The thesis "Fashion, Originality and Style: an Ethnographic Probe into a Fashion Atelier" deals with the phenomenon of fashion from the perspective of anthropology and sociology. It's based on the key theoretical approaches that view fashion as a marker of class and competition of wealth, but also as an expression of one's individuality. The thesis also pays attention to the connections between fashion and cultural environment, and the analysis of fashion in the contexts of material culture studies and the shifting perception of the fashion designer and his work. The work on this thesis also included a field research in the fashion atelier of Ivana Follová, a Czech fashion designer. In the course of several months, the daily operations of the atelier were observed together with the influences affecting the production of fashion goods, and the making of designs. Attention was also paid to the regular customers who frequent the fashion atelier and use its services. The research combined collecting data from participant observations and half-structured interviews. The aim of the study was to find out what principles the fashion industry is based on with a special focus on tailor-made fashion, but also to describe the customers of the atelier and their motives for the need of fashion products.

The increasing demand for reclamation of periodically waterlogged nearly level agricultural lands in humid tropical areas and the hazard of soil deterioration and soil moisture balance disturbances by current land forming methods suggests the need for investigations of new surface drainage design procedures. This report presents a rainfall-runoff model for simulating hydrographs from ungaged agricultural plots. The model is based on routing procedures and utilizes common soil and hydrologic data. Tests made with several small agricultural water-sheds indicate that the model could be a useful tool in simulating surface drainage design. Input data for the model consists of (a) rainfall data, (b) infiltration, (c) watershed characteristics, and (d) soil parameters. The model could be used with any computer or desk calculator. Since the model was developed for surface drainage purposes, its use is limited to wet conditions in homogeneous and rectangular plots.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Gait analysis plays a major role in treatment of osteoarthritis, knee or hip replacements, and musculoskeletal diseases. It is extensively used for injury rehabilitation and physical therapy for issues like Hemiplegia and Diplegia. It also provides us with the information to detect various improper gaits such as Parkinson's disease, Hemiplegic and diplegic gaits. Though there are many wearable and non-wearable methods to detect the improper gate performance, they are usually not user friendly and have restrictions. Most existing devices and systems can detect the gait but are very limited with regards of diagnosing them. The proposed method uses two A201 Force sensing resistors, accelerometer, and gyroscope to detect the gait and send diagnosed information of the possibility of the specified improper gaits via Bluetooth wireless communication system to the user's hand-held device or the desktop. The data received from the sensors was analyzed by the custom made micro-controller and is sent to the desktop or mobile device via Bluetooth module. The peak pressure values during a gait cycle were recorded and were used to indicate if the walk cycle of a person is normal or it has any abnormality. Future work: A magnetometer can be added to get more accurate results. More improper gaits can be detected by using two PCBs, one under each foot. Data can be sent to cloud and saved for future comparisons.

The doctoral thesis deals with a position of a design process in machine tool life-cycle and with main design approaches. Main aim of the doctoral thesis is to bring System approach of machine tool development. This method follows design team experience with support by systematic methods and managing by product manager. Alongside this method respects System approach defined by Janicek. It is possible to achieve increasing of machine technical quality, reducing of final machine costs and reducing of time for machine tool creation by application of this method. System approach of machine tool development is focused on detailed outer and inner optimization of a machine structure from technical and economical point of view. This design approach is possible to apply in any production company because it is brought in intelligible way.

