Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / This study aimed at identifying the factors contributing towards work related neck pain amongst university administrative staff, its impact on everyday life activities and in turn its prevalence. A quantitative descriptive cross sectional study design was used amongst the administrative staff at the University of The Western Cape, South Africa. Data collection was carried out with the help of a questionnaire which was administered by the researcher in person. Data was analysed with both descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS and SAS for windows. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis was done. The results of this study revealed a very high prevalence of work related neck pain amongst university administrative staff. / South Africa

The thesis presents a research in the Public Power Corporation S.A. – PPC in Athens, Greece. The main purpose of this study is to examine the employees of PPC use of the IT (Information Technology) system and whether the system supports, helps and facilitates their work or generate problems to them in their daily work. The IT system that is being used in the PPC is SAP (Systems, Applications and Products) and was implemented about two years ago, in 2015. Therefore, my intention is to explore and analyze the usefulness and efficiency of SAP and detect the advantages as well as the problems of this IS which have impact on the quality of the customer services. Furthermore, the latest years that the financial crisis occurs in Greece the common interest for public firm’s development, became a motive for me to propose and undertake this research due to the fact that these kinds of public companies can contribute to the economy of Greece. For the research, I used the interpretive paradigm. The methodology used is ethnography and the two methods are the interviews and the observation. The research was conducted in different departments of PPC. The participants are the employees, the managers and one Director of PPC. The data collected from the two methods are analyzed by using the Lichtman’s six step of analysis. After the data analysis, the results indicate that there are vital problems in the PPC in relation to the use of the IT system which in some cases are more than the advantages. The users of SAP have expressed their experience in relation to the implementation of the new IT system. They recognize the importance on using such an advanced IT system but on the other hand, they express the limitations and the problems because of the vital problems on PPC.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of mobile phones in organizing ad-hoc vehicle ridesharing based on hitch-hiking trips involving private car drivers and commuters in South Africa. A study was conducted to learn how hitch-hiking trips are arranged in the urban and rural areas of the Eastern Cape. This involved carrying out interviews with hitch-hikers and participating in several trips. The study results provided the design specifications for a Dynamic Ridesharing System (DRS) tailor-made to the hitch-hiking culture of this context. The design of the DRS considered the delivery of the ad-hoc ridesharing service to the anticipated mobile phones owned by people who use hitch-hiking. The implementation of the system used the available open source solutions and guidelines under the Siyakhula Living Lab project, which promotes the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in marginalized communities of South Africa. The developed prototype was tested in both the simulated and live environments, then followed by usability tests to establish the viability of the system. The results from the tests indicate an initial breakthrough in the process of modernizing the ad-hoc ridesharing of hitch-hiking which is used by a section of people in the urban and rural areas of South Africa.

The thesis describes the course and results of the research into interventions through the internet websites in the Czech language for the users of opioids and amphetamines. Nowadays the internet forms an inseparable part of most people's lives from all social classes. This fact is reflected in the interests of both service providers for drug users and laymen interested in drug issues. Unfortunately, according to current research we do not know much about what information and in which quality and range can people find about drug issues on the internet. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to find and analyse internet websites focused on the users of illegal drugs (opioids and amphetamines) in the Czech republic. The Internet websites were evaluated not only with respect to the contents and range of the information provided but also with respect to topicality, functionality and objectivity. What was found were 13 complex Czech websites, 7 professional HR organisations and also 6 non-professional HR websites. The websites of professional organisations in most cases fulfilled the essential criteria of authority, objectivity and topicality. Among non-professional websites there were high-quality ones containing a wide range of information and correct approach to drug issues but there were also two...

In the north-western corner of inner-city Pretoria, South Africa, the business district of Marabastad stands as a prime example of the lack of humanised public space making in marginalised urban areas. Amidst the vibrant and spontaneous local community the open spaces in this urban landscape are left derelict and insufficient in providing for the needs of their users. In response to the obvious and unseen deficiencies of the area, this landscape architectural study aims to shape platforms of opportunity to support the struggling local community by building on existing social networks and, formal and informal, economical practices. The investigation and subsequent design of this dissertation are focussed around the making of an urban square that will encourage interaction between individuals as well as between the individual and his/her surroundings. / Dissertation (ML(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Architecture / unrestricted

The present thesis considers the topic of English as a Lingua Franca as it is perceived and experienced by three groups: the ELF research community, ELT professionals, and ELF users themselves. This thesis first presents an overview of the theoretical foundations of ELF research, identifying key topics with which the ELF research community has grappled in recent decades. In order to determine how much closer the ELT community has gotten to aligning teaching policy, practices, and goals to students' specific needs and expectations, sociolinguistic research in the form of seven semi-structured interviews was conducted with L2 English speakers who use ELF to live, work, and study in their daily lives, and the ELT professionals tasked with developing their English skills in the classroom. The content of these interviews is then analyzed with regard to the specific needs and expectations of ELF users and the concerns of ELT professionals, followed by a discussion of the key issues uncovered in these interviews in light of the theoretical background of ELF research. The author provides suggestions for further research aimed at improving the ELT community's role in developing ELF proficiency in the expanding circle. Keywords: English as a Lingua Franca, English Language Teaching, Expanding Circle, ELF...

Tracking Internet users is one of the most controversial and discussed IT topic nowadays. Except of the publicly known tracking by marketing agencies, there even appeared secret methods of surface monitoring of USA population. Because, as shown in this thesis, majority of existing tools for defence against tracking on the Internet are cooperating with trackers, the goal of this thesis is to develop independent defend tool that would block tracking. After mentioning the motivation for tracking and its history there are analysed all known and widespread tracking methods in detail. The two following sections of the thesis are describing the world biggest companies performing the user tracking and their tools and options to defend against each method of tracking by available defensive tools. The practical part of the thesis contains the description, example of usage and manual for developed defensive tool, that protects users on the Internet against the most widespread tracking methods by restricting communication with suspicious 3-rd party servers.

The goal of this thesis is to introduce readers with the current state of the market of social networks in the Czech Republic with major focus on evolution of user perception of market rookie -- Google+ -- and with focus on success evaluation of marketing activities led to support this service. All this evaluation is done thanks to a research. The master thesis is split into 3 units, which gradually describe current perception of social networks, their definition and also the situation on the Czech market. After deeper description of Google+, the research is described. This research is led in order to allow obtaining data that would allow for comparison of situation before and after execution of above mentioned marketing activities executed during summer of 2012. Final unit of this paper focuses on the research data analysis in order to extract the evolution of awareness and of usage of compared social network and of course to offer very detailed look on Google+ itself and to offer the evaluation of efficiency of the marketing activities.

The purpose of this project is to create and implement a web page design curriculum for the secondary level.

This project proposes an automated system that allows a registered user to post questions to a web-based database of technical experts. This enables the user to have a quicker response time to their questions. The users questions and answers are posted to the website.