Joint detection is vital for characterizing human pose and serves as a foundation for a wide range of computer vision applications such as physical training, health care, entertainment. This dissertation proposed two methods to detect joints in the human body for pose analysis. The first method detects joints by combining body model and automatic feature points detection together. The human body model maps the detected extreme points to the corresponding body parts of the model and detects the position of implicit joints. The dominant joints are detected after implicit joints and extreme points are located by a shortest path based methods. The main contribution of this work is a hybrid framework to detect joints on the human body to achieve robustness to different body shapes or proportions, pose variations and occlusions. Another contribution of this work is the idea of using geodesic features of the human body to build a model for guiding the human pose detection and estimation. The second proposed method detects joints by segmenting human body into parts first and then detect joints by making the detection algorithm focusing on each limb. The advantage of applying body part segmentation first is that the body segmentation method narrows down the searching area for each joint so that the joint detection method can provide more stable and accurate results.

This empirical work and base has been to analyze the new high school reform that the Swedish government introduced as a statement 2008/09:199 about: Higher demand and quality within the high school. This statement became legal through the government vote in spring 2010. But above all it is the investigation (SOU 2008:27) that is the central piece for these new examination changes for high school students that will come into effect 1 of July 2011. The purpose and questions asked in this analyze has been if the reform takes its base in a modernistic (traditional) way or a late modern scientific perspective. And also to find out how these new quality amendments in the investigation makes visible about the high school and what the purpose are about the changes.   When scientific theories in these analyze is placed against the reform, the result shows that the modernization process reflects more of a late modern aspect, which constantly reappraise in a changeable society. The ambition with the reform is to meet the reflexivity of the individual mind. The collaboration between the consumer and school principals, high demanding adaption to working life and explicit examination goals for the students emphasizes the demand on quality. The students can be signified as dynamic market products, more adaptable and linked to a thinking entrepreneur. This will be the primary mission for the high school. The result also shows that the adaption and individualism is two sides of the coin, and that is what this reform tries to capitalize on. In spite of a more regulated and explicit demand on education – it’s the individual reflexivity of an entrepreneur with more options that has to see and understand the dynamic possibilities that calls on the open market.

A quantitative, descriptive, explorative design was used to evaluate a decentralised primary health care training programme at a training unit in the Limpopo Province. The study sought to determine to what extent the newly qualified diplomates were able to manage patients appropriately when faced with the realities, such as the shortage of personnel, large numbers of patients, shortage of resources and time constraints in the real situation without the support and guidance from medical practitioners and senior nursing personnel. Data were collected by observing the diplomates as they managed patients with hypertension by making use of checklists. The diplomates were also interviewed by making use of an in interview schedule. The major inferences drawn from this study was that these diplomates were competent in the management of these patients and were satisfied with their abilities and training. / Health Studies / M. A. (Health Studies)

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Text in Afrikaans / In hierdie proefskrif word daar gekonsentreer op die bewyslas in die nywerheidshof omdat die nywerheidshof se benadering met betrekking tot die bewyslas verskil van geval tot gevaL afhangende van die aard van die regshulp waarvoor die party je die nywerheidshof nader. In die tweede plek volg 'n bespreking van hoe en deur wie die voorlegging van getuienis aan die nywerheidshof mag geskied, hetsy by wyse van dokumente of getuies en daarbenewens oak 'n bespreking van watter soort getuienis aan die nywerheidshof voorgele mag word met spesifieke verwysing na inter alia, klankopnames, videobande en die resultate van leuenverklikkertoetse. / In this thesis there will be concentrated on the burden of proof in the industrial court because the industrial court's approach in regard to the burden of proof differs from case to case, depending on the nature of the legal aid for which the party /ies approaches the industrial court. In the second place a discussion will follow of how and by whom the presenting of evidence can be done, whether by documents or by witnesses, and in addition thereto also a discussion on which sort of evidence can be presented to the industrial court with specific reference to, inter alia, taperecordings, video tapes and the results of lie-detector tests. / Private Law / LL.M. (Handelsreg)

