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Macroscopic changes in the urban environment and in the built transportation infrastructure, as well as changes in household demographics and socio-economics, can lead to spatio-temporal variations in household travel patterns and therefore regional travel demand. Dynamics in travel behavior may also simply arise from the randomness associated with values, perceptions, attitudes, needs, preferences and decision-making process of the individual travelers. Most urban travel behavior models and analysis seek to explain variations in travel behavior in terms of characteristics of the individuals and their environment. Spatial extents and temporal variation in an individual’s travel pattern may represent a measure of the individual’s spatial appetite for activity and the variability-seeking nature on his/her travel behavior. The objective of this dissertation effort is to develop a methodology to predict activity participation using revealed spatial extents and temporal variability as variables that represent the spatial appetite and variability-seeking nature associated with individual household. Activity participation is defined as a set of activities in which an individual or household takes part, to satisfy the sustenance, maintenance and discretionary needs of the household. To accomplish the goals of the dissertation, longitudinal travel data collected from the Commute Atlanta Study are used. The raw Global Positioning Systems (GPS) data are processed to summarize trip data by household travel day and individual travel day data. A methodology was developed to automatically identify the activity at the end of each trip. Methods were then developed to estimate travel behavior variability that can represent the variability-seeking nature of the individual. Existing methods to estimate activity space were reviewed and a new Modified Kernel Density area method was developed to address issues with current methods. Finally activity participation models using structural equation modeling methods were developed and the effects of the variability-seeking nature and spatial extent of activities were applied to the models. The variability-seeking nature was presented in the activity participation model as a latent variable with coefficient of variation of trips and distance as indicator variables. The dissertation research found that inclusion of activity space variables can improve the activity participation modeling process to better explain travel behavior.

Business need required a holistic and focussed framework for best practices in the functioning of effective virtual teams, despite the fragmented nature of empirical studies in this field. This study endeavoured to explore the best practices in the functioning of effective virtual teams against four prominent and unique themes linked to purpose, processes, people and technology. The value of this study does not vest in the existence of virtual teams, but in their orderly operation, in terms of best practice and the value proposition of effectiveness. Following an exploratory qualitative strategy, the research was conducted according to the interpretivist branch of the phenomenological tradition, with a transcendental orientation in the social research field. A qualitative multi-case research design for the empirical study was selected, resulting in a non-probability sample within the software sector of the technology industry in South Africa. An original and pre-tested Lime Survey 2.0+ electronic questionnaire instrument was utilised as the instrument to collect information within a cross-sectional time horizon, to work in synchronisation with the collaborative asynchronous electronic architecture of virtual teams. Content analysis was applied to analyse data. The main findings indicated that effective virtual teams purposefully orientate themselves toward excellence through electronic management systems, a specific value system, with a knowledge seeking focus, and a seamless linkage in electronic infrastructure, applications, and platforms which contribute to the functionality of the effective virtual team. The main recommendations were that a pre-existing, functional, collaborative, integrated, electronic management system is regarded as the primary step in founding an effective virtual team. The focus of organisational leadership should be to embrace a holistic value system approach encapsulating specific elements of excellence, such as trust and independence. Human networking practices pursuing and sustaining knowledge are regarded as the key enabler for functioning of effective virtual teams. Lastly, a focussed seamless interface between the various electronic applications, platforms and infrastructures is recommended. / Human Resource Management / D. Com. (Human Resource Management)

