Baigiamajame magistro darbe nagrinėjami sijų, paveiktų gaisro temperatūros, stiprinimo būdai. Darbą sudaro septyni skyriai ir priedai. Pirmame skyriuje nagrinėjama gaisro temperatūrų įtaka gelžbetonio komponentams (armatūrai ir betonui). Antrame skyriuje apžvelgiama sijų elgsena ir suirimo priežastys gaisro metu. Trečiajame skyriuje aptariami galimi gelžbetoninių sijų stiprinimo būdai. Ketvirtajame atliekamas temperatūrinių laukų kompiuterinis modeliavimas sijos skerspjūvyje. Penktame ir šeštame skyriuose skaičiuojami gaisro temperatūrų paveikti ir sustiprinti elementai. Septintame skyriuje apibendrinami darbo rezultatai ir suformuluojamos darbo išvados bei pasiūlymai. Darbo apimtis - 106 psl. teksto be priedų, 79 iliustr., 5 lent., 21 bibliografiniai šaltiniai. Atskirai pridedami darbo priedai. / The final paper deals with beams, exposed fire-temperature strengthening mechanisms. The work consists of seven chapters and annexes. The first section examines fire temperature on reinforced concrete components (concrete and reinforcement). The second chapter discusses behavior of reinforced concrete beams and possible collapse reasons. The third section discusses possible ways of strengthening reinforced concrete beams. The fourth chapter consist of computer based temperature analysis of reinforced concrete beam cross-section. In the fifth and sixth chapters fire temperatures are calculated to affect and enhance elements. The seventh chapter summarizes the findings and formulating working conclusions. Working volume – 106 pages. text without appendixes, 79 pictures., 5 tables., 21 bibliographic sources. Appendixes.

The purpose of the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act 13 of 2005 is to facilitate co-operation among the three spheres of government. The implementation of this Act has posed many challenges for departments in Provincial Governments. Provinces lack monitoring and support mechanisms for the supervision of local government. In this study intergovernmental relations and co-operative governance are explored as tools to enhance service delivery in the Free State Province. The primary objective of this study was to analyse the views of managers, staff members in public participation units, Speakers and Whips of municipalities in order to determine their level of understanding of intergovernmental relations and cooperative governance, and how these can enhance service delivery in the Free State Province. To attain this primary objective, the concept of intergovernmental relations and co-operative governance are explained. Structures that enhance service delivery in the Free State Provincial Government were analysed. Research on the successes and failures of Provincial Government and Free State Legislature in enhancing service delivery was conducted. Recommendations on how intergovernmental relations and co-operative governance can enhance service delivery are made. The research was conducted in Free State Provincial Government and Municipalities in the Free State Province. The research comprised of literature study and an empirical survey using questionnaires to obtain data from managers, staff members in public participation unit, Speakers and Whips of municipalities. Respondents were tested on their views regarding their understanding of intergovernmental relations, co-operative governance and effective service delivery. The findings of this research demonstrated that there is no frequent engagement of Provincial Government and Municipalities during IDP processes, there is no system of monitoring and oversight over municipalities, and that the Provincial Government does not work together with municipalities during public consultation processes. This, therefore, is an indication that intergovernmental relations and co-operative governance are not implemented effectively to enhance service delivery in the Free State. The study ends with recommendations for political leadership and management to action on intergovernmental relations, co-operative governance and makes recommendations for further research. The findings of the research demonstrate that: •There is no regular or frequent communication among the Provincial Government and Local Municipalities during the process of public consultation on IDPs. •Intergovernmental relations and co-operative governance are not implemented effectively. •Municipal Speakers and Whips do not understand effective service delivery. •There is no frequent monitoring and evaluation of service delivery by Provincial Government. •There is little, if not none, financial, human and technical support from the Free State Legislature to Local Municipalities. •There is no regular communication between the Free State Legislature and Municipalities during the processes of public consultation. •There is no sharing of resources between the Provincial Legislature and Municipalities during the process of public consultation. / M. Development and Management, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

The purpose of this paper was to produce supplementary curriculum materials which would provide junior high school Utah history students with growth experiences in critical thinking, creative thinking, and positive affective values. These materials were produced in the form of forty separate, self-contained learning activity modules using the study of presentday Utah or Utah history as a focus of study. Each Utah history learning activity module consists of two parts: (1) information, and (2) learning activities. The activities engage students to work with factual data to solve problems; to explore moral, ethical, or other controversial issues; or to otherwise develop hypotheses useful in developing critical thinking, creative thinking, or positive affective behavior. Individual differences are met within most modules by alternative activities for students with differing interests and abilities.

