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Rapid development and changes in customer needs places high demands on companies to constantly adapt to new customer requirements in order to stay competitive. This places further demands on companies’ ability to put the customer in focus and quickly develop, produce and offer what the customers expect, which often implies organizational changes. Organizational changes can contribute to making employees feel confused and insecure concerning their new role, which in turn contributes to low motivation and inefficiency among employees. Research has shown that a critical success factor for changes is employees’ ability to cope and adapt to change. Leaders have a decisive role in this and can help employees considerably when it comes to this aspect. The problem is a lack of knowledge about which aspects of leadership are most important for companies to develop in order to better manage organizational changes.  This research has investigated leadership deficiencies in insurance companies that prevent them from managing organizational changes effectively. Furthermore this  research has examined how insurance companies may rectify the leadership deficiencies that have been identified in this research. The research consisted of a case study at Trygg--‐Hansa, which included both interviews and questionnaires. The results indicated that leaders have deficiencies within Self--‐Awareness, Communication, Lead Employees, Manage Change and Strategic Planning. Furthermore, the most important deficiency to improve is Communication since it is the foundation for the others in some extent. The  findings in this research have both research and managerial implications. Regarding the research implications, this research identifies important leadership shortcomings that prevent insurance companies from manage organizational changes effectively. Regarding the managerial implications, the findings in this study may be too firm specific for urging other companies and organizations to use the results and suggested recommendation of this research. / Den snabba utvecklingen och förändringarna i kundernas behov, ställer höga krav på företagen att ständigt anpassa sig till nya kundkrav för att förbli konkurrenskraftiga. Detta ställer även höga krav på företagens förmåga att sätta kunden i fokus och att snabbt utveckla, producera och erbjuda det kunderna förväntar sig, vilket många gånger innebär organisatoriska förändringar för företagen. Organisatoriska förändringar bidrar till att medarbetarna känner förvirring och osäkerhet i sin nya roll, vilket i sin tur bidrar till låg motivation och ineffektivitet bland medarbetarna. Forskning har visat att en kritisk framgångsfaktor för förändringar är arbetstagarens förmåga att anpassa sig till förändringar. Ledare har en avgörande roll och kan underlätta betydligt för de anställda när det gäller denna aspekt. Problemet är att det saknas kunskap om vilka aspekter av ledarskap som är viktigast för företag att utvecklas för att bättre kunna hantera organisatoriska förändringar. Därför har denna forskning undersökt ledarskaps brister som hindrar försäkringsbolag att hantera organisations förändringar effektivt. Studien har också undersökt hur försäkringsföretag kan korrigera ledarskaps brister som identifierats i den här undersökningen. Forskningen bestod av en fallstudie på Trygg-­‐Hansa, som inkluderade både intervjuer och  enkäter. Resultaten visade att ledarna har brister inom självkännedom, kommunikation, leda anställda, hantera förändringar och strategisk planering. Dessutom är kommunikation den viktigaste bristen att förbättra eftersom det är grunden för de andra bristerna i viss utsträckning. Slutsatserna i denna forskning har både praktiska och teoretiska implikationer. När det gäller teoretiska implikationer identifierar denna forskning viktiga ledarskaps brister som hindrar försäkringsbolag att hantera organisations förändringar relaterade till ökad kundfokus effektivt. När det gäller de praktiska implikationerna, kan resultaten från denna fallstudie vara för företagsspecifika att det är svårt att uppmana andra företag och organisationer att använda resultaten och de föreslagna rekommendationer som denna forskning resulterat i.

Studies were conducted to determine the effects of iron and zinc chelates on these deficiencies . Soil treatments, and foliar treatments with and without urea were used . It was found that in soil treatments at least one pound chelate per tree must be used to significantly increase the iron content of the leaves. The soil treatments did not re~lt in as high a concentration in the leaves early in the season, but they had a residual effect that lasted throughout the entire growing season. Foliar treatments with iron did not effect the foliage that developed after the final application was made . In the conditions of this experiment the application of iron and/or zinc chelates resulted in increased peach size, soluble solids and sugar content.

