Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:34:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 (Diego Vilhena.pdf: 818679 bytes, checksum: ba5d698980d4083e7c8aafe7f589db31 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-03-06 / The public civil action stands out as an essential and important way to the transindividual law defense, not only for proposing the defense of this particular class of rights, but also for bringing innovation to the traditional lawsuit thought. Among the innovations, two are showed as essential: the enlargement of the judged thing boundaries and, mainly, the change in the legitimacy systematic to act. This last one was very relevant to the access to the transindividual conflict justice, which started having the possibility of being hold by civil associations. Besides both of them, the Ministério Público (kind of district attorney) and the Public Administration (direct and indirect) are legitimated to the proposal of the public civil action, however the associations, for presenting themselves as a longa manus of the society, would be very important for the citizen participation in the power, through the jurisdictional activity. / A ação civil pública destaca-se como um instrumento de fundamental importância para a defesa de direitos transindividuais, não só por proporcionar a defesa dessa classe particular de direitos, mas por trazer inovações ao pensamento processual tradicional. Dentre as inovações, duas aparecem como fundamentais: a ampliação dos limites da coisa julgada e, principalmente, a mudança na sistemática da legitimação para agir. Essa última foi de grande relevância para o acesso à justiça dos conflitos transindividuais, os quais passaram a ter a possibilidade de serem defendidos por associações civis. Além delas, o Ministério Público e a Administração Pública (direta e indireta) estão legitimados para a propositura da ação civil pública, porém as associações, por apresentarem-se como uma longa manus da sociedade, seriam um ente muito importante para a participação do cidadão no poder, por meio da atividade jurisdicional.

O início do século XXI reservou às associações de interesse privado (AIPs) um novo papel. Além de coordenar os sistemas agroindustriais para sua competitividade, os órgãos de representação passaram a ser cobrados por sua iniciativa e liderança na área de sustentabilidade. Essa nova mudança ambiental traz novamente a necessidade de re-planejamento das associações setoriais com desenvolvimento de novas competências. Para o entendimento desse processo, definiu-se como problema de pesquisa a seguinte questão: Como as associações de interesse privado no agronegócio coordenam suas cadeias de valor? Como elas se planejam e organizam internamente para atingir esse objetivo central? A pesquisa empírica fez uso do método do estudo de caso para estudar oito associações setoriais no Brasil, Argentina e Colômbia, relacionados às cadeias produtivas da soja, cana e café. A análise dos casos e o contraste com o referencial teórico permitiu a compreensão de como pode se organizar uma associação de interesse privado para exercer o seu papel de coordenação setorial com eficiência e eficácia. A sobrevivência no longo prazo de uma AIP depende da garantia de que o benefício entregue individualmente a um associado seja superior a sua taxa associativa. Para evitar os conflitos internos e os custos de \"agência\", a AIP precisa oferecer uma estrutura de governança adequada bem como dividir os incentivos seletivamente por grupo estratégico representado. Deve para tanto ter um sistema de inteligência competitiva para fazer uma análise do ambiente de negócios e da cadeia de valor, mas também cuidar da análise interna, para que os associados estejam satisfeitos em termos de participação no processo de tomada de decisão e, principalmente, com os benefícios recebidos. / The beginning of 21st century presents a new role for private interest associations. Beyond the coordination of agribusiness systems´ competitiveness, these representative boards started to be demanded by their initiatives and leadership in the sustainability issue. This new environmental change brought again the need of strategic planning by the organizations with the development of new competences. For understanding this process, the research problem was defined as: How do the private interest associations in the agribusiness coordinate their value chains? How do they plan and organize themselves to reach that main objective? The empirical research has used the case study method to analyze eight sector associations in Brazil, Argentina and Colombia, related to soybean, sugarcane and coffee agribusiness systems. The analysis of the case studies and the contrast with the theoretical framework have allowed the comprehension about how a private interest association can organize itself to perfom its role of sector coordination with efficiency and effectiveness. The private interest association survival in the long run depends on the quality assurance that the individual benefits delivered to the associates are higher than the associative fee. In order to avoid the internal conflicts and the \"agency\" costs, the private interest association has to provide an appropriate governance structure as well as to divide the incentives selectively by the strategic group represented. In this sense, it should have a business intelligence system to do an analysis of the business environment and the value chain, but also conditions to do a continuous internal analysis to guarantee the participation of the associates in the decision process, and mainly the satisfaction with the received benefits.

