Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 182-196).

Made available in DSpace on 2015-08-19T13:52:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 8.pdf: 1169529 bytes, checksum: 4f783a363aeaeba9e469a0b095c9e050 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto de Tecnologia em Fármacos/Farmanguinhos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. / Vigilância Tecnológica é um sistema organizado de coleta, análise e difusão da informação convertida em tendências e recomendações para a tomada de decisão. O objetivo desse trabalho é propor uma metodologia para as atividades de Vigilância Tecnológica em Farmanguinhos, baseado nos modelos desenvolvidos por outras indústrias farmacêuticas e centros de pesquisa.A formulação de uma proposta foi realizada através do mapeamento das atividades de Vigilância Tecnológica desenvolvidas em duas indústrias farmacêuticas, dois centros de pesquisa e no levantamento histórico dessas atividades em Farmanguinhos. O mapeamento seguiu uma linha de pensamento pautada em seis temas para melhor compreensão das atividades pesquisadas.A proposta de um modelo de Vigilância Tecnológica para Farmanguinhos foi pautada na organização de diferentes estratégias de trabalho conformadas segundoa demanda servindo de ferramenta no direcionamento das decisões.Os resultados evidenciaram que não há um modelo único de VigilânciaTecnológica a ser seguido. O modo como as atividades se desenvolvem são adaptados ao interesse de cada instituição e existem inúmeras metodologias possíveis a serem aplicadas. / Technology Watch is an organized system for collection, analysis and dissemination of information converted into trends and recommendations for decision making. The objective of this paper is to propose a methodology for the activities of Technology Watch in Farmanguinhos based on the mode ls developed by other pharmaceutical companies and research centers. The formulation of a proposal was made by mapping the activities of Technology Watch developed in two pharmaceutical companies, two research centers and historical survey of these activities in Farmanguinhos. The mapping followed a rational based on six themes for a better understanding of the surveyed activities. The proposed model for Farmanguinhos Technology Watch was based on the development of different strategies conformed according to demand The proposal addresses the needs and interests of the Board of the institution serving as a tool in directing decisions. The results showed that there is no single model to be followed. The manner how Technology Watch activities are developed are tailored to the interests of each institution and the many possible methodologies to be applied in studies of Technology Watch vary according to demand.

Adherence to medication is generally described as a huge problem in the health care system. The term adherence is generally preferred by many health care providers as the word 'compliance' describes a patient who is passively taking medication as advised/ordered by the doctor. This thesis goes in depth in identifying the problems faced to achieve maximum adherence to medication and the important factors contributing to it. The objective is to come up with an alternative approach to help improve medical adherence using a smart watch based application that reminds patients to consume their medicines in a timely fashion. It addresses precisely which medication to take and in what quantity. This form of reporting and alerting is believed to achieve higher levels of adherence based on grounded theory. Shedding light on the methodologies used while clearly identifies the assumptions and limitations such a system can have.

It is possible for firms to survive within declining industries. However, growth through internationalization within this stage of an industry’s life-cycle has not been sufficiently explored in the past. As SMEs supposedly face many barriers during this process, the purpose of this thesis is to research the internationalization of SMEs within declining industries, with a focus on finding what is the biggest challenge to their internationalization. A multiple-case study and semi-structured interviews were used to explore internationalization in a declining industry, the watch industry. A theoretical framework was built and compared to both the primary and the secondary data collected throughout this study. The analysis shows that finding the right distributor is the biggest challenge throughout SMEs’ internationalization. It also finds trade shows related to declining industries not to be effective promotion tools for firms from this industry. Finally, this thesis finds smartwatches not to be perceived as a threat by traditional watch brands, due to the different values associated to these products.

This project provides middle school teachers with instructional direction and hands-on methods to incorporate an environmentally-oriented trade book, Bird Watch (1990) by Jane Yolen, into their language arts curriculum. Bird Watch is a collection of sixteen poems which describe a variety of birds, their habitats, and activities.

Exploring the question of 'where are the women', this study undertakes a narrative thematic analysis of data collected from interviews and field visits with a grassroot women's organization called Machsom Watch in Israel. This study questions the missing link between Women, Peace and Security Agenda and the Responsibility to Protect, which both have defining themes of participation and prevention. Grounded in Feminist Security Studies and the activities and roles of the women of Machsom Watch are investigated.

