Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2002. / "May 2002." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 253-275). Also available on microfiche.

Image and video codecs are prevalent in multimedia applications, ranging from embedded systems, to desktop computers, to high-end servers such as HDTV editing consoles. It is not uncommon however for developers create (from scratch) and customize their codec implementations for each of the architecture targets they intend their coders and decoders to run on. This practice is time consuming and error prone, leading to code that is not malleable or portable. In this paper we describe an implementation of the MPEG-2 codec using the StreamIt programming language. StreamIt is an architecture independent stream language that aims to improve programmer productivity, while concomitantly exposing the inherent parallelism and communication topology of the application. We describe why MPEG is a good match for the streaming programming model, and illustrate the malleability of the implementation using a simple modification to the decoder to support alternate color compression formats. StreamIt allows for modular application development, which also reduces the complexity of the debugging process since stream components can be verified independently. This in turn leads to greater programmer productivity. We implement a fully functional MPEG-2 decoder in StreamIt. The decoder was developed in eight weeks by a single student programmer who did not have any prior experience with MPEG or other video codecs. Many of the MPEG-2 components were subsequently reused to assemble a JPEG codec. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

A revision of parts of the author's thesis, (Ph.D.) in the M.I.T. Dept. of Economics, 1977.

No description available.

M.Com. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.A. (Industrial Psychology) / The object of this study is to determine the correlation between selfconcepts selfactualization and anxiety on the one hand and -achievement motivation, as applicable to persons in middle management positions in the mining industry. Four different psychological questionnaires were used that is the Achievement motivation questionnaire of Malan (1978) as adjusted by Pottas and Lessing (1979L the Selfconcept questionnaire of Vrey (1974)s the IPAT Anxiety scale and the Selfrealization questionnaire of Osrin {1972}. The four questionnaires were administered to 110 middle-managers in the mining industry. It was found that the sUbjects obtained relatively high scores on the self-images selfrealization s achievement motivation and the three components of achievement motivations namely selfdetermination, the urge to complete uncompleted tasks and goal directedness. The scores obtained on the anxiety scale were relatively low. It was further found that-there existed a negative linear correlation between anxiety and achievement motivation,- in contrast with the initial hipothesis, namely that a curvilinear correlation exists between the two variables. Selfconcept and selfrealization both yielded a positive linear correlation with achievement motivation and its three components; which confirms the hypothesis. It was found that anxiety formed a negative correlation with all the variables. A positive linear correlation was obtained between selfrealization and selfconcept.

M.B.A. / This study is concerned with an investigation into the manual labour reporting system as currently operated by South African Airways (SAA) Technical. This was necessary, as a large percentage of the time sheet hours were not being captured with the net result being that costs and the resultant effects were becoming distorted. The primary purposes of this research was to identify the reasons for the current difficulties being experienced with labour cost recovery within SAA Technical in order to propose changes to rectify the impasse. The following reasons for the labour hour losses were identified: • Ineffective operational control methods. • Deployment of geographically dispersed data capturers. • Computer programming errors in the transfer routines. These problems naturally lead to a loss of control. The following improvements after rectification were noticeable: • In January 1997, average labour hour under recovery was as high as 46%. After rectification, losses were down to 15% (cf. 4.3). • The management accounting reporting document was greatly revised; thus rendering improved service to and understanding by the users. • The automated labour reporting bar scanning system currently being implemented would also benefit from the rectified computer transfer program. It may thus be concluded that the research was beneficial to SAA Technical operation and provided solid reasons for the labour hour losses. If the recommendations as presented further on in this study are adhered to, there should be no reason for the present situation not to maintain or improve the current improvements.

The neoclassical "sources-of-growth" approach is applied to derive total factor productivity (TFP) growth measures for manufacturing industries in South Africa. Although South Africa's recorded industrial TFP growth measures have been persistently low in absolute terms, this performance is not significantly worse than the industrial TFP growth performance of other developing countries. In some periods there is evidence of a significant variability in TFP performance across industries. The measures also indicate that TFP growth has worsened in the 1980s, particularly in the intermediate-capital intensive and labour intensive industries. However, there are various problems with interpreting neoclassical TFP growth measures as indicators of production efficiency. In fact, as TFP growth is derived as a residual, it may measure many factors besides production efficiency. Alternative growth theories are used to assess the fundamental determinants of productivity growth. These provide a more plausible conceptualisation of the process by which productivity growth is generated than the neoclassical growth theory does. However, this analysis also provides little empirical evidence of which underlying factors have had the most influence on productivity growth in South African manufacturing. Hence, the relative importance of possible candidates can only really be assessed qualitatively and on the basis of micro evidence. However, these assessments, and the assumptions underlying the postulated causal connections (between the identified factors and productivity growth), have a major impact on policy design. In this respect, on the basis of the framework provided by the evolutionary and other recent growth theories, various policy implications are drawn, and these are contrasted with the policy proposals of other South African analysts. This thesis concludes that policies need to be designed with the central objective of enhancing the technological capabilities of South African firms. Trade policies will not be sufficient for achieving this objective. Education and training policies, technology, competition and labour market policies are also crucial. However, since the fundamental causes of productivity growth remain somewhat of a mystery, there is a need to be sceptical of simple policy prescriptions. In this respect, this thesis is highly critical of the World Bank's position that productivity gains will be reaped from the exposure of firms to international competition that trade liberalisation policies entail.

Class of 2005 Abstract / Objectives: To evaluate potential productivity differences among working-age individuals with arthritis in the United States, and to determine the costs associated with these differences. Methods: Health risk assessment survey data was obtained through the You First internet survey group. Five hundred seventy-nine individuals with and 579 without arthritis, matched for age, were evaluated for differences in survey responses. The arthritis group was also evaluated to determine the association of pain severity level and activity limitations with work days missed. Results: Arthritis respondents were found to have significantly more work days missed, emergency room visits, hospital visits, and physician visits than respondents without arthritis. Arthritis respondents missed 6.14 more work days in the 12 months before taking the survey than non-arthritis respondents, costing US $12.9 billion in the United States each year. Arthritis respondents were significantly more limited in their activities than non-arthritis respondents. Arthritis pain and activity limitation were found to be positively correlated with work days missed. Implications: The data from this study demonstrate that work productivity is impaired in individuals with arthritis, pain and physical activity limitations are positively correlated with missed work days, and missed work days constitute a substantial annual cost to employers. Given the evidence of costly productivity impairment in arthritis patients vs. a general population, lost productivity should be included with direct medical costs in studies determining the burden of arthritis in the United States, especially from the employer’s perspective.

Retail is a labour intensive industry and strategically, retail productivity can be used to differentiate retail stores and provides the foundation to develop strategies for growth and diversification in retail stores (Dubelaar, Bhargava and Ferrarin, 2002). This study used historical data to identify the drivers of retail productivity, measured as units per man-hour worked. Prior literature has suggested that sales mix, retail gross, basket size, shrinkage, services, managers’ experience, staff compliment, work force flexibility, number of people employed and the number of units sold could contribute to retail productivity. Of all these variables all except shrinkage and the number of store managers’ years experience proven to be significant. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted