Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Terms of measure'

The study is a descriptive analysis using a case-study methodology that identifies the critical elements (methods, tools, processes, personnel, and practices) of adversary analysis identified as a red team and red-teaming. A red team is the adversary element of the analytic method of red-teaming. The study incorporates interview data with organization leadership, subject matter experts, and red-team developers from Department of Defense (DoD), Intelligence Community (IC), and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDC) organizations. The study also includes red-team governance documents, red-team briefings, and discussions to first identify the concepts, analyze the critical design elements of the concept(s), and develop a fundamental taxonomy or classification of red-team approaches based on these artifacts. The study compares and contrasts four red teams that utilize groups of adversary subject-matter experts for common themes, differences, and best practices. The data collection builds on grounded theory—i.e., identification of the methods, tools, processes, and personnel as the organizations understand and develop their red teams as part of their red-teaming analyses to address gaps in understanding possible adversaries. The four organizations studied are the U.S. Army, Training and Doctrine Command, University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies; a Department of Defense unified combatant command; the U.S. Naval War College (NWC) and its red-team detachment; and a Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) Homeland Security and Defense, National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC). Two basic types of red teams are identified from the data with a hybrid between the two among the variations of the red-teaming concept. Some of the other findings from the four red teams include a need to develop common terms and standards; a need to explain the benefits of alternative analysis to decisionmakers; a need to develop trend analyses on types of red teams requested by sponsors; a need to design methods to capture non-state actors; a need to include more coalition and foreign partners; and a need to immerse red teams more fully into the culture to be understood.<br>Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to identify the most responsive measure of aerobic fitness over a four week pre-surgical aerobic training program (prehabilitation) in patients undergoing major bowel resection. Twenty one subjects (14 in exercise, 7 in control) participated. Fourteen subjects underwent 26.5 +/- 8.6 days of progressive aerobic exercise training at 40 to 65% of heart rate reserve (%HRR). The results showed that peak power output was the only maximal measure that responded to training as it improved by 26 +/- 27% (ES = 0.24, SRM = 1.05) in the exercise group (p < 0.05) compared to no change in the control group. For the submaximal measures, 6-Minute Walking Test improved in both group. Submaximal V·O2 (V·O2submax) and Submaximal Heart Rate (HR submax) were the most responsive to training as they decreased by 13 +/- 15% (ES = -0.24, SRM = -0.57) and 7 +/- 6% (ES = -0.40, SRM = -0.97) at 76 +/- 47 W compared to no change in the control group.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001.<br>ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Team effectiveness will be crucial to the success of managers and their organisations in the twenty first century. Managers will have to determine the effectiveness of their teams with the help of valid and reliable measurement instruments. This study project was undertaken to design and develop a team effectiveness assessment instrument that has been proven to be internally valid and reliable, for use by managers in order to identify and develop team effectiveness in their work teams. The construction of the Team Effectiveness Measure (TEM) depended largely on the identification of the elements that are needed for a team to be effective. This was achieved by researching existing literature and extracting a list of elements that was common to effective teams. The resultant Team Effectiveness Criterion Instrument, used in conjunction with practical experience, was then used to construct the Preliminary TEM. The methodology used in constructing and validating the TEM consisted of five steps. The concept of team effectiveness was specified, by using the results of the literature study, which identified eight discernible dimensions of team effectiveness. These dimensions are: balanced composition, clear objectives and focus, positive climate, dynamic culture, effective relationships, open communication, sound procedures and effective leadership. The next step was to create a pool of items by using the findings of the literature study. This resulted in a total pool of one hundred items, which were included in the Preliminary TEM. The format of the TEM was then constructed, consisting of demographic information and a Semantic Differential Scale, with a seven point bipolar rating scale. The next step was to determine the construct validity of the TEM. Applying the Preliminary TEM to a sample group of one hundred and ninety six people, and subjecting the results to statistical analysis achieved this. The Item Total Correlation and Coefficient Alpha was determined, followed by a Factor Analysis, which led to the refinement of the Preliminary TEM. The end result was the final TEM, which consisted of three main factors and a total of thirty elements. The results of the analysis of the final TEM, being an extremely high Cronbach Coefficient -Alpha of 0.94, and a consistently high Item Total Correlation, is evidence of the internal consistency of the TEM. The results of the factor analysis, a loading of more than 0.6 on all items, reflect positively on the construct validity of the TEM. Only the items with the highest level of reliability were retained. The final conclusion, based on the results, was that the contents of the TEM were sufficiently validated and was usable as an instrument for assessing team effectiveness. This means that the results obtained from the use of the instrument can be trusted and used for making recommendations on the development of a team. It must however, be noted that the TEM needs to be subjected to further reliability and construct validity testing. This does not however, detract from the fact that the TEM can be used effectively as a measure for managers for team effectiveness, team functioning, identifying symptoms of poor team work that prohibits performance and for measuring the "temperature" of the team.<br>AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die sukses van bestuurders en organisasies in die een-en-twintigste eeu is deels afhanklik van die sukses en die effektiwiteit van hul werkspanne. Bestuurders sal geldige en betroubare meetinstrumente nodig hê om te bepaal op watter vlak van effektiewe werking hulle spanne is. Die doel van hierdie studie projek was om 'n meetsinstrument vir spaneffektiwiteit te ontwerp en ontwikkel, wat getoets is vir interne geldigheid en betroubaarheid. Die meetinstrument moet gebruik kan word deur bestuurders om spaneffektiwiteit te indentifiseer en ontwikkel. Dit was belangrik om eers die elemente wat nodig is vir spanne om effektief te funksioneer, te identifiseer, deur gebruik te maak van 'n literatuurstudie oor spaneffektiwiteit. Die bestaande literatuur is gebruik om 'n lys van elemente te identifiseer wat algemeen in effektiewe spanne voorkom. Hierdie lys van elemente, sowel as praktiese ervaring, is gebruik om die Voorlopige Spaneffektiwiteits Meetinstrument (TEM) op te stel. Die metedologie wat gebruik is, is om 'n vyf stap benadering te volg in die ontwikkeling van die TEM. Eerstens is die konsep van spaneffektiwiteit gespesifiseer, deur gebruik te maak van die resultate van die literatuur studie. Agt dimensies is as volg geidentifiseer: Gebalanseerde samestelling, duidelike doelwitte en fokus, positiewe klimaat, dinamiese kultuur, effektiewe verhoudinge, oop kommunikasie, gevestigde prosedure, en goeie leierskap. In die volgende stap is 'n poel van items saamgestel deur gebruik te maak van die bevindinge van die literatuurstudie. In totaal is 100 items ingesluit in die Voorlopige TEM. Volgende aan die beurt was die opstel van die formaat van die TEM, wat bestaan het uit demografiese inligting, sowel as 'n Semanties Differensiële Skaal met 'n sewe punt bipolêre skaal. Dit is gevolg deur die vastelling van die konstruk geldigheid van die TEM, deur die toepassing van die vraelys op 196 mense en die statistese verwerking van die resultate. Die Item Totaal Korrelasie en die Koëffisient Alfa is bepaal en dit is gevolg deur 'n Faktor Analise. Hierdie resultate is gebruik om die TEM te verfyn tot 'n instrument met drie hoof faktore en 'n totaal van dertig items. Bewyse vir die interne konsekentheid van die TEM is verkry deur die hoë Cronbach Koëffisient van 0.94, en 'n deurlopende hoë Item Totaal Korrelasie. Die resultate van die Faktor Analise was 'n deurlopende hoë telling van meer as 0.6, wat positief reflekteer op die konstruk geldigheid van die TEM. Slegs die items met die hoogste vlak van betroubaarheid is gekies vir insluiting in die finale TEM. Dit alles dui daarop dat die resultate wat vekry gaan word deur die toepassing van die TEM op spanne, vertrou kan word en gebruik kan word om aanbevelings te maak vir die ontwikkeling van die span. Daar moet egter genoem word dat verdere betroubaarheid en konstruk geldigheid studies nodig sal wees op die TEM, aangesien die TEM slegs vir interne geldigheid getoets is. Die resultate van die analise is egter bevredigend genoeg dat die TEM met vertroue gebruik kan word deur bestuurders om die vlak van ontwikkeling en effektiwiteit van hul spanne te kan bepaal.

