The intensity and emotional demands of the health care environment place exceptionally high performance expectations and stress on hospital social workers. Critical Incident Stress (CIS), a specific type of stress associated with dramatic, emotionally overwhelming situations, known as Critical Incidents (CIs), produce several emotional and physical reactions that can threaten the well-being of the hospital social worker. CIS, as experienced by hospital social workers, is absent from the literature and not well understood. The purpose of this study was to describe how hospital social workers appraised, reacted to, and coped with CIs in their work environment. Lazarus and Folkman's (1984) theoretical framework of stress appraisal and coping was used to guide this descriptive study. A sample of 30 hospital social workers was recruited from two Vancouver tertiary care hospitals. Four instruments (Participant Information Sheet, Critical Incident Information Form, Emotional Appraisal Scale, and Ways of Coping Scale) were used to gain knowledge on how hospital social workers appraised, reacted to, and coped with CIs in their work environment. Quantitative data were coded, qualitative data were subjected to content analysis, and descriptive statistics calculated. Data revealed that hospital social workers encountered CIs in their work environment and that the majority of CIs centred on death-related events. The primary traits of events appraised as CIs were novelty, suddenness, and uncertainty. Respondents reacted to the CI with a variety of emotional (anxiety, fear, frustration, worry, anger) and physical reactions (feeling overwhelmed, fatigued, withdrawn, anxious, difficulty with sleeping), and although they experienced some discomfort, these reactions were not debilitating. Most hospital social workers indicated that their personal beliefs had been challenged by the CI and revealed that they were unsure as to what their social work role or function should have been during the event. However, despite this, respondents remained confident and comfortable with the decisions they made. Hospital social workers appeared to cope well with CIs, used a variety of emotion- and problem-focused coping strategies, and reported few negative effects on their professional and/or personal lives. The top four coping strategies utilized by respondents were seeking social support, planful problemsolving, positive reappraisal, and self-control. The implications of the findings for hospital social work administration, social work training and education, hospital social work practice, and future research are discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Att arbeta inom ambulanssjukvården innebär ökad risk för att utsättas för en så kallad kritisk händelse som kan leda till olika stressreaktioner bland annat ångest, akut stressyndrom (ASD), posttraumatiskt stressyndrom (PTSD) och depression. Symptom på dessa reaktioner kan innefatta hjärtklappning, sömn - och koncentrationssvårigheter men också empatitrötthet, vilket påverkar vårdpersonalens förmåga att känna empati med sina patienter och förmågan att vårda dessa på bästa sätt. Avlastande samtal är ett psykologiskt stöd som används för ambulanspersonal i dagsläget som ett försök att motverka olika typer av stressreaktioner.   Syftet var att beskriva kunskapsläget kring avlastande samtal för ambulanspersonal efter att de utsatts för kritiska händelser.   Som metod användes allmän litteraturöversikt med induktiv ansats där 15 vetenskapliga artiklar valdes ut och som besvarade den här studiens syfte. Artiklarna söktes i databaserna CINAHL och PubMed och analyserades med integrerad analys   I resultatet framkom fyra kategorier: utveckling och minskade stressreaktioner, avsaknad av avlastande samtal, negativa upplevelser och informellt kamratstöd.   Som slutsats kan konstateras att det finns ett behov av ökad kunskap och utbildning kring avlastande samtal och stressreaktioner hos ambulanspersonal som utsatts för en kritisk händelse. Den fortsatta forskningen som behövs bör fokusera på en evidensbaserad modell för avlastande samtal. / To work in the field of ambulance care comes with an increased risk to be exposed to a so-called critical incident which can lead to several stress reactions, including anxiety, acute stressdisorder (ASD), posttraumatic stressyndrome (PTSD) and depression. Symptoms of these reactions can include increased heart rate, sleep- and concentration difficulties but also compassion fatigue, which will affect the nursing staff's ability to feel compassion towards their patients and their ability to care for those patients in the best way possible. Relief calls is a form of psychological support that is used for ambulance personnel nowadays as a way of trying to counteract different types of stress reactions.   The aim of this study was to describe the state of knowledge concerning relief calls among ambulance personnel after being exposed to critical incidents.   The method used, was a general literature review with an inductive onset where 15 scientific articles were included that gave answer to the aim of this study. The articles were found in the medical databases CINAHL and PubMed and was analysed using an integrated method.   The result generated four categories: development and reduced stress reactions, lack of relief calls, negative experiences, informal peer-support.   As a conclusion it was found that there is a need for increased knowledge and education concerning relief calls and stress reactions among ambulance personnel that has been exposed to a critical incident. The research needed in the future should focus on finding evidence-based models for relief calls

