In my thesis, I examine Aminata Sow Fall's sixth novel Douceurs du bercail "The Sweetness of Home" through three lenses: race, gender, and nature. I analyze the way Sow Fall approaches each of these three areas in terms of paradox to emphasize her understanding of the complexity of these issues and her reluctance to outline them rigidly. Instead of putting forth hard opinions about how race, gender, or nature should be understood, Sow Fall exhibits a propensity to allow each area to remain complicated. I study why she allows racial, gendered, and environmental paradoxes to circulate around one another in her text rather than attempting to resolve them, concluding that she uses this strategy both as an organizing principle and as an invitation to her readers to question the extant theories surrounding these three issues. Sow Fall's use of language in all three areas signals an underlying fascination with the paradoxes inherent in each. In the chapter on race, I discuss the contrasting narrative styles Sow Fall uses to describe European airport officials versus the protagonist Asta's best friend, a French woman named Anne. Sow Fall's language is significant here because she contrasts two white Europeans, one characterized as systematic and cold, the other warm and open, respectively. I also discuss the way Sow Fall uses an informal and lethargic narrative voice to characterize a black secretary living in Senegal, further highlighting the disconnect between the two racial groups. In the chapter on feminism, I discuss a shift in Asta's language as she becomes more assertive. I also analyze the various aspects of femininity in Douceurs du bercail which have led some scholars to carry out feminist readings of the text, such as Asta's decision to leave her domineering and abusive husband, but recognize the more traditional aspects of the novel, such as Asta's marriage to Babou at Naatangué, as problematic to a purely feminist reading of the text. In the chapter on nature, I study Sow Fall's problematic use of Westernized language to describe the development of the untouched land of Naatangué into a lucrative farm. Throughout the chapters, I interpret Naatangué as the ultimate paradoxical space which is at once wrought with complicated language and conflicting ideals yet acts as a quasi-paradise where Asta and her friends balance the conflicting forces of tradition and modernity. Naatangué also acts as an organizing principle where all three areas of my study intersect.

This study focuses on change and continuity with the interwar period as the era to examine in the textbooks. The purpose of this study as such, is to see if the textbooks Levande Historia and Capensis on the chapter of the interwar period balance change and continuity. The theory that underlines the examination of these textbooks is the historical-thinking tradition, which highlights the importance of the students from an early age should learn to think more scientifically and to even think like a historian. Furthermore, a content analysis has been carried out on the interwar period in these textbooks to answer the questions that has been posed in the study. The content analysis highlights change above all, but it also shows that the balance between change and continuity is not even. The results show in relation toward the questions asked that the textbooks’ chapters in the interwar period does not have the balance between change and continuity, as it should. It also must be pointed out that the result of this study is focused on one chapter from both textbooks and that it does not necessarily will apply on the entire textbook. It is also highlighted in this study that there are difficulties in how students’ perspective can be affected by one-sided descriptions. The conclusion of this study shows that it is possible for further development when it comes to the content in textbooks, and that further research for improvement perhaps is what is needed forfuture students

In Sweden fall-related injuries among the elderly lead to over a thousand deaths and close to 300.0000 hospital visitations annually. Fall related injuries can in many cases lead to serious head injuries along with other fractures. The elderly are more prone to fall and sustain an injury because of conditions such as osteoporosis and weak muscles. Researchers at KTH from the Division of Neuronic Engineering have developed a special floor that absorbs energy from an impact which can reduce the severity of injury when a person falls. There has been research done on the floor focusing on hip fractures which have shown good results. The floor has been set up in an elderly home in Stureby, Stockholm, Sweden, however further testing is needed to fully develop the floor to its maximum capacity. One goal of this master thesis was to investigate certain obstacles with the floor which arose during testing in Stureby. One of the challenges was that the floor had greater rolling resistance since it is softer than a normal concrete floor. The experiment was done by using a dynamo meter to measure the force needed to move a test wagon with a fixed weight and different sizes of wheels. Another goal of this thesis was to investigate head impacts on the KTH floor. That was done in a helmet testing lab at Mips helmet company. There a dummy head was dropped from various heights and the acceleration was measured. The 1st principle strain of the brain was calculated from the collected data. Other companies have created similar floors so it was a part of the thesis to compare the KTH floor with its competitors. The results from the rolling resistance showed that by increasing the width and diameter of the wheels there was less force needed to move the test wagon. Further tests are needed to investigate the problem regarding the indentation issues seen on the floor set up in Stureby. Some research has already begun with different types of linoleum and glue. In the head impact studies, the KTH floor showed the best results of all tested floors when dropped from 60 cm. However, when dropped from 100 cm a competitor floor showed better results in the resultant translational acceleration.

