Visual selective attention operates in space- and object-based frames of reference. Stimulus salience and task demands influence whether a space- or object-based frame of reference guides attention. I conducted two experiments for the present dissertation to evaluate age patterns in the role of inhibition in object-based attention. The biased competition account (Desimone & Duncan, 1995) proposes that one mechanism through which targets are selected is through suppression of irrelevant stimuli. The inhibitory deficit hypothesis (Hasher & Zacks, 1988) predicts that older adults do not appropriately suppress or ignore irrelevant information. The purpose of the first study was to evaluate whether inhibition of return (IOR) patterns, originally found in a laboratory setting, could be replicated with online data collection (prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic). Inhibition of return is a cognitive mechanism to bias attention from returning to previously engaged items. In a lab setting, young and older adults produced location- and object-based IOR. In the current study, both types of IOR were also observed within object boundaries, although location-based IOR from data collected online was smaller than that from the laboratory. In addition, there was no evidence of an age-related reduction in IOR effects. There was some indication that sampling differences or testing circumstances led to increased variability in online data.The purpose of the second study was to evaluate age differences in top-down inhibitory processes during an attention-demanding object tracking task. Data were collected online. I used a dot-probe multiple object tracking (MOT) task to evaluate distractor suppression during target tracking. Both young and older adults showed poorer dot-probe detection accuracies when the probes appeared on distractors compared to when they appeared at empty locations, reflecting inhibition. The findings suggest that top-down inhibition works to suppress distractors during target tracking and that older adults show a relatively preserved ability to inhibit distractor objects. The findings across both experiments support models of selective attention that posit that goal-related biases suppress distractor information and that inhibition can be directed selectively by both young and older adults on locations and objects in the visual field.

A cross-sectional household survey of maternal and child health was conducted in the Mount Frere health district of the Eastern Cape in August / September 1997. The aim was to describe key aspects of maternal and child health to inform the planning activities of the District Health Management Team (DHMT). A participatory process was followed, in order to develop research capacity within the district, and to facilitate interaction between health workers and the community. Methods: Structured questionnaires were used by local research trainees to gather data from each household on: • household demographics; • deaths in household since April 1994; • household access to water and sanitation; • children under five years; • children aged 5 to 15 years; • deliveries in the past 12 months; • knowledge of prevention and transmission of HIV/AIDS. Focus group discussions around the key findings were conducted with community members and clinic nurses to provide a qualitative component. Results: A high proportion of children under the age of 16, high household density, high unemployment, migrant labour, and absent mothers, are some of the defining demographic characteristics which affect the status of maternal and child health in the district. Access to health services is constrained by distance, lack of transport, and poor roads. Registration of births and deaths is poor, and the crude birth and death rates were found to be significantly higher than the " official" provincial rates. Tuberculosis, diarrhoea, trauma and homicide are notable features of the overall mortality profile, although the majority of deaths were classified "ill-defined / unknown". Diarrhoea and pneumonia accounted for half of all infant deaths. Eight out of ten deaths due to diarrhoea in under-fives occurred at home, but knowledge and use of oral rehydration solution is poor. Access to clean drinking water and sanitation is a major concern, with almost three quarters of homes using unprotected sources, a third more than 30 minutes' walk from the nearest source, and a half having no toilet. Areas of the district with particularly poor environmental health indicators were identified. Immunisation coverage among children 1-4 years is poor. Coverage for all vaccines except BCG falls well short of the national target of 90%, and fewer than 1 in 3 children was fully immunised with valid doses at the age of one year. Long intervals between doses and a high "dropout" rate between subsequent doses was observed. The road to health card (RTHC) could be produced for just over a half of under-five children. The proportion of home deliveries is high (45%), and traditional birth attendants (TBAs) therefore play an important role in this community. Nine out of ten mothers had attended antenatal clinic at least once, but almost half reported receiving no tetanus toxoid and no WR test for syphilis during their antenatal visits. More than a half of all mothers was using no family planning method at the time of the survey. Almost all 15-49 year-olds had heard about HIV/AIDS, but one in five did not know how HIV is transmitted, and a third did not know how it could be prevented. Recommendations: A detailed set of recommendations with action points for the DHMT was developed in a district workshop around the following key issues: 1. Improving access to health care, including road access, mobile clinic coverage, and waiting facilities for expectant mothers. 