Undersökningar som gjorts av Internetstiftelsen i Sverige visar att svenska sociala medie-användare ökar varje år. Fler och fler besöker Facebook och skapar konton på Instagram och Snapchat. Samma undersökningar visar dock att majoriteten inte nyttjar sociala medier mer än att bara besöka sidan eller appen. En förhållandevis liten andel av Facebooks användare skriver statusuppdateringar eller publicerar bilder. Syftet med vår studie är att lyfta fram detta och undersöka hur våra informanter tolkar sina och andras handlingar över tre sociala medier och därmed undersöka det sociala i dessa handlingar. Detta har vi gjort med hjälp av ett antal kvalitativa intervjuer med unga vuxna sociala medie-användare och bett dem reflektera över sina egna och andras handlingar på de sociala medier de deltar i för att urskilja hur socialt det egentligen är. Vi har använt ett symboliskt interaktionistiskt perspektiv för att analysera vårt empiriska material och därför undersökt enskilda handlingar hos personerna och tolkat det sociala i dessa handlingar. Vad vi i korta drag kommit fram till är att även om man inte ser sig själv som aktivt interagerande på sociala medier så finns det sociala och relationella förklaringar till minsta gest som utförs. Dessa sociala handlingar existerar inom grupper och bildar normer inom grupperna. För olika sociala medier råder olika normer och därmed olika handlingar.

Heavy haul trains are used to transport mineral resources from inland mines to harbours in South Africa. It is believed that the cost is less with a larger load per car or per train. This has resulted in the use of long heavy haul trains. The increase in train length has posed unprecedented technical challenges. For heavy haul trains, energy consumption, running time and in-train forces between neighbouring cars are of much concern to transportation corporations. The objective of the study is to find optimal driving methodologies for the implementation of a desired speed profile with energy consumption and in-train forces considered. Firstly, three control strategies are proposed in this study for train handling. In view of the characteristics of traditional pneumatic braking systems and the new Electronically Controlled Pneumatic (ECP) braking systems, a simulation study of optimal open loop controllers was undertaken. The result shows that the ECP braking systems demonstrate superb performance compared with pneumatic braking systems, especially together with independent distributed power (iDP) control. Thus, the main focus of the study was the control of heavy haul trains equipped with ECP braking systems. It is shown that there are redundancies in designing an open loop controller. An optimization procedure is applied to schedule cruise control by taking the in-train forces into initial design consideration. Optimal open loop scheduling presents a better starting point for a closed-loop controller design. A type of linear quadratic regulator (LQR) controller with state feedback is simulated to verify the above result. However, the closed-loop control law is designed based on full state feedback, which is not practical since not all the states can be measured. An observer could be designed to supplement the LQR controller if partial states are measured. This is, however, not the approach taken in this study. Instead, the application of output regulation of nonlinear systems with measured output feedback to the control of heavy haul trains is considered. This approach to design is practically feasible and manageable, and by its nature, is also easily integrable with human drivers. In this study, the existing result of output regulation of nonlinear systems is extended. The output regulation problem of nonlinear systems with measured output feedback is formulated in this study and solved for the local version and global version. For its application to train control, some application issues are discussed. Based on the proposed theory, a speed regulator for train control is designed. Simulation results show its applicability. Lastly, this study concentrates on the fault-tolerant capacity of the speed regulator. Two kinds of fault modes are considered. Fault detection and isolation for the sensor fault and braking system fault are exploited. Controller redesign is also given. Simulation results show that such a speed regulator has a fault-tolerant capacity to the corresponding faults. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / PhD / Unrestricted

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-95). / How individuals respond to and handle conflict in the workplace is one of the growing areas of interest and concern among scholars and professionals working in a wide range of disciplines. However, prior work situated as an effort to understand how training people on conflict theory can manifest behavioral change in the workplace is rare. Few published works exist on identifying the behaviors associated with developing constructive conflict handling skills in the workplace. South African institutions need a solution to the widespread challenge of developing their employees' conflict handling skills. In South Africa, these are considered 'life skills.' To address the gap in theoretically supported business education curricula, this evaluation study seeks to explore the link between the constructs of self-awareness and cooperative conflict. The primary aim of this study is to gain a sense of learner's current level of self-reported conflict handling skills and then measure whether the Insights into Lifeskills Project curriculum facilitates the transition to more complex levels. These measures are taken through the use of a primary survey instrument. Additionally, through a process of balancing the program curriculum with the South African National Qualifications Framework, this study explores and measures how participants make vital connections between theory and practice. Post results of a six-week utilization-focused intervention construct an argument that individuals oriented to these constructs are better able to regulate conflict in the workplace through exercising self-awareness and cooperative conflict skills. As a result of explicit instruction in self-awareness skills and conflict response styles, during the period of February 2009 to April 2009, findings report that the Volunteer Participants of the workplace targeted intervention showed pronounced gains in their ability to handle conflict constructively. The twenty-seven Volunteer Participants of the targeted teams were identified for their experience in high levels of interpersonal workplace conflict. The participant-managers of these teams all shared a desire to develop their team's conflict handling skills. The study's Volunteer Participants are professionals of both functional and management designations in a large-scale South African retail organization.

