Abstract The associations between home ergonomics and falls among the elderly were studied with the aid of an event theory system model. The subjects comprised 76 persons receiving home nursing services and their 71 homes. The study consisted of observation and measurements of the homes, interviews and charting mobility and functional ability. Ergonomic shortcomings were commonly observed both in home structures, fixed furnishing and loose furniture. In over half of the cases lighting capacity fell short of recommended levels. There were fewer ergonomic shortcomings in sheltered housing than in privately owned homes. In private homes, more ergonomic shortcomings were classified in houses than in link houses or flats. The association between individual factors predisposing to falls and ergonomic features of the home was shown to be minor, although ergonomic shortcomings of furnishing and equipment did occur less often in the homes of elderly persons with both significant proneness to falls and significantly impaired mobility and balance. During the one-year follow-up, 30% of the subjects reported a fall at home. However, no significant differences in ergonomic shortcomings were observed between the homes of fallers and non-fallers. When the fall events were studied within the system, it was shown that ergonomic features were closely associated with the falls. In general, ergonomic factors had a positive impact on falls. The study failed to show a connection between classification of ergonomic factors and falls. Significant propensity to falls as well as significantly impaired mobility and balance increased the risk for falls and the occurrence of repeated falls. Significantly impaired vision did not, however, increase the occurrence of falls. A more individual approach towards evaluation of ergonomics is called for. Looking at the fall event systems indicated that the underlying reasons behind falls among the elderly were more often intrinsic, apparent failures in risk recognition, rather than ergonomic shortcomings. The study provides a good starting point for further work, because by looking at the fall event systems it is already easier than before to spot things that need improvement in home ergonomics, and to recognise persons in need of safety solutions, improved risk recognition or other measures promoting functional ability. / Tiivistelmä Kodin ergonomian yhteyksiä ikääntyneiden kaatumisiin tarkasteltiin tutkimuksessa tapaturmateoreettisen systeemimallin avulla. Tutkimusjoukoksi valittiin 76 kotisairaanhoidonpiiriin kuuluvaa itsenäisesti asuvaa ja liikkuvaa ikääntynyttä ja heidän 71 kotiaan. Tutkimus koostui kotien havainnoinneista ja mittauksista, ikääntyneiden haastatteluista, liikunta- ja toimintakyvyn kartoituksista sekä kahdesta puhelimitse puolen vuoden välein toteutetusta seurantahaastattelusta. Ikääntyneiden kodeissa todettiin yleisesti ergonomiapuutteita niin rakenteissa, kiintokalustuksessa kuin irtokalustamisessakin. Tilojen valaistus luokiteltiin usein riittämättömäksi, ja yli puolet valaistusvoimakkuuksista jäi valaistussuositusten tasosta. Palveluasunnoissa ergonomiapuutteita oli vähemmän kuin omistus- ja vuokra-asunnoissa. Yksityisasunnoista omakotien ergonomiatekijöissä luokiteltiin enemmän puutteita kuin rivi- ja kerrostaloissa. Yksilöllisten kaatumiseen altistavien vaarojen yhteydet kodin ergonomisiin olosuhteisiin todettiin vähäisiksi. Kalustuksen ja varustuksen ergonomiapuutteita oli kylläkin vähemmän sellaisten ikääntyneiden asunnoissa, joilla oli sekä merkittävä kaatumisalttius että merkittävästi heikentynyt liikuntakyky ja tasapaino. Seurantavuoden aikana 30 % ikääntyneistä ilmoitti kaatuneensa kotona. Kaatuneiden ja kaatumattomien kodeissa ei kuitenkaan todettu merkitseviä eroja ergonomiapuutteissa. Kaatumistapahtumien tarkastelu systeemissä tosin osoitti, että ergonomiatekijät olivat kiinteästi läsnä kaatumisissa, vaikkakin niiden vaikutukset kaatumistapahtumissa vaihtelivat huomattavasti. Yleensä ergonomiatekijä kuitenkin myötävaikutti kaatumiseen. Yksittäisten ergonomiatekijöiden ergonomialuokitusten yhteys kaatumisiin jäi tutkimuksessa osoittamatta. Yksilöllisistä kaatumiseen altistavista vaaroista merkittävä kaatumisalttius sekä merkittävästi heikentynyt liikuntakyky ja tasapaino lisäsivät kaatumisriskiä ja toistuvien kaatumisten ilmaantumista. Merkittävästi alentunut näkökyky ei kuitenkaan lisännyt kaatumisten ilmaantuvuutta, eikä kyseisen vaaraluokituksen käyttö nykymuodossaan ole perusteltua. Kodin ergonomian tarkastelu tiloittain tilankäytön ja järjestyksen, kulkualustojen, kalustuksen ja varustuksen sekä valaistuksen suhteen selkeytti ja laajensi ergonomiatietämystä ikääntyneen kodista. Silti ergonomiaa olisi kyettävä jatkossa arvioimaan yksilöllisemmin. Kaatumistapahtumien systeemien tarkastelu viittasi myös siihen, että ikääntyneen kaatumisen perussyinä olivatkin ergonomiapuutteita useammin ikääntyneen ns. sisäiset syyt ja ilmeiset riskintunnistuksen häiriöt. Kehitetty arviointimenetelmä ei kuitenkaan sovi tällaisenaan laajempaan käyttöön, vaikkakin jo nyt kaatumistapahtuman systeemin tarkastelulla on aiempaa helpompi havaita kodin ergonomian korjauskohteita sekä löytää ikääntyneet, joille ergonomiset ja geronteknologiset turvaratkaisut, riskintunnistuksen kohentaminen tai toimintakykyä muutoin tukevat toimenpiteet ovat tarpeen.

