystem services provided by the savanna, the role of livestock as a "nutrient pump" from rangeland to cropland and the interactions between livestock effects and fallow effects on nutrient fluxes. In the second part, we used tools provided by control theory to take into account the variability over time of agricultural practices. We showed that by varying the herbivory pressure over time in an appropriate way, an additional gain in production is possible (compared to the one obtained with a constant herbivory pressure) for the same amount of nutrients transferred from rangelands to croplands.In the last part of this work, the multi-criteria optimization of the functioning of the agro-ecosystem makes it possible to address the complexity of the objectives of WA-ASPS as a production system and to take into account risks management in these systems. Our results highlight that trade-offs between crop and animal production may be linked to the choice of crops. Our results also show that external sources of nutrients can lead to an increase in productions, but that their efficiency decreases as their quantity increases. At the interface between ecology and agronomy, and by using tools from other fields, this modeling work offers new perspectives for optimizing crop production and fertility management in ASPS

Роговенко, А. І. Методи та інформаційна технологія прискореного обчислення великих даних для систем розподіленої обробки інформації : дис. ... канд. техн. наук : 05.13.06 / А. І. Роговенко. - Чернігів, 2021. - 178 с.<br>Дисертація присвячена дослідженню актуальних проблем підвищення ефективності цифрових обчислювальних засобів алгоритмів кодування/декодування завадостійких кодів шляхом зменшення складності реалізації за умови високої швидкості й великого об’єму вхідного потоку даних, із використанням особливостей і властивостей апаратної платформи сучасної мікропроцесорної техніки. У першому розділі дисертаційної роботи проаналізовано сучасний стан і перспективи прискорення обчислень у сучасних системах розподіленої обробки інформації. Особлива потреба в прискорювачах виникає у криптографічних системах та системах завадостійкого кодування, де суттєву частину всіх обчислювальних перетворень над великими даними становлять операції в полях Галуа. Проведений аналіз задачі прискорення обчислень у системах розподіленої обробки інформації виявив необхідність зменшення обчислювальної складності реалізації базових операцій, які використовуються в технологіях вирішення задачі виявлення та виправлення помилок у системах розподіленої обробки інформації, зокрема в сучасних системах радіозв’язку. Проаналізовано коди, що використовуються для коригування помилок у сучасних системах радіозв’язку, та визначені основні напрямки прискорення процесу кодування/декодування при використанні алгебраїчних кодів. На основі аналізу було визначено, що процес кодування/декодування базується на апараті арифметики скінчених полів. Таким чином, спрощення та прискорення виконання операції в полях Галуа має привести до зменшення обчислювальної складності реалізації процедур кодування/декодування завадостійких кодів. Проведений аналіз основних методів обчислень операцій у полях Галуа, виявив, що більш пріоритетною є задача спрощення та прискорення виконання операцій додавання, як складових операцій множення, піднесення до степеня та інших. На основі аналізу існуючих методів обчислень операцій у полях Галуа було зроблено висновок, що сучасні широко представлені реалізації блоків обчислення операцій у скінчених полях мають обмеження та недоліки, які призводять до зменшення використовуваності алгебраїчних кодів у вирішеннях задачі виявлення та виправлення помилок. Отже, необхідно розробити методи підвищення продуктивності спеціалізованих обчислювальних засобів із урахуванням особливостей і властивостей апаратної платформи сучасної мікропроцесорної техніки, складності реалізації та швидкодія яких задовольняла б існуючі вимоги та була прогнозованою залежно від розрядності (розміру) оброблюваних послідовностей. У другому розділі роботи проводиться удосконалення методу прискорення та зменшення апаратних витрат на реалізацію блоків виконання операцій за модулем, розробка структурних рішень та модифікація алгоритмів виконання операцій за модулем. Розроблено та запропоновано метод зменшення апаратних витрат суматора за модулем на основі одновимірного каскаду конструктивних модулів з однорідною структурою. Цей метод базується на введенні у схему ланцюгів наскрізного переносу. Ефект від впровадження цього удосконалення полягає у зменшенні обчислювальної ємнісної складності, що забезпечує зменшення апаратних витрат у середньому на 10 % порівняно з наявним базовим методом. Розроблено та запропоновано удосконалений метод зменшення обчислювальної ємнісної складності реалізації моделі суматора за модулем на основі одновимірного каскаду конструктивних модулів, який, на відміну від раніше запропонованого, використовує конструктивні модулі нерегулярного типу. Встановлено, що модифікацію методу можна застосовувати для зменшення обчислювальної складності в разі некритичності вимог до регулярності структури обчислювача. Використання модифікованого методу дозволяє зменшити обчислювальну ємнісну складність, що забезпечує зменшення апаратних витрат у середньому на 50 % порівняно з наявним базовим методом. Розроблено та запропоновано метод збільшення швидкодії суматора за модулем на основі одновимірного каскаду конструктивних модулів, який, на відміну від відомих, використовує ланцюги групового переносу, що дозволяє підвищити швидкість виконання операцій у 8 разів порівняно з реалізацією базовим методом. Запропоновано модифікацію алгоритму множення та піднесення до степеня за змінним модулем, з урахуванням особливостей застосування моделей суматорів на основі одновимірних каскадів конструктивних модулів, в якому зменшене значення нижньої оцінка часової складності. У третьому розділі запропоновано модель обчислювальних структур завадостійких кодів для виконання операцій за змінним простим модулем над числами великої розрядності, виконано її реалізацію та дослідження. Модель була створена з орієнтацією на адаптацію до елементів операційного обчислювального середовища для забезпечення можливості конструювання необхідних комбінацій виконавчих пристроїв для виконання однотипних арифметичних інструкцій за модулем над числами великої розрядності. Також у цьому розділі виконана адаптація алгоритму обчислення операції множення та піднесення до степеня за модулем з урахуванням особливостей її побудови раніше запропонованим методом одновимірного каскаду. Запропонована структура моделі та алгоритм роботи спрощеного завантаження багаторозрядних операндів до блоків виконання операції за модулем. При реалізації моделі використовувався структурний опис з використанням бібліотеки стандартних ресурсів Xilinx мовою опису апаратури VHDL. Запропонований алгоритм роботи блоку спрощеного завантаження операндів. Цей блок являє собою блок керування без логіки вибору операції, оскільки для дослідження одного конкретного обчислювача вона не потрібна, але може справляти додатковий вплив на характеристики. Розроблена модель обчислювальних структур завадостійких кодів для виконання операцій за змінним простим модулем, як і більшість подібних до неї, рідко використовуються як окрема одиниця та зазвичай являють собою частину складнішої синхронної системи. Таким чином, проведені експерименти вирішили задачу визначення максимальної тактової частоти, на якій може працювати розроблена модель без помилок у обчисленнях вихідної функції. Четвертий розділ присвячений розробці інформаційної технології прискореного обчислення великих даних для систем розподіленої обробки інформації. Інформаційна технологія базується на розроблених раніше удосконалених методах зменшення апаратних витрат та прискорення обчислення великих даних. Інформаційна технологія ґрунтується на розроблених раніше, удосконалених методах зменшення апаратних витрат та прискорення обчислення великих даних. Додатково, для доповнення технології було розроблено: проєкт обчислювальної системи на основі софтпроцесора, проєкт співпроцесора з драйверами до обчислювальної системи, набір програмних функцій мовою С, які реалізують програмне виконання базових операцій, та засоби тестування для моделі обчислювальних структур. Для автоматизації процесу створення та тестування моделей був реалізований набір скриптів та бібліотека моделей мовою VHDL, яка містить моделі обчислювальних структур. Також було розроблено архітектуру та систему команд функціональної моделі співпроцесора, орієнтованого на виконання операцій у скінченних полях.<br>The dissertation is devoted to research of actual problems of increase of efficiency of digital computing means of algorithms of coding / decoding of noise - tolerant codes by reduction of complexity of realization at the condition of high speed and big volume of an input data stream, using features and properties of a hardware platform of modern microprocessor technics. In the first section of the dissertation the current state and prospects of acceleration of calculations in modern systems of distributed information processing are analyzed. A special need for accelerators arises in cryptographic systems and noise-tolerant coding systems, where a significant part of all computational transformations over big data are operations in Galois fields. The analysis of the problem of computing acceleration in distributed information processing systems revealed the need to reduce the computational complexity of the basic operations used in technologies to solve the problem of detecting and correcting errors in distributed information processing systems, in particular in modern radio systems. The codes used to correct errors in modern radio communication systems are analyzed, and the main directions of accelerating the encoding / decoding process when using algebraic codes are identified. Based on the analysis, it was determined that the encoding / decoding process is based on the finite field arithmetic apparatus. Thus, simplifying and speeding up the operation in Galois fields should reduce the computational complexity of implementing encoding / decoding procedures for noise-tolerant codes. An analysis of the main methods of calculating operations in Galois fields, found that the priority is to simplify and accelerate the execution of addition operations, as components of multiplication, multiplication and others. Based on the analysis of existing methods of computing operations in Galois fields, it was concluded that modern widely implemented implementations of computing units in finite fields have limitations and shortcomings that lead to reduced use of algebraic codes in solving problems of error detection and correction. performance of specialized computing facilities, taking into account the features and properties of the hardware platform of modern microprocessor technology, the complexity of implementation and speed of which would meet existing requirements and be predicted depending on the bit size of the processed sequences. In the second section of the work is the development of improving the method of acceleration and reduction of hardware costs for the implementation of units of operations on the module, development of structural solutions and modification of algorithms for operations on the module. A method for reducing the hardware costs of the adder per module based on a one-dimensional cascade of structural modules with a homogeneous structure is developed and proposed. This method is based on the introduction into the circuit of through transmission circuits. The effect of implementing this improvement is to reduce the computational complexity, which reduces hardware costs by an average of 10% compared to the existing basic method. An improved method for reducing the computational capacity of the modulator adder model implementation based on a one-dimensional cascade of structural modules is developed and proposed, which, in contrast to the previously proposed, uses structural modules of irregular type. It is established that the modification of the method can be used to reduce the computational complexity in the case of non-critical requirements for the regularity of the computer structure. The use of a modified method reduces the computational complexity, which reduces hardware costs by an average of 50% compared to the existing basic method. A method of increasing the speed of the adder modulo based on a onedimensional cascade of structural modules is developed and proposed, which, unlike the known ones, uses group transfer chains, which allows to increase the speed of operations 8 times compared to the basic method. A modification of the algorithm of multiplication and exponentiation by a variable module is proposed, taking into account the peculiarities of the application of adder models based on one-dimensional cascades of structural modules, in which the value of the lower estimate of time complexity is reduced. The third section proposes a model of computational structures of noise-tolerant codes for performing operations on a variable simple module over high-digit numbers, its implementation and research. The model was created with a focus on adaptation to the elements of the operational computing environment to provide the ability to design the necessary combinations of actuators to perform the same type of arithmetic instructions modulo over high-digit numbers. Also in the section the adaptation of the algorithm for calculating the operation of multiplication and exponentiation modulo taking into account the peculiarities of its construction by the previously proposed method of one-dimensional cascade. The structure of the model and the algorithm of work of the simplified loading of multi-bit operands to blocks of performance of operation on the module are offered. The model was implemented using a structural description using the Xilinx standard resource library in the VHDL hardware description language. The algorithm of operation of the block of the simplified loading of operands is offered. This unit is a control unit without the logic of the choice of operation, as for the study of one particular computer, it is not required, but can have an additional impact on performance. Keep in mind that the contribution of the FSL interface and the simplified load scheme to the values of resources and delays may not have characteristics with a high coefficient of determination, as their implementation uses a behavioral description. The model of computational structures of noise-tolerant codes for performing operations on a variable simple module, like most similar ones, is rarely used as a separate unit, and is usually part of a more complex synchronous system. Thus, the experiments solved the problem of determining the maximum clock frequency at which the developed model can work without errors in the calculations of the original function. The fourth section is devoted to the development of information technology for accelerated computation of large data for distributed information processing systems. Information technology is based on previously developed advanced methods to reduce hardware costs and speed up the calculation of big data. Information technology is based on previously developed, improved methods to reduce hardware costs and speed up the calculation of big data. In addition, to complement the technology, a computer processor-based computer system project, a coprocessor project with computer system drivers, a set of C-program functions that implement software execution of basic operations, and testing tools for the computer structure model were developed. To automate the process of creating and testing models, a set of scripts and a library of models in VHDL, which contains models of computational structures, was implemented. The architecture and command system of the functional model of the coprocessor, focused on performing operations in finite fields, were also developed.

