We present results on smooth and nonsmooth variational properties of {it symmetric} functions of the eigenvalues of a real symmetric matrix argument, as well as {it absolutely symmetric} functions of the singular values of a real rectangular matrix. Such results underpin the theory of optimization problems involving such functions. We answer the question of when a symmetric function of the eigenvalues allows a quadratic expansion around a matrix, and then the stronger question of when it is twice differentiable. We develop simple formulae for the most important nonsmooth subdifferentials of functions depending on the singular values of a real rectangular matrix argument and give several examples. The analysis of the above two classes of functions may be generalized in various larger abstract frameworks. In particular, we investigate how functions depending on the eigenvalues or the singular values of a matrix argument may be viewed as the composition of symmetric functions with the roots of {it hyperbolic polynomials}. We extend the relationship between hyperbolic polynomials and {it self-concordant barriers} (an extremely important class of functions in contemporary interior point methods for convex optimization) by exhibiting a new class of self-concordant barriers obtainable from hyperbolic polynomials.

As water infrastructure in urban Ontario strains to meet the demands of a growing population, alternatives to the conventional water supply approach that complement demand management strategies are important to enable more sustainable water use at the household level. The adoption of rainwater harvesting (RWH), for indoor and outdoor uses by single-family households can reduce a households withdrawals on municipal water by 30% if rainwater is used for toilet flushing, laundry and outdoor uses (Despins 2009). The amount of potable water savings because of RWH is influenced by the rate of adoption and the allowed uses of rainwater at the individual household scale. The adoption of RWH systems would lead to reductions in potable water demand, which, in turn would lead to reduced demands on municipal water sources (e.g., groundwater or surface water), and storm water infrastructure resulting in overall reduced ecosystem stress and increased resiliency for climate change adaptation. Greater onsite storm water retention would mimic natural processes and would help reduce excess overland runoff that can result in water contamination. Presently, RWH systems tend to be more accepted and utilized in rural areas. However, there is a history of cistern use in rural and non-rural Waterloo. This history and capacity seems to be largely forgotten or unknown by urban citizens and local government officials. Century houses’ cisterns are often removed or filled in due to: a perceived lack of need, safety concerns and disrepair because of disuse. The increasing popularity of “green” building features and certifications have added some RWH systems for indoor and outdoor use to the urban environment, however, these remain limited instances. Moving RWH forward requires commitment from the Provincial and municipal government. Municipalities’ actions must support the sustainability objectives often referenced in their legislation and policy. This study establishes the drivers of RWH and examines the barriers to practice in the urban environment by examining existing examples and academic literature RWH systems within Canada and internationally. Results from a survey conducted in the City of Waterloo are used to reflect the systems user’s perspective. Interviews with municipal officials and RWH experts further highlight the drivers and barriers to RWH in urban Ontario. Based on the surveys, participants were generally willing to consider adopting RWH systems and a greater use of rainwater in the house, although a lack of information acts as significant barrier. However, Waterloo municipal officials who participated in the interviews described a much less enthusiastic attitude towards RWH. Although barriers identified in this research, including: legislative barriers, risk tolerance, perceptions of water abundance and economic realities shape the willingness to adopt RWH, this study indicates the barriers are surmountable through education and economic signaling.

This thesis examines the barriers that impede intensification (infill and redevelopment) within Regina’s Warehouse District (The District). In addition this study provides recommendations to overcome said barriers in order to facilitate residential development. This research expands upon two previous studies from 2002 and 2009, which were initiated by community stakeholders and that identified the need for additional residential development within The District. To date, success of the two previous plans in attracting new infill and redevelopment has been limited. This research looks to understand why this is, through the use of semi- structured interviews with key informants. Additional data from secondary documents and visual observations was collected to substantiate this approach. This research found that intensification in The District has been limited due to; unbalanced growth, existing municipal policies and zoning, a negative perception, proximity to noxious uses, an absence of amenities and services, unfavourable land development economics, and a soft demand amongst prospective residents. The second part of this research identified possibilities or factors to facilitate intensification within The District. Similarly these findings are grounded in the discussion with key informants. This data is corroborated by existing planning literature, as well as best practices from a number of North American jurisdictions. This study found that intensification could be facilitated in The District by; balancing growth, revising municipal policy and zoning, increasing public investment, improving the perception, having the city engaged in development, and with increased financial incentives. This research has explored intensification in two unique contexts, a mid-sized Canadian city and a historically industrial neighbourhood. It has contributed to the academic literature by establishing a better understanding of the barriers to intensification within both contexts. More specifically, it has explored intensification within Regina’s Warehouse District, a city that has been largely bypassed by academic planning literature.

