A VR car-driving simulator for evaluating the user experience of new drivers by helping them to learn driving rules and regulations. The Classic VR Driver helps new drivers to learn driving rules and regulations using various audio and visual feedback. The simulator helps them to get acquainted with the risks and mistakes associated with real life driving. In addition, the users have to play the game in an immersive environment using a Virtual Reality system. This project attempts to fulfill two important goals. The major goal is to evaluate whether the user can learn driving rules and regulations of the road. The game allows the users to take a road test. The road test determines the type of mistakes the user makes and it also determines if they passed or failed in it. I have conducted A/B testing and let the testers participate in user-interviews and user-survey. The testing procedure allowed me to analyze the effectiveness of learning driving rules from the simulator as compared to learning rules from the RMV (Registry of Motor Vehicles) manual. Secondly, the user experience was evaluated by allowing users to participate in user-interviews and user-surveys. It helped me to understand the positives and drawbacks of the game. These feedback are taken into consideration for future improvement. All these factors were considered to make the game as enjoyable and useful in terms of skill training.

A complex mix of community and government activities and policies address social welfare needs, and the balance of roles varies from country to country and sometimes community to community. Economic changes and other factors have led to the development of comprehensive welfare states in many countries, making national/federal governments significant players in social welfare planning and provision. Even with these structural changes, communities are still active in assessing and providing for their own members' needs, though in widely variable forms. Religious organizations are key players in providing for community social welfare needs, both congregations and faith-based organizations, as well as contributing to the national level policy discourse. To understand the role of congregations in social welfare provision, this project presents a case study of congregations in a small U.S. city (using qualitative interviews and other contextual data), a review of federal faith-based social welfare policy (from three administrations), and a discussion of the U.S. case in comparison to similarly constructed European case studies. The federal policy documents reflect an emphasis on communities as best placed to serve their own needs. The community interview data yielded themes focused on collaboration and structural ways congregations contributed to social welfare. Respondents generally voiced a similar position that community organizations have intimate knowledge of the community's needs and how to meet these. However, respondents (with a few exceptions) saw the work of community organizations as only possible within a larger government structure of regulation and funding. The constraints of program and funding guidelines that created a need for congregations to fill gaps, discussed by respondents, refers to the complex system of benefits designed to identify the deserving portion of those in need. The results of this project fit in a larger, international comparative analysis of social welfare and religion in western liberal democracies. Examining religion's participation in social welfare provision contributes to the understanding of religion's role in the public sphere as possible moral commentator, contributor to the common good, and identity legitimation.

Este trabalho propôs realizar um estudo sobre as representações sociais de sujeitos categorizados pelo governo como extremamente pobres enfatizando o que estes nos apresentaram acerca de suas vivências enquanto empobrecidos. A pesquisa qualitativa caminhou no sentido de investigar o que os interlocutores entendiam por pobreza, ser/estar pobre, bem como compreender quais tipos de dificuldades estes sujeitos enfrentam em seu cotidiano. Também buscamos estabelecer um comparativo entre o que o atual governo brasileiro identifica como uma situação de extrema pobreza e como os sujeitos empobrecidos, público-alvo das políticas públicas sociais de combate à miséria, descrevem a situação na qual vivem. Investigamos o que estas políticas propõem, de que forma são implementadas e quais os critérios utilizados para estabelecer categorizações sobre o universo da extrema pobreza. Através de entrevistas semiestruturadas, capturamos fragmentos de narrativas de vida dos interlocutores e, com aporte teórico-metodológico da Teoria das Representações Sociais, bem como de autores que discutem a problematização do conceito de pobreza, construímos uma análise das falas, elencando oito dimensões de sentido estruturadas a partir do que os entrevistados apontaram em suas falas ao relatarem as durezas de seus cotidianos. / This work proposed to conduct a study of the social representations of subjects who were categorized by the government as extremely poor; emphasizing what the interviewees presented us regarding their life experiences as impoverished people. The qualitative research was developed aiming to investigate what the interlocutors understood by poverty, be/being poor, as well as understanding of what types of difficulties these subjects face in their daily lives. We have also sought to establish a comparative between what the present government identifies as an extreme poverty situation and as the impoverished subjects, target group of the social public policies to fight poverty, describe their current life situation. We have investigated, as well, concerning what such policies propose, how they are implemented, and which criteria are employed to establish categorizations regarding the extreme poverty universe. Through semi structured interviews, we were able to capture interlocutors’ fragments of life narratives, and, with the theoretical-methodological support from the Social Representations Theory, as well as from authors who discuss the conundrum of the poverty concept, we have analyzed the speeches, and listed eight dimensions of meaning that were structured from what the participants showcased in their discourse when reporting their daily hardships.

