In this study the exposure of mining vehicle operators, on an opencast goldmine in Tanzania, to certain hazards specific to their occupation was assessed. The aim was to quantify these levels of exposure in order to estimate the risk of health effects but also to report levels of these hazards that exist on mining vehicles. Three different hazards with different physiological effects were assessed and it included exposure to whole-body vibration, A-weighted noise and low frequency noise. In each case correctly calibrated instrumentation was used and internationally accepted methods were followed. It was found that mining vehicles commonly exposed operators to levels of whole-body vibration within and above the ISO Health Guidance Caution Zone (HGCZ) and above the ropean action level, which indicates the need for intervention and control. These levels are a cause for concern and will likely lead to health effects. Noise that damages human hearing (A-weighted noise) was present in high levels on mining vehicles, in each case being higher than the permissible exposure limit of 85 dB(A). Thus operators of mining vehicles are exposed to noise levels that will damage their hearing in time. A potential hazard in the occupational world, low frequency noise, was also included in the assessment. Literature indicates that low frequency noise is capable of causing many human health effects and thus levels on mining vehicles were reported in order to give an indication of what levels may be expected in this department of mining. It was found that much of the sound energy measured on vehicles was located in the low frequency range. In the lowest frequency band measured, Leq levels of more than 100 dB(Z) were commonly found. Controls should be implemented as far as is reasonably practicable to ensure that operators are not exposed above recommended or permissible levels for each hazard. These controls can include good maintenance of vehicles and roads to reduce whole-body vibration, sound proofing of vehicle cabs along with hearing protection devices to protect hearing and further research regarding the exposure and health effects caused by low frequency noise. Following literature indicating the physiological effects of low frequency noise exposure and also the presence thereof in different occupations, it is concluded that A-weighted noise measurements alone can not be used when quantifying the risk involved in a given acoustical environment. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Occupational Hygiene))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009

Whole-body vibration (WBV) was recently introduced as a potential modality for strengthening bones, and this thesis was set out to investigate whether it plays a role in the prevention of postmenopausal bone loss. First, effects of WBV on bone mineral density (BMD) were systematically evaluated in previous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in postmenopausal women. Second, a RCT of 202 postmenopausal women with primary osteopenia not on bone medications was conducted to investigate the effects of WBV at 0.3g and 90 Hz versus 0.3g and 30 Hz versus controls on various bone outcomes, as measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT), and quantitative ultrasound (QUS). In the systematic evaluation of previous RCTs, statistically significant increase in areal BMD (aBMD) at the hip was found in postmenopausal women receiving WBV versus controls, but the effect was small and may have been due to study bias. Also, WBV was not found to influence aBMD at the lumbar spine or volumetric BMD (vBMD) at the distal tibia in the systematic evaluation. In the RCT conducted in this thesis, no statistically significant effects of WBV were found on aBMD at the femoral neck, total hip or lumbar spine, as measured by DXA, or on vBMD or bone structure parameters at the distal tibia or distal radius, as measured by HR-pQCT. Further in this RCT, a statistically significant decrease was observed in QUS attenuation at the calcaneus in women receiving 90 Hz or 30 Hz WBV compared to controls. This may have been due to heel bone or soft tissue damage, although the effect was small and may not be clinically important. In conclusion, this investigation of postmenopausal women did not find clinically relevant benefits of WBV on osteoporotic-prone skeletal sites, including the hip, spine, tibia or radius, while potentially harmful effects on heel bone and/or soft tissue was observed in response to WBV. Thus based on this thesis, WBV is currently not recommended for the prevention of bone loss in community-dwelling postmenopausal women with primary osteopenia.