Our population are ageing. As this happens more people will be in need of longterm care facilities. We now know that some elderly people with certainbackground factors are more likely to be injured or sick. One of the four biggestbackground factors is fall propensity. Most of the reported falls come from longterm care facilities, approximately 60 % of the care takers in long term carefacilities fall one time or more each year. Earlier studies has shown that physicalactivity can lead to improved balance and decreased fall propensity. This literaturereview intended to investigate suitable types of physical activity to decrease thenumber of falls of people living in long term care facilities, by illustrating theeffect of physical activity, intrinsic risk factors and fall frequency. A literaturereview of quantitative studies was made. The result of the study was that onesingle training program is probably not suitable for all elderly living in long termcare facilities. Simplified Tai Chi is possibly suitable more mobile elderlies andSun-style Tai Chi suites the ones with a risk factor for falling. Some programs,like performing the training program while sitting down, is probably morefavourable for those in need of transport assistance. / Vi får en allt äldre befolkning. I takt med att befolkningen åldras kommer antaletäldre, med behov av särskilt boende, att öka. Man vet idag att vissa äldre medspeciella bakgrundsfaktorer har en större risk att drabbas av sjukdom och skada.En av de fyra största bakgrundsfaktorerna som medför hög risk för sjukdom ochskada är fallbenägenhet. Fall är mest rapporterade inom särskilda boenden, cirka60 % av vårdtagarna inom särskilda boenden drabbas årligen av ett eller flera fall.Tidigare studier har visat att fysisk aktivitet kan leda till en förbättrad balans ochminskad falltendens. Litteraturstudien ämnade att undersöka lämpliga former avfysisk aktivitet för att minska fall hos äldre i särskilt boende, genom att belysafysisk aktivitets effekt på inre riskfaktorer samt fallfrekvensen. En litteraturstudieav kvantitativa studier gjordes. Resultatet som framkom föreslår att ett och sammaträningsprogram förmodligen inte passar alla äldre. Förenklad Tai Chi passarmöjligen de äldre som är mer mobila och Sun-style Tai Chi passar de som harnågon riskfaktor för att falla. En del program, som exempelvis att utföraträningsprogrammet sittande, är möjligen mer fördelaktigt för de som är i behovav assistans vid förflyttning.

Fall och dess följder är ett stort folkhälsoproblem i hela världen. Sjuksköterskans preventiva insatser för att förhindra fall är en av de många viktiga förebyggande insatserna i sjukvården. Med tanke på att andelen äldre ökar i Sverige och allt fler äldre bor kvar hemma, där en stor del av fallen sker, gjordes en litteraturstudie för att undersöka vad en sjuksköterska i hemsjukvården kan göra för att minska riskerna för fall. Det visade sig att användandet av höftskyddsbyxor, träning av balans- och muskelstyrka och utbildning var de mest framgångsrika åtgärderna. / Fall and its consequences is a great problem in the public health all over the world. The preventive effort from nurses to reduce falls is one of many important actions in nursing. Because of the increasing amount of older in Sweden and the older living longer in their own homes, where most of the falls take place, a systematic review was made to examine what a nurse in public health service could do to decrease the fall risk. It appeared that use of hip-protectors, training of balance- and muscular strength and education seems to be the most successful actions.

Background: A rural level 1 trauma center underwent a consolidation to level III status in a new trauma network system. A dedicated group of midlevel practitioners emphasizing early mobilization, a geriatric care model, and fall prevention replaced surgical residents in the level 3 center. We hypothesized that outcomes of elderly fall-related injuries may be enhanced with midlevel providers using a geriatric-focused care model. Methods: An IRB-approved trauma registry review of patients over 65 years of age with a fall-related injury admitted to a rural trauma center 1 year prior to and 1 year following a trauma center consolidation from level 1 to level III designation evaluated demographics, anticoagulant use, comorbidities, and clinical outcomes. Statistical analysis included t-test and regression analysis. Results: 327 patients injured by falls were seen over a 2-year study period. The number of patients admitted with a fall-related injury and the injury severity were similar over the study period. Increasing age and anticoagulant use increased length of stay and mortality (both with P <.05). Mortality rates and patient level of independence on discharge were improved in the later period involving midlevel practitioners (both with P <.05). Discussion: Trauma centers and trauma system networks face increasing challenges to provide resources and providers of care for patients injured by falls, especially for the growing elderly population. Midlevel providers focusing on geriatric clinical issues and goals may enhance care and outcomes of elderly fall-related injuries.

