In the service of child protection organisations, where services are focused on the protection of children within the preservation of families, social workers are exposed to the adverse conditions of children and families forming part of their caseload. Social workers must remain objective and make thoughtful decisions in the best interest of children and families, while they themselves might be traumatised by the circumstances of these children and families. Various studies have been done about occupational stress, secondary trauma, compassion fatigue and the role of supervision in this regard. Less is however known about support as a function of supervision for social workers employed by child protection organisations and the social workers’ experience(s) of this support. The aim of this study was to investigate and to descripe, by means of a descriptive qualitative design, social workers employed by child protection organizations' experience of support as function of supervision. For the purpose of this study, the researcher used a purposeful non-probability sampling. Ten social workers from seven child protection organisations within the specific field of child protection were selected according to their willingness to participate. Unstructured, in-depth, one-on-one interviews, with one question to initiate the interview, were conducted with social workers to investigate their experience of the support as function of supervision. During interviews with the individual social workers the researcher made use of observations and field notes as tools for data collection tools. A focus group with eight social workers was also utilised to verify initial findings and to allow for any additional data that would emerge. The first theme deals with participants’ view of support as a function of supervision, which includes receiving guidance and emotional support. Theme two is about participants’ experience of support as a function of supervision in terms of task-oriented as well as emotional support. The third theme that came up was alternative sources of emotional support, including colleagues, external counselors, family members and selfcare. These themes were divided into sub-themes and categories and discussed according to relevant quotations from interviews and literature reviews. Conclusions and recommendations were made according to these results. One of the most important recommendations arising from the findings of the study, is that the support function of supervision should be used more effectively. Social workers and supervisors must develop a greater awareness of the importance to discuss emotions and the dangers of suppressing emotions. Social workers that receive the opportunity to reflect on their emotions, develop a sense of self-worth, appreciation and experience job satisfaction and motivation, which leads to an increase in service quality. / MSW, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

In the service of child protection organisations, where services are focused on the protection of children within the preservation of families, social workers are exposed to the adverse conditions of children and families forming part of their caseload. Social workers must remain objective and make thoughtful decisions in the best interest of children and families, while they themselves might be traumatised by the circumstances of these children and families. Various studies have been done about occupational stress, secondary trauma, compassion fatigue and the role of supervision in this regard. Less is however known about support as a function of supervision for social workers employed by child protection organisations and the social workers’ experience(s) of this support. The aim of this study was to investigate and to descripe, by means of a descriptive qualitative design, social workers employed by child protection organizations' experience of support as function of supervision. For the purpose of this study, the researcher used a purposeful non-probability sampling. Ten social workers from seven child protection organisations within the specific field of child protection were selected according to their willingness to participate. Unstructured, in-depth, one-on-one interviews, with one question to initiate the interview, were conducted with social workers to investigate their experience of the support as function of supervision. During interviews with the individual social workers the researcher made use of observations and field notes as tools for data collection tools. A focus group with eight social workers was also utilised to verify initial findings and to allow for any additional data that would emerge. The first theme deals with participants’ view of support as a function of supervision, which includes receiving guidance and emotional support. Theme two is about participants’ experience of support as a function of supervision in terms of task-oriented as well as emotional support. The third theme that came up was alternative sources of emotional support, including colleagues, external counselors, family members and selfcare. These themes were divided into sub-themes and categories and discussed according to relevant quotations from interviews and literature reviews. Conclusions and recommendations were made according to these results. One of the most important recommendations arising from the findings of the study, is that the support function of supervision should be used more effectively. Social workers and supervisors must develop a greater awareness of the importance to discuss emotions and the dangers of suppressing emotions. Social workers that receive the opportunity to reflect on their emotions, develop a sense of self-worth, appreciation and experience job satisfaction and motivation, which leads to an increase in service quality. / MSW, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att skapa förståelse för en organisations specifika onboardingprocess och vilka delar som beskrivs viktiga för att en nyanställd ska komma in i sin roll samt organisationen utifrån HR-funktionens, chefer och nyanställdas perspektiv. Förhoppningen med studien är också att nyckelpersoner inom onboarding kan använda sig av studiens resultat för att reflektera över hur onboardingprocessen upplevs och fungerar i deras organisation. Metod: Studien är en kvalitativ fallstudie med induktiv ansats. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Intervjuerna genomfördes med fem tjänstemän, två chefer och en HR-manager. Slutsats: Studien framställer flertalet centrala delar med onboardingprocessen utifrån de tre perspektiven. Det mest centrala under processen, i det specifika fallet, är att kunna arbeta med individanpassning för att möta samtliga behov. Även tidsaspekten är en av de mest centrala delarna som påverkar upplevelsen av onboarding. / Purpose: The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of an organisation’s specific onboarding process. The aim is also to provide an understanding of the essential parts in adapting to the position and organisation described by the HR-function, managers and officials. The results of the study will hopefully provide key individuals in the field of onboarding with the opportunity to reflect on how the onboarding process is experienced and how it functions in their organisation. Method: This study is a qualitative case study with an inductive approach. The empirical material has been collected through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted with five officials, two managers and one HR manager. Conclusion: This study highlights a number of essential parts regarding the onboarding based on the three perspectives. The most essential part in this specific case is being able to work with individual factors to satisfy the needs of the new employee. The aspect of time is also one of the most essential parts that will affect the experience of onboarding.

