O presente trabalho tem por propósito a análise dos processos disciplinares julgados pela Universidade Federal do Tocantins nos anos de 2015 e 2016. Levou-se em consideração para a pesquisa aqueles processos em que havia a possibilidade de aplicação de penalidades para os envolvidos. Portanto, foram incluídos na coleta de dados os Processos Administrativos Disciplinares do Rito Ordinário, que envolve a investigação de faltas mais graves; os de Rito Sumário, que envolvem a possível ocorrência dos ilícitos de acumulação ilegal de cargos, abandono de cargo ou inassiduidade habitual; a Sindicância Acusatória, que apura faltas leves; e, também, o processo disciplinar que tem como acusados discentes da UFT. O estudo do tema é atual e possui relevância não só para que se conheça a situação dos processos disciplinares pela comunidade acadêmica da UFT, servidores técnico-administrativos, professores e discentes, mas para toda a sociedade que tem o desejo de saber se os processos são regularmente julgados. A pesquisa baseou-se em informações repassadas pela Coordenação de Processos Disciplinares (CPAD) da UFT e, em seguida, após o recebimento de cópias digitais dos processos foram coletados dados das principais peças dos mesmos, tais como portaria de instauração, relatórios conclusivos das comissões, pareceres da Procuradoria Federal junto à UFT e decisões da autoridade instaurada para se verificar a ocorrência ou não do devido processo legal, conforme instituído na Lei nº 8.112/1990, bem como se os acusados tiveram seus direitos humanos resguardados, em especial o direito ao contraditório e a ampla defesa. Assim, a pesquisa buscou responder se os processos são eficientes e cumprem sua função social. O estudo, em sua primeira parte, traz a evolução do processo punitivo da Administração Pública a partir da redemocratização do Brasil com a Constituição de 1998. São explicados os procedimentos dos processos disciplinares em análise, os princípios aplicáveis e o papel da Procuradoria Federal no seu desfecho. Em seguida, são apresentados os dados coletados pela pesquisa a partir da análise dos autos dos processos. Posteriormente, os resultados encontrados foram expostos, demonstrando a falta de eficiência na resolução dos conflitos disciplinares da UFT, descumprindo, assim, a sua função social, inclusive, com ofensa a direitos fundamentais. No final, a pesquisa indica algumas possíveis soluções para o aperfeiçoamento do trâmite dos processos disciplinares e desenvolvimento dos membros envolvidos nas comissões, em especial, com recomendação para criação de Câmaras Permanentes de Processo Administrativo Disciplinar. / The purpose of this paper is to analyze the disciplinary processes judged by the Federal University of Tocantins in 2015 and 2016. Consideration was given to those processes in which there was the possibility of applying penalties to those involved. Therefore, it were included in the data collection the Disciplinary Administrative Procedures of the Ordinary Rite, which involves the investigation of more serious faults; those of Summary Rite, which involve the possible occurrence of illegal acts of illegal accumulation of positions, abandonment of office or habitual inassiduity; the Accusatory Syndication, which corrects minor offenses; and also the disciplinary process that has as accused students of UFT. The study of the subject is current and has relevance not only to know the state of the disciplinary processes by the academic community of the UFT, technical-administrative servants, teachers and students, but for the whole society that has the desire to know if the processes are regularly judged. The research was based on information provided by the Coordinating of Disciplinary Processes (CPAD) of the UFT and then, after the receipt of digital copies of the processes, data were collected from the main pieces of the them, such as introduction order, conclusive reports of the commissions , opinions of the Federal Attorney's Office and decisions of the established authority to verify the occurrence or not of due process, as established by Law nº. 8.112 / 1990, as well as whether the defendants had their human rights protected, in particular the right contradictory and ample defense. Thus, the research sought to answer if the processes comply are efficient and fulfill their social function. The study, in its first part, brings the evolution of the punitive process of Public Administration from the redemocratization of Brazil with the Constitution of 1998. The procedures of the disciplinary processes under analysis, the principles applicable thereto, and the role of the Federal Attorney's Office in its outcome. Next, the data collected by the survey are presented based on the analysis of the case files. Subsequently, the results were exposed, demonstrating the lack of efficiency in the resolution of the UFT's disciplinary conflicts, thus failing to fulfill its social function, even with an infringement of fundamental rights. In the end, the research indicates some possible solutions for the improvement of the process of disciplinary processes and the development of the members involved in the commissions, especially with recommendation for the creation of Permanent Chambers of Disciplinary Administrative Procedures.