Timely student completion of undergraduate nursing programs in order to produce practicing registered nurses (RNs) is of concern to students, faculty, governments, employers, and health care consumers across Canada. The shortage of health care professionals in Saskatchewan, particularly in nursing, is an immediate and growing concern. The average age of RNs in Saskatchewan is 44.9 years (CIHI, 2003). With the inevitability of retirement of many RNs, recruitment and retention of new nurses is critical to the quality of health care in this province. The looming shortage creates a further challenge for key stakeholders in academia, government, and health regions who hold a vested interest in the retention of nurses educated in Saskatchewan. Currently, little is known about the impact of barriers to timely completion of students in the Nursing Education Program of Saskatchewan (NEPS). Considering the aging nursing workforce, frequent, substantial numbers of nursing graduates are important to meet the demand for health human resources in the province of Saskatchewan (SRNA, 2004). <p>The purpose of this research was to conduct a secondary analysis of the NEPS Database including exit surveys completed by 363 graduates over a three-year period, 2002-2003; 2003-2004; 2004-2005. Group membership was determined by splitting data between graduates who had taken four academic years (September to April) or less to complete the program (timely completers) and those who took longer than four academic years (delayed completers). Objectives were to examine the differences between the two aforementioned groups in terms of the following variables: employment hours, financial burden, student loan status, dollar amount of bursaries awarded during the NEPS, primary responsibility the year prior to the NEPS, significant life changes during the NEPS, Aboriginal ancestry and core course averages. <p>Results show that 86% of females in the study group completed the NEPS in a timely manner compared with 58% of their male counterparts. There was a trend of higher employment hours per week in every year of the NEPS for delayed completers. However, this difference approached statistical significance only for students in year one, t (360) = 1.81, p < .07. Fifty percent of delayed completers had three or more significant life changes during the NEPS. Seventy-five percent of timely completers had two or fewer significant life changes. Students require various forms of support to ensure timely completion of the NEPS. It is anticipated that results of this research will inform policy decisions to facilitate timely completion of the NEPS.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore and analyze perceptions and attitudes of Facebook users as consumers and merchants; investigate which perceived risks, if any, function as adoption barriers of f-commerce. Methodology: The study adopts a mixed method approach. It uses the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation technique (ZMET method) and focus groups to explore consumers’ perceptions and their mental maps. In-depth interviews with SMEs were also part of the qualitative design. A survey was conducted among consumers based on the qualitative findings to construct a perceptual map of f-commerce, which denotes the perceived-risks that were transferred from Facebook and e-commerce.  Theoretical perspective: The study builds on prior literature of perceived risks as adoption barriers in e-commerce and social networks, brand extension and product sequence attributes transfer. Further, theories on perception and attitudes, categorization, values and mental maps were used in order to apply the ZMET method and the perceptual map.  Empirical data: Data was collected for four weeks via sixteen ZMET interviews, two focus groups and a survey with two-hundred and sixty four respondents from a sample of three-hundred and eighty existent and potential consumers. Further to this, ten in-depth interviews and one ZMET interview were conducted with existing and potential merchants. Conclusion: Perceived risks such as performance, social, privacy, physical, psychological, security, time and financial were identified in consumers as adoption barriers of f-commerce, and transferred from Facebook as a parent brand.  Overall lack of trust towards apps, brand pages and f-commerce is a latent aspect for consumers, where privacy and safe processing of credit cards are crucial factors. Category-product risks were concerns in general but not substantial. When it comes to merchants, they share the same perceived risks than consumers except for privacy, which was not an important factor to them. Besides, the dependence of internal and external changes of Facebook was perceived as a network externality risk, in terms of investment threat.

Outdoor education constitutes an alternative teaching approach that is characterized by authentic experiences and activities in outdoor natural and cultural landscapes. As a relatively new and progressive teaching method, it tries to find and consolidate its place within the existing educational system. The current thesis explores Greek academic teachers’ perceptions and experiences in the field of outdoor education. More specifically, eight academic teachers from a Greek university express their views about outdoor education and report their experiences in outdoor lessons. Through a qualitative approach, this research includes analysis of data extracted from semi-structured interviews with the academics. From the thematic analysis of the data four themes emerged that illustrate teachers’ opinions. The results of the research revealed academic teachers’ basic knowledge on the field of outdoor education, as they presented some well-aimed examples of main characteristics of the approach. Moreover, they reported limited previous outdoor experiences with their students and perceive outdoor lessons as any action outside the typical classroom, attributing higher importance to outdoor activities performed in cultural rather than natural landscapes. Also, academics acknowledged several benefits that outdoor education provides to their students such as the stimulation of all their senses, the connection of theory with practice and the promotion of social relations. In addition, they attributed significant importance to both the experiential approach to learning and to the connection with nature that outdoor lessons provide. Nevertheless, academic teachers highlighted many barriers that inhibit their efforts to apply outdoor lessons such as lack of time and appropriate places, inadequate infrastructure, human resources as well as insufficient pedagogical training and preparation. Concluding, what seems to trouble academics most is the prevailing educational culture inside schools and universities as well as teachers’ and academic teachers’ attitudes. The above findings contribute to the current limited scientific knowledge concerning the practice of outdoor education in the higher level of education. Last but not least, further qualitative research is a prerequisite in order to study the origin of the perceptions and attitudes of Greek academics and comprehend the socio-cultural and educational context in which these have been formed.

