The thesis “Acceptance and use of the Service Oriented Computing paradigm: the IT professionals’ perspective” focuses on the question: what are the critical factors that influence IT professionals’ intentions to accept and use the Service Oriented Computing (SOC) approach to systems development? This work considers IT professionals as the key stakeholders in the SOC acceptance and use process and argues that the acceptance and practical use of SOC depends – at an early acceptance stage – primarily on the individual-level acceptance decisions made by senior IT professionals working for an organisation. Consequently, SOC acceptance and use (in its early stage) is seen as a bottom-up process driven, and to a high degree controlled, by the “early adopters” (Rogers 1995) of this technological paradigm (i.e. involved senior IT professionals). Although SOC is considered the enabling technological approach in many different future areas (e.g. eBusiness, eGovernment, eScience etc.), very little research exists on the process of practical acceptance of this paradigm, in particular focusing on the perspective of the “early stage” key stakeholders of this acceptance process, namely the IT professionals. This thesis consists of four major parts. First, it reviews existing literature on technology acceptance and use and confirms the absence of an established theoretical framework in the domain of individual-level technology acceptance in the IT industry. Second, based on data collected in a series of exploratory interviews with senior IT practitioners, an initial model explaining the acceptance and use of SOC among IT professionals is being proposed. Third, the derived model is revised and reformulated using an eGovernment case study. And forth, based on the refined model, a survey instrument is developed, pilot-tested and administered to senior IT professionals currently using the SOC approach to systems development in their professional work. This thesis makes a contribution to IS research in several ways. While there exists extensive, well-grounded and well-accepted research in the domain of “IT end-user” individual-level technology acceptance, the research on technology acceptance in the IT industry (i.e. technology acceptance by the IT professionals) is very limited, and nearly all studies carried out in this IS research field are concerned with established approaches or technologies. The current study is among the few examining the perspective of “early adopters” or “innovators” (Rogers 1995) instead of investigating the acceptance process of “early majority” or even “late majority”. Moreover, to the author’s knowledge it is the first study examining the process of individual-level SOC acceptance with a particular focus on the perspective of the “early stage” key stakeholders of this acceptance process, namely the IT professionals. One of the additional strengths of the study is the usage of multiple research methodologies – exploratory open-ended interviews, qualitative case study and web-based survey. This research is expected to be very interesting to researchers focusing on technology acceptance in general and on technology acceptance in the IT industry in particular. This research might also be of interest to IT practitioners considering to accept and use the SOC approach in their future applications.

The thesis “Acceptance and use of the Service Oriented Computing paradigm: the IT professionals’ perspective” focuses on the question: what are the critical factors that influence IT professionals’ intentions to accept and use the Service Oriented Computing (SOC) approach to systems development? This work considers IT professionals as the key stakeholders in the SOC acceptance and use process and argues that the acceptance and practical use of SOC depends – at an early acceptance stage – primarily on the individual-level acceptance decisions made by senior IT professionals working for an organisation. Consequently, SOC acceptance and use (in its early stage) is seen as a bottom-up process driven, and to a high degree controlled, by the “early adopters” (Rogers 1995) of this technological paradigm (i.e. involved senior IT professionals). Although SOC is considered the enabling technological approach in many different future areas (e.g. eBusiness, eGovernment, eScience etc.), very little research exists on the process of practical acceptance of this paradigm, in particular focusing on the perspective of the “early stage” key stakeholders of this acceptance process, namely the IT professionals. This thesis consists of four major parts. First, it reviews existing literature on technology acceptance and use and confirms the absence of an established theoretical framework in the domain of individual-level technology acceptance in the IT industry. Second, based on data collected in a series of exploratory interviews with senior IT practitioners, an initial model explaining the acceptance and use of SOC among IT professionals is being proposed. Third, the derived model is revised and reformulated using an eGovernment case study. And forth, based on the refined model, a survey instrument is developed, pilot-tested and administered to senior IT professionals currently using the SOC approach to systems development in their professional work. This thesis makes a contribution to IS research in several ways. While there exists extensive, well-grounded and well-accepted research in the domain of “IT end-user” individual-level technology acceptance, the research on technology acceptance in the IT industry (i.e. technology acceptance by the IT professionals) is very limited, and nearly all studies carried out in this IS research field are concerned with established approaches or technologies. The current study is among the few examining the perspective of “early adopters” or “innovators” (Rogers 1995) instead of investigating the acceptance process of “early majority” or even “late majority”. Moreover, to the author’s knowledge it is the first study examining the process of individual-level SOC acceptance with a particular focus on the perspective of the “early stage” key stakeholders of this acceptance process, namely the IT professionals. One of the additional strengths of the study is the usage of multiple research methodologies – exploratory open-ended interviews, qualitative case study and web-based survey. This research is expected to be very interesting to researchers focusing on technology acceptance in general and on technology acceptance in the IT industry in particular. This research might also be of interest to IT practitioners considering to accept and use the SOC approach in their future applications.