A reliability-based criterion to estimate strength amplification factors for buildings with asymmetric yielding located within a seismic region presenting different soil conditions is proposed and applied. The approach involves the calculation of the mean annual rate of exceedance of structural demands of systems with different levels of asymmetric yielding. Two simplified mathematical expressions are developed considering different soil conditions of the valley of Mexico. The mathematical expressions depend on the ductility of the structural systems, their level of asymmetric yielding, their fundamental vibration period and the dominant period of the soil. In addition, the proposed expressions are compared with that recommended by the current Mexico City Building Code (MCBC). Since the expressions are developed with the help of simplified structural systems, the validity of such expressions is corroborated by comparing the expected ductility demand of multi-degree of freedom (MDOF) structural systems with respect to that of their equivalent simplified systems. Both structural representations are associated with a given annual rate of exceedance value of an engineering demand parameter. The expressions proposed in this study will be incorporated in the new version of the MCBC.

Context: Cloud Outsourcing is a new form of outsourcing which is not more under implementation and yet to be implemented. It is a form of outsourcing in which software organizations outsource the work to e-freelancers available throughout the world using cloud services via the Internet. Software organizations handovers the respective task to the cloud and from the cloud e-freelancers undertake the development of task and then return back the finished task to the cloud. Organizations recollect the finished task from the cloud and verify it and then pay to the e-freelancer. Objectives: The aim of this study is to identify the sequence of activities involved during the entire process of cloud outsourcing and to find out the risks which are likely to be occurred during the implementation of this process. To prioritize the elicitated risks according to their probability of occurrence, impact and cost required to mitigate the corresponding risk. Methods: Data is collected by literature review and then the data is synthesized. On the other side interviews with practitioners are conducted to know the activities involved and to find out the risks that are likely to be occurred during the implementation of cloud outsourcing. After this, a survey is conducted in order to prioritize the risks and a standard risk analysis is conducted to know the risks which are likely to be occurred. Literature review is done using four databases including the literature from the year 1990 to till date. Results: Totally we have identified 21 risks that are likely to be occurred and 8 activities so far. By performing risk analysis we have presented the risks, which should be considered first and relevant counter measures are suggested to overcome them. / mr.kommineni@me.com, mr.kommineni1@gmail.com phone no. +919963420123

