This study explores the potential application of George Orwell's novel 1984 in ESL instruction and its influence on promoting discussion among students on divisive political issues. The objective is to examine how the novel's underlying concepts of oppression, dictatorship, and propaganda could encourage critical thinking and social interaction among ESL students. The study considers cultural sensitivity, language skill levels, and the growth of intercultural competency as it examines the difficulties and advantages of adding 1984 into the ESL curriculum. This study sheds light on Orwell's portrayal of political dystopia and its consequences for deliberative democracy, offering valuable suggestions for using literature to foster critical participation in ESL classes. Moreover, the study examines the literary elements, ideas, and applicability of George Orwell's novel "1984" in contemporary culture. With an emphasis on the experiences of the main character Winston under a totalitarian government, the study analyses the utilisation of third-person perspective and language to portray a dystopian society. The effects of governmental control, alienation, and media manipulation are investigated to draw attention to the reflection of totalitarianism and its influence on personal freedom. The study accentuates the importance of studying 1984 from an educational standpoint and suggests utilising agony to encourage critical thinking and consideration of power, control, and personal freedom in the classroom.  Ultimately, the study examines the usefulness of George Orwell's novel 1984 for discussing contemporary political issues in ESL classes. Understanding the digital world is made more accessible by the analysis, which highlights the significance of politics, surveillance, and authoritarianism in contemporary society. Students can better analyse complex subjects and cultural influences by knowing the effects of tyranny, surveillance, and propaganda. Students should read and analyse such important works of literature to assess 1984's applicability and elicit moral and political debates. Future studies need to embrace the pedagogy of discomfort and consider other consequences. Ultimately, lesson objectives and timetables must be created to ensure that students effectively engage with the subject matter.

Revealing causal structures from observational data is an essential task in many data analysis issues across various domains, such as natural sciences, business, and healthcare. In healthcare, neuropathic pain is one of the most common medical problems, whose diagnosis process has well-understood causal structures. Causal structures are commonly visualized as a directed acyclic graph (DAG) or a node-link diagram, in which nodes represent variables, and edges represent causal relationships between data dimensions. However, these simple static graphs do not convey sufficient information for either an intuitive interpretation for novel viewers, or an in-depth exploration for experts. In this study, the visualization of causal structures for neuropathic pain diagnosis is set into context. An interactive system that integrates application-specific visualization, i.e. a discomfort drawing and a spinal cord diagram, into causality visualization is developed. It is further evaluated by a domain expert on neuropathic pain and a researcher in causal discovery through semi-structured interviews. The results show that the system reveals the causal structures for neuropathic pain diagnosis in a more intuitive, efficient way, and conveys more focused information compared to traditional node-link diagrams. The system is also demonstrated to be helpful to the medical community in neuropathic pain diagnosis, not only for doctors but also for patients. / Att upptäcka kausala strukturer från observationsdata är en viktig uppgift i många dataanalysfrågor inom olika områden, t.ex. naturvetenskap, affärsverksamhet och sjukvård. Inom hälso- och sjukvården är neuropatisk smärta ett av de vanligaste medicinska problemen. Dess diagnosprocess har väl förstådda kausala strukturer. Kausala strukturer visualiseras vanligtvis som en riktad acyklisk graf (DAG) eller nätverksdiagram, där noder representerar variabler och kanter representerar kausala relationer mellan datadimensioner. Dessa enkla statiska grafer förmedlar dock inte tillräckligt information för att ge en intuitiv tolkning för nya betraktare eller en djupgående utforskning för experter. I den här studien sätts visualiseringen av kausala strukturer för diagnostisering av neuropatisk smärta i ett sammanhang. Ett interaktivt system som integrerar applikationsspecifik visualisering, dvs. en smärtteckning och ett ryggmärgsdiagram, i kausalitetsvisualisering utvecklas. Det utvärderas av en domänexpert på neuropatisk smärta och en forskare inom kausal upptäckt genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultaten visar att systemet avslöjar kausalstrukturer för diagnos av neuropatisk smärta på ett mer intuitivt och effektivt sätt och förmedlar mer fokuserad information jämfört med traditionella diagrammer. Systemet har också visat sig vara till hjälp för det medicinska samfundet vid diagnostisering av neuropatisk smärta, inte bara för läkare utan även för patienter.

