Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Peninsula Technikon, 2002. / Word processed copy. Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-113). Also available online.

Syftet med denna studie är att kartlägga eventuella risker och möjligheter med sensorteknik som hjälpmedel inom vård och omsorg. Studien använder en kvalitativ metod med kvantitativa inslag där semistrukturerade intervjuer tillsammans med frågeformulär utnyttjades. Åtta personer med olika eventuella relationer till sensortekniken intervjuades och resultatet har visat på att både risker och möjligheter kan ses. Studien visar att vad respondenterna kan anse användbart att sensortekniken utför eller hjälper till med, inte nödvändigtvis ses som acceptabelt. Den visar även på att personal och ledning inom vård och omsorg inte alltid är överens om t.ex. hur mycket utbildning av personalen som behövs vid införande av ny teknik eller hur kvalitén på utbildningen är. De gemensamma åsikter som framkom var hur viktig och betydelserik teknik som t.ex. sensortekniken kommer bli för den framtida vård och omsorg för att kommunerna ska kunna tillgodose det ökade behovet.   Studien bidrar till en djupare förståelse för attityder gentemot sensortekniken och kan vara som en vägledning för kommuner vid införandet av liknande tekniker i framtiden. Genom att lyfta fram de olika rollernas eventuella tankar och idéer om sensortekniken kan det användas som en form av kravanalys, sett utifrån ett operativt perspektiv till fördel för framtida forskning i ämnet. Det kan också underlätta för kommuner, genom att peka ut vart och hur rädslor och negativitet gentemot tekniken kan finnas, för att kunna förebygga med hjälp av ytterligare information till personal, användare och anhöriga.

Universities are places where advanced education be taught, and also where pinner thoughts be conceived. Explorations and innovations in every field are spontaneous and highly encouraged, so does in field of Sustainable Architecture. Correspondingly, campus buildings should be considered as a carrier of knowledge, which can enlighten occupants in certain extents. Can the design of a Living Laboratory on Campus of the University of Texas at Austin facilitate student architectural sustainable explorations and innovations and contribute to campus sustainability socially and environmentally through the operation of interactive interchangeable building system? Specifically focusing on the University of Texas at Austin, this Master Design Study attempts to utilize a design process of a campus living laboratory to answer the questions above. It considered the lab as a platform for students to public their sustainable ideas and works, and get initial feedback from the occupants thereby. It would be especially benefit for university education and also for professional practice of students. / text

The Living Newspaper Project, a project-based learning model in which students conduct research on a topic, create a script, and perform their work for their peers, has been an outreach program in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin since 2005, but its potential as a professional development program has never been explored at this institution. This MFA Thesis documents the process of designing, implementing, and analyzing a collaborative professional development program for the Living Newspaper Project. The Living Newspaper Project collaborative Professional Development Program was piloted with an English teacher in Austin, Texas, and three Spanish Teachers in Merida, Venezuela. This document examines their thoughts, observations, and experiences in the program, as well as the writings of theorists and the work of other professionals in arts-based professional development to determine what aspects of a professional development program enable teachers to implement a Living Newspaper in their classrooms. / text

This report addresses three important issues around active living and how planning, health and governmental agencies are addressing active living in their spheres of influence. Initially the report uses a literature review to determine if research shows that characteristics of the physical environment influence active lifestyle choices and behaviors. This review also includes whether state and local governments and non-profit agencies are incorporating active lifestyle goals in important planning and policy decisions affecting the local physical and natural environment. The literature review supports links between the physical environment and active living but does not establish a causal link. Regarding the question of whether state and local governments and non-profit agencies are incorporating active lifestyle goals in important planning and policy decisions, the research reveals that there is a low level of inclusion of health goals within planning efforts. The body of work in this report is focused on understanding the level of knowledge and the degree of cooperation among local actors around active living issues in Texas. The report explores this question through a survey targeted at public and non-profit organizations that have the potential to influence conditions supporting active lifestyles in Texas communities. While this survey and results focus on Texas communities, given the breadth of the responses, the results are likely applicable outside Texas. The research found collaboration around active living in Texas was widespread among the departments and organizations represented by the survey. Many communities have implemented active living programs or projects, however, most communities have not completed active living assessments to prioritize active living needs. Funding was the most important factor in addressing barriers to active living. Other important factors in addressing these barriers included education, sample policies and programs, best practices and case studies, and access to local experts and community groups. Strong community support and local government leadership were the most important factors in creating an environment that supports active learning. / text

