No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

The thesis "Financing of Social Care services for the Elderly in the Czech Republic - Current Problems and Challenges" deals with analysis of system of social care services for the elderly in view of the fact that the current financing form is subject to criticism for its inefficiency. The aim of this thesis is to critically reflect changes in the provision and financing of social care services for the elderly in the Czech Republic after 2007 in the context of current challenges related to long-term social care and health care. The thesis in its introduction first deals with the formulation of the research problem, deals with particular targets, research questions and the methods of data collection, which are the methods of analysis and public policy making and qualitative research methods. It also discusses the theoretical background of social services and their financing. The next chapter of the thesis deals with the system development of social services and changes in the provision and financing of social care services, which occurred in connection with the adoption of Act No. 108/2006 Coll., On social services. The following chapter deals with analysis of the financing form of social care services in terms of financial resources and problems of financing these services through the care...

Over the recent decade the world has seen an increase in businesses launching new, or changing theirbusiness model to, digital platforms. New and established businesses are flocking to digital platformsin order to evolve their business model and keep up with advancements in technology, such as cloudcomputing, which enables commerce and communication on a much faster and more streamlinedlevel. Digital platforms with two-sided markets often face fierce competition from market incumbentswhich benefit from traditional supply-side economies of scale, as well as from other digital platforms.Therefore, the competitive strategy adopted at market launch and under operations will have a greatimpact on the platform performance in terms of firm financial performance.This study is divided into two parts and is performed with the objective to gain insight into thecompetitive strategies adopted by digital platform businesses with two-sided markets, and how suchstrategic decisions may be informed in favor of profitability. The first part investigates the influence ofinternal factors, such as debt ratio, quick ratio, sales growth, and capital turnover ratio, on the firmfinancial performance (measured by return on assets) of digital platforms with two-sided markets inthe Nordics. The second part investigates the relationship between the firm financial performance(measured by return on assets) of digital platform businesses with two-sided markets after launch andthe type of strategy adopted. Subsequently, two hypotheses are presented. Subsequently, twohypotheses are presented. A panel data regression model is developed to evaluate these relationships,allowing the authors to test the null hypotheses. The data set used in the panel data regression modelcomprise an unbalanced sample of 27 companies who have launched their platforms in Norway,Sweden, and Denmark. Financial data was gathered in the form of return on assets (dependentvariable), capital turnover ratio, quick ratio, debt ratio, and sales growth (explanatory variables).These companies were grouped depending on which strategy was adopted on market launch and underearly operations. These strategies are subsidy, seeding and marquee users, micro market launch andpiggybacking (categorical ‘dummy’ variables).Studying the firm financial performance of businesses which adopt digital platforms will help us tobetter understand the efficacy of strategies adopted and how these strategies impact financialperformance. Both null hypotheses tested may be partially rejected. The authors conclude that theinternal factors debt ratio, quick ratio, and sales growth have a significant influence on theprofitability (measured by return on assets) of digital platforms with two-sided markets in the Nordics.The influence of the internal factor capital turnover ratio on profitability is statistically insignificant.Quick ratio has a positive significant influence on profitability, whereas debt ratio and sales growthhave a negative influence. The authors also conclude that companies which have business modelsallowing them to adopt a subsidy strategy yields stronger profitability than those which adopt otherstrategies. Companies which entice seed & marquee users to their platform as a strategy yields thesecond strongest profitability. Companies which choose a micro market launch strategy yield theweakest profitability. The authors of this study will not draw conclusions on the efficacy of theadoption of a piggybacking strategy on profitability due to the limited number of observationsattributed to the piggybacking dataset.Future studies may expand upon this research with the inclusion of a wider catchment of businesses,as well as the inclusion of a wider data set to include other geographical locations and improvestatistical significance of the data set. An improvement to the study may also be to analyze thecorrelation between the strength of competitors upon market entry and the efficacy of the strategiesadopted.

Treemaps are a popular space-filling visualization of hierarchical data that maps an attribute of a datum, or a data aggregate, to a proportional amount of area. Assuming a rectangular treemap consisting of nested rectangles (also called tiles), there are multiple possible valid tiling arrangements. A common criterion for optimization is aspect ratio. Nevertheless, treemaps usually consist of multiple rectangles, so the aspect ratios need be aggregated. The basic definition of aspect ratio (width divided by height) cannot be meaningfully aggregated. Given this, a definition of aspect ratio that does not differentiate height from width was suggested. This definition allows for meaningful aggregation, but only as long as there are no large differences in the data distribution, and the target aspect ratio is 1:1. Originally, a target aspect ratio of 1:1 was deemed to be axiomatically ideal. Currently, perceptual studies have found an aspect ratio of 1:1 to lead to the largest area estimation error. However, with any other target this definition of aspect ratio cannot be meaningfully aggregated. This thesis suggests a correction that can be applied to the current metric and would allow it to be meaningfully aggregated even when there are large value differences in the data. Furthermore, both the uncorrected and corrected metrics can be generalized for any target (i.e. targets other than 1:1). Another issue with current evaluation techniques is that algorithm fitness is evaluated through Monte Carlo trials. In this method, synthetic data is generated and then aggregated to generate a single final result. However, tiling algorithm performance is dependant on data distribution, so a single aggregateresult cannot generalize overall performance. The alternative suggested in this thesis is visual cluster analysis, which should hold more general predictive power.All of the above is put into practice with an experiment. In the experiment, a new family of tiling algorithms, based on criteria derived from the results of the perceptual tests in literature,is compared to the most popular tiling algorithm, Squarify. The results confirm that there are indeed vast but consistent value fluctuations for different normal distributions. At least for a target aspect ratio of 1.5, the new proposed algorithms are shown to perform better than Squarify for most use cases in terms of aspect ratio.

