A financial function is one of the aspects of a business enterprise and a department that is involved with finances of the business is known as a financial department. Financial management, as a discipline, is interlinked with other activities that occur within a business organization such as production, marketing, purchasing, personnel functions, et cetera (Cronje, et. al. 1991:16,22). In a school organization there are different departments and committees, which are dependent on the financial committee of the institution for their survival. The finance committee focuses on making decisions with regard to the finances of the school and the generation of extra income, through alternative sources to add value to the organization, for the reason that schools cannot operate successfully with school fund only. Berkhout and Berkhout (1992:4) outline sources of finance that can assist the committee to generate more funds. For a school to operate and perform, the financial management function effectively, it is necessary for one to understand the internal and external environmental factors, which can affect the smooth running of the school. / Dr. P.J. du Plessis

Parrotfish are a diverse and ubiquitous group found on coral reefs worldwide. They are categorised into three main feeding modes; the browsers, scrapers and excavators, which together perform a number of important functional roles on coral reefs. Scraper and excavator parrotfish are common on most Indo-Pacific coral reefs where their roles in bioerosion, sediment production, grazing pressure and sediment reworking have been shown to influence benthic community composition, reef growth potential and sediment supply to reef habitats and reef associated sedimentary landforms. However, despite the widely known importance of parrotfish on coral reefs, our understanding of how their roles in carbonate cycling vary among species and among whole parrotfish communities in different reef habitats remains limited. This thesis produces original contributions to knowledge in the areas of species specific bioerosion estimates for the central Indian Ocean, bottom-up controls of habitat type on parrotfish assemblages and how variations in parrotfish assemblages translate to contributions to carbonate cycling processes among different reef habitats. The study was carried out across eight habitats on an atoll-edge reef platform in the central Maldives, where it was found that parrotfish community composition was driven by reef structural complexity and substrate type. Parrotfish occurred in six of the eight habitats, comprising ~44% of the platform area. Among these habitats, overall grazing pressure, bioerosion rates, sediment reworking and sediment production varied markedly. These processes were also found to have different spatial patterns over the reef platform, showing that they are not necessarily tightly coupled. In addition, reef habitats can vary in their importance for both sediment supply, and the relative importance of reworked sediment. Parrotfish produced a wide range of sediment size fractions, from < 32 to 2000 μm and produced predominantly coral sands (>80%) between 125 and 1000 μm in diameter. This is comparable to the grain types found on local reef islands, and it is likely that the most significant supply of this material is from habitats on the atoll-edge side of the platform (which make up ~20% of the total platform area). Quantifying parrotfish functional roles and understanding the drivers behind these processes is important for informing future empirical and modelling studies, particularly as coral reefs undergo a time of dramatic environmental change.

Animal movement is a ubiquitous process and can have consequences ranging from an individual’s energy expenditure to ecosystem dynamics. This study uses biologgers, primarily accelerometers, to record and examine the at-sea behaviours of black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) during their breeding period. Accelerometers record the acceleration of an instrumented animal to give an indication of their behaviour and movements, yet their output can be particularly difficult to interpret. As such, this thesis begins with a method developed for the assignation of coarse-scale behaviours to accelerometry data. The method is a simple yet objective approach intended to be widely applicable. Using this method, we construct time-activity budgets for incubating and chick-rearing kittiwakes and apply activity-specific estimates of energy expenditure to these behaviours. We identify how kittiwakes allocate their time and what the energetic consequences of variation in time-allocation are. We present empirical evidence for chick-rearing kittiwakes expending more energy than incubating birds and identify that kittiwakes exhibit behavioural compensation whereby they limit energy expenditure across both foraging trips and days. We also examine the flight behaviour of kittiwakes in relation to extrinsic conditions. We find that wind conditions do not seem to influence broader scale patterns in movements during foraging trips, however kittiwakes do display behavioural plasticity in response to wind conditions by optimising their flight speeds towards maximum range speeds. We also identify that to optimise flight speeds, kittiwakes change the strength at which they flap their wings, rather than the frequency. Finally we present a serendipitous observation of predation of kittiwake chicks by a peregrine falcon. Although not directly related to movement ecology, this study documents novel predatory behaviour and highlights the importance of biological forces other than movement. Overall, the work presented in this thesis demonstrates that by examining the movement of individuals, it is possible to gain insights into various important aspects of their biology.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1975. / Vita. / Bibliography: leaves 256-262. / Ph.D.

