Nature reserves in the City of Tshwane are under threat from ecological and historically significant decay due to the less defined nature of these landscapes. Architecture in form, function and technology can be developed in the in-between of nature and urban to act as conservator for these nature reserves. Utilizing the natural resources of nature to produce products for the urban dweller within a space that conserves the historical protective layers of the site. The space of interaction between nature and urban becomes the conservator, acting as active protector in terms of sustainable production, education and urban dweller interaction with the nature reserve and its continuous history of protection. / Natuurreservate in die stad Tshwane word bedreig deur ekologiese en historiese betekenisverval weens die minder gedefinieerde aard van hierdie landskappe. Argitektuur in vorm, funksie en tegnologie kan ontwikkel word in die tussen ruimte van natuur en stedelike gebiede om as natuurbewaarder vir hierdie natuurreservate op te tree. Die natuurlike hulpbronne van die natuur kan gebruik word om produkte vir die stedelike inwoner te produseer binne ‘n ruimte wat die historiese beskermende lae van die terrein laat voortduur. Die ruimte van interaksie tussen natuur en stedelike word die bewaarder, wat optree as ‘n aktiewe beskermer in terme van volhoubare produksie, opvoeding en stedelike inwoner interaksie met die natuurreservaat en sy voortgesette geskiedenis van beskerming. / Mini Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

This thesis discusses the real price development on the Swedish housing market and the effects by qualitative variables. The housing market shows signs of being overpriced and this paper investigates if these qualitative values significantly effect the real price development. Valueguard Corporation has supplied Price development data. Focus magazine has supplied data regarding a large dataset for Swedish municipalizes which measures which state of quality of living prevailing in the investigated area. Empirical results show that qualitative variables and increased population have a positive effect on the real price development. Increased cost of interest rates has a significant negative effect on the price development. Increased amortizing rates and interest rates are assumed to slow down an unsustainable price development.

Research in the field of retention has been dominated by studies focused on retention of highly talented employees or A players. Organisations for many years have overlooked, misunderstood and to a large degree ignored the contributions of the steady and capable performers, the B players. Understanding the retention needs of B players has become critical in ensuring organisational success in the short and long term. The purpose of the research aimed to identify the key factors influencing the retention of B players across generations and ethnic groups, and thereby develop a retention framework that will contribute towards the improved retention of B players. The study adopted a dual approach, incorporating a qualitative and quantitative methodology. Interviews were conducted with key stakeholders to validate the questionnaire and gain insights regarding the key retention variables that influence B players. A questionnaire was then distributed to respondents to obtain their views. Data was gathered electronically and analysed against the research objectives defined. The key findings indicated that B players are most influenced by Financial Reward&Recognition, Independence&Freedom and Leadership& Management factors. A Factor Significance and Variable Importance Retention Framework was developed to assist organisations to develop dynamic multidimensional strategies. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

In this thesis, I take a closer look at the meaning of life from an eschatological point of view. More precisely, the question at hand is whether and in what sense the existence of Hell would impact the meaning of life. The thesis primarily makes use of Joshua Seachris’s theories on what ‘the meaning of life’ denotes, dividing ‘meaning’ up into the subcategories of ‘intelligibility’, ‘purpose’, and ‘significance’. Three different answers to the research question are proposed, which crystallizes three different positions: Hell-optimism, which denotes the view that the existence of Hell would contribute to the meaning of life; Hell-neutralism, which denotes the view that the existence of Hell would have no effect on the meaning of life; and Hell-pessimism, which denotes the view that the existence of Hell would detract from the meaning of life. Arguments are given for each position, most appropriated from the broader meaning of life-discourse. On the basis of the evaluation of each argument, Hell-pessimism is considered the most probable of the three.

Soil seed banks are important to the maintenance and restoration of floras. Extant seed banks exhibit unique characteristics with regard to the distribution of seed size and seed density. Seeds were recovered from the Upper Pennsylvanian Wise Formation in southwest Virginia. Structurally preserved seeds were also examined from coal balls of the Pennsylvanian Pottsville and Allegheny Groups, Ohio. The size distribution of the seeds from the Wise Formation is similar to that of structurally preserved seeds of the Upper Pennsylvanian Pottsville and Allegheny Group coal balls. In contrast, the seed size distributions in extant wetland, grassland, woodland and forest habitats are significantly narrower than that of seeds from the Pennsylvanian seed banks. Larger seeds are less dependent on light for germination, and aid in seedling establishment more than smaller seeds, especially in dense stable forests where disturbance events are rare. Large seed size may contribute to increased seed longevity, which reduces the effect of environmental variability on seed germination and development. The significantly larger size of the Palaeozoic seeds may have imparted an advantage for seedling establishment in the dense Palaeozoic forests. The preponderance of large seeds may be a result of the absence of large seed predators (e.g. herbivorous tetrapods), and may have been an evolutionary strategy to minimize damage to the embryo from a predator population dominated by small invertebrates with chewing or sucking mouthparts. The estimated seed density of 192 seeds/m2 in the Palaeozoic seed bank falls within the range of modern seed banks, but at the lower end of modern seed bank densities in a variety of habitats.

