Non-book materials have a unique role to play in university libraries of South Africa, as they re-inforce what has been learnt and facilitate presentation of subject matter to fulfil the needs of teaching and learning of institutions. The key problem of the study was that non-book materials though very important as sources of information like books, appear to be little or not used in South African university libraries. This may be caused by unclear policy presented in formal or informal collection development policies. The general aim of the study was to find out collection development practices, policies and use of non-book materials in South African university libraries. To this end the specific objectives were: To find out how non-book materials in university libraries are collected and maintained as part of teaching, learning and research. To get some understanding on the policies and patterns the university libraries follow in the development of non-book materials. To find out the manner in which non-book materials are funded and acquired. To find out the extent to which library orientation, instruction and user education cover non-book materials. The study therefore examined the collection development and usage of nonbook materials in university libraries of South Africa. All the South African university libraries except University of Zululand where the researcher works and is the AV-librarian were included in the study. The major method of study chosen was the survey method and the questionnaire was used for data collection. The methods of analysis used were the univariate and bi-variate methods and the basic type of statistics, the descriptive statistics. Libraries surveyed showed that they favoured non-book materials, and above all they do have the most NBM that are available in all formats. The study guided the researcher in making the following recommendations: The need for improvement of the NBM information services in libraries. That clear policies, whether written or not, for selection and acquisition of NBM be reviewed in libraries in South Africa. The role of NBM specialist is important and needs to be redressed. That the academic staff, library staff and students work together as a team and devise a program of library user education integrated with curriculum. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1999.

In 1921, the Canadian government confiscated over 400 pieces of Kwakwaka’wakw potlatch regalia and placed it in three large museums. In 1967 the Kwakwaka'wakw initiated a long process of repatriation resulting in the majority of the collection returning to two Kwakwaka’wakw cultural centres over the last four decades. Through the theoretical framework of object biography and using the museum register as a tool to reconstruct the lives of the potlatch regalia, this thesis explores the multiple paths, diversions and oscillations between objecthood and subjecthood that the collection has undergone. This thesis constructs an exhibition history for the regalia, examines processes of institutional forgetting, and adds multiple layers of meaning to the collection's biography by attending to the post-repatriation life of the objects. By revisiting this pivotal Canadian case, diversions are emphasized as important moments in the creation of subjecthood and objecthood for museum objects.

In 1921, the Canadian government confiscated over 400 pieces of Kwakwaka’wakw potlatch regalia and placed it in three large museums. In 1967 the Kwakwaka'wakw initiated a long process of repatriation resulting in the majority of the collection returning to two Kwakwaka’wakw cultural centres over the last four decades. Through the theoretical framework of object biography and using the museum register as a tool to reconstruct the lives of the potlatch regalia, this thesis explores the multiple paths, diversions and oscillations between objecthood and subjecthood that the collection has undergone. This thesis constructs an exhibition history for the regalia, examines processes of institutional forgetting, and adds multiple layers of meaning to the collection's biography by attending to the post-repatriation life of the objects. By revisiting this pivotal Canadian case, diversions are emphasized as important moments in the creation of subjecthood and objecthood for museum objects.

