*page 147 not removed from text / According to postmodern philosophy, the great political errors and crimes of the modern period may be traced back to the essentialism of modern thought. Modernity sought to base universal political projects upon a universal definition of humanity as a rationally self-determining species. However, such a view of humanity is opposed to the real cultural differences which characterize real communities. The essentialist picture of human being, far from furthering the work of freedom, legitimates the suppression of any differences judged to be unessential. Postmodernism hopes to overcome the suppression of differences by rejecting the notion of subjecthood upon which modernity rested. However, by giving up the idea that humanity is essentially self-determining, postmodern politics become incoherent. The concern for the oppressed which animates postmodern philosophy pre-supposes what postmodern critique denies-a real, universal human capacity to alter circumstances in accordance with self-given plans. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Two experiments were carried out. The first study was designed to investigate the effects of percentage of reinforcement and the number of correct acquisition trials, when combined, on the number of responses to extinction and rate of lever-pulling of human subjects. The second study was designed to investigate the effects off percentage of reinforcement combined with number of reinforcements on the same dependent variables. Analysis of the data revealed: (1) resistance to extinction in both experiments, was inversely related to the percentage of reinforcement; (2) resistance to extinction was inversely related to the number of reinforcements but was not affected by the number of correct acquisition trials; (3) the mean rate of responding was inversely related to the number of reinforcements but was not affected by either percentage of reinforcement or number of correct acquisition trials; and (4) the number of responses per unit of time increased during acquisition and decreased during extinction in both studies. The results were discussed in relation to theories stemming from previous partial reinforcement studies. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Glaucoma is a group of diseases that lead to a progressive loss of vision in the majority of the cases due to elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness after cataract. According to the National Eye Institute's report, there were almost 2.7 million detected cases in the United States in 2010.Everybody older than 40, African Americans and Hispanics at any age, are at high risk and would need frequent IOP measurement in order to diagnose the disease at an early stage. Majority of the existing tonometers measure the IOP through the cornea and their operation requires clinical professionals. As a result, the measurement has to take place at the doctor's office and requires local anesthesia. This work demonstrates a novel multi-probe tactile-tonometer, which is operated by the patients and measures the IOP through their eyelid. Finite element (FE) models were used to estimate the static, mechanical response of the eye, due to indentation at different IOPs. The models include hyperelastic behavior of the sclera and cornea. The thickness variation of the sclera, throughout the geometry was also considered. Volumetric constraint was applied on the eye cavity, but its actual anatomic structure was neglected. In-vitro indentation tests were performed on enucleated porcine eyeballs, as a proof of concept of tactile-tonometry. Eye/patient specific calibration method was demonstrated, in order to further improve accuracy ("Forward Biomechanics"), and in-vivo estimation of biomechanical properties of the eye ("Inverse Biomechanics"). The method uses simplified FE models and a feed forward artificial neural network (ANN). The tactile-tonometer was implemented for human use, and clinical studies were performed on a small number (10) of human subjects. Based on the measurements from the recruited 10 patients (3 females, 7 males) with a mean age ±SD of 43±19.33 and the measured IOP range of 9.25-21.25mmHg, the novel technique has a mean of differences of ≈ 0mmHg and its 95% limits of agreement are ±4.84mmHg with respect to the Goldmann Applanation Tonometer.

The purpose of this study is to discover the relationship between the specifications of medical institutes, FERCAP (Forum for Ethical Review Committees in Asia and the Western Pacific), TJCHA IRB Accreditation (Taiwan Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation, TJCHA) and the practice of IRBs. By using questionnaires, and comparing the differences between all these medical institutes, we would have the information Research Ethics and the differentials in all the medical institutes. In this study, 268 completed questionnaires to the most southern region (64.7%), Medical Center (66.4%), physicians (36.9%), research assistants (21.3%), nurses (14.6%) and so on. About 60¢H can answer correctly of the knowledge of Human Research Ethics. We found that different medical institutions (Medical Centers and non-medical centers) and distinction (north, south and other regions) score differences in terms of cognition, in "human trials testing program information must be saved after three years", "IRB memberlist should be submitted to DOH", "study of individual or group characteristics or behavior (such as feeling, cognition, motivation, identity, language, communication, cultural beliefs or habits and social behavior, etc.) is expetided review " and "IRB membership and minutes should be open" have significantly difference (p <0.05). Also, we need to pay attention that only 30¢H of IRB members and staff have correct answer of "IRB memberlist should be submitted to DOH". Medical Centers and non-medical centers score differences in terms of attitude, in ¡uunit IRB that the information provided sufficient for you to understand the operation of the IRB¡v,¡uIRB promote education in human trials of great help to the project execution¡v,¡uIRB review process can focus on the implementation of the risk-benefit plans to provide specific advice¡v and ¡uyou are familiar with the regulations of the Department of Health ¡isuch as GCP, Medical Law and Research collected by the human body provides¡j¡vhave significantly difference (p <0.05). And expect the future to have further information for health policy evaluation and questionnaire data will be cross-comparison analysis of human trials to confirm the operation of the Board to provide further quality assurance and the IRB timely help.

