No / The ability to successfully negotiate stairs and steps is an important factor for functional independence. While work has been undertaken to understand the biomechanics of gait in lower-limb amputees, little is known about how amputees negotiate stairs and steps. This study aimed to determine the mechanics of landing in unilateral lower-limb amputees when stepping down to a new level. A secondary aim was to assess the effects of using a shank-mounted shock-absorbing device (Tele-Torsion Pylon) on the mechanics of landing. Methods Ten unilateral amputees (five transfemoral and five transtibial) and eight able-bodied controls performed single steps down to a new level (73 and 219 mm). Trials were repeated in amputees with the Tele-Torsion Pylon active and inactive. The mechanics of landing were evaluated by analysing peak limb longitudinal force, maximal limb shortening, lower extremity stiffness, and knee joint angular displacement during the initial contact period, and limb and ankle angle at the instant of ground-contact. Data were collected using a Vicon 3D motion analysis system and two force platforms. Findings Amputees landed on a straightened and near vertical limb. This limb position was maintained in transfemoral amputees, whereas in transtibial amputees knee flexion occurred. As a result lower extremity stiffness was significantly greater in transfemoral amputees compared to transtibial amputees and able-bodied controls (P < 0.001). The Tele-Torsion Pylon had little effect on the mechanics of landing in transtibial amputees, but brought about a reduction in lower extremity stiffness in transfemoral amputees (P < 0.05). Interpretation Amputees used a stepping strategy that ensured the direction of the ground reaction force vector was kept anterior of the knee joint centre. Using a Tele-Torsion Pylon may improve the mechanics of landing during downward stepping in transfemoral amputees.

Nous examinons la possibilité de déployer un service Lower-than-Best-Effort(LBE)sur des liens à long délai tels que des liens satellites. L'objectif estde fournir une deuxième classe de priorité dédiée à un trafic en tâche defond ou un trafic de signalisation. Dans le contexte des liens à long délai, unservice LBE peut aider à optimiser l'utilisation de la capacité du lien. Enoutre, un service de LBE peut permettre un accès à Internet à faible coût oumême gratuit dans les collectivités éloignées via la communication parsatellite. Il existe deux niveaux de déploiement possible d'une approche de LBE: soit àla couche MAC ou soità la couche de transport. Dans cette thèse, nous nousintéressons à une approche de bout-en-bout et donc nous nousconcentrons spécifiquement sur les solutions de la couche transport. Nousproposons tout d'abord d'étudier LEDBAT (Low Extra Delay BackgroundTransport)en raison de son potentiel. En effet, LEDBAT a été normalisé parl'IETF et est largement déployé dans le client BitTorrent officiel.Malheureusement, le réglage des paramètres de LEDBAT dépend fortement desconditions du réseau. Dans le pire des cas, les flux LEDBAT peuvent prendretoute la bande passante d'autre trafic tels que le trafic commercial sur lelien satellite. LEDBAT souffre également d'un problème intra-inéquité, appelélatecomer advantage. Toutes ces raisons empêchent souvent les opérateursde permettre l'utilisation de ce protocole sur le lien sans fil et à longdélai puisqu'une mauvaise configuration peut surcharger la capacité du lien.Pour répondre à l'ensemble de ces problèmes, nous proposons FLOWER, un nouveauprotocole de transport, qui se positionne comme alternative à LEDBAT. Enutilisant un contrôleur de logique floue pour réguler le débit des données,FLOWER vise à résoudre les problèmes de LEDBAT tout en remplissant le rôle d'unprotocole de LBE. Dans cette thèse, nous montrons que FLOWER peut transporter letrafic deLBE non seulement dans le contexte à long délai, mais dansplusieurs conditions du réseau où LEDBAT se trouve en échec. / In this thesis, we look at the possibility to deploy a Lower-than-Best-Effort(LBE) service over long delay links such as satellite links. The objective isto provide a second priority class dedicated to background or signalingtraffic. In the context of long delay links, an LBE service might also help tooptimize the use of the link capacity. In addition, an LBE service can enablea low-cost or even free Internet access in remote communities via satellitecommunication. There exists two possible deployment level of an LBE approach: either at MAClayer or at transport layer. In this thesis, we are interested in anend-to-end approach and thusspecifically focus on the transport layersolutions. We first propose to study LEDBAT (Low Extra Delay BackgroundTransport) because of its potential. Indeed, LEDBAT has been standardized byIETF and is widely deployed within the official BitTorrent client.Unfortunately, the tuning of LEDBAT parameters is revealed to highly depend onthe network conditions. In the worst case scenario, LEDBAT flows can starveother traffic such as commercial traffic performing over a satellite link.LEDBAT also suffers from an intra-unfairness issue, called the latecomeradvantage. All these reasons often prevent operators to allow the use of suchprotocol over wireless and long-delay link as a misconfiguration can overloadthe link capacity. Therefore, we design FLOWER, a new delay-based transportprotocol, as an alternative to LEDBAT. By using a fuzzy controller to modulatethe sending rate, FLOWER aims to solve LEDBAT issues while fulfilling the roleof an LBE protocol. Our simulation results show that FLOWER can carry LBEtraffic not only in the long delay context, but in a wide range of networkconditions where LEDBAT usually fails.

