Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 152-170).

Productivity improvement within the construction industry has addressed issues that are predominantly associated with activities and tasks on construction sites, and less so in the office work. The lack of an understanding of the proportion of productive time during working hours for designers, as well as the measurement method forms a significant gap in the knowledge of the design process. Productivity management cycle comprised of 4 phases: measurement; evaluation; planning; and improvement. Therefore, measurement becomes essential in productivity improvement. This study identifies the lack of defined duration for design task and measurement of design activity time as an essential gap in the productivity knowledge that relates to designers.

Article / PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence of disability in Peru, explore dependency on caregiver's assistance and assess access to rehabilitation care. METHOD: Data from Disability National Survey (ENEDIS), including urban and rural areas, were analyzed. Disability was defined as a permanent limitation on movement, vision, communication, hearing, learning/remembering or social relationships. Dependency was defined as the self-reported need for a caregiver to help with daily activities; and access to rehabilitation care was defined as the self-report of any therapy for disabilities. Estimates and projections were calculated using sample strata, primary sampling units and population weights, and prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95%CI were reported. RESULTS: From 798 308 people screened, 37 524 (5.1%; 95%CI 4.9--5.2%) had at least one disability. A total of 37 117 were included in further analysis, mean age 57.8 (SD ± 24.1) years, 52.1% women. Dependency was self-reported by 14 980 (40.5%; 95%CI: 39.2-41.9%) individuals with disabilities. A family member, usually female, was identified as a caregiver in 94.3% (95%CI: 93.3-95.3%) of dependent participants. Only 2881 (10.7%; 95%CI: 9.7-11.9%) of people with disabilities reported access to rehabilitation care. Major inequality patterns of disability burden versus access to rehabilitation care were observed by age and education level. Older age groups had higher disability burden yet lower chances of access to rehabilitation care. Conversely, the higher the education level, the lesser the overall disability burden but also the higher chances of reporting receiving care. Private healthcare insurance doubled the probability of having access to rehabilitation compared with those without insurance. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 1.6 million Peruvians have at least one disability, and 40% of them require assistance with daily activities. Informal caregiving, likely female and relative-provided, is highly common. Rehabilitation care access is low and inequitable. Our results signal a major need to implement strategies to guarantee the highest standard of health care for people with disabilities. Implications for Rehabilitation Major inequality patterns in terms of burden of disability versus access to rehabilitation care were observed: those groups who concentrate more disability reported receiving less rehabilitation care. Caregiving is mostly informal and provided by a direct relative, mainly a woman, who resigned to their usual activities in order to help care for the person with disability. As a result, there is a need to develop appropriate support and training for caregivers. Access to care services in Peru is low and inequitable, but especially for people with disabilities: they experience greater barriers when accessing healthcare services even in the case of having health insurance. / Revisión por pares

The current investigation examined the effectiveness of a metacontingency package in two experimentations. In experiment one, the metacontingency was utilized by embedding activities with interlocking behavioral contingencies to examine its effectiveness on reciprocal social interactions in two females diagnosed with an Intellectual Disability. Results demonstrated an increase of the dependent variable by the metacontingency activities. The results of experiment one were the premise for experiment two, which was to examine whether the metacontingency activities that were effective in increasing reciprocal social interactions were an effect of the metacontingency or an effect of engaging in an activity together. Experiment two utilized two activity types, parallel and metacontingency activities, to determine their relative effect on self-talk behavior, reciprocal social interactions, and conversational units in two males diagnosed with an Intellectual Disability. Results suggested that there were no relative effects demonstrated by the two activity types on self-talk behavior, however results demonstrated an increased effect by the metacontingency activities relative to the parallel activities on reciprocal social interactions and conversational units.