Thesis (LLM (Mercantile Law))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis discusses the meaning of public purpose and public interest in s 25 of the Final Constitution. The main question that is asked is: how does ‘public purpose’ differ from ‘public interest’, and what impact did the Final Constitution have on the interpretation and application of the public purpose requirement in expropriation law in South Africa? This question is investigated by looking at how the courts have dealt with the public purpose requirement, both before and during the first years of the constitutional era in South African law, and also with reference to foreign law. The thesis shows that the position has not changed that much yet because the interpretation of this requirement has not received much attention in constitutional case law. The main focus is to show that the reason for the interpretation problems surrounding this requirement is the apparent conflict between the formulation of the public purpose requirement in the Final Constitution and in the current Expropriation Act of 1975. It is pointed out that the efforts that were made to resolve the problem failed because the Expropriation Bill 2008 was withdrawn. Consequently, it is still unclear how the public purpose requirement has been changed by s 25(2) of the Constitution, which authorises expropriation for a public purpose or in the public interest. This apparent lack of clarity is discussed and analysed with specific reference to the different types of third party transfers that are possible in expropriation law. Comparative case law from Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the European Convention on Human Rights is considered to show how other jurisdictions deal with the public purpose requirement in their own constitutions or expropriation legislation, with particular emphasis on how they solve problems surrounding third party transfers. In the final chapter it is proposed that the Expropriation Bill should be reintroduced to bring the formulation of the public purpose requirement in the Act in line with s 25(2) and that expropriation for transfer to third parties could be in order if it serves a legitimate public purpose or the public interest (e g because the third party provides a public utility or for land reform), but that expropriation for economic development should be reviewed strictly to ensure that it serves a more direct and clear public interest than just stimulating the economy or creating jobs. / AFRIKAANS OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis bespreek die betekenis van openbare doel en openbare belang in a 25 van die Finale Grondwet. Die belangrikste vraag is: hoe verskil ‘openbare doel’ van ‘openbare belang’, en watter impak het die Finale Grondwet op die interpretasie en toepassing van die openbare doel-vereiste in die Suid-Afrikaanse onteieningsreg gehad? Die vraag word ondersoek met verwysing na die howe se hantering van die openbare doel-vereiste voor en gedurende die eerste jare van die nuwe grondwetlike bedeling, asook met verwysing na buitelandse reg. Die tesis toon aan dat die posisie nog min verander het omdat die interpretasie van die vereiste in die grondwetlike regspraak nog nie veel aandag gekry het nie. Daar word aangetoon dat interpretasieprobleme rondom hierdie vereiste ontstaan as gevolg van die oënskynlike teenstrydigheid tussen die formulering van die openbare doel-vereiste in die Finale Grondwet en in die huidige Onteieningswet van 1975. Daar word geargumenteer dat pogings om die probleem op te los gefaal het omdat die Onteieningswetsontwerp 2008 teruggetrek is. Dit is daarom steeds onduidelik hoe die openbare doel-vereiste deur a 25(2) van die Grondwet, wat onteiening vir ‘n openbare doel of in die openbare belang toelaat, verander is. Hierdie oënskynlike gebrek aan sekerheid word bespreek met verwysing na die verskillende gevalle waarin eiendom onteien en dan aan derde partye oorgedra word. Regsvergelykende regspraak van Australië, Duitsland, die Verenigde Koninkryk, die Verenigde State van Amerika en die Europese Konvensie op Mensregte word oorweeg om te wys hoe ander regstelsels die openbare doel-vereiste in hulle grondwette of onteieningswetgewing interpreteer, spesifiek ten aansien van die oordrag van eiendom aan derde partye. In die laaste hoofstuk word aan die hand gedoen dat die Onteieningswetsontwerp weer ter tafel geneem moet word om die bewoording van die openbare doel-vereiste in die Onteieningswet in ooreenstemming met a 25(2) te bring. Daar word ook aan die hand gedoen dat onteiening vir oordrag aan derde partye in orde kan wees as dit ‘n geldige openbare doel of die openbare belang dien (bv omdat die derde party ‘n openbare diens lewer of in belang van grondhervorming), maar dat onteiening vir ekonomiese ontwikkeling streng hersien moet word om te verseker dat dit ‘n meer direkte en duidelike openbare belang dien as bloot om die ekonomie te stimuleer of om werk te skep.

For a stress-sensitive or stress-dependent reservoir, the interactions between its seepage field and in situ stress field are complex and affect hydrocarbon recovery. A coupled geomechanics and fluid-flow model can capture these relations between the fluid and solid, thereby presenting more precise history matchings and predictions for better well planning and reservoir management decisions. A traditional reservoir simulator cannot adequately or fully represent the ongoing coupled fluid-solid interactions during the production because of using the simplified update-formulation for porosity and the static absolute permeability during simulations. Many researchers have studied multiphase fluid-flow models coupled with geomechanics models during the past fifteen years. The purpose of this research is to develop a coupled geomechanics and compositional model and apply it to problems in the oil recovery processes. An equation of state compositional simulator called the General Purpose Adaptive Simulator (GPAS) is developed at The University of Texas at Austin and uses finite difference / finite control volume methods for the solution of its governing partial differential equations (PDEs). GPAS was coupled with a geomechanics model developed in this research, which uses a finite element method for discretization of the associated PDEs. Both the iteratively coupled solution procedure and the fully coupled solution procedure were implemented to couple the geomechanics and reservoir simulation modules in this work. Parallelization, testing, and verification for the coupled model were performed on parallel clusters of high-performance workstations. MPI was used for the data exchange in the iteratively coupled procedure. Different constitutive models were coded into GPAS to describe complicated behaviors of linear or nonlinear deformation in the geomechanics model. In addition, the geomechanics module was coupled with the dual porosity model in GPAS to simulate naturally fractured reservoirs. The developed coupled reservoir and geomechanics simulator was verified using analytical solutions. Various reservoir simulation case studies were carried out using the coupled geomechanics and GPAS modules. / text

