Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'SPS Measures'

Magister Legum - LLM
It has been held that agricultural domestic support would not be such a contentious issue if its only effect was the benefit of local farmers, but this is not the case.1 It was found that several forms of domestic support have the effect of distorting the patterns of agricultural production and trade at an international level, leaving non-supported farmers elsewhere worse off.2 It was thus concluded that such support measures may indeed nullify the benefits which accrue from trade liberalisation and explains how the AoA3 regulates these measures in a way that reduces their trade distorting effects.4 It has been noted that the agricultural sector only accounted for a small percentage of the developed world's Gross Domestic Product {GDP}, yet the regulation of international agricultural trade was not an easy task.5 Smith explains that numerous attempts were made to implement some form of regulation, including a half-hearted effort in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the subsequent AoA upon the creation of the WTO in 1995.6 According to Smith, the successful regulation of international agricultural trade remained elusive, despite Desta MG and McMahon JA explain that the WTO is not very concerned with countries that provide domestic support to their agricultural sectors, as this only matters to the extent that it hopes for liberalising trade in the sector.7 affects trade in that sector.8 It is further observed that the AoA balances out the freedom to provide domestic support with the need to reduce or eliminate the trade distortive effects thereof and note that the AoA has essentially made all forms of domestic support more transparent and easier to deal with.9 A party is therefore unlikely to be challenged, successfully, if domestic support is given in accordance with the provisions of the AoA.10 The aforementioned views only seem to address the merits of the AoA and the way in which it regulates the use of agricultural subsidies. It should however be noted that the literature fails to address the fact that the WTO has not enforced the provisions of the AoA very effectively against the EU and the USA, in light of the continued misuse of subsidies within both parties. In this regard it must be ascertained whether the WTO should impose stricter penalties as a means to deter its member states, especially the EU and USA, from using subsidies in an abusive way. In addition to this, it must be determined which types of penalties can and should be imposed.

A fundamental requirement in agricultural trade is that imported products are safe, and do not pose a risk to human, animal and plant health. To address this issue, all countries maintain measures to ensure that imported food is safe for consumers, and to prevent the spread of disease among animals and plants. These measures, by their nature, can affect competitiveness by increasing the costs of imports or prohibiting them altogether. To ensure that these measures are used for their intended purpose and not as protectionist measures, WTO member countries signed the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures. A growing number of studies attempt to quantify the effects of SPS regulations on international trade flows. However, precious little research is dedicated to determining the effects of specific phytosanitary regulations on trade flows and, more importantly, questions regarding SPS regulations and their impact as "trade barriers" or "trade catalysts" remain to be settled. This thesis contributes to existing literature in two ways. First, a comprehensive and user friendly database on specific phytosanitary regulations faced by U.S. exports of onions, peas, walnuts, apples, cherries, grapes, peaches/nectarines, oranges and strawberries to 176 countries is developed for the period 1999-2009. Second, this database is used for an empirical investigation to determine how existing SPS regulations affect U.S. fruit and vegetable exports. The results indicate that initially, phytosanitary treatments act as "barriers" to trade. However, as exporters' experience grows, the negative impact of treatments is reduced and eventually eliminated.
Master of Science

The effect of Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) on agri-food trade has drawn broad research interest and gained a substantial attention by scientific community as well as by policy makers. Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) standards among others represent a major challenge for trade policy and food safety. The identification and measurement of the economic implications of NTMs require the use of an adequate both methodological and empirical framework to derive sound estimates. By targeting economic sectors and issues not previously investigated, this Thesis contributes to previous literature on determining the factors that affect the implementation of SPS and their effects on trade flows. Four specific objectives have been pursued in four papers that constitute the main body of the present Thesis. The main purpose of the first paper is to investigate the scope of the reputation effect over time. To do so, we use The European Union (EU)'s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) data on sanitary and phytosanitary notifications from 1998 to 2013. Two count data models have been implemented to estimate the distribution of current notifications. In line with previous literature, our findings indicate that reputation does affect current EU notifications. Furthermore, we identify some relevant exporter countries for which reputation is long-lasting. The second paper aims at analyzing the behavior of the EU in controlling Aflatoxin (AF) contamination with respect to tree nuts and groundnuts for the period (1998-2015). To conduct this analysis, we have used a count data model, based on political economy considerations, past alerts and path dependence effects. Policy changes, including harmonization of AF standards and their further relaxing are estimated to have significant impact on the frequency of border controls. In the third paper, we seek to assess the influencing factors on food standard enforcement in the EU with a special attention to agri-food imports from Mediterranean countries. We explore if there is any special treatment toward Mediterranean countries in controlling agri-food imports, testing if past border notifications affect current decisions on the implementation of food standards by the EU. RASFF notifications data over the period 2000-2012, and count data models are used for this purpose. Our empirical results support the hypothesis that previous food notifications may slightly affect current notifications; nevertheless, this effect seems to be less relevant for products of interest for Mediterranean Partner Countries. Hence, we cannot identify a pro or anti Mediterranean bias in the way that food safety controls are implemented at the EU borders. The last paper focuses on the assessment of the competitiveness of the Tunisian agri-food sector before signing the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with the EU. Specifically, competitive advantage measurement, based on the Tunisian National Institute of Statistics (INS) data over 2007-2012 period, has been used for this purpose. The analysis of the Tunisian agri-food sector reveals an important potential for exporting some agri-food staples. Recently, Tunisia is facing new challenges in exporting strategic products underlying the importance of adopting new business and marketing strategies or prospecting new markets. However, some agri-food subsectors, mainly animal products, milk and dairy products and cereals, remain unprepared to overcome the costs of the DCFTA due to their low competitiveness. Hence, Tunisian authorities could propose a progressive trade liberalization strategy with the EU.
El efecto de las medidas no arancelarias sobre el comercio agroalimentario ha generado un amplio interés en la investigación y ha recibido una atención considerable por parte de la comunidad científica y de los políticos de comercio. Las Medidas Sanitarias y Fitosanitarias (MSP), entre otras, representan un reto importante para la política comercial y la inocuidad de los alimentos. La identificación y medición de las implicaciones económicas de las MNT requieren el uso de un marco metodológico o empírico adecuado para derivar estimaciones sólidas. Al enfocarse en sectores económicos y temas no investigados previamente, esta tesis contribuye a la literatura previa sobre la determinación de los factores que afectan la implementación del MSP. La tesis estudia cuatro cuestiones principales que se reflejan en cuatro artículos científicos independientes, que constituyen el elemento central de la misma. El principal objetivo del primer artículo es el de investigar el efecto reputación a lo largo del tiempo. Para ello, utilizamos los datos RASFF para el periodo 1998-2013. Se han implementado dos modelos de datos de recuento para estimar la distribución de las notificaciones actuales. De acuerdo con la literatura anterior, nuestras conclusiones indican que la reputación afecta a las notificaciones actuales de la UE. Además, identificamos algunos países exportadores relevantes cuya reputación es duradera. El segundo artículo analiza el comportamiento de la UE en el control de la contaminación por Aflatoxina (AF) con respecto a los frutos secos entre el periodo 1998 y 2015. Para llevar a cabo este análisis, hemos utilizado un modelo de datos de recuento, basado en consideraciones de economía política, alertas pasadas y efectos de dependencia de trayectoria. Se estima que los cambios en las políticas, incluida la armonización de las normas AF y su posterior relajación, tienen un impacto significativo en la frecuencia de los controles en las fronteras. En el tercer artículo, tratamos de evaluar los factores que influyen en la aplicación de normas alimentarias en la UE prestando especial atención a las importaciones agroalimentarias procedentes de países mediterráneos. Así, estudiamos si hay algún tratamiento especial hacia los países mediterráneos en el control de las importaciones agroalimentarias, contrastando si las notificaciones pasadas afectan las decisiones actuales sobre la aplicación de las normas alimentarias por parte de la UE. Los datos de las notificaciones RASFF durante el período 2000-2012 y los modelos de datos de recuento se utilizan para este fin. Nuestros resultados empíricos apoyan la hipótesis de que las notificaciones anteriores pueden afectar ligeramente a las notificaciones actuales. Sin embargo, este efecto parece ser menos relevante para los productos procedentes de los países mediterráneos. Por lo tanto, no podemos identificar un comportamiento pro o anti mediterráneo en la forma en que se implementan controles de seguridad alimentaria en las fronteras de la UE.El último documento se centra en la evaluación de la competitividad del sector agroalimentario tunecino antes de firmar el Acuerdo de Libre Comercio Profundo y Amplio con la UE. Concretamente, se han utilizado indicadores de las ventajas competitivas, basándose en los datos del INS para el período 2007-2012. El análisis del sector agroalimentario tunecino revela un importante potencial de exportación de algunos productos básicos agroalimentarios. Recientemente, Túnez se enfrenta a nuevos retos en la exportación de productos estratégicos subrayando la importancia de adoptar nuevas estrategias comerciales y de comercialización o prospección de nuevos mercados. Sin embargo, algunos subsectores agroalimentarios, principalmente productos de origen animal, leche y productos lácteos y cereales, siguen sin estar preparados para soportar los costos del acuerdo de libre comercio profundo y completo debido
L'efecte de les mesures no aranzelàries (MNT) sobre el comerç agroalimentari ha generat un ampli interés en la investigació i ha rebut una atenció considerable per part de la comunitat científica i dels polítics de comerç. Les Mesures Sanitàries i Fitosanitàries (MSP) , entre altres, representen un repte important per a la política comercial i la innocuïtat dels aliments. La identificació i mesurament de les implicacions econòmiques de les MNT requerixen l'ús d'un marc metodològic o empíric adequat per a derivar estimacions sòlides. A l'enfocar-se en sectors econòmics i temes no investigats prèviament, esta tesi contribuïx a la literatura prèvia sobre la determinació dels factors que afecten la implementació del MSF. La tesi estudia quatre qüestions principals que es reflectixen en quatre articles científics independents, que constituïxen l'element central de la mateixa. El principal objectiu del primer article és el d'investigar l'efecte reputació al llarg del temps. Per a això, utilitzem les dades RASFF per al període 1998-2013. S'han implementat dos models de dades de recompte per a estimar la distribució de les notificacions actuals. D'acord amb la literatura anterior, les nostres conclusions indiquen que la reputació afecta les notificacions actuals de la UE. A més, identifiquem alguns països exportadors rellevants la reputació de les quals és duradora. El segon article analitza el comportament de la UE en el control de la contaminació per Aflatoxina (AF) respecte a les fruites seques entre el període 1998 i 2015. Per a dur a terme esta anàlisi, hem utilitzat un model de dades de recompte, basat en consideracions d'economia política, alertes passades i efectes de dependència de trajectòria. S'estima que els canvis en les polítiques, inclosa l'harmonització de les normes AF i la seua posterior relaxació, tenen un impacte significatiu en la freqüència dels controls en les fronteres. En el tercer article, tractem d'avaluar els factors que influïxen en l'aplicació de normes alimentàries en la UE, prestant especial atenció a les importacions agroalimentàries procedents de països mediterranis. Així, estudiem si hi ha algun tractament especial cap als països mediterranis en el control de les importacions agroalimentàries, contrastant si les notificacions passades afecten les decisions actuals sobre l'aplicació de les normes alimentàries per part de la UE. Les dades de les notificacions RASFF durant el període 2000-2012 i els models de dades de recompte s'utilitzen per a este fi. Els nostres resultats empírics recolzen la hipòtesi que les notificacions anteriors poden afectar lleugerament les notificacions actuals. No obstant això, este efecte pareix menys rellevant per als productes procedents dels països mediterranis. Per tant, no podem identificar un comportament pro o anti mediterrani en la forma en què s'implementen controls de seguretat alimentària en les fronteres de la UE. L'últim document se centra en l'avaluació de la competitivitat del sector agroalimentari tunisenc abans de firmar l'Acord de Lliure Comerç Profund i Ampli amb la UE. Concretament, s'ha utilitzat indicadors dels avantatges competitius, basant-se en les dades de l'INS per al període 2007-2012. L'anàlisi del sector agroalimentari tunisenc revela un important potencial d'exportació d'alguns productes bàsics agroalimentaris. Recentment, Tunis s'enfronta a nous reptes en l'exportació de productes estratègics subratllant la importància d'adoptar noves estratègies comercials i de comercialització o prospecció de nous mercats. No obstant això, alguns subsectors agroalimentaris, principalment productes d'origen animal, llet i productes lactis i cereals, seguixen sense estar preparats per a suportar els costos de l'ALCD a causa de la seua baixa competitivitat. Per tant, les autoritats tunisenques podrien proposar una estratègia progres
Taghouti, I. (2017). A political economy approach to measuring EU food standard enforcement and their implications on agri-food trade [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/89095
TESIS

