Today, global warming is commonly known due to the major impact on the earth’s weather conditions. The increase in the average temperature of the lower atmosphere is causing a drastic change in weather conditions. Human intervention is the main cause of global warming and the latter will be limited if greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions are reduced by individuals and companies in all countries around the world. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the biggest contributors of GHGs and, therefore, a number of measures were implemented to reduce CO2 emissions. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was signed by the Annex 1 countries, of which South Africa is not part, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reduce GHG emissions. It is not only the responsibility of the Annex 1 countries to stabilise global warming, but all countries have to contribute to the reduction of GHG emissions. Enabling countries to meet these reduction targets, they implemented the following measures: carbon tax, Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) and carbon credits. Carbon tax has been implemented in many countries over the last decade with different levels of success. Carbon tax will be implemented in South Africa during 2013/2014. ESCOs have been implemented to assist companies with the implementation of energy saving projects. These projects will assist in reducing carbon emissions and meeting the set targets and it will also assist in reducing the effect of carbon tax. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects are implemented under the UNFCCC for companies that want to register carbon reduction projects. If the projects meet the CDM registration criteria, the project can be registered as a CDM project and it has the ability to earn tradable carbon credits. These credits can be traded on national or international carbon trading markets. This study considered a combination of all the measures a company can implement to improve energy efficiency and thereby reducing GHG emissions. An evaluation of the feasibility of a carbon reduction project, the ‘Vaal River compressed air energy efficiency improvement project’ of AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) was performed to determine whether the project can be registered as a CDM project. It was concluded that AGA will be able to register the project as a CDM project and earn tradable carbon credits. Furthermore, it is recommended that AGA makes use of the option to finance the carbon reducing project by using external funding provided by EDF (the French equivalent of South Africa’s Eskom). / MCom (Management Accountancy)), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Today, global warming is commonly known due to the major impact on the earth’s weather conditions. The increase in the average temperature of the lower atmosphere is causing a drastic change in weather conditions. Human intervention is the main cause of global warming and the latter will be limited if greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions are reduced by individuals and companies in all countries around the world. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the biggest contributors of GHGs and, therefore, a number of measures were implemented to reduce CO2 emissions. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was signed by the Annex 1 countries, of which South Africa is not part, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reduce GHG emissions. It is not only the responsibility of the Annex 1 countries to stabilise global warming, but all countries have to contribute to the reduction of GHG emissions. Enabling countries to meet these reduction targets, they implemented the following measures: carbon tax, Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) and carbon credits. Carbon tax has been implemented in many countries over the last decade with different levels of success. Carbon tax will be implemented in South Africa during 2013/2014. ESCOs have been implemented to assist companies with the implementation of energy saving projects. These projects will assist in reducing carbon emissions and meeting the set targets and it will also assist in reducing the effect of carbon tax. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects are implemented under the UNFCCC for companies that want to register carbon reduction projects. If the projects meet the CDM registration criteria, the project can be registered as a CDM project and it has the ability to earn tradable carbon credits. These credits can be traded on national or international carbon trading markets. This study considered a combination of all the measures a company can implement to improve energy efficiency and thereby reducing GHG emissions. An evaluation of the feasibility of a carbon reduction project, the ‘Vaal River compressed air energy efficiency improvement project’ of AngloGold Ashanti (AGA) was performed to determine whether the project can be registered as a CDM project. It was concluded that AGA will be able to register the project as a CDM project and earn tradable carbon credits. Furthermore, it is recommended that AGA makes use of the option to finance the carbon reducing project by using external funding provided by EDF (the French equivalent of South Africa’s Eskom). / MCom (Management Accountancy)), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

In my dissertation I look into different possibilities of an electrotechnical construction set RC Didactic. The thesis is primarily focused on demonstration of posibilities of the construction set on created tasks. During the processing of these tasks both hardware and software equipment of the construction set are used. Another topic which this thesis is dealing with are issues of application of existing tasks which are provided along with the construction set, than its parameters and projections of the construction set for aplication during classes and also didactical aspects of the construction set.

