MRDV / Institute for Rural Development / Food and nutritional insecurity, poverty and hunger are some of the 21st -century challenges baffling most developing economies. Worldwide, 1.2 billion people are estimated to be living in poverty. Since 1990, the number of people living in extreme poverty has increased by over 50 million in 2014. Among the many public and private institutions that have made several gritty efforts to address the poverty challenge is the Heifer international through its Heifer International Pass on Programme (HIPP). Under the HIPP, the Pass on the Gift programme has been implemented in Ward 1 of Mberengwa District for over two decades targeting the food and nutritional insecure, hungry and poverty-stricken people who are given a gift in form of cattle, goats, chicken etc. This was done with the belief that the gift will add value to their asset base and serve as stepping stone out of poverty, food and nutrition insecurity. Various reports have been written on how the programme helped in improving household livelihood. However, the voice of the beneficiaries was not being heard. This study explored how the Pass-on-the-Gift programme influenced the household‘s livelihoods in Ward 1, Mberengwa District of Zimbabwe. A multi-stage integrated approach was employed. Both the case study and a cross-sectional survey designs were employed. Two sequentially integrated phases were followed. On the first phase, a case study was used to gather data from the Heifer International Pass on Programme beneficiaries and other key stakeholders. During this stage, data were collected using a semistructured interview guide. Results obtained from the first phase informed formulation of the questionnaire used in the second phase. Respondents were purposefully sampled in both stages. Data obtained through semi-structured interviews were analyzed using Atlas ti 8 software while that from a survey was analyzed using IBM SPPS version 25 software to generate descriptive statistics and inferential statistics components. Results from the first phase of data collection were triangulated with those from the second phase. This synchronized the two data sets and allowed subsequent discussion of the results. The research findings revealed that the HIPP influenced all the households of the participating farmers financially, socially and economically where p= 0.000. Thus, the study confirmed that the notion that cattle ownership can be used as an avenue of confronting the multi-dimensional rural development challenges. Furthermore, it was revealed that cattle ownership empowers the rural smallholder farmers and has potential to assist households dismantle the perpetual dependency on external support, improve their livelihoods and contribute to sustainable development goals. / NRF

The paper describes how a two-dimensional absolute measuring system can explicitly be realized. The theoretical background, the experimental setup, the evaluation algorithm, and the results of measurement are discussed in detail.

The laser tool is predestined for automated manufacturing processes and has already proven its suit-ability in many areas. In particular, joining technologies in the field of hydrogen production, its storage and for bi-polar plates have to meet the highest requirements in terms of seam quality, reproducibility and manufacturing efficiency. By the examples  700 bar car H2 pressure tank with laser welded connection (welding depth 25 mm)  Laser Remote Welding of HT Fuel Cell Stacks  Laser-welded aluminum tube-ground heat exchanger for gas liquefaction the article presents the possibilities of modern laser beam welding technologies. Furthermore, it gives an outlook on future challenges, especially with regard to the requirements of welding bi-polar plates for upcoming applications in the field of mobility

Thesis (M.A. Commerce (Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / South Africa had targeted the oil and gas sector for investment through the industrial action plan as a special economic zone. However, certain economic fundamentals might negate the anticipated sector financial development. This study investigate how economic risk exposure influence oil & gas sector stock market returns from 2007 to 2015 on a monthly basis. The four macroeconomic variables used to measure economic risk exposure are Brent crude oil prices, the USD/ZAR exchange rate, broad money supply and gold prices. The adopted techniques include the GARCH model to incorporate volatility, the Johansen cointegration and Granger causality techniques. The results of the study found that change in Brent crude oil prices and broad money supply had a positive and significant impact on changes in oil & gas sector stock returns. Changes in exchange rate and gold prices had a negative and significant impact on the sector returns. The long-run relationship established one cointegrating equation in the series. Only Brent crude oil prices indicated a bi-directional Granger causality on the sector returns. Based on the findings, it is recommended that government may use exchange rate as a policy tool to attract interest in the sector. Regarding money supply, the reserve bank should further preserve its effective regulatory infrastructure including the laws, regulations and standards towards the achievement and maintenance of a stable financial system. Portfolio managers, risk managers and investors should monitor the gold price to mitigate losses due to its strength as a safe haven asset.

