The theme of this dissertation is “Management of the regeneration of post-industrial areas”. The aim of the work is to identify support mechanisms for the redevelopment of post-industrial areas in the Czech Republic. Such support mechanisms were researched and analysed in those EU countries that have broad and varied experience with the regeneration of post-industrial areas. The most favourable case studies were selected from Germany, with a particular focus given to the districts around the city of Leipzig, and the United Kingdom, highlighting the city of Manchester. For these chosen examples, I have analysed the legislative, institutional, and financial tools of urban regeneration support. One chapter is dedicated to the analysis of the environmental assessment tools for buildings and urban communities as alternative approach to the support of municipal regeneration. Findings from all chapters are contrasted with the analysis of four typical examples of derivation of post-industrial areas in Czech cities, which were chosen as being typical of unsuccessful redevelopments. Based on these examples I have compiled recommendations gained from successful mechanisms for urban regeneration abroad which could be considered and put into practice here in the Czech Republic.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

A globalização das economias, aliada ao avanço das comunicações e à chegada da Internet, está tornando a integração virtual cada vez mais viável. O comércio eletrônico com as empresas, a web social e a inclusão das pessoas deverão se beneficiar dos serviços que estão sendo disponibilizados na web reforça a necessidade de uso das páginas. Com isto, surge a necessidade de tornar as páginas da Internet cada vez mais agradáveis, fáceis de serem utilizadas e eficientes em seus objetivos e, desta maneira, facilitando a todos. Nesse novo cenário, portanto, é primordial torná-las cada vez mais práticas de serem utilizadas, ou seja, o estudo da usabilidade se tornou uma necessidade para os projetistas das páginas de Internet para que a qualidade da Interação Humano-Computador(IHC) seja cada vez melhor. Deve-se pensar também em como verificar/avaliar se essas páginas foram construídas de forma satisfatória a atender aos interesses dos usuários. Neste contexto, foi interessante desenvolver algo que fizesse uma coleta automatizada dos elementos de interação dos websites para servir de suporte e apoio no processo de avaliação de usabilidade, tornando-os, desta maneira, mais claros e com maior possibilidade de a interação com o usuário ser realizada de forma mais eficaz e eficiente. No desenvolvimento das atividades relacionadas a esta proposta de trabalho foi criado um protótipo de uma ferramenta que informasse quais elementos de interação estavam contidos em cada uma das páginas dos websites avaliados. Tal coleta visava auxiliar o desenvolvimento de ferramentas que apoiassem a avaliação da usabilidade, tanto de forma automatizada como, por exemplo, por meio da apresentação de questionários confeccionados por essas ferramentas de forma prática, pois apresentariam apenas perguntas específicas aos elementos de interação que realmente estivessem contidos nos websites. Este protótipo também torna a avaliação da usabilidade mais eficiente e rápida, pois apresenta um levantamento prévio dos elementos de interação da página web uma vez que identifica os elementos da página com as suas características e disponibiliza para o avaliador todas essas informações em formulários web. / The globalization of economies, coupled with the advancement of communications and the arrival of the Internet, is becoming increasingly feasible virtual integration. Electronic commerce with businesses, web and social inclusion of people will benefit from the services that are available on the web reinforces the need to use the pages. With this, comes the need to make Web pages more and more enjoyable, easy to use and efficient in their goals and in this way facilitating all. In this new scenario, therefore, it is essential to make them ever more practical to be used, ie, the study of usability has become a necessity for designers of web pages so that the quality of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is better. One should also think about how to verify/evaluate whether these pages were designed to satisfactorily serve the interests of users. In this context, it was interesting to develop something that would make an automated collection of interaction elements of the websites to provide support and assistance in the usability evaluation process, making them, in this way, clearer and with greater possibility of interaction with the user be performed more effectively and efficiently. In developing this proposal related to work activities a prototype of a tool to inform interaction elements which were contained in each of pages of reviews websites was created. This collection was intended to assist the development of tools that would support the assessment of usability , both automated way, eg, through the presentation of questionnaires made by these tools in a practical way, it would show only specific questions to the elements of interaction that were actually contained in websites. This prototype also makes the assessment more efficient and faster usability, it presents a preliminary survey of interaction elements of the web page as it identifies the elements of the page with its features and available to the assessor all this information into web forms.