Resumo: O presente trabalho surge em função de buscar um melhor entendimento sobre o papel da torcida, diante dos estados emocionais dos atletas, em especial da ansiedade e da agressividade. Baseado em vasta revisão de literatura, que apresenta as diversas concepções conceituais aqui estudado (adolescência, agressão, ansiedade e torcida) e seus desdobramentos, o estudo assume a vertente da pesquisa qualitativa, optando pela pesquisa participante, como estratégia de verificação. Assim, interessou-se em estudar os aspectos relativos à ação da torcida e sua interferência no comportamento agressivo e ansioso do jogador jovem, que participa de uma modalidade federada, afim de verificar se o aumento da ansiedade e da agressividade, no momento esportivo, reflete o aumento de pressão que se exerce exteriormente. Considerou-se torcida aquele público presente, que assiste aos confrontos esportivos, nas figuras de pais, fãs, familiares e crônica esportiva e o público ausente, como os pais e a imprensa, que ficam no aguardo do resultado, em seus ambientes próprios. Esta pesquisa, exploratória, analisou o contexto esportivo competitivo de atletas das modalidades de basquetebol, futebol de salão, voleibol, handebol, atletismo e natação, observando, entrevistando e coletando falas e expressões que pudessem, após rigorosa categorização, oferecer subsídios para um replanejamento na conduta esportiva de adolescentes. Constatou a grande influência do público, em especial a dos pais, com muito determinismo, seguido do profissional da área esportiva, conforme indicam outros estudos. Explicita a questão da causa efeito no que diz respeito a ansiedade e agressão, oferecendo propostas para trabalhos que possibilitem outra abordagem ou favoreçam outras interferências por parte do público presente. / Abstract: The purpose of this study was to provid a better understanding of the cheer role in the emotional state of adolescent athletes, specially related to anxiety and aggressiveness. Based upon the literature, that shows several conceptions (adolescence, aggression, anxiety, and cheeriness) and their relationships, this study assumes a characteristic of qualitative research, specially the participant research as its strategy for verification. In this way, this study focused on the aspects related to the cheer activity and its interference in the aggressive and anxious behavior of the young players who participate in official modality, verifying in the increase of anxiety and aggressiveness in the sportive situation reflects the pressure coming from the cheering . It was considered cheerthose people in the stadium (parents, relatives, public, and reports) and those people not present in the stadium (parents, relatives, and reports) who only wait for the result in their "homes". This research analyzed athletes participating in basketball, indoor soccer, volleyball, team handball, track and field and swimming through interviews, observations, and talks and expressions that could, based upon rigorous categorization, offer principles for a re-planning of the adolescent sport activities. It was verified strong public influence, in special parental influence and followed by sportive professionals. This finding explains the cause-effect relationship between anxiety and aggressiveness and offers insights for future studies focusing on the interferences coming from the public present in the stadium.

abstract: The health benefits of physical activity are widely accepted. Emerging research also indicates that sedentary behaviors can carry negative health consequences regardless of physical activity level. This dissertation explored four projects that examined measurement properties of physical activity and sedentary behavior monitors. Project one identified the oxygen costs of four other care activities in seventeen adults. Pushing a wheelchair and pushing a stroller were identified as moderate-intensity activities. Minutes spent engaged in these activities contribute towards meeting the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines. Project two identified the oxygen costs of common cleaning activities in sixteen adults. Mopping a floor was identified as moderate-intensity physical activity, while cleaning a kitchen and cleaning a bathtub were identified as light-intensity physical activity. Minutes spent engaged in mopping a floor contributes towards meeting the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines. Project three evaluated the differences in number of minutes spent in activity levels when utilizing different epoch lengths in accelerometry. A shorter epoch length (1-second, 5-seconds) accumulated significantly more minutes of sedentary behaviors than a longer epoch length (60-seconds). The longer epoch length also identified significantly more time engaged in light-intensity activities than the shorter epoch lengths. Future research needs to account for epoch length selection when conducting physical activity and sedentary behavior assessment. Project four investigated the accuracy of four activity monitors in assessing activities that were either sedentary behaviors or light-intensity physical activities. The ActiGraph GT3X+ assessed the activities least accurately, while the SenseWear Armband and ActivPAL assessed activities equally accurately. The monitor used to assess physical activity and sedentary behaviors may influence the accuracy of the measurement of a construct. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Kinesiology 2012

