The U.S. construction industry continues to rank as one of the most dangerous work environments when compared to other industrial sectors. Construction companies are required to record and report lagging safety leading indicators including fatalities, injuries, and illnesses. Safety leading indicators provide an opportunity to identify construction site hazards and hazardous worker behavior before a fatality, injury, or illness occurs. Further improvements are also necessary for construction safety through the use of technology. The application of advanced or emerging technologies can have a significant role in enhancing construction worker safety performance. This research seeks to report and analyze safety leading indicators, specifically near misses. Furthermore, technologies capable of providing alerts in real-time to construction equipment operators and ground workers during hazardous proximity situations are reviewed. A testing method for proximity detection and alert devices for the construction environment is presented. Operator visibility, including impacts of design components, is also measured and analyzed. One major contribution of this research is the creation of a near miss reporting program ready for implementation for construction companies. Other research contributions include understanding of impacts of design on operator visibility, scientific evaluation data of proximity sensing technology, and a test method for proximity detection and alert system deployed in the construction environment. Research findings can be disseminated for improved construction worker safety education and training.

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I denna avhandling pekar jag på misserkännande av könsvariation och orättvisor som följer av detta som en viktig orättvise- och misserkännandeproblematik. Den övergripande ambitionen är att diskutera en möjlig(görande) etik. Det innebär att den är möjlig att formulera och att intentionen är människors möjliggörande. Målet är att förstå begreppen rättvisa och erkännande i relation till identitet och identitetspolitik, genom en tankefigur som jag har kallat ’att vara som/den en är.’ I syfte att konkretisera den teoretiska diskussionen är den placerad i en trans*kontext. Denna exemplifieras av ett transbiografiskt och ett transpolitiskt kapitel, vilka presenterar identitetserfarenheter och politiska och moraliska ståndpunkter som relateras till dessa. Genom att studera transpolitiken blir det möjligt att identifiera uttryck för moraliska brister vad gäller rättvisa och erkännande, vad Iris Marion Young förstår som ’normativa möjligheter.’ I det transbiografiska materialet framkommer erfarenheter av osynlighet och dess ontologiska konsekvenser som en sådan moralisk brist. Det visar på vikten av synlighet och lyssnande som moraliska nödvändigheter för att möjliggöra könsvarierade identiteter och existenser genom att begreppsliggöra föreställningar om könsvariation. Figuren ’att vara som/den en är’ är tänkt att ge utrymme för en diskussion om vardagliga identitetserfarenheter och dess konsekvenser utan att iscensätta begreppets problematiska epistemologiska och ontologiskt begränsande konsekvenser. Avhandlingen resulterar i ett förslag på en möjlig(görande) etik med öppna och flexibla erkännandeprinciper samt en specificering av dessa så att de kan fungera som en transmöjliggörande etisk vägledning. / In this thesis I point to misrecognition of gender variance and the injustice that follows from this as an important problem of injustice and misrecognition in society. The main ambition is to discuss what a possible and empowering ethics of recognition might mean. The aim is to understand the meaning of the concepts of justice and recognition in relation to identity and identity politics, through a configuration which I call ‘to be as/who you are’. The theoretical ethical discussion is placed within a trans*context in order to orientate the discussion towards a concrete and contextual example. The trans*context is exemplified by a transbiographical and a transpolitical chapter, in order to be able to describe experiences of identities and the politics and moral standpoints that come out of it. Through the politics it is possible to identify moral lacks of justice and recognition, which, according to Iris Marion Young, can be understood as normative possibilities. In the transbiographical material, experiences of invisibility and its ontological consequences emerged. The importance of visibility and listening as moral necessities in order to make trans identities and existences possible through a conceptualization of conceptions and imaginations of gender variance is underlined. The figure ‘to be as/who you are’ is meant to open up and allow for a discussion around everyday experiences and the consequences of the concept of identity without its problematic and limiting consequences. I conclude with a suggestion for an outline of a possible and empowering ethics of recognition with open and flexible principles of recognition, and further a specification of those principles so they can be used as transempowering guidelines.