Despite the great advances science has made in developing selection decision aids practitioners’ generally remain reluctant to adopt them. This phenomenon is considered today one of the greatest gaps in industrial, work and organizational psychology. This thesis adopts a psychological approach to practitioners’ resistance toward hiring procedures with high predictive validity of work performance. Consequently, three specific research questions were examined, two of which highlighted aspects of self-regulation, and one focused on agency relation in order to study outcomes in terms of actual use of hiring procedures and intention to change hiring procedures. The present thesis comprises three studies. Questionnaire data is used in two studies (Study I and II) to study how 1) prototype beliefs and ability to evaluate the quality of own performance is related to use of selection decision methods; and also how 2) behavioral intention to change hiring practice is related to self-efficacy beliefs, causal attribution and past behavior. Data collected with semi-structured interviews is used in Study III in order to study practitioners’ experiences in collaborative contexts in employee selection. Study I found that prototype beliefs and task quality ambiguity perceptions varied across various hiring practices. The results from Study II showed that self-efficacy beliefs, external attributions of success and internal attributions of failure were related to intention to change hiring practices. Study III highlighted the prevalence of separate self-interests over more general organizational interests in the agentic relation between practitioners. In conclusion, the present thesis has implication for theory as well as practice when it concludes that conscious steered cognitive mechanisms are important for understanding practitioners’ resistance towards high standardized hiring practices. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript.</p>

L'objectif principal de cette thèse est la découverte d'objets visuels fréquents dans de grandes collections multimédia (images ou vidéos). Comme dans de nombreux domaines (finance, génétique, ...), il s'agit d'extraire une connaissance de manière automatique ou semi-­‐automatique en utilisant la fréquence d'apparition d'un objet au sein d'un corpus comme critère de pertinence. Dans le cas visuel, le problème est différent de la fouille de données classique (ADN, textuel, etc.) puisque les instances d'apparition d'un même objet ne constituent pas des entités identiques mais doivent être appariées. Cette difficulté explique également pourquoi nous nous focalisons sur la découverte des objets rigides (logos, objets manufacturés, décors, bâtiments, etc.), et non des catégories d'objets de plus haut niveau sémantique (maison, voiture, chien, ...). Bien que les techniques de recherche d'objets rigides aient atteint une certaine maturité, le problème de la découverte non supervisée d'instances d'objets dans des grandes collections d'images est à l'heure actuelle encore difficile. D'une part parce que les méthodes actuelles ne sont pas assez efficaces et passent difficilement à l'échelle. D'autre part parce que le rappel et la précision sont encore insuffisants pour de nombreux objets. Particulièrement ceux ayant une taille très restreinte par rapport à l'information visuelle contextuelle qui peut être très riche (par exemple le logo d'un parti politique apparaissant ponctuellement dans un sujet de journal télévisé). Une première contribution de la thèse est de fournir un formalisme aux problèmes de découverte et de fouille d'instances d'objets visuels fréquents. Ces deux problèmes sont en effet définis de manière très confuse dans les quelques travaux récents de la littérature les abordant. Cette modélisation nous a permis entre autres choses de mettre en évidence le lien étroit qui existe entre la taille des objets à découvrir et la complexité du problème à traiter. La deuxième contribution de la thèse est une méthode générique de résolution de ces deux types de problème reposant d'une part sur un processus itératif d'échantillonnage d'objets candidats et d'autre part sur une méthode efficace d'appariement d'objets rigides à large échelle. L'idée est de considérer l'étape de recherche d'instances proprement dite comme une simple boite noire à laquelle il s'agit de soumettre des régions d'images ayant une probabilité élevée d'appartenir à un objet fréquent de la base. Une première approche étudiée dans la thèse consiste à simplement considérer que toutes les régions d'images de la base sont équiprobables, avec comme idée conductrice que les objets les plus instanciés sont ceux qui auront la couverture spatiale la plus grande et donc la probabilité la plus élevée d'être échantillonnés. En généralisant cette notion de couverture à celle plus générique de couverture probabiliste, il est alors possible de modéliser la complexité de notre méthode pour toute fonction de vraisemblance donnée en entrée, et de montrer ainsi l'importance de cette étape. La troisième contribution de la thèse s'attache précisément à construire une fonction de vraisemblance s'approchant au mieux de la distribution parfaite, tout en restant scalable et efficace. Cette dernière repose sur une approche originale de hachage à deux niveaux, permettant de générer efficacement un ensemble d'appariements visuels dans un premier temps, et d'évaluer ensuite leur pertinence en fonction de contraintes géométriques faibles. Les expérimentations montrent que contrairement aux méthodes de l'état de l'art notre approche permet de découvrir efficacement des objets de très petite taille dans des millions d'images. Pour finir, plusieurs scénarios d'exploitation des graphes visuels produits par notre méthode sont proposées et expérimentés. Ceci inclut la détection d'évènements médiatiques transmedia et la suggestion de requêtes visuelles.