In South Africa, certain areas are well developed with infrastructures that compare with first world standards, while in others, people live in abject poverty without basic services being rendered Poverty is the single greatest burden of South Africa's people. It is defined as the inability to meet a specified set of basic needs. This means that apart from low income levels, malnutrition and hunger, poverty manifests itself in poor people's lives in many other ways, including lack of access to basic social services. Poverty is characterized by the inability of individuals, households or communities to command sufficient resources to satisfy a socially acceptable minimum standard of living. It is perceived by poor South Africans themselves to include alienation from the community, food insecurity, crowded homes, usage of unsafe and inefficient forms of energy and lack of jobs that are adequately paid and I or secure. Because the government doesn't want to alienate those it is trying to serve, public services are being brought closer to people, so as to improve the quality of community life. The underlying reason for the implementation of Multi-purpose Community Centres (MPCCs) is to bring government services closer to people and to provide the community with the opportunity to communicate with government. Multi-Purpose Community Centres have been identified as the primary approach for the implementation of development communication and information programmes. MPCCs also serve as a base from which a wide range of services and products can reach communities. The aim is for communities to access such services and engage in government programmes for their own empowerment. As a result, MPPCs are a necessary poverty alleviation strategy that needs to be promoted for the improvement of the quality of community life. / Thesis (M. Development and Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

The influence of Vonnegut’s didactic purpose of writing on the treatment of theme  and structure in Slaughterhouse-Five is investigated in this study. The following  elements of structure are studied: point of view, the treatment of time, characterization,  the use of other sources, and imagery. These are constantly related to  the novel’s themes, such as war, cruelty, death, time, innocence, survival, free  will, fantasy and regeneration. Since Vonnegut himself survived the Dresden  bombings during World War Two, his novel is very personal, which is particularly  reflected in his point-of-view technique, the subject of Chapter One. Vonnegut creates  double narrators in Slaughterhouse-Five : a personal one, including authorial  intrusions, and an impersonal one. This division is a direct reflection of the  dichotomy between reality and fantasy that prevails in the novel.  In Chapter Two, Vonnegut’s treatment of time is demonstrated to be a process of  spatialization. Structurally, this means a fragmented narrative split into several  time levels that chiefly form what the author calls his ”telegraphic schizophrenic"  style. Thematically, the protagonist comes "unstuck" in time, thus succeeding in  confronting an absurd world and finally transcending death.  Vonnegut uses the depiction of character mainly to express ideas and to reinforce  themes, since he regards his characters as "bugs in amber," involuntarily stuck,  excepting their capacity for fantasy. To facilitate the reader’s recognition of  these sketchy characters, Vonnegut has equipped them with marks of recognition,  often repeated, and names that provide clues to their personalities. All characters  are shown to be isolated and lonely, except on Tralfamadore where a dream woi;ld  exists.  In the fourth chapter, Vonnegut’s use of other sources is examined. His carefully  chosen quotations fall into two groups: first, historical sources that verify facts,  such as the Dresden catastrophy; second, fictional sources that stimulate the human  imagination, which turns out to be the protagonist's means of survival.  Finally, imagery in Slaughterhouse-Five, studied in Chapter Five, is found to be  used for enrichment of a style otherwise characterized by great economy. Much of  the imagery strikes a humorous tone. A simple, quotidian vocabulary is developed.  War imagery is used to deglorify war. Animal imagery is invoked to ridicule and to  show man’s true place in the universe. Several oxymora further reinforce the incongruity  prevailing in the Vonnegutian world. The negative effect of imagery is  also found in symbols pertaining to Billy’s life situation. As a contrast, however,  there are also positive symbols emphasizing nature’s annual cycle of rebirth signifying  hope and regeneration.  Many of the stylistic elements studied reveal that Vonnegut has chosen thematic and  structural solutions that make his novel accessible to a large reading audience.  The fragmented, at times circular, structure of Slaughterhouse-Five is indeed a  "dance with death." In a thematic sense, death is the writer’s own muse that he  must dutifully dance with in order to create his work of art. Slaughterhouse-Five  is not only Vonnegut’s account of his own war experience but also a statement on  the human condition. / digitalisering@umu

Authenticity is what we want from the world around us, from others, and crucially from ourselves and what we make. As it relates to graphic design, I define authenticity as a perceived match between form and purpose. For the designer, its quality is found in the process of simultaneously developing a concept and crafting the design/object.