Smärta är förenat med ett lidande, och sjuksköterskan har ett stort ansvar vid smärtbedömning och smärtbehandling av patienter. Trots dagens väl utvecklade metoder och preparat för smärtlindring behandlas inte patienters smärta på ett adekvat sätt, bland annat på grund av negativa attityder hos sjuksköterskan när det gäller narkotikaklassade läkemedel. För att åskådliggöra hinder hos sjuksköterskan att administrera opioider till patienter med smärta genomfördes en systematisk litteraturstudie baserad på 18 originalartiklar. Resultatet visade att opiofobi hos både patient och sjuksköterska kunde verka som en barriär. Bristande kunskaper angående smärtbedömning och opioid som preparat var ett hinder för tillräcklig smärtlindring Ett bra samarbete mellan sjuksköterska och läkare var av stor vikt för att uppnå goda resultat vid smärtbehandling. Det är viktigt att sjuksköterskan håller sig ajour med de behandlingsmöjligheter som finns inom smärtområdet för att förbättra vårdkvaliteten. Riktlinjer för smärtbehandling är inte bara ett stöd för sjuksköterskan utan de förbättrar även patientsäkerheten. Patientens upplevelser av sjuksköterskans smärtbedömning kan vara intressant att forska vidare om i framtiden.

Uppsatsen diskuterar huruvida en ökad reglering av fastighetsmäklarbranschen kan hämma och skada effektiviteten på mäklarmarknaden. För att ge en bredare kontext som kan belysa frågeställningen har en översiktlig jämförelse gjorts mellan Sverige och England.

Sammanfattning Syftet: Att sammanställa vad som fanns beskrivet i vetenskaplig litteratur om bedömningsinstrument som kan användas av arbetsterapeuter för bedömning av behov av bostadsanpassning för vuxna med främst fysiskt funktionsnedsättning.   Metod: Systematisk litteraturstudie med sökning på fyra sökord i sju databaser. För att få ytterligare information om de funna bedömningsinstrumenten gjordes en manuell sökning via artiklarnas referenslistor för att kunna besvara frågeställningarna.   Resultat: Författarna fann sju bedömningsinstrument som bedömde olika aspekter av miljön i relation till person och/eller aktivitet. Inget av bedömningsinstrumenten var avsett att enbart bedöma behovet av bostadsanpassning. Resultatet styrker behovet av bedömningsinstrument som innehåller både observation och självskattningsmoment för att få en helhetsbild av miljöns tillgänglighet och användbarhet.   Konklusion:  Arbetsterapeuter som bedömer behovet av bostadsanpassning behöver bedömningsinstrument som mäter både subjektiva och objektiva aspekter av hemmiljö. Fem av bedömningsinstrumenten innehöll antingen självskattnings- eller observationsmoment och om de kombineras med varandra får arbetsterapeuten en helhetsbild. Två av bedömningsinstrumenten innehöll båda aspekterna. / Summary   Purpose:   To compile what was described in scientific literature on assessment instruments that can be used by occupational therapists to assess the need for home modifications for adults with primarily physical disabilities. Method: Systematic literature search with four keywords in seven databases. To obtain additional information about the assessment instruments a manual search of article reference lists was carried out in order to answer the specific study questions of the study. Results: The authors found seven assessment instruments which assessed various aspects of the environment in relation to person and / or activity. None of the assessment instruments were designed to only assess the need for home modifications. The results proved the need for assessment instruments that contain both observation and self-assessment elements to obtain a complete picture of environmental accessibility and usability. Conclusion: Occupational therapists who assess the need for housing modification needs assessment instrument that measures both subjective and objective aspects of the home environment. Five of the assessment instruments contained either self-estimation or observation moments and when combined, the occupational therapist gets an complete picture. Two of the assessment instruments included both aspects.

Master Thesis Linnaeus University, School of Business and Economics, Växjö, Sweden Authors: Juan Calcerrada, Henrik Wapner Tutor: Sarah Philipson Title: New service development of SMS-lending companies in Sweden Introduction: Many customers started to get into debt from taking sms-loans during the last years with the news being highlighted in media frequently. After the financial crisis in 2008, new laws &amp; regulations were imposed on the sms-lending companies. As of today, the sms- lending companies are still having problems with customers whose debts are being handled at the enforcement administration of Sweden. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the major barriers that serve as hinders for service development among sms-lending companies in Sweden. Method: A qualitative study has been conducted through semi-structured interviews with CEO’s, operation managers, and marketing managers of six companies in the sms-lending industry. Conclusion: The result shows that a standard model is not necessary for sms-lending companies in order to be profitable. However, none of the companies has a large share of the market, making it fragmented. Standardization in the market and problems to take patents on service innovation makes it difficult for the companies to innovate other than in their internal processes. The barriers to successful NSD processes are somewhat juridical and financial ones, but, although not mentioned by the interviewed companies themselves, we believe that the lack of customer involvement in the NSD process is serving as the major barrier. This is due to the fact that service companies are more dependent on customer interaction because of the service offerings being intangible, thus demanding a closely-monitored “fit” between service characteristics and customer requirements.