Gamification is used in a wide range of industries to motivate user engagement and increase the utilization of products. Most gamification applications are designed and developed through gamification platforms. However, due to the different industry users, requirements and goals, gamification design and development is usually perceived to be complex and requires a lot of time and money for developing. This research uses a design research methodology to explore how to improve the effectiveness of the use of gamification platforms. Based on interviews with practitioners, this study summarizes the points of difficulty with the gamification platform, optimizes the framework and processes for using the gamification platform on this basis, and then iterates the design of the gamification platform in conjunction with the onboarding model to guide gamification design practitioners to be able to quickly understand the operation of the gamification platform and to perform gamification design and development without relying on professionals. The results show that the simplified operation of the gamification platform and the optimized design and development framework and processes can be applied in the future.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (MA(VA))--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This work explores alternative ways of doing research within the field of art and design; ways that respect complexity and acknowledge the expansive, relational and performative nature of signifi- cation in arriving at ‘new’ knowledge. Through processes of designing in-between, I have been moving through opposites, connecting connections, and de(re)constructing structure. I have used my immediate locations as triggers to forge relations between an array of seeming disparate, albeit kindred, concepts. The scope of the work seems to have perpetually broadened, while theory and practice have dissolved in mercurial in- between states. Such exuding expansiveness has, at times, unsettled and unnerved, but ironically it has also intensely resembled our everyday ‘realities’. Designing in-between - compared to traditional, science-based research methods operating in barricaded systems of thought - thus allows for more faithful interrogation of the complexity of the world we live in. I believe this can be of great value in any attempt at innovative knowledge production, but especially attempts from within the field of art and design - a field often defined by its ability to challenge conventional ways of knowing. My work should not be regarded as yet another predetermined guideline for future research. It should rather be read as an example of a “conceptual tool” or “thought strateg[y]” (Hurst, 2010:242) suited to the complexity of the open systems we form part of every day. Neither the challenging, nor the advantageous, aspects of my work should be regarded as superior and exclusive to the other. The existence of dissonance and contrast is productive; a life force propelling the search for new significance and knowledge. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie werkstuk ondersoek alternatiewe maniere van navorsing doen binne die veld van kuns en ontwerp; maniere wat die kompleksiteit en ewig-groeiende, verhoudingsgebaseerde en performa- tiewe aard van betekenis-konstruksie in die soeke na ‘nuwe’ kennis erken en respekteer. Deur prosesse van tussen-in ontwerp, het ek my weg probeer baan deur teenoorgesteldes, het ek konneksies gekonnekteer, en strukture gede(re)konstrueer. Ek het my onmiddellike omgewingskonteks as stimuli gebruik om verhoudings tussen ‘n verskeidenheid van kontrasterende, dog verwante, konsepte te bewerkstellig. Die omvang van hierdie navorsing het sodoende gedurig verbreed, terwyl teorie en praktyk in verstrengelde tussen-in toestande ontbind het. Alhoewel hierdie uitgestrekte, deurdringende kompleksiteit my dikwels ontsenu en laat weifel het, versinnebeeld dit ironies genoeg ons alledaagse ‘realiteite’ redelik getrou. Tussen-in ontwerp - in vergelyking met meer tradisionele, wetenskap-geba- seerde navorsingsmetodes wat binne begrensde gedagtesisteme funksioneer - laat ‘n mens dus die ruimte toe om die onvoorspelbare wisselwerking tussen die magdom veranderlikes aktief in die wêreld waarin ons leef, in ag te neem. Ek glo dat so ‘n benadering tot navorsing van besondere waarde kan wees in enige poging tot die innoverende bou van kennis, veral in pogings vanuit die veld van kuns en ontwerp - ‘n veld wat geken word aan sy/haar vermoë om gedurig konvensionele maniere van verstaan uit te daag. Ek wil nie hê dat my werk as net nog ‘n voorafbepaalde riglyn vir toekomstige navorsing gesien word nie. Dit moet eerder gelees word as ‘n voorbeeld van ‘n konseptuele instrument (“conceptual tool”) of gedagtestrategie (“thought strategy”) (Hurst, 2010:242) wat geskik is vir die kompleksiteit van die inherent oop sisteme wat ons alledaagse lewens definieer. Nie die uitdagende, nog die voordelige, aspekte van my werk moet as superieur en eksklusief tot die ander geag word nie. Dit is juis die bestaan van teenstrydighede en kontras wat produktiwiteit bewerkstellig. Dit voorsien ‘n lewenskrag wat die soeke na nuwe betekenis en kennis voortdryf.