碩士<br>朝陽科技大學<br>幼兒保育系碩士班<br>94<br>This research was aimed to investigate the differences of mean utterance length and grammatical classes analysis between preschool children with Viefnames mothers and local native children. 63 research participants were selected from kindergartens within Taichung and Chunghua County. There children were divided into groups of four-year-old, five-year-old and six-year-old. By the approach of “read book and tell the story” these children were given a wordless picture book to read. The stories these children told were to be their language samples for carrying out measurement of language production: mean length of utterance and grammatical classes analysis. In mean length of utterance measuring with syllables (MLUs), children with Vietnamese mothers in four-year-old, five-year-old and six-year-old group were measured to be 5.00, 6.16 and 7.55, where children with native mothers in four-year-old, five-year-old and six-year-old groups were measured to be 7.00, 8.92 and 8.34. In mean length of utterance measuring with words (MLUw), children with Vietnamese mothers in four-year-old, five-year-old and six-year-old group were measured to be 3.00, 3.72 and 4.87, where children with native mothers in four-year-old, five-year-old and six-year-old group were measured to be 4.46, 5.21, and 4.94. The results of analysis indicated statistical native children was significant suspension to that children with Vietnamese mother and six-year-old group better then four-years-old group. In aspect of grammatical classes analysis, that children with Vietnamese mother were Noun and Verb statistical more then others, native children were Verb statistical more then others.

碩士<br>正修科技大學<br>工業工程與管理研究所<br>104<br>Over the past decades, the mass customization has become reality as one of the leading strategies in customer satisfaction and company survival. Although it can’t be ignored in today’s market, when extra orders incoming, small and medium enterprises will have problem of covering the needs of manpower by their regular employees. For hiring contractors, they need to know how to measure and allocate the productivity of their new crews very quickly and precisely. The objective of this research is to establish a whole new productivity assessment model via the Fuzzy C-means clustering method. By applying this new model, we can get the ranking of new employees’ working ability of given production line according to their membership number. After the evaluation, we will be able to give the particular working assignment to the most suitable worker. This study will use “assembling a personal computer” as an example to verification. In this particular production line, we will see assembling eight different computer components as eight different sequential tasks. The result of this paper will show that this model provides not only the most efficiency choice for the current production line, but also gives less cost of the lead time when switching in between different or new production lines.

The goal of this study was to characterize the nutritional contribution of microalgae to white-legged shrimp and optimize fish meal (FM) and fish oil (FO) inclusion levels in their diets in the presence of microalgae. Phytoplankton composition was first determined in a typical Peruvian intensive commercial shrimp farm and in a semi-closed greenhouse-covered reservoir. A predominance of 76.3% cyanobacteria was observed for most of 9 months in all shrimp ponds. However, with the fertilization program in a reservoir tank, 60.7% diatoms and 22.8% cyanobacteria predominated. Thus, with the imposed fertilization regimen, the microalgae composition was manipulated to be different than that in commercial shrimp ponds. The microalgae composition was then evaluated along with different dietary levels of FM and squid meal (SM) in a feeding trial to evaluate the potential of phytoplankton to reduce FM and SM levels in shrimp feeds. Six diets were formulated to contain either 5, 10 or 20% SM combined with either 6.5 or 12% FM. Dietary effects on growth and survival were compared in a "clear-water system" (CWS) and a "green-water system" (GWS). Results suggest that 6.5% FM and 5% SM can be used as a cost-effective combination in feeds for shrimp. The effects of different dietary levels of FO and soybean lecithin (LT) on shrimp growth in CWS and GWS were evaluated in another feeding trial to determine if dietary phospholipids and phytoplankton increase the availability of essential fatty acids (EFAs) to shrimp. Six diets were formulated to contain 1, 2 or 3% FO combined with either 1 or 4% LT. Shrimp fed diets containing 1% LT and 1% FO in both systems had significantly lower weight gain and higher feed conversion ratio. Cephalothorax lipids and phospholipids were higher in shrimp fed diets containing 4% LT. Inclusion of 4% LT increased the availability of EFAs, and could contribute to reduce the FO in shrimp diets. The contribution of phytoplankton to shrimp weight gain, varied from 38.8 to 60.6%. This study demonstrated that cost-effective diets could be formulated with reduced inclusion levels of FM and FO considering the contribution of microalgae to the nutrition of shrimp.

