As part of the EU project Energy Efficient Demo Multiresidential highrise Building (EE-highrise), this thesis work evaluates and changes the Slovenian Eco Silver House (ESH) high rise building model in order to see if it can be classifiable as a passive house in different European regions. The purpose of this thesis work was to evaluate if the ESH could meet the European and Swedish passive house classification in Sibernik, Ljubljana, Lund, Östersund, Sundsvall and Kiruna. The purpose was also to make a sensitivity analysis of different energy efficiency measures in the energy performance of the building. This analysis was conducted to understand which of the selected energy efficiency measures made the most significant improvements in the results. The measures included in the sensitivity analysis were the building envelopes wall insulation thickness, changing the window frames, altering the ventilation air duct length and width as well as increasing the air duct insulation thickness. Finally, simulations with solar panels on the roof of the ESH were carried out. For the European passive house classification, the study involved constructing the model in the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) and simulating each region and energy efficiency measures separately. PHPP is however made specifically for verifying buildings according to the European passive house standard. So the demands for the Swedish passive house classification cannot be calculated in the PHPP simulations. Because of this, the data available through PHPP was used to manually calculate the Swedish passive house requirements. The results showed that the original ESH model, was only passive house certifiable according to the European classification in Sibernik. When including the additional energy efficiency measures it was possible for the ESH to become passive house certifiable in Lund, Ljubljana and Sibernik. The Swedish passive house classification results suggests that the ESH may be passive house certifiable in Lund. Also, with additional energy efficiency measures the ESH may meet the passive house requirements in Sundsvall and Kiruna. However, all the passive house classification parameters could not be considered in this study. Accordingly, additional analysis are required to draw final conclusions on whether the ESH building could meet the Swedish passive house certification in the different Swedish climate zones. The conclusions drawn were that all the energy efficiency measures contribute to reducing the primary energy demand, heating demand and the heating load. However, these same energy efficiency measures would at the same time increase the cooling demand. Because of this, it was discussed that specific regional models should be made. Because some regional models might benefit from not including the energy efficiency measures used in this thesis at all. They might instead benefit from finding and implementing energy efficiency measures that reduce the cooling demand.

The electromigration (EM) and chip-package interaction (CPI) reliability of flip chip packages with Cu pillar structures was investigated. First the EM-related characteristics of Cu pillars with solder tips were studied and compared with standard controlled collapse chip connection (C4) Pb-free solder joints. The simulation results revealed a significant reduction in the current crowding effect when C4 solder joints was replaced by Cu pillar structures. As a result, the current-induced Joule heating and local temperature gradients were reduced in the Cu pillar structure. This was followed by a study of the impact of the Cu pillar bumps on the mechanical reliability of low-k dielectrics. The CPI-induced crack driving force for delamination in the low-k interconnect structure was evaluated using a 3D sub-modeling technique. The energy release rate was found to increase significantly for packages with Cu pillar bumps compared with those with C4 Pb-free solder joints only. Structural optimization of Cu pillar bumps to improve the mechanical stability of packages with low-k chips was discussed. / text

M. Tech. Tourism and Hospitality Management / The focus of this study was to determine tourists' preferences of the content of packaged tours in the Mahikeng area. Packaged tours are designed without really knowing whether such tours will be purchased. The preferences of tourists differ in terms of all the components of tourism incorporated into packaged tours. Preferences can be influenced by the reasons of travelling. Tour operators play a significant role in designing and selling tourism packages. It is therefore crucial for them to recognise the preferences of current and potential customers. Knowing tourists' preferences before crafting tour packages will enable tour operators to save money and will also contribute to the successful selling of packaged tours.

The present study examined the effectiveness of a self-instructional package for teaching discrete-trials teaching (DTT) to Applied Behaviour Analysis tutors at the St.Amant Applied Behaviour Analysis Program for Children with Autism. A modified multiple- baseline design across participants was used, and replicated six times. An AB design was used for one participant. The training package include a self-instructional manual, video demonstrations, and self-practice. Participants required an average of 3 hours and 56 minutes to master the manual. Eleven of the 13 participants achieved the mastery criterion during the post-training assessment. Mean DTT accuracy increased from 46.2% to 85.5% (a statistically significant increase). One tutor participated in a generalization phase with a child with autism, and their DTT accuracy averaged 80.1%. The results suggest that the self-instructional package appears to be an effective tool for teaching newly-hired tutors to conduct DTT.

The Chinese stimulus package of 2008 was a response by the government to rebound the second largest economy from the effects of the Global Financial Crisis. The package was one of the largest, and arguably one of the most successful, in boosting demand and spurring growth through targeting infrastructure projects and consumer spending. This paper investigates whether the package had any spillover effects on the US industrial and consumption companies with large markets in China through the time series multiple regression technique. This paper found that Chinese net exports had some explanatory power over the consumption companies, and the US industrial companies were hurt by the stimulus package. The findings also suggest that there are more macroeconomic variables that have more explanatory power over the returns of the companies than the ones included in the regressions.

