Creative-destructivism : a Delphi study of the current South African business environment

Abstract: In an attempt to remain financially viable, modern day organisations are forced to destabilise traditional business methodologies and principles. The dynamic interplay between the efforts of the conserving institutions, i.e. society at large and the disruptors, i.e. the organisations, within the business environment may be defined in terms of the Schumpeterian notion of ‘creative-destructivism’. Within the context of the creative-destructive environment, it is postulated that no individual or organisation will ever have complete information, knowledge or fore-knowledge of how the environment will shape and change in the near future. The South African economy is not exempt from the aforesaid notion. The research will contextualise the current South African business environment, by means of a Delphi study with the results offering insight into the management of the creative-destructive environment

The Life Cycle Assessment of Cyanide Containers in Ghana

As a precious metal gold has been valued by humanity from time immemorial. Today gold is turned into gold bars forming the basis of the World’s international monetary system. When complexed in ore gold needs to undergo metallurgical extraction processes to eliminate unwanted ions before being smelted and used as the metal. Cyanide is used during these metallurgical processes. The economy of the West African country of Ghana relies heavily on gold production for its economic sustainability. Most of the gold mining companies in Ghana have international origins and receive most of their input for gold extraction from international sources. Sodium cyanide is imported into Ghana in  wooden intermediate bulk containers for further distribution to the mining companies. A life cycle assessment was completed to determine the burden that this packaging, which includes the wooden intermediate bulk container, a polyethylene liner and a polypropylene liner places on the environment when they are disposed. The International Organisation of Standardisation (ISO) 14040 management standard was used as a methodological framework in which the goal and scope was defined, a life cycle inventory and life cycle impact assessment was conducted. This enabled the most important issues to be identified. In the final phase consistency, completeness and sensitivity tests were completed and the results interpreted.

Re Board of School Trustees, School District No 70 (Alberni) and Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 727

Union Grievance relating to employment of part-time employees. This arbitration arises out of the implementation by the employer of Program Chance , the thrust of which is explained in the following excerpts from a schools department circular dated April 21, 1980

Architecting information : a Delphi study of South African perspective

Abstract: Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has transformed society at large, with the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) revolutionising the access, flow and use of information within the societal context. For organisations to maintain and increase their competitive stance within the market, attention should be focused on how the information is structured within the organisational context. Considering information may be regarded as the catalysts of change within the economy, the objective of this research is to determine how important the architecture of information is to organisations operating in South Africa. The research design utilised to answer the question is based on a pragmatic ontological stance. Building onto the ontological stance, the research employs an abductive epistemological assumption to rationalise the nature of knowledge..

An early Portuguese mariner's astrolabe from the Sodré Wreck‐site, Al Hallaniyah, Oman

A unique leaded‐gunmetal disc decorated with iconic Portuguese markings was recovered in 2014 during archaeological excavations at the Sodré shipwreck site in Al Hallaniyah, Oman. Initially the identity and function of the disc was unknown, although it did possess characteristics suggesting it could be an astrolabe. Laser imaging of the disc post conservation revealed regular scale marks on the limb of its upper right quadrant. Accurate digital measurements of the marks show them to be graded at close to 5‐degree intervals, thus confirming the identity of the disc as a mariner's astrolabe and the earliest known example discovered to date

Motivation as a predictor of outcomes in school-based humanistic counselling

Recent years have seen a growth in the provision of counselling within UK secondary schools, and research indicates that it is associated with significant reductions in psychological distress. However, little is known about the moderators and mediators of positive therapeutic benefit. In the field of adult mental health, motivation has been found to be one of the strongest predictors of therapeutic outcomes, and it was hypothesised that this may also be a predictor of outcomes for young people in school-based counselling services. To assess the relationship between young people’s motivation for counselling and its effectiveness within a secondary school setting. Eighty-one young people (12 - 17 years old) who attended school-based humanistic counselling services in Scotland. Clients completed a measure of motivation for counselling at the commencement of their therapeutic work and a measure of psychological wellbeing at the commencement and termination of counselling. Motivation for counselling was not found to be significantly related to outcomes. The results indicate that the association between motivation and outcomes may be weaker in young people as compared with adults. However, a number of design factors may also account for the non-significant findings: insufficient participants, marginal reliability of the motivation measure and social desirability effects

