The focus of this thesis is to find the most modern methods to craft 3D characters for implementation in game engines. The industry is constantly adapting to new software and my study is to cover the most efficient way to create a character from an idea to fully realized character in 3D. The following is my journey in learning new techniques and adapting to the new software. To demonstrate, I will work through the process of creating a character from a 2D concept to a 3D model rendered in real time.

In order to describe the trend, characteristics, and cost of occupational injuries that occurred in industrial settings across the United States between 1998 and 2009, a cross sectional analysis based on hospital discharge data was conducted. The National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data from the Healthcare and Cost Utilization Project (HCUP)(1) was used. Identification of relevant injuries from the sample was performed using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9 CM) code E849.3 (industrial place and premises)(8). A total of 307,586 (weighted) patients with industrial related injuries were discharged from hospitals in the United States during the period 1998-2009. They were largely male (81.8% vs. 16.6% female) and made up of 48.6% Non-Hispanic Whites, 18.2% Hispanic, and 6.2% Non-Hispanic Black. Two-thirds of patients were within the [25-54] years age group, broken down as 20.4%, 24.8% and 22.1% in the 25-34, 35-44, and 45-54 years age group respectively. Persons in the ≥65 age group also represented a sizable proportion at 7.3%. The patients were mostly admitted from an Emergency Department (61.2%), followed by routine/standard admissions (22.2%). While they were for the most part discharged home (81.7%), 7.2% were released to a home care facility, 7.9% to another type of facility, and 0.7% died during their stay in the hospital. As for the geographical distribution, 38.9% were admitted in the West, 24.6% in the South, 19.5% in the Midwest, and 17% in the Northeast United States. Furthermore, 88.6% were admitted in a hospital in urban settings vs. 11.2% in rural settings. The common injury sites were lower and upper extremities (52.6%), multiple locations (14.2%), trunk (9.3%), and head (8.9%). Of all admissions, 48.4% involved fractures, followed by open wounds (25.7%), internal crush injuries (19.4%), and superficial contusions (10.1%). "Foreign Body Entering through Orifice" (0.5%) and poisoning (2.3%) scored the lowest, while burns (5.8%), dislocations (3.9%), and crushing (5%) were noted as well. The mean length of stay was 4.09 days (95% CI 3.92 - 4.22), while the 95th percentile was ≤13 days. When analyzed by injury site, persons with multiple injuries stayed the longest, averaging 6.21 days (95% CI 5.85 - 6.57) while those with injuries at extremities stayed the shortest, 3.53 days (95% CI 3.42 - 3.65). Patients admitted for burns stayed 7.21 days on average (95% CI 6.52 - 7.9) while those with sprain/strain injuries (2.87 days, 95% CI 2.71 - 3.02) and poisoning (2.92 days, 95% CI 2.69 - 3.16) stayed the shortest. Overall, the mean cost of care (crude 2001-2009) was $10,153 per admission. Viewed from the injury site angle, the "multiple" category was the most costly at $17,518 and "extremity" the lowest ($8,269). Diagnostics of "Foreign Body Entering through Orifice" were the most expensive, costing on average ($17,036), closely followed by "burns" ($16,495), while "poisoning" was the least costly, with a mean cost of $6,077. Using Joinpoint regression modeling, we found an overall annual percentage rate change (APC) decrease (-1.73%) over the course of the study. While this improvement was noted in most study sub-segments, it was reversed for women (1.53%), government insurance (Medicare/Medicaid) recipients (7.72%), and older workers (9.16%). The results also revealed a high annual percentage rate (APC) decrease for Hispanics (-9.65%) for the period 1998-2004, jumping to (-18.65%) from 2007 to 2009. A similar pattern with two models was noted for the younger [18-24] age group where the annual percentage rate decreased constantly by (-2.08%) during the period 1998-2007 and drastically jumped to (-18.34%) from 2007 to 2009. In conclusion, a comprehensive trend analysis of industry-related occupational injuries recorded nationwide within the United States as presented in this study is useful to policy makers in formulating targeted strategies and allocation of resources as needed to address disparities found at various levels. Disparities found in trends observed from a gender angle calls for action to reverse the positive rate recorded for females (1.53%) when compared to males (-2.74%). Similarly, there is a call for action to address the age demographic disparity for older worker, the "≥65" age group exhibiting an alarming rate of occupational injuries (9.16%), bucking an across-the-board general negative trend.

