<p>The aim of this study is to illuminate images and discourses, in which media describe people with disabilities. The purpose of the study will be fulfilled, by answering the following questions: Is it possible to discern categories of how people with disabilities are described in the media and is it possible to find associations to handicap models? We have chosen to focus on how media describe people with physical impairments and have made a content analyses of articles, based on the theoretic aim of this study, social constructionism, handicap models and earlier research. Underlying the analyses, are six articles from two Swedish news papers. The results of our research are divided in three categories: assumptions which are taken for granted, hidden meanings and contradicted categories. To sum up the results, we have found several categories in Media’s description of people with disabilities, and in the articles we have also found associations to handicap models. One of the assumptions which are taken for granted is that the disability/impairment defines the person. Hidden meanings are found which indicates, that people with disabilities doesn’t share the same social position as other groups. The articles used in this study are characterised by contradicted categories, the most common is where deviations are compared with what is considered to be normal, by the prevailing discourses. The articles also show associations to the social and the individual model.</p><p> </p>

Introduction and background: The 1990s crisis and the global financial crisis year 2008 shows the same indications that the property market was affected negative. The Swedish Property companies had a difficult time on the market when the crisis led to decreased property trade and financing problems for the Property companies. The Swedish property companies became less attractive on the market and contributed to a drop in prices on investment property. Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to examine if there is any relation between the Swedish Property companies impairments on their investment property and the global financial crisis year 2008. Method: The essay is based on a quantitative study where we examined Swedish Property companies’ annual reports. We answered our questions and our purpose from the empirical data that we collected from the annual reports. Conclusions: The study resulted in that we found a correlation between the Swedish Property companies’ impairments on their investment properties and the global financial crisis year 2008. However, we found that the Swedish Property companies’ impairments were lower than market indications prove.

The aim of this study is to illuminate images and discourses, in which media describe people with disabilities. The purpose of the study will be fulfilled, by answering the following questions: Is it possible to discern categories of how people with disabilities are described in the media and is it possible to find associations to handicap models? We have chosen to focus on how media describe people with physical impairments and have made a content analyses of articles, based on the theoretic aim of this study, social constructionism, handicap models and earlier research. Underlying the analyses, are six articles from two Swedish news papers. The results of our research are divided in three categories: assumptions which are taken for granted, hidden meanings and contradicted categories. To sum up the results, we have found several categories in Media’s description of people with disabilities, and in the articles we have also found associations to handicap models. One of the assumptions which are taken for granted is that the disability/impairment defines the person. Hidden meanings are found which indicates, that people with disabilities doesn’t share the same social position as other groups. The articles used in this study are characterised by contradicted categories, the most common is where deviations are compared with what is considered to be normal, by the prevailing discourses. The articles also show associations to the social and the individual model.

