Collaborative editing systems (or group editors) allow a geographically dispersed group of human users to view and modify shared multimedia documents, such as research papers, design diagrams, web pages and source code together over a computer network. In addition to being useful tools, group editors are a classic research vehicle and model of interactive groupware applications, based on which a variety of social and technical issues have been investigated. Consistency maintenance as a fundamental problem in group editors has attracted constant research attention. Operational transformation (OT) is an optimistic consistency maintenance method that supports unconstrained collaboration among human users. Although significant progress has been achieved over the past decade, there is still a large space for improvement on the theoretical part of OT. In this dissertation, we are concerned with three problems: (1) How to evaluate the correctness of OT-based consistency maintenance protocols; (2) How to design and prove correct OT-based protocols; (3) What are the consistency correctness conditions for group editing systems in general. This dissertation addresses the above three problems and makes the following contributions: (1) propose a total order based framework including a new consistency model and the associated design methodology. This framework reduces the complexities of the OT design; (2) improve the total order based framework by introducing a natural order based framework. In contrast, this framework removes the requirement of defining a total order that is not necessary to the OT design; (3) establish a generic consistency model and propose the first set of practical design guidelines in OT based on this model.

The Build Your EF Program is a novel occupational therapy (OT) intervention program that combines multiple theoretically-guided and evidence-based techniques that help develop executive functions for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This program is the first to combine cognitive training, physical activity, and family education to build EF skills using an occupation-based and evidence-based approach. Cognitive training will focus on providing activities that target response inhibition, cognitive flexibility, working memory, emotional regulation, organization, and planning and prioritization. Physical activity will target the basic sensory systems necessary to achieve higher cognitive functions, including executive functions. Family education will instruct on the importance of having a sleep routine and reducing screen time to develop EF skills and emphasizes the family’s involvement in the therapeutic process. This doctoral project (1) summarizes the theories and evidence-based practice used to develop the Build Your EF Program (2) lists specific interventions and activities that help develop EF skills for children with ADHD (3) defines the next steps to be taken by the author upon program development and implementation, including program evaluation, dissemination, and funding. The Build Your EF Program helps the OT profession take a step forward in developing novel intervention programs for specific populations. It showcases the need for continuous innovative practices in OT.

MSc (Occupational Therapy), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / As there are no occupation based outcome measures evaluating the effect of occupational therapy in the pre-school child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) an Occupational Performance Questionnaire (OPQ) was developed to address this. The OPQ was tested for content validity and reliability before a 12 month intervention study to establish construct validity and response to change in children with ASD receiving Occupational Therapy using a Sensory Integration frame of reference (OT-SI) was done. The results of 19 subjects on the OPQ were compared with the results on two other standardised measures -the Short Sensory Profile (SSP), and Parenting Stress Index (PSI-SF) at six monthly intervals. Convergent validity between family impact on the OPQ and the PSI-SF was moderate but for occupation performance on the OPQ and the SSP it changed from negligible to moderate over 12 months. The OPQ is responsive to change as correlations between improvements in the three outcome measures were moderate. The OPQ was found to still need attention in terms of item reliability and validity.

Nowadays, thanks to medical advances, the wounded mortality reduces, make patients tide over the crucial moment of life and extend the lifespan, and inability in the work or life. Because the pressure and interpersonal relationships are estranged, the numbers of people who suffer from psychological disease are rising continuously as well as accompanied by the failing of the physical and psychological function and social adaptive capacity. In addition, children¡¦s obstacles of body movement, the development of mind, life, study, interpersonal relationships and behavior will influence their development and learning ability. Those who have obstacles of physical and psychological and social function must rely on the treatment of occupational therapists to get back to normal and independent life. The education of the occupational therapists is the same, but the work performances of the different occupational therapists let the patients, relatives, and colleagues feel differently. Why is the evaluation of the different occupational therapists received so different? According to human resource management, this kind of difference may come from different occupational therapists possess different competence. This research adopts the critical incident method and distinguishes the differences of the occupational therapists who perform excellently and others who perform generally. It compares two groups the difference of occupational therapists, and then learn what the competence that outstanding occupational therapists possess. The result of study finds the specialties of outstanding occupational therapists most tally with the specialties that the literature mentions. The occupational therapists have deeper involved in treating, including attention of the motive of the function rebuild, paying attention to the construction of treating atmosphere, the acumen of the case problem and dealing with voluntarily, considering the most greatly of case interests, cordial participation of daily life and social experiences. The following are conclusions of the research. To improve the performance of the general occupational therapists can refer to the performance of the outstanding occupational therapists. The differences of the occupational therapists in different fields are supposed to be the differences of the cases and the expectation of the relatives. In addition, occupational therapists and relatives of the case are the teacher and friend's relationship; it has a delicate change in different field categories even more.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (PhD (Old Testament Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Old Testament Studies / unrestricted

