Recent research has shifted the focus of pronunciation instruction from achieving native-like speech in learners to correcting issues that affect the intelligibility of the learners’ speech. Research also suggests that suprasegmental features of pronunciation, such as intonation, rhythm, and stress, have a considerable influence on intelligibility. By using Dickerson’s (1989) Covert Rehearsal Model, which includes predictive strategies that encourage learner autonomy, instructors have the tools necessary to effectively help learners improve their intelligibility. However, the question as to which instructional targets should be taught in the classroom still remains. This report outlines one way in which instructors can use a diagnostic assessment in order to discover which instructional targets are most appropriate for their learners. / text

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Water as a route of opportunistic bacterial disease transmission has not been well established. The use of epidemiological evidence linking drinking water bacterial contamination to health effects in a population is lacking and very costly to obtain. Also, the significance of exposure to low-level contamination is difficult to determine epidemiologically. This makes it difficult to estimate the impact on a community. The use of risk assessment approach allows an understanding of low-level exposure; and to define it in a more quantitative fashion. Microbial risk assessment was employed to determine the risks associated with exposure to selected opportunistic bacterial pathogens (Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) present in drinking water from various sources. An extensive analysis was conducted on drinking water obtained from various sources including point-of-use (POU)-treated water, tap water with POUconnection, tap water, bottled water, and water from vending machines and storage tanks. Enumerated bacteria included: A. hydrophila, heterotrophic plate count (HPC) bacteria, Mycobacteriuni spp., Plesiomonas shigelloides, P. aeruginosa, and total and fecal coliforms. It was found that opportunistic pathogens were present in small numbers in drinking water. Neither fecal coliforms nor P. shigelloides were found in the drinking water samples. The annual risks of colonization based on the consumption of 2L/day/person for drinking water were determined to be as high as 7.9x10⁻⁵ and 9.9x10⁻⁴ for A. hydrophila and P. aeruginosa, respectively at exposure levels ranging from 90 to 10 CFliimL. respectively. The results obtained indicates that the risk of colonization is a transient process, and the probability of infection may be very but could result in the most vulnerable (very young, the elderly and immunocompromised). More studies are needed on the occurrence of opportunistic pathogens in drinking water from various sources and animal andjor human feeding studies to better define dose-response in both healthy and immunocomprimised individuals. There is no doubt that the greatest need for microbial risk assessment is the occurrence data. Therefore, national surveys in drinking water from various sources will help in the developing of microbial risk assessment for opportunistic bacterial pathogens. The use of conventional methods as well as molecular approaches are recommended in order to obtain a more accurate identification of waterborne bacterial pathogens.

Telemedicine is the use of information and communication technology to provide clinical health care at a distance. This approach is usually adopted to bridge the distance in rural settings, but it is also a method to meet demographical and economical challenges. Västerbotten, a sparsely populated county with an ageing population, is in leading edge when it comes to telemedicine. The purpose of this report was to examine the diffusion and the inventory of telemedicine in the county council of Västerbotten from a geographical perspective. To gain a deeper understanding of diffusion and inventory of telemedicine, my purpose was also to examine these processes from an international and national perspective. Telemedicine and diffusion as concepts, and how these have been portrayed in the literature were studied, as well as the driving forces behind, and the barriers to further diffusion of telemedicine. The main focus in the report was telemedicine in the county council of Västerbotten and their ongoing inventory of telemedicine. The background of the inventory, how it is being performed and what the results have been up to this date were investigated. All these aspects were performed through interviews. An important factor to successful implementation of telemedicine, is the use of comprehensive and systematic performed evaluations of telemedicine activities. The inventory performed by the county council of Västerbotten is an important contribution to the lack of evidence in this area. Although, a major barrier to successful implementation and further diffusion of telemedicine, appears to be attitudes among health care staff.

Följande C-uppsats är skriven vid Företagsekonomiska institutionen vid Uppsala universitet och omfattar 15 högskolepoäng. Studien behandlar motivering av olika komponenter av assessment center i rekryteringsprocessen för företag inom IT- och managementkonsultbranschen. Detta sker genom en studie av fem företag, där företagen inom nämnd sektor studerats utifrån en referensram innehållande teorier inom organisationskultur, kompetensbaserad rekrytering, samt assessment center. Dessa teorier kombinerades sedan till en enhetlig analysmodell av cykliskt format. Syftet med undersökningen har varit att analysera varför och hur ett företag väljer sina komponenter i rekryteringsprocessen  och vad för effekter dessa har på organisationskulturen. För att skapa en bred och balanserad empirisk bas har både representanter från rekrytering samt nyanställda på företagen intervjuats. De slutsatser som kunnat dras är att skillnaden i rekryteringsprocessen delvis beror på företagens storlek och tillgängliga resurser, subjektiva faktorer såsom upplevd effektivitet, samt tradition och tidigare erfarenheter. Hur effektiv rekryteringsprocessen beror på ett antal faktorer och deras komplexitet, samt att rätt kandidater attraheras till företaget.

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This self-study focused on how a physical education teacher worked to develop and enact four authentic assessment tasks with his 7th grade physical education students. The tasks were invented using standards for authentic assessment developed by the Center for Organization and Restructuring of Schools as a guide. Authenticity is explored over the course of a school year through the invention of the tasks, the enactment of the tasks, and the reactions and memories of eight students to the tasks. The study found that students often did not demonstrate a deep understanding of the content when completing the tasks or during the interviews. While decisions were made by the teacher in order to incorporate each of the standards for authentic assessment into the tasks, those standards related to value beyond school were most difficult to satisfy. A tension was described by the teacher between the time in cognitive activities and the time in physical activities. However, students did not describe this tension.

There are limited tools available for clinicians to affordably and objectively assess balance control to prescribe treatments and measure progress post-stroke. The objectives of this thesis were to: 1) develop a toolkit to quantitatively measure dynamic balance control and determine the repeatability of outcomes within and between-sessions in healthy adults; and 2) determine the repeatability of the tasks and the association between outcomes of an advanced clinical model of care in a post-stroke population. In study 1 a wireless balance assessment toolkit was developed using a grid of four Nintendo Wii Balance boards and custom software and repeatability of the outcomes were established in healthy adults. Study 2 revealed the measures to be repeatable in a sub-acute stroke population while further evidence is required to validate the toolkit, as it did not associate with outcomes from an advanced clinical model of care.

There are limited tools available for clinicians to affordably and objectively assess balance control to prescribe treatments and measure progress post-stroke. The objectives of this thesis were to: 1) develop a toolkit to quantitatively measure dynamic balance control and determine the repeatability of outcomes within and between-sessions in healthy adults; and 2) determine the repeatability of the tasks and the association between outcomes of an advanced clinical model of care in a post-stroke population. In study 1 a wireless balance assessment toolkit was developed using a grid of four Nintendo Wii Balance boards and custom software and repeatability of the outcomes were established in healthy adults. Study 2 revealed the measures to be repeatable in a sub-acute stroke population while further evidence is required to validate the toolkit, as it did not associate with outcomes from an advanced clinical model of care.