The Department of Correctional Services sees the need for intensive preparation of inmates for reintegration into the community after release. Presently the Department of Correctional Services conducts pre-release preparation programmes in larger institutions. The inmates are, however, detained in institutions where the influence from other inmates is not conducive to the effective preparation of inmates for adjustment in free society after release or placement on parole. The use of halfway houses can combat the latter problems and play an important role in providing educational and training programmes. Specialised services such as social work; religious work, counselling, psychological treatment and psychiatry receive attention. Inmates who are merely released from prison without effective preparation are likely to resort to recidivism / Penology / M.A. (Penology)

We have dealt in this thesis with problems of nursing care of the newborn from the perspective of standardized classification systems NANDA, NIC and NOC which offer many opportunities for streamlining, simplifying and improving of the quality of care. The theoretical part of this thesis focuses on nursing care of physiological newborn during the first moments after the birth until leaving hospital. Furthermore, the common nursing language which is included in standardized classification systems NANDA, NIC and NOC.The empirical part of the thesis was prepared with the help of qualitative - quantitative strategy. We chose to collect valid data a research method of content analysis of documents, modelling, thought experiment and a structured interview. The first aim of the research was to identify the use file from various classification systems related to nursing care of physiological newborn. We selected 9 nursing diagnoses from the publication NANDA International Taxonomy II through content analysis, 9 nursing interventions from Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC), 5 expected results related to the care of physiological newborn from the publication Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC). We worked out a research form and submitted it in the way of a specific questionnaire to the validation of respondents ? who were experts in the field of nursing care of the newborn, it was made from the selected NANDA nursing diagnoses, NIC interventions and expected results of NOC. The second aim was to verify the usability of the selected files from the classification systems NANDA, NIC and NOC in clinical practice. The results of validation of NANDA nursing diagnoses were done by Diagnostic Content Validity Model ? DCV by Fehring. We determined the absolute and relative frequency of their designation within classification systems NIC and NOC. Nurses working at neonatal wards were our basic research populations; we created a targeted selection of two research samples divided by educational attainment. The first research sample consisted of 20 nurses with university education. The second research group was represented by 18 nurses with secondary education. The survey was realised in the time from January to March 2013 in the neonatal wards of the Hospital České Budějovice, a.s. Hospital Strakonice, a.s., Hospital Písek, a.s. Our third aim was to determine the attitudes of neonatal nurses to usage of classification systems in daily practice. We focused questions directed to the respondents on the knowledge and source of acquired knowledge, their attitude and possible reasons preventing the implementation of classification systems into clinical practice. The results showed nurses are reluctant to the usage and implementation of new standardized classification systems into clinical practice. The output of this thesis is the basic concept of nursing diagnosis according to NANDA-I, NIC and NOC focused on nursing care of physiological new-born in the area of the Czech Republic. 12 NANDA nursing diagnoses taxonomies was verified with 128 characteristics, 9 NIC nursing intervention taxonomies with 183 activities and 5 results of NOC nursing care with 72 areas of evaluation. There was selected in this survey 100 characteristics of NANDA taxonomy (62 %). It was chosen as being applicable in practice 130 from 9 selected files of NIC (71 %). It was selected 39 indicators (54 %) within 5 files of expected NOC results. The survey brought a lot of interesting information and also revealed even the lacks in the area of nursing care of physiological new-born; research also showed the lack in the area of nursing care of physiological newborn.