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Despite high prevalence rates of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), the causes and pathways of WMSD development are not fully understood. Multiple factors (physical, psychosocial, and individual) have been associated with WMSD development, but causal inferences are not available due to lack of experimental designs. Because the responses, validity, and reliability of measured outcomes under multiple-exposure environments are not known, the current work analyzed the effects of multiple WMSD risk factors on several measurement methods. Forty-eight participants completed four trials of simulated manufacturing work at different levels of physical and psychosocial exposure for one psychosocial dimension (job control, job demands, time pressure, or social support). The three independent variables significantly affected outcomes, including muscle activity, heart rate, task performance, discomfort and workload ratings, and psychosocial environment perceptions. Social interaction should take priority over working in isolation, and pressure to achieve high performance should be minimized to reduce WMSD risk. A secondary data analysis determined measurements that could estimate WMSD risk efficiently. Convergent and discriminant validity was assessed to retain methods that provided unique information and minimized overlap between similar methods. For the given manufacturing environment, one muscle activity measure, heart rate mean and variability, one set of workload and discomfort ratings, and a psychosocial questionnaire were the best WMSD risk measurement methods. The third study assessed the test-retest reliability of the outcome measures of an additional trial involving 24 participants. Workload and discomfort appeared reliable under high levels of physical exposure but not under psychosocial manipulations. Physiological measures were reliable for <50% of parameters. The psychosocial questionnaire was reliable under favorable social support but not high physical exposure and favorable job control. The final study determined the number of psychosocial factors experienced through factor analysis on psychosocial questionnaire responses from the main experiment. Participants could distinguish psychosocial dimensions in the work environment, and this questionnaire may be used in experimental settings to measure perceptions of the psychosocial environment. The current research provided a basis for measuring physical and psychosocial exposure simultaneously in occupational settings. Using this knowledge may allow practitioners to focus on interventions and designs that reduce WMSD risk exposure. / Ph. D.

The concept of "visual fatigue" has been studied for 70 years or more. In that time, no single metric of measuring visual fatigue nor one agreed-upon set of tasks to induce visual fatigue has been settled upon. Not even a robust definition of visual fatigue has been established. This research worked to solve some of those problems. This research first set out to develop an index of visual fatigue that could be used effectively in quantifying the subjective experience of visual fatigue. Then it sought to create a set of measurable tasks, representative of office work, that would induce visual fatigue. Taking these two developments, an experiment using human participants was conducted to validate these developments and work toward solving two issues in the visual fatigue field: how visual display technology and ambient illumination affect the onset of visual fatigue. A 4x4 within-subjects design was developed and executed to study how these two independent variables affected ratings of visual fatigue, performance on the task battery, subjective image quality judgments, and contrast sensitivity shifts. Two cathode ray tube (CRT) and two active-matrix LCD (AMLCD) monitors were used in this study. While many instances of the monitors as a whole caused significant differences in reports of visual fatigue, performance, subjective image quality, and contrast sensitivity loss, only a slight effect of display technology was found. Four of eleven visual fatigue and two of eight subjective image quality dimensions showed that the LCD monitors induced more visual fatigue and were rated poorer than the CRT monitors. Ambient illumination levels of 0, 300, 600, and 1200 lux affected all four groups of dependent variables. On the whole, lighting caused visual fatigue, with "watery eyes" and "glare from lights" being adversely affected by brighter lighting. The 0 and 1200 lux were associated with the worst performance, while 300 lux was associated with the best performance. Subjective image quality was affected by lighting, with increasing lighting causing bothersome screen reflections and more temporal (e.g., flicker and jitter) distortions; 600 lux induced more reports of image sizing anomalies. Finally, it caused significantly worse shifts at the 6.0 c/deg spatial frequency on the contrast sensitivity test. The data show that lighting of 300 lux is the best of these four illumination levels. The results of this study not only contribute to the body of research in the areas of display technology and ambient illumination, but several developments of this research are offered to the research community: a complete survey metric of visual fatigue, a standardized battery of tasks for studying visual fatigue and image quality, and a comprehensive subjective image quality survey. / Ph. D.