Após a criação do Acordo Geral Sobre Pautas Aduaneiras e Comércio (GATT) em 1947, as barreiras não tarifárias passaram a ser o principal instrumento utilizado pelos países para a proteção do mercado nacional. Os países que buscavam a liberalização do comércio internacional passaram, então, a buscar soluções a fim de conter tais barreiras. Havia uma dificuldade em identificar quando uma medida que restringia o comércio internacional era uma proteção disfarçada ao comércio de quando ela perseguia fins legítimos como a proteção da saúde humana e animal. Com o advento da Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC), alguns acordos anexos foram assinados que visavam diferenciar essas medidas e proteger a liberdade comercial alcançada nas rodadas do GATT. Entre esses acordos, entrou em vigor o Acordo sobre Barreiras Sanitárias e Fitossanitárias (SPS) que trata de medidas que visam proteger a vida e a saúde humana, animal e vegetal. Esse acordo, apesar de essencial para um país exportador de commodities como o Brasil, recebeu pouca atenção da academia jurídica brasileira. Buscando amenizar essa lacuna, o presente trabalho se propôs a aprofundar o estudo do acordo sob uma perspectiva jurídica. Assim, sua origem, seu escopo de aplicação, seus princípios e características, e sua aplicação no Sistema de Solução de Controvérsias (SSC) da OMC são explanados no primeiro capítulo dessa dissertação O Acordo SPS também estabeleceu a criação do Comitê sobre Barreiras Sanitárias e Fitossanitárias (Comitê SPS) que administra a aplicação e o debate dos temas relacionados ao acordo. E é sobre esse comitê que o segundo capítulo dessa pesquisa se debruça. O objetivo da dissertação é demonstrar e melhor compreender que, apesar do comitê possuir diversas funções, duas são de extrema relevância, a saber, seu papel como harmonizador internacional e como solucionador de conflitos. Na persecução desses objetivos, o comitê conta com diversos instrumentos como as notificações e as preocupações comerciais específicas (PCEs) que são estudadas e detalhadas no presente trabalho. Para desenvolver essa pesquisa, foram realizados levantamentos bibliográficos, documentais e jurisprudenciais junto à OMC e a outras instituições e, a partir dos dados coletados, foi aplicado o método hipotético-dedutivo. Os resultados vieram a comprovar e a limitar o escopo da natureza harmonizadora e solucionadora de conflitos do Comitê SPS, esclarecendo os meandros do trabalho diplomático no seio do comitê. Resta claro que o comitê é um ator essencial e ativo no comércio internacional.
After the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947, the non-tariff barriers have become the main instrument used by countries to protect their national markets. Countries seeking liberalization of international trade began, then, to seek solutions in order to restrain such barriers. There was a difficulty in identifying when a measure that restricting the international trade was a disguised trade protection from when it pursued legitimate purposes such as the protection of the human and animal health and lives. With the advent of the World Trade Organization (WTO), some attachments agreements were signed in order to differentiate between these measures and to protect the free trade achieved in the GATT rounds. Among these agreements, entered into force the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Barriers (SPS) that deals with measures to protect human, animal and plant health and lives. This agreement, although essential to a commodities exporter such as Brazil, received little attention from the Brazilian legal academia. Seeking to mitigate this gap, this study aimed to further study the agreement in a legal perspective. Thus, its origin, its scope of application, its principles and features, and its application in the WTO Dispute Settlement System (SSC) are explained in the first chapter of this dissertation. The SPS Agreement also established the creation of the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Barriers (SPS Committee) that manages the application and discussion of issues related to the agreement. Moreover, it is on this committee that the second chapter of this research focuses The purpose of this research is to demonstrate and to understand that, although the committee has several functions, two are of utmost importance, namely its role as international harmonizer and as conflict solver. In pursuing these objectives, the committee uses several instruments such as the notifications and the specific trade concerns (STCs) that are studied and detailed in this paper. To develop this research, bibliographical, documentary and jurisprudential surveys within the data of WTO and other institutions were conducted, and based on the data collected, it was applied the hypothetical-deductive method. The results came to prove and to define the scope of the SPS Committee as an international harmonizer and as a conflict solver, explaining the intricacies of diplomatic work within the committee. Therefore, it is clear that the committee is an essential and active player in international trade.

Food quality, including safety, is a major concern facing the food industry today. The effects of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures in the fisheries sector of The Gambia including the factors affecting the safety and spoilage of fish were investigated. Effects of SPS measures are important impediments for exporting fish and fishery products originating from The Gambia to the international food commodity trade. The inadequate scientific and technical expertise in addition to the general lack of information and finance are the major contributing factors to these impediments. The Government must build capacity, improve infrastructure and increase the number of trained personnel to adequately monitor and enforce fish safety and quality for both domestic consumption and exports. It is crucial that the seafood industry upgrade fish processing establishments and comply with the required hygiene and sanitary standards necessary. To minimise post harvest losses and improve fish quality, the use of ice along the production and supply chain must be applied. The effect of icing on colour and texture measurements of mackerel fish showed an increase in lightness of the eyes and gills during the initial 3 days of storage coinciding with a decrease in textural firmness. Deformation of the fish muscle over storage time was highly significant (p≤ 0 .01) for the upper and middle parts but not for the tail end of the fish. A comprehensive evaluation on the effect of storage temperature on sensory, chemical and microbiological assessment of mackerel fish was conducted. Whole un-gutted mackerel fish had a shelf life of 8 days during storage in ice. The average quality index (QI) was highly correlated (r=0.99) with days of storage. Both total volatile and basic nitrogen (TVB-N) and trimethylamine (TMA) increased during icing storage. The production of TMA and TVB-N as indicated by the correlation (r= 0.97; p< 0.001) was highly significant. A major increase in mean microbial count occurred at day 8; this indicated that the usefulness of total bacterial count as an indicator of spoilage was only clear from day 8. The effects of temperatures proved to be significant on the formation of biogenic amines and on the growth of microorganisms over storage time. Maximum contents of histamine, cadaverine and putrescine were obtained at 25°C. Histamine was not detected at 0°C despite the growth of the Enterobacteriaceae on the samples. Spermidine, spermine and tyramine cannot be used as suitable indicators of fish spoilage. The investigation on the effects of environmental conditions on the changes in microbial growth kinetics for Pseudomonas fluorescens, Shewanella putrefaciens and cultures of mixed bacteria from mackerel fish, showed a temperature effect which was highly significant. The maximum growth of the microorganisms was attained at 0 to 5% NaCI concentration and between pH 6.5 and 7. Overall, this study showed that the methods used proved important in evaluating mackerel fish freshness quality. The wider application of the sensory method will be useful for the fishing industry.