This thesis examines the ethical challenges faced by technical communicators working in global virtual teams. Virtual teams usage are becoming increasingly more popular and diverse. As a result, it is valuable for technical communicators to understand and recognize the challenges that are faced within global virtual teams in order to find solutions and preventive measures for these challenges. The ethical challenges present in global virtual teams were determined by examining the literature on virtual teams and intercultural ethics and conducting a survey of practicing technical communicators who have experience in virtual teams. The purpose of the survey was to determine the ethical challenges that are present for technical communicators and how these issues were resolved. The survey results reveal valuable approaches to resolving and preventing ethical challenges in virtual teams. This thesis contributes to a better understanding of virtual teams and intercultural ethics and examines the ethical challenges that are faced by technical communicators. Furthermore, the thesis presents preventive measures for addressing ethical challenges. Finally, the thesis also provides suggestions for future research into the ethical challenges that are faced within global virtual teams, particularly those related to cultural differences.<br>M.A.<br>Masters<br>English<br>Arts and Humanities<br>English; Technical Communications

Durant les últimes dècades, l’interès social sobre el benestar animal i la seva gestió ha incrementat de manera notòria. L’estrès és un factor decisiu del benestar animal pel seu impacte i la seva transversalitat. Malgrat que la resposta d’estrès va evolucionar per a mantenir l’homeòstasi de l’animal, l’estrès crònic és perjudicial i una amenaça pel benestar dels animals. L’eix hipotalàmic-hipofisari-adrenal és un element clau de la resposta d’estrès que finalitza amb la secreció de glucocorticoides al torrent sanguini per la glàndula adrenal. Mesurar les concentracions de glucocorticoides associades a l’activitat adrenal és la metodologia més usada per a l’avaluació de l’estrès d’un animal. El cortisol, el glucocorticoid principal en vaquí, pot detectar-se en sang, saliva, orina, llet o femta, però cap d’aquestes matrius pot proporcionar una mesura a llarg termini de l’activitat adrenal. El pèl és una matriu amb el potencial de proporcionar un valor integrador dels nivells de cortisol circulants a llarg termini i, per tant, esdevenir una mesura de l’activitat adrenal també a llarg termini. No obstant, al ser una matriu relativament nova, aquest potencial ha de ser testat i validat. Un coneixement exacte del pèl com a matriu que acumula cortisol és essencial per al seu futur us en estudis d’estrès crònic. Per tant, l’objectiu general d’aquesta tesi era validar, avaluar i optimitzar l’ús del cortisol en pèl com a eina per a valorar l’activitat adrenal a llarg termini en vaquí. Primerament, es va validar un protocol estandarditzat per a l’extracció de cortisol de pèl de vaquí i la seva quantificació mitjançant l’ús d’un enzim immunoassaig amb excel·lent resultats de validació. Seguidament, es va verificar la capacitat de les concentracions de cortisol en pèl (HCC) per representar un valor integrador de l’activitat adrenal a llarg termini a través de: 1) la correlació de les HCC amb concentracions de metabòlits del cortisol en femta (FCMC), una mesura ja validada d’activitat adrenal i 2) l’estudi de l’efecte de canvis no recurrents i aguts dels nivells de cortisol circulant (que no representen l’estat general de l’animal) en les HCC. Les HCC de vaques lleteres van correlacionar bé amb les FCMC, demostrant indirectament una relació entre l’activitat adrenal i les HCC. Seguidament es va avaluar la robustesa de les HCC de vedells en front augments esporàdics del cortisol circulant induïts per injeccions d’hormona adrenocorticotròpica i es va concloure que les HCC podien representar l’activitat adrenal a llarg termini. Després es van explorar les aplicacions potencials de la determinació de cortisol en pèl en la producció lletera a l’investigar les relacions entre les HCC i dades fisiològiques o productives en una granja comercial de vaques lleteres. Es va trobar una alta variabilitat individual i HCC elevades es van associar a una menor producció de llet durant tota la lactació, demostrant així la sensibilitat de les HCC a certs estressors a llarg termini que afecten la producció lletera. En quart lloc, es va avaluar la tècnica de l’espectroscòpia de l’infraroig proper (NIRS) per a la quantificació del cortisol en pèl de vaques. Malgrat que el NIRS (a través de les equacions obtingudes) no va resultar capaç de reemplaçar les metodologies actualment utilitzades, va demostrar ser capaç de detectar amb exactitud animals amb altes HCC i ser útil per exàmens inicials. Finalment, es van reportar característiques secundàries descobertes durant la tesi associades al pèl amb una presumpta influència en les concentracions de cortisol. Malgrat que es necessita més recerca per entendre alguns factors de confusió, les concentracions de cortisol en pèl semblen representar l’activitat adrenal a llarg termini amb el potencial de ser usades en estudis de benestar i producció animal en vaquí lleter.<br>In the last decades, social interest in animal welfare and welfare management has increased substantially. Stress is a decisive factor in animal welfare because of its impact and mainstreaming. Although stress response evolved to maintain animal’s homeostasis, chronic stress is prejudicial and a serious threat to animal’s well-being. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal-axis is a key element in the stress response and ends with glucocorticoid secretion in the bloodstream by the adrenal gland. The measurement of glucocorticoid concentrations associated to adrenal activity is the most used methodology to assess animal’s stress status. Cortisol, the main glucocorticoid in cattle, can be detected in blood (serum or plasma), saliva, urine, milk or faeces, but none of these matrixes is able to provide a measure of long-term adrenal activity. Hair is a matrix with the potential to provide an integrative value of long-term circulating cortisol levels and therefore, to be a measure of long-term adrenal activity. However, as a relatively new matrix, hair potential must be tested and validated. An accurate knowledge of hair as a matrix that accumulates cortisol is essential for its future use in chronic stress research associated to animal welfare and animal production. Consequently, the general objective of this thesis was to validate, evaluate and optimize the use of hair cortisol measurement as a tool to assess long-term adrenal activity in cattle. First, we validated a standardized protocol for the extraction of cortisol from cattle hair and the quantification of these cortisol concentrations by an enzyme immunoassay kit with excellent validation results. Second, we studied the feasibility of hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) to represent a long-term integrative value of adrenal activity by: 1) correlating HCC with faecal cortisol metabolites concentrations (FCMC), a validated measure of adrenal activity and 2) studying the effect on HCC of acute and non recurrent changes in circulating cortisol levels that did not represent the general status of the animal. Hair cortisol concentrations from dairy cows correlated well with the average value of FCMC, demonstrating indirectly that there exists a relationship between adrenal activity and HCC. Moreover, we evaluated the robustness of HCC from bull calves in front sporadic peaks of circulating cortisol induced by injections of adrenocorticotropic hormone and concluded that HCC are able to represent long-term adrenal activity. Third, we explored the potential uses of hair cortisol determination in dairy cattle production. This study investigated the relationships between HCC and physiological or productive data from a commercial dairy herd. High individual variability was found and greater HCC were associated to low milk yields during almost all lactation period demonstrating the sensitivity of HCC to certain long-term stressors affecting milk production. Fourth, we aimed to optimize hair cortisol detection by evaluating near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) technique for hair cortisol quantification in cows. Although NIRS through the obtained equations was not able to replace current methodologies, it was able to detect accurately animals with high HCC and be used for general animal screening. Finally, we reported the effects of secondary characteristics associated to hair matrix with a presumptive influence in hair cortisol measurement. Hair colour and hair anatomical location affected significantly HCC. Although future research is necessary to understand confounding factors, cortisol concentrations in hair seem to represent long-term adrenal activity with potential to be used as a tool in dairy cattle studies of animal welfare and production.

Organizations invest in team-based systems in order to generate innovative practices that will give them a competitive edge. High-performing teams require training and other support systems to gain the skills they need as well as to create and maintain an environment conducive to their success. The challenge for managers is to make resource allocation decisions among investment alternatives to maximize team effectiveness and still ensure a financial return for company investors. This study has three objectives. The first objective is to investigate whether there is a positive relationship among organizational environment, team potency (the team's collective belief it will succeed) and team performance. Results indicate that the presence of four organizational support systems influences team potency and performance. These support systems are the Design and Measurement, Rewards, Training and Communications Systems. In addition, results indicate that team potency is a mediating variable between the Design and Measurement and Communications Systems and team performance. These results suggest that companies are able to influence team performance by investing in environmental support systems. The second objective is to examine whether team members and managers view the organizational environment differently. Results indicate that managers view the Training and Communications Systems as more important, while teams perceive the Design and Measurement System and the Rewards System to be more important to their success. Since the systems that team managers view as important may influence their investment decisions, these differences may suggest a resource alignment issue. Third, a measure of team effectiveness based on financial measures is introduced. Published literature emphasizes attitudinal, behavioral and operational measures of performance. A financial measure offers a method of evaluating performance that is similar to methods used in capital budgeting and may be consistently applied across different types of teams with different purposes. The data collection process was performed by persons external to the team and covered a 12-month period. This method led to a loss of information and did not accurately portray team performance. However, the teams that were successful in calculating project savings were different types of teams from both manufacturing and service industries. This result is encouraging and warrants further investigation.