In the modern urban lifestyle, more and more people are exposed to noise pollution in form of traffic noise. As a response to this, the automotive OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer) are put under pressure to reduce the emitted noise from vehicles. To be able to meet the upcoming, stricter regulations, the automotive OEMs seeks new techniques to be able to front load the pass-by noise engineering in the vehicle development process and to identify and understand the different sources that contributes to the exterior noise.Earlier exterior sources ranking using ASQ (Airborn Source Quantification) with an energetic approach during pass-by noise test has yielded very good and reliable results for an ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicle.In this Master Thesis, two exterior source ranking methods have been tested and evaluated for an electric vehicle during in-room pass-by noise test. The two methods were: ASQ and OPA (Operational Path Analysis). In total, five models were built from the two methods and each model was evaluated for, in total, three driving conditions corresponding to the current ISO362-1:2007 and the proposed, revised version.The results show that the ASQ models are not capable to correctly estimate the engine contribution due to its high tonality. Moreover, it was seen that the energetic ASQ model is very sensitive to small changes. Both ASQ models underestimated the tire noise.The OPA model on the other hand managed to estimate the total contribution very well. Both the engine contribution and the tire contributions are well estimated. Nevertheless, OPA as method has several weaknesses and building an OPA model is not a straightforward task. Its weaknesses and the process to reach a final OPA model are discussed in this thesis.It was seen that one of the most crucial steps in an OPA model is to have clean references to get meaningful results. A MIMO-FIR filter was therefore used to filter out engine harmonics from the tire references. Its principles and importance for the end results are also discussed.Included is also an overview of the basic principles in TPA (Transfer Path Analysis), ASQ, OPA and in room pass by noise test as well as a description of the test campaign.

THESIS submitted by Wannisinghe Mudiyanselage Jayantha to Hong Kong Baptist University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and entitled "Emerging Femininities in Selected Sri Lankan English Fiction" May 2019. The study documents the rise of emerging Sri Lankan feminine subjectivities as portrayed in post-independence novels in English by Punyakante Wijenaike, Nihal de Silva, and Chandani Lokuge. It attempts to interpret the rise of socially constructed traits of new womanhood and shifting gender norms responding to significant transformations in post-independence Sri Lanka economy and society during which the nation has rapidly shifted from a traditional rural economy to an industrialized since the 1978 free market reforms embraced with policies of globalization and neoliberalism. The selected novels are historicized by means of specific data indicating that any compensations traditionally afforded to Sri Lankan women through the collusion of colonialism with patriarchy are being challenged by the current globalization of opportunity and risk, even as Sri Lankan women continue to engage in the far older struggles for respect in traditional contexts and spaces (Wijenaike), take up arms in service in the name of nation-building projects (De Silva), or search for greater life opportunities by means of out- migration and eventual return (Lokuge). Challenges to conventional colonial-patriarchal ideology, with attention to specific objects symbolizing alternative (or even "deviant") femininity long preceding modernity, are the central focus of Punyakante Wijenaike's Giraya and Amulet. The use of a Marxist-feminist approach, localized in the setting of the walauwe, allows for the examination of potentials and limits for women's subjectivities as they emerged in the earliest 1970s-era post-independence novels. Nihal de Silva's The Road from Elephant Pass explores the fictionalized portrayal of women soldiers, conscripted to the LTTE in the early 1980s, and the effects of a revolutionary posture upon traditional gender roles. The tension in de Silva's novel between the political liberation project as national/romantic allegory uniting Sinhala and Tamil causes as ultimately endorsing patriarchal claims of Anderson's "imagined communities" thesis in the dramatic context of women's participation in the civil war. Using a "Fourth World" sovereignty frame, the final chapter of the project analyzes the potential rewards and risks of diasporic experience, for women protagonists in Chandani Lokuge's If the Moon Smiled and Turtle Nest. Collectively, the analyses indicate how Sri Lankan novels in English have documented the struggles, potentials, and continuing vulnerabilities around the emergence of new feminine subjectivities for post-independence Sri Lankan women.