The present study examined the effectiveness of a self-instructional package for teaching discrete-trials teaching (DTT) to Applied Behaviour Analysis tutors at the St.Amant Applied Behaviour Analysis Program for Children with Autism. A modified multiple- baseline design across participants was used, and replicated six times. An AB design was used for one participant. The training package include a self-instructional manual, video demonstrations, and self-practice. Participants required an average of 3 hours and 56 minutes to master the manual. Eleven of the 13 participants achieved the mastery criterion during the post-training assessment. Mean DTT accuracy increased from 46.2% to 85.5% (a statistically significant increase). One tutor participated in a generalization phase with a child with autism, and their DTT accuracy averaged 80.1%. The results suggest that the self-instructional package appears to be an effective tool for teaching newly-hired tutors to conduct DTT.

This three-stage study led to the development of a delineation model of occupational therapy practice for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Stage one explored the current practice of occupational therapy in the United Kingdom (UK) by conducting a national survey of 282 paediatric occupational therapists. Results indicated that there were only a small number of occupational therapists (8.5%) working in a designated service for children with ADBD. This result suggested that occupational therapy for children with ADHD is a small field of practice. Stage two involved the consensus development on the role of occupational therapy for children with ADHD. Seventy-two paediatric occupational therapists participated in the study. The therapists' top six priorities of assessment and five priorities of intervention were identified. An occupational therapy delineation model of practice was developed by integrating data generated from this research, information from the literature review, and the author's clinical experience. In order to apply the model to clinical practice, a family-centred occupational therapy care package was developed. The third stage evaluated the process and outcome of the devised care package by conducting a multi-centred efficacy study. Twenty occupational therapists from the four countries in the UK attended a 3-day course to learn to implement the care package. Following their training, they submitted data on a sample of 20 children with ADHD. The majority of these children (85%) showed improvement in their behavioural patterns after the implementation of the care package. Over half of the cases (65%) had statistically significant changes of scores in the ADHD Rating Scales. Parents also reported experiencing good family-centred care delivered by the research therapists. The whole study makes a significant contribution to occupational therapy knowledge by creating a new delineation model of practice for which the research undertaken offers some validation.

A high sodium diet is a predominant risk factor for hypertension, which is in turn a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Canadians consume approximately twice the daily Adequate Intake of sodium, most of which comes from processed foods. Enhancing nutrition labelling for sodium in the form of front-of-package (FOP) labels may help consumers select healthier products. This experimental study examined the efficacy of 4 types of FOP nutrition labels on participant selection of low versus high sodium products. 430 adults from the Waterloo Region were randomly assigned to one of 5 experimental conditions: (1) a control condition with no FOP label; (2) a basic numeric FOP label; (3) a numeric FOP label with “high” and “low” sodium content descriptors; (4) a detailed Traffic Light (TL) label with colour coding, content descriptors and numeric information; and (5) a simple TL label that did not include numeric information. Participants were shown pairs of grocery products that varied primarily in sodium content, and asked to select a free product. Selection of the low versus high sodium product served as the primary behavioural outcome; rankings and ratings of the experimental labels were also examined. Regression models were used to determine the relative efficacy of the 4 labelling formats, as well as the socio-demographic and diet and health-related predictors of these outcomes. Results indicated that participants in the FOP conditions with “low” and “high” sodium content descriptors (conditions 3, 4 and 5) were significantly more likely to choose the low sodium product compared to the control group. The detailed TL was ranked as the most effective at helping participants select low sodium products; this label was also rated significantly higher than other formats in liking, understanding and believability. Product selection did not differ significantly across socio-demographic groups, suggesting that FOP labelling might reduce the disparity in the use and understanding of nutrition labels among groups of varying socioeconomic status. This study has important policy implications. Results suggest that FOP labels should include content descriptors, which add prescriptive value and may help consumers select healthier products by improving understanding. TL labels, which incorporate content descriptors and colour coding, are recommended for future FOP labelling initiatives.

Many bridges are destroyed or completely failed during floods due to excessive scouring around bridge piers and abutments. Safe bridge design is based on joint consideration of structural, hydraulic, and geotechnical aspects. This study is concerned with the investigation of various types of countermeasures against scouring at bridge sites. The design criteria for various countermeasures are reviewed in terms of hydraulic, hydrologic, constructional, and economical requirements. (Conditions of applicability of these countermeasures are evaluated and designed for different return periods of flow, and hydroeconomic analyses are performed for Esenbosa Bridge). Based on the evaluation of the results of hydroeconomic analyses, combinations of rock riprap and grout filled bags are found to be appropriate measures for piers and abutments against scouring whereas vegetation is observed to be applicable for bank protection.

The literature indicates that children are highly influenced by product packaging and that it is the packaging that will make the product stand out from the crowd and hopefully making a sale. There have been a number of valuable studies offering practitioners principles and guidelines on how to enhance package design for products that target children; however the extent to which practitioners adhere to the principles proposed by academics has had limited attention. This study is therefore aimed at examining the degree to which practitioners implement current knowledge relating to the principles of package design in the context of packages designed to attract children, while simultaneously assessing the relationship between package design and brand performance. An extensive secondary research of the literature has been made to establish a list of criterion for package design for children elements assessment. At the same time, attempts have been made to gather brand performance data. Product samples have been collected from major supermarkets in New Zealand and then analysed against the criterion using the principle of content analysis. The result generated by this study shows that practitioners are mostly adhering to the principles of children’s package design established by academic research. However, the relationship between brand performance and package design was not established in this study.