Doctor of Philosophy / ABSTRACT The notion of theatricality has, in recent years, emerged as a key term in the fields of Theatre and Performance Studies. Unlike most writings dealing with theatricality, this thesis presents theatricality as a rubric for a particular discourse. Beginning with a case-study of a theatre review, I read an anti-theatricalist bias in the writer’s genre distinctions of “theatre” and “performance”. I do not, however, test the truth of these claims; rather, by deploying Foucauldian discourse analysis, I interpret the review as a “statement” and analyse how the reviewer activates notions of “theatricality” and “performance” as objects created by an already existing discourse. Following this introduction, the body of thesis is divided into two parts. The first, “Mapping the Discursive Field”, begins by surveying a body of literature in which a struggle for interpretive dominance between contesting stakeholders in the fields of Theatre and Performance Studies is fought. Using Samuel Weber’s reframing of Derrida’s analysis of interpretation of interpretation, in Chapter 2, I argue that the discourse of the field is marked by the struggle between “nostalgic” and “affirmative” interpretation, and that in the discourse that emerges, certain inconsistencies arise. The disciplines of Theatre, and later, Performance Studies in the twentieth century are characterised, as Alan Woods (1989) notes, by a fetishisation of avant-gardist practices. It is not surprising, therefore, that the values and concerns of the avant-garde emerge in the discourse of Theatre and Performance Studies. In Chapter 3, I analyse how key avant-gardist themes—theatricality as “essence”, loss of faith in language and a valorisation of corporeality, theatricality as personally and politically emancipatory—are themselves imbricated in the wider discourse of modernism. In Chapter 4, I discuss the single English-language book, published to date, which critically engages with theatricality as a concept: Elizabeth Burns’s Theatricality: A Study of Convention in the Theatre and Social Life (1972). As I have demonstrated with my analysis of the discursive field and genealogy of avant-gardist thematics, I argue that implicit theories of theatricality inform contemporary discourses; theories that, in fact, deny this genealogy. Approaching her topic through the two instruments of sociology and theatre history, Burns explores how social and theatrical conventions of behaviour, and the interpretations of that behaviour, interact. Burns’s key insight is that theatricality is a spectator operation: it depends upon a spectator, who is both culturally competent to interpret and who chooses to do so, thereby deciding (or not) that something in the world is like something in the theatre. Part Two, “The Heritage of Theatricality”, delves further, chronologically, into the genealogy of the term. This part explores Burns’s association of theatricality with an idea of theatre by paraphrasing a question asked by Joseph Roach (after Foucault): what did people in the sixteenth century mean by “theatre” if it did not exist as we define today? This question threads through Chapters 5 to 7 which each explore various interpretations of theatricality not necessarily related to the art form understood by us as theatre. I begin by examining the genealogy of the theatrical metaphor, a key trope of the Renaissance, and one that has been consistently invoked in a range of circumstances ever since. In Chapter 5 explore the structural and thematic elements of the theatrical metaphor, including its foundations, primarily, in Stoic and Satiric philosophies, and this provides the ground for the final two chapters. In Chapter 6 I examine certain aspects of Renaissance theories of the self and how these, then, related to public magnificence—the spectacular stagings of royal and civic power that reached new heights during the Renaissance. Finally, in Chapter 7, I show how the paradigm shift from a medieval sense of being to a modern sense of being, captured through the metaphor of a world view, manifested in a theatricalised epistemology that emphasised a relationship between knowing and seeing. The human spectator thus came to occupy the dual positions of being on the stage of the world and, through his or her spectatorship, making the world a stage.

People with diabetes are at a greater risk of burn injuries than those without diabetes. This stems from the epidemiological profiles of the conditions and the effects of morbidities associated with diabetes. Both conditions share some similarities in terms of metabolic alterations and suboptimal immune functions which may result in poor outcomes for patients. For that reason, it is reasonable to deduce that patients with diabetes are a challenging group to manage in burns units. However, this deduction should be taken cautiously because of lack of supporting evidence. Accordingly and after consulting with clinical experts, the research in this portfolio investigated the association between diabetes and burn injuries. In particular, two different aspects of this association were investigated in two individual quantitative and descriptive inquiries. The first was a case note review of patients hospitalised with a principal diagnosis of a foot burn injury in a large tertiary hospital in South Australia from 1999 to 2004. The second study investigated management of diabetes in burns units treating adults. This study is an e-mail survey of clinical leaders of burns units in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. The clinical leaders were approached indirectly through key liaison persons in each identified unit. In the first study, outcomes for twelve subjects with and fifty-two without diabetes were described using descriptive and non-parametric statistics. In the second study, descriptive frequencies and content analysis were adopted to analyse twenty-nine responses from seventeen out of thirty burns units which participated in the study. Supporting findings in the literature, the first study showed that burn injuries among subjects with diabetes were mainly resulted from household devices. There were no statistically significant differences between subjects with and without diabetes in terms of size and depth of burn injuries and treatment received. In spite of this, there was a statistically significant association between diabetes and the experience of local post-burn complications and longer duration of hospitalisation. The second study indicated that more than twenty-five percent of the respondents believed that multidisciplinary centres should only occasionally be involved in the process of care. Participants reported that the individual profile of each patient plays a major role in determining the management of diabetes. Additionally, it was found that the insulin sliding scale was commonly used in the management of diabetes in burns units. The association between diabetes and a burn injury is a serious issue in terms of health and cost. This association need be addressed firstly and most importantly at the prevention level; secondly through proper management of both diabetes and burns. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1285462 / Thesis (D.Nurs.)--Population Health and Clinical Practice, 2007.

