Wind power is seen as one of the most effective means available to combat the twin crises of global climate change and energy security. The annual market growth has established wind power as the leading renewable energy technology. Due to the availability of sparsely populated and flat open terrain, the Yucatán Peninsula located in eastern México is a promising region from the perspective of wind energy development but no comprehensive assessment of wind resource has been previously published. A basic requirement when developing wind power projects is to study the main characteristic parameters of wind in relation to its geographical and temporal distribution. The analysis of diurnal and seasonal wind patterns are an important stage in the move towards commercial exploitation of wind power. The research developed during the PhD has comprehensively assessed the wind behaviour over the Yucatán Peninsula region covering long term patterns at three sites, a spatial study using short term data for nine sites, a vertical profile study on one inland site and an offshore study made on a pier at 6.65km from the North shore. Monthly trends, directional behaviours and frequency distributions were identified and discussed. The characteristics of the wind speed variation reflected their proximity to the coast and whether they were influenced by wind coming predominantly from over the land or predominantly from over the sea. The atmospheric stability over the eastern seas was also analysed to assess thermal effects for different wind directions. Diurnal wind speed variations are shown to be affected in particular by the differing wind conditions associated with fetches over two distinct offshore regions. Seasonal behaviour suggests some departure from the oscillations expected from temperature variation. The offshore wind is thermally driven suggesting largely unstable conditions and the potential development of a shallow Stable Internal Boundary Layer.

The purpose of this study was to examine the contribution of family leisure involvement to the family functioning of single-parent families among a large national representative sample. Two samples were gathered. The single-parent sample consisted of 384 families (384 parents and 384 youth). The dual-parent sample consisted of 495 families (495 parents and 495 youth). Data were analyzed from the parent, youth, and family perspective using two instruments. The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (FACES II) was used to measure family functioning and the Family Leisure Activity Profile (FLAP) was used to measure family leisure involvement. Blocked multiple regression analysis indicated a positive relationship between family leisure variables and family functioning variables among single-parent families. Family cohesion and family adaptability were affected by both core and balance activities, while family adaptability was affected slightly more by core activities than balance activities, from all three perspectives. Results also indicated that family functioning was very similar to dual-parent families while family leisure involvement among single-parent families was less. Implications for practitioners and recommendations for further research are discussed.

A vast body of literature shows that the populations of older persons aged 60+ are growing faster all over the world. South Africa has also shown a tremendous growth in the size of the older population, from 3.7 million in total in the year 2009, which is expected to count 4.25 million in 2015. Similarly, the level of mobile phone penetration in Africa and Sub-Saharan countries has grown significantly. This study aimed to explore older persons‟ competence in using a mobile phone in the Tlokwe municipal area, South Africa. The current study formed part of the iGNiTe sub-study, which is a sub-study of a larger project (An exploration of enabling context) and focuses on the user patterns of mobile technology by older people by using both qualitative and quantitative data. The current study aimed to explore older persons‟ competence in using mobile phones. Although the iGNiTe sub-study involved both qualitative and quantitative data-gathering methods, the current study only focused on the qualitative data aspect. This study is also the first to directly explore older persons‟ competencies regarding the use of mobile phones in the South African context. The study incorporated the Multiple Intelligences Theory, Technology Acceptance Model and The Mobile Phone Technology Acceptance Model to explain older persons‟ attitudes to and intentions for using a mobile phone as well as the knowledge and skills they possess regarding the use of mobile phones. The keywords that were used in different search engines included older persons, mobile phones, competencies, skills, knowledge and attitude. Participants included in the sub-study were older persons aged 60+ who met the inclusion criteria from a total sample of 128 older persons in three old-age day-care centres in the Tlokwe municipal area of the North West Province, South Africa. Since the current study only focused on the qualitative aspect of the sub-study, the study only used 48 participants who took part in semi-structured interviews and the Mmogo-method® in the sub-study. The study used a descriptive research design to understand meaning and experiences of older persons‟ competences in using mobile phones by using semi-structured interviews and the Mmogo-method®. The goal of this study was achieved by conducting a thematic analysis within a secondary dataset from the iGNiTe sub-study. Older persons‟ competencies in using a mobile phone were extracted from the interviews. The data revealed that levels of competences revealed by older persons differed according to the individual‟s experiences in using mobile phones. Both positive and negative impact of mobile phone complexities on older persons‟ abilities to use a mobile phone were found in the current study. The study suggests that, based on the findings, mobile phones be made more learnable and adapted to the needs of different age groups. / MSc (Research Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

