Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-22T20:50:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2006-01-01 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Contexto: consideramos as revisões sistemáticas como melhor nível de evidência para a tomada de decisão nos cuidados com a saúde, cujo rigor metodológico oferece uma diversidade de implicações para a prática clínica e para a pesquisa científica. Objetivo: avaliar a proporção de revisões sistemáticas completas da Colaboração Cochrane que permitem a aplicação prática dos resultados e implicações para a pesquisa científica. Tipo de Estudo: estudo transversal de revisões sistemáticas da Cochrane Library issue 4, 2004. Método: Análise da amostra aleatória de revisões sistemáticas dos 50 grupos colaborativos especializados da Cochrane. A extração de dados foi baseada nas conclusões dos autores, interpretações de metanálises e no contexto de cada revisão sistemática. As implicações para a prática foram classificadas em três categorias: A) “evidências que apóiam a utilização da intervenção testada”; B) ”evidências que contra-indicam a utilização da intervenção”; C) “ausência de evidências para recomendar ou desestimular a intervenção”. As implicações para a pesquisa científica foram categorizadas em: 1) “recomendação para mais pesquisas” e 2) “sem necessidade para recomendar novos estudos”. Número de estudos incluídos e metanálises foram também quantificados. Resultados: 1016 revisões sistemáticas foram analisadas, o que correspondeu a 46,60% da totalidade disponível na Cochrane Library, issue 4, 2004. As proporções e intervalo de confiança (IC) de 95% das implicações para a prática clínica foram: A) 44,39 (95% IC, 42,16 – 46,62) %; B) 6,79 (95% IC, 5,66 – 7,92)%; C) 48,81 (95% IC, 46,57 – 51,07)%. O total de revisões sistemáticas que recomendam a realização de mais estudos foi de 95,96% (95% IC, 95,08 – 97,04). O número de estudos incluídos foi de 13.830 (mediana 8 e moda 2) e o total de metanálises incluídas nas revisões sistemáticas avaliadas, de 6.461 (mediana 2 e moda 0). Conclusão: A grande maioria das revisões sistemáticas não traz orientações específicas com relação ao benefício ou malefício de uma intervenção, comparativamente ao grupo controle para determinada situação clínica. Há uma proporção significativa de revisões sistemáticas que sugerem recomendações de novos estudos para responderem à questão clínica da revisão. Há poucos estudos primários que respondem ao critério de inclusão da revisão sistemática, sugerindo uma qualidade metodológica pobre. Há pouca quantidade de metanálise por revisão sistemática para os desfechos clínicos de interesse. / Context: we consider systematic reviews the best level of evidence for the decision making in the health care, which methodological severity offers a diversity of implications to clinical practice and to scientific research. Objective: to assess the proportion of the complete systematic reviews of Cochrane Colaboration that allow practice application of results and implication to scientific research. Design and Setting: Cross-sectional study of systematic reviews of Cochrane Library issue 4, 2004. Main Outcomes Measures: 1016 systematic reviews published throughout 50 Cochrane Collaborative Review Groups were analysed randomly. Data extraction was based on the authors’ conclusions, meta-analysis interpretations and on the context of each systematic review. The implications to practice had been classified in three categories: A) evidences that support the use of the tested intervention. B) evidences that contraindicate the intervention use. C) absence of evidences to recommend or discourage the intervention. The implications to scientific research had been categorized in: 1) recommendation to further research and 2) no necessity to recommend new studies. Number of included studies and meta-analysis were also quantified. Results: 1016 systematic reviews were analyzed, which corresponded to 46,60% of the available totality in the Cochrane Library, issue 4, 2004. The proportions and confidence interval (CI) of 95% of the implications to clinical practice were: A) 44,39 (95% IC, 42,16 – 46,62) %; B) 6,79 (95% IC, 5,66 – 7,92)%; C) 48,81 (95% IC, 46,57 – 51,07)%. The totality of systematic reviews that recommend the accomplishment of further studies was 13.830 (medium 8 and mode 2) and the totality of included meta-analysis of the evaluated systematic reviews, 6.641 (medium 2 and mode 0). Conclusion: the great majority of systematic reviews do not bring specific orientations with relations to the benefit or curse of an intervention, comparatively to control group for certain clinical situation. There are a significant proportion of systematic reviews that suggest recommendations of new studies to answer to the clinical question of the review. There are few primary studies that answer the inclusion criterion of the systematic review and suggest a poor methodological quality. There is a little amount of meta-analysis by systematic review for the clinical outcomes of interest. / TEDE / BV UNIFESP: Teses e dissertações