This paper explores various approaches to determine the time of an analogue watch by developing two systems using the design and creation method. The aim is to see to what extent a computer can determine the time, by comparing the two systems, as well as how it can deal with contextual set-up variations such as design, orientation and lighting conditions. The first system uses OpenCV to find the watch hands and geometry to calculate the time. The second system uses Machine Learning by building a Neural Network to classify images in Tensorflow using a multi–labelling approach. The results show that in a set environment the geometric system performs better than the Machine Learning model. The geometric system predicted correctly with an accuracy of 80% whereas the best Machine Learning model got 74%. The accuracy of the model did increase when adding data augmentation, however there was no significant difference when further adding synthetic data. When using contextual set-up variations, the model performed poorly with 21%.

Many studies have focused on the societal implication of the emergence of Web 2.0. However, only a few researches have focused on the interrelationship of social media and surveillance. This thesis specifically examines the role of Facebook in community engagement on neighborhood surveillance. using a locality in Malmö municipal, Kirseberg area,  the study aimed to determine the role of the community Facebook group, its affordances, and contributions towards community engagement for neighborhood watch. Through interviews of stakeholders, observations of posts on the Kirseberg Facebook group, and a community-based participatory workshop of the residents in Kirseberg, Malmö, the study engaged 14 residents and stakeholders using data visualization as prototype artifacts to engage participants and elicit responses for data gathering. The data gathered was analysed based on thematic recognition of the study's objectives. The results indicated that many residents interact with features and tools on the Facebook group to initiate the affordances capabilities of Facebook on information relating to neighborhood surveillance.  It also noted that Facebook is a precursor and initial engagement point towards collective community action on neighborhood watch.  The thesis concludes that Facebook, as a part of the Web 2.0 platform, with strict moderation, has the inherent tools that could create affordances in different levels of interactions for the specific purpose of information, communication, engagements, and conversations towards community mobilization, building, and engagement for neighborhood watch and surveillance. The study, however, suggested further research of this phenomenon with more extensive coverage of areas in Malmö and expansion of stakeholders with an expansive methodology.

Digital formats and social networks provide unique opportunities for meteorologists to disseminate weather information to the public, but it comes with a set of challenges. These opportunities and challenges may be enhanced when applied to a younger demographic, which acquires information from different platforms than the traditional sources the older demographics utilize. There is a vast amount of literature that focuses on weather dissemination, weather information sources, and risk perception; however, there is a lack of emphasis on 18 to 24 year olds. The first two parts of this dissertation attempted to fill this lack of knowledge on 18 to 24 year olds by conducting interviews at several college campuses to gain rich knowledge of the daily processes involving weather information and determine their understanding of weather graphics. Participants cited checking the weather forecast pretty frequently but utilized non-traditional sources for the weather forecast. It was also determined that participants lacked an understanding of weather products. The last part of this dissertation attempted to obtain a better understanding of the public’s weather knowledge and self-perceived weather knowledge. This study compared the public to those who actively follow specialty weather pages. In addition, how severity impacts decision-making and confidence in decision-making was evaluated. Followers of specialty weather pages had higher self-perceived and assessed weather knowledge. It was also determined that the public is more likely to adhere to recommendations from meteorologists, and that the correlation between self-perceived weather knowledge and confidence is weak.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions of school staff as to the best practices utilized in successful middle schools. The researcher used the framework of This We Believe and the School To Watch application process to determine schools worthy of the study. Each school must have been designated three times or more as a School To Watch. Three schools were selected for the study that were each in three different school divisions and three different geographical regions in Virginia. The researcher went to each site to conduct interviews with participants. Fifteen interviews via focus groups were conducted with twenty-one participants. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded. The researcher analyzed interview data and determined there were three emerging concepts critical to the success of middle schools. Concepts that emerged from participants were: each school was developmentally responsive to the social and emotional needs of young adolescents, each school’s staff employed strong organizational leadership and structures to coordinate the school, and each school’s staff was purposeful in their creation of each school’s master schedule that allowed for purposeful planning. Practitioners may find the results of the study useful as many of the practices could be employed in other middle schools.