<p><a>In animated film production, a great bulk of work goes into animating and scene layout. Currently, the industry is centered around flat screens and keyboard and mouse interfaces, which require a substantial amount of time to lay out scene sets and animate shots, resulting in high production costs and lengthy production schedules. This study was designed to determine whether immersive VR interfaces could reduce the time taken to lay out 3D scene sets and animate those scenes compared to traditional interfaces. More specifically, this study compared the time 38 participants took to set up and animate a 3D scene by using two different interfaces, e.g. a VR immersive interface and a traditional mouse and keyboard interface. Further, the study investigated subjects’ interface preference. Findings show that the virtual reality interface was about twice as fast for laying out the scene as the traditional interface. When surveyed, participants preferred the virtual reality interface by a large margin over the provided traditional interface.</a></p>

Der Markt tragbarer Geräte gewinnt eine immer stärkere Bedeutung. Mobiltelefone, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant), Smartphones und viele weitere Geräte werden kontinuierlich mit neuen Funktionen ausgestattet und übernehmen zunehmend klassische Aufgaben eines Personal Computers (PC), wie beispielsweise die Textverarbeitung oder die Ausführung multimedialer Anwendungen. Speziell letztere stellen an die Geräte hohe Anforderungen, die sich nicht allein durch den Einsatz leistungsstärkerer Prozessoren lösen lassen. Nicht selten werden deshalb für rechenaufwendige Arbeiten Chips zur Umsetzung der speziellen Anforderungen in Hardware eingesetzt. Diese werden als Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) bezeichnet.

The objective of the dissertation was to assess the suitability of the scientific literacy development by using learning tasks in chemistry classes for ISCED 2. By comparing the learning tasks types in commercial workbooks and in the international assessment PISA, a significant difference in their structure was found out. Although the Czech Republic has undertaken to participate in the PISA project, Czech teachers have a different type of teaching tasks commonly available in their workbooks than the pupils afterwards solve in the PISA project. PISA's released and author's learning tasks were compiled into authentic workbooks. They were used in chemistry classes during the school year 2016/2017. Based on the pupils' results in the final assignments, all groups of grammar school pupils from experimental groups achieved better results in solving multicomponent learning tasks than the control group. However, the results of elementary schools pupils were significantly worse at final test scores than at initial ones, which was explained by the entire loss of their motivation to study. Pupils rated motivation to work with multicomponent tasks above average. They were fully aware of the importance and usefulness of solving multicomponent learning tasks, and, therefore, they solved them with proper...