Lower urinary tract disorders are significant prognostic indicators of institutionalisation and lower quality of life in the elderly and their incidence increases with age. Urodynamics, the gold standard in diagnosis, replicates symptoms to assess functionality through controlled filling and voiding of the bladder but its interpretation is subjective and may be inconclusive; often requiring further testing or leading to inappropriate treatment. Normal filling and voiding biomechanics of the bladder relate directly to the structural composition of the bladder wall. Alterations to tissue composition in aging and pathology have significant impacts on biomechanics but are yet to be fully described. The aim of this thesis was to gain insight into the individual microstructural components of the bladder wall and how they relate to the gross mechanical response. Additionally, representation of these observations in a mathematical model that can be used to improve our understanding of urodynamic data. This aim was achieved through a combination of in situ mechanical testing and the development of a microstructural constitutive model, which was then included within an overall micturition framework to simulate filling and voiding functions, and evaluated with clinical data. Coupled systems of multiphoton microscopy and uniaxial, biaxial and inflation testing were used to correlate extra cellular matrix interactions with the mechanical response of young and aged murine bladder. Wall-layer specific collagen fibre orientation, dispersion and recruitment were quantified and implemented into a novel microstructural constitutive model. The bladder was modelled as a nonlinear elastic, constrainedmixture planar membrane with contribution from smooth muscle and collagen fibres in the detrusor. Collagen recruitment in the detrusor was observed to occur at a finite stretch; correlated with a steep increase in stiffness of the tissue, while collagen of the lamina propria plays a capacitance role. Collagen recruitment was modelled using a triangular probability density function; quantified from sequential microscopy images and fitted to mechanical data. Increased collagen area fraction and changes in dominant fibre orientation were attributed to reduced compliance in aged bladder. This behaviour was captured by the model. The microstructural model was modified to an isotropic thin-walled spherical membrane for the filling phase of a micturition model framework, consisting of a bladder outlet relation and urethral resistance relation. A contractile smooth muscle element was included in the active response. In the first steps towards clinical application the model was applied to male and female 'normal' patient urodynamic data to observe quality of model fit and estimate baseline parameter values. The model simulated key filling and voiding features seen in normal male and female clinical data. Mechanobiological modelling combined with clinically relevant micturition modelling has the potential to quantify bladder dysfunction. Moreover, improved understanding of how the microstructure influences macroscopic mechanics will yield improved understanding of how changes to the bladder impair its functionality. We predict that modelling will become a clinically relevant tool in urodynamics; leading to new options for diagnosis and management of patients with bladder dysfunction.

This thesis investigates the impact of Abenomics policies, named after the new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on the economy. His so-called "three arrows" agenda includes fiscal expansion, quantitative and qualitative monetary easing, and regulatory reforms. This work focuses on the assessment of the fulfillment of set goals and compares Abenomics to previous policies. Abe's cabinet succeeded in raising inflation and depreciating yen. The debt growth has almost halted and the GDP has mildly recovered. However, the economy is still far from stable. This thesis also explores further issues encountered by the Japanese economy such as the shut-down of nuclear power plants and effects of the zero lower bound constraint. This work introduces a synthetic counterfactual to assess the real results of Abenomics. This method builds a model of an alternate Japan, in which Abe had not assumed the office. The results suggest that the impact of Abenomics on the GDP per capita is slightly positive or negligible.

