City University of London

Ouroboros is a symbolic metaphor depicting the process of individuation as a circular self-contained process (Schwartz-Salant, 1986). The Ouroboros often represents self-reflexivity, or cyclicality, especially when referring to something constantly re-creating itself. The way individuals reflect on themselves and re-create, whether from within or without, have within themselves a partially conscious image of how they want to be seen. Jacoby (1994) refers to this as an ‗ego-ideal‘. Depending on the needs of the ‗ego-ideal‘, we respond to them in narcissistic self-absorbing or narcissistic self actualizing ways. My motivation to use this metaphor of Ouroboros was because it reflects all the struggles and triumphs experienced by the individuals in the client study, critical literature review and research study, illustrating how the different spectrums of narcissism can be understood and utilized. This thesis comprises of sections: A: Preface; B: Client Study; C: Critical Literature Rev...

This thesis develops an existential-phenomenological understanding of resistance in psychotherapy. It is argued that the concept of resistance is both one of the most problematic, as well as one of the most enduring, concepts within psychotherapy. An in-depth, critical literature review is presented on the various meanings and significances given to resistance across different theoretical perspectives. It is shown that while resistance as a concept belongs centrally within the psychoanalytic perspective, nevertheless, substantial interest and debate about resistance is present within other perspectives. From an existential-phenomenological perspective, the concept of resistance, where this is understood to refer to an unconscious intrapsychic force, is impermissible. However, it is argued that when the concept of resistance is distinguished from the intersubjective phenomenon of resistance, an existential-phenomenological perspective is both possible and desirable. Within the proces...

El circo mexicano actual es resultado de procesos históricos, culturales y sociales específicos de México. A través de un recorrido por la historia de las prácticas acrobáticas mesoamericanas, novohispanas y de los circos en el México independiente, se revela el contexto que dio lugar al circo mexicano- no actual. Hoy en día coexisten cuatro principales formas de artes circenses: el circo clásico, el contemporáneo, el social y una serie de danzas indígenas que han sido asociadas al circo de manera exógena, en especial la Maroma. Entre estas formas han surgido colaboraciones, pero también tensiones que incitan al debate sobre la especificidad del circo mexicano, la voluntad de algunos de sus representantes de convertirlo en patrimonio cultural de la humanidad y la apertura al futuro en un mundo donde el estatus del uso de animales y las estéticas se transforman día a día. Palabras clave: artes circenses, México, historia, Maroma, patrimonio México es un país pluridiverso cultural y lingüísticamente hablando. Es una república que cuenta con treinta y dos estados federados. Cada estado cuenta con sus propias políticas culturales, que son algunas veces a los organismos nacionales. El país cuenta con sesenta y dos pueblos indígenas, sesenta y ocho lenguas con más de trescientas variantes y una población de aproximadamente quince millones de indígenas. A estos pueblos se suman los eurodescendientes, mestizos, afrodescendientes, asiáticos entre otros. Hoy en día, los diferentes pueblos indígenas reconfiguran su lugar en la sociedad mexicana, mediante numerosas negociaciones sociales. Para efectuar un diagnóstico del circo actual en México, es necesario ahondar en la historia desde la época prehispánica. Es por ello que abordaré el tema en lo que fue Mesoamérica, la Nueva España y lo que hoy conocemos como México, dando cuenta de las transformaciones culturales, estéticas y sociales que contextualizan al circo mexicano.

This thesis aims to investigate four main areas of interest in the functioning of different markets in the dry bulk shipping sector using recent econometric and time series techniques. These areas include; seasonality patterns in freight markets, the efficient market hypothesis and the existence of time-varying risk premia in freight rate and ship price formation, the dynamic interrelationships between freight rate levels and spillover effects in freight rate volatilities, between sub-markets of the dry bulk sector. The seasonal behaviour of' dry bulk freight rates is measured and compared across vessel sizes, contract duration and under different market conditions. Seasonality is deterministic rather than stochastic and it varies across vessel sizes, contract durations and market conditions. In particular, freight rates for larger vessels show higher seasonal variations than smaller ones. Seasonality in spot rates is higher than timecharter rates across the size. Also, seasonal...

