The objective of the thesis: to evaluate patients’ who are ill with metastasic tumor of long bones (os longum) and have an X-ray – confirmed diagnose of pathological bone break comfort of living. Tasks for the research: 1. To examine patients’ who are ill with metastasic tumor of long bones and have an X-ray – confirmed diagnose of pathological bone break comfort of living, singularities of nursing and their change during the term of research. 2. To compare comfort of living and singularities of nursing of patients’ who are ill with metastasic tumor of long bones and have an X-ray – confirmed diagnose of pathological bone break with those of the control group. 3. To determine factors having impact on comfort of living and nursing of patients’ who are ill with metastasic tumor of long bones and have an X-ray – confirmed diagnose of pathological bone break. 4. To supply with the recommendations for development of nursing of the patients ill with metastasic tumor of long bones. Exploratory group – patients of Orthopedics and Trauma Clinics at the Kaunas University of Medicine Clinics ill with metastasic tumor of long bones and have an X-ray – confirmed diagnose of pathological bone break. Control group (control) - patients of Orthopedics and Trauma Clinics at the Kaunas University of Medicine Clinics suffering from analogous break of long bone but in absence of metastasic tumor of long bones. Results: After summing the collected data up and analyzing it a conclusion was drawn... [to full text]

Introduction: Although several studies have examined self-regulatory practices in older drivers, most have relied on self-report. Blanchard (2008) was the first to examine actual driving patterns more objectively (using in-vehicle devices), and the associations between driver perceptions and self-regulatory practices. However, her sample of older drivers living in Southwestern Ontario was only monitored for one week between June and October. Winter conditions in northern climates appear to influence the driving patterns of older adults, however the only evidence to date is based on self-report (e.g., Sabback & Mann, 2005). Purposes: The aims of the thesis were to: 1) replicate Blanchard’s findings on the associations between driver perceptions and self-regulatory practices in older drivers; and 2) extend this investigation by examining driving over a longer monitoring period in the winter. Methods: A convenience sample of 47 drivers aged 65 to 91 (49% female) from Southwestern Ontario was monitored for two consecutive weeks between late November and March. Driving data was collected using two electronic devices (one with GPS), which were installed at the first of two home visits. Information on weather and road conditions was collected from archives and descriptions in participant trip logs. Participants completed questionnaires concerning background and usual driving habits. Driver perceptions were assessed using the Driving Comfort (DCS) and Perceived Driving Abilities (PDA) scales, while self-reported usual practices were examined using the Situational Driving Frequency (SDF) and Avoidance (SDA) scales. Functional driving-related abilities were assessed using the AAA/CAA’s Roadwise Review and interviews were conducted at the second home visit, at which point devices were removed and trip logs collected. Results: Driver perceptions (particularly night comfort) were significantly related to multiple indictors of driving (distance, duration, radius from home and night driving) in the expected directions. Men had higher comfort scores and better perceptions of their driving abilities and concurrently drove more often, greater distances and further from home. Participants drove on average five days a week over the winter monitoring period. Over half the 94-day monitoring period had inclement weather, while 67% of the period had poor road conditions. Nonetheless, all 46 participants drove at least once in bad weather and 73% did so in darkness. Distance driven at night varied by month of participation, with people driving more at night during December (average 50 km), compared to March (average of only 13 km). Those with lower daytime comfort scores (>50%) scores drove less on days with inclement weather (p=.03). The sample was also more likely to make social trips on clear days (p=.002) and out-of-town trips on days with good road conditions (p=.02). Conclusions: The study replicated Blanchard’s (2008) findings that driver perceptions are strongly associated with actual behaviour, regardless of the season. And both studies indicate that older drivers may not self-regulate as much as they say they do on avoidance questionnaires. Driving was fairly consistent over the two weeks, except for radius and night distance and the additional week of monitoring was more likely to capture night driving. Nonetheless, the present study provides only a snapshot of behaviour and findings should not be generalized beyond urban dwelling, well-educated, healthy and active older drivers from one part of Canada. Further studies, with larger more diverse samples (living in different regions) and longer monitoring periods, are required to advance our knowledge of self-regulatory practices in older drivers and related decision-making processes.

