Magister Scientiae Dentium - MSc(Dent) / In Sudan there are currently no programmes targeting dentists to improve their own knowledge about how they can be part of human identification by keeping good dental records. In addition, no guidelines are stated by the health authorities about making, keeping and retention of dental records. The aim of this research was to assess the accuracy of dental records drawn up by the general dentists in Sudan with regard to forensic dental identification and compare these records to an ideal dental record. Dental records of 180 patients obtained from six sites (major dental sectors) were reviewed and compared with an ideal dental record. The data was captured in Excel and statistically analyzed. The results showed that two third of the dentists do not undertake full tooth charting prior to treatment and sometimes this is not shown in their dental records; The dentist name who examined and treated the patient was clearly mentioned in 55.6% of the dental records examined. Dentists in Sudan do not request many radiographs but they depend mainly on intra oral periapical views (PV) and Orthopantomographs (OPG) with a fair to good quality. The medical history was recorded in 44% of the total number of records examined. The quality of dental records in this study was poor in general dental practices but was fair in governmental hospitals. An integrated education programmes to increase the awareness of the dentists in Sudan about accurate record keeping is recommended. Clear guide lines from the health authorities for dental recording system should be developed.

The thesis addresses the issues of error through misidentification and immunity to error through misidentification in relation to the problem of the first person. First, it provides an explanation of error through misidentification. Secondly, it shows that there are two possible ways of understanding immunity to error through misidentification. It is then argued that the first understanding of immunity to error through misidentification leads to what is labelled "the trilemma about the self". That is to say, either we provide an explanation of immunity to error through misidentification, but we subscribe to two contentious metaphysical views about the self-the Cartesian and the Idealist; or else we hold the view that the self is identical with a human being, but we have no explanation of immunity to error through misidentification. It is then shown that in order to solve the trilemma, a different understanding of immunity to error through misidentification must be offered. After discussing various possible understandings of immunity to error through misidentification, a sound account of it is finally provided. Moreover, it is shown how non-inferential, introspection-based mental self-ascriptions can comply with it, in such a way that they turn out to be logically immune to error through misidentification. Finally, by drawing on Evans' and Peacocke's accounts of the possession conditions of the first person concept-in which IEM I-judgements play a central role-, it is shown that it is a concept of a human being who thinks of herself as such. Hence, our first person concept is firmly anti-Cartesian and anti-Idealist. As a consequence, it is maintained that not only is there no need to hold the Cartesian and the Idealist metaphysics of the self in order to explain why some I-judgements can be immune to error through misidentification, but it is also argued that one can no longer be either Cartesian or Idealist. For that would expose one to conceptual incoherence.

Le parachèvement de pièces aéronautiques en aluminium représente une part importante du coût des pièces produites. L’objectif de ces travaux est d’opérer un transfert d’opérations, des opérateurs et machines vers les cellules robotisées, économiquement plus intéressantes. Cette thèse vise à améliorer l’identification d’un modèle elasto-statique des robots industriels et à fournir une méthode de correction hors ligne des trajectoires dans une logique de moyenne série. Le premier chapitre présente un état de l’Art du parachèvement et des procédés que nous avons pris en considération. Il évoque les robots industriels, leur architecture, leur modélisation géométrique et elasto-statique. Il s’intéresse à leurs défauts de suivi de trajectoire et les causes associées. Dans le second chapitre, nous étudions les méthodes d’identification du modèle elasto-statique existantes. Nous critiquons leur mise en oeuvre actuelle et proposons une amélioration des protocoles d’identification. Nous étudions l’influence de la méthodologie de reconstruction géométrique par une étude de la sensibilité des raideurs apparentes. Nous proposons une nouvelle méthode de découplage de l’identification pour apporter plus de robustesse dans la détermination des raideurs articulaires. L’apport de cette méthode se justifie par son application sur un robot à double encodage KUKA KR 300 SE. Le dernier chapitre propose une correction miroir améliorée. Celle-ci intègre la problématique de la dynamique de la commande générée par la méthode miroir. Elle est appliquée sur des trajectoires circulaires, mesurée avec un outil ballbar. / The finishing of aluminium aeronautical parts is a great share of the overall production cost. The aim of this work is to facilitate operation transfert from manual operations and machines operations to robotic cells that are economically more interesting. This thesis seeks to improve the identification of a kinetostatic model for industrial robots and provide an offline correction method for mid-size part production volume. The first chapter is a state of the art in finishing operations and the involved processes, mainly machining, grinding and sanding that we considered in this study. It presents robots architecture and models (kineto-static and geometric). We show example of path tracking errors and the associated causes according to the literature. In the next chapter, we study the existing kineto-static identifications methods. We review the actual implementation of the methods and offer improvements. We study the influence of the geometrical reconstruction methodology applied in those identification methods by a sensibility analysis on the stiffness parameters. We propose a new identification method based on decoupling equations. This method brings more reliable results and robustness in the value of the stiffness parameters. The contribution of this method is justified by its application on a double encoder robot (KUKA KR 300 SE). The last chapter is a proposal for an improvement in the mirror correction method for trajectory correction. This new proposal takes into account the dynamics of the command created by the mirror method. It is applied on circular trajectories and measured thanks to a Ballbar tool.