Shifting perspectives on restoration and management of public lands in the inland West have resulted in an increased need for maps of potential natural vegetation which cover large areas at sufficient scale to delineate individual stands . In this study, classification tree modeling was used to predictively model and map the plant association types of a relatively undisturbed wilderness area in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. Models were developed using field data and data derived from a geographic information system database. Elevation, slope, aspect, annual precipitation, solar radiation, soil type, and topographic position were important predictor variables. The model predicted plant association types with a relatively high degree of accuracy for most plant association types, with the lowest accuracy for the types within the grand fir series. Fuzzy confusion analysis was used to analyze model performance, and indicated the overall model accuracy was 72%.

Thesis (M.Dev) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / The aim of this study was to assess the performance of co-operative enterprises that have benefited from the Co-operative Incentive Scheme (CIS). Matabane Co-operative in the Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality in Sekhukhune District was used as a case study. Both primary and secondary data were used to analyse the performance of this co-operative. The primary data were collected through a pre-tested questionnaire, while electronic and non-electronic media were used to collect secondary data. Purposive sampling was used to select respondents and because the number of beneficiaries of the co-operative was too small (i.e., 36) all were selected for this purpose. Only tables were used to analyse data in this study. The results obtained showed that the level of participation of females and youth in co-operatives is minimal. With regard to the level of education, the study found that all beneficiaries were literate. Of the total membership, 31% had passed secondary education, 22% had tertiary qualifications, while those who had passed primary education constituted 47%. The study also found that the co-operative had generated 36 jobs. Of this number, 14% were awarded to females as compared to 86% among their male counterparts. The youth constituted only 8% of the co-operative membership as compared to the 92% of the adults and the elderly combined. With regard to income, the study found that the co-operative has managed to generate about R1,5 million, the majority of which comes from the sale of livestock and maize, namely 44% and 28% respectively. The following challenges were established by this study: lack of access to markets, lack of sufficient land space for production, lack of support from government, lack of access to water, shortage of proper skills, and the high cost of electricity. The following recommendations are therefore made to policymakers: · A budget for the payment of stipends to beneficiaries should be made available. The budget for the Community Work Programme (CWP) should be used for this purpose. · The municipality should provide a subsidy for electricity to the co-operative. · The Provincial Departments of Agriculture should provide the co-operative with adequate infrastructure. · LIBSA and other government agencies should ensure the provision of ongoing training in technical, project management, recordkeeping and financial management skills to the beneficiaries of the co-operative. · LIBSA should assist the co-operatives in identifying markets and in ensuring that their produce meets the required quality standards. The assurance is hereby given by this study that the productivity of co-operatives would be enhanced if these policies were implemented successfully.

This study tested a mediation model by which daughters ' perceptions of poorer parent-adolescent relationship quality were expected to be directly associated with the individual psychological characteristics of low self-esteem and internalizing symptoms. In turn, individual psychological characteristics were hypothesized to predict self-defeating behavior, defined as deliberate self-harm and suicidal gestures, multiple sexual partners, and substance use. Additionally, the association between parent-adolescent relationship variables and self-defeating behaviors was posited to be largely indirect and mediated by symptoms of psychological distress . As predicted, perceived alienation from parents was directly associated with poor adolescent psychological functioning. Furthermore , individual psychological variables were found to partially mediate between parent alienation and deliberate self-harm /suicidal gestures. Full mediation was observed between mother alienation and risky sexual behaviors but not for fathers. No mediation effects were found between both mother and father alienation and daughters' reported substance use. Research and clinical implications are also discussed.