Background : Studies of self-rated oral health are always done at either the individual level or the aggregate level. Partitioning individual and neighbourhood sources of variation also enables explorations of the influences of people’s social context on their self-rated oral health. Objective : The main objective of the study was to examine the influence of the social context in which people live on their self-rating of their oral health, independent of individual indicators of good oral health. Method : This study used a secondary analysis of data on a nationally representative sample of 2 907 South African adults (aged ≥ 16 years) who had participated in the 2007 annual South African Social Attitude Survey (SASAS). The 2007 SASAS used a multi-stage probability sampling strategy, with census enumeration areas as the primary sampling unit. Using an interviewer-administered questionnaire, the information obtained included socio-demographic data, the respondents’ level of trust in people (a proxy measure for social capital), oral health behaviours and self-rated oral health. Using the 2005 General Household Survey (GHS) (persons’ n=107 987; households’ n=28 129), the living environment characteristics of participants of the SASAS were obtained, including sources of water and energy supply and household cell phone ownership as a proxy measure for social networking. A mixed-effects model was then constructed to determine factors associated with a self-rating of oral health as ‘very good/good’. Results : Of the respondents, 51.7% were female. Among the respondents, 76.3% self-rated their oral health as good. There was a significant gender modifying effect, thus analyses was stratified by gender. The odds of self-rating oral health as good was significantly higher only among females living in areas with higher household cell phone ownership density, even after controlling for potential confounders. At the individual level, trust was positively associated with good self-rated oral health only among males, and higher social ranking in the society was positively associated with good self-rated oral health only among females. Overall, 55% of the total variance in self-rated oral health was explained by factors operating at the individual level, whereas 18% of the total variance was explained by factors operating at the community level. Self-report of recent oral health problems such as toothache and oral malodour were significantly associated with lower odds of self-rating their oral health as good, as was with reporting less frequent brushing. Conclusion : Good self-rated oral health may be positively associated with indicators of higher levels of social capital both at the level of the individual and the community and with less physical impairments of oral functioning. Furthermore, the findings indicate that unlike men’s oral health ratings, women’s oral health ratings are more likely to be influenced by women’s social relationships with others in the society. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH) / Unrestricted

Lateralized behaviour is the most conspicuous manifestation of hemispheric specialization of the brain and has been reported in a variety of taxa. Only a few studies have so far assessed lateralized behaviours in horses. Therefore, I observed ten domestic horses for 16 weeks for an array of spontaneously occurring motor behaviours as well as stimulus-induced behavioural responses to determine if they display side preferences at the individual or population level and to assess possible correlations between lateralized behaviours. Significant side preferences were found for certain behaviours at the individual level, ranging from standing and flexing, to auditory stimuli, and olfactory stimuli. All horses showed task-dependent changes in their side preferences and no significant side preferences were found at the population level for any behaviours. Similarly, no significant correlations were found between behaviours. Taken together, the results of the present study suggest that horses, like all other species studied so far except humans and some great apes, only display lateralized behaviour at the individual, but not at the population level.