This work deals with economic impact of accidents caused by motorcyclists on public budgets in Czech Republic in 2008. The theoretical part discuss the determinants that may influence risky driving behavior of motorcyclist. Special attention is devoted to the endogenous variable -- the law on compulsory use of helmet. The practical section gives a presentation of some statistical data of motorcycle accidents on Czech roads during 2000 -- 2009. In analytical terms, focusing on 2008, are first examined the cost items of public budgets, which are divided into direct (health care, examination by the police, courts and sickness benefits) and indirect (loss of income from taxes, regulatory fees and loss of product). The second part consists of items of benefits, which are also divided into direct (fines, taxes on equipment and fuel) and indirect (saving the payment of pensions and health care costs). The main contribution of the thesis is the calculation of total costs and benefits of the accidents caused by motorcyclists in 2008, with the conclusion of an obvious negative effect on public budgets. The loss comes at a nominal value of almost CZK 1.2 billion.

Despite climate change being an increasingly important focus of scientific and policy discourse and against a backdrop of rising greenhouse gas emissions, the Russian government has, thus far, failed to commit to an ambitious emission reduction target based on the latest science. For Russia to develop informed, internally consistent and scientifically literate policies, it is important to assess the scale of the challenge and explore implications of different levels of mitigation. To this end, the thesis derives Russia's cumulative emission budgets and generates associated low-carbon pathways in the context of both a re-developing economy and international climate change objectives (in particular, keeping the global mean temperature increase below 2°C relative to pre-industrial levels). This thesis draws on several disciplines, bringing together bottom-up energy system modelling from engineering and physical sciences, as well as stakeholder and expert interviews from social sciences. The principal methodological approach used here is backcasting, with a number of stakeholder interviews providing a 'reality check' for the scenarios. Given the global delay in acting on climate change, the contextual 2°C scenarios generated are ambitious and extremely challenging. With significant changes on both demand and supply sides, an annual post-peak emission reduction rate of at least 10% is required to meet the cumulative budget constraint; this despite the dramatic fall in Russia's emissions in the 1990s. Such radical reduction rates are well in excess of anything achieved or, indeed, deemed possible within existing mitigation policies and integrated assessment models - either in Russia or in any other part of the world. The necessary emission reductions would involve significant material changes to the energy system. Even with early reductions, to attain a low-carbon energy system in 2050 in accordance with the 2°C cumulative emission constraint, all of the available 'mature' technological options would need to be employed. In particular, short-term mitigation can be facilitated by Russia's large energy efficiency potential and a significant biomass potential. In the long term, mitigation could draw on the country's considerable renewable energy resources. If the peak in Russia's emissions is delayed until 2020-2025, staying within a national 2°C budget constraint will require a rapid and widespread deployment of currently speculative negative-emission technologies. Whilst the suggested mitigation pathways with emissions peaking early are demanding, they are potentially less challenging and destabilising than failing to mitigate and subsequently adapting to climate change impacts of a 6-16°C temperature rise across Russia. The precautionary principle, together with the multiple uncertainties associated with negative emissions, would suggest that starting the decarbonisation process early is critical. Along with other big emitters, Russia has a pivotal role in influencing the future direction of international climate change mitigation and adaptation. Not only is Russia a major emitter of greenhouse gases and a global supplier of fossil fuels, but also it remains a major force in geopolitics, and its diverse territory is both vulnerable and resilient to the impacts of climate change. This unique confluence of circumstances leaves Russia with a challenging dilemma. The country can choose to acquiesce to short-term political and economic considerations, adopt weak mitigation measures and face potentially devastating impacts. Or it can apply its considerable attributes and powers to instigate an epoch of national and global action to secure a low-carbon and climate-resilient future. Whilst the former will see Russia subsumed into the international malaise on climate change, the latter may both quench the nation's "thirst for greatness" and fill the void of climate leadership.