Ο πιο σύγχρονος και περισσότερα υποσχόμενος τύπος οπτικών δικτύων, είναι τα οπτικά δίκτυα πολυπλεξίας διαίρεσης μήκους κύματος (Wavelength Division Multiplexing – WDM). Τα δίκτυα αυτά διαθέτουν τεράστια χωρητικότητα και αναμένεται να αποτελέσουν τα μελλοντικά δίκτυα κορμού για τη μεταφορά μεγάλου όγκου δεδομένων. Η πλήρης αξιοποίηση της χωρητικότητας των WDM δικτύων, όμως, απαιτεί την επίλυση ειδικών θεμάτων που σχετίζονται µε τις ιδιαιτερότητες και τη φύση των WDM οπτικών δικτύων. Το σημαντικότερο ίσως από αυτά είναι το πρόβλημα της δρομολόγησης και ανάθεσης μήκους κύματος (Routing and Wavelength Assignment – RWA), πάνω στο οποίο έχει αναπτυχθεί έντονη ερευνητική δραστηριότητα τα τελευταία χρόνια, το οποίο είναι NP-πλήρες. Ένα άλλο θέμα που χρήζει ιδιαίτερης προσοχής είναι οι εξασθενήσεις που υφίσταται ένα σήμα μέσα στο οπτικό δίκτυο. Όταν λοιπόν κάποιο σήμα διαδίδεται κατά μήκος ενός οπτικού μονοπατιού πέφτει η ποιότητα του εξαιτίας των φυσικών επιδράσεων που δέχεται. Οι φυσικές επιδράσεις κατά κανόνα μειώνουν τον λόγο σήματος προς θόρυβο (SNR), με αποτέλεσμα να αυξηθεί σημαντικά και η συχνότητα εμφάνισης λαθών (BER) στον κόμβο προορισμού. Αν η παραπάνω συχνότητα εμφάνισης λαθών είναι μεγαλύτερη από ένα καθορισμένο όριο, τότε το αίτημα δρομολόγησης θα πρέπει να απορριφθεί. Επομένως κατά την επίλυση του RWA προβλήματος θα πρέπει να ληφθούν υπόψη οι επιδράσεις που προκαλούνται στο σήμα λόγω των φυσικών χαρακτηριστικών του δικτύου. Στην παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία έχει υλοποιηθεί ένας αλγόριθμος για την επίλυση του στατικού RWA, που βασίζεται στην μοντελοποίηση ενός γραμμικού προβλήματος (Linear Programming – LP). Κατά την μοντελοποίηση λαμβάνονται υπόψη οι πιο σημαντικές επιδράσεις, όπως η χρωματική διασπορά (Chromatic Dispersion – CD), η διασπορά τρόπου πόλωσης (Polarization Mode Dispersion – PMD), η ενισχυμένη αυθόρμητη εκπομπή (Amplifier Spontaneous Emission – ASE) και η αλληλεπίδραση γειτονικών καναλιών (crosstalk). Η επίδραση των τριών πρώτων παραμέτρων εξαρτάται αποκλειστικά από τα χαρακτηριστικά των συνδέσμων και μοντελοποιούνται σύμφωνα με αναλυτικούς τύπους, ενώ η επίδραση του crosstalk εξαρτάται από τον αριθμό των οπτικών μονοπατιών που διατρέχουν ένα σύνδεσμο. Προτείνεται επίσης μία συνάρτηση βελτιστοποίησης ώστε να προκύπτουν ακέραιες λύσεις με πολύ μεγάλη πιθανότητα από την επίλυση του LP (Linear Program) προβλήματος. Αυτός ο αλγόριθμος εφαρμόζεται σε ένα μητροπολιτικό δίκτυο και λαμβάνονται συγκριτικά αποτελέσματα για διάφορες παραμέτρους των φυσικών στοιχείων του δικτύου. / Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is a promising technology for faster and more reliable data communication networks. In a WDM network several optical signals are sent on the same fiber using different wavelength channels. Multiple WDM channels from different end users may be multiplexed on the same fiber. Traditionally only a small fraction of the fiber capacity is in use, but by using WDM it is possible to exploit this huge capacity more efficiently. Under WDM, the optical transmission spectrum is curved up into a number of non-overlapping wavelength bands, with each wavelength supporting a single communication channel operating at whatever rate one desires. WDM technology has been recognized as one of the key components of the future networks. Routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) is a crucial issue for WDM optical network designers. In wavelength routed WDM optical networks connections between terminal stations are established through the use of lightpaths. Given a WDM optical topology and a set of connection requests between pairs of source-destination terminal nodes, the problem of how to route all the lightpaths simultaneously, one per connection, and which wavelength should be assigned to each one of them, subject to minimizing network resources or maximizing traffic characteristics, arises; this is known as the Routing and Wavelength Assignment problem RWA. In transparent networks, the signal quality is subject to a variety of physical impairments, such as polarization mode dispersion (PMD), amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise and chromatic dispersion (CD) and crosstalk. These impairments are linearly modeled and handled effectively by a set of analytical formulas as additional constraints on RWA. We apply our algorithm to perform impairment-constraint based RWA, in order to obtain comparative results of a typical metropolitan network's performance under various network and impairment parameters, such as bit rate, amplifier gain and type, modulation format used, etc.

