The ability to participate in adequate relationships with peers and with adults is highlighted in research as important for all children’s development and learning. Research also shows that children who have difficulties with social interactions may be excluded from the peer group social context, if observant adults do not take an active and supportive role to facilitate peer interactions. To ensure that all children regardless of needs nor disability are given the opportunity to develop and learn, the preschool systematically and continuously needs to evaluate how they operate with the task of supporting children’s social relationships and participation. Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP) is a structured observation rating scale developed recently in the UK and used in several contexts (i.e. United States) to measure quality in inclusive preschool settings based on twelve areas that are particularly important to consider for children with special educational needs.The aim of this study is to analyse and discuss two of the twelve contents of the ICP program, and to investigate its usefulness in the Swedish preschool. These contents are adult relationships with children and adult support in child interactions with peers. This study is a part of a project called Play and interaction for all children in inclusive preschool environments, initiated by the Department of Special Education, Stockholm University. The study is based on a qualitative research approach and is based on interviews with five preschool teachers and four observations in preschool learning environments.The result shows that the ICP can be a tool for development of an inclusive early childhood program in a Swedish context, both as a self-assessment tool and as a quality improvement tool. The two areas that have been estimated in the ICP have been perceived as relevant to the studies participants because of its importance for children`s development and its correlation with the Swedish preschool curriculum. However, there are certain concepts and formulations in the ICP that has brought objections during the interviews, for example, adults consistently ignore children´s efforts to interact with peers and adults consistently ignore children´s effort to interact with peers. Based on these reports, it seems that some formulations should be adapted or explained in the comments. The assessments made through the ICP make it possible to capture shifts in the quality of interactions that take place in the various inclusive activities. The quality differences have been made visible and evident by the ICP tool. This indicates that the ICP may be useful to estimate and evaluate operations, both in order to make improvements and also to reduce shortcomings in the learning environments. This is an important goal to achieve, especially considering that an equitable preschool with good quality may have a great impact for children in vulnerable situations.

The ability to participate in adequate relationships with peers and with adults is highlighted in research as important for all children’s development and learning. Research also shows that children who have difficulties with social interactions may be excluded from the peer group social context, if observant adults do not take an active and supportive role to facilitate peer interactions. To ensure that all children regardless of needs nor disability are given the opportunity to develop and learn, the preschool systematically and continuously needs to evaluate how they operate with the task of supporting children’s social relationships and participation. Inclusive Classroom Profile (ICP) is a structured observation rating scale developed recently in the UK and used in several contexts (i.e. United States) to measure quality in inclusive preschool settings based on twelve areas that are particularly important to consider for children with special educational needs.The aim of this study is to analyse and discuss two of the twelve contents of the ICP program, and to investigate its usefulness in the Swedish preschool. These contents are adult relationships with children and adult support in child interactions with peers. This study is a part of a project called Play and interaction for all children in inclusive preschool environments, initiated by the Department of Special Education, Stockholm University. The study is based on a qualitative research approach and is based on interviews with five preschool teachers and four observations in preschool learning environments. The result shows that the ICP can be a tool for development of an inclusive early childhood program in a Swedish context, both as a self-assessment tool and as a quality improvement tool. The two areas that have been estimated in the ICP have been perceived as relevant to the studies participants because of its importance for children`s development and its correlation with the Swedish preschool curriculum. However, there are certain concepts and formulations in the ICP that has brought objections during the interviews, for example, adults consistently ignore children´s efforts to interact with peers and adults consistently ignore children´s effort to interact with peers. Based on these reports, it seems that some formulations should be adapted or explained in the comments. The assessments made through the ICP make it possible to capture shifts in the quality of interactions that take place in the various inclusive activities. The quality differences have been made visible and evident by the ICP tool. This indicates that the ICP may be useful to estimate and evaluate operations, both in order to make improvements and also to reduce shortcomings in the learning environments. This is an important goal to achieve, especially considering that an equitable preschool with good quality may have a great impact for children in vulnerable situations. / Inkluderande Lärandemiljöer och Tidiga Insatser

