The growing level of credit extension in South Africa has received a lot of attention recently, more so as household debt, as a percentage of disposable income, tests record highs. It has been argued that this growth in household debt has been driven by ease of access to credit, with authorities going so far as to suggest that lenders have been extending credit ‘recklessly’. The National Credit Act was enacted on the premise that consumers need to be protected from this practice. The Act thus exerts pressure on the credit lenders to assess the consumer’s ability to repay, disclose the cost of credit, as well as setting limit on interest that can be charged. The aim of the research is to investigate the effectiveness of the Act in curbing consumer indebtedness and how it can lead to consumer behavioural attitudes and actions toward credit use. The research was carried out in two stages. The purpose of the first phase sought to explore the effectiveness of the Act by consulting with those charged with supervision of the Act (the regulator) and those implementing the Act (credit providers), while the second phase conducted a survey amongst consumers to establish their levels of awareness and understanding of the Act, and how they would model their behaviours differently, so as to curb their indebtedness. The results derived from the research show that an overwhelming acceptance of the Act, its intentions and desired outcomes amongst credit provider and the regulator, and the general need for consumer protection. Consumers, on the other hand indicate a low level of awareness of the Act, its intentions and how it is likely to impact on their finances, making it difficult to tell if it can lead to changes in levels of consumer indebtedness. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Due to the ineffectiveness of previous credit consumer legislation to deal with the demands of a complex consumer market, a need for legislative reform in this area arose in South Africa. The National Credit Act was introduced to create a single system to regulate credit and to address the shortcomings of the previous consumer credit legislation. The Act came into full force and effect on 1 June 2007. it has a wider field of application that its predecessors and offer greater protection to consumers who enter into credit agreements with credit providers. The Act applies to all credit almost all credit agreements between parties dealing at arm's length and made, or having an effect within the Republic of South Africa, subject to certain exclusions. Three main categories of credit agreements can be identified in the Act. They are credit facilities, credit transactions and credit guarantees. The second main category also has sub-categories of agreements which are also defined in the Act. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the different credit agreements but it remains important since different rules apply in respect of each credit agreement. In order to distinguish a credit agreement from another, it is important to look at the elements of each definition closely and to identify characteristics which are unique to that specific agreement. It is widely accepted that every credit agreement contains two essential elements. Firstly there has to be a deferral of payment by the credit provider in respect of a debt owed by the consumer and secondly the credit provider charges a fee or interest in respect of the deferred payment. It is interesting in this regard that some of the definitions in the Act do not require a fee or interest to be levied such as in the case of a mortgage agreement or a secured loan. Coincidentally, these two definitions are also problematic in the sense that they introduce concepts which are not recognised in our legal system, it will be interesting to see what our courts make of these concepts and how they will go about incorporating it into the general principles of South African law. The different agreements to which the Act applies and their irregularities will be discussed and critically analysed. Copyright / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Private Law / unrestricted

The credit industry in South Africa has grown exponentially over the past two decades. Previously the industry was regulated by different Acts that had to be interpreted jointly, and while there was an overlap between them they also differed. The dual implementation made consumer credit an extremely difficult and confusing environment, especially for the consumer. Global movement towards socio-economic type legislation and in an effort to bring a solution to the eminent credit crisis resulted in new consumer protection law. Enacted on 10 March 2006 and phased in stages over a 12 month period from 1 June 2006 till 1 June 2007 the National Credit Act has a wider field of application than any of its predecessors, bringing with it a single platform for consumer credit regulation. The management of the credit relationship between the credit provider and the consumer is largely by agreement or in other words contract. The National Credit Act to a considerable extent codifies this relationship. The NCA applies to every credit agreement between parties dealing at arm’s length and made within, or having an effect within, the Republic. This definition is subject to limitations and the exclusions. The way in which the NCA defines its field of application may differ from its predecessors and even common law. The Act defines three main types of credit agreements namely credit facilities, credit transactions and credit guarantees. Credit transactions also consist of eight subcategories. It is critical to distinguish between these different credit agreements and the manner in which the Act defines them must be scrutinised. This is not only important to determine if a certain agreement is a credit agreement in terms of the National Credit Act, but also if the Act applies, to what extent. Unfortunate grammatical construction and word choice by the legislator does not assist in this task. How the Act defines its field of application in relation to the types of agreement it applies to will be critically discussed and analysed. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Private Law / unrestricted

No abstract available / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / lmchunu2014 / Mercantile Law / unrestricted

Dans ce mémoire on s’intéresse à la résolution des équations de Saint-Venant par la méthode des éléments finis. Différents tests sont simulés en utilisant dix paires d’éléments finis. Lorsque les résultats des analyses de dispersion existent, on les a comparés aux résultats des simulations numériques. On présente également une stratégie d’adaptation de maillage appliquée à des problèemes instationnaires. / This work deals with the resolution of the shallow water equations using the finite element method. Different test cases are simulated by employing ten finite element pairs. When the theoretical results of dispersion relation analysis are available, they are compared with the results of numerical simulations. Finally, we expose an adaptative mesh strategy for the solution of evolution problems.