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[EN] After-sales services have become very important in the automobile industry. However, this area has not been sufficiently researched, particularly with regard to China, the most important car market globally. In this respect, German manufacturers play a leading role because they dominate the premium market segment. When it comes to services, the one thing that is especially important in China is culture. At the same time, this is exactly where a scientific gap exists because the cultural aspect in automotive services has been mostly neglected in the research literature. Thus, specific knowledge with regard to Chinese service demand behaviour is lacking, which could become a crucial issue because of the enormous differences between Chinese and Western cultures. This paper addresses this limitation by providing a guideline for how the entire process chain of after-sales services could be researched in China. In addition, it also introduces Schwartz's individual level value theory as a beneficial operationalisation approach to culture. Thereby, values are modelled as exogenous variables in order to show which ones are really causal. This significant advantage cannot be provided by national comparison studies, which are the ones that are most often conducted. A total of 301 Chinese workshop customers of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz were surveyed in order to assess the critical success factors of after-sales services via partial least squares structural equation modelling. / [ES] Los servicios post venta en el sector del automóvil se han convertido en un elemento esencial en su mercadotecnia global. Sin embargo, no se han investigado suficientemente y, especialmente en países emergentes con mercados crecientes como China, el mercado más relevante a nivel mundial. Aquí, los fabricantes alemanes juegan un rol fundamental al dominar el segmento premium (o de cuasi lujo) del mercado. Cuando analizamos los servicios, un factor importante en China es la cultura. Sin embargo existe, en este campo un hueco en la investigación académica ya que en la literatura de investigación del sector automóvil, la cultura es un elemento poco analizado. Por ello, no se pueden aplicar conocimientos de mercadotecnia específicos en relación con el comportamiento de la demanda de servicios en China, en un tema esencial, como es la cultura China, muy diferente a la occidental. Esta tesis trata de enfocar las limitaciones mencionadas; en primer lugar, proporcionando una guía de cómo la cadena de proceso de servicios postventa puede ser investigada en países emergentes como China. Y en segundo lugar, porque se utiliza la teoría de cultura de Schwartz como un enfoque útil de instrumentación de los valores culturales. Así, estos se modelan como variables externas, para mostrar claramente cuáles son los valores realmente relevantes en su conjunto. Para ello se encuestaron a 301 clientes de talleres post venta chinos de las marcas Audi, BMW y Mercedes-Benz, con el fin de evaluar los factores críticos de éxito mediante modelos de ecuaciones estructurales de mínimos cuadrados parciales (PLS). / [CA] Els serveis post venda en el sector de l'automòbil s'han convertit en un element essencial del màrqueting global. No obstant això, no s'han investigat prou i, especialment en països emergents amb mercats creixents com la Xina, el mercat més rellevant a nivell mundial. Aquí, els fabricants alemanys juguen un paper fonamental en dominar el segment premium (o de quasi luxe) del mercat. Quan analitzem els serveis, un factor important a la Xina és la cultura. No obstant això existeix, en aquest camp un buit en la investigació acadèmica ja que en la literatura de recerca del sector automòbil, la cultura és un element poc analitzat. Per això, no es poden aplicar coneixements de màrqueting específics en relació amb el comportament de la demanda de serveis a la Xina, en un tema essencial, com és la cultura Xina, molt diferent a l'occidental. Aquesta tesis tracta d'enfocar les limitacions esmentades; en primer lloc, proporcionant una guia de com la cadena de procés de serveis postvenda pot ser investigada en països emergents com la Xina. I en segon lloc, perquè s'utilitza la teoria de cultura de Schwartz com un enfocament útil d'instrumentació dels valors culturals. Així, aquests es modelen com a variables externes, per mostrar clarament quins són els valors realment rellevants en el seu conjunt. Per a això es van enquestar a 301 clients de tallers post venda xinesos de les marques Audi, BMW i Mercedes-Benz, per tal d'avaluar els factors crítics d'èxit mitjançant models d'equacions estructurals de mínims quadrats / Frass, A. (2015). Impact of After-Sales Performances of German Automobile Manufacturers in China in Service Satisfaction and Loyalty. With a Particular Focus on the Influences of Cultural Determinants [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/59251

Yes / Recent research on health inequalities moves beyond illustrating the importance of psychosocial factors for health to a more in-depth study of the specific psychosocial pathways involved. Social capital is a concept that captures both a buffer function of the social environment on health, as well as potential negative effects arising from social inequality and exclusion. This systematic review assesses the current evidence, and identifies gaps in knowledge, on the associations and interactions between social capital and socioeconomic inequalities in health. Through this systematic review we identified studies on the interactions between social capital and socioeconomic inequalities in health published before July 2012. The literature search resulted in 618 studies after removal of duplicates, of which 60 studies were eligible for analysis. Self-reported measures of health were most frequently used, together with different bonding, bridging and linking components of social capital. A large majority, 56 studies, confirmed a correlation between social capital and socioeconomic inequalities in health. Twelve studies reported that social capital might buffer negative health effects of low socioeconomic status and five studies concluded that social capital has a stronger positive effect on health for people with a lower socioeconomic status. There is evidence for both a buffer effect and a dependency effect of social capital on socioeconomic inequalities in health, although the studies that assess these interactions are limited in number. More evidence is needed, as identified hypotheses have implications for community action and for action on the structural causes of social inequalities.

Magister Public Health - MPH (Public Health) / The oral health programme in Lesotho aims to offer curative, preventive, promotive and rehabilitative oral health services. However, observations as well as annual reports suggest that oral health service utilization is poor, as most patients only attend dental clinics with advanced stages of decayed teeth which can only be extracted. The reasons for this very undesirable late utilization of oral health services have not been systematically explored and understood in Lesotho. This makes it difficult for health planners to find solutions for improving access, utilizations and responsiveness of oral health services.