ABSTRACT PRIVACY AND SEGREGATION AS A BASIS FOR ANALYZING AND MODELLING THE URBAN SPACE COMPOSITION OF THE LIBYAN TRADITIONAL CITY CASE STUDY: THE CITY OF GHADAMES Faraj Abubaker El-Agouri Ph.D., Department of City and Regional Planning Supervisor: Asoc. Dr. Baykan Gunay October, 296 pages The study examines the spatial and visual privacy in different areas within the walled city of Ghadames, where different ethnic communities live in distinct localities. Conceptual and theoretical notions of privacy are tested, whose ultimate value is further refinement of privacy regulation conceptually and operationally. Complexities of privacy as a concept and its regulation are clarified through theory and extracted spatio-cultural information about physical settings created by these communities. The space syntax and isovist field analysis are applied as an integrated methodology. The study demonstrates usefulness and adaptability of this integrated approach, which provides a fairly definitive interpretation (i.e. understanding) of physical settings of the city that residents as well as visitors perceive as regulating privacy, and where privacy fits into the user&rsquo / s perception. The structure of the thesis can be understood as consisting of three parts. Part one includes literature about privacy definition, functions, regulating mechanisms, framework within the context of culture as well as the interface between private and public spaces. Second part introduces theory of space syntax and concept of visibility graph analysis (Isovist field). It also introduces the case study of Ghadames, field survey and observations. It illuminates the inhabitants&rsquo / lifestyle, and show how they label spaces by function, gender and user identity. Part three analyses syntactically and visually the spatial structures for the whole walled city as well as the nine selected ethnic communities as embedded within the city and in isolation. In brief, this study attempts to observe and quantify physical settings as privacy regulation mechanisms that operate within context of culture. Mechanisms are the physical elements that facilitate or impede privacy regulation in the city and/or enable users themselves to regulate privacy through their own locales. The elements are composed of field characteristics and barriers. Field characteristics regulate privacy by perceptually altering the physical context through shape, size, orientation, and environmental conditions. Barriers regulate privacy physically and symbolically through walls, screens, objects, and symbols.

In this study, Turkey&rsquo / s Internet visibility will be analyzed based on data to be collected from multiple different resources (such as / Google, Yahoo, Altavista, Bing and AOL). Analysis work will involve inspection of DNS queries, Web crawling and some other similar techniques. Our goal is to investigate global Internet and find webs that has common pattern of representing Internet visibility of Turkey and compare their characteristics with other webs&#039 / on the world and discover their similarities and differences.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Central Florida, 2009. / Adviser: Mohamed Abdel-Aty. Includes bibliographical references (p. 67-71).

Le but de cette thèse est de proposer des méthodes pour pouvoir évaluer les performances durant la lecture sur support électronique, afin de pouvoir comparer plusieurs dispositifs d’affichage. Des tests permettant d’effectuer des mesures de performances de manière répétée ont été construits pour chacune des dimensions classiques de la lecture électronique : visibilité (test de caractérisation psychométrique), lisibilité (identification de lettres, décision lexicale, vitesse de lecture de phrases générées automatiquement) et compréhension (mesure de la mémorisation et des inférences pendant la lecture de textes générés automatiquement). Au-delà de ces dimensions classiques, nous avons réalisé deux études pour examiner le lien entre la lecture sur support électronique et la posture des utilisateurs. La première montre qu’une posture pouvant être engendrée par l’utilisation de tablette (inclinaison latérale de tête) n’affecte pas la performance de lecture. La seconde étude posturale montre l’effet de la difficulté d’un texte sur la distance à l’écran pendant l’utilisation d’une liseuse électronique ; les sujets se rapprochent de l’écran lorsque leur niveau d’attention augmente. L’ensemble des tests développés et une mesure de posture ont été regroupés dans une batterie de tests visant à quantifier la performance de lecture associée à un support donné ; l’indicateur résultant étant appelé « Quotient de Lecture Electronique ». Cet indicateur a été calculé pour un écran d’ordinateur, un vidéoprojecteur et une tablette. Les résultats expérimentaux montrent que les tests permettent de comparer les supports, notamment en termes de visibilité et de lisibilité. / The aim of this thesis is to offer methods of evaluating performance during digital reading, in order to be able to compare different display devices. Tests were developed allowing repeated measurements for classic measures of digital reading: visibility (psychometric characterization), readability (letter identification, lexical decision, reading speed on automatically generated sentences) and comprehension (memorization and inference measurement while reading automatically generated texts). Beyond these classic dimensions, we also conducted two studies in order to examine the link between digital reading and the posture adopted by the device users. The first revealed that a tablet-use-related posture (lateral head tilt) does not affect reading performance. The second postural study demonstrated the effect of text difficulty on eye-screen distance during the use of an e-reader. Subjects approached the screen as their attentional level increased. The constructed tests and a postural measure were aggregated into a battery of tests permitting the evaluation of reading performance associated with a device. The resulting indicator is called the “Digital Reading Quotient”. This indicator has been computed for a computer screen, a projector and a tablet. The experimental results show that these tests can be used in order to compare different devices, especially in terms of visibility and readability.

