Introduction: ReadNPlay for a Bright Future is an initiative developed by the East Tennessee State University (ETSU) pediatricians and partners, to promote healthy active living among families with young children. The project includes giving families a packet with a baby book and a tips booklet when they bring their young children to the pediatrician's office for the newborn visit. My Baby Book is based on Bright Futures guidelines and contains age-appropriate advice on keeping babies healthy, sharing books, eating healthy, preventing injury, and being active as a family, as well as space to record special memories and milestones. The vision of this project is to encourage families in the region to Play More, Play Together, Play Safely, and have Fuel to Play. Methodology: In January 2013, anonymous surveys in English or Spanish were administered to a sample of 80 mothers of infants under 24 months of age during well child visits at the ETSU Pediatric Clinic. This served as the pre-intervention survey to assess baseline self-reported behaviors of mothers and infants before the intervention (My Baby Book) was implemented. 3 follow up surveys were carried out in July 2013, April 2014 and July 2015 respectively to collect post-intervention data. Questions centered around screen time, physical activity, injury prevention, and healthy eating. Pre-intervention data was compared to post-intervention data consisting of the 3 follow up surveys combined together to determine the effectiveness of the ReadNPlay project. Data was collected using Epi Info and Excel and analyzed with SPSS. Results: The total sample size was 80 at each time point. Majority of the mothers are beneficiaries of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. Preliminary results include that there was a 5.28% decrease in the number of mothers who reported spending more than 20 hours/week watching TV or videos; 4.22% increase in the number of mothers who spent at least 3 hours/week being engaged in light/moderate recreational activities; 14.35% increase in the number of mothers who spent at least 2 hours engaged in vigorous recreational activities or sports; 3% increase in the number of mothers who spent at least 3 hours/week walking for fun/exercise, and a 3.3% increase in the number of mothers who breastfed their children for at least 6 months. Among infants, a 6.39% decrease in hospital visits for injuries was reported as well as 8.23% increase in the number of infants who had no screen time. Conclusion: Limitations of this study include lack of a control group, potential for cohort effect, and the self-reported nature of the data collection. ReadNPlay for a Bright has subsequently been expanded to include distribution of a ReadNPlay children’s book series, development of a mobile application based on My Baby Book, and development of regular healthy active living community events and support groups to link families to in the region. A longitudinal evaluation of the program including several different clinics in the region is underway.

MIMO systems are mainly used in application for wireless communication. Their principle is to use a large number of antennas for transmition and the reception of a signal. The core of these systems is to use space-time coding and either block or trellis space-time code. In the future, it is assumed enormous enlargement MIMO systems in many applications

This dissertation work focusses on using information about the location of the user during the authentication process on computer networks. With the growth of mobile computer devices over the last two decades the physical location of users is becoming one of the main issues for access management. This work researches existing solutions which are divided in to two groups related to the source of location information (SATNAV systems for example GPS and based on communication with active infrastructure such as GSM, Wi-Fi). This work shows the methodology for evaluating authentication data which use the principle of fuzzy logic. In comparison with binary logic it is possible to evaluate authentication data accurately. As a result of the authentication process the information is of a higher value, which can be taken into account when setting the levels of user privileges. An important aspect of working with location information is that the user is located in the same place and from where they are asking for access to the system. Solving this question could be linking user biometrics for example finger prints. This principle is used in two types of microelectronic authentication terminals which were developed in conjunction with this work. The first type of terminal uses a SATNAV receiver and an ISM wireless communication module as a source of location information. On the first type of authentication terminal newly developed authentication techniques were tested. The users biometrics are checked by finger print sensor with embedded processing. In the second type authentication terminal a Wi-Fi and GSM module were added for location purposes. In the conclusion of this dissertation the testing methodology of the data authorization and evaluation process of the second type of microelectronic authentication terminal is shown. This confirms the practicality of the suggested methodology and the time-space information in the authentication process.

Islamophobia and misconceptions or negative portrayal of Muslims have led Muslims in Western societies being discriminated by people who hold religious and racial prejudice. Against this backdrop, Muslim communities in Britain run a national campaign called “Visit My Mosque”. This thesis explores whether the campaign follows the three variables of social movements: political opportunities, mobilising structures, and framing processes to take shape and emerge. Close examination to data, collected from interviews with four Muslim activists, reveals themes which point to the variables. The regional political context in Europe following the terrorists attack at the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris triggers activists in Britain to launch the “Visit My Mosque” campaign. The political climate provides an opportunity for Muslims to take collective action. The pressure on Muslim communities, as a result of Islamophobia and negative portrayal of Muslims by some sections of the media, provides narratives to transform grievances into action. And finally, the campaign emerges due to the presence of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) which facilitates the campaign and provides support to networks of participating mosques. These findings may offer more understanding into the study of social movements in general and religious activism in particular.

