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The aim of this article is to introduce key definitions to patient access and a measurement approach, translated for a clinic-based research study or program evaluation. The authors hope this piece will provide those seeking to improve access with some basic starting points and replace rhetoric with rigor in evaluation. Issues discussed include defining access for measurement, measuring access, starting with the end point in mind, and using a logic model.

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In order to solve the College of Engineering and Computer Science facility access problem, an automated system that provides exterior doors with a time schedule and allows authorized users to gain access to the facility after hours was developed. A microcontroller based system has been designed to interface with a personal computer. The system designed within this thesis can be used as a starting point for multiple facility access control systems. This thesis will describe the design, integration, test, and final delivery of a facility access system that incorporates the Texas Instruments MSP430 microcontroller, a magnetic card swipe reader, and software developed in Microsoft Visual Basic .Net to provide a reliable and robust system for the College of Engineering and Computers Sciences needs.

BACKGROUND: Visual impairment impacts over 15% of Americans over the age of 65, roughly 7.3 million people. Currently there is no statewide model for low vision rehabilitation services that serves individuals across the visual impairment continuum. This dissertation sought to examine the existing eye care service delivery models, identify best practices, and explore perceived barriers and facilitators to access low vision rehabilitation services for older adults in order to inform the development of a revised service delivery model. The model will guide practice and policy change for existing and future services. METHODS: A mixed methods convergent approach was used to achieve the study’s overarching objectives. First, quantitative data from a synthetic estimation, was used to categorize high and low resource communities, which informed the purposeful sampling of focus groups and provided essential data to guide model development. Next, focus groups and one-on-one key stakeholder interviews were held to understand stakeholder perspectives on access to low vision rehabilitation services in both high and low resource communities. Further, one-on-one interviews with focus group participants provided additional quantitative data on individual prioritized barriers. Taken together, qualitative and quantitative research was conducted concurrently and then merged and expanded to inform a low vision rehabilitation focused care delivery model grounded in the Institute for Health Improvement’s Chronic Care Model. RESULTS: Key findings indicate the need for a model of service delivery that provides the full continuum of care, beginning with a low vision eye exam, which is coordinated throughout the community and health systems and addresses the chronic nature of visual impairment. Care should be client-centered and provided when the client is ready to accept services. Lastly, ongoing education to health care providers, consumers, and society will facilitate productive interactions and positive health outcomes. CONCLUSION: The stakeholder-driven low vision rehabilitation focused care delivery model grounded in the Chronic Care Model will provide a structure for service delivery throughout the state. This collaboration with community and health systems, as well as case management, will assist with program sustainability and reach to all adults throughout the state living with VI. / 2020-06-30T00:00:00Z

Students with Visual Impairment (VI) s5ll experience barriers to educa5on despite the right to educa5on s5pulated in the United Na5ons Conven5on on the Rights of Persons with Disabili5es (UNCRPD). Challenges such as delays in the conversion of curriculum content to accessible formats, inaccessible online course sites and teaching and learning that is mostly visual. With the University of Cape Town (UCT) going fully online due to COVID-19 pandemic, it became necessary to explore how equitable access to the curriculum is understood. The research topic is: How do staff and students at UCT understand equitable access to the curriculum for students with VIs? Four conceptual framework components were used. The hidden and enacted curriculum was used to explore hidden curriculum aspects and their effect on the enacted curriculum. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework was used to explore enablers such as assis5ve technology (AT) and challenges such as inaccessible content. Eight elements of digital literacies were used to explore access to opportuni5es to acquire digital literacies and the UNCRPD to ensure alignment with the right to educa5on. A Q methodology study was conducted which is a hybrid of both quan5ta5ve and qualita5ve methods. It sta5s5cally groups viewpoints that are significantly similar to or dis5nct from each other, quan5ta5vely into factors, then qualita5vely interprets these factors thema5cally to reveal par5cipant views about the research topic. Data was collected from students with VI, lecturers, staff from Disability Services, ICT Services, Library Services, and the Centre for Higher Educa5on Development using Q sor5ng where par5cipants ranked sixty statements into disagree, neutral and agree. Focus group discussions were used to support the interpreta5on of the factors. Findings revealed that: accessible curriculum is also a technical issue which is not priori5sed at UCT, and lecturers struggle with compe5ng demands such lack of 5me, need for promo5on and research. Accessibility design from the start both for curriculum development and support services is not valued. The right to educa5on for students with VI is par5al, varying their experience of the curriculum. Tes5ng of a course site for accessibility and lack of AT nega5vely affects right to educa5on. This study argues that students with VI do not yet enjoy full par5cipa5on in the curriculum due to lack of understanding of the complexity involved. UDL can help academics move from a deficit view to an asset view of students with VI. UCT should change its opera5onal model to accessibility from the start. Then UCT will move closer to equitable access to the curriculum for students with VI.