The thesis title 'Whose Values, whose benefits?' reflects the research questions I am posing, with value defined in terms of cultural, ethno-racial and ideological values, and benefits being those derived from open space, in terms of physical and psychological well being, and increased economic or social status benefits. Ethnicity and race are contested terms (Back & Solomos, 2009; , and are explored theoretically in Chapter Three. In summary, the proposed definition of 'ethnic minority' groups in this study are those self identified groups of people who have, and claim, a common cultural 'heritage' other than, or in addition to, the cultural 'heritage' claimed by the majority of residents in the UK.

Health behaviors are influenced by culture, beliefs, and access to healthcare. Myanmar is a deeply spiritual and traditional location; therefore, health behavior needs to be understood through a cultural lens. This chapter discusses the health behavior influenced by culture and psychological models of health behavior including the Health Belief Model (HBM), and COM-B (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation—Behavior). The chapter is based on real world experience working in healthcare community in Myanmar and illustrates how cultural practices impact decisions to seek health care-including delaying care, complex relationships with hearing the health messages, and the continued importance upon individuals accepted practices that came from ancestors. A HBM is reviewed to demonstrate the beliefs about susceptibility and severity of being unwell or ill including the behavioral comprehend, perceived barriers, and self-efficacy to behave differently to seek care, and the COM-B model used for the areas of opportunities, and how (using the HBM and COM-B as an integrated model for guiding theory) capability and motivation were all used to alter attitudes and behaviors strategically for sustainable change through different community capacity building methods. Examples are provided including intervention examples or in real-life scenarios and local strategies through culturally sensitive language adaptation, and indirectly through community dialogue with traditional healers, storytelling, and culturally relevant education methods. The chapter ends with suggestions to use to promote the importance of integrating culturally competent care and traditional practices while incorporating evidence-based practices with implications intended for future projects.

This paper critically analyses the role of Personal Tutoring (PT) as a mechanism for providing student support in Higher Education (HE) in the UK. The discussions presented will draw on the experiences of PT at City University, London (City), as well as the author's own experiences as a student, to establish a better sense of what PT means today. Focus will be placed on the benefits and challenges of typical PT systems in HE, as influenced by widening participation policies and strategies to improve retention rates. In carrying out this analysis, this paper will conclude by arguing the case for PT to remain a necessary process, rather than be replaced entirely by central support departments.

Robert Putnam’s 2007 empirical study, E Pluribus Unum, has become the seminal study in a growing body of work which uses statistical methods to measure the effects of ethnic diversity on social capital, or other measures of social quality. Putnam’s study found that ethnic diversity negatively affects social capital in the United States, leading people to withdraw from social contact and ‘hunker down’ at home, alone, miserably watching TV. This study revisits Putnam’s findings and seeks to plug two major gaps across this field: firstly, the absence of any frame of reference for social capital or other measures of social quality, which has led to both a narrowing of the commonly used indicators of social quality and a possible over-stating of the relative importance to overall social quality of those indicators which are employed; and, secondly, the lack of any investigation into how relationships between ethnic diversity and social quality change over time. This study addresses two r...

This is a phenomenological study exploring the first-person lived experiences of 14 clinicians in their daily practices of integrative psychotherapy, in an Irish context. The data were gathered through semi-structured interviews lasting 50 minutes and investigated using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Three master themes emerged: (1) Being an Integrative Practitioner (2) The Therapeutic Relationship – A Dynamic Process and (3) Identity – Personal and Individual. The findings confirm that integrative psychotherapy is a complex and idiosyncratic process. The therapy practices as described by participants differ to those as outlined in the literature. Participants use their prior, tacit knowledge of what worked previously, built up through a cycle of praxis, as a reference point for their practice. Integration is seen as combining different interventions and techniques. All consider listening as the mainstay of building the therapeutic relationship and the driver toward...