La tratta di esseri umani è un crimine che ha attratto progressivamente l’attenzione dei media negli ultimi anni, durante il consolidamento delle politiche anti-tratta internazionali e nazionali. Il dibattito accademico sul ruolo dei media nell’ambito della tratta è esiguo e uno degli argomenti d’interesse è costituito dall’impatto delle politiche pubbliche sui contenuti mediatici. È questo il contesto nel quale s’inserisce la ricerca, il cui scopo è investigare se le misure legislative nazionali anti-tratta possano influenzare la copertura a mezzo stampa della tratta di persone in un Paese. A questo scopo, sono state formulate sei ipotesi, verificate attraverso l’analisi di quattro quotidiani di stampo conservatore e liberale in Italia e Regno Unito dal 2000 al 2010: Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian. Il test delle ipotesi è avvenuto tramite la content analysis, i cui risultati sono stati validati da interviste in profondità. L’analisi dei dati ha rivelato che la relazione tra l’agenda legale e quella della stampa è risultata essere positiva nei dieci anni di riferimento. Pur presentando dei limiti, questo studio può essere considerato come un passo verso la comprensione di come i giornali affrontino il tema della tratta e di quali fattori influenzino le loro scelte.
Human trafficking is a crime today widespread which has attracted media attention in recent years during the consolidation of anti-trafficking policies at international and national level. The academic debate on the role of the media within the context of trafficking in human beings (THB) is scant, and one of the issues concerns the impact of public policies on media contents. This is the context in which the research has been framed, its aim being to investigate whether national anti-trafficking measures shape the coverage and the representation of THB by a country’s press. Six hypotheses are formulated, and they are verified by examination of four conservative and liberal broadsheets published in Italy and the United Kingdom from 2000 to 2010: i.e. Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian. The application of content analysis, with the validation of in-depth interviews, contributes to testing the hypotheses. As regards the data analysis, the relationship between the legal agenda and the press agenda appears to have been close during the ten reference years. Notwithstanding its limitations, this study can be read as the first stage in understanding how newspapers approach the issue of trafficking and what factors may influence their choices.

Intrusion detection systems (IDS) have a vital role in protecting computer networks and information systems. In this thesis we applied an SPC monitoring concept to a certain type of traffic data in order to detect a network intrusion. We developed a general SPC intrusion detection approach and described it and the source and the preparation of data used in this thesis. We extracted sample data sets that represent various situations, calculated event intensities for each situation, and stored these sample data sets in the data repository for use in future research. A regular batch mean chart was used to remove the sample datas inherent 60-second cycles. However, this proved too slow in detecting a signal because the regular batch mean chart only monitored the statistic at the end of the batch. To gain faster results, a modified batch mean (MBM) chart was developed that met this goal. Subsequently, we developed the Modified Batch Mean Shewhart chart, the Modified Batch Mean Cusum chart, and the Modified Batch Mean EWMA chart and analyzed the performances of each one on simulated data. The simulation studies showed that the MBM charts perform especially well with large signals ?the type of signal typically associated with a DOS intrusion. The MBM Charts can be applied two ways: by using actual control limits or by using robust control limits. The actual control limits must be determined by simulation, but the robust control limits require nothing more than the use of the recommended limits. The robust MBM Shewhart chart was developed based on choosing appropriate values based on batch size. The robust MBM Cusum chart and robust MBM EWMA chart were developed on choosing appropriate values of charting parameters.

Research to determine the impact of PTA_SCS on incidence of mastitis, daughter response to infection, and other measures of daughter performance was conducted using data on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd lactation Holsteins obtained from the Virginia Tech herd and from VA DHI herds. Overall correlation of PTA_SCS to lactation average SCS ranged from 0.13 to 0.17 across all data sets. Correlations between PTA_SCS and 1st lactation SCS measures were higher than those between PTA_SCS and SCS in later parities, but higher correlations were found between 2nd and 3rd lactation SCS measures than between 1st and later parities. Correlation of lactation average SCS and incidence of clinical mastitis was 0.41. Regression of lactation average SCS and averages of test day SCS measures on PTA_SCS was significant in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd lactations. All significant relationships were linear and equal or close to 1.0. Relationships between PTA_SCS and number of cases of clinical mastitis (.79), number of treatments (2.0), number of days treated (7.0), changes in SCS from beginning to end of a lactation (-.26), and the slope of changes in test day SCS with DIM (5.9x10-4) were significant only in 1st lactation. No significant relationships between PTA_SCS and measures of clinical mastitis or variation in test day SCS measures were found in 2nd or 3rd lactations. Heavy cull rates imposed on 1st lactation cows in the Virginia Tech herd explained lack of significance in the later parities in the herd study, but results in following analyses indicated that measures of SCS in 1st and later parities may be two different, but correlated, traits. The greatest impact of PTA_SCS on measures of daughter performance and profit was the negative relationship between PTA_SCS and herd life. Increased PTA_SCS resulted in the decreased ability to survive involuntary culling, and thus decreased opportunity for lifetime yield and profit. Selection on PTA_SCS should be an effective method of reducing incidence of clinical mastitis, lactation average SCS, and variation in SCS, or response to infection. The response, however, may be different in 1st lactation than in later parities.
Master of Science

Recruitment and retention of public child welfare workforce is in crisis due to turnover caused by 1) dissatisfaction with job; 2) excessive stress and burnout, including vicarious trauma; and 3) a lack of support from supervisors and organizations. No instrument was found to evaluate the impact of supervisory support and the use of organizational and professional strategies. The Supervisory and Organizational Support (SOS) survey instrument was created in response to the need for reliable and valid instruments to measure issues related to child welfare workforce turnover. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the SOS survey instrument and was designed to address the following research questions: 1) Does the instrument have demonstrated content validity? 2) Does the instrument have demonstrated construct validity as developed through factor analysis techniques? 3) Does the instrument have demonstrated reliability? 4) To what extent do the instrument and itsâ subscales correlate with measures of theoretically related and unrelated variables? The results of this study with a sample of 387 employees in 18 Virginia Department of Social Services agencies provide good beginning evidence of content, construct, convergent, and discriminant validity, and reliability of the SOS survey instrument. As such, the SOS survey can be used in studies of social services workforce turnover/ retention. However, to increase confidence in this recommendation, further research should address the implications and limitations of the current study and provide replication of the results with a different sample using confirmatory factor analysis. Finally, the SOS survey instrument may serve to assist in the evaluation of practice and policy efforts aimed at increasing worker retention.
Ph. D.

The United Kingdom (UK) ethnic population is ageing. However, there has been a dearth of research focussing on the ethnic diversity of the older population and the implications for health and health care needs. In fact ‘ageing’ and ‘ethnicity’ are rarely integrated within health research. According to the United Kingdom (UK) 2001 Census, there are over 4.6 million individuals belonging to minority ethnic groups, with a quarter million aged 50 years or over. The ageing of these communities over the next two decades places greater emphasis on the importance of empirical evidence on their health status and the policy implications for health and health care needs. This thesis contributes to our understanding of health, socio-economic status (SES), ethnicity and ageing. The research explores the ‘sensitivity’ of different measures and their appropriateness and validity in assessing health inequalities amongst ethnic minority groups in order to better understand health inequalities in later life. This is a critical issue with widespread policy implications. Using cross-sectional data from Health Survey for England (HSE), with a sample size of 5,086 men and women 50 years and older, different logistic regression models are run for the outcome variables general health and limiting long-standing illness in order to ascertain the ‘sensitivity’ of SES of the different measures of health amongst the different ethnic minority groups. The results suggest that older people from ethnic minority groups are more likely to report bad/very bad’ health compared with the White population. For example, amongst Black Africans the odds of reporting ‘bad/very bad’ health are 1.45 times the odds amongst Whites, amongst Pakistanis the equivalent odds are 1.69 times the odds amongst Whites, amongst Bangladeshi the odds are 2.34 times the odds of Whites, and amongst Chinese people the odds are 2.53 times the odds of Whites. There are distinct patterns in reporting ‘bad/very bad’ health and a LLSI amongst and between ethnic minority men and women aged 50 and over based on SES measures employed in the study. Additionally, behavioural risk factors, that is, smoking and alcohol consumption were significant predictors of reporting ‘bad/very bad’ health and LLSI. Health inequalities have important implications for policy, particularly for health and health care. The research findings would be useful in informing national policies (e.g. health promotion campaigns, housing, occupationally based services, culturally competent health care services) and locally based interventions (e.g. health campaigns for older men and women; health education) would be better targeted at ethnic minority groups of older men and women