Dans de nombreux problèmes de classification, les données sont intrinsèquement incertaines. Les données d’apprentissage disponibles peuvent être imprécises, incomplètes, ou même peu fiables. En outre, des connaissances spécialisées partielles qui caractérisent le problème de classification peuvent également être disponibles. Ces différents types d’incertitude posent de grands défis pour la conception de classifieurs. La théorie des fonctions de croyance fournit un cadre rigoureux et élégant pour la représentation et la combinaison d’une grande variété d’informations incertaines. Dans cette thèse, nous utilisons cette théorie pour résoudre les problèmes de classification des données incertaines sur la base de deux approches courantes, à savoir, la méthode des k plus proches voisins (kNN) et la méthode à base de règles.Pour la méthode kNN, une préoccupation est que les données d’apprentissage imprécises dans les régions où les classes de chevauchent peuvent affecter ses performances de manière importante. Une méthode d’édition a été développée dans le cadre de la théorie des fonctions de croyance pour modéliser l’information imprécise apportée par les échantillons dans les régions qui se chevauchent. Une autre considération est que, parfois, seul un ensemble de données d’apprentissage incomplet est disponible, auquel cas les performances de la méthode kNN se dégradent considérablement. Motivé par ce problème, nous avons développé une méthode de fusion efficace pour combiner un ensemble de classifieurs kNN couplés utilisant des métriques couplées apprises localement. Pour la méthode à base de règles, afin d’améliorer sa performance dans les applications complexes, nous étendons la méthode traditionnelle dans le cadre des fonctions de croyance. Nous développons un système de classification fondé sur des règles de croyance pour traiter des informations incertains dans les problèmes de classification complexes. En outre, dans certaines applications, en plus de données d’apprentissage, des connaissances expertes peuvent également être disponibles. Nous avons donc développé un système de classification hybride fondé sur des règles de croyance permettant d’utiliser ces deux types d’information pour la classification. / In many classification problems, data are inherently uncertain. The available training data might be imprecise, incomplete, even unreliable. Besides, partial expert knowledge characterizing the classification problem may also be available. These different types of uncertainty bring great challenges to classifier design. The theory of belief functions provides a well-founded and elegant framework to represent and combine a large variety of uncertain information. In this thesis, we use this theory to address the uncertain data classification problems based on two popular approaches, i.e., the k-nearest neighbor rule (kNN) andrule-based classification systems. For the kNN rule, one concern is that the imprecise training data in class over lapping regions may greatly affect its performance. An evidential editing version of the kNNrule was developed based on the theory of belief functions in order to well model the imprecise information for those samples in over lapping regions. Another consideration is that, sometimes, only an incomplete training data set is available, in which case the ideal behaviors of the kNN rule degrade dramatically. Motivated by this problem, we designedan evidential fusion scheme for combining a group of pairwise kNN classifiers developed based on locally learned pairwise distance metrics.For rule-based classification systems, in order to improving their performance in complex applications, we extended the traditional fuzzy rule-based classification system in the framework of belief functions and develop a belief rule-based classification system to address uncertain information in complex classification problems. Further, considering that in some applications, apart from training data collected by sensors, partial expert knowledge can also be available, a hybrid belief rule-based classification system was developed to make use of these two types of information jointly for classification.

Please read the abstract in the section, 00front, of this document / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Civil Engineering / unrestricted

