The thesis includes the analysis of the preliminary hearing of the indictment institute as an optional part of criminal proceedings, which follows after bringing an indictment to court. The thesis is focused on summary of theoretical findings, which draws mainly from the commentary literature, but a key focus of the thesis is the analysis of relevant judicial decisions that relate to the institute investigated. The thesis works in particular with the decisions of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic and High Courts, to a lesser extent with decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic and several regional courts are used. The text is (except introduction and conclusion) divided into eight parts. The first part contains an explanation of the concept of preliminary hearing of the indictment. Next part of the thesis is focused on the historical development of the preliminary hearing of the indictment, from 1850 to the present. This part also summarizes the most important amendments of the currently effective Criminal Procedure Code. Following parts are focused on explanation of purpose of preliminary hearing of the indictment and explanation of the difference between this and the obligatory review of indictment in accordance with § 181 par. 1 and 185 par. 1 of the Criminal Procedure...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the committee of preliminary inquiry (in the context of professional conduct committees) of the Health Professions Council of South Africa, with specific reference to maxillo-facial and oral surgery. An evaluation was done of cases that were referred by the committee for preliminary inquiry to this specific professional conduct committee of the Medical and Dental Professions Board. Where necessary, these cases were supplemented by relevant cases from other professional conduct committees. In order to achieve this goal, a comprehensive literature study was conducted on the broad concept of medical and dental misconduct and negligence. Specific attention was paid to the issues of expert testimony and witnesses and consent. Furthermore, a study was conducted to determine the legal framework in which these committees are supposed to function. In the cases where inquiries into the complaints against the registered practitioners followed, a detailed evaluation of the so-called legal process was done, as well as the findings in each case (in the context of the professional conduct committees). The results of this study have shown that the investigative system of the committee for preliminary inquiry preceding professional conduct inquiries into complaints against registered practitioners has certain shortcomings, especially in the more complex cases. The following proposals have been made (in order of most importance): 1. Both the committee for preliminary inquiry and professional conduct committee must abide by the rules of natural justice, as pertained in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. 2. Establishment of a Forum of Expert Witnesses that will evaluate all cases of alleged professional misconduct and negligence pertaining to the field of maxillo-facial and oral surgery, after it was evaluated and referred by the Ombudsman. 3. Appointment of a maxillo-facial and oral surgeon as Ombudsman to evaluate all cases brought before the committee for preliminary inquiry pertaining to the field of maxillo-facial and oral surgery. 4. Acceptance of the proposed test of medical negligence, i.e. the ‘reasonable person’s test’, subjected to that of the ‘reasonable specialist’ as standard for evaluation of cases of alleged negligence in maxillo-facial and oral surgery. 5. The proposed patient’s consent form serves as an example of a legitimate patient consent form. It follows that the legal requirements, especially in cases of extensions and deviations of medical interventions, must be adhered to. 6. It is advisable to belong to an organisation providing indemnity cover (such as Medical/Dental Protection Society) in order to receive proper assistance in the handling of these cases of alleged unprofessional/disgraceful conduct. The recommendations consequential to this study would provide a more streamlined, cost- and time effective investigative system to investigate claims of unprofessional conduct for possible further disciplinary action. / Thesis (PhD (Dentistry))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Maxillo-Facial and Oral Surgery / unrestricted

No description available.

Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition that can impair physical, psychological and social functioning. A sub-population of people living with psoriasis believe that psychological stress exacerbates their physical symptoms. Stress may exacerbate psoriasis via a psychoneuroimmunological pathway. The cortisol awakening response can be used to indicate whether this pathway is functional or dysfunctional. People with psoriasis have an elevated risk of emotional distress (anxiety and depression) and an impaired quality of life. Mindfulness based cognitive therapy has been effective in reducing stress, emotional distress, quality of life impairment as well as improving physical health. The aim of this thesis is to examine the efficacy and acceptability of mindfulness-based intervention for people living with psoriasis and whether the cortisol awakening response mediates the relationship between perceived stress and physical severity of psoriasis. This thesis adopted a mixed-methods design. A pilot, randomised control trial examined the effects of mindfulness based cognitive therapy upon the physical severity, perceived stress, emotional distress, quality of life and cortisol awakening response of people living with psoriasis. These variables were entered into a correlation analysis to examine whether the cortisol awakening response was associated with any of the reported study outcomes (physical severity, perceived stress, emotional distress and quality of life). Completers of the mindfulness intervention were invited to a semi-structured interview to explore the characteristics of the participants who adhered to the intervention and their experiences of participating. The mindfulness intervention significantly improved physical (z=1.96, p=0.05) and quality of life (z=2.30, p=0.02) measurements without changing perceived stress (z=0.07, p=0.94), emotional distress (z=1.60, p=0.12) or cortisol awakening responses (z=-0.33, p=0.74). The overall cortisol awakening response was not associated with physical severity (r=-0.30, p=0.07) or perceived stress (r=-0.20, p=0.25) but was significantly correlated with emotional distress (r=-0.35, p=0.04). The intervention was perceived as an acceptable adjunct treatment option. Participants reported some process barriers that inhibited their learning of mindfulness skills. A profile emerged that described a sub-population of people with psoriasis. This sub-population may be more likely to accept and adhere to mindfulness based cognitive therapy.This thesis provides preliminary support to the concept that increasing mindfulness skill can reduce the physical severity and quality of life impairment in people with psoriasis. It recommends that a fully powered trial be conducted to examine the effectiveness of mindfulness in improving physical and overall functioning for people with psoriasis. This thesis suggests clinicians screen their patients and offer a psychological intervention best suited to their needs and characteristics.

