The GIBS Guide to Sustainability: Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Projects

This publication is the first in a series of practical guides for business education students, business executives, non-profit organisations and small- to medium-sized enterprises which would usually not enjoy access to corporate social investment (CSI) specialists or experts. This practical guide highlights relevant 'how tos' which answer some of the most pressing social responsibility considerations faced by business today. Written in a question and answer format, the guide allows the reader to delve right into critical issues. Links and references are provided throughout the guide for more in-depth content or additional reading

A Site-Suitability Analysis for a New Interstate Highway Rest Area Near Ft. Meyers, Florida

This research presents the utility of a Site Suitability Analysis to help determine the viability of a business venture in a particular location. Specifically, we present the results of a case study that focuses on the area immediately around Ft. Meyers, Florida as providing a sufficient number of customers to warrant a new and sustainable interstate highway rest area. Site Suitability Analysis provides a variety of statistical and analytical methods of analysis, which is commonly used in market research. This research presents the results of some of these methods, as applied to commonly-used datasets, and concludes that Site Suitability Analysis can provide valuable insight to consumer trends and potential spending patterns in a given area

Isolation and characterisation of histone transacetylases

Bibliography: pages 108-124.Acetylation, one of the post-synthetic modifications of histones, weakens histone-DNA interactions and may play a regulatory role in gene control of eukaryotes. The literature available on histone acetylation as well as other post-synthetic modifications of histone has been reviewed. Histone acetylation is catalysed by an enzyme(s) which transfers acetyl groups from a donor molecule to histones. A crude histone transacetylase preparation was isolated from nuclei and the optimal conditions for the acetylation of histones were determined. This enzyme(s) was shown to be specific for histones with protamine displaced histone complex being the best substrate. Using this histone transacetylase preparation ³H-acetyl total histone was prepared in sufficient yield and with a high enough specific activity to enable sequential Edman degradation of the histone sub-fractions isolated from the total histone complex to be undertaken. Histones H3 and H4 were isolated from the acetylated total histone as they exhibited the highest degree of acetylation. Histone H4 peptides were generated by chymotryptic and tryptic digestion as the intact histone H4 polypeptide chain is blocked at its N-terminus. The Edman degradations of histone H3 and H4 showed that the acetylation sites that have been determined under in vitro conditions are the same as those undergoing acetylation in vivo. All of the acetylation was found in the N-terminal region of histones H3 and H4 with histone H4 showing a gradient of decreasing acetylation from the N- to the C-terminus, in contrast to histone H3 where the first two possible acetylation sites are acetylated to a minor degree only

Vers un imaginaire queer ? Une analyse comparative de la (dé)construction de l’identité sexuelle binaire et hétéronormative dans Été 85 de François Ozon et « Arrête avec tes mensonges » de Philippe Besson

Modern Foreign Language

Developing an understanding of the drivers of bat activity patterns relevant to wind turbines

The increasing number of proposed wind farm developments in South Africa provides an immediate reason to assess bat activity and diversity, with the expectation of developing measures to mitigate for negative impacts. The overall aim of this thesis was contribute to an understanding of the drivers of bat activity, relevant to wind turbines, and to determine what factors (exogenous – environmental, or endogenous – intrinsic physiological processes) contributed to observed bat activity patterns, at the Metrowind Van Stadens Wind Farm in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. A combination of active (mist netting) and passive (acoustic) bat monitoring techniques were used to determine free-ranging bat activity patterns (Chapter 3). A total of 889 bat passes were recorded over 323 detector nights from the beginning of May 2012 to the end of December 2012. The Cape serotine bat (82 per cent) and the Egyptian free-tailed bat (97 per cent) made up the majority of all bat passes recorded on site. Large variations in bat activity per month and per hour were apparent, with bat activity peaking in May 2012 and during the first few hours after sunset (18:00-23:00). Patterns in nightly, free-ranging bat activity at the site were modelled against various environmental conditions. Month, temperature, wind speed and an interaction between month and rainfall were the most significant predictors of bat activity, explaining 80 per cent of the variation observed on free-ranging bat activity patterns. A total of eight Cape serotine bats (Table 4.1.) were caught in mist nets on site and changes in the resting metabolic rate (RMR) of torpid (n = 6), and normothermic (n = 2) bats, over a 24 hr period, were measured and used to predict free-ranging Cape serotine bat activity (Chapter 4). Cape serotine bats showed a high proclivity for torpor in the laboratory and peaks in RMR were observed at 18:00 (0.89 ± 0.95 VO2 mℓ.g-1.hr-1) and again from 20:00-21:00 (0.89 ± 0.91 VO2 mℓ.g-1.hr-1). Peaks in RMR of torpid individuals coincided with peaks in the average hourly free-ranging activity of the Cape serotine bat, and RMR explained 33 per cent of the variation and was a good predictor of free-ranging bat activity (R2 = 0.2914). This study showed that both exogenous (Chapter 3) and endogenous (Chapter 4) factors drive bat activity in the wild. Although this dissertation was not intended for wind turbine management, the information presented on the biology and activity of bats is important for managing interactions between bats and wind turbines. By determining what factors influence bat activity, we are able to predict when bats will be most active and thus can develop mitigation measures to reduce the potential impacts that wind turbines will have on the bat community. In order to conserve bats and reduce potential bat fatalities from occurring at the site, mitigation measures should be concentrated to those times when bats are most active (May and during the first few hours after sunset – 18:00 to 22:00)

