Technical debt is a metaphor that refers to the consequences of suboptimal software development. Developers will have to pay interest on this debt, in terms of costs of maintenance. The term helps developers communicate the importance of software quality. This thesis has studied technical debt in the context of Django web applications. In a survey conducted, the main causes of technical debt in Django applications were found to be architectural issues and lack of testing. This is in line with other studies of causes of technical debt. Tools and practices used in Django development were evaluated. From this evaluation several guidelines were formulated on how to best manage and limit technical debt. The results suggest that static code analyzers should be used to maintain code standards. Furthermore, the evaluation show that log aggregation tools like Sentry are helpful. Application monitoring should be used if there are performance issues, deprecation patterns can be used in refactorizations and the identification and removal of dead code is probably unnecessary. Finally, pre-commit tools help in preventing technical debt. / Teknisk skuld är en metafor som beskriver konsekvenserna utav suboptimal mjukvaruutveckling. Utvecklare måste betala ränta på denna skuld, i form utav kostnader för underhåll. Termen hjälper utvecklare att kommunicera vikten utav programvarukvalitet. Denna rapport har studerat teknisk skuld i kontexten utav Django webbapplikationer. En enkätundersökning gjordes och de främsta orsakerna till teknisk skuld i Django applikationer visade sig vara arkitektoniska problem och brist utav testning. Detta ligger i linje med andra studier utav orsakerna av teknisk skuld. Verktyg och metoder som används i Django utveckling utvärderades. Från denna utvärdering flera riktlinjer formulerades om hur man bäst hanterar och begränsar teknisk skuld. Resultaten visar på att statisk programanalys bör användas för att upprätthålla kod standarder. Dessutom visar utvärderingen att log aggregerings verktyg som Sentry är användbara. Applikations övervakning bör användas om det finns prestandaproblem, deprecation patterns kan användas i refaktoriseringar och identifiering av död kod är förmodligen onödigt. Slutligen visar sig pre-commit verktyg vara hjälpsamma i att förebygga teknisk skuld.

The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards remote working, an area that was exponentially expanding pre-pandemic. As the working conditions shift, the previous reliance on face-to-face interactions becomes obsolete. Furthermore, the importance of this issue becomes significant as global companies have expressed their interest in adopting a hybrid way of working post-pandemic. Therefore, understanding how to manage and motivate employees while working remotely becomes crucial in order to operate in highly competitive markets successfully.  This study aims to investigate how the experience and motivation of managers and their subordinates have been influenced following the shift to remote work. A qualitative design is employed in this study where literature, theories, and empirical data in the form of semi-structured interviews are utilized. The findings were analyzed according to a thematic analysis approach. Following an abductive approach, the researchers build upon exiting management theories.  The authors identify the different elements that influence experience and motivation in a remote work setting, as follows: Experiential Knowledge, Drivers of Motivation, Organizational Structure, Tasks and Roles, Formal Communication, Informal communication, Productivity, and Flexibility. Derived from the empirical data, a dimension of motivation was integrated into Cook’s (2019) view on Managing Remotely. The results display both hinders and motivators, which could be mitigated and incorporated, respectively, in future remote work strategies.

A mini-dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education in the Department of Educational Planning and Administration at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2009. / This study was influenced by multiplicity of policy documents such as national Constitution (Act 108 of 1996), White Paper 6 of 2001 and the South African Schools Act (Act 84 of 1996), which provides for an inclusive educational system in which diverse racial groups and genders of different ability can co-exist and enjoy educational opportunity unimpeded. Such a system of education calls for diversity management within the school, where differences are to be found among teachers and learners, even though they share a common history. The inclusion of learners and teachers from vastly different milieus may indeed be a noble endeavour, but accommodation of these differences within the same school becomes a complex task for school managers. The diversity that must be catered for include a wide range o religious and cultural mores and standards, varying levels of physical an mental ability, a wide array and talents and different sexual orientations, lifestyles, family norms and languages in individual educational institutional. This study investigated the role of primary school principals in managing diversity in Umbumbulu Circuit in the Mafa, Amanzimtoti and Umbumbulu Central Wards. In carrying out this project, the researcher also reviewed relevant literature on policies that provide for the implementation and management of diversity and strategies for optimising the use of learning opportunities in schools. The role of the principals in managing diversity in this regard was highlighted. The following are some of the key findings that emanated from the empirical study: ■ There is a lack of institutional policies that mandate the principals and staff in the management and implementation of diversity. ■ There is a lack of stakeholder involvement in managing diversity. On the basis of the above findings referred to above, the researcher recommends, among others, that every primary school principal and teacher should be trained adequately to manage diversity effectively. Furthermore, the School Governing Body, parents, teachers and learners should be actively involved in managing diversity. The Department of Education should provide meaningful and adequate support services to principals and schools to ensure that diversity is managed efficiently and effectively. This study may prove to be valuable in assisting schools to make the process of diversity management really inclusive, because it encourages open discussion and negotiation between schools and their stakeholders.

An existing simulation model of the Weber Basin (GRES Model) was used as a basis for creating an equivalent model on the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system. The GRES Model was developed by the Utah Division of Water Resources (UDWR) and simulates the historical water allocation from 1950 to 2006. Using the GRES Model and additional information obtained from UDWR staff, two different WEAP models were created. The two models differed only in how water is transmitted to the service areas. End-of-month reservoir storage and other outputs from the GRES Model were compared to the two WEAP models. The two models turn out to be almost equal. The simplest version of the two WEAP models was selected and named the WEAP Weber Basin Model. The WEAP Weber Basin Model is basically a historical simulation of water allocation in the Weber Basin and shows that the storage level in most reservoirs, except Causey, does not reach the buffer zone. This result indicates the historical water security of the basin and also the security in the foreseable future. The WEAP Weber Basin Model was also modified. Two scenarios consider demand growth (i) with, and (ii) without applying water conservation. These modifications were applied to one of the service areas which serves purely municipal and indusrial demands. The inflow to the system was populated by randomly reshuffling the historical flows. This is assuming that the historical flows will repeat in a random order in the future. Hence the inflows to the streams in 2006 were assigned the historical inflows of 1968 and so on. The result from the WEAP Weber Basin Model without conservation (with growth) shows that most of the reservoirs, with the exception of Pinveview and Willard Reservoirs, do begin to draw from the buffer zone towards the end of the simulation period. Different storage carryover policies tested show that the reliability of the system decreases while its resilience increases when more and more of the water in the buffer zone is carried over between time steps. Applying conservation seems to reduce the shortages created when different storage carryover policies were implemented compred to the model that did not apply conservation.

MSc (Med), Dept of Haematology, School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / BACKGROUND: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a global epidemic with growing numbers of people on highly active anti‐retroviral therapy (HAART) programmes. Effectiveness of treatment needs to be monitored to ensure the uncompromised well being of patients. This is currently done using both Viral Load (VL) and CD4 cell counts for HAART initiation and follow‐up. Although VL is the best predictor of disease progression it is often too expensive for monitoring patients in resource‐limited settings. There is thus a need for a cheaper, more accessible alternative to monitor long term patient response to therapy. METHODS: This study evaluated the use of a recently described flow cytometric assay of CD38 expression (previously developed at the Johannesburg Flow Cytometry Reference Laboratory) in a cohort of HIV+ patients failing 1st line therapy, who were subsequently enrolled onto 2nd line HAART. CD38 and CD8 were “piggy ‐backed” onto the PLG/CD4 protocol and mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of the CD8/38 expression was monitored longitudinally. Patterns of CD38 expression were compared to 1st line treatment observations to establish equivalence in the predictive power of CD38 expression of fluctuation in viral load on 2nd line treatment patients. In addition, the effect of sample age on assay accuracy was tested before implementation of the CD38 assay at a secondary testing site. RESULTS: The patterns observed in the cohort of 2nd line therapy patients mirrored patterns previously seen in 1st line therapy with 55% of patients showing a continuous decline in CD38 MFI that mimicked changes in VL. The remaining 33% of patients had non‐specific increases in CD38 MFI without concurrent increases in VL and one patient showed irregular VL and CD38 MFI (non‐responder). The CD38 assay showed acceptable accuracy and reproducibility up to 48 hours after venesection (%CV<5%). Implementation at the secondary testing site was successful with 98% similarity (%CV<5%) compared to the reference laboratory. CONCLUSION: CD38 monitoring of 2nd line therapy patients showed comparable patterns to observations in 1st line therapy patients. The assay proved stable over time and easy to implement at another PLG/CD4 testing facility. As such, the CD38 assay offers a cost‐effective, reliable real time supplementary test to long‐term VL monitoring of HIV infected patients on the national ART programme.

Medicines optimisation requires healthcare professionals to work collaboratively to meet the medication needs of patients. A grounded theory was produced which explains how doctors, nurses and pharmacists work to optimise the use of medicines in acute hospital settings in Northern Ireland. Seventeen semi-structured, one-to-one interviews were conducted with doctors, nurses and pharmacists. Concurrent data collection and analysis was carried out using coding, particular to grounded theory, adopting a constant comparative approach, writing memos and using theoretical sampling as described by Strauss and Corbin (1998). The core category was managing risk. Participants had an implicit understanding of the need to continually manage risk when working with the complex and the routine. They used personal and systemic checks and balances which could be viewed either as duplication of effort or indicative of a culture of safety. Multi-professional interdependencies and support for new, professional, non-medical roles were highlighted. Working together was a further strategy to ensuring each patient gets the right medicine. Establishing an agreed framework for working with medicines at ward level could support the safer use of medicines. It is anticipated that this theory will contribute to the design of systems involved in medicines use in acute hospitals in Northern Ireland. / Part-funded by: Northern Ireland Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Learning and Development (NICPLD), Western Health and Social Care Trust

No description available.