No description available.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Steven J. Eckels / The research presents the investigation of personal cooling systems (PCS) and their effects on humans from a thermodynamic perspective. The original focus of this study was to determine the most appropriate PCS for dismounted U.S. Army soldiers in a desert environment. Soldiers were experiencing heat stress due to a combination of interrelated factors including: environmental variables, activity levels, and clothing/personal protective equipment (PPE), which contributed to the buildup of thermal energy in the body, resulting in heat stress. This is also a common problem in industry, recreation, and sports. A PCS can serve as a technological solution to mitigate the effects of heat stress when other solutions are not possible. Viable PCS were selected from the KSU PCS database, expanded to over 300 PCS in the course of this study. A cooling effectiveness score was developed incorporating the logistical burdens of a PCS. Fourteen different PCS configurations were tested according to ASTM F2370 on a sweating thermal manikin. Four top systems were chosen for ASTM F2300 human subject testing on 22 male and 2 female soldiers in simulated desert conditions: dry air temperature = 42.2 ºC, mean radiant temperature = 54.4 ºC, air velocity = 2.0 m/s, relative humidity = 20%. Subjects wore military body armor, helmets and battle dress uniforms walking on treadmills at a metabolic rate of approximately 375-400W. All the PCS conditions showed significant reductions in core temperature rise, heart rate, and total sweat produced compared to the baseline (p<0.05). The expected mean body temperature was higher in the human subjects than expected based on the cooling obtained from the sweating manikin test. Lowered sweat production was determined to be the likely cause, reducing the body’s natural heat dissipation. The ASHRAE two-node model and TAITherm commercial human thermal models were used to investigate this theory. A method to account for fabric saturation from dripping sweat was developed and is presented as part of a new model. This study highlights that the response of the human body is highly complex in high-activity, high-temperature environments. The modeling efforts show the PCS moved the body from uncompensable to compensable heat stress and the body also reduced sweating rates when the PCS was used. Most models assume constant sweating (or natural heat loss) thus the PCS sweat reduction is the likely cause of the higher than expected core temperatures, and is an important aspect when determining the purpose of a PCS.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering / Steven J. Eckels / The research presents the investigation of personal cooling systems (PCS) and their effects on humans from a thermodynamic perspective. The original focus of this study was to determine the most appropriate PCS for dismounted U.S. Army soldiers in a desert environment. Soldiers were experiencing heat stress due to a combination of interrelated factors including: environmental variables, activity levels, and clothing/personal protective equipment (PPE), which contributed to the buildup of thermal energy in the body, resulting in heat stress. This is also a common problem in industry, recreation, and sports. A PCS can serve as a technological solution to mitigate the effects of heat stress when other solutions are not possible. Viable PCS were selected from the KSU PCS database, expanded to over 300 PCS in the course of this study. A cooling effectiveness score was developed incorporating the logistical burdens of a PCS. Fourteen different PCS configurations were tested according to ASTM F2370 on a sweating thermal manikin. Four top systems were chosen for ASTM F2300 human subject testing on 22 male and 2 female soldiers in simulated desert conditions: dry air temperature = 42.2 ºC, mean radiant temperature = 54.4 ºC, air velocity = 2.0 m/s, relative humidity = 20%. Subjects wore military body armor, helmets and battle dress uniforms walking on treadmills at a metabolic rate of approximately 375-400W. All the PCS conditions showed significant reductions in core temperature rise, heart rate, and total sweat produced compared to the baseline (p<0.05). The expected mean body temperature was higher in the human subjects than expected based on the cooling obtained from the sweating manikin test. Lowered sweat production was determined to be the likely cause, reducing the body’s natural heat dissipation. The ASHRAE two-node model and TAITherm commercial human thermal models were used to investigate this theory. A method to account for fabric saturation from dripping sweat was developed and is presented as part of a new model. This study highlights that the response of the human body is highly complex in high-activity, high-temperature environments. The modeling efforts show the PCS moved the body from uncompensable to compensable heat stress and the body also reduced sweating rates when the PCS was used. Most models assume constant sweating (or natural heat loss) thus the PCS sweat reduction is the likely cause of the higher than expected core temperatures, and is an important aspect when determining the purpose of a PCS.