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No / This chapter summarises AHRC/EPSRC Science and Heritage Programme-funded research to develop a digital resource to disseminate knowledge of the identification of osseous and keratinous animal hard tissues. The choice of materials in the manufacture of individual artefacts or classes of objects can make a major contribution to understanding their cultural significance and questions of provenance or authenticity. This resource builds on understanding gained through a Fellowship to O’Connor in developing, evaluating and validating identification criteria for these materials in raw, worked and decayed states. The resource concentrates on the non-destructive visual methods of particular relevance to the examination of artworks, historic and archaeological artefacts. The chapter highlights the potential of various visualisation methods and digital technologies to capture and combine 2D images and 3D models and guide the viewer through the multi-scalar visual cues of each material to a reliable identification. By accessing a range of collections, the project has produced a comprehensive and accessible resource, disseminating these findings more widely than could be achieved by a physical reference collection. This resource supports the identification of cultural heritage objects for conservation scientists and heritage professionals and informs the fight against the illegal hunting and trafficking of rare and endangered species. / VAHT was funded through an AHRC-EPSRC Science and Heritage Programme Research Development Award (AH/K006169/1) that developed directly from Sonia O'Connor's AHRC/EPSRC Science & Heritage Programme Fellowship (AH/H032150/1)—Cultural Materials Worked in Skeletal Hard Tissues (COWISHT).

O problema de testar hipóteses sobre proporções marginais de uma tabela de contingência assume papel fundamental, por exemplo, na investigação da mudança de opinião e comportamento. Apesar disso, a maioria dos textos na literatura abordam procedimentos para populações independentes, como o teste de homogeneidade de proporções. Existem alguns trabalhos que exploram testes de hipóteses em caso de respostas dependentes como, por exemplo, o teste de McNemar para tabelas 2 x 2. A extensão desse teste para tabelas k x k, denominado teste de homogeneidade marginal, usualmente requer, sob a abordagem clássica, a utilização de aproximações assintóticas. Contudo, quando o tamanho amostral é pequeno ou os dados esparsos, tais métodos podem eventualmente produzir resultados imprecisos. Neste trabalho, revisamos medidas de evidência clássicas e bayesianas comumente empregadas para comparar duas proporções marginais. Além disso, desenvolvemos o Full Bayesian Significance Test (FBST) para testar a homogeneidade marginal em tabelas de contingência bidimensionais e multidimensionais. O FBST é baseado em uma medida de evidência, denominada e-valor, que não depende de resultados assintóticos, não viola o princípio da verossimilhança e respeita a várias propriedades lógicas esperadas para testes de hipóteses. Consequentemente, a abordagem ao problema de teste de homogeneidade marginal pelo FBST soluciona diversas limitações geralmente enfrentadas por outros procedimentos. / Tests of hypotheses for marginal proportions in contingency tables play a fundamental role, for instance, in the investigation of behaviour (or opinion) change. However, most texts in the literature are concerned with tests that assume independent populations (e.g: homogeneity tests). There are some works that explore hypotheses tests for dependent proportions such as the McNemar Test for 2 x 2 contingency tables. The generalization of McNemar test for k x k contingency tables, called marginal homogeneity test, usually requires asymptotic approximations. Nevertheless, for small sample sizes or sparse tables, such methods may occasionally produce imprecise results. In this work, we review some classical and Bayesian measures of evidence commonly applied to compare two marginal proportions. We propose the Full Bayesian Significance Test (FBST) to investigate marginal homogeneity in two-way and multidimensional contingency tables. The FBST is based on a measure of evidence, called e-value, which does not depend on asymptotic results, does not violate the likelihood principle and satisfies logical properties that are expected from hypothesis testing. Consequently, the FBST approach to test marginal homogeneity overcomes several limitations usually met by other procedures.