This Diploma thesis deals with creating the Plan of Measures in Case of Exceptional Incidents on manufacture Premises. The first part of thesis is dedicated to description of Exceptional Incidents, primarily accidents with leak of hazardous chemical substances, legislation background of Exceptional Incidents and Emergency planning, Civil Protection, as a complex within Czech Republic and then individual measures (the plan are assembled of) are descripted. The Plan of Measures, as such itself, is created on the basis of processed analysis of hazardous properties connected with chemical substances, used in McBride, a.s., mainly the Acids and mixtures of alcohol. The leak of this compounds was simulated in software ALOHA, which gives information about degree of threat to inhabitants of this area. Suggested Measures are created to be practicable in particular situation in surroundings of McBride, a.s. Aim of this Diploma thesis is not just to create a particular Plan, but integrally describe the issues of Emergency planning especially for smaller subjects within municipality, that do not come under the scope of law n. 59/2006 Sb., and to create a tool, that can help to other creators of similar Plans of Measures to understand to partial relations.

Master of Science

Bakgrund: Vid en allvarlig händelse krävs det att ambulanssjukvården, räddningstjänsten och polisen samverkar för att nå bästa möjliga utfall vid arbetet i skadeområdet. Arbetet i skadeområdet styrs av tydliga föreskrifter och rutiner. Då allvarlig händelse inträffar relativt sällan kan ambulanspersonalen uppleva en osäkerhet att samverka på skadeområdet. Inom diskursetiken ges det goda argumentet företräde framför maktförhållanden och manipulation i syfte att nå enighet och rationell förståelse. Patientperspektivet ska genomsyra de beslut som fattas i skadeområdet vilket möjliggörs genom enighet mellan de samverkande organisationerna. Syfte: Att undersöka ambulanspersonalens erfarenhet att samverka med polis och räddningstjänst i skadeområde. Metod: Studien utfördes genom en integrativ litteraturstudie. Systematiska databassökningar genomfördes i databaserna PubMed, CINAHL och PsycINFO. Resultatet baseras på 15 vetenskapliga artiklar som bedöms vara av måttlig till hög kvalitet. Analysen genomfördes enligt Whittemore och Knafls (2005) metodbeskrivning. Resultat: Samverkan mellan organisationerna innebar utmaningar i att skapa balans mellan det egna och det gemensamma ansvaret. Ledarskapet hade i hög grad inverkan på arbetet i skadeområdet, men att iklä sig rollen som sjukvårdsledare förknippades ofta med osäkerhet hos ambulanspersonalen. Kunskap, kommunikation och en känsla av tillhörighet skapade förutsättningar för samverkan mellan organisationerna. Resultatet presenteras under fyra huvudteman: "Vi" och "dem", Härska utan att söndra, Konsten att kommunicera och Övning ger färdighet. Konklusion: Förmågan att kommunicera och att ha förståelse för varandra skapar förutsättningar för samverkan mellan ambulans, polis och räddningstjänst. Det finns ett behov av att utveckla ambulanspersonalens förmåga i radiokommunikation och att undersöka hur gemenskap kan befrämjas. / Bakgrund: Vid en större olycka är det nödvändigt att ambulansen, polisen och räddningstjänsten samarbetar för att uppnå bästa möjliga resultat när man arbetar i skadeområdet. Arbetet på olycksplatsen styrs av tydliga regler och rutiner. Eftersom större händelser inträffar relativt sällan kan ambulanspersonalen uppleva osäkerhet om samarbetet i skadeområdet. I diskursetiken har det goda argumentet företräde framför maktrelationer och manipulation för att nå enighet och rationell förståelse. Patientperspektivet ska genomsyra de beslut som fattas inom skadeområdet, vilket möjliggörs genom överenskommelse mellan de samverkande organisationerna. Syfte: Att beskriva ambulanspersonalens erfarenheter av samarbete med polis och räddningstjänst på olycksplatsen. Metod: Studien genomfördes genom en integrativ litteraturstudie. Systematiska databassökningar genomfördes i databaserna PubMed, CINAHL och PsycINFO. Resultaten är baserade på 15 vetenskapliga artiklar som anses vara av måttlig till hög kvalitet. Analysen utfördes enligt Whittmores och Knafls (2005) metodbeskrivning. Resultat: Samarbetet mellan organisationerna innebar utmaningar för att skapa en balans mellan det egna och det gemensamma ansvaret. Ledarskapet hade en stor inverkan på arbetet inom skadeområdet och tog på sig rollen som ambulanssjukvårdare, men var ofta förknippat med osäkerhet bland ambulanspersonalen. Kunskap, kommunikation och en känsla av tillhörighet skapade förutsättningar för samverkan mellan organisationerna. Resultatet presenteras under fyra huvudteman: "Vi" och "dem", Avgörande utan splittring, Konsten att kommunicera och öva gör perfekt. Slutsats: Förmågan att kommunicera och ha förståelse för varandra skapar goda förutsättningar för samverkan mellan ambulanssjukvården, polisen och räddningstjänsten. Det finns ett behov av att utveckla ambulanspersonalens förmåga inom radiokommunikation och att undersöka hur känslan av samhörighet kan främjas.