Anyone desiring to qualify as an accountant or auditor is required to pass an examination as approved by the Public Accountants' and Auditors' Board to establish whether candidates have attained the required standard of academic knowledge in terms of the syllabi laid down by the Board, as well as whether they are able to apply that knowledge in practice (P AAB, 1995). However each year many students fail this very important examination. The reasons for this are not clear and the purpose of this research is to determine whether: personality; vocational interests; intelligence; matriculation Mathematics and home language (English/ Afrikaans) results, predict success in the QE, by comparing a group of successful and unsuccessful QE candidates. The logistic regression, discriminant analysis and t-test statistical procedures, indicated that: warmth (A), liveliness (F), rule-consciousness (G), social boldness (H), apprehension (0), self-reliance (Q2), perfectionism (Q3), tension (Q4), computational interest, social services interest, mechanical interest, Mental Alertness and matriculation home language, are significant factors to consider when identifying candidates likely to be successful in the QE. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology / MCOM (Industrial Psychology)

Thesis (MScMedSc (Biomedical Sciences. Medical Biochemistry))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Mycobacterium bovis has a wide host range and infects many wild and domestic animal species as well as humans. African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is considered to be a wildlife reservoir of M. bovis in certain environments in South Africa, such as in the Kruger National Park (KNP) and Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP). A detailed pathological study was conducted on 19 African buffalos (Syncerus caffer) from a herd in the HiP in South Africa. The animals tested positive to the intradermal bovine tuberculin test and were euthanazed during a test-and-cull operation to decrease the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in the park. The superficial, head, thoraxic and abdominal lymph nodes and the lungs were examined grossly for presence of tuberculous lesions and were scored on a 1-5 scale for macroscopic changes. The gross lesions were examined histologically and scored I-IV according to a grading system used for bTB lesions in domestic cattle. Macroscopical lesions were limited to the retropharyngeal, bronchial, and mediastinal lymph nodes and the lungs. The most frequently affected lymph nodes were the bronchial (16/19) and mediastinal (11/19). All four grades of microscopic lesions were observed, although grade II lesions were the most frequent. Acid-fast bacilli were observed only rarely. Bovine tuberculosis was confirmed by PCR analyses. All animals were in good body condition and most of the lesions were in an early stage of development, indicating an early stage of the disease. The absence of lesions in the mesenteric lymph nodes and the high frequency of lesions in respiratory tract associated lymph nodes suggest that the main route of M. bovis infection in African buffalo is inhalatory rather than alimentary. This study presents a systematic evaluation and semiquantification of the severity and stages of development of tuberculous lesions in buffalo. The results may contribute to i) the understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease, ii) the evaluation of experimental models of M. bovis infection in Syncerus caffer, and iii) the interpretation of pathological data from vaccination trials. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Mycobacterium bovis het ‘n wye reeks van gashere en dit infekteer verskeie wilde en mak dierespesies, sowel as mense. Die buffel (Syncerus caffer) word beskou as die wild reservoir van M. bovis in sekere dele van Suid Afrika, soos in die Kruger Nasionale Park (KNP) en Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP). ‘n Breedvoerige patologiese studie is uitgevoer op 19 buffels afkomstig vanaf ‘n trop in die HiP in Suid Afrika. Die diere het almal positief getoets vir die intradermale beestuberkulin toets en is uitgesit tydens ‘n toets-en-slag operasie met die doel om die voorkoms van beestuberkulose (bTB) in die park te bekamp. Die oppervlakkige, kop, toraks en abdominale limfknope en longe is oorsigtelik ondersoek vir die teenwoordigheid van tuberkulose letsels en was ‘n punt toegeken op ‘n skaal van 1-5 vir die teenwoordigheid van makroskopiese veranderinge. Die opsigtelike letsels is histologies ondersoek en ‘n I-IV punt toegeken volgens die gradering wat gebruik word vir bTB letsels in beeste. Makroskopiese letsels was beperk tot die retrofaringeale, brongiale, en mediastinale limfknope en in die longe. Die brongiale (16/19) en mediastinale (11/19) limfknope was meestal geaffekteerd. Al vier grade van mikroskopiese letsels is gevind, alhoewel graad II letsels die volopste was. Suur-vaste basille is slegs selde waargeneem. Beestuberkulose is bevestig deur PKR analises. Al die diere was in ‘n goeie kondisie en meeste van die letsels was in ‘n vroeë stadium van ontwikkeling, wat aandui op ‘n vroeë fase van die siekte. Die afwesigheid van letsels in die mesenteriese limfknope en die hoë frekwensie van letsels in die lugweg geassosieerde limfkliere dui daarop dat the belangrikste roete van M. bovis infeksie in die buffel deur inaseming geskied eerder as deur opname in die spysverteringskanaal. Hierdie studie bied ‘n stelselmatige evaluering en semi-kwantifisering van die graad van erns en die stadia van ontwikkeling van tuberkulose letsels in buffels. Die resultate kan bydra tot i) die begrip van die patogenese van die siekte, ii) die evaluering van eksperimentele modelle van M. bovis infeksie in Syncerus caffer, en iii) die interpretasie van patologiese data van inentingsproewe.