Rapid technological development has lead to an increase in the accessibility of pornography. Some professionals have labelled pornography as a social issue due to the increase in accessibility and exposure to pornography. In the past, extensive research has been conducted regarding the possible impact of pornography on adolescents as well as on adults. However, there is discrepancy among professionals with regard to the impact of pornography, as it seems as if there is little agreement on what effects or impact regular pornography consumption may have on the consumer. Some researchers regard pornography as a social issue with severe ramifications for the consumer. Other researchers view pornography as harmless time-consuming activities. Therefore, it seems that inadequate research was previously done to investigate what impact regular exposure to or consumption of pornography may have on the consumer’s life. Young adulthood is considered a crucial phase in human development. Critical developmental tasks such as reaching emotional and financial independence, defining morals, values and principles, establishing intimacy and dedication, choosing a life partner and having children and raise them, are prevalent during this life phase. There is little existing research regarding the impact of pornography on males in this life phase. The hypothesis was made that: should pornography consumption lead to any hindrance in the acquisition of any developmental tasks during this specific life phase, that it may have an effect on the person in a later life phase. The researcher thus endeavoured to address the gap by looking specifically at the possible impact of pornography on young adult males, but the researcher also attempted to contribute to the existing scholarly debate regarding the impact of pornography consumption on the consumer in general. The rationale for this study emanated from the researcher’s desire to add to the existing knowledge base, and to inform professionals in the therapeutic setting about the impact of pornography. The researcher undertook a qualitative, applied research study which enabled her to explore the perceptions of young adult males who have had prolonged experience to pornography consumption. Fifteen (15) young adult male participants were purposefully selected. Snowball sampling was applied as a sampling method to identify possible participants. The researcher utilised in-depth interviewing which is also known as unstructured interviewing as data collection method. One (1) openended question was directed to the participants and it was formulated as follows: “What are your perceptions as a young adult male, with regard to the impact of pornography on young adult males’ lives?” The researcher did a pilot test in order to ensure that this open-ended question provided adequate opportunity for the participants to respond unreservedly. The researcher followed the following steps during the process of data analysis: <ul> <li> Planning for the recording of data by means of audio recordings</li> <li> Managing and organising data by means of detailed transcripts and filing it in folders</li> <li> Reading and writing memos</li> <li> Generating categories, themes and patterns</li> <li> Representing, visualising and displaying the data by means of a complete research report.</li></ul> The research study revealed that pornography consumption may have a significant impact on the lives of young adult males. The following areas of the life of the young adult male were identified which may be affected by pornography consumption: <ul> <li> Self-value</li> <li> The development of a gender-identity (masculinity)</li> <li> Moral and Spiritual development</li> <li> Cognitive development</li> <li> Addiction</li> <li> Career development</li> <li> Sexual development in terms of sexual knowledge, sexual attitude and sexual behaviour</li> <li> Development of interpersonal relationships</li> <li> Development of mentors in society.</li> </ul> It was recommended that there should be improved service delivery for young adult males who are experiencing some of these effects of pornography consumption. Training for professionals and further research regarding this phenomenon will make this recommendation possible. AFRIKAANS : Snelle tegnologiese vooruitgang het ‘n verhoging in die toeganklikheid van pornografiese materiaal tot gevolg. Sekere kenners bestempel pornografie as ‘n maatskaplike probleem, juis as gevolg van die verhoging tot die blootstelling aan en toeganklikheid van hierdie materiaal. Bestaande navorsing oor hierdie fenomeen is grootliks uitgevoer met betrekking tot die moontlike impak van pornografie op adolessente en volwassenes. Dit blyk asof daar verskil in bevindinge en opinies onder professionele persone is met betrekking tot die impak van gereelde pornografiese blootstelling op die verbruiker. Sekere navorsers bestempel pornografie as ‘n maatskaplike probleem wat erge negatiewe gevolge vir die verbruiker mag inhou. Ander navorsers bestempel pornografie as onskuldige tydverdryf. Daarom blyk dit asof onvoldoende navorsing voorheen uitgevoer is om te ondersoek watter impak blootstelling aan, of verbruiking van pornografie op die verbruiker se lewe mag hê. Jong volwassenheid word as ‘n essensiële fase in menslike ontwikkeling bestempel. Kritieke ontwikkelingstake sluit onder andere die volgende in: om emosionele en finansiële onafhanklikheid te bereik, om morele waardes en beginsels te definieer, om intimiteit en toegewydheid te vestig en om ‘n lewensmaat te kies, kinders te baar en op te voed. Daar is min bestaande navorsing uitgevoer aangaande die impak van pornografie op mans in hierdie lewensfase. Die hipotese was soos volg geformuleer: sou pornografie tot enige obstruksie in die bereiking van enige van die ontwikkelingstake gedurende hierdie spesifieke lewensfase lei, dit ‘n effek op ‘n persoon in ‘n latere lewensfase mag hê. Die navorser het dus gepoog, om die gaping in bestaande navorsing oor die moontlike impak van pornografie op die jong volwassse man aan te spreek, maar die navorser het ook gepoog om ‘n bydrae tot die bestaande akademiese debat, met betrekking tot die impak van pornografie op die verbruiker in die algemeen, te lewer. Die motivering vir hierdie studie het uit die navorser se begeerte om ‘n bydrae tot die bestaande kennisbasis te lewer en om professionele persone in die terapeutiese omgewing rakende die impak van pornografie in te lig, ontstaan. Die navorser het ‘n kwalitatiewe, toegepaste navorsingstudie onderneem, wat haar in staat gestel het om die persepsies van jong volwasse mans wat ervaring met langdurige verbruik van pornografie het, te verken. Vyftien (15) jong volwasse mans was doelgerig vir deelname aan die studie geselekteer. Sneeubal-steekproef is as steekproefmetode toegepas om moontlike deelnemers aan die studie te identifiseer. Die navorser het van in-diepte onderhoudvoering, wat ook bekend staan as ongestruktureerde onderhoudvoering, as data insamelingsmetode gebruik gemaak. Een (1) oop vraag is soos volg aan die deelnemers gestel: “Wat is jou persepsies as jong volwasse man met berekking tot die impak van pornografie op jong volwasse mans?” Die navorser het ‘n voorondersoek uitgevoer om te verseker dat hierdie oop vraag voldoende geleentheid vir deelnemers skep om onbeperk te reageer. Die navorser het die volgende stappe tydens die proses van data-analise geneem: <ul> <li> Beplanning vir die opneem van data deur middel van oudio-opnames</li> <li> Bestuur en organisering van data deur middel van gedetaileerde transkripsies en die liasering daarvan in lêers</li> <li> Lees en skryf van memmo’s</li> <li>Generering van kategorieë, temas en patrone</li> <li> Verteenwoordiging, visualisering en voorstelling van data deur middel van ‘n volledige navorsingsverslag.</li></ul> Die navorsingstudie het getoon dat die verbruik van pornografie, ‘n kenmerkende impak op die lewe van jong volwasse mans mag hê. Sekere areas in die lewe van die jong volwasse man wat deur die blootstelling aan pornografie beïnvloed kan word, sluit onder andere die volgende in: <ul> <li> Die self-waarde</li> <li>Die ontwikkeling van ‘n gelsagsrol-identiteit (manlikheid)</li> <li> Morele en spirituele ontwikkeling</li> <li> Kognitiewe ontwikkeling</li> <li> Verslawing</li> <li> Loopbaan ontwikkeling</li> <li> Seksuele ontwikkeling in terme van seksuele kennis, seksuele houding en seksuele gedrag</li> <li> Ontwikkeling van interpersoonlike verhoudings</li> <li> Ontwikkeling van mentors in die samelewing</li> </ul> Aanbevelings, in terme van verbeterde en ingeligte dienslewering aan jong volwasse mans waarvan sommige van hierdie effekte van pornografieverbruik presenteer, was gemaak. Opleiding van professionele persone en verdere navorsing met betrekking tot hierdie fenomeen sal die realisering van die aanbeveling moontlik maak. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