Veterinarians often perform controlled experiments in which they inoculate animals with infectious diseases. They then monitor the transmission process in infected animals. The aim of such experiments can be to assess vaccine effects. The fitting of individual-level models (ILMs) to the infectious disease data, typically achieved by means of Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods, can be computationally burdensome. Here, we want to see if a vaccination effect can be identified using simpler regression-type models rather than the complex infectious disease models. We examine the use of various logistic growth curve models, via a series of simulated experiments in which the underlying true model is a mechanistic model of infectious disease spread. We want to investigate whether a vaccination effect can be identified when only partial epidemic curves are observed, and to assess the performance of these models when experiments are run with various sets of observational times.

I denna uppsats behandlar vi ämnen som relationer, emotioner och sociala band som är baserar på verksamheter inom vården i Västra Götalandsregionen. Vi har undersökt hur man som sjuksköterska, undersköterska och läkare förhåller sig till patienter som är dödligt sjuka på ett professionellt och medmänskligt sätt. Vi vill belysa hur sjuksköterska, undersköterska och läkaren hanterar eventuella svåra emotioner i mötet med sjuka patienter. Ytterligare en aspekt på vår studie är förhållandet mellan individ och gruppnivå i dessa yrken samt hur stödet mellan kollegorna ser ut när det gäller ventilering av emotioner. Vi har även studerat hur arbetsliv och privatliv interagerar med vartannat i detta fall. Vi har undersökt området genom åtta kvalitativa intervjuer med individer som arbetar med människor som är dödligt sjuka inom vården. Vi har använt oss av den hermeneutiska ansatsen vilket innebär att vårt förhållningssätt att tolkning och förståelse snarare än att etablera sanningar. Detta innebär att de resultat och reflektioner som vi grundar vår studie på är baserade på det empiriska material vi har fått genom intervjuerna. Alla svar är grundade på informanters egna upplevelser, tankar och emotioner. Genom våra semi-strukturerade intervjuer har vi sedan analyserat dessa utifrån följande teorier: Skam och stolthet av Thomas Scheff, Rolltagande av Erving Goffman, Hänsynsemotionssystemet av Thomas Scheff, Yt och djupagerande av Arlie Hochschild, Emotionellt arbete av Arlie Hochschild och Över och under differentiering av Tomas Scheff. Resultatet av vår studie visar att yrkesroll och privatpersonen är svåra att särskilja för de som arbetar inom vården i mötet med döende patienter. Enligt vår studie blir det extra svårt för exempelvis en onkolog att distansera sig till patienten om denne har blivit behandlad av läkaren under en längre period. Studien visar också att stödet bland kollegorna är väldigt viktigt där kollegorna över lag känner en stor samhörighet, bland annat genom att de ventilerar negativa känslor och erfarenheter i sina arbeten. Oftast kommer man patienten för nära emotionellt men i vissa sammanhang kan det också vara svårt att inte ha en för stor del distans till patienten om man exempelvis nyligen har börjat behandla denne. Det har visat sig att vissa patienter gör mindre intryck på vårdpersonalen även om man har träffat denne under flera år. Differentieringen och relationen till patienten beror också på personkemi samt hur personliga läkare och patienter är gentemot varandra. / In this paper we threat topics such as relationships, emotions, and social ties that are based on activities in health care in the Västra Götaland region. We have examined how nurses’ and a doctor relate to patients who are terminally ill in a professional and humane manner. We want to illustrate how nurses’ and the doctor handle any difficult emotion when meeting patients. Another aspect of our study is the relationship between the individual and group levels in these professions and how the support of their colleagues will look like when it comes to venting of emotions. We have also studied how the workplace and the private life interact with each other in this case. We have investigated the field by eight qualitative interviews with individuals who work with people who are terminally ill in hospitals. We made use of the hermeneutic approach, which means that our approach to interpreting and understanding rather than establishing truths. This means that the findings and reflections that we base on our study on are based on the empirical material we have received through the interviews. All answers are based on informants’ own experiences, thoughts and emotions. Through our semi-structured interviews, we then analyzed them based on the following theories: Shame and pride by Thomas Scheff, Role-taking by Erving Goffman, The deference-emotion system by Thomas Scheff, Surface- and deep acting by Arlie Hochschild , Emotional labour by Arlie Hochschild and Over- and under differentiation by Thomas Scheff . The results of our study show that the role and the private person are difficult to distinguish for those working in health care in the face of dying patients. According to our study, it is especially difficult for example; an oncologist to distance himself or herself to the patient if the doctor has treated him or her for a longer period. The study also shows that support among colleagues is very important and that colleagues generally feel a great affinity, including through venting negative feelings and experiences in their jobs. Most often the doctor gets too close emotionally to the patient but in some contexts it may also be hard not to have too large distance to the patient if, for example he or she recently have begun to treat the patient. It has been shown that some patients make less impression on the nursing staff even if they 've met them several years. The differentiation and relationship with the patient also depends on personal chemistry and how personal physicians and patients are to each other.