Thesis (MScEng)-- Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa has a great number of patients and not enough medical expertise to attend to their patient needs. The South African Department of Health (DoH) has recognised the potential benefit of the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) to address the health needs of rural patients who do not have access to specialised medical care. PACS allows specialist remote access to patient information to assist the diagnosis and treatment process remotely. South African healthcare institutions have been implementing PACS for over a decade, in an attempt to address the health needs of rural patients that do not have access to specialised medical care. Despite numerous deployment attempts, and the DoH’s support for PACS, the system is not operating successfully in South Africa. PACS was chosen due to its proven success as an appropriate technical system in most international hospitals of first and third- world countries (van Wetering, 2008) (Horri, 2010). However, specifications, guidelines and best practice operational methods for the appropriate PACS technical structure are lacking in South African literature and in governmental strategies. Additionally, there are no guidelines for implementation or support for hospital decision makers to manage the system and enterprise change. The purpose of this thesis is to (a) define a PACS technical and operational structure suited for the South African public healthcare environment and, (b) to develop guidelines for implementation and optimisation of PACS for managing the system and the enterprise change and progressively reach the defined structure. A combination of literature research, field observations and focus group discussions led to the understanding of the current (“As-Is”) PACS healthcare delivery system in South Africa and its barriers. Three types of PACS structures were found to be currently available: a DICOM-only image management system; a vendor supplied PACS; and a super-PACS. It was found that currently very few PACS systems in South Africa are operational and integrated with other healthcare institutions. This was due to a combination of factors: a) the complex, long chain of interdependent process steps and domains; b) vendor imposed limitations and propriety data formats; in combination with c) a lack of governing standards to ensure integration of digital PACS systems within the healthcare delivery environment; and lastly d) key decision makers lack the expert knowledge necessary to make informed decisions to deploy and manage PACS optimally. Further research led to establishing the (“To-Be”) PACS technical and operational structure suited for the South African public healthcare environment. Research has shown that the suited PACS technical and operational structure is a hospital-owned PACS system, free from vendor-imposed limits. The system consists of two databases, one with patient information and the other with patient images. The two databases are integrated by a hospital-owned server, which accesses the separate data files by means of patient identity keys. The requirements for the PACS implementation and optimisation guidelines for managing the system and the enterprise change to progressively reach the defined structure were developed. Different Enterprise Architectural Frameworks, as improvement and optimisation guidelines, were considered and compared in accordance with the requirements established. A maturity model (MM) was deemed as the appropriate framework to offer guidelines for managing PACS implementation and optimisation in the public medical sector of South Africa. After establishing that the available MMs were not sufficient in process or technical system detail, a new MM was developed for the deployment and maturation of PACS. The study was validated by means of usability study, user acceptance and goal checking, through focus group discussion and expert review. Users found the model to be a suitable deployment and optimisation guide, as well as a strategic planning tool. Verification was achieved by means of requirement analysis and consistency checking through the focus group discussions. It was found that it is needed to define a PACS technical and operational structure is suited for the South African public healthcare environment and that the guidelines for implementation and optimisation of PACS for managing the system and the enterprise needs to change to reach the defined structure functional. Implementing the use of PACS MM to reach the defined structure in South Africa will assist in improving healthcare delivery in South Africa and improving PACS system operation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid-Afrika het 'n groot aantal pasiënte en nie genoeg mediese kundiges om aan hul pasiënt behoeftes te voorsien nie. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Departement van Gesondheid (DvG) erken die potensiële voordeel van ‘n Foto Argief en Kommunikasie Stelsel (PACS) om die gesondheidsbehoeftes van alle Suid-Afrikaners aan te spreek – tot die landelike pasiënte wat nie toegang tot gespesialiseerde mediese sorg het nie. PACS laat spesialiste toe om toegang te kry tot afgeleë pasiënt inligting, en daardeur fasiliteer dit die diagnose- en behandelingsproses. Suid-Afrikaanse gesondheidsorginstellings poog al vir meer as ‘n dekade om PACS te implementeer, om daardeur die gesondheidsbehoeftes van landelike pasiënte wat nie toegang tot gespesialiseerde mediese sorg het nie, aan te spreek. Ten spyte van talle ontplooiings pogings, en die DvG se steun vir PACS, is die stelsel steeds nie suksesvol in Suid-Afrika nie. PACS is gekies as ‘n oplossing, as gevolg van die sisteem se bewese sukses as 'n geskikte tegniese stelsel in meeste internasionale hospitale in eerste en derde wêreld lande (van Wetering, 2008) (Horri, 2010). Suid-Afrikaanse regering strategie en literatuur het egter ‘n gebrek aan spesifikasies, riglyne en beste- praktyk operasionele metodes vir die toepaslike PACS tegniese struktuur. Benewens is daar geen riglyne vir die implementering en ondersteuning van die stelsel en die onderneming se verandering vir hospitaal besluitnemers nie. Die doel van hierdie tesis is om (a) 'n PACS tegniese en operasionele struktuur, geskik vir die Suid-Afrikaanse openbare gesondheidsorg omgewing te definieer, en (b) riglyne vir die implementering en afronding van PACS vir die bestuur van die stelsel en die onderneming se verandering teen doel om progressief die gedefinieerde struktuur te bereik. 'n Kombinasie van literatuur navorsing, veldwaarnemings en fokusgroepbesprekings het gelei tot die begrip van die huidige ("as- is") PACS gesondheidsorg proses in Suid-Afrika en die hindernisse daarvan. Drie tipes PACS strukture is tans beskikbaar in SA: 'n DICOM (net-mediese- beelde) beheer stelsel, 'n verkoper verskafde PACS, en 'n super-PACS. Deur uitgebreide navorsing is daar gevind dat baie min PACS stelsels in Suid-Afrika tans operasioneel en geïntegreer is met ander gesondheidsorg instellings. Dit was te danke aan 'n kombinasie van faktore: a) die kompleks, lang ketting van interafhanklike proses stappe en gebiede; b) ondernemer opgelê beperkings en ordentlikheid data formate; in kombinasie met c) 'n gebrek aan beheer standaarde integrasie van digitale PACS stelsels om te verseker binne die lewering van gesondheidsorg-omgewing, en laastens d) sleutel besluitnemers nie die deskundige kennis wat nodig is om ingeligte besluite te sit en te bestuur PACS optimaal te benut. Verdere navorsing het gelei tot die vestigting van die geskikde("to-be") PACS tegniese en operasionele struktuur, vir die Suid-Afrikaanse openbare gesondheidsorg omgewing. Die geskik PACS tegniese en operasionele struktuur bestaan uit ‘n hospitaal-besitde PACS stelsel, vry van ondernemer-opgelegde grense. Die stelsel bestaan uit twee databasisse, een met 'n pasiënt inligting en die ander met dei pasiënte se mediese beelde. Die twee databasisse geïntegreer deur 'n hospitaal-besitde-rekenaarbediener, wat toegang tot die afsonderlike data lêers het deur middel van die unieke pasiënt nommers. Die vereistes vir die PACS implementering en afrondings riglyne, vir die bestuur van die stelsel en die ondernemings veranderinge, is ontwikkel. Verskillende ondernimings argitektuur raamwerke is oorweeg en vergelyking in terme van hulle vermoe om aan die gesigde vereistes et voldoen. As ‘n resultaat is die volwassenheid model (MM) beskou as die toepaslike raamwerk om riglyne vir die bestuur van PACS implementering en afronding in die openbare mediese sektor van Suid-Afrika te bied. Na die beskikbare MMs geasseseer was en nie voldoende bewys is, was 'n nuwe MM ontwikkel vir die implementeering en afronding van PACS. Die studie was gevalideer deur middel van die bruikbaarheid studie, gebruikers aanvaarding en doelwit asseseering, deur middel van fokusgroep besprekings en kundige oorsig. Gebruikers het gevind dat die model geskikte as implementeerings en afrondings gids, sowel as 'n geskikte strategiese beplanning hulpmiddel is. Verifikasie is bereik deur middel van vereiste-ontleding en konsekwentheid analiseering deur die fokusgroep besprekings en spesifikasie analise. Die PACS tegniese en operasionele struktuur wat definieer was, is geskik vir die Suid-Afrikaanse openbare gesondheidsorg omgewing en dat die riglyne vir die implementering en afronding van PACS funksioneel is . Die implementering en gebruik van die gedefinieerde struktuur deur mideel van die PACS MM in Suid-Afrika, sal help in die verbetering van gesondheidsorg dienslewering en die verbetering van PACS stelsel operasie.