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The urban landscape-heat-health relationship was explored using a model of human thermal comfort (as energy budget) modified to incorporate varying urban landscape. Census Tract-level energy budget was modelled in Toronto during four extreme heat events. Energy budgets (~+80 W m-2) and heat-related ambulance calls (~+10%) increased during heat events and were positively correlated, albeit with some event-to-event fluctuation in relationship strength. Heat-related calls were negatively correlated to canopy cover. “Cooling” design strategies applied to two high-energy budget Census Tracts nearly neutralized (~–25 W m-2) thermal comfort and increased canopy cover (500–600%), resulting in an estimated 40–50% reduction in heat-related ambulance calls. These findings advance current understanding of the urban landscape-heat-health relationship and suggest straightforward design strategies to positively influence urban heat-health. This new high-throughput, Census Tract-level thermal comfort modelling methodology incorporates the complexities of the urban landscape has relevance to landscape architecture, urban design, and public health.

Thermal comfort receives little priority in the planning and design of bicycle pathways. Design tools are required to illustrate the importance of the relationship between climate and bicycling activity to improve the bicycling experience and extend the bicycling season in a cold climate. Microclimatic and bicycle pathway design principles were integrated with a COMFA model to simulate the thermal comfort of users bicycling on a proposed pathway in Ottawa, Canada. Modelling results predicted bicyclists could be thermally comfortable travelling at a steady-state speed of 16.0-19.2 km/h, but preferred to be cooler when travelling at higher speeds and warmer in colder months when standing at rest. Design implications recognized the compatibility of microclimatic and bicycle pathway design principles and demonstrated how a bioclimatic approach to designing bicycle infrastructure can encourage user thermal comfort, mitigate weather discomforts, accentuate seasonal climate conditions, and address a more inclusive combination of bicycle user design criteria.

This dissertation explores postcolonial fiction that reflects the structural situation of a genocidal number of third-world women who are being trafficked for sexual purposes from postcolonial countries into the global north—invariably, gender, class and race play a crucial role in their exploitation. Above all, these women share a systemic disposability and invisibility, as the business relies on the victim’s illegality and criminality to generate maximum revenues. My research suggests that the presence of these abject women is not only recognized by ideological and repressive state apparatuses on every side of the trafficking scheme (in the form of governments, military establishments, juridical systems, transnational corporations, etc.) but is also understood as necessary for the current neoliberal model to thrive undisturbed by ethical imperatives. Beginning with the turn of the twentieth century, then, I analyze sexual slavery transnationally by looking at James Joyce’s “Eveline,” Therese Park’s A Gift of the Emperor, Mahasweta Devi’s “Douloti the Bountiful,” Amma Darko’s Beyond the Horizon, Chris Abani’s Becoming Abigail, and Roberto Bolaño’s 2666, concentrating on the political, economic, and social discourses in which the narratives are immersed through the lens of Marxist, feminist, and postcolonial theory. By interrogating these postcolonial narratives, my project reexamines the sex slave-trafficker-consumer triad in order to determine the effect of each party’s presence or absence from the text and the implications in terms of the discourses their representations may tacitly legitimize. At the same time, this work investigates the type of postcolonial stories the West privileges and the reasons, and the subjective role postcolonial theory plays in overcoming subaltern women’s exploitation within the current neocolonial context. Overall, I interrogate the role postcolonial literature plays as a means of achieving (or not) social change, analyze the purpose of artists in representing exploitative situations, identify the type of engagement readers have with these characters, and seek to understand audiences’ response to such literature. I look at authors who have attempted to discover fruitful avenues of expression for third-world women, who, despite increasingly constituting the bulk of the work force worldwide, continue to be exploited and, in the case of sex trafficking, brutally violated.

Humans are tightly linked to their thermal microclimatic environments, yet few studies have evaluated the outdoor thermal comfort of users performing physical activity. The purpose of this research was to critically review, assess, and apply findings using the COMFA ('COMfort FormulA') human energy budget for users performing physical activity outdoors. Research objectives were: to apply an improved multi-segmented skin temperature approach to the COMFA model; to evaluate its accuracy in predicting actual thermal sensation (ATS); to implement techniques to account for human behaviours associated with clothing and metabolic variations; to spatially assess human energy budget moderating effects of urban parks; and to investigate extreme heat stress situations. To evaluate modelled mean skin temperature (T_sk), field tests were conducted on subjects performing 30 minute outdoor sessions of steady-state moderately intense activity (cycling and running). The model accurately predicted T_sk, showing significantly strong agreement (r = 0.859, p<0.01). ATS votes displayed significantly strong rank correlation with budget scores calculated using both measured and predicted T_sk (r_s = 0.507 and 0.517, respectively, p<0.01). A further improvement of Incorporating conditioning level of an individual gave more realistic estimations of metabolism for budget estimation. Adopting a new relative wind velocity (v_r) equation, which incorporates wind to body angle, revealed errors of the original v_r equation in the modelling of convective heat loss and T_sk. Application of the COMFA model in urban spaces showed that energy budgets were more closely correlated to incoming solar radiation (r = 0.941) than air temperature (r = 0.490), with a significantly strong linear regression found with radiation absorbed by a human (R^2=0.858). Treed greenspace was shown to strongly enhance thermal comfort the greatest, decreasing budgets on average by 25.5 Wm^2. Budget values were found to be a strong predictor of emergency dispatch calls received in Toronto during the July 2010 heat wave (R^2 = 0.86). This study has displayed the potential of the COMFA outdoor model as a new tool to make heat forecasting more meaningful to the public, emergency responders, and urban planners. / OGS; NSERC