Researchers of social development during infancy have long viewed social competence as a reflection of the infant's experiences during early social interactions. In this context of social interaction, the infant's earliest developmental task involves the ability to regulate arousal; with continued development and the accumulation of interactional experiences, the infant takes a more active role as an initiator/elicitor of interaction. A particularly salient type of social exchange during infancy occurs when mother and infant engage in face-to-face interaction. Consequently, it was the goal of this study to examine maternal and infant behavior in the context of face-to-face interaction in order to: 1) identify those maternal behaviors that promote the infant's capacity to regulate arousal and subsequently act as a competent interactive partner; and 2) examine the extent to which early social development proceeds in a continuous manner. Thirty-one infant-mother dyads were videotaped in two 3-minute episodes of face-to-face interaction at 1 and 4 months. The first episode involved spontaneous face-to-face interaction; the second episode involved an attention-getting manipulation of maternal behavior. Maternal and infant interactive behaviors were coded for each episode at both ages. No significant differences were found in maternal or infant behavior across episodes, thus allowing for the data to be pooled. Significant findings regarding maternal behavior included the following: maternal interactive behavior was found to remain stable across time at the individual and normative levels; maternal behavior was positively associated with infant behavior at both ages; and maternal silence during infant gaze aversion was predictive of infant regulation of arousal. Conversely, infant behavior did not remain stable across time, at either the individual or normative level, thus suggesting that infants are changing. A most revealing association was discovered between 1-month maternal physical activity and 4-month infant regulation of arousal, suggesting that maternal behavior may have long-range effects on infant social competence. Consequently, from these findings, it has been suggested that maternal intrusive behaviors (e.g., physical activity, silence during infant gaze aversion) are focal in infant regulation of arousal and subsequent interactive competence.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The study of employer associations in Australia has focused on the activities of state employers’ federations and peak employer organisations in the federal sphere and on the effect on those organisations of Australia’s compulsory conciliation and arbitration system. The majority of literature has continued to mainly focus on national employer associations and on their difficulties in achieving national unity due to the differing views of their State branches. Despite their historic relevance, state employer associations that were established during the colonial era have been virtually ignored. Whilst single industry associations at the state level have also had to come to terms with the demands of Australia’s dual industrial relations systems, the role of the state systems and of the state-based employer associations appear to have attracted comparatively little academic interest. The effect on employer associations of the character and status of those who direct and influence their operations has received little, if any, analysis. Leading builders who were the major contractors of their time established the Master Builders Association of NSW (MBA/NSW) during the colonial era, and those that led the association throughout the turmoil of the 1890s, a major depression and two world wars continued to be the leading builders in the State of New South Wales. Following the Second World War, the character of the MBA/NSW changed with the absorption of suburban associations that comprised small to medium-sized builders. That development was compounded by the changes in the size, height and complexity of buildings within the Central Business District of Sydney and in other centres throughout the metropolitan area. Enormous capital was required to fund construction works and large corporations were formed and the bench-mark of what constituted a major contractor was raised considerably. Those events had an enormous impact on the character and operations of the MBA/NSW. This historical thesis seeks to explain why the MBA/NSW was successfully established in 1873 after two previous attempts; and, what accounts for its subsequent survival and growth. It analyses the various challenges that faced the MBA/NSW during its first one hundred years and the effect on that association of the policies and practices of iii architects, governments, trade unions and other employer associations. It traces the 1890 establishment of the Master Builders Federation of Australia (MBFA), the oldest federal industry association in Australia, by the MBA/NSW and its sister associations from other areas of Australia and analyses the manner in which the State-based Master Builders Associations each fought to retain their individual independence and reject any attempts to cede their powers so as to convert their federation into a national centralised body. The need for quick national responses of major building companies during the 1970s was addressed through a composite organization created by the Master Builder movement and the Australian Federation of Construction Contractors due to the continued refusal of the Master Builders associations to cede their powers to MBFA. The development of the trade union movement in the building industry in New South Wales is also analysed together with reference to the history of building industry awards in this State. The study also outlines the history of MBA/NSW initiatives and policies related to tendering and industrial relations which came under increasing pressure due to legal challenges from disciplined members and to changes arising from industrial and trade practices legislation. The practice of convening tender meetings, the introduction of Builders Licensing in New South Wales and, the origins of the MBA/NSW Group Apprenticeship Scheme are each described.