UOL; CAPES / Esta tese apresenta um método para a extração de regiões de interesse (ROIs) de imagens. No contexto deste trabalho, ROIs são definidas como os objetos semânticos que se destacam em uma imagem, podendo apresentar qualquer tamanho ou localização. O novo método baseia-se em modelos computacionais de atenção visual (VA), opera de forma completamente bottom-up, não supervisionada e não apresenta restrições com relação à categoria da imagem de entrada. Os elementos centrais da arquitetura são os modelos de VA propostos por Itti-Koch-Niebur e Stentiford. O modelo de Itti-Koch-Niebur considera as características de cor, intensidade e orientação da imagem e apresenta uma resposta na forma de coordenadas, correspondentes aos pontos de atenção (POAs) da imagem. O modelo Stentiford considera apenas as características de cor e apresenta a resposta na forma de áreas de atenção na imagem (AOAs). Na arquitetura proposta, a combinação de POAs e AOAs permite a obtenção dos contornos das ROIs. Duas implementações desta arquitetura, denominadas 'primeira versão' e 'versão melhorada' são apresentadas. A primeira versão utiliza principalmente operações tradicionais de morfologia matemática. Esta versão foi aplicada em dois sistemas de recuperação de imagens com base em regiões. No primeiro, as imagens são agrupadas de acordo com as ROIs, ao invés das características globais da imagem. O resultado são grupos de imagens mais significativos semanticamente, uma vez que o critério utilizado são os objetos da mesma categoria contidos nas imagens. No segundo sistema, á apresentada uma combinação da busca de imagens tradicional, baseada nas características globais da imagem, com a busca de imagens baseada em regiões. Ainda neste sistema, as buscas são especificadas através de mais de uma imagem exemplo. Na versão melhorada da arquitetura, os estágios principais são uma análise de coerência espacial entre as representações de ambos modelos de VA e uma representação multi-escala das AOAs. Se comparada à primeira versão, esta apresenta maior versatilidade, especialmente com relação aos tamanhos das ROIs presentes nas imagens. A versão melhorada foi avaliada diretamente, com uma ampla variedade de imagens diferentes bancos de imagens públicos, com padrões-ouro na forma de bounding boxes e de contornos reais dos objetos. As métricas utilizadas na avaliação foram presision, recall, F1 e area of overlap. Os resultados finais são excelentes, considerando-se a abordagem exclusivamente bottom-up e não-supervisionada do método. / This thesis presents a method for the extraction of regions of interest (ROIs) from images. By ROIs we mean the most prominent semantic objects in the images, of any size and located at any position in the image. The novel method is based on computational models of visual attention (VA), operates under a completely bottom-up and unsupervised way and does not present con-straints in the category of the input images. At the core of the architecture is de model VA proposed by Itti, Koch and Niebur and the one proposed by Stentiford. The first model takes into account color, intensity, and orientation features and provides coordinates corresponding to the points of attention (POAs) in the image. The second model considers color features and provides rough areas of attention (AOAs) in the image. In the proposed architecture, the POAs and AOAs are combined to establish the contours of the ROIs. Two implementations of this architecture are presented, namely 'first version' and 'improved version'. The first version mainly on traditional morphological operations and was applied in two novel region-based image retrieval systems. In the first one, images are clustered on the basis of the ROIs, instead of the global characteristics of the image. This provides a meaningful organization of the database images, since the output clusters tend to contain objects belonging to the same category. In the second system, we present a combination of the traditional global-based with region-based image retrieval under a multiple-example query scheme. In the improved version of the architecture, the main stages are a spatial coherence analysis between both VA models and a multiscale representation of the AOAs. Comparing to the first one, the improved version presents more versatility, mainly in terms of the size of the extracted ROIs. The improved version was directly evaluated for a wide variety of images from different publicly available databases, with ground truth in the form of bounding boxes and true object contours. The performance measures used were precision, recall, F1 and area overlap. Experimental results are of very high quality, particularly if one takes into account the bottom-up and unsupervised nature of the approach.