During the mid 70's and early 80's, several precast deck panel bridges were constructed in Florida. These utilize prestressed precast panels as stay-in-place forms and are designed to act compositely with a cast-in-place deck which is poured subsequently. Such bridges offer advantages of quicker construction and lower costs. However, several such bridges built in Florida developed extensive cracking and spalling. Following localized failures, the Florida Department of Transportation have decided to replace all 127 precast panel deck bridges in Districts 1 and 7. Since deck replacement is contingent on funding, it is necessary to develop a rational procedure to decide the order in which they are replaced. This work describes the calibration of a software program developed to assist in the replacement prioritization of panel bridges. Prioritization is based on information available with FDOT in the form of biannual inspection reports over the past 20+ years. A new computer language called BRAILE ( BRidge Annual Inspection LanguagE) was developed to input the data from the inspection reports. A compute program PANEL was used to process the BRAILE data to identify trends that could be used to assign weights to observed deficiencies. The prioritization developed based on the method presented here was found to correctly identify high risk bridges and was reliable than one based solely on National Bridge Inventory (NBI) condition rating.

Kvalitetsbristerna i registerkartan är ett välkänt problem och Lantmäteriet arbetar ständigt för att uppdatera kartan och hitta en lösning på detta problem som är ekonomiskt försvarbar. Trots detta arbete så är bristerna stora på många håll, speciellt på landsbygden och inom skogsmark. Denna rapport behandlar konsekvenserna av registerkartans gränsredovisning i skogsmark. Arbetet har skett genom en fältstudie där två fastigheters utmärkta gränser kontrollmättes mot registerkartans angivna gränser. En beräkning av det teorietiska skogsvärdet som hamnar i gränszonen mellan registerkartans gräns och den på marken utmärkta gränsen.  En schablonmässig beräkning bedömt på hela Sveriges årliga avverkningsareal som ligger inom den gränszon som påverkas av registerkartans brister har gjorts och värdet av virkesvolymerna inom detta gränsland har beräknats. En Litteraturstudie har genomförts på den litteratur som berör ämnet. Enkätundersökningar till sakkunniga inom skogsnäringen och samtal med andra sakkunniga personer har skett för att få en inblick i hur registerkartans brister påverkar. Skogsnäringen vill inte se detta som ett stort problem som påverkar deras arbete. Även fast fel uppstår p.g.a. brister i deras kartmaterial och utrustning. De vill hellre peka på att gränserna många gånger är för dåligt underhållna av fastighetsägarna och att lantmäteriets prissättning gör att man hellre riskerar att göra fel än att få gränsen bestämd.

Research indicates that children with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) display a variety of neuro-developmental, cognitive, motor and nutritional deficiencies (Epstein el al., 1986:678; Davis-McFarland, 2000:20; Blanchette et al., 2001:50). Research also substantiates a need for additional intervention strategies such as improved nutrition and exercise programmes to improve the quality of life for HIV-infected children (Brady, 1994: 18; Stein et al., 1995:3 1 ; Parks & Danoff, 1999:527). The maintenance of motor skills in above-mentioned children is an important objective for intervention programmes, especially gross motor skills (Parks & Danoff, 1999:525). Literature indicates that growth retardation, exhaustion of fat storage and neuro-developmental deficiencies are related to HIV/AIDS (Aylward et al., 1992:218; Miller & Garg, 1998:368; Davis-McFarland, 2000:20; Miller et al., 200 1 : 1287). The monitoring of growth status is of outmost importance as children with serious stunting and wasting run the risk of early death. Growth retardation can also be an indication of infection or fast disease progression (Bobat et al, 200! :209). The aim of this study was firstly to determine the state of the motor development of 2, to 6-year old children infected with HIV and to compare it with that of affected (in that they are not infected with HIV, but have lost one or both parents to AIDS-related diseases) and non-affected children. Secondly the study aimed to determine the effect of a motor intervention programme for 2 to 6-year old children infected with and affected by HIV. A third aim was to determine the growth status of 2 to 6-year old children infected with HIV and to compare it with that of affected and non-affected children; and the last aim was to monitor the developmental tendencies of body composition and growth of 2 to 6-year old children infected with HIV in the course of nine months and to compare it with that of affected and non-affected children. The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-:! (PDMS-2) (Folio & Fewell, 2000), which consist of six subtests, was used to determine the motor development of the children. Regarding the growth status the children were subjected to a series of anthropometric measurements of height, weight, circumference (upper arm - both tonic and relaxed), as well as skin folds (triceps, sub-scapular, calf), in accordance with standard procedures as prescribed by the International