The older person’s component of the population has increased rapidly in recent years due to developments in medicine, technology and other areas of life. Growing older implies a gradual decline in the physical, mental and social functioning of an individual. Older people consequently have to rely on others for assistance, and, in some instances, they are looked after in residential care facilities. These facilities should be sensitive to older person’s culture, religion, ethnicity, privacy, dignity and independence. The aim of this study was to explore older person’s experiences in an economically deprived residential care facility in order to understand what their needs are and how these needs can be met so as to enhance older person’s subjective well–being. Socio–ecological theory and the BBB (Being, Belonging and Becoming) model were used to assess the extent to which the facility promoted the well–being of the residents of the facility. A qualitative research study was undertaken to determine the older person’s experiences of the residential care facility. A purposive sample of eight participants - three black and five white with ages ranging from 65 to 75 - was used in the focus group discussions. Another method, the Mmogo–methodTM, made use of a sample of 23 participants - eight black and 15 white with ages ranging from 65 to 75. The focus group discussions yielded insight into the older person’s experiences of the facility while in the Mmogo–methodTM, a visually projective method, the participants made visual representations of their experiences thereby revealing the deeper meanings of the experiences. The data, both textual and visual, obtained from the focus group discussions and the Mmogo–methodTM, were analysed using thematic content analysis. The trustworthiness of the study was ensured through crystallisation. The study revealed that the older persons in the facility experienced a lack of autonomy, isolation and discrimination. It also appeared that they wanted more contact with people outside the facility. Some of the older persons engaged actively with their environment while others adopted a more passive stance. The study suggests that older persons should be given the opportunity to take decisions regarding certain aspects of their lives. Also, interventions aimed at dealing with personal loss and relational deficiencies and at promoting respect for diversity should be planned and implemented in order to improve the subjective well–being of older persons in residential care facilities. / Thesis (M.A. (Research Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

South Africa is on a path of dramatically increasing its energy supplying capabilties. Eskom (the main utility supplying electricity to the national grid) recently announced that future power station technologies will focus on renewable energy and nuclear power. This is done in an effort to reduce South Africa’s dependance on burning fossil-fuels and thereby decreasing CO2 emissions and other harmful gases. This, together with the fact that there are a lot of fresh water scarce areas especially along the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa, is what inspired this study. This study investigates the use of a 200 MWth High Temperature Reactor (HTR) for cogeneration purposes. Heat from the reactor is utilised for electricity generation (Rankine cycle) and process heat (desalination). Two desalination concepts were evaluated thermodynamically and economically, namely Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) and Reverse Osmosis (RO). Computer software, Engineering Equation Solver (EES), was used to simulate different cycle configurations, where the heat available in the condenser was increased successively. The coupling of the two desalination technologies with a HTR was compared and it was found that a RO plant produces nearly twice as much water while sending the same amount of electricity to the grid (compared to coupling with MED). Coupling options were investigated and each simulation model was optimised to deliver maximum output (power and water). The best configuration was found to be the coupling of a HTR with a RO plant producing 86.56 MW generator power. This is equal to 2077 MWh/day. Using 332 MWh/day for desalination through RO, delivers 73 833 m3/day fresh water and results in 1745 MWh/day sent to the grid. This scenario is the best option from a thermodynamic and economic point of view. From an investment point of view, it will produce an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 10.9 percent and the Net Present Value (NPV) is calculated to be R 2,486,958,689. The results and analysis for the different cycle configurations are presented in such a way that an easy comparison can be made. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Nuclear Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011