Smartphones are one of the most popular technology gadgets on the market today. The number of devices in the world is growing incredibly fast and they have today taken an important place in many person's everyday life. They are small, powerful, always connected to the Internet and they are usually containing a lot of personal information such as contact lists, pictures and stored passwords. They are sometimes even used as login tokens for Internet bank services and web sites. Smartphones are, undoubtedly, incredible devices! But are smartphones secure and is stored information safe? Can and should these devices be trusted to keep sensitive information and personal secrets? Every single day newspapers and researcher warns about new smartphone malwares and other security breaches regarding smartphones. So, are smartphones safe to use or are they a spy's best friend in order to surveil a person? Can a user do anything to make the device more secure and safe enough to use it in a secure manner? All these questions are exactly what this paper is about! This paper is addressing two popular smartphone platforms, iOS and BlackBerry OS, in order to evaluate how secure these systems are, what risks that occur when using them and how to harden the platform security to make these platforms as secure and safe to use as possible. Another aim of this paper is to discuss and give suggestions on how a separate and dedicated hardware token can be used to improve the platform security even further. In order to evaluate the security level of these platforms, a risk and threat analysis has been made as well as some practical testing to actually test what can be done. The test part consists mostly of a proof-of-concept spyware application implemented for iOS and an IMSI-catcher used to eavesdrop on calls by using a rogue GSM base transceiver station. The implemented spyware was able to access and transfer sensitive data from the device to a server without notifying the user about it. The rogue base station attack was even scarier since with only a few days work and equipment for less than $1500 can smartphones be tricked to connect to a rogue base station and all outgoing calls can be intercepted and recorded. The risk analysis resulted in not less than 19 identified risks with mixed severity of the impact. Some configurations and usage recommendation is given in order to prevent or mitigate these risks to make the usage of these platforms safer. The aim of suggesting how a hardware token can be used to strengthening these platforms have been a bit of failure since no really working suggestion has been possible to give. It is a result of that these systems are tightly closed for modification by third parties, and such modifications are needed in order to implement a working hardware token. However, a few partial suggestions for how such a token can work are given. The result of this work indicates that neither iOS nor BlackBerry OS is entirely secure and both need to be configured and used in a correct way to be safe for the user. The benefits of a hardware token should be huge for these systems but the implementations that are possible to do is not enough and it might not be of interest to implement a hardware token for these systems at the moment. Some of the identified risks require the attacker to have physical access to the device and this can only be prevented if the user is careful and acts wisely. So, if you want to use high technology gadgets such as smartphones, be sure to be a smart user!

The thesis titled Risk analysis in a manufacturing company aims to analyze risks. The first part contains theoretical bases, which are important for practical application. These are mainly in using methods of risk analysis, classification and risk reduction options. The second part focuses on the identification of risk itself. After assessing the risks there will be assessed their impact. The last part will introduce measures that will lead to the elimination of the risk or to eliminate them completely. This thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of the risks that could serve as a basis for future management decisions in risk management.

Die Nutzung von Flächen mit Altbergbau oder mit natürlichen Hohlräumen im Unter- und Baugrund ist mit erhöhten Risiken behaftet, dass Bauwerke durch unerwünschte Deformationen des Baugrundes in Mitleidenschaft gezogen werden. Eine typische Versagensart ist die Entwicklung von Tagesbrüchen oder Erdfällen, wobei sich Massen in Richtung von Hohlräumen im Unterund und Baugrund verlagern und auflockern. Die Umlagerung von Massen setzt sich solange fort, bis sich ein statisches Gleichgewicht einstellt und eine weitere Fortpflanzung des Bruchvorganges verhindert oder stark reduziert. Die Ermittlung der Versagenswahrscheinlichkeit an einem gegebenen Standort wird nach dem Konzept der geometrischen Wahrscheinlichkeit vorgeschlagen. Die Größe entstehender Tagesbrüche wird dabei als eine Zufallsvariable betrachtet. Die berechneten Versagenswahrscheinlichkeiten können als Grundlage der Risikobewertung von zu schützenden Objekten herangezogen werden. / The use of sites over old mining regions or with natural openings in the ground includes an elevated technical risk, as constructions can be constrained due to unplanned deformations of the subsoil. Typical failure modes include pothole subsidence or earthfalls, when failing soil masses are displaced and loosened stepwise toward a collapsing opening in the ground. The displacement process continues until a stable static equilibrium is reached and a further propagation of displacements is prevented. The determination of the failure probability on a given site due to pothole subsidence is recommended based on the concept of geometric probabilities, considering the subsidence volume as a probabilistic quantity. The failure probabilities can be used for a risk analysis of protected objects on sites with expected pothole subsidence.

[pt] O presente trabalho pretende analisar a performance dos fundos de pensão brasileiros em comparação com os planos geradores de benefícios livres (PGBLs). Para tal, é preciso identificar e descrever suas características e as metodologias de avaliação de sua performance. No referencial teórico, descreve-se a evolução dos fundos de pensão no Brasil e seu cenário atual, destacando-se a legislação sobre seus investimentos. A pesquisa avalia a performance a partir da análise dos retornos, utilizando o teste não paramétrico de Kruskal-Wallis, e dos retornos ajustados ao risco, através da comparação de fundos pelos seus índices de Sharpe amostrais. Por fim, é analisada a persistência dos retornos ajustados ao risco para duas janelas de tempo a partir do coeficiente de correlação de Spearman. Com este estudo, pretende-se identificar se os resultados apresentados pelos fundos de pensão ao longo do tempo tem sido persistentes e se estes são diferentes dos apresentados pelos PGBLs. / [en] The present work intends to analyze Brazilian pension funds in comparison with free benefits generating plans (PGBLs). To do so, it is necessary to identify and describe their characteristics and their performance evaluation methodologies. In the theoretical framework, it is described pension funds evolution and their present scenario, highlighting their investment legislation. The research evaluates performance from the return analysis, using Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test, and risk-adjusted return analysis, using a comparison of funds Sharpes index. Finally, persistence of risk-adjusted return is analyzed for two time periods, using Spearmans correlation coefficient. This study intends to identify if the results obtained by pension funds analysis have been persistent through time and if they are different from the PGBLs results.

