Oil is an important energy source and a necessary industrial raw material. Every country’s economic growth and the daily life of its people are dependent on this energy form. Historically, the oil prices have varied significantly on the world market. This led to at least two oil crises when prices increased in a very fast pace. In order to reduce such rapid fluctuations, oil was introduced at so called commodity exchanges. At such trading places oil could be traded openly for future delivery and hence the market was aware of price changes in advance. A commodity exchange sells special contracts in the form of so called “futures”. In fact there are many different contracts, each exchange has its own set of them covering for a number of different oil types. This thesis deals with these contracts and how they are traded.

While William Thackeray’s Vanity Fair is a satire, a humoristic account of the vanities of the different characters in the fictitious society of Vanity Fair, it is also a social criticism of early nineteenth century British society. The essay examines Thackeray’s social critique, which is sometimes explicitly expressed and sometimes more implicit. His criticism is aimed both at the new commodity culture where everything is reducible to money—even people and human relations—and at the class system of the up-and-coming middle classes and the established gentry and aristocracy. When Thackeray sends Becky Sharpe off in a vain pursuit of wealth and social status, he also uses her to expose the vanities of the other characters in Vanity Fair. Their vanities derive from the prevailing commodity culture and are mainly connected to wealth and social status. The essay discusses Becky’s progress from a sociological perspective through the theories of Pierre Bourdieu. His concepts of field, habitus, capital and distinction deal with the power structure in society and what distinguishes different social classes.  Here his theories are used to demonstrate how the different characters in Vanity Fair engage in competition for social status, by using their different forms of capital, and the essay emphasizes the convertibility of these kinds of capital. Bourdieu’s theories contribute to the understanding of how Becky who comes from nowhere, manages to climb to very top rung of the social ladder, but they also demonstrate that her chameleon-like ability to fit in everywhere is an exception to Bourdieu’s general model.

The Instruments installation represents the superimposition of two systems. The marketed elements that comprise the hegemony exerted by commodity culture are placed on top of the occult qabalistic Tree of Life. This overlaying makes the commentary that the pursuit of identity through commodified objects usurps and drowns out the natural fundamental components of the human psyche. The artist accomplishes this by creating various expressive multimedia sculptures out of actual objects. Each one is given a title that references a particular sphere on the Tree of Life glyph, for each piece is meant to represent that sphere’s aspect of the human entity as it is expressed in the commodity realm. The artist begins by introducing the reader to the artistic contexts and the various conceptual structures that serve to inform and describe his mode of working and its results. Subsequently, a detailed description of each work is given, simultaneously functioning as a necessarily brief survey of the spheres on the qabalistic glyph.

A report on social consequences of neoliberal trade policies and the commodification of food, and the international efforts of small farmers to counteract the worst of these consequences. Social justice movements like fair trade and local food have emerged with the aim to expose the direct impacts on food producers. These movements co-exist while achieving their respective and mutual goals. Themes explored are: the fight against neoliberal globalization and mainstream trade, labour practices (workers' rights, fair wages, safe work environments,) sustainability (environmental practices, food security,) community and economic development and consumer awareness of aforementioned issues. Although these are global issues, close attention is paid to recent mobilization efforts in Canada and Manitoba among small food producers, farmers’ unions and related non-government organizations.