Notre recherche trouve sa raison d’être au cours de l’été 2007 lorsque le marché américain des prêts immobiliers hypothécaires - les désormais célèbres prêts subprimes, octroyés aux ménages en situation de difficulté financière et dont la capacité de remboursement était très faible, voire nulle - s’effondre en engendrant une crise très violente qui, en l’espace de quelques mois, s’étend au monde entier et frappe les secteurs les plus divers de la finance jusqu’à atteindre, comme il était prévisible, l’économie réelle. Confrontés à ces faits et inondés par une avalanche de mots identiques, de discours dangereusement uniformes, de solutions uniques étrangement partagées par tout le monde, nous avons été envahis par un sentiment de mécompréhension, de perplexité et de méfiance qui nous a incité à lire entre les lignes, à analyser, filtrer et interpréter l’information qui nous parvenait. Cette activité nous a permis de porter notre réflexion sur l’hypothèse que la presse diffuse un type de discours homogène, unique et standardisé se caractérisant par le recours à certaines techniques discursives permettant de soutenir le modèle économique néolibéral et d’orienter le lecteur vers une perception de la réalité économique façonnée à l’image de celui-ci. Nous appellerons ce discours, discours économiquement correct. Cette hypothèse sera vérifiée suite à l’analyse d’un ensemble d’articles issus des pages économiques de trois quotidiens français et de trois quotidiens italiens d’information générale et d’importance majeure : Le Monde, Libération, Le Figaro, La Stampa, La Repubblica et Il Corriere della Sera. Compte tenu de ces considérations, notre objectif sera celui d’analyser la manière dont la presse traite le problème de la crise et notre domaine de recherche sera celui des pages économiques de la presse générale ; nous serons donc confrontés à l’analyse d’un langage – ou plus exactement, d’un discours – de vulgarisation économique. Dans la première partie de notre travail – conçue comme un état des lieux de la problématique posée – nous introduirons les concepts clés de notre recherche. Nous approcherons donc ici les questions définitionnelles en proposant, dans un premier temps, une description historique retraçant les étapes principales du développement de l’euphémisme du Moyen Âge au XXIe siècle et, dans un deuxième temps, une réflexion autour du concept même d’euphémisme. Nous prêterons également attention à l’évolution du journalisme économique. La deuxième partie de notre travail fera donc l’objet d’une étude dont la problématique s’inscrit dans la volonté de préciser la nature du discours économiquement correct. La troisième partie de notre thèse se présentera comme une réflexion autour du caractère manipulatoire du discours économiquement correct.Dans la quatrième partie, nous élaborerons un outil lexicographique bilingue, répertoriant les substituts potentiellement euphémiques identifiés au cours de notre recherche. / The aim of this work is to study the way in which the euphemization of economic speech, vulgarized by general press, supports the elaboration of a homogeneous and standardized speech characterized by the use of some speech techniques supporting neoliberalism. This speech will be called economically correct. This work is based upon a corpus consisting of a set of articles from the economic pages of the national French and Italian dailies Le Monde, Libération, Le Figaro, La Stampa, La Repubblica et Il Corriere della Sera.

Orientador: Luzenira Alves Brasileiro / Banca: Jairo Salim Pinheiro de Lima / Banca: Ilce de Oliveira Campos / Resumo: O gerenciamento dos resíduos sólidos urbanos consiste em realizar as seguintes etapas: geração, acondicionamento, armazenamento, coleta, transporte e disposição final. Os tipos de disposição final são: lixão, aterro controlado e aterro sanitário. A proposta da dissertação foi realizar uma análise de viabilidade econômica de um aterro sanitário para cidade de pequeno porte, através do método da Relação Benefício - Custo (RBC). O estudo de caso foi feito para a cidade de Ilha Solteira, que se situa no noroeste do Estado de São Paulo, e apresenta aproximadamente 25.700 habitantes. A pesquisa consistiu em desenvolver as seguintes atividades: coleta de dados sobre a produção de resíduos sólidos urbanos, cálculo dos custos, cálculo dos benefícios e cálculo da Relação Benefício - Custo para o aterro sanitário. O método da Relação Benefício - Custo consiste em determinar o valor presente dos benefícios e dividir pelo valor presente dos custos. O resultado foi analisado em termos do valor obtido da RBC para o aterro sanitário. O valor da RBC obtido foi 0,16 menor que 1, portanto o aterro sanitário é economicamente inviável para o estudo de caso / Abstract: The management of urban solid waste consists of the following stages: generation; conditioning; storage; collection; transportation and disposal. The kinds of disposal are: garbage dump; landfill dump and sanitary landfill. The dissertation proposal was to realize an economic viability analysis of a sanitary landfill for a small city using the benefit-cost ratio method (BCR). The case study was realized for Ilha Solteira city located in the northwest of São Paulo State. The city provides approximately 25.700 inhabitants. The research was to develop the following activities: data collection of the solid waste production; costs calculation; benefits calculation and benefit-cost ratio calculation for the sanitary landfill. The benefit-cost ratio method consists in determine the benefits present values and divide the costs present values. The results were analyzed in terms of the BRC value obtained. The value of BRC obtained was 0.16 lower than 1, so the sanitary landfill is economically unfeasible for the case study / Mestre