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Problemområdet jag fokuserat på i detta examensarbete är elevernas bristande läs och ordförståelse inom matematiken. Denna problematik kan ses i den dagliga undervisningen i klassrummen och elevernas svårigheter med läs, begrepp oc hordförståelse inom matematiken kan försvåra elevernas matematiska utveckling. Syftet med denna undersökning var att försöka bidra med kunskaper om lärare och elevers språk och lässtrategier i ämnet matematik. Jag var också intresserad av att undersöka om stödmallar används och i så fall på vilket sätt, av lärare på lågstadiet inom matematikundervisningen. Genom metoderna av att göra klassobservationer och korta efterföljande intervjuer av de undervisande lärarna kunde jag få insyn i olika klassrum. Med hjälp av enskilda observationer i problemlösning med och utan kontext kunde jag få ta del av hur några av eleverna använde och tog till sig matematikundervisningens olika former av ord och begrepp. Resultatet av denna studie visar klassrum med stor fokus på ord och begrepp som diskuteras och benämns med bildstöd i genomgångar. Här sågs även klassrum utan bildliga stödmallar men med muntliga stödstrukturer. Elever där flertalet har ett resonemang och delaktighet i klassrummens dialoger, men undersökningen visar också på elevernas svårigheter. Eleverna hade i de enskilda observationerna svårt att tolka uppgifterna, både genom att läsa samt med hjälp av hörförståelse. De matematiska vardagsordens betydelse i olika sammanhang och vanliga vardagsord ställde till det för elevernas förståelse. För att tydliggöra och befästa matematiska ord och begrepp behöver dessa förtydligas och upprepas och användas i den dagligen undervisningen. Att ge undervisningen stort fokus på att ”vanliga” ord har olika betydelser i olika sammanhang behöver utvecklas inom matematikundervisningen. Enligt Läroplanen för grundskolan, förskoleklassen och fritidshemmet är det av stor vikt att eleverna får betydande möjligheter att kommunicera och diskutera matematiska begrepp och eleverna ges genom detta tilltro till sin språkliga förmåga. Eleverna ska ha vetskap om matematikens olika uttrycksformer och begrepp och kunna kommunicera i olika situationer.