Beijing courtyard is a traditional type of residence in Beijing, China. In ancient times, a courtyard would be occupied by a single, usually large family. Today, Beijing courtyard are still used as housing complexes, however, many lack modern facilities, and also the users of courtyard become multi-families, instead of one single big family. The overpopulation issue also changed the courtyard's appearance and function, reducing its formality, consistency and traditionality, because people living in courtyard started to add extra elements to meet their growing demands. Moreover, because the land value around courtyard is so high that governement can only provide a limited number of public toilet to people living in courtyard, which lead to a poor standard of hygiene in the traditional courtyard area. And also, there are other issues, like lacking necessary facilitiess, inconvenient transportation and negative aspect for historic preservation. In a word, there is a great protential to make people living in the traditional courtyard enjoy a better life. / text

Background: Almost one child a day is diagnosed with cancer in Sweden. When a child is affected with cancer a whole family, not least siblings will face a new way of life. A sibling’s relationship is unique and can only be fully understood by the ones that have experienced it themselves. There are many advantages in involving family in the caring of a child and also to see the family as a unit. Aim: The aim of the study was to illuminate siblings’ experiences of living in a family with a child with cancer. Methods: This is a literature review based on the result of ten scientific articles with qualitative approach. All articles have been examined to ensure the qualitative value of them and have been textual analyzed. Included articles have qualitative approaches to seek for depth and find siblings’ experiences. Chosen theoretical framework has been used to further lift the result. Results: Four main themes emerged from the result; altered living, need of information, anxiety and grief and support interventions. What these four have in common is that the way of life was altered. Conclusion: Siblings to a child with cancer is an exposed group both physically, mentally and emotionally. There are still gaps to fill regarding what nurses can do to identify and meet siblings needs during a cancer period and altered living. Clinical significance: This literature review can contribute to enhanced knowledge about what it is like being a sibling to a child with cancer. Key words: siblings, cancer, altered living / Bakgrund: I Sverige drabbas nästan ett barn varje dag av cancer. När ett barn drabbas avcancer ställs en hel familj, inte minst syskonen inför en ny livsvärld. En syskonrelation är unikoch kan endast förstås av de som levt i en. Det finns många fördelar med att involverafamiljen i omvårdnaden av ett barn och att se familjen som en enhet. Syfte: Syftet medstudien är att belysa syskons upplevelse av att leva i en familj med ett cancersjukt barn.Metod: Detta är en litteraturstudie baserad på resultatet av tio vetenskapliga artiklar. Samtligaartiklar har kvalitetsgranskats och analyserats. Inkluderade artiklar har varit kvalitativa, dettaför att söka efter djup och finna syskonens upplevelser. Vald teoretisk referensram haranvänts för att ytterligare lyfta resultatet. Resultat: Fyra huvudteman framkom ur resultatet;förändrad vardag, behov av information, oro och sorg samt stödinsatser. Det gemensammaför dessa teman är att livsvärlden blev förändrad. Slutsats: Syskonen till barn med cancer ären utsatt grupp så väl fysiskt, psykiskt som emotionellt. Fortfarande finns kunskapsluckor omhur sjuksköterskor ska identifiera och bemöta syskonens behov under cancerperioden och ideras förändrade livsvärld. Klinisk betydelse: Denna litteraturstudie kan bidra till ökadkunskap om hur det är att vara syskon till ett barn med cancer.

In this thesis, new computer vision based techniques are proposed to detect falls of an elderly person living alone. This is an important problem in assisted living. Different types of information extracted from video recordings are exploited for fall detection using both analytical and machine learning techniques. Initially, a particle filter is used to extract a 2D cue, head velocity, to determine a likely fall event. The human body region is then extracted with a modern background subtraction algorithm. Ellipse fitting is used to represent this shape and its orientation angle is employed for fall detection. An analytical method is used by setting proper thresholds against which the head velocity and orientation angle are compared for fall discrimination. Movement amplitude is then integrated into the fall detector to reduce false alarms. Since 2D features can generate false alarms and are not invariant to different directions, more robust 3D features are next extracted from a 3D person representation formed from video measurements from multiple calibrated cameras. Instead of using thresholds, different data fitting methods are applied to construct models corresponding to fall activities. These are then used to distinguish falls and non-falls. In the final works, two practical fall detection schemes which use only one un-calibrated camera are tested in a real home environment. These approaches are based on 2D features which describe human body posture. These extracted features are then applied to construct either a supervised method for posture classification or an unsupervised method for abnormal posture detection. Certain rules which are set according to the characteristics of fall activities are lastly used to build robust fall detection methods. Extensive evaluation studies are included to confirm the efficiency of the schemes.

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