De senaste åren har utveckling och hantering av AI i praktiken utvecklats exponentiellt i alla branscher för att effektivisera processer. Dessvärre medför AI etiska implikationer som måste hanteras på ett etiskt korrekt sätt. Hanteras dessa etiska implikation ansvarslöst kan det möjligtvis vara till nackdel för både verksamheter och allmänheten. Den befintliga forskningen är begränsad och lyfter fram flera etiska implikationer med AI i praktiken samt svårigheter med dess hantering. Syftet med studien är att identifiera möjliga etiska implikationer med AI i praktiken samt hur dessa kan hanteras. Sex intervjuer har genomförts med experter inom området. Respektive respondenter har olika roller men vardera arbetar med AI samt etiska implikationer. De etiska implikationer som identifierades genom den empiriska datainsamlingen består främst av implikationer kring transparens, integritet och partiskhet. Med hänsyn till bristande regelverk, otydliga riktlinjer om nivån av transparens och sämre datakvalitet uppstår etiska implikationer. För att effektivt hantera bland annat tidigare nämnda etiska implikationer används EU:s riktlinjer. Utöver EU:s riktlinjer är det grundläggande att implementera arbetsmetoder från början till slutet i AI-systems projekt, det är även effektivt att ha ett kompetenscentrum tillgängliga för råd och anvisningar. / In recent years, the development and management of AI in practice have developed exponentially in all industries to streamline processes. Unfortunately, AI carries ethical implications that must be managed in an ethically correct way. If these ethical implications are managed irresponsibly, it could significantly harm businesses and the public. The existing research is limited and highlights several ethical implications of AI in practice as well as difficulties with its management. The bachelor´s thesis is written in Swedish. The purpose of the study is to identify possible ethical implications with AI in practice and how these can be managed. Six interviews have been conducted with experts in the field. Each respondent has different roles, however, the respondents work with AI and ethical implications. The ethical implications that were identified through the empirical data collection mainly consist of implications around transparency, integrity, and bias. Furthermore, the lack of regulations, unclear guidelines on the level of transparency, and poorer data quality, causes significant ethical implications. To effectively manage the ethical implications, EU guidelines are used. In addition to EU guidelines, it is fundamental to implement work methods from start to finish in AI systems projects. Furthermore, it is effective to have an internal competence center available for advice and instructions.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Climate change creates both risks and opportunities worldwide. By understanding, planning for and adapting to a changing climate, individuals and societies can take advantage of these opportunities and reduce risks where possible. The consequences of climate variability and climate change are potentially more significant for activities that depend on local weather and climatic conditions. The Garden Route in the Western Cape (southern region), is an agricultural region that is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and climate variables; if these climatic conditions should change, productivity levels and livelihoods would be directly affected. This study examined how farmers’ perceptions of weather conditions have corresponded with the climatic data recorded at various meteorological stations in the Garden Route, South Africa, and whether these perceptions could be linked to an understanding of the ethical implications of climate change or not. Through the use of indepth interviews, the study analysed farmers’ adaptive responses, their perceptions and understanding of climate change, and their perceptions and understanding of the ethical challenges posed by climate change. The Heckman Probit Adaptation Model was used to examine perception and adaptation to climate change and climate variability. Main constraints cited by farmers in changing their ways of farming and adapting to climate change were obtaining rights to increasing their water storage capacities (increasing dam walls or building dams), flood water management, cash flow and financial support, obtaining permits to burn, and general support from official structures. Furthermore this study implemented a scenario-planning exercise to determine adaptation trends in the observed and projected climate for the Garden Route, with the aim of providing possible solutions for wiser agricultural practices. The following scenarios were compared: (1) If agricultural practices continue as per status quo – with no change in climatic conditions; (2) If agricultural patterns are significantly modified, to reduce agricultural impact on local biodiversity – with no change in climatic