L’expertise judiciaire pénale consiste à faire intervenir un sachant, spécialiste de son domaine, dans un procès pénal, afin qu’il l’éclaire par sa science. Par la maitrise de son art, l’expert détient une place indispensable au sein de ce procès. Son rôle dans la manifestation de la vérité est essentiel et ne cesse de s’accroitre, notamment du fait des avancées scientifiques. Cette force probante importante influence énormément l’intime conviction des juges. Cela peut se révéler dangereux dans le cadre d’analyses faillibles ou subjectives. Face à ce risque, il est nécessaire d’encadrer strictement chaque étape de la mesure expertale. Ce besoin trouve également son origine dans la confrontation qui peut se produire entre l’expertise et les droits fondamentaux. À l’image de la procédure pénale, cette mesure se heurte à une opposition entre la nécessité de rechercher la vérité afin de protéger l’ordre public et les libertés individuelles atteintes par l’activité de l’expert. L’enjeu de l’encadrement de l’expertise pénale repose donc sur la recherche d’un équilibre entre ces deux objectifs de protection, parfois antagonistes. Cet équilibre se manifeste aussi entre le besoin d’efficacité de la mesure et le respect des règles du procès équitable dans lequel le contradictoire possède une place considérable. Par ailleurs, l’expertise fait face à des obstacles factuels qui peuvent rendre sa mise en œuvre laborieuse. L’encadrement de l’expertise pénale se doit d’en tenir compte. Ainsi, du recrutement de l’expert, jusqu’aux effets du rapport, en passant par la mise en œuvre de la mission, l’encadrement de l’expertise pénale est confronté à des difficultés et répond à un besoin impérieux. Cet encadrement se doit d’être évolutif pour se trouver en conformité avec la société dans laquelle il intervient. Bien que satisfaisant, il reste perfectible. Le système actuel pourrait faire l’objet d’une homogénéisation, dans un but de simplification des procédures. L’encadrement de l’expertise pénale doit être particulièrement simple pour être efficace, car il s’adresse en grande partie aux experts qui, par définition, ne sont pas des spécialistes du droit. / The criminal expertise involves calling upon a specialist, knowledgeable in his/her field to shed light in criminal trial. Because of his/her level of competence, this expert witness is a key element in a criminal trial. His/her role in revealing the truth is essential and even more so when considering scientific progress. This major probative force greatly influences the judges’ personal convictions which can prove risky in the case of fallible and subjective analyses. Accordingly, it is necessary to tightly frame each step of the expert’s testimony. This need also stems from the possible conflict between the expertise and fundamental rights. Just like criminal proceedings, the criminal expertise collides with the contradiction between safeguarding public order by seeking the truth and preventing the expert’s testimony to infringe on individual rights. Therefore, the challenge in framing the criminal expertise lies in finding a balance between these two sometimes conflicting, safeguarding purposes. A need for balance is also evident when considering both the effectiveness of the criminal expertise and the respect of the rules for a fair trial where the principe of audi alteram partem is greatly important. Moreover, the criminal expertise faces factual obstacles which may hinder its implementation. This must be taken into account while establishing the criminal expertise framework. Thus, from the selection of the expert to the impact of the report, through the implementation of the task, the criminal expertise framework has to cope with difficulties and has to answer to a compelling need. This framework must be adjustable and conform to the society to which it applies. Although satisfying, it still could be improved. The current system might be subject to standardization, leading to a simplification of procedures. The criminal expertise framework must be specifically simple to be efficient because it addresses, for the most part, experts who, by definition, are no law experts.