This study investigates how socially and economically disadvantaged young people, living in a semi-rural, post-industrial Atlantic Canadian community, experience and perceive social and economic health -- defined as participants' sense of comfort and security that their social and economic needs are, and will continue to be, met in their community. I argue that social and educational policies and practices must reflect the realities of local citizens if they aim to interrupt regional health disparities. A key objective of this research is to expose and challenge gender, class, and regional inequalities through an analysis of young adults' social and economic health experiences and perceptions. Drawing primarily upon Pierre Bourdieu's (1990b; 2001)concepts -- habitus, field, and symbolic domination -- relations between gender, class,and historical circumstances theoretically inform this research. Employing a critical ethnographic methodological framework (Madison, 2005),experiences and perceptions of ten economically disadvantaged youth -- five women and five men, ages 19-30 -- were gathered through focus groups, individual interviews, participant observation, critical dialogue (using media to stimulate dialogue among participants), and an adaptation of photovoice (a technique combining photography and narrative). Results suggest that the social and economic health needs of economically disadvantaged young adults are not being met. They confirm Bourdieu's (1999a)assertion of an interrelationship between physical place and the positioning of agents in social fields. Participants navigate economic, cultural, and social fields, aware of their social positioning as they 'work' the fields in order to secure enough capital to 'get by'. Their struggles are examples of symbolic domination and suggest a significant psycho-social cost to young adults seeking social and economic health through various fields. Analyses of their experiences suggest a disjuncture between gendered identities ascribed to participants through historically-rooted habitus and contemporary social fields. Recommendations call for gender, class, and regional inequalities to be addressed through structural interventions and investment in long term community-based education that is integrated with local economic development initiatives. Furthermore, this research calls attention to how research agendas and procedures can actually reinforce marginalization, making it difficult for the voices of disadvantaged communities to enter into dominant public discourse. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Abtract The main aim of this diploma thesis is to analyze the evaluation of tenders in public procurement according to their economic advantageousness and at the same time to compare the current stage of the ability of contracting authorities to evaluate this economic advantageousness compared to the stage of effect of the previous legal regulation. The background information for the topic of this diploma thesis were obtained from the legal regulation of the Czech Republic and the European Union, professional literature (legal commentaries), professional articles of periodical publications dealing with public procurement, internet sources and the case law of the Office for the Protection of Competition, administrative courts of the Czech Republic and the Court of Justice of the European Union. The analytical approach, linguistic, teleological and comparative method of legal interpretation were used. This diploma thesis consists of six main chapters. The introductory chapter discusses the purpose and aim of the legal regulation of public procurement and in the following chapter the part of the tender procedure and the basic principles of public procurement, crucial for the whole process of public procurement. The third chapter is devoted to the core of this thesis, namely the economic advantage in the...