As questões sanitárias e técnicas assumem uma importância crescente no âmbito das negociações internacionais. Diante disto, este trabalho busca verificar o perfil das medidas dessa natureza, que afetam o mercado internacional de carne bovina. Para tanto, foram utilizadas como principais fontes de dados, as notificações aos Acordos sobre Barreiras Técnicas (TBT) e para aplicação de Medidas Sanitárias e Fitossanitárias (SPS) da Organização Mundial do Comercio. Os países analisados foram Brasil, Chile, Estados Unidos e União Européia, no período entre 1995 e 2005. Totalizaram 536 notificações relacionadas a bovinos e carne bovina. Como instrumento metodológico para sua avaliação, este trabalho baseou-se no conjunto de critérios proposto por Josling, Orden e Roberts (2004). Como resultados, revelaram-se algumas tendências a partir desse processo de notificação. A União Européia tem sido o país mais freqüentemente alvo de questionamentos de suas medidas sanitárias no âmbito das Preocupações Comerciais Específicas (STC). Em grande parte, as notificações analisadas, para o período estudado trataram principalmente de controles aduaneiros sanitários. A doença da vaca louca e a da febre aftosa respondem pela maior parte dos regulamentos aplicados pelos países sobre o mercado de carne bovina. Ademais, a maior parte das notificações refere-se a medidas reativas aos eventos sanitários que ocorreram nos países, visando impedir sua entrada em países livres das mesmas. Os regulamentos, tanto notificados junto ao SPS quanto ao TBT, evidenciaram uma tendência crescente de controlar produtos que utilizam derivados de bovinos em sua composição, como cosméticos e drogas, bem como um controle sobre produtos que servem de alimentação animal.
The sanitary and technical issues present a growing importance in the scope of international negotiations. Therefore, this work aims to analyze the profile of measures of this kind, which affect the international beef market. Thus, it was used as main sources of data, the notifications to the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and to the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement (SPS) from the World Trade Organization. The countries analyzed were Brazil, Chile, the United States and the European Union, between 1995 and 2005. It was totalled 536 notifications regarding bovine and beef. As a methodologic instrument of evaluation, this paper was based on a set of criteria proposed by Josling, Orden and Roberts (2004). As results, some trends were identified from this notification process. The European Union has been the most questioned player related to its sanitary measures in the scope of Specific Trade Concerns (STC). Most analyzed notifications, for the period considered, focused on sanitary customs controls, mainly. The mad cow and the Foot-and-Mouth diseases account for most applied regulations by countries as for the beef market. Moreover, most part notifications refer to reactive measures to sanitary outbreaks, aiming to prevent them from spreading to other countries. The regulations, both notified to the SPS and TBT, showed an increasing tendency to control goods that use bovine derivates in their composition, such as cosmetics and drugs, as well as products that are used in animal feeding.

The over-arching aim of this thesis was to evaluate a new experimental approach to detect recognition memory in liars, when recognition of familiar photographs was intentionally concealed. Eye tracking was selected as a novel methodological approach to memory detection because previous eye movement research documented that recognition of familiar faces and scenes produced fewer fixations to fewer regions of longer durations. The effect of deception on fixation-based measures of memory was examined in four experimental chapters. Experiment 1 explored whether fixations exposed concealed person recognition of three different familiar face types: newly learned via one exposure, famous celebrities, and personally known. Multiple fixation measures exposed recognition when liars denied recognition of famous celebrities and people who were personally known. Memory for newly learned faces was revealed during honest recognition solely in fewer fixations, with a trend in the number of fixations to suggest memory in lie trials. Experiment 2 emphasised monitoring of memory and eye movements during a similar concealed recognition task. Participants told the truth and lied about faces that were newly learned-to-criterion and personally familiar faces followed by a confidence rating (0-100%) based on each honest and deceptive recognition judgement. Effects of memory were observed in multiple fixation quantity measures and in fixation durations. The pattern of results for newly learned faces was the opposite of results found in Experiment 1. Unexpectedly, no effects of memory were found during honest recognition of newly learned faces, but fewer fixations and run counts were observed during lie trials. The data suggest that the clear reduction in viewing during lie trials could be a consequence of participant’s efforts to control their gaze behaviour to evade detection combined with recollective efforts to remember then conceal newly learned faces. Experiment 3 monitored fixations during concealed recognition of objects and scenes. When participants told the truth about personally familiar scenes and buildings memory effects were observed in fewer fixations, run counts and interest areas visited. During lie trials, effects of memory were only robust for the number of fixations. Similar to Experiment 2, lies about items newly learned-to-criterion produced no effect of memory in truth trials but revealed fewer fixations, run counts and areas of interest visited during lies. In both Experiments 2 and 3, a reduction in the variability of verbal confidence ratings was associated with recognition of personally familiar faces. Experiment 4 monitored fixations whilst participants viewed pairs of faces associated with specific scenes. The location and duration of first fixations revealed a preference for viewing faces that matched the scene displayed. Longer fixation durations in the last fixation also indicated deceptive efforts when intentionally making misidentifications. Overall, the results of the present thesis supported the potential of fixations as markers of memory when people lied about recognition of faces, scenes, and objects, as well as face-scene relationships. The results suggest that memory effects during recognition of personally known faces is robust in the number of fixation measure, but is observed in less fixations measures during lies about recognition of personally familiar objects and scenes. Furthermore, memory effects during recognition of newly learned items is more vulnerable to cognitive load and other executive processes, such as trying to control eye movements, and thus caution is advised when interpreting the effect of memory on fixations during concealed recognition of newly learned items. The research recommends that future experiments carefully explore the ability of liars to effect countermeasures on gaze behaviour to evade memory detection. The research further suggests that fixations durations might be a better measure to distinguish lies from truths about recognition and that the combined effect of memory and cognitive effort during lies produce more consistent and distinguishable differences in fixation durations between truth tellers and liars.

A percentage of either measured or predicted maximum heart rate is commonly used to prescribe and measure exercise intensity. However, maximum heart rate in athletes may be greater during competition or training than during laboratory exercise testing. Thus, the aim of the present investigation was to determine if endurance-trained runners train and compete at or above laboratory measures of ‘maximum’ heart rate. Maximum heart rates were measured utilising a treadmill graded exercise test (GXT) in a laboratory setting using 10 female and 10 male National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) division 2 cross-country and distance event track athletes. Maximum training and competition heart rates were measured during a highintensity interval training day (TR HR) and during competition (COMP HR) at an NCAA meet. TR HR (207 ± 5.0 b·min-1; means ± SEM) and COMP HR (206 ± 4 b·min-1) were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than maximum heart rates obtained during the GXT (194 ± 2 b·min-1). The heart rate at the ventilatory threshold measured in the laboratory occurred at 83.3 ± 2.5% of the heart rate at VO2 max with no differences between the men and women. However, the heart rate at the ventilatory threshold measured in the laboratory was only 77% of the maximal COMP HR or TR HR. In order to optimize traininginduced adaptation, training intensity for NCAA division 2 distance event runners should not be based on laboratory assessment of maximum heart rate, but instead on maximum heart rate obtained either during training or during competition.

Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority population in the U.S. requiring limited English proficiency services (Guglielmi, 2008). Many schools and school districts place heavy emphasis on high stakes testing. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 requires all children to have access to a fair, equal, and high-quality education. Many schools and school districts focus on individual students to show grade level performance for small populations such as limited English proficient (LEP) students. The purpose of this study was to examine the question, "What was the relationship between measures of school and student socioeconomic status, and reading and math achievement of Hispanic LEP high school students?" Guiding this study was the conceptual framework, the middleclass education concept. This concept suggested that underprivileged students attending an impoverished school had lower academic success than did underprivileged students attending a middleclass school with middleclass values. This study was developed from secondary data analysis of archived data from the Pinellas County School Board database. Pearson correlation coefficients were computed between the variables in this study. The correlation analysis was followed by a multiple regression analysis to estimate the capacity of the subsidized meal program, student absences, gender, grade point average (GPA), and the Norm Referenced Test (NRT) reading and math to explain reading and math achievement, as defined by the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test in reading and math. The results of this study provided insight that the role played by indices of school and student SES may be different for Hispanic LEP students than for other minority students, such as African American and Hispanic or Latino high school students. The results showed that measures of SES were not as strong as expected based on the current research literature. GPA and NRT provided the strongest explanation of variability for FCAT reading and math scores. Other indicators such as student absences and gender were not statistically significant for explaining the FCAT reading and math scores. Thereby, indicating that the conceptual framework, the Middleclass Education Concept, may not apply to Hispanic LEP high school students and thus, further research for this population is needed.

Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Thermodynamic models have been investigated extensively since Johannes van der Waals first devised a mathematical relation capable of predicting both vapour and liquid phases for a mixture at equilibrium. With the advent of modern computing power, these equations of state have gone from their humble empirical beginnings to the comprehensive and fundamentally derived models we have today. One such physically sound model is the Statistical Associating Fluid Theory (SAFT) family of equations, derived from the molecular perturbation theories of the 1980’s. The relative youth of this thermodynamic framework has meant that much work has gone into modification and optimisation of the model recently. The variants of particular interest to this work are the simplified perturbed chain SAFT equations with the Jog & Chapman (sPC-SAFTJC) and Gross & Vrabec (sPC-SAFTGV) polar terms. Each of the polar terms supports one adjustable polar parameter that relates to the quantity of polar segments in the reference fluid but not necessarily its position in the carbon chain. The strength of polar interactions is known to decrease as the functional group moves away from the terminal methyl group and the effects of steric hindrance increase. Thus, in question here is whether the models can account for the change in polar interactions associated with the changing position of the polar group, by only adjusting the values of the existing pure component parameters; that is, in lieu of a position specific parameter. The carbonyl group in ketone molecules is one such polar group, and it is this homologous series that is the focus of this study. The decrease in polar interactions as the carbonyl group in a ketone molecule shifts centrally is apparent from the lower boiling points of the isomers where the polar group is central as compared to those where the functional group is nearer the terminal methyl group. The effect of this functional group shift on binary phase behaviour has not previously been assessed for any system however, as the lack of experimental data attests. Thus, experiments had to be conducted to generate phase equilibrium data for systems comprising each structural isomer of a mid-length ketone with a common second component with no functionality. This limitation was imposed to isolate the cause of experimentally observed phenomena to the shifting polar group alone. The generated data could then be appropriately modelled using the polar sPC-SAFT variants and the capabilities of each model, as outlined above, assessed. To this end, isobaric binary vapour-liquid equilibrium data were measured for 2-, 3- & 4-heptanone with three separate normal alkanes of similar length (n-octane, n-nonane & n-decane) at 40kPa. The apparatus used was a dynamic Gillespie VLE still with temperature and pressure accuracies of 0.03°C and 1.6mbar respectively. Equipment verification was achieved through the reproduction of experimental data for the ethanol/1-butanol system at 1.013bar. The vapour and liquid samples for all nine systems were analysed by gas chromatography with a maximum compositional error of ±0.022 mole fraction. All reported data were found to be thermodynamically consistent using both the L/W and McDermott-Ellis consistency tests. When paired with a common n-alkane, all three structural heptanone isomers displayed similar qualitative trends in phase behaviour. Minimum boiling azeotropes were measured in all nine systems; in the high alkane region for n-octane systems (~98 mole%), the equal concentration region for n-nonane systems (34 mole% to 53 mole%) and in the very dilute n-alkane region for n-decane systems (~3 mole%). The n-nonane systems in particular highlighted the effect of shifting functional group, with completely separate phase envelopes away from the pure alkane composition space evident in a particularly small temperature range. Modelling was performed using in-house developed software, with pure component parameters generated for each system using five different regression procedures. The first was traditional fitting of the segment diameter (σ), segment number (m), segment energy (є/k) and the respective polar parameter (xp, np) to DIPPR correlations of pure component saturated vapour pressure, liquid density and the heat of vaporisation. The latter four procedures included the fixing of the polar parameter according to functional group correlations and the three instances of including the binary VLE data set for each of the three alkanes considered in this work. When applied to the nine binary ketone-alkane systems measured in this work, excellent predictions of the experimental data were in evidence in most cases and only small binary interaction parameters were necessary to correlate the data where pure predictions were poor. The performance of the parameter sets based on the fixing of the polar parameter and the inclusion of VLE data were consistent and of a high quality for both models, with near identical parameters generated in all four cases for each of the nine systems. The parameter sets generated in this fashion were shown to be applicable not only to the systems measured in this work, but also successfully predicted the independently measured experimental data of the n-hexane/4-heptanone system. It was thus concluded that either of these regression alternatives are viable for the generation of accurate component parameters, and the choice of VLE data set included is trivial. The pure predictions of the sPC-SAFTGV model were generally better than its sPC-SAFTJC counterpart, particularly in the case of the traditionally regressed parameter sets. sPC-SAFTGV displayed constant qualitative agreement with the experimental data for each of the heptanone isomers with a given n-alkane. The quality of the predictions of sPC-SAFTJC, however, worsened significantly as the polar interactions diminished from 2- to 4-heptanone, with no predictions even possible for the least polar isomer. This was attributed to the different perturbation theories used in the development of these terms, but a more detailed study would be necessary to confirm this. This work thus shows an apparent inability of the sPC-SAFTJC equation of state to account for the decreasing polar interactions associated with the carbonyl group in a ketone molecule shifting centrally, while sPC-SAFTGV produces qualitatively good fits for all three isomers. These flaws can be overcome through the incorporation of VLE data in the regression procedure if such data is available, or otherwise through the use of group specific correlations for fixing the polar parameter value.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sedert Johannes van der Waals die eerste wiskundige verhouding ontwikkel het wat beide die damp- en vloeibare fases van 'n mengsel by ewewig kon voorspel, is die veld van termodinamiese modellering al deeglik ondersoek. Na die koms van die moderne rekenaars het hierdie vergelykings van hul nederige empiriese wortels gegroei tot die omvattende, fundamentele modelle wat ons vandag het. Een so 'n fundamenteel gebaseerde familie van vergelykings is die ‘Statistical Associating Fluid Theory’ (SAFT) modelle, wat afgelei is vanaf molekulêre versteuringsteorieë, ontwikkel in die 1980s. Hierdie relatiewe jong modelle het in die afgelope ruk aansienlike aanpassing en optimering ondervind. Modelvariante van besondere belang tot hierdie werk, is die vereenvoudigde versteurde ketting of ‘simplified perturbed chain’ SAFT vergelykings, met Jog & Chapman (sPC- SAFTJC) en Gross & Vrabec (sPC- SAFTGV) polêre terme. In die sPC-SAFT toestandsvergelyking word elkeen van die polêre terme ondersteun deur een polêre veranderlike. Hierdie veranderlike is afhanklik van die aantal polêre segmente in die verwysingsvloeistof, maar nie noodwendig hul posisie in die koolstofketting nie. Daarteen is dit bekend dat die polêre interaksies tussen molekules swakker word soos die polêre groep wegbeweeg van die terminale metielgroep, en steriese hindernis ʼn groter rol begin speel. Dus is die vraag of die model die verandering in die polêre interaksie, as gevolg van veranderende posisie van die polêre groep, kan voorspel deur in plek van ʼn posisie afhanklike parameter, slegs ʼn aanpassing van die polêre waardes van die suiwer komponente te maak. Die karbonielgroep in ketoon molekules is een so 'n polêre groep, en ʼn homoloë reeks ketone word in hierdie studie ondersoek. Die afname in die polêre interaksie soos wat die karbonielgroep in 'n ketoon molekule weg skuif vanaf die terminale metiel groep is sigbaar deur die afname in kookpunt van die verskillende isomere. Hierdie effek van die funksionele groepsposisie op binêre fasegedrag is nog nie voorheen vir enige stelsels geëvalueer nie en geen eksperimentele data is vrylik beskikbaar nie. Om hierdie tekortkoming in die literatuur aan te spreek, is eksperimentele fase ewewig data gemeet. ʼn Reeks stelsels is ondersoek wat elk bestaan uit ʼn struktuurisomeer van ʼn mid-lengte ketoon en ʼn tweede komponent met geen funksionele bydrae. Eksperimente is so opgestel om die effek van die skuiwende polêre groep op die fasegedrag te isoleer en kwalitatief te ondersoek. Die gegenereerde data is dan gemodelleer met behulp van die polêre sPC- SAFT variante, soos hierbo gespesifiseer, en die vermoëns van elke model is beoordeel. Isobariese binêre fase ewewig data is by 40kPa gemeet vir damp-vloeistof stelsels bestaande uit 2, 3 & 4 heptanoon, gemeng met drie verskillende normaal alkane van vergelykbare kettinglengte (n-oktaan, n-nonaan & n-dekaan). Die apparaat wat gebruik was is 'n dinamiese Gillespie VLE eenheid met temperatuur- en drukakkuraatheid van 0,03°C en 1.6mbar, onderskeidelik. Die akkuraatheid van die toerusting is bevestig deur eksperimentele data vir ʼn etanol/1-butanol stelsel by 1.013bar te reproduseer. Die damp en vloeibare monsters vir al nege stelsels is ontleed deur gaschromatografie met 'n maksimum komposisionele fout van ± 0,022 (molfraksie). Alle data is as termodinamies konsekwent gevind deur van beide die L/W en McDermott-Ellis konsekwentheidstoetse gebruik te maak. Mengsels van die drie strukturele isomere van heptanoon met ʼn gemene n-alkaan het tydens eksperimente soortgelyke kwalitatiewe tendense in fasegedrag getoon. Gedurende eksperimente is die lae kookpunt asiotrope gemeet vir al nege stelsels. Die asiotrope verskyn in die hoë alkaan konsentrasies (~98 mol%) vir n-oktaan stelsels, medium konsentrasies (34 mol% tot 53 mol%) vir n-nonaan stelsels en baie verdunde konsentrasies (~ 3 mol%) vir n-dekaan stelsels. Die n-nonaan stelsels beeld veral die effek van die verskuiwing van die funksionele groep uit, met diskrete fasegrense wat duidelik apart staan van die suiwer alkaan ruimte, binne ʼn klein temperatuurverskil. Modellering van die stelsels is uitgevoer met behulp van sagteware wat in-huis ontwikkel is. Suiwer komponent data is gegenereer vir elke stelsel deur van vyf verskillende regressie prosedures gebruik te maak. Die eerste is die tradisionele passing van die segment deursnee (σ), segment nommer (m), segment energie (є/k) en die onderskeie polêre parameters (xp, np) op DIPPR korrelasies van die suiwer komponent versadigde dampdruk, vloeistof digtheid en die hitte van verdamping. Die oorblywende vier prosedures sluit in die bepaling van die polêre parameter deur funksionelegroep korrelasies, en drie gevalle waar die binêre VLE data vir elk van die drie alkane ingesluit is. Deur hierdie prosedures op die modellering van die nege binêre ketoon/alkaan stelsels toe te pas, is uitstekende passings van die eksperimentele data verkry met slegs baie klein binêre interaksie parameters nodig waar voorspellings minder akkuraat was. Die prestasie van die parameter stelle, gebaseer op die bepaling van die polêre parameter en die insluiting van VLE data, is konsekwent en van 'n hoë gehalte vir albei modelle, met 'n byna identiese parameters gegenereer in al vier gevalle vir elk van die nege stelsels. Die parameter stelle wat op hierdie metode gegenereer is, is nie net toepaslik gevind op eksperimentele data gemeet in hierdie werk nie, maar ook op onafhanklike data vir die n-heksaan/4-heptanoon stelsel. Daar is tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat beide van die regressie alternatiewe lewensvatbaar is vir die generasie van akkurate suiwer komponent parameters, en dat die insluiting van die VLE data triviaal is. Die suiwer sPC - SAFTGV voorspelling was oor die algemeen beter as die suiwer sPC- SAFTJC model met die voorspelling van data, veral in die geval van passings gedoen met parameters verkry vanaf tradisionele regressie metodes. sPC- SAFTGV het ʼn voortdurende, kwalitatiewe ooreenkoms met eksperimentele data getoon vir elk van die nege stelsels. Daarteen het voorspellings deur sPC- SAFTJC beduidend verswak soos die polêre interaksies afgeneem het vanaf 2- na 4- heptanoon, met geen akkurate voorspelling moontlik vir die minste polêre isomeer nie. Die verskynsel kan toegeskryf word aan die verskil in versteuringsteorieë wat gebruik word in die ontwikkeling van die onderskeie toestandsvergelykings, maar ʼn meer in-diepte ondersoek is nodig om hierdie teorie te bevestig. Hierdie werk toon dus 'n skynbare onvermoë van die sPC - SAFTJC toestandsvergelyking om die verandering in polêre interaksie, as gevolg van die veranderende posisie van die polêre groep, vir die karbonielgroep in ʼn ketoon te voorspel, terwyl die sPC-SAFTGV toestandsvergelyking goeie kwalitatiewe passings vir al drie isomere bied. Hierdie tekortkominge kan oorkom word deur VLE data, indien beskikbaar, in die regressie prosedure in te sluit, of deur die gebruik van groep spesifieke korrelasies vir die aanpassing van die polêre parameter.