Master of Science / Department of Clinical Sciences / Michael W. Sanderson / A Monte Carlo model was developed to determine the cost-effectiveness of different biosecurity strategies for Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) on cow-calf farms. Where possible, risk distributions were defined in the course of a critical literature review covering all publications since 1990 relevant to BVDV on cow-calf farms. The prevalence of persistent infections (PIs) in adult cows was unknown, so a survey of viremia in 2,990 adult cows for sale in the Midwest during 2006 was performed; prevalence was calculated to be 0.07%. In order to validate a newly developed RT-nPCR for pooled serum used for the survey, sensitivity was determined based on 100 known viremic serum samples; sensitivity was 95%, with no detectable effect of strain type. A Monte Carlo model was developed to calculate the risk of introducing BVDV to a cow-calf herd and number of PIs introduced in one year, based on herd imports and biosecurity strategies. The results of that model were integrated with a stochastic SIR model for the spread and impact of BVDV through a cow-calf herd over 10 years, based on herd size and control strategies. The resulting model was integrated with a stochastic model for the cost of both the biosecurity and control measures used and the financial impact of BVDV infection on the herd over 10 years. The lowest risk option of 14 biosecurity strategies were calculated for 400-, 100-, and 50-head herds with 8 different import profiles, and management factors that increase financial risk due to BVDV were determined.

Magister Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) / The expansion of the South African aquaculture industry coupled with the lack of effective parasite management strategies may potentially have negative effects on both the freshwater biodiversity and economics of the aquaculture sector. Koi and goldfish are notorious for the propagation of parasites worldwide, some of which have already infected indigenous fish in South Africa. Koi and goldfish have been released into rivers in South Africa since the 1800’s for food and sport fish and have since spread extensively. These fish are present in most of the river systems in South Africa and pose an additional threat the indigenous cyprinids in the Western Cape. Monogenean parasites of the genus Gyrodactylus are of particular concern, as their unique biology renders them a possible threat. Gyrodactylus kherulensis and G. kobayashii were identified from koi and goldfish respectively imported from Asia, Europe and locally bred fish. Morphometrics and the use of statistical classifiers, which includes univariate (ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis), bivariate (Pearson’s correlation) and multivariate (Principal Component Analysis) placed the two species within their respective groups. There was some intraspecific variation among the different populations collected from the various locations, especially in the hamulus and ventral bar features, but the marginal hooklets, however, remained static for both helminth species. This illustrates again the importance of the minor variations in the marginal hook features in gyrodactylid taxonomy. Infection trials conducted by co-habitation of infected koi and goldfish with two indigenous redfin minnow species, Pseudobarbus burchelli and P. phlegethon showed that both G. kherulensis and G. kobayashii could successfully transfer and establish themselves on P. phlegethon, where the infection increased rapidly initially, but remained relatively constant thereafter. P. burchelli appeared to be inherently resistant as the parasite population growth rate initially remained steady, until the infection died off. The wild-caught indigenous fish were however not infected with any exotic Gyrodactylus species, but a new species, G. burchelli n. sp. described from the body surfaces of P. burchelli. / South Africa

The aim of the master's thesis is to compile the 5-year strategic business plan of MADETA a.s., to identify and evaluate its risks. The thesis contains external and internal environmental analysis of selected company, on base of which key risk factors are identified and scenarios of industry development are created. In the following part of the thesis strategic objectives of the company are formulated and integrated in strategic financial plan. The last part deals with risk analysis, which includes selection of risk factors and simulation of discounted cash flow, influenced by those factors, using the Monte Carlo method. Simulation results suggest that, despite the significant impact risk factors have on discounted cash flow, there is high probability of achieving strategic objectives. As a conclusion, strategic steps aiming to reduce risk impact on company performance are proposed.