På Sveriges fastighetsmarknad har man de senaste åren kunnat urskilja ett allt högre fokus på miljön från dess aktörer. Miljödebatten i Sverige har snabbt fått fäste och allt fler företag förstår värdet av att fokusera på sådana frågor. Att utvecklingen fortsätter att gå framåt är viktigt då fastigheter och dess tillhörande byggnader står för nästan en tredjedel av världens utsläpp av växthusgaser och bara byggandet och driften står för cirka fyrtio procent av den globala förbrukningen av råvaror och energi. Prioritering av miljöfrågor blir således viktiga vid fastighetsförvaltande och nyproduktion. Tidigare forskning visar att det finns en mängd incitament för att bygga och förvalta grönt. Även hyresgästerna har incitament för att hyra gröna lokaler. Vidare visar internationella studier att det inte alltid krävs stora åtgärder för att uppnå bra resultat vad gäller fastigheters energiförbrukning och hållbarhet över tid. Trots detta går marknaden segt i Sverige och det finns inte många studier som visar vad aktörerna på den svenska marknaden egentligen tycker om miljöbyggnader eller om man redan vidtagit åtgärder för att utveckla fastighetsbeståndet av gröna byggnader. Syftet med uppsatsen är att ge läsaren en bild av hur fastighetsmarknaden resonerar kring miljöbyggnader och vad de anser statens roll i utvecklingen bör vara. I vårt arbete använder vi oss både av primärdata och sekundärdata. Primärdata har vi fått genom intervjuer med branschrelaterade företag medan sekundärdata har vi hämtat från litteratur, artiklar och vetenskapliga publikationer. / The Swedish property market has in recent years been able to notice an increasing focus on the environment from its actors. The environmental debate in Sweden has quickly taken hold and more and more companies understand the value of focusing on such issues. ! That trend continues to move forward is important as real estate and its associated buildings account for almost one third of global greenhouse gas emissions and only the construction and operation accounts for about forty percent of the global consumption of raw materials and energy. Prioritization of environmental issues is thus important for property management and new construction. Previous research shows that there are a variety of incentives to build and manage green, also tenants have an incentive to rent green space. As shown in international studies, it is not always required great measures to achieve good results in terms of properties' energy consumption and durability over time. Despite this, the market is tough in Sweden and there are not many studies that show what the players on the Swedish market really thinks about green buildings, or if any actions has already been made to develop the property portfolio of green buildings. The purpose of this paper is to give the reader a picture of how the real estate sector reason about environmental buildings and what they believe the role of the government to be in this development. In our work, we use both primary and secondary data. Primary data we have gained through interviews with industry-related companies, while secondary data was obtained from literature, articles and scientific publications.

The purpose of this study was to explore and highlight positive psychological strengths that are required and, to a lesser extent, negative psychological factors that are to be eliminated in employees attending EAP in the public service in order to make the EAP beneficial and successful. EAPs in the public service have not been as successful as expected because employees drop-out prematurely and/or benefit minimally from attending their sessions. Through the use of a qualitative research approach, this study explored positive psychological strengths that played a significant role in assisting employees attending EAP to achieve their health goals. Research data was collected through the narratives and in-depth interviews from eight participants, who shared their EAP experiences with the researcher. The collected data was analysed through the use of content analysis and positive psychological strengths in the form of themes emerged. The themes were compared with the framework of positive psychology, which is known as the VIA classification system of strengths and virtues framework, in order to determine alignment or compatibility with it. In addition, a few negative emotions were also reported as having been experienced by the participants while attending EAP. The results of this study indicate that certain positive psychological strengths possessed by employees while attending EAP contributed significantly in making them benefit from their EAP consultations. Although a few negative emotions were also reported as having being present during the EAP consultation, they did not affect the progression and success of the EAP. An EAP intervention model is recommended herein for future use, in order to facilitate the success of EAP sessions. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

The purpose of this study was to explore and highlight positive psychological strengths that are required and, to a lesser extent, negative psychological factors that are to be eliminated in employees attending EAP in the public service in order to make the EAP beneficial and successful. EAPs in the public service have not been as successful as expected because employees drop-out prematurely and/or benefit minimally from attending their sessions. Through the use of a qualitative research approach, this study explored positive psychological strengths that played a significant role in assisting employees attending EAP to achieve their health goals. Research data was collected through the narratives and in-depth interviews from eight participants, who shared their EAP experiences with the researcher. The collected data was analysed through the use of content analysis and positive psychological strengths in the form of themes emerged. The themes were compared with the framework of positive psychology, which is known as the VIA classification system of strengths and virtues framework, in order to determine alignment or compatibility with it. In addition, a few negative emotions were also reported as having been experienced by the participants while attending EAP. The results of this study indicate that certain positive psychological strengths possessed by employees while attending EAP contributed significantly in making them benefit from their EAP consultations. Although a few negative emotions were also reported as having being present during the EAP consultation, they did not affect the progression and success of the EAP. An EAP intervention model is recommended herein for future use, in order to facilitate the success of EAP sessions. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