The book of Ecclesiastes is infamous as a piece of controversial literature. Commentators differ with regard to their views on matters such as the book’s historical context, translation, structure, Ancient Near Eastern background, message, etc. One of the many apparent oddities in the hook are the numerous references to the sun. There are approximately thirty-five of these references! Thirty of these can be found in the constantly recurring phrase “under the sun” – an expression which echoes mysteriously like a refrain through the book. Many questions, still unanswered, are prompted by the incessant repetition of this phrase. Contemporary popular interpretations of the function of the phrase “under the sun” can broadly be classified as belonging to one of two categories. Firstly, there is the conservative interpretation. According to this view, the function of the phrase is restrictive. It is indicative of a supposed cosmic dualism implying the presence of an alternative realm as opposed to the earthly domain and its secular atheism. The second view is that adopted by more critical scholars. In their view, the phrase functions simply an inclusive spatial designator. However, a closer look at the instances in which the phrase occurs in the intratextual context show that, while both of these interpretations have some merit, they are ultimately unsatisfactory. They fail to explain the need for the sun imagery’s constant recurrence throughout the book. What no one seems to have noticed is the possible significance of the repetition of the sun imagery in the book in the way in it was combined with certain themes, a peculiar theology and a strange self – presentation by the author. To be sure, when the sun imagery is assessed in the context of ANE solar discourse, its combination with certain themes in Qohelet becomes quite significant. Consider this data reformulated as four basic questions and answers: • Who is speaking? …. …. A king. • Where did he look? …. …. Under the sun. • What does he observe there… Injustice, ignorance, death, etc. • How is God depicted? …. …. Judge, Creator, etc. When these aspects of Qohelet’s message are viewed from the intertextual context of Ancient Near Eastern solar mythology – a legitimate hermeneutical experiment given the repeated references to the sun – the answers that can be given in response to the questions of “who?”, “where?, “what?” and “God?” appears to be very significant. In solar mythology, the sun gods were the deities particularly concerned with the issues of justice, divination, times, kings, life, royalty, the cosmic and social orders, etc. – the same issues that Qohelet is concerned with in relation to what happens “under the sun”. Moreover, according to the Old Testament witness, Israel was thoroughly familiar with these ideas. Qohelet’s sun imagery seems to be filled with allusions to the beliefs of solar theology in ways that are simultaneously ambiguous, ironical, polemical, deconstructive and syncretistic. This is a new perspective on the book and seems able to account for the author’s need to refer repeatedly to the domain “under the sun”. It also explains why Qohelet combined these references with a certain peculiar theology and why he was interested in specific issues such as justice, knowledge, life, time, death, the kind, etc. / Thesis (DLitt (Semitic Languages))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Ancient Languages / unrestricted