Society of Advanced Kinanthropometry (ISAK). The data was analysed using Statistica for Windows (Statsoft-, Inc S.A., 2001) and SAS (2000- 2003). Descriptive statistics were used to determine means (M), standard deviations (SD) and maximum and minimum values. One-way variance of analysis, forward stepwise discriminant analysis, independent T-testing, dependant T-testing and an ANCOVA, repeated measures ANOVA, and Bonferroni post hoc analysis were used to analyse the data in accordance with the above-mentioned aims. The level of statistic significance was set at p<0,05. Practical significance of differences (ES) between the testing sessions was calculated by dividing the mean difference (M) between the two testing sessions by the largest standard deviation (SD), as recommended by Cohen (1988) and Steyn (1999). Cohen (1988) set the following guidelines for interpreting practical significance, namely ES = 0,2 (small effect); ES = 0,5 (medium effect) and ES = 0,8 (large effect). Due to the small number of subjects it was considered practically significant if this effect size indicated a medium and larger effect. From the results of the study it seemed that the HIV-infected children performed the poorest of the groups regarding gross motor, fine motor and total motor skills. This group's gross motor skills showed larger deficits than their fine motor skills, while loco-motor skills contributed the most to the discrimination between the groups. The motor intervention programme led to a statistically significant improvement in loco-motor, fine motor, as well as total motor skills. The infected children showed better improvement compared to the affected children. The infected group displayed the poorest growth status of the three groups compared to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) growth profiles, although they did not differ significantly from the affected children. The infected children differed significantly regarding height percentile, fat percentage and height-for-age 2-score (HAZ) from non-affected children. The infected group also displayed the least significant effects in the form of growth increases over the nine months monitoring period. It can be concluded from the results that motor deficiencies and growth impediments are part OF the life of HIV infected children. To address these problems, intervention strategies, such as motor intervention and nutrition programmes are needed. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Human Movement Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Bakgrund: Högre grad av automation i lager har blivit en viktig och tilltagande trend. Lager är en viktig komponent i de flesta flöden och essentiellt i strävandet av önskade servicenivåer då de ofta verkar i det avslutande stadiet i flöden där ordern förbereds och levereras till kund. Den ständigt växande konkurrensen på marknaden har dock lett till att lagerverksamheter ständigt måste arbeta med kontinuerlig förbättring. Genom eliminering av icke värdeskapande moment skapas förutsättningar för att uppnå effektivare lager och överlag en högre kvalitet i lagerverksamheten. Kvaliteten som erbjuds samt kvalitetens betydelse för kunden är det som utgör den totala kvalitetsnivån, eventuella avvikelser från denna nivå betraktas som brister. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att genom kartläggning beskriva hur påfyllnads- och plockprocessen på den automatiserade delen av Staples lager utförs. Vidare ämnar studien identifiera kvalitetsbrister som uppstår i påfyllnadsprocessen och plockprocessen. Dessutom ämnar studien undersöka de bakomliggande orsakerna för kvalitetsbristerna och ge förslag avseende hur påfyllnads- och plockprocessen kan förbättras. Metod: Studien är en kvaliativ fallstudie på Staples. Datainsamlingen utfördes genom semi-struktuerade intervjuer, direkta observartioner och fokusgrupper. Inledningsvis utfördes processkartläggning för påfyllnads- och plockprocessen, varpå kvalitetsbrister i de båda processerna identifierades. Därefter utarbetades orsakerna bakom kvalitetsbristerna och förbättringsförslag presenterades. Slutsatser: Ett flertal kvalitetsbrister i påfyllnads- och plockprocessen identifierades. Samtliga identifierade kvalitetsbrister kunde härledas till de tre främst förekommande kvalitetsbristerna Staples tillämpar på lagret: Saknas i kolli, Felplock: artikel eller antal och Dålig nedpackning. Bakomliggande orsaker till dessa var avvikande arbetssätt på ZtZ, att produkter faller ur kartong eller skadas på transportbandet och fellevererat till I-iiiPoint. Dessutom var brister i kvalitetsarbetet orsakade av högt produktivitetsfokus, otydliga orsakskoder och bristfällig kostnadsmedvetenhet avseende bristande kvalitet förekommande i alla tre. Genom att faställa mål för kvalitetsförbättring, grundade i identifierade kvalitetsbrister och personalens kompetenser ökar möjligheten för att de ska realiseras och förankras bättre hos personal. För att uppnå kvalitetsförbättring bör ledarskap som uttrycker betydelsen av kvalitet i såväl anvisningar som handling fastställas. Genom utbildning kan personalens förståelse öka avseende deras påverkan på kvalitet och koppling mellan olika aktiviteter och resultera i ökat kvalitetsansvar. För att upprättahålla kvalitetsförbättring är det viktigt att arbetsrutiner standardiseras samt investeringar på lagret införs.

