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<p>As a mid-size industrial city in North America, the City of Hamilton has been increasingly experiencing urban sprawl in the past six decades coupled with population growth and economic development. The study of various interdependent processes driving the evolution of urban form requires the application of simulation models that offer urban planners and policy-makers an efficient means for evaluating urban development policies. This thesis focuses on the modeling efforts towards building a microsimulation residential housing market system for the City of Hamilton. To this end, two major tasks have been conducted in this research. First, a state-of-the-art agent-based microsimulation housing market framework has been designed. Second, two model components in the microsimulation framework, namely a real estate appraisal model and a new housing development model, have been estimated. The objective of the real estate appraisal model is to assess the market values of existing dwellings based on the housing transactions in the previous period. Thre e model forms, including a traditional hedonic model, a spatial regression model, and a regression Kriging model, have been employed in estimations for comparison purposes. A series of independent variables that describe the characteristics of dwelling, location, and neighborhood are specified in the explanatory model. The comparisons among estimation results demonstrate that the spatial regression model has achieved a higher goodness-of-fit than the traditional hedonic model. In addition, we verified that spatial autocorrelation is present in the residuals of the traditional hedonic model, which is explicitly captured by the spatial regression model. In terms of model prediction accuracy, spatial models (SAR and Kriging) both achieve a certain level of improvements over the traditional hedonic model. Overall, we end up recommending that the SAR model is more appropriate to be incorporated into the microsimulation framework, as it provides the best match between predicted and observed values. The new housing development model enables the development of a dynamic housing supply module in the simulation framework by modeling the location and type decisions during the housing development process for each year. A parcel -level two-tier nested-logit model has been estimated. The model is able to deal with not only the decision to develop a specific vacant residential land parcel, but also the development type choice. In terms of the factors influencing the decision to develop, the picture revealed from the model estimation results is that land developers are more likely to start a development project in greenfields than in brownfields. As for the type choice decision during the development process, a variety of variables describing transportation accessibility, residential amenities, the characteristics of the land parcel and neighborhood are included in the model specifications.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

The integration of Vision Transformers (ViTs) using Masked Autoencoder pre-training (ViTMAE) into real estate valuation is investigated in this Master’s thesis, addressing the challenge of effectively analyzing visual information from real estate images. This integration aims to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of valuation, a task traditionally dependent on realtor expertise. The research involved developing a model that combines ViTMAE-extracted visual features from real estate images with traditional property data. Focusing on residential properties in Sweden, the study utilized a dataset of images and metadata from online real estate listings. An adapted ViTMAE model, accessed via the Hugging Face library, was trained on the dataset for feature extraction, which was then integrated with metadata to create a comprehensive multimodal valuation model. Results indicate that including ViTMAE-extracted image features improves prediction accuracy in real estate valuation models. The multimodal approach, merging visual and traditional metadata, improved accuracy over metadata-only models. This thesis contributes to real estate valuation by showcasing the potential of advanced image processing techniques in enhancing valuation models. It lays the groundwork for future research in more refined holistic valuation models, incorporating a wider range of factors beyond visual data. / Detta examensarbete undersöker integrationen av Vision Transformers (ViTs) med Masked Autoencoder pre-training (ViTMAE) i bostadsvärdering, genom att addressera utmaningen att effektivt analysera visuell information från bostadsannonser. Denna integration syftar till att förbättra noggrannheten och effektiviteten i fastighetsvärdering, en uppgift som traditionellt är beroende av en fysisk besiktning av mäklare. Arbetet innefattade utvecklingen av en modell som kombinerar bildinformation extraherad med ViTMAE från fastighetsbilder med traditionella fastighetsdata. Med fokus på bostadsfastigheter i Sverige använde studien en databas med bilder och metadata från bostadsannonser. Den anpassade ViTMAE-modellen, tillgänglig via Hugging Face-biblioteket, tränades på denna databas för extraktion av bildinformation, som sedan integrerades med metadata för att skapa en omfattande värderingsmodell. Resultaten indikerar att inklusion av ViTMAE-extraherad bildinformation förbättrar noggranheten av bostadssvärderingsmodeller. Den multimodala metoden, som kombinerar visuell och traditionell metadata, visade en förbättring i noggrannhet jämfört med modeller som endast använder metadata. Denna uppsats bidrar till bostadsvärdering genom att visa på potentialen hos avancerade bildanalys för att förbättra värderingsmodeller. Den lägger grunden för framtida forskning i mer raffinerade holistiska värderingsmodeller som inkluderar ett bredare spektrum av faktorer utöver visuell data.