Utilizando-se os dados da Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares (POF) de 2008-2009, são apresentadas estimativas das elasticidades-renda de diversas categorias de despesa com energia (Transporte, Gasolina, Álcool combustível, Habitação, Energia elétrica, Gás doméstico). O método econométrico compreende o cálculo da despesa média em dez classes de renda familiar per capita e a estimativa de uma função poligonal com três segmentos, obtendo a variação do logaritmo da despesa per capita média por classe em função do logaritmo da renda per capita. Também são estimadas as razões e curvas de concentração das despesas com energia, verificando em que medida essas despesas estão ou não concentradas nas famílias de maior renda. No que se refere à relação entre a posição da curva de concentração e o valor da elasticidade-renda, desenvolve-se uma generalização dos resultados de Kakwani (1977) para situações em que há duas ou mais elasticidades-renda distintas em uma mesma curva de concentração. Em geral, Álcool combustível está associado à maior razão de concentração e Gás doméstico à menor. As despesas com transporte têm as razões de concentração mais próximas do índice de Gini. A área rural é mais pobre, mas a renda e as categorias de despesa agregadas são menos concentradas na área rural do que na urbana. A despesa com gás doméstico está mais concentrada na área rural, devido ao maior uso de lenha. As maiores razões de concentração são do Sudeste, exclusive São Paulo, enquanto Sul e São Paulo apresentam as menores. / Using data from the 2008-2009 Brazilian Family Budget Survey, we estimate income elasticities for several types of energy expenditures (Transportation, Housing costs, Gas, Fuel Alcohol, Electricity, Liquefied Petroleum gas). The econometric method applied consists in computing the average expenditure for ten classes of per capita family income and, for each category of consumption, adjusting a three-segmented polygonal model, analyzing how the logarithm of per capita expenditure varies as a function of the logarithm of the per capita family income. Concentration curves and concentration ratios of expenditures are also estimated, evaluating if each type of expenditure is or is not concentrated in high income families. Considering the relationship between the position of the concentration curve and the value of the income elasticity, we develop a generalization of Kakwani\'s (1977) results for situations with two or more different elasticities in one concentration curve. In general, Fuel Alcohol is associated with the highest concentration and Liquefied Petroleum Gas with the lowest. The concentration ratio of Transportation expenses is the closest to the Gini index. Poverty is higher in the rural area, but income and the main expenses are less concentrated in the rural area than in the urban area. Liquefied Petroleum Gas is more concentrated in the rural area, because of the greater use of firewood. The largest concentration ratios are of the Southeast, excluding São Paulo, while South and São Paulo have the smallest ones.