Abstract Sheltered housing for the elderly is an intermediate type of housing, between living in ones own home and living in an institution. The aim of this study was to describe the changes in physical, cognitive and psychological abilities among the elderly living in sheltered housing during a two-year follow-up period. In this study psychological abilities were represented by depressive symptoms. The changes in the abilities of the elderly people living in sheltered housing were compared with the corresponding changes among the elderly living in their own homes. Furthermore, the associated factors and the predictors of the decline in physical and cognitive abilities, as well as the depressive symptoms were examined. The control group consisted of elderly people who were matched with those living in sheltered housing in regard to age, sex, coping with activities of daily living and depressive symptoms. The data of this study were collected among elderly people living in 20 units of sheltered housing in Finland in 1994 and 1996. 725 residents were interviewed and 340 re-interviewed after two years. Cognitive capacity was assessed with the help of the Mini-Mental Examination test (MMSE). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the shortened version of the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (ZSDS). The results showed that the elderly living in sheltered housing were widows or widowers and lived alone more often than the home-dwelling elderly. They perceived their health as poorer, had less contacts with other people and had fewer hobbies than the elderly living at home. Nevertheless, they felt less lonely and were more satisfied with their lives than those living at home. During the two-year follow-up period the decline in the functional capacity of the elderly living in sheltered housing did not essentially differ from the corresponding change among the home-dwelling elderly. The decline in physical and psychological abilities among the elderly living in sheltered housing was similar to the decline among those living at home. Even if the decline in cognitive abilities among the elderly living in sheltered housing was more rapid than the change among the home-dwelling elderly, the difference between the groups was slight. Living in sheltered housing appeared to have neither a negative nor a positive effect on the functional capacity of the elderly. The predictors of the physical decline among the elderly living in sheltered housing were a high age, poor physical abilities at baseline, a high number of depressive symptoms, the use of medication and a low number of hobbies. The predictors of the physical decline among the home-dwelling elderly were the female sex, a high age, poor physical abilities at baseline, a high number of depressive symptoms, health perceived as poor and low social participation. The predictors of the decline in cognitive abilities among the elderly living in sheltered housing included a high age, poor cognitive abilities at baseline, poor education, dissatisfaction with life and health perceived as good. Among the home-dwelling elderly the predictors of the decline in cognitive abilities were poor cognitive abilities at baseline and a low number of hobbies. Among the elderly living in sheltered housing the predictors of depressive symptoms included a high number of depressive symptoms at baseline, poor cognitive abilities, health perceived as poor, a high number of feelings of loneliness, a low number of visits paid to other people and high education. Among the home-dwelling elderly the predictors of depressive symptoms were a high number of depressive symptoms at baseline and a high age.

This research investigates contemporary South African performance within the context of prominent social and cultural change following the political transition from an apartheid state to democracy. Specifically, it looks at the relationship between a popular comic variety show The Most Amazing Show (TMAS), and aspects of contemporary South African society and culture, particularly relating to prominent efforts to affect post-election transformation of South African society and culture through the construction of a South African 'rainbow nation'. By analysing TMAS in terms of broader historical, performative and discursive contexts, it engages a relational reading of the performance. The study argues that TMAS both challenges and participates in the manner in which rainbow nation discourse constructs South African society and culture. Firstly, it considers the performance's construction of hybrid South African identities, including white Afrikaans, white English and white masculine identities. It argues that these reconstructions undermine the tendency within rainbow nation discourse to construct cultural hybridity in terms of stereotypically distinct identities. Secondly, it considers TMAS' construction of collective experience and social integration, which subvet1s the often glamorised and superficial representations of social healing and integration that are constructed within rainbow nation discourse. The analysis makes prominent reference to the notion of 'liminality' in order to describe the manner in which TMAS constructs significance within the tension that it establishes between oppositional, and often contradictory, positions. Furthermore, it attempts to establish a link between this notion of liminality and no6ons of theatrical syncretism that are prominent in contemporary South African theatre scholarship, and emphasise processes of signification that are constantly shifting and unstable.

Class of 2005 Abstract / Objectives: The purpose of this retrospective investigation is to compare the quantity, importance, and associated cost implications of drug-related problems identified (and ultimately resolved) through order entry/verification versus other clinical activities of a decentralized critical care pharmacist. Methods: The data from this study was collected by one decentralized pharmacist assigned to a surgical intensive care unit. A standard form was used to document all interventions during the period of this observation. For the purposes of this retrospective evaluation the following data will be extracted from the existing database: amount of time spent performing various clinical activities, how drug-related problems were identified (e.g., order entry verification versus chart reviews), the time it took to identify and resolve drug-related problems, a general description of interventions, the importance of the intervention, and the estimated economic impact associated with interventions. Results: In only a 41⁄2 month period, 111 patients would have likely experienced an adverse drug event had the ICU pharmacist not intervened. This equals a cost avoidance to the institution of anywhere from $200,000 to $280,000 for as little on average of 15-30 minutes of the pharmacist time. Implications: As previous studies have shown, the presence of a pharmacist in an ICU is crucial to lowering the incidence of adverse drug events. Our results have proven the interventions pharmacist make during team rounding and chart review are not only cost effective, but substantially improve patient care.