conditions; (3) If agricultural practices continue as per status quo – with significant change in climatic conditions; and (4) If agricultural practices are significantly modified, to reduce agricultural impact on local biodiversity, and taking account of likely changes in climatic conditions. The analyses – according to these four scenarios – indicated the likelihood of possible trends in future, using specific climate variables, together with possible adaptation strategies. With no change in climatic conditions, but a change in farming practices towards environmental protection, the farming sector may achieve sustainability. However, if climatic conditions should change, changes in farming practices may not be enough to guarantee its sustainability. Farmers in the Garden Route indicated that agricultural production on any scale is completely dependent on water, leaving this sector exposed and vulnerable posing substantial obstacles to farmers to continue farming in the same way. Farmers are now faced with the decision to “adapt or die”. The convergence of these factors has the potential to create a “perfect moral storm”. One consequence of this storm is that, even if the other difficult ethical questions surrounding climate change could be answered, farmers still may find it difficult to articulate what this moral storm could entail, and how to act upon it. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Klimaatsverandering skep wêreldwyd beide risiko’s en geleenthede. Deur klimaatsverandering te verstaan, daarvoor te beplan en daarby aan te pas, kan individue en gemeenskappe hierdie geleenthede aangryp en, waar moontlik, die risiko’s verlaag. Die gevolge van klimaatskommelings en klimaatverandering is potensieel meer betekenisvol vir daardie aktiwiteite wat afhanklik is van plaaslike weer- en klimaatstoestande. Die landboustreek in die Tuinroete in die Wes-Kaap (suidelike streek) is gevoelig vir die impak van klimaatsverandering en klimaatskommelings; indien klimaatstoestande verander, sal produktiwiteitsvlakke en lewenskwaliteit direk beïnvloed word. Hierdie studie het ondersoek ingestel na die ooreenkoms tussen boere se persepsie van klimaatsverandering, en die klimaatsdata by verskeie meteorologiese stasies in die Tuinroete, Suid-Afrika en of hierdie persepsies verbind kan word aan 'n begrip van die etiese implikasies van klimaatsverandering of nie. By wyse van indiepte onderhoude het die studie boere se aanpassingmeganismes, hul persepsies en begrip van klimaatsverandering, asook hul persepsies en begrip van die etiese uitdagings van klimaatsverandering ontleed. Die Heckman Probit Aanpassings-Model is gebruik om die persepsie en aanpassing by klimaatsverandering en klimaatskommelings te bepaal. Boere het die volgende as die vernaamste struikelblokke in die verandering in landboupraktyke en aanpassing by klimaatsverandering beskou: a) verkryging van toestemming om wateropgaarkapasiteit te verhoog (die bou of verhoging van damme); b) vloedbestuur; c) kontantvloei en finansiële ondersteuning; d) verkryging van brandpermitte; en e) algemene ondersteuning vanaf amptelike instansies. Voorts het hierdie studie scenario-beplanning gebruik om tendense in die aanpassing by die waargenome en voorspelde klimaatsverandering in die Tuinroete te bepaal. Die doel hiervan is om moontlike oplossings vir beter landboupraktyke te verskaf. Die volgende scenario’s is met mekaar vergelyk: (1) Indien landboupraktyke voortgaan soos gewoonlik (status quo) – geen verandering in klimaatstoestande; (2) Indien landbou betekenisvol verander om die impak van landbou op plaaslike biodiversiteit te verlaag – geen verandering in klimaatstoestande; (3) Indien landboupraktyke voortgaan soos gewoonlik (status quo) – betekenisvolle verandering in klimaatstoestande; en (4) Indien landbou betekenisvol verander om die impak van landbou op plaaslike biodiversiteit te verlaag – met inagneming van moontlike veranderings in klimaatstoestande. By wyse van die vier scenario’s dui die analise moontlike toekomstige tendense aan deur gebruik te maak van spesifieke klimaatskommelings, tesame met moontlike aanpassingstrategieë. Met geen verandering in die klimaatstoestand kan die landbousektor volhoubaar wees indien landboupraktyke verander en omgewingsbeskerming in ag neem. Indien klimaatstoestande egter verander, mag gewysigde landboupraktyke nie genoeg wees om die volhoubaarheid daarvan te verseker nie. Boere in die Tuinroete het aangedui dat enige skaal van landbouproduksie geheel en al van water afhanklik is, wat hierdie sektor blootgestel en kwesbaar maak, en ‘n groot struikelblok is indien boere op dieselfde wyse bly boer. Boere is nou onderworpe aan die besluit om aan te pas of onder te gaan. Die sameloop van al hierdie faktore het die potensiaal om die “perfekte morele storm” te ontketen. Een gevolg van hierdie storm is dat, alhoewel ander moeilike etiese kwessies rondom klimaatsverandering beantwoord sou kon word, boere dit nog steeds moeilik mag vind om dié morele storm te omskryf en hoe om hierop te reageer.

