This dissertation makes an investigation of two short story collections by the pioneering IsiZulu writers in this genre, W M B Mkhize and M J Mngadi with particular reference to exposition, characterisation, style and themes. The theoretical framework that has been used has been mainly the structuralist approach though others such as historical biographical and moral philosophical, Marxist or formalism and new criticism have also been used. This study consists of six chapters; the first chapter serves as the general introduction to the whole dissertation. The authors' biographical sketches have been given. The discussion of the methodology, definition of the important concepts, parallel works in isiZulu short stories, the chapter outline, theoretical framework and the conclusion make up the rest of the chapter. Chapter 2 focuses on exposition. Different kinds of expositions as used by authors have been dealt with and the effects they have on the readers. The different expositions have been discussed as the authors use them. These include the variety of dialogues and monologues. The others are character, event and nature type of expositions. Chapter 3 deals with characterisation. Naming, plausibility of characters, different kinds of characters and the educative value they have on the readers has been studied. Major and minor characters have been discussed in this chapter. Chapter 4 concerns itself with style. This includes diction, phrases and sentences, the use of proverbs and figures of speech have been analysed. Precise word selection and symbolism have been investigated in the authors' works. Chapter 5 in this research has to do with themes. The study of themes as covered by authors has been covered. The research has confined itself to general, specific and presentation of themes as the serious concern of writers in sending messages to the readers. Chapter 6 deals with general conclusion. It has finalised the evaluation and given the final overview and conclusion. Lastly it has given suggestions for some further research on the study of Mkhize and Mngadi's short stories. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

<div> <div> <div> <p>The Effective Fragment Potential (EFP) is a quantum-mechanical based model potential for accurate calculations of non-covalent interactions between molecules. It can be coupled with ab initio methods in so-called QM/EFP models to explore the electronic properties of extended molecular systems by providing rigorous description of surrounding environments. The current EFP formulation is, however, not well suited for large-scale simulations due to its inherent limitation of representing effective fragments as rigid structures. The process of utilizing EFP method for the molecular systems with flexible degrees of freedom entails multiple sets of parameter calculations requiring intensive computational resources. This work presents development of the EFP method for describing flexible molecular systems, so-called Flexible EFP. To validate the applicability of the Flexible EFP method, extensive benchmark studies on the amino acid interactions, binding energies, and electronic properties of flavin chromophore of the cryptochrome protein have been demonstrated. In addition to methodological developments, excitonic properties of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) photosynthetic pigment-protein complex are explored. In biological systems where intermolecular interactions span a broad range from non-polar to polar and ionic forces, EFP is superior to the classical force fields. In the present study, we demonstrate excellent performance of the QM/EFP model for predicting excitonic interactions and spectral characteristics of the FMO wildtype complex. We characterize the key factors for accurate modeling of electronic properties of bacteriochlrophyll a (BChl a) photosynthetic pigments and suggest a robust computational protocol that can be applied for modeling other photosynthetic systems. Developed computational procedures were also successfully utilized to elucidate photostability and triplet dynamics in the FMO complex and spectroscopic effects of single-point mutagenesis in FMO. A combination of polarizable EFP molecular dynamics and QM/EFP vibrational frequency calculations were also applied to understanding and interpreting structures and Raman spectroscopy of tert-butyl alcohol solutions. </p> </div> </div> </div>

In the first part of this dissertation, recent efforts to understand quantum mechanical effects in biological systems are discussed. Especially, long-lived quantum coherences observed during the electronic energy transfer process in the Fenna-Matthews-Olson complex at physiological condition are studied extensively using theories of open quantum systems. In addition to the usual master equation based approaches, the effect of the protein structure is investigated in atomistic detail through the combined application of quantum chemistry and molecular dynamics simulations. To evaluate the thermalized reduced density matrix, a path-integral Monte Carlo method with a novel importance sampling approach is developed for excitons coupled to an arbitrary phonon bath at a finite temperature. In the second part of the thesis, simulations of molecular systems and applications to vibrational spectra are discussed. First, the quantum dynamics of a molecule is simulated by combining semiclassical initial value representation and density funcitonal theory with analytic derivatives. A computationally-tractable approximation to the sum-of-states formalism of Raman spectra is subsequently discussed.

Communities around the world are confronting unique challenges to sustain their local environment, culture and identity in the face of climate change. From B.C.’s coastal communities to Arctic gateway cities in the north, UBC Vancouver sociology professor Ralph Matthews is leading teams of researchers in the study of the sociological and cultural implications of climate change through two distinct projects: The Co-Management of Climate Change in Coastal British Columbia (C5) Project and The City of Whitehorse – Climate Change and Institutional Adaptive Capacity Project.