This dissertation discusses in general, a historical overview of progressive development of consumer credit legislation that laid the foundation for the National Credit Act. It constitutes of an overview of consumer credit legislation that governed credit agreements prior to the National Credit Act. It investigates secondary debt prevention measures as stipulated in the National Credit Act that influence a consumer’s decision in regards to credit spending and over-indebtedness, more specifically debt prevention measures such as advertising, credit marketing practices and the disclosure of information by the credit provider. The rationale being that if a consumer is provided with understandable information in regards to credit agreements and he can compare one credit provider’s services with another, and he will be put in a position to make a better decision when it comes to credit spending and thereby reducing or eliminating careless credit spending and subsequently over-indebtedness.<br>Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2014.<br>tm2015<br>Mercantile Law<br>LLM<br>Unrestricted

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006.<br>The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (May 2, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Background: Patient empowerment is viewed as a priority by policy makers, patients and practitioners worldwide. Although there are a number of measures available, none have been developed specifically for patients in the UK with long-term conditions. It is the aim of this study to report the development and preliminary validation of an empowerment instrument for patients with long-term conditions in primary care.Methods: The study involved three methods. Firstly, a systematic review was conducted to identify existing empowerment instruments, and to describe, compare and appraise their content and quality. The results supported the need for a new instrument. Item content of existing instruments helped support development of the new instrument. Secondly, empowerment was explored in patients with long-term conditions and primary care practitioners using qualitative methods, to explore its meaning and the factors that support or hinder empowerment. This led to the development of a conceptual model to support instrument development. Thirdly, a new instrument for measuring empowerment in patients with long-term conditions in primary care was developed. A cross-sectional survey of patients was conducted to collect preliminary data on acceptability, reliability and validity, using pre-specified hypotheses based on existing theoretical and empirical work. Results: Nine instruments meeting review inclusion criteria were identified. Only one instrument was developed to measure empowerment in long-term conditions in the context of primary care, and that was judged to be insufficient in terms of content and purpose. Five dimensions (‘identity’, ‘knowledge and understanding’, ‘personal control’, personal decision-making’, and ‘enabling other patients’) of empowerment were identified through published literature and the qualitative work and incorporated into a preliminary version of the new instrument. A postal survey achieved 197 responses (response rate 33%). Almost half of the sample reported circulatory, diabetic or musculoskeletal conditions. Exploratory factor analysis suggested a three factor solution (‘identity’, ‘knowledge and understanding’ and ‘enabling’). Two dimensions of empowerment (‘identity’ and ‘enabling’) and total empowerment showed acceptable levels of internal consistency. The measure showed relationships with external measures (including quality of chronic illness care, self-efficacy and educational qualifications) that were generally supportive of its construct validity.Conclusion: Initial analyses suggest that the new measure meets basic psychometric criteria and has potential for the measurement of patient empowerment in long-term conditions in primary care. The scale may have a role in research on quality of care for long-term conditions, and could function as a patient-reported outcome measure. However, further validation is required before more extensive use of the measure.

<p>The procedure of determining if a site is suitable for wind power production requiresconvincing statistical data describing the long-term behavior of the average wind speed.This can be achieved by measuring the wind speed for a short time period, e.g. a year,and after that a Measure-Correlate-Predict (MCP) method can be performed. The shorttermmeasured wind data must be used in combination with a long-term referenceseries. This long-term reference series can be global reanalysis data reaching 20 to 30years back in time. In a MCP method different regression methods can be used. Aftercreating a long-term corrected wind data series, it is possible to analyze the conditionsat the investigated site. To be able to study the behavior of different reference series andregression methods, a model was created in MATLAB. As short-term wind speed dataVattenfall Wind Power supplied data from two measuring masts, Ringhals andOskarshamn, with maximum heights of 96 and 100 meters, respectively. From UppsalaUniversity data were supplied from a measuring mast near Marsta with maximummeasurement height of 29 meters.When creating these long-term corrected wind data series there were many methodsavailable. In this Master thesis methods such as Ordinary-Least-Square, Least-Absolute-Deviation and Reduced-Major-Axis regression methods have been used. With eachmethod three reference series were used in combination with the short-termmeasurement data. These were data from NCAR 850 hPa, NCAR 42-meter sigma leveland a confidential source.Regression methods in combination with reference series were studied and the deviationfrom mean wind speed was obtained for each of these cases. Studies were performed onhow the length of the short-term measurement series affected the deviation from themeasured mean wind speed. It was also investigated if the time of the year had anyinfluence on the measurements.The general conclusion drawn after performing the above-mentioned studies was thatthe NCAR 850 hPa wind speed data and the Reduced-Major-Axis regression methodgave the smallest deviation from the measured mean wind speed in most cases. It wasalso concluded that when a short-term measurement series reached 10 to 14 monthsthere was a significant decrease in deviation from the mean wind speed, regardless ofreference series or method used. Calculations from the model regarding seasonaldependence stated that there was a slight dependency on which period of the year ameasurement was performed.</p><br><p>I processen att bedöma om en plats är lämplig för utbyggnad av vindkraft måste detfinnas övertygande statistiska data som beskriver den genomsnittliga vindhastighetenöver en längre tid. Genom att utföra vindhastighetsmätningar på den tänkta platsenunder en kortare tid, exempelvis ett år, och därefter tillämpas en Measure-Correlate-Predict (MCP) metod i kombination med en långtidsreferens, exempelvis en globalmodell som sträcker sig 20 till 30 år bakåt i tiden kan detta göras. I en MCP-metod kanolika typer av regressionsmetoder användas. När en långtidskorrigerad vinddataseriefinns tillgänglig kan dess beteende på den tänkta platsen analyseras. För att kunna göradetta för flera olika typer av referensserier och regressionsmetoder skapades en modell iMATLAB. Två vinddataserier erhölls från Vattenfall Vindkraft. Dessa var Ringhals ochOskarshamn med högsta mäthöjd på 96 respektive 100 meter. En ytterligarevinddataserie erhölls av Uppsala Universitet från en mätmast nära Marsta med högstamäthöjd på 29 meter.Det fanns flera metoder tillgängliga för att skapa de långtidskorrigeradevinddataserierna. I det här examensarbetet har metoderna Ordinary-Least-Square-,Least-Absolute-Deviation- och Reduced-Major-Axis regressioner använts. För varjemetod testades tre referensserier i kombination med de kortare vinddataserierna. Dessavar NCAR 850 hPa vindhastigheter, NCAR 42 meters sigmanivå vindhastigheter ochannan meteorologisk data.Regressionsmetoderna utvärderades genom att avvikelsen från de kortare mätseriernasmedelvindhastigheter beräknades. Det undersöktes också hur längden på användvinddata från de kortare mätserierna påverkade avvikelsen i medelvindhastighet och omdet fanns något säsongsberoende på när under året som mätningen av vinddata vargjord.Slutsatserna från undersökningarna var att NCAR 850 hPa vindhastigheter ochregressionsmetoden Reduced-Major-Axis generellt gav de lägsta avvikelserna frånuppmätt medelvindhastighet. Slutsatser kunde också dras om längden av användmätdata. Det var tydligt att oavsett referensserie och regressionsmetod uppstod enminskningen i avvikelse från medelvindhastigheten mellan 10 till 14 månaders längd påmätserien. Resultat angående säsongsberoende kunde påvisas i form av avvikelsermellan mätningar gjorda under olika tidpunkter på året. Storlek och tecken påavvikelsen berodde på vilken referensserien i kombination med regressionsmetod somanvändes.</p>

This study sought to investigate the influence of expressive task demand, as determined by amount of face-to face social interaction, level of subjects' expressive ability, sex of subject, and sex of experimenter on subjects' digit and visual-spatial short-term memory span performance. The amount of personal contact was manipulated by the automated versus person administrations of the memory measures. The automated administration was accomplished through the use of a microcomputer.