Localized muscular loads have in many cases replaced whole body loads in the current mechanized industry. In highly automated automobile industries, the prevalence of upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders is a matter of continuing concern. Overhead work has especially been noted for its association with shoulder related musculoskeletal disorders. Research aimed at determining causal relationships between overhead work and risk of injury has increasingly used localized muscle fatigue as an indirect or surrogate measure. In this study, localized muscle fatigue was used as a primary measure for studying the effects of workload level while performing overhead work. Subjective (ratings of perceived discomfort) measures of fatigue were collected and their predictive potential was investigated. Effect of personality type was also examined to account for any inter-individual differences in fatigue perception. While researchers have studied specific task conditions in controlled environments, the specific relationship between various risk factors and underlying injury mechanisms is largely unknown. Two main problems faced by researchers are limited resources and the large scope of potential ergonomic analyses. This study attempted to circumvent some of these limitations by examining the time-course of fatigue and the predictive potential of subjective measures. The feasibility of using shorter experimental durations to make deductions for a 2-hour work period was explored. Reductions in experimental duration means decreased experimental time, expenses and resources. Thus, in turn, the researcher can utilize available resources to study more factors and a more general scenario. Specifically, subjective measures of shoulder fatigue were used to determine the possibility of reducing experimental duration for an intermittent overhead task. A laboratory-simulated intermittent overhead task was designed based on observations made at an automotive assembly unit. For this study, two treatment conditions were tested consisting of different combinations of two tool masses and two duty cycles. The choice of the treatment conditions was made to simulate different task difficulty levels of occupational tasks and their effects on shoulder fatigue. Each experiment was conducted for 2 hours (a common duration in industries with job rotation) for these selected treatment conditions. Subjective measures of fatigue were collected to assess shoulder fatigue and relative acceptability of the overhead work. Any observed trends in the subjective fatigue measure were determined and tested using statistical and mathematical models to determine how best to represent their salient characteristics. Derived qualitative and quantitative measures were also used to estimate the maximal acceptable task durations using certain formalized assessment techniques. Results of this research suggest possible reductions in the experimental duration. Short (8 to 26 minute) trials were found to be sufficient to predict performance measures for 2 hours. Results also indicated a strong influence of task difficulty level on the predictive performance of subjective measures though personality type did not show very consistent trends. Various unique analysis techniques used to look at the psychophysical data may prove useful for further investigation into predictive verification. A generalized mathematical model, a type of approach, was also developed to represent changes in the psychophysical measures over time. This research can find both industrial and research applications where resources are constrained and using psychophysical measures is feasible. In the following report, details on this work are presented, including a description of the factors that inspired this study, an outline of the relevant literature, methodology, results and their implications. / Master of Science

Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSD) remain the focus of research efforts as costs associated with these disorders range from 13 to 54 billion dollars annually. WMSDs associated with the back and neck compromise almost 27% of all reported WMSDs. Approximately 1/3 of visual display terminal (VDT) operators report back and neck pain annually (BLS, 1998). Physical risk factors of VDTs associated with low back and neck WMSDs include static work postures and workstation design. The objectives of this study were to assess the effects of monitor height, chair type and their interaction on task performance, back/neck electromyography (EMG), perceived discomfort, and number of posture shifts. Both monitor height and chair type were assessed using two levels (high and low). Participants, four male and four female college age students, performed two data entry tasks using a standard keyboard and monitor and a fully adjustable bi-level table. In addition to the experimenter defined workstation configurations, participants were allowed to adjust their workstation to their preferred settings. Analysis of variance was performed to assess differences in task performance, perceived level of discomfort, number of posture shifts, and EMG data associated with various combinations of monitor height and chair type. Correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationship between participant's perceived discomfort and measured muscle activity to help determine if these two measurements could be used interchangeably to assess workstation design. No effect of workstation configuration (monitor height/chair type) was found for the majority of dependent variables. An exception was that configuration of low monitor, high chair, and their interaction generated significantly more muscle activity for the low back. User preferred settings were not found to differ significantly from those investigated with respect to muscle activity, perceived discomfort, posture shifts, and performance. Additionally, it was found the participants chose to position the iii workstation according to guidelines suggested in the literature for reducing WMSD discomfort. Task effects were found for performance, posture shifts, and perceived level of discomfort. Higher levels of performance and posture shifts for the neck were associated with the typing task, as opposed to the math task. Higher levels of neck discomfort, posture shifts of the feet and posture shifts of the back were associated with the math task. Correlation analysis provided evidence that perceived discomfort reported by participants and muscle activity for job tasks may not be related. Observed muscle activity for the tasks investigated in this study was low and in some instances, close to resting activity. Due to low levels of EMG, participants may not have been cognizant of their back and neck muscle activity, offering an explanation for why participants experience a cumulative effect of workstation design and seated postures, but linking particular causal factors to the development of LBP and NP is difficult. The findings of this study suggest that there are no gross physical differences between the chair types or monitor heights as defined in this study. Other factors (such as user preferences, job task demands, specific chair parameters, etc.) may significantly effect chair selection. This study found that task was a significant effect for the majority of dependent variables, and therefore may need to be a major factor driving workstation design. Workstation configuration will help determine the type of static posture assumed at a workstation, but the "discomfort or number of posture shifts" associated with that workstation and posture might be more a result of the job task requirements. / Master of Science

Background Patients’ cold exposure is a neglected problem in prehospital emergency care. Cold stress increases pain and anxiety and contributes to fear and an overall sense of dissatisfaction. When left untreated, cold stress disturbs vital body functions until ultimately reaches hypothermia. Aim The overall aim was to investigate patients’ experiences of thermal comfort and reactions to cold exposure in prehospital emergency care and to evaluate the effects of an intervention using active warming from underneath. Method Study I: Persons (n=20) injured in a cold environment in the north of Sweden were interviewed. Active heat was given to 13 of them. Study II: In wintertime, 62 patients were observed during prehospital emergency care. The field study was based on observations, questions about thermal discomfort, vital signs, and temperature measurements. Study III: Healthy young persons (n=23) participated in two trials each. Data were collected inside and outside a cold chamber. In one trial, the participants were lying on a regular ambulance stretcher and in a second trial on a stretcher supplied with a heated mattress. Outcomes were the Cold Discomfort Scale (CDS), back, finger, and core body temperature, four statements from the State-TraitAnxiety-Inventory (STAI), vital signs, and short notes about their experiences of the two stretchers. Study IV: A quantitative intervention study was conducted in prehospital emergency care in the north of Sweden. The patients (n=30) in the intervention group were transported in an ambulance supplemented with a heated mattress on the stretcher, whereas only a regular stretcher was used in the ambulance for the patients (n=30) in the control group. Outcomes were the CDS, finger, core body, and air temperature, and questions about cold experiences. Results Study I: Patients suffered more because of the cold than from the pain of their injuries. The patients were in a desperate need of heat. Study II: Patients are exposed to cold stress due to cold environments. There was a significant decrease from the first measurement in finger temperature of patients who were indoors when the ambulance arrived, compared to the measurement taken in the ambulance. In the patient compartment of the ambulance, 85% of the patients had a finger temperature below the comfort zone and almost half of them experienced the patient compartment in the ambulance to be cold. The regular mattress surface temperature at the ambulance ranged from -22.3 to 8.4 ºC. Study III: A statistical increase of the participants’ back temperature was found between those lying on the heated mattress compared to those lying on the regular mattress. The heated mattress was experienced as warm, comfortable, providing security, and easy to relax on. Study IV: Thermal comfort increased for the patients in the intervention group and decreased in the control group. A significant higher proportion of the participants rated the stretcher as cold to lie on in the control group compared to the intervention group. Conclusion The ambulance milieu is too cold to provide thermal comfort. Heat supply from underneath increased comfort and might prevent cold stress and hypothermia