[pt] O relacionamento homem-mulher sempre foi estudado por aqueles que se ocupam das ciências bíblicas. Este assunto é intrigante por abordar um aspecto desafiador da vida humana. Esta pesquisa buscou apresentar as relações entre Ct 8,5-7, Qoh 9,7-10 e Mt 19,1-9, no que diz respeito ao relacionamento homem e mulher. A intertextualidade apresentou como contribuição uma visão mais abrangente do texto e a percepção do pano de fundo que ajudou a compreender a origem das tradições. Inicialmente, foram apresentadas algumas questões introdutórias como determinação dos contextos históricos dos textos, reflexões sobre a história da interpretação dos mesmos. Em seguida, realizou-se a análise exegética dos respectivos textos a partir de instrumentos do método histórico-crítico. Por último, procurou-se apresentar as relações entre os referidos textos, dando ênfase particular às influências dessas narrações em seus supostos contextos históricos. Percebeu-se na gênese destes textos uma intencionalidade que pode ser definida como a força incomensurável do amor, sinal do Deus de Israel, manifestado concretamente no Ct 8,5-7, defendido como o melhor na vida de vaidade por Qoh 9,7-10, e, demonstrado como um dos fatores da radicalidade evangélica em Mt 19,1-9. Do ponto de vista sincrônico percebeu-se que o leitor que depara com estes textos foi e é provocado por essa intencionalidade subjacente. Isto é o que se percebe verificando a história da interpretação dos três textos. Esta mensagem foi o grande fundamento teológico que impulsionou e impulsiona a reflexão da teologia sobre o relacionamento homem-mulher. Esta percepção, no entanto, apresenta-se como um caminho a ser seguido e não como ponto de chegada. / [en] The relationship between man and woman has always been a subject of study for bible science researchers. This is an intriguing subject, due to the fact that it discusses a challenging aspect of the human life. This research presents the links between Ct 8,5-7, Qoh 9,7-10 e Mt 19,1-9, in the matter of man-woman relationship. The intertextuality presented, as a contribution, a more broad point-of-view of the text and the perception of the background that helped comprehending the origin of traditions. Initially, some introductory questions were presented as a determination of the historic contexts of the texts, as well as reflections about the history of their interpretations. Then, an exegetic analysis of the texts was carried out, using the instruments of the historic and critic method. For last, is presented the relations among the referred texts, giving particular emphasis to the influences of these narratives in their supposed historical contexts. It was realized in the genesis of these texts an intentionality that can be defined as an immeasurable force of love, of the presence of the God of Israel, manifested in Ct 8,5-7, defended as the best of the vanity life by Qoh 9,7-10, and demonstrated as one of the factors of evangelical radicalism in Mt 19,1-9. Of a synchronic point-of-view, one can realize that the reader of these texts is provoked by this subjacent intentionality. This is observed verifying the history of the interpretation of these three texts. This message was the great theological basis that drove and still drives the reflection of theology about the man-woman relationship. This perception, nevertheless, presents itself as a path to be followed, and not as a finish line.

[pt] Jesus foi um judeu piedoso de seu tempo, observante da Lei, preocupado em cumprir a vontade de Deus. Perceber a relação de Jesus com a Lei nos ajuda a entender a situação das comunidades seguidoras dele na Palestina, em constante confronto com outras propostas de fidelidade à Torá. Nessa dissertação propomos uma análise exegético-teológica de Mateus 5,17-20, para compreender essa relação de Jesus com a Lei, como ele a cumpriu, e que exigências fez a partir de sua própria prática. A afirmação de Jesus, de que veio para cumprir, já suscitou todo tipo de interpretação, e o fato de estar no centro do discurso conhecido como Sermão do Monte só aumenta o seu interesse. Com o auxílio do método históricocrítico, e ainda a criteriologia elaborada para a pesquisa do Jesus Histórico, é possível fazer uma aproximação do texto ao mesmo tempo científica e piedosa, legitimamente interessada nas afirmações daquele que é considerado o maior mestre de todos os tempos. / [en] Jesus was a piety Jew in his time, a Law observer, worried about fulfilling the God`s will. Realizing the relationship between Jesus and the Law help us how to understand the situation of his followers communities on Palestine, in constant confrontation with other proposals of faithfulness to the Torah. This dissertation proposes an exegetical- theological analysis on Matthew 5,17-20 to understand this relationship between Jesus and the Law, the way he fulfilled it, and which demands he made from his own practice. The Jesus saying, that he came to fulfill, have already caused every kind of interpretation an the fact of being in the speech`s center known as Sermon on the Mount just increases the interest for it. With the historical-critical method and still the criteria elaborated to the Historical Jesus research, it is possible to do an approach of the text at same time scientific and piety, legitimately interested on the statements of whom is considered the greatest leader of all times.