<p>Individer som blivit brännskadade upplever både fysiska och psykiska hinder. En acceptans av den nya kroppen kan ta lång tid. Under rehabiliteringsprocessen på sjukhuset arbetar det multiprofessionella teamet med denna patientgrupp för att de ska kunna klara av vardagen. Sjuksköterskan bör ha god kunskap av att vårda brännskadade patienter. Syftet med litteraturstudien var att belysa hur individen upplever sin livssituation efter en brännskada för att sjuksköterskan ska få en ökad kunskap och därigenom kunna ge en god omvårdnad. Sjutton vetenskapliga artiklar bearbetades för att sedan sammanställas till ett resultat med olika teman. Resultatet visade fem teman; <em>Upplevelsen av stöd, upplevelsen av att hantera brännskadan, upplevelsen av smärta och klåda, upplevelse av livskvaliteten efter brännskadan </em>samt<em> upplevelsen av vården.</em> Brännskadade individer behöver stöd från om-vårdnadspersonal och närstående. Copingstrategier användes för att utstå både fysisk och psykisk smärta. Livskvaliteten kunde både försämras och förbättras efter en brännskada. Att vårda patienter med brännskador kräver goda kunskaper inom omvårdnad då den omfattar många delar. Mer forskning inom området behövs för att sprida kunskap. Även en stödgrupp för brännskadade patienter borde etableras för att kontakt mellan brännskadade individer ska upprättas.</p> / <p>Individuals who have endured burn injuries experience both physical and psychological barriers. Coming to terms with lasting effects of burn injuries on the body can take a long time. The rehabilitation process in the hospital is at a multi-professional level, drawing across a large cross section of specialist skills to enable patients to cope with everyday life. Nurses need to have a good knowledge base to care for burn injured patients. The purpose of this study was to highlight how individuals feel about their life after a burn injury, to help nurses get a better understanding of the subject and therefore provide good health care. Seventeen scientific articles were analysed and then complied into a conclusion with different themes. These themes were; <em>the experience of support, the experience to cope with burns, the experience of pain and pruritus, experience of the quality of life </em>and <em>the experience of the health care. </em>Burn injured patients need support from the nursing staff and relatives. Coping strategies were used to endure both physical and mental pain. The quality of life could be either worse or better after a burn injury. Caring for patients with burns requires a high level of knowledge in nursing, as it affects the many stages of recovery. More research in this area is needed to increase know-ledge. A support group for burn patients should also be established in order to support contacts between burn injured individuals.</p>