Web technologies have a significant impact on how companies manage their relationships with their stakeholders. Technologies, especially web portals have been widely adopted as platforms for integrating partner or reseller activities. Inefficient traditional methods which require high transaction costs and poor communication processes are being replaced with web-based relationship management solutions. This study explores the adoption of webbased technologies, specifically web portals in partner relationship management (PRM) and their contributions towards enhancing and sustaining relationships with channel members. This study is based on prior research and interview data gathered from a sample of ten companies in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry from Malaysia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The findings revealed that companies which adopt web-based solutions become effective and efficient in three main areas: sales and marketing, training, and technical supp...

The extension of critical enterprise data to mobile terminal devices has introduced a new challenge: data leakage on mobile devices. To address this issue, a Zero-Trust Architecture (ZTA) combined with Federated Learning (FL) for Mobile Data Security is proposed. This approaches users and implicit trust, enforces continuous verification of devices and users, and enhances mobile data security through privacy-preserving collaborative learning. It overcomes the limitations of traditional security methods, which often rely on static application-layer protection, by providing dynamic, multi-layered security. Additionally, by integrating the concept of thin clients with data leakage prevention for mobile terminals, a virtual remote desktop technology tailored to mobile devices is designed. This solution minimizes the risks associated with data stream transmission and ensures secure and efficient data access for mobile users. Based on these advancements, a comprehensive data leakage prevention system for mobile smart terminals has been designed and implemented, combining ZTA principles, federated learning, and advanced virtualization techniques to achieve robust and scalable security.

With this research, I investigate the coexistence of academic and kinaesthetic curricular goals in post-secondary circus education in Quebec, Canada, specifically exploring how students, circus instructors, academic teachers and administrators value curricular elements within the context of their perceptions of their institution’s program objectives. The interdisciplinarity of circus studies invites analysis through methodologies and theories borrowed from other disciplines. From Sport Psychology I draw on models for assessing the kinaesthetic technical knowledge related to preparing an athletic body for elite performance (Bloom & Sosniak, 1985). The field of Curriculum Studies offers a lens through which to understand both the curricular models of each school and to assess the academic motivation of the students. The theoretical frameworks of hidden, null, implicit and explicit curricula provide a strong platform for investigating how circus schools communicate institutional values...

Without their help, support and knowledge this research would not have been possible. Finally, I would like to thank the ESRC for funding this research as well as the many other opportunities provided to improve my research skills throughout (award number: ES/F00611X/1).

7.1 The Political 239 The Cultural 243 7.3 'primordial' ethnic attachments (A.D. Smith 1988:150) in the ultimate desire to achieve some measure of ethnic unity arid goodwill in the society concerned. In addition, as Smith argues, a single strategic ethnie (ethnic community) that dominates a multiethnic society terxs to seek, 'to a greater or lesser extent, to incorporate, or influence, the surrourxuirç smaller or weaker ethnie (ibid.)' • 2 It therefore necessitates the examination of what form or shape this national identity would take out of such ethnic configurations (with the Malay culture as an example of one great cultural influence). 1.2 Objectives of the Study It is against this backdrop that this study aims to find out to what extent has the Malaysian government succeeded in fulfilling its professed commitment towards designing a school curriculum -within the national education system -that can help promote national unity and form a positive national identity among students of various ethnic backgrounds. In particular, the study seeks to examine the content of the reading materials, i.e. texthooks, in their depiction of a 'national identity'. Textbooks are chosen in this study as the primary unit of analysis because of the educational and social significance that is accorded them by educational authorities, teachers, parents and last bit not least, students themselves. In addition, other units of analysis are book publishers, students and. teachers. The specific aims of the study are: 1. to ascertain what were the images and ideas, or to borrow Anthony 1). Smith's terms, 'myths, symbols, memories arid values (1988:211)', presented in the reading materials (i.e. textbooks) of students that were acknowledged by the

This strategy has been prepared in order to provide direction and focus to play provision within Carrickfergus Borough over the period 2013 – 2016.This timeframe places it in line with the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister’s (OFMDFM) Play Implementation Plan and the NI Executive’s Strategy for Children and Young People 2006 -2016.“Children and young people are entitled to use shared public space and should be encouraged to do so… We want our public spaces to be places where individual childrenand young people and the wider community are at ease with each other.”OFMDFM Play and Leisure Implementation Plan