Nowadays, the Human Machine System (HMS) is considered to be a proven technology, and now plays an important role in various human activities. However, this system requires that only a human has an in-depth understanding of the machine operation, and is thus a one-way relationship. Therefore, researchers have recently developed Human Adaptive Mechatronics (HAM) to overcome this problem and balance the roles of the human and machine in any HMS. HAM is different compared to ordinary HMS in terms of its ability to adapt to changes in its surroundings and the changing skill level of humans. Nonetheless, the main problem with HAM is in quantifying the human skill level in machine manipulation as part of human recognition. Therefore, this thesis deals with a proposed formula to quantify and classify the skill of the human operator in driving a car as an example application between humans and machines. The formula is evaluated using the logical conditions and the definition of skill in HAM in terms of time and error. The skill indices are classified into five levels: Very Highly Skilled, Highly Skilled, Medium Skilled, Low Skilled and Very Low Skilled. Driving was selected because it is considered to be a complex mechanical task that involves skill, a human and a machine. However, as the safety of the human subjects when performing the required tasks in various situations must be considered, a driving simulator was used. The simulator was designed using Microsoft Visual Studio, controlled using a USB steering wheel and pedals, as was able to record the human ii path and include the desired effects on the road. Thus, two experiments involving the driving simulator were performed; 20 human subjects with a varying numbers of years experience in driving and gaming were used in the experiments. In the first experiment, the subjects were asked to drive in Expected and Guided Conditions (EGC). Five guided tracks were used to show the variety of driving skill: straight, circular, elliptical, square and triangular. The results of this experiment indicate that the tracking error is inversely proportional to the elapsed time. In second experiment, the subjects experienced Sudden Transitory Conditions (STC). Two types of unexpected situations in driving were used: tyre puncture and slippery surface. This experiment demonstrated that the tracking error is not directly proportional to the elapsed time. Both experiments also included the correlation between experience and skill. For the first time, a new skill index formula is proposed based on the logical conditions and the definition of skill in HAM.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T14:27:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andre Luiz Boccato de Almeida.pdf: 1364728 bytes, checksum: 6372540ca1da73b1bd6d3bf784215bdd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-10 / The initial point of this dissertation is, in the first place, to analyze the postmodernity with its implications on moral conscience. The complex postmodernity reality takes us to rethink the problems concerning conscience to beyond the traditional paradigms making us to think of an (a type of) ethic of virtues which grants us a triple challenge: to discern, to decide and to act amongst ethical relativisms and fundamentalisms. For this purpose, we emphasize a panoramic view of postmodernity with its theoretical and anthropological challenges, generators of a new culture and value opposing to the whole Christian anthropology. The moral conscience, discernment stage, decision and action of the human being, feeling this opposition, is called to rethink its deeper structure. For this purpose, we have passed a look over the Christian tradition of conscience accentuating the major biblical, theological and historical themes under it. It emphasizes the positive comprehension of the council present in Gaudium et Spes , nº 16, we stress its concise and coherent importance to the moral-theological reflection. We propose an ethic of virtues looking at the old ethical paradigms, but aiming the contemporary human subject who lives a crisis of sense, history and acting. Finding himself fragmented and ethically confuse in front of the countless ethical proposals, seductive and ephemeral, we want to show that an ethic of virtues is profoundly pedagogical and evangelical when to this human subject offers means to form and educate his conscience. Rescuing the theological and cardinals virtues under the stimulating and creative inspiration of St. Thomas, we want to present ways capable of generating the humanization and integration of the postmodern human subject. It is up to the human subject to form his conscience with creativity in an open-minded spirit by the discernment to decide and act in times of ethical relativisms and fundamentalisms, proposing to himself and to his environment a beyond of moralisms and immoralisms / O ponto de partida desta dissertação é, primeiramente, analisar a pós-modernidade com suas implicações sobre a consciência moral. A complexa realidade pós-moderna nos leva a repensar a problemática da consciência para além dos paradigmas tradicionais, fazendo-nos a pensar uma ética das virtudes que propicie um triplo desafio: discernir, decidir e agir. Para este objetivo, destacamos uma visão panorâmica da pós-modernidade com seus desafios teóricos e antropológicos, geradores de uma nova cultura e valores impactantes à antropologia integral cristã. A consciência moral, instância de discernimento, decisão e ação do ser humano, sentindo estes impactos, é chamada a repensar sua estrutura mais profunda. Para isso repassamos um olhar sobre a tradição cristã da consciência, destacando os grandes temas bíblicos, teológicos e históricos subjacente a ela. Enfatizando a positiva compreensão conciliar presente na Gaudium et Spes, nº 16, ressaltamos sua concisa e coesa importância para a reflexão teológico-moral. Propomos uma ética das virtudes olhando os paradigmas éticos antigos, mas focando ao sujeito contemporâneo que vive uma crise de sentido, da história e do agir. Encontrando-se fragmentado e eticamente confuso diante de inúmeras propostas éticas sedutoras e efêmeras, queremos mostrar que uma ética das virtudes é profundamente pedagógica e evangélica quando a este sujeito oferece meios para formar e educar sua consciência. Resgatando as virtudes teologias e cardeais, queremos apresentar caminhos humanizantes e integradores ao sujeito pós-moderno. Cabe ao sujeito formar sua consciência com criatividade num espírito de abertura pelo discernimento, decidir e agir em tempos de relativismos e fundamentalismos éticos, propondo para si um além os moralismos e imoralismos

Islam, its texts and lived practice, finds growing importance within the global discourse on bioethics, as there is an increasing Muslim population and burgeoning interest in biomedical research and biotechnologies in the Muslim world. The aim of this thesis is to assess if and how Islam influences the ethical decision making of researchers, REC (researcher ethics committee) members, guideline developers and Islamic scholars in the biomedical research context. I began addressing this question by first reviewing the literature that has been published to explore the role that Islam plays in the literature on biomedical research ethics. There is evidence that some Muslim countries have developed "Islamic" guidelines. That is, guidelines with the explicit aim of setting out Islamic values and stating their relevance to the ethics of research. A review of research guidelines employed within countries with a significant Muslim population, was carried out, to investigate the role of Islam in such guidelines. The literature and guideline review revealed that although international guidelines have been adapted to incorporate Islamic views, studies have shown that the latter are of limited practical application within a "Muslim country" setting. An empirical study was carried out in two case study sites to assess the extent to which Islam influences ethical decision making within the context of biomedical research. 56 semi-structured interviews were carried out in Malaysia (38) and Iran (18) with researchers, REC members, guideline developers and Islamic scholars to understand whether Islam influences what they consider to be an ethico-legal problem, and if the latter emerges, then how such issues are addressed. The empirical study indicates five main conclusions. The first is that Islam and its institutional forms do impact ethical decision making in the day-to-day practice of biomedical research in countries with a Muslim population and/or in the research careers of Muslim researchers. Secondly, it shows that there are many distinctive mechanisms, such as the involvement of Islamic scholars, the process of ijtihad (independent reasoning) and the production of fatawah (legal edicts), by which Islam does identify and develop ethical views about biomedical matters. Thirdly, HIV/AIDS poses major challenges to the world of Islam as it does the rest of world. The epidemic raises issues that touch on cultural sensitivities that are important to Islamic societies and this study has shown that no simple or single response was observed to the ethical issues arising from HIV/AIDS. Fourthly, researchers face practical challenges when deliberating women's autonomy in contexts where Islam is appropriated within 'male dominated' contexts. The role and status of women is disputed in such contexts with views ranging from women needing their husband's permission to leave the home to men and women having equal freedoms. Finally, this study describes and analyses how the personal faith of researchers and their deep commitment to Islamic ethics and law influences their understanding of their legal and moral accountability and ethico-legal decision making. It shows that researchers adopt multiple roles and are required to balance numerous value systems and priorities and face moral anxiety and frustration when these different moral sources are in conflict. Overall, this study indicates that, in the countries studied, Islam does influence biomedical research ethics, and that this can be appreciated through the growing reference to Islam and its scriptural sources in biomedical research ethics literature, research ethics guidelines and the role of Islam in the day-to-day practice of biomedical researchers in the case study sites, that has been captured in the empirical study.