In this thesis, the performance of two over-sampling techniques, SMOTE and ADASYN, is compared. The comparison is done on three imbalanced data sets using three different classification models and evaluation metrics, while varying the way the data is pre-processed. The results show that both SMOTE and ADASYN improve the performance of the classifiers in most cases. It is also found that SVM in conjunction with SMOTE performs better than with ADASYN as the degree of class imbalance increases. Furthermore, both SMOTE and ADASYN increase the relative performance of the Random forest as the degree of class imbalance grows. However, no pre-processing method consistently outperforms the other in its contribution to better performance as the degree of class imbalance varies.

This thesis investigates imbalanced Swedish text financial datasets, specifically receipt classification using machine learning models. The study explores the effectiveness of under-sampling and over-sampling methods for Naive Bayes algorithms, collaborating with Fortnox for a controlled experiment. Evaluation metrics compare balancing methods regarding the accuracy, Matthews's correlation coefficient (MCC) , F1 score, precision, and recall. Findings contribute to Swedish text classification, providing insights into balancing methods. The thesis report examines balancing methods and parameter tuning on machine learning models for imbalanced datasets. Multinomial Naive Bayes (MultiNB) algorithms in Natural language processing (NLP) are studied, with potential application in image classification for assessing industrial thin component deformation. Experiments show balancing methods significantly affect MCC and recall, with a recall-MCC-accuracy tradeoff. Smaller alpha values generally improve accuracy.  Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique  (SMOTE) and Tomek's algorithm for removing links developed in 1976 by Ivan Tomek. First Tomek, then SMOTE (TomekSMOTE)  yield promising accuracy improvements. Due to time constraints, Over-sampling using SMOTE and cleaning using Tomek links. First SMOTE, then Tomek (SMOTETomek) training is incomplete. This thesis report finds the best MCC is achieved when $\alpha$ is 0.01 on imbalanced datasets.

[pt] O presente trabalho debruçou-se sobre o discurso escatológico de Mateus, especificamente sobre Mt 25,31-46, que relaciona o julgamento do Filho do Homem, esperado para os últimos dias, com a prática da justiça, manifesta na realização das obras de misericórdia. Compreende-se que o contexto histórico da comunidade mateana era o pós-guerra de 70 d.C. Esses eventos catastróficos provocaram uma grave crise de identidade nas comunidades judaicas, que passaram a reorganizar a vida na centralidade da Torá, devido à ausência do Templo, que havia sido destruído pelos romanos. Tal ausência também culminou com a perda da liderança judaica, fazendo com que os diversos grupos judaicos, existentes na época, concorressem entre si para assumirem essa função. Entendiam-se como intérpretes autorizados da Torá e, portanto, o verdadeiro Israel. Dentre eles, formou-se uma coalizão que estava em conflito direto com a comunidade mateana, agravando ainda mais a crise que ela vivia. O evangelho de Mateus foi escrito com os propósitos de: levar ordenamento e sentido para a sua comunidade; e consolar os seus membros, profundamente marcados por estes eventos. Para tal, o evangelista fez uso da visão de mundo da escatologia apocalíptica como o julgamento no final dos tempos pelo Filho do Homem e a retribuição dos justos e ímpios. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a perícope de Mt 25,31-46, a fim de compreender o ambiente em que o evangelho foi produzido; assim como, a resposta encontrada pelo evangelista em relação à situação de crise no pós-guerra; e os pontos de convergência e divergência com outros grupos judaicos do mesmo período, em especial, o judaísmo formativo, com quem a comunidade mateana está em conflito. Essa análise foi feita por meio da abordagem diacrônica do método histórico crítico, e sincrônica a partir abordagem dos textos fonte e contextual. / [en] The present work focused on the eschatological discourse of Matthew, specifically on Mt 25:31-46, which relates the judgment of the Son of Man, expected for the last days, to the practice of justice manifested in the works of mercy. It is understood that the historical context of the Matthean community was the post-war period of 70 AD. These catastrophic events caused a severe identity crisis among Jewish communities, which began to reorganize their lives around the centrality of the Torah due to the absence of the Temple, which had been destroyed by the Romans. This absence also led to the loss of Jewish leadership, causing various Jewish groups existing at the time to compete for that role. They saw themselves as authorized interpreters of the Torah and therefore the true Israel. Among them, a coalition was formed that was in direct conflict with the Matthean community, further aggravating the crisis it was experiencing. The Gospel of Matthew was written with the purposes of bringing order and meaning to its community, and comforting its members, deeply affected by these events. To this end, the evangelist made use of the worldview of apocalyptic eschatology, such as the judgment at the end of time by the Son of Man and the retribution of the righteous and the wicked. The objective of this study was to analyze the pericope of Mt 25:31-46 in order to understand the environment in which the Gospel was produced, as well as the response found by the evangelist regarding the post-war crisis, and the points of convergence and divergence with other Jewish groups of the same period, especially formative Judaism, with whom the Matthean community is in conflict. This analysis was conducted through the diachronic approach of the historical-critical method, and the synchronic approach of source and contextual texts.

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