La massification des usages des réseaux socionumériques n’est pas sans conséquences sur la visibilité dont les individus font l’objet. Les potentialités d’internet dans la diffusion de l’information et les divers services de communication mis à disposition sont autant de mécanismes de dévoilement de l’intimité de l’usager dans les espaces publics numériques.Notre projet de recherche doctoral propose d’appréhender les pratiques et l'ensemble des facteurs associés au phénomène de mise en visibilité de soi sur les réseaux socionumériques, et plus particulièrement sur Facebook.Pour ce faire, cette recherche s’appuie sur une analyse quantitative, issue de la passation d’un questionnaire en ligne auprès de 444 usagers de Facebook, ainsi que sur une analyse qualitative provenant de 27 entretiens réalisés auprès d’utilisateurs du réseau socionumérique.Il s’agit de comprendre les raisons expliquant l’élaboration de pratiques de régulation de la visibilité numérique face à un réseau socionumérique incitant à une exposition de soi accrue.Il apparaît que les usagers sont en mesure de développer des espaces de visibilité de leurs informations personnelles et sont en constante variation afin de gérer la complexité de l’identité numérique. Ensuite, les évolutions de la visibilité des individus sur Facebook ne se réalisent pas de manière linéaire mais s’opèrent davantage par phases, entendues comme des interventions dans les pratiques de gestion de la vie privée. Ces évolutions correspondent à des épisodes de vie concomitants à l’expérience d’usage. Enfin, Le dispositif sociotechnique, ou plutôt les invitations à la mise en visibilité de soi qu’il émet, tout comme les attentes normatives de la « société » sont tout autant des modalités de définition de l’identité de l’usager des réseaux socionumériques. Les facteurs d’invitation à la mise en visibilité de soi – que sont l’usager lui-même ; son réseau de relations ; le dispositif sociotechnique Facebook ; et la « société » sous le trait des attentes normatives imposées – correspondent, en grande partie, aux mécanismes de prévention contre les potentielles atteintes à la vie privée. / The increase of the use of social network sites has consequences regarding individual privacy. The Internet’s capability to disseminate information and various communication services available is also a mechanism that reveals the privacy of the user in digital public spaces.Our doctoral research project proposes to study the practices and whole of the factors associated with the phenomenon of self-exposure on social network sites, especially on Facebook.This research contains a quantitative analysis, based on an online questionnaire to 444 Facebook users, as well as a qualitative analysis from 27 interviews conducted with users of this social network site.It aims to analyze the reasons that explain the development of regulatory practices of digital visibility caused by a social network site that incites increased self-exposure.It appears that users are able to develop spaces of visibility of their personal information and that they modulate their practices in order to manage the complexity of the digital identity. Then, changes in individuals’ visibility on Facebook do not occur a linear fashion but in phases, defined as interventions in the management practices of privacy. These changes correspond to instances of life that are concurrent to the experience of use. Finally, the socio-technical system, or rather the invitations to self-exposure so that it emits, as the normative expectations of the "society" are equally ways of defining the identity of the user of social network sites. Factors invitation to self-exposure - that is the user himself; its network of relationships; the socio-technical device Facebook; and "society" under the related normative expectations it imposes - correspond largely to preventive mechanisms guarding against potential threats to privacy.

O objetivo deste estudo é avaliar a bula dos medicamentos sob a ótica dos idosos verificando os aspectos da compreensão, visibilidade, legibilidade e as opiniões relacionadas à bula. Foram entrevistadas pessoas que freqüentavam grupos de atividades para idosos, localizados no estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Um total de 88 participantes leu a bula do fármaco atenolol. Destes, um grupo de 47 pessoas leu a bula redigida de acordo com a Portaria nº 110/1997 e outro de 41 pessoas leu a bula do mesmo fármaco redigida de acordo com a RDC nº 140/2003, sendo que após a leitura recebiam um valor de pontuação para a compreensão. Os aspectos formais da bula foram avaliados por 80 participantes, a partir da escolha das bulas preferidas. A legibilidade foi investigada por meio do Índice de Legibilidade de Flesch e as opiniões relacionadas à bula com o emprego da técnica do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo, este último envolvendo 25 participantes. A média dos valores de pontuação dos idosos que leram a bula redigida de acordo com a legislação de 1997 foi 66 pontos e daqueles que leram a bula redigida de acordo com a legislação de 2003 foi 68 pontos. A bula preferida pelos participantes apresentava leiaute com letra Arial e tamanho 1,88mm. O Índice de Flesch para as bulas redigidas de acordo com a legislação de 1997 foi 43,78% e para aquelas de acordo com a legislação de 2003 foi 47,20%. Os idosos consideram a bula uma importante fonte de informação, orientação e segurança e, de maneira geral, verificou-se que compreendem a bula. Apesar disso, muitos deles não a lêem porque têm letras miúdas, excesso de informações e muitos termos técnicos. Houve uma evolução no que diz respeito à legislação dos textos das bulas. As bulas avaliadas que estavam com seus textos adequados à legislação de 2003 tiveram resultados superiores às bulas com seus textos de acordo com a legislação de 1997, mostrando assim, que existe um empenho por parte das autoridades sanitárias em melhorar a qualidade e eficiência da informação ao paciente. / The aim of the study is to evaluate the drug label by elderly views and check comprehension, visibility, legibility and their opinion about labels. People were assessed from elderly activities groups in Rio Grande do Sul state. 88 participants read the atenolol drug’s label, 47 of them read the drug label according as the 1997’s law and 41 read the same drug label according as the 2003’s law. Comprehension was evaluated through a point scale that’s based on elderly answers for the questions about label content. Among these people, 80 evaluated the drug’s label visibility and they had to choose the best label. The legibility was assessed by the Flesch Reading Score and the elderly opinion by the Collective Subject Discourse. The drugs labels analysis by the Collective Subject Discourse included 25 people. The mean score of the people that read the drug label according the 1997’s law was 66 points and that people who read the drug label according 2003’s law was 68 points. The drug label which has a layout with letters type Arial and 1,8mm was preferred by the participants. The Flesch Reading Score for the two drugs label was 43,78% for drug label according the 1997’s law and 47,20% for drug label according the 2003’s law. Elderly people consider the drug label an important source of information, orientation and safety. In general way, they understand the drug label. Despite this, many of them doesn’t read because it has small letters, excess of information and too many technical terminations. It had an evolution, in relation to drugs labels laws. The drugs labels according 2003’s law got better results than the drug labels according 1997’s law. We perceived that have an interest by sanitary authorities to improve the quality and efficiency about patient information.

