This research seeks to contribute to the debate on the state infringing upon the responsibilities and rights of parents with regards to the reproductive health of their children. The qualitative method of research is used. The researcher analysed the right of the child to participate in conjunction with best interests of the child, as well as the reproductive rights of children. Furthermore, the argument is based on the provisions of the South African legislation that deals with the reproductive rights of children. This legislation includes the Children's Act 38 of 2005 and the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996. The crux of the discussion is on access to contraceptives provided to children without parental consent, as it is provided for in section 134 of the Children's Act 38 of 2005, as well as the lack of consent needed in the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996 for a girl with no specification of age. The debate is on the fact that the responsibilities and rights that parents have towards their children are not considered. They are not involved in the major decisions that the children who are under their care and guidance have to make. Due to this finding, it has been recommended that it is very imperative to allow the parents to be involved in matters that pertain to their children's reproductive rights. This means that as children are informed about their reproductive rights, the parents must be involved as well, so as to make informed decisions relevant to the issues that their children encounter. / LLM (Comparative Child Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

A study was conducted in two sites: one at an electricity storage facility belonging to the Swaziland Electricity Board (SEB) and the other at a facility that belongs to its treated pole supplier, the Thonkwane wood creosote treatment plant. The drainage system of these sites leads to surface waters in rivers. This is a cause of concern since creosote contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are listed as priority pollutants by the US Environmental Protection Agency. They have toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic effects and as a result they pose a threat to human life and the environment. No previous studies have been done on PAHs in Swaziland. The main objective of this study was to determine the impact of the SEB storage facility and the creosote treatment plant by investigating the extent of PAHs in surrounding environments (soil, sediments and surface waters). Preliminary studies were undertaken on the storage facility and the creosote treatment plant. No PAHs were detected from the pole storage facility; therefore the creosote wood treatment facility was selected as the ideal site at which to conduct the research. Soil samples were collected from depths 15 cm and 60 cm at points around the creosote plant, including effluent discharge points. The samples were extracted by solid-phase micro extraction (SPME) and analysed by GC/MS. The GC/MS, incorporating a solid phase micro extraction step, provided detection limits ranging from 0.12 μg/g to 20.08 μg/g. The pollution patterns in the study site were assessed using cluster analysis and principal component analysis. Most of the 16 US EPA-listed priority pollutants were detected from the creosote wood treatment facility. PAHs such as anthracene, fluorene, naphthalene and fluoranthene were dominant in all the sampling sites. The compounds occurred in very high concentrations (0.64, 0.46, 0.27 and 0.26 mg/kg respectively). These compounds are found in pure creosote as determined in the sample taken from the Thonkwane creosote tank site. The highest concentration of PAHs was observed in the soil samples taken next to the road site. The concentrations of the identified PAHs were above the acceptable minimal level allowed in soil by the US EPA and Swaziland Environment Authority (SEA). The levels of the PAHs are also above the recommended US EPA limit in soil, which is 0.1 mg/kg. The results indicated that significant soil pollution was taking place in some of the sampling sites. The top layer (0, 15 cm) contained many PAHs at high levels whilst the 60 cm layer had a lower number of PAHs which were also in low concentrations. This provided an indication that there is no downward movement of PAHs from the surface layer to underground layers. The potential exists for contamination of surface waters when there is runoff from the project area. This is a cause of concern, since both the creosote treatment plant and areas outside the facility are contaminated. Therefore, the site has to be cleaned up, preferably by using a phytoremediation technique. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Science)