Research shows a math achievement gap for at-risk and economically-disadvantaged students in the United States. To address this issue, a Texas school district implemented a 90-minute math block-scheduling program with 8th grade students. Shaped by the academic learning time and social justice theories, the purpose of this quantitative program evaluation was to determine if students in 3 key subgroups (low performing, low performing and at-risk, and low performing and economically-disadvantaged) who participated on the 90-minute block-schedule performed significantly better on the math state standardized assessment than did students in the same subgroups who remained on the traditional schedule. This retrospective causal-comparative design compared existing scores from the 2013 Math State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) of 109 8th grade students (n = 49 block-schedule; n = 60 traditional schedule) for each of the 3 key subgroups. Mann-Whitney U tests indicated no significant differences in Math STAAR scores for the 90-minute block-schedule groups versus the traditional schedule groups for any of the 3 key subgroups studied. Results suggest the 90-minute block-scheduling program was not effective in producing better math assessment scores compared to the traditional schedule for these students. Findings were presented to district decision makers in an evaluation report, which may motivate district stakeholders to reevaluate current educational practices and funding allocations to improve math achievement of low performing students and produce positive social change.

One of the more challenging aspects of organic farming is the development of an appropriate fertility plan, which may include crop rotation, cover crops, and/or soil amendments. When fertility is maintained by applying manure and/or compost, a pressing question is how much should be used. A framework was developed to address this question based on the idea of a decay series, which is a sequence of numbers quantifying the effects of compost on crop yield over a multi-year period. Prior research has focused on decay series expressed in nitrogen fertilizer equivalents. Given this information, I show how to calculate what manure/compost rates are needed to meet the nitrogen targets in a multi-crop rotation. Analogous results are presented for when the objective is profit rather than yield maximization. The planning framework is then generalized to include decay series where the carryover effects of manure/compost are measured, not against nitrogen fertilizer, but against new applications of the amendment. This change of basis, from nitrogen fertilizer equivalents to manure/compost equivalents, allows for field research on organically certified land and quantifies non-nutritive effects in a more meaningful way. Two case studies are presented to illustrate how this new type of decay series may be estimated and used to optimize crop production. By using data from a continuous corn (Zea mays L.) system amended with cattle manure slurry, the case study in estimation explores the methodological challenges that arise when the yield response to nitrogen fertilizer is not available as a benchmark. The case study in optimization looks at profit-maximizing compost rates for dryland, organic wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in northern Utah.

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of socioeconomic status on academic achievement as measured by the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program Achievement Test and the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program Writing Assessment. The population consisted of 8th grade students enrolled in 4 elementary schools in a rural school system in Tennessee. Data were analyzed for the population of the 2006-2007 academic school year. A 2-way analysis of variance model was used to compare the means among the schools, the means between economically disadvantaged students and those who were not economically disadvantaged, and whether there was a significant school by socioeconomic status interaction. The independent variables were the schools ( School A, B, C, D) and the socioeconomic status of the students (those who qualified for free or reduced price meals and those who did not qualify for free or reduced price meals). The 5 dependent variables in the study were the number of items students answered correctly on the math, language arts, science, and social studies portions of the test and the holistic writing test scores. The quantitative findings revealed the F test for the school by socioeconomic status interaction term was not significant in all 5 research questions. The mean score of economically disadvantaged students was lower than noneconomically disadvantaged students in math, language arts, social studies, and science. Results indicated no difference in the mean writing scores between students who were economically disadvantaged and students who were not. When the main effect of school was significant, the Bonferroni post hoc multiple pairwise comparisons test was used to determine which pair of school means was different. The main effect of school was significant in math, social studies, science, and writing. There were no significant differences in the mean number of language arts items answered correctly among the schools.

The purpose of this study was to determine if socioeconomic status for the ethnic groups of white, black, Hispanic, and Asian is a significant indicator of mathematical performance and student participation in higher level courses. The SOL test scores of all high school mathematics students in Virginia for the 2005-2006 school year, their ethnic group membership, and their economically disadvantaged classification were as used to determine if such an association exists. Data provided by the Virginia Department of Education consisted of 113,786 Algebra I scores, 95,898 Geometry scores, and 68,944 Algebra II scores. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and a Two-way ANOVA were used to determine the variables that were highly significant indicators of mathematical performance and enrollment (p<.001).