Mina meddelanden (English: My Messages) is a secure electronic mail service provided by seven Swedish public authorities, which may be used by the Swedish population to electronically receive mail from the public sector. The IT infrastructure of this mail service is primarily developed and maintained by the Swedish Tax Agency. It is built on Web Services and the principles of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). This allows external stakeholders to connect to the system as subsystems: Senders, Postal Services or Mailbox Operators, each designed to either send, mediate or receive mail using Web Services. Used in this way, Web Services allow for a loosely coupled system, however, system upgrades must be deployed in an orderly fashion so as to prevent breakdowns. The main research areas of this literature review, conducted with an iterative search process, include versioning of Web Services, SOA strategies, design patterns and frameworks. Based on the findings of this research, two theoretical approaches are suggested for Mina meddelanden: (i) a gradual change between two strictly controlled versions with a unified repository to store relevant Web service artifacts and documentations, and (ii) more generally to implement an integration platform that includes a service bus to mediate messages to the most suitable version. Mina meddelanden is a government project, and there are strict IT regulations and directives that must be followed. Therefore, the first approach is the most suitable at the time of writing, since there is already a working version of the system that follows these rules. Future implementation of an integration platform requires further study to ensure legal requirements are met. / Mina meddelanden är en säker digital posttjänst som tillhandahålls av sju svenska myndigheter och kan användas av den svenska befolkningen för att ta emot post elektroniskt från den offentliga sektorn. IT-infrastrukturen av denna posttjänst utvecklas och underhålls främst av Skatteverket. Den är byggd på webbtjänster och principerna av en tjänsteorienterad arkitektur (SOA). Detta gör det möjligt för externa aktörer att ansluta till systemet som delsystemen: Avsändare, Förmedlare eller Brevlådeoperatörer som är utformade för att antingen skicka, förmedla eller ta emot e-post med hjälp av webbtjänster. Webbtjänster gör det möjligt för delsystemen att samarbeta med varandra, men uppdateringar utav ett sådant system måste ske på ett metodiskt sätt för att förhindra haverier. Det huvudsakliga undersökningsområdet av denna litteraturstudie, genomfördes med en iterativ sökprocess, omfattas av versionshantering av webbtjänster, SOA strategier, designmallar och ramverk. Baserat på litteraturstudien förslås två teoretiska tillvägagångssätt för Mina meddelanden: (i) en succesiv förändring mellan två strikta och kontrollerade versioner med ett enat förvar för att lagra relevanta webbtjänster artefakter och dokumentationer och (ii) en mer generell lösning att implementera en integrationsplattform som inkluderar en tjänstebuss för att förmedla meddelanden till den mest passande versionen. Mina meddelanden är ett statligt projekt och måste därför följa strikta IT direktiv och riktlinjer, så det första tillvägagångssättet är den bäst kvalificerad i skrivande stund på grund av att det redan finns en fungerande version av systemet som följer dessa regler. Framtida implementationer av en integrationsplattform kräver ytterligare studier för att säkerställa att juridiska krav är uppnådda.

This thesis examines the forces that affect subjectivity in two novels by the author Philip K. Dick, Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. The close reading of these two novels makes use of postmodernist theory as its theoretical foundation. In these works, stable subjects are fractured through a series of disconcerting incidents originating in a “reality shift,” an event that sees the seemingly solid state of Dick’s speculative future worlds collapse. Split into three sections, this paper first positions Dick within a postmodernist tradition developed mainly by Lyotard, Hutcheon, and Baudrillard, supported by critics such as Sim, Malpas, and Kellner, among others. It then defines the reality shift and its underlying causes, three types of science fictional drugs across the two novels: Can-D, Chew-Z, and KR-3. Finally, this essay examines the full extent of Dick’s inquiry into subjectivity by exploring the metamorphoses the subjects of his novels endure.

Sarajevo is a city in which, for centuries, people of different religions and ethnicities have lived together. But the war in the early 1990s partitioned the country into almost ethnically homogenous parts. The aim of this work is to find out, how young people between the ages of 18 - 29 years old perceive the identity of contemporary Sarajevo and to what extent they identify with the official narrative of Sarajevo as a multi-ethnic city. An online survey was conducted in March 2016 by a sample of 66 young Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs, and Bosnian Croats. The research examines how they identify with the Sarajevan urban identity and the influential factors, such as ethnic categorization, religious beliefs, origin, or dominant information sources. To provide a deeper insight, the online survey was extended to include 15 in-depth interviews with young Sarajevans. There, the author uses a metaphor of a bridge to analyze the young Sarajevans' point of view regarding inter-ethnic relations and identity of their city. The outcome of the research is recognition that young Sarajevans often deny the ethnic categorization and perceive the every- day contact between different ethnic groups as non-problematic. As a consequence, the participants see Sarajevo as a unique city in the Bosnian context and typically distinguish...

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The purpose of this essay is to examine how the novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018 / 2019) by Ottessa Moshfegh, through the lens of dissociative feminism, can be interpreted as a critique regarding commodification of the body. To explore this claim, I discuss the protagonist’s dissociative feminist behaviour in contrast to her friend Reva’s femcel-behaviour. How the protagonist and Reva react to societal pressure in the form of beauty standards becomes the evidence of a critique that I believe Moshfegh is trying to tell throughout the novel. By examining how the two women are either showing approval or rejection of beauty standards either physically or psychologically, the theory of the docile body and culture industry is brought into the discussion. This leads to a discussion of why docile bodies are subjugated to beauty standards and if self-care routines are either done for the self or the observers’ gaze. I show evidence of how the novel criticizes a society that forces oppressive ideals upon women by discussing the thought process of the protagonist. This essay is therefore written from the perspective of the protagonist being the force against beauty standards and how through continuous dissociation, the protagonist is set free from societal norms, while Reva acts as a symbol for all the women that are mouldable. This essay analyses four passages that show how Moshfegh delivers an implicit critique through four distinct ways: dissociation, power, docility, and sedation. Finally, the essay shows evidence of how the novel on its last page creates a generalization of women, signalling that women must dare to break the patterns of oppressive ideals to become free individuals.

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