Galbraith (1995:2) states that “organizations continuously search for more effective approaches in order to survive, to remain competitive, to maintain their operations and to grow in an ever-changing and competitive environment. To achieve sustainable business results, organizations must actively manage cost, quality, product and service features by means of their efficient and effective application of managerial and operational systems within a well-designed organizational framework.” Porter and Tanner (2004:3) argue that “in their endeavour to remain competitive organizations have over the last few decades in search of the ultimate system or methodology tried and tested all the various performance improvement approaches or performance enablers (ISO 9000, Business Process Reengineering (BPR), Business Excellence, Continuous Improvement, Total Quality Management (TQM), Just-in-Time, Project Management, Six Sigma, Lean Sigma, etcetera). Although thousands of organizations implemented these performance enablers, few organizations achieved their envisaged state of excellence.” Kerzner (1997:2) argues that “there are only two ways in which work gets done in organizations: through business processes or through projects. Business processes are permanent work structures that transform inputs continuously into outputs as ongoing operations. Projects on the other hand are temporary work structures that shut down once the output has been achieved.” Robbins, (1998:629) states that “since the organizations’ success or failure is essential due to the things that its employees do or fail to do (processes), any planned change must also be concerned with changing the behaviour of individuals and groups within the organization.” It is therefore critical that management does have scientific control over the function or Critical Core Capability that touches “the way things get done”. The researcher are therefore of the opinion that business process being the core descriptor of the “how”, “what”, “when”, and “why” of every individuals daily interaction with his work, his colleagues, his organization and his clients is maybe by far the biggest factor of satisfaction, dissatisfaction, harmony or conflict in the organization and determines to a large extent what the behaviour of the individual, the groups and the organization at large will be on a daily basis. Business Process was identified as core to all the performance enablers and was elevated to a Critical Core Capability status in many organizations. Derived from the above Business Process Management as a Critical Core Capability should encompass the four management functions, and should be supported by a proper organizational framework that includes strategy, structure, policies, procedures, and people. The literature search also confirmed that “synergy”, i.e. “The whole is more than its parts”, is paramount to success when it comes to the management of a Critical Core Capability. With the above as reference the researcher set out to establish which criteria should be included in a measurement instrument to measure Business Process Management as a Critical Core Capability in an organization. The following primary research question was formulated and used as vantage point to develop, as the primary objective, said instrument: What must be implemented, in terms of strategies, governance, enterprise architecture, and process optimization, to ensure that organization culture, people’s behaviour and the work environment will be conducive to successfully establish and maintain Business Process Management as a Critical Core Capability of an organization? Based on a proper research process and methodology the researcher utilized the following methods to develop the Test Instrument: <ul> <li> A comprehensive literature study;</li> <li> Discussions with and inputs from experts;</li> <li> Questionnaires; and</li> <li> Statistical analysis.</li> </ul> An Assessment Tool for Measuring Business Process Management as a Core Capability in an organization comprising ninety items clustered in six criteria in a five factor scale was developed and tested in two organizations as well as in three different business units in the one organization. The final Descriptive Statistics showed that the overall reliability of the items per criterion was highly acceptable with Cronbach Alpha Coefficients of 0.7315, 0.9216, 0.8224, 0.7650, 0.8248, and 0.7722 respectively, (higher than the acceptable level of 0.70). The final analysis therefore concluded that the assessment tool, the Business Process Management Competency Assessment Model (BPMCAM), is a reliable tool that can distinguish in terms of Business Process Management as a Critical Core Capability the level of an organization’s readiness to implement and/or to sustain the Business Process Management functionality as a Critical Core Capability. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Syfte: Syftet med studien var att beskriva arbetsterapeuters erfarenhet av att använda bedömningsinstrument i arbetet tillsammans med barn med autismspektrumtillstånd i åldrarna 6–12 år. Metod: En kvalitativ datainsamlingsmetod användes där åtta yrkesverksamma arbetsterapeuter intervjuades. En semistrukturerad intervjuguide valdes för att undersöka arbetsterapeuternas erfarenheter. Urvalet av deltagare skedde genom ett strategiskt urval. Dataanalys genomfördes därefter med en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Resultatet presenteras i ett övergripande tema; Familjen som klient samt tre kategorier; Förberedelser inför användning av bedömningsinstrument, Bedömningsinstrument i och efter mötet tillsammans med barnet samt Den erfarenhetsbaserade kunskapen. Det framkommer tydligt att erfarenheten av att arbeta tillsammans med barn som har autismspektrumtillstånd påverkar hur arbetsterapeuter väljer att arbeta med bedömningsinstrument. Av resultatet framgår att arbetsterapeuter idag ej använder bedömningsinstrument i den utsträckning som önskas. Resurser samt tidsaspekten påverkar användningens frekvens. Slutsats: Studien har bidragit till en ökad förståelse kring arbetsterapeuters erfarenheter av att använda bedömningsinstrument i arbetet tillsammans med barn med autismspektrumtillstånd. Tidsbrist är någonting som många gånger påverkar möjligheterna att arbeta mer frekvent med bedömningsinstrument vilket i sin tur påverkar habilitering för diagnosgruppen. Det är av stor vikt att fortsatt forskning inom området sker för att kunna ta fram ett instrument som är mer anpassat till diagnosgruppen. / Abstract Aim: The aim of the study was to describe occupational therapists' experience of using assessment tools in the work together with children with autism spectrum disorders between the ages 6-12. Method: A qualitative data collection method was used where eight professional occupational therapists were interviewed. A semi-structured interview guide was chosen to examine the occupational therapists' experiences. The participants were recruited through a strategic selection. Data analysis was then conducted with a qualitative content analysis. Result: The result is presented in an overall theme; The family as a client with three categories; Preparations for the use of assessment tools, Assessment tools during and after the meeting together with the child and The experience-based knowledge. It is clear that the experience of working with children with Autism spectrum disorder affects how occupational therapists choose to work with assessment tools. The results show that occupational therapists today do not use assessment tools to the extent desired. Resources and the time aspect affect the frequency of use. Conclusion: The study has contributed to an increased understanding of occupational therapists' experiences of using assessment tools in their work with children with Autism spectrum disorder. Lack of time is something that often affects the opportunities to work more frequently with assessment tools, which in turn affects habilitation for the diagnostic group. It is of great importance that further research in this area is done to be able to develop an instrument that is more adapted to the diagnostic group.

Bakgrund: Munnen kan inte ses som separat från resten av kroppen eftersom munhälsan påverkar den generella hälsan. Syfte: Syftet var att belysa betydelsen av användandet av munbedömningsinstrument för vårdpersonalen. Metod: Allmän litteraturstudie. Resultat: Genom en innehållsanalys framkom de två subkategorierna; Ger möjlighet att upptäcka och Tydliggör fortsatt behov av munbedömning. Dessa ledde till kategorin; Munbedömningsinstrumentet ger struktur. Diskussion: Genom att göra en munbedömning på patienten kan vårdpersonalen lindra/förebygga lidande eftersom munhälsoproblem upptäcks och kan åtgärdas. All vårdpersonal måste förstå varför munvård och munbedömningar är viktigt och munbedömningsinstrument behöver vara tillförlitligt och lättanvänt. Rutiner måste finnas i varje vårdverksamhet, ett munbedömningsinstrument bör väljas ut med omsorg och anpassas till verksamheten.Konklusion: Användandet av ett munbedömningsinstrument kan leda till ökad struktur i vårdpersonalens munvårdsarbete. / Background: Since oral health has an influence on general health, the mouth can’t be viewed as separate from the rest of the body. Aim: To highlight the importance the use of an oral assessment tool has for the nursing staff. Method: A literature review. Result: Through analysis of the text content two subcategories emerged; Gives possibility to detect and Clarifies further need of oral assessment. They led to the category: The oral assessment tool gives structure. Discussion: By performing an oral assessment on the patient, through detection and correction of oral health problems suffering can be reduced/ prevented by the nursing staff. All of the nursing staff must understand why oral care and oral assessments are important and the oral assessment tool needs to be dependable and easy to use. In every type of health organization there needs to be routines for the use of the oral assessment tool, it should be selected with care and adjusted to the organization. Conclusion: The use of an oral assessment tool could lead to an increased structure in the oral care nursing provided by the nursing staff.

