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This study tested the effectiveness of special packaging in increasing the medication compliance of hypertensive patients in the outpatient clinic at San Joaquin General Hospital. Seventy patients were randomly assigned to an experimental and control group. After a 6 week treatment period, the mean compliance estimates for the experimental and control groups (xl = 68.59%, x2 = 48.67%) were compared and found to be significantly different (t = 2.46, df = 33, p < .05). In addition, a statistically significant negative correlation was found between compliance and blood pressure (r = -0.51, p ~ .01).

Tato práce se zabývá jednou z významných částí fungování velkých korporací, tedy Compliance, se zvláštní pozorností na IT management. Diplomová práce zevrubně prozkoumává danou oblast. Tento průzkum si klade zároveň za cíl nalezení obtíží, ke kterým dochází v každodenní praxi. Následně je nastíněn způsob možných řešení zjištěných problematických jevů.

Tax compliance has been brought into sharp focus by SARS and other tax authorities around the world. Non-compliance causes tax leakages and this situation is detrimental to an economy since it is deprived of resources necessary for growth and public infrastructure development. Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are recognised for the value they add to growing economies, stimulating economic growth and job creation. Similarly, the construction industry in South Africa and the world over is recognised for its contribution to public infrastructure development and economic growth. The majority of construction companies operating in South Africa are SMEs. SARS is clamping down on SMEs and the construction industry as it has identified these two categories of taxpayers as high-risk groups in terms of tax non-compliance. The structural and operational nature of SMEs presents opportunities for the avoidance of paying tax. On the other hand, they experience complying with tax and other regulations as a heavy burden. SARS's focus on the construction industry is prompted by the fact that it receives state funding, and corruption in the industry has been found to be rife. A substantial number of studies provide evidence that tax education improves compliance. Therefore, the current study investigates the level of tax knowledge and the possible lack of tax knowledge of SME owners in the construction industry in order to determine their tax education needs. The study involved a qualitative analysis in the form of face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with 10 SME owners in the construction industry based in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, South Africa. In the interviews, use was made of structured and open-ended questions. The results confirmed that the owners of very small enterprises had the least amount of tax knowledge whereas the owners of medium-sized entities had the most tax knowledge. Further findings were that most of the entities relied on external tax advisors for tax advice, that the majority of the respondents did not understand the special tax incentives available to SMEs and companies operating in the construction industry and that almost 80% of the respondents believed SARS was not doing enough to educate them about the incentives available. The majority of the respondents felt that improving tax knowledge would improve tax compliance. / Mini Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Taxation / MCom / Unrestricted

I first broadly define the study of complex systems, identifying language to describe and characterize mechanisms of such systems which is applicable across disciplines. An overview of methods is provided, including the description of a software development methodology which defines how a combination of computer science, statistics, and mathematics are applied to specified domains. This work describes strategies to facilitate timely completion of robust and adaptable projects which vary in complexity and scope. A biosecurity informatics pipeline is outlined, which is an abstraction useful in organizing the analysis of biological data from cells. This is followed by specific applications of complex systems study to the fields of animal biosecurity and genetic expression. I provide evidence that social cues need to be considered by livestock facility managers in order to increase disease-resiliency of agricultural systems. I also identify significant changes in genetic expression from recent experiments which are advancing the frontiers of regenerative medicine. Areas of future work are discussed including issues related to agriculture and water quality, as well as studies of human behavior and risk perception using experimental gaming simulations.

Magister Legum - LLM / In this thesis I analysed the suitability and effectiveness of the criminal sanction with regards to compliance and enforcement in South African environmental law. My central argument is that the criminal sanction is not the perfect mechanism to address compliance and enforcement in South African environmental law sufficiently. Compliance and enforcement of South African environmental law has been a stumbling block for years since the implementation of the first piece of environmental legislation. Thus I explored compliance and enforcement in South Africa and identified the various issues that might be the reasons why compliance and enforcement in South African environmental law is not up to standard. I also analysed criminal environmental enforcement and came to the conclusion that criminal law is not suitable for the exclusive enforcement of environmental law. The conclusion was drawn by also analysing the criminal environmental enforcement statistics and the administrative compliance and civil action statistics of 2014-2019 in South Africa. Criminal law possesses too many inherent weaknesses and with our overcrowded criminal justice system there is no capacity for presiding officers to properly apply their mind when adjudicating environmental offences Thus I explored the alternatives to the criminal sanction and discussed and evaluated the different compliance and enforcement mechanisms in our legislative framework. I came to the conclusion that our legislative framework is sufficient to deal with environmental offences and that no new pieces of legislation need to be passed. There are various other compliance and enforcement mechanisms within our legislative framework that are better suited to deal with environmental offences.I came to the conclusion that the reasons for South Africa’s failure in compliance and enforcement in environmental law is due to those responsible for compliance and enforcement lacking the necessary capacity, skill and resources to firstly ensure that the laws are complied with and enforce it when it is not complied with. I also argue for the resurrection of environmental courts in South Africa in light of the successes in foreign jurisdictions. My concluding argument is that the criminal sanction still has a role to play in environmental compliance and enforcement in South Africa, however not as a primary mechanism.