Genetic selection of parametric scenes

Using a modelling package such as Alias Maya or SoftImage XSi to create a natural scene is too tedious to be practical. Procedural generation techniques reduce the amount of work involved, but there may still be too many parameters to be selected manually. We propose a new method of generating natural scenes, using a genetic algorithm (GA) to infer the user’s preferences from user feedback. In order to allow the goal to be reached in a reasonable time, the GA must converge quickly. The scene generation and display preprocessing must also be efficient. We present techniques that attain these goals while still producing reasonable quality output and interactive frame-rates. We also compare this approach to having a user manually select parameters

Inquiry, Play, and Problem Solving in a Process Learning Environment

What is the nature of art/science collaborations in museums? How do art objects and activities contribute to the successes of science centers? Based on the premise that art exhibitions and art-based activities engage museum visitors in different ways than do strictly factual, information-based displays, I address these questions in a case study that examines the roles of visual art and artists in the Exploratorium, a museum that has influenced exhibit design and professional practice in many of the hands-on science centers in the United States and around the world. The marriage of art and science in education is not a new idea - Leonardo da Vinci and other early polymaths surely understood how their various endeavors informed one another, and some 20th century educators understood the value of the arts and creativity in the learning and practice of other disciplines. When, in 2010, the National Science Teachers Association added an A to the federal government's ubiquitous STEM initiative and turned it into STEAM, art educators nationwide took notice. With a heightened interest in the integration of and collaboration between disciplines comes an increased need for models of best practice for educators and educational institutions. With the intention to understand the nature of such collaborations and the potential they hold, I undertook this study. I made three site visits to the Exploratorium, where I took photos, recorded notes in a journal, interacted with exhibits, and observed museum visitors. I collected other data by examining the institution's website, press releases, annual reports, and fact sheets; and by reading popular and scholarly articles written by museum staff members and by independent journalists. I quickly realized that the Exploratorium was not created in the way than most museums are, and the history of its founding and the ideals of its founder illuminate what was then and continues now to be different about this museum from most others in the United States. This dissertation presents an account of the history of the institution and the continuing legacy of the early Exploratorium and its founder, Frank Oppenheimer. I argue that the institution is an early example of a constructivist learning museum. I then describe how art encourages learning in the museum. It provides means of presenting information that engage all of the senses and encourage emotional involvement. It reframes familiar sights so that viewers look more closely in search of recognition, and it presents intangible or dematerialized things in a tangible way. It facilitates play, with its many benefits. It brings fresh perspectives and processes to problem solving and the acquisition of new knowledge. This project is the study of an institution where art and science have always coexisted with equal importance, setting it apart from more traditional museums where art was added as a secondary focus to the original disciplinary concentration of the institution. Many of the exhibits were created by artists, but the real value the visual arts bring to the museum is in its contributions to processes such as inquiry, play, problem-solving, and innovation

The barriers and enablers to effective fintech start-up collaboration with South African Banks

South Africa faces a crisis of entrepreneurship - there are too few small businesses, and not enough skilled entrepreneurs to start more. Yet at the same time, the country has one of the best banking systems in the world. Recently, the interaction between technology entrepreneurs and the financial sector has come under the spotlight, and these two formerly isolated sectors have become the focus of much consideration in the thriving fintech space. Increasingly, financial services organisations, especially banks, and financial technology entrepreneurs, are recognising the importance of strengthening relations. This exploratory study uses findings from interviews with bank executives and fintech entrepreneurs to explore the growing role that collaboration plays. Banks employ a variety of means to drive innovation, and some of these factors affect the relationship with external collaboration partners. Similarly, fintech entrepreneurs are motivated to partner with established firms in order to bring their business to market and access the resources and funding they need to scale. This study explores the process of collaboration between fintech entrepreneurs and banks in South Africa, as a means of understanding which factors contribute to, and which undermine, the likelihood of effective collaboration. Drawing on established theory on innovation and collaboration, as well as scrutinising the entrepreneurial ecosystem that influences these collaborations, the study presents a framework for engagement between banks and fintech entrepreneurs looking at four key factors: innovation capability within banks, collaboration characteristics of fintech entrepreneurs, the modes of collaboration, and the macro-economic conditions that affect fintech ecosystems. Primary data collected from both a focus group and individual interviews was interpreted via qualitative analysis. The study found that ecosystem factors are less important than effective fintech-bank collaboration in South Africa, despite evidence to the contrary in the literature. Furthermore, the innovation dynamics within banks have a greater impact on collaboration than the behaviour of fintech entrepreneurs alone, and clear rules of engagement in cooperative arrangements between these two former foes can vastly improve success.Mini Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2017.sn2017Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)MBAUnrestricte

Light interrupts - 2

https://repository.belmont.edu/watkins_photos/1064/thumbnail.jp