South African Government introduced the supply chain management framework in 2003, with a vision of creating a seamless system which will play a pivotal role in service delivery provision to the communities, while achieving the objectives of cost effectiveness, fairness, equity transparency and ethics. The main aim of adopting this framework immediately after reform was to align the Public Sector Supply Chain management to the best practices. Unfortunately since its inception the supply chain management, particularly in the local government, has not enjoyed good publicity, due to the following three main factors, firstly incompetency of the supply chain management practitioners on using the preference points system, writing insufficient motivation when deviating from the SCM policies and irregular extensions of validity periods. The second main factor is the unethical conduct of the supply chain management practitioners in collusion with suppliers to overprice their respective tenders and also to supply inferior material for projects intended for community development. The last main factor is the lack of political leadership to enforce compliance, such as consequence management for those who contravened the supply chain management policies, as some councillors are also found doing business with their municipalities which is against the Municipal System Act 32 of 2000. The aim of this study was to establish an effective supply chain management framework for local municipalities in order to achieve the primary objectives of Section 217 of the Constitution of the Republic which are fairness, equity, transparency, and competitive and cost effectiveness. The study found that supply chain management practitioners have indicated that they have a very good understanding of how the supply chain management framework should be applied and of related legislations, but the literature differs with the views of the practitioners, as corruption, fraud and lack of consequences reports are still raised by the Auditor General South Africa and by other publications over the years. The following are recommendations that should be taken into account for the supply framework to function effectively: - Establish a Supply Chain Management Professional Association (SCMPA) of which the role is to provide annual online assessment for all the supply chain management practitioners; - To use the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) grading certificate as evaluation minimum criteria of assessing functionality in accordance with the specific project; - Cancel the provision to re-issue or re-advertise the tenders after the supply chain management unit has received quotations from suppliers. - Municipalities should develop an integrated online commodity price listing supply database which should be operational 24 hours. Also to develop a Cellular phone application that will enable all the service providers to access the portal at any time to load their respective prices. - Make provision to include members of the audit committee to be charged for negligence under financial misconduct section 171 of the Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003. - To provide the Auditor General South Africa and the Public Protector with legislative powers to refer malpractices or contravention with the supply chain policies to the SCMPA and SAPS to recover wasteful and fruitless expenditure as required by Section 102 of Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) of 56 of 2003 after complying with section 173 of the MFMA. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

South African Government introduced the supply chain management framework in 2003, with a vision of creating a seamless system which will play a pivotal role in service delivery provision to the communities, while achieving the objectives of cost effectiveness, fairness, equity transparency and ethics. The main aim of adopting this framework immediately after reform was to align the Public Sector Supply Chain management to the best practices. Unfortunately since its inception the supply chain management, particularly in the local government, has not enjoyed good publicity, due to the following three main factors, firstly incompetency of the supply chain management practitioners on using the preference points system, writing insufficient motivation when deviating from the SCM policies and irregular extensions of validity periods. The second main factor is the unethical conduct of the supply chain management practitioners in collusion with suppliers to overprice their respective tenders and also to supply inferior material for projects intended for community development. The last main factor is the lack of political leadership to enforce compliance, such as consequence management for those who contravened the supply chain management policies, as some councillors are also found doing business with their municipalities which is against the Municipal System Act 32 of 2000. The aim of this study was to establish an effective supply chain management framework for local municipalities in order to achieve the primary objectives of Section 217 of the Constitution of the Republic which are fairness, equity, transparency, and competitive and cost effectiveness. The study found that supply chain management practitioners have indicated that they have a very good understanding of how the supply chain management framework should be applied and of related legislations, but the literature differs with the views of the practitioners, as corruption, fraud and lack of consequences reports are still raised by the Auditor General South Africa and by other publications over the years. The following are recommendations that should be taken into account for the supply framework to function effectively: - Establish a Supply Chain