Under de senaste tre decennierna har populära managementböcker erbjudit snabba och enkla recept för hur ledare ska leda personal på ett effektivt sätt. Dessa böcker har blivit bästsäljare och har inspirerat många ledare inför nya utmaningar angående personalfrågor. Kända managementförfattare har alltså stor påverkan för hur individ och ledarskap uppfattas i samhället, samt för att förstärka en viss vision om hur människors beteende borde utformas för att företagsmässiga mål skall kunna uppnås. Denna studies syfte var att öka förståelsen för populär managementlitteraturs maktdimensioner. Tre bästsäljande managementböcker från sekelskiftet analyserades genom en foucaultinspirerad diskursanalys, med fokus på styrningsmentalitet, disciplin och människosyn. I analysen visas hur de utvalda böckerna innebär en styrningsmentalitet som präglas av interna kontroll- och utvärderingsformer, samt en disciplinär dimension som kristalliseras ut i definitioner av vad norm och avvikelse är i dagens organisation. / Over the past three decades, popular management books have offered quick and easy recipes for how leaders have to lead staff in an effective manner. These books have become bestsellers and they have inspired many leaders to face challenges regarding management of people. Famous management writers have thus a big influence on how individuals and leadership are perceived in society, as well as a big influence to reinforce a certain vision of how human behavior should be designed in order for that entrepreneurial goals will be achieved. The study's aim is to increase understanding about the power dimensions in popular management literature. Three best-selling management books from the turn of the century were analyzed using a Foucault-inspired discourse analysis, focusing on management mentality, discipline and view of human beings. The analysis shows how the selected books implies a management mentality  that is characterized by internal monitoring and evaluation, as well as a disciplinary dimension that crystallizes in the definitions of what norm and deviation are in today's organization.

Since the 1970s, the Tucson Basin has been the focus of an increasing number of research and cultural resource management archaeological projects. A vast body of data has been accumulated relevant to the prehistoric environment and culture history of the basin. One research area that has received special attention in the last two decades is Hohokam settlement patterns. This study was designed to examine that issue, in addition to producing an overview of the cultural and environmental setting of the basin. The study area consists of a 5-kilometer-wide corridor along the Santa Cruz River between the towns of Marana and Continental. In order to provide the necessary background for the settlement pattern research, data first were compiled on the environmental setting of the basin, including geological, climatic, biotic, and hydrological aspects. The environmental overview that is provided in Chapter 2 is the first such study, of this scale, to be produced for the Tucson Basin. In conjunction with the environmental overview, a cultural overview was developed that encompasses the Paleo-Indian through Protohistoric periods. Current thoughts relevant to the Tucson Basin temporal sequence were synthesized to produce a chronology and culture history, which is presented in Chapter 3. The culture history is accompanied by a research history of Tucson Basin archaeology in Chapter 4, which classifies prior research into four major periods and discusses current research trends. The main body of the study, presented in Chapters 5 and 6, contains Hohokam site distribution and settlement pattern data, which are discussed in relationship to the environment and other relevant factors. The study area as a whole is examined in Chapter 5, whereas a subset of the data, consisting of southern Tucson Basin Hohokam sites, is discussed in Chapter 6. The study concludes with a comparative review of cultural-environmental studies that have been conducted on the Colorado Plateau. A settlement pattern model, known as the AnaAnzi adaptation model, that uses a dynamic disequilibrium approach to understanding settlement pattern change, is examined and its applicability to an analysis of Hohokam settlement patterns is discussed.

M. Tech. Electrical Engineering. / Investigates a new approach of wheelchair control, based on the user behaviour recognition. This objective involves two steps in the resolution of the problem. The first step is to determine the action the user initiates. Therefore, the present study will mostly refer to literatures on car driver behaviour modelling, as several studies have been conducted in that domain. The proposed model of user's behaviour presented here is based on probabilistic graphical model, for instance, Bayesian network. The second step is the generation of an assistive control signal that will compensate the user input, depending on the driving task inferred by the Bayesian network.Experiments have been conducted on a virtual environment model developed in Matlab and several users participated to the experiments. The results show a great potential of Bayesian Network model to infer on human behaviour and also a satisfying output from the ANFIS model as it delivers signals following the user's behaviour.

The effect of concurrent music on gait was investigated amongst Parkinson‟s disease (PD) patients and age-matched control subjects. Ten people (mean age 66.6 ± 6.5 years) with idiopathic Parkinson‟s disease and ten healthy age-matched (mean age 65.4 ± 6.3 years) control subjects completed steady state gait, dual task and obstacle negotiation trials in two differing test conditions; no music and whilst listening to music. Testing conditions were counterbalanced between subjects. The gait performance of PD patients was detrimentally affected by concurrently listening to music during steady state gait and obstacle negotiation, an effect that was further compounded in the dual task context. These findings imply that listening to music concurrent to gait may increase the attentional cost for PD patients. The findings of these studies have implications for patients, who may be at greater risk of falls in multi-task situations. / xi, 113 leaves ; 29 cm. --