Aim: This thesis reports the outcomes of a study designed to explore whether and how ethical and responsive interviewing of children in care with varying levels of sensitivity to topics that may threaten their felt security can be achieved. Background: Children come into care with a complex array of developmental challenges. They have often experienced maltreatment, loss and disrupted attachment relationships. Little is known about the effects of interviewing children in care with varying sensitivity to questioning strategies designed to measure felt security and their perceptions of being in care. Methods: The present study was iteratively designed using an exploratory mixed qualitative design. Children’s reports (N= 12) were collected using a series of iteratively designed interview methodologies supplemented by information provided by their kinship carers. Results: The following factors influence the comfort experiences of children in care: interviewer skill, interviewer and child role, child competence (perceived and real), child characteristics, external factors, ethical factors and the interview methods. The potential influence of mental health status and age were less clear. Factors related to felt insecurity were: relational, self-perceived competence and confidentiality related factors. The maintenance of the comfort experience of children in care when interviewing, cuts across many dimensions of the research context including relational, performance and methodological aspects. Children engaged in strategies to mediate their comfort, this was somewhat reliant on the methodologies and interviewer competency. Overall acceptable levels of comfort were reported to be maintained over the span of the research process. Conclusions: Children in care have vulnerabilities that need to be addressed when including them in research. Careful consideration to the design of studies and interview methodologies will ensure children in care can participate in protective research environments. The benefits to this are reflected in the gathering of quality data which can contribute to the timely provision of the appropriate services for children in care. The present study findings provide guidance for future research involving children in various types of alternate care.

Standup forklift trucks are extensively used primarily for material handling in high density warehouses. These forklifts over the years have been involved in severe accidents causing injuries and taking lives of the operator and that of people on the floor. The major accidents involving these trucks are tip-over, off the dock accidents, compartment intrusions and under the rack injuries. The objective of the work is to analyze the accident data and to provide a conceptual design to ensure safety of the operator riding the standup forklift trucks. The operator is assumed to be safe when retained within the compartment similar to that of the safe space environment of a sit down forklift truck or tractors. Thus a door on the standup forklift would provide a safer compartment. This design would help in preventing severe injuries to the operator in case of any accidents. The important criterion of this design is to provide a door with latch and slide mechanism to ensure easy egress and ingress of the operator. The compartment is designed ergonomically for 95th percentile industrial male population. The accident data is studied by performing statistical and failure analysis. Weibull plots are fitted for life time distribution data and are found to be of increasing rate. This suggests that present safety precautions are increasingly ineffective.

Compost bedded pack (CBP) barn design and pack maintenance procedures vary considerably, making advising and problem-solving challenging. One objective of this research was to characterize herd performance and management practices employed by Kentucky CBP managers (42 farms and 47 CBP facilities). Producer satisfaction, changes in historical bulk-tank somatic cell count, and improvement in herd performance parameters after transitioning to a CBP barn support reported CBP barn system benefits. Daily milk production increased from before moving into the CBP barn to the second year after (29.3 ± 0.3 vs. 30.7 ± 0.3 kg, respectively; P < 0.05) for farms using the CBP barn as the primary housing facility (n = 8). Increasing stirring frequency, stirring depth, and ambient temperatures increased pack temperature. Increased drying rate decreased CBP moisture. Increased 20.3 cm depth CBP temperature and ambient temperatures improved cow hygiene. Mastitis-causing bacteria thrive in conditions similar to optimal composting bacteria conditions, making reduction of these bacteria difficult in an active composting environment. Producers must pay attention to other management areas where preventive measures can be employed. The New Dairy Housing Investment Analysis Dashboard provides users an interactive and flexible decision tool to make more informed facility investment decisions.