In this thesis I examine the debate surrounding Therapeutic Touch, a controversial energetic healing modality being practiced by registered nurses in biomedical institutions across North America. The debate surrounding the therapy takes place within medical journals, popular media articles, and on the internet. Within the debate, definitions of illness etiology, appropriate treatment, patient management, and alternative therapy use are contested by Therapeutic Touch proponents and critics. Through discursive analysis, interviews with local participants in the debate, and participant observation within the TT community, I present an analysis of the issues being contested and of the discursive strategies used by proponents and critics within the debate. The debate is contextualized in two ways: first, as an instance of medical heresy, in which an alternative healing group arises within the orthodox medical community and struggles to maintain itself within biomedical discourse and institutions; second, I contextualize the debate as an example of the wider trend towards integrative medicine in North America. Integrative medicine sees alternative therapies being increasingly used within health care delivery systems, either by alternative practitioners, or by biomedical practitioners who have co-opted alternative techniques. I argue that Therapeutic Touch proponents have utilized several discursive strategies in presenting and arguing for their alternative healing model. These strategies surround the issues of professional legitimacy, scientific validity, and TT’s perception as religious or spiritual. Therapeutic Touch proponents manage their discourse by conforming it to orthodox biomedical discourse and by pursuing a strategy of professionalization. Through this management process, they have been able to maintain a marginal presence within biomedicine. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

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This study examines the "off-the-job" behavior of individuals in office-level leadership positions across the Big 4 audit firms in the U.S. In their leadership role, the managing partner is responsible for setting the tone at the top of an office through formal communication of firm-wide policies and an informal example through their behavior and preferences. Given this role, I predict that engagements conducted within offices led by individuals who are willing to break the rules will exhibit characteristics synonymous with increased audit risks. Relying on their history of legal infractions to identify rule-breaking behavior, I find managing partners with prior infractions are associated with engagements that reflect increased misstatement risk and detection risk (i.e., lower auditor effort). Additional tests reveal that the results are concentrated in offices that are located further away from alternative governance mechanisms within the same audit firm. Importantly, after controlling for the risk of misstatement, I find the pricing of misstatement risk declines significantly on engagements in offices with infraction managing partners. The results are robust to alternative measures of managing partners' prior infractions and the use of entropy balancing techniques, along with several other robustness tests. Collectively, my study contributes to our limited knowledge of the quality control structures in place at large audit firms and provides a potential mechanism for tone at the Big 4 audit firms to vary across offices. / Doctor of Philosophy / In their leadership role, office managing partners are the "top executive" appointed to lead the Big 4 audit offices across the U.S. While audit firms have reputation and litigation incentives to provide high quality audits, these incentives do not necessarily apply to individual auditors. Therefore, audit firms are required to formalize a system of quality controls—including leadership and tone at the top—to ensure promote professional skepticism, stress quality service, and reduce overall audit risk on engagements. Relatedly, during inspections, the PCAOB examines whether the actions and communications by managing partners in local leadership positions demonstrate a commitment to audit quality and compliance with applicable regulations and professional standards. Grounded in revealed preference theory, I rely on a managing partner's history of legal infractions to identify offices led by partners with impulsive, risk-taking, and present-oriented personalities. Criminology and psychology research empirically validate the cross-situational consistency of individual behavior and decisions over time and in different settings. In other words, individuals who commit legal infractions—including less severe traffic violations such as parking tickets—exhibit a preference or propensity to break the rules. To the extent that an individual's leadership style is influenced by their personal ethics, values, and attitudes, I expect variation in a managing partner's history of legal infraction to reflect variation in their leadership style and office tone towards audit risk on engagements. Consistent with this prediction, I find managing partners with prior infractions are associated with engagements that reflect increased misstatement risk and detection risk (i.e., lower auditor effort). Additional tests reveal that the results are concentrated in offices that are located further away from alternative governance mechanisms within the same audit firm. Importantly, after controlling for the risk of misstatement, I find the pricing of misstatement risk declines significantly on engagements in offices with infraction managing partners. The results are robust to alternative measures of managing partners' prior infractions and the use of entropy balancing techniques, along with several other robustness tests. Collectively, my study contributes to our limited knowledge of the quality control structures in place at large audit firms and provides a potential mechanism for tone at the Big 4 audit firms to vary across offices.