Management Professional Association (SCMPA) of which the role is to provide annual online assessment for all the supply chain management practitioners; - To use the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) grading certificate as evaluation minimum criteria of assessing functionality in accordance with the specific project; - Cancel the provision to re-issue or re-advertise the tenders after the supply chain management unit has received quotations from suppliers. - Municipalities should develop an integrated online commodity price listing supply database which should be operational 24 hours. Also to develop a Cellular phone application that will enable all the service providers to access the portal at any time to load their respective prices. - Make provision to include members of the audit committee to be charged for negligence under financial misconduct section 171 of the Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003. - To provide the Auditor General South Africa and the Public Protector with legislative powers to refer malpractices or contravention with the supply chain policies to the SCMPA and SAPS to recover wasteful and fruitless expenditure as required by Section 102 of Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) of 56 of 2003 after complying with section 173 of the MFMA. / MBA, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 27-30, 1997 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / There is a continuing need in the aerospace industry for lower cost and more maintainable telemetry data processing systems that can deliver a high level of performance. While systems based on the Intel family of x86 processors and Microsoft operating systems have seen increasing use in lower performance and portable applications, UNIX/VME based systems have been necessary to achieve required performance in higher end, multi-stream applications. Recent developments in the computer industry now promise lower cost alternative to these systems. With currently available technology, it is now possible to provide a powerful distributed processor architecture based entirely on commercial products. The system takes advantage of the latest of Intel Pentium processors, the PCI bus, 100BaseT Fast Ethernet, Microsoft Windows NT, ActiveX technology and NT servers. The architecture offers both current and future cost advantages for test facilities which must support a diverse set of requirements and which must maintain and support systems for many years.

Herzinsuffizienz ist eine sehr häufige Erkrankung vor allem des höheren Lebensalters. Biomarker wie NT-proBNP, BNP, hsCRP haben neben ihrer Bedeutung für die Diagnose einer akuten Herzinsuffizienz einen großen Stellenwert in der Abschätzung der Prognose eines Patienten. Die prognostische Relevanz dieser Marker konnte auch bei nicht herzinsuffizienten, anderweitig kranken Patienten gezeigt werden. Unklar und wenig erforscht ist die Aussagekraft von Biomarkern in einem Kollektiv nicht akut dekompensierter Patienten, welche sich ambulant bei ihrem Hausarzt vorstellen. Die Handheld-BNP-Studie untersuchte im primärärztlichen Bereich das diagnostische Potential von BNP und der miniaturisierten Echokardiographie. Die vorliegende Follow-up-Studie untersucht die prognostische Relevanz von BNP sowie vergleichend den prognostischen Wert von NT-proBNP und der Kardiologendiagnose. Auch die prognostische Aussagekraft der inflammatorischen Marker hsCRP und TNF-ɑ, ebenso wie die Frage, ob durch eine Kombination der Marker die prognostische Abschätzung weiter gesteigerter werden kann, ist Gegenstand dieser Arbeit. Zuletzt wurde eine multivariate Regressionsanalyse durchgeführt, um den unabhängigen prognostischen Wert der Biomarker zu untersuchen. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass bei diagnostisch naiven Patienten mit dem klinisch-anamnestischen Verdacht auf das Vorliegen einer Herzinsuffizienz das kardiale wie auch das nicht-kardiale Mortalitätsrisiko sowie die Rate an Hospitalisierungen gegenüber der Allgemeinbevölkerung gleichen Alters erhöht sind, unabhängig vom Vorliegen einer Herzinsuffizienz. Eine Bestimmung der Biomarker BNP, NT-proBNP, hsCRP und TNF-ɑ erwies sich in diesem Kollektiv als hilfreich, diejenigen mit erhöhtem Risiko zu erkennen. / Heart failure is a very common disease especially among old people. In addition to their importance for the diagnosis of acute heart failure, biomarkers such as NT-proBNP, BNP, hsCRP and TNF-ɑ play a major role in the assessment of patients prognosis. The prognostic relevance of these markers could even be demonstrated on ill patients with a diagnosis other than heart failure. The significance of biomarkers in a group of not acutely decompensated patients, who consult their general practitioner, is unclear and little explored. The Handheld-BNP-study examined the diagnostic potential of BNP an the miniaturized echokardiography in a primary care setting. The follow-up-study at hand investigates the prognostic relevance of BNP and compares the prognostic value of NT-proBNP and the cardiologist diagnosis. The prognostic value of the inflammatory markers hsCRP and TNF-ɑ, as well as the question of wether the prognostic assessment can further be enhanced by a combination af these markers, are subject of this thesis. At last, a multivariate regression analysis was performed to investigate the independent prognostic value of biomarkers. The thesis shows that the cardiac and non-cardiac mortality risk and the hospitalization rate in diagnostically naive patients with diffuse symptoms who are potentially indicative of heart failure is high, compared to other people of similar age, irrespective of the presence of heart failure. A determination of the biomarkers BNP, NT-proBNP, hsCRP and TNF-ɑ in this cohort proved to be helpful to identify those at increased risk.