This thesis provides a long term analysis of strategic regional planning for the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, 1969-1981. However, the very nature of such a long term study exposes research problems that are masked by the traditional, short term or 'snap shot' approach. The first chapter reviews the problems of the traditional approach and argues that the lack of a dynamic, systems oriented approach in strategic regional planning stems from a theoretical gap between grand, i.e., general, theories and empirically testable hypotheses. In the theoretical framework, chapter two, Faludi's (1973) classification scheme is selected as the most evolved example of a middle range or contingency theory within the ambit of procedural planning theory. Faludi's three dimensions of planning—the blueprint versus process planning styles; the rational comprehensive versus disjointed incremental planning styles; and the normative versus functional planning styles— are then related to the three basic components of the strategic regional planning system: the type of plan; the type of planning agency; and the type of (ongoing) planning process. The variables that Faludi uses to define these three dimensions are also operationally defined in the context of the Lower Mainland study. Without any a priori hypotheses, the theoretical framework is used in chapter three to descriptively interpret shifts along these dimensions of planning for each of the Lower Mainland study's four time periods. The events and issues of the Lower Mainland study suggest the existence of a long term planning cycle, one driven by both economic growth and interactions between the components of the strategic regional planning system. In the conclusions to the study, chapter four, this cycle is generalized into a pattern of movements along the dimensions of planning and is offered as an initial hypothesis for exploring strategic regional planning in other locations. It was not possible, however, to directly establish causal relationships between the components of the strategic regional planning system because the movements along the dimensions of planning that were used to measure these components were interpreted as 'averages' based on the conflicting impacts of numerous events and issues. While a long term, systems oriented approach to analyzing strategic regional planning is still valid and required, further research requires a more detailed (direct) and integrated classification scheme or model. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Introduction Bypass surgery for infrainguinal disease is indicated when a patient presents with chronic (disabling claudication or chronic limb-threatening ischaemia) or acute ischemia. Duplex ultrasound surveillance can be used in the follow-up period to detect grafts in risk of failure. If detected before occlusion occurs an intervention can prolong patency. Aim The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome of the procedure, whether there are factors associated with no improvement, and to elucidate the value of routine ultrasound surveillance. Methods Patients who underwent lower extremity bypass surgery at Falu hospital between 2010 and 2020 were identified from the national registry Swedvasc. Clinical outcome was based on change in the Rutherford classification. Duplex ultrasound measured peak systolic velocities. A significant stenosis was defined as a 2-3.5-fold increase in ratio of adjacent velocities in the bypass. For a non-significant stenosis, the ratio had to be increased but by less than 2 times. Results 114 patients underwent bypass surgery. Mean age was 70 years. Postoperative surveillance was carried out for 78 patients. Of these, 40 (51.3%) presented with an abnormality and further 30 of them (75%) received further intervention. There was a correlation between cardiac risk and outcome at the 30-day follow-up. For the majority of the not-surveilled, a major adverse event occurred within 1 year. Conclusions Bypass surgery was beneficial for the majority. Cardiac risk was a negative predictor for outcome. Most patients attending the surveillance benefited from early detection of risk of graft failure. To improve its value and efficacy, guidelines are needed within the clinic.

The subject of this master´s thesis is the design of a single-purpose assembly device for pressing round seats into the cylinders of an air conditioning compressor. The whole thesis leads to a complete 3D model of the machine, including drawings. The 3D model and drawings were created in SOLIDWORKS.

A mini-thesis submitted in fulfillrnent ofthereqnirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Linguistics, University of Zululand, 2003. / The new political dispensation in South Africa has given "equal" status to eleven languages, practically English still enjoys special rights it used to enjoy in the old order, prior to 1994. To cite but a few examples, English is still the official medium of instruction in many South African schools, private or public. Huge knowledge of information is inaccessible to many South Africans unless they are competent in English. Job applications and interviews are carried out in this language. When dealing with issues of national interest, government officials use this language. They will argue that many South Africans and ethnic groups can comprehend English. Thus, it is an "unbiased", "neutral", "standard" and a unifying", etc. language. It is, therefore, very much unlikely that the South African president could one day deliver the State of the nation Address in isiXhosa, seSotho or isiZulu. Media institutions would rarely employ a person who cannot comprehend English. Many of them - printing, radio stations and television channels -have English as their main language. One may cite commercials and interviews with the president on a national TV as examples. Even those media institutions that use other languages (not English), very often find themselves compromising their standards because of the influence of English. What is discussed above is the undeniable situation of the country. Whether one views it as good or otherwise, the truth is, this is the status quo at the present moment. English has not only established itself as a national lingua franca, but it is also taking control globally, both in politics, economy and other social affairs. The whole research in this study was based on the premise that, "with English you stand, and without English you fail", particularly in South Africa. Hence the utmost aim of this research work has been to come up with a teaching technique that would avert any "fall" of any South African. The researcher was convinced that there was something wrong with the main existing teaching technique, the Communicative Language Teaching approach (CLT) for failing to yield desired results after so many years it has been in place. Moreover, the time that the learners expend in learning the language (from grade one to grade twelve) is sufficient for them to have grasped and internalised a considerable knowledge and command of English, particularly at matric level. Consequently, the study had to examine the CLT approach thoroughly, before anything could be recommenced. The researcher is of the conviction that, although English was sometimes referred to as a "neutral"' language, it is not always so with Black South African learners, especially in Black rural schools. In some instances English has been seen as a barrier to some learners' possible success. The Black High schools where this research was conducted have attested to this statement. Considering the magnitudirial role of English already discussed, one could not dispute the fact that learners to whom English is a second language (ESL) are not competing from an equal footing with their English native speaking counterparts. The former are usually held back whilst the latter are put a step ahead by the status of the language. All the above mentioned facts should lay a profound reason for the introduction of the best possible ever teaching technique. One could only hope that this piece of work will make a positive difference for the disadvantaged learners to be assisted.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(理学) / 甲第24424号 / 理博第4923号 / 新制||理||1703(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院理学研究科地球惑星科学専攻 / (主査)教授 田口 聡, 教授 松岡 彩子, 教授 石岡 圭一 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

It is the purpose of this study to consider the Anglo-American child--to examine his achievement in a situation where much consideration will of necessity be given to the instructional needs peculiar to the predominating group.