Bakgrund och problem:Studien undersöker revisionsprocessen och användningen av IFRS 13 därfastigheter värderas till verkligt värde. Detta innebär att värderingen ska motsvaraett marknadsmässigt försäljningspris, ett så kallat verkligt värde. Medvärderingsmetoden medföljer subjektiva bedömningar som värderingen grundas på.Att värdera fastigheter på detta vis innebär komplexitet och antaganden. Inte minstinnebär det också utmaningar för revisorn och revisionsprocessen. Syfte:Syftet med denna studie är att studera revisorers komfort kopplat tillfastighetsvärderingar enligt IFRS 13. Metod:Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ metod med en deduktiv ansats där empirinsamlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem auktoriserade revisorer. Slutsats:Trots att revisionsunderlag för fastigheter värderade till verkligt värde inte harsamma tillförlitlighet som vid anskaffningsvärde föredras de av respondenterna dåde menar att det skapar mer komfort eftersom det på ett bättre sätt speglarverkligheten till skillnad mot anskaffningsvärdering. Tidigare studier belyser riskenatt revisorer kan bli för beroende av specialister där professionell skepticism ochoberoendet rubbas. Vår studie kommer fram till att varken revisorns skepticism elleroberoende rubbas vid fastighetsvärdering enligt IFRS 13. / Background and Problem:The study examines the audit process and the use of IFRS 13, where real estates arevalued at fair value. This valuation should correspond to a market-based sales price.The method involves subjective assessments on which the valuation is based. Thisway of valuing properties involves complexity and assumptions which poseschallenges for the auditor and the audit process. Purpose:The purpose of this study is to investigate auditor’s comfort levels associated withreal estate valuation according to IFRS 13. Method:The method in the study was conducted using a qualitative method with a deductiveapproach, where empirical data was collected by semi-structured interviews withfive certified auditors. Conclusion:Despite the fact that audit evidence for real estate valued at fair value does not havethe same reliability as acquisition value, they are preferred by the respondents as thevaluation method creates more comfort by more accurately reflects reality asopposed to acquisition valuation. Previous studies highlight the risk that auditorscan become overly dependent on specialists which can affect professionalskepticism and the independence negatively. Our study concludes that neither theskepticism nor independence is disrupted during real estate valuation according toIFRS 13.

[pt] Motivada por encontrar-me inserida em um ambiente escolar inclusivo, objetivo investigar a construção avaliativa das emoções e dos estigmas nas práticas discursivas sobre a inclusão de pessoas com deficiência em contextos educacionais. Para isso, conto com a parceria de quatro colaboradoras, professoras atuantes na educação básica, que disponibilizaram seu tempo para conversar sobre inclusão (Mantoan, 2015), trazendo seus olhares pessoais e profissionais para esta tese. As interações, gravadas e transcritas, com os devidos cuidados éticos, possibilitaram que Carol, Lívia, Rebeca e Carla compartilhassem seus entendimentos acerca da temática central deste estudo. Para o desenvolvimento da investigação, os seguintes objetivos específicos foram propostos: (i) refletir acerca de como as participantes constroem e avaliam os processos de inclusão em seus relatos; (ii) investigar se há a presença de estigmas e de que forma se relacionam ou não a determinadas emoções; (iii) analisar discursivamente as marcas avaliativas atitudinais a fim de mapear as escolhas léxico-gramaticais que criam significados sobre os posicionamentos das participantes e (iv) observar como as narrativas podem estar alinhadas a discursos macrossociais sobre a inclusão de pessoas com deficiência. Alinhada ao paradigma qualitativo (Denzin; Lincoln, 2006), a arquitetura teórico-metodológica fundamenta-se na Linguística Aplicada Crítica (Moita Lopes et al., 2006), nos princípios éticos e crítico-reflexivos da Prática Exploratória (Miller et al., 2008), nos estudos das emoções (Le Breton, 2019) e estigmas (Goffman, 2004) e nos estudos de narrativas (Bastos, 2005). Foi utilizado o Sistema de Avaliatividade (Martin; White, 2005), componente integrante da Linguística Sistêmico-Funcional (Halliday, 1994), para empreender a análise microdiscursiva e categorizar as avaliações implícitas e explícitas construídas nas interações. As conversas exploratórias (Miller, 2001) foram organizadas em três blocos temáticos: (i) inclusão em contextos