M.Com. (Informatics) / A certain degree of vulnerability exists in traditional knowledge-based identification and authentication access control, as a result of password interception and social engineering techniques. This vulnerability has warranted the exploration of additional identification and authentication approaches such as physical token-based systems and biometrics. Speaker recognition is one such biometric approach that is currently not widely used due to its inherent technological challenges, as well as a scarcity of comprehensive literature and complete open-source projects. This makes it challenging for anyone who wishes to study, develop and improve upon speaker recognition for identification and authentication. In this dissertation, we condense some of the available speaker recognition literature in a manner that would provide a comprehensive overall picture of speaker identification and authentication to a wider range of interested audiences. A speaker recognition solution in the form of an open, user-friendly software prototype environment is presented, called SRIA (Speaker Recognition Identification Authentication). In SRIA, real users may enrol and perform speaker identification and authentication tasks. SRIA is intended as platform for speaker recognition understanding and further research and development.

The need for a more secure cyber future is apparent in the information age that we live in. Information is fast becoming, and already is, one of the biggest assets in all domains of life. Access to information and specifically personal information must be regulated and secured in a trusted way. The use of passwords and tokens (example: bank card) that’s currently the most popular and well known mechanism for electronic identification can only identify the password or token but NOT the physical user using the password or token for identification. Biometrics addresses the above issue by being part of the physical user. For example: your fingerprint, retina or iris. Current biometric technologies provide an enabling medium to help with more accurate identification and verification. Thereby protecting and securing electronic information…BUT: One of the biggest problem areas surrounding biometrics is the fact that most biometric tokens (fingerprints, hand geometry and the human eye) can be used in some cases to identify the owner of the biometric token even after death as if the owner was still alive. The problem becomes apparent in the case of a person that passed away and the possibility of using the biometric tokens of the deceased to obtain access to his/her bank account. Therefore the importance of effective liveness testing is highlighted. Current liveness testing technologies can not be trusted in a way that would be necessary to provide the trust needed in the example of access to a personal bank account at an ATM (automatic teller machine). This dissertation reports on the initial stages of a research project that addresses the above problem by proposing the use of biometric tokens that doesn’t exist if the owner is not alive, thus the dissertation coins the new term – Inherent Liveness Biometrics. The way the human heart beats as a biometric token to identify or verify a person, might solve the issue of liveness testing, because “The way the human heart beats” might prove to be a natural biometric token that is only valid for a living person, thus an inherent liveness biometric. / Prof. S.H. Von Solms

This study investigated the influence of an authority figure on an eyewitness identification task. Subjects watched a staged crime and then were administered a photo lineup by either an authority or non-authority figure. Subjects who were administered a lineup by an authority figure were significantly more likely to choose someone from the lineup than subjects who were shown a lineup by a non-authority figure. Similarly, subjects who were given biased instructions were significantly more likely to choose someone from the lineup than subjects who were given unbiased instructions. These effect obtained whether the target was present or absent from the lineup. These data suggest that one way to minimize suggestibility of eyewitnesses is to replace the uniformed officer with a neutral individual. Alternatively, the effect of a police officer on a witness' choosing behavior may be eliminated by providing the witness with unbiased instructions.

This study was designed to explore the elements that influence the identification of young children that might be considered at-risk for early school failure. To this end, guided by complexity theory, the study sought to examine (a) system requirements and expectations at the provincial and school board levels, (b) current practice in schools and classrooms, and (c) the beliefs and knowledge of individuals surrounding the assessment and identification of at-risk students in Kindergarten. Using a qualitative, case-study approach 23 individuals from two different school boards in Ontario were interviewed to explore both practice and beliefs. Review of relevant provincial and school board documents as well as artifacts that were gathered during school visits provided further information. While there were some differences in details, the findings were similar in the two boards. In describing which characteristics were of concern when considering an at-risk designation, most participants cited social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties. While both school boards required tracking and assessment of literacy skills, teachers and ECEs concentrated more on ongoing observations and anecdotal notes to determine student progress. Interventions for students at-risk were more often provided for students with academic difficulties. However, there was also some support for behaviour difficulties in terms of consultation from special education personnel in one board and an early intervention team in the other. It was clear from the findings that many elements influence the identification of a student as at-risk including the characteristics of the student, the student’s family, and the particular classroom, school, and board the student attends. The study findings contribute to our understanding of practice and beliefs around young student at-risk and how the interactions of the various elements involved impact the identification of individual students.