Magister Artium - MA (History) / The aim of this mini-thesis is to interrogate an incident that happened in Lesotho in 1982, where the South African Defence Force (SADF) invaded the capital, Maseru, under the guise of searching for ANC operatives and killed 42 people thirty of whom were South Africans, while the remaining 12 were Basotho citizens. A particular concern is how traumatic events are represented by witnesses, how they remember or, rather talk, about the event, and the secrets and silences which may arise. A lack of literature on this period of Lesotho's history and the Raid itself has necessitated a wider engagement with Raid as it is the first raid that involved the SADF, perpetrated in Lesotho. The first chapter draws out and highlights the complicated relationships between Lesotho and South Africa and their respective main opposition political parties, namely, the Basotho Congress Party and the overall South African liberation movements including the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress. This brings me to conclude that the 1982 Maseru Raid and subsequent ones took place on the back of a period that was burdened with gross human rights violations in Lesotho and, this can be argued to explain why the Raid is not particularly spoken about.

This paper deals with how seamen onboard merchant ships flying the Swedish flag apprehendthe culture, information and leisure possibilities that offer them by the Swedish GovernrnentSeamen's Service, HKF.The objective with this work is two folded: first of all suggest some actions to be taken inorder to improve the situation for seamen, based on the results from interviews with crewsonboard three merchant ships.Secondly, draw the attention to HKF's activity in general and to the activity of the SwedishSeamen's Library in particular, for people working within libraries.The result of this examination shows that people onboard really regards the service carriedout by HKF as very good in general, but there are some activities which hopefully can beimproved. However, perhaps the most important role can be played by the shipping companies,based on the wishes that came about from the seamen. These conclusions and discussion aredealt within chapter 8.

Background In Nyanza in western Kenya are 30,5% of children estimated as malnourished. It is a family situation that nurses often come in contact with. Therefore it is of interest to know how nurses work with parents of malnourished children when they have a significant role in developing the family's knowledge and child health. Aim. The aim is to investigate how nurses experience that they are working with parents of malnourished children. Method. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with a life-world approach were conducted. All respondents work at St. Joseph Mission Hospital. Results. The study shows the nurses long-term goal was to change parents thought patterns regarding their situation and the role nutrition play in it. To identify each family's uniqueness is crucial to this change, the identification determines the content of the relationship and nurses' attitudes. Providing security, knowledge about nutrition, participation in the caring of the child and a personal relationship with the parents of malnourished children, are important elements in the relationship. The reflection of the nurses also constitute a significant part of the work. Discussion. The nurses work to guide parents to a change in thought patterns and can be viewed as individually foundation stones for how nurses work with parents of malnourished children. The essence is changing the parents thought patterns about their behavior, perception and knowledge regarding nutrition. To achieve optimal results, it requires that the nurse works self-reflectively, with openness and attention and that nurses design education individually. Clinical implications. How the Kenyan nurses works to distinguish empathy and sympathy in practice, can be a useful reflection in health care in Sweden. In the nurses attitudes and actions, they use their emotions to create a personal and professional relationship. The Kenyan nurses' ways of dealing with their emotions, can create new alternative approach among Swedish nurses. / Program: Sjuksköterskeutbildning