Competitive intelligence (CI) is one of the fastest growing fields in the business world South Africa included; yet little quantitative research has been conducted or published on the development and use of CI in South Africa. CI is concerned with the methods companies use to monitor their competitors, their own competitive position, and to improve their competitiveness. It is not a new business activity but modern CI is more focused, formal, organised and actionable. CI is not an activity limited to a few countries or companies in certain industries; it is a worldwide phenomenon. Most of the Fortune 500 companies use CI extensively. Literature shows some countries such as France, Japan, Sweden and the USA to be more advanced in their embracement of CI as a means to enhance competitiveness. In these countries, CI is a recognised business discipline and has become a major source to achieve competitive advantage. They are also developed in terms of the role government plays in supporting CI activities. Another indicator of CI as a growing practice worldwide is the development of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP). Globally, SCIP chapters have taken root in all continents. Moreover, SCIP Europe, SCIP Italia, SCIP Australia and SClP Deutschland are part of a growing worldwide network of SCIP affiliates, i.e. independent organisations that have formally affiliated with SCIP. Leaders in the field of CI training are France, Japan, Israel, Sweden, and Korea while Europe is beginning to appreciate the importance of CI as a corporate tool. Some practitioners suggest that in the near future, all MBA programmes in Europe will include CI as a core subject and that the investment community will be looking at companies' track records in terms of their CI practices (Blagg, 2002). In comparison, CI in South Africa is still in its infancy (Muller, 1999). However, with South Africa's competitive landscape being reshaped, the need for CI as a means to enhance competitiveness has grown rapidly. Research into CI in South Africa has been limited. The first comprehensive research projects were launched in the beginning of the century. Very few companies then knew about CI, let alone practice it. But that did not mean that companies did not monitor competitors and other external events. There was just no formalised structured approach in assessing their environment. Since then, a team of researchers came together to find an answer to the question: What is the level of development and deployment of CI in South Africa? The findings of the research indicated a realisation among South African companies that they will have to take pro-active steps based on available information in order to survive. An assessment of current programmes in CI at South African learning institutions revealed a lack of formal academic programmes. Current programmes are mainly limited to short courses in basic CI principles. At present there are no CI courses presented at secondary schools in South Africa, and although some progress has been made in the development of courses, much still needs to be done. Programmes should also be presented at business schools at MBA level or at least as part of management and leadership training. A detailed description of the development of CI in South Africa in the areas of research, consulting and training is provided in Chapter 2. To illustrate the CI practice in a company, a case study is discussed in Chapter 3 to examine and analyse the development of the CI capability in one of the most prominent pharmaceutical companies. The pharmaceutical industry provides an appropriate example of an industry that undergoes constant and rapid change. Various areas of CI still need to be researched including CI in the academy as well as further studies on how companies in South Africa conduct CI. This study aims to add to the growing database of research into CI in South Africa. For the first research article (chapter 2) two research methods were used i.e. a literature study irto CI as a business discipline and a qualitative design (interviews) to obtain information from leaders in CI in South Africa. Given that CI is still in its infancy, the sample was small and included all recognised knowledgeable people on Clin South Africa. For the second research article (chapter 3) the same two research methods were applied. Both a qualitative design (interviews) and a questionnaire were used for the collection of primary information on the targeted company. The interviews were conducted with the CI manager in the company that was targeted for the case study. The sensitive nature of CI meant that permission for the publication of the case study had to be obtained provided a disguised name was used. / Thesis (MA (Public Management and Governance))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Ziel der vorliegenden Dissertation war, die Elektronendichte von RuAl2 anhand von Röntgenbeugungsdaten mit Hilfe des Multipolmodells [1] zu rekonstruieren, um Erkenntnisse zur chemischen Bindung in dieser Substanz zu erlangen. Im Gegensatz zu organischen