A vast body of literature shows that the populations of older persons aged 60+ are growing faster all over the world. South Africa has also shown a tremendous growth in the size of the older population, from 3.7 million in total in the year 2009, which is expected to count 4.25 million in 2015. Similarly, the level of mobile phone penetration in Africa and Sub-Saharan countries has grown significantly. This study aimed to explore older persons‟ competence in using a mobile phone in the Tlokwe municipal area, South Africa. The current study formed part of the iGNiTe sub-study, which is a sub-study of a larger project (An exploration of enabling context) and focuses on the user patterns of mobile technology by older people by using both qualitative and quantitative data. The current study aimed to explore older persons‟ competence in using mobile phones. Although the iGNiTe sub-study involved both qualitative and quantitative data-gathering methods, the current study only focused on the qualitative data aspect. This study is also the first to directly explore older persons‟ competencies regarding the use of mobile phones in the South African context. The study incorporated the Multiple Intelligences Theory, Technology Acceptance Model and The Mobile Phone Technology Acceptance Model to explain older persons‟ attitudes to and intentions for using a mobile phone as well as the knowledge and skills they possess regarding the use of mobile phones. The keywords that were used in different search engines included older persons, mobile phones, competencies, skills, knowledge and attitude. Participants included in the sub-study were older persons aged 60+ who met the inclusion criteria from a total sample of 128 older persons in three old-age day-care centres in the Tlokwe municipal area of the North West Province, South Africa. Since the current study only focused on the qualitative aspect of the sub-study, the study only used 48 participants who took part in semi-structured interviews and the Mmogo-method® in the sub-study. The study used a descriptive research design to understand meaning and experiences of older persons‟ competences in using mobile phones by using semi-structured interviews and the Mmogo-method®. The goal of this study was achieved by conducting a thematic analysis within a secondary dataset from the iGNiTe sub-study. Older persons‟ competencies in using a mobile phone were extracted from the interviews. The data revealed that levels of competences revealed by older persons differed according to the individual‟s experiences in using mobile phones. Both positive and negative impact of mobile phone complexities on older persons‟ abilities to use a mobile phone were found in the current study. The study suggests that, based on the findings, mobile phones be made more learnable and adapted to the needs of different age groups. / MSc (Research Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

At regional scales climate patterns (e.g., interannual wet-dry cycles) result in high spatial fire synchrony among Southwest forests. However, in the "Sky Island" forests of southeastern Arizona spatial and temporal patterns of fire history and tree age structure at landscape levels (i.e., within mountain ranges) are relatively unknown and therefore the focus of this study. In the Santa Catalina Mountains we reconstructed the fire history on a 2,900-hectare study area with two distinct landscapes, Butterfly Peak (BP) and Rose Canyon (RC) using 2-hectare "points" (i.e., collection areas). The RC landscape was dominated by shallow south-facing aspects and BP was dominated by steep north-facing aspects. Within each landscape, point mean fire intervals (PMFIs) were not significantly different between aspect classes. However, pooled PMFIs were significantly shorter in RC compared to BP. These results show that the fire history at any given point (i.e., 2 hectares or less) was primarily controlled by the broad-scale topography of the encompassing landscape, rather than by the fine-scale topography at that point.Using similar methods we also reconstructed the fire history on Rincon Peak, which is a small isolated mountain range with very step topography. The fire history of the 310-hectare forest area was a mixture of frequent low severity surface fires (from AD 1648 to 1763) and infrequent mixed-severity fires (from AD 1763 to 1867). This mixed-fire regime was probably due to a combination of climatic variability, the small area and rugged topography of this mountain range, and complex fuel arrangements. The distinct fire histories from these two study areas provided natural age structure experiments that indicated tree age cohorts (i.e., higher than expected tree establishment pulses) occurred during periods of reduced fire frequencies. In some instances these periods were likely caused by climatic variability (e.g., a wet and/or cool early 1800s) creating synchronous age cohorts across the region. At other times, extended fire intervals were a function of local topography (e.g., 1763-1819 in the northern half of Rincon Peak). Overall, these studies demonstrated that landscape and climatic variations combine to produce complex spatial and temporal variations in fire history and tree age structures.