Thesis (M. Sc. Agriculture (Animal Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2018<br>Two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of replacing maize meal with a low tannin sorghum meal (Macia) on productivity, gut morphology, carcass characteristics and bone morphometrics of Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 42 days. In each experiment, a total of 160 Ross 308 broiler chickens were assigned to a complete randomized design with 5 treatments, replicated 4 times with 8 chickens per replicate. Five diets were formulated to contain sorghum replacement levels at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% to meet the nutrient requirements of Ross 308 broiler chickens. Data was analysed using statistical analysis of variance. The first experiment determined the effect of replacing maize meal with a low tannin white sorghum meal on productivity and gut morphology of unsexed Ross 308 broiler chickens aged 1 to 21 days. Feed intake, growth rate, feed conversion ratio, live weight, N-retention, caecum and large intestine digesta pH, large intestine lengths, crop, gizzard, caecum and large intestine weights, gut intestinal villi height, crypt depth and villi height to crypt depth ratio of unsexed Ross 308 broiler chickens were not affected (P>0.05) by the treatment effects. However, replacement of maize meal with sorghum meal improved (P<0.05) metabolisable energy intake and small intestine digesta pH values. It was concluded that maize meal can be replaced by a low tannin white sorghum meal in the diet without adverse effects on unsexed Ross 308 broiler chickens aged one to 21 days. The second experiment determined the effect of replacing maize meal with sorghum meal on productivity, gut morphology, carcass characteristics and bone morphometrics of Ross 308 male broiler chickens aged 22 to 42 days. Replacing maize meal with sorghum meal had no effect (P>0.05) on feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), live weight and nitrogen retention (N-retention) of male Ross 308 broiler chickens aged 22 to 42 days. Replacing maize meal with sorghum meal improved (P<0.05) ME intake and growth rate of the chickens. Caecum and large intestine digesta pH, GIT, caecum and large intestine lengths, small intestine, caecum and large intestine weights, gut intestinal villi height, crypt depth and villi height to crypt depth ratio, drumstick, thigh and wing weights, drumstick, thigh and wing colour, meat sensory evaluation, meat pH and bone morphometrics of male Ross 308 broiler chickens were not affected (P>0.05) by replacement of maize meal with sorghum vii meal. It was concluded that maize meal can be replaced by a low tannin white sorghum meal at 25, 50, 75 and 100% levels without causing adverse effects on productivity and carcass characteristics of male broiler chickens aged 22 to 42 days. Key words: Low tannin sorghum meal, Maize meal, Broiler chickens, Growth rate, Carcass characteristics.<br>National Research Foundation (NRF)

The objectives of this research were to study metabolic pathways in C. roseus hairy root cultures, and to enhance secondary metabolite productivity using fungal elicitation as the technique. The effects of age of inoculum were studied by adapting the cultures to three subculture cycle routines. The 2 week subculture cycle yielded the fastest, while the 4 week cycle yielded the lowest, specific growth rates. Specific yields of tabersonine decreased from day 21 to 35 while the total yields of horhammericine increased in all three subculture cycles. Lochnericine yields were highest in the 2 week cycle while serpentine yields were lowest. The effects of dosages and exposure times of specific elicitors on several compounds in the indole alkaloid pathway were studied. A 150% increase in tabersonine specific yield was observed upon addition of 72 units of pectinase. Levels of serpentine, tabersonine and lochnericine decreased transiently after addition of pectinase in time course studies. Jasmonic acid was found to be a unique elicitor leading to an enhancement in flux to several branches in the alkaloid pathway. Time course studies with jasmonic acid showed a transient increase in lochnericine and tabersonine levels and a continuous increase in levels of ajmalicine, serpentine and horhammericine. NMR spectroscopy was utilized as the tool to study primary metabolism of hairy roots non-invasively. $\sp{31}$P NMR spectroscopy studies indicated that vacuolar and cytoplasmic pH were maintained at 7.4 $\pm$ 0.06 and 5.25 $\pm$ 0.08 respectively. $\sp{13}$C NMR spectroscopy studies indicated activities of pentose phosphate pathways, non-photosynthetic CO$\sb2$ fixation and glucan synthesis pathways. Recycling of triose phosphate was evident from scrambling of label in glucans. In vivo $\sp{31}$P and $\sp{13}$C NMR spectroscopy was subsequently utilized to study the effects of elicitors on primary metabolism. A transient short-term decline in the cytoplasmic pH was observed upon addition of pectinase while a prolonged decrease in vacuolar pH was observed upon addition of jasmonic acid. Enhanced accumulation of glucans was detected upon addition of pectinase. A reduction in the levels of pyruvate and glutamine was observed, upon addition of jasmonic acid, indicating a decrease in flux to glycolysis or an increase in the drain on these pools.

This thesis tested the effect of Spirulina supplementation and its interactions with sire breed, sex and nutritional plane on Australian dual-purpose lamb productivity and product quality. It was hypothesised that Spirulina supplementation would interact with sex, sire breed and plane of nutrition to affect wool and meat quality traits, haematological metabolites, body conformation, liveweight and feed intake indices of lamb productivity. Secondary objectives of assessing the independent effects of sire breed, sex and plane of nutrition on the fatty acid composition of lamb were also investigated. A total of 48 lambs randomly allocated to treatment groups balanced by sire breed (Black Suffolk, Dorset, Merino, and White Suffolk), sex (ewes and wethers) and Spirulina supplementation levels (CONTROL – 0mL, LOW – 50mL, MEDIUM – 100mL, and HIGH – 200mL) was used. These lambs were allocated into two feeding trials with basal diets of differing planes of nutrition – low and high planes of nutrition which represented simulated-drought and pasture-fed diets respectively. In both trials, lambs were fed daily with 150 g barley grain and assigned Spirulina supplementation level as a 1:10 w/v water suspension using a drenching gun prior to being released for grazing on ryegrass pastures. Each feeding trial lasted for 9-weeks including a 3-week adjustment phase. Data collected throughout the feeding trial included; weekly body conformation and liveweight measurements and feed intake; midside wool and blood samples; carcass samples and dressed weight; and feed composition. Wool and meat quality traits, haematological metabolites, body conformation, liveweight and feed intake indices of productivity were analysed in SAS with Spirulina supplementation level, sire breed, sex, plane of nutrition and their second-order interactions used as fixed effects. It was evident that Spirulina supplementation level, sire breed, sex and nutritional plane significantly affected productivity and product quality in Australian dual-purpose lambs, in that; 1) Medium and high Spirulina supplementation levels improved liveweight and growth during drought periods of low nutritional planes; 2) Spirulina supplementation affected physical wool quality traits only when interacting with sire breed; 3) As Spirulina supplementation level increased, so did gamma-glutamyl plasma concentrations and significant interactions of supplementation level with sex had an impact on glucose, Aspartate aminotransferase, and magnesium. Interactions of level of supplementation with sire breed influenced creatinine, gamma-glutamyl and albumin/globulin ratios; 4) Spirulina had no effect on intramuscular fat levels but reduced fat levels when the lambs were on a high nutritional plane; 5) High levels of Spirulina supplementation were associated with increase in subcutaneous fat melting point; and 6) Spirulina level did not reduce feed intake and had no detrimental effect on wool quality of lambs. Furthermore, regardless of Spirulina supplementation level, sex, sire breed and nutritional plane influenced fatty acid profile as an indicator of meat quality. Consequently, the hypothesis was accepted. As an outcome of this thesis, Australian dual-purpose lamb operations can apply Spirulina supplementation to best optimise product quality and productivity. It permits informed decisions when tailoring animal management systems and responding to dietary shifts. The impacts of sire breed, sex and plane of nutrition on lamb product quality and productivity contributes to the existing knowledge of supplementing ruminants with microalgae. This thesis demonstrates that Spirulina is a beneficial and useful protein-rich supplement for Australian dual-purpose lamb operations.