educacionais; (ii) inclusão como face do amor-cuidado-compromisso e (iii) inclusão dos que estão à margem. A interpretação e a análise das interações com as participantes possibilitaram apreender que ainda há muito trabalho a ser feito no campo da formação continuada de professores/as para o convívio com a diversidade humana na escola e na universidade. Somado a isso, a partir da análise do discurso das colaboradoras, percebi a necessidade de mais atenção para as questões de acessibilidade, principalmente no que diz respeito às atitudes que envolvem princípios éticos e morais. As escolhas léxico-gramaticais e paralinguísticas realizadas pelas participantes durante as conversas foram permeadas por emoções (de frustração, desagrado, insatisfação, contentamento etc.), por relações micropolíticas de poder (quem pode incluir quem no contexto escolar, quem sofre e quem resiste, entre outras) e por uma visão da inclusão que corrobora a educação como ato político (Freire, 2019a). Os relatos das professoras também sugerem a presença de estigmas em situações de sala de aula e fora dela, tais como julgamentos negativos de docentes e discentes relacionados à deficiência. As reflexões geradas na pesquisa contribuíram para ampliar o entendimento das práticas inclusivas, possibilitando o acesso a experiências pessoais e profissionais que integram contextos mais amplos. / [en] Motivated by finding myself inserted in an inclusive school environment, I aim to investigate the evaluative construction of emotions and stigmas in discursive practices about the inclusion of people with disabilities in educational settings. For this purpose, I count on the partnership of four collaborators, who teach in basic education and made time to talk about inclusion (Mantoan, 2015), bringing their personal and professional perspectives to this thesis. The interactions, recorded and transcribed with due ethical care, allowed Carol, Lívia, Rebeca, and Carla to share their understandings of the central theme of this study. To develop this investigation, the following specific objectives were proposed: (i) reflect on how participants construct and evaluate inclusion processes in their reports; (ii) investigate whether there is the presence of stigmas and how they are related or not to certain emotions; (iii) discursively analyze the attitudinal evaluative marks to map the lexico-grammatical choices that create meanings about the participants positions, and (iv) observe how the narratives align with macrosocial discourses about the inclusion of people with disabilities. Aligned with the qualitative paradigm (Denzin; Lincoln, 2006), the theoretical-methodological architecture is based on Critical Applied Linguistics (Moita Lopes et al., 2006), on the ethical and critical-reflexive principles of Exploratory Practice (Miller et al., 2008), on studies of emotions (Le Breton, 2019) and stigmas (Goffman, 2004) as well as studies of narratives (Bastos, 2005). For the micro-discursive analysis, I used the Appraisal System (Martin; White, 2005), an integral component of Systemic-Functional Linguistics (Halliday, 1994), to categorize the implicit and explicit evaluations constructed in the interactions. The analysis of the exploratory conversations (Miller, 2001) was organized into three thematic blocks: (i) inclusion in educational contexts; (ii) inclusion as a facet of love-care-commitment, and (iii) inclusion of those on the margins. The interpretation and analysis of the conversations with the participants made it possible to understand that there is still work to be done in the field of continuing teacher education to interact with human diversity at schools and universities. In addition, from the analysis of the collaborators speech, I realized the need for more attention to accessibility issues, especially concerning attitudes involving ethical and moral principles. The lexico-grammatical and paralinguistic choices made by the participants during the conversations were permeated by emotions (frustration, displeasure, dissatisfaction, contentment etc.), by micropolitical power relations (who can include whom in the school context, who suffers and who resists) and by a vision of inclusion that corroborates education as a political act (Freire, 2019a). The teachers reports also point to the presence of stigmas in classroom situations and outside of it, such as negative judgments related to disability made by teachers and students. The reflections generated in the research contributed to expanding the understanding of inclusive practices in the contexts present in the conversations, enabling access to personal experiences that integrate broader contexts.

