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This study sought to understand using qualitative methods why and how the Government of Singapore came to set-up organized research units (ORU) in her two autonomous universities - the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU). That is, are ORUs the chief means in transforming NUS and NTU into top WCUs? The underpinnings of the institutional theory in the globalized context, the theory of academic capitalism, and guidance by frameworks on educational policy transfer, as well as the glonacal heuristics, together with document and discourse analysis of published documents, aided in the design of this study.This study finds that key state and institutional actors in Singapore decided to emulate the key features of U.S.-originated organized research units to make R&D and innovation-led economic growth the vehicle of sustaining this global city-state's global competitiveness in the knowledge-economy and to better elevate the status of both NUS and NTU as world-class. Because global rankings have branding implications, catch-up nations and institutions should make serious attempts to balance the ranking-enhancement effort with their local, national, and regional science-research needs given the constraints of available capital and resources.

An ultra-short echo time (UTE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequence was used together with other MRI sequences to evaluate the possibility of segmenting air, soft tissues and bone. Three patients were imaged with the UTE sequence and other sequences as well as with computed tomography (CT). An algorithm using Gaussian mixture models was developed and applied to the problem of segmenting the MR images. A similar algorithm was developed and used to generate an artificial CT image from the MR data. The images of the first patient were used as training data for the algorithms and the images of the other two patients were used for validation. It was found that less than 20 percent of the volume inside the head was misclassified and that the root mean square error of the artificial CT image was less than 420 Hounsfield units. Finally a volunteer was imaged in the same way but with an additional UTE sequence with a larger flip angle. The results suggested that the additional image may improve segmentation further. / En sekevens för bildgivande magnetresonans (MRI) med ultrakort ekotid (UTE) användes tillsammans med andra MRI-sekvenser till att utvärdera möjligheten att segmentera luft, mjukvävnad och ben. Bilder togs av tre patienter med UTE-sekvensen och med övriga sekvenser samt med datortomografi (CT). En algoritm baserad på en blanding av normalfördelningar utvecklades och tillämpades på MR-segmenteringsproblemet.En likande algoritm utvecklades och användes till att skapa en konstgjord CT-bild utifrån MR-bilderna.Bilderna tagna av den första patienten användes till att träna algoritmerna medan bilderna av de två andra patienterna användes för validering. Mindre än 20 procent av volymen inuti huvudet felklassificerades och det kvadratiska medelvärdet av avvikelserna i den konstgjorda CT-bilden var mindre än 420 hounsfieldenheter. Slutligen togs bilder av en frivillig på samma sätt men med ytterligare en UTE-sekvens med en större flippvinkel. Resultatet antyder att den nya bilden kan bidra till en förbättrad segmentering.

The objectives of the study were to identify, classify, describe and map the plant communities in the proposed Highveld National Park, including the degraded Spitskop areas. Vegetation sampling was done by means of the Braun-Blanquet method and a total of 108 stratified random relevés were sampled. A numerical classification technique (TWINSPAN) was used and the result was refined by Braun-Blanquet procedures. The final results of the classification procedure were presented in the form of phytosociological tables and twelve plant communities were described. For indirect ordination, a Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) algorithm was applied to the data set to confirm the phytosociological association and to assess floristic relations between communities. For direct environmental gradient analysis the Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was applied to the data using the CANOCO software program. The plant communities were combined into six management units based on similarities regarding vegetation composition, habitat, topography and soil characteristics. Characterization of land degradation was done by grouping erosion into different classes and different degrees of severity. Degraded areas in need of rehabilitation and restoration were identified and described. Recommendations were made with regard to rehabilitation and monitoring of all degraded areas in the HNP. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Botany))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