Konstitucinio Teismo pagrindinė pareiga yra ištirti ir priimti sprendimą, ar galiojantis teisės aktas, neprieštarauja Konstitucijai ir tuo pačiu kitiems teisės aktams. Konstitucinio Teismo sprendimas yra galutinis. Vienintelis atvejis, kai sprendimas galėtų būti pakeistas, tai pakeitus atitinkamus Konstitucijos straipsnius, kurie prieštarauja ginčijamam teisiniam aktui, tačiau valstybių praktika rodo, kad mieliau yra keičiami konstitucinei tvarkai prieštaraujantys teisės aktai, o ne pati Konstitucija. Tokią praktiką pagrindžia ir keitimo procedūros sudėtingumas vienu ir kitu atveju, taip pat pakeitus Konstitucijoje įtvirtintus principus, turėtų keistis ir nusistovėjęs valstybės gyvenimas. Konstitucinio Teismo sprendimai gali būti skirti tiek leidžiamajai valdžiai, tiek ir privatiems asmenims, priklausomai nuo to, kas į jį kreipėsi, bet pripažintą prieštaraujančiu teisės aktą gali pataisyti tik įstatymų leidžiamoji valdžia. Tačiau Konstituciniam Teismui nėra draudžiama ir pačiam imtis tam tikrų priemonių, kurių dėka sprendimai būtų įgyvendami taip, kad panaikinus teisės aktą, neliktų teisės spragų: įstatymuose ar Konstitucinio Teismo jurisprudencijoje teisę taikančioms institucijoms nurodoma teisinio reguliavimo spragas užpildyti tiesiogiai vadovaujantis Konstitucija; akto pašalinimo iš teisės sistemos atidėjimas; kiti teismai yra įpareigojami sustabdyti procesą bylose, kurios nagrinėjamos remiantis ginčijamu aktu, kol leidžiamoji valdžia priims pakeistą įstatymą... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]<br>The main duty of the Constitutional Court is to examine and make a decision, if an effective law, is not contrary with the Constitution or other valid law. The decision of the Constitutional Court is mandatory. The only way to concur decision is to change the Constituion or some of its articles, which are contrary to the questionable law, but as the practice of the states show, states are more willing to change the questionable law not the Constitution. The arguments for changing the law not the Constitution is the complexity of the changing procedure and if you change the principles of the Constitution, you also have to change the ordinary every day life of the state. The Constituional Court decisions can be dedicated to legislative power, or only to private people, assuming who was the initiator of the case, but the unconstitutional law can be amended only by legislative bodies. But there are no prohibitions for Constitutional Court to take his own remedies in order to assure such implementation of the decision, that when the unconstitutional law is abolished, there won‘t occur any legislative gaps. Constitutional Courts of the Europe use such measures: in the law or constitutional jurisprudence for the bodies, which aplly law, are told to fill the gaps directly using the Constitution (this measure is used by Russian and Polish Constitutional Courts); the delay of the unconstitutional act removal from the law system (used by Austrian, Latvian, German Constitutional Courts)... [to full text]

In recent years increased emphasis has been placed on improving seat comfort in automobiles. This is partly due to research showing that prolonged driving is associated with increased risk of musculoskeletal disorders, but largely because driver comfort is now viewed as an increasingly important aspect of the competitive marketing of vehicles. Driving is firmly cemented as a major part of most people s daily life across the world and people are now spending more time in their vehicles than ever before. As urban congestion continues to rise, commuting distances and durations will progressively increase, subjecting drivers to the risks of long duration driving more often. Consequently the automotive industry has invested in designing seats that perform better under increased usage durations and ergonomics has played a vital role in the design of new seats. However, the ability to design a successful seat relies heavily on the capacity to accurately evaluate the comfort of a vehicle seat and one major issue that has been highlighted with the current state of automotive ergonomics research is the standardisation of comfort evaluation techniques. This research aimed to tackle these issues by investigating the effects of long duration driving on discomfort and the range factors associated with driver discomfort. Furthermore, the ultimate goal of this research was develop and evaluate a novel objective measure of driver discomfort that focused on driver seat fidgets and movements (SFMs) with the aim of standardising discomfort evaluation within the automotive industry. Three laboratory studies and one field observation were conducted to address these aims whereby subjective and objective evaluations of discomfort were conducted during long term driving (ranging from 60 - 140 minutes). The results determined that a measure of driver SFMs can be effectively implemented into long duration driving trials to evaluate the effects of long term driving and vibration exposure on driver discomfort and subsequently used to make accurate predictions of overall discomfort. Large positive correlations have been determined between measures of SFMs and subjective ratings of overall discomfort (r2 > 0.9, P < 0.05) and the SFM method has been successfully repeated under a range of driving conditions. Driver seat fidget and movement (SFM) frequency is shown to significantly increase congruently with subjective ratings over the duration of a long term drive as drivers seek to cope with increased discomfort. It is proposed that drivers will record movements in the vehicle seat when discomfort reaches a threshold that is consciously or unconsciously perceived and as the duration of driving accrues, drivers will reach this threshold with increased frequency. A measure of both SFM frequency and total accumulative SFMs have been shown to accurately predict discomfort ratings and provides the basis for discomfort evaluations to be made via remote monitoring, removing the need for subjective assessment. During a long term drive, there becomes a point upon which improvements in seat design become ineffective as extended duration driving will result in discomfort regardless of how well the seat has been designed. It was shown that drivers will move in the vehicle seat to cope with increased discomfort and in addition, another method of combatting the negative effects of long term driving was investigated. Subjective and objective evaluation determined that breaks from driving will reduce discomfort both immediately and upon completion of a long term drive. Furthermore, these benefits were increased when drivers left the vehicle seat as discomfort was reset when drivers took a 10 minute walk. Walking during a break from driving can be considered the ultimate SFM. Drivers are recommended to plan breaks from driving when conducting a long duration journey in order to minimise discomfort and when taking a break, drivers should take a walk rather than remain seated in the vehicle.

This work analyzes some aspects of two problems in graph theory: centrality measures that allow us to detect the most important group of nodes in a network and the clustering of a graph in coherent sub-communities. We propose two new centrality measures that are the results of a new point of view and we suggest a new algorithm to detect communities. We apply all the results to analyze drama, in particular five Shakespeare's plays.

Background: Increasing attention has been paid to preventative health over the past few decades. However because of constraints on consultation time and medical funds general practitioners (GPs) are often unsure which measures are appropriate and when to carry them out. They need to be well informed about the cost-effectiveness and evidence regarding each preventative measure to help their patients make informed choices about what needs to be done. Due to the large number of recommended screening measures general practitioners are often unsure which to prioritise and also forget to carry out all recommended measures. Recommendations for screening in South Africa and research into preventive strategies used by general practitioners are lacking. This research attempts to find out whether the prevention strategies used by general practitioners in private practice in Grahamstown follow recommended guidelines. Methods: To obtain a broad understanding of prevention strategies used by general practitioners in Grahamstown, the following tracer conditions were selected for the study: screening for smoking, breast cancer, cervical cancer, colorectal cancer, hyperlipidaemia, prostate cancer and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Research on routine annual health checks was included as these are used by many GPs to screen for tracer conditions. The research was done in 2 parts: 1. Review of the literature to obtain evidence on the recommended prevention strategy for each of the selected tracer conditions and 2. Interviews with GPs to evaluate the prevention strategy they used for each tracer condition. The literature was reviewed for evidence on the following parameters for each tracer condition: burden of the disease prevented; cost-effectiveness of the screening measures; sensitivity and specificity of screening tests; whether the screening measure for and treatment of the tracer condition is acceptable to patients; appropriate duration between repeated screening tests and whether there is effective treatment for the tracer condition. Eleven general practitioners were interviewed on the prevention strategies they use for each of the selected tracer conditions. Transcriptions of the interviews were analysed qualitatively and qualitatively. The prevention strategies used by the general practitioners was then compared to recommended guidelines. Results: Evidence from the literature regarding the burden of and optimal prevention strategy for each tracer condition is reported. Using this evidence an appropriate prevention strategy for each tracer condition is outlined. The prevention strategies used by the GPs for each tracer condition and the routine annual health check is reported from the analysis of the interviews. The results show a wide range of differing strategies used by the GPs, often not following recommendations from research. Discussion: The prevention strategies used by general practitioners for each tracer condition is compared with the recommendations from the literature. Important differences between what are recommended and what general practitioners are doing is discussed. Some general practitioners are practicing largely curative medicine and are not adequately screening their patients. Others are over screening with too many unnecessary tests being done annually as a routine. The interviews reveal that generally GPs do not discuss the potential harms and limitations of screening tests with their patients; do not keep check lists for each patient and do not use registers or recall systems to ensure all screening is done. Conclusion: General practitioners need to ensure their prevention strategies follow recommended guidelines. To do so they can use the routine annual health check or opportunistic case finding and prevention. They need to ensure that routine health checks are targeted to the individual patients’ health risks and avoid doing unnecessary tests. Check lists can help to ensure all screening is done on every patient. While registers and recall systems improve screening rates they are not always possible in busy general practices. Recommended prevention strategies for each of the tracer conditions are made.

Cluster-based information retrieval systems often use a similarity measure to compute the association among text documents. In this thesis, we focus on a class of similarity measures named Query-Sensitive Similarity (QSS) measures. Recent studies have shown QSS measures to positively influence the outcome of a clustering procedure. These studies have used QSS measures in conjunction with the ltc term-weighting scheme. Several term-weighting schemes have superseded the ltc term-weighing scheme and demonstrated better retrieval performance relative to the latter. We test whether introducing one of these schemes, INQUERY, will offer any benefit over the ltc scheme when used in the context of QSS measures. The testing procedure uses the Nearest Neighbor (NN) test to quantify the clustering effectiveness of QSS measures and the corresponding term-weighting scheme. The NN tests are applied on certain standard test document collections and the results are tested for statistical significance. On analyzing results of the NN test relative to those obtained for the ltc scheme, we find several instances where the INQUERY scheme improves the clustering effectiveness of QSS measures. To be able to apply the NN test, we designed a software test framework, Ferret, by complementing the features provided by dtSearch, a search engine. The test framework automates the generation of NN coefficients by processing standard test document collection data. We provide an insight into the construction and working of the Ferret test framework.