Afrikaans: Daar is nou reeds vir so om en by drie dekades 'n groeiende belangstelling in die boek Jesaja, maar dan in besonder die eenheid van die boek. In die Verenigde State van Amerika het dit onder meer gelei het tot die organisering van The Formation of the Book of Isaiah Seminar of the Society of Biblical Literature onder voorsitterskap van Marvin Sweeney en Roy Melugin. Die huidige debat het gegroei uit die onvergenoegdheid van al hoe meer navorsers met die Histories-Kritiese metode en sy resultate. Die klassieke driedeling van Duhm, maar veral sy volgelinge se toepassing daarvan, word bevraagteken. As altematief word daar gewys op die eenheid van al 66 hoofstukke van Jesaja. Die eenheid, anders as die klassieke kerklike standpunt, lê egter nie opgesluit in die outeur nie, maar in die teks met sy verskeidenheid intratekstuele verbindings. In Suid-Afrika, soos ook maar die geval is met die res van die akademiese wereld, word die sinkroniese en diakroniese benaderings tot die teks dikwels teen mekaar afgespeel. Hier word gepoog om beide perspektiewe aan die orde te stel met die doel om aan te toon dat elke benadering sy tekortkominge het. Soos die Historiese Kritiek nie reg is met sy waterdigte skeiding tussen Proto-, Deutero- en Tritojesaja nie, is die sinkroniese benaderings ook nie reg in hul optimisme oor die duidelik gestruktureerde eenheid van die finale teks nie. Daar is beide 'n kontinuïteit en diskontinuïteit in Jesaja te bespeur. Deur egter vanuit sowel 'n diakroniese as 'n sinkroniese perspektief na die teks te kyk, word die ryke geskakeerdheid van die teks emstig opgeneem, komplimenteer genoemde twee perspektiewe mekaar se resultate, ondersteun mekaar self op bepaalde punte en kom die moontlike boodskap duideliker na die oppervlak. In hierdie studie dien Jesaja 36-39 as illustrasie, terwyl Jesaja 38-39 in detail geëksegetiseer word. Hierdie teks staan reeds vir dekades om verskeie redes in die brandpunt van die bespreking. Die rede vir die plasing daarvan in die spesifieke konteks van Jesaja, die parallelle teks in 2 Konings 18-20 en die annale van Sanherib van Assirie en hul weergawe van die beleg van Jerusalem, is van die belangrikste vrae in die verband. Die onderhawige studie bevestig die hipotese aan die begin van hierdie studie gestel, naamlik dat die pendulum terug geswaai het deurdat die klem verskuif het van 'n driedeling na die eenheid van die boek Jesaja. Die klassieke skeiding tussen Proto-, Deutero- en Tritojesaja is nie so waterdig as wat daar oor die algemeen onder histories-kritiese navorsers aanvaar word nie. Daar is wel 'n bepaalde relasie tussen die drie dele, maar die omvang en aard van die relasies is nie so duidelik is as wat voorstanders van die sinkroniese benaderings tot die teks dit wil hê nie. Daarom behoort 'n sinkroniese en 'n diakroniese benadering in die eksegetiese proses nie teenoor mekaar gestel te word nie, maar behoort dit eerder komplementerend aangewend te word. English: For three decades or so, there has been growing interest in the book of Isaiah, particularly with regard to the unity of the book. In the United States of America this has led to, among other things, an organisation called The Formation of the Book of Isaiah Seminar of the Society of Biblical Literature under the joint chairmanship of Marvin Sweeney and Roy Melugin. The current debate has grown out of the discontent of more and more researchers with the Historical-Critical methods and their results. The classical tripartition of Duhm, and especially his supporters' application of it, is being queried. The unity of all 66 chapters of Isaiah is indicated as an alternative. This unity, unlike the traditional standpoint of the church, is, however, not implied in the authorship, but rather in the text, with its variety of intertextual links. In South Africa, as is the case in the rest of the academic world, the synchronic and diachronic approaches to the text are often played off against each other. An attempt is made here to raise questions about both perspectives with the aim of showing that each approach has its shortcomings. Just as the Historical-Critical method is not correct in its rigid division between Proto-, Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah, neither are the synchronic approaches correct in their optimism over the clear, structured unity of the final text. Both continuity and discontinuity can be detected in Isaiah. However, by looking at the text from a diachronic as well as a synchronic perspective, an improved view of the rich variety of the text can be seen. The results of the aforementioned perspectives are complementary, even supporting each other on certain points, and the eventual message comes more clearly to the surface. In this thesis, Isaiah 36-39 serves as an illustration, while Isaiah 38-39 is analysed in detail. This text, for various reasons, has been the focal point of discussion for many years. The reason for its insertion in the specific context of Isaiah, the parallel text in 2 Kings 18-20 and the annals of Sennacherib of Assyria and their varying versions of the siege of Jerusalem, are some of the most important questions. This study confirms the hypothesis proposed at the beginning, namely that the pendulum has swung back, shifting the emphasis from tripartition to a unified book of Isaiah. The classical division between Proto-, Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah is not as rigid as generally accepted by the Historical-Critical researchers. There is a definite relationship between the three parts but the extent and nature of the relationship is not as clear as the advocates of the synchronic methods to the text would like it to be. Therefore, synchronic and diachronic methods in the exegesis should not be set against each other but should rather be applied in a complementary fashion. / Thesis (DD (Old Testament Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Old Testament Studies / unrestricted

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (DD)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Old Testament Studies / unrestricted

<p>U ovoj doktorskoj disertaciji ispitana je mogućnost prebacivanja Naprednog Distributivnog Menadžment Sistema (NDMS) zasnovanog na zajedničkoj operaciono tehnološkoj platformi na virtualno Cloud infrastrukturno okruženje. Prvo je odabrano tradicionalno NDMS rešenje zasnovano na fizičkoj računarskoj arhitekturi i identifikovani su funkcionalni blokovi. Zatim su profilirane njihove performanse prema četiri ključna resursa: procesor, operativna memorija, računarska mreža i stalna memorija. Dalje predloženo je virtualno rešenje zasnovano na Cloud infrastrukturi koje je verifikovano na dve zamišljene elektrodistributivne mreže realnih veličina (maloj i velikoj) i u dva testna scenarija (stabilnog stanja i visoke aktivnosti). Na kraju predstavljeni su rezultati testiranja koji pokazaju da se NDMS može prebaciti u virtualno Cloud okruženje bez negativnog uticaja na funkcionalne i nefunkcionalne zahteve NDMS rešenja.</p> / <p>This dissertation inspects the possibility of transferring the Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) based on a common operating technology platform to the virtual Cloud Infrastructure Environment. First, a traditional ADMS solution based on physical computing architecture was chosen and functional blocks were identified. Furthermore, their performances were profiled to four key resources: processor, operating memory, computer network, and storage. Then, virtual cloud-based solution was proposed based on Cloud infrastructure which is verified on two imaginary power distribution networks of real size (small and large) and in two test scenarios (steady state and high activity). Finally, the test results show that ADMS can be transferred to a virtual Cloud environment without adversely affecting the functional and non-functional requirements of the ADMS solution.</p>

The main objectives of this thesis was to characterize the mission of the company, to reveal the market opportunities for business and to suggest several types of marketing management based on the gathered informations. In my thesis I focused on the activities of Eurotransport Josef Cibuzar company, which deals with international freight transport vehicles over 3.5 tonnes total weight.The thesis is divided into theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part deals with the marketing management in general. The practical part deals with the characteristics of the marketing management in the selected company. Furthermore the situational analysis is performed, where the macroenvironment is analysed by using the PEST analysis. Also the opportunities and menaces of the company are revealed by the OT analysis. The conclusion includes suggested procedures of the marketing management.