This study was undertaken in the Johannesburg South district (D11). Primary school language teachers in this district (D11) were invited to participate in this study by means of a questionnaire. This study investigated which kind of teaching methods teachers are currently using to develop and enhance critical thinking skills of ESL learners in language classrooms. Teachers' knowledge of Blooms' Taxonomy of cognitive objectives and how to use this taxonomy to develop ESL learners' critical thinking skills were also scrutinized. Since many ESL learners' language proficiency in English is also limited the responses of the teachers indicated that this could have a negative influence on their critical thinking development. This study accentuates the need for the use of a variety of teaching methods to enhance ESL learners' critical thinking skills in language in the Johannesburg South District (D11). / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

The purpose of the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act 13 of 2005 is to facilitate co-operation among the three spheres of government. The implementation of this Act has posed many challenges for departments in Provincial Governments. Provinces lack monitoring and support mechanisms for the supervision of local government. In this study intergovernmental relations and co-operative governance are explored as tools to enhance service delivery in the Free State Province. The primary objective of this study was to analyse the views of managers, staff members in public participation units, Speakers and Whips of municipalities in order to determine their level of understanding of intergovernmental relations and cooperative governance, and how these can enhance service delivery in the Free State Province. To attain this primary objective, the concept of intergovernmental relations and co-operative governance are explained. Structures that enhance service delivery in the Free State Provincial Government were analysed. Research on the successes and failures of Provincial Government and Free State Legislature in enhancing service delivery was conducted. Recommendations on how intergovernmental relations and co-operative governance can enhance service delivery are made. The research was conducted in Free State Provincial Government and Municipalities in the Free State Province. The research comprised of literature study and an empirical survey using questionnaires to obtain data from managers, staff members in public participation unit, Speakers and Whips of municipalities. Respondents were tested on their views regarding their understanding of intergovernmental relations, co-operative governance and effective service delivery. The findings of this research demonstrated that there is no frequent engagement of Provincial Government and Municipalities during IDP processes, there is no system of monitoring and oversight over municipalities, and that the Provincial Government does not work together with municipalities during public consultation processes. This, therefore, is an indication that intergovernmental relations and co-operative governance are not implemented effectively to enhance service delivery in the Free State. The study ends with recommendations for political leadership and management to action on intergovernmental relations, co-operative governance and makes recommendations for further research. The findings of the research demonstrate that: •There is no regular or frequent communication among the Provincial Government and Local Municipalities during the process of public consultation on IDPs. •Intergovernmental relations and co-operative governance are not implemented effectively. •Municipal Speakers and Whips do not understand effective service delivery. •There is no frequent monitoring and evaluation of service delivery by Provincial Government. •There is little, if not none, financial, human and technical support from the Free State Legislature to Local Municipalities. •There is no regular communication between the Free State Legislature and Municipalities during the processes of public consultation. •There is no sharing of resources between the Provincial Legislature and Municipalities during the process of public consultation. / M. Development and Management, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

An estimated 33.0 million people are currently living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. Of these, 15.5 million are women, and 2.2 million children under the age of 5 years who have mainly been infected through mother-to-child transmission. Mothers and babies are increasingly infected and about 90% of these are in sub-Saharan Africa. The same trend can be identified in South Africa, which has one of the highest incidences and prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS in the world with 5-6 million people living with HIV/AIDS. Women of childbearing age constitute 55% of all HIV positive adults and a quarter of pregnant women (28%) in South Africa are HIV positive. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is overburdening hospital systems and it will continue to grow within the context of already massively overstretched public resources. This increase also impacts on health services in the North West Province which are facing an alarming increase in mothers and babies living with HIV/AIDS. One of the strategies that are implemented to reduce maternal deaths is the Prevention-of-Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) Programme and massive roll out of Antiretrovirals during puerperium. One of the goals of the PMTCT programme is to prevent transmission of HIV/AIDS from mothers to babies and reduce child, perinatal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. This strategy is integrated with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) in care of mothers and babies living with HIV/AIDS during puerperium. Successful implementation of this programme requires social support and community involvement because of short hospitalization during the postnatal period. Caregivers are trained to perform various tasks and fulfil certain roles due to lack of human resources. Caregivers implementing the PMTCT programme experience problems which lead to stress and one of the causes of this stress manifests in feelings of inadequacy and isolation. They are faced with problems pertaining to mothers not adhering to treatment, and poverty is an additional source of stress as it negatively affects the quality of the PMTCT services they need to provide. This research was conducted in the Bojanala region, Rustenburg Sub-District of the North West Province in South Africa. A descriptive, exploratory, qualitative research design was utilized to explore and describe the lived experiences of caregivers while implementing the PMTCT programme as well as perceptions of health workers coordinating the PMTCT programme in order to gain a more thorough understanding of the support needed by caregivers during puerperium. Two populations were used. In population one, purposive sampling was used to select caregivers. In population two inclusive sampling was used to select health workers. In-depth interviews were conducted with both populations with the aim to collect data. From the research findings similarities were identified between the two populations regarding support, namely: (a) Caregivers need personal support in the form of counselling as well as support networks to enable them to deal with the problems they are faced with. (b) Caregivers need financial support to afford basic essentials and better remuneration to meet their financial needs. (c) Caregivers need to be trained in areas in which they lack knowledge -continued development and empowerment is essential. They also need to be trained specifically in PMTCT and they need a PMTCT consultant to always be available to support them. (d) Improvement of the PMTCT services by providing transport to follow up mothers, protective resources to protect themselves against infections as they are at risk of infections, water is essential as a basic human right, provision with food parcels to mothers who are poverty stricken and the PMTCT health services to be intensified from the antenatal period. (e) Management to establish a caring environment by displaying a caring attitude, respecting them and providing them with rewards to improve morale and performance. Recommendations were made for the fields of nursing education, nursing research and community health practice with recommendations to establish a structure of support for caregivers to enhance the PMTCT programme during puerperium. These recommendations were discussed under the five themes presented above. / Thesis (M.Cur.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