This thesis details the spatial and temporal influence of integrated multi-trophic aquaculture-derived organic effluent on the diet of cultured organic extractive organisms within an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) facility in Kyuquot Sound, British Columbia. Naturally occurring and aquaculture-derived sources of nutrients were defined using isotopic analysis of δ15N and δ13C values, in order to examine feeding patterns of a cultured bivalve species C. gigas. By examining the diet of C. gigas located within the IMTA system, and at a reference site, spatial and temporal patterns of organic-effluent influence on organic extractive components within the IMTA system can be defined. Measurements were performed over four seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter) at a reference site and at stations adjacent to the fish component of the IMTA system, at distances of 0m, 15m, and 30m. Oysters at each station were suspended in the water column at depths of 6m and 18m. Chapter two of this thesis focuses on the vertical and horizontal patterns of aquaculture derived particulate waste influence on organic extractive components within the IMTA system. Examination of δ15N and δ13C values sampled from C. gigas tissue at each station indicated both horizontal and vertical dispersion, and subsequent uptake, of aquaculture-derived effluent. The importance of aquaculture-derived effluent to the diet of C. gigas was not uniform across stations or seasons. General trends indicate the strongest reliance upon aquaculture-derived effluent as a nutritional subsidy by C. gigas suspended at depths of 18m, and those located 15m and 30m adjacent to the fish component of the IMTA system in particular. This chapter also focuses on the examination of C. gigas feeding patterns using stable isotope analysis over a seasonal timescale, to describe temporal variability in the importance of aquaculture-derived effluent to the diet of organic extractive components within an IMTA system. Examination of δ15N and δ13C values sampled from C. gigas tissue at each station indicated strong seasonal shifts in importance of aquaculture-derived effluent as a nutritional subsidy to oysters within the IMTA system. General trends suggest that C. gigas cultured within the IMTA system feed most heavily upon aquaculture-derived effluent during the winter and spring months, while importance of naturally occurring food sources are more heavily relied upon during the summer and fall months. . / Graduate

This thesis is concerned with related aspects of physical and settlement changes in the coastal portion of the largest lowland in peninsular Italy, the Tavoliere of Poggia (Apulia). It is an empirical study, summarising the state of archaeological and geographical information, offering new archaeological and sedimentary evidence, and reassessing many interpretations concerning settlement, economic activity and the environment from the mid-Holocene and Early Neolithic times to the present. Formerly there were a number of lagoons in the coastlands, wide open to the Adriatic or almost wholly closed by the barrier island. Today much of this is cultivated land. Before the implications of such a physical change on past settlement and economy can be assessed, the ancient settlement patterns have to be discovered; the buried topography revealed; and the nature and phasing of the sedimentation that has all but obliterated the lagoons outlined. These are the main objectives in the present study. A perhaps wider range of source material than is orthodox in historical geography is investigated to these ends. The study of written and cartographic sources, from the Roman period onward, is intimately combined with the study of field evidence both archaeological and sedimentary. In this way, much of the evidence falls in to place as a better understanding of the former physical environment is achieved. For instance, cognizance of the openness of one lagoon leads to a more accurate interpretation of the route directions of the Roman itineraria and a better coincidence of archaeological and written evidences for lost settlements. But, bearing in mind that the thesis is essentially an interim statement on an active and longterm research programme, no conclusions are attempted although the study has implications reaching beyond the local area. Instead, the three important factors of change - climatic change, changes in sea level, and the anthropogenic factor - are introduced as the basis of the next stage in the research programme.