In a packet radio network, multiple terminals broadcast information over a shared communications medium. Messages are transmitted from a source terminal to a destination terminal over multiple relays or hops. The actions of one terminal in the network directly affect the actions of other terminals within its range. The analysis of packet radio networks is complex because system performance depends on the topology of the terminals in the network along with the random access protocol used. Researchers have been unable to model a packet radio network in its most general form. In this project, a model is developed for specific topologies of a packet radio network with a given random access protocol. The sponsor of this project has developed a packet radio network for an indoor wireless alarm system. At the start of the project, the effect of message collisions on system performance was unknown. As a result of this research, a collision model for the network has been developed for topologies of four, five, and six alarm units. The model has been validated with actual system testing. Furthermore, the effects of indoor propagation on system performance have been studied. The results of this work have led to the development of an installation plan for the indoor wireless alarm system. / Master of Science

<p>Internet access using IEEE 802.11 wireless local area networks has become very common. In home and office networks where voice, video and audio will be delivered, quality of service (QoS) support is essential so that customers can be offered video on demand, audio on demand, voice over IP and high-speed Internet access. In addition to the proliferation of WLAN hotspots, WLAN mesh networks are now being used as a cost-effective means for coverage extension and backhaul relaying between IEEE 802.11 access points (APs).</p> <p> In conventional IEEE 802.11, APs are always continuously powered using fixed wired connections. In future WLAN mesh networks however, wired power connections may not always be readily available, especially in Wi-Fi hotzone installations which cover expansive outdoor areas. In such cases, fixed power connections can often be replaced by a battery operated or solar powered design. For this reason, power saving on the AP is highly desirable for this type of application. Unfortunately, this is not possible since the existing IEEE 802.11 standard requires that APs remain active at all times.</p> <p> In this thesis, we propose and investigate a comprehensive framework for a power saving QoS-enabled access point (PSQAP), intended for use in solar and low power IEEE 802.11 infrastructure applications. An energy-efficient media access control protocol is proposed using the contention-based channel access mode for IEEE 802.11. When real-time flows are present, a PSQAP schedules its awakening/sleeping pattern in a manner that satisfies the delay and packet loss requirements for the admitted real-time flows. A dynamic connection-admission control algorithm is proposed for efficient management of wireless resources. We show that both background traffic and the synchronization of stations' transmissions due to AP's alternating between awake and sleep states can cause excess queuing and packet collision rate. These effects result in an increase in packet delay and power consumption at the mobile stations in contention-based channel access mode. We propose and investigate several scheduling methods for mitigating these effects. It is also shown that voice over IP over WLAN (VoWLAN) suffers a low capacity problem and high handset/AP power consumption. A novel adaptive voice packetization scheme is proposed which improves VoIP capacity and reduces power consumption. The work in this thesis is characterized by analytical models and evaluated through extensive network simulations to study and analyze the key performance aspects of the proposed framework and the associated protocols.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Page 104 was not included in the thesis. / <p> The work presented in this thesis relates to one of the most important problems in the design of high-density, high-speed bubble memory systems. A new approach for the analysis, design and optimization of bubble circuits is developed. This formulation is suited to computer-aided methods of solution.</p> <p> A micromagnetic approach to the modeling of permalloy bubble circuits is examined. Basic to the approach is the discretization of the circuit into very small regions to simulate the ferromagnetic essence of the permalloy. This method of analysis is very useful in studying submicron bubble circuits. However, the numerical difficulties as well as the excessive computer time required for such analysis led to careful consideration of possible approximations. A continuum model for analyzing field access bubble circuits has, thus, been developed and used to characterize arbitrary shaped permalloy structures. Various propagation circuits, including gap tolerant circuits, and bubble replicators are analyzed and the results compared to experimentally available data.</p> <p> A model for studying bubble size and position fluctuations is introduced. The model assumes that the bubble domain is circular. However, with slight modifications it can accept general elliptical shapes. For various propagation circuits, the model results are in excellent agreement with experimental measurements in the literature.</p> <p> An algorithm for bubble circuit optimization is developed and discussed in detail. The problem is formulated as a constrained minimax objective which is suited to nonlinear programming methods of solution. Typical examples of T-I propagation circuits are furnished to illustrate the approach.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)