(1) Aerial survey methods for estimating population size of feral water buffalo in northern Australia were examined. (2) Line transect models underestimated population size. Of six models tested the most accurate underestimated by nearly half. The models give biased estimates most probably because not all animals on the survey line were sighted . (3) Aerial strip transect surveys were also negatively biased. The extent of this bias was estimated in index-removal experiments. Experiments were carried out on two populations in areas of differing obstructive canopy cover. (4) In woodland habitat with a canopy cover of 30- 60%, a correction factor of 3.2 was required to take account of animals not seen. In forest habitat with a canopy cover of 60-100%, a correction factor of 4.9 was required. (5) Using these results, the population size of feral buffalo, cattle and horses in Kakadu National Park was estimated by aerial survey at the end of each year over 6 years. Annual rates of increase for three regions of the Park were estimated, taking into account known removals from the population. The effects of dry season rainfall and population density in the preceding year on rate of increase were examined for each species. (6) The mean annual exponential rate of increase for each species was 0.10 yr-1 for buffalo, 0.23 yr-1 for cattle and -0.14 yr-1 for horses. (7) The annual rates of increase varied greatly between years within all species and were highly correlated with dry season rainfall in the year of survey for buffalo and cattle but not for horses. (8) No significant effect of preceding density on rate of increase was found for any species. A large reduction in buffalo populations did not correspond with an increase in unharvested populations of horses, suggesting the two species do not compete for food or other resources. (9) A campaign to control populations of feral water buffalo in Kakadu National Park was assessed. Between 1979 and 1988, approximately 79,000 animals were removed, 54% by commercial live-capture, 35% by shooting from helicopters and 10% by shooting from the ground. (10) In the period 1983-1988 when population estimates from aerial survey are available, mean buffalo population density was reduced from 5.60 km-2 to 1.17 km-2 over the surveyed area of the Park. (11) The costs of removal by shooting from helicopters, capturing animals alive and shooting from the ground were compared. The mean costs per animal in 1988 were $24.13, $74.53, and $86.02 respectively. (12) The effects of initial density and time spent shooting on number of animals removed by shooting from helicopters were examined. One linear and two curvilinear models were fitted to data from four different removal exercises. The relationship between time spent shooting and number removed was best described by a curvilinear (Ivlev) function. This model was used to estimate costs of control to a specified density. (13) Model regression coefficients differed between removal exercises, suggesting that the number removed may be affected by variables other than time spent shooting and initial density. Data from the range of conditions encountered during removal is thus likely to be required for robust estimation of removal costs.

This study describes and assesses the organisational culture of a particular primary school in the Northern Territory through examination of two research questions: 1. To what extent is the organisational culture of the school cohesive, strong and concentrated? 2. To what extent can the organisational culture of the school be described as a particular type(s) of culture? The development of the concept of organisational culture is outlined through a survey and analysis of the literature. This study takes the view of culture as 'root metaphor'. The relationship between cultural strength and effectiveness, particularly in the school context, is examined to provide a rationale for the study. From the literature review the study develops a number of methodological, analytical and interpretative frameworks to provide an underlying structure to address the research questions. The research methodology is qualitative, drawing largely on ethnographic approaches. The researcher spent extensive time in the school under study as 'participant observer'. Data gathering was carried out in four ways 1. Collection of written material.2. Researcher's observational notes. 3. Interviewing, both informal and semi-structured 4. Administration to school teaching staff of the Owens and Steinhoff (1989) Organisational Culture Assessment Inventory. The findings are presented under seven themes or sets of themes, seen to be indicative of the core operating values of the school: Stability, Tradition and Formality Caring Co-operation, Support and Sharing Commitment and Participation High Standards Recognition and Pride Flexibility. The strength and inter-relationship of the seven themes is explored via a conceptual map. The study concludes that the organisational culture of the school under study can be considered to be cohesive, strong and concentrated to a significant extent but that it is difficult to conclude that the culture can be described as any particular type. Rather, it is concluded that it could be described as a number of particular types. Finally, what emerges of particular significance from this study is the role played by the principal of the school in forming, shaping and modelling its values system. It is concluded that educational leaders must also be cultural leaders, be aware of the need for all members of the school community to be involved in this process and engage, encourage and reward their participation.

