No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The high-spin states of the nucleus ⁷²Ge were populated via the ⁷°Zn(a,2n)⁷²Ge fusion-evaporation reaction at a beam-energy of 30 MeV. The ')'-decays were observed with the AFRODITE spectrometer array at iThemba LABS (Faure, South Africa). Twenty-seven new transitions, 18 new levels and 2 new bands were added to the ⁷²Ge level scheme, and several corrections were made to t he previously-known level scheme. Transitions were characterised using Directional Correlation from Oriented states (DCO) and polarisation measurements, and spin-parity assignments were made for 7 new levels. Spin and parity were also reassigned to a previously-known structure. One of the new bands was ident ified as part of an octupole-vibrational band. No tetrahedral states were observed in the scheme despite N = 40 and Z = 32 having been identified as tetrahedral magic numbers. The meaning of the new 14⁺ yrast level for the underlying structure of the ground state band is discussed

This study investigates the determinants of the structure of public budgets in Africa using a panel econometrics approach. Data for 28 countries was collected covering the period 1995-2004. The determinants of the spending behaviour of these governments are analysed with the specific objectives to: identify the factors that determine the structure of government spending; identify a framework that explains the structure of government spending; specify and estimate a model that explains the allocation of the public budget and finally, to make policy recommendations on the basis of the findings. A number of hypotheses are tested, namely: an increase in the level of corruption would tilt the budget allocation towards sectors such as defence and general public services; an increase in the level of political instability would cause a shift in the budget allocation to sectors that seek to secure government’s political power; an increase in political liberty results in a shift in the budget towards those sectors favouring citizens’ preferences, such as education, health and social security and services; an increase in the public debt leads to a shift in the budget towards expenditure on economic services; and the mere presence of International Monetary Fund (IMF)-supported programmes in a country plays an instrumental role in the distribution of the budget. The main findings are the following: The proportions of the public budget devoted to education, health and public services had been on an upward trend during the period 1995-2004 while that of defence and ‘other’ remained high but declined. The share of the public budget allocated to economic services remained large but showed substantial volatility. On average, general public service expenditures account for the largest share of the public budget, while health and social welfare services account for the lowest share. The results show that corruption is associated with high levels of general public services and ‘other spending while it is negatively correlated to education, health and social welfare spending. Evidence to support the notion that high levels of corruption are associated with large budget allocations to the economic services category seems to be ambiguous. Also, the findings on the role of corruption in twisting the budget towards higher levels of expenditure on defence are not conclusive which contradicts the findings of similar studies. Furthermore, countries that suffer from political instability tend to allocate a larger slice of their budgets to the general public services and defence spending categories while countries that are politically stable tend to allocate more of their budgets to the education and social welfare sectors. However, there is no strong evidence to support the role of political instability in health spending. It is found that in those countries where human rights are acknowledged and the political process is more transparent, a larger share of the budget is allocated to social welfare spending. The role of IMF programmes in budget allocation reveals that countries that have implemented IMF programmes tend to allocate less of their budgets to defence and ‘other’ spending while increasing the budget allocation to education, health, social welfare and economic services. Furthermore, the budget allocation to general public services is shown to be affected by changes in the IMF programmes. Also, irrespective of the corruption status of a country, the IMF programmes tend to cause spending to move away from defence. In the case of education spending, it is found that countries that are exposed to IMF programmes tend to allocate a larger share of their budgets to education than those countries without such programmes. Budget priorities of neighbouring countries with regard to defence expenditure positively affect a home country’s defence budget allocation. This is also true with regard to the number of military personnel per capita of the population which is found to correlate positively with the share of defence expenditure in the budget. Lastly, the coefficient of public debt is unambiguously positive in the economic services and health expenditure categories which may suggest that countries that have high levels of public debt tend to allocate more resources to these sectors. Based on these findings an ‘ideal’ distribution of a budget based on the economically most successful countries in Africa is proposed. According to this framework it is ideal, in the African context, to allocate not more than 21 per cent of the public budget to general public services; 8 per cent to defence and 18 per cent to ‘other’ spending. A minimum of 18 per cent should be allocated to education; 10 per cent to health; 11 per cent to social welfare and 18 per cent to economic services. For policy purposes the following are noted: Firstly, for an ‘ideal’ budget allocation to be achieved in the African context, measures must be put in place to control the level of corruption. These may include the following: <ol> <li>Anti-corruption legislation: Countries that have legislated anticorruption laws should ensure that they enforce these laws.