When grown under hypothermic conditions, Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells become growth arrested in the G₀/G₁ phase of the cell cycle and also often exhibit increased recombinant protein production. In this study, we have validated this hypothesis by stimulating hypothermic growth using basic fibroblast growth factor and fetal bovine serum supplementation. This method led to 7.7- and 4.9-fold increase in total production compared to the 37°C and 32°C control cultures, respectively. This proof-of-concept study will motivate the creation of cell lines capable of growing at low temperatures for use in industrial processes.<br>Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

The purpose of this study is to enhance the body'ofi knowledge that has been developed concerning the lives of non-working young men who have schizophrenia. It is concerned with how these men experience activities that constitute productive endeavors within the context of their lives given that they are not performing traditionally defined productive activities such as employment, education or volunteer work: Adhering to a narrative approach, a semi-structured interview was used to assist five men in telling their stories of productivity. Content and thematic analysis was used to explore the influence of their experiences on their personal meanings of productivity and how these meanings have affected their behavior. The relevance of this information to occupational therapy was also explored. The most significant theme was that of the. men performing a precarious balancing act of trying not get sick (have a relapse) .by working to occupy themselves and yet not become too stressed. Staying well was seen as the most important goal in their lives. Going from place to place, doing a number of activities, accomplishing a task and their faith in God were all seen as effective strategies to achieve this end.

"May 2002"<br>Includes bibliographical references (leaves 148-164)<br>xi, 164 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm.<br>Describes a series of novel experiments designed to enhance our understanding of nutrient utilisation for growth of wool and the whole body.<br>Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Animal Science, 2002

Tropical pastures are dominated by tropical or C4 grasses, which supply most of the forage material for grazing meat goats. In the typically long dry season of Northern Australia and West Timor, Indonesia, these grasses contain crude protein (CP) of 20 to 100 g/kg DM. This is equivalent to metabolisable protein (MP) content of 10.5 to 60.9 g/kg DM and metabolisable energy (ME) of 6.2 to 9.1 MJ/kgDM. These cannot meet the goats' requirements for MP and ME as recommended by the National Research Council (NRC) 2007. These nutritional issues cause low productivity in periparturient does for breeding and in weaner kids raised for red meat production. A feeding strategy aimed at increasing the productivity of goats fed tropical grass hay was to provide protein supplements to meet the ammonia requirements for rumen microbes with the minimum requirement 20 to 50 mg N/litre (Nolan, 1981) and true protein for the animals. Four general objectives were defined for this thesis: • To meet the nutrient requirements of periparturient and lactating does and weaner kids for both rumen degradable and undegradable protein (RDP and UDP), from which metabolisable protein (MP) was derived. • To categorise diets based on the relative and total estimated amounts of RDP, UDP, MP as well as metabolisable energy (ME) based on organic matter digestibility. • To validate the NRC (2007) methodologies for the prediction of dry matter intake (DMI) and average daily gain (ADG) of weaner kids fed tropical forages using intakes of these protein fractions and ME. • To recommend supplementation strategies that incorporate the RDP and UDP supplied by diets to improve growth and carcass yields of meat goats in the tropics, especially in East Nusa Tenggara (West Timor), Indonesia. Four experiments were conducted and each experiment became one chapter of this thesis. Experiment 1 utilised twelve periparturient crossbred Boer does and their suckling kids. Each group of three animlas was offered Rhodes grass hay (RGH) as a basal diet (Control) or RGH supplemented with urea (Urea), urea plus cottonseed meal (Urea-CSM) and cottonseed meal (CSM). The objectives were to limit doe body weight loss, prevent ketosis and to increase the ADG of their suckling kids by varying the quantities of UDP and RDP based on the NRC (2007) recommendation. Protein supplements did not prevent doe body weight loss, but Urea-CSM and CSM supplements reduced non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) in the blood plasma. Supplements did not affect milk concentration, but increased ADG in suckling kids in the first week of the lactation period. These body weights and blood metabolites responses were associated with intakes of UDP, RDP, ME and Nitrogen retention. Experiments 2 and 3 were conducted to increase liveweight gain and carcass yield of crossbred Boer goats by varying the quantities of dietary concentrations of RDP and UDP according to NRC (2007) recommendation. In a five-treatment experimental design, the basal diet of Rhodes grass hay was supplemented with: 1. Urea (Urea), 2. Urea plus cottonseed meal (Urea-CSM), 3. Cottonseed meal (CSM), 4. Air dried Gliricidia sepium leaves (Gliricidia), and 5. Desmanthus leptophyllus dried leaves (Desmanthus) only. The dietary crude protein concentrations in Experiments 2 and 3 were 137 g/kg DM and 195 g/kg DM, respectively. Five of the 25 growing female crossbred Boer kids were allotted one diet in Experiment 2 for 120 days. The results showed that goats supplemented with Urea, Urea-CSM or Gliricidia lost weight as much as 15, 3 or 3 g/head per day, respectively.. Goats supplemented with CSM gained weight at the rate of 7 g/d and this increased to 33 g/d when the goats were fed Desmanthus hay. This liveweight gain data was not associated with MP and ME requirements suggested for temperate goats by NRC (2007). Growing at these rates, it was apparent that weaner goats would not achieve market liveweight within a reasonable timeframe. Therefore, Experiment 3 was conducted by increasing the dietary crude protein concentration to 195 g CP/kg DM. In Experiment 3, the goats were rearranged into the same five dietary treatments and raised indoors in individual pens for 130 days. Evidence from this study revealed that weaner goats fed Desmanthus grew faster at an ADG of 83 g/head per day and had heavier carcass with an average cold carcass weight of 12.1 kg and non-carcass components, followed by goats fed CSM, Urea-CSM, Gliricidia and Urea. Heavier carcass weight was associated with greater eye muscle area and fat depth at the 12th to 13th rib interface. The higher rate of liveweight gain, carcass and non-carcass components yields for goats fed the Desmanthus diet, compared with other treatments, was associated with increased intakes of UDP, RDP, MP and ME. High intakes, growth rate and carcass weight in the goats was more likely associated with feed digestibility and nitrogen retention. Experiment 4 was therefore conducted to compare apparent digestibility and nitrogen retention in crossbred Boer kids fed tropical grass hay supplemented with an NPN-RDP source (urea) and a source of RDP and UDP of true protein origin (cottonseed meal) at a dietary crude protein level of 175 g/kg DM. Twelve growing, male crossbred goats were divided into four groups of three. The first, a control group, received a basal diet of RGH; the second, a Urea group, received RGH plus urea; the third, a Urea-CSM group, received RGH plus urea mixed with cottonseed meal and the fourth, a CSM group, received RGH plus cottonseed meal. Results indicated that higher feed intake, apparent digestibility of crude protein and digestible nutrient intake were associated with CSM and Urea-CSM supplements. Higher nitrogen retention, however, was associated with CSM supplementation. Modeling to predict DMI and ADG was conducted using input data derived from Experiments 2 and 3. Dry matter intake was predicted using metabolic body weight and estimated dietary concentration of ME or DM digestibility or estimated dietary concentration of ME only. Results showed that these equations were generally not useful to predict DMI of goats. Specifically, it was evident that dietary concentration of UDP, not RDP or CP, was the better predictor of DMI. When ADG was predicted using MP and ME intakes incorporated with standard requirements by NRC (2007), the percentage of variation explained by the model as indicated by the coefficient of determination (R²) was so low that the difference between predicted and actual ADG values was very large, hence predictability was poor. Metabolisable protein intake could predict ADG when goats were supplemented with Urea or fed Desmanthus only at a dietary CP level of 137 g/kg DM. Metabolisable energy intake could only predict ADG in goats supplemented with Gliricidia at a dietary CP level of 195 g/kg DM. Despite the high coefficient of determination (R²) values above 0.70, a strong relationship between ADG and MP or ME intake in these two studies was not evident since the NRC (2007) equations could not accurately predict ADG for most of the treatments. It can be concluded that protein supplementation to goats fed tropical grass should consider requirement for rumen microbes in the form RDP and the requirement for animal in the form of UDP. The combination of these two types of protein sources made of Urea and cottonseed meal at the dietary crude protein level of 143 g/kg DM maintained normal blood metabolites of periparturient does. Supplements of Urea, Urea plus cottonseed meal or cottonseed meal to lactating does increased average daily gain of suckling kids but weaner goats should be supplemented with RDP and UDP at a dietary crude protein level of 195 g/kg DM. Dry matter intake and ADG responses were associated with intakes of RDP, UDP and ME. Among these determinant factors, UDP is the best predictor for DMI. Both intakes of MP and ME were good predictors for ADG of weaner kids according to the NRC (2007) prediction methodologies. In addition to Urea and cottonseed meal, Desmanthus hay provides RDP and UDP for weaner goats, which resulted in heavier body weight and carcass weight as compared to those fed Rhodes grass hay and supplemented with Urea and/or cottonseed meal.