Liu Yuet Man. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-191). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgement --- p.i / Abstract --- p.iii / Abbreviations --- p.vi / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Incidences and Prevalence --- p.2 / Chapter 1.2 --- Anatomy of Uterus and its Support Mechanism --- p.3 / Chapter 1.3 --- Pathophysiology of Uterine Prolapse --- p.5 / Chapter 1.4 --- Classification of Uterine Prolapse --- p.6 / Chapter 1.5 --- Etiology of Uterine Prolapse --- p.7 / Chapter 1.6 --- Treatment of Uterine Prolapse --- p.12 / Chapter 1.6.1 --- Conservative Treatment --- p.12 / Chapter 1.6.2 --- Surgical Treatment --- p.13 / Chapter 1.7 --- Molecular Basis of Uterine Prolapse --- p.14 / Chapter 1.7.1 --- Collagen Metabolism --- p.15 / Chapter 1.7.2 --- Extracellular Matrix Metabolism --- p.16 / Chapter 1.7.3 --- Advanced Glycation End-products --- p.18 / Chapter 1.7.4 --- Estrogen and Estrogen Receptors --- p.19 / Chapter 1.8 --- Gene Expression Profiling of Uterine Prolapse --- p.22 / Chapter 1.9 --- Microarray Gene Expression Profiling Analysis --- p.24 / Chapter 1.9.1 --- Types of Microarray --- p.26 / Chapter 1.9.2 --- Comparison of Oligonucleotide and cDNA Arrays --- p.31 / Chapter 1.10 --- Quantitative Real-time PCR --- p.32 / Chapter 1.10.1 --- Principle of TaqMan Real-time PCR --- p.32 / Chapter 1.10.2 --- Other Types of Real-time PCR --- p.33 / Chapter 1.11 --- Project Aims --- p.34 / Chapter 1.12 --- Significance of Study --- p.35 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- MATERIALS AND METHODS --- p.37 / Chapter 2.1 --- Materials --- p.37 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Patients --- p.37 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Cardinal Ligament Specimen --- p.38 / Chapter 2.2 --- Methods --- p.39 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Homogenization of Cardinal Ligament Tissues --- p.39 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Total RNA extraction --- p.39 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Oligonucleotide Microarray --- p.41 / Chapter 2.2.3.1 --- Two-cycle cDNA Synthesis --- p.41 / Chapter 2.2.3.2 --- Cleanup of Double-stranded cDNA --- p.45 / Chapter 2.2.3.3 --- Synthesis of Biotin-labeled cRNA --- p.45 / Chapter 2.2.3.4 --- Cleanup and Quantification of Biotin-labeled cRNA --- p.46 / Chapter 2.2.3.5 --- Fragmenting the cRNA for Target Preparation --- p.47 / Chapter 2.2.3.6 --- Target Hybridization --- p.47 / Chapter 2.2.3.7 --- "Array Washing, Staining and Scanning" --- p.48 / Chapter 2.2.3.8 --- Statistical Analysis of Microarray Data --- p.49 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Quantitative Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction --- p.52 / Chapter 2.2.4.1 --- Primers and Probes --- p.52 / Chapter 2.2.4.2 --- Reverse Transcription --- p.53 / Chapter 2.2.4.3 --- Plate Setup --- p.53 / Chapter 2.2.4.4 --- Real-time PCR Reaction Mixture Setup --- p.54 / Chapter 2.2.4.5 --- Statistical Analysis of Real-time PCR Data --- p.54 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- RESULTS --- p.56 / Chapter 3.1 --- Microarray Gene Expression Data Analysis --- p.57 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Unsupervised Gene Selection --- p.57 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Supervised Gene Selection --- p.59 / Chapter 3.1.2.1 --- Gene Expression Profiles Distinguish Cardinal Ligament with Uterine Prolapse from Control and Identify Differentially Expressed Genes --- p.59 / Chapter 3.1.2.2 --- Gene Expression Profiles Distinguish Cardinal Ligament with Different Degrees of Uterine Prolapse from Control and Identify Differentially Expressed Genes --- p.72 / Chapter 3.1.2.3 --- Gene Expression Profiles Distinguish Cardinal Ligament with Third-degree Prolapse from First-degree Prolapse and Identify Differentially Expressed Genes --- p.92 / Chapter 3.2 --- Validation of Microarray Data by Quantitative Real-time PCR --- p.96 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Fold Change of Candidate Genes --- p.97 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Correlation Between Microarray and Quantitative Real-time PCR Results --- p.102 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- DISCUSSIONS --- p.103 / Chapter 4.1 --- Global Gene Expression Profiling using Oligonucleotide Microarray --- p.103 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Advantages of using Affymetrix GeneChipR Microarray for Gene Expression Profiling --- p.103 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- Microarray analysis software --- p.105 / Chapter 4.1.2.1 --- DNA-Chip Analyzer Software --- p.105 / Chapter 4.1.2.2 --- Comparison of Statistical Methods for Analysis of A ffymetrix GeneChipRMicroarray Data --- p.108 / Chapter 4.2 --- Validation of Microarray Data --- p.111 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Advantages of using Quantitative Real-time PCR for mRNA Quantification --- p.111 / Chapter 4.3 --- Microarray Gene Expression Data Analysis --- p.115 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Unsupervised Gene Selection --- p.115 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Supervised Gene Selection --- p.115 / Chapter 4.3.2.1 --- Gene Expression Profiles Distinguish Cardinal Ligament with Uterine Prolapse from Control and Identify Differentially Expressed Genes --- p.115 / Chapter 4.3.2.2 --- Gene Expression Profiles Distinguish Cardinal Ligament with Different Degrees of Uterine Prolapse from Control and Identify Differentially Expressed Genes --- p.118 / Chapter 4.3.2.3 --- Gene Expression Profiles Distinguish Cardinal Ligament with Third-degree Prolapse from First-degree Prolapse and Identify Differentially Expressed Genes --- p.120 / Chapter 4.4 --- Potential Genes for Further Studies in Uterine Prolapse --- p.120 / Chapter 4.5 --- Implications of This Study --- p.157 / Chapter 4.6 --- Limitations of This Study --- p.160 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- CONCLUSIONS --- p.162 / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- FUTURE PROSPECT --- p.164 / REFERENCES --- p.165

<p>Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) has been a topic of discussion since the dawn of democracy in April 1994. Due to the entrenched inequalities of the past, economic empowerment is very important for the economic growth of the majority of South Africa&rsquo / s citizens. However, significant economic enrichment of black people has not been made, despite, economic success, legislation, state policies and programme interventions. This economic growth is to be realised through the use of preferential procurement as a policy tool for BEE. Whilst sufficient legislation has been enacted to regulate preferential procurement, to favour black people, much still seems to be lacking in the enforcement of the laws in public procurement. Central to the challenges of preferential procurement is the disharmony between the Framework legislation governing preferential procurement and BEE. This discord has seen two visions being followed for preferential procurement / the Procurement Act refers to the beneficiaries of BEE as historically disadvantaged individuals (HDI / s) and the goals for BEE are measured through specific goals which promotes narrow empowerment / the BBBEE Act on the other hand defines black people as the recipients of BEE and through the BEE Codes broad-based empowerment is promoted through seven core elements. This congruency has not served the promotion of preferential procurement, it has created a hindrance that frustrates economic growth for those it is intended. The other quandary that undermines the success of preferential procurement is willful practices engaged by both tenderers and public officials / skills deficiency in the adjudication of tenders and self-interest. The success of BEE through preferential procurement is dependent on a coherently legislated procurement environment fortified by perceptive public officials. The objective of this thesis is to analyse the impact of these challenges on the success of preferential procurement. The study will highlight the main practices that defeat the use of preferential procurement. This will include an analysis of the various legislation and the amendments thereto. In addition the enquiry will examine the proficiency of public officials in the adjudication of public tendering. Recommendations for a successful preferential public procurement environment will be made. The proposed thesis will utilise, inter alia, relevant legislation, case law, theses, journals, books and policy documents.</p>

In this study the relationship between the dynamic response of the flexible substrate and the power generation for energy harvesting system is proposed. High electro-mechanical transformation of piezoelectric materials, high efficient energy transfer of mechanical structure and controlled circuit make the piezoelectric generator a high performance. The devices of cantilevers with lump structures on the flexible substrate and piezoelectric film (ZnO) are designed. Then some individual layers of power generator are stocked in parallel to form a multi-layer system with a broad resonant band width. When the generator is operated in a wide frequency range vibration environment, the multi-layer piezoelectric films in the form of cantilever structures can induce current. First the finite element method for the piezoelectric cantilever beam is constructed by using ANSYS software. Both modal analysis and harmonic response analysis are performed to obtain the structural modal parameters and frequency response functions, respectively. Besides, the beam structure is modeled by 3D coupled field piezoelectric element. This research will apply Taguchi¡¦s method to design including variations of dimensions and material properties for energy harvesting system. The flexible substrate is polymeric film (PET). Imprinting process is applied to transfer the simulated geometric configuration onto a flexible substrate to obtain a maximum power output. The results show the single devices can improve efficiently by using lump structures on the flexible substrate, the generator could achieve maximum OCV of 2.25V which is 0.276£gW every centimeter squared when attached to a stable source of vibration. The multi-layer system can be used in 50~500Hz of low frequency environment. Furthermore, the output voltage (OCV) is upward when the flexible substrate with low Young¡¦s modulus.

