There are many advantages of masonry construction like widespread geographic availability in many forms, colors and textures, comparative cheapness, fire resistance, thermal and sound insulation, durability, etc. For such reasons, it is still a commonly used type of residential construction in rural and even in urban regions. Unfortunately, its behavior especially under the effect of earthquake ground motions has not been identified clearly because of its complex material nature. Hence, the masonry buildings with structural deficiencies belong to the most vulnerable class of structures which have experienced heavy damage or even total collapse in previous earthquakes, especially in developing countries like Turkey. This necessitates new contemporary methods for designing safer masonry structures or assessing their performance. Considering all these facts, this study aims at the generation of a new performance-based technique for unreinforced brick masonry structures. First, simplified formulations are recommended to estimate idealized capacity curve parameters of masonry components (piers) by using the finite element analysis results of ANSYS and regression analysis through SPSS software. Local limit states for individual masonry piers are also obtained. Then, by combining the component behavior, lateral capacity curve of the masonry building is constructed together with the global limit states. The final step is to define seismic demand of the design earthquake from the building through TEC2007 method. By using this simple technique, a large population of masonry buildings can be examined in a relatively short period of time noting that the performance estimations are quite reliable since they are based on sophisticated finite element analysis results.

Inledning: Denna studie handlar om äldres körförmåga och de faktorer som påverkar den utifrån teori om utförandekapacitet (Kielhofner & Taylor, 2017). Eftersom äldre påverkas negativa på flera sätt när de inte längre kan köra bil bör det vara en prioritet för arbetsterapeuter att hitta sätt att främja aktiviteten om möjligt. Syfte: Att beskriva äldres erfarenheter av faktorer som påverkar deras körförmåga. Metod: En kvalitativ design med fokusgruppintervjuer. Informanter rekryterade genom bekvämlighetsurval. Inklusionskriterier var en ålder från 70 samt att de körde bil minst två gånger i veckan. Två fokusgrupper med fem deltagare vardera genomfördes. Materialet analyserades med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Informanternas upplevelser resulterade i fyra huvudkategorier: Aktsam körning med underkategori Vanor, Framförhållning, Trafikmiljö som stödjer och stör; Konsekvenser av naturligt åldrande med underkategorier Synförändringar, Trötthet; Bilen en vän eller fiende med underkategorin GPS som stöd. Slutsatser: Det som framkommit kan bidra till utvecklandet av strategier som möjliggör aktiviteten. Det kan även hjälpa vårdpersonal att bättre förstå äldres körförmåga och föra pedagogiska samtal med äldre vars körförmåga är tveksam. Ytterligare forskning krävs för att undersöka relevans och säkerhet inom kategorierna. / Introduction: This study concerns older adults driving abilities and the factors that affect this ability from an occupational therapy view of performance capacity (Kielhofner & Taylor, 2017). Sense driving cessation affect older adult in many negative ways it should be a priority of occupational therapists to find ways to promote the activity if possible. Aim: To describing older adult experiences about factor that effect their driving ability. Method: A qualitative design using focus group interviews recruited by convenience selection. Inclusion criteria from an age of 70, driving at least two times a week. Two groups of five each where interviewed. The material was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: Informants experiences resulted in four main categories: Careful driving with subcategory Habits, Forward attitude, Traffic environment that supports and interferes; Consequences of natural aging with subcategories Vision changes, Tiredness; The car a friend or foe with subcategory GPS as support. Conclusions: Further research is required to investigate relevance, and safety in the categories. Nevertheless, the result can contribute to the development of strategies that enable the activity. It can also help healthcare workers better understand older adults driving ability and discuss the subject with them.

The primary purpose of this project was to investigate some relationships between workload and employee wellbeing. The necessary first stage was to formulate a theoretical framework � the JobLoad Model � to support a comprehensive and detailed investigation of the main factors that contribute to a job's workload. Building on the ergonomics concept of �workload�, this Model incorporates task- and job-level factors that have been identified within the research literatures of physical and cognitive ergonomics as important; additional constructs were added to take account of additional factors shown to be relevant to employee wellbeing, drawing on evidence from occupational health and organizational psychology literatures. Using this framework, available questionnaire-based measurement instruments for assessing workload and employee wellbeing were reviewed, new items were developed as required, and the JobLoad Index (JLI) was developed. The JLI was used to collect data from public servants in two different workplaces, with participation rates of 63% and 73% respectively. Relationships were determined between major task, job and organisational environment factors, self-perceived performance adequacy, and various aspects of employee wellbeing including job satisfaction, physical discomfort and psychological fatigue, stress and arousal. For a sub-sample of participants in one of the two workplaces, levels of adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol were also measured from 24-hour urine collections. The factors measured by the JLI accounted for a very substantial proportion of variance in these various dimensions of work-related wellbeing. The results provide potentially very useful insights into the relative influences of a wide range of work- and job-related variables on people's perceived abilities to cope with their job demands, and on several aspects of their wellbeing. Further, the importance of measuring multiple dimensions of wellbeing, and differentiating their separate sets of work-related determinants, was well demonstrated. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, this study has identified the powerful role that self-perceived performance plays as an intervening variable between job demands and people's work-related wellbeing.