<p><p>Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva hur patienterna upplevde Brännskadeteamets ettårsuppföljning. Studien har en deskriptiv design med såväl kvalitativa som kvantitativa data. Som underlag för studien har en utvärderingsenkät använts, svaren är insamlade under tidsperioden 2001- juni 2008. Svarsfrekvensen var hög (81,4%), 57 patienter av 70 hade besvarat enkäten.</p><p>Bemötandet skattades av samtliga patienter som mycket bra (77,2%) eller bra (22,8%). Samtliga patienter som hade ställt frågor ansåg att de hade fått svar på sina frågor (93%) medan en mindre grupp svarade att de ej hade ställt några frågor (7%). Informationen innan besöket ansågs som dålig eller mindre bra av 4 patienter (7,1%), bra/tillräcklig av 33 patienter (57,9%) och mycket bra av 19 patienter (33,3%). Informationen under besöket ansågs vara bra eller mycket bra av samtliga patienter utom en som klassade den som mindre bra. Fyra av de fem kommentarerna som skrivits till frågorna gällde brister i information och förberedelse. Majoriteten av patienterna (93%) ansåg att tiden för besöket var lagom.</p><p>Brännskadeteamets ettårsuppföljning är unik och den anpassas i möjligaste mån efter varje patients behov. Svaren på enkäten visar att detta lyckats ganska bra, men att informationen innan besöket behöver förbättras.</p></p> / <p><p>The purpose of this study was to describe the burn patients´ experience of the one-year follow-up, with a multidisciplinary team. The study has a descriptive design with both qualitative and quantitative data. An evaluation questionnaire was used to collect data. The answers are collected in the period from 2001 until June 2008. The response rate was high (81.4%), 57 patients out of 70 had responded to the survey.</p></p><p>The patients replied that they were treated very good (77.2%) or good (22.8%). All patients that had asked any questions felt that they had received answers to their questions (93%) a smaller group replied that they had not asked any questions (7%). The information before the visit was considered as poor or less good by 4 patients (7.1%), good/sufficient by 33 patients (57.9%) and very good by 19 patients (33.3%). Information during the visit was considered to be good or very good by all patients except one who rated it as less good. Four out of the five written comments was about issues related to gaps in information and preparation. The majority of all patients (93%) were satisfied with the length of time of the visit.</p><p>The multidisciplinary one-year follow-up, at the Burn Center, is unique and the aim is to adjust the follow-up visit after each patient's needs. The results show that it has succeeded quite well, but that the information given before the visit needs to be improved.</p>

<p>In the healing of cutaneous wounds, paracrine communication between keratinocytes and fibroblasts regulates cell differentiation, proliferation and synthesis of extracellular matrix. Deficient epidermal coverage, as seen in burn-wounds, frequently results in hypertrophic scars. Previous studies suggest that keratinocytes downregulate the production of collagen and profibrotic factors in fibroblasts. We hypothesized that keratinocytes downregulate the expression of the profibrotic factor connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in fibroblasts, and regulate fibroblast expression of genes important to wound healing. In keratinocyte-fibroblast cocultures, keratinocytes downregulated CTGF mRNA and protein in fibroblasts, through the secretion of interleukin-1 (IL-1) α. Using Affymetrix DNA microarrays, it was demonstrated that factors from keratinocytes regulate the expression of 69 genes important to wound healing. The regulation of 16 of these genes was confirmed by Northern blotting, and IL-1α from keratinocytes regulated all the 16 genes examined. IL-1-mediated CTGF gene regulation was further investigated. Both IL-1 isoforms, α and β, suppressed CTGF expression through an inhibition of CTGF promoter activity. Interestingly, transforming growth factor-β-stimulated Smad phosphorylation was not affected by IL-1. Finally, we hypothesized that CTGF is downregulated in burn wound by split-thickness skin grafting and that the expression of CTGF is suppressed during reepithelialization. The expression of CTGF protein was decreased in successfully skin-grafted wound areas, and increased in open, granulating burn wounds. Moreover, CTGF protein expression was absent beneath the migrating edge of reepithelialization <i>ex vivo</i>. In conclusion, we demonstrate that, in <i>in vitro</i> models, keratinocyte-derived IL-1α regulates the expression of CTGF and other genes with importance to wound healing. Furthermore, it is shown that CTGF expression is suppressed by epidermal wound coverage i burn wounds. These findings may have implications for the understanding of keratinocyte-fibroblast interplay during wound healing and in hypertrophic scar pathogenesis.</p>

A severe burn is a trauma fraught with stress and pain and may change the entire course of life. This thesis focuses on care utilisation, care experiences and patient satisfaction after a severe burn. The patients studied were treated at the Burn Unit at Uppsala University Hospital between 1980 and 2006. Burn-related health was examined using the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief (BSHS-B), personality traits with the Swedish universities Scales of Personality (SSP), psychological symptoms using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS), symptoms of posttraumatic stress with the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and satisfaction with care using the Patient Satisfaction-Results and Quality (PS-RESKVA) questionnaire. Those utilising care years after injury reported poorer functioning on three of the BSHS-B subscales. Personality traits had a greater impact on care utilisation than injury severity. Social desirability was lower among care utilisers and was associated with burn-related health aspects. The participants reported a low level of negative care experiences, the most common of which was Powerlessness. Most patients were satisfied with care, more with quality of contact with the nursing staff, and less with treatment information. Multiple regressions showed that the BSHS-B Interpersonal relationships subscale was an independent variable related to all measured aspects of patient satisfaction. The highest adjusted R2 was 0.25. In a prospective assessment with multiple regression analyses, Age and Education, the personality traits of Stress susceptibility, Trait irritability, Detachment and Social desirability, in addition to the post-traumatic stress symptoms Intrusion and Hyperarousal, were predictors of satisfaction with care. The highest adjusted R2 was 0.19. The thesis has pointed out that interpersonal factors are related to care utilisation as well as satisfaction with care. However, satisfaction with care was only moderately associated with health and individual characteristics, which may imply that the care itself is of major importance.