Abstract Few studies have assessed the levels of symbiotic N nutrition in legumes grown by fanners in Africa. In this study, the shoots of cowpea plants were sampled from 63 farms in 12 villages within 5 districts of the Upper West Region of Ghana, and assessed for growth and symbiotic N nutrition. The data revealed considerable differences in cowpea plant density per m2 , plant growth, 15N natural abundance (OI5N), %Ndfa, and N-fixed among different farms under one village, and between villages under the same district, and between districts in the Upper West Region. In farms where there were fewer cowpea plants per m2 , plant growth was better and dry matter yield per plant significantly greater, leading to strong variations in O!5N values. Except for four farms at Bamahu which had cowpea shoot Ndfa values of 12.1%,30.0%,36.5% and 46.6%, one farm at Babile with Ndfa value of 58.1%, and three farms at Silbelle with Ndfa values of56.8%, 57.9% and 68.7%, the remaining 55 out of the 63 farms studied showed high shoot Ndfa values, ranging from 70.6% to 99.7%, which clearly indicates that cowpea cultivated by farmers in the Upper West Region of Ghana meet a large proportion of their N requirements from symbiotic fixation. At the district level, isotopic analysis showed that, on average, the 15N natural abundance values (%0) of cowpea shoots were -0.496±0.04 for Jirapa, -O.083±0.06 for Nadowli, 0.368±O.08 for Lawra, l.333±0.29 for Wa and 0.365±0.09 for Sissala district. Estimates of the legume's N derived from fixation were 66.3% for Wa district, 89.9% for Nadowli, 79.4% for Lawra, 78.9% for Sissala and 80.9% for Jirapa district. The amount ofN-fixed ranged from 402.3 mg.plant' for Nadowli, 176.5 mg.plant" for Wa, 235.4 mg.plant' for Sissala, 179.0 rng.plant' for Lawra to 249.2 mg.plane! for the Jirapa district. Expressed on per-hectare basis using cowpea density per m2 , the total amount ofN-fixed was around 16.6 kg ha-! in the Nadowli district, 19.1 kg ha-! in Wa, 23.0 kg ha' in Sissala, 21.1 kg ha-I in Lawra and 17.6 kg ha-1in the Jirapa district. Averaged across all 5 districts, N-fixed by cowpea was about 19.5 kg ha-! in the Upper West Region of Ghana. These data suggest that, increasing N2 fixation in fanners' fields in Ghana would require optimization of cowpea plant density rather than biological manipulation of the symbiotic process (as %Ndfa values were generally very high).

Abstract In this study, 30 cowpea genotypes were assessed for symbiotic N2 fixation in 2005, and 15 of them were reevaluated in 2006 using the 15N natural abundance technique. Shoot dry matter yield of cowpea genotypes increased significantly in cvs. Vuli-1, Glenda, IT93K-2045- 29, IT90K-59, Omondaw, Apagbaala, and IT84S-2246 in 2005 producing about 3.0 to 3.6-fold more biomass relative to cv. Vallenga. In 2006, seven out of the 15 cowpea genotypes tested (namely, IT97K-499-39, TVu11424, Botswana White, IT84S-2246, Sanzie, Brown Eye, and Glenda) also produced more dry matter than cv. CH14. Shoot δ15N values ranged from −0.58‰ to 1.49‰ in 2005, and −1.51‰ to 1.40‰ in 2006, and these resulted in %Ndfa values of 63.5–86.7% and 56.2–96.3%, respectively. The amount of N-fixed was 49–178 kg N ha−1 in 2005 and 62–198 kg N ha−1 in 2006. Furthermore, there was a direct relationship between the level of symbiotic N nutrition and plant growth, and between grain yield and amount of N-fixed in 2005 and 2006. As a result, genotypes that fixed the most N also produced the largest biomass and the greatest amount of grain yield. The observed relationship between N2 fixation and biomass confirmed our view that cowpea (and other grain legumes) can be concurrently selected for higher N2 fixation, superior plant growth, and greater grain yield. The high levels of N-fixed by many of the cowpea genotypes in this study suggest that they can contribute large amounts of N to cropping systems in African agriculture.

L'introduction de systèmes instrumentés dédiés aux applications de sécurité impose l'évaluation de leur sûreté de fonctionnement. On utilise généralement pour cela les bases de données de fiabilité génériques. Cependant, le retour d'expérience pour ces systèmes qui présentent en général des défaillances rares est insuffisant pour valider les résultats obtenus. En outre, la collecte de données de fiabilité et leur extrapolation à d'autres composants introduisent des incertitudes. Les travaux de cette thèse portent sur la problématique de la prise en compte des incertitudes relatives aux données de fiabilité des composants pour l'évaluation de la sûreté de fonctionnement des systèmes par le formalisme des sous ensembles flous. La méthodologie proposée est appliquée à l'évaluation des probabilités de défaillance des Systèmes Instrumentés de Sécurité (SIS) en présence de données de fiabilité imprécises. Nous introduisons deux nouveaux facteurs d'importance pour aider le concepteur. En outre, nous proposons une méthodologie d'aide à la conception des SIS basée sur la modélisation par réseaux de fiabilité et l'optimisation par des algorithmes génétiques de la structure des SIS pour le respect des niveaux d'intégrité de sécurité (SIL) exigés
The use of safety related systems imposes to evaluate their dependability. Laboratory data and generic data are often used to provide failure data of safety components to evaluate their dependability parameters. However, due to the lower solicitation of safety systems in plant, safety components have not been operating long enough to provide statistical valid failure data. Furthermore, measuring and collecting failure data have uncertainty associated with them, and borrowing data from laboratory and generic data sources involve uncertainty as well. Our contribution is to propose a fuzzy approach to evaluate dependability parameters of safety systems when there is an uncertainty about dependability parameters of systems components. This approach is applied to determine the failure probability on demand of Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) in presence of uncertainty. Furthermore, we present an optimal design of SIS by using reliability graphs and genetic algorithms to identify the choice of components and design configuration in a SIS to meet the required SIL

This thesis draws on David Harvey’s concept of “accumulation by dispossession” and an international political economy (IPE) approach centred on the institutional arrangements and power structures that privilege certain actors and values, in order to critique current capitalist practices of primitive accumulation by the global corporate extractive industry. The thesis examines how accumulation by dispossession by the global extractive industry is facilitated by the “free entry” or “free mining” principle. It does so by focusing on Canada as a leader in the global extractive industry and the spread of this country’s mining laws to other countries – in other words, the transnationalisation of norms in the global extractive industry – so as to maintain a consistent and familiar operating environment for Canadian extractive companies. The transnationalisation of norms is further promoted by key international institutions such as the World Bank, which is also the world’s largest development lender and also plays a key role in shaping the regulations that govern natural resource extraction. The thesis briefly investigates some Canadian examples of resource extraction projects, in order to demonstrate the weaknesses of Canadian mining laws, particularly the lack of protection of landowners’ rights under the free entry system and the subsequent need for “free, prior and informed consent” (FPIC). The thesis also considers some of the challenges to the adoption and implementation of the right to FPIC. These challenges include embedded institutional structures like the free entry mining system, international political economy (IPE) as shaped by international institutions and powerful corporations, as well as concerns regarding ‘local’ power structures or the legitimacy of representatives of communities affected by extractive projects. The thesis concludes that in order for Canada to be truly recognized as a leader in the global extractive industry, it must establish legal norms domestically to ensure that Canadian mining companies and residents can be held accountable when there is evidence of environmental and/or human rights violations associated with the activities of Canadian mining companies abroad. The thesis also concludes that Canada needs to address underlying structural issues such as the free entry mining system and implement FPIC, in order to curb “accumulation by dispossession” by the extractive industry, both domestically and abroad.