Principalement utilisées pour évaluer la performance et rendre compte de la réussite scolaire des individus, les notes sont indicatrices de succès ou d’échec, mais aussi de la valeur comparative des individus. Dans cette thèse nous proposons de tester l’effet des notes lorsqu’utilisées dans des contextes spécifiques de coopération. En effet, si les notes et la comparaison sociale sont pratique courante, les étudiants sont souvent amenés à coopérer en groupe. Cependant, à notre connaissance, point d’études ont testé l’effet des notes sur la coopération; alors que la tendance en milieu éducatif est à l’encouragement des pratiques coopératives. C’est ce que présent les chapitres expérimentaux de cette thèse. Le Chapitre 4 teste l’effet des notes quant à leur capacité à accentuer à la fois visibilité et comparaison sociale. Deux études investiguent l’effet des notes sur un biais motivationnel qui réduit la propension à coopérer: la propension à préférer les informations qui confirment les choix de l’individu. Elles montrent qu’en situation coopérative, les notes accroissent ce biais comparativement à des situations où seule la visibilité individuelle est soulignée, et suggèrent que les notes focalisent les individus sur une comparaison sociale compétitive. Le Chapitre 5 teste l’effet des notes sur les interactions, précisément sur le partage coopératif d’information. Deux études montrent que dans un contexte de travail en groupe coopératif, les notes entravent le bon partage des informations entre individus, et amènent à la rétention d’information. Enfin, le Chapitre 6 teste l’effet des notes sur un autre indicateur de coopération en groupe: la coordination interindividuelle. Il montre que les notes réduisent la coordination inter-individus et les mènent à avoir des comportements de dominance négative entre eux. En somme, les notes entravent la coopération et réduisent les comportements coopératifs entre individus. Nous discutons des implications pour le milieu éducatif. / Widely used to assess achievement and performance in educational contexts, grades provide a clear indicator of success or failure, particularly in comparison to others. In this respect, we study their impact on specific work contexts requiring cooperation. Indeed, students are often exhorted to cooperate in groups and simultaneously are assessed with grades, which bring a focus on inter-individual comparison. However, to the best of our knowledge, no work has investigated the effects of grades on cooperation, yet a central question given educational trends encouraging cooperative practices, which we propose to explore in the experimental chapters of this thesis. Chapter 4 tests the effect of grades with regards to their capacity to jointly highlight individual visibility and social comparison. It tries to disentangle which of these facets could affect a motivated bias likely to reduce cooperation, namely individuals’ preference for information confirming their own choice. Results show that a graded-cooperative situation increased this preference effect in comparison to other conditions where only individual visibility was manipulated, and moreover increased individuals’ perception of a competitive atmosphere. Chapter 5 tests the effect of grades on direct cooperative interactions, namely on group information sharing. Results show that grades hindered information exchange between individuals, leading them to withhold crucial task-information. Finally, Chapter 6 tests the effects of grades on another indicator of group cooperation, namely inter-individual coordination. Results indicate that showcasing grades at the onset of a cooperative task necessitating inter-individual coordination decreased group performance and elicited more negative dominant behaviours amongst participants. Together these results provide evidence that grades hamper group cooperation. We conclude by discussing implications for the practice of grading in Education.