The present thesis provides a general asymptotic theory for preliminary test estimators (PTEs). PTEs are typically used when one needs to estimate a parameter having some uncertain prior information about it. In the literature, preliminary test estimation have been applied to some specific models, but no general asymptotic theory was already available to the best of our knowledge. After a study of PTEs in a multisample principal component context, we first provide a general asymptotic theory for PTEs in uniformly, locally and asymptotically normal (ULAN) models. An extensive list of statistical and econometric models are ULAN making our results quite general. Our main results are obtained using the Le Cam asymptotic theory under the assumption that the estimators involved in the PTEs admit Bahadur-type asymptotic representations. Then, we propose PTEs involving multiple tests and therefore multiple constrained estimators; we call them preliminary multiple test estimators. For the latter, we also derive a very general asymptotic theory in ULAN models. Our theoretical results are illustrated on problems involving the estimation of covariance matrices both via simulations and a real data example. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The title of this diploma thesis is "The Role of a Public Prosecutor in Criminal Proceedings". In the Czech Republic, it is Public Prosecution that is granted the right by the Constitution to prosecute criminal offenses on behalf of the country. Activities arising from this right are the main duties of a public prosecutor. The aim of this thesis is therefore to describe said activities. It is done so chronologically with regard to the different phases of criminal proceedings. Other goals include trying to find problematic areas of the laws that govern public prosecutors, trying to come up with possible reasons behind them and proposing their solutions. This thesis also contains comments on some of the recent changes in the rules governing public prosecution. The first chapter of this thesis contains a brief history and evolution of public prosecution in Central Europe and in the Czech lands as the author believes it is a very useful introduction to public prosecution and its role in criminal proceedings today. Chapter two of this thesis deals with the laws governing public prosecution. First, the Constitution is mentioned including its article 80 and its problematic placement within the Constitution. The author then talks about other significant laws from which all duties of public prosecution...

I detta arbete har elektrokemisk impedansspektroskopi använts för att producera reproducerbara impedansdata för katodmaterialet NMC811. Data som skulle kunna användas som basen för parametrisering och konstruktionen av en fysik-baserad modell. Dessutom har effekten av laddningstillstånd, temperatur, och historian av cellen på impedansen undersökts. Baserat på resultaten av preliminära test så har experiment konstruerats i vilka katodens impedans i en NMC811//Grafit cell har undersökts vid olika temperaturer och laddningstillstånd, både efter laddning och urladdning av cellen. Reproducerbara resultat kunde erhållas och det visades hur laddningstillstånd och temperatur har en stor påverkan på impedansen. Tyvärr så kunde inget sägas om hystereseffekten på grund av dålig stabilitet i lågfrekvensområdet av impedansmätningarna. / In this work, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy has been used to try and produce reproducible impedance data for the cathode material NMC811. Data that could serve as the basis of parameter extraction for the construction of a physics-based model. Furthermore, the effect of state of charge, temperature, and history of the cell on the impedance has been analysed. Based on the results of preliminary tests, an experimental cycle was constructed in which the cathode impedance of a NMC811//Graphite cell was measured at varying temperatures and state of charge, both following charge and discharge of the cell. Reproducible results were achieved, and it was shown how the state of charge and temperature of the cell had a major effect on the measured impedance. Unfortunately, no conclusions could be made about the history effect on impedance due to poor stability in the low frequency regions of the impedance measurements.

Topic of Diploma thesis is „Reconstruction of the weir in the Brantice village.“ The theoretical part of their focus deals with the definition and putting patterns associa-ted with the design-ing reconstruction of the weir. In the practical part were made three proposals reconstructions of the weir, which are mathematically based, graphically pre-sented and discussed.

There are growing concerns about quality of education in schools in many countries, and education systems implement mechanisms like school inspection, an external education quality assurance measure, to evaluate their education. Realising that effective improvement of education quality may be achieved from within rather than from outside, many education systems are adopting School Self-Evaluation (SSE), an internal evaluation process, to evaluate quality of education. This study attempted to identify the characteristics of effective SSE frameworks in order to develop one for Zimbabwean primary schools. The study utilised exemplary frameworks as facilitators for introducing SSE practices in Zimbabwe and was guided by the following question: What are the characteristics of an effective SSE framework for improving classroom quality in Zimbabwean primary schools? The study espoused design research approach which aims to provide solutions to various education problems. The study comprised three phases, the preliminary phase which included a literature review and a needs analysis with the former aimed to gain insight into the efficacy of SSE in evaluating quality of education. The needs analysis sought to establish how education is evaluated in Zimbabwean primary schools. The second, the prototyping phase, involved developing and formatively evaluating various prototypes. The last phase, a semi-summative evaluation, involved field-testing and appraisal of the intervention. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data. Six design principles were generated with the main ones being to engage stakeholders in developing SSE frameworks, to agree on the need for SSE initiative and to define the quality indicators in context. The main characteristics of the SSE framework were that it should have a clear purpose, be context specific, and should focus on what is essential for education. The main conclusion of the study is that there are no clear policy guidelines for Zimbabwean primary schools, coupled with lack of SSE instruments, to engage in self-evaluation of quality of education and therefore, no meaningful SSE takes place. An SSE framework with procedural guidelines developed in this research appears to be relevant, feasible and is expected to be effective for use in Zimbabwean primary schools. Some recommendations were made in order to improve Zimbabwe‟s quality of education. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Centre for Evaluation and Assessment (CEA) / University of Pretoria / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / PhD / Unrestricted