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Coal-tar was commonly used as an internal lining for corrosion protection of water pipes from the 19th century up to the present. It is reported that these coatings can lead to elevated concentrations of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the distributed drinking water. The aim of the project was to investigate the processes and mechanisms responsible for the occurrence of these substances in drinking water distribution systems. The results presented in this project showed that the occurrence of PAHs in a distribution system was linked to the presence of the disinfectants chlorine and chlorine dioxide. This dependence could be shown in the laboratory, in a pilot-scale pipe rig as well as in field investigations in a real distribution system. Generally, hostile environmental conditions for microbiological activity such as stagnation periods and anaerobic conditions could be identified as the most important factors to favour the occurrence of PAHs in the drinking water. It was clearly shown that disturbances in the hydraulic regime such as water hammers, operation of valves and rapid increases in flow velocity can result in enhanced PAH concentrations. Immediately after stagnation periods PAH concentrations increased to levels which exceeded the prescribed concentrations of the EC-guideline of 200 ng/l. In laboratory experiments it was demonstrated that the coal-tar is a substrate for the growth of biofilms. Batch experiments and reactor experiments showed that the removal of biofilm resulted in a higher leaching rate of the PAHs into the water. Experiments concerning the potential for the formation of chlorinated PAHs as disinfection by-products from the PAHs prevalent in water distributed through coal-tar lined pipes showed that their occurrence is very unlikely under conditions prevalent in water distribution systems. A theory is presented which indicates that particles adhering to the pipe walls which can be sometimes embedded in the biofilm matrix represent a major factor in the process of the mobilisation of PAHs. The destabilisation of the biofilm matrix by hostile environmental conditions (disinfectants, aerobic conditions, oxygen limitation during stagnation periods) or enhanced shear forces on the biofilm, results in the release of particles highly contaminated with PAHs.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Christine Wilson / Risk management is critical in crop production as the challenges farmers face on a year to year basis are quite variable due to Mother Nature. There are many tools a farmer can utilize to help manage risk such as crop insurance and forward contracting or hedging. In recent years with lower prices, these tools have been more heavily used than they were a few years ago when corn and soybean prices were $8 and $15 per bushel, respectively. Margins in crop production are tight when market prices are low and input prices are high relative to market prices, and due to land cost. In order for farmers to produce greater profit, they must find ways to lower expenses or produce more bushels to increase their revenue. As margins tighten, farmers typically try to lower expenses to be more profitable rather than trying to increase bushels that would ultimately increase their revenue. When farmers try to reduce expenses, agricultural retailers experience lower revenues holding all else equal; distributors have lower revenues because the retailer is not selling as much, and the manufacturers experience lower revenues because the retailer and distributor are not moving the inventory compared to when farmer margins are larger. This thesis examines how yield protection for grain corn can be utilized as a risk management tool for crop production farmers. This thesis explores how increasing bushels and ultimately increasing revenue by protecting the bushels the crop is physically able to produce, can help manage producer risk. This thesis uses yield protection as a tool alongside crop insurance and marketing, rather than as a tool to replace crop insurance or marketing. Data used for yield protection is replicated fungicide, fungicide with an adjuvant, and fungicide with insecticide, that were evaluated against the untreated check over multiple locations and years across the Midwestern United States. Fungicide data were chosen because it is truly the definition of yield protection, protecting the crop against disease. Fungicides are usually the first products cut from a farmer’s crop production program to help reduce expenses and maintain profitability as margins tighten. The results found in this study are consistent with work conducted at Iowa State University. Results exhibited an increase in corn yield, but were not consistently statistical significant across treatments and location. In conclusion, the average yield increase was not enough over multiple years to pay for itself, and it lacked sufficient evidence. Yield protection does not fit a risk management strategy annually. However, yield protection should be utilized when specific thresholds on disease or insects are present to warrant this strategy.