När Lantmäteriet skannade sina förrättningsarkiv till det digitala arkivet Arken var syftet att få ett rikstäckande digitalt förrättningsarkiv. Lantmäteriet lagrar idag sitt förrättningsmaterial i Arken. Äldre gällande förrättningsakter, vidare benämnda akter om ej annat anges, som aldrig överlämnats till Lantmäteriet för skanning saknas dock fortfarande i Arken. Dessa akter arkiveras från 1972 och tidigare av respektive kommun som saknar kommunal lantmäterimyndighet i de så kallade byggnadsnämndsarkiven. Detta följde av att dåvarande lantmäteristyrelsen år 1917 gav kommuner möjlighet att bli stadsregisterförare och fastighetsbildare i stad eller samhälle på landsbygden. Behovet av att akterna kommer in i Arken är stort och genom skanning tillgängliggörs de och blir mer lätthanterliga för samtliga aktörer med intresse av dem. Digitalisering av de återstående akterna skulle bidra till att göra både förrättningshandläggning samt arkivering av akterna mer effektiv, tillgänglig och lätthanterlig för Lantmäteriet. Detsamma gäller för kommuner som arkiverar dem, såväl som för privatpersoner och andra myndigheter.  Studien syftar besvara vilka effekter en skanning av de återstående akterna kan ha. Frågeställningar som användes var: 1) Hur kan handläggningen av lantmäteriförrättningar effektiviseras och 2) göras mer rättssäker genom skanning av byggnadsnämndernas akter som ännu inte skannats in i Arken? 3) Hur kan kommuner och andra aktörer på fastighetsmarknaden påverkas av skanning av dessa akter? Frågeställningarna besvarades genom inventering av akter samt intervjuer. Inventeringen verifierade de maskinellt uttagna antal akter som saknades i Arken och jämfördes med verkligheten i de kommuner som skannat sina akter. Tillsammans med detta utfördes en manuell inventering av respektive kommun, som inte skannat sitt arkiv. Intervjuerna beskrev förrättningars rättssäkerhet och kvalitet i handläggning och fastighetsregistret. Intervjuerna besvarade även vilka aktörer som kunde påverkas av skanning av de återstående byggnadsnämndsarkiven var samt hur aktörerna påverkades.  Med resultatet visas effekterna av skanningen bland annat vara tidsbesparingar och effektivitet för många av de inblandade aktörerna. Rättssäkerhet och kostnadsbesparingar ansågs också kunna åstadkommas hos kommuner och Lantmäteriet genom skanning av de äldre akterna. Slutsatser som drogs i arbetet var att skanningen påverkar de som idag använder akterna positivt och att satsningar inom detta bör satsas på från kommunalt såväl som statligt håll. / When the Swedish Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authority, Lantmäteriet, first digitised their archived cadastral procedures into the digital archive Arken, the aim was to create a national digital archive for cadastral procedures. Lantmäteriet now have their cadastral procedures digitised in Arken. Some municipalities still have their older analogue cadastral procedures from 1972 and before archived in the office of their local authority. For the cadastral procedure, this means the land surveyor is bound to contact the local authority to reach all information needed for the procedure. A digitisation of the remaining older cadastral procedures may improve their availability and make todays cadastral procedure more effective and manageable for Lantmäteriet. This also applies to other users of these older archived documents. This dissertation aims to answer the following questions: 1) How may cadastral procedures become more effective and 2) become more legally certain through a digitisation of the analogue archives? 3) Which impact may a digitisation of these older archives have on the real property market and the Swedish municipalities? The research questions were answered through inventory of cadastral procedures and personal interviews with local authorities and other actors, experienced of or influenced by these matters. The inventory helped answering the amount of work remaining in digitising these archives. The interviews answered which impact a digitisation of the material would have on different users of the information. Interviews were also used together to investigate both the legal certainty of cadastral procedures and the quality of the Swedish land registry. The result of the dissertation shows which impact a digitisation would have on different users of the information. The most common effect of digitisation was effectiveness in different aspects, such as timesaving and cost-effectiveness along with legal certainty. Conclusions from the dissertation are: all interviewed users of the older cadastral procedures are positive to a digitisation of the material. More effort in time and finance from the different Swedish local authorities and Lantmäteriet is needed and strongly recommended.

