In this study Track Before Detect (TBD) approach will be analysed for tracking of dim moving targets. First, a radar setup is presented in order to introduce the radar range equation and signal models. Then, preliminary information is given about particle filters. As the main algorithm of this thesis, a multi-model particle filter method is developed in order to solve the non-linear non-Gaussian Bayesian estimation problem. Probability of target existence and RMS estimation accuracy are defined as the performance parameters of the algorithm for very low SNR targets. Simulation results are provided and performance analysis is presented as a conclusion.

This thesis studies the following four topics by CFD simulation. First, the detailed airflow patterns and pressure characteristics of a semiconductor fab were analyzed and verified by available experimental data. Second, both transient and steady state simulations of a fire incidence were conducted to study the influences of fire source volume, fire source altitude, and clean room filter face velocity on the temperature distribution around the vicinity of fire source. Note the temperature distribution at the altitude of fire distinguisher (close to the height of ceiling) is very related to the action mechanism of fire distinguisher. Third, the mean trajectories of various particle sizes in the very early stage of a fire occurrence were simulated to provide substantial information to properly locate the VESADs (very early smoke detect active). Fourth, the performances of three commonly adopted smoke control/exhaust systems for semiconductor fabs were evaluated. An appropriate smoke control/exhaust system is provided and discussed.

abstract: In this thesis, an integrated waveform-agile multi-modal tracking-beforedetect sensing system is investigated and the performance is evaluated using an experimental platform. The sensing system of adapting asymmetric multi-modal sensing operation platforms using radio frequency (RF) radar and electro-optical (EO) sensors allows for integration of complementary information from different sensors. However, there are many challenges to overcome, including tracking low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) targets, waveform configurations that can optimize tracking performance and statistically dependent measurements. Address some of these challenges, a particle filter (PF) based recursive waveformagile track-before-detect (TBD) algorithm is developed to avoid information loss caused by conventional detection under low SNR environments. Furthermore, a waveform-agile selection technique is integrated into the PF-TBD to allow for adaptive waveform configurations. The embedded exponential family (EEF) approach is used to approximate distributions of parameters of dependent RF and EO measurements and to further improve target detection rate and tracking performance. The performance of the integrated algorithm is evaluated using real data from three experimental scenarios. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Electrical Engineering 2012

Bakgrund: Skolsköterskan är en del av elevhälsan och arbetar med att främja elevers fysiska och psykiska hälsa. Psykisk ohälsa bland elever är ett växande samhällsproblem. Det är ofta skolsköterskan som får första kontakten med elever som lider av psykisk ohälsa genom hälsosamtalen. Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva hur skolsköterskor upptäcker samt stödjer elever med psykisk ohälsa på högstadiet. Metod: Studien genomfördes med en kvalitativ metod. Datainsamlingen utfördes genom intervjuer med semistrukturerade frågor, sex skolsköterskor i två kommuner i sydöstra Sverige deltog. Resultatet analyserades fram genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys med induktiv ansats. Resultat: Första steget för att kunna stödja elever som lider av psykisk ohälsa är att upptäcka. Upptäckten görs framförallt genom hälsosamtal men även genom skolsköterskors fysiska närvaro i lokaler på skolan. Skolsköterskans samarbete med andra vårdgivare och instanser är viktigt för att hjälpa elever. Slutsats: Skolsköterskan upptäcker och stödjer elever med psykisk ohälsa genom samtal, genom sin tillgänglighet både på skolan och på mottagningen. Upplevelsen är att genom samverkan med föräldrar, skolans personal och andra instanser kan både upptäckt och stöd erbjudas. / Background: The school nurse is part of the student health care and is working to promote students physical and mental health. Mental illness among students is a growing social problem. Most often it’s the school nurse who gets the first contact with students suffering from mental illness through the health interviews. Purpose: The purpose is to describe how school nurses detects and supports students with mental illness in high school. Method: The study was conducted using a qualitative method. The data collection was conducted through interviews with semistructured questions, six school nurses in two small municipality in southeastern Sweden participated. The result was analyzed by qualitative content analysis with inductive approach. Result: The first step to support students with mental illness is to detect it. The detection is made primarily through health interviews, but also through the physical attendance of school nurses in the premises of the school. The school nurses collaboration with other healthcare providers and agencies is important for helping students. Conclusion: The school nurse detects and supports students with mental illness through conversation, being available both at school and at reception. Collaboration with parents, school staff and other organizations is successful.