碩士
國立清華大學
科技法律研究所
105
In recent years, the problem of food safety has become much more serious. Our government should not only face the threat from the domestic enterprises but also defend the health risk stemmed from the world trade. The outbreak of avian flu in other countries should be considered an alert to our country. The avian flu may impact our domestic farming, animal and plant health, human health, and economy. As such, out government restricts or prohibits the import of birds and their product. What our government does should comply with related WTO regulation, especially SPS Agreement. SPS Agreement requires members to enact their SPS measures based on scientific evidence and risk assessment. Therefore, science plays an important role in the WTO dispute settlement. To ensure that our SPS measure complies with SPSAgreement, this article discusses the explanation of scientific evidence through WTO case study. Then whether our current SPS measure violates Panel’s or Appellate Body’s explanation is also examined. Furthermore, this article provides a possible solution to help our government obey WTO law without any sacrifice of nationals’ health.

碩士
輔仁大學
財經法律學系
98
In 2008, The Case of Melamine-Contamination happened, it caused the whole world to be panic about food safety. This event mainly resulted from the China which exports containing the Melamine milk, the noxious chemicals make many children be hurt or died. So Taiwan prohibited the importation from China related products. As a WTO Member, Member adopt or enforces measures which consistent with WTO rules and the measures subject to the requirement that these measures are not applied in a manner which would constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between Members where the same conditions prevail or a disguised restriction on international trade. Therefore, this article discusses that examining the Government Measures of Taiwan under the SPS Agreement is valid or not. At the article, author mainly debated this measure to be consistent with the article 5.6 and 5.7 of SPS Agreement. Besides, the article includes the studying all relevant dispute settlement cases and articles under the SPS Agreement as well as the containing melamine standard of many representing countries. Finally, it is focused on the validity of the measure of Taiwan and developing in the future.

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This paper explores the effects of non-tariff measures (NTM) on extensive and intensive margins of global exports of seafood in 1996-2011. The main result of this study is the differential and opposite effect of SPS and TBT measures. While SPS measures largely increase extensive margins of export and reduce intensive margins, TBTs mostly reduce exports at extensive margins and increase exports at intensive margins. Specific trade concerns (STC) have larger effect on exports than SPS and TBT notifications, both economically and statistically. Finally, there is substantial heterogeneity of response of exports to NTMs across HS six digit product lines, but the central tendency remains the same as for aggregated data.

Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures are measures aimed at the protection of human, animal and plant life and health within specified territories from the risks associated with the introduction and spread of pests and diseases through trade. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) developed an agreement on the application of SPS measures. South Africa is a member of both the WTO and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). In SADC, SPS measures are provided for in the SADC Sanitary and Phytosanitary Annexure to the Protocol on Trade of 1996. International Standard Setting Bodies (ISSBs) facilitate the effective application of the main elements of the relevant SPS agreements, especially harmonization and equivalence by establishing scientifically justified standards on which members may base their SPS measures. The relevant ISSB’s in terms of SPS measures are the OIE, IPPC and Codex Alimentarius. SPS measures have the potential to become or be used as non-tariff barriers to trade (NTBs). The SADC Protocol on Trade 1996 stipulates that policies and measures are to be implemented by members to eliminate existing forms of NTBs. Additionally members may not enforce new NTBs affecting or related to intra-SADC trade. The most relevant South African legislation in the context of SPS measures and this study is as follows: Agricultural Pests Act 36 of 1983, the Agricultural Products Act 119 of 1990; the Fertilizers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act 36 of 1947, the Liquor Products Act 60 of 1989, Meat Safety Act 40 of 2000, Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act 54 of 1972, Medicines and Related Substances Act 101 of 1965 and National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications Act 5 of 2008. The purpose of this study is to establish to what extent the South African legal framework complies with its obligations in terms of the SADC SPS Annexure to the Protocol on Trade
LLM (Import and Export Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

碩士
國立臺灣海洋大學
海洋法律研究所
96
In 2006, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine promulgated that it was forbidden to manufacture, disperse, import, export, sell and exposure “β-agonist,” was a feed additive that was used to increase rate of carcass leanness in food-producing animals, because it could be harmful to human healthy according to science reports. In contrast, using β-agonist could decline production costs, thus other countries did not prohibit it generally and the FAO also allow it within a suggesting standard. On the other hand, the restrictive import measures of Taiwan would probably become trade barriers under the WTO Rules. On the purpose of protecting our public health, food safety, and citizen care, this thesis attempts to establish an adaptable restrictive import measure of livestock product containing β-agonist in accordance with the WTO Rules. Furthermore, the thesis does examine not only the public health provisions and practices under the WTO Rules, but also the control systems of β-agonist in the world. In summary, considering literature review methodology, historical methodology, comparative methodology, and interviewing methodology, this thesis tries to present an effective and enforceable conclusion as an advice in the future.

WTO Agreements have failed to adequately cater for the needs of developing countries. The WTO Agreements, particularly the SPS Agreements has failed to take into account the special needs of developing and least developing countries and clearly their interests have received no representation in the Agreement. Instead of reducing the negative impact of the SPS measures, the Agreement itself has become a barrier to trade. The problems of its implementation inclusive of the expertise, the high costs of conformity, lack of infrastructure and adequate resources have created further restrictions for exporters in international commerce. The failure to adequately deal with the implementation problems of developing countries is evident in the stalemate that culminated at the Doha Ministerial Conference which has extended for over a decade. Perhaps the future of African developments lies in regional agreements, since it is clear that the multilateral trading system has failed. Whereas some scholars are of the view that Article 5.7 of the Agreement should be used as model for the precautionary principle. The principle is highly controversial and does not even have a universal definition; its application might prove to be highly problematic. However the trade-environment debate has already taken center stage in the WTO jurisprudence, suggesting possibly the emergence of an Agreement to that effect. One however can only wonder whether in including the trade-environment debate under the ambit of the WTO when clearly it has failed to deal with issues and concerns’ relating to trade only, might be biting much more than it can chew.
Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

This dissertation seeks to identify the existence of the International Food Safety Complex (IFSC) within the international arena. The analysis of the IFSC also contributes to an emerging area of research about international institutional complexes, in particular how they emerge and form functional niches. The IFSC is examined in light of Southern Africa where the notions of the timing and absolute demand for international institutions adds dynamics that have not yet been considered in international institutional literature. This dissertation assesses how food safety regulation in the Southern African region functions in light of a cooperative IFSC and uses South Africa as a case study to offer some insight into the opportunities and challenges that exist in the African region

Systematics of strange particle production in collisions of ultrarelativistic nuclei provides an insight into the properties of the strongly interacting matter. Hadrochemistry, the study of the relative yields, provides information about chemical freeze-out and the position of the system in the phase diagram. Strangeness production at Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) energies is not fully explained by the thermal model of hadron gas. Data reported by one experiment show sharp structures as a function of energy which are interpreted as a signature for a phase transition, but due to discrepancies in the results between two different experiments, a conclusion can not be drawn. This thesis is part of an effort to build a database of the strangeness production at SPS energy. The particular subject of this work is a precise measurement of the production of $K_{S}^{0}$. The results are compared with two other experiments and the prediction of the thermal model. The high precision data shed light on the systematics of strangeness production and allow clarification of the experimental status. The study of transverse momentum spectra provides information about the temperature and the radial expansion of the system. Here, as in the case of particle yields, interesting structures are visible as a function of energy. A rapid increase in the number of degrees of freedom is visible in the SPS region. A large part of the strangeness is carried by the neutral strange baryon $\Lambda$. Here the experimental situation is even more complicated because the reconstruction of the $\Lambda$ yield requires large extrapolation to low transverse momentum. In this work first results on $\Lambda$ production will be presented.

Thesis (DTech. degree in Computer Science and Data Processing: Software Development.)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2012.
Based on the fundamental assumption that individuals view their privacy differently, this study attempts to find a solution on how to protect the personal information of an individual stored in a relational database system against privacy violations. Secondly, to determine how the Hippocratic principles can be effectively applied to give individuals better control over their personal information, while at the same time allowing the organisation to process its transactions on the same personalised information. In answering these problems, the study established a set of extended principles to which the collection and the use of personal data should strictly hold.