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Multi-resolution analysis (MRA) has become a very popular eld of mathematical study in the past two decades, being not only an area rich in applications but one that remains lled with open problems. Building on the foundation of re nability of functions, MRA seeks to lter through levels of ever-increasing detail components in data sets { a concept enticing to an age where development of digital equipment (to name but one example) needs to capture more and more information and then store this information in di erent levels of detail. Except for designing digital objects such as animation movies, one of the most recent popular research areas in which MRA is applied, is inpainting, where \lost" data (in example, a photograph) is repaired by using boundary values of the data set and \smudging" these values into the empty entries. Two main branches of application in MRA are subdivision and wavelet analysis. The former uses re nable functions to develop algorithms with which digital curves are created from a nite set of initial points as input, the resulting curves (or drawings) of which possess certain levels of smoothness (or, mathematically speaking, continuous derivatives). Wavelets on the other hand, yield lters with which certain levels of detail components (or noise) can be edited out of a data set. One of the greatest advantages when using wavelets, is that the detail data is never lost, and the user can re-insert it to the original data set by merely applying the wavelet algorithm in reverse. This opens up a wonderful application for wavelets, namely that an existent data set can be edited by inserting detail components into it that were never there, by also using such a wavelet algorithm. In the recent book by Chui and De Villiers (see [2]), algorithms for both subdivision and wavelet applications were developed without using Fourier analysis as foundation, as have been done by researchers in earlier years and which have left such algorithms unaccessible to end users such as computer programmers. The fundamental result of Chapter 9 on wavelets of [2] was that feasibility of wavelet decomposition is equivalent to the solvability of a certain set of identities consisting of Laurent polynomials, referred to as Bezout identities, and it was shown how such a system of identities can be solved in a systematic way. The work in [2] was done in the univariate case only, and it will be the purpose of this thesis to develop similar results in the bivariate case, where such a generalization is entirely non-trivial. After introducing MRA in Chapter 1, as well as discussing the re nability of functions and introducing box splines as prototype examples of functions that are re nable in the bivariate setting, our fundamental result will also be that wavelet decomposition is equivalent to solving a set of Bezout identities; this will be shown rigorously in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3, we give a set of Laurent polynomials of shortest possible length satisfying the system of Bezout identities in Chapter 2, for the particular case of the Courant hat function, which will have been introduced as a linear box spline in Chapter 1. In Chapter 4, we investigate an application of our result in Chapter 3 to bivariate interpolatory subdivision. With the view to establish a general class of wavelets corresponding to the Courant hat function, we proceed in the subsequent Chapters 5 { 8 to develop a general theory for solving the Bezout identities of Chapter 2 separately, before suggesting strategies for reconciling these solution classes in order to be a simultaneous solution of the system. / AFRIKAAANSE OPSOMMING: Multi-resolusie analise (MRA) het in die afgelope twee dekades toenemende gewildheid geniet as 'n veld in wiskundige wetenskappe. Nie net is dit 'n area wat ryklik toepaslik is nie, maar dit bevat ook steeds vele oop vraagstukke. MRA bou op die grondleggings van verfynbare funksies en poog om deur vlakke van data-komponente te sorteer, of te lter, 'n konsep wat aanloklik is in 'n era waar die ontwikkeling van digitale toestelle (om maar 'n enkele voorbeeld te noem) sodanig moet wees dat meer en meer inligting vasgel^e en gestoor moet word. Behalwe vir die ontwerp van digitale voorwerpe, soos animasie- lms, word MRA ook toegepas in 'n mees vername navorsingsgebied genaamd inverwing, waar \verlore" data (soos byvoorbeeld in 'n foto) herwin word deur data te neem uit aangrensende gebiede en dit dan oor die le e data-dele te \smeer." Twee hooftakke in toepassing van MRA is subdivisie en gol e-analise. Die eerste gebruik verfynbare funksies om algoritmes te ontwikkel waarmee digitale krommes ontwerp kan word vanuit 'n eindige aantal aanvanklike gegewe punte. Die verkrygde krommes (of sketse) kan voldoen aan verlangde vlakke van gladheid (of verlangde grade van kontinue afgeleides, wiskundig gesproke). Gol es word op hul beurt gebruik om lters te bou waarmee gewensde dataof geraas-komponente verwyder kan word uit datastelle. Een van die grootste voordeel van die gebruik van gol es bo ander soortgelyke instrumente om data lters mee te bou, is dat die