This study was undertaken in the Johannesburg South district (D11). Primary school language teachers in this district (D11) were invited to participate in this study by means of a questionnaire. This study investigated which kind of teaching methods teachers are currently using to develop and enhance critical thinking skills of ESL learners in language classrooms. Teachers' knowledge of Blooms' Taxonomy of cognitive objectives and how to use this taxonomy to develop ESL learners' critical thinking skills were also scrutinized. Since many ESL learners' language proficiency in English is also limited the responses of the teachers indicated that this could have a negative influence on their critical thinking development. This study accentuates the need for the use of a variety of teaching methods to enhance ESL learners' critical thinking skills in language in the Johannesburg South District (D11). / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the language proficiency and critical thinking abilities of Grade 11 learners in the ACE system. This would aid to direct learners in the FET phase to enhance their critical thinking skills and language proficiency. ACE is referred to as the Accelerated Christian Education or School of Tomorrow. Accelerated Christian Education is the trade name of School of Tomorrow. The School of Tomorrow program is individualised and non-graded. It allows each learner to work on his performance and achievement level which can differ from learning area to learning area (School of Tomorrow, 1995:29). Language proficiency is of utmost importance when it comes to cognitive development within the classroom, the curriculum or life in general, especially when a learner has to learn his subjects in another language of learning and teaching (Donald, Lazarus, & Lolwana, 2005:73). According to Cummins (in McKay, 2007:2) each learner should be taught in his mother-tongue to a threshold level of proficiency in order to transfer the knowledge to the other language and ensure positive cognitive growth. If a learner is not proficient in the Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT) his academic achievement will be poor as well as his critical thinking skills. South Africa has II official languages in terms of Act 108 of the Constitution (Department of Education, I997). In the Further Education and Training phase, learners have to take two of the 11 official languages as their core majors and other languages can be taken as electives (Department of Education, 2005:11). Since parents have the right to choose their child's language of learning and teaching and are not bound by law to choose their mother-tongue, English is mainly chosen as it is seen as the language of educational and economic empowerment (De Klerk, 1995:28). However, it is emphasised by Schroeder (2004:383) and Woolfolk (2004: 179) that mother-tongue education is by far preferable. Weideman and Van Rensburg (2006:157) are of the opinion that it is better to be taught and be academically successful in one's mother tongue before choosing another language of learning and teaching. De Klerk (1995:50) asserts that a lack of language proficiency in the language of learning and teaching is a main reason for low academic performance. One of the main aims of education is to gain as much information as possible. However, information is gained through communication and communication through a language (De Bono, 1969:9). If, however, the individual is not able to understand the language with all its nuances, certain information is missed. And as information is missed, it is thrown away. A person cannot think about something he does not understand (Strydom & Du Plessis, 2000: 129). Critical thinking is necessary for every day decision making. No matter what one's circumstances, a person with good thinking skills will be more successful in life. Poor thinking causes frustration, a waste of time, ineffective use of energy and pain (Paul & Elder, 2002: xiii). A critical thinker will be able to apply the knowledge he/she has learnt in real life situations. Vygotsky (McGregor, 2007: I 0) asked the question: "Does language mirror thought or thought language or both?" In educational psychology it is generally accepted that language and thinking are interwoven (Donald, et a!., 2005 :219). The descriptive research method was used. For the purpose of this study, 10 Grade 11 learners from the ACE system were conveniently sampled. These learners included six English Mother Tongue (EMT) learners and four English Second Language (ESL) learners. For the empirical research the ELSA test was used for language proficiency and the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test for testing critical thinking skills. Descriptive statistics were employed to interpret the results since the sample was too small for correlations and inferences. Generally the language proficiency of the EMT learners was on a Grade level 10. The language proficiency of the ESL learners was generally also on a Grade level I 0, which is acceptable for ESL learners. Critical thinking skills such as evaluation and interpretation were overall adequately developed. However, most of the learners performed poorly with inferences. Although statistical correlations could not be made, because of the small sample, with 8 of the learners it appears as if there was a link between language proficiency and critical thinking skills. These 8 learners' language proficiency and critical thinking results were either equally good or equally poor. / Thesis (M.Ed. (Learning and Teaching)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