A globalização das economias, aliada ao avanço das comunicações e à chegada da Internet, está tornando a integração virtual cada vez mais viável. O comércio eletrônico com as empresas, a web social e a inclusão das pessoas deverão se beneficiar dos serviços que estão sendo disponibilizados na web reforça a necessidade de uso das páginas. Com isto, surge a necessidade de tornar as páginas da Internet cada vez mais agradáveis, fáceis de serem utilizadas e eficientes em seus objetivos e, desta maneira, facilitando a todos. Nesse novo cenário, portanto, é primordial torná-las cada vez mais práticas de serem utilizadas, ou seja, o estudo da usabilidade se tornou uma necessidade para os projetistas das páginas de Internet para que a qualidade da Interação Humano-Computador(IHC) seja cada vez melhor. Deve-se pensar também em como verificar/avaliar se essas páginas foram construídas de forma satisfatória a atender aos interesses dos usuários. Neste contexto, foi interessante desenvolver algo que fizesse uma coleta automatizada dos elementos de interação dos websites para servir de suporte e apoio no processo de avaliação de usabilidade, tornando-os, desta maneira, mais claros e com maior possibilidade de a interação com o usuário ser realizada de forma mais eficaz e eficiente. No desenvolvimento das atividades relacionadas a esta proposta de trabalho foi criado um protótipo de uma ferramenta que informasse quais elementos de interação estavam contidos em cada uma das páginas dos websites avaliados. Tal coleta visava auxiliar o desenvolvimento de ferramentas que apoiassem a avaliação da usabilidade, tanto de forma automatizada como, por exemplo, por meio da apresentação de questionários confeccionados por essas ferramentas de forma prática, pois apresentariam apenas perguntas específicas aos elementos de interação que realmente estivessem contidos nos websites. Este protótipo também torna a avaliação da usabilidade mais eficiente e rápida, pois apresenta um levantamento prévio dos elementos de interação da página web uma vez que identifica os elementos da página com as suas características e disponibiliza para o avaliador todas essas informações em formulários web. / The globalization of economies, coupled with the advancement of communications and the arrival of the Internet, is becoming increasingly feasible virtual integration. Electronic commerce with businesses, web and social inclusion of people will benefit from the services that are available on the web reinforces the need to use the pages. With this, comes the need to make Web pages more and more enjoyable, easy to use and efficient in their goals and in this way facilitating all. In this new scenario, therefore, it is essential to make them ever more practical to be used, ie, the study of usability has become a necessity for designers of web pages so that the quality of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is better. One should also think about how to verify/evaluate whether these pages were designed to satisfactorily serve the interests of users. In this context, it was interesting to develop something that would make an automated collection of interaction elements of the websites to provide support and assistance in the usability evaluation process, making them, in this way, clearer and with greater possibility of interaction with the user be performed more effectively and efficiently. In developing this proposal related to work activities a prototype of a tool to inform interaction elements which were contained in each of pages of reviews websites was created. This collection was intended to assist the development of tools that would support the assessment of usability , both automated way, eg, through the presentation of questionnaires made by these tools in a practical way, it would show only specific questions to the elements of interaction that were actually contained in websites. This prototype also makes the assessment more efficient and faster usability, it presents a preliminary survey of interaction elements of the web page as it identifies the elements of the page with its features and available to the assessor all this information into web forms.

L'aportació principal d'aquesta tesi doctoral consisteix en un instrument polièdric per a l'avaluació de la funció docent del professorat de secundària basada en indicadors agrupats en quinze àmbits diferents, que poden ser relacionats amb unes determinades competències professionals de la docència. D'acord amb l'objectiu de la recerca, l'instrument ha estat validat pel sistema de judici d'experts i se n'ha dut a terme diverses proves pilot. Es tracta d'una investigació avaluativa aplicada que permet obtenir informació rellevant per facilitar la presa de decisions, tant de tipus formatiu (reflexió crítica de la pròpia pràctica docent) com de tipus sumatiu (rendició de comptes). L'instrument es pot aplicar en la modalitat d'avaluació interna i contempla l'autoavaluació (el propi professor): portafolis i autoinforme; i l'heteroavaluació (parell acadèmic i directiu): observació de classes i entrevista. Aquests instruments poden ser útils per a la gestió de la millora de la qualitat educativa, considerada en el context del projecte educatiu de cadascun dels centres que l'apliquin. / The main contribution of this thesis is a multifaceted instrument for the assessment of teaching for secondary school teachers based on indicators, grouped into fifteen different fields, which may be associated with certain professional teaching skills. According to the purpose of research, the instrument has been validated by experts and several pilot tests have been carried out. It consists on an evaluative research applied to obtain relevant information to facilitate decision making, either formative (critical reflection of their own teaching practice) or summative (assessment results). The instrument can be applied in the form of internal evaluation and includes self-evaluation (teacher's own): self-report and portfolio; and peer evaluation (academic peer and a member of the board) class observation and interview. These instruments can be useful for the management of education quality improvement, considered in the context of the educational project of each of the schools that apply it.