2. Promoting health in the community, by means of integration of health promotion into all health programmes, and more involvement of communities. 3. Improving the quality of care in the existing health facilities and services, including minimising missed opportunities for immunisation, and promoting home-made oral rehydration (sugar-salt) solution. 4. Improving the district health information system, especially the registration of vital events, and the provision of feedback to district health managers. 5. Identifying areas of further research, including the reasons for home deliveries, management of diarrhoea at home, and the use of traditional healers. Conclusion: The participatory research process that was used has helped to build research capacity in the district, to provide a deeper insight into community health problems, to highlight the value of health workers listening to the people they serve, to further collaboration between the disciplines, and to develop specific action plans. This is a process that should be followed in all research conducted in health districts.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Heat, cooling, and ventilation units are major energy consumers for commercial buildings, they can consume as much as 50% of the total annual power usage of a building. Coherent management of an air handling system’s energy is a key factor of reducing the energy costs and CO2 emissions that are associated with the demand for ventilating and conditioning the air in a building. The issue is that buildings are frequently over ventilated as a full assessment of the air handling unit (AHU) data is not evaluated by building operators. According to ASHRAE standards there are three key parameters that control indoor air quality (IAQ); these are the temperature, humidity, and CO2. Commonly occupancy setpoints implemented by building operators are focused on temperature and humidity control while neglecting the CO2 levels and their impact. While this may seem insignificant additional data proves to be important and can assist with energy management. Additionally, it can develop awareness of implementable procedures which conserve energy. Furthermore, data is not monitored in regard to the continuous assessment of the energy consumption with respect to analysis of opportunities to implement energy saving control strategies. By using these standards as a guide an AHUs energy can be managed more effectively by measuring the data and assessing the outputs compared to the standard. Previous research has shown that up to 75% savings for the ventilation fan energy is achievable when taking into account ASHRAE ventilation standards and controlling outside air ventilation, however, this research has omitted investigating the savings for other energy consumers associated with AHU’s operation. In order to assess the demand, it is required that the CO2 levels of the occupied zones be measured, and the outdoor air ventilation rate be adjusted based on real-time demand. The goal of the research is to assess the number of CO¬2 sensors needed to accurately measure demand-based needs for ventilation and determine an algorithm that will help building operators assess the energy savings by implementing demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) procedures. The scope of this research is to identify what sensors at minimum are required to collect the most pertinent data for implementation of a comprehensive energy saving algorithms and assess the impact on energy consumption of AHUs when demand-controlled ventilation procedures are implemented.

The collection of personal data has increased and developed side-to-side with the digitalization of society. It has been embedded in digital technologies where the collection and handling of personal data have become a great interest for private and public actors. Previous quantitative studies show a widespread concern with data collection among individuals. Based on 16 semi-structured interviews, this study investigates individuals’ experiences with governmental data collection. The sample of this study consists of individuals who belong to the generation of late millennials. This study investigates how late millennials are experiencing data collection from domestic authorities using David Lyon’s theoretical framework of surveillance imaginaries and surveillance practices. Online privacy literacy is added as a third component to the framework which together with imaginaries and practices form how individuals experience data collection. The results show that the respondents’ imaginaries are built on compliance and trust with data collection from Swedish authorities. The respondents imagine this data collection as an exchange, as public good, as securitization and as harmless. The identified practices displayed how the abstract nature of data collection together with the trust for Swedish authorities created a kind of non-response towards data collection from Swedish authorities. The results also show how the imaginary of trust reduced the need for knowledge. The respondents lack an understanding of how data collection is performed, but it did not influence their imaginaries and practices. This study also concludes how trust for the surveillor leads to compliance with data collection for the surveilled. How perceived trust for the surveillor can reduce an individual’s privacy concerns which influence surveillance imaginaries and practices. This study thus demonstrates the interplay between imaginaries, practices and knowledge in the shaping of individual experience of data collection from domestic authorities.