Biodiversity loss has been stated as one of the greatest risks for the future society according to the World Economic Forum (2018, p. 5). A million species is risking extinction due to current societies’ practices according to a report published during the conduction of this study(Brondizio et al., 2019, p. 3). This situation of biodiversity has led an increasing amount of countries to enforce legislation which requires companies that work with land development to comply with no net loss goal. In Sweden, no such legislation existed with regards to biodiversity. Against this background, a group of seven companies in Sweden voluntarily chose to strive toward the goal of biodiversity net gain. According to BNG strategy, a company does not only avoid, minimise, restore and offset to reach the point where zero net loss of biodiversity is achieved, but goes farther to create a net gain. As it is not sufficient for companies to stop emissions in order to halt the loss of biodiversity, BNG practices can help mend and even reverse the negative impacts until a gain of biodiversity is attained. A greater understanding of the opportunities that companies can benefit from implementing BNG helps spread this practice across industries. No previous research within the business literature explains companies’ voluntary initiatives to embrace BNG. Therefore, this explorative study suggested the research question of what the drivers are encouraging companies to voluntarily work towards achieving biodiversity-net-gain in Sweden. Due to the lack of previous research about companies’ drivers to engage with BNG, our theoretical framework was found based on the drivers from business case for sustainability and CSR approaches as a factor to generate change. To be able to answer the research question, it was necessary to establish what BNG is and how it has developed from the concept of ecosystem services. Having an interpretivistic standpoint, this study was completed according to an inductive and deductive approach. This was in order to facilitate the exploratory nature that our qualitative and comparative study. We conducted a multiple-case study through semi-structured interviews with seven large companies in the context of Sweden. These businesses are considered as the most ambitious in working towards BNG’s goal. The findings from the primary data was complemented by secondary data about the companies, the status of current legislation in Sweden and the sustainability status in Sweden. As a result of this thesis, we found that cost and cost reduction, risk and risk reduction, sales and profit margin, reputation and brand value, attractiveness as employer, innovative capabilities, stakeholders and health and well-being of future society to all be drivers for BNG. By applying our theoretical framework in the Swedish context, the seven companies were identified to engage in a proactive corporate biodiversity behaviour. Business cases for biodiversity were identified in some of the companies.

Student Number: 9408497V Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree for Masters of Arts. / In this research report an analysis of the message of pre-marital sexual abstinence as a strategy for HIV prevention and its implications for development was carried out. The Christian Action Fellowship, a student Christian organization at the University of the Witwatersrand provided a case for the research study. The alternative development paradigm informed my discussion of the message of pre-marital sexual abstinence in relation to development. In particular, it is its emphasis on participatory development and on the fact that development focus should be given to particular localities that I drew from the paradigm. However, the paradigm falls short of capturing the religious dynamics pertaining to local realities. Thus the results of the research study I carried out are meant to contribute to the development of the paradigm by factoring in the religious dimension of local reality in discourse of development. In this study, the religious dimension of local reality was captured in my focus on the message of pre-marital sexual abstinence as advanced within the evangelical faith based movement in South Africa. Furthermore, this research study is meant to contribute to discourse of development by stimulating intellectual reflection on the message of pre-marital sexual abstinence as a strategy of prevention and its implications for development in South Africa. The study demonstrated involvement by the evangelical movement in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The study further demonstrated the existence of particular methods employed to advance the message of pre-marital sexual abstinence as a prevention strategy against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. One such method is the strategy of identification. This method is employed to appeal to the targeted audience when ii presenting a case. Other methods employed are debate and argumentation as well as rhetoric. The deployment of these methods point to a religious construction of an identity that upholds pre-marital sexual abstinence as a lifestyle and a better HIV preventive option to other strategies of prevention. This research study is recommending further work in the areas where HIV prevention interventions and development interventions intersect within the local context (in all its dimensions) of identity construction.

No description available.

