Performance management addresses the provision of a consistent acceptable service at a known and controlled cost, both now and in the foreseeable future. This requires the measurement and monitoring of current behavior, the management and storage of those measurements, the analysis of past and present behavior, the trending of past behavior and the prediction of future behavior in the light of ...

This paper explores the ethical implications of a possible future technology, namely cryonics (i.e. the preservation of an entire organism at ultra-low temperatures for eventual revival) of embryos/fetuses extracted from the uterus. We argue that more research should be conducted in order to explore the feasibility of such technology. We highlight the advantages that this option would offer, in...

In this paper the authors evaluate Chevron’s Energyville, as an example of a persuasive technology, which is used to change attitudes and behaviours. The authors want to explore this simulation in terms of it’s potential to be transplanted as a persuasive technology into the South African context, given the fact that South Africa is experiencing an energy crisis currently and will continue to d...

PVM and MPI, two systems for programming clusters, are often compared. Each system has its unique strengths and this will remain so into the foreseeable future. This paper compares PVM and MPI features, pointing out the situations where one may be favored over the other; it explains the differences between these systems and the reasons for such differences. PVM – Parallel Virtual Machine; MPI –...

The rare B decays B → τ ν̄, B → τ+ τ, b → X ν ν̄ and b → X τ+ τ all contain third generation leptons in the final state, and hence are sensitive to new physics that couples more strongly to the third generation. We carry out a model independent analysis of these decays which allows studying several types of new physics effects. We apply our results to analyze the effects of the lepton number viol...

Exposure of the skin to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, particularly its UV-B component (280-320 nm), from the sun results in erythema, edema, hyperplasia, hyperpigmentation, sunburn cells, immunosuppression, photoaging, and skin cancer. Amongst these various adverse effects of UV-B radiation, skin cancer and photoaging are of great concern. More recent changes in lifestyle have led to a significan...