För att öka bland annat trivsel och säkerhet inom ett bostadsområde är det av av stor fördel att anlägga bostadsparkering i utkanten och på sätt minska trafikflödet inom området. En sådan parkeringslösning förutsätter dock att viss markyta inom området avsätts för att kunna ställa upp sin bil under en kortare period för att hämta eller lämna passagerare samt lasta i eller ur gods. Detta kallas för att korttidsangöra. Examensarbetet har kartlagt hur korttidsangöring används samt undersökt om behovet att angöra påverkas av avstånd till parkering och socioekonomiska faktorer inom ett område.

Oral bisphosphonate drug therapy is a common and effective treatment for osteoporosis. Little is known about the long-term effects of bisphosphonates on bone quality. This study examined the structural and mechanical properties of trabecular bone following 0-16 years of bisphosphonate treatment. Fifty-three iliac crest bone samples of Caucasian women diagnosed with low turnover osteoporosis were identified from the Kentucky Bone Registry. Forty-five were treated with oral bisphosphonates for 1 to 16 years while eight were treatment naive. A section of trabecular bone was chosen from a micro-computed tomography (Scanco µCT 40) scan of each sample for a uniaxial linearly elastic compression simulation using finite element analysis (ANSYS 14.0). Morphometric parameters (BV/TV, SMI, Tb.Sp., etc.) were computed using µCT. Apparent modulus, effective modulus and estimated failure stress were calculated. Biomechanical and morphometric parameters improved with treatment duration, peaked around 7 years, and then declined independently of age. The findings suggest a limit to the benefits associated with bisphosphonate treatment and that extended continuous bisphosphonate treatment does not continue to improve bone quality. Bone quality, and subsequently bone strength, may eventually regress to a state poorer than at the onset of treatment. Treatment duration limited to less than 7 years is recommended.

This thesis is a quantitative analysis of the spatial and temporal variability as well as trends of the particulate matter concentrations in the ambient urban air. The outcome provided a clear understanding on how the different metrics (particle number, particle mass and oxidative potential) were affected by mitigation measures and other important drivers such as emission sources and meteorological factors.

Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.<br>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.<br>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.

Biological data is accumulated at a fast pace. However, raw data are generally difficult to understand and not useful unless we unlock the information hidden in the data. Knowledge/information can be extracted as the patterns or features buried within the data. Thus data mining, aims at uncovering underlying rules, relationships, and patterns in data, has emerged as one of the most exciting fields in computational science. In this dissertation, we develop efficient approaches to the structure pattern analysis of RNA and protein three dimensional structures. The major techniques used in this work include term rewriting and clustering algorithms. Firstly, a new approach is designed to study the interaction of RNA secondary structures motifs using the concept of term rewriting. Secondly, an improved K-means clustering algorithm is proposed to estimate the number of clusters in data. A new distance descriptor is introduced for the appropriate representation of three dimensional structure segments of RNA and protein three dimensional structures. The experimental results show the improvements in the determination of the number of clusters in data, evaluation of RNA structure similarity, RNA structure database search, and better understanding of the protein sequence-structure correspondence.

The impact of anthropogenic activities on environment, especially the effect of land-use and climate changes was investigated in a series of studies. A comprehensive study of 16 research sites in different parts of Sweden was evaluated by using one dimensional hydrological model (CoupModel) to represent water and heat dynamics in layered soil profile covered with vegetation. Simulations are based on daily values and the results are representatives of variations in daily values and changes over years. The models accuracies controlled by measured run-off and snow depth values. However, there are uncertainties in both input data and simulated parameters. The interaction between run-off and snow depth were obtained when the models constrained by both run-off and snow depth. Parameters values variations and models performances changes in different time domains indicate the changes in land-use and climate over time and the model ability to handle these changes respectively. The strong interaction between meteorological stations density and models performances were indicated by comparing results with interpolation radius used for input data preparation.

The mining industry contributes to enormous amounts of waste all over the world, which places high demands on tailings dams. In Sweden, there are strict regulations regarding the management and treatment of tailings dams, but some dams that were built before these regulations existed still pose a threat to the environment. Lilla Bredsjön in Dalarna, Sweden, is an example of an old tailings dam that has not been treated properly. Boliden, which is the owner of the dam, and the county board of Dalarna are currently in meetings regarding the responsibilities of old polluted sites in Garpenberg, where Lilla Bredsjön is included. This study aims to investigate possible remediation measures of the dams at Lilla Bredsjön in order to achieve long- term stability upon closure of the facility. Lilla Bredsjön is 350 000 m2 large and contains three impoundments; dam 1 to the east, dam 2 to the south and dam 3 to the north. Dam 1 is seven meters at its highest point whereas dam 2 and 3 both are three meters high. All of the dams are classified to a consequence level of 3, meaning that the consequences in case of a failure would be negligible. They are built using the centerline method with impermeable cores of moraine. The tailings are partly covered with sludge mixed with biomass ash, but no proper closure method have been implemented. A geotechnical investigation was conducted to obtain more information about the geometry, construction and foundation of each dam. It could be observed that dam 1 consisted of a moraine core and support fill, both constructed using the Christmas tree principle. Dam 2 consisted of a coarse and fine filter in the upstream part of the dam, whereas the rest of the dam consisted of a moraine core. Dam 3 consisted of tailings and a moraine core, and was like dam 1 also constructed using the Christmas tree principle. The downstream slopes of all dams are moreover very steep with slope angles of approximately 34o. Seepage and stability calculations were therefore performed in the software GeoStudio. In GeoStudio, two different analysis tools were used; SEEP/W to calculate seepage and SLOPE/W to calculate slope stability. Four hydraulic load cases were analyzed in the calculations: present conditions, flooded conditions, potential maximum seepage and present conditions with lower permeability of the tailings. The result shows that all of the dams are unstable in their present con- ditions, both with original and lower permeability of the tailings, as well as at flooded conditions. The required safety factor is however fulfilled at potential maximum seepage. The stability highly depends on the pore pressure inside the dams, which in turn depends on the choice of closure method. Based on the result from the stability calculations it can be concluded that if a dry cover is chosen as the closure method, it will probably be enough to reinforce the existing dams to achieve long-term stability. If, on the other hand, a raised groundwater level is chosen, more extensive solutions in terms of for example completely new impoundments directly downstream of the existing ones are most likely needed. Before a decision regarding the closure method is taken, it is hence very difficult to come to a conclusion regarding suitable remediation measures of the dams.<br>Gruvindustrin bidrar med enorma mängder avfall över hela världen, vilket ställer höga krav på gruvdammar. I Sverige finns det strikta förordningar gällande hanteringen och efterbehandlingen av gruvdammar, men en del dammar som byggdes innan dessa förordningar existerade utgör fortfarande ett hot mot miljön. Lilla Bredsjön i Dalarna är ett exempel på en gammal gruvdamm som inte blivit efterbehandlad tillräckligt. Boliden, som äger dammen, har möten med Länsstyelssen Dalarna angående ansvarsförhållanden gällande gamla förorenade områden i Garpenberg där även Lilla Bredsjön ingår. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka möjliga efterbehandlingsmetoder av dammarna vid Lilla Bredsjön för att uppnå långtidsstabilitet i samband med nedläggning av anläggningen. Lilla Bredsjön är 350 000 m2 stor och består av tre uppdämningar; damm 1 i öst, damm 2 i söder och damm 3 i norr. Damm 1 är sju meter som högst medan damm 2 och 3 båda är tre meter höga. Samtliga dammar är klassificerade till konsekvensklass 3, vilket betyder att konsekvenserna i händelse av ett dammbrott är försumbara. Dammarna är byggda med uppåtmetoden och har tätkärnor av morän. Magasinet är delvis täckt med slam utblandat med biobränsleaska, men ingen riktig efterbehandling har utförts. En geoteknisk undersökning genomfördes för att erhålla mer information om geometrin, konstruktionen och grundläggningen av varje damm. Det observerades att damm 1 består av en tätkärna av morän samt stödfyllning som båda konstruerades med julgransprincipen. Damm 2 består av ett grov- och finfilter i uppströmsdelen av dammen medan resten av dammen består av en tätkärna av morän. Damm 3 består av anrikningssand och en tätkärna av morän, och var liksom damm 1 konstruerad med julgransprincipen. Nedströmsslänterna på alla dammar är väldigt branta med en vinkel på ungefär 34o. Genomströmnings- och stabilitetsberäkningar genomfördes därför i programmet GeoStudio. I GeoStudio användes två olika verktyg; SEEP/W för att beräkna genomströmning och SLOPE/W för att beräkna släntstabilitet. Fyra olika hydrauliska belastningsfall analyserades i beräkningarna: normalfallet, överdämning, dimensionerat läckage och normalfallet med lägre permeabilitet på anrikningssanden. Resultatet visar på att samtliga dammar är instabila i deras nuvarande skick, beräknat på normalfallet med både ursprunglig och lägre permeabilitet på anrikningssanden, samt vid överdämning. Den erforderliga säkerhetsfaktorn är däremot uppfylld vid dimensionerat läckage. Stabiliteten är starkt beroende av portrycket inuti dammarna, vilket i sin tur är beroende av vilken efterbehandlingsmetod som väljs för magasinet. Baserat på resultatet från stabilitetsberäkningarna kan det konstateras att om torrtäckning väljs som efterbehandlingsmetod så räcker det förmodligen med att förstärka nuvarande dammar för att uppnå långtidsstabilitet. Om, å andra sidan, en förhöjd grundvattennivå väljs behövs med största sannolikhet en mer omfattande lösning, till exempel helt nya dammar direkt nedströms de nuvarande. Innan ett beslut gällande efterbehandlingsmetod av magasinet har tagits är det alltså väldigt svårt att dra en slutsats gällande den mest lämpliga efterbehandlingsmetoden av dammarna.

