1,463 research outputs found

    The property finance business in South Africa

    Get PDF
    Problem Statement: The business of property finance has not been properly documented in South Africa. Available resource material focuses on the perspective of the property developer and investor largely neglecting the business of property finance. Thus comprehensive information on this business was not available to students and researchers This study set out to correct this deficiency. Research Procedure: Key property finance personnel in the major banks in the Republic of South Africa were interviewed to establish how the business of property finance is conducted. Jointly the interviewees represent 77% by volume of business over a period of two years A parallel process of literature research was undertaken to compliment the interview research and provide technical depth to the findings. Findings: The empirical and literature research results were combined to comprehensively document the processes, structures, systems, productsBusiness ManagementM. Com. (Business Management

    Impact of a theoretically based sex education programme (SHARE) delivered by teachers on NHS registered conceptions and terminations: final results of cluster randomised trial

    Get PDF
    <b>Objective</b>: To assess the impact of a theoretically based sex education programme (SHARE) delivered by teachers compared with conventional education in terms of conceptions and terminations registered by the NHS. Design Follow-up of cluster randomised trial 4.5 years after intervention. <b>Setting</b>: NHS records of women who had attended 25 secondary schools in east Scotland. <b>Participants</b>: 4196 women (99.5% of those eligible). <b>Intervention</b>: SHARE programme (intervention group) v existing sex education (control group). <b>Main outcome measure</b>: NHS recorded conceptions and terminations for the achieved sample linked at age 20. <b>Results</b>: In an "intention to treat" analysis there were no significant differences between the groups in registered conceptions per 1000 pupils (300 SHARE v 274 control; difference 26, 95% confidence interval –33 to 86) and terminations per 1000 pupils (127 v 112; difference 15, –13 to 42) between ages 16 and 20. <b>Conclusions</b>: This specially designed sex education programme did not reduce conceptions or terminations by age 20 compared with conventional provision. The lack of effect was not due to quality of delivery. Enhancing teacher led school sex education beyond conventional provision in eastern Scotland is unlikely to reduce terminations in teenagers

    Thermal analysis of high explosives: liquid state decomposition of RDX

    Get PDF
    Journal ArticleNonisothermal thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) have been applied to the thermal decomposition of RDX. Model-free isoconversional analysis of TGA and DSC traces show that RDX primarily evaporates in an open pan with an activation energy of Eα -100 kJ mol-1. Similar analysis of pierced pan TGA and DSC and closed pan DSC curves reveal that RDX decomposes in the liquid state under these conditions with Eα -150 -195 kJ mol-1

    The Relationship Between Deuterium Excess and Uranium Groundwater Concentrations in Whitehall, Montana

    Get PDF
    Uranium can become elevated in the environment and pose a human health risk to water resources. Therefore, it is important to understand the origin, transport and concentration of uranium in the environment. With this exploratory study we propose that deuterium (δ2H) excess may be a viable way to study uranium groundwater concentrations that originate from the surface. The Boulder Batholith of southwestern Montana has been associated with varying levels of uranium. The Whitehall, MT area includes the Boulder Batholith as a geologic unit. We collected 23 water samples and compiled data from a study done by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) within the area of Whitehall, MT. With a linear regression we show that there is a significant negative relationship between deuterium excess and uranium water concentrations. As expected we showed that there is a significant positive, linear relationship between uranium water concentrations and nitrate water concentrations. As expected we also showed that there is a significant positive, linear relationship between calcium carbonate and uranium groundwater concentrations for the compiled USGS data. The results of a Wilcoxon rank sum test showed that median uranium concentration for wells close to ponds is 14.5 μg/L higher for our data added to the USGS data. These results may be consistent with a model that involves insoluble uranium being transported in suspension and settling out in ponds where an influx of nitrates and/or carbonates react to produce higher concentrations of water-soluble forms of uranium. We suggest that the relationship found between uranium concentration and deuterium excess in water samples may be related to the higher rates of evaporation in ponds. Thus, in this specific hydrologic environment of valley ponds close to the Boulder Batholith source, deuterium excess may serve to help predict levels of uranium concentrations

    Calcutta Botanic Garden and the colonial re-ordering of the Indian environment

    Get PDF
    This article examines three hand-painted colour maps that accompanied the annual report of the Calcutta Botanic Garden for 1846 to illustrate how the Garden’s layout, uses and functions had changed over the previous 30 years. The evolution of the Calcutta Botanic Garden in the first half of the nineteenth-century reflects a wider shift in attitudes regarding the relationship between science, empire and the natural world. On a more human level the maps result from, and illustrate, the development of a vicious personal feud between the two eminent colonial botanists charged with superintending the garden in the 1840s

    Resisting government rendered surveillance in a local authority

    Get PDF
    The paper illustrates and discusses how the performance management systems in a UK local authority are transformed into a surveillance system. A case study analysis reveals that the surveillance is engendered by central government and enacted by senior managers who conform to policies demanding the introduction of strict performance management systems that dehumanize work processes because employees are deemed untrustworthy. The paper shows that employees resist this government rendered surveillance because they believe it undermines their interests as well as the interests of the public by damaging the quality of the services delivered
    • …
    corecore