This diploma thesis deals with the storage tanks for petroleum products. The introductory part is devoted to the distribution of the storage tanks, associated standards and maintenance of tanks. Another part goes about the analysis of real case of a tank collapse. There was created a 3D model of the collapsed tank according to the measured values in the tank. It was created a tank shell model by drawing documentation and analysis of the results of the accident investigation using the finite element method (FEM) by program ANSYS. Calculation was performed on the buckling resistance of the structure according to ČSN EN 1993-1-6 and its comparison with the results of FEM analysis in ANSYS. The aim of the study was to find the critical condition of the structure and determination of the critical internal underpressure and overpressure. At the end there were determined measures for safe operation and settings of the valve members.

This thesis focuses on temporal databases and their multimedia and spatial extensions. The introduction of this work summarizes results in the area of research of temporal databases - key concepts of a TSQL2 language and post-relational extension of Oracle database are introduced. Main part of the thesis is design of an interpreter as a layer between user application and relational database.  In the next part of the thesis control of integrity constraints in temporal databases are discussed. Result of this work is functional interpreter of TSQL2 language able to store post-relational data.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Process Safety Management (PSM) is concerned with the safe handling of products, safe production of products and the safe operation of the process as confirmed by Thrower (2013). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (2012) promulgated the PSM standard in 1992, which incorporated fourteen elements, to decrease the occurrence of process safety incidents. Walt and Frank (2007) described the cracks in the implementation of PSM programs, emanating from major process safety incidents and compliance audits. This was confirmed by the decaying process safety performance observed in recent years. It was thus proposed that an analysis into the diverse process safety incident causes and its comparison against the implemented OSHA PSM program, would suggest its associated shortcomings. The aim of the study was to determine the most effective approach to implement and sustain PSM in an organisation to prevent and manage the occurrence of major industrial catastrophes. A semi-qualitative study was conducted through the employment of a survey questionnaire and published incident investigation reports. A total of fifty random process safety incidents were interpreted from published and accredited secondary literature. Most of the secondary literature was obtained from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Centre for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) databases. From the study findings, Mechanical Integrity (MI) failures were found to significantly and consistently contribute to process safety incidents. Further analysis specifically concluded that equipment or control failure was the significant cause. Employee Participation (EP) was found to statistically correlate with the other elements. The researcher found that literature agreed with the aforementioned findings and this study verified that the EP element was instrumental in the implementation of the other elements. The researcher used literature to confirm that safety culture and leadership commitment was crucial to effective and sustainable PSM programs. The case study analysis validated this observation. Therefore the most effective approach to implement and sustain PSM was to adopt the DuPont, Centre for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), Risk Based PSM framework or Energy Institute (EI) models. To conclude, this study was effective as all the objectives and the aim was achieved. / MIng (Development and Management Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology / Doris J. Carroll / This study investigated the differences in own behavior and perception of peer behavior among undergraduates among gender, age, race/ethnicity and major. The participants were part of a census of undergraduate students at a Midwestern land grant university. There were 2,759 useable responses to a survey using McCabe’s Academic Integrity Scale. The findings found significant differences between age and gender comparisons. Younger women reported the most behavior in academic dishonesty, and older women reported the lowest behavior in academic dishonesty. The race/ethnicity and major comparisons yielded no differences. Finally, the findings suggest the need for further systematic research on academic dishonesty.

