Internationalisation of Higher Education has emerged as a response from institutions to increasing challenges posed by Globalisation and fast advances in Information and Communication Technologies - ICTs. MBA students, particularly those in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), are now presented with a growing offer of Programmes with some level of Internationalisation. This research investigates and assesses the extent to which different levels of Internationalisation in Higher Education MBA Programmes influence Brazilian students’ and HR Professionals’ Perceived Value of such programmes and institutions and thus, their Level of Trustworthiness towards said programmes and institutions. To investigate the relationship between the Level of Internationalisation and Perceived Value, a Trustworthiness Index was developed for the Higher Education sector. Developed from a tested Trustworthiness Index originally designed by Ennew and Sekhon (2007) for the Financial Sector, this study used an adapted Delphi technique to reach consensus between 3 Higher Education Senior Executives and 3 Marketing Scholars. The new Questionnaire had 363 responses from MBA students who were presented with different levels of Programme and Institution Internationalisation divided into 4 Bundles - from no (zero) Internationalisation to 100% Internationalisation. The findings indicate that the proposed Index is a reliable and valid instrument to measure MBA Students’ Level of Trustworthiness towards MBA Programmes and Institutions, with an excellent Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient for reliability (above .9). The variables were then grouped into four Factors using Exploratory Factor Analysis. Thus, the underlying dimensions of Trustworthiness in Higher Education that emerged are Student Support and Quality; Values and Respect; Excellence and Academic Rigour; Diversity and Long-Term Commitment. A Trustworthiness Equation for Higher Education was developed using Structural Equation Modelling and applied to the four different Bundles. Each Bundle’s Level of Trustworthiness was then compared and the results, using ANOVA, show a positive relation between the Level of Internationalisation and the Level of Programme and Institution Trustworthiness. The findings of the quantitative stage with the MBA students were then discussed in semi-structured interviews with 13 Human Resources Professionals. MBA students and HR Professionals agree that Internationalisation in Higher Education increases the perceived value of both programmes and institutions. In the students’ opinion the best model would be a Programme with 100% Internationalisation, while HR Professionals believe the local experience equally matters, and therefore, the best choice would be a programme that offered an Intermediate Level of Internationalisation. This thesis also explores the valuable input that this research provides to Higher Education managers in what concerns students’ perceived value of several course components such as curriculum and syllabus design, instructional materials and resources, face-to-face and distance learning modes, teacher and staff qualification and preparation, amongst others.

Globally, aircraft emissions represent 2-3% of total CO2 emissions. Due to an increase in passenger and freight transport, the climate's impact is increasing. To solve that problem there are several different solutions, one of them is the use of an optimal cost index during flight. The purpose of this work is to analyze the cost index and its shortcomings and to develop solutions to create an Environment Cost Index. ECI contains strategies that make cost index more optimal with focus on environment, fuel consumption and emissions. However, this thesis only deals with the Boeing 737-800 (winglets) aircraft type. The work process began with a wide search of current climate problems and aviation emissions, with a deep search in cost index and previous studies on the subject. In order to link theory with reality, an interview was conducted with Lars Andersen Resare, SAS Sustainability Manager. The result showed that the theory is in line with Lars Andersen's answers. In addition to different strategies that can be followed during the flight to reduce fuel consumption, the ultimate solution is a dynamic module. A dynamic module has all sources packed in a system and updates the pilot with information during a flight, as the system is connected to the network. With an ECI, airlines can save 5-6% fuel during one flight. As an airplane is often in the air, the strategies give an environmental gain, as well as a saving up to 5 million dollars a year, without noticeable changes in the timetable. As the aircraft emissions increase every year, and the FN Climate Panel has set a goal to zero the growth of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, ECI is one of the solutions that reduces the climate impact. It would therefore be of great benefit to both environment and costs if the airlines used the tool.

No description available.

No description available.

Patients with lower limbs problems are an increasing population in the US and many of them require surgery and its subsequent post-op Physical Therapy (PT). For all these patients, tracking their progress and evolution towards full recovery is very important. To assess the patients and track their progress, patients are usually required to perform very specific tests administered by a physical therapist. These tests either require very expensive equipment or rather require the subjective experience of the physical therapist who administer them. One of these tests is the Functional Gait Assessment (FGA) test, perhaps the most widely adopted one for gait assessment. This thesis presents a system for Clinical Gait Assessment using exclusively the sensors embedded in today’s smartphones. The system processes the raw sensor data to perform the FGA test and calculate additional metrics, capable of identifying problems in the human gait. The system is therefore objective, as it is based on measurements; cheap, as it only requires a smartphone; mobile, as it can be used pretty much anywhere; and self-care, as it does not need the presence of a physical therapist. The system was designed and tested on the Android OS with the phone attached to the back of the user using a belt or elastic band. It includes a new step detection algorithm with a mean absolute error of ±1 and algorithms to detect the deviation from a straight path with an accuracy of 90%, 80%, 35%, and 30% for each of the required deviation levels of the FGA test. Additionally, the system includes autocorrelation and DTW metrics, which provide additional information to detect different impediments of the user gait.

Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the prevalent debilitating diseases in South Africa, often leading to activity limitations, participation restrictions and a poor quality of life. Older people often lead more sedentary lifestyles, which may further aggravate their symptoms. Exercise therapy has demonstrated good outcomes in the OA population. Many dance interventions have become popular in OA treatment and results suggest their effects to be more successful than traditional physiotherapy exercises regimes. Ballet dance exercises have not yet been explored in the treatment of OA, even though it has been proposed to have positive effects on the body. Purpose: to determine the effect of a program of ballet dance exercise classes on BMI, perceived pain, physical function and quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip and knee, compared to the existing Midros Clinic program of exercise classes. Methods: The study used a randomized, cross-sectional, quantitative, experimental study using pre- and post-intervention as well as multiple time-point testing. A sample of 52 males and females were recruited in Midros, Middelburg Cape. The inclusion criteria of the study were persons aged 65 years and older, with OA of the hip and/or knee, clinically diagnosed according to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology. The VAS, Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT), WOMAC and the SF-8 Index, respectively measured reported perceived pain, physical function, quality of life and health status in the study groups. BMI, pulse and blood pressure were also recorded to further monitor the effects of the interventions. A comparable number of scores were obtained over six weeks of bi-weekly ballet exercise classes (intervention group = IG), and nine weeks of two-weekly exercise classes at the Midros Clinic (comparison group = CG). Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the demographic information and inferential statistics were used to determine the associations for parametric data; a two tailed p-value was calculated; the 95% CI was calculated using the approximation of Katz. The p-value was classified as significant if p<0.05. Results: The demographics and baseline measurements of the IG and CG were comparable. A series of five exercise classes (over nine weeks) had a significantly beneficial effect on BMI and systolic BP, perceived and actual physical function, and QOL, whereas a series of 12 ballet exercise classes ( over six weeks) had a significant positive effect on BMI and diastolic BP, perceived pain, perceived physical function, and QOL. The comparison of responses to the outcome measures by male and female participants demonstrated that, contrary to findings in the reviewed literature, females held more positive perceptions than males on their perceived severity of joint pain and function, physical and mental health, and well being. A series of the existing exercise classes of Midros Clinic brought about more significant changes than a program of ballet exercise classes in the research parameters measured, despite exercise classes taking place much less frequently than the ballet classes. Conclusion: Although both interventions were found to both bring about positive changes in older persons with OA, a series of ballet exercises classes did not result in better outcomes than the currently existing Midros Clinic group exercise classes. The results of the current study demonstrate that exercise interventions are found to be the most beneficial in improving the quality of life of OA sufferers.

Master of Science / Department of Geology / Abdelmoneam Raef / Matthew W. Totten / The Woodford shale in west-central Oklahoma is an organic and silica rich shale that is a prolific resource play producing gas and liquid hydrocarbons (Gupta et al., 2013). Unconventional shale wells are only producible due to modern hydraulic fracturing techniques. Production surveys from unconventional reservoirs show significant variability between wells and even between fracking stages (Kennedy, 2012). The production potential of a particular shale appears to be related to its brittleness and kerogen content "sweetness". Thus, brittleness analysis becomes important when choosing which shales to produce. A rocks brittleness index can be related directly to elastic properties derived from P- and S-wave velocities, as well as, its specific mineral makeup. This project's main focus is to determine the elastic rock properties that affect or relate to Woodford shale brittleness and how they relate to the rock's specific mineral makeup and kerogen content. Measurements to determine elastic properties, based on ultrasonic laboratory testing, were conducted on available Woodford cores. The estimated elastic moduli were evaluated via cross-plotting and correlation with a variety of rock properties. Elastic properties are of essential relevance to forward seismic modeling in order to study seismic response. Mineral makeup, determined via XRD and XRF analyses done by Kale Janssen (2017), was used to calculate a mineral-based brittleness index for comparison with the elastic moduli. Evaluation of the elastic moduli assisted in determining which elastic properties directly relate to the brittleness of the shales and, in turn, to geomechanical aspects. These properties were correlated with data from previous studies including mineral percentages, total organic content (TOC), and thermal maturity. These correlations were used to determine which elastic properties best predict a rock's brittleness index. The calculated brittleness was used to develop a brittleness index map of the Woodford Formation.

Please read the abstract in the dissertation / Dissertation (M (Dietetics))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Human Nutrition / M (Dietetics) / unrestricted

The trace form gives a connection between the representation ring and the space of invariant bilinear forms of a Lie algebra $L$. This thesis reviews the definition of the trace of an endomorphism of a finitely generated projective module over a commutative ring $R$. We then use this to look at the trace form of a finitely generated projective representation of a Lie algebra $L$ over $R$ and its representation ring. While doing so, we prove a few trace formulas which are useful in the theory of the Dynkin index, an invariant introduced by Dynkin in 1952 to study homomorphisms between simple Lie algebras.

Tato diplomová práce vznikla jako reflexe intenzivního rozvoje českého kapitálového trhu reprezentovaného především Burzou cenných papírů Praha a.s. a jeho přibližování se ke světovým plně sofistikovaným trhům (světovým burzám cenných papírů) cestou rozšíření produktového portfólia o produkty derivátového charakteru. Mezi produkty nově obchodované na Burze cenných papírů Praha, a.s. patří od roku 2006 futures, pákové investiční certifikáty a warranty. Předložená práce se věnuje finančním futures na akciový index PX. Tato diplomová práce si klade za cíl popsat vyčerpávajícím způsobem obchodování s futures kontrakty na českém kapitálovém trhu napříč celým životním cyklem tohoto derivovaného produktu. Práce tak seznamuje čtenáře s bázickými charakteristikami futures kontraktů, s vypořádáním futures obchodů, se způsoby řízení rizik, s výpočtem denních zisků a ztrát vyplývajících z držby těchto kontraktů a v neposlední řadě se věnuje modelům ocenění futures.