Molekülen machen diese bei einer intermetallischen Verbindung wie RuAl2 nur einen kleinen Anteil an der Gesamtelektronenzahl aus, wodurch die Methode an ihre Grenzen stößt. RuAl2 kristallisiert im TiSi2 -Strukturtyp [2], die Kristallstruktur kann als Abfolge gegeinander verschobener pseudohexagonaler Schichten verstanden werden. Der erste Schritt auf dem Weg zu einer erfolgreichen Dichterekonstruktion besteht in der Synthese eines geeigneten Kristalls. Die hohen Synthesetemperaturen von über 1500 °C, die bei der Arbeit mit Schmelzen im System Ruthenium – Aluminium benötigt werden, wurden durch den Einsatz von Zinn als Lösungsmittel umgangen. Auf diese Weise konnten bei Temperaturen unter 1000 °C Kristalle gezüchtet werden. Die Analyse mittels elektronenmikroskopischer Methoden zeigte, dass auf diese Weise Kristalle erhalten werden können, die frei von Verunreinigungen sind. Erste Röntgenbeugungsexperimente zeigten auch, dass die Kristalle gut geordnet sind und bis zu hoher Auflösung Daten liefern. Um unerwünschte Effekte wie Extinktion und thermische Bewegung der Atome, sowie thermisch diffuse Streuung zu minimieren wurden die eigentlichen Diffraktionsversuche an einem sehr kleinen Kristall (Durchmesser 15 μm) mit kurzwelliger Synchrotronstrahlung (λ = 0,41328 Å) bei 25 K durchgeführt. Es konnte ein Datensatz von sehr hoher Qualität gesammelt werden, der zur Verfeinerung des Strukturmodells genutzt wurde. Dabei trat eine sehr geringe Stapelfehlordnung zu Tage, die auf die enge Verwandtschaft des MoSi2 -Strukturtyps mit dem TiSi2 -Typ, zurückzuführen ist. Trotz des sehr geringen Fehlordnungsanteils (0,3 %) wurde die Strukturverfeinerung anhand des Multipolmodells durchgeführt. Die aus dem Modell rekonstruierte Elektronendichte wurde bezüglich ihrer Topologie untersucht, wobei innerhalb der pseudohexagonalen Schichten sowohl Ru – Al als auch Al – Al Wechselwirkungen nachgewiesen wurden, während zwischen den Schichten ausschließlich Ru – Al-Bindungen zu finden sind. Um die entsprechende Datensammlung weiter zu verbessern wurde parallel zu den Experimenten ein Computerprogramm entwickelt, das die Datensammlungsstrategie des Beugungsexperimentes optimieren soll. Bei der Strategiesuche handelt es sich um eine Variante des Problems des Handlungsreisenden (Travelling Salesman) und stellt somit bereits bei einer moderaten Reflexzahl eine enorme kombinatorische Aufgabe dar [3, 4]. Um möglichst gute Näherungslösungen zu finden, benutzt das Programm den Simulated Annealing-Algorithmus [5]. Dieser generiert Lösungsvorschläge, indem er die Parameter der Messung zufällig variiert und den resultierenden Datensatz simuliert. Der Algorithmus beurteilt die Güte einer Lösung anhand einer Kostenfunktion. Im Falle der Strategieoptimierung wird der Wert dieser Funktion aus bestimmten Indikatoren für Datenqualität berechnet. Da in diesem Stadium des Experiments in der Regel noch kein Strukturmodell besteht, kann in der Simulation nicht auf Intensitätsinformation zurückgegriffen werden. Deshalb muss auf Qualitätsindikatoren zurückgegriffen werden, die nicht auf Intensitätsinformation basieren. Vollständigkeit und Redundanz sind an dieser Stelle besonders wichtig und können mit Hilfe der verfügbaren Informationen berechnet werden. Allerdings können sich sowohl Simulation als auch die Berechnung der Kostenfunktion bei verschiedenen Experimenten gravierend voneinander unterscheiden. Diese Tatsache floss bereits ganz am Anfang als eine der Hauptanforderungen in den Entwurf des Programms ein. Sämtliche Berechnungen und Teilalgorithmen werden als Plugins in die Software eingebunden, wodurch diese beliebig erweiterbar ist. Die unterschiedlichen Berechnungen können vom Benutzer auf vielfältige Art und Weise miteinander kombiniert werden. Zur Überprüfung der Tauglichkeit für die Strategieoptimierung wurde zunächst angestrebt bereits gemessene Datensätze anhand einer Simulation auf Basis der Ewaldkonstruktion zu reproduzieren. Nachdem dies gelang, wurde eine Messstrategie für ein konkretes strukturchemisches Problem erarbeitet. Es handelte sich um die Aufklärung einer sehr kleinen Fehlordnung in CeIrIn5 [6], deren Nachweis mit Hilfe der verbesserten Beugungsdaten untermauert werden konnte. [1] N. K. Hansen und P. Coppens. „Testing aspherical atom refinements on small-molecule data sets“. Acta Crystallogr. A 34 (1978), S. 909–921. [2] L.-E. Edshammar. „An X-Ray Investigation of Ruthenium-Aluminium Alloys“. Acta Chem. Scand. 20 (1966), S. 427–431. [3] R. G. Bland und D. F. Shallcross. Large Travling Salesman Problems Arising From Experiments In X-Ray Crystallography: A Preliminary Report On Computation. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University, 1987. [4] Z. Dauter. „Data-collection strategies“. Acta Crystallogr. D 55 (1999), S. 1703–1717. [5] S. Kirkpatrick, C. D. Gelatt und M. P. Vecchi. „Optimization by Simulated Annealing“. Science 220 (1983), S. 671–680. [6] S. Wirth u. a. „Structural investigations of CeIrIn5 and CeCoIn5 on macroscopic and atomic length scales“. J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 83(6):061009, 2014.