Depression hos äldre är ett växande problem. Sjukdomen bedöms som underdiagnostiserad vilket medför att antalet äldre med depression beräknas ha ett mörkertal. Symtomen på depression förväxlas lätt med andra sjukdomar eller som tecken på ålderdom. Sjuksköterskan har ett omvårdnadsansvar att se till att de äldre får den hjälp de behöver för att undvika onödigt lidande. Syftet med studien är att beskriva sjuksköterskans erfarenheter av att uppmärksamma depression hos äldre. Metoden som använts är litteraturöversikt över kvalitativ forskning. I resultatet framkom fem teman som beskriver sjuksköterskans erfarenheter av att uppmärksamma depression hos äldre. “Vikten av att skapa en god relation”, “Tid med patienten kan vara avgörande”, “Samarbete med annan vårdpersonal krävs”, “Användning av screeningverktyg underlättar” och “Kunskap och utbildning”. Resultatet visar att sjuksköterskan kan uppmärksamma depression om relationen är god mellan sjuksköterskan och patient. Dock upplever många sjuksköterskor problem med att få tiden att räcka till att skapa goda relationer. Sjuksköterskorna upplever att kunskap om depression är otillräcklig och många önskar mer utbildning i ämnet. Slutsatsen är att sjuksköterskor behöver mer kunskap om depression och mer träning i att använda olika screeningverktyg för att upptäcka depression tidigt, vilket kan leda till att vården utvecklas och minskar lidandet för de äldre. / Depression in the elderly is a growing problem. The disease is considered to be underdiagnosed, which means that the number of elderly people with depression is estimated to have a hidden number. The symptoms of depression are easily confused with other diseases or as signs of old age. The nurse has a nursing responsibility to ensure that the elderly get the help they need to avoid unnecessary suffering. The aim of the study is to describe the nurse's experience of identifying depression in the elderly. The method used is a literature review of qualitative research. The results revealed five main sections describing the nurse's experience of paying attention to depression in the elderly. "The importance of creating a good relationship", "Time with the patient can be crucial", "Collaboration with other healthcare professionals required", "Use of screening tools facilitates" and "Knowledge and education." The result shows that the nurse can identify depression if the relationship is good between the nurse and patient. However, many nurses experience problems with getting enough time to create good relationships. Nurses experience that knowledge about depression is inadequate and many want more education in the subject. The conclusion is that nurses need more knowledge about depression and more training in using different screening tools to detect depression early, this can lead to the development of care and reduce suffering for the elderly.

Bakgrund: Våld i nära relation ses som ett stort samhällsproblem och det påverkar främst kvinnor och barn. Våldet kan ske genom fysiskt, psykiskt, materiellt eller sexuellt våld och personer som utsätts för våld har sämre psykisk och fysisk hälsa. Eftersom sjuksköterskan ofta möter barn har dem möjlighet att identifiera barn som lever i våldsrelationer. Sjuksköterskan behöver därför besitta förmågan att skapa ett vårdande möte med barnet för att barnet ska kunna öppna upp sig till sjuksköterskan och dela sin livsvärld. Syfte: Undersöka sjuksköterskans upplevelse av att upptäcka och möta barn i våldsrelationer. Metod: För att svara på syftet gjordes en tvärsnittsstudie i form av enkätundersökning som analyserades som kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Resultatet av enkätundersökningen redovisas i tre kategorier och dessa kategorier är att lita på sin egen magkänsla i mötet med barn, möta våldsutsatta barn med respekt och trygghet i kunskap och kontinuerlig utbildning. Sjuksköterskor uttryckte att dem behövde mer utbildning för att känna sig säkra i att identifiera barn som lever i våldsrelationer. Resultatet visar att sjuksköterskor skulle göra en orosanmälan vid misstanke.Konklusion: Studien visar att utbildning inom ämnet våld mot barn är viktigt för att sjuksköterskor ska känna sig säkra i att hantera dessa patientfall. / Background: Domestic abuse is a big social problem, and it effects mainly woman and children. The violence can be physical, psychological, materialistic, or sexual violence and people that’s being exposed to violence have worse psychological and physical health. Because the nurse often meets children, then they have an opportunity to identify children that’s living in domestic abuse. The nurse needs to posses the ability to create a caring encounter, so the child encourages to open to the nurse and share his or her life world. Aim: Investigate nurses experience of detecting and encountering children living under violent relationships. Method: To answer the aim, a cross-sectional study was made in the form of a survey that was analyzed as a qualitative content analysis. Findings: The result of the survey is being presented in three categories and those categories are trusting your gut-feeling in the meeting with the child, meeting domestic abused children with respect and safety in knowledge and continues education. Nurses expressed that they needed more training to feel secure in identifying children living in abusive relationships. The results show that most nurses would report a concern in case of suspicion. Conclusion: The survey shows that education in domestic abuse against children is important for nurses to feel secure in managing these patients

No description available.

