Physical activity is an important health-related behavior, and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that children engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-physical activity (MVPA) daily (CDC, 2015). However, worldwide, many children do not reach those requirements and health problems associated with physical inactivity are becoming more prevalent (CDC, 2015; World Health Organization [WHO], 2016). Recently, a few studies have conducted an intervention analysis to evaluate implications for function-based interventions to increase physical activity (Larson, Normand, Morley, & Miller, 2014; Zerger, Normand, Boga, & Patel, 2016). However, intervention analyses, indicate an overall decrease in levels of MVPA. This limitation could hinder further improvements of function-based interventions to increase physical activity, and is thus important to investigate. The current study partially replicated Zerger et al. (2016), and investigated the effects of alternating FA test conditions and repeated presentation of single condition exposure on maintenance of levels of MVPA in children. Additionally, the current study also evaluated the effectiveness of a more intermittent contingent schedules of reinforcement (i.e., fixed-interval limited-hold schedule) during intervention conditions. Results suggest it might be beneficial for caretakers and parents to deliver reinforcement in the form of social reinforcement to increase MVPA in preschool children. Additionally, the data suggest to promote MVPA, a more intermittent schedule of contingent social reinforcement does not reliably promote stable levels of MVPA.

Background: Digitalized operations have become praxis for organizations of all shapes and sizes and while the digital tools keep developing, certain aspects make it difficult for certain organizations to keep up. One of the most modern, efficient, and sought-after digital tools is artificial intelligence (AI). With increased efficiency and decreased human errors, it has become the foundation for operations within organizations all over the world. One of these types of operations is the human resource management (HRM) process found in each organization. And while some industries have had a much easier task in adopting AI into their HRM function, others have had more difficulty. Purpose: While there are a few theories of what might affect the process of AI adoption, these are quite old and often known to managers. Yet, certain industries have a hard time adopting AI tools within the HRM function while other industries have fully implemented automated systems that have revolutionized the way they operate. The purpose of this study is to understand why and how AI adoption differs between these industries when it comes to similar operations such as the HRM function. Method:        The methods of this study were based on the grounded theory (GT) as a basis to analyze eight different organizations within the financial industry and telecom industry. Through semi-structured interviews, different aspects could be illustrated as crucial when it comes to the possibility to adopt AI within existing operations.  Conclusion: The results of this study show that the AI-maturity of the organization and industry alike play a crucial part in successfully adopting AI. But the institutional pressures and the available resources are equally important to understand to be able to successfully adopt AI. These two aspects form the outcome of AI adoption and the number of complex combinations that can be formed highlights why AI adoption differs between organizations and industries alike.

xvi, 225 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This study investigated the effectiveness of function-based academic and behavior intervention on behavior and reading improvement for five English language learners who exhibited escape-maintained problem behaviors and academic reading difficulties. The study sought to document the effect of a function-based approach on students with highly diverse cultural backgrounds in an international school in Thailand. The intervention emphasized (a) the functional behavior assessment (FBA) strategies to identify the function of the target behavior, (b) evidence-based effective reading instructional approaches, and (c) responsiveness to cultural perspectives of teachers and students. A combined single-subject research methodology documented a functional relationship between implementation of the function-based intervention and decreased problem behaviors. The findings revealed the potential to increase academic engagement and reading performance for the students by following a behavior support plan based on effective reading instruction and tasks modified to accommodate students' academic needs. The study emphasized cultural responsiveness of the intervention plan and implementation. Despite several limitations, this experimental research incorporated culture into behavior and academic support as well as into the research designs. In future application, cultural responsiveness among professionals will be a key element to ensure that future intervention support will meaningfully change the lives of students and will be sustained over time. / Adviser: Robert Homer

Mortality information is very important for national planning and health of a country. Mortality rate forecasting is a basic contribution for the projection of financial improvement of pension plans, well-being and social strategy planning. In the first part of the thesis, we fit the selected mortality rate models, namely the Power-exponential function based model, the ModifiedPerks model and the Heligman and Pollard (HP4) model to the data obtained from the HumanMortality Database [22] for the male population ages 1–70 of the USA, Japan and Australia. We observe that the Heligman and Pollard (HP4) model performs well and better fit the data as compared to the Power-exponential function based model and the Modified Perks model. The second part is to systematically compare the quality of the mortality rate forecasting using the second order Lee–Carter method with the selected mortality rate models. The results indicate that Power-exponential function based model and the Heligman and Pollard (HP4) model gives a more reliable forecast depending on individual countries.

