Deep learning applied to the semantic segmentation of tyre stockpiles
- Authors: Barfknecht, Nicholas Christopher
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Neural networks (Computer science)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23947 , vital:30647
- Description: The global push for manufacturing which is environmentally sustainable has disrupted standard methods of waste tyre disposal. This push is further intensified by the health and safety risks discarded tyres pose to the surrounding population. Waste tyre recycling initiatives in South Africa are on the increase; however, there is still a growing number of undocumented tyre stockpiles developing throughout the country. The plans put in place to eradicate these tyre stockpiles have been met with collection, transport and storage logistical issues caused by the remoteness and distant locales. Eastwood (2016) aimed at optimising the logistics associated with collection, by estimating the number of visible tyres from images of tyre stockpiles. This research was limited by the need for manual segmentation of each tyre stockpile located within each image. This research proposes the use of semantic segmentation to automatically segment images of tyre stockpiles. An initial review of neural network, convolutional network and semantic segmentation literature resulted in the selection of Dilated Net as the semantic segmentation architecture for this research. Dilated Net builds upon the VGG-16 classification architecture to perform semantic segmentation. This resulted in classification experiments which were evaluated using precision, recall and f1-score. The results indicated that regardless of tyre stockpile image dimension, fairly accurate levels of classification accuracy can be attained. This was followed by semantic segmentation experiments which made use of intersection over union (IoU) and pixel accuracy to evaluate the effectiveness of Dilated Net on images of tyre stockpiles. The results indicated that accurate tyre stockpile segmentation regions can be obtained and that the trained model generalises well to unseen images.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Staff motivation and job performance in the Frere Hospital maternity ward
- Authors: Makapela, Lunathi Brian
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Employee motivation -- South Africa -- East London , Employees -- Rating of -- South Africa -- East London
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8769 , vital:26428
- Description: The topic of motivation continues to command substantial attention in the field of industrial or organisational psychology. Motivation has always been an essential factor in managing personnel and is a crucial variable in creating a high performance organization. Public administration research has largely ignored motivation as a topic, contrary to research of private sector management. Nurses represent one of the biggest profession group in South Africa's health care services and forms the vertebrae of the Primary Health Care in South Africa. South Africa has experienced large numbers of nurses immigrating to other foreign countries due to poor working conditions in South Africa. Government has a responsibility of ensuring that there is always a motivational climate in the institutions where nurses work. Several investigations have been conducted by various organisations regarding the state of South African Health Care System, due to a high rate of reported deaths in South African hospitals. Dispatch investigation team in 2005 revealed a number of findings that related to various motivational issues at the Eastern Cape Frere Hospital maternity ward. These motivational issues included but not limited shortage of nurses and doctors; use of interns on night duty without qualified doctors and anaesthetist; a cleaner confirmed to have been seen delivering a baby in the labour ward while wearing a doctor‟s coat, as well as accessing and dispensing medicine; no security to prevent people from wandering the labour ward and the entire maternity section; deaths due to negligence; inappropriate appointment of personnel, a situation causing problems for the nurses; employees complaining of work overload; absenteeism and sick leave leaving one nurse on duty at night in the nursery; lack of equipment like oxygen points, suction catheters, CPAPs and CTG machines, alleged by some nurses to be directly responsible for a number of avoidable deaths; staff shortages thus forcing inexperienced nurses to carry duties beyond their experience; detrimental shortages of labour beds; a general assistant dressed in a green nurse‟s gown rinsing blood-soaked linen before dishing up for, and serving food to patients, still wearing the same clothing. Since the Dispatch investigation and the subsequent investigations by political parties and the National Department of Health, no scientific research or investigation has been done around challenges at Frere Hospital maternity ward. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the levels of staff motivation and staff motivation levels' impact on job performance in the Frere Hospital maternity ward. In conducting this study the researcher explored five motivation theories which are amongst a group of motivational theories that have shaped worker motivation in both the public and private sectors. The study explored Maslow hierarchy of needs, Herzberg two factor theory, Vroom's expectancy theory, Locke's equity theory and Festinger‟s goal setting Theory. These theories were used with a view of gathering an understanding of staff motivation and job performance. The reasons for the researcher to choose these five motivational theories is that they are amongst the most popular theories used by scholars to measure staff motivation and performance both in the private and public sectors. These theories were also used due to their relevance to the organisation investigated. This study followed a quantitative approach and empirical study was conducted using a questionnaire with closed and open-ended questions. The empirical results from the nine sections researched showed some distinct findings, from which the following recommendations were drawn: management should consider employees' involvement during goal setting in the department; management should work towards building in job motivators into the employees’ jobs; management should ensure that there is a reputable performance reward and recognition system in place that is agreed upon with staff, instead of imposing the system; management should support nurses in ensuring that their working conditions and salaries and benefits are improved; and It is therefore the responsibility of managers to ensure that staff are always kept motivated in order to increase job performance.