Bakgrund: Sepsis är ett livshotande tillstånd som drabbar ca 50 000 personer i Sverige årligen, varav ca 20 procent avlider. Då sepsis utvecklas snabbt är tidig identifiering av sjukdomen mycket viktig. Sjuksköterskan har en ledande ställning och ett stort ansvar för omvårdnaden, vilket inkluderar förmågan att undersöka och utvärdera patientens hälsa och tidigt upptäcka sepsis. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att belysa sjuksköterskans erfarenheter av att upptäcka sepsis. Metod: Denna studie var utförd som en allmän litteraturöversikt. Resultat: Studien visade vikten av god kommunikation, yrkeserfarenhet hos den enskilda sjuksköterskan, en god förmåga att samarbeta, samt kunna använda utvärderingsverktyg som kunde identifiera sepsis hos patienter. Dessa nämnda faktorer måste ses som en helhet då varje del är viktig för upptäckt av sepsis. Konklusion: Trots sjuksköterskans erfarenhet fanns det brister avseende upptäckt av sepsis. Utveckling av multidisciplinära sepsisteam, utvärderingsverktyg, kontinuerlig utbildning samt en god arbetsmiljö är faktorer som kan bidra till bättre upptäckt av sepsis. / Background: Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that affected about 50 000 people in Sweden each year, of whom about 20 percent die. As sepsis develops rapidly, early identification of the disease is very important. The nurse has a leading role and responsibility in nursing care, which include the ability to examine and assess the patient's health, including early detection of sepsis. Aim: The aim of the study was to highlight the nurse's experiences of detecting sepsis. Method: This study was conducted as a general literature review, which is a structured approach and a type of literature review that aims to summarize the current state of knowledge on the selected topic. Findings: The study showed that, in addition to good communication, practical and theoretical experience of the individual nurse and a good ability to collaborate was also important. There are assessment tools that can identify sepsis in patients. These mentioned factors must be seen as a whole as each part is important in the detection of sepsis. Conclusion: Despite the nurses' experience, there were gaps in the detection of sepsis. The development of multidisciplinary sepsis teams, assessment tools, continuous education and a good working environment are factors that can contribute to better detection of sepsis.

In recent years, the particle filter has gained prominence in the area of target tracking because it is robust to non-linear target motion and non-Gaussian additive noise. Traditional track filters, such as the Kalman filter, have been well studied for linear tracking applications, but perform poorly for non-linear applications. The particle filter has been shown to perform well in non-linear applications. The particle filter method is computationally intensive and advances in processor speed and computational power have allowed this method to be implemented in real-time tracking applications. This thesis explores the use of particle filters to detect and track stealthy targets in noisy imagery. Simulated point targets are applied to noisy image data to create an image sequence. A particle filter method known as Track-Before-Detect is developed and used to provide detection and position tracking estimates of a single target as it moves in the image sequence. This method is then extended to track multiple moving targets. The method is analyzed to determine its performance for targets of varying signal-to-noise ratio and for varying particle set sizes. The simulation results show that the Track-Before-Detect method offers a reliable solution for tracking stealthy targets in noisy imagery. The analysis shows that the proper selection of particle set size and algorithm improvements will yield a filter that can track targets in low signal-to-noise environments. The multi-target simulation results show that the method can be extended successfully to multi-target tracking applications. This thesis is a continuation of automatic target recognition and target tracking research at Cal Poly under Dr. John Saghri and is sponsored by Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) face one common challenge when integrating with the existing manned aircraft population in the National Airspace System (NAS). To unlock the full efficiency of UAS, the UAS integrator must comply with an onboard pilot’s requirement to see-and-avoid other aircraft while operating. Commercially available Detect-and-Avoid (DAA) sensor technologies have been developed to attempt to comply with this requirement. UAS integrators must use these sensors to meet or exceed the performance of a human pilot. This thesis covers research done to integrate an array of commercially made DAA sensors with a large Group 3 UAS both in hardware and software that was later flight tested and evaluated for usability. A fast-time simulation is presented using the principles of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Detect-and-AvoID Alerting Logic for Unmanned Systems (DAIDALUS). Last, open-source tools are presented to assist future integrators in validating their DAA solutions.