This diploma thesis is focused on period of Prague Spring 1968 and it also marginally follows its development in the following years 1969 and 1970. The thesis deals with the district of České Budějovice and studies all the key events of the year 1968 in this district and especially in its capital town. Regional events are researched and compared in the context of the whole Czechoslovakian Republic. Besides the description of the important events, the thesis is also focused on the everyday life of the town?s inhabitants in the time of the Soviet occupation. During the author?s research the records from the State Regional Archives Třeboň (the fund of South Bohemian Regional Committee of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ? JKV KSČ) and the State District Archives České Budějovice (the fund of Town?s National Committee České Budějovice ? MěNV České Budějovice - and the chronicles) were used. The author of this thesis also worked with the period and contemporary newspapers as well as six eyewitnesses of the described events. The knowledge learned from the archive records is completed with the pieces of information from the literature. Attention in this diploma thesis is paid especially to the politics of JKV KSČ and MěNV České Budějovice in the time of the Prague Spring reforms, organizations such as KAN and K 231, daily newspaper Jihočeská pravda after the abolition of censorship, occupation of České Budějovice and other towns in the district by the Soviet forces, victims of the occupation and the events that occurred in the autumn of 1968, especially the incidents that happened during the Great October Socialist Revolution celebration.

The topic of my diploma thesis draws on my bachelor thesis, which described combustion products of selected substances in the complete combustion. The diploma thesis focused on the incomplete combustion in the same substances to make a comparison possible. In the chapter on the substances selected for burning, the substances were described theoretically first. Further, the burning was carried out, the products that came into being were collected into collection bags and sent to the laboratory of the Institute of Population Protection in Lázně Bohdaneč to be analysed. After receiving the records all possible effects on human health were carried out, and the results were compared with those of the bachelor thesis. The analyses showed that carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide appeared in all analyses, while the remaining substances differed to a minimum extent, however, they are in much higher concentrations than in the perfect combustion. I added two more substances that had not been in my bachelor thesis to those that were burnt, but in the course of two years their application became a common practice, and they play an increasingly more significant role in our life. The task of the chapter dealing with the detection technique was to find out and describe the possibilities of the commander in detecting the combustion products directly on the spot of the actual operation in the shortest possible time, to enable him to propose the protection of the firemen, and possibly to establish the possibilities of taking samples, transport to the laboratory, conducting a laboratory analysis and establishing the approximate time when he could obtain the first sampling results. All of this was focused on the possibilities of the Fire Rescue Service of the Region of South Bohemia (HZS JčK). The next chapter concerned their colleagues of the Fire Rescue Service of the Region of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, in which a questionnaire investigation was focused on them, identical with that of my bachelor thesis. As I had succeeded in including the results of my bachelor thesis into a training course, I wondered whether the knowledge would improve or not. After a comparison with the results from my bachelor thesis with the new ones the conclusions turned out to be favourable, and suggested in which way the training courses - not only for the professional units - should proceed. The results of the new questionnaire investigation, which showed an improvement, should form a basis of a campaign focusing on the non-professional public, which should be acquainted with what they breathe in the event that they burn vast variety of waste. I believe that results would be achieved even here in the form of a deeper knowledge and a better quality of the air we breathe.