Numeracy is a cross-curricular priority, an intersystemic priority and, of late, a federal government priority. Yet as a priority "numeracy" is inadequately defined and the term is used to describe a wide-range of notions. Many educators are unsure of what constitutes numeracy, unaware of how it differs from mathematics, and uncertain as to how its demands may be met in their planning and teaching. Secondary schools have few models upon which to develop a whole-school numeracy plan. This study describes the journey of a secondary school staff as they developed a shared understanding of numeracy, identified the numeracy demands throughout the curriculum and planned for a whole-school approach to address these demands.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Philosophy, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p. 406-412).

Thesis (M.Arch.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-97). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2004. / Bibliography: leaf 69.

Humans often learn to manipulate objects by observing other people. In much the same way, robots can use imitation learning to pick up useful skills. A system is detailed here for using imitation learning to teach a robot to grasp objects using both hand and whole-body grasps, which use the arms and torso as well as hands. Demonstration grasp trajectories are created by teleoperating a simulated robot to pick up simulated objects. When presented with a new object, the system compares it against the objects in a stored database to pick a demonstrated grasp used on a similar object. Both objects are modeled as a combination of primitives—boxes, cylinders, and spheres—and by considering the new object to be a transformed version of the demonstration object, contact points are mapped from one object to the other. The best kinematically feasible grasp candidate is chosen with the aid of a grasp quality metric. To test the success of the chosen grasp, a full, collision-free grasp trajectory is found and an attempt is made to execute in the simulation. The implemented system successfully picks up 92 out of 100 randomly generated test objects in simulation. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Syftet med studien är att undersöka lärares synsätt och resonemang angående metoder för läs- och skrivundervisning samt vilka faktorer som anses betydelsefulla för barns läs- och skrivinlärning i förskoleklassen. Studien baseras på en kvalitativ undersökning där vi har intervjuat fyra lärare i förskoleklassen. Vårt teoretiska ramverk grundar sig på läs- och skrivtraditionerna phonics och whole language samt en kombination av dessa två. Utifrån traditionen phonics har det utvecklats syntetiska metoder och utifrån whole language har det utvecklats analytiska metoder.   I vårt resultat kan lärarnas utsagor klassificeras i två grupper, där den ena gruppen lärare har ett synsätt som framhäver undervisning som fokuserar på språkljud och grundläggande fonologisk medvetenhet. Den andra gruppen har ett mer avancerat synsätt som framhäver undervisning som integrerar språkljud med bokstavskännedom och skrivning.   Studien visar att lärarna ser betydelsen av att väcka barns intresse för läsning och skrivning genom lekfulla aktiviteter. Lärarna använder både syntetisk och analytisk metod. Barn med språksvårigheter gynnas av syntetisk metod eftersom den ger tydliga instruktioner i sambandet mellan språkljud och bokstäver. Genom den analytiska metoden får barn träna sin läsförståelse. Lärarnas utsagor visar att kombinationen av syntetisk och analytisk metod är ett fördelaktigt metodval. Lärarna bör ha kunskap om olika metoder för att på så sätt kunna anpassa undervisningen efter barngruppens behov. Barns läs- och skrivinlärning påverkas av olika faktorer. Språkutbudet i hem och skola påverkar barnets ordförråd. Studien visar vikten av en språkrik miljö med tillgång till barnlitteratur och högläsning som väcker barns intresse.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:23:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T13:57:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 00617.pdf: 4446323 bytes, checksum: 2472e6b6e02afc6e4ba94b64e17ccf87 (MD5) / Tese (Doutoramento) / IEA/T / Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo - FM/USP

The thesis addresses controversies within Anglicanism over overlapping identities and whose differences are included or excluded as Anglicans. Overlapping identities have been perceived as challenges to ecclesial identity coherence, but the thesis asks if these might alternatively be viewed as an unrecognized manifestation of postcolonial hybrid ecclesiologies. The thesis engages Stephen Sykes' search for a systematic, ontological question as to the way the Anglican Communion is a "part" of the universal church of Christ. The thesis demonstrates the shift of whole-parts from an ontological foundation in medieval ecclesiology to a manipulation of power in contemporary ecclesiologies to exclude offensive parts and maintain coherence in identity.