This study investigates the legibility and visual effects of eight combinations of font and colour on VDU and two different fonts on paper. Forty subjects, sixteen females and twenty-four males, were exposed to three of the ten different conditions, one in each of the set of readings, on either VDU or paper. They were asked to read different sets of stories in each condition on different days where each condition lasted for approximately two hours. Reading speed and comprehension scores were measured in every story read in the set of stories. The change of mood and physical symptoms states of the subjects were measured at the beginning and end of each conditions. Subjective ranking of the combinations of font and colour in the VDU environment were elicited from the subjects.

A conceptual framework was derived by exploring how strategy change and top management team literatures inform the performance measurement field. It began to explain the role top management teams play using signals from their performance measures to evolve strategy. Adopting a Realist perspective, case study research was undertaken to seek out the approaches taken by managers in four organisations operating in UK regulated industry. Using the strategy chart tool developed by Mills et al (1998) in a retrospective manner and mapping changes in performance measures over the same time period, the research identified events in which changes in strategy and performance measures were linked. These event data sets were triangulated by interviewing managers about the roles they played and specifically the actions and factors to which they paid attention during the events. The findings were used to test and develop the conceptual framework. This resulted in an empirical framework that verifies existing theory that performance evaluation is a process of learning and inducing change. It confirms that this can be achieved whilst balancing alignment of the measures to implement strategy and adapting them to formulate strategy (Bourne et al 2000, Gimbert et al 2010, Kolehmainen 2010, Martinez et al 2010, Micheli and Manzoni 2010, Micheli et al 2011). Furthermore it develops theoretical understanding through the conduct of case studies into the role and key features of a performance measurement system which both supports the implementation and the formulation of strategy (Gimbert et al 2010, Micheli and Manzoni 2010) and finally the case studies provide rich description of what strategists actually do in crafting strategy as called for by those writing in the strategy-as-practice field (Whittington et al 2006). The framework may also benefit practitioners since it describes the factors to which top management teams may pay attention in using performance measures to develop business strategy in regulated industries.

This study examined the effects of prenatal exposure to methadone on clinical and neurobehavioural outcomes of infants between 40 and 42 weeks gestation. The aims of this study were: (a) to describe clinical and neurobehavioural outcomes of infants exposed to methadone during pregnancy, (b) to examine the effects of maternal methadone dose during pregnancy on infant clinical and neurobehavioural measures, and (c) to examine the extent to which associations between exposure to methadone during pregnancy and infant outcomes persisted after statistical control for a range of confounding variables. Two groups of study infants were recruited. These consisted of 51 consecutively recruited infants born to mothers maintained on methadone during their pregnancy and 42 randomly identified non-methadone exposed comparison infants. Prior to her child's birth, each pregnant woman completed a comprehensive maternal interview. At birth and during the infant's hospital stay a broad perinatal data-base was collected. At 42 weeks gestation infants underwent a neurobehavioural assessment including the NICU Network Neurobehavioural Scale (NNNS; Lester & Tronick, 2004) and infant cry analysis. Study results showed significant differences across several clinical and neurobehavioural measures. Infants exposed to methadone in utero were found to be significantly lighter, have smaller head circumferences, and spend longer in hospital. Neurobehaviourally, they were significantly less well regulated, less attentive, more easily aroused, more excitable, and more hypertonic. In addition, they exhibited less motor maturity, displayed more stress abstinence symptomatology, and required more support from the assessor in order to remain in an appropriate state. Concurrent analysis of infant cry characteristics revealed no significant differences between the fundamental frequencies or the melody contours of the two groups. However, infants prenatally exposed to methadone did display higher levels of frequency perturbation in their cries, as evidenced by analysis of their jitter factor and percentage of directional jitter. Analysis of the effects of maternal dose during pregnancy suggested that maternal dose levels above 60mg/day were general indicative of poorer infant outcomes than those below 60mg/day, with significant linear trends occurring across a number of measures. The extent to which associations between methadone exposure during pregnancy and infant outcomes reflected either a) the direct effects of methadone exposure and/or b) the effects of confounding factors correlated with maternal methadone use was examined using regression analysis. The results of this analysis for infant clinical outcomes showed confounding variables attenuated the effects of methadone exposure on infant birth length and, to some degree, infant head circumference. In contrast, associations between methadone exposure during pregnancy and most neurobehavioural outcomes remained significant, suggesting that maternal methadone use during pregnancy is an important, independent predictor of infant neurobehavioural functioning. These findings support the view that prenatal exposure to methadone has at least short term impacts on the infant's central nervous system (CNS) development. Important implications of possible vulnerabilities faced by these infants and their families are discussed.

For the construction of a wind farm, one needs to assess the wind resources of the considered site location. Using reference time series from numerical weather prediction models, global assimilation databases or observations close to the area considered, the on-site measured wind speeds and wind directions are corrected in order to represent the actual long-term wind conditions. This long-term correction (LTC) is in the typical case performed by making use of the linear regression within the Measure-Correlate-Predict (MCP) method. This method and two other methods, Sector-Bin (SB) and Synthetic Time Series (ST), respectively, are used for the determination of the uncertainties that are associated with LTC.The test area that has been chosen in this work, is located in the region of the North Sea, using 22 quality controlled meteorological (met) station observations from offshore or nearby shore locations in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The time series that has been used cover the eight year period from 2002 to 2009 and the year with the largest variability in the wind speeds, 2007, is used as the short-term measurement period. The long-term reference datasets that have been used are the Weather Research and Forecast model, based on both ECMWF Interim Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) and National Centers for Environmental Prediction Final Analysis (NCEP/FNL), respectively and additional reference datasets of Modern Era Re-Analysis (MERRA) and QuikSCAT satellite observations. The long-term period for all of the reference datasets despite QuikSCAT, correspond to the one of stations observations. The QuikSCAT period of observations used cover the period from November 1st, 1999 until October 31st, 2009.The analysis is divided into three parts. Initially, the uncertainty connected to the corresponding reference dataset, when used in LTC method, is investigated. Thereafter the uncertainty due to the concurrent length of the on-site measurements and reference dataset is analyzed. Finally, the uncertainty is approached using a re-sampling method of the Non-Parametric Bootstrap. The uncertainty of the LTC method SB, for a fixed concurrent length of the datasets is assessed by this methodology, in an effort to create a generic model for the estimation of uncertainty in the predicted values for SB.The results show that LTC with WRF model datasets based on NCEP/FNL and ERA-Interim, respectively, is slightly different, but does not deviate considerably in comparison when comparing with met station observations. The results also suggest the use of MERRA reference dataset in connection with long-term correction methods. However, the datasets of QuikSCAT does not provide much information regarding the overall quality of long-term correction, and a different approach than using station coordinates for the withdrawal of QuikSCAT time series is preferred. Additionally, the LTC model of Sector-Bin is found to be robust against variation in the correlation coefficient between the concurrent datasets. For the uncertainty dependence of concurrent time, the results show that an on-site measurement period of one consistent year or more, gives the lowest uncertainties compared to measurements of shorter time. An additional observation is that the standard deviation of long-term corrected means decreases with concurrent time. Despite the efforts of using the re-sampling method of Non-Parametric Bootstrap the estimation of the uncertainties is not fully determined. However, it does give promising results that are suggested for investigation in further work.<br>För att bygga en vindkraftspark är man i behov av att kartlägga vindresurserna i det aktuella området. Med hjälp av tidsserier från numeriska vädermodeller (NWP), globala assimileringsdatabaser och intilliggande observationer korrigeras de uppmätta vindhastigheterna och vindriktningarna för att motsvara långtidsvärdena av vindförhållandena. Dessa långtidskorrigeringsmetoder (LTC) genomförs generellt sett med hjälp av linjär regression i Mät-korrelera-predikera-metoden (MCP). Denna metod, och två andra metoder, Sektor-bin (SB) och Syntetiska tidsserier (ST), används i denna rapport för att utreda de osäkerheter som är knutna till långtidskorrigering.Det testområde som är valt för analys i denna rapport omfattas av Nordsjöregionen, med 22 meteorologiska väderobservationsstationer i Danmark, Norge och Sverige. Dessa stationer är till största del belägna till havs eller vid kusten. Tidsserierna som används täcker åttaårsperioden från 2002 till 2009, där det året med högst variabilitet i uppmätt vindhastighet, år 2007, används som den korta mätperiod som blir föremål för långtidskorrigeringen. De långa referensdataseten som använts är väderprediktionsmodellen WRF ( Weather Research and Forecast Model), baserad både på data från NCEP/FNL (National Centers for Environmental Prediciton Final Analysis) och ERA-Interim (ECMWF Interim Re-analysis). Dessutom används även data från MERRA (Modern Era Re-Analysis) och satellitobservationer från QuikSCAT. Långtidsperioden för alla dataset utom QuikSCAT omfattar samma period som observationsstationerna. QuikSCAT-datat som använts omfattar perioden 1 november 1999 till 31 oktober 2009.Analysen är indelad i tre delar. Inledningsvis behandlas osäkerheten som är kopplad till referensdatans ingående i långtidskorrigeringsmetoderna. Därefter analyseras osäkerhetens beroende av längden på den samtidiga datan i referens- och observationsdataseten. Slutligen utreds osäkerheten med hjälp av en icke-parametrisk metod, en s.k. Bootstrap: Osäkerheten i SB-metoden för en fast samtidig längd av tidsserierna från observationer och referensdatat uppskattas genom att skapa en generell modell som estimerar osäkerheten i estimatet.Resultatet visar att skillnaden när man använder WRF-modellen baserad både på NCEP/FNL och ERA-Interim i långtidskorrigeringen är marginell och avviker inte markant i förhållande till stationsobservationerna. Resultatet pekar också på att MERRA-datat kan användas som långtidsreferensdataset i långtidsdkorrigeringsmetoderna. Däremot ger inte QuikSCAT-datasetet tillräckligt med information för att avgöra om det går att använda i långtidskorrigeringsmetoderna. Därför föreslås ett annat tillvägagångssätt än stationsspecifika koordinater vid val av koordinater lämpliga för långtidskorrigering. Ytterligare ett resultat vid analys av långtidskorrigeringsmetoden SB, visar att metoden är robust mot variation i korrelationskoefficienten.Rörande osäkerhetens beroende av längden på samtidig data visar resultaten att en sammanhängande mätperiod på ett år eller mer ger den lägsta osäkerheten i årsmedelvindsestimatet, i förhållande till mätningar av kortare slag. Man kan även se att standardavvikelsen av de långtidskorrigerade medelvärdena avtar med längden på det samtidiga datat. Den implementerade ickeparametriska metoden Bootstrap, som innefattar sampling med återläggning, kan inte estimera osäkerheten till fullo. Däremot ger den lovande resultat som föreslås för vidare arbete.