Le présent texte d’accompagnement de l’exposition de maîtrise en arts visuels intitulée « Le tambour métallique : paradigme instrumental d’un espace sonore temporaire » approfondit les différentes étapes qui ont amené le candidat à ce projet de recherche. Du travail d’atelier jusqu’au studio de son, ce texte témoigne de la recherche effectuée pour éclaircir le phénomène de la production sonore à travers l’étude des notions fondamentales d’acoustique. Il poursuit avec le récit de la réalisation d’une sculpture-instrument, origine du paradigme de recherche et rend enfin compte de la méthodologie utilisée afin de construire les séquences sonores du projet. De plus, les concepts sociaux et historiques qui conditionnent la nature des projets du candidat y sont exposés : de la persistance de la sensation d’ennui chez l’être humain, en passant par la volonté affichée des avant-gardes musicales de la première moitié du vingtième siècle, de renouveler la matière sonore de l’art musical, jusqu’à l’éclatement de la notion traditionnelle de la sculpture vers une spécificité multisensorielle. / Québec Université Laval, Bibliothèque 2019

No description available.

L'évolution et le succès qu'a connu Internet les dernières années a profondément marqué le domaine du génie logiciel et plus particulièrement des aspects tels que la conception, l'implémentation et l'exploitation de systèmes distribués. Cette ouverture qu'offre la toile aux systèmes brave les limites architecturales et géographiques pour permettre une interconnexion permanente des utilisateurs. Cependant, ce flux de communication et de code mobile comporte des risques de sécurité qui vont à l'encontre des politiques des entreprises concernées par ces échanges. Étant données la multitude et la diversité des intervenants, des mesures préventives s'imposent pour remédier à cette faille sécuritaire. Ce mémoire s'inscrit dans le cadre d'une contribution à cet effort, par la voie de la certification. En effet, le potentiel de l'approche proposée émerge de la synthèse des techniques fondamentales de ce domaine, qui sont le code incorporant une preuve (PCC), le langage assembleur typé (TAL) et le code incorporant un modèle (MCC). Toujours dans l'optique de renforcer la relation de confiance entre le producteur et le consommateur, et au-delà de la vérification du respect du code envers une politique de sécurité, notre projet qui s'intitule ±code incorporant un modèle certifié¿ (CMCC) couvre en plus des aspects pratiques jusque là souvent délaissés par les concepteurs.

Dans un modèle de durées de vie avec des risques concurrents, les systèmes peuvent tomber en panne dans le temps. Ces pannes sont dues à une cause parmi plusieurs possibles et il arrive parfois que celle-ci soit inconnue. C'est alors qu'on peut faire appel à l'algorithme EM pour calculer les estimateurs du maximum de vraisemblance. Cette technique utilise la fonction de vraisemblance des données complètes pour trouver les estimateurs même si les données observées sont incomplètes. Pour les systèmes ayant leur cause de panne inconnue, on peut en prendre un échantillon pour une inspection plus approfondie qui dévoilera les vraies causes de panne. Cette étape peut améliorer l'estimation des probabilités de masque et des fonc- tions de risque spécifiques aux causes de panne. Après avoir expliqué la théorie de l'algorithme EM, le modèle des risques concurrents, ainsi que les travaux réalisés sur le sujet, on étudie l'impact qu'a sur les estimateurs le fait de ne pas envoyer un échantillon des systèmes masqués à un examen approfondi qui permettrait de trouver la vraie cause de panne.

The design project, a new student union building for the Virginia Tech campus is a 420-foot-long structure spanning from earth to water. Along a steel-glass bridge, three simple volumes play together to achieve the functions of the student union. There is an order among Nature, Architecture, and People in this project. Simple geometric forms and the elegant structure interact with nature to achieve the order. People animate the serenity and become the core of the poetic environment. The building is also a spanning between the past and the future. Imagining that many years later, when graduates of Virginia Tech sit on the balcony of the bridge with their family, recalling memorable events that happened near the duck pond, the building presents not only a spanning between structure and nature, but also an expression of human place, which I believe architecture should be. / Master of Architecture