Increasing enrollment of students and declining availability of qualified and experienced faculty are leading to increased assessment loads of the existing faculty. Moreover, the assessment techniques are changing drastically due to the ever-increasing demand of new knowledge and abilities from the students. The tools offered by information technology can now be effectively used in enhancing the productivity of a teacher. This thesis proposes a mechanism for creating both summative and formative assessment instruments for a course in an engineering program. The assessment instruments will vary widely in nature depending on the subject. With increasing prevalence of digital devices in all walks of life a first level knowledge of digital systems is considered necessary for all engineers especially under electrical and computer engineering curricula. The first level course ‘Basics of Digital Systems’ is chosen for developing a framework of computer assisted evaluation. Creation of assessment instruments is best done in the context of an instructional system design (ISD) model. ADDIE, a generic model is chosen for the study. Bloom’s classification of levels of cognition, Vincenti’s categorization of engineering knowledge, and ‘Gronlund 2-level’ method for writing the learning objectives are integrated to create a ‘Bloom-Vincenti–Gronlund’(BVG)framework for preparing the learning objectives/assessment instruments. Developing tools for evaluation of performance of students in the assessment tests requires consideration of many issues: analysis of problems and their solution methods, errors normally committed by students, grading preferences of the instructor and feedback to students. A set of tools are developed that are able to evaluate the truth tables, state tables, excitation tables, timing diagram and VHDL codes. The developed tools are validated. The submission of the assignment and the integration of all the tools for evaluation will be more effective if they can be integrated in a learning management system (LMS). ‘MOODLE’, an open source LMS, is identified for the integration of the tools. The developed tools execute the files submitted by the students, evaluate them, and provide feedback to the students. In summary, the thesis addressed some key issues related to “assessment and evaluation of students’ performance” and proposed an integrated computer assisted system for the evaluation of students’ performance in the course ‘Basics of Digital Systems’.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / MBA Professional Report / Over the years, the United Nations' (UN) peacekeeping operations have increased significantly. When a crisis develops, the UN is expected to respond. It examines the overall situation in order to assess the political and military goals, required composition of force, equipment, training, financial implications, circumstances of deployment and effectiveness of the peacekeeping operation required. The UN does not have any permanent force structure; it is dependent on its member States for contribution of forces, though the equipment may or may not be provided by the troops' contributing countries. The UN has a standard procedure for acquiring peacekeeping operations/services. The process is a contract between the UNDPKO and the troops' contributing countries. Though there are similarities betweeen UN-followed contract management process and the generaly accepted contract management process identified in the contract management body of knowledge, there are many differences as well. The purpose of this study is both to evaluate the existing UN contract management process being followed to acquire peacekeeping operations/services from various troops' contributing countries against the generally accepted contract management process identified in the contract management body of knowledge as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of the UN contract management process maturity so as to assess the effectiveness of the UN contract management process for obtaining peacekeeping operations/services from troops' contributing countries.

Studien är en källstudie vars syfte är att undersöka huruvida SARA B-SAFER fungerar som riskbedömningsinstrument och om brottsutvecklingen för våld mot kvinnor i nära relationer har ökat eller minskat under tidsperioden, åren 2000-2012. Urvalet för studien är Kalmar polismyndighet och Södertörn polismästardistrikt. Underlaget för studien är tidigare forskning från hur Polisen har arbetat med SARA B-SAFER och offentlig statistik på antalet anmälda brott från Brottsförebyggande rådet (BRÅ). Resultaten i studien visar på en ökning av antalet anmälda brott för våld mot kvinnor i nära relationer, samtidigt som anmälningarna ligger på en förhållandevis jämn nivå. Vidare indikerar studien på att det finns en komplexitet kring SARA B-SAFER som riskbedömnings-instrument, då det finns indikationer på att instrumentet har en prediktiv validitet. Åtgärder för att skydda brottsoffren hamnar i skymundan och SARA B-SAFER fungerar då inte preventivt, vilket kan förklara antalet ökade anmälningar för att instrumentet predicerar rätt. / This study aims to appose if the SARA B-SAFER are successful as a risk-assessment tool and if the crime development for spousal against women have risen or declined between the years 2000-2012. Kalmar Police County and Södertörn Manor are participating and statistics over crimes for spousal violence against women are studied in these areas. The material for the study is earlier research and statistics from Brottförebyggande rådet (BRÅ). The result in the study show that the crimes for spousal violence against women have increased but lay on a stable level. Further there is a complexity about SARA as a risk-assessment tool, when it seems to work on a predictive level, but not as much on a preventive stage, as wishes. The predictive factor on SARA can explain the increased numbers of crimes.