Background. DevOps represents a set of principles and practices of the software development (Dev) and information technology operations (Ops) of the product lifecycle requirements. DevOps has become a buzzword in organizations because it is an agile software development offspring. Now-a-days, there is a shift in organizations from DevOps to DevSecOps, which is bringing in a higher level of security built into software delivery pipelines. DevSecOps ensures security is a core component in the workflow to implement secure development and operations processes of automating every aspect. Security inevitably includes issues like compliance in terms of security standards that are concerning with looming cybersecurity threats. There is little known about different concepts of assessing security compliance in terms of security standards in DevOps pipelines. Understanding the artefacts and their dependencies requirements in the software workflow are fundamental to demonstrate compliance. The thesis study proposes to ensure the IEC 62443-4-1 standard for secure product development in industrial systems is incorporated into the artefact model to capture the information related to security compliance. Objectives. The thesis aims to investigate the artefacts and identify its dependencies to develop and design an artefact model for DevSecOps. This artefact model has the possibility to measure security compliance with the IEC 62443-4-1 standard to ensure traceability in DevOps pipeline and evaluate the usability of it. Methods. In this qualitative research, we have conducted a literature review with snowballing to gather information on artefacts that undergo synthesis to develop and design the artefact model. We have conducted interviews with practitioners to collect the data on the usability of the artefact model. Results. The literature review with snowballing is done to identify ten papers in the final data set. We have identified 100 artefacts from the papers. The artefacts are categorized and matched according to practices and activities descriptions. The synthesis of the literature review artefacts provides the basis for designing the artefact model and its dependencies for DevSecOps workflow. The interview results are thematically coded and we have obtained a list of benefits, challenges, and security compliance barriers with DevOps pipelines. This process evaluates the practitioners’ understanding of the designed artefact model usability in the industry to assess the standard’s security compliance. Conclusions. The research study identifies the artefacts that help with developing the artefact model. It provides the practitioners’ understanding of the usability of the artefact model in the industry to meet the secure software development product life-cycle requirements according to the IEC 62443-4-1 standard. The results demonstrated the evidence of assessing the security compliance for DevSecOps workflow in DevOps pipeline.

Magister Public Health - MPH / Untreated and unmonitored diabetic retinopathy (DR) can lead to vision loss. This may have many negative implications on society. Currently, there is a dearth of evidence regarding the factors that influence compliance behaviour to treatment among patients diagnosed with DR in South Africa’s public healthcare system. The current study sought to fill this research gap and explore patient-, institution-, treatment-, and COVID-19- related factors associated with compliance behaviour among patients living with diabetes that have been referred for suspected vision-threatening DR in the Northern/Tygerberg sub-structure (NTSS) of Cape Town, South Africa. Methodology: A qualitative research approach was used. The study population included 19 years and older South Africans living with diabetes who were screened and referred for vision-threatening retinopathy within the last 18 months at public primary healthcare facilities in the NTSS.

Research on the employment experiences of people with disabilities (PWD), on a global level, is limited. While South Africa has a well-defined legislative framework that has been determined in consultation with disabled people's organisations, compliance with legislation appears to have failed to ensure that employment targets are met, or rather, it has overlooked the underemployment of PWD. As a response to the challenges, this study explored the employment experiences of PWD. A qualitative, explorative, multiple case study approach was employed. Twelve participants were selected using a purposive technique. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and provided insight into how PWD viewed their world. The interviews were supplemented through document analyses, and various modes of observation provided additional insight into each of the cases. The process of analysing the interview data followed an inductive approach during which three broad themes were identified. Factors influencing Employment elaborated on the participants' pre-employment experiences of gaining access to employment, which were shown to be impacted by various environmental barriers. Early Experiences of Inclusion at the Workplace established that induction and orientation processes were opportunities for educating co-workers about disability. However, the disclosure of disability did not guarantee improved employment experiences for the research participants. Feeling part of a team promoted early experiences of acceptance. Accommodation in the Workplace determined that PWD's accommodation requests were often evaluated and considered in terms of the costs to employers, and primarily focused on technology to improve their productivity. The need for personal assistance for the PWD in the study was found to be unavoidable. A conceptual model is presented as an alternative framework. It offers insight into how to improve disabled individuals' employment experiences to organisations and their management, and people with disabilities themselves. The model suggests that organisations operating from within a virtue framework can facilitate equal opportunities for employees. Organisations are to be more competitive, innovative and creative, and improve their sustainability. The experiences of PWD could be improved through establishing working communities within organisations as these distribute decisionmaking. The climate for organisational inclusion could also be improved by the working community's ability to redefine work and equip PWD appropriately, thereby promoting organisational citizenship, with benefits to both the organisation and individual.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / The aim of this study was to explore how HIV positive people understand and describe their experience of taking antiretroviral treatment consistently in a strictly organised regimen. Eight participants were recruited from Ikhwezi Clinic. The participants were interviewed using an in depth interview guide. A Phenomenological data analysis was employed through which six themes emerged. The themes are forgetting and memory aids, fitting treatment into daily routine, belief in effectiveness of medication, experiences of side effects, disclosure and social support and relationship with the health care provider. The health belief model and the self-efficacy theory were applied in the study. These theories helped to understand that the decision to take treatment is not only based on the individual experiences and beliefs but the interaction with the social and environmental factors as well. Family, community and health care factors are all interconnected and play a vital role in the decision to commence and continue with HAART. The study revealed that PLWHA can adhere to antiretroviral medication if they believe in the benefits of doing so. Furthermore it became clear that experiences of men and women differ when it comes to HAART. The involvement of the inlaws as experienced by the women in this study had a negative influence in the participants' adherence routine. Further studies are needed to explore the influence of culture in decision making by women with regards to their health.