Thesis (MSc. (Animal Production)) -- University of Limpopo, 2018<br>A study was done to determine the effect of Acacia (A.) karroo, A. tortilis or A. nilotica leaf meal inclusion in a diet on methane emission and productivity of yearling male Boer goats fed a basal diet of Avena sativa hay. The first part of the study was conducted to determine and compare nutrient contents and tannin levels of A. karroo, A. tortilis and A. nilotica leaf meals and Avena sativa hay in a completely randomised design. The diets means were compared using Fisher’s least significant difference at the 5 % level of probability. The three Acacia species had higher (P<0.05) crude protein contents compared to Avena sativa hay, ranging from 12.42 to 14.49 %. No tannins were detected in Avena sativa hay. Among Acacia species, A. nilotica leaves had higher (P<0.05) total phenolic and total tannin contents than A. karroo and A. tortilis leaves, the latter being similar (P>0.05). All three Acacia species had similar (P>0.05) contents of condensed tannins, ranging from 1.49 to 1.76 %. However, only A. nilotica leaves had hydrolysable tannins of 128 mg/g. The second part of the study was conducted to determine the effect of A. karroo, A. tortilis or A. nilotica leaf meal inclusion level on diet intake and digestibility, methane emission, productivity and blood profiles of yearling male Boer goats. A total of three experiments were conducted and different goats were used in each experiment. A grand total of thirty six (twelve per experiment) yearling male Boer goats with initial mean live weights of 23 ± 2 kg (experiment 1), 23 ± 2 kg (experiment 2) and 23 ± 2 kg (experiment 3) were used in 21-day experiments. The goats were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments, each containing A. karroo, A. tortilis or A. nilotica leaf meal inclusion levels at 10, 15, 20 and 30 % with Avena sativa hay as a basal diet. Each goat was housed in well-ventilated individual metabolic pen. The diets were replicated three times. The data collected were subjected to analysis of covariance and analysis of variance in a completely randomized design using SAS. Differences were separated at 5 % level of probability. Additionally, regression equations were used to determine the relationships and responses in optimal diet intake and digestibility, methane emission, productivity and blood profiles of yearling male Boer goats to differing inclusion levels of A. karroo, A. tortilis and A. nilotica leaf meal. v Experiment 1 involved feeding different levels of A. karroo leaf meal inclusion to yearling male Boer goats fed Avena sativa hay as a basal diet. Results of methane emission before and during the experiment indicated that inclusion of A. karroo leaf meal in the diets of goats reduced (P<0.05) methane emission. Similarly, some of the blood parameters before and after experiment were affected (P<0.05) by inclusion of A. karroo leaf meal. However, A. karroo leaf meal inclusion level had no effect (P>0.05) on diet intake, methane emission, live weight changes and digestibility, except (P<0.05) for digestibility of crude fibre. Feed conversion ratio improved linearly with increased A. karroo leaf meal inclusion level. In the case of experiment 2, results of methane emission before and during the experiment indicated that inclusion of A. tortilis leaf meal in the diets of goats reduced (P<0.05) methane emission. Similarly, some of the blood parameters before and after the experiment were affected (P<0.05) by inclusion of A. tortilis leaf meal. However, variation in A. tortilis leaf meal inclusion level had comparable effect (P>0.05) on methane emission, live weight changes and digestibility, except (P<0.05) for digestibility of crude protein and acid detergent fibre. Diet intake and feed conversion ratio were affected (P<0.05) by A. tortilis leaf meal inclusion level. A positive relationship was observed between A. tortilis leaf meal inclusion level and diet intake. In experiment 3, results of methane emission before and during the experiment indicated that inclusion of A. nilotica leaf meal in the diets of goats reduced (P<0.05) methane emission. Similarly, some of the blood parameters before and the after experiment were affected (P<0.05) by inclusion of A. nilotica leaf meal. Apart from diet fat digestibility and feed conversion ratio, no statistical differences (P>0.05) were observed on diet intake, digestibility and live weight changes of goats fed A. nilotica leaf meal inclusion level. Positive relationships were observed between A. nilotica leaf meal inclusion level, diet fat digestibility and feed conversion ratio in male Boer goats. The high crude protein and low tannin contents in A. karroo, A. tortilis and A. nilotica leaves indicate that these Acacia species can be safe to use as a source of protein in animal nutrition if used sparingly. It was noted that nutrient intake, digestibility, vi feed conversion ratio and blood profiles of Boer goats in the present study were optimised at different inclusion levels for all the three Acacia species. This may imply that inclusion levels of A. karroo, A. tortilis and A. nilotica leaf meals for optimal productivity will depend on the Acacia species used and, also, on particular productivity parameters in question. Although, A. karroo, A. tortilis and A. nilotica leaf meal reduced methane emission, optimal reduction in methane emission was not determined. Further validation is required to determine Acacia inclusion levels for optimal methane production and emission by goats.<br>NRF (National Research Foundation), AGRISETA (Agricultural Sector and Education Training Authority) and NSFAS (National Students Financial Aid Scheme)

The need to establish baseline artisan productivities in the South African employmentintensive construction sector stems from the fact that these productivity norms have not been reviewed on a frequent basis. To others, these productivity norms hardly exist. With both scenarios, it is difficult to compare artisan productivity trends in the last fifty years to the trend of international standards. Constructive efforts have been made in this document to highlight the productivity norms that have existed within the building industry since the 1950’s. A similar exercise has been done for the USA and other European countries, notably the UK. A comparison of these trends of productivity norms has revealed that the current artisan productivity figures in South Africa are the lowest since the 1950’s. Again, they are the lowest amongst these countries. In the 1950’s, the artisan productivity norms in South Africa were quite close and thus comparable to the European countries but the gap has widened thereafter. The USA has generally experienced a continuous improvement in their productivity norms on an annual basis and this has been due partly to the improvement in the working tools of artisans. Another important factor is the poor quality of artisanship. The constructive effort being made by the South African government towards ensuring the sustainability of small and emerging contractors in employment-intensive construction is not in balance; the Contractor learnership programme of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) must go hand-in- hand with an artisan learnership programme. Key words: baseline artisan productivity, task-group, work-study, construction, face & stock-bricks, plastering, painting and tiling.

Presenteeism is a relatively new concept meaning working while sick. It is though to account for a large amount of productivity loss due to illness. Presenteeism’s body of literature is reviewed. This paper focuses on differences between public and private organizations, and between men and women. Survey data (n=235) was collected from the region of Ferrol, Spain. Evidence is found to suggest that private sector workers, but not public workers, come to work ill because they fear being fired for being absent. Connections are made with the economic climate. Ideas for future research are proposed and expanded upon.