O sistema de ventilação por mistura (MV), utilizado atualmente em cabines de aeronaves na distribuição do ar tratado, não tem propiciado condições adequadas de conforto térmico e pode, devido às suas características de mistura, propagar rapidamente doenças infecciosas na cabine. Sistemas de ventilação utilizados em ambientes de edificações, como o sistema de distribuição de ar por deslocamento (DV) e o sistema de distribuição de ar pelo piso (UFAD) e variantes destes sistemas, estão começando a ser propostos. Função disto, o presente trabalho comparou três arquiteturas de distribuição de ar: o sistema tradicional (MV), o sistema de insuflamento de ar pelo piso (UFAD) e uma variação do sistema UFAD, incluindo insuflamento lateral abaixo dos bagageiros, denominado de UFAD modificado. Os ensaios foram realizados em cabine de mock up de aeronave com 12 lugares, ocupados por manequins aquecidos simulando os passageiros, considerando duas temperaturas para o ar insuflado na cabine: 18°C e 22°C. Os resultados mostram influência significativa da temperatura de insuflamento do ar nas condições de desconforto térmico local, juntamente com resultados promissores para o sistema UFAD, com percentuais de desconforto devido às correntes de ar menores que 20%, com exceção da região de insuflamento do ar no corredor. / Mixing ventilation system (MV), currently used in aircraft cabins for treated air distribution, has not provided adequate conditions for thermal comfort and may, due to its mixing characteristics, spread quickly infectious diseases in the cabin. Ventilation systems used in buildings environments, such as displacement ventilation system (DV) and underfloor air distribution system (UFAD) and variants of these systems are beginning to be proposed. Due to that, the present study compared three air distribution architectures: the traditional system (MV), underfloor air distribution system (UFAD) and a variation of the UFAD system, including side air supply under bins, called UFAD modified. Tests were performed in aircraft cabin mock up with 12 seats, occupied by heated manikins simulating passengers, considering two air supply temperatures into the cabin: 18°C and 22°C. Results show significant influence of air supply temperature in conditions of local thermal discomfort, together with promising results for UFAD system, with percentages of discomfort due to draught less than 20%, except in the air insufflation area in aisle.

Cette thèse sur la poésie écrite a pour sujet, la connaissance du genre dans la période comprise entre 1970 et 2000. Elle propose sur une base d’auteurs et de textes une ébauche de critique des styles et des formes comme celle du contenu. Quatorze pays qui composent le corpus. Il s’agit du Benin, Burkina Faso, du Cameroun, de la Centrafrique, du Congo, de la RD Congo, de la Cote d’lvoire, du Gabon, de la Guinée, du Mali, du Niger, du Sénégal, du Tchad et du Togo. Ce travail est traité sur trois parties : les itinéraires littéraires, les thèmes importants et les styles.Du point de vue thématique, les poèmes ont permis de déceler plusieurs itinéraires dont le plus pertinent montre les étapes de la déliquescence sociale. Depuis les années 70 se sont succédé les thèmes du désenchantement, du désarroi et du mal-être correspondant aux périodes des années 70/80 ; 80/90 et de 90 à 2000. Toutes ses idées étaient étiquetées dès les premières œuvres de Tchicaya U Tamsi, le précurseur de cette génération de poètes. Parallèlement, se développe une autre orientation qui, elle, donne sur l’espoir. Ce sont les thèmes de la race, de l’amour et de la révolution. Quant à l’écriture poétique, il se passe une éclosion de formes dont certaines revêtent des caractères de plus en plus osés. Très souvent, l’imagination va puiser, dans les tréfonds des cultures, des matériaux de création. Des poèmes intégralement allégoriques (oscillant entre rêve et réalité) aux poèmes, fusion parfaite entre plusieurs genres poétiques (là où on est amené à parler d’influence de la poésie orale sur la poésie écrite) à côté des poèmes plus classiques bâtis sur la recherche de formes fixes. / This thesis on written poetry has for object the knowledge of the kind between 1970 and 2000. It provides on a base of authors and texts, critical insight of the styles and the shapes like the content’s. Fourteen countries are included in the corpus. There are Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Afiican Republic, Congo, DR Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, the Niger, Senegal, Chad and Togo. This work is treated in three parts : the literary routes, important themes and the styles. On the thematic point of view, the poems have helped identify several routes of which the most relevant shows stages of the social deliquescence. Since the 70, themes of disillusionment, dismay and discomfort succeeded one another, corresponding to periods of the years 70/80, 80/90 and the 90s to 2000. All this ideas were labeled in the early works of Tchicaya U Tamsi, the precursor of this generation of poets. Meanwhile, a different trend, which carries hope, develops itself. These are the themes of race, love and revolution. As for poetry writing, an outbreak of forms happens, some carries more and more daring characters. Very often, the imagination will draw from the depths of cultures from creation materials. From fully allegorical poems (oscillating between dream and reality) to poems, perfect fusion between several poetic genres (where one is led to speak of the influence of oral poetry on written poetry) alongside more traditional poems built on the quest of fixe shape.