M.Tech. Business Administration. Business School.
In South Africa emerging farm enterprises are a primary focus of government interventions with the view of improving and increasing productivity and profitability of the land redistribution beneficiaries. However, the state of productivity and profitability of the emerging farm enterprises is not well documented. The problem faced by emerging farm enterprises in South Africa is that they are not graduating from emerging to commercial farming enterprises as was expected from 1994. Smallholder farmers find it difficult to participate in the markets because of a range of constraints and barriers reducing incentives to participation. There are several factors contributing to this, but lack of information on productivity and profitability seem to champion the dilemma. Not much is known about the productivity and profitability of emerging farming enterprises. The aim of this study was to contribute to the body of knowledge, in pursuance of measures of productivity and profitability for improving the emerging farmers' situation.

Thesis (M.Tech : Adventure Tourism Management)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2012.
Investigates the successful utilisation of CRM in various high risk industries, in order to reduce the incidence of fatal and serious accidents, and incidents.

M. Tech. Information Networks
The growth of the internet has made it easy for people to exchange information resulting in the abundance of information commonly referred to as information overload. It causes retailers to fail to make adequate sales since the customers are swamped with a lot of options and choices. To lessen this problem retailers have begun to find it useful to make use of algorithmic approaches to determine which content to show consumers. These algorithmic approaches are known as recommender systems. Collaborative Filtering recommender systems suggest items to users based on other users reported prior experience with those items. These systems are, however, vulnerable to shilling attacks since they are highly dependent on outside sources of information. Shilling is a process in which syndicating users can connive to promote or demote a certain item, where malicious users benefit from introducing biased ratings. It is, however, critical that shilling detection systems are implemented to detect, warn and shut down shilling attacks within minutes. Modern patented shilling detection systems employ: (a) classification methods, (b) statistical methods, and (c) rules and threshold values defined by shilling detection analysts, using their knowledge of valid shilling cases and the false alarm rate as guidance. The goal of this dissertation is to determine a context for, and assess the performance of Meta-Learning techniques that can be integrated in the shilling detection process.

The principal aim of the study of ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is the search for evidence of a transient state of deconfined quarks and gluons in the early, dense and hot stage of the reaction. Non-statistical event-by-event fluctuations of mean transverse momentum,p_T, have been proposed as a possible signature for the QCD phase transition, in particular for the critical point. However, the magnitude of the measured fluctuations is not as large as anticipated. Since fluctuations were characterized so far by one single (integral) number, it was difficult to estimate the many possible contributions to them. Taking into account the high available statistics offered by the CERES experiment combined with the full azimuthal acceptance, a differential study of mean p_T fluctuations is performed, which provides the sensitivity to discriminate among various correlation sources. For the first time at SPS energy, the charge-dependent mean p_T fluctuations have been analyzed as a function of the angular pair separation, Delta(phi), and of the separation in pseudorapidity, Delta(eta). Thus, we are able to show that the overall fluctuations are dominated by the short range correlation peak at small opening angles (`near-side'), most probably originating from Bose-Einstein and Coulomb effects between pairs of particles emitted with similar velocities. Another important contribution is a broad maximum at Delta(phi) = 180 degrees (`away-side') originating from back-to-back (jet-like) correlations. Since the fluctuations related to the critical point should be present for all opening angles the best strategy is to focus on the fluctuations in the region of 30 < Delta(phi) <60 degrees, free of the influence of the two mentioned components, and where the elliptic flow cancels out. Concerning the observed away-side peak, we demonstrate that it comes from high-p_T correlations that cannot be attributed to the elliptic flow. The second part of the thesis is dedicated to studies of gas properties for the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC. Drift velocity and gain measurements have been performed for a number of gas mixtures in order to assess the effect of nitrogen which is expected to accumulate in the gas volume over long periods of running. The ALICE Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) is designed to work with a gas of 85 % Xe and 15 % CO2. Some of the nine isotopes of Xe have very high neutron capture cross-section leading to multi-gamma deexcitation cascades which produce background for the physical signals. An exhaustive study of this issue based on Monte Carlo simulations is presented, demonstrating that the level of this background is low enough not to cause deterioration in the performance of the detector. In addition, the resulting radioactivity and dose rate of the active gas system of ALICE TRD activated by slow neutrons is investigated and appear to be low and safe.

碩士
嶺東科技大學
流行設計系碩士班
103
The researches of discussing service quality and customer satisfaction are the main trend but only little literatures focusing on applying PZB service quality model to measure customer service gap. This study aims on service flow in SPA industry to construct service quality by addressing the factors of the service quality gap by using PZB service quality model. Further, the SERVQUAL model was inducted to enhance service quality. The target population mainly focuses on female customer who experience SPA service in Taichung City. This study focused on the perception gap between customer expectation and perceived service. The results indicate that there is significance between two dimensions of reliability and empathy. The findings show “Reliability” and “Empathy” have highly differences on influencing “customer expectation” and “perceived service”. The core value of SPA industry is to provide service, and the feature of this industry usually happens only between a Beautician and a customer through much closed skin and body service. The customers usually focused on the service quality in this field more than others. For those service items which could results in service gap, the results indicate that the industry should upgrade “Perceived service” to satisfy “Service Expectation” in order to reduce the gap on service items by rising customer satisfaction and loyalty in SPA industry.

M. Tech. Quantity Surveying (Structured)
The aim of this research is to identify the major cost overrun factors in the construction sector of the Free State Province of South Africa and the effective remedial cost control measures, generate and recommend possible solutions. The primary objective of the research is to identify the major causes of cost overrun in the construction sector of the Free State Province of South Africa and the related effective remedial cost control measures.

M. Tech. Business Information Systems
Although owners of Internet cafés extend the freedom to have Internet access to the community, they fail to tighten their computer security to safeguard the private information of their customers. This dissertation provides a conceptual framework for improving information security in the Internet Café, to help and ensure data privacy, data integrity, risk management and information security (IS) behaviour. The study investigated the information security issues that are faced by users of Internet cafés and explored the effects of these issues. The framework shows how users can improve their physical security to reach higher standards of information privacy over the Internet.

Thesis (MTech. Degree in Animal Sciences) Tshwane University of Technology 2012.
Poor pork quality as a result of pre-slaughter stress is widespread in the industry and this is of great concern. Although many methods for assessing stress levels, and consequently welfare, exist, these tend to be invasive. Simple, effective, non-invasive and/or minimally invasive ways of assessing the welfare of the pigs before slaughter are critical to identify the stressed pigs enabling specific interventions to mitigate the effects of the stress on the pork. The main objective of the study was therefore, to measure the levels of metabolic substrate in pig saliva and plasma subjected to stressful conditions using rapid diagnostic tests and relate them to meat pH, drip loss and carcass temperature of the meat. It was envisaged that such a relationship if established would enable the identification of stressed pigs likely to produce poor quality pork and enable prophylactic measures to be taken before slaughter to come up with good quality pork.

D. Tech. Education
Safety and security in schools is not only a South African issue, but a global challenge too. Learners and educators are assaulted and killed on school premises in the province despite the presence of a plethora of educational legislation. This study investigates how safety and security is managed in schools in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal.

The purpose of the study was to identify a comprehensive measure of performance by assessing the relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction on the profitability of the commercial banking industry in Ethiopia. The study adopted unidimensional path models, multivariate approach and factor analysis in predicting the dependent variable, determining the independent variables and the sample size and justifying the objectives of the sturdy. Primary data were obtained through structured questionnaires from valid sample responses of 180 employees and customers selected on convenient sampling method. Profitability (ROA & ROE) was measured based on the average data from the financial statements of 2007/8-2001/12 of the banks. Variant of empirical studies and theoretical frameworks, drawn from motivational, psychological and behavioural theories, were used to formulate the hypothesis and establish the relationship between internal service quality, employee satisfaction, customer service quality, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and profitability. Results of the study indicated internal marketing influenced employee job satisfaction which in turn partially influenced customer service quality and customer satisfaction; customer service quality influenced customer satisfaction which then influenced customer loyalty. But, no relationship was observed between customer loyalty and profitability. However, due to the timing gap of the data on profitability and the data on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, the relationship is apparently realizable in the long run. Therefore, due emphasis is required by the management of the banks to exert the necessary strategic effort on employee satisfaction, customer service quality, and customer satisfaction because of their implicit effects on profitability. Finally, the relevance of the research to the literature on performance measurement is demonstrated by contextualizing comprehensive models in the context of commercial banking industry in Ethiopia.
Business Management
D.B.L.

M. Tech. Information Networks
The increasing sophistication of information security threats and the ever-growing body of regulation has made information security a critical function in higher education institutions. Research was undertaken to investigate the implementation of information security strategies in higher education institutions in South Africa. This thesis investigates the following: How will the formulation of an information security strategy improve information security in higher education institutions; in what way should higher education institutions employ information security policies in order to improve information security; and how may the adoption of information security framework create information security awareness among employees in higher education institutions?

M.Tech. Business Administration. Business School.
This study investigates the extent to which levels of awareness of lead poisoning among mine workers at the Exxaro lead and zinc mine in Namibia correlate to their levels of compliance. Specifically, the study investigates the extent to which mine workers are aware of lead poisoning and whether this knowledge influences their attitudes towards compliance to regulations on handling hazardous materials.