Over the last decade government policy has transformed many aspects of the welfare state and contracted out to private or voluntary non-government organisations many of the services previously provided by the state. Currently there is very little research on the benefits or disadvantages regarding standards of professional practice and delivery of these services when controlled by voluntary organisations and this research is a case study investigating these concerns. By using the case study method it is possible to understand issues by incorporating concrete examples of practice within the context that it takes place, as it is only when seen in its proper setting that the general and conceptual significance of practice is understood. This case study explores the relationships of power, control and accountability in one such non-governmental organisation, the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society and the implications these have for professional staff in the delivery of the service. The study uses the archaeology and genealogy methods suggested by Foucault. Archival material was gained from the Minutes of the meetings of the Plunket executive (1917-1984), constitution and rules. These serve to demonstrate the historical power relationships in the organisation, Plunket nurses� working conditions and how some nurses were treated. The dominant discourse in the archaeology contains two major themes, one being volunteers� autonomous 'ownership' of the organisation, and the other, the subordination of professionalism through the discipline and management of the nursing workforce. Those same themes are also dominant in the contemporary data studied in the genealogy, which highlights the constraints imposed by volunteer 'ownership' in the contemporary period. It is a feature of the "path dependency" of the organisation that the belief that volunteers had a right to discipline and control the nursing workforce has remained largely unchanged in the contemporary period. The practice and the context are personalised through interviews with some nurses so that their real-life experiences may give an in-depth understanding of the processes going on for them as professionals. This is one of multiple sources of evidence, including reports, reviews and research, used to triangulate the findings. Through the totality of these methods, insight into Plunket�s decision-making is made possible. These serve to underline the continuing lack of accountability for service delivery of nonprofessional 'owners' of the voluntary organisation and the negative impact it can have on the delivery of professional services although the greater depth in the contemporary data also highlights two new subsidiary themes; the dominance of lay knowledge over both professional and managerial knowledge, and volunteers� motives for volunteering. The contemporary interview data demonstrated how the historical culture of the organisation enabled this process to continue through poor workplace conditions, high staff attrition and, in some cases, severe personal pressure akin to workplace bullying. This study exposes the significance of the culture of organisations, and reveals that the substance of apparent altruistic voluntary organisations may be much more complex and problematic than the ideology would lead us to believe. In a field such as this, where an NGO has sole national responsibility for such an important area and where the outcomes are so poor, change must be considered. While a path dependency explanation is pessimistic about change, it is argued that the only option for professional standards of service for this, and other NGOs, lies in much more accountability and democracy in stakeholder relationships. Recommendations are made in that direction.

Borya mirabilis is one of the world's most critically endangered plants. The research in this thesis has illuminated key aspects of: its reproductive biology; interspecies and intraspecies molecular relationships, mycorrhizal status, tissue culture potential and disease threats. Each of these aspects has fundamental management implications for the active management of B. mirabilis. Floral observations of B. mirabilis and related species affirmed the uniqueness of the Boryaceae amongst the Asparagales. B. mirabilis had an unusually high number of floral abnormalities compared with other species of Borya observed. B. mirabilis is fly-pollinated. Pollen of Borya species showed little difference in the characteristics of mature pollen between species, with viable pollen being prolate and unicolpate with a single colpa-style aperture and a unique patterning of the pila. The structural immaturity of B. mirabilis pollen correlated with evidence from pollen growth experiments, where B. mirabilis pollen had extremely low germination rates, with those grains that did germinate being slow to do so and with slow-growing pollen tubes compared to those of fertile Borya species. Examination of the ovules of B. mirabilis showed that morphologically they were viable compared to viable Borya species. The field population of B. mirabilis was crossed, with one seed produced (the first recorded seed for th is species). Cross-pollination using the pollen of the closely related