Projektet handlar om utveckling av ett mätpixelbibliotek och en besöksräknare för företaget Askås. Detta är ett viktigt område på grund av att spårning av användardata på webben blir allt vanligare och låter oss förstå användarbeteende noggrannare. Det största problemet gällande projektet är att användarnas integritet måste skyddas samtidigt som insamlingen sker, därför behöver användarna ge sitt samtycke för insamling av data. Data som kategoriseras som personuppgifter krypteras och tas bort när de inte längre behövs. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att utveckla ett system som både är enkelt att använda och effektivt. För att lösa dessa problem implementeras JavaScript-kod på webbsidor som samlar in data. En server används för att ta emot data, bearbeta den och skicka till en databas. Systemets alla delar tillsammans kallar vi ett mätpixelbibliotek. Resultaten visar att systemet kan samla in och lagra användardata för vidare analys som till exempel för att räkna ut antalet besökare. Systemet testades på en webbsida och visade sig vara funktionellt. Analyser av den insamlade informationen kan ge insikter kring användarbeteende, vilket gör det möjligt att optimera webbplatsen. Sammantaget har projektet uppnått sina mål bestående av mätpixelbibliotek och besöksräknare. Trots det finns det plats för förbättringar och utveckling. / The project involves the development of a data collection system and a visitor-counter for the company Askås. This is an important area due to the tracking of user data on the web is becoming more common and it also allows us to understand user behavior more accurately. The biggest problem regarding the project is that when collecting users data we also have to protect their privacy, therefore the users need to give their consent for the collection of data. Data categorized as personal data is encrypted and deleted when no longer needed. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a system that is both useful and efficient. To solve these problems, JavaScript code that collects the data is implemented on web pages. A server is used to receive the data, process it and send it to a database. The parts of the system together is the data collecting system. The results show that the system can collect and store user data for further analysis like counting a websites number of visitors. The system was tested on a web page and was found to be functional. The analyzes of the collected information can provide insights into user behavior, which makes it possible to optimize the website. Overall, the project has achieved its goals, although there is room for improvement and development.

When users in the EU visits a website, they will face a cookie consent banner because of the current regulations. A framework called “notice-and-consent” is in place to inform users about cookies and their intentions and to receive consent from the user. Websites have been shown to apply deceptive designs in their cookie notice in order to trick the user into consenting to more cookies than they are aware of, and these deceptive designs are referred to as dark patterns. The framework used today for regulating data collection has met some criticism. It enables businesses to do what they choose with the information they gather as long as they inform the user of their intention. In addition, previous research has shown that businesses can apply dark patterns on the cookie consent notice to gain an economic advantage by making users consent to more cookies than they understand when faced with the decision. This study investigates how websites targeting visitors in Sweden are using dark patterns in their cookie consent notices and how this affects the online experience. Further, this study sought to investigate the end-user’s perception and experience of the data collection climate online by answering the following question: Which dark patterns can be found in the most visited websites in Sweden and how do these affect the users' online experience and perceptions? The research strategy used in this study was a survey strategy. The data collection method was a manual data collection on websites targeting a visitor from Sweden followed by a qualitative online questionnaire, and the data analysis method was a thematic analysis. The study resulted in finding out that 82% of the websites used at least one dark pattern in their cookie and consent interface. The most utilised patterns were Interface interference and Obstruction, found on 62% and 58% of the websites. Most respondents showed signs of irritation or fatigue towards the cookie consent notices or an overall negative perception of the current data collection climate. The respondents also described experiences with the most utilised dark patterns. Further, this study concludes that dark patterns are used as extensively in Sweden as it is in other domains. The regulation that is supposed to protect users might not be the immediate problem but can sometimes be seen as non-existent. A lack of enforcement leads to a market that is free to function on its own. Therefore the responsibility should be removed from the user and instead regulate what is allowed to do with personal data.

Do you need help determining appropriate measures and feasible data collection methods for program evaluations within integrated primary care? In this 3-hour preconference workshop, leaders from CFHA’s Research & Evaluation Committee and Families, Systems, & Health journal will provide practical training in conducting rigorous program evaluations. This workshop will help you identify appropriate measures to answer your key questions as well as data collection methods that balance quality and feasibility. This workshop is designed for those who are planning, conducting, or revising a program evaluation, as attendees will apply the material to their own personal projects within interactive small groups.