Orientação: João Cannas da Silva ; coorientação: João Paulo Reia Salgueiro Camejo<br>A otimização da produtividade de explorações de bovinos de carne compreende a gestão de diversos fatores como a genética, a nutrição, a saúde e a fertilidade. A análise dos índices produtivos ou zootécnicos de bovinos de carne trata-­se de um tema muito importante em medicina veterinária, dada a crescente preocupação por parte dos produtores de maximizar a rentabilidade da exploração e por parte dos consumidores por minimizar o impacto ambiental da produção animal. A presente dissertação foi desenvolvida numa exploração de vacas de carne com o objetivo de comparar o ganho médio de peso diário (GMPD) dos vitelos das raças charolesa e limousine. O maneio dos animais das diferentes raças é semelhante em termos nutricionais e profiláticos e apresentam a mesma localização geográfica. Os dados dos animais foram recolhidos da base de dados da exploração e foi feita uma análise estatística utilizando o programa SPSS. O ganho médio de peso diário foi superior para animais da raça Charolesa em comparação com vitelos da raça Limousine. A ocorrência de doença mostrou ser um fator que afeta o ganho médio de peso diário e vitelos que apresentaram doença respiratória ou diarreia tiveram um ganho médio de peso diário inferior relativamente a vitelos saudáveis. Nesta exploração, vitelos que nasceram no Outono tiveram um ganho médio de peso diário superior quando comparados com vitelos nascidos na primavera. O ganho médio de peso diário de vitelos nascidos de vacas primíparas não mostrou grande diferença em relação a vitelos filhos de vacas multíparas. Não foi possível tirar nenhuma conclusão relativamente ao sexo do animal, que a em virtude de a variável não ter apresentado significância estatística.<br>Optimizing the productivity of beef cattle farms includes managing various factors such as genetics, nutrition, health and fertility. The analysis of the zoo technical indices of beef cattle is a very important subject in veterinary medicine given the growing concern on the part of producers to maximize the profitability of the farm and on the part of consumers to minimize the environmental impact of animal production. The present dissertation was developed in a beef cattle farm with the objective of comparing the average daily gain of calves of the Charolais and Limousin breeds. The management of the animals of the different breeds is similar in nutritional and prophylactic terms, and they are in the same geographical location. The animals' data were collected from the farm's database and a statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS program. The average daily gain was higher for Charolais breed animals compared to Limousin breed calves. The occurrence of disease was shown to be a factor affecting average daily gain, calves that had respiratory disease or diarrhea had a lower average daily gain compared to healthy calves. In this farm, calves that were born in autumn had a higher average daily gain when compared to calves born in spring. The average daily gain of calves born to primiparous cows did not show much difference compared to calves born to multiparous cows. It was not possible to draw any conclusion from the sex of the animal since the variable did not show statistical significance.

The presented thesis describes the typology of current names of professions in healthcare in terms of onomasiology and structural-morphology. The starting point of the thesis is the existing professional linguistic description of naming structures implemented as one-word names and nominal collocations. The language material consists of the names of professions in healthcare that are currently used. The names are classified in terms of word-formation, lexical semantics and the origin of words.

Orientação : João Cannas da Silva ; co-orientação : Diana Jacinto<br>A produção de bovinos de carne, no nosso país, é um sector pouco profissionalizado e que se baseia em sistemas de aproveitamento dos recursos naturais. O Médico Veterinário tem um papel fulcral devendo actuar sensibilizando os produtores e apresentando soluções para reverter os principais factores que estão a reduzir a fertilidade dos efectivos. Para ajudar a aumentar o conhecimento nesta área foi elaborada esta dissertação. Realizou-se um estudo numa exploração onde de início foi feita a análise da sua eficiência reprodutiva, com o cálculo da fertilidade média anual, fertilidade real, intervalo entre partos e condição corporal, posteriormente foram tomadas medidas a partir de fundamentos técnico-científicos de forma a tentar melhorar esses índices. Estes índices foram analisados novamente após a aplicação das medidas correctivas para avaliar o efeito destas últimas. No final foi avaliado o rendimento económico da exploração antes e depois das medidas correctivas aplicadas. Os índices produtivos calculados revelaram estar muito abaixo dos valores considerados ideais pela bibliografia. Após as medidas aplicadas a fertilidade média anual aumentou 42,5 %, a fertilidade real aumentou 33,1 %, o I.E.P diminuiu 46,8 dias e a C:C. revelou uma melhoria com 81% dos animais com a C:C. ideal (entre 3 e 4). Na análise económica, apesar de as medidas terem custado 8 491 €, passou-se de um prejuízo de 9 828,15 € para um lucro de 13 375,70 €. No final revelou-se que a produtividade era muito baixa, mas que o maneio reprodutivo aplicado permitiu melhorar a fertilidade e permitiu aumentar a rentabilidade económica da exploração.<br>The production of cattle beef in our country is a sector very little professionalized and it’s based on systems of exploration of natural resources. The veterinarian has a very important role and so he should sensitize farmers and present solutions to reverse the main factors that are reducing the fertility of the livestock. This dissertation was made to help increase the knowledge in this area. We conducted a study in a farm where in the beginning we made the recognition of its reproductive productivity by calculating the average annual fertility, atual fertility, calving interval and body condition, later we took some actions, with technical-scientific foundations, to try to improve these rates. These indices were analyzed again after the implementation of the corrective measures to assess the effect of such measures. In the end we evaluated the economic performance of the farm before and after the corrective measures were taken. The calculated production rates revealed to be far below the values considered ideal by the bibliography. After the corrective measures were taken the average annual fertility increased 42.5%, the atual fertility increased 33.1%, the IEP decreased 46.8 days and C: C. showed an improvement as after the measures were applied 81% of animals had C: C. ideal (between 3 and 4). In the economic analysis, in spite of the measures applied having coasted 8 491€, it went from a loss of 9 828,15€ to a profit of 13 375,70€. In the end the previous productivity turned out to be very low, but we also found out that the reproductive management actions we applied improved the fertility and increased the economic viability of this farm.