本研究目的在了解身心障礙公務人員工作滿足與離職傾向之現況，以及工作滿足和離職傾向二者之間的相關程度，並探討個人背景變項在其間之差異情形。本研究採問卷調查法，以85年、88年、90年、92年、93年及94年身心障礙特考及格之現職公務人員為調查對象，共發放 588份問卷，回收有效問卷336份，以 t考驗、單因子變異數分析、Pearson積差相關分析等方法進行資料分析，根據實證結果，獲致以下幾點結論： 一、身心障礙特考及格人員具有中高度工作滿足感受，其中以對同事關係 滿足感最高，其次依序為工作環境、主管領導、工作本身、升遷發展及薪資福利。 二、身心障礙特考及格人員具有中度的離職傾向。 三、不同背景變項對工作滿足之差異情形： (一)不同婚姻狀況對工作本身構面有顯著差異情形存在。 (二)不同年齡對升遷發展及同事關係構面有顯著差異情形存在。 (三)不同服務機關對薪資福利構面有顯著差異情形存在。 (四)不同障礙類別對升遷發展構面有顯著差異情形存在。 (五)不同障礙等級對薪資福利構面有顯著差異情形存在。 四、不同背景變項對離職傾向之差異情形： (一)不同婚姻狀況對離職念頭有顯著的差異情形存在。 (二)不同年齡對離職傾向各構面有顯著的差異情形存在。 (三)不同障礙等級對離職傾向各構面有顯著的差異情形存在。 五、工作滿足與離職傾向之間具有負向相關。 關鍵字：身心障礙特種考試、公務人員、工作滿足、離職傾向

公務人員受委託行使行政權，享有身分保障和穩定收入，因而被視為社會體系的中上階層。基於此等特性，學者曾經提出代表性官僚理論與多元代表性等理論，希望能夠以此調和民主與效率兩大價值，達成政策執行的實質公平。然過去相關的實證研究，多半屬於「事後檢測」。但是我國公民除了通過公務人員考試之外，幾乎沒有其他擠身常任文官的管道，因此有關代表性或多元性的討論應該包括考試階段。換言之，考試錄取人員的人口特性值得深入的分析。本研究以2003至2007年的高等考試參與者為主要研究對象，輔以司法官三等考試的資料以利比較。接著，引用社會學「地位取得」的分析架構，採取指數比較分析與邏輯迴歸分析，探索性別、年齡、受教育時間、畢業學校特性、出身地域與錄取與否的關係。 　　本研究結果顯示，女性、非傳統公立綜合大學的畢業生、鄉鎮地區出身者以及41歲以上的考生在公務人員考試中處於較為不利的地位，但是與優勢團體之間的差距隨著考試等級和種類有所不同。例如女性在行政類與司法官考試中，與男性的表現平分秋色甚至猶有過之；剛完成高等教育的25歲以下人口在司法官考試裡最具優勢，但高考三級則有利於26至35歲的青年；傳統公立大學的文憑與都市出身的背景，在技術類考試能發揮的正效果比行政類考試為弱。基於上述的研究發現，為消除各種團體在公務人員考試裡的地位差距，本研究對於未來的考選政策提出下列建議：1.加強命題與口試委員的多元化；2.強化試題的研究發展；3.配合政府再造鬆綁人事法規；4.營造一個落實多元平等的大環境。 / Civil servants, with administrative power in hand, are commonly regarded as part of upper class. Therefore, researchers, to integrate democracy and efficiency in civil service system and to realize the genuine equality, propose representative bureaucracy and team diversity theory. Senior Civil Service Examination, the main approach, if not only, for citizens in Taiwan to enter the bureaucracy affects the representativeness and diversity of state apparatus substantially. By adopting the research approach of “status attainment” from sociology, this study gives an account of the relation between the examination result and the demographics in terms of gender, education, school characteristic, and region. All the data of this research is based on participators’ personnel information cards collected by the Ministry of Examination from 2003 to 2007. The result indicates that four types of participators are inferior in the examination, including women, graduates from private untraditional technological colleges, participators from rural areas, and adults above forty-one years old. The differences between superior and inferior groups, however, vary with the level and subject of examination. To prevent demographic differences in Senior Civil Service Examination, the study suggests the following factors be considered: the diversity of the composition of examiners committee should be ensured, the enhancement of development research of test questions, the deregulation of public personnel rules and, last but not least, the construction of a diversity-respecting society.