MENVSC / Department of Ecology and Resource Management / Mine tailings (MT) have been a global problem due to the environmental impacts the waste generates such as air, soil and water pollution. The detrimental impacts include a global problem such as acid mine drainage (AMD) which has been difficult to cleanup. Several studies have been conducted to find alternative measures in reducing or mitigating impacts such as AMD and air pollution. Several studies have revealed how alumino-silicate mineral waste can be used as raw material to produce construction materials. This study aimed at evaluating the potential of synthesizing a geopolymer material from Musina copper mine tailings. Tailings were characterized for their physicochemical and mineralogical compositions using standard laboratory techniques in order to evaluate suitability in geopolymerization. First section of the results presented physicochemical and mineralogical characterization of the Musina copper tailings together with the bioavailability of the chemical species. It was observed that the tailings are mainly composed of SiO2 and Al2O3 as the major oxides indicating that they are aluminosilicate material. Mineralogical analysis revealed dominance of quartz, epidote and chlorite as the major minerals. The bioavailability assessment showed that largely Cu and Ca are bioavailable and highly soluble in an aqueous solution while Al, Mg, Ni, Co, Cr and Fe have a high proportion in non-labile phase. Second section presented the preliminary results wherein the potential application of Musina copper tailings in geopolymerization was evaluated. The results showed that Musina copper tailings can be used to synthesize a geopolymer material. However, it was recommended that several parameters influencing geopolymerization need to be evaluated. The third section presented the evaluation of optimum parameters that influence the geopolymerization process, which include type of alkali activators, alkali activator concentration, curing temperature, liquid-solid (L/S) ratio and curing regime. It was observed that a mixture of NaOH:Na2SiO3.5H20 at a ratio of 70:30 yields a better geopolymer material. The concentration of 10 M NaOH:Na2SiO3.5H20 at a ratio of 70:30 was observed to be the best that yielded the UCS that is acceptable according to SANS1215 standards. When evaluating curing regime, it was found that the material cured using greenhouse has lower UCS as compared to the material cured using oven. The v effect of temperature showed that the UCS decreases with increasing curing temperature. An admixture of river sand and cement was introduced which resulted in a high UCS of 21.16 MPa when using an admixture of cement. The mineralogical composition of the geopolymer bricks showed formation of secondary minerals such as phlogopite, fluorapatite, diopside and actinolite. Batch leaching conducted on the geopolymer bricks detected high leaching of Na from the bricks. Based on the findings of the study of the raw MT potential to produce geopolymer bricks, it was concluded that the material can be used to produce bricks that are within the SANS 1215 requirements. The study further recommended that the study a focus on using cylindrical moulds, other alkali activators and a mechanical mixer. It was also recommended that the greenhouse be restructured to contain heat within the greenhouse during the evening so as to allow constant temperature within / NRF

Valuing Intellectual Property assets is increasingly critical in today’s economy, where intangible assets constitute a significant portion of business value. This thesis addresses the challenges inherent in the IP valuation process, particularly the subjectivity and variability associated with different IP types and valuation methodologies. It proposes a new way to value IP assets, by building upon existing disaggregation methods, and by introducing the IP-heaviness classification system. The study aims to develop an objective valuation model for IP assets by introducing the IP-heaviness classification system. The goal of the model is to estimate the range of IP Contribution (IPC) to company value across different industry groups. Our study employed Kernel Density Estimation and Monte Carlo Simulation to analyze the dataset and generate a larger data sample. We then developed the IPH classification system, which categorizes industries based on their reliance on IP as a value contributor, grouping them by similar levels of IP dependence. This structured approach allows for a preliminary estimation of the IP contribution for each group, providing a standardized framework for IP valuation. Each IPH group was assigned its own probability density curve to represent its potential IPC value. Ultimately, our model produced confidence intervals for each IPH group, offering a reliable measure of the IP contribution within each category. Our findings reveal significant variability in the impact of IP on company value across different industries. Higher IPH groups, representing industries with substantial IP reliance, show a greater proportion of their value attributed to IP assets. Conversely, lower IPH groups, with less reliance on IP, exhibit lower IP contributions. The IPH classification system addresses the challenges of traditional IP valuation methods by providing a more objective and transparent approach. It enhances the comparability of companies within and across IPH groups and reduces subjectivity in the valuation process.