The St Lucia estuarine lake system in South Africa is part of a UN- ESCO World Heritage site and a Ramsar wetland of international importance. Like many estuarine systems worldwide St Lucia has experienced signi cant anthropogenic impacts over the past century including catchment land use changes, water diversions/abstractions and inlet manipulation. In addition, the system has recently su ered losses in species diversity and abundance following unprecedented hy- persaline conditions and desiccation. Questions regarding its sustain- ability have motivated a reevaluation of management decisions made in the past and of options for the future. To understand the func- tioning of the system, it is necessary to analyse it holistically in terms of the physical processes and their interaction with the biology. This study focusses on aspects of the biophysical interactions in the estu- arine complex, and aims to provide new knowledge to underpin the development of improved models for predicting the response of the system to anthropogenic interventions. A model for the water and salt budgets was used to investigate what if scenarios in terms of past anthropogenic interventions, in particular the e ects of diverting the Mfolozi River from St Lucia. Furthermore, the risks of hypersalinity and desiccation were assessed for each sce- nario. Integrating these modeled scenarios with observed biological responses to physicochemical changes suggested that large long-term changes in the ecological structure can be expected in the di erent management scenarios. To validate this, the ecosystem response to changing environmental responses was quantitatively assessed using ecological network analysis. Long-term simulations show that the separation of the Mfolozi and St Lucia mouths had a signi cant impact on the functioning of the St Lucia system. The Mfolozi plays a pivotal role in maintaining a more stable mouth state regime and provides a vital source of freshwater during dry conditions. The con guration of the Mfolozi/St Lucia inlet plays a key role in the physico-chemical environment of the system and in uences the system's susceptibility to desiccation and hypersaline conditions. Ecosystem indices revealed that the water level, salinity and mouth state have a signi cant impact on species abundance and diversity as well as the ecological structure and functioning of the system. In addition, ecosystem indices show that the system recovers rapidly during favourable conditions. The arti cial separation of the St Lucia and Mfolozi inlets underpins the most signi cant impacts on the water and salt budget of the lake and its reversal is key to the sustainability of the system. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.

Transportation in the United States is responsible for a disproportionate amount of global greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change. To address the issue, strategies that seek to mitigate transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions and adapt transportation systems to the threats of a more inhospitable climate should be developed through the transportation planning process. The transportation plans and related documentation of 60 metropolitan planning organizations, 13 domestic cities, and 27 large international cities were reviewed to ascertain if climate change considerations are being incorporated into transportation planning. The review of transportation plans revealed that climate change considerations are often not incorporated into the planning process, especially in regard to adapting transportation systems to the effects of climate change due to the inherent uncertainties in climate data and risk analysis. On the other hand, greenhouse gas mitigation is more frequently included in the planning process, when compared to climate change adaptation, because the required data collection techniques and analysis tools are better developed and already in place within many planning organizations. This research has shown that there is much room for improvement in terms of including climate change into transportation planning through a variety of recommendations presented in the body of this thesis. Many of the identified mitigation and adaptation recommendations could be worked into existing transportation planning requirements, processes, and strategies at the metropolitan and local level. However, due to the influence by federal and state governments on the planning process, completely addressing climate change through transportation systems will require these high levels of government to redefine transportation regulations and planning requirements in addition to partnering with metropolitan planning organizations and local governments to develop more reliable climate data and increase its availability.

Thesis (M.C.A.-Res.)--University of Wollongong, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 34-35.

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Manual lifting tasks are the predominant means of transporting materials in industry with many of these tasks being performed in confined spaces. Research has tended to focus on the biomechanical implications of working in small spaces with a decided lack of information about the physiological and perceptual responses in these environments. This holistic study therefore investigated the manner in which the human operator responded to conditions where the ceiling height was lowered and reach demands increased. Thirty-two young physically active male subjects (age: 21.55yr; stature: 1810mm) were recruited to complete a 2-way repeated measures experiment during which four lifting protocols where different combinations of ceiling height (‘normal’ or reduced to 1460mm in height) and reach demands (400mm or 800mm) were tested. A crude postural analysis was conducted while physiological responses were detailed and continuously monitored. Perceptual responses were also assessed. The tasks with a ‘normal’ ceiling height (mean compression forces: 2615N; mean shearing forces: 388N) and the greatest reach distance (mean compression forces: 3655N; mean shearing forces: 386N) placed individuals under the highest strain. Mean heart rate (HR) responses were significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the URN condition when compared to the RF condition. Furthermore, HR responses were statistically significantly affected by the height of the ceiling and the reach depth. Statistically significant differences (p< 0.05) in mean tidal volume (VT) occurred in the least (URN) and most (RF) restrictive conditions. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) in mean VE were evident between URN and URF, between URN and RF and between RN and RF. Ceiling height and reach demands had a statistically significant effect on all respiratory responses. There was a statistically significant difference in mean oxygen consumption (VO2) between the URN and all other conditions, and between the most restricted task (RF) and all other conditions. Both the effect of ceiling height and reach demands had a statistically statistically significant impact on VO2. Respiratory quotient (RQ) was significantly higher when loads were moved over 800mm compared to 400mm yet ceiling height did not have a statistically significant effect on RQ. Mean energy expenditure was significantly higher in the RF condition compared to the two least restrictive conditions (URN and RN). Statistically significant differences in EE were also evident between URN and RN, and between URN and URF. EE was significantly affected by reductions in ceiling height and increases in reach demands. Perceptually, the RF task (mean ‘Central’ RPE of 11) was perceived to place significantly greater cardiorespiratory demands on the operator compared to the URN (CRPE: 10) and RN (CRPE: 10) conditions. Statistically significant differences in perceived musculoskeletal strain only occurred between URN and RF. The effect of reach was perceived to have a statistically significant effect on both cardiovascular and musculoskeletal demands whereas ceiling height only had a statistically significant effect on musculoskeletal demands. The greatest discomfort was experienced in the lower back with the most intense discomfort occurring in the RN condition.