Information appliances such as notebook computers and cellular telephones are becoming integral to the lives of many. These devices facilitate a variety of communication tasks, and are used for employment, education, and entertainment. Those with disabilities, however, have limited access to these devices, due in part to product designs that do not consider their special needs. A usability evaluation can help identify the needs and difficulties those with disabilities have when using a product and universal design principles can then be applied to enhance accessibility and usability. This study addresses the usability of two of the most common information appliances - notebook computers and cellular telephones. The usability of notebook computers was evaluated using a remote ethnographic method where participants recorded usability-related critical incidents. Participants included those with a wide range of abilities, such as legal blindness, total blindness, and upper extremity physical disabilities. Objective and subjective measures were used to determine the effects of several specific design parameters for cellular telephones. The notebook computer study revealed that participants have difficulty with non-standard keyboard layouts, the use of isometric pointing devices, case latches, and inadequate system feedback. User performance and ratings in the cellular telephone study were the best with the 12 mm lateral pitch and 0.7 mm key height, while the fewest task failures were committed using the 0.5 mm keystroke. Participants also preferred telephone models with large <Power>, <Send> and <End> keys located in prominent locations, and 22-point and 36-point display fonts. These results were used to generate product-specific design guidelines that can be used to design notebook computers and cellular telephones that are more usable and accessible for users with visual and upper extremity physical disabilities. Universal design implications are also discussed. / Master of Science