Detalesnių tyrimų Lietuvos baltalksnynuose niekas neatliko. Šiame darbe siekiama ištirti aukštos bonitetinės klasės baltalksnynų taksacinius parametrus ir įvertinti jų auginimo ekonominę vertę. Darbo objektas – Biržų miškų urėdijos baltalksnynai. Darbo tikslas – Įvertinti našiausių baltalksnynų augimo eigą Biržų miškų urėdijoje, bei atrinkti geriausius medynus ir rinktinius medžius Lietuvos miško sėklinės bazės sąvadui. Darbo metodai – Apibūdinant medyną buvo nustatyta: vidutinis aukštis, skersmuo ir amžius, aukštis iki žalių šakų, stiebo išreikštumas lajos dalyje, stiebo forma, skerspločių suma m2/ha, bonitetas, skalsumas, tūris m3/ha, medžių skaičius 1 ha, metinis tūrio prieaugis m3/ha. Iš viso buvo matuotas 21 sklypas. Kiekviename sklype buvo išskiriama po 3 barelius būdingose sklypo vietose. Darbo rezultatai – Intensyvus baltalksnynų retinimasis vyksta iki 35 metų amžiaus (nuo 3500 vnt/ha – 15 metų amžiaus, iki 1080 vnt/ha – 35 metų amžiaus), o vėliau amžiaus didėjimas medžių skaičiui vnt/ha esminės įtakos nebedaro. Didžiausią tūrio prieaugį m3/ha medynai pasiekia sulaukę 20 metų amžiaus. Vidutinį Lietuvos brandžių baltalksnynų tūrį 1 ha (191 m3/ha) (Lietuvos ..., 2010), našiausi Biržų miškų urėdijos baltalksnynai sukaupia sulaukę 17 metų amžiaus. Sparčiausiai baltalksnynai auga iki 15 metų amžiaus ir per metus į aukštį priauga vidutiniškai po 0,8 m, o nuo 30 iki 45 metų amžiaus per metus į aukštį priauga tik po 0,3 m. Įvertinant baltalksnynų kokybinius rodiklius... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Gray alder stands are not studied detailed in Lithuania. The goal of our work is to investigate the main taxation parameters of the most productive gray alder stands and assess the financial benefit of them. Object of the investigation: Gray alder stands in Biržai State Forest Enterprise. The aim of our investigation: to sort out the best gray alder stands in teritory of Biržai State Forest Enterprise and propose to include them in to the base of forests reproductive material. Methods: it was determined middle height, diameter, age, the distance to the vital branches, stem shape, radius (m2/ha), bonitet, stocking level, volume (m3/ha) , the density of trees (units per hectare), the annual growth rate (m3/ha) in order to characterize the gray alder stands. Results: it was determined that the most intensive decline process of gray alder stands continues to 35 years (from 3500 units per hectare in 15 years till 1080 units per hectare – 35 years) after that, increasing age has no significant effect on density. The greatest volume m3/ha is in 20 years. Middle volume of gray alder stands in Lithuania is 191 m3/ha. The most productive gray alder stands in Biržai State Forest Enterprise is in age of 17 years. The most rapidly growth continues to 15 years. Annual growth rate in height reaches 0.8 meter, whereas 30 – 45 years gray alder stands reaches only 0.3 meter annual growth in height. For the qualitative indicators, it was determined that the distance to the crown is 38 % in 15... [to full text]

This research focuses on evaluating and enhancing the performance of an in-house, structured, 2D CFD code - GHOST, on modern commodity clusters. The basic philosophy of this work is to optimize the cache performance of the code by splitting up the grid into smaller blocks and carrying out the required calculations on these smaller blocks. This in turn leads to enhanced code performance on commodity clusters. Accordingly, this work presents a discussion along with a detailed description of two techniques: external and internal blocking, for data access optimization. These techniques have been tested on steady, unsteady, laminar, and turbulent test cases and the results are presented. The critical hardware parameters which influenced the code performance were identified. A detailed study investigating the effect of these parameters on the code performance was conducted and the results are presented. The modified version of the code was also ported to the current state-of-art architectures with successful results.

Numerous advancements made in the field of computational sciences have made CFD a viable solution to the modern day fluid dynamics problems. Progress in computer performance allows us to solve a complex flow field in practical CPU time. Commodity clusters are also gaining popularity as computational research platform for various CFD communities. This research focuses on evaluating and enhancing the performance of an in-house, unstructured, 3D CFD code on modern commodity clusters. The fundamental idea is to tune the codes to optimize the cache behavior of the node on commodity clusters to achieve enhanced code performance. Accordingly, this work presents discussion of various available techniques for data access optimization and detailed description of those which yielded improved code performance. These techniques were tested on various steady, unsteady, laminar, and turbulent test cases and the results are presented. The critical hardware parameters which influenced the code performance were identified. A detailed study investigating the effect of these parameters on the code performance was conducted and the results are presented. The successful single node improvements were also efficiently tested on parallel platform. The modified version of the code was also ported to different hardware architectures with successful results. Loop blocking is established as a predictor of code performance.