This study was undertaken in the Johannesburg South district (D11). Primary school language teachers in this district (D11) were invited to participate in this study by means of a questionnaire. This study investigated which kind of teaching methods teachers are currently using to develop and enhance critical thinking skills of ESL learners in language classrooms. Teachers' knowledge of Blooms' Taxonomy of cognitive objectives and how to use this taxonomy to develop ESL learners' critical thinking skills were also scrutinized. Since many ESL learners' language proficiency in English is also limited the responses of the teachers indicated that this could have a negative influence on their critical thinking development. This study accentuates the need for the use of a variety of teaching methods to enhance ESL learners' critical thinking skills in language in the Johannesburg South District (D11). / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the language proficiency and critical thinking abilities of Grade 11 learners in the ACE system. This would aid to direct learners in the FET phase to enhance their critical thinking skills and language proficiency. ACE is referred to as the Accelerated Christian Education or School of Tomorrow. Accelerated Christian Education is the trade name of School of Tomorrow. The School of Tomorrow program is individualised and non-graded. It allows each learner to work on his performance and achievement level which can differ from learning area to learning area (School of Tomorrow, 1995:29). Language proficiency is of utmost importance when it comes to cognitive development within the classroom, the curriculum or life in general, especially when a learner has to learn his subjects in another language of learning and teaching (Donald, Lazarus, & Lolwana, 2005:73). According to Cummins (in McKay, 2007:2) each learner should be taught in his mother-tongue to a threshold level of proficiency in order to transfer the knowledge to the other language and ensure positive cognitive growth. If a learner is not proficient in the Language of Learning and Teaching (LOLT) his academic achievement will be poor as well as his critical thinking skills. South Africa has II official languages in terms of Act 108 of the Constitution (Department of Education, I997). In the Further Education and Training phase, learners have to take two of the 11 official languages as their core majors and other languages can be taken as electives (Department of Education, 2005:11). Since parents have the right to choose their child's language of learning and teaching and are not bound by law to choose their mother-tongue, English is mainly chosen as it is seen as the language of educational and economic empowerment (De Klerk, 1995:28). However, it is emphasised by Schroeder (2004:383) and Woolfolk (2004: 179) that mother-tongue education is by far preferable. Weideman and Van Rensburg (2006:157) are of the opinion that it is better to be taught and be academically successful in one's mother tongue before choosing another language of learning and teaching. De Klerk (1995:50) asserts that a lack of language proficiency in the language of learning and teaching is a main reason for low academic performance. One of the main aims of education is to gain as much information as possible. However, information is gained through communication and communication through a language (De Bono, 1969:9). If, however, the individual is not able to understand the language with all its nuances, certain information is missed. And as information is missed, it is thrown away. A person cannot think about something he does not understand (Strydom & Du Plessis, 2000: 129). Critical thinking is necessary for every day decision making. No matter what one's circumstances, a person with good thinking skills will be more successful in life. Poor thinking causes frustration, a waste of time, ineffective use of energy and pain (Paul & Elder, 2002: xiii). A critical thinker will be able to apply the knowledge he/she has learnt in real life situations. Vygotsky (McGregor, 2007: I 0) asked the question: "Does language mirror thought or thought language or both?" In educational psychology it is generally accepted that language and thinking are interwoven (Donald, et a!., 2005 :219). The descriptive research method was used. For the purpose of this study, 10 Grade 11 learners from the ACE system were conveniently sampled. These learners included six English Mother Tongue (EMT) learners and four English Second Language (ESL) learners. For the empirical research the ELSA test was used for language proficiency and the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test for testing critical thinking skills. Descriptive statistics were employed to interpret the results since the sample was too small for correlations and inferences. Generally the language proficiency of the EMT learners was on a Grade level 10. The language proficiency of the ESL learners was generally also on a Grade level I 0, which is acceptable for ESL learners. Critical thinking skills such as evaluation and interpretation were overall adequately developed. However, most of the learners performed poorly with inferences. Although statistical correlations could not be made, because of the small sample, with 8 of the learners it appears as if there was a link between language proficiency and critical thinking skills. These 8 learners' language proficiency and critical thinking results were either equally good or equally poor. / Thesis (M.Ed. (Learning and Teaching)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.