<p>The central portion of Paul's letter to the Galatians consists of three main arguments, each of which invokes a different image of Abrahamic descent: sons (3:7) in 3:6-14, seed (3:16, 29) in 3:15-4:11, and children of promise (4:28) in 4:21-5:1. Current interpretations of these Abrahamic appeals typically portray them as logically problematical, collectively inconsistent, and/or generally unpersuasive, a situation that then leads most scholars to identify them as <italic>ad hoc</italic> responses to the Galatian agitators. This inability to find a coherent model of Abrahamic descent in Galatians, however, threatens to undermine the very gospel itself by suggesting that it cannot effectively counter a Judaizing call that derives from a simple appeal to Abraham.</p> <p>This dissertation argues that Paul does indeed present the Galatians with a coherent account of Abrahamic descent that accords with his persuasive intent of refuting a law-based circumcision. Its key insight lies in the suggestion that Paul understands the Abrahamic <italic>diatheke</italic> in 3:15-18 as akin to a Hellenistic adoptive testament. As a result, the promised Abrahamic seed must be both a son of Abraham and, because of Abraham's divine adoption through the <italic>diatheke</italic>, a son of God, hence Paul's identification of Christ as Abraham's sole seed (3:16).</p> <p>This twofold nature of the Abrahamic seed then suggests a distinction in Paul's other terms for Abrahamic descent. The dissertation accordingly contends that "sons of Abraham" in 3:7 designates, as it typically did in the mid-first century C.E., the Jews, i.e., those physical descendants of Abraham who also share his faith. In contrast, "children of promise" in 4:28 designates gentiles who have through faith received the Abrahamic blessing, i.e., the Spirit of sonship that makes them children of God. Each group thus requires incorporation into Christ to establish their status as Abrahamic seed: the Jews so that they might share in the gentiles' divine sonship, the gentiles so that they might share in the Jews' Abrahamic sonship. This interdependent union of the Jewish sons of Abraham and the gentile sons of God in Christ then constitutes the single divine Abrahamic seed who inherits (3:29). </p> <p>Paul employs this model to refute the necessity of law observance as follows. In 3:6-14, he argues that Christ's accursed death on the cross divides faith from law observance as a means of justification for Jews; the full sons of Abraham accordingly become those Jews who, by dying to the law and embracing Christ, exhibit the same radical trust in God as their forefather exhibited. In 3:15-4:11, he argues that God added the law and its curse to ensure that the Jews could not receive the Abrahamic blessing promised to the nations--i.e., the Spirit that would make the Jews sons of God and, thus, Abrahamic seed--apart from the one seed, Christ. Finally, in 4:21-5:1, he argues that, like Hagar, the non-adoptive Sinaitic <italic>diatheke</italic> produces Abrahamic descendants (i.e., non-Christian Jews) who share the general human enslavement to the <italic>stoicheia</italic>, whereas the adoptive Abrahamic <italic>diatheke</italic> produces Abrahamic descendants (i.e., Christian Jews) whose divine adoption frees them from this enslavement. Each appeal to Abraham thus undermines the gentile Christians' motivation for submitting to the law by demonstrating that Jewish Christians do not even remain under the law.</p> / Dissertation

Šiandien, investiciniu požiūriu, viena patraukliausių ir didžiausią potencialą pritraukti tiesiogines užsienio investicijas sričių yra nekilnojamojo turto rinka, traukianti užsienio investuotojus didesniu pajamingumo lygiu. Darbe bus kalbama apie nekilnojamąjį turtą kaip investicijų objektą, todėl abstrahuojamasi nuo gyvenamojo nekilnojamojo turto, kuris nebus aptarinėjamas, nes gyvenamojo nekilnojamojo turto kainų pokyčius didžiąja dalimi lemia paklausos bei pasiūlos santykis. Todėl šiame darbe koncentruojamasi ties komerciniu nekilnojamuoju turtu. Temos aktualumas: Lietuvos nekilnojamojo turto rinka, o ypač atskiri jos segmentai dar yra labai jauni ir yra vystymosi stadijoje. Tai kartu galima akcentuoti ir kaip privalumą, nes tai leidžia išvengti tam tikrų klaidų analizuojant kitų šalių patirtį, įgytą formuojant nekilnojamojo turto investicinį patrauklumą. Tačiau nekilnojamojo turto sritis, būdama patrauklia investicijoms sfera, yra pakankamai sudėtinga ir