The aim of the study was to establish the visually impaired students' information seeking behaviours, which comprises information needs, seeking and use. Identifying the students' information seeking behaviour helped to determine whether the services that are provided by the University of KwaZulu-Natal on the Pietermaritzburg (UKZN-PMB) campus met their information needs or not. The population of the study comprised three units of analysis which were nine students with visual impairments, seven Subject Librarians of the UKZN-PMB Cecil Renaud main library and the Disability Unit Coordinator. The students were surveyed by means of a semi-structured interview where they were asked what their information needs were, how they met those needs and whether the information they found from the institution's information system met their needs or not. The student' information seeking behaviour was plotted using Wilson's (1999) Information Behaviour model and the model was assessed for use with this group. The Subject Librarians and the DUC were surveyed by means of self-administered questionnaires where they were asked to specify their length of services, the frequency with which they assisted students with visual impairments and the students with visual impairments' preferences in information sources and formats, which the researcher consequently collected. The response rate was 100% from all the units of analysis. The results of the study indicated that most of the students preferred electronic compared to print information formats, depending on their level of sightedness for those who were partially sighted. Results from the three units of analysis were integrated into an overall consideration of the dynamics of information seeking behaviour exhibited by the students and modifications were suggested on Wilson's (1999) Information Behaviour model which suited the group under study. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

Writing is an important skill that is necessary throughout school and life. Many students with physical disabilities, however, have difficulty with writing skills due to disability-specific factors, such as motor coordination problems. Due to the difficulties these individuals have with writing, assistive technology is often utilized. One piece of assistive technology, speech recognition software, may help remove the motor demand of writing and help students become more fluent writers. Past research on the use of speech recognition software, however, reveals little information regarding its impact on individuals with physical disabilities. Therefore, this study involved students of high school age with physical disabilities that affected hand use. Using an alternating treatments design to compare the use of word processing with the use of speech recognition software, this study analyzed first-draft writing samples in the areas of fluency, accuracy, type of word errors, recall of intended meaning, and length. Data on fluency, calculated in words correct per minute (wcpm) indicated that all participants wrote much faster with speech recognition compared to word processing. However, accuracy, calculated as percent correct, was much lower when participants used speech recognition compared to word processing. Word errors and recall of intended meaning were coded based on type and varied across participants. In terms of length, all participants wrote longer drafts when using speech recognition software, primarily because their fluency was higher, and they were able, therefore, to write more words. Although the results of this study indicated that participants wrote more fluently with speech recognition, because their accuracy was low, it is difficult to determine whether or not speech recognition is a viable solution for all individuals with physical disabilities. Therefore, additional research is needed that takes into consideration the editing and error correction time when using speech recognition software.

Introduction: Idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is characterised by motor symptoms. However, there is increasing awareness that a range of neuropsychiatric and cognitive problems also accompanys PD. The objective of this thesis was to examine the profile of neuropsychiatric and cognitive problems for patients with PD without dementia. Parkinson's disease patients who could be identified at the time of this study were invited to participate. Each patient was individually matched to a healthy control in terms of age, premorbid intelligence, and years of education. Results: Neuropsychiatric symptoms were common for this patient group, over 40% self reported symptoms consistent with depression, 40% with physical fatigue, 38% with mental fatigue, 38% with apathy and 32% with sleep problems. More than 77% of patients with PD reported symptoms associated with at least one problem and over 46% with 3 or more problems. Increased symptoms consistent with depression and anxiety and the presence of hallucinations also predicted poorer quality of life after controlling for motor symptoms. However, the of level agreement between patient report and that of a person who know them well was low: 40.9% for apathy, 28% for hallucinations, 39% for depression, 25% for sleep problems and only 7.7% agreement for the presence of anxiety. To obtain an accurate profile of cognitive impairments patients were assessed on measures of higher order language ability and a broad range of commonly used cognitive tests. Overall, PD patients were impaired on aspects of higher-order language. However, results indicated that these deficits were not a primary effect of PD, but could be explained in terms of deficits in speed of information processing associated with the disease. Compared to healthy controls, PD patients also showed deficits on measures of executive function, working memory, problem solving, and visuospatial skills. However, they were unimpaired on measures of planning, attention and memory/learning. Deficits in problem solving were only evident for tasks with a high visuospatial content and were no longer significant when visuospatial skills were controlled for. Further investigation indicated that planning in PD patients was not impaired in general and was dependent on the sensitivity of tests used. To further examine cognitive deficits, patients were divided into groups according to their cognitive performance. Three sub-groups of patients were identified that formed a continuum of cognitive impairment from none/mild to severe. Compared to controls, one subgroup showed no or minimal impairment (PD-NCI), a second group showed a more variable pattern of severe and mild impairments (PD-UCI), and a third group had evidence of severe impairment across most of the cognitive domains tested. This latter group was labelled PD-Mild Cognitive Impairment (PD-MCI). The PD-UCI and PD-MCI groups were also significantly different from their controls with respect to their ability to carry out functional activities of everyday living. The PD-MCI group had evidence of global cognitive decline, possibly reflecting a stage of pre-clinical dementia. The severity of cognitive deficits was not associated with other clinical and demographic characteristics such as motor impairments, age or disease duration. These results were confirmed when patients were retested one year later. Conclusions: Comorbid neuropsychiatric and cognitive problems are common for patients with PD prior to any overt signs of dementia. However, PD patients are heterogeneous with regard to their presentation and different subgroups of patients are identifiable based on cognitive performance. This information has both theoretical and clinical relevance.