</li> <li>Public officers’ ethics law: Countries that have not legislated laws relating to a code of ethics for public officials are recommended to do so. Such laws would include requiring public officers to declare their wealth and to disclose any interests that they may have in private investments.</li> <li>Anti-corruption institutions: Existing institutions such as parliamentary committees on public finance and investment should be strengthened and if non-existent should be established and entrenched in the constitutions of the respective countries.</li></ol> Secondly, to ensure optimal public choice that reflects the preferences of the citizens, the government should ensure that political stability is a high priority on its development agenda. Governments should establish early warning systems to enable them to address instability before it degenerates into civil unrest and war. Measures to deal with any instability should be put into place, for example the parties involved in a conflict should be brought together in order that they may enter into a dialogue. At the continental level, peace efforts under the African Union (AU) should be encouraged to ensure that problems on the continent can be resolved by its leaders without recourse to outside support. Thirdly, accountability is also important in the internal allocation of the budget. Governments must be informed about collective and individual needs, listen to the voice of the public and embrace transparency and true accountability to its citizens. This can be achieved through: <ol><li>Government openness with regard to its fiscal policies.</li> <li> The establishment of information and communication offices where anyone seeking information regarding public matters can get assistance.</li> <li> The retraining of the police and other security personnel on matters related to public relations since, in Africa, many of the human rights abuses are committed by the police.</li></ol> / Thesis (PhD (Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Economics / PhD / unrestricted

No description available.

The design of shallow foundations located in seismically active zones typically takes a near zero tolerance approach to allowing relative movements between the foundation and underlying soil. This results in a rigid coupling of the foundation with the soil and hence the full transmission of the seismic energy into the foundation. Consequently the structure located on the foundation either has to be isolated from the shaking through manufactured damping systems or designed to withstand the full force of the dynamic shaking while the energy is dissipated through structural damping. There is, however, an increasing focus on reducing the coupling between the soil and foundation which consequently reduces the demands on the structure. Allowing the foundation to slide and/or rock isolates the foundation from the dynamic shaking and helps to dissipate energy through soil damping. The same level of seismic protection which is currently provided by manufactured solutions is still therefore possible but with the advantage of reduced costs and complexity in construction. This design concept has, however, not been widely adopted due to concerns regarding the possibility for excessive movement of the foundation, resulting in damage to the superstructure or overall toppling of the structure. In addition, the behaviour is currently difficult to model precisely and therefore it is challenging to quantify the exact level of seismic protection achieved. The work presented in this thesis strives to address some of these issues. A series of ten centrifuge tests were conducted on small-scale model structures founded on dry sand and subjected to a series of simulated earthquakes. The effect of a range of model parameters was investigated including relative density, bearing pressure, structural stiffness, aspect ratio, earthquake strength and earthquake frequency. For six of the tests, the movement of the soil beneath the foundation and the structure itself were monitored by analysing images collected from high speed photography (1000 frames per second) using particle image velocimetry software. In addition to the photogramrnetry, a series of miniature measurement transducers were used to record the acceleration in the soil and the structure. Displacement transducers were used to monitor the settlement of the structure and free-field. In total over one hundred earthquakes were carried out resulting in an extensive dataset, against which hypotheses and analytical models could be verified. It was found that the transition from the structure being stationary to it responding in a steady state fashion can be a critical period in which the response of the soil-foundation-structure system must be carefully analysed. The phase shift between the superstructure, foundation and soil can vary during this period. As a result, different modes of response are adopted by the system which, in certain circumstances, can result in a significant increase in the displacement magnitude experienced by the structure. The behaviour is not unexpected, as the same behaviour can be observed from the analytical analysis of a simple single degree of freedom system. Inaddition, a strong correlation between rocking, sliding and settlement was observed, with the degree of lift-off controlling the amount of settlement and sliding which takes place. A macro-element analytical model has been developed to predict the moment-rotation behaviour of shallow raft foundations. A hyperbolic model, used for predicting the stress-strain behaviour of soil, was adapted and used to create the backbone curve of the moment-rotation cycle. A modification was made to the hysteretic damping rules proposed by Masing which allows the energy dissipation to be included in the model. The model was found to mimic the experimental data accurately, with the correct prediction of the lift-off rotation magnitude, moment magnitude, small-rotation stiffness and energy dissipation. Finally, the soil deformation mechanism was observed and analysed. It was