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Brottet våldtäkt består i att någon genom tvång eller utnyttjande företar en sexuell handling. Alla sexuella handlingar utgör dock inte våldtäkt, utan handlingen måste vara av en viss allvarlighetsgrad. De sexuella handlingar som faller under bestämmelsen om våldtäkt benämns ibland kvalificerade. Andra sexuella handlingar, som exempelvis de som rubriceras som sexuellt tvång, kallas således icke kvalificerade. En sexuell handling är kvalificerad om den med hänsyn till kränkningens allvar är jämförlig med samlag. Med samlag avses här endast heterosexuella vaginala samlag. Denna uppsats behandlar gränsdragningen mellan kvalificerade och icke kvalificerade sexuella handlingar. Genom en analys av förarbeten och domar har kunnat dras vissa slutsatser om vilka sexuella handlingar som kan anses jämförliga med samlag. De handlingar som säkrast kan sägas jämförliga är orala samlag utförda på män och anala samlag. Införande av fingrar eller annat i kvinnas underliv ses också vanligtvis som jämförligt med samlag. Orala samlag utförda på kvinnor torde i de flesta fall vara jämförligt med samlag, men i denna del visar sig praxis något spretig och vissa oklarheter råder. En fråga som inte blivit prövad av prejudicerande instans är om fall där det inte förekommit någon fysisk beröring mellan gärningsman och offer (exempelvis vid övergrepp via webbkamera) kan ses som kvalificerade sexuella handlingar. Det är också oklart om och i så fall när onani åt annan kan utgöra en kvalificerad sexuell handling. Tillsammans med detta har undersökts vilka omständigheter som kan påverka bedömningen och här har också resultatet varit en aning skiftande. Det torde dock vara så att bara de omständigheter som direkt påverkar den sexuella kränkningen – och inte kränkningen till följd av brottet i dess helhet – får vägas in då domstolen avgör om handlingen är kvalificerad. Utöver det rent rättsliga har uppsatsen också en genusvetenskaplig ansats där det undersökts hur föreställningar om kön och sexualitet påverkar bedömningen av kränkningen. Med hjälp av en diskursanalytisk metod har vissa mönster kunnat urskiljas i de genomgångna domarna. Här kan bland annat konstateras att den manliga sexualiteten fått tjäna som utgångspunkt då sexuella övergrepp definieras. Vidare går det se att den sexuella integriteten i huvudsak kopplats till kroppens insida. Detta får till följd att penetrerande övergrepp i regel bedöms som mest allvarliga medan exempelvis utnyttjande av det manliga könsorganet tenderar att ses som mindre allvarligt.

The target of thesis is to analyze handling equipment and device for realization of loading operations in agriculture and provide proposals and principles for optimal usage of applied handling equipment and device. The characteristics and clasifications of materials in agriculture, loading operations and transportation, listing of applied handling equipment and device for realization of such processes are stated in literary survey of this work. Next part of the work focuses on selection of modern handling equipment, device and producers ( domestic and international) available at current market and defines factors influencing the prefered choice to use particular handling equipment and device for loading processes on farms and in other agricultural environment. A part of the analysis is data and information acquisition of particular farm and review of loading processes in agriculture connected to applicable handling equipment and device, furthermore, currently used handling equipment and device with proposal to optimalization.

Leaves 58-60 folded. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Published Article / RFID can work in conjunction with sensors in material handling especially on a conveyor belt. A dozen different graded tagged products can be picked up by the RFID system in real-time and transported to respective chutes into automatic guided vehicles (AGV) for transportation to specific storage locations. The development of this system is now at an advanced stage. Our predictions to date show that the application of RFID in material handling in a manufacturing environment can assist in the fast flow of components throughout the assembly line beyond what available systems can do.

Initially, this research programme investigated training methods to improve strengthrelated material handling performance in the British Army. A widely used training programme was evaluated for its effectiveness in improving material handling, and found to provide some significant but small improvements. Modifications to the training programme, including the use of a large strength-training element, were devised based on prior research evidence. The modified training programme was evaluated and compared with the original programme, and shown to be significantly more effective at improving material handling. Any means to improve the effectiveness of strength training per se would further improve the effectiveness of the modified training programme. Consequently, a potential means to improve the effectiveness of strength training via postexercise nutritional supplementation was investigated. The encouraging but not statistically significant results suggested further research to evaluate the potential of the supplementation regimen and also to better illuminate the possible mechanisms. An evaluation of the hormonal and metabolic responses to varying combinations of resistance exercise and supplementation provided little additional evidence to support the effectiveness of the supplementation regimen. However, the likely mechanism of the effect that may exist was better identified as a direct effect of insulin or amino acid availability on muscle cell growth, rather than a reduction in circulating cortisol concentration.

With an aging population there is a growing need to assist people with disabilities. Particularly crucial is assisting people who cannot stand between positions necessary for everyday living, such as from a wheelchair to the toilet. It is unsafe to transfer people with direct manual techniques, thus a patient handling device is required. To reduce the burden on the healthcare system it is beneficial for disabled people to be cared for in-home. Many in-home caregivers may be physically impaired, thus patient handling devices for this use must require as little effort as possible. This thesis found that existing manual patient handling devices contained significant weaknesses when used for in-home care and there is potential to improve upon them. Expert interviews, computer modelling and physical models were used to develop a novel patient handling device which addresses these identified weaknesses. A reduction in the number of operator tasks, operation time and operation force was achieved. A method of supporting the patient solely by their upper body is required by the novel patient handling device, though an acceptable way of incorporating this has yet to be achieved. Testing of an upper body enclosure support revealed that a person may be supported by their lower thorax without substantial clamping or physical effort from the patient. Such a support has potential to be developed into an acceptable solution. Further development and testing in variable conditions encountered during practical patient handling is required.