The primary purpose of this project was to investigate some relationships between workload and employee wellbeing. The necessary first stage was to formulate a theoretical framework � the JobLoad Model � to support a comprehensive and detailed investigation of the main factors that contribute to a job's workload. Building on the ergonomics concept of �workload�, this Model incorporates task- and job-level factors that have been identified within the research literatures of physical and cognitive ergonomics as important; additional constructs were added to take account of additional factors shown to be relevant to employee wellbeing, drawing on evidence from occupational health and organizational psychology literatures. Using this framework, available questionnaire-based measurement instruments for assessing workload and employee wellbeing were reviewed, new items were developed as required, and the JobLoad Index (JLI) was developed. The JLI was used to collect data from public servants in two different workplaces, with participation rates of 63% and 73% respectively. Relationships were determined between major task, job and organisational environment factors, self-perceived performance adequacy, and various aspects of employee wellbeing including job satisfaction, physical discomfort and psychological fatigue, stress and arousal. For a sub-sample of participants in one of the two workplaces, levels of adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol were also measured from 24-hour urine collections. The factors measured by the JLI accounted for a very substantial proportion of variance in these various dimensions of work-related wellbeing. The results provide potentially very useful insights into the relative influences of a wide range of work- and job-related variables on people's perceived abilities to cope with their job demands, and on several aspects of their wellbeing. Further, the importance of measuring multiple dimensions of wellbeing, and differentiating their separate sets of work-related determinants, was well demonstrated. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, this study has identified the powerful role that self-perceived performance plays as an intervening variable between job demands and people's work-related wellbeing.

Les facteurs de stress biotiques, tels que les parasites, peuvent affecter le fitness d’un animal en modifiant le comportement et la physiologie de l’hôte. Puisque les parasites sont omniprésents et ont des impacts importants sur les communautés écologiques, il importe de comprendre comment et dans quelle mesure ils modifient la vie de leurs hôtes. Ainsi, l’étude de la capacité de performance d’un hôte parasité par le biais de la physiologie et du comportement pourrait fournir une compréhension plus mécanistique des changements phénotypiques de l'hôte pendant l'infection. Nous avons utilisé des crapets-soleil (Lepomis gibbosus) infectés par des trématodes et cestodes comme système modèle pour étudier les effets des endoparasites sur les traits métaboliques et le comportement de fuite de l'hôte. Les traits de performance métaboliques aérobiques (taux métabolique standard et maximal, capacité aérobique) et de performance de fuite (réactivité et temps de réponse à une attaque aérienne simulée) ont été mesurés chez les poissons à travers un gradient d'infection visible (c.-à-d. la prévalence de points noirs sur les poissons) et d’infection non-visible (c.-à-d. causée par des endoparasites, cestodes et trématodes, non-apparents mais quantifiés post-mortem) à l'aide de respiromètres et d'arènes comportementales. Nous avons démontré que la charge parasitaire influence les performances physiologiques et comportementales des crapets-soleil. Nous avons observé une diminution significative des taux métaboliques standard et maximal le long d’un gradient d'infection par des endoparasites non-visibles, mais pas pour une infection visible de type point noir. L'intensité de l'infection par les endoparasites non-visibles était également liée à une diminution de la réponse à une attaque aérienne simulée. Nos résultats suggèrent que l'incorporation de l'infection parasitaire dans les études écologiques, physiologiques et comportementales s’avère essentielle pour identifier et comprendre les causes de la variation des caractères intraspécifiques au sein des populations sauvages. / Biotic stressors, such as parasites, can affect an animal’s fitness through changes to their host’s behaviour and physiology. Since parasites are ubiquitous and have significant impacts on ecological communities, it is important to understand how and to what extent they alter the lives of their hosts. Thus, studying how host performance capacity is affected by parasites through physiology and behaviour could provide a more mechanistic understanding of host phenotypic changes during infection. We used pumpkinseed sunfish, Lepomis gibbosus, infected with endoparasites, including trematodes (the causal agent of black spot disease), as a model system to study the effects of infection on host aerobic metabolic performance and escape behaviour. Aerobic metabolic performance traits (standard and maximum metabolic rate, aerobic scope) and escape response performance traits (responsiveness and response latency to a simulated aerial attack) were measured in fish from across a gradient of visible endoparasite infection (i.e. trematodes causing black spot disease) and non-visible infection (i.e. internal cestodes and trematodes quantified post-mortem) using custom-built respirometers and behavioural arenas. Here, we demonstrate that parasite load is related to the physiological and behavioral performances of wild caught pumpkinseed sunfish. We find a significant decrease in standard metabolic rate and maximal metabolic rate along the gradient of non-visible endoparasite infection but not for visible infection with black spot. Non-visible endoparasite infection intensity was also related to decreased responsiveness to a simulated aerial attack. Our results provide further confirmation that incorporating parasite infection in ecological, physiological and behavioural studies is critical for understanding the causes of intraspecific trait variation in wild animal populations.