Ce travail de thèse est une contribution à l’étude du couplage thermo-mécanique et de l’auto-échauffement en fatigue des élastomères renforcés. Dans une première partie, un modèle thermo-élastique physiquement fondé est développé pour décrire la réponse relaxée des élastomères renforcés en grandes transformations. Les effets de la température et du taux de renforts, étudiés expérimentalement sur un SBR renforcé, sont inclus dans la modélisation. Une méthode hybride expérimentale-éléments finis est proposée afin de déterminer simultanément la réponse thermo-mécanique locale et les paramètres du modèle. Les capacités prédictives du modèle proposé sont évaluées par des comparaisons à des simulations micromécaniques.Dans une seconde partie, un modèle thermo-visco-élastique physiquement fondé est développé, et implémenté dans un code de calculs par éléments finis, pour décrire l’auto-échauffement en fatigue des élastomères en grandes transformations. Les comparaisons entre le modèle proposé et les données expérimentales (en termes de réponse mécanique et d’évolution de température) obtenues sur un SBR renforcé, contenant un taux de renforts fixe, mettent en évidence les capacités prédictives de l’approche sur différentes conditions de chargement, en termes de vitesse et de déformation. Enfin, le modèle proposé est étendu pour prendre en compte l’effet du taux de renforts sur l’auto-échauffement. Après identification des paramètres sur un SBR renforcé avec un taux de renforts fixe, les capacités prédictives du modèle sont évaluées sur des SBR renforcés à différents taux de renforts et conditions de chargement. / This PhD dissertation deals with the thermo-mechanical coupling and the heat build-up of filled rubbers under fatigue. In a first part, a physically-based thermo-elastic model is developed to describe the large strain relaxed response of filled rubbers. The temperature and filler effects, experimentally observed on a filled SBR, are included in the modeling. A hybrid experimental-finite element method is proposed to determine simultaneously the local thermo-mechanical response and the model parameters. The predictive capabilities of the proposed model are examined by comparisons to micromechanical simulations. In a second part, a physically-based thermo-visco-elastic model is developed, and implemented into a finite element code, to describe the heat build-up of rubbers under large strain fatigue. Comparisons between the proposed model and the experimental data (in terms of mechanical response and temperature evolution) obtained on a filled SBR, containing a given filler content, point out the predictive capabilities of the approach on different loading conditions, in terms of strain rate and deformation. Finally, the proposed model is extended to account for the filler content effect on the heat build-up. After identification of the parameters on a filled SBR with a given filler content, the predictive capabilities of the model are evaluated on filled SBR with different filler contents and loading conditions.

In 1999, African States concluded an intra-Africa air services treaty, namely the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD) the purpose of which was to improve intra-Africa air services. The YD was intended to be the legal basis on which intra-Africa air services may be conducted, thus to replace existing bilateral air services agreements between the African States, unless such bilateral air services agreements supplement the YD. In the market access provisions of the YD, African States agreed to derogate from the requirement of ‘airline ownership and control’ as a market access provision for intra-Africa air services because it was regarded as an obstacle to the growth of intra-Africa air services. Airline ownership and control has been used by many States as a market access provision in bilateral air services agreements ( in civil aviation commonly known as BASAS when refering to more than one agreement and BASA when it is one agreement.) since the 1940’s. Its implementation did not only occur on the basis of the BASA but State practice as well. Thus it would not be an exaggeration to conclude that airline ownership and control attained the status of a rule of customary international law alternatively, by practice crystallising into a rule of customary international law. Despite the conclusion of the YD in 1999 and its entry into force in 2000 some African States never implemented the YD or continue to violate material provisions of the YD by insisting on airline ownership and control as a market access provision for intra-Africa air services. It is in this context that the principle of pacta sunt servanda may become relevant as a customary international law principle, as stipulated in article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT), African States as parties to the YD have a legal duty to implement the YD in good faith. The nature of obligations assumed by States under the YD are such that legal standing is limited to the parties to the dispute in case of breach of the YD. Expanding legal standing to all African States by inserting a special provision in the YD may resolve the problem of continuous breach of the YD by the African States. / Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Public Law / LLM / Unrestricted

Leptographium is an anamorph genus within the Ophiostomatoid group of fungi and represents a unique case for molecular applications. The genus has a near complete sequence data available for three genes across all known species. This characteristic makes it a perfect test group for investigating applications of new diagnostic techniques within ascomycetes. Probes and primers, for microarrays, are designed from phylogenetically useful gene regions and are fabricated onto a solid substrate using printing technology. The sample is prepared using PCR and is hybridised to the probes under stringent conditions. The resulting fluorescent pattern is rigorously analysed to distinguish species from each other. Diagnostic PCR uses primers that are designed in similar way to the way probes are designed for microarrays and indicate the presence of a species through positive amplification. This research methodology will be applied to Leptographium to evaluate the efficacy of microarray technology for discriminating species within that genus. The data gained from this research study will be used in applications for other genera using microarray technology. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Genetics / Unrestricted