Orientador: Vera Lúcia Messias Fialho Capellini / Resumo: Sabe-se que a consciência fonológica, uma das estruturas da metalinguística, é preditora de um letramento com sucesso para pessoas com ou sem deficiência e assim o é, para a pessoa com deficiência auditiva/surdez. A pessoa com deficiência auditiva que faz uso da abordagem oral, se fizer acompanhamento adequado, poderá desenvolver a consciência fonológica, tal qual um ouvinte e a pessoa com surdez, por sua vez, que faz uso de uma língua de sinais, se estiver em contato com a mesma desde a mais tenra idade, terá uma percepção fonológica das estruturas mínimas de sua língua visuoespacial. Uma aliada tanto da promoção da consciência fonológica, quanto do letramento, é a contação de histórias. Portanto, este trabalho objetivou, por meio de um livreto composto por narrativas curtas, incentivar o ensino de estruturas da consciência fonológica de forma lúdica, pela contação de histórias ou leitura a ser realizada por professores de alunos com deficiência auditiva/surdez em sua prática docente; também buscou verificar a usabilidade de tal livreto e suas respectivas instruções, pelo viés do professor. As instruções foram elaboradas seguindo a perspectiva vigotskiana, em que o professor ensina e dá feedback ao aluno em seu momento de mediação. Participaram dessa pesquisa, onze professores cursistas do Ambiente Virtual de Aprendizagem AVA, plataforma Moodle Rede de Formação (Redefor), e cinco professores de uma cidade de médio porte do interior do estado de São Paulo; nove alunos com sur... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: It is known that phonological awareness, one of the metalingüísticas structures, is a predictor of a successful literacy for people with or without disabilities and so it is, for the person with hearing impairment and deafness. The person with hearing impairment who makes use of the oral approach, if followed properly, can develop phonological awareness, just like a listener and the person with deafness, in turn, who makes use of a sign language, if they are in contact with the sign language from the earliest age, will have a phonological perception of the minimal structures in their language visio-espacional. A big ally of both development of phonological awareness and a literacy, is the storytelling. Therefore, this work aimed to create a reading material composed of short narratives, to encourage the training of structures of phonological awareness by playful form, through storytelling and to be applied by teachers of students with hearing impairments/deafness in their teaching practice; as well as the elaboration of specific instructions for each audiences or students and characterization of them. The instructions were elaborated following the Vigotskian perspective, in which the teacher teaches and gives feedback to the student in his moment of mediation. Participated in this research, 11 teachers of a course of the Virtual Learning Environment (AVA), Moodle platform- Network of Formation Redefor, and five teachers from a medium-sized city of the state of São Paulo, who ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Le diagnostic de la maladie d'« Alzheimer » (MA) repose essentiellement sur des tests neuropsychologiques, démontrant d'importants déficits mnésiques en lien avec l'atrophie de l'hippocampe. Parallèlement à cela, l'existence d'une atteinte précoce de l'amygdale a très récemment été proposée dans une série d'études, suggérant que cette structure pourrait être un marqueur neuro-anatomique de l'entrée dans la maladie. Les études ayant évalué les répercussions émotionnelles de ces atteintes amygdaliennes n'ont néanmoins pas permis d'aboutir à l'identification d'un profil convergent de déficits. L'objectif de cette thèse a donc été de démontrer l'existence d'une atteinte de l'amygdale à un stade précoce de la MA entrainant des modifications des traitements émotionnels. Dans une première étude en neuroimagerie structurelle, nous avons montré des arguments robustes quant à l'existence d'atteintes anatomiques de l'amygdale chez des patients légèrement atteints par la maladie. L'amplitude de cette atrophie s'est avérée être un indicateur particulièrement sensible du niveau général d'atteintes cognitives mesurées chez nos patients. Dans les études suivantes, nous nous sommes intéressés aux répercussions de cette atteinte sur des activités cognitives sous-tendues plus directement par le fonctionnement de cette structure : les traitements émotionnels. Par l'élaboration d'une méta-analyse, nous avons pu identifier un déficit précoce de la reconnaissance des émotions. Nous avons de plus démontré que les troubles cognitifs des patients expliquaient en partie le déficit émotionnel, sans toutefois l'expliquer dans sa totalité. Enfin, une série d'études comportementales et en neuroimagerie fonctionnelle, a permis de confirmer que les atteintes anatomiques s'accompagnaient bien d'un dysfonctionnement de l'amygdale entrainant des déficits émotionnels, en particulier dans les mécanismes à l'origine de l'extraction spontanée de la saillance émotionnelle. L'ensemble de nos données convergent vers l'idée que l'atteinte amygdalienne et les altérations des mécanismes émotionnels seraient une piste prometteuse afin de préciser le diagnostic actuel de la MA. / The diagnosis of “Alzheimer's” disease (AD) relies on neuropsychological tests demonstrating massive memory decline, which is mainly associated with hippocampus lesions. In parallel, several neuroimaging studies have suggested that amygdala volume loss could be a neuroanatomical marker of AD. However, previous works