6 research outputs found
White certificates and white certificate trading schemes as greenhouse gas mitigation policy options for South Africa
A white certificate, which is also referred to as an Energy Saving Certificate (ESC), or an Energy Efficiency Credit (EEC), is an instrument awarded by an authorisation body to guarantee that a specific amount of energy savings has been achieved. Each certificate is a unique and traceable commodity carrying a property right over a certain amount of additional energy savings and certifying that the benefit of these savings has not been accounted for elsewhere (EuroWhiteCert Project, 2006)
Emissions trading as a policy option for greenhouse gas mitigation in South Africa
An emissions trading scheme (ETS) is based on the allocation of allowances to emit pollutants, which in the case of climate change are greenhouse gases. Allowances are allocated to a defined set of emitters, who are required to hold sufficient allowances to cover their emissions at the end of a compliance period, or face penalties. Scarcity is created in the scheme through the allocation of fewer allowances than emissions, resulting in emitters having to choose between reducing their emissions in line with their allowance allocations, or purchasing additional allowances to cover their excess emissions levels
Improved feed utilisation in cage aquaculture by use of machine vision
Thesis (MScEng (Process Engineering))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.With the harvesting of fish and other aquatic organisms from natural
waters having reached its upper limit, aquaculture is vital in providing for
the ever increasing demand for fishery products (Boyd, 1999). Not
surprisingly, aquaculture has seen considerable growth over the last
decade or more.
With the rising importance of aquaculture, there is an increased emphasis
on cost and reducing of waste for environmental reasons. Therefore,
attempts to automate or increase efficiency of feeding are constantly
being explored.
On an aquaculture unit approximately 60% of all costs are for feed;
therefore high quality feeding management is essential for all fish farmers.
The rainbow trout farm at Jonkershoek Aquaculture Research farm near
Stellenbosch currently have a feeding management system which makes
use of traditional hand feeding. Handfeeding is not considered optimal, as
the feed intake or pellet loss is not closely monitored resulting in higher
operating costs.
Automation of aquaculture systems will allow the industry to produce
closer to markets, improve environmental control, reduce catastrophic
losses, minimize environmental regulation by reducing effluents, reduce
production costs and improve product quality. The history of automated
control in aquaculture has been brief; most of the systems have been
custom-designed, personal computer systems.
A very popular approach for an automated feeding system is to monitor
waste pellets beneath the feeding zone of the fish, with a feedback loop
that can switch off the feeder if this waste exceeds a predetermined
threshold. Other approaches use hydroacoustics to monitor waste pellets
or demand feeders have also been implemented. These approaches however are not considered optimal as automatic feeders do not
necessarily ensure optimal feed intake. Social dominance using demand
feeders does not allow even feeding distribution among all sizes of fish.
In this project it was investigated whether an automated feeding system
can be developed based on fish feeding behaviour. After facing problems
with poor visibility at the Jonkershoek Aquaculture farm near
Stellenbosch, video data were acquired from the Two Oceans Aquarium in
Cape Town. Since it was a feasibility study, the focus was rather to
investigate whether a predictive model could be generated for fish feeding
behaviour in a more ideal environment which can form a foundation for
further research.
The well-established multivariate methods of principal component
Why is recruitment to trials difficult? An investigation into recruitment difficulties in an RCT of supported employment in patients with severe mental illness
Background
Under-recruitment to randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is often problematic and there may be particular difficulties in recruiting patients with severe mental illness.
Aim
To evaluate reasons for under-recruitment in an RCT of patients with severe mental illness
Methods
Qualitative study during the recruitment phase of an RCT of supported employment. Trial staff and recruiting clinicians were interviewed. Data were analyzed thematically using constant comparative techniques.
Results
Recruitment rates were low. Five main reasons for recruitment difficulties were found. These included: (i) misconceptions about trials, (ii) lack of equipoise, (iii) misunderstanding of the trial arms, (iv) variable interpretations of eligibility criteria, (v) paternalism.
Conclusion
Reasons for recruitment difficulties in trials involving patients with severe mental illness include issues that occur in trials in general, but others are more specific to these patients. Clinician and patient involvement in the study design may improve recruitment in future similar trials