ITC/USA 2005 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-First Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 24-27, 2005 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / The Hyper-X program flew X-43A research vehicles to hypersonic speeds over the Pacific Ocean in March and November 2004 from the Western Aeronautical Test Range, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The program required multiple telemetry ground stations to provide continuous coverage of the captive carry, launch, boost, experiment, and descent phases of these missions. An overview is provided of vehicle telemetry and distributed assets that supported telemetry acquisition, best-source selection, radar tracking, video tracking, flight termination systems, and voice communications. Real-time data display and processing are discussed, and postflight analysis and comparison of data acquired are presented.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 26-29, 1998 / Town & Country Resort Hotel and Convention Center, San Diego, California / The X-33 program requires the use of multiple telemetry ground stations to provide continuous coverage of the launch, ascent, re-entry and approach phases for flights from Edwards AFB, California, to landings at Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah, and Malmstrom AFB, Montana. This paper will discuss the X-33 telemetry requirements and design, including information on the fixed and mobile telemetry systems, automated best source selection system, processing/display support for range safety officers (RSO) and range engineers, and comparison of real-time data with simulated data using the Dynamic Ground Station Analysis model. Due to the use of multiple ground stations and short duration flights, the goal throughout the X-33 missions is to automatically provide the best telemetry source for critical vehicle performance monitoring. The X-33 program was initiated by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Cooperative Agreement No. NCC8-115 with Lockheed Martin Skunk Works (LMSW).

Studien syftar till att studera samverkan på Barnahus och om det någon gång kan krocka mellan de olika professionerna. Om så är fallet, vill vi författare se ifall det kan uppstå några konsekvenser för barnet. Empirin har samlats in genom fem kvalitativa intervjuer med professionella på det utvalda Barnahuset. Av informanterna var tre socialsekreterare, en polis och en åklagare. Materialet har transkriberats för att sedan analyseras utifrån en tematisk analys. Detta resulterade i fyra teman: Barnets bästa i fokus, Samverkan på Barnahus, Svårigheter på Barnahus och Påfrestningar för barnet. Resultatet har sedan tolkats, analyserats och diskuterats utifrån den valda teoretiska utgångspunkten nyinstitutionell teori. Studien visar att de professionella upplever samverkan som väl fungerande men att de ibland kan krocka i arbetet då de har olika arbetsuppgifter. Vissa av dessa krockar kan leda till påfrestningar för barnet, en av dessa påfrestningar är att barnet skuldbeläggs. / This bachelor thesis in social work aims to study the interaction between the different professionals and organisations in the swedish version of Childrens Advocacy Centers, Barnahus, and if it ever can clash between the different professions. If so, we authors would like to see if there could be any consequenses for the child. The empirical data were collected through five qualitative interviews with different professionals at the chosen Children Advocacy Center. Three of our informants were social workers, one worked as a police officer and the fifth informant worked as a prosecutor. We transcribed the material we recieved to analyze it based on a thematic analysis. We created four different themes based on the result we got: Focus on the childs best, interaction on Childrens Advocacy Center, Difficulties on Childrens Advocacy Center and Strain of the child. The result was later on interpreted and analyzed and discussed from a chosen theoretical point of view; institutional theory. This study shows that the professionals experience interaction as well functioning, but sometimes they collide at work when they have different tasks. Some of these crashes can cause problems for the child, one of these strains is that the child is blamed.

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / During Tucson rainstorms, many roads and neighborhoods experience high levels of flooding on the city’s street networks. This phenomenon creates unsafe road conditions, damage to the road infrastructure, and excessive urban stormwater runoff that is potentially polluted. The vast quantities of impervious surfaces in the urban landscape impede the rainwater’s ability to infiltrate the ground, thus resulting in increased volumes of runoff during a rainstorm. Stormwater management is used by municipalities and communities to address the previously mentioned adverse impacts of stormwater runoff. Various techniques and strategies used in stormwater management include, low impact development (LID), green infrastructure, and better site design (BSD) strategies implemented during design stages to reduce stormwater runoff levels. In addition, local governments can establish stormwater utilities and policies in order to help address and better manage the issue of stormwater runoff within urban areas. The primary research questions of this study will include: What are the most effective best management practices and techniques to address urban runoff? What combination of best management practices and government policies will be the more effective in addressing Tucson’s urban runoff problem? Accordingly, this study will examine a variety of policies and techniques to address stormwater runoff, and then, based on this information, provide a suggestion of the best practices and techniques that may be feasible for implementation in Tucson.