As the population of Spanish-English bilingual children in the United States steadily grows, the importance of accurately assessing and diagnosing developmental language disorder (DLD) has also grown. Understanding a child's underlying language learning system is critical in this process. Several studies have demonstrated the efficacy of nonword repetition (NWR) tasks in bilingual children across a wide range of development, however there is little information regarding guidelines for interpretation of NWR performance or analyzing error patterns. This study was conducted to address these gaps in the research. A sample of 26 Spanish-English bilingual school aged children (6;0-9;4) were administered English and Spanish NWR, recalling sentences, and narrative tasks. Total errors, as well as errors of omission and substitution were examined across tasks, languages, and language group (typically developing-TD and developmental language disorder- DLD). Descriptive statistics revealed that DLD children made a higher number of errors across language tasks in Spanish and English than their TD peers. Group membership predicted total errors in the Spanish NWR task while controlling for age and language proficiency. Language proficiency was not a significant predictor for any of the error types above and beyond group membership. Therefore, when age and language input/output were controlled for, language ability was best predictor of the number of errors. Additionally, results showed stronger correlations between Spanish across all three language tasks in TD children and in English across two language tasks in DLD children. According to the results of the current study, total errors is the only effective error measure of language ability. However, looking at error patterns across language and language group can be informative regarding bilingual children's language learning systems. Future research should be conducted to repeat the study with a larger sample size and investigate the difference in error patterns between languages in TD and DLD children.

To address the needs of the growing number of Spanish-English bilingual children in the United States, Nonword Repetition (NWR) tasks were created to reduce testing bias in the assessment and diagnosis of children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Several studies have shown promising results in the use of NWR tasks; however, fewer studies have addressed questions such as the use of different scoring methods or analyzing error patterns. Thus, this study was conducted to address these gaps in the research. An English and a Spanish NWR task were administered to 26 Spanish-English bilingual school aged children (6;0-9;4). Two different scoring methods (percent phoneme correct and whole word scoring) were compared for diagnostic accuracy and the types and frequency of errors were analyzed. Both scoring methods showed statistically significant differences between groups (participants with DLD and those with typically developing language). Whole word scoring in Spanish had the best diagnostic accuracy, according to sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratio measures. However, due to the small number of nonwords that any participant repeated correctly, this may not be a clinically practical scoring method. The Spanish NWR task was a better measure than the English NWR task in identifying children with DLD, suggesting that Spanish NWR could be used to assess DLD in bilingual children. Participants with DLD produced more consonant, vowel, substitution, and omission errors than those with typically developing language. There was no difference between groups for addition errors. Significantly more omission errors were made in Spanish, likely due to the longer nonwords. The longer nonwords may be key in distinguishing between typically developing children and those with DLD. These results have the potential to inform future clinical practices in selecting, scoring, and analyzing NWR tasks.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse the sppecific meaning of non- alignment policies of Sweden and Finland after joining the EU in 1995. In doing so, the research design is based on sociological institutionalism and its key concepts and phases that are connected to the study of Europeanization. Thereby, the study compares the domestic policies of national identity and its changes in Sweden and Finland before and after the accession to the EU. This shall answer the reserach question on how far the foreign policies of Sweden and Finland have been Europeanized and whether or not non- alignment policies are an obstacle in this process. Since social constructivism considers Europeanization as a socialization process, the paper will also investigate the main challenges for Sweden and Finalnd to face with reagrd to crisis managment, territorial defence issue and Crimea Crisis.

Although the level of automation in the automotive industry is currently high, real humans are still required for assembly tasks, for example, during overhead tasks. This type of work can cause injuries in workers in this sector, especially musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), being a cause for the inability to work in developed countries and, in turn, becoming a significant health problem. There is an aim to reduce the risk for these type of injuries during the development processes of this type of assembly operations. Various options are currently being considered where technology and the human factor can be combined. Among them, we find the object of study for this project, an exoskeleton.The aim of this project is to study the biomechanical effects as well as the ergonomics of a passive exoskeleton called Paexo Shoulder, developed by the company Ottobock, with the aim of relieving tensions in the shoulder joints and upper part of the shoulders, during its use in assembly tasks. For this purpose, an experiment will be designed in which several participants will carry out a series of tasks both with and without the exoskeleton, in such a way that the effects of its use and how they affect the users of the product can be observed. For this purpose, an experiment was designed to evaluate the effects of the use or non-use of this exoskeleton on 10 participants when performing a task similar to an overhead task in an assembly line. For the evaluation of the product, the Xsens motion capture system, in particular the Awinda model, was used together with the ScaleFit software to evaluate the results obtained through the motion capture recordings. In addition, in order to improve Digital Human Modelling (DHM) tools, the same task was simulated with the IPS-IMMA software, where the results were later analysed and compared with the motion capture results through ScaleFit.The results showed relatively large improvements in the respective moment reduction at the shoulder joint when using the exoskeleton. However, it was also observed that due to the upward force exerted by the exoskeleton on the arms, participants spent less time in low-risk areas evaluated by ScaleFit and therefore, this effect needs to be studied further.