Thesis (MScIng)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

The South African newspaper industry has not changed much over the past fifteen years since democracy. Although the government has with very good intentions declared that the media, and especially the print media, should be accessible to all the people of the country, it has not materialised and most of the media is still focused on one or the other group of the population only. The government also involved the big media companies, when they implemented the Media, Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA), in an attempt to try to communicate with all the people of the country, especially people in the rural areas, via print media and community radio. This meant that the big role players, together with government, contributed financially to a fund, from which the grassroots newspapers and community radio stations would be funded and developed. It was a good idea that has since lost most of the initial mission and vision through bad management, but mostly because the MDDA became a politicised agency. The future of the independent media is still in the balance because of other factors in the market. These factors include the total control that the bigger media companies have over the associations, forums, printing and other bodies that control or has an input in the running of the media in South Africa. The study that was undertaken had the primary objective of establishing an understanding of the newspaper industry in South Africa, by analysing and identifying the type of industry market structure it has taken on. The study also has the secondary objectives to identify the role players in the South African newspaper industry and the influence and control they have,in the market. The survey also aims to identify some problems and challenges facing the independent newspaper industry in South Africa and to provide recommendations on how to improve the problems that the independently owned newspapers face in the market. A study of this kind has never been done in South Africa and it therefore made it imperative, that most of the information that was used was obtained via self initiated questionnaires, interviews and investigations. A literature study was done to give the necessary background on market structures and their different characteristics in analysing the South African media industry. An analysis study was done using the internet, journals, articles and other material that were available, to obtain the necessary information regarding the current structures and role players in the South African newspaper industry. This study will show that nothing much has changed in the media structures in South Africa over the past fifteen years. This study can also be used by people to do further investigation into certain areas of the media. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

The South African newspaper industry has not changed much over the past fifteen years since democracy. Although the government has with very good intentions declared that the media, and especially the print media, should be accessible to all the people of the country, it has not materialised and most of the media is still focused on one or the other group of the population only. The government also involved the big media companies, when they implemented the Media, Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA), in an attempt to try to communicate with all the people of the country, especially people in the rural areas, via print media and community radio. This meant that the big role players, together with government, contributed financially to a fund, from which the grassroots newspapers and community radio stations would be funded and developed. It was a good idea that has since lost most of the initial mission and vision through bad management, but mostly because the MDDA became a politicised agency. The future of the independent media is still in the balance because of other factors in the market. These factors include the total control that the bigger media companies have over the associations, forums, printing and other bodies that control or has an input in the running of the media in South Africa. The study that was undertaken had the primary objective of establishing an understanding of the newspaper industry in South Africa, by analysing and identifying the type of industry market structure it has taken on. The study also has the secondary objectives to identify the role players in the South African newspaper industry and the influence and control they have,in the market. The survey also aims to identify some problems and challenges facing the independent newspaper industry in South Africa and to provide recommendations on how to improve the problems that the independently owned newspapers face in the market. A study of this kind has never been done in South Africa and it therefore made it imperative, that most of the information that was used was obtained via self initiated questionnaires, interviews and investigations. A literature study was done to give the necessary background on market structures and their different characteristics in analysing the South African media industry. An analysis study was done using the internet, journals, articles and other material that were available, to obtain the necessary information regarding the current structures and role players in the South African newspaper industry. This study will show that nothing much has changed in the media structures in South Africa over the past fifteen years. This study can also be used by people to do further investigation into certain areas of the media. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