Process Safety Management (PSM) is concerned with the safe handling of products, safe production of products and the safe operation of the process as confirmed by Thrower (2013). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (2012) promulgated the PSM standard in 1992, which incorporated fourteen elements, to decrease the occurrence of process safety incidents. Walt and Frank (2007) described the cracks in the implementation of PSM programs, emanating from major process safety incidents and compliance audits. This was confirmed by the decaying process safety performance observed in recent years. It was thus proposed that an analysis into the diverse process safety incident causes and its comparison against the implemented OSHA PSM program, would suggest its associated shortcomings. The aim of the study was to determine the most effective approach to implement and sustain PSM in an organisation to prevent and manage the occurrence of major industrial catastrophes. A semi-qualitative study was conducted through the employment of a survey questionnaire and published incident investigation reports. A total of fifty random process safety incidents were interpreted from published and accredited secondary literature. Most of the secondary literature was obtained from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Centre for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) databases. From the study findings, Mechanical Integrity (MI) failures were found to significantly and consistently contribute to process safety incidents. Further analysis specifically concluded that equipment or control failure was the significant cause. Employee Participation (EP) was found to statistically correlate with the other elements. The researcher found that literature agreed with the aforementioned findings and this study verified that the EP element was instrumental in the implementation of the other elements. The researcher used literature to confirm that safety culture and leadership commitment was crucial to effective and sustainable PSM programs. The case study analysis validated this observation. Therefore the most effective approach to implement and sustain PSM was to adopt the DuPont, Centre for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), Risk Based PSM framework or Energy Institute (EI) models. To conclude, this study was effective as all the objectives and the aim was achieved. / MIng (Development and Management Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Linear genomes end in characteristic structures consisting of repetitive DNA and proteins: the telomeres. These play two critical roles: on one hand they avoid the of loss of genetic information due to the incomplete replication of the chromosome ends and on the other, they provide capping structures for chromosome termini, differentiating them from double strand breaks. Telomeres contain specialized proteins (the shelterin complex), as well as proteins present elsewhere on the chromosomes (chromatin remodelling, DNA damage repair and response factors). Interestingly, several DNA damage factors are required for proper telomere maintenance, drawing a thin line between telomere protection and their recognition as broken DNA ends. Loss of telomere integrity has severe consequences for the cell, namely it can induce replicative senescence and cellular aging, or it can contribute to tumorigenesis. How telomeres are capped and how they are perceived by the cell when they become dysfunctional is essential for our understanding of the contribution of loss of telomere integrity to aging and disease. In order to unravel new factors involved in telomere maintenance, siRNA screens were performed. The optimization process has confirmed both telomeric foci and telomere dysfunction-induced foci (TIFs) as suitable readouts and the screens performed generated a list of potential candidate genes involved in telomere biology. Although some of the candidate genes tested in this work failed the validation process, other genes deserve further analysis. In addition this work also studied the role of several DNA damage factors at uncapped telomeres. Furthermore, BRCA1, CtIP and EXO1 were found to be critical for the formation of end-to-end fusions generated after TRF2 inactivation. The requirement of this proteins in this process, suggests that not only that not only the classical non-homologous end joining (C-NHEJ) pathway is active at TRF2-depelted telomeres, but emphasises the multiplicity of mechanisms that act to repair dysfunctional telomeres.

Environmental restoration is emerging as a major driver in the repair and reversal of some of the world’s most severely degraded landscape systems, with growing interest in the status and composition of restoration efforts. Although much has already been written about the theory and practice of environmental restoration, both positive and negative, hitherto the literature has tended to overlook the complexity bound up in defining restoration discourses, and perhaps more importantly, the physical, material consequences instilled through such human choice. The mutability of discourses of environmental restoration means that it can be moulded and (re-)shaped by different actors and contexts, with different values and meanings attached to ‘nature’. There exist multiple and contested natures of environmental restoration - nature(s) both in the sense o f the properties of restoration, and also that which is restored to a site. In this doctoral thesis, I demonstrate how discourses of environmental restoration are defined and interpreted, which discourses (if any) appear to dominate, and how these are mobilised to produce ‘restored nature’. Attention is also awarded to the environmental implications incurred when such discourses are played out on the ground. The research is grounded empirically through reference to the case studies o f the Eden Project (Cornwall, UK), the National Forest Company (Derbyshire, UK), and the Walden Woods Project (Lincoln, MA) and their adoption of restoration practices. Analysing the processes and practices of environmental restoration within a framework of social nature and cultural landscapes serves to destabilise the dualism distancing nature from society - a preserve of environmental ethics and philosophy - for such synergy not only highlights how ideas of (restored) nature are socially constructed, but also addresses the material production of nature, reinforcing the interactions between natural and societal actors.