Streszczenie Naturalne, niezaburzone antropogenicznie torfowiska pełnią niezwykle istotne funkcje. Są to, jedne z największych globalnych magazynów węgla, a w skali zlewni stanowią ważne miejsce retencji pierwiastków biogennych. Typowe dla torfowisk stałe wysokie uwodnienie oraz wycofywanie z obiegu pierwiastków biogennych wywołują w zbiorowisku roślinnym stresy anoksji oraz niskiej żyzności. Czynniki te ograniczają produkcję pierwotną i zwiększają szanse przetrwana na torfowiskach gatunków roślin słabych konkurencyjnie, często zagrożonych. Równocześnie torfowiska należą dziś do ekosystemów najszybciej degradujących się za sprawą działalności człowieka. W wyniku osuszenia powierzchniowe warstwy torfu ulegają mineralizacji, co powoduje emisję węgla do atmosfery oraz eutrofizację wód powierzchniowych. Ponadto na skutek zaniku czynników stresowych silnie konkurencyjne gatunki wypierają słabsze gatunki wyspecjalizowane. Aby ograniczyć negatywne skutki degradacji torfowisk rozpoczęto realizację projektów restytucji przyrodniczej tych ekosystemów. Początkowo metodą stosowaną w tych zabiegach było podniesienie poziomu wody poprzez zablokowanie rowów odwadniających. Metodę tą krytykowano jednak za jej negatywny wpływ na efekt cieplarniany (okresowe znaczne zwiększanie emisji metanu) oraz z powodu wzrostu żyzności (następującego równocześnie ze zwiększeniem uwilgotnienia), który uniemożliwia odtworzenie populacji rzadkich gatunków torfowiskowych. Drugą rzadziej stosowaną w restytucji torfowisk niskich metodą jest usuwanie wierzchniej, zdegradowanej warstwy torfu. Skuteczność tej metody w odtwarzaniu zbiorowisk roślinnych typowych dla torfowisk niskich została dobrze udokumentowana. Jednak do dziś nie wiadomo, jak metoda ta wpływa na relatywną dostępność poszczególnych pierwiastków biogennych, co może mieć duże znaczenie dla rozwoju fitocenoz. Co więcej, wiedza o wpływie tej metody na odtworzenie usług ekosystemowych torfowisk, takich jak wpływ na bilans gazów cieplarnianych czy obieg pierwiastków w zlewni, jest skąpa i oparta na pośrednim wnioskowaniu. Celem niniejszej rozprawy doktorskiej była ocena skuteczności restytucji torfowiska niskiego metodą usuwania zdegradowanej warstwy gleby w zakresie jej wpływu na: (1) warunki wzrostu roślin; (2) przywrócenie usług ekosystemowych związanych z obiegiem pierwiastków; (3) efekt cieplarniany, oraz porównanie tej metody z metodą powtórnego nawodnienia zdegradowanego torfowiska. Terenem badań było torfowisko Bagno Całowanie, na którym realizowany był projekt restytucji przyrodniczej, obejmujący m. in. usunięcie warstwy zdegradowanego torfu z powierzchni ok. 2 ha. Badania prowadziłem na tym obszarze oraz na zlokalizowanych wokół niego powierzchniach kontrolnych (zdegradowane, przesuszone partie torfowiska), referencyjnych (refugia roślinności nawiązującej do mechowisk zlokalizowane w obszarach dawnego wydobycia torfu) oraz poletkach eksperymentalnych, na których imitowano restytucję metodą powtórnego nawodnienia. Uzyskane przeze mnie wyniki wskazują, że metoda usuwania warstwy zdegradowanego torfu, w odróżnieniu od metody powtórnego nawodnienia zdegradowanego torfowiska, pozwala ograniczyć stężenia pierwiastków biogennych w roztworze glebowym oraz nie wywołuje zwiększenia emisji metanu. Z drugiej strony okazało się, że zastosowanie tej metody nie doprowadziło do odtworzenia warunków siedliskowych charakteryzujących się zasobnością w kationy metali zbliżoną do ekosystemów referencyjnych. Ponadto, względna dostępność fosforu w stosunku do azotu nie została ograniczona w stopniu wystarczającym, by odtworzyć warunki, w których produkcja pierwotna byłaby limitowana niedoborem tego pierwiastka (co sprzyjałoby zagrożonym gatunkom roślin). Ponadto, gdy w analizie wpływu na efekt cieplarniany uwzględniłem także efekt mineralizacji usuniętej zdegradowanej warstwy torfu, metoda usuwania warstwy zdegradowanej okazała się mniej korzystna dla klimatu (wskutek emisji dwutlenku węgla do atmosfery) niż metoda powtórnego nawodnienia. Pomimo wykazanych w pracy wad usuwania warstwy zdegradowanego torfu, ta metoda może zostać uznana za bardziej efektywną pod względem odtwarzania usług ekosystemowych oraz warunków występowania słabych konkurencyjnie gatunków roślin od powtórnego nawodnienia w ogólnym porównaniu obydwu metod. Ograniczenie stężeń azotanów i fosforanów sprzyja odtworzeniu niskoproduktywnych ekosystemów torfowiskowych. Ponadto w następstwie restytucji ograniczony zostaje ładunek azotu trafiający do zlewni, w której znajduje się torfowisko, a ilość dopływającego do niej fosforu pozostaje bez zmian. Problem wpływu dwutlenku węgla z mineralizującego się, usuniętego zdegradowanego torfu, na efekt cieplarniany może zaś zostać rozwiązany, jeśli torf ten zostanie wykorzystany w rolnictwie, leśnictwie lub ogrodnictwie jako substytut torfu wydobytego z niezaburzonych hydrologicznie torfowisk. W ten sposób emisje gazów cieplarnianych wywołane przez działania restytucji zostaną skompensowane przez ograniczenie emisji na innym obszarze.

Orientação: Carlos Bettencourt<br>Hoje em dia é percetível que uma das maiores preocupações dos produtores de bovinos de carne é a performance reprodutiva do seu efetivo, pois a rentabilidade económica de uma exploração, na maioria das vezes, depende exclusivamente da rentabilidade dos vitelos vendidos. Assim sendo, existe uma preocupação no estudo dos índices reprodutivos e da sua melhoria. Um dos índices reprodutivos mais utilizados é o intervalo entre partos, este permite realizar a avaliação reprodutiva de uma exploração de uma forma eficiente e fácil. Contudo, são vários os fatores que podem influenciar o intervalo entre partos, tais como condições climatéricas do ano, mês de parto, idade da progenitora, genótipo e sexo do vitelo, estado nutricional da reprodutora, estatuto sanitário do efetivo, entre outros. Neste contexto, foram avaliados dois núcleos de bovinos de carne de diferentes raças, Mertolenga e Garvonesa, onde foi analisada a performance reprodutiva, em dois sistemas de reprodução distintos (touro ano todo na vacada versos touro apenas 6 meses na vacada). Como índice reprodutivo chave, foi selecionado o intervalo entre partos, avaliando-o conforme o ano e mês de parição, a idade da vaca reprodutora e o genótipo e sexo do vitelo nascido. Para tal, foram recolhidos e analisados estatisticamente (análise de variância e estatística básica), todos os registos desde 2000 a 2016 do efetivo Mertolengo e desde 2010 até 2016 do efetivo da raça Garvonesa. Relativamente aos resultados obtidos podemos concluir que no efetivo de raça Mertolenga o intervalo entre partos, ao longo dos anos em estudo, apesar de ainda longe do ideal de 365 dias, têm vindo a diminuir apresentando no ano de 2015 um valor de 446 dias. Podemos ainda concluir que os fatores ano e mês de parto, idade da fêmea reprodutora e genótipo do vitelo influenciam significativamente (P≤0,01) o intervalo entre partos. O mesmo não se verifica com o fator sexo do vitelo, que apresenta um P≥0,5, logo não influência significativamente o intervalo entre partos. No que diz respeito ao núcleo de raça Garvonesa podemos afirmar que a mudança de maneio reprodutivo, para touro 6 meses na vacada, não está a afetar nem o intervalo entre partos nem a fertilidade. No entanto, a alteração de maneio reprodutivo foi realizada com sucesso, pois os partos encontram-se concentrados pelos meses pretendidos pela exploração (Agosto a Março).<br>Nowadays is noticeable that one of the biggest concerns for beef producers is the reproductive performance of their herds since the economic profitability of a farm, usually, depends exclusively on the sold calves’ profit. Therefore, there is a concern in the study of reproductive indexes and their improvement. One of the most used indexes is the interval between births, this allows us to monitors the reproductive value of a farm in an efficient and easy way. However, there are several factors that may influence the interval between births, such as the climatic conditions, month of calving, age of the mother, calf genotype and sex, reproductive status, health status of the herd amongst other concerns. In this context, two different beef cattle breeds, Mertolenga and Garvonesa, were analysed. The reproductive performance was analysed in two different breeding systems. As a key reproductive index the calving interval was evaluated according to the year and month of calving, the age of the breeding cow, genotype and sex of the calf born. For all of the records from 2000 to 2016 of the Mertolenga herd were collected and analysed statistically (analysis of variance and basic statistics) and from 2010 to 2016 for the herd of the Garvonesa breed. With the obtained results we can conclude that in the Mertolenga herd, the interval between births over the years under study has been decreasing, presenting in 2015 a total of 446 days, although this still far from the ideal of 365 days. We can also conclude that the year and month of calving, the age of the female reproductive and genotype of the calf made a significant influence (P≤0.01) the interval between calving. The same does not happen with the calf gender, which presents a P≥0.5, so does not change significantly the interval between calving. With regard to the Garvonesa breed, we can say that the change in reproductive management for six months is not affecting the interval between births or fertility. However, the change in reproductive management was successfully introduced, since births are concentrated in the months that farm intends (August to March).