The objective of the research was to develop and validate a multifaceted model such as a fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) model that considers both qualitative and quantitative elements with relative significance in assessing the likelihood of falls and aid in the design of NASA Ground Support Operations in aerospace environments. The model represented linguistic variables that quantified significant risk factor levels. Multiple risk factors that contribute to falls in NASA Ground Support Operations are task related, human/personal, environmental, and organizational. Six subject matter experts were asked to participate in a voting system involving a survey where they judge risk factors using the fundamental pairwise comparison scale. The results were analyzed and synthesize using Expert Choice Software, which produced the relative weights for the risk factors. The following are relative weights for these risk factors: Task Related (0.314), Human/Personal (0.307), Environmental (0.248), and Organizational (0.130). The overall inconsistency ratio for all risk factors was 0.07, which indicates the model results were acceptable. The results show that task related risk factors are the highest cause for falls and the organizational risk are the lowest cause for falls in NASA Ground Support Operations. The multiple risk factors weights were validated by having two teams of subject matter experts create priority vectors separately and confirm the weights are valid. The fuzzy AHP model usability was utilizing fifteen subjects in a repeated measures analysis. The subjects were asked to evaluate three scenarios in NASA KSC Ground Support Operations regarding various case studies and historical data. The three scenarios were Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), Launch Complex Payloads (LCP), and Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance for assessment agreement between and within the subjects was 1.00. Therefore, the appraisers are applying essentially the same standard when evaluating the scenarios. In addition, a NASA subject matter expert was requested to evaluate the three scenarios also. The predicted value was compared to accepted value. The results from the subject matter expert for the model usability confirmed that the predicted value and accepted value for the likelihood rating were similar. The percentage error for the three scenarios was 0%, 33%, 0% respectively. Multiple descriptive statistics for a 95% confidence interval and t-test are the following: coefficient of variation (21.36), variance (0.251), mean (2.34), and standard deviation (0.501). Model validation was the guarantee of agreement with the NASA standard. Model validation process was partitioned into three components: reliability, objectivity, and consistency. The model was validated by comparing the fuzzy AHP model to NASA accepted model. The results indicate there was minimal variability with fuzzy AHP modeling. As a result, the fuzzy AHP model is confirmed valid. Future research includes developing fall protection guidelines.

The following paper describes a fall detection and activity monitoring system with position detection based on Zigbee transceivers.The main objective is to reduce the time taken for emergency personnel to respond to falls among the elderly. Especially when the victim is unconscious or delirious, position tracking reduces location determination time within a busy hospital or nursing home environment and facilitates immediate treatment. Reduced response times correlate to decreased morbidity and mortality rates. Background is provided on the major wireless network advances currently deployed in a healthcare setting for asset and personnel tracking, etiology of falls, and several methods of detecting falls using sensors and image processing techniques. Data analysis proves that a precise coordinate tracking system was infeasible using the XBee RF module (based on the Zigbee protocol) due to environmental noise, a poor antenna construction and lack of precise signal strength measurements. A primitive scheme with lower resolution and higher reliability associating a single location with each Zigbee transceiver was employed. A pedometer function was added to the project to monitor the user’s daily activity and to potentially serve as a predictor of falls through the interpretation of mobility and gait patterns related to step counts.

The taphonomy and paleoecology of a well-preserved mosasaur (DSM 10716) are reported from Oktibbeha County, Mississippi. The mosasaur was recovered from the Prairie Bluff Chalk, the exact stratigraphic position and age confirmed using established foraminiferal zonation for the Late Cretaceous of the U. S. Gulf Coastal Plain. A species identification of Mosasaurus cf. hoffmanni Mantell is given using shape and structure of the quadrate and jugal, as well as tooth counts for the dentary, maxilla, and pterygoid. DSM 10716 exhibits well-preserved trace fossils including feeding traces and the remains of encrusting bivalves. The associated fossils are probed for similar phenomena to modern whale falls and other ancient carcass falls. Based on associated fossils present on DSM 10716, evidence for a mobile scavenger stage, a possible enrichment opportunist stage, and a reef stage is established. No chemosynthetic organisms were detected to suggest the existence of a sulfophilic stage.

No description available.