geraas-komponente wat uitgetrek word nooit verlore gaan nie, sodat die proses omkeerbaar is deurdat die gebruiker die sodanige geraas-komponente in die groter datastel kan terugbou deur die gol e-algoritme in trurat toe te pas. Hierdie eienskap van gol fies open 'n wonderlike toepassingsmoontlikheid daarvoor, naamlik dat 'n bestaande datastel verander kan word deur data-komponente daartoe te voeg wat nooit daarin was nie, deur so 'n gol e-algoritme te gebruik. In die onlangse boek deur Chui and De Villiers (sien [2]) is algoritmes ontwikkel vir die toepassing van subdivisie sowel as gol es, sonder om staat te maak op die grondlegging van Fourier-analise, soos wat die gebruik was in vroe ere navorsing en waardeur algoritmes wat ontwikkel is minder e ektief was vir eindgebruikers. Die fundamentele resultaat oor gol es in Hoofstuk 9 in [2], verduidelik hoe suksesvolle gol e-ontbinding ekwivalent is aan die oplosbaarheid van 'n sekere versameling van identiteite bestaande uit Laurent-polinome, bekend as Bezout-identiteite, en dit is bewys hoedat sodanige stelsels van identiteite opgelos kan word in 'n sistematiese proses. Die werk in [2] is gedoen in die eenveranderlike geval, en dit is die doelwit van hierdie tesis om soortgelyke resultate te ontwikkel in die tweeveranderlike geval, waar sodanige veralgemening absoluut nie-triviaal is. Nadat 'n inleiding tot MRA in Hoofstuk 1 aangebied word, terwyl die verfynbaarheid van funksies, met boks-latfunksies as prototipes van verfynbare funksies in die tweeveranderlike geval, bespreek word, word ons fundamentele resultaat gegee en bewys in Hoofstuk 2, naamlik dat gol e-ontbinding in die tweeveranderlike geval ook ekwivalent is aan die oplos van 'n sekere stelsel van Bezout-identiteite. In Hoofstuk 3 word 'n versameling van Laurent-polinome van korste moontlike lengte gegee as illustrasie van 'n oplossing van 'n sodanige stelsel van Bezout-identiteite in Hoofstuk 2, vir die besondere geval van die Courant hoedfunksie, wat in Hoofstuk 1 gede nieer word. In Hoofstuk 4 ondersoek ons 'n toepassing van die resultaat in Hoofstuk 3 tot tweeveranderlike interpolerende subdivisie. Met die oog op die ontwikkeling van 'n algemene klas van gol es verwant aan die Courant hoedfunksie, brei ons vervolglik in Hoofstukke 5 { 8 'n algemene teorie uit om die oplossing van die stelsel van Bezout-identiteite te ondersoek, elke identiteit apart, waarna ons moontlike strategie e voorstel vir die versoening van hierdie klasse van gelyktydige oplossings van die Bezout stelsel.

Syftet med denna studie är att få fördjupade kunskaper om hur sångpedagoger med hjälp av kommunikativa resurser hanterar sin sångundervisning. I bakgrundskapitlet presenteras forskning inom områdena kommunikation genom kroppsliga resurser, elevers tillägnande och förhållande till kunskap samt lärares val av undervisningsinnehåll. Vidare presenteras multimodalitet och designteori som teoretiska utgångspunkter. Undersökningen är genomförd med hjälp av stimulated recall interview och videoinspelningar. Fyra sångpedagoger som undervisar på högstadie- och gymnasienivå deltar i undersökningen. Sånglektioner har videoinspelats och sångpedagogerna har intervjuats. I resultatet beskrivs vilka hjälpmedel och resurser de använder i undervisningen samt hur de kommunicerar med eleven. Sångpedagogerna använder sig själva som förebildare för att visa olika sätt att använda rösten. Dator är ett verktyg som används frekvent för att hitta repertoar samt spela upp bakgrundskomp. En del sångpedagoger ställer frågor till eleverna för att uppmuntra dem till att reflektera över sitt lärande. Sångpedagogerna lägger ned förhållandevis lite tid på interpretation och ger istället större utrymme till teknik. Notläsning används mycket sällan under sånglektionerna. I diskussionen förs ett resonemang kring förutsättning för lärande och hur ramarna för undervisningen sätts. / The purpose of this study is to gain further insight into how voice teachers, through the help of communicative resources, address voice lessons. The background chapter presents research within the fields of communication through body language, the pupils’ acquisition and relationship to knowledge, in addition to the teachers’ choice of educational content. Furthermore, multimodality and design theory are presented as points of departure.       The study was made using stimulated recall interview and video recordings. Four voice teachers, who teach in Swedish high schools, participated in the study. Voice lessons were videotaped and the voice teachers were interviewed. In the result chapter, the means and recourses applied are described, as well as the ways through which they communicate with the pupils. As role models, the voice teachers have demonstrated various ways in using the voice.  Computers are often used during the voice lessons in choosing repertoire and backgrounds. A few voice teachers direct questions to the pupils in order to help them reflect on their own learning process. The voice teachers devoted more time on vocal techniques than interpretation. Fewer resources were spent on sight reading. In the chapter on discussion, the premises of learning and the framework for teaching are discussed.