Microfinance, the provision of financial services to the poor, has been celebrated for its win-win proposition of reducing poverty while operating on a financially sustainable or even profitable basis. However, the industry has recently experienced several crises that have challenged both its financial sustainability and its social reputation. As a result, the focus of the microfinance sector on commercialization has given way to a new emphasis on client-focused products and services and on customer protection as the industry’s current priorities. Given the risks it implies both to the social impact of microfinance and to institutional sustainability, the main focus of the current client protection efforts in microfinance is on protecting borrowers against over-indebtedness. <p><p>However, customer protection efforts are struggling with a significant gap of knowledge about the prevalence, causes and consequences of over-indebtedness. There is no agreed definition or measurement of personal over-indebtedness. Especially, there is no appropriate definition for customer protection purposes and for the specific circumstances of microfinance. Existing over-indebtedness definitions mostly centre on default, thus avoiding portfolio quality problems for the lending institutions. They do not take into account that borrowers already experience severe consequences of over-indebtedness before reaching the stage of default. Findings on the empirical prevalence of over-indebtedness and on its causes and consequences may differ based on a definition that takes the borrowers’ over-indebtedness experiences and thus the customer protection perspective into account.<p><p>The first paper of this PhD develops an over-indebtedness definition that is suitable for customer protection purposes in the microfinance context. The definition is based on the sacrifices that microborrowers experience related to their loans. Working with the economics, psychology, and sociology literatures on both microfinance and consumer finance, the paper provides a conceptual analysis of the demand and supply side factors that cause over-indebtedness as well as the role of adverse economic shocks. The second paper reveals the broad spectrum of consequences that over-indebtedness can have on borrowers and on MFIs. It then reviews the empirical studies on over-indebtedness in the microfinance industry to date to shed light on the prevalence of over-indebtedness in microfinance. <p><p>In an empirical field research supported by the Independent Evaluation Department of KfW Entwicklungsbank and the Smart Campaign at ACCION’s Center for Financial Inclusion, the PhD applies the customer protection definition of over-indebtedness that results from the first paper to the microfinance market of Accra in Ghana. The third paper uses this unique database to pinpoint the prevalence of over-indebtedness in this market and analyse the debt experiences of microborrowers. In a second step, by means of a logistic regression of alternative measurements on the customer protection measurement of over-indebtedness, it provides empirical confirmation for the important differences between the risk management perspective on over-indebtedness and the customer protection point of view. <p><p>Finally, the fourth paper of the PhD tests socio-demographic and economic factors on the borrower level for their relationship to over-indebtedness. It sheds light on how the potential over-indebtedness causes that emerge from the analysis of paper 1 relate to the likelihood of a borrower being over-indebted. It also works with the primary database from Ghana and uses econometric regression methods to confirm to what extent theses potential causes of over-indebtedness relate to over-indebtedness in the given microfinance setting.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This thesis addresses the subject of whistleblowing. This is currently very topical in the Czech Republic, due to the recent Decree of the Government on measures regarding reporting of suspicious activities in civil service bodies as well as on-going legislative works. These works are aiming to create new law, which aspires to deal with whistleblowing in a more comprehensive manner. The thesis also addresses existing regulations that deal with whistleblowing. The constitutional system offers some rules on which you can base the lawfulness of whistleblowing. Individual regulations can be found in labour law, criminal law, administrative law or civil law. Legislation of protection of personal data and protection of journalistic sources are also relevant. There is still debate as to the exact definition of whistleblowing. In this thesis whistleblowing is defined as reporting harmful or unwanted conduct by internal or third parties, via a specific system of notification relevant to an entity's (in which the reporting occurs) scope. In all cases the informant should be protected from retaliatory measures. This thesis also addresses the history of experience with whistleblowing, in America up to the second half of the 18th century. Part of the thesis is also dedicated to international legislation...