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<p>Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) has been a topic of discussion since the dawn of democracy in April 1994. Due to the entrenched inequalities of the past, economic empowerment is very important for the economic growth of the majority of South Africa&rsquo / s citizens. However, significant economic enrichment of black people has not been made, despite, economic success, legislation, state policies and programme interventions. This economic growth is to be realised through the use of preferential procurement as a policy tool for BEE. Whilst sufficient legislation has been enacted to regulate preferential procurement, to favour black people, much still seems to be lacking in the enforcement of the laws in public procurement. Central to the challenges of preferential procurement is the disharmony between the Framework legislation governing preferential procurement and BEE. This discord has seen two visions being followed for preferential procurement / the Procurement Act refers to the beneficiaries of BEE as historically disadvantaged individuals (HDI / s) and the goals for BEE are measured through specific goals which promotes narrow empowerment / the BBBEE Act on the other hand defines black people as the recipients of BEE and through the BEE Codes broad-based empowerment is promoted through seven core elements. This congruency has not served the promotion of preferential procurement, it has created a hindrance that frustrates economic growth for those it is intended. The other quandary that undermines the success of preferential procurement is willful practices engaged by both tenderers and public officials / skills deficiency in the adjudication of tenders and self-interest. The success of BEE through preferential procurement is dependent on a coherently legislated procurement environment fortified by perceptive public officials. The objective of this thesis is to analyse the impact of these challenges on the success of preferential procurement. The study will highlight the main practices that defeat the use of preferential procurement. This will include an analysis of the various legislation and the amendments thereto. In addition the enquiry will examine the proficiency of public officials in the adjudication of public tendering. Recommendations for a successful preferential public procurement environment will be made. The proposed thesis will utilise, inter alia, relevant legislation, case law, theses, journals, books and policy documents.</p>

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are the most mystic objects in the universe. They are usually very far away from our Galaxy, which means that they are ancient objects. They are also luminous and have unique features in their spectra. Studying AGNs helps understanding the early universe and the evolution of galaxies. This Dissertation aims to research the structure of AGNs and the cooling function in the AGNs environment. I first investigate what optical/ultraviolet spectroscopic features would be produced by Broad-line Region (BLR) clouds crossing our line of sight to the accretion disk, the source of the optical/UV continuum. This research, prompted by recent X-ray observations, suggests that single cloud has little effect on the optical/UV spectrum. However, an ensemble of clouds produces a strong distinctive feature between the Lyman limit and Lyα. The extent of these features indicates the line-of-sight covering factor of clouds and may explain the ubiquitous AGN spectral break around 1100Å. I next study, considering the physical parameters of AGNs, how the gas cooling function changes at high temperature (T > 104 K) over a wide range of density (nH < 1012 cm−3) and metallicity (Z < 30Z⊙). I find that both density and metallicity change the ionization status of the gas. I provide numerical cooling functions by describing the total cooling as a sum of four parts: that due to H&He, the heavy elements, electron-electron bremsstrahlung, and grains. Finally, I also provide a function giving the electron fraction, which can be used to convert the cooling function into a cooling rate. Last, I extend the cooling-function study to the seldom-explored low-temperature range (T < 104 K). For primordial gas, gas lacking elements heavier than B, I find that radiative attachment and Compton recoil are important cooling processes when the gas kinetic temperature is lower than the temperature of the cosmic microwave background. I also find that collisional de-excitation of HD and H2 is not important above 1000K unlike claims of previous studies. For the dust-free solar case, we identify water as the dominant coolant in high density-environments. We also analyze the parameter ranges where metal, metal molecules, or all molecules, dominate the total cooling. We provide the density, above which the metal or metal molecules become the dominant coolants, as a function of temperature and metallicity. For the ISM case, with dust and depleted abundances, we find that dust does not directly cool the gas. Rather, dust modifies he cooling by affecting the chemistral balance. Similar to the high-temperature case, I also provide numerical cooling data.