A tool for simulating and communicating uncertainty when modelling species distributions under future climates

Tools for exploring and communicating the impact of uncertainty on spatial prediction are urgently needed, particularly when projecting species distributions to future conditions. We provide a tool for simulating uncertainty, focusing on uncertainty due to data quality. We illustrate the use of the tool using a Tasmanian endemic species as a case study. Our simulations provide probabilistic, spatially explicit illustrations of the impact of uncertainty on model projections. We also illustrate differences in model projections using six different global climate models and two contrasting emissions scenarios. Our case study results illustrate how different sources of uncertainty have different impacts on model output and how the geographic distribution of uncertainty can vary. Synthesis and applications: We provide a conceptual framework for understanding sources of uncertainty based on a review of potential sources of uncertainty in species distribution modelling; a tool for simulating uncertainty in species distribution models; and protocols for dealing with uncertainty due to climate models and emissions scenarios. Our tool provides a step forward in understanding and communicating the impacts of uncertainty on species distribution models under future climates which will be particularly helpful for informing discussions between researchers, policy makers, and conservation practitioners

A design of experiments (DoE) approach to optimize cryogel manufacturing for tissue engineering applications

Marine origin polymers represent a sustainable and natural alternative to mammal counterparts regarding the biomedical application due to their similarities with proteins and polysaccharides present in extracellular matrix (ECM) in humans and can reduce the risks associated with zoonosis and overcoming social- and religious-related constraints. In particular, collagen-based biomaterials have been widely explored in tissue engineering scaffolding applications, where cryogels are of particular interest as low temperature avoids protein denaturation. However, little is known about the influence of the parameters regarding their behavior, i.e., how they can influence each other toward improving their physical and chemical properties. Factorial design of experiments (DoE) and response surface methodology (RSM) emerge as tools to overcome these difficulties, which are statistical tools to find the most influential parameter and optimize processes. In this work, we hypothesized that a design of experiments (DoE) model would be able to support the optimization of the collagen-chitosan-fucoidan cryogel manufacturing. Therefore, the parameters temperature (A), collagen concentration (B), and fucoidan concentration (C) were carefully considered to be applied to the Boxâ Behnken design (three factors and three levels). Data obtained on rheological oscillatory measurements, as well as on the evaluation of antioxidant concentration and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentration, showed that fucoidan concentration could significantly influence collagen-chitosan-fucoidan cryogel formation, creating a stable internal polymeric network promoted by ionic crosslinking bonds. Additionally, the effect of temperature significantly contributed to rheological oscillatory properties. Overall, the condition that allowed us to have better results, from an optimization point of view according to the DoE, were the gels produced at −80ºC and composed of 5% of collagen, 3% of chitosan, and 10% fucoidan. Therefore, the proposed DoE model was considered suitable for predicting the best parameter combinations needed to develop these cryogels.This research was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for Ph.D. fellowship (D.N.C.) under the scope of the doctoral program Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells, ref. PD/BD/143044/2018, for postdoctoral fellowship (C.G.), ref. SFRH/BPD/94277/2013. This work has been partially funded by ERDF under the scope of the Atlantic Area Program through project EAPA_151/2016 (BLUEHUMAN)

Uncertainty in modeled and observed climate change impacts on American Midwest hydrology

An important potential consequence of climate change is the modification of the water cycle in agricultural areas, such as the American Midwest. Soil moisture is the integrand of the water cycle, reflecting dynamics of precipitation, evapotranspiration, and runoff in space and time, and a key determinant of yield. Here we present projected changes in the hydrologic cycle over a representative area of the American Midwest from regional climate model experiments that sample a range of model configurations. While significant summer soil moisture drying is predicted in some ensemble members, others predict soil moisture wetting, with the sign of soil moisture response strongly influenced by choice of boundary conditions. To resolve the contradictory predictions of soil moisture across ensemble members, we assess an extensive and unique observational data set of the water budget in Illinois. No statistically significant monotonic trends are found in observed soil moisture, precipitation, streamflow, groundwater level, or 2 m air temperature over a recent 26 year period (soil moisture 25 years). Based on this analysis of model simulations and observations, we conclude that the sign of climate change impacts on the regional hydrology of the American Midwest remains uncertain.National Science Foundation (U.S.