unikali, įtakojama ir formuojama gausybės aplinkos veiksnių. Tai sąlygoja ir didesnę investuotojų patiriamą riziką ir tokiu būdu jų atsargumą bei mažesnius investicinius srautus šalyje. Todėl šios srities analizavimas bei jos vystymosi prognozavimai nors ir yra sudėtingi ir problematiški, tačiau kartu būtini brėžiant jos ateities tobulinimo gaires. Atsižvelgiant į temos aktualumą, numatomas šis darbo tikslas – išnagrinėjus teorinius nekilnojamojo turto ir investicijų aspektus, jų tarpusavio sąryšį bei atlikus Lietuvos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The conception of real estate can be understood very differently – depending on its utilization. For some people it is either working or resting place, for others – safe investment, property guarantee, business or other activity mean. Lithuanian real estate market, especially the separate segments are very young and still in developing phases. This offers both advantages and disadvantages: investments bring big profits but convey the huge risk. The development of Lithuanian real estate market began in 1990, when the government of Lithuania officially declared independence, after which land and real estate questions became the most important. Economical growth in Lithuania was related with business development, when the demand of office accommodation stimulated trade. Investors from abroad found the investment opportunities in Lithuania attractive after the country joined European Union. The main subject of the work is to analyse the theoretical real estate and investment aspects, and after exhaustive Lithuanian real estate market research to forecast the development tendencies. Main objectives are as follows: 1. To analyse real estate conception and clasification; 2. To analyse conceptions and characteristics of direct foreign investments; 3. To compare direct foreign investments in Lithuanian and Estonian real estate market; 4. To compare Lithuanian and Estonian commercial real estate markets; 5. To question the experts of Lithuanian real estate market and do the prognozis... [to full text]

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abstract: The ultimate goal of human movement control research is to understand how natural movements performed in daily reaching activities, are controlled. Natural movements require coordination of multiple degrees of freedom (DOF) of the arm. Patterns of arm joint control were studied during daily functional tasks, which were performed through the rotation of seven DOF in the arm. Analyzed movements which imitated the following 3 activities of daily living: moving an empty soda can from a table and placing it on a further position; placing the empty soda can from initial position at table to a position at shoulder level on a shelf; and placing the empty soda can from initial position at table to a position at eye level on a shelf. Kinematic and kinetic analyses were conducted for these three movements. The studied kinematic characteristics were: hand trajectory in the sagittal plane, displacements of the 7 DOF, and contribution of each DOF to hand velocity. The kinetic analysis involved computation of 3-dimensional vectors of muscle torque (MT), interaction torque (IT), gravity torque (GT), and net torque (NT) at the shoulder, elbow, and wrist. Using the relationship NT = MT + GT + IT, the role of active control and passive factors (gravitation and inter-segmental dynamics) in rotation of each joint by computing MT contribution (MTC) to NT was assessed. MTC was computed using the ratio of the signed MT projection on NT to NT magnitude. Despite a variety of joint movements available across the different tasks, 3 patterns of shoulder and elbow coordination prevailed in each movement: 1) active rotation of the shoulder and predominantly passive rotation of the elbow; 2) active rotation of the elbow and predominantly passive rotation of the shoulder; and 3) passive rotation of both joints. Analysis of wrist control suggested that MT mainly compensates for passive torque and provides adjustment of wrist motion according to requirements of each task. In conclusion, it was observed that the 3 shoulder-elbow coordination patterns (during which at least one joint moved) passively represented joint control primitives, underlying the performance of well-learned arm movements, although these patterns may be less prevalent during non-habitual movements. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Biomedical Engineering 2018