B. constricta and B. sphaerocephala with B. mirabilis ovules proved unsuccessful. Examination of the chromosome number of B. mirabilis showed that it had approximately 66 chromosomes and is probably hexaploid, relative to the diploid number of 26 in B. constricta. This may explain its low fertility. Interspecies and intraspecies relationships of the Boryaceae and Borya mirabilis were investigated using sequences of chloroplast and nuclear DNA. The closest similarities to B. mirabilis were B. constricta and B. sphaerocephala. B. mirabilis may have emerged from alloploidy of these species in the past. Because of the consistent similarities of B. mirabilis and B. constricta chloroplast sequences, it is proposed that both shared a common ancestor with a chromosome number of 2n=22. A malfunction n meiosis may have resulted in ovules with 2n=44. The high similarity of the nuclear ribosomal ITS region DNA suggests that the nuclear DNA was derived from B. sphaerocephela. B. mirabilis may be an allopolyploid, from fertilisation of a diploid ovule of B. constricta with haploid pollen of B. sphaerocephala, resulting in a reproductively isolated polyploidy of low fertility. The wild population of B. mirabilis was determined to have a small amount of genetic variation. The genetic variation in the field population w as not fully reflected in the ex-situ population. An effective means of micro-propagation of B. nitida for use in B. mirabilis has been established, providing an effective means of mass production of the species. The research has determined: a suitable explant (shoot tips) for regeneration; an effective means of reducing contamination in tissue culture (PPM); what medium is required to micro-propagate the species (LMHM); an appropriate gelling agent (Phytagel); and a practical method for inducing roots on the shoots grown in tissue culture. B. mirabilis has been established as mycorrhizal. The predominant mycorrhizal association is a nodular arbuscular mycorrhiza, present in the form of coils in root nodules over wetter months and as spores in these nodules over dryer months. A significant increase in the health of the ex-situ population of B. mirabilis was recorded after addition of soil containing fine roots of the wild population. Of the plants associated with the wild population, Callitris rhomboidea had the most morphologically similar vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal relationship. But molecular identification was not achieved due to recalcitrance of DNA in PCR attempts. Potential translocation sites for some of the ex-situ population of B. mirabilis were examined for Phytophthora infestation. Reid's Lookout and Mackey's Peak were infected with P. cinnamomi. Vegetation at Mackey's Peak displayed characteristic infection symptoms, resulted in isolates of P. cinnamomi from baiting and would directly receive runoff from both the walking track and the existing infested B .mirabilis site. At the Reid's Lookout site, both walking track and proposed translocation site were infested with P. cinnamomi, yet did not display the associated symptoms in the vegetation. The Pine Plantation translocation site was uninfected at the level of sampling undertaken. Its vegetation did not display any characteristic infection symptoms and was not isolated when soil samples were baited. It was therefore chosen for translocation and so far the plants are healthy and actively growing. This research has provided critical knowledge to aid the recovery team in its current and future endeavours to manage this species and bring it back from the brink of extinction.

Les exopolysaccharides d'origine microbienne (EPS) jouent un rôle déterminant dans la stabilisation des agrégats du sol en s'associant avec les argiles minérales. Dans le cadre de ces travaux de recherche, nous nous sommes intéressés à l'étude des interfaces argile/EPS à l'échelle moléculaire par modélisation moléculaire. La montmorillonite sodique (Na-MMT) a été choisie comme modèle représentatif de l'argile minérale et plusieurs EPS ont été considérés : le dextrane, le MWAP71, le xanthane, le KYGT207, le rhamsane, YAS34 et le succinoglycane. Nous avons abordé deux aspects : (a) l'adsorption des unités constitutives des EPS sur la surface basale de Na-MMT, et (b) les relations établies entre les différences molécules dans des complexes argile/EPS/eau. Tous les EPS considérés présentent une affinité par la surface minérale, les interactions établies aux interfaces sont multiples, elles peuvent être ioniques, hydrophobes et des liaisons hydrogène. Nous avons constaté une corrélation linéaire entre l'enthalpie d'adsorption et la surface en contact. L'analyse des structures indique que le facteur déterminant pour l'adsorption est l'habilité des EPS à se déplier pour maximiser la surface en interaction. Pour les complexes argile/EPS/eau, les modèles montrent que l'interaction avec l'eau est la plus forte aux taux d'hydratation les plus faibles, montrant que le système s'oppose à la dessication. En revanche, l'interaction de l'EPS avec la surface de l'argile évite la dispersion des feuillets quand il y a un excès d'eau. Les résultats obtenus par modélisation présentent une bonne corrélation avec les observations expérimentales.