Angesichts der wachsenden Zahl an Patienten, die sich im Internet über medizinische Fragen informieren, untersuchten wir Informationen auf Webseiten zum Down-Syndrom. Im Anschluss an eine Suche nach "Down-Syndrom" mit den Suchmaschinen Altavista und Yahoo (in deutsch und in englisch), untersuchten wir medizinische und psychosoziale Informationen auf den ersten 100 Suchergebnissen, die jede Suchmaschine ergab. Ein vordefinierter Katalog an gesundheitsbezogenen Daten wurde zur Beurteilung der Webseiten verwendet. Grundlegende (geforderte) und zusätzliche (fakultative) Informationen wurde getrennt ausgewertet. Deutsch- und englischsprachige Webseiten wurden miteinander verglichen. Die Stichprobengröße betrug 324 Suchergebnisse (200 englische, 124 deutsche), von denen nur 77 (24%) medizinische Webseiten waren. Unter ihnen befanden sich 34 relevante deutschsprachige Webseiten (27% von 124 Treffern) und 43 relevante englischsprachige Webseiten (22% von 200 Treffern). In beiden Sprachen wurden sämtliche Informationsgrade (von schlecht bis hervorragend) gefunden. Nur 24% der deutschsprachigen Webseiten und 35% der englischsprachigen Webseiten enthielten mehr als 50% der grundlegenden medizinischen Informationen. Bei den zusätzlichen Informationen gab es nur eine deutschsprachige und fünf englischsprachige Webseiten, die mehr als 50% des erwarteten Inhalts enthielten. Ein Einfluss der Sprache und des Verfassers (von Universitäten bis hin zu privaten Homepages) auf den Inhalt konnte festgestellt werden. Englische Webseiten enthielten mehr Material als deutschsprachige. Da viele Homepages die meisten der geforderten Fakten weder behandelten noch dafür bestimmt waren, dies zu tun, ist der Nutzen sowohl der deutschsprachigen als auch der englischsprachigen Webseiten als Informationsquelle über das DS eingeschränkt. Sorgfältige Anstrengungen sind erforderlich um zu gewährleisten, dass das Internet eine Gestalt annimmt, in der den Bedürfnisse der Nutzer bezüglich Gesundheitsinformationen Rechnung getragen wird. Allerdings zeigen einige Beispiele auch das Potential des Internets, auch wenn die Möglichkeiten, über das DS zu informieren, nicht voll ausgeschöpft werden. / Considering the increasing number of people using the internet as an source of knowledge about medical issues, we analysed the information of websites on Down Syndrome (DS). After a search for "Down syndrome" with the search engines Altavista and Yahoo (in German and in English), we examined medical and/or psycho-social information of web-sites within the first 100 hits yielded by each search engine. A predefined catalogue of health related data was used for ranking of web-sites. Basic (required) and additional (facultative) information were evaluated separately.English and German web-sites were compared. The sample size was 324 hits (200 English, 124 German) of which only 77 (24%) were medical web-sites. Among these were 34 relevant German web-sites (27% of 124 hits) and 43 relevant English web-sites (22% of 200 hits). In both languages all levels of information (poor/excellent) were found. Only 24% of the German web-sites and 35% of the English web-sites gave more than 50% of the basic medical information. Looking at the additional information, there were 1 German and 5 English web-sites communicating more than 50% of the expected content. An impact of language and authorship (universities/personal homepage) on the substance could be established. English websites contained more material than Germans. Since many homepages don`t cover and are not intended to present most of the required facts, the usefullness of both German and English web-sites as a source of information on DS is limited. Careful work is essential to ensure that the Internet takes shape in ways that support customers needs of health information. However, some examples show the potential of the Internet, although the possibilities to educate people about DS are not completly realised.