Electricity prepayment systems have been successfully implemented by South Africa’s national electricity utility (Eskom) and local municipalities for more than 17 years. The prepayment vending sub-system is a critical component of prepayment systems. It provides convenient locations for customers to purchase electricity. It predominantly operates in an “offline” mode, however, electricity utilities are now opting for systems that operate in an “online” mode. “Online” mode of operation or online vending is when a prepayment token is requested from a centralised server that is remote from the client at the actual point of sale (POS). The token is only generated by the server and transferred to the POS client, once the transaction, the POS client and the payment mechanism has been authenticated and authorised. The connection between the POS client and the server is a standard computer network channel (like Internet, direct dial-up link, X.25, GPRS, etc) The lack of online vending system standardisation was a concern and significant risk for utilities, as they faced the problem of being locked into proprietary online vending systems. Thus the South African prepayment industry, lead by Eskom, initiated a project to develop an industry specification for online vending systems. The first critical project task was a current state analysis of the South African prepayment industry, technology and specifications. The prepayment industry is built around the Standard Transfer Specification (STS). STS has become the de-facto industry standard to securely transfer electricity credit from a Point of Sale (POS) to the prepaid meter. STS is supported by several “offline” vending system specifications. The current state analysis was followed by the requirements analysis phase. The requirements analysis confirmed the need for a standard interface protocol specification rather than a full systems specification. The interface specification focuses on the protocol between a vending client and vending server and does not specify the client and server application layer functionality and performance requirements. This approach encourages innovation and competitiveness amongst client and server suppliers while ensuring interoperability between these systems. The online vending protocol design was implemented using the web services framework and therefore appropriately named, XMLVend. The protocol development phase was an iterative process with two major releases, XMLVend 1.22 and XMLVend 2.1. XMLVend 2.1 is the current version of the protocol. XMLVend 2.1 addressed the shortcomings identified in XMLVend 1.22, updated the existing use cases and added several new use cases. It was also modelled as a unified modelling language (UML) interface or contract for prepayment vending services. Therefore, clients using the XMLVend interface are able to request services from any service provider (server) that implements the XMLVend interface. The UML modelled interface and use case message pairs were mapped to Web Service Definition Language (WSDL) and schema (XSD) definitions respectively. XMLVend 2.1 is a secure and open web service based protocol that facilitates prepayment vending functionality between a single logical vending server and ‘n’ number of clients. It has become a key enabler for utilities to implement standardised, secure, interoperable and flexible online vending systems. AFRIKAANS : Voorafbetaalde elektrisiteitstelsels is suksesvol deur Suid-Afrika se nasionale elektrisiteitsverskaffer (Eskom) en plaaslike munisipaliteite geïmplementeer vir meer as 17 jaar. Die Voorafbetaal verkoop-subsisteem is 'n esensiële komponent van voorafbetaal elektrisiteitstelsels. Dit laat gebruikers toe om elektrisiteit te koop by ‘n verskeidenheid van verkooppunte. In die verlede het hierdie stelsels meestal bestaan as alleenstaande verkooppunte maar elektrisiteitsverskaffers is besig om hulle stelsels te verander om in n aanlyn modus te werk. Aanlyn verkoop is wanneer 'n voorafbetaalkoepon versoek word vanaf ‘n sentrale bediener wat vêr verwydered is van die kliënt se verkooppunt. Die koepon word slegs gegenereer deur die bediener en gestuur aan die kliënt nadat die transaksie, die kliënt self, en die betaling meganisme, gemagtig is. Die koppeling tussen verkooppuntkliënt en die bediener is ‘n standaard kommunikasie kanaal, (byvoorbeeld; Internettoegang, direkte inbel skakel, X.25 en “GPRS”) Die gebrek aan 'n standaard vir aanlynverkoopstelsels was 'n bekommernis en beduidende risiko vir elektrisiteitsverskaffers, aangesien hulle ‘n probleem ondervind dat hulle ingeperk sal word tot ‘n eksklusiewe ontwerp vir so ‘n aanlynverkoopstelsel. Dus het die Suid Afrikaanse voorafbetaal industrie, gelei deur Eskom, 'n projek begin om 'n industriespesifikasie te ontwikkel vir aanlyn verkoopstelsels. Die eerste kritiese projek taak was 'n analise van die huidige stand van die Suid-Afrikaanse vooruitbetaling industrie, die tegnologie en spesifikasies. Die voorafbetaal sektor is gebou rondom die Standaard Oordrag Spesifikasie, bekend as “Standard Transfer Specification” (STS). STS word algemeen aanvaar as die industrie standaard vir die oordrag van elektrisiteit krediet vanaf 'n Verkooppunt na die voorafbetaalmeter. STS word ondersteun deur verskeie alleenstaande verkoopstelsel spesifikasies. Die analise vir die huidige status was opgevolg deur ‘n studie van die vereistes vir so ‘n stelsel. Die vereistes analise het die behoefte bevestig vir 'n standaard koppelvlak protokol spesifikasie, eerder as 'n nuwe spesifikasie vir ‘n volledige oorafbetaalstelsel. Dit bepaal alleenlik die protokol koppelvlak tussen 'n voorafbetaalkliënt en die bediener. Dit spesifiseer nie die program vlak funksionaliteit of prestasie vereistes, vir die kliënt en bediener nie. Hierdie benadering bevorder innovasie en mededingendheid onder kliënt- en bediener-verskaffers, terwyl dit nog steeds verseker dat die stelsels wedersyds aanpasbaar bly. Die aanlyn verkoopprotokol ontwerp is geïmplementeer met die webdienste raamwerk en staan bekend as XMLVend. Die protokol vir die ontwikkeling fase was 'n iteratiewe proses met die twee groot weergawes, XMLVend 1.22 en XMLVend 2.1. Die huidige weergawe van die protokol - XMLVend 2.1, adresseer die tekortkominge wat geïdentifiseer is met XMLVend 1.22, terwyl dit ook die bestaande gebruiksgevalle opdatteer en verskeie nuwe gebruiksgevalle byvoeg. Dit was ook geskoei as 'n verenigde modelleringtaal (UML) koppelvlak, of 'n kontrak, vir die voorafbetaal verkoopsdienste. Kliënte is daarom in staat om, met behulp van die XMLVend koppelvlak, dienste te versoek van enige diensverskaffer wat die XMLVend koppelvlak ondersteun. Die UML gemodelleerde koppelvlak- en gebruiksgevalle- boodskappare was gemodeleer in die Web Dienste Definisie Taal (WSDL) en skema (XSD) definisies onderskeidelik. XMLVend 2.1 is 'n sekure en oop webdienste-gebaseerde protokol wat dit moontlik maak om voorafbetaalfunksies te fasilliteer tussen 'n enkele logiese verkoopbediener en 'x' aantal kliënte. Dit het 'n sleutelrol aangeneem vir verskaffers om ‘n gestandaardiseerde, veilige, wedersyds-aanpasbare en buigsame aanlyn verkoopstelsels moontlik te maak. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted

This thesis deals with instruments of economic regulation related to environment protection in the field of energetics. It surveys selected instruments in the form of ecological taxes and Emission Trading System. It clarifies the origin and development of these instruments and their integration into the legislation of the Czech Republic. The major aim of the thesis is to analyze the impact of ecological taxes and trading with emission permits on management decisions of a company.The analysis and calculations have been carried out in a real enterprise. I have tried to prove how the System of Emission Trading impacts on the management decision and strategic goals of a company due to further development of the EU System of Emission Trading, its changes as well as changes in production of a company.

This diploma thesis deals with the processing of international trademark application under the Madrid Agreement and the Protocol to this Agreement. The aim of the work is to evaluate the functionality and benefits of the Madrid system on the basis of an analysis of the international filing procedure (i.e. through the Madrid system), supported by a comparison with national filing. The work responds to the question of whether the Madrid system fulfills its purpose, i.e. whether it simplifies registration of trademarks abroad, whether the international filing is financially advantageous and time-savings, and what other benefits it brings. On the other hand, the author seeks to identify and point out the disandvantages and potential pitfalls of the system. The work thus provides to potential applicants all the necessary information to determine whether to use the international way of trademark registration and what to do for a successful registration.

Title: The Comparison of Results of Diagnostic Methods of Anaerobic Thresholds in Rowing Aims: The aim of the work is to compare the most used diagnostic methods of anaerobic thresholds on a rowing machine. Methods: This diploma thesis is a quantitative empirical research. To compare diagnostic data was used the Concept 2 rowing machine. The rowing machine was also used as an instrument for evaluation of five types of test methods for the anaerobic threshold diagnostics and the sixth control test, respectively. Exanimated functional values were determined using a HR monitor Garmin Fenix 6 and a Lactate scout lactometer. Exponential regressions in MS Excel were used to evaluate lactate curve tests. The homogeneous sample group consisted of 10 club rowers (n = 10). Results: We used basic statistical methods for data analysis, paired t-test, and correlation analysis (Pearson's correlation coefficient). Comparing the functional values of the monitored diagnostics, we found that the descending time protocol of the lactate curve was the most accurate methods of anaerobic threshold diagnostics for the control twenty-minute test. The compared functional values of other tests against the control test showed a statistically significant variation at the level of significance p ≤ 0.05. Other used methods of...

Climate change has recently arised in the international agenda as one of the top issues. The paper first provides with a theoretical comprehension of actorness in international relations. Second, the paper examines milestones of the historic development of the current climate regime. Third, the focus turns to the major actors which influence the climate change negotiations and examines their preferences, their evolution and pursuit on the international scene. It assumes politics is a two-level game and that political factors are not exclusive driving forces on the international scene. Finally, remarks on the future of climate regime are presented. The paper concludes by stating that actors differ in social identification with natural reality and that the shift in current environmental paradigm is rather unlikely.