Introduktion: Smartphoneapplikationen My Jump2 har bedömts att ha större tillgänglighet och inte vara beroende av labbutrustning vid vertikala hopptester. I jämförelse med kraftplatta (golden standard) har applikationen visat sig valid och reliabel. My Jump2 har uppvisat mycket bra- perfekt korrelation mot övrig kraftutrustning. Jämförelse mellan My Jump2 och kliniska tester är ännu inte beprövat på detta område. Syfte: Syftet med denna kliniska studie var att analysera samband och korrelationer mellan värden från My Jump2 och kliniska tester gällande funktionell bedömning av underbenets muskulatur. Därför jämfördes värden hos aktiva, icke skadade män och kvinnor. Metod: Totalt 26st kvinnor och män testades vid ett indivduellt testtilfälle i gymmiljö. 3rep MAX, lunge-test, antal tåhävningar och bäst av tre drop jump analyserades på dominanta benet. Pearsons korrelation användes för att undersöka samband mellan My Jump2 och kliniska tester och ANCOVA för att undersöka skillnader mellan deltagare. Resultat: Huvudfynden var att MyJump2 uppvisade två signifikanta korrelationssamband för männen och ett för kvinnorna vid jämförelse med kliniska tester. Signifikanta skillnader gällande RSI-värde med hänsyn till muskelstyrka 3rep MAX (95% CI; 0,01-0,19, p = 0,03) fanns mellan könen. Ingen signifikant skillnad i stiffness med hänsyn till ROM (95% CI; -0,11- 0,55, p = 0,18) justerat mot kön (95% CI; -0,78-2,03, p = 0,37) återfanns. Konklusion: Resultaten indikerar på att vidare forskning är nödvändig. Endast få signifikanta korrelationssamband återfanns mellan värden från My Jump2 och kliniska tester. My Jump2 visar signifikanta nivåer för RSI-värdet med hänsyn till muskelstyrka och kön. Studien kan inte bekräfta förväntade samband mellan My Jump2 och kliniska tester för underbenet. / Introduction: The smartphoneapplication My Jump2 has been assessed in rescent research for its validity and reliability. In comparison to golden standard devices, My Jump2 shows great- perfect correlation measuring jump height. Eventhough former results indicate usability of the smarthphoneapplication, further research is needed in order to evaluate clinical usefulness in a more expanded population. Aim: The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship and correlations between measured values from My Jump2 and clinical testing of lower extremity performance. This in an active and recreational population, both male and female. Method: A total of 26 males and females were tested individually in a gym-location. 3rep MAX, lunge-test, heel-rises to exhaustion and best of three drop jumps were analysed on the dominat leg. Pearsons correlation was used to evaluate the relationship between My Jump2 and clinical tests and ANCOVA to analyse diffrences within the testgroup. Results: Analysis showed two significant correlations between functional values for the men and one for women when comparing My Jump2 and clinical tests. A significant difference in RSI-value was found between the covariate (sex) (95% CI; 0,01-0,19, p = 0,03) considering 3rep MAX (factor). No significant difference was found in stiffness between the covariate (sex) considering ROM (factor). Conclusion: This study indicates that further research is needed. Analysis shows few significant correlations between My Jump2 and clinical tests. My Jump2 results shows significant values regarding RSI-values considering sex and musclestrenght. This study can not confirm the relationship and correlations between measured values from My Jump2 and clinical testing of lower extremity performance.

No description available.