Sweden is currently going through changes in curricula, syllabuses and subject plans for elementary school and upper secondary school in order to adapt to the growing need of digital competence in the society. Inicio is an organisation that strives to help schools adjust to these changes in strategy. Inicio arranges events where students can work with educational user devices, designed to educate the user in specific areas. Inicio wants to understand how their users learn, while using the educational user devices. This report answers that question through the use of a learning framework that describes how usage data can be collected and analyzed. In addition, the framework allows analysis of both the devices and the events themselves. This gives Inicio the ability to measure the quality of what they provide and make improvements where necessary. The framework is built to be general enough to be applicable for future areas that Inicio may want to expand into. The finished framework is the result of an iterative process where applicability, scalability and ease of use have been the main focus. This report provides results in the form of the framework, two dream scenarios, an implementation example for a current device, documentation and a visual aid to simplify the use of the framework. The dream scenarios are made up use cases designed to test the framework for future products in both hardware and software environments. / Sverige går för närvarande genom förändringar i läroplaner, kursplaner och ämnesplaner för grundskolan och gymnasieskolan för att anpassa sig till det växande behovet av digital kompetens i samhället. Inicio är en organisation som strävar efter att hjälpa skolorna att anpassa sig till dessa förändringar i strategin. Inicio arrangerar events där eleverna kan arbeta med pedagogiska användaranordningar, utformade för att utbilda användaren på specifika områden. Inicio vill förstå hur användarna lär sig, medan de använder de pedagogiska användaranordningarna. Denna rapport svarar på den frågan genom att använda ett inlärningsramverk som beskriver hur användningsdata kan samlas in och analyseras. Dessutom möjliggör ramverket analys av både enheterna och eventen i sig. Detta ger Inicio möjligheten att mäta kvaliteten på vad de tillhandahåller och utföra förbättringar vid behov. Ramverket är byggt för att vara generellt nog för att kunna tillämpas på framtida områden som Inicio kan vilja expandera till. Det färdiga ramverket är resultatet av en iterativ process där användbarhet, skalbarhet och användarvänlighet har varit huvudfokus. Rapporten erbjuder resultat i form av ramverket, två drömscenarier, ett praktiskt exempel för en aktuell anordning, dokumentation och ett visuellt hjälpmedel för att förenkla användningen av ramverket. Drömscenarierna består av användarfall som är utformade för att testa ramverket för framtida produkter i både hårdvaruoch mjukvarumiljöer.

Energy utilization in Sweden has been on a rise since the 1980’s and the industrial sector has been its highest consumer. The construction industry plays a central role in building and developing cities for a population which is increasing rapidly year by year. Environmental awareness has given incentives to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and to make operations more sustainable. The construction industry faces three main challenges in regards to sustainability which are, material usage, vehicle fleets, and machine parks. Vehicles and machines are integral parts within the construction industry, however, how to reduce their environmental impact is a relatively new research area with many challenges. The conclusion that carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced is one that has been reached by the construction industry in Sweden. One way to study this aspect is by collecting and managing data on their fuel consumption since the vehicles and machines operate almost exclusively on fossil fuels. Data collection on fuel consumption by vehicles and machinery will give insight to what factors increase or decrease it. Analyzing these factors will allow for reductions to be made in terms ofcarbon dioxide emissions and costs. The aim of this report is therefore to investigate the aspect of data collection and management on fuel consumption in vehicles and machinery. The report is the result of work conducted in cooperation with the Nordic construction and development company NCC. NCC has set a goal for reducing climate impacts from direct operations by 50% between the years 2015 and 2020. In order for this to be achieved, carbon dioxide emissions resulting from fuel consumption have to be accounted for. As this is a new research area, this report is to serve as a baseline for NCC to get an overview of what challenges and possibilities there are with efficient data collection and management on fuel consumption. The study is initiated by analyzing the three main aspects which are taken into consideration within this study. The first aspect is authoritative requirements which are demands from authorities such as municipalities or the Swedish Transport Administration. The second is the contractors such as NCC which have to meet these requirements. The final aspect is the suppliers who contractors hire for projects. Furthermore, interviews are carried out to gain insight on experiences of persons within the field and the challenges they have faced. A study on Norrtälje Harbor, an old industrial harbor turning into a new city district, is also conducted as there is available data from the vehicles and machines in this project. Finally, a gap-analysis is constructed in order to gain an overview of NCC’s present standings, future goals, andlimitations in terms of data collection and management from vehicles and machinery. The findings of this report conclude that a lack of standard is the biggest challenge which theindustry is facing. Authorities face challenges on how to set standards while the lack of standardsleads to different methods of data collection from