Strategic planning is a critical issue for higher education academic libraries, especially in developing countries like Ghana, due to limited financial resources and the rapid change in the information environment during the last several decades. Theory-testing case study methodology was used in this thesis to examine strategy formulation and implementation in building the digital collections of the University of Cape Coast Library (UCCL) in Ghana. The main question the study attempted to answer was how did the DL strategic formulation and implementation processes used by the UCC in building its digital collections compare with the Mintzberg’s strategic formulation and implementation framework? The instruments used for data collection were the key informant interview technique and document reviews. The results showed that, during the formulation phase, two aspects (resources and aspirations of senior management) were emergent. During the implementation phase, five aspects (achieving results, processes and behaviour, standards, motivation, and personal) were emergent. All other elements of building the UCC digital collections were planned during both the formulation and implementation phases. Although the basic technical architecture for the digital library is in place, inconsistency between organizational objectives and the values of the management group was identified as a problem in strategy formulation. Digital library staff reported that cost of using Information Communications Technology (ICT) facilities, frequency of power outage, obsolete digitization equipment, interconnectivity problems, and high cost of internet connectivity inhibited their work and regular student access to digital collections. Although the emphasis on students and learning is laudable and apt, there seems to be lack of focus on research support beyond digital collection building, despite the fact that research excellence is one of the UCC’s key priorities. Opportunities exist for improving feedback mechanisms between the users, digital library staff and the university management; and inclusion of social media tools in the digital library project. / Program: Masterprogram: Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap, Digitala bibliotek och informationstjänster

A presente pesquisa debruça-se sobre a produção, a circulação e a apropriação de depoimentos de escritores brasileiros, por meio da análise de entrevistas constantes de 36 publicações que circularam no Brasil no decorrer de um século de 1905, data dos primeiros inquéritos literários no país, a 2004 , as quais compuseram um arquivo contendo 563 depoimentos de diferentes gerações de autores. Inspirados pelo legado de Michel Foucault e de outros pensadores de orientação pós-estruturalista, entendemos a discursividade aí presente em termos de gestão social da escrita, cujo funcionamento dar-se-ia por meio de uma intrincada rede de ações responsáveis por fomentar as políticas de escrita em nossa sociedade, sobretudo a partir do modus operandi da literatura, esta conotada como a escrita modelar. Desta feita, operamos com base em três eixos analíticos e seus respectivos deslocamentos: 1) as relações entre o escritor e a profissionalização de seu ofício; 2) as relações alegadas entre o escritor e sua prática; e 3) o papel social do escritor. Do ponto de vista analítico, evidenciaram-se o processo de especialização do literato, em detrimento do jornalismo e firmando-o cada vez mais como autor de livros de ficção; a associação da escrita à noção de processo criativo; e, por fim, as diversas atribuições conferidas aos homens de letras, as quais apontam para um eminente afastamento do seu papel político na sociedade. Tendo em mente o interesse crescente por aquilo que os escritores teriam a ensinar ao homem comum, os depoimentos despontam como uma maquinaria produtiva de enunciados que se espraiam pelo tecido social, versando sobre modos artísticos tanto de vida quanto de escrita, sendo estes últimos supostamente originários de alguma instância criadora inerente ao sujeito literato. Novamente com Michel Foucault, divisamos em tal discursividade um acirrado mecanismo de governo da prática escritural, sobretudo por meio da afirmação recorrente de uma tal natureza criadora atrelada aos literatos. Por fim, recuperamos uma das experiências derradeiras de Clarice Lispector, personagem que trafegou intensamente pelo universo das entrevistas jornalísticas, a fim de perspectivar a possibilidade de um modo de endereçamento ao gesto escritural que se quer simplificador, quando não profanador, da presumida sacralidade a ele imanente, facultando-lhe, assim, um encontro silencioso e potente com nós mesmos. / The current research focuses on the production, circulation and appropriation of interviews of Brazilian writers, trough the analysis of 36 publications that circulated in the country during a century from 1905, when the first literary inquiries were made, to 2004. These interviews constitute a dossier with 563 documents from authors of different generations. Inspired by the legacy of Michel Foucault and other post-structuralist thinkers, we understand this discursivity in terms of social management of writing, wich operates through an intricate network of actions that foment the writing policies of our society, above all trough the modus operandi of literature, connoted as the exemplary way of writing. Based on this, we work with three analytical axes and their shifts over time: 1) the relationship between the writer and the professionalization of his craft; 2) the alleged relationship between the writer and his writing; 3) writers social role. In our analysis of the first topic, the differentiation process of the men of letters from journalists has stood out, and increasingly guaranteed to the artists the position of authors of fiction books; by analysing the second, it also proved to be important how writing became connected to the notion of a creative process; and finally the roles given to the men of letters, which lead to an imminent detachment from his political part in society. Having in mind the growing interest on what the writer has to teach to the common man, the interviews emerge as a productive machinery of statements which spread to the social fabric and expatiate on artistic ways of writing and living. This writing originates from a creative instance inherent to the man of letters. Again according to Michel Foucaults theories, we noticed in such discourse a steering mechanism of writing practices, especially through the recurring claim of the creative nature of writers. Finally, we recovered one of the last experiences of Clarice Lispector, who sorely wondered through the universe of journalistic interviews, in order to envisage a different addressing mode to the writing practice, simplifying, if not desecrating, its presumed sacredness, thus providing to it a silent and powerful encounter with ourselves.