The elderly population is estimated to increase worldwide. One of the major health determinants identified in this population are injuries where one of the most prevalent causes are falls. The overall aim of this thesis was to describe and explore visual impairment and falls of inpatients and independently living elderly in the community and how daily life activities were influenced by visual ability and risk of falling. Methods in the studies were a quantitative retrospective descriptive design for study I followed by two quantitative retrospective and explorative studies where in study II perceived vision related quality of life and in study III performance-based visual ability were investigated. Study IV was a qualitative explorative study using classic grounded theory. In study I all falls of inpatients at a medical clinic 65 years and older (n=68) were registered during one year. In study II and III a random sample (n=212) of independently living elderly between 70 and 85 years of age participated in both studies. In study IV seven women and six men between 73 and 85 years of age from the two previous studies and six visual instructors (n=19) participated. The data in study I was collected during 2004, study II and III between February 2009 to March 2010 and study IV December 2009 to January 2013. The results in study I showed that most falls in five hospital wards occurred at night and those most affected had an established visual impairment. Almost half the population in study II and III fell at least once. Perceived vision when performing daily life activities showed a positive association between visual impairment and falls in men but not in women (II). No associations were found between performance-based measured visual ability and falls (III). Visually impaired elderly did not consider risk of falling as a problem (􀀪􀀷). Their main concern is to remain themselves as who they used to be which is managed by self- preservation while maintaining their residual selves and resisting self decay. Maintaining residual self is done by living in the past mostly driven by inertia while resisting self decay is a proactive and purposeful driven strategy. It is a complex issue to do fall risk assessments and planning fall preventive action where the individual’s entire life situation has to be taken into consideration.

A parallel-type independently controllable transmission mechanism (PT-ICT) comprises of two planetary gear trains and two transmission-connecting members. It also includes an input shaft connecting to the input power source, a controller shaft connecting to the controller, an output shaft connecting to the output end, and a free-transmission end connecting to a secondary input source or output end. The controller can independently manipulate the transmitted output speed that is not affected by the variation of the Input speed. Adjusting the free-transmission¡¦s torque can reduce the power of the controller. This study proposes a new structural arrangement of the PT-ICT, and a corresponding test-bed for kinematic and dynamic experiments is also constructed. It first analyzes the theoretical expressions of angular speeds, torques, and power flows introduced on each rotational shaft. And then for the purpose of verifying the validity of the analytical theoretical results, this study also builds a 3D model configuration with its prototype of the PT-ICT is also built to perform kinematic and dynamic experiments. It shows that experimental results are in agreement with the design values. It is expected that applying the proposed PT-ICT mechanism to wind turbines in a variable wind farm can achieve high quality electricity output, extend workable wind speed range, and have no need of using any frequency converters.

In this thesis, the structure from motion problem for calibrated scenes containing independently moving objects (IMO) has been studied. For this purpose, the overall reconstruction process is partitioned into various stages. The first stage deals with the fundamental problem of estimating structure and motion by using only two views. This process starts with finding some salient features using a sub-pixel version of the Harris corner detector. The features are matched by the help of a similarity and neighborhood-based matcher. In order to reject the outliers and estimate the fundamental matrix of the two images, a robust estimation is performed via RANSAC and normalized 8-point algorithms. Two-view reconstruction is finalized by decomposing the fundamental matrix and estimating the 3D-point locations as a result of triangulation. The second stage of the reconstruction is the generalization of the two-view algorithm for the N-view case. This goal is accomplished by first reconstructing an initial framework from the first stage and then relating the additional views by finding correspondences between the new view and already reconstructed views. In this way, 3D-2D projection pairs are determined and the projection matrix of this new view is estimated by using a robust procedure. The final section deals with scenes containing IMOs. In order to reject the correspondences due to moving objects, parallax-based rigidity constraint is used. In utilizing this constraint, an automatic background pixel selection algorithm is developed and an IMO rejection algorithm is also proposed. The results of the proposed algorithm are compared against that of a robust outlier rejection algorithm and found to be quite promising in terms of execution time vs. reconstruction quality.