Le marché des convertisseurs analogique-numérique peut être segmenté en deux catégories de circuits. Nous distinguons d’une part, les blocs de propriété intellectuelle (IP) qui sont généralement optimisés pour une application spécifique. Et d’autre part, les circuits intégrés discrets qui sont conçus pour répondre aux besoins d’une plus large gamme d’applications. Ce travail de thèse concerne la deuxième catégorie de composants. Il s’inscrit dans le cadre d'un programme de recherche et développement initié en 2010 dans le projet européen FP7 SACRA et dont le but était d'étudier la faisabilité d'un convertisseur analogique-numérique Delta-Sigma (DS) qui pourrait rivaliser avec l'architecture pipeline pour des applications nécessitant une large bande passante (≥10MHz) et une haute résolution (>10-bit) comme l’imagerie médicale, les communications numériques sans fils ou câblées, la vidéo ou encore l’instrumentation. Ce manuscrit synthétise les travaux de conception, fabrication et mesure d’un modulateur DS Passe-bas à temps continu avec une bande passante de 40MHz, et visant une résolution effective de 12-bit tout en consommant moins de 100mW. / The market of A/D converters can be segmented in two categories. From one side we distinguish the Intellectual Property (IP) blocks that are generally optimized for a specific application. On the other side, the general-purpose discrete Integrated Circuits (ICs) that are designed such as they could be used in different applications. This thesis work deals with the second category. It is part of a research and development program initiated in 2010 in the European project FP7 SACRA, whose purpose was to study the feasibility of a delta-sigma (DS) analog-to-digital converter that could compete with the pipeline architecture for applications that require high bandwidth (≥10MHz) and high resolution (>10-bit) such as medical imaging, wireless and wireline communications, video or instrumentation. Currently, the pipeline is still largely predominant for such applications and the few commercial wideband solutions based on a DS architecture have a signal bandwidth limited to 10 MHz or 25 MHz while consuming respectively 100mW and 20mW for an ENOB around 12-bit. This manuscript summarizes the design, fabrication and measurement of a low-pass CT DS modulator with a signal bandwidth of 40MHz, while targeting an effective resolution of 12-bit and a power consumption of less than 100mW.

The United States continues to be affected by a severe, long-standing nursing shortage that is not projected to resolve within the next 10 or more years. Unsuccessful passage of the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) among graduate nurses remains one of several key contributors to the nursing shortage. The goal of this study was to identify if either cumulative fall semester GPA; the overall prenursing science, mathematics, and English GPA; type of high school background; TOEFL score; clinical pass or fail; and on-time program completion best predicted passage of NCLEX-RN. Archived records from the academic years of 2006-2010 of students/graduates of a small, private BSN program were analyzed. A nonconcurrent, prospective design of secondary data was guided by the theoretical implications of the Seidman retention formula that surmises that early identification of academic problems is a necessary precursor to implementations that promote academic success. Significant, positive correlations were found between GPA of prenursing courses and achievement in clinical courses and on-time nursing program completion. Forward and backward, logistic regression procedures revealed that clinical performance was the strongest predictor of NCLEX-RN success but with an inverse relationship. Implications for positive social change include retention of BSN students to improve graduation rates. This ultimately will foster achievement on the NCLEX-RN, resulting in more graduates will be able to competently serve the health care needs of individuals and communities and alleviation of the nursing shortage.

The content of this diploma thesis is a feasibility study of a small hydropower station within the navigation lock Přelouč II. This work builds on the framework proposal of one variation of layout arragement of the navigation lock. In this variant is considered to build a lock, which also includes a small hydropower station. At the beginning, the location of individual building objects is resolved with respect to the conditions in the locality. This is followed by a more detailed development of the building and technological part of a small hydropower plant. Part of the thesis is accompanying and technical report, drawing documentation, hydrotechnical and hydroenergetic calculations and photographic documentation.

My master’s thesis deals with methods of measuring the ultrasonic blood flow blood vessel with a detailed focus on Doppler ultrasound systems, which find application in the diagnosis of superficial vascular and obstetrics. The thesis is described a proposal indicating polydirectional Doppler system with a continuous carrier wave frequency of 4 MHz, the intensity of ultrasound 100 mW/cm2 and diameter D-shaped transducers 8 mm. As a result, the indicator will be able to measure blood flow velocity in the range of 5-40 cm/s, which appears to 3.5 digit display. After describing important theoretical assumptions, the work pays block diagram indicator. Furthermore, it examines the various functional blocks on the requirements imposed on them. It looks at the options of each functional block, and finally describes the implementation of the selected option and including peripheral solutions. Great attention is paid to the power of the indicator, where the power supply will be used 9 V battery. Create a symmetric voltage for operate amplifier and other auxiliary voltage will procure DC/DC converters. In conclusion, the work is located around the perimeter solutions indicator. The following draft for the production of double-sided PCB, its installation and a list of elements. The outcome of the thesis is complete documentation for the implementation of an indicator of blood flow, which allows us to obtain information on throughput vessels, especially the lower and upper limbs.