It is necessary to address the nature of board composition in the South African economy because boards of directors are the lead indicator of whether or not the transformation initiatives put in place since 1994 are effective in bringing about meaningful change in the society within which we live. Companies are a microcosm of society. A hundred randomly selected companies were used to provide demographic data which was used in the analysis for this study. The aim was to identify what constitutes a typical board of directors for a Johannesburg Securities Exchange listed company by measuring dimensions of gender, race, tenure, independence and board size attributes. Findings from this research will help companies to better understand the role they can play in leveling the playing field by enabling more black people and white females to fulfil their potential and become directors of companies. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Masters of Art / It is now forty years after the start of African Socialism, or Ujamaa, in Tanzania. This study examines to what extent Tanzanians still tell their national history in ways which feature the important themes of social change that were introduced by President Julius Nyerere and his political party after independence: increasing equality, popular participation, egalitarian values and self-reliant economic development

Understanding regulation of wild animal populations is important in ecological investigations and applied wildlife management. Progress in understanding regulatory processes has been hindered by a long-running debate over the role of density-dependent and density-independent variables in population regulation. Population regulation of exploited species is of particular interest because harvest theory is predicated on assumptions of density-dependent feedback. However, for many exploited species, the functional relationships and mechanisms of population regulation via density dependence are not quantified (e.g., Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus). Compounding this task is the lack of a mechanistic understanding of the influence of density-independent factors in population regulation. The overall goal of this dissertation is to investigate the roles of density-dependent and density-independent processes in bobwhite populations. Bobwhites are an excellent species to investigate the role and influence of density-dependent and density-independent factors due to their unique life history, wherein they can exhibit density dependence in survival, reproduction, or both. I provide support for the concomitant influence of density-dependent and density-independent processes operating to regulate bobwhite populations. My results support the importance of food and cover and the additive influence of density-dependent and density-independent factors on bobwhite annual survival. I also report evidence for the differential effects of covariates on survival phases. My results represent the first evidence of support for the Tub and Tap hypotheses on bobwhite survival. I also quantify a density-dependent effect on bobwhite recruitment. Collectively, these results provide new evidence for understanding the role of internal and external factors in bobwhite populations.

Jet-in-crossflow is an interaction between a fuel jet and air crossflow commonly found in jet engines. The crossflow is used to break up or atomize the fuel jet for downstream combustion. This interaction between fluids while at low speeds, is predictable, varies greatly at higher speeds. This investigation seeks to (1) create a mechanism for jet-in-crossflow, using mechanical pintles, that is independent of velocity to help increase the predictability and reliability of jet engines and (2) identify key design parameters that will lead to flow independence. Parameters investigated in this experiment include pintle height, angle, and percent of pintle coverage into the jet orifice. Pintles that covered 100 percent of the jet showed a strong deviation from the traditional interaction with no pintle. Relationships were also found between the angle, height, and penetration depth although none as ubiquitous as the jet coverage.

No description available.

No description available.

The purpose of this research is to explore through a critical lens the ways in which independence planning for crown wards is reflected in recording documents and the extent to which such documentation suggests the nature of continued involvement with the youth in such planning processes. Data were gathered by examining planning documents used by Child Welfare agencies in Ontario for crown wards. To accommodate the evolving emergence of themes and conceptual patterns revealed in the data, a grounded theory approach and constant comparative method was used as detailed by Charmaz (2006). Independence planning involved crown wards in developing visitation plans with members of the family of origin, and included goal setting pertaining to the development of social skills and acquisition of educational qualifications and instrumental skills. The planning documents lacked specific behavioural examples, contextual understanding, specific examples of the efforts undertaken by CAS workers and caregivers to support goals, and examples of discussions between workers and crown wards. Planning documents generally reflected little involvement of the crown ward. Planning and OnLAC documents require modification so as to allow for and encourage qualitative information and greater input from the crown ward. Such modifications ought to be understood by Child Welfare management in terms of making planning processes more useful and beneficial to crown wards and CAS workers. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

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No description available.

Mechanical and neural factors have been suggested to limit finger independence. Fingers producing involuntary movement or force production during intended actions of another finger are considered “enslaved” to that finger. The purpose of this thesis was to quantify the contribution of passive mechanical factors to this enslaving effect, in particular, the contributions of the intertendinous connections between extensor tendons. Twenty participants (10 men, 10 women) performed Master and Slave Tasks in three wrist (30° extension, neutral, 30° flexion) and two metacarpophalangeal (MCP) (straight and 90° flexion) postures. During the Master Task, the ring finger was the intended or “master” finger. Three 10 s isometric ring finger extensions were performed at 25% of maximum voluntary contraction. Finger force and surface electromyography of the 4 extensor digitorum (ED) bellies were recorded. In the Slave Tasks, the middle and little fingers (“slave” fingers during the Master Task) each performed three 10 s isometric finger extensions at their mean activation levels during the Master Task. Hypothetical mechanical contribution (HMC) was determined for the middle and little fingers. The HMC was defined as the difference between the involuntary force (from the Master Task) and the voluntary force (from the Slave Task) relative to the involuntary force. A small proportion of the HMC values (Middle: 39%; Little: 15%) were within the expected range of 0 to 100%, suggesting that the equation developed in this study provided a limited representation of the contribution of passive intertendinous structures. Index finger forces increased with MCP flexion, suggesting the importance of juncturae tendineii in finger independence. Higher ED activity during wrist extension, than neutral or flexed postures, with straight MCP supports previous evidence in the literature. The complex phenomenon of enslaving in different wrist and MCP positions warrants further research for quantifying the mechanical contribution in finger independence. / Thesis / Master of Science in Kinesiology