Thesis (MScEng (Mathematical Sciences. Applied Mathematics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / During the design or acquisition of missile systems the effectiveness of the system needs to be evaluated. Often actual testing is not possible and therefore mathematical models need to be constructed and solved with the aid of software. The current simulation model is investigated, verified, and a mathematical model to aid in the design of the detonic payload, developed. The problem is confined to the end-game scenario with the developed simulation model focusing on the last milliseconds before warhead detonation. The model, that makes use of the raytracing methodology, models the warhead explosion in the vicinity of a target and calculates the probability of kill for the specific warhead design against the target. Using the data generated by the simulation model, the warhead designer can make the necessary design changes to improve the design. A heuristic method was developed and is discussed which assists in this design process. There is, however, a large population of possible designs. Meta-heuristic methods may be employed in reducing this population and to help confine the manual search to a considerably smaller search area. A fuze detection model as well as the capability to generate truly random intercept scenarios was developed as to enable employment of meta-heuristic search methods. The simulation model, as well as design optimising technology, has successfully been incorporated into a Windows based software package known as EVA (The Effectiveness and Vulnerability Analyser).

O envelhecimento populacional é um processo que atingiu uma crescente velocidade nos países em desenvolvimento, entre eles, o Brasil. Saúde Bucal (SB) e Saúde Geral não podem ser vistas separadamente, e os impactos de uma SB comprometida são mais evidentes em idosos, os quais acumulam ao longo da vida as conseqüências de doenças bucais, freqüentemente refletidas em extensas perdas dentárias, xerostomia, uso de próteses e comprometimentos da mastigação. A associação entre o estado bucal e o estado nutricional de idosos tem recebido crescente atenção da comunidade científica, e diferentes autores têm indicado que perdas dentárias e o comprometimento da mastigação estão relacionados com a seleção de alimentos mais fáceis para mastigar, refletindo em prejuízos na nutrição destes indivíduos. Estudos realizados em diferentes amostras de idosos têm demonstrado uma relação entre perdas dentárias e outras variáveis de SB com o risco nutricional, bem como apontam para uma relação entre estado bucal precário e fragilidade entre idosos institucionalizados.O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a associação entre o estado bucal e o estado nutricional de idosos independentes de Carlos Barbosa, RS. Quatrocentos e setenta e um indivíduos com 60 anos ou mais de idade, participaram da pesquisa. Foi aplicado um questionário incluindo o histórico de saúde geral e bucal, e variáveis sócio-demográficas. Foi realizado um exame bucal onde foi levantado o número de dentes, uso de prótese e o estado das mucosas. A coleta de dados foi realizada de Março a Dezembro de 2006, com o apoio da Prefeitura Municipal de Carlos Barbosa. Os resultados deste estudo demonstram uma associação entre o estado bucal e o estado nutricional através da Mini- Avaliação Nutricional. Idosos edêntulos sem o uso de prótese total inferior e aqueles que reportaram sua saúde gengival como insatisfatória, estiveram em risco de desnutrição/ desnutrição (p<0,05). Estes resultados permitem concluir que o estado nutricional de idosos independentes pode estar relacionado com sua saúde bucal, e que em consonância com o que sugere a literatura, idosos edêntulos sem o uso de próteses podem estar em risco aumentado para desnutrição. / The aged population is growing faster than any other group worldwide. This process reached an increasing rate in developing countries including Brazil. Oral health and general health cannot be seen separately, and the impacts of a compromised dental function are more prevalent in elderly, who accumulate through life the consequences of oral diseases, frequently reflected in extensive tooth loss, dry mouth, denture use and chewing problems. The association between dental and nutrition status of elderly has received increasing attention from researchers, and different authors have reported that tooth loss and compromised dental function are related with selection of foods easier to chew, leading to restrictions in diet. Studies carried out with different samples of elderly have demonstrated a relation between tooth loss and other oral health variables with nutritional risk, and also between compromised dental function and frailty in institutionalized elderly. The objective of this study was to verify the association between oral and nutritional status of independently-living elderly of Carlos Barbosa, RS. Four hundred and seventy-one individuals aged 60 years or above had participated in the research. A questionnaire was applied including the description of general and oral health, and socio-demographic variables. An oral examination was carried out where the tooth number, use of prosthesis and the state of the mucosa were registered. The data collection was carried between March and December of 2006, with the support of Municipality of Carlos Barbosa. The results of this study demonstrated an association between oral status and nutritional status through Mini- Nutritional Assessment. Edentulous without the use of one denture and those who reported their gingival health as unsatisfactory had been in risk of malnutrition/malnutrition (p<0,05). These results allow us to conclude that the nutritional status of independently-living elderly can be related with its oral status, and according with previous literature, edentulous elderly without the use of dentures can be in increased risk for malnutrition.