No abstract available / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmchunu2014 / Private Law / unrestricted

M.Comm. / At the time of a fresh issue of shares or debentures to the public, the principle document that provides potential investors with information on which to base their investment decisions, is a prospectus. In terms of the Companies Act, an offer of shares may not be made to the public unless it is accompanied by a prospectus. The information to be disclosed in a prospectus must conform to the requirements of Schedule 3 of the Companies Act. A prospectus also has to comply with the JSE Listing Requirements. Schedule 3 was promulgated in 1975 and has not been amended since. The question arises whether the requirements of Schedule 3 are comparable with similar international regulations and meet the needs of a changing business environment in South Africa. In an attempt to overcome this problem, ED 105 - Report offinancial information to be included in a prospectus created the first accounting statement dealing with the financial information that should be included in a prospectus, as well as proposing a revised Schedule 3 to the Standing Advisory Committee on Company Law relating to non-financial information that should be disclosed in a prospectus. Firstly this thesis aimed to establish whether the prospectus is a protection instrument for potential investors. The prospectus must, therefore, provide potential investors with sufficient and reliable information to enable them to make sound investment decisions. The contents of Schedule 3 were analysed in comparison with the JSE Listing Requirements and ED 105 to determine whether progress has been made in the provision of quality information to potential investors through the prospectus. The current South African requirements for disclosure in the prospectus were also compared with the requirements of leading overseas bourses and the prospectuses of recently listed companies. ED 105 improved the accuracy, completeness and relevancy of the requirements contained in Schedule 3 and the JSE Listing Requirements. The comparison, however, highlighted additional items of disclosure that can further contribute to the prospectus being a protection instrument for potential investors. In view of the financial literacy levels of the South African population, it was also necessary to investigate the ability of potential investors, especially private investors, to understand, interpret and use the information provided in a prospectus. The second objective was, therefore, to determine whether the prospectus empowers potential investors. The prospectus will be an empowerment instrument if the information provided therein is of - such a nature that potential investors can understand and interpret the information for decision-making purposes. An investigation into the literacy profile of potential investors, into relevant education provided to potential investors and an assessment ofthe understandability of the contents of the prospectus was, therefore, performed. Financial information required in ED 105 is strongly linked to the latest Statements of GAAP. A number of the items are only lectured on CT A level and with the Harmonisation and Improvements Project it can be expected that only individuals with a recent CTA will be able to understand these requirements. ED 105 impaired the understandability of the prospectus by the average potential investor.

M.Com. (Computer Science) / The area covered in this study is that of logical security models. A logical security model refers to the formal representation of a security policy which allows the subsequent movement of rights between subjects and objects in a system. The best way to illustrate the goal of this study, is with the following abstract from the submitted article, which originated from this study. 'The original protection graph rewriting grammar used to simulate the different operations of the Take/Grant model is reviewed. The productions of the PGR-grammar is then expanded, by adding a new context which is based on the different security classes found in the Bell Grid LaPadula model [14].' The first goal of this study was to take the Take/Grant security -model and expand it. This expansion included the concept of assigning a different security class to each subject and object in the model. This concept was derived from the Bell and LaPadula model as discussed in chapter 2 of this study. The next goal that was defined, was to expand the PGR-grammar of [28], so that it would also be able to simulate .the operations of this expanded Take/Grant model. The .PGR-grammar consisted of different permitting and forbidding node and edge contexts. This PGR-grammar was expanded by adding an additional context to the formal representation. This expansion is explained in detail in chapter 5 of this study. The third goal was to take the expansions, mentioned above, and implement them in a computer system. This computer system had to make use of an expert. system in order to reach certain conclusions. Each of the operations of the Take/Grant model must be evaluated, to determine whether that rule can be applied or not. The use of the expert system is explained in chapters 6 and 7 of this study. This study consists out of eight chapters in the following order. Chapter 2 starts of with an introduction of some of the most important logical security models. This chapter gives the reader background knowledge of the different models available, which is essential for the rest of the study. This chapter, however, does not discuss the Take/Grant model in detail. This is done in chapter 3 of the study. In this chapter the Take Grant model is discussed as a major input to this study. The Send Receive model is also discussed as a variation of the Take/Grant model. In the last section of the chapter a comparison is drawn between these two models. Chapter 4 formalizes the Take/Grant model. The protection graph rewriting grammar (PGR-grammar), which is used to simulate the different operations of the Take/Grant model, is introduced...