With the increasing effect of disasters and long term issues on human well-being and economy over the recent years, effective management of humanitarian supply chains has become more important. This thesis work focuses on three problems in humanitarian supply chains where uncertainty is inherent, namely (i) post-disaster debris clearance with uncertain debris amounts, (ii) allocation of a health/humanitarian commodity in a developing country setting with multiple demand types, and (iii) distribution of specialized nutritious foods by a large scale humanitarian organization. In each of the three parts, the problem is formally defined, and a novel optimal solution approach incorporating the inherent uncertainty in the environment and updates is proposed. In cases where optimal models cannot be solved within reasonable time, novel heuristics are developed. Through structural analysis and computational experiments based on real data, the proposed approaches are compared to those that ignore the uncertainty in the environment and/or updates of information as new data becomes available. Using computational experiments, the proposed approaches are compared to those that are applied in practice, and the aspects of the system where performance improvements are more significant are analyzed.

This thesis explores the ways in which the body is positioned within consumer society. The development of body ideals in Western societies is examined in order to point out consumers’ occupation with appearances and their bodies as signifiers of success. The three case studies (A&F, Calvin Klein Underwear and fitness magazines) will enable a close analysis of contemporary society and its engagement with the body. I argue that today the body acts as a signifier for people’s narcissistic obsession with the surface, and that the body itself has come to exhibit characteristics of a commodity in consumer society.

Food security is a global topic of discussion and agricultural sectors play a vital role in the provision thereof. In South Africa the agribusinesses are some of the key players in providing financing, risk management and market advisory services to producers. Since the deregulation of the grain industry during 1996, many of these agribusinesses have converted their business form from cooperative to company and therefore adhere to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). These agribusinesses trade commodity derivatives on the South African Futures Exchange (SAFEX) to hedge themselves and their producers against commodity price risk. Globally there has been a tremendous increase in the use of derivatives and other financial instruments and with the emergence of these new and more complex financial instruments, accounting regulations had to follow these developments. The applicable accounting practices at the time were considered as being insufficient and being applied inconsistently. The major global standard setters namely IASB and FASB separately tried to develop adequate standards to address the accounting treatment of these products. The IASB developed International Accounting Standard (IAS) 39 dealing with the recognition and measurement of financial instruments, while the FASB issued Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) 133. These two standard setters have signed the Norwalk Agreement committing to plans to converge the IFRS and US accounting standards. This study focused on the application of IAS 39, with reference to commodity derivatives, with the main research objective being to investigate the accountancy implications of commodity derivatives in the South African agricultural sector. Furthermore it also serves to establish a standard methodology for the interpretation of IAS 39 and to serve as a benchmark and best practise for South African agribusinesses and commodity processors. For this purpose seven case studies were investigated by utilising a developed questionnaire, an illustrative flow diagram of IAS 39 and recorded structured interviews with the respondents. The accounting treatment of commodity derivatives was investigated by utilising nine transaction types which are typically found when producers sell grain to an agribusiness or a processor purchases grain from an agribusiness. The seven case studies were identified by utilising convenience sampling (unrestricted non–probability sampling). A literature review and empirical study were conducted. The findings on the accounting treatment of commodity derivatives were communicated thematically. The main findings were discussed during interviews with representatives of the technical departments of three of the Big Four audit firms in South Africa. A discussion of similar studies performed globally was performed. The recommendations following from this research study include that entities carrying “own use” inventory and applying hedge accounting can elect to apply the base adjustment consistently as part of their accounting policy on the valuation of inventory. Entities holding grain inventory for trading purposes should, based on industry practice, fair value such inventory. Various recommendations regarding the classification of a supply contract with a producer (as defined in a pre–season fixed price contract) depending on whether an entity applies hedge accounting or not, were made. Recommendations regarding the determination of fair value include that, based on industry practice and guidance by IAS 39, the SAFEX–based price should be utilised to fair value derivatives and to fair value inventory held by commodity–broker traders. The fair value movement on the option contracts taken out on behalf of the producer by an agribusiness should be transferred to the relevant producer's loan account. The recommendations concluded with a recommendation that entities should proactively consider and plan the impact of the replacement of IAS 39 on current business practices. Areas for further research could include investigating the accounting treatment of commodity derivatives of the newly issued accounting standards on financial instruments by IASB and the impact of these new standards on the business practices of entities. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Management Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.