This thesis explores an important yet underexplored aspect of leadership studies, the phenomenon of an intermediate leader, here defined as an individual embodying both roles of a leader and a follower. Whilst these two roles are usually seen as belonging to people interacting with each other, this body of work is innovative in investigating one individual co-enacting both the roles and identities of leader and follower, as he/she connects different leadership relationships. This exploration starts with a broad research question: how do intermediate leaders enact both roles effectively? This thesis provides some answers by presenting three separate papers, each focusing on a separate study. Paper 1 reviews previous literature categorizing the tensions faced by intermediate leaders. It introduces the leadership triad, formed by an intermediate leader, his/her leader and his/her follower as a promising area of enquiry. It then contributes a theoretical dynamic model of coenactment, th...

In this paper, we investigate the analytical method that is used to find the current in different types of − electrical mesh circuits containing the loop 1 and loop 2 by using the Laplace transform. The differential equations for the electrical circuits are formulated by using Kirchhoff's voltage law. The Caputo fractional derivative is used as a differential operator. Moreover, we provide some examples of electrical circuits containing two resistors and two inductors connected in each loop using the presented results.

1. Introduction i. Aim and Background ii. Scope iii. Overview of Study 2. Theory and Context i. Introduction ii. The Social Problems Process iii. News Media and Claimsmaking iv. Claimsmakers and the Policy Process v. The Changing Nature of Penal Policymaking vi. Conclusion 3. The Politi isatio of Wo e s Pe al Poli i. Introduction ii. Wo e s Offe di g as a "o ial Phe o e o iii. Wo e s Offe di g as a Media Phe o e o iv. Wo e s Offe di g as a Politi al Phe o e o v. Conclusion 4. Methodology i.

There has been limited empirical focus on the activities of the penal reform network in England and Wales, and less still concerned with those campaigning to reform women’s penal policy. Investigating the under-researched interrelationship between the women’s penal reform network, journalists, and policymakers at the crime-media nexus, this interdisciplinary study examines campaign strategies for women and how they have developed and augmented under changing governments and the media spotlight. While penal reform campaigners are able to rely on the discourse of vulnerability in relation to women offenders, this remains in the face of entrenched social constructions of the ‘ideal woman’ and a political climate that continues to talk tough on crime. Uncovering a number of inhibitors to their campaigning efforts, this study reveals that such actors operate on the periphery of both the media and policy agendas and campaign for a ‘lesser social problem’. Drawing on the work of Best (2013...

This project explores the practice of copying as a choreographic methodology raising the issue of illegitimacy despite the use of copying by choreographers for the creation of their works. Thus, my intention is to shed more light on various aspects regarding the practice of copying in order to provide a study and initiate a discussion around this issue. In total this project: • Situates and contextualises copying as a methodology within dance and performance discourses. • Identifies and examines the reasons that induced its disavowal as a legitimate choreographic methodology. • Provides a study in copying as a choreographic methodology both through the creation and analysis of new work as well as through the discussion of other artists’ pre-existing works. • Discusses the role of copying in relation to the establishment of the choreographer as author and to the inclusion of choreographic works in the dance canon. • Unravels the ‘modes’ and ‘networks’ produced through the creation of...

: In 1986 the U.S. Army began the Professional Development of Supervisors Study (PDS2) to determine the best approaches for selecting and developing civilian first-level supervisors. An extensive job analysis, the foundation for the construction of selection instruments, was part of PDS2. This report describes the linkage of important tasks and knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) identified in that job analysis and the development of a test plan based on the linkages identified. The job analysis identified 226 tasks and 93 KSAOs. Because of the large number of judgments required to link all tasks with all KSAOs, the linkage was accomplished in two phases. In preparation for Phase I, the 226 tasks were sorted into 22 task categories. Phase I judges linked KSAOs with the 22 task categories. In Phase II, judges linked the 58 KSAOs that survived Phase I with the remaining tasks, Sixteen knowledges and 30 ASOs remained after the Phase II data analysis, The ASO...

Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) have become one of the important tools in our life. Their popularity are due to their small size and mobility which enable them to be carried anywhere. Along with their popularity, handheld devices are starting to become the target for the attackers, who are mainly interested in gaining the data stored in handheld devices. Therefore, security of handheld devices have attracted a lot of attention in an effort to protect the sensitive information stored in handheld devices. Securing handheld devices is a daunting task. It requires a careful design since the devices have very limited computational power and battery life. In this paper, we aim to review the security threats to handheld computers and propose several possible solutions. We performed some experiments to test our proposed solution in an iPaq Pocket PC.

Bridge components are subjected to deterioration factors such as aggressive environment, corrosion, chemical attack etc. that can result in a loss of load capacity and life span. In order to keep the safety of the bridge at an appropriate level inspection regimes are followed. This thesis concern is to establish an adaptive inspection regime for reinforced short to medium span concrete bridges. Our emphasis is mainly on using the information about the deterioration progress to determine efficient inspection regime. An updatable structural deterioration model that follows the inspection outcomes is developed. A stationary continuous Gamma process is used to develop the structural deterioration model. In order to predict the deterioration profile of bridge slab, deterioration process of a reinforced concrete slab subject to corrosion is modeled using Gamma process through the thesis. Inspection outcomes at specific ages are used to update the deterioration model. The updated deteriora...

Vibration-based structural health monitoring (VSHM) is an automated method for assessing the integrity and performance of dynamically excited structures through processing of structural vibration response signals acquired by arrays of sensors. From a technological viewpoint, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) offer less obtrusive, more economical, and rapid VSHM deployments in civil structures compared to their tethered counterparts, especially in monitoring large-scale and geometrically complex structures. However, WSNs are constrained by certain practical issues related to local power supply at sensors and restrictions to the amount of wirelessly transmitted data due to increased power consumptions and bandwidth limitations in wireless communications. The primary objective of this thesis is to resolve the above issues by considering sub-Nyquist data acquisition and processing techniques that involve simultaneous signal acquisition and compression before transmission. This drastically...

Organisations need to develop their physical/psychological environments in order to build more creative, positive, activated and motivated spaces for people to work. Although previous research has investigated the effect of environment on creative performance, there has been little research into how it might support creative work that evolves through a sequence of divergent and convergent activities based on people’s emotions. This research proposes a theoretical framework with which to design the environments to support creative thinking that recognize and apply components that link creativity and emotions. Environment, emotion and creativity are the 3 main elements that form the structure of this framework. It is called the CSE (Creativity-Support-Environment) framework. The framework uses the link between emotion and creativity to create physical and digital environments that actively enhance and maintain different types of creative thinking in the design workspace. The framework...

This project explores the practice of copying as a choreographic methodology raising the issue of illegitimacy despite the use of copying by choreographers for the creation of their works. Thus, my intention is to shed more light on various aspects regarding the practice of copying in order to provide a study and initiate a discussion around this issue. In total this project: • Situates and contextualises copying as a methodology within dance and performance discourses. • Identifies and examines the reasons that induced its disavowal as a legitimate choreographic methodology. • Provides a study in copying as a choreographic methodology both through the creation and analysis of new work as well as through the discussion of other artists’ pre-existing works. • Discusses the role of copying in relation to the establishment of the choreographer as author and to the inclusion of choreographic works in the dance canon. • Unravels the ‘modes’ and ‘networks’ produced through the creation of...

Therapeutic ultrasound is a promising treatment method for many common cancers, including prostate cancer. Magnetic resonance image (MRI) guidance of therapeutic ultrasound permits targeting and monitoring of therapy. In this thesis a prototype MRI compatible positioning device for the treatment of prostate cancer using therapeutic ultrasound is presented. The accuracy, MRI compatibility and functionality of the positioning device was evaluated in in vitro experiments (using gel phantoms and in vitro). The MRI was used as the imaging guidance technique. The proposed device incorporates a portable electronic system and operates in two PC controlled stages, linear and angular (X - Θ) and one manual driven stage Z (height of the probe). The device is small and portable and can be placed on the patient’s table to any commercial MRI scanner. The proposed device was tested on two clinical MRI scanners of different manufacturers. Additionally, in this thesis a software that controls an MRI...