dealing with behavioural indices of amygdala activity in AD have been unable to provide a converging profile of emotional impairments. The goal of this work was to corroborate data provided from various methods to demonstrate that amygdala lesions in relation to emotional disorders could be an interesting track to refine the current diagnosis of AD. In a first structural neuroimaging study, we have demonstrated that the amygdala undergoes massive atrophy in the early stage of the disease, and that volume loss predicts memory decline. In the following studies, we have shown that these lesions lead to impairments in a various set of emotional tests. Based on a meta-analytic approach, we demonstrated that emotional decoding abilities are impaired in AD, beginning in the early stage, and partly explained by the cognitive deficits characterizing the AD population. In a last set of studies we demonstrated that these emotional decoding difficulties rely on specific amygdala dysfunctions, by showing that the mechanisms behind the spontaneous extraction of emotional salience are impaired in AD. All our data converge on the idea that the amygdala damage and alteration of emotional mechanisms from the early phase of AD are a promising approach to clarify the current diagnosis of AD.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-16T14:49:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1859288 bytes, checksum: a2730be476b482eefec904157d46321a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / An evolution in the concept of digital divide led him to a multidimensional model with differences in usage levels and perspectives. The digital impairments three-dimensional model follows this view and goes further by proposing the term "digital impairments", suggests three types (access , cognitive-informational and behavioral) and promotes analysis from the perspective of an individual and their level of use and adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The relationship between self-efficacy, feedback and performance has proven ambiguously in the literature. Studies are beginning to show a possible, and important, negative or inconclusive relationship between these constructs that can show up as overconfidence on computer skills. While the overconfidence on computer skills can lead to underperform, it is suggested to classify it as a cognitive impairment, referring to an overestimation of the judgment on the ability of an individual to perform a computational task , that obstruct the effective use of ICTs .The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between self-efficacy, feedback and performance in computer-mediated decision-making task. We conducted a true experiment with two groups of undergraduate from UFPB's Management course. The results show differences between the behavior of the control group, the experimental group with positive feedback and the experimental group with negative feedback. The effect of positive feedback caused an increase in levels of self-efficacy and performance, but the negative feedback decreased the level of self-efficacy and increased the level of performance, which showed a better alignment between the two variables through the negative feedback. Cases of overconfidence were identified in digital skills, represented by those with high levels of self-efficacy and low performers and, therefore, treated as digital impairment. Negative feedback is also shown as a better way to align the self-efficacy of the individual with their actual performance / Uma evolução no conceito de exclusão digital levou-o a um modelo multidimensional, com diferenças de níveis de uso e de perspectivas. O modelo tridimensional de limitações digitais segue esta perspectiva e vai além, ao propor o termo "limitação digital", sugere três tipos desta (de acesso, cognitivo-informacional e comportamental) e promove análise sob a perspectiva de um indivíduo e seus níveis de uso e adoção de tecnologias de informação e comunicação (TICs). A relação entre autoeficácia, feedback e desempenho tem se mostrado de forma ambígua na literatura. Estudos começam a demonstrar uma possível, e importante, relação negativa ou inconclusiva entre estes construtos que pode mostrar-se como excesso de confiança em habilidades computacionais. Ao passo que o excesso de confiança em habilidades computacionais pode levar a um desempenho aquém do esperado, sugere-se classificá-lo como uma limitação cognitiva, referindo-se a uma superestimação do julgamento sobre a capacidade de um indivíduo para realizar uma tarefa computacional, que obstruiria o uso efetivo de TICs. A presente pesquisa teve como objetivo investigar a relação entre autoeficácia, feedback e desempenho em tarefa decisória mediada por computador. Realizou-se um experimento verdadeiro com duas turmas de graduandos em Administração da UFPB. Os resultados mostram diferenças entre o comportamento do grupo de controle, do grupo experimental com feedback positivo e do grupo experimental com feedback negativo. O efeito do feedback positivo causou um aumento nos níveis de autoeficácia e desempenho, mas o feedback negativo diminuiu o nível de autoeficácia e aumentou o nível de desempenho, o que mostrou um melhor alinhamento entre as duas variáveis através do feedback negativo. Foram identificados casos de excesso de confiança em habilidades digitais, representados por aqueles com altos níveis de autoeficácia e baixos desempenhos e, por isso, tratados como limitações digitais. O feedback negativo também demonstrou-se como uma forma melhor para alinhar a autoeficácia do indivíduo com o seu real desempenho