Homework or no homework has been frequently occurring discussions in society over the years. Today, more teachers than ever have taken sides about homework. But which purpose do the teachers that provide homework have, and can they see the advantage with homework? The purpose with this essay is to examine why teachers at younger ages provide homework in mathematics and what the benefits are? To reach some answers in order to find out some answers to my questions I have made a qualitative study by interviewing six teachers, teaching classes from grades1-3. I have also been studying some other research and literature that are dealing with these questions. The result shows that despite that the teachers have chosen to provide homework they cannot always see any effects. The most common type of homework has the purpose to repeat what has been taught at school. The pupils are supposed to manage to do their homework on their own without any help from their parents. Other purposes that are mentioned in the research are joy, motivation, responsibility and to create a link between school and the domestic environment. The follow-up of the homework consists of the teacher marks the homework and sometimes gives it back to the pupils with comments. / Läxor eller inte läxor har varit vanligen förekommande diskussioner i samhället genom åren. Idag har fler lärare tagit ställning för eller emot läxor än tidigare. Hur tänker då de lärare som ger läxor och vilka vinster ser de med läxor? Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka varför lärare som undervisar i de yngre åldrarna ger läxor i matematik och vilka vinster de ser med läxor? För att söka svar har jag genomfört kvalitativa intervjuer med sex lärare som undervisar i matematik i årskurserna 1-3. Jag har även tagit del av forskning och litteratur som behandlar frågorna. Resultatet visar att trots att lärarna valt att ge läxor så ser inte alla att den ger någon effekt. Den vanligaste läxan som ges handlar om färdighetsträning. Eleverna ska själva klara av de läxor som ges utan föräldrars inblandning. Andra syften som nämns handlar om glädje, motivation, ansvarstagande samt att skapa en länk mellan hem och skola. Den uppföljning som främst används är att läxan lämnas in för rättning och ibland lämnas tillbaka med kommentarer.

Cette thèse a pour objet l'étude des Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication (TIC) en tant que Technologie Générique (TG) ainsi que leur rôle dans l'évolution de la productivité du travail aux Etats-Unis et en Europe durant les dernières décennies. La thèse est constituée de trois parties axées chacune sur l'une des trois propriétés fondamentales des TG: le progrès rapide de la technologie, l'ubiquité de la technologie et la capacité à créer des opportunités technologiques. La première partie décrit, dans un premier chapitre, l'innovation dans le domaine des TIC, en commençant par un bref historique de ces technologies, suivie d'une analyse des données contemporaines sur l'innovation dans ce domaine. Elle montre en particulier comment les Etats-Unis ont été, jusqu'à présent, plus performants que les pays Européens dans le développement des TIC. Dans un deuxième chapitre, cette première partie inventorie les difficultés de mesures induites par la vitesse et la nature du changement généré par ces technologies. La seconde partie de la thèse traite de la nature ubiquitaire des TIC. Elle décrit d'abord la diffusion des TIC au cours du temps à travers les pays et les secteurs économiques, puis, établit une revue de la littérature sur la contribution directe de la diffusion des TIC à la croissance de la productivité du travail aux US et en Europe. Le second chapitre de cette partie s'intéresse au comportement de demande de facteurs de production dans les secteurs producteurs de TIC ou intensifs en utilisation des TIC. Enfin, la troisième partie de la thèse se concentre sur la capacité des TIC à générer des opportunités d'innovation. Pour cela elle identifie d'abord la nature des innovations complémentaires et les efforts menant à ces innovations. Elle montre alors la nécessité d'améliorer la comptabilité nationale afin de prendre en compte ces efforts comme des investissements. Cette partie révèle ensuite que, dans les onze pays européens étudiés, le problème est particulièrement concentré sur quelques pays qui investissent peu en TIC et en actifs innovants et que ces deux types d'efforts sont complémentaires. / This thesis aims to study Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a General Purpose Technology (GPT) and their role in the labor productivity evolution in the United States and Europe during recent decades. This thesis is organized in three parts corresponding to the fundamental GPT features: the wide possibilities for development, the ubiquity of the technology and the ability to create large technological opportunities. The first part depicts, at first, the innovation in ICT, beginning with a short historical review of ICT inventions followed by the analysis of current data on innovation in this field. In particular, it shows how the US was better than the European countries in inventing ICT until now. Second, this first part makes an inventory of measurement difficulties due to the rate and the nature of the change created by such technologies. The second part of the thesis deals with the ubiquitous nature of ICT. It first describes the ICT diffusion across countries and industries and reviews the economic literature on the direct contribution of ICT on labor productivity growth in the US and Europe. The next chapter studies the factor demand's behaviour in sectors that are either ICT producers or ICT intensive users. The third part focuses on the ICT ability to create opportunities for complementarity innovations. Firstly, it identifies the nature of ICT complementary innovations and the corresponding efforts. It shows, then, that national accounts must be improved in order to take these efforts into account as investments. Secondly, this part shows that, among the eleven European countries studied, the problem is highly concentrated in a few countries that invest less both in ICT and in innovative assets and that these two types of effort are complementary.