found that in some scenarios, when the strain level within the deformation mechanism was low, a trapped wedge was apparent under the foundation. The trapped wedge appeared as a triangular zone of low strain (referred to in some literature as a rigid block), with the foundation located along the top edge and two distinct shear bands on either side. However, as strain magnitudes increased, the shear bands appeared to widen and resulted in strain being apparent throughout the previously unstrained wedge. One of the main differences between the theoretical mechanisms proposed in the literature is the inclusion or exclusion of such a rigid block. Given the majority of the analytical mechanisms proposed in the literature are upper bound mechanisms, and therefore are a prediction of the mechanism at failure, it is inadvisable to include the rigid wedge within the analytical mechanism given that the strain magnitudes will inevitably be large at the point of bearing failure. Given complete failure of the supporting soil did not occur during any of the centrifuge tests performed, comparisons between the observed mechanism and one of these theoretical mechanisms is difficult. However, comparisons between the experimental deformation mechanisms and one analytical failure mechanism did show that the depth of the mechanism could be relatively well predicted as could the degree of separation between the foundation and the underlying soil. This information allows design engineers to know to what depth ground should be remediated below a shallow foundation and how strong the foundation needs to be to cope with the lift-off it will experience. The insight provided by this research into the true soil deformation mechanism, combined with the development of an analytical model of the moment-rotation behaviour, paves the way for engineers to implement designs which actively make use of the beneficial characteristics of soil-structure-interaction.

Recent studies of the social structure of seventeenth and early eighteenth century English society have laid much emphasis upon the collective identity of a 'middle sort of people' existing as a definable group between the gentry and the poor. This view is apparently sa~ctioned by contemporary usage of the term by commentators describing trades, occupations and landholders of moderate prospenty, particularly during and after the civil war period. However, this thesis argues that no consistent connection has been established between this apparently contemporary terminology, and a well-defined set of occupational or income categories. In particular, the term 'middle sort' does not appear to have been employed in the area of northern Essex and southern Suffolk examined in this thesis. Instead, the social order is repeatedly categorised as being divided between 'chief inhabitants' and other 'inhabitants'. The thesis explores the implications of this alternative language by examining the social position and identities of the principal inhabitants of the area. Chapter One establishes that the area of northern Essex and southern Suffolk studied in the thesis functioned as a distinct economic entity, due to its participation in the production of woollen cloth. This also produced a distinctive social structure. The area was distinguished by the high levels of poverty and households dependent solely on the cloth trade. The middle ranks of these parishes were also swelled by the rewards from this trade, when compared to neighbouring agricultural parishes. Chapter Two establishes that within this economic region the status of the 'chief inhabitants' was restricted to the immediate hinterland extending five to ten miles around each town. In this area, in which, the majority of land holdings, business contacts and familial connections were maintained, the 'chief inhabitants' were the most important, socially influential residents. They possessed a status which was dependent upon the existence of such a truncated social milieu, in which they were not overshadowed by their actual social superiors among the gentry. Chapter Three examines how this ruling status was manifested in parish office holding. It shows that the group which termed itself 'chief inhabitants' represented a number of the highest officers in each parish. Such people often formed ruling cliques, through their control � of parish or borough forums, which acted as the institutional expression of their elite status in the locality. Chapter Four extends this analysis by looking at personal wealth as recorded in probate inventories. It shows that a scale existed, broadly corresponding to the hierarchy displayed in the possession of local office. The owners of the newer, status-carrying items of furniture or decoration tended to be among the wealthiest group of office holders. The thesis argues that this . most socially visible group of 'chief inhabitants' was expressing its aspirations to gentility through such ostentatious consumption.: This was a means of consolidating their social position, and extending their role as a local elite. The final chapter concentrates on this highest group. By examining a variety of individual cases, it shows how this drive for gentility marked a desire to extend the status as a 'chief inhabitant' within a truncated social scale. It was not the expression of patterns of stereotypical 'middle class' behaviour, as some studies have claimed, despite its similarity to the consumption and acquisition patterns of the later eighteenth century. This chapter shows how this gentility was combined with local standing and occup~tions to produce the hybrid 'gentlemen-tradesmen' so ridiculed by Defoe at this ' I time. This thesis finds little evidence for the existence of a widely-based ' middling' identity in the seventeenth century. Instead, it argues that a different social identity existed, in which this 'middle sort' actually saw itself as the social elite within heavily restricted social and geographical spheres. It argues that the recognition of this identity brings us closer to an understanding of the social perspectives and position of such groups in this period.