New EU regulations are currently taking effect, which means there will be stricter requirements on lighting units and more necessity for labs to perform photometric quality control. In the project a flickermeter setup was constructed at the Swedish Energy Agency's lab for performing quality assurance of luminaries by measuring the relevant metrics PST, SVM, and ITHD. By accomplishing this in accordance with the relevant IEC Standards, it creates an example setup which can be reproduced in other labs without the need for expensive nontransparent commercial devices. The project also examines the viability of creating such a setup from scratch without prior expertise, using the IEC Standards as a guide. To ensure the reliability of our setup multiple verifications were performed in accordance with the IEC Standards. Most gave positive results, but some issues were also discovered, mainly in regards to the optical filter needed for the setup. A suitable replacement for the missing optical filter was introduced, with which good results were acquired for both SVM and PST when compared to commercial flickermeters. Good results were also acquired in regards to the effects of dimming and the ITHD measured. Aside from the results, some issues regarding the procedures used for quantifying flicker were raised and discussed, along with discussing inconsistencies and discrepancies in the standards used.

New EU regulations are currently taking effect, which means there will be stricter requirements on lighting units and more necessity for labs to perform photometric quality control. In the project a flickermeter setup was constructed at the Swedish Energy Agency's lab for performing quality assurance of luminaries by measuring the relevant metrics PST, SVM, and ITHD. By accomplishing this in accordance with the relevant IEC Standards, it creates an example setup which can be reproduced in other labs without the need for expensive nontransparent commercial devices. The project also examines the viability of creating such a setup from scratch without prior expertise, using the IEC Standards as a guide. To ensure the reliability of our setup multiple verifications were performed in accordance with the IEC Standards. Most gave positive results, but some issues were also discovered, mainly in regards to the optical filter needed for the setup. A suitable replacement for the missing optical filter was introduced, with which good results were acquired for both SVM and PST when compared to commercial flickermeters. Good results were also acquired in regards to the effects of dimming and the ITHD measured. Aside from the results, some issues regarding the procedures used for quantifying flicker were raised and discussed, along with discussing inconsistencies and discrepancies in the standards used.

The Heath-Jarrow-Morton (HJM) model represents the latest in powerful arbitrage-free technology for modeling the term structure and managing interest rate risk. Yet risk management strategies in the form of immunization portfolios using duration, convexity, and M-square are still widely used in bond portfolio management today. This study addresses the question of how traditional risk measures and immunization strategies perform when the term structure evolves in the HJM manner. Using Monte Carlo simulation, I analyze four HJM volatility structures, four initial term structure shapes, three holding periods, and two traditional immunization approaches (duration-matching and duration-and-convexity-matching). I also examine duration and convexity measures derived specifically for the HJM framework. In addition I look at whether portfolios should be constructed randomly, by minimizing their M-squares or using barbell or bullet structures. I assess immunization performance according to three criteria. One of these criteria corresponds to active portfolio management, and the other two correspond to passive portfolio management. Under active portfolio management, an asset portfolio is successfully immunized if its holding period return is greater than or equal to the holding period return of the liability portfolio. Under passive portfolio management, the closer the returns of the asset portfolio to the returns of the liability portfolio, the better the immunization performance. The results of the study suggest that, under the active portfolio management criterion, and with the duration matching strategy, HJM and traditional duration measures have similar immunization performance when forward rate volatilities are low. There is a substantial deterioration in the immunization performance of traditional risk measures when there is high volatility. This deterioration is not observed with HJM duration measures. These results could be due to two factors. Traditional risk measures could be poor risk measures, or the duration matching strategy is not the most appropriate immunization approach when there is high volatility because yield curve shifts would often be large. Under the active portfolio management criterion and with the duration and convexity matching strategy, the immunization performance of traditional risk measures improves considerably at the high volatility segments of the yield curve. The improvement in the performance of the HJM risk measures is not as dramatic. The immunization performance of traditional duration and convexity measures, however, deteriorates at the low volatility segments of the yield curve. This deterioration is not observed when HJM risk measures are used. Overall, with the duration and convexity matching strategy, the immunization performance of portfolios matched with traditional risk measures is very close to that of portfolios matched with the HJM risk measures. This result suggests that the duration and convexity matching approach should be preferred to duration matching alone. Also the result shows that the underperformance of traditional risk measures under high volatility is not due to their being poor risk measures, but rather due to the reason that the duration matching strategy is not an appropriate immunization approach when there is high volatility in the market. Under the passive portfolio management criteria, the performances of traditional and HJM measures are similar with the duration matching strategy. Less than 29% of the duration matched portfolios have returns within one basis point of the target yield, whereas almost all are within 100 basis points of the target yield. These results suggest that the duration matching strategy might not be sufficient to generate cash flows close to those of the target bond. The duration measure assumes a linear relation between the bond price and the yield change, and the nonlinearities that are not captured by the duration measure might be important. When the duration and convexity matching strategy is used, more than 36% of the portfolios are within one basis point of the target with HJM risk measures. This dramatic improvement in the immunization performance of HJM measures is not guaranteed for traditional risk measures. In fact, there are certain cases in which the performance of traditional risk measures deteriorates with the duration and convexity matching strategy. In this respect, choosing the correct risk measure is more important than the immunization strategy when passive portfolio management is pursued. Under active portfolio management criterion, there is no significant difference among bullet, barbell, minimum M-square, and random portfolios with both duration matching and duration and convexity matching strategies. Under the passive portfolio management criterion, bullet portfolios produce closer returns to the target for short holding periods when the duration matching strategy is used. With the duration and convexity matching strategy, bullet, barbell and minimum M-square portfolios produce closer returns to the target for short holding periods. Random portfolios perform as well as bullet, barbell and minimum M-square portfolios for medium to long holding periods. These results suggest that when the duration matching strategy is used, bullet portfolios are preferable to other portfolio formation strategies for short holding periods. When the duration and convexity matching strategy is used, no portfolio formation strategy is better than the other. Under the active portfolio management criterion, minimum M-square portfolios are successfully immunized under each yield curve shape and volatility structure considered. Under the passive portfolio management criterion, minimum M-square portfolios perform better for short holding periods, and their performance deteriorates as the holding period increases, irrespective of the volatility level. This suggests that the performance of minimum M-square portfolios is more sensitive to the holding period rather than the volatility. Therefore, minimum M-square portfolios would be preferred in the markets when there are large changes in volatility. Overall, the results of the study suggest that, under the active portfolio management criterion and with the duration matching strategy, traditional duration measures underperform their HJM counterparts when forward rate volatilities are high. With the duration and convexity matching strategy, this underperformance is not as dramatic. Also no particular portfolio formation strategy is better than the other under the active portfolio management criterion. Under the passive portfolio management criterion, the duration matching strategy is not sufficient to generate cash flows closer to those of the target bond. The duration and convexity matching strategy, however, leads to substantial improvement in the immunization performance of the HJM risk measures. This improvement is not guaranteed for the traditional risk measures. Under the passive portfolio management criterion, bullet portfolios are preferred to other portfolio formation strategies for short holding periods. For medium to long holding periods, however, the portfolio formation strategy does not significantly affect immunization performance. Also, the immunization performance of minimum M-square portfolios is more sensitive to the holding period rather than the volatility.<br>Ph. D.