Cooling towers form an important part of chilled water systems and perform the function of rejecting the heat to the atmosphere. These systems are often not operated optimally, and cooling towers being an integral part of the system present a significant area to study and determine possible energy saving measures. Operation of cooling towers in economizer mode in winter and variable frequency drives (VFDs) on cooling tower fans are measures that can provide considerable energy savings. The chilled water system analysis tool (CWSAT) software is developed as a primary screening tool for energy evaluation for chilled water systems and quantifies the energy usage of the various components and typical measures that can be applied to these systems to conserve energy, all while requiring minimum number of inputs to analyze component-wise energy consumption and incurred overall cost. A careful investigation of the current model in CWSAT indicates that the prediction capability of the model at lower wet bulb temperatures and at low fan power is not very accurate. A new model for accurate tower performance prediction is imperative, since economizer operation occurs at low temperatures and most cooling towers come equipped with VFDs. In this thesis, a new model to predict cooling tower performance is created to give a more accurate prediction of energy savings for a tower. Further the economic feasibility of having additional cooling tower capacity to allow for economizer cooling, in light of reduced tower capacity at lower temperatures is investigated.

Social sustainability is one of the three foundations in the definition of sustainable development. Despite this, there is no common overarching definition of social sustainability. Climate and environmental issues are defined and complemented by global and national agreements. The lack of a common definition of social sustainability is a result of the susceptibility of the experience of social sustainability to the local context and subjective assessments.This study focuses on commercial property companies in Sweden and their strategic work with social sustainability as an integrated part of the business. Existing research indicates that tools for strategic assessment of social sustainability are required. The purpose of this study is to develop a social sustainability framework intended to help property developers and owners to assess and manage social sustainability aspects in a systematic way. By using the framework, the intention is to increase properties social and economic value, as well as the financing opportunities for property companies.The framework is developed through an iterative process inspired by a multi-methodological approach for system development. By analysing two existing sustainability evaluation methods in combination with existing research within the field, 63 aspects for social sustainability are identified and applied into this framework. The identified aspects are divided into five categories (health and well-being, safety and security, climate and ecology, dialogue and relation and flexibility, mobility, and equality). The developed framework is applied on two existing, commercial properties located in northern Sweden. To conclude, the framework can be a strategic instrument for socially sustainable property management and development in this specific region. Further development is suggested. / <p>2023-06-13</p>

The world's water resources face unsustainable pressure from population growth, changes in consumption patterns, pollution, and overexploitation. Water resources managers have developed holistic approaches such as IWRM (Integrated Water Resources Management) and, more recently, the WEEF (Water-Energy-Environment-Food) nexus to address the situation. However, their application in day-to-day water resources management is still challenging due to the of little knowledge, data, and tools. One area where that challenge needs practical solutions is reservoir operation. The current study aims to improve the reservoir module in the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) so that operation rules that aim to meet various water, food, and electricity objectives can be simulated. The improved SWAT model is used to simulate the management of the Sélingué reservoir in Mali, West Africa. The reservoir operation was simulated under three different operation rules: 1) priority to monthly hydropower production (HPP) target (rule 1); 2) respect of predefined monthly target storage (rule 2); 3) priority to downstream environmental flow, irrigation, and municipal water demands (rule 3). Results show that when priority is given to the HPP target (rule 1), 98.3% of the electricity demand is met. At the same time, the dam can supply 81.72% of the water demand to maintain environmental flow and sustain irrigation and municipal water consumption. It also ensures water availability with an annual target storage deviation estimated at 1.8%. When rule 2 is implemented, a gap of 8.5% between electricity production and electricity demand is observed. Rule 2 also failed to sustain environmental flow and supply flow for irrigation and municipal consumption as a gap of 15.39% between the supply and the demand was observed. Similarly to rule 1, It ensures water availability with an annual target storage deviation estimated at 1.25%. When rule 3 is enforced (i.e., the priority is given to environmental flow, irrigation, and municipal water demands) the reservoir can maintain the environmental flow and maintain irrigation, and municipal water requirements with a gap of 17.7% between the supply and the demands. However, HPP production decreases with a gap of 12.56% between the electricity supply and demand. Its capacity to supply water in the long term is low as it has the highest target storage deviation with a value of 18%. These results indicate that rule 1 offers more guarantees considering the food and electricity security and environmental challenges. Note that the simulations are done assuming that these rules are systematically followed. In practice, decision-makers can deviate from a rule in exceptional circumstances to maximize benefits or avert unwanted consequences. Finally, a decision support system (DSS) was developed to assist decision-makers in selecting efficient reservoir operation policies for multipurpose reservoirs combining HPP and irrigation.