Hunger ist nach wie vor ein weit verbreitetes Problem. Nach der jüngsten Schätzung der FAO hungern weltweit noch immer über 800 Mio. Menschen. Prognosen gehen davon aus, dass die Agrarproduktion bis 2050 verdoppelt werden muss, um der steigenden Nachfrage nach Agrarprodukten durch Bevölkerungswachstum, Bioenergieproduktion und sich verändernde Ernährungsgewohnheiten zu begegnen. Unter vielen Möglichkeiten, das Welternährungsproblem zu beschreiben, wird in dieser Dissertation das Konzept der Ernährungssicherheit nach der Definition der FAO herangezogen. Ernährungssicherheit umfasst als wichtigste Aspekte die Verfügbarkeit von Nahrungsmitteln und den ökonomischen Zugang zu Nahrungsmitteln. Nahrungsmittelverfügbarkeit ist in erster Linie von einer global ausreichenden Produktion abhängig, der Zugang zu Nahrung von der Kaufkraft der Haushalte. Die Kaufkraft wird sowohl durch das Einkommen wie auch die Agrarpreise beeinflusst. Die Nahrungsmittelverfügbarkeit kann vor allem durch Ertragssteigerungen erhöht werden. Sollen die Ertragssteigerungen ressourcenschonend erfolgen, muss die Produktivität der Agrarproduktion bezogen auf alle Produktionsfaktoren inkl. Umweltgütern steigen. Nur durch technische und organisatorische Innovation kann dies realisiert werden. Ertragssteigerungen in Entwicklungsländern erhöhen gleichzeitig die Einkommen von potenziell von Hunger Betroffenen. Eine Begrenzung der Nachfrage nach Agrargütern kann global in erster Linie in den Bereichen Bioenergie und Konsum tierischer Produkte erfolgen. Simulationen können helfen, den Einfluss einzelner Faktoren der globalen Nachfrage und des Angebots nach Agrarrohstoffen und -produkten auf die Welternährungslage genauer abzuschätzen. Ein Großteil der Simulationen in der Literatur kommt mithilfe von partiellen oder allgemeinen Gleichgewichtsmodellen zu Aussagen über gehandelte Mengen und Preise oder Wohlfahrtseffekte. In dieser Arbeit wird ein einfaches partielles Gleichgewichtsmodell für den Weltmarkt für Biotreibstoffe, Fleisch und Getreide entwickelt und mit der Methode der FAO zur Schätzung der Zahl der Hungernden gekoppelt. Dies ermöglicht die Abschätzung des Einflusses verschiedener Szenarien auf die Zahl der Hungernden. Für das Referenzjahr 2011 werden Szenarien alternativer Nachfrage nach Fleisch und Biotreibstoffen simuliert, ebenso wie ein Szenario alternativer landwirtschaftlicher Produktivität in der Europäischen Union. Die Schätzungen ergeben einen signifikanten Einfluss der simulierten Nachfrage- und Angebotsverschiebungen. Im Vergleich mit dem Status Quo führt eine Reduktion des Fleischkonsums in den OECD-Ländern um 50% zu einer Reduktion der Zahl der Hungernden um 5%. Eine ii Flächenproduktivität im Getreideanbau in der EU auf dem Niveau von 1980 steigert die Zahl der Hungernden um mehr als 5%, ein Anstieg der Biotreibstoffquote in der OECD auf 10% erhöht die Zahl der Hungernden gar um 10%. Die Durchsetzung geeigneter politischer Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der Welternährungslage kann durch eine breite öffentliche Unterstützung beschleunigt oder erst ermöglicht werden. Über die öffentliche Meinung zu Fragen der Welternährung in Deutschland existieren bisher keine expliziten Studien. In den Themenbereichen landwirtschaftliche Produktion und Nahrungsmittelkonsum stellt das Thema Welternährung nur einen Aspekt dar, der neben Fragen nach z.B. der Lebensmittelsicherheit und Gesundheit sowie den Auswirkungen von Agrarproduktion auf Landschaft und Umwelt steht. Hier werden Ergebnisse einer Online-Befragung zum Thema Welternährung präsentiert, die im März 2012 mit einer repräsentativen Stichprobe 1.200 deutscher Internetnutzer durchgeführt wurde. Die Befragung beinhaltete im Wesentlichen die Bewertung der Wirkung verschiedener potenzieller Ursachen der weltweiten Unterernährung, sowie Maßnahmen und Entwicklungen zu ihrer Lösung. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass das Thema Welthunger in erster Linie mit Merkmalen akuter (Hunger-) Krisen in Verbindung gebracht wird. Die vielversprechendsten Lösungsmaßnahmen sind in den Augen der Befragten der Ausbau des Fairen Handels, Absatzmärkte für Kleinbauern sowie ein Lebensmittelspekulationsverbot. Der intensiven Landwirtschaft in der Welt wie auch in Europa sowie insbesondere der Grünen Gentechnik wird kein Potenzial zur Lösung des Problems zugesprochen. Die Antwortmuster lassen auf die Präsenz eines Halo-Effekts mit einer Übertragung unterstellter negativer Umweltwirkungen auf das Thema Welternährung schließen. Die Grüne Gentechnik ist eine Agrartechnologie, die potenziell zur Angebotsausweitung von Agrarprodukten genauso beitragen kann wie zu einer ressourcenschonenderen Landwirtschaft. Bisherige Anwendungen, hauptsächlich Herbizidtoleranz sowie Insektenresistenz, haben u.a. zu einer Steigerung der effektiven Erträge, einer Einsparung von Insektiziden und einer Steigerung der Profite vor allem im Baumwollanbau beigetragen. Trotz zahlreicher Belege besteht über die Auswirkungen von gentechnisch veränderten (GV) Nutzpflanzen eine anhaltende Kontroverse. Ein Großteil der europäischen Bevölkerung lehnt den Anbau ebenso ab wie einen Verzehr von Produkten aus GV-Pflanzen. Unterstellte sozio-ökonomische Auswirkungen oder Auswirkungen auf die Welternährung sind nur zwei Determinanten von vielen, die zu den Einstellungen zur Grünen Gentechnik beitragen. Zur Konsolidierung des Wissens im Bereich agronomischer sowie sozio-ökonomischer Auswirkungen von GV-Pflanzen wurde eine Meta-Analyse durchgeführt. In wissenschaftlichen Datenbanken wurden iii 147 Primärstudien identifiziert, die für die Meta-Analyse verwendet wurden. Die Analyse beschränkt sich auf gentechnisch veränderte Sojabohnen, Mais und Baumwolle. Als mittlere Effekte des Anbaus von GV-Pflanzen ergibt die Meta-Analyse eine Steigerung des Ertrages um 22%, eine Reduktion der Menge der angewendeten Pflanzenschutzmittel um 37% und eine Steigerung der Profite der Bauern um 68%. Die Höhe der Effekte hängt stark von verschiedenen Faktoren ab. Die Effekte sind für alle drei genannten Variablen in Entwicklungsländern betragsmäßig größer als in Industrieländern. Auch sind die Effekte des Anbaus von GV-Pflanzen bei Erträgen und beim Pflanzenschutzmitteleinsatz betragsmäßig höher für insektenresistente Pflanzen als bei solchen mit Herbizidtoleranz. Aus den in der Arbeit gewonnenen Erkenntnissen kann geschlussfolgert werden, dass sowohl das Nahrungsmittelangebot gesteigert als auch die Nachfrage begrenzt werden sollte. Dies verlangt eine standortangepasste Ausnutzung vorhandener und die Entwicklung neuer Technologien. Auch die Gentechnik kann einen Beitrag leisten. Der Kleinbauernsektor muss vordringlich gefördert werden. Zur Begrenzung der Nachfrage können neben der Politik, welche vor allem die Biotreibstoffnachfrage beeinflussen kann, auch Konsumenten durch Verzicht auf tierische Produkte beitragen. Dies wie auch die Durchführung effektiver politischer Maßnahmen sind auf eine unverzerrte Sichtweise der Öffentlichkeit auf das Thema Welternährung angewiesen. Dazu muss das Thema in Wissenschaftskommunikation und Bildung stärker thematisiert werden.

By following a climate-friendly diet, consumers have the potential to reduce climate change. However, despite the growing awareness of the climate-friendly food options that are available, consumers still choose foods with a high carbon footprint. Following a survey design, this study aimed to determine the extent to which four psychological processes (denial, conflicting goals and aspirations, tokenism, and interpersonal influence) limit consumers’ climate-friendly food choices in South Africa. Data were collected from 151 participants using the Climate-friendly Food Choices Scale and the Psychological Barriers Scale. Regression analysis indicated that conflicting goals and aspirations and denial were the two main psychological barriers to climate-friendly food choices. Overall the barriers were negatively associated with climate-friendly food choices. Gender did not produce a significant effect in the study. Different age groups varied with regards to the extent to which they experienced the psychological barriers, but they did not differ significantly with regards to how often they made climate-friendly food choices.<br>Psychology<br>M.A. (Psychology)