The strain on modern electrical power system operation has led to an ever increasing utilization of new Information Communication Technology (ICT) systems to enhance the reliability and efficiency of grid operation. Among these proposals, Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU)-based Wide-Area Monitoring and Control (WAMC) systems have been recognized as one of the enablers of “Smart Grid”, particularly at the transmission level, due to their capability to improve the real-time situational awareness of the grid. These systems differ from the conventional Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems in that they provide globally synchronized measurements at high resolutions. On the other hand, the WAMC systems also impose several stringent requirements on the underlying ICT systems, including performance, security, and availability, etc. As a result, the functionality of the WAMC applications is heavily, but not exclusively, dependent on the capabilities of the underlying ICT systems. This tight coupling makes it difficult to fully exploit the benefits of the synchrophasor technology without the proper design and configuration of ICT systems to support the WAMC applications. The strain on modern electrical power system operation has led to an ever increasing utilization of new Information Communication Technology (ICT) systems to enhance the reliability and efficiency of grid operation. Among these proposals, Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU)-based Wide-Area Monitoring and Control (WAMC) systems have been recognized as one of the enablers of “Smart Grid”, particularly at the transmission level, due to their capability to improve the real-time situational awareness of the grid. These systems differ from the conventional Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems in that they provide globally synchronized measurements at high resolutions. On the other hand, the WAMC systems also impose several stringent requirements on the underlying ICT systems, including performance, security, and availability, etc. As a result, the functionality of the WAMC applications is heavily, but not exclusively, dependent on the capabilities of the underlying ICT systems. This tight coupling makes it difficult to fully exploit the benefits of the synchrophasor technology without the proper design and configuration of ICT systems to support the WAMC applications. In response to the above challenges, this thesis addresses the dependence of WAMC applications on the underlying ICT systems. Specifically, two of the WAMC system data quality attributes, latency and completeness, are examined together with their effects on a typical WAMC application, PMU-based wide-area damping systems. The outcomes of this research include quantified results in the form of PMU communication delays and data frame losses, and probability distributions that can model the PMU communication delays. Moreover, design requirements are determined for the wide-area damping systems, and three different delay-robust designs for this WAMC application are validated based on the above results. Finally, a virtual PMU is developed to perform power system and communication network co-simulations. The results reported by this thesis offer a prospect for better predictions of the performance of the supporting ICT systems in terms of PMU data latency and completeness. These results can be further used to design and optimize the WAMC applications and their underlying ICT systems in an integrated manner. This thesis also contributes a systematic approach to design the wide-area damping system considering the PMU data latency and completeness. Finally, the developed virtual PMU, as part of a co-simulation platform, provides a means to investigate the dependence of WAMC applications on the capabilities of the underlying ICT systems in a cost-efficient manner. / <p>QC 20131015</p>

Sale in essence, is the revenue generator of the company which ensures the existence and maintains the profitability of the business. Here upon, regular measuring the performance of the sales department and being aware of people’s performance in the department is required for companies as to reach certain preset goals and being assured of sales department’s productivity and profitability. This paper aims at studying the salespeople who perform below than expected as to find the causes behind the issue and help stabilizing and boosting the performance of the company finally. With respect to the fact that low performer problem is a complex issue consisting of wide range of aspects, variables and elements, as to collect the data and the analysis; a combination of quantitative and qualitative method (triangulation; via questionnaire and interviews) were used. The problem is narrowed down into three main affecting areas: 1- Employee turnover 2- Ethical issues 3- Job engagement and each scope is examined and analyzed in relation to salespeople’s performance. Consequently, potential and practical solutions and suggestions as for resolving the problem are presented which briefly are: inter-organizational approach, mostly by using job engagement, contribution and interaction.

Background: Funding practices in Ontario's acute care sector have undergone a substantive shift away from ‘lump-sum funding’ towards a combination of population-needs and performance-based financing (MOHLTC, 2013). In contrast very little is known about how funds are distributed across the province’s public health sector, specifically the 36 public health units (PHUs) that are mandated to deliver health promotion and disease prevention programs across Ontario. In fact the funding arrangement utilized by the public health sector has remained unchanged for several years, despite the growing burden of responsibilities on PHUs in terms of evolving population health needs and more expansive programmatic and performance expectations. Current literature on the processes, variables and overarching principles that govern the distribution of funds across PHUs remains considerably limited. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to develop a better understanding of how PHUs in Ontario are currently funded, and to examine what principles public health professionals believe should guide the distribution of resources across PHUs. The project sought to identify the fundamental principles that public health professionals believe should inform future thinking around public health funding. Methods: The perspectives of public health professionals who have proximal links to the current public health funding process served as the basis of the data discovery component for this study. A total of 14 in-depth interviews were conducted with a number of public health professionals to gather their insights on the current funding arrangement, and explore what principles they believe should be used to guide allocation decisions in the public health sector. Interviews were followed by a web survey to examine how public health professionals rank principles and perceive trade-offs between competing principles. Results: Public health professionals proposed a total of 12 principles to guide the distribution of resources across PHUs. These principles were grounded in three core social value judgments (need, equity, and transparency and accountability). The study provides important insights into the fundamental principles that public health professionals believe should guide allocation decisions and illustrates the complexity associated with distributing limited resources across health units, as well as possible directions for future research on this topic.

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