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- Date Issued: 2015
The effectiveness of arbitration practice relative to South African construction
- Authors: Bvumbwe, Chikumbutso
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Arbitration, Industrial -- South Africa Dispute resolution (Law) -- South Africa , Construction industry -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/47981 , vital:40460
- Description: The study investigated the arbitration practice relative to the South African construction industry. Most of the construction contracts include an arbitration clause in the contract document as an instrument to be used for resolving disputes. The aim is to resolve disputes between the parties with minimum costs and within a reasonable period. Some parties opt to involve legal counsel in the process which has a potential of affecting time and cost. The literature review focuses on arbitration, in the construction industry, with a particular focus on how effective the methods are in terms of cost, time and the relationship between the disputing parties, the impact of using legal counsel during the arbitration process versus not involving legal counsel, the arbitration clause not specifying when to declare a dispute, and the perception of construction professionals on arbitration. The study was based on closed-ended questionnaires distributed among senior construction professionals including, architects, quantity surveyors, construction managers, project managers and practising attorneys. 61 respondents completed the questionnaire. The respondents were asked to comment on the effectiveness of alternative dispute resolution, cost, time, causes of disputes, and impacts of disputes. The cost of arbitration seems to escalate as a result of legal counsel being involved during the arbitration procedures. The time factor also seems to be prolonged. A notable finding indicates that the arbitration clause in the contract document should specify when to declare the dispute. The survey was conducted and limited to the Gauteng Province in South Africa. Findings are of value to clients, contractors and consultants and provides a basis for addressing arbitration effectively in the construction industry.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Towards measuring corporate sustainability in the Nelson Mandela Bay automotive manufacturing sector
- Authors: Adams, Abulele
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Sustainability -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/18465 , vital:28648
- Description: This study explored the methods available for measuring corporate sustainability and created an instrument to measure corporate sustainability in the Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) automotive manufacturing sector. The instrument was created based on three components of sustainability which are environment, society and economy. The study went a step further and added a fourth dimension, current trends to design a measuring instrument. The instrument was then applied on participating companies and further refined to improve it. A total of 16 multi-dimensional indicators to measure corporate sustainability were created and applied to 12 companies in the automotive manufacturing sector. The indicators were used to create a composite corporate sustainability index which can be used to compare the corporate sustainability performance of companies. These indicators were created based on theoretical research and fist hand experience observing the automotive manufacturing sector in the NMB. The indicators were applied to companies as a pilot to test whether they are feasible. Following this, the indicators were refined, improved and applied to more companies to measure corporate sustainability performance. The results of the study were the measuring instrument created, the creation of a composite index as well as the application of the instrument on 12 companies to determine whether the instrument was refined enough to detect differences in the corporate sustainability performance of companies. The results are discussed and further recommendations are made for improvements in the creation and application of the instrument to measure corporate sustainability in the NMB automotive manufacturing sector.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Transition from performance appraisal to performance management
- Authors: Maphazi, Thandeka
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Employees -- Rating of , Performance standards , Management by objectives , Personnel management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8808 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018570
- Description: The aim of this research study was to conduct an investigation to establish whether a performance management system would facilitate the achievement of the organisation’s strategic goals and objectives. The organisation used as a case study in this research uses a performance appraisal process which is not effective in facilitating the organisation’s strategic goals and objectives. Hence, this study has been undertaken against the above background. The researcher has utilised a positivist paradigm in this research. This means that the researcher has used a quantitative methodology in the process of data collection. A random sampling technique was used with an aim of including critical elements of the population of this study. More particularly, 50 employees of the organisation were electronically presented with a questionnaire based on important key elements of performance management. Moreover, the questionnaire included a Likert type scale consisting of closed and opened-end questions. Questionnaires were received from 35 employees, of which one was from senior management, 13 project managers, 12 from supervisory staff and 9 from support staff. Statistica was used in this research as a software program for the quantification of the data. This study revealed that the transition to a performance management will help the selected company achieve their strategic goals and objectives. Recommendations are made for the role of line management and the role of human resources in performance management.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Vulnerability to violence : a comparative perspective of the immigrant business community in the townships of Nelson Mandela Bay
- Authors: Shek, Mohammed Ahmed
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Immigrants , Immigrants -- Violence against -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9144 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018807
- Description: The research seeks to explore why women in Zimbabwe still face hindrances in accessing micro finance services and what can be done to meet their needs in a more holistic and effective way. Women play a crucial role in the economic development of their families and communities but are faced with certain obstacles that hinder them from performing their role effectively. Such hindrances as poverty, unemployment, low household income and societal discrimination. UNIFEM (1992) confirms that the majority of the world‟s poor have a predominantly female face and argues that women earn only 10 percent of world‟s income and own less than 10 percent of the world‟s property. African women have been characterised by the lack of empowerment caused by societal perceptions and negative cultural practice. In many cases of women rights violation it has been noted that this has been exacerbated by the over reliance on the male counterpart. Development practitioners have noted that micro finance as one of the strategies needed for women empowerment. Despite the concept having been practiced for at least 15 years now, women still face challenges in accessing micro finance services. There is need for Micro Finance Institutions to recognise the position of women in relation to men as actors in society.