Nitroreductase from Enterobacter cloacae (NR) is a member of a large family of homologues represented in all branches of the tree of life. However the physiological roles of many of these enzymes remain unknown. NR has distinguished itself on the basis the diverse sizes and chemical types of substrates it is able to reduce (Koder et al 1998). This might be an evolved characteristic suiting NR for a role in metabolism of diverse occasional toxins. While there are numerous studies of determinants of substrate specificity, we know less about mechanisms by which enzymes can be inclusive. Therefore, we present a synthesis of NR's dynamics, stability, ligand binding repertoire and kinetic mechanism. We find that NR reduces para-nitrobenzoic acid (p-NBA) via a simple mechanism limited by the chemical step in which the nitro group is reduced (Pitsawong et al 2014). Thus, for this substrate, NR's mechanism dispenses with gating steps that in other enzymes can enforce substrate specificity. Our data demonstrate that substrate reduction is accomplished by rate-contributing hydride transfer from the flavin cofactor coupled to proton transfer from solvent, but do not identify specific amino acids with a role. This is consistent with our crystal structures, which reveal a spacious solvent-exposed active site bounded by a helix that moves to accommodate binding of substrate analogs (Haynes et al 2002). Because it is able to reduce TNT (trinitrotoluene), herbicides and pesticides, NR has important potential utility in bioremediation.

Companies are faced with challenges constraining the achievement of set budgets, goals, profit and cost of product, to name a few, on a daily basis. These challenges influence value creation and sustainable value creation. Value-based management is an integrated management tool which may assist in achieving sustainable value creation within a company. Achieving sustainable value creation will result in benefits for both the shareholders and the various stakeholders. In 2008 and 2009 Eskom, South Africa’s sole electricity provider announced a major shortage of electricity and consequently major price increases. Since electricity consumption is a crucial part of the production process, this announcement had a devastating effect on mining companies. The primary objective of the current study is to investigate whether a local mining company is focusing on applicable endeavours to overcome the electricity constraint and price hikes in order to sustain value creation. This was done by studying the company’s financial & management reports, public announcements and media coverage, in conjunction with a quantitative study, collecting primary data by using standardised questionnaires distributed among the mining company’s employees. The results from this study indicate that the selected company is focusing on relevant projects to overcome the electricity constraints. Further, the conclusion made from the results of the questionnaires shows that the higher staff levels are more informed and aware of value-based management. It also points out that the lower levels and employees from the production and mining departments are less informed and aware of value-based management. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

The following essay examines if five Swedish textbooks aimed for religious studies in upper secondary school might show similar flaws to those presented by the Swedish Schools Inspectorate in their review of religious studies conducted in 2012. The method used in this essay is a qualitative study of Swedish textbooks influenced by Lantz definition of wide and thin ethics. This in practice means that I have analysed the five Swedish textbooks using thin and broad ethics while conducting the analysis of the five. The purpose of the essay was to see if the flaws presented in “Mer än vad du kan tro” regarding ethics and moral education might be present in Swedish textbooks as well. My essay shows that four out of the five Swedish textbooks included in the study show signs of the flaws presented in “Mer än vad du kan tro” and that the books apply thin and broad ethics to a varying degree.