In a lot of big cities, the traffic network is overloaded, with congestion and unnecessary emissions as consequence. Therefore, different traffic control methods are useful, especially in case of an incident. One key problem for traffic control is traffic prediction and the aim of this thesis is to develop, calibrate and evaluate a route flow model using only observed travel times and travel demand as input. The route flow model was used to calculate the metric link flow destination distribution, that presents to which destinations the travelers on a link are going in percentage.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Although current augmented, virtual, and mixed reality (AR/VR/MR) systems are facing advanced and immersive experience in the entertainment industry with countless media forms. Theses systems suffer a lack of correct direct and indirect illumination modeling where the virtual objects render with the same lighting condition as the real environment. Some systems are using baked GI, pre-recorded textures, and light probes that are mostly accomplished offline to compensate for precomputed real-time global illumination (GI). Thus, illumination information can be extracted from the physical scene for interactively rendering the virtual objects into the real world which produces a more realistic final scene in real-time. This work approaches the problem of visual coherence in AR by proposing a system that detects the real-world lighting conditions in dynamic scenes, then uses the extracted illumination information to render the objects added to the scene. The system covers several major components to achieve a more realistic augmented reality outcome. First, the detection of the incident light (direct illumination) from the physical scene with the use of computer vision techniques based on the topological structural analysis of 2D images using a live-feed 360-degree camera instrumented on an AR device that captures the entire radiance map. Also, the physics-based light polarization eliminates or reduces false-positive lights such as white surfaces, reflections, or glare which negatively affect the light detection process. Second, the simulation of the reflected light (indirect illumination) that bounce between the real-world surfaces to be rendered into the virtual objects and reflect their existence in the virtual world. Third, defining the shading characteristic/properties of the virtual object to depict the correct lighting assets with a suitable shadow casting. Fourth, the geometric properties of real-scene including plane detection, 3D surface reconstruction, and simple meshing are incorporated with the virtual scene for more realistic depth interactions between the real and virtual objects. These components are developed methods which assumed to be working simultaneously in real-time for photo-realistic AR. The system is tested with several lighting conditions to evaluate the accuracy of the results based on the error incurred between the real/virtual objects casting shadow and interactions. For system efficiency, the rendering time is compared with previous works and research. Further evaluation of human perception is conducted through a user study. The overall performance of the system is investigated to reduce the cost to a minimum.

Background：Live streaming shopping is becoming a mainstream method in China since the livestreaming feature has been applied to e-commerce. Live streaming commerce reflects theinterdependence between consumers and live streamers. Past studies have found that the ability,social presence and reputation of live streamers influence consumers' purchase intentions.However, there is a gap in how consumers' purchase intentions are affected by negative incidentsand a lack of qualitative perspective. Purpose：To explore consumers' understanding of their purchase intentions in relation to liveshopping streamers, in the context of negative incidents with streamers. Methodology：This study used qualitative research as the research method and abductivereasoning to conduct the data analysis. This study used semi-structured interviews and developedinterview questions based on the content of the theory chapter. The researchers usednon-probability sampling and general purpose sampling as the sampling strategy. The requireddata were obtained from 12 Chinese interviewees who had experience with live shopping. Theobtained data were then coded using grounded theory as the analysis method for qualitative data,which helped the researchers understand the thoughts of the interviewees. The final attempt is todevelop a theory that can explain the phenomenon. Moreover, the methods chapter explores thequality of the research in this study, as well as possible ethical and social issues. Findings：This paper identified three consumer needs (utilitarian, pleasure-seeking andemotional needs) and factors associated with streamers (attitude, streaming style, impact,characteristics and ability) that influence purchase intentions in the presence of negative streamerincidents. The paper also found how consumers' purchase intentions were influenced by thesefactors in different negative incident situations. Conclusion：This study obtained consumers' understanding of the relationship between theirpurchase intentions and streamers. Consumers exhibit three different levels of purchase3intention: willing to buy, wait-and-see (unsure of purchase intention) and no purchase intention.In the case of negative incidents, consumers' different purchase intentions are influenceddifferently by their own needs and streamer factors.

Incident detection is a key component in real-time traffic management systems that allows efficient response plan generation and decision making by means of risk alerts at critical affected sections in the network. State-of-the-art incident detection techniques traditionally require: i) good quality data from closely located sensor pairs, ii) a minimum of two reliable measurements from the flow- occupancy-speed triad, and iii) supervised adjustment of thresholds that will trigger anomalous traffic states. Despite such requirements may be reasonably achieved in simulated scenarios, real-time downstream applications rarely work under such ideal conditions and must deal with low reliability data, missing measurements, and scarcity of curated incident labelled datasets, among other challenges. This paper proposes an unsupervised technique based on univariate timeseries anomaly detection for computationally efficient incident detection in real-world scenarios. Such technique is proved to successfully work when only flow measurements are available, and to dynamically adjust thresholds that adapt to changes in the supply. Moreover, results show good performance with low-reliability and missing data.