Abstrakt  Bakgrund: Sexuell ohälsa och våldsutsatthet är vanligt bland ungdomar och kan få allvarliga hälso-och beteendemässiga konsekvenser för unga kvinnor och män. Ungdomsmottagningarnas centrala mål är att främja sexuell och reproduktiv hälsa. Barnmorskors roll innebär bland annat att upptäcka ungdomar med sexuellt riskbeteende och våldsutsatthet. Motiv: Utmaningen i barnmorskors dialog med ungdomar är att få dem att dela med sig av negativa erfarenheter vilket sällan sker spontant. Därav utvecklades bedömningsverktyget SEXIT för att underlätta kommunikationen mellan barnmorskor och ungdomar. Studier i norra Sverige saknas angående barnmorskors upplevelse av bedömningsverktyget SEXIT. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att narrativt undersöka hur barnmorskor på ungdomsmottagning upptäcker och bemöter risk- eller våldsutsatta ungdomar innan, under och efter implementering av bedömningsverktyget SEXIT. Metod: En kvalitativ intervjustudie genomfördes med sex barnmorskor. Intervjuerna analyserades enligt Riessman’s sätt att bilda en narrativ metaberättelse där intervjuerna kodades och tematiserades. Genusperspektiv användes som inspiration.  Resultat: Analysprocessen resulterade i fem narrativa teman som presenterades i en bestämd tidsordning. Första temat, Förtroendeingivande barnmorskor med ambition att fånga upp våldsutsatthet där frågor om våld tappas bort, handlade om hur de fångade upp våld och risktagande innan SEXIT. Tema två, SEXIT en ögonöppnare i teorin men svårare att implementera i praktiken, avser hur barnmorskorna upplevde kursen, resterande tre teman, SEXIT - innebär både motstånd och möjligheter, Tiden - en grundläggande förutsättning för att upptäcka våldsutsatthet och risktagande bland ungdomar, att rutinmässigt utfråga unga kan avslöja sexuell ohälsa, innehöll narrativ som handlade om motstånd, möjligheter, utmaningar som kunde bidra till att upptäcka ungdomar med sexuell ohälsa. Konklusion: Innan SEXIT intog barnmorskorna delvis en undvikande roll gällande riskbeteenden och erfarenhet av våld. Efter SEXIT intog barnmorskorna en mer aktiv roll med direkta frågor baserat på det ifyllda SEXIT-underlaget. SEXIT kan vara ett användbart verktyg, men narrativen tyder på ett visst motstånd mot användning vid dropp-in. / Abstract  Background: Sexual risk taking and violence are common among adolescents and can have serious health and behavioral consequences for them. The youth clinics' central goal is to promote sexual and reproductive health. The role of midwives includes, among other things, detecting adolescence with sexual risk behavior and exposure to violence. Motive: The challenge in midwives' dialogue with adolescence to make them share negative experiences, which rarely happens spontaneously. From this, the SEXIT assessment tool was developed to facilitate communication between midwives and adolescents. Studies in northern Sweden are lacking regarding experience of the assessment tool SEXIT. Aim: The aim was to narratively investigate how midwives at youth clinics discover and meet with at-risk or violent adolescence before, during and after implementation of the SEXIT assessment tool.   Methods: A qualitative interview study was conducted with six midwives. The interviews were analysed according to Riessman's method of forming a narrative meta-narrative where the interviews were coded and thematized. Gender perspective was used as inspiration. Result: The analysis identified five narrative themes presented chronologically. The first theme, "Confidence-inspiring Midwives," focused on midwives detecting violence issues before SEXIT. Theme two, "SEXIT: Theory verses Practice," explored the challenges of implementing SEXIT in real-life situations. The remaining three themes, "SEXIT: Resisting and Embracing," "Time: Essential for Detecting Violence among Adolescence," and "Routine Questioning Reveals Sexual Health Issues in Adolescence," discussed narratives on resistance, opportunities, and challenges in uncovering sexual health concerns in adolescents. Conclusion: Before SEXIT, the midwives partly assumed an avoidant role regarding risk behaviours and experience of violence. After SEXIT, the midwives took a more active role with direct questions based on the SEXIT assessment tool. It can be a useful tool, but the narrative signifies resistance to use SEXIT during drop-in.