Research indicates that children with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) / Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) display a variety of neuro-developmental, cognitive, motor and nutritional deficiencies (Epstein el al., 1986:678; Davis-McFarland, 2000:20; Blanchette et al., 2001:50). Research also substantiates a need for additional intervention strategies such as improved nutrition and exercise programmes to improve the quality of life for HIV-infected children (Brady, 1994: 18; Stein et al., 1995:3 1 ; Parks & Danoff, 1999:527). The maintenance of motor skills in above-mentioned children is an important objective for intervention programmes, especially gross motor skills (Parks & Danoff, 1999:525). Literature indicates that growth retardation, exhaustion of fat storage and neuro-developmental deficiencies are related to HIV/AIDS (Aylward et al., 1992:218; Miller & Garg, 1998:368; Davis-McFarland, 2000:20; Miller et al., 200 1 : 1287). The monitoring of growth status is of outmost importance as children with serious stunting and wasting run the risk of early death. Growth retardation can also be an indication of infection or fast disease progression (Bobat et al, 200! :209). The aim of this study was firstly to determine the state of the motor development of 2, to 6-year old children infected with HIV and to compare it with that of affected (in that they are not infected with HIV, but have lost one or both parents to AIDS-related diseases) and non-affected children. Secondly the study aimed to determine the effect of a motor intervention programme for 2 to 6-year old children infected with and affected by HIV. A third aim was to determine the growth status of 2 to 6-year old children infected with HIV and to compare it with that of affected and non-affected children; and the last aim was to monitor the developmental tendencies of body composition and growth of 2 to 6-year old children infected with HIV in the course of nine months and to compare it with that of affected and non-affected children. The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-:! (PDMS-2) (Folio & Fewell, 2000), which consist of six subtests, was used to determine the motor development of the children. Regarding the growth status the children were subjected to a series of anthropometric measurements of height, weight, circumference (upper arm - both tonic and relaxed), as well as skin folds (triceps, sub-scapular, calf), in accordance with standard procedures as prescribed by the International Society of Advanced Kinanthropometry (ISAK). The data was analysed using Statistica for Windows (Statsoft-, Inc S.A., 2001) and SAS (2000- 2003). Descriptive statistics were used to determine means (M), standard deviations (SD) and maximum and minimum values. One-way variance of analysis, forward stepwise discriminant analysis, independent T-testing, dependant T-testing and an ANCOVA, repeated measures ANOVA, and Bonferroni post hoc analysis were used to analyse the data in accordance with the above-mentioned aims. The level of statistic significance was set at p<0,05. Practical significance of differences (ES) between the testing sessions was calculated by dividing the mean difference (M) between the two testing sessions by the largest standard deviation (SD), as recommended by Cohen (1988) and Steyn (1999). Cohen (1988) set the following guidelines for interpreting practical significance, namely ES = 0,2 (small effect); ES = 0,5 (medium effect) and ES = 0,8 (large effect). Due to the small number of subjects it was considered practically significant if this effect size indicated a medium and larger effect. From the results of the study it seemed that the HIV-infected children performed the poorest of the groups regarding gross motor, fine motor and total motor skills. This group's gross motor skills showed larger deficits than their fine motor skills, while loco-motor skills contributed the most to the discrimination between the groups. The motor intervention programme led to a statistically significant improvement in loco-motor, fine motor, as well as total motor skills. The infected children showed better improvement compared to the affected children. The infected group displayed the poorest growth status of the three groups compared to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) growth profiles, although they did not differ significantly from the affected children. The infected children differed significantly regarding height percentile, fat percentage and height-for-age 2-score (HAZ) from non-affected children. The infected group also displayed the least significant effects in the form of growth increases over the nine months monitoring period. It can be concluded from the results that motor deficiencies and growth impediments are part OF the life of HIV infected children. To address these problems, intervention strategies, such as motor intervention and nutrition programmes are needed. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Human Movement Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-03-02Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:02:21Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 falconi_rs_dr_jabo.pdf: 462689 bytes, checksum: 42abeacab4477b5b5f9c60e4dc837ef9 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundecitrus / Avaliou-se, em casa de vegetação, o desenvolvimento populacional do ácaro Brevipalpus phoenicis e severidade da leprose em plantas de laranja da variedade Pêra, enxertadas sobre limão Cravo e as tangerinas Cleópatra e Sunki, com aproximadamente 9 meses de idade, submetidas a diferentes condições de deficiência hídrica. Os tratamentos foram estabelecidos em função da Capacidade de Campo (CC) e da fração de esgotamento de água (p) do solo, como segue: T1=25%CC (p=0,25); T2=40%CC (p=0,40); T3=55%CC (p=0,55); T4=70%CC (p=0,70). Decorridos 60 dias da indução ao estresse, realizou-se a colonização das mudas com 25 ácaros infectados e não infectados com o vírus da leprose, procedentes de uma criação sobre frutos com e sem lesões da doença. Os ácaros permaneceram colonizando às plantas por 55 dias, findos os quais, avaliou-se, em laboratório, sua população, contando-se o número de ovos, larvas, ninfas e adultos. Durante a colonização do B. phoenicis, avaliaram-se os sintomas da leprose, iniciando-se 21 dias após a colonização das plantas, e a intervalos de 7 dias. Empregou-se uma escala de notas visual para avaliar a severidade da leprose com base no número de lesões de leprose nos ramos, folhas e desfolha. Conclui-se que a disponibilidade de água para a planta influencia no desenvolvimento de B. phoenicis, visto que, em plantas submetidas a 25%CC, o número de ácaros foi maior que nos demais regimes hídricos, decrescendo à medida que a disponibilidade de água foi maior, atingindo seu menor índice populacional aos 70%CC. Em relação à severidade da leprose, as plantas submetidas a 25 e 40%CC obtiveram notas mais altas, evidenciando maior suscetibilidade... / It was assessed, in greenhouse, the interaction of the leprosis mite Brevipalpus phoenicis with orange plants Pêra grafted on lemon Cravo variety and on tangerines Cleopatra and Sunki, with about 9 months old, submitted on different condition of water deficits and mite infestation. The treatments were determinate in a function of both, Field Capacity (CC) and soil water drain fraction (p), as this: T1=25%CC (p=0,25); T2=40%CC (p=0,40); T3=55%CC (p=0,55); T4=70%CC (p=0,70). After 60 days of stress induction, was made the colonization of plants with 25 mites that were reared on oranges with and without leprosis symptoms. The mites stayed in the plants for 55 days, after what, its population, counting the number of eggs, grub, nymphs and adults were assessed, in laboratory. During the B. phoenicis colonization, were assessed the leprosis symptoms, starting 21 days after the plants colonization, at intervals of 7 days. To this was used a notes ranking basing in the number of leprosies symptoms in the branches, leaves and desfoliate. Was concluded that the water availability had influence in B. phoenicis development, foundation that the plants submitted on 25%CC, had mite population higher than the others treatments, decreasing with the increase water availability, hitting the lowest population index on 70%CC. In relation with leprosis symptoms, plants submitted on 25 and 40%CC had the highest notes, evidencing more susceptibility of this plants to the disease and faster evolution of the symptoms. The rootstock Cravo and Cleopatra were more susceptible to the mite, showing the biggest population, 134,8 and 125,9 mites respectively, while Sunki showed the lowest population... (Complete abstract, click electronic access below)