Diabetes mellitus designates a range of metabolic disorders characterised by hyperglycaemia due to deficient or absent insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. In particular, Type 1 diabetes is characterised by a total lack of endogenous insulin secretion which has to be replaced by exogenous insulin to control the plasma glucose concentration. An extracorporeal wearable artificial pancreas (AP) has been a research aim for over three decades. The research is motivated by the need to improve glucose control. Results of a major study, the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), have demonstrated that improvements in glucose control prevent or delay long term complications, which are the main causes of morbidity and mortality in subjects with Type 1 diabetes. Prior to a clinical evaluation, performance of new medical devices can be tested in silico. Such an approach has been adopted extensively by the pharmaceutical industry in the development of new drugs. In silica testing benefits from relatively low financial, human, and time costs by comparison with the resources required for a full clinical evaluation.

Diabetes mellitus designates a range of metabolic disorders characterised by hyperglycaemia due to deficient or absent insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. In particular, Type 1 diabetes is characterised by a total lack of endogenous insulin secretion which has to be replaced by exogenous insulin to control the plasma glucose concentration. An extracorporeal wearable artificial pancreas (AP) has been a research aim for over three decades. The research is motivated by the need to improve glucose control. Results of a major study, the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT), have demonstrated that improvements in glucose control prevent or delay long term complications, which are the main causes of morbidity and mortality in subjects with Type 1 diabetes. Prior to a clinical evaluation, performance of new medical devices can be tested in silico. Such an approach has been adopted extensively by the pharmaceutical industry in the development of new drugs. In silica testing benefits from relatively low financial, human, and time costs by comparison with the resources required for a full clinical evaluation.

A set of fundamental matrices relating pairs of cameras in some configuration can be represented as edges of a "viewing graph". Whether or not these fundamental matrices are generically sufficient to recover the global camera configuration depends on the structure of this graph. We study characterizations of "solvable" viewing graphs, and present several new results that can be applied to determine which pairs of views may be used to recover all camera parameters. We also discuss strategies for verifying the solvability of a graph computationally.

During the commodity price boom and bust of 2007-2008, cotton futures prices rose and fell dramatically in spite of high levels of inventory. At the same time, correlation between cotton and other commodity prices reached historically high levels. These two observations underlie concerns that cotton prices during this period were poor signals of cotton market fundamentals and that the cotton market was ’taken along for a ride’ with other commodities. The apparent coincidence of extreme price movement across a broad range of commodities requires an explanation. Were cotton prices driven by the same set of macroeconomic factors as the other commodities? Did cotton markets suffer from supply disruptions at the same time that the other commodities faced disruptions? What was the role of futures market speculators and the rise of commodity index trading? Economists have been writing about excessive or unexplained comovement among commodity prices since at least Pindyck and Rotemberg (199...

Investigation of different therapy approaches for aphasia in the Greek language. (Unpublished Doctoral thesis, City, Universtiy of London) This is the accepted version of the paper. This version of the publication may differ from the final published version.

The paper deals with the redesign of passive electric networks by changes of single dynamic and non-dynamic elements which may retain, or affect the natural topology of the network. It also deals with the effect of such changes on the natural dynamics of the network, the natural frequencies. The impedance and admittance modeling for passive electrical networks is used which provides a structured, symmetric, integral-differential description, which in the special cases of RC and RL networks is reduced to matrix pencil descriptions. The transformations on the network are expressed as those preserving, or modifying the two natural topologies of the network, the impedance graph and the admittance graph topologies. For the special cases of RC and RL networks we consider the problem of the effect of changes of a single dynamic, or non-dynamic element on the natural frequencies. Using the Determinantal Assignment Framework, it is shown that the family of single parameter variation problems is reduced to equivalent Root Locus problems with the possibility of fixed modes. An explicit characterization of the fixed modes is given and a number of interesting properties of the spectrum are derived such as the interlacing property of poles and zeros for the entire family of Root Locus problems.