O envelhecimento populacional é um processo que atingiu uma crescente velocidade nos países em desenvolvimento, entre eles, o Brasil. Saúde Bucal (SB) e Saúde Geral não podem ser vistas separadamente, e os impactos de uma SB comprometida são mais evidentes em idosos, os quais acumulam ao longo da vida as conseqüências de doenças bucais, freqüentemente refletidas em extensas perdas dentárias, xerostomia, uso de próteses e comprometimentos da mastigação. A associação entre o estado bucal e o estado nutricional de idosos tem recebido crescente atenção da comunidade científica, e diferentes autores têm indicado que perdas dentárias e o comprometimento da mastigação estão relacionados com a seleção de alimentos mais fáceis para mastigar, refletindo em prejuízos na nutrição destes indivíduos. Estudos realizados em diferentes amostras de idosos têm demonstrado uma relação entre perdas dentárias e outras variáveis de SB com o risco nutricional, bem como apontam para uma relação entre estado bucal precário e fragilidade entre idosos institucionalizados.O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a associação entre o estado bucal e o estado nutricional de idosos independentes de Carlos Barbosa, RS. Quatrocentos e setenta e um indivíduos com 60 anos ou mais de idade, participaram da pesquisa. Foi aplicado um questionário incluindo o histórico de saúde geral e bucal, e variáveis sócio-demográficas. Foi realizado um exame bucal onde foi levantado o número de dentes, uso de prótese e o estado das mucosas. A coleta de dados foi realizada de Março a Dezembro de 2006, com o apoio da Prefeitura Municipal de Carlos Barbosa. Os resultados deste estudo demonstram uma associação entre o estado bucal e o estado nutricional através da Mini- Avaliação Nutricional. Idosos edêntulos sem o uso de prótese total inferior e aqueles que reportaram sua saúde gengival como insatisfatória, estiveram em risco de desnutrição/ desnutrição (p<0,05). Estes resultados permitem concluir que o estado nutricional de idosos independentes pode estar relacionado com sua saúde bucal, e que em consonância com o que sugere a literatura, idosos edêntulos sem o uso de próteses podem estar em risco aumentado para desnutrição. / The aged population is growing faster than any other group worldwide. This process reached an increasing rate in developing countries including Brazil. Oral health and general health cannot be seen separately, and the impacts of a compromised dental function are more prevalent in elderly, who accumulate through life the consequences of oral diseases, frequently reflected in extensive tooth loss, dry mouth, denture use and chewing problems. The association between dental and nutrition status of elderly has received increasing attention from researchers, and different authors have reported that tooth loss and compromised dental function are related with selection of foods easier to chew, leading to restrictions in diet. Studies carried out with different samples of elderly have demonstrated a relation between tooth loss and other oral health variables with nutritional risk, and also between compromised dental function and frailty in institutionalized elderly. The objective of this study was to verify the association between oral and nutritional status of independently-living elderly of Carlos Barbosa, RS. Four hundred and seventy-one individuals aged 60 years or above had participated in the research. A questionnaire was applied including the description of general and oral health, and socio-demographic variables. An oral examination was carried out where the tooth number, use of prosthesis and the state of the mucosa were registered. The data collection was carried between March and December of 2006, with the support of Municipality of Carlos Barbosa. The results of this study demonstrated an association between oral status and nutritional status through Mini- Nutritional Assessment. Edentulous without the use of one denture and those who reported their gingival health as unsatisfactory had been in risk of malnutrition/malnutrition (p<0,05). These results allow us to conclude that the nutritional status of independently-living elderly can be related with its oral status, and according with previous literature, edentulous elderly without the use of dentures can be in increased risk for malnutrition.