Utilizando-se os dados da Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares (POF) de 2008-2009, são apresentadas estimativas das elasticidades-renda de diversas categorias de despesa com energia (Transporte, Gasolina, Álcool combustível, Habitação, Energia elétrica, Gás doméstico). O método econométrico compreende o cálculo da despesa média em dez classes de renda familiar per capita e a estimativa de uma função poligonal com três segmentos, obtendo a variação do logaritmo da despesa per capita média por classe em função do logaritmo da renda per capita. Também são estimadas as razões e curvas de concentração das despesas com energia, verificando em que medida essas despesas estão ou não concentradas nas famílias de maior renda. No que se refere à relação entre a posição da curva de concentração e o valor da elasticidade-renda, desenvolve-se uma generalização dos resultados de Kakwani (1977) para situações em que há duas ou mais elasticidades-renda distintas em uma mesma curva de concentração. Em geral, Álcool combustível está associado à maior razão de concentração e Gás doméstico à menor. As despesas com transporte têm as razões de concentração mais próximas do índice de Gini. A área rural é mais pobre, mas a renda e as categorias de despesa agregadas são menos concentradas na área rural do que na urbana. A despesa com gás doméstico está mais concentrada na área rural, devido ao maior uso de lenha. As maiores razões de concentração são do Sudeste, exclusive São Paulo, enquanto Sul e São Paulo apresentam as menores. / Using data from the 2008-2009 Brazilian Family Budget Survey, we estimate income elasticities for several types of energy expenditures (Transportation, Housing costs, Gas, Fuel Alcohol, Electricity, Liquefied Petroleum gas). The econometric method applied consists in computing the average expenditure for ten classes of per capita family income and, for each category of consumption, adjusting a three-segmented polygonal model, analyzing how the logarithm of per capita expenditure varies as a function of the logarithm of the per capita family income. Concentration curves and concentration ratios of expenditures are also estimated, evaluating if each type of expenditure is or is not concentrated in high income families. Considering the relationship between the position of the concentration curve and the value of the income elasticity, we develop a generalization of Kakwani\'s (1977) results for situations with two or more different elasticities in one concentration curve. In general, Fuel Alcohol is associated with the highest concentration and Liquefied Petroleum Gas with the lowest. The concentration ratio of Transportation expenses is the closest to the Gini index. Poverty is higher in the rural area, but income and the main expenses are less concentrated in the rural area than in the urban area. Liquefied Petroleum Gas is more concentrated in the rural area, because of the greater use of firewood. The largest concentration ratios are of the Southeast, excluding São Paulo, while South and São Paulo have the smallest ones.

Fluvial sediment transport is a process that has long been important in managing water resources. While we intuitively recognize that increased flow amounts to increased sediment discharge, there is still significant uncertainty in the details. Because sediment transport---and in the context of this dissertation, bed load transport---is a strongly nonlinear process that is usually modeled using empirical or semi-empirical equations, there exists a large amount of uncertainty around model parameters, predictions, and model suitability. The focus of this dissertation is to develop and demonstrate a series of physically- and statistically-based sediment transport models that build on the scientific knowledge of the physics of sediment transport while evaluating the phenomenon in an environment that leads us to robust estimates of parametric, predictive, and model selection uncertainty. The success of these models permits us to put theoretically and procedurally sound uncertainty estimates to a process that is widely acknowledged to be variable and uncertain but has, to date, not developed robust statistical tools to quantify this uncertainty. This dissertation comprises four individual papers that methodically develop and prove the concept of Bayesian statistical sediment transport models. A simple pedagogical model is developed using synthetic and laboratory flume data---this model is then compared to traditional statistical approaches that are more familiar to the discipline. A single-fraction sediment transport model is developed on the Snake River to develop a probabilistic sediment budget whose results are compared to a sediment budget developed through an ad hoc uncertainty analysis. Lastly, a multi-fraction sediment transport model is developed in which multiple fractions of laboratory flume experiments are modeled and the results are compared to the standard theory that has been already published. The results of these models demonstrate that a Bayesian approach to sediment transport has much to offer the discipline as it is able to 1) accurately provide estimates of model parameters, 2) quantify parametric uncertainty of the models, 3) provide a means to evaluate relative model fit between different deterministic equations, 4) provide predictive uncertainty of sediment transport, 5) propagate uncertainty from the root causes into secondary and tertiary dependent functions, and 6) provide a means by which testing of established theory can be performed.

Thesis (M.Inf.) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / The key aim of the study was to investigate whether school libraries in the rural schools of Nkangala region, Mpumalanga do implement budgeting policies due to funding constraints and poor service delivery. The library-computer centre can enhance teaching and learning. Some 188 school libraries were selected to explore their budgeting procedures and only 81 responded. The survey data collection method was used through a self-administered questionnaire which was distributed to teacher-librarians. The results of the study were analyzed according to frequencies and graphically displayed in table form. The results of the study show that almost all rural school libraries in the area have neither budgeting policies nor adequate budget to spend for effective service delivery. This shows that not only do school libraries experience budgetary constraints, but there might be other factors contributing to their poor library service delivery. It is important to empower school principals, SGBs and top managers in library budgeting procedures and for all to work cooperatively to achieve the expected educational goals.