L’importance de la problématique des vaches laitières non gestantes avec multiples inséminations (› 3) communément appelées « Repeat Breeder » (RB), au Québec, repose sur deux facteurs: son incidence et son impact économique. Actuellement, l’incidence du syndrome RB au Québec est de ± 25% (Rapport annuel, juin 2008, www.dsahr.ca). Les pertes monétaires associées à ce problème proviennent des frais vétérinaires et d’insémination, de la diminution de productivité ainsi que des pertes en lien avec la réforme involontaire. Afin d’avoir de meilleures connaissances sur ce syndrome, nous devons connaître les facteurs de risques généraux impliqués et ensuite explorer la condition individuelle de ces vaches problèmes. Dans la première partie de ce mémoire, une banque de données informatisées répertoriant 418 383 lactations fut analysée. L’objectif de ce projet de recherche était d’évaluer l’impact des problèmes reproducteurs post-partum et l’effet du nombre de lactations comme facteurs de risques de la vache Repeat Breeder. L’analyse a permis d’établir la dystocie comme étant la condition ayant le plus de conséquences sur la fertilité future. D’autres facteurs de risques à savoir le nombre de lactations influencent le pronostic reproducteur. La deuxième partie de ce mémoire consistait à explorer, à l’aide d’outils cliniques, la condition individuelle des vaches RB. Une étude cohorte fut menée sur des vaches Holstein en fin de période d’attente volontaire au jour 7 du cycle oestral. Les tests cliniques étudiés furent la vaginoscopie, l’examen transrectal, l’ultrasonographie du système reproducteur, la présence d’estérases leucocytaires, la bactériologie et la biochimie du liquide utérin, la cytologie endométriale et le profil de progestérone sérique. Les résultats de ces tests cliniques dévoilent que l’examen bactériologique du liquide utérin est révélateur du statut reproducteur futur. / Two factors underlie the Repeat Breeder (RB) concerns in Quebec: its incidence and economic impact. Currently RB incidence in Quebec is of ± 25% (yearly Report, June 2008, www.dsahr.ca). Monetary losses related to the RB are the result of veterinary expenses and insemination, loss of productivity and the involuntary culling. In order to have a better knowledge of this syndrome, one must understand the general risk factors involved and then explore the individual condition of these problem cows. The goal of the first part of the project was to assess the impact of the postpartum reproductive problems and the effect of the lactation number as risk factors of the Repeat Breeder cow. A computerized data bank listing 418 383 lactations was analyzed. The analysis established dystocia as being the condition with the most consequences on future fertility. Other risk factors namely the number of lactations influence the reproductive prognosis as well. The second part of the research was to explore the individual condition of the RB using clinical tools. A cohort study was conducted on Holstein cows at the end of the voluntary waiting period on day 7 of the oestrous cycle. The clinical tests studied were vaginoscopy, trans-rectal examination, ultrasonography of the reproductive system, presence of leukocyte esterase, bacteriology and biochemistry of uterine fluid, endometrial cytology and serum progesterone profile. The results of these clinical tests reveal that the bacteriological analysis of uterine fluid is indicative of future reproductive status.

Title: Evaluation of body composition analysis using anthropometric measurements and methods based on bioimpedance Aims: The main goal of this study is to analyze correlations of the data from bioimpedance with direct anthropometric measurements using statistical data analysis taking into consideration that the latter data is recognized as a gold standard. Methods: The sample of 42 men and 20 women was evaluated using standard anthropometric techniques. In addition, the dimensions, which are necessary to establish the weight of segments in upper and lower arms. The obtained data was firstly evaluated using a universal software ANTROPO. The both samples were concurrently investigated using the bioimpedance methods and the relationships between the aforementioned data and data from InBody was evaluated by three independent statistical methods such as substantive significance (Cohen's d), two-parameter linear regression and robust Passing- Bablok regression. Results: The results obtained enable to conclude that (with the exception of body height and BMI) the remaining parameters do not sufficiently correlate when using anthropometric measurements and data from InBody. As the relatively low number of participants may result in certain misrepresentation of the results, particularly in women, the...