Information Communication Systems (ICT) has brought about a change in the way people handle transactions. The payment systems have undergone an incredible evolution over the passing years from physical transfer of cash to exchanging money in a digital form. Mobile Payment (mPayment) which is a branch of mobile commerce is one of the areas that is becoming more and more popular these days. In Sweden, there is a growing success of mPayment system such as SEQR, Swish amongst others. However, a huge chunk of the population is yet to adopt the system. Hence, there is a need to identify factors that influence peoples’ decisions to adopt or not to adopt the mPayment system like Swish. This study aimed at identifying the factors that influence the adoption of mPayment system amongst the consumers in Sweden. The research question was: what factors influence the adoption of Swish mobile payment app among the consumers in Sweden? A qualitative research was conducted. A semi structured interview was used as the data collection method. This data collection method was used because this research work seeks to identify the feelings, opinions and experiences of people and this method fits best into the research work. The thematic analysis approach was used for the data analysis. The study showed that impact of the system on day-to-day activities, speculation of risk and trust of the system, integration to lifestyle, speculation of user friendliness and flexibility, age and peer influence are the factors that influence the adoption of swish mobile payment app amongst the consumers in Sweden. Furthermore, the research was viewed through the lens of the UTAUT by comparing the findings of the study and how it relates to the determinants and moderating factors of the model. In conclusion, this study has contributed to the field of ICT specifically the mobile technology field. The conceptual model that was built will be useful for developers and researchers to be able to know the areas to put in more efforts and areas to keep maintaining. Furthermore, this research was conducted within a country that has experience with m-payment apps. Hence, this study can serve as an example for other countries moving towards higher smartphone and application usage.

Non-medical prescribers make an increasing contribution to healthcare across the UK yet little is known about influences on their prescribing decision-making. The aim of this programme of research was to explore and describe prescribing decision-making by non-medical prescribers. A two stage programme of research was carried out. Stage 1 was a systematic review of the social and cognitive influences on prescribing decision-making by non-medical prescribers. Despite a paucity of research, various influences on prescribing decision-making were reported including evidence based guidelines, peer support and patient (or parental) relationships and expectations. While confidence and clinical experience as a practitioner were cited as influences, the lack of prescribing experience and aspects of pharmacological knowledge also impacted on prescribing decision-making, resulting in a cautious approach. Stage 2 of the research employed a phenomenological methodology underpinned by the Theoretical Domains Framework of behavioural determinants (TDF). It comprised three phases. In Phase 1, semi-structured interviews with five nurse prescribers and eight pharmacist prescribers in NHS Grampian explored their experiences and perceptions of influences on their prescribing decision-making, and the impact of these influences. Multiple and sometimes contradictory influences were uncovered. Twelve of the fourteen domains of the TDF were found to be influential along with multi-disciplinary working and experience; optimism and reinforcement did not feature. In Phase 2, these participants recorded reflections on prescribing decisions which they considered noteworthy in relation to their practice, and in Phase 3 participants were interviewed about their reflections. Complexity was a feature of many, in the patients’ clinical or social circumstances or in relation to wider concerns. The same 12 domains were found to be influential as were multi-disciplinary working, experience and complexity. This programme of research has produced original findings which it is hoped will impact on the education, training and practice of these increasingly important prescribers.