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- Date Issued: 2012
An evaluation of the quality of customer service delivery offered by the East London public transport commuter rail service provider (operated by Metrorail)
- Authors: Bosch, Colin
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Railroads -- Customer services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Transportation -- Customer services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Railroads -- Quality control -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:744 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003865
- Description: The aim of this survey is to evaluate the quality of customer service delivery offered by the East London public transport commuter rail service provider Metrorail, a division of the state owned enterprise (SOE) PRASA. The former tolerant rail commuter has become increasingly frustrated at the ever-decreasing quality of rail service delivery. This is evidenced by increasing incidents of commuter arson to failed rail assets and the practice is considered to be a strategy to enforce the replacement of unreliable infrastructure and ineffective/reactive management controls. The objectives of the research are guided by three fundamental service quality indicators. In order to evaluate these indicators, the research focuses on whether the quality of customer services provided by Metrorail meets commuter expectations, whether commuters rank five dimensions of service quality differently and whether the level of service quality provided is perceived differently amongst the various demographic commuter segments. Service organizations which are highly interactive, labour-intensive, reliant on a number of service providers, required to perform at various locations and have high intensity/volume operations, will be susceptible to failure; Metrorail services fall into this category. The legacy of the apartheid era regime and strategy resulted in poor rail planning and underfunding. Commuter rail operations in South Africa are fraught with a myriad of inadequacies of the past that only now manifest. As a consequence, their ability to operate effectively and efficiently is impaired. The situation is further exacerbated by the global economic crisis of 2008 and the impact of constricted budget allocations by the State to all SOE's which could further impede the interventions and innovation required to improve service quality. The in-depth literature review provided sufficient information relating to a wide array of service organizations similar in nature to Metrorail. This information is translated into useable knowledge and recommendations from which Metrorail can benefit. The research methodology is clearly articulated and the data analysis ensures distinct findings which are discussed in the final chapter. The research undertaken identifies and prioritises the service quality attributes and dimensions that will require redress to improve overall service quality. The findings are clearly defined from which a set of recommendations are suggested.
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- Date Issued: 2009
The role of the school management in the promotion of parental involvement in township schools in George
- Authors: Majola, Joyce Themba
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Education -- Parent participation -- South Africa -- George , School management and organization -- Parent participation -- South Africa -- George , Parent-teacher relationships -- South Africa -- George
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9541 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/680 , Education -- Parent participation -- South Africa -- George , School management and organization -- Parent participation -- South Africa -- George , Parent-teacher relationships -- South Africa -- George
- Description: The law relating to, and having an impact on, parental involvement has increased in quantity and complexity in the last couple of decades. It is therefore overwhelming to find out that parents are still taking a back seat as far as parental involvement is concerned in schools. Parents and educators have to work together towards one common goal, to assist learners in their journey through adulthood. The focus of the research was the role of the school management team in promoting parental involvement in the education of their children; how the school’s climate can be changed and be made accessible to parents. Educators must be taught how to invite and involve parents in the school’s activities. Parents have to be empowered as effective participants in school activities. Parents and educators should work together in solving their own problems and to overcome numerous challenges in their schools. Parents and educators have to develop trust and be able to remove the obstacles, various elements and factors that prevent them from working together to develop the schools as powerful working organisations. Parents and educators have to collaborate in building their educational objectives. The research attempted to determine all the possible causes of the non-involvement of parents in the education of their children. The researcher also believed that if the problem of non-involvement of parents can be solved, the learner’s academic achievements can improve drastically. The findings and recommendations indicate that parental involvement remains a crucial point in all the efforts to enhance school effectiveness. The researcher in the study also investigated the assumption that parents from the townships do not take part in their children’s activities because they don’t care.
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- Date Issued: 2008