This critical review addresses the implications of the Curriculum and Assessment Plan Statement (CAPS) for collaboration between teachers and speech-language therapists (SLTs) in schools. A historical perspective on changes in the roles and responsibilities of SLTs is provided, reflecting a shift from supporting the child to supporting the teacher. Based on the role of SLTs and audiologists in schools, an innovative approach to the support of teachers is conceptualized. The curriculum content and methods support learners who experience challenges and barriers to learning in main stream classrooms. The implementation of the curriculum necessitates close collaboration between teachers and SLTs in order to ensure the best possible outcomes for all learners. This collaboration is reviewed by identifying the benefits of, and barriers to, the process, as well as crucial areas of collaboration. Inclusive education is mandated by White Paper 6, and collaborative support of teachers by SLTs is presented from the learners’ perspective within the context of the curriculum. An example of teacher support through the response to intervention (RTI) approach is described.

Security is widely recognized as an important property that is tightly interdependentwith safety in safety-critical systems. The goal of this thesis is to conduct case studies on the implications that security attacks may have on the safety of these systems.In these case studies, we formally model the design of a robot arm system, verify itssecurity against some potential attack scenarios, propose mitigation techniques andanalyze their effectiveness. In order to achieve a thorough knowledge about the current formal verification approaches and select a proper modeling language/tool, weconducted an extensive literature review. We performed this review following a wellknown approach proposed by Barbara Kitchenham. The procedure and outcomes ofthis review are detailed in this thesis. Based on the literature review, we chose TRebeca, (a timed extension of Rebeca), as the formal language to model the robot armsystem, attack scenarios and mitigation techniques. Rebeca is an actor-based modeling language with a Java-like syntax that is effectively used to model concurrent anddistributed systems. This language is supported by a full-featured IDE called Afra,which facilitates the development of (T)Rebeca models and verification of correctnessproperties (such as safety and security) on them. Among several functions providedby a robot arm system, we chose two important functions i.e., Stand Still Supervisionand Control Error Supervision, which we believe would be interesting for attackerstrying to get control over robot movements. In particular, attackers may maliciouslymanipulate the parameter values of these functions, which may lead to safety issues.In order to find suitable attack scenarios on these functions, we studied the mostimportant security protocols used in safety-critical industrial control systems. Weobserved that these systems are vulnerable to several attacks, and man-in-the-middleattack is among the most successful attacks on these systems. Based on this study,we devised two attack scenarios for each function and modeled them with TRebeca.To mitigate these attacks, we proposed a redundancy technique, whose effectivenesswas also assured by Afra.

Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / The study is aimed at investigating societal perception towards the hearing impaired and their psychological implications. The study concentrated on how the hearing impaired thought the hearing public perceived them and, also identified the psychological implications of these (perceived) societal perceptions on the hearing impaired. The research design is qualitative in nature, wherein, a convenient and purposive sample of ten hearing-impaired participants was used. Video recorded interviews of open-ended questions and questionnaires were used in combination to gather information. The Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was applied as the method of data analysis. Three super-ordinate themes were identified. These themes primarily indicated that the hearing impaired hold the view that they are negatively perceived by the hearing society. The findings of the study were that negative societal perceptions result in negative self-perceptions and discourage social interactions between the hearing impaired and the hearing communities.

L'influence de la méthode de préparation de la glace et de son histoire thermique sur la structure de sa surface a été mesurée a 77,15k en utilisant l'adsorption du méthane à 77,15 et 87,1k. Les isothermes d'adsorption du méthane ont été obtenues pour des recouvrements de surface compris entre 0,1 et plusieurs monocouches et entre 10-6 et 10-2 monocouche. Nous avons ainsi pu constater que la méthode de préparation et l'histoire thermique de l'échantillon de glace affectaient ses propriétés d'adsorption à faibles recouvrements ; par contre aucune influence n'a pu être décelée pour des recouvrements de surface superieurs à 0,1 monocouche. Ces différences ont ete attribuées à la présence de faces cristallographiques pouvant adsorber plus fortement le méthane, principalement des faces cristallographiques à indices de miller-bravais eleves. De ces observations nous avons conclu que la structure de la surface de la glace et ses propriétés d'adsorption dépendaient fortement de son mode de formation et de son histoire thermique. Nous avons également entrepris une étude expérimentale de l'adsorption de HCL sur la glace à 195k dans le but de contribuer à la compréhension du mécanisme chimique implique dans la destruction de l'ozone stratosphérique polaire.