Nous nous plaçons dans le cadre de l'analyse statique de programmes, et nous nous intéressons aux propriétés numériques, c'est a dire celles qui concernent les valeurs numériques des variables de programmes. Nous essayons en particulier de déterminer une sur-approximation garantie de l'ensemble de valeurs possibles pour chaque variable numérique utilisée dans le programme à analyser. Cette analyse statique est faite dans le cadre de la théorie de l'interprétation abstraite, théorie présentant un compromis entre les limites théoriques d'indécidabilite et de calculabilite et la précision des résultats obtenus. Nous sommes partis des travaux d'Eric Goubault et Sylvie Putot, que nous avons étendus et généralisés. Notre nouveau domaine abstrait, appelé ensembles affines contraints, combine à la fois l'efficacite de calcul des domaines à base de formes affines et le pouvoir ex- pressif des domaines relationnels classiques tels que les octogones ou les polyèdres. Le nouveau domaine a été implémenté pour mettre en évidence l'intérêt de cette combinaison, ses avantages, ses performances et ses limites par rapport aux autres domaines numériques déjà existants. Le formalisme ainsi que les résultats pra- tiques ont fait l'objet de plusieurs publications [CAV 2009, CAV 2010].

Finding a topologically accurate approximation of a real planar algebraic curve is a classic problem in Computer Aided Geometric Design. Algorithms describing the topology search primarily the singular points and are usually based on algebraic techniques applied directly to the curve equation. In this thesis we propose a more geometric approach, taking into account the subsequent high-precision approximation. Our algorithm is primarily based on the identification and approximation of smooth monotonous curve segments, which can in certain cases cross the singularities of the curve. To find the characteristic points we use not only the primary algebraic equation of the curve but also, and more importantly, its implicit support function representation. Using the rational Puiseux series, we describe local properties of curve branches at the points of interest and exploit them to find their connectivity. The support function representation is also used for an approximation of the segments. In this way, we obtain an approximate graph of the entire curve with several nice properties. It approximates the curve within a given Hausdorff distance. The actual error can be measured efficiently. The ap- proximate curve and its offsets are piecewise rational. And the question of topological equivalence of the...

[pt] Algoritmos para a resolução de problemas de programação mista 0-1 gerais baseados em cortes derivados dos métodos lift-and-project, tem se mostrado bastante eficientes na prática. Estes cortes são gerados resolvendo um problema que depende de uma certa normalização. Desde um ponto de vista teórico, o bom comportamento destes algoritmos não foi completamente compreendido, especialmente no que diz respeito à normalização. Neste trabalho consideramos normalizações gerais definidas por um conjunto convexo fechado arbitrário, estendendo assim a análise teórica desenvolvida nos anos noventa. Apresentamos um marco teórico que abarca todas as normalizações previamente estudadas e introduzimos novas normalizações, analisando as propriedades dos cortes associados.Introduzimos também uma nova fórmula de atualização do parâmetro proximal para uma variante dos métodos de feixes. Estes métodos são bem conhecidos pela sua eficiência na resolução de problemas de otimização não diferenciável. Por último, propomos uma metodologia para eliminr soluções redundantes de programas inteiros combinatórios. Nossa proposta baseia-se na utilização da informação de simetria do problema, eliminam a simetria sem prejudicar a solução do problema inteiro. / [en] Algorithms for general 0-1 mixed integer programs can be successfully developed by using lift-and-project methods to generate cuts. Cuts are generated by solving a cut- generation-program that depends on a certain normalization. From a theoretical point of view, the good numerical behavior of these cuts is not completely understood yet, specially, concerning to the normalization chosen. We consider a general normalization given by an arbitrary closed convex set, extending the theory developed in the 90's. We present a theoretical framework covering a wide group of already known normalizations. We also introduce new normalizations and analyze the properties of the associated cuts. In this work, we also propose a new updating rule for the prox parameter of a variant of the proximal bundle methods, making use of all the information available at each iteration. Proximal bundle methods are well known for their efficiency in nondifferentiable optimization. Finally, we introduce a way to eliminate redundant solutions ( due to geometrical symmetries ) of combinatorial integer program. This can be done by using the information about the problem symmetry in order to generate inequalities, which added to the formulation of the problem, eliminate this symmetry without affecting solution of the integer problem. / [es] Los algoritmos para la resolución de problemas de programación mixta 0-1 generales que utilizan cortes derivados de los métodos lift-and-project, se han mostrado bastante eficientes en la práctica. Estos cortes se generan resolviendo un problema que depende de una cierta normalización. Desde el punto de vista teórico, el buen comportamiento de estos algoritmos no fue completamente comprendido, especialmente respecto a la normalización. En este trabajo consideramos normalizaciones generales definidas por un conjunto convexo cerrado arbitrario, extendiendo así el análisis teórico desarrollado en los años noventa. Presentamos un marco teórico que abarca todas las normalizaciones previamente estudiadas e introducimos nuevas normalizaciones, analizando las propiedades de los cortes asociados. Introducimos una nueva fórmula de actualización del parámetro de. Estoss métodos son bien conocidos por su eficiencia en la resolución de problemas de optimización no diferenciable. Por último, proponemos una metodología para eliminar soluciones redundantes de programas enteros combinatorios. Nuestra propuesta se basa en la utilización de la información de simetría del problema, eliminan la simetría sin perjudicar la solución del problema entero.