Beim Parameter „Druscheignung“ eines Bestandes wird gemeinhin angenommen, dass dieses Kriterium durch die Genetik der Sorte und den Witterungsverlauf, weitgehend unbeeinflusst von Landwirt, festgelegt ist. Und dennoch verändert der Landwirt mit all seinen Entscheidungen von der Auswahl der Sorten, über die Düngung, den Pflanzenschutz bis hin zum Erntemanagement die Druscheignung stetig. Zur Ernte, als letzten Abschnitt der Verfahrenskette, entfaltet die Druscheignung dann außerordentlich große ökonomische Auswirkungen. Anhand verschiedener Beispiele aus Züchtung, Pflanzenernährung, Pflanzenschutz und Erntetechnologie wurde dargestellt, wie auf die Druscheignung Einfluss genommen werden kann und wie diese Auswirkungen monetär zu bewerten sind. Aus dem Bereich der Züchtung wurde die Entwicklung eines neuen Wuchstyps bei den Rapshalbzwergen ausgewählt, der mit weniger Biomasse konkurrenzfähige Erträge erzielt. Die Abreife ist einheitlicher, der Erntetermin kann problemloser fixiert werden, der Drusch ist leistungsstark und verlustarm. Späte und intensiv geführte Sorten sind mit Hilfe einer Sikkation zeitlich früher und leichter zu beernten. Das schafft Erntesicherheit bei geringeren Verlusten, höheren Mähdrescherleistungen und sinkendem Kraftstoffverbrauch. Die bedarfsgerechte Ausbringung des Stickstoffs in Art, Menge und Zeit, entsprechend der kleinräumigen Heterogenität eines Schlages, führt zu einer Homogenisierung der Bestände. Die Bestände reifen gleichmäßiger ab und führen zu etwa 20 Prozent höherer Mähdrescherleistung sowie geringerem Kraftstoffverbrauch. Am Beispiel des Hochschnitts wurde verdeutlicht, wie sich die bessere Beerntbarkeit auf Maschinenkosten, Gesamternteverluste, Qualität und Trocknung auswirkt. Hebt man die Stoppellänge um 10 Zentimeter an, lässt sich die Mähdrescherleistung um ca. 15 bis 20 Prozent steigern. Diese Beispiele unterstreichen zugleich die Forderung, dass die Druscheignung nicht erst zur Ernte diese Führungsrolle übernimmt, sondern auch in den vorgelagerten Verfahrensabschnitten als ein starkes Entscheidungskriterium gelten muss. / The parameter “threshability” of a stand is commonly assumed to be a criterion defined by the genetics of the strain and the weather conditions which is mainly not influenced by the farmer. Nevertheless, the farmer continuously changes the “threshability” with all his decisions, from the selection of the strains, via the use of fertilizers to the harvest management. For harvest, as the last stage of the process chain, the threshability develops extraordinarily high economic effects. On the basis of several examples from cultivation, plant nutrition, plant protection and harvest technology it was described, how the threshability can be influenced and how this effect is to be assessed monetarily. In the field of cultivation, the development of a new growth type of semi-dwarf rape has been selected, which yields competitive returns with less bio mass. Ripeness is more homogeneous, the harvest date can be fixed without problems, threshing is efficient and with low loss. Using the method of siccation, late and intensively controlled strains can be harvested earlier and easier. This offers harvest safety with low loss, higher combine harvester performance and reduced fuel consumption.The need-based spreading of nitrogen referring to type, quantity and time according to the small-scale spatial heterogeneity of a field leads to a homogenisation of the stands. The stands ripen more evenly and this fact causes about 20 percent higher combine harvester performance, as well as reduced fuel consumption. Using the example of high-cut top harvest it was clarified how the better harvestability influences the machine costs, the total harvest losses, the quality, and the drying process. If the length of the stubbles is extended by 10 centimetres, the combine harvester performance can be increased by 15 to 20 percent. These examples also emphasize the requirement that the threshability does not just take over the leading role for the harvest but has also to be considered as a strong decision criterion within the prior stages of the process.