Магистерская диссертация «Создание системы оценки социальных проектов молодежных НКО в Свердловской области» состоит из 2 глав, введения, заключения, библиографического списка и приложений. Целью диссертационной работы являлось разработать и предложить для внедрения в Министерстве образования и молодежной политики Свердловской области научно-обоснованную систему оценки социальных проектов НКО в сферах работы с молодежью и патриотического воспитания молодых граждан в Свердловской области. Объектом диссертационного исследования являлась система оценки социальных проектов НКО в сферах молодежной политики и патриотического воспитания молодых граждан в Свердловской области. Предмет диссертационного исследования – технология оценки социальных проектов молодежных НКО в Свердловской области. Объем работы составил 221 страницу. В работе содержатся 8 приложений, 18 таблиц, 30 рисунков. В библиографическом списке представлено 119 источников. / Master's thesis "Creating a system of evaluation of social projects of youth NPOs in the Sverdlovsk region" consists of 2 chapters, introduction, conclusion, bibliography and applications. The aim of the thesis was to develop and propose for implementation in the Ministry of education and youth policy of the Sverdlovsk region a scientifically-based system of evaluation of social projects of NPOs in the areas of work with youth and Patriotic education of young citizens in the Sverdlovsk region. The object of the dissertation research was the system of evaluation of social projects of NPOs in the areas of youth policy and Patriotic education of young citizens in the Sverdlovsk region. The subject of the dissertation research is the technology of evaluation of social projects of youth NPOs in the Sverdlovsk region. The volume of work was 221 pages. The work contains 8 applications, 18 tables, 30 figures. The bibliographic list includes 119 sources.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the problem of poverty, describing the concept, explain the reasons and causes of poverty and to propose solutions for its prevention. Furthermore, the analysis of poverty in the Czech Republic and comparison with selected EU countries. The last part of my work will develop a proposal for measures in the fight against poverty. The thesis was divided into two parts. The first part featured a brief theoretical view of poverty as a social event. There were defining poverty, its types, forms, indicators of poverty by international organizations. This section was included in the issue of the causes of poverty, the effects of poverty, both primary and secondary, social exclusion (exclusion). This part is followed by chapter tools to eliminate poverty in the Czech social policy. These tools include: subsistence, assistance in material need, living allowance, housing subsidy, extraordinary immediate assistance and minimum wage. These tools form a complex, which currently works fairly well. Most of the tools work to eliminate poverty target, this means that these tools are used quite effectively. The practical part is based on knowledge of the theoretical perspective on poverty. Includes a brief analysis of poverty in the Czech Republic and also compares it with other EU...

The objective of the work is the preparation of the project "Revitalization of the Václav Volf residential building 1379/21" to ensure the regeneration of this panel house with the use of money from the structural fund as part of the 1st closed call as declared by the statutory town of České Budějovice on the topic of the Integrated Municipal Development Plan České Budějovice, Máj Housing Estate. A partial objective of the work is an assessment of expected benefits in the field of financing the housing fund as part of the Integrated Municipal Development Plan České Budějovice. The practical part of the essay is focused on an analysis of the possibilities of drawing finances for the regeneration of the housing fund. Using calculations, I use the method of comparing financial returnability IPRM with the subsidy title PANEL, and the regeneration program known as "Green to Savings" (Zelená úsporám). The administrative process of the project is carried out in mutually interconnected activities. The conclusion shows the realization of work actually carried out with practical examples and an assessment of expected benefits in the housing fund.

This thesis deals with the organic livestock production in South Bohemian region. The aim of the thesis was to analyze the South Bohemian organic meat production, production of eggs and honey and distribution of the biocommodities. Through the processing of data from the database IAEI and questionnaire survey, conducted at the level of organic farmers farming in the South Bohemian region with a valid certificate for meat production, development and the current market situation of organic meat production were assessed in the South Bohemian region.

The aim of thesis ,,Development of selected small towns with using available support programmes" is to evaluate the present situation of selected small tors and a proposal for their further development by using available support programmes. The theoretical part of the thesis is focused on explanation of all concepts of these small towns and the practical part includes a analysis of received subsidies and their total evaluation and other potential projects for the development of selected towns with using available support programmes.