Background: Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) typically complain of memory difficulties, but these are not always evident on objective memory assessments. This discrepancy may result from under- or over-reporting of memory problems as a result of motivation (e.g., to avoid confrontation, functional consequences on employment), impact of psychosocial factors (e.g., mood) or epilepsy patients’ perception of their difficulties (e.g., memory disturbances may cause difficulties with patients’ metamemory, meaning they lack the ability to accurately comment on their cognitive capabilities). Alternatively, this could be explained by a lack of specificity in current memory measures that utilise delay periods of 30-40 minutes. Research suggests that extending published memory tests to assess recall over a longer period (e.g., a two-week delay) allows the memory deficits described by those with TLE to be seen – a phenomenon known as Accelerated Long-term Forgetting (ALF). However, the literature has yet to address difficulties with test ecological validity and clinical practicability. Aim: The aim of this research was to further develop a novel measure of ALF to examine whether it was a clinically viable test measure. This was explored through assessments of validity, reliability, and acceptability/practicability of the implemented test procedure, for this novel measure. Method: 50 healthy participants’ objective memory performance was assessed by asking them to recall and recognise information at three time points: immediately after presentation of stimuli (T1), after 40 minutes (T2), and after two-weeks (T3). Alongside a published story and word list tasks, a novel measure was used – the Accelerated Long-term Forgetting In Epilepsy (ALFIE) test. We believe this to be more ecologically valid and clinically practical than other memory measures, due to the test using multi-modal stimuli drawn from real-life televised news broadcasts (concordant with a verisimilitude approach), with use of telephone follow-up phone-calls to assess two-week recall and recognition. Subjective memory performance was assessed via use of a self-report questionnaire. Results: Convergence of results on the ALFIE and published memory measures was found. Although extension of the published measure to a two-week delay might then seem justifiable, the ALFIE test showed greater correlations with subjective memory scores than the published story and word lists tasks. This suggests greater ecological validity of the ALFIE measure than the published memory test. Reliability was assessed through inter-rater reliability and analysis of parallel forms. The ALFIE showed high inter-rater reliability and although parallel forms reliability was poor, through standardisation versions may be used as alternate forms. Low attrition rates suggest that use of a two-week delayed assessment via telephone might be a clinically viable solution for specialist Epilepsy services assessing ALF, often over large geographical regions (where it would be costly, impractical and hard to co-ordinate for patients to return for extended delay follow-ups within such a restrictive time limit). Significant differences in performance between genders needs further examination, but may partially be explained through emotional salience of materials. Conclusion: The ALFIE test appears to be a viable test measure for assessing memory that is more ecologically-valid and clinically practicable than current memory measures.

Magistro darbe nagrinėjami ilgalaikių bedarbių integravimo į darbo rinką aspektai, iš kurių pagrindinis – ilgalaikių bedarbių integravimas per aktyvias darbo rinkos politikos priemones. Pirmojoje darbo dalyje nagrinėjami teoriniai darbo rinkos aspektai: darbo rinkos sampratos ir jos mechanizmo interpretacijos, taip pat daug dėmesio skiriama nedarbui ir jo rodikliams aptarti, analizuojamos nedarbo struktūrinės dalys ir tipai. Kiek plačiau nei kiti skyriai yra išanalizuotos ilgalaikio nedarbo ir ilgalaikių bedarbių sąvokos, šių reiškinių priežastys bei nedarbo mažinimo būdai, kur nukreipimas i aktyvias darbo rinkos priemones – esminis. Antrojoje darbo dalyje pateikiama ilgalaikio nedarbo analizė Klaipėdos apskrityje trimis koncentrais: pirmajame analizuojama ilgalaikių bedarbių dalyvavimo aktyviose darbo rinkos politikos priemonėse dinamika 2005 - 2007m. Apskaičiuoti kitimo ir pokyčio tempai, įvertinti ilgalaikio nedarbo socialiniai nuostoliai. Antrasis analizės koncentras yra plačiausias, nes čia pateikiama giluminė kiekvienos aktyvios darbo rinkos politikos priemonės analizė nagrinėjamu laikotarpiu: pagrindinis analizės komponentas – pokyčio įvertinimas ilgalaikių bedarbių dalyvavimo priemonėje požiūriu ir dviejų grupių – visų papildomai remiamų bedarbių ir ilgalaikių bedarbių – palyginimas apskrityje. Galiausiai pateikiami apibendrinti sociologinio tyrimo, kuris buvo atliktas Klaipėdos ir Palangos teritorinėse darbo biržose, rezultatai. Trečiojoje darbo dalyje kalbama apie... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]<br>This work is about integration of long term unemployed persons back to the job market using various job market measures. It consist out of three main parts. The first part talks about the theory of jobs market and it‘s components, how they relates to and affects each other. Significant attention is allotted to unemployment and it‘s indicators, structural parts and types. The emphasis is put on long term unemployment explaining those terms, reasons why it exists and what are the ways of reducing it using various active job market measures. In the second part analysis of long term unemployment in Klaipeda region is done in three major aspects: how long term unemployed persons participate in various programs of reducing unemployment in 2005-2007. Second aspect is the most detailed because it talks about each active job market mean in details, about how it changes. Comparison between all and long term unemployment is done. Last chapter summarizes the results of survey made in labour exchange of Klaip da and Palanga. Third part talks about directions of reducing long term unemployment and measures which are used at national, private and non-governmental levels. The work done confirms the hypothesis that long term unemployment is stipulated by objective and subjective reasons, that integration of long term unemployed persons back to the job market can be effectively done by using active jobs market means.

O principal objetivo deste trabalho 6 estudar o comportamento dos zeros de polinômios ortogonais e similares. Inicialmente, consideramos uma relação entre duas sequências ele polinômios ortogonais, onde as medidas associadas estão relacionadas entre si. Usamos esta relação para estudar as propriedades de monotonicidade dos zeros dos polinômios ortogonais relacionados a uma medida obtida através da generalização da medida associada a uma outra sequência de polinômios ortogonais. Apresentamos, como exemplos, os polinômios ortogonais obtidos a partir da generalização das medidas associadas aos polinômios de Jacobi, Laguerre e Charlier. Em urna segunda etapa, consideramos polinômios gerados por uma certa relação de recorrência de três termos com o objetivo de encontrar limitantes, em termos dos coeficientes da relação de recorrência, para as regiões onde os zeros estão localizados. Os zeros são estudados através do problema de autovalor associado a uma matriz de Hessenberg. Aplicações aos polinômios de Szegó, polinômios para-ortogonais e polinômios com coeficientes complexos não-nulos são consideradas.<br>The main purpose of this work is to study the behavior of the zeros of orthogonal and similar polynomials. Initially, we consider a relation between two sequences of orthogonal polynomials, where the associated measures are related to each other. We use this relation to study the monotonicity propertios of the zeros of orthogonal polynomials related with a measure obtained through a generalization of the measure associated with other sequence of orthogonal polynomials. As examples, we consider the orthogonal polynomials obtained in this way from the measures associated with the Jacobi, Laguerre and Charlier polynomials. We also consider the zeros of polynomials generated by a certain three term recurrence relation. Here, the main objective is to find bounds, in terms of the coefficients of the recurrence relation, for the regions where the zeros are located. The zeros are explored through an eigenvalue representation associated with a Hessenberg matrix. Applications to Szegõ polynomials, para-orthogonal polynomials anti polynomials with non-zero complex coefficients are considered.