Activated sludge systems are the most widely used biological wastewater treatment processes all over the world. The main working principles of an activated sludge system are the oxidation of biologically degradable wastes by microorganisms and the subsequent separation of the newly formed biomass from the treated effluent. Separation by settling is the most troublesome stage of an activated sludge process. A decrease in the efficiency of the separation of microbial biomass from the treated effluent causes a decrease in the overall efficiency of the treatment plant. The efficiency of the separation process is related to the bioflocculation, which can be briefly defined as the aggregation of the bacteria into flocs through flocculation. Bioflocculation depends on the extracellular polymers (EPS) that are produced by microorganisms. The operating conditions of the activated sludge system is a key determinant of the synthesis of EPS and bioflocculation. The main objective of this study is to find out the effect of magnesium ions on the bioflocculation process under phosphorus deficient and sufficient conditions. In order to achieve this aim, the effects of magnesium ion in 4 different concentrations (0.9, 5, 10 and 20 meq/L) are investigated in semi continuous reactors. The reactors are operated at a mean cell residence time of 8 days and 20&ordm / C temperature. When reactors are confirmed to be at steady state, several sets of analysis are conducted. In particular, the surface chemical parameters including EPS and its components, electrical charge, and hydrophobicity as well as physical properties such as settlability, filterability, viscosity, floc strength, and turbidity are examined. It has been understood that phosphorus deficiency causes severe filamentous bulking under magnesium rich conditions. Increasing the phosphorus concentration in the influent can cure this problem. After the sludges are cured some granular structures were observed in the microscopic investigations and they are thought to be polyphosphate granules in which microorganisms tend to accumulate phosphorus when they find the adequate source after a starvation period. To consider the reactors operated at phosphate present conditions, it has been found that EPS increases with increasing influent magnesium concentration. However, protein type EPS (EPSP) exhibits a sharper increase when compared to the carbohydrate type EPS (EPSC) indicating the selective attitude of magnesium ions to protein type of polymers. It has been understood that the increase in the influent magnesium concentration results in an increase in dewaterability and zone settling velocity, and a decrease in the viscosity. Hydrophobicity was found to exhibit a maximum value at 10 meq/L magnesium fed sludge and then it dropped back. Surface charge values also made a minimum at 10 meq/L reactor and then no change occurred at the increase of the magnesium concentration to 20 meq/L. Finally, COD values were found to increase with the increasing magnesium concentration due to the increasing EPS.

No description available.

Esta tesis propone un juego de algoritmos que puede emplearse para computar estimaciones de las distintas facetas de complejidad que ofrecen señales musicales auditivas. Están enfocados en los aspectos de acústica, ritmo, timbre y tonalidad. Así pues, la complejidad musical se entiende aquí en el nivel más basto del común acuerdo entre oyentes humanos. El objetivo es obtener juicios de complejidad mediante computación automática que resulten similares al punto de vista de un oyente ingenuo. La motivación de la presente investigación es la de mejorar la interacción humana con colecciones de música digital. Según se discute en la tesis,hay toda una serie de tareas a considerar, como la visualización de una colección, la generación de listas de reproducción o la recomendación automática de música. A través de las estimaciones de complejidad musical provistas por los algoritmos descritos, podemos obtener acceso a un nivel de descripción semántica de la música que ofrecerá novedosas e interesantes soluciones para estas tareas. / This thesis proposes a set of algorithms that can be used to compute estimates of music complexity facets from musical audio signals. They focus on aspects of acoustics, rhythm, timbre, and tonality. Music complexity is thereby considered on the coarse level of common agreement among human listeners. The target is to obtain complexity judgments through automatic computation that resemble a naive listener's point of view. The motivation for the presented research lies in the enhancement of human interaction with digital music collections. As we will discuss, there is a variety of tasks to be considered, such as collection visualization, play-list generation, or the automatic recommendation of music. Through the music complexity estimates provided by the described algorithms we can obtain access to a level of semantic music description, which allows for novel and interesting solutions of these tasks.