O envelhecimento populacional é um processo que atingiu uma crescente velocidade nos países em desenvolvimento, entre eles, o Brasil. Saúde Bucal (SB) e Saúde Geral não podem ser vistas separadamente, e os impactos de uma SB comprometida são mais evidentes em idosos, os quais acumulam ao longo da vida as conseqüências de doenças bucais, freqüentemente refletidas em extensas perdas dentárias, xerostomia, uso de próteses e comprometimentos da mastigação. A associação entre o estado bucal e o estado nutricional de idosos tem recebido crescente atenção da comunidade científica, e diferentes autores têm indicado que perdas dentárias e o comprometimento da mastigação estão relacionados com a seleção de alimentos mais fáceis para mastigar, refletindo em prejuízos na nutrição destes indivíduos. Estudos realizados em diferentes amostras de idosos têm demonstrado uma relação entre perdas dentárias e outras variáveis de SB com o risco nutricional, bem como apontam para uma relação entre estado bucal precário e fragilidade entre idosos institucionalizados.O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a associação entre o estado bucal e o estado nutricional de idosos independentes de Carlos Barbosa, RS. Quatrocentos e setenta e um indivíduos com 60 anos ou mais de idade, participaram da pesquisa. Foi aplicado um questionário incluindo o histórico de saúde geral e bucal, e variáveis sócio-demográficas. Foi realizado um exame bucal onde foi levantado o número de dentes, uso de prótese e o estado das mucosas. A coleta de dados foi realizada de Março a Dezembro de 2006, com o apoio da Prefeitura Municipal de Carlos Barbosa. Os resultados deste estudo demonstram uma associação entre o estado bucal e o estado nutricional através da Mini- Avaliação Nutricional. Idosos edêntulos sem o uso de prótese total inferior e aqueles que reportaram sua saúde gengival como insatisfatória, estiveram em risco de desnutrição/ desnutrição (p<0,05). Estes resultados permitem concluir que o estado nutricional de idosos independentes pode estar relacionado com sua saúde bucal, e que em consonância com o que sugere a literatura, idosos edêntulos sem o uso de próteses podem estar em risco aumentado para desnutrição. / The aged population is growing faster than any other group worldwide. This process reached an increasing rate in developing countries including Brazil. Oral health and general health cannot be seen separately, and the impacts of a compromised dental function are more prevalent in elderly, who accumulate through life the consequences of oral diseases, frequently reflected in extensive tooth loss, dry mouth, denture use and chewing problems. The association between dental and nutrition status of elderly has received increasing attention from researchers, and different authors have reported that tooth loss and compromised dental function are related with selection of foods easier to chew, leading to restrictions in diet. Studies carried out with different samples of elderly have demonstrated a relation between tooth loss and other oral health variables with nutritional risk, and also between compromised dental function and frailty in institutionalized elderly. The objective of this study was to verify the association between oral and nutritional status of independently-living elderly of Carlos Barbosa, RS. Four hundred and seventy-one individuals aged 60 years or above had participated in the research. A questionnaire was applied including the description of general and oral health, and socio-demographic variables. An oral examination was carried out where the tooth number, use of prosthesis and the state of the mucosa were registered. The data collection was carried between March and December of 2006, with the support of Municipality of Carlos Barbosa. The results of this study demonstrated an association between oral status and nutritional status through Mini- Nutritional Assessment. Edentulous without the use of one denture and those who reported their gingival health as unsatisfactory had been in risk of malnutrition/malnutrition (p<0,05). These results allow us to conclude that the nutritional status of independently-living elderly can be related with its oral status, and according with previous literature, edentulous elderly without the use of dentures can be in increased risk for malnutrition.