In the healing of cutaneous wounds, paracrine communication between keratinocytes and fibroblasts regulates cell differentiation, proliferation and synthesis of extracellular matrix. Deficient epidermal coverage, as seen in burn-wounds, frequently results in hypertrophic scars. Previous studies suggest that keratinocytes downregulate the production of collagen and profibrotic factors in fibroblasts. We hypothesized that keratinocytes downregulate the expression of the profibrotic factor connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in fibroblasts, and regulate fibroblast expression of genes important to wound healing. In keratinocyte-fibroblast cocultures, keratinocytes downregulated CTGF mRNA and protein in fibroblasts, through the secretion of interleukin-1 (IL-1) α. Using Affymetrix DNA microarrays, it was demonstrated that factors from keratinocytes regulate the expression of 69 genes important to wound healing. The regulation of 16 of these genes was confirmed by Northern blotting, and IL-1α from keratinocytes regulated all the 16 genes examined. IL-1-mediated CTGF gene regulation was further investigated. Both IL-1 isoforms, α and β, suppressed CTGF expression through an inhibition of CTGF promoter activity. Interestingly, transforming growth factor-β-stimulated Smad phosphorylation was not affected by IL-1. Finally, we hypothesized that CTGF is downregulated in burn wound by split-thickness skin grafting and that the expression of CTGF is suppressed during reepithelialization. The expression of CTGF protein was decreased in successfully skin-grafted wound areas, and increased in open, granulating burn wounds. Moreover, CTGF protein expression was absent beneath the migrating edge of reepithelialization ex vivo. In conclusion, we demonstrate that, in in vitro models, keratinocyte-derived IL-1α regulates the expression of CTGF and other genes with importance to wound healing. Furthermore, it is shown that CTGF expression is suppressed by epidermal wound coverage i burn wounds. These findings may have implications for the understanding of keratinocyte-fibroblast interplay during wound healing and in hypertrophic scar pathogenesis.

Individer som blivit brännskadade upplever både fysiska och psykiska hinder. En acceptans av den nya kroppen kan ta lång tid. Under rehabiliteringsprocessen på sjukhuset arbetar det multiprofessionella teamet med denna patientgrupp för att de ska kunna klara av vardagen. Sjuksköterskan bör ha god kunskap av att vårda brännskadade patienter. Syftet med litteraturstudien var att belysa hur individen upplever sin livssituation efter en brännskada för att sjuksköterskan ska få en ökad kunskap och därigenom kunna ge en god omvårdnad. Sjutton vetenskapliga artiklar bearbetades för att sedan sammanställas till ett resultat med olika teman. Resultatet visade fem teman; Upplevelsen av stöd, upplevelsen av att hantera brännskadan, upplevelsen av smärta och klåda, upplevelse av livskvaliteten efter brännskadan samt upplevelsen av vården. Brännskadade individer behöver stöd från om-vårdnadspersonal och närstående. Copingstrategier användes för att utstå både fysisk och psykisk smärta. Livskvaliteten kunde både försämras och förbättras efter en brännskada. Att vårda patienter med brännskador kräver goda kunskaper inom omvårdnad då den omfattar många delar. Mer forskning inom området behövs för att sprida kunskap. Även en stödgrupp för brännskadade patienter borde etableras för att kontakt mellan brännskadade individer ska upprättas. / Individuals who have endured burn injuries experience both physical and psychological barriers. Coming to terms with lasting effects of burn injuries on the body can take a long time. The rehabilitation process in the hospital is at a multi-professional level, drawing across a large cross section of specialist skills to enable patients to cope with everyday life. Nurses need to have a good knowledge base to care for burn injured patients. The purpose of this study was to highlight how individuals feel about their life after a burn injury, to help nurses get a better understanding of the subject and therefore provide good health care. Seventeen scientific articles were analysed and then complied into a conclusion with different themes. These themes were; the experience of support, the experience to cope with burns, the experience of pain and pruritus, experience of the quality of life and the experience of the health care. Burn injured patients need support from the nursing staff and relatives. Coping strategies were used to endure both physical and mental pain. The quality of life could be either worse or better after a burn injury. Caring for patients with burns requires a high level of knowledge in nursing, as it affects the many stages of recovery. More research in this area is needed to increase know-ledge. A support group for burn patients should also be established in order to support contacts between burn injured individuals.