The key objective of this research is to examine various issues relating to trades of UK directors (insiders’) in their company shares. Specifically, we examine the general patterns and characteristics of directors’ trades, the seasonality patterns of aggregate directors’ trades (measured by insider aggregate number and value of insider trading activities), the impact that director’s age has on trade informativeness, and the effect of industry classification on the information content of directors’ trades. To the best of our knowledge, no empirical examination of these issues has yet to be examined. When examining the general patterns and characteristics of directors’ trades, we find that directors buy more frequently than they sell but the average value of sell trades are approximately seven times larger, which suggests that directors sell less frequently but in larger monetary amounts. Furthermore, the majority of trades occur for directors aged between 45 and 65. Small transactions tend to be purchases while large transactions tend to be sells. The majority of the trades were by former directors (for both transaction types) followed by executive and non- executive directors. The majority of trades occurred in the financial industry. When examining the seasonal patterns of aggregate directors’ trades (as measured by the number and the value of insider transactions), the results show that there is a day of the week anomaly in aggregate insider activities. Insiders tend to trade more on Fridays and less on Tuesdays. Also, there is a month of the year anomaly in aggregate insider activities (as measured by the number of insider transactions). Specifically, insiders tend to trade more in March and trade less in August. The impact of director’s age is also examined, and the results suggest that younger directors’ buy transactions produce significantly higher abnormal returns than older directors. There is some evidence of statistically significantly negative CAARs for younger directors’ sell trades. When controlling for director type, we find that younger executives (formers) are more informed about their buy trades than executives (formers) of other age groups. Unlike the previous pattern, older non-executives (over 70) seem to be more informed about their buy trades than younger non-executives. Finally, the results of whether industry classifications have an impact on the informativeness of directors’ trades indicate that abnormal returns are highest for directors of technology industries. The level of information asymmetry has an impact on the informativeness of directors’ trades. Specifically, insider gains are highest, for directors, in high R&D, high volatility, low regulated, highly concentrated, and low CEO compensation industries/sectors.

No description available.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This explorative research was done on 86 DiSC® patterns, 46 of which were completed by male Information Technology project managers and the remaining 40 by female Information Technology project managers, in order to understand which were the most prolific DiSC® patterns amongst the sample. The research showed that the creative profile was the most observed, closely followed by the perfectionist pattern. This was due to the preference of the Information Technology project managers to operate within either the dominance domain for the creative pattern or the conscientiousness domain for the perfectionist pattern, which was valid for both genders. Based on the attributes, a pattern closely resembling the objective thinker pattern also became apparent. The objective thinker pattern attests to the high score gained in the conscientiousness domain as well. Interestingly, there was very little difference between male and female project managers’ preferences in terms of patterns, domain and attributes. The research showed that the creative pattern drives quick decisions, the perfectionist pattern focuses on quality, and the objective thinker pattern is founded in logic. The research does not guarantee a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution; however, it did reveal that based on the sample data, conscientiousness must be considered when recruiting, assigning or even up-skilling individuals to become Information Technology project managers. Where a candidate shows a strong preference towards the steadiness or even the influence domains, caution should be taken and time invested to ensure that the individual would be suited for the role. To manage project time constraints, the creative profile was recommended. To manage cost, the perfectionist and objective thinker patterns was recommended, as the focus on quality and facts could aid the project definition and execution. Where quality was a concern, the perfectionist and objective thinker patterns were put forward as recommendations. Any of the creative, perfectionist or objective thinker patterns profiles were recommended for overall project execution. The research also found that based on the needs of the project a combination of the creative and perfectionist or objective thinker may lead to better results.