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / During Tucson rainstorms, many roads and neighborhoods experience high levels of flooding on the city’s street networks. This phenomenon creates unsafe road conditions, damage to the road infrastructure, and excessive urban stormwater runoff that is potentially polluted. The vast quantities of impervious surfaces in the urban landscape impede the rainwater’s ability to infiltrate the ground, thus resulting in increased volumes of runoff during a rainstorm. Stormwater management is used by municipalities and communities to address the previously mentioned adverse impacts of stormwater runoff. Various techniques and strategies used in stormwater management include, low impact development (LID), green infrastructure, and better site design (BSD) strategies implemented during design stages to reduce stormwater runoff levels. In addition, local governments can establish stormwater utilities and policies in order to help address and better manage the issue of stormwater runoff within urban areas. The primary research questions of this study will include: What are the most effective best management practices and techniques to address urban runoff? What combination of best management practices and government policies will be the more effective in addressing Tucson’s urban runoff problem? Accordingly, this study will examine a variety of policies and techniques to address stormwater runoff, and then, based on this information, provide a suggestion of the best practices and techniques that may be feasible for implementation in Tucson.

ITC/USA 2015 Conference Proceedings / The Fifty-First Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 26-29, 2015 / Bally's Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV / There is great potential in using Best Source Selectors (BSS) to improve link availability in aeronautical telemetry applications. While the general notion that diverse data sources can be used to construct a consolidated stream of "better" data is well founded, there is no standardized means of determining the quality of the data streams being merged together. Absent this uniform quality data, the BSS has no analytically sound way of knowing which streams are better, or best. This problem is further exacerbated when one imagines that multiple vendors are developing data quality estimation schemes, with no standard definition of how to measure data quality. In this paper, we present measured performance for a specific Data Quality Metric (DQM) implementation, demonstrating that the signals present in the demodulator can be used to quickly and accurately measure the data quality, and we propose test methods for calibrating DQM over a wide variety of channel impairments. We also propose an efficient means of encapsulating this DQM information with the data, to simplify processing by the BSS. This work leads toward a potential standardization that would allow data quality estimators and best source selectors from multiple vendors to interoperate.

Στην εργασία αυτή παρουσιάζονται τα βασικά στοιχεία της θεωρίας των συνεχιζόμενων κλασμάτων και στη συνέχεια αναπτύσσονται οι αλγόριθμοι που επιτρέπουν την εκτέλεση πράξεων μεταξύ συνεχιζόμενων κλασμάτων και ρητών αριθμώ,αλλά και μεταξύ συνεχιζόμενων κλασμάτων. / In this thesis we describe the basic theory of continued fractions and describe the algorithms that enable us to perform arithmetic operations with continued fractions and rational numbers,as well as with continued fractions.

The aim of this study is to identify the best practices in traditional and electronic banking operations strategy in Jordan as a case study of developing economies over the period 1999 to 2008. During this period numerous changes faced banks in Jordan: new banking law was launched, the banks were directed towards complying with the Basel Accord II, and the banks adopted more e-banking channels. Only the practices of all local banks were investigated due to their superior performance. A number of questionnaires were used to collect the data from different individuals in these banks. Further, annual reports were analysed and websites were reviewed. Two data-analysis approaches were used to identify the key strategies of traditional and electronic banking in Jordan: competitive position analysis and cluster analysis. Analysis revealed eight best practices of traditional banking and four best practices of electronic banking were adopted. Best practices are presented as prediction models. These models combine actions with capabilities and performance. The traditional banking predication models are: branches urban accessibility, branches sites accessibility (percentage of sites covered), branches sites accessibility (number of branches sites covered), account transaction time, new credit product flexibility, account customer waiting time, account transaction cost, loan approval costs, and branches layout quality. The e-banking prediction models are: Internet banking transaction time, telephone banking volume flexibility, ATM suburban accessibility, and ATM sites accessibility. This research revealed that; financial performance achieved by e-banking strategy patterns is significantly lower than traditional banking. Also customers satisfaction, retention, and deposit market of e-banking are significantly lower than traditional banking, which indicates that the best operational practices in Jordan are still more traditional oriented despite the significant direction of banks in Jordan toward adopting e-banking channel.