The paper presents an analysis of current obstacles in the adoption of energy efficiency measures, and presents concrete proposals for measures for the development of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Students from the 1st cycle of study at the Faculty of Economics, University of Tuzla participated in the research. The methodology used in the paper is based on the use of primary (survey questionnaire) and secondary (desk research) data sources. The results of the research showed that the biggest obstacles to the adoption of energy efficiency measures are the following, respectively: lack of information and promotional activities, lack of interest in environmental issues and energy consumption, underdeveloped consumer awareness of potential energy savings, and financial obstacles. Potential proposals for energy efficiency measures generally go towards the proper design of laws and regulations for energy efficiency standards, then the labeling of energy efficiency of products, and finally, the results of the study showed that financial incentive measures have a significant (positive) effect on increasing energy efficiency.The results of this paper can assist policy makers in creating economic and energy policies and strategies.

This paper examines appropriate project management methodologies for use in emergencies. The use of appropriate project management methodologies is contingent to the successful execution of projects in terms of organization of project time, effective utilization of resources, minimization of project risk, cost/benefit relations and development of team skills. There are several project management methodologies, but a decisive factor in applying management methodologies is that they are not all suitable for all projects. Drawing on extant literature and expert opinion from leading project management organizations involved in emergencies and disaster management, this paper assesses a number of methodologies that have been deployed in emergency situations for delivery of projects. The Analytic Hierarchy Process, noted for its flexibility, systematic approach, robustness, and reproducible evaluation, is used to assess methodologies which can be used along the project life cycle and ranked in desirable order. The findings of this study are expected to be useful in improving current project management practices as well as relevant laws and regulations in times of emergencies. The study concludes that in terms of resources, using appropriate methodology helps shorten the project team's learning curve, allows teams to focus, ensures the project is free from the distractions caused by teams going off track or budget, empowers teams to deliver results that actually impact the business bottom line and contribute to the company's strategic goals. Finally, when the methodology is adapted with focus, it is possible to lower implementation risks and improve project delivery in emergencies.

This thesis that I am submitting to the department of Insurance and Investment studies at the City University Business School is essentially a report on the development, formation, operation and effects of the NSSS to the local Zimbabwean market. The NSSS is a quasi-independent government company that operates under the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) whose formation was to provide a framework for the provision of various social security benefits by such organisations as the NSSS. This thesis is divided into three broad parts. The first part draws from an historical experience of the development of social insurance in general and Zimbabwean oldage insurance in particular. This part is the basis of understanding the foundation and philosophy behind the formation and expansion of the social security programmes as strong economic and political tools across the modem world. The second segment of this report is the focus on political and economic theories that seek to explain the existence of social insurance in various economies. The last part of the thesis is a particular study of the Zimbabwean pensions market following the introduction of the NSSS and draws from household survey and original source material that has not previously been subject to analysis. This study has paid particular attention to the forces that have played crucial roles in shaping the development of the NSSS. Contrary to what we expected at the beginning of this study, the NSSS has had little adverse effect to the private schemes and general perception in risk taking behaviour, particularly to the middle class. The NSSS has in fact, had a marginal and effective positive effect in changing people's attitude towards the risk of longevity and long-term loss of income due to perils otherwise insured under the national scheme. This study has also shown that there was inadequate

This thesis that I am submitting to the department of Insurance and Investment studies at the City University Business School is essentially a report on the development, formation, operation and effects of the NSSS to the local Zimbabwean market. The NSSS is a quasi- independent government company that operates under the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) whose formation was to provide a framework for the provision of various social security benefits by such organisations as the NSSS. This thesis is divided into three broad parts. The first part draws from an historical experience of the development of social insurance in general and Zimbabwean oldage insurance in particular. This part is the basis of understanding the foundation and philosophy behind the formation and expansion of the social security programmes as strong economic and political tools across the modem world. The second segment of this report is the focus on political and economic theories that seek to explain ...