This thesis describes the process of archiving of shots and programmes in news and sport editorial offices of the Czech Television. Newsroom prepares broadcasts for ČT1 and ČT24 programmes. The sport editorial office provides the broadcasts for ČT SPORT and also prepares the news for "Branky, body, vteřiny" on ČT1. With regard to this, both offices produce a considerable amount of audio-visual material. The thesis examines how this material is subsequently archived. Do both offices have a systematic and comprehensive procedure for archiving of shots and programmes? And are these archives easily traceable, available and usable for further broadcasting? The thesis summarizes the history of archiving of news and sport audio-visual material. The key process of digitization, which allows the transcription and saving of old archive materials stored on tape media, is also mentioned. After describing the history of archiving, the author focuses on the current methodology of the process and describes the system of archiving in news and sports news. Who does archiving and what systems and programmes are used for it? At the end of this thesis the future of archiving is analysed with regard to the progress in technologies used for archiving.

While both public opinion and scholars around the world are currently pointing out the danger of increasingly popular life-logging devices, this book articulates this debate by distinguishing between automatic and manual life-logging approaches. Since new definitions of life-logging have excluded the latter approach and have been mainly focused on effortless life-logging technologies such as Google Glass and Quantified Self applications in general, the second part of this thesis theoretically frames life-stowing.Through extensive etymological research, I have defined life-stowing as a manual and effortful practice conducted by life-stowers, individuals who devote their life to sampling reality in predefined frameworks. As part of this book, an historical overview introduces life-stowers and distinguishes between Apollonian and Dionysian varieties of these practitioners. Lastly, in order to understand the future reception of life-stowing, particularly in relation to digital media, I have disclosed my ongoing life-stowing project to a small audience. / Den samtida samhälls- och forskningsdebatt, där de allt mer populära teknologierna för life-logging ofta framställs som farliga, vidgas och utvecklas i denna bok genom ett särskiljande av automatiska och manuella tekniker för life-loggning. Eftersom nya definitioner av life-loggning i stor utsträckning har exkluderat manuella tekniker och fokuserat på egenmätning som inte kräver så mycket av användaren, såsom GoogleGlass, innehåller avhandlingen också ett teoretisk utforskande av begreppet lifestowing. Genom omfattande etymologisk forskning definieras life-stowing i avhandlingen som en manuell och ansträngande praktik utförd av life-stowers, personer som vigt sina liv åt att samla och spara bitar av verkligenheten enligt fördefinierade ramar. I den historiska översikten introduceras två typer av life-stowers, den Apollonianska och den Dionysiska. Slutligen, för att förstå det framtida mottagandet av life-stowing i relation till digitala medier, presenteras författarens egna life stowingprojekt för en mindre publik.

This diploma thesis deals with an electronic (digital) archiving issue and its using in the financial accounting and general company matters. The thesis is divided into two main parts - theoretical and practical. The theoretical part includes the legislative framework in the archiving theory, after that there is an analysis of means for the internal and external communication in companies. At the end of the theoretical part is contained an archiving standardization, archiving strategies and some products and solutions to a trustworthy electronic archiving in organizations. The practical part is based on the author's survey about using the electronic archiving in the Czech Republic. The procedure of the survey was performed by sending of an electronic questionnaire. At first, the structure of respondents is pursued, in the second part follows the analysis of the reached outcome.

M.Tech. (Radiography) / Conventional film and paper based radiology departments have been replaced by information technology at a rapid rate internationally. The leading technology is the Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) and Radiology Information System (RIS). The necessity to follow global trends has become more apparent in Africa. Simultaneously, Gauteng has now reached a stage where PACS and RIS have been widely implemented. It has been recommended that radiographers must be prepared for the change in expectations and levels of accountability required when PACS and RIS are adopted into the radiology department. The research question that arises is: What are the experiences of radiographers using PACS and RIS in Gauteng, South Africa? The aim and objectives of this explanatory sequential study was to explore and describe the experiences of radiographers using PACS and RIS in Gauteng, South Africa and to develop guidelines to facilitate the job satisfaction of radiographers in a PACS and RIS-driven radiology department. The study employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods design. The explanatory design is a two-phased mixed methods design. The study began with the first, quantitative phase in which the researcher collected data from the six participating diagnostic radiology practices in the form of questionnaires. For the second phase the researcher interviewed information-rich radiographers who participated in the first phase of the data collection in focus groups. The findings, of this study, indicate that the participants in this study experience PACS and RIS in a positive manner, but that strategies could be put into place to further enhance their experience. Guidelines for facilitating job satisfaction of radiographers in a PACS and RIS-driven radiology department are suggested

This thesis deals with e-invoicing of payables. It describes the various ways the e-invoice can be obtained, in particular from the moment the e-invoice is transmitted in EDI format and invoice details are put on web sites up until the e-invoice is received in PDF forma via e-mail or the scanning of the invoice document with subsequent text extraction. It determines and sets out the legislative requirements of the electronic document, looks into the benefits and drawbacks of e-invoices and compares them with paper form. The thesis also explains the technical terminology related to e-invoicing (various types of document formats, international standards for encryption of electronic communication, electronic signature, etc.). Furthermore it outlines the use of data boxes for e-invoicing. The thesis includes in its last part a practical example of implementation process of e-invoicing in a particular company.

The work deals with controlling and visualizing technology of dust exhaust of smeltery for recyclation of aluminum waste. In the first part of the work are analyzed the different ways of automatic control. Based on the analysis is proposed control system configuration, algorithm of control, communication interfaces and sensors of alarm, measurement and regulation. The second part deals with visualization and remote administration of control system. On the basis of selection for the visualization software is designed and implemented a system that provides visualization of technology, the archiving of measured operating values, events and errors.

The goal of this work was to research the available database systems and propose a suitable database system for data archiving. Prepare the communication and processing of data between the database and delivered application Profisignal which processes the measured data from all sensors. Design architecture for the database, the storage of measured data and calculation reports on that data. At the end design the web user interface. The result of my work demonstrate possible ways of archiving data in ORACLE database, examples of calculation the reports and sample of web application, that presented the measured data.