Bewertungen von Immobilien sollen den Marktwert einschätzen und sind notwendig für Kauf-, Verkaufs- und Bauentscheidungen, für die Kreditvergabe und für die Besteuerung. Trotz dieser eindeutigen Aufgabenstellung existierten unterschiedliche Verfahren, mit welchen Marktwerte ermittelt werden können. Ein Bewertungsverfahren soll einerseits mit ökonomischer Theorie vereinbar sein und andererseits Bewertungen generieren, die beobachtete Transaktionspreise gut vorhersagen. Die Dissertation analysiert die drei wichtigsten Bewertungsansätze Sachwert-, Vergleichswert- und Ertragswertverfahren, zeigt das jeweils zugrundeliegende Marktmodell und evaluiert die kodifizierten Verfahren nach der Wertermittlungsverordnung (WertV) anhand von beobachteten Transaktionen. Darüber hinaus gibt die Dissertation einen Überblick zu Immobilienpreisindizes und zu hedonischen Methoden. Für die ökonometrischen Analysen wurden umfangreiche Daten zum Berliner Immobilienmarkt verwendet. / Appraisals should assess the market value of properties and are necessary for buying, selling or building decisions, for lending and for taxation. Despite this unambiguous task different techniques exist for ascertaining market values. An valuation approach should be in accordance with economic theory and should generate appraisals, which are reliable estimates for transaction prices. This dissertation analyzes the three most important valuation approaches, i.e. cost, sales comparison, and income approach, shows the underlying market models and evaluates the valuation techniques that are codified in the German Regulation on Valuation (WertV). For the latter evaluations, appraisals are compared with observed transaction prices. In addition, the dissertation gives an overview on real estate price indices and on the hedonic approach. Extensive data on Berlin's real estate market are used for the econometric analysis.

Text in Afrikaans / During the last few decades the need existed for a new framework to give direction to development and ecological thought in respect of the sustaining of nature in order to place development and ecological thought within the limits of nature. However, development thought and the debate relating to nature are to some extent still treated in theory and practice as two separate entities. One of the current challenges for sustainable development is to reconcile the development and ecological branches of this debate. The thesis firstly explains the origin and characteristics of sustainable development. Secondly, the crisis in nature is discussed, followed by a discussion of the most important ecological views relating to sustainable development. Then issues in development thought that relates to sustainable development is discussed, as well as the changing emphasis in development thought that stimulated the growth of sustainable development. The mainstream development view, as the other main branch of sustainable development thinking, is then discussed. In conclusion, some issues relating to the operationalisation of sustainable development is discussed. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Ontwikkelingstudies)

This research focuses on the role of the school principal as instructional leader in primary schools in Thoyandou area, Limpopo Province. It was motivated by a marked decline in the fulfilment of the instructional leadership role of principals in certain schools in the Limpopo Province. A literature study was undertaken to determine the role of a instructional leader, approaches to this role as well as the relationship between the principal's instructional leadership role and staff development and staff appraisal respectively. A qualitative inquiry was conducted using a focus group and personal interviews with a small sample of participants selected by judgement sampling. The findings suggest that understanding of the instructional leadership is fragmented; principals often fail to develop staff adequately; and the Department of Education's new approach to staff and development appraisals is not adequately implemented in schools. Finally guidelines are provided to assist principals in fulfilling their role as effective instructional leaders. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Education Management)

This study investigates some of the issues affecting participation of the poor in two development projects in Inkosikazi communal lands in Zimbabwe. Recent trends in participatory development are reviewed and discussed in the study. Some definitions of the concept of participation are explored, including its historical background, importance and challenges. Fieldwork was undertaken in Inkosikazi communal lands in July 2004. Two projects were randomly sampled, and in one of them involving goat-rearing, some of the participants were classified as being very poor, while in the other, a heifer loan-scheme project, none of the participants could be classified as very poor. The possible reasons for these variations are explored in the study. The conclusion of the thesis is that the study succeeds in examining certain key issues affecting participation of the poor in Inkosikazi communal lands in Zimbabwe and recommendations thereof are made. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)