Det byggs i trä i Sverige som aldrig förr. Det blir alltmer populärt för varje år som går att ersätta prefabricerade element i betong samt pelare och balkar i stål med element med motsvarande funktion i antingen korslimmat trä eller limträ. Under tidsperioden 2010 till och med 2019 har andelen nyproducerade lägenheter i flerbostadshus, som byggts i trä, ökat med 122 %. Det kommer delvis som en följd att det först 1994 blev tillåtet att bygga flervåningshus i trä när funktionskrav infördes. Vid byggande i trä finns det olika sorters trämaterial att välja mellan, tre av dem är konstruktionsvirke, limträ och korslimmat trä. Konstruktionsvirke är ursågade delar av trädstammar och limträ samt korslimmat trä är sammansatta trämaterial av konstruktionsvirke i form av lameller och lim. Skillnaden mellan limträ och korslimmat trä är att lamellerna, lagren, är lagda i samma riktning i limträ och som namnet antyder, korsvis i korslimmat trä. Limträ har formen av pelare och balkar medan korslimmat trä bildar massiva skivelement. Eftersom trä är ett organiskt material kommer det vid hög temperatur att antända och förbrännas. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka huruvida brandförloppet skiljer sig mellan konstruktionsvirke, limträ och korslimmat trä samt ta reda på om limmet påverkar brandförloppet eller inte i fallen med limträ och korslimmat trä. Uppsatsen är av det kvalitativa slaget, och analyserar därmed redan framtagen information snarare än tillföra egen. Informationen hämtas från intervjuer med personer med för uppsatsen relevanta kompetenser och från litteraturstudier. Eftersom alla tre i uppsatsen analyserade material består av eller är konstruktionsvirke kommer brandförloppen i stora drag vara jämförbara. Lamelleringseffekten i limträ och korslimmat trä kommer göra brandförloppen i de materialen mer gynnsamma. Den stora skillnaden i brandförlopp kommer bero på huruvida det ingående limmet i limträ och korslimmat trä delaminerar vid upphettning. Det finns flera olika sorters lim tillåtna för ändamålet, där vissa sorter delaminerar och andra inte. Uppsatsens slutsats är att materialen som tidigare nämnts i stort genomgår samma brandförlopp och att valet av lim kommer ha påverkan på brandförloppet då eventuell delaminering är ogynnsamt för konstruktionen. / In Sweden, building with wood have never been so popular as now and to exchange prefabricated elements in concrete and pillars and beams in steel with corresponding elements in either cross-laminated timber and or glued-laminated timber becomes increasingly more popular on a yearly basis. During the timeframe from 2010 through 2019 the share of newly produced flats in multi-storey buildings have risen with 122 %. In part, it can be explained by the introduction of function-based design in Sweden 1994, before that, wooden multi-storey buildings were not allowed. When building with wood, there are several wooden materials to choose from, three of which are dimensional lumber, glued-laminated timber, and cross-laminated timber. Dimensional lumber is sawed parts of logs and glued-laminated timber and cross-laminated timber are engineered wood composed by dimensional lumber in form of laminating stock and adhesives. The difference between glued-laminated timber and cross-laminated timber are that the laminating stock, the layers, are oriented the same way in glued-laminating lumber and as the name suggests, crossed, perpendicular to each other in cross-laminated timber. Glued-laminated timber is used as pillars and beams while cross-laminated timber is used as massive wooden panels. Since wood is an organic material, it will ignite and combust at high temperatures. The purpose of the thesis is to examinate whether the fire course differs in dimensional lumber, glued-laminated timber, and cross-laminated timber. The thesis is qualitative, and therefore analyses already researched information rather than providing new. The information is provided by interviews with people with relevant functions according to the thesis and from literary studies. As all three materials analysed in the thesis are composed of or are dimensional lumber the fire course will broadly be comparable, however, the in glued-laminated timber and cross-laminated timber inherent laminating effect will make these materials fire course more advantageous. The main divergence in fire course will depend on whether the in glued-laminated timber and cross-laminated timber inherent adhesive will delaminate when heated or not. There are several different types of adhesives allowed for the purpose where some types will delaminate and other will not when heated. The conclusion of the thesis is that the earlier mentioned materials broadly experience the same fire course, and that the choice of adhesive will have effect on the fire course due to eventual delamination being disadvantageous for the construction. / <p>Betyg 2021-06-04</p>

The issue of angle instability has been widely discussed in the power engineering literature. Many control techniques have been proposed to provide the complementary synchronizing and damping torques through generators and/or network connected power apparatus such as FACTs, braking resistors and DC links. The synchronizing torque component keeps all generators in synchronism while damping torque reduces oscillations and returns the power system to its pre-fault operating condition. One of the main factors limiting the transfer capacity of the electrical transmission network is the separation of the power system at weak links which can be understood by analogy with a large spring-mass system. However, this weak-links related problem is not dealt with in existing control designs because it is non-trivial during transient period to determine credible weak links in a large power system which may consist of hundreds of strong and weak links. The difficulty of identifying weak links has limited the performance of existing controls when it comes to the synchronization of generators and damping of oscillations. Such circumstances also restrict the operation of power systems close to its transient stability limits. These considerations have led to the primary research question in this thesis, "To what extent can the synchronization of generators and damping of oscillations be maximized to fully extend the transient stability limits of power systems and to improve the transfer capacity of the network?" With the recent advances in power electronics technology, the extension of transfer capacity is becoming more readily achievable. Complementary to the use of power electronics technology to improve transfer capacity, this research develops an improved control strategy by examining the dynamics of the modes of separation associated with the strong and weak links of the reduced transmission network. The theoretical framework of the control strategy is based on Energy Decomposition and Unstable Equilibrium Points. This thesis recognizes that under extreme loadings of the transmission network containing strong and weak links, weak-links are most likely to dictate the transient stability limits of the power system. We conclude that in order to fully extend the transient stability limits of power system while maximizing the value of control resources, it is crucial for the control strategy to aim its control effort at the energy component that is most likely to cause a separation. The improvement in the synchronization amongst generators remains the most important step in the improvement of the transfer capacity of the power system network.

No description available.