contractors and suppliers. It is possible tocollect data from vehicles and machines but calculations are currently based on patterns and donot give a true view of the fuel consumption. Factors, such as driving habits and environment can affect the fuel consumption, therefore the data collected should take all these factors into consideration. Benefits that a company may gain by having this data include increase incompetitiveness due to environmental awareness and transparency as well as also lower costsas less fuel will be purchased. Reducing fuel consumption will ultimately reduce carbon dioxideemissions, which is the industry’s and NCC overall goal. / Energianvändningen i Sverige har stigit sedan 1980-talet och industrisektorn har bidragit mest till detta. Byggbranschen står för utformningen av städer för en snabbt växande befolkning. Miljömedvetenhet har gett organisationer incitament att minska koldioxidutsläppen ochutveckla mer hållbara verksamheter. Materialanvändning, fordonsflottor och maskinparker utgör de tre största utmaningarna inom byggbranschens klimatarbete. Fordon och maskiner är grundläggande delar inom byggbranschens verksamhet, men minskningen av denna miljöpåverkan är ett relativt nytt forskningsområde med många utmaningar. Aktörerna inom byggbranschen har utvecklat klimatstrategier för att minska koldioxidutsläppen där man bland annat vill samla in data om bränsleförbrukningen hos fordon och maskiner. Fordon och maskiner drivs huvudsakligen med fossila bränslen och genom att kartlägga denna förbrukning kan koldioxidutsläppen minskas. Datainsamling om fordon och maskiners bränsleförbrukning ger förståelse gällande vilka faktorersom ökar eller minskar förbrukningen. Genom att analysera dessa faktorer är det möjligt att minska koldioxidutsläpp och kostnader. Syftet med denna rapport är därför att undersöka datainsamling och hantering angående bränsleförbrukning för fordon och maskiner. Rapporten är resultatet av ett arbete som bedrivits i samarbete med det Nordiska bygg- och utvecklingsbolaget NCC. NCC har satt upp ett mål för att minska klimatpåverkan fråndirektverksamheten med 50% mellan åren 2015 och 2020. För att detta ska kunna uppnås måstekoldioxidutsläpp från bränsleförbrukningen redovisas. Eftersom detta är ett nyttforskningsområde, är rapport en utgångspunkt för att NCC ska få en överblick över vilka utmaningar och möjligheter det finns med effektiv datainsamling och hantering avbränsleförbrukning. Studien initieras genom att analysera de tre huvudaspekter som måste beaktas inom detta ämnesområde. Första aspekten är kraven som ställs av myndigheter som kommuner och Trafikverket. Den andra aspekten är NCC entreprenörer som måste uppfylla dessa krav. Sista aspekten är leverantörerna som anställs av entreprenörerna inom projekt. Det övergripandesynsättet i studien är därför att analysera varje aspekt separat för en djupare förståelse för derasrespektive samband inom detta ämne. Vidare genomförs intervjuer för att få insikt omerfarenheter från personer inom studieområdet och de utmaningar de har mött. En studie av Norrtälje hamn, en gammal industrihamn som omvandlas till ett nytt stadsdelsområde,genomförs, eftersom det finns tillgängliga data från fordon och maskiner i detta projekt. Slutligen konstrueras en gapanalys för att få en överblick över NCC:s nuvarande läge, framtidamål och begränsningar när det gäller datainsamling och hantering från fordon och maskiner. Slutsatsen som dras är att brist på standard är den största utmaningen som industrin står inför. Myndigheterna står inför utmaningar om hur man kan ställa krav, medan bristen på dem leder till olika metoder för datainsamling från entreprenörer och leverantörer. Det går att samla in data från fordon och maskiner, men beräkningarna är för närvarande baserade på schabloner och ger inte en sann bild av bränsleförbrukningen. Faktorer som körvanor och miljö kan påverka bränsleförbrukningen, därför bör de insamlade uppgifterna ta hänsyn till alla dessa faktorer. Fördelarna med att ha dessa data tillgängliga är att det öka konkurrensen på grund avmiljömedvetenhet och öppenhet, samt minska kostnader för inköp av bränsle. Att minska bränsleförbrukningen kommer i slutändan att minska koldioxidutsläppen, vilket är branschens och NCC:s övergripande mål.

In past years many industries have utilized simulation as a means for decision making. That wave has introduced simulation as a powerful optimization and development tool in the manufacturing industry. Input data collection is a significant and complex event in the process of simulation. The simulation professionals have grown to accept it is as a strenuous but necessary task. Due to the nature of this task, data collection problems are numerous and vary depending on the situation. These problems may involve time consumption, lack of data, lack of structure, etc. This study concentrates on the challenges of input data collection for Discrete Event Simulation in the manufacturing industry and focuses particularly on speed, efficiency, data completeness and data accuracy. It has been observed that many companies have recently utilized commercial databases to store production data. This study proposes that the key to faster and more efficient input data collection is to extract data directly from these sources in a flexible and efficient way. An approach is introduced here to creating a custom software tool for a manufacturing setting that allows input data to be collected and formatted quickly and accurately. The methodology for the development of such a custom tool and its implementation, Part Data Collection, are laid out in this research. The Part Data Collection application was developed to assist in the simulation endeavors of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando, Florida. It was implemented and tested as an aid in a large simulation project, which included modeling a new factory. This implementation resulted in 93% reduction in labor time associated with data collection and significantly improved data accuracy.