Background: The Senate of Canada asserts that quality end-of-life care is the right of every Canadian. Yet, little is known about the quality of end-of-life care for dying children and their families. Purpose: The study purpose was to develop and test an instrument to measure parents’ perspectives on the quality of care provided to families before, at the time of, and following the death of a child. Methods: In study Phase I, key components of quality pediatric end-of-life care were synthesized through a systematic review of research literature then validated and extended through focus groups with bereaved parents. In Phase II, instrument items were developed to assess structures, processes, and outcomes important to quality end-of-life care, then tested for content and face validity by health professionals and bereaved parents. In Phase III, the instrument was administered to bereaved mothers from across Canada and psychometric testing conducted. Results: Instrument items were developed based on review of 67 manuscripts and 3 focus groups with 10 parents. The Content Validity Index for the instrument was 0.84 as assessed by 7 health professionals. The instrument was assessed by 6 bereaved parents for face and content validity as well as their cognitive understanding of the items. In the final phase, 128 mothers completed the instrument and 31 of those completed it twice. Initial evidence for test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity was demonstrated for 7 subscales: Connect with Families, Involve Parents, Share Information with Parents, Share Information among Health Professionals, Support Parents, Provide Care at Death, and Provide Bereavement Follow-up. Additional items with demonstrated content validity only were grouped into three domains: Support the Child, Support Siblings, and Structures of Care. Implications: This study is a significant step forward in comprehensive measurement of the quality of children’s end-of-life care. The instrument provides a mechanism for feedback to health professionals, health systems, and policy makers to improve care provided to families facing the death of a child.

In this survey I have been trying to find out which factors influence the students’ choice of instrument. I hope to, through the results, gain knowledge about how to reach interested students in my future work as a trombone educator. I have let 15 students that have played trombone in the County Music Academy one to three years, answer my inquiry concerning their choice of instrument. The students’ parents were also asked to give an explanation to what they think made their child play the trombone and whether they tried to influence their child in the choice of instrument. The answers show clearly that these parents have not influenced their children’s choice of instrument and that the impression you and I as a teacher give during the first session seems to be of great importance.

Background: The Senate of Canada asserts that quality end-of-life care is the right of every Canadian. Yet, little is known about the quality of end-of-life care for dying children and their families. Purpose: The study purpose was to develop and test an instrument to measure parents’ perspectives on the quality of care provided to families before, at the time of, and following the death of a child. Methods: In study Phase I, key components of quality pediatric end-of-life care were synthesized through a systematic review of research literature then validated and extended through focus groups with bereaved parents. In Phase II, instrument items were developed to assess structures, processes, and outcomes important to quality end-of-life care, then tested for content and face validity by health professionals and bereaved parents. In Phase III, the instrument was administered to bereaved mothers from across Canada and psychometric testing conducted. Results: Instrument items were developed based on review of 67 manuscripts and 3 focus groups with 10 parents. The Content Validity Index for the instrument was 0.84 as assessed by 7 health professionals. The instrument was assessed by 6 bereaved parents for face and content validity as well as their cognitive understanding of the items. In the final phase, 128 mothers completed the instrument and 31 of those completed it twice. Initial evidence for test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity was demonstrated for 7 subscales: Connect with Families, Involve Parents, Share Information with Parents, Share Information among Health Professionals, Support Parents, Provide Care at Death, and Provide Bereavement Follow-up. Additional items with demonstrated content validity only were grouped into three domains: Support the Child, Support Siblings, and Structures of Care. Implications: This study is a significant step forward in comprehensive measurement of the quality of children’s end-of-life care. The instrument provides a mechanism for feedback to health professionals, health systems, and policy makers to improve care provided to families facing the death of a child.

No description available.

Les études empiriques sur le coût social des paiements s'accordent à dire que les espèces sont l'instrument de paiement le plus coûteux pour la société. Les banques centrales et commerciales ont mis en œuvre diverses stratégies pour réduire à la fois la détention et l'usage du cash dans les paiements. Parmi celles-ci on retrouve une catégorie de stratégies dites non-tarifaires telles que l'amélioration du système de division monétaire (SDM) et le changement de la technologie de fabrication des espèces. Toutefois, l'efficacité réelle de ces stratégies est sujette à débat. Cette thèse contribue à ce champ d'étude à travers la détermination des divisions monétaires optimales et le rapport coût-efficacité des SDM. Elle permet de mieux comprendre les implications à la fois du comportement de paiement, de la technologie de fabrication et de la structure du SDM sur la distribution des transactions en espèces dans l'économie et sur le coût social des espèces. Tout d'abord, nous relâchons certaines hypothèses restrictives dans la comparaison de l'efficacité des SDM en se basant sur une distribution empirique des transactions en espèces réalisée en France. Ensuite, nous mettons en cause une pensée largement répandue selon laquelle les SDM efficaces réduisent le coût social des paiements et on établit par ailleurs aussi que les solutions de paiement efficaces en termes du principe de moindre effort peuvent être plus coûteuses pour la banque centrale. On propose un cadre original pour mesurer le bénéfice de l'adoption d'une nouvelle technologie de fabrication des espèces et, enfin, on compare le coût social de deux SDM en simulant une version aboutie des modèles de search.

Ce projet de recherche se présente sous la forme d'une performance musicale interactive présentée devant public. Les installations nécessaires à la performance comprennent d'un côté des instruments de musique traditionnels cubains et de l'autre un automate musical présentant diverses fonctionnalités interactives. Ces deux dimensions sont regroupées autour d'un chef d'orchestre/performeur (l'auteur de ces lignes) qui va les unifier le temps d'une performance musicale en temps réel. Le répertoire musical folklorique afro-cubain y sert de base à l'élaboration d'une fresque musicale qui est interprétée à l'aide d'instruments traditionnels tels que les congas, le tres et la clave. Ces instruments sont joués par la même personne et enregistrés de manière successive à l'aide de l'automate musical. Des séquences préenregistrées viennent s'ajouter à ces enregistrements en direct afin de constituer un corpus riche et malléable. Plusieurs paramètres compositionnels peuvent être altérés en temps réel à partir des senseurs de mouvement disposés en demi-cercle au-dessus de l'interacteur. Il en résulte ainsi l'élaboration improvisée et interactive d'une composition musicale dérivée du folklore afro-cubain. L'ensemble est ponctué de divers enregistrements de conversations réalisés lors d'un séjour à Cuba, rassemblant ainsi les diverses interventions musicales en une trame suggérant le voyage, le métissage culturel ainsi que l'apprentissage musical. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Art, Communication, Culture, Musique, Composition, Conga, Temps réel, Métissage culturel, Interactivité, Hyperinstrument, Réalité augmentée, Altérité.

This thesis aims to investigate SAAB AB´s possibilities to use synthetic instruments in their test systems. The reason for this is reducing costs and the risk of obsolescence which is common when test systems operate for several decades. The market around synthetic instruments has been explored in the search for suitable hardware and software. Software has been developed in LabVIEW and synthetic instruments have been created with the help of IVI-drivers. The hardware consisted of PXI-instruments (Waveform generator and Digitizer), connected to a computer using a fiber optic link and PXI-chassi. The created instruments was then compared to common instruments used today, and the comparison turned out well. Advantages, disadvantages and the theory surrounding synthetic instruments is also covered. This thesis is only an introduction and further work will be necessary to implement synthetic instruments at SAAB. The thesis also purposes suitable hardware and further development based on the test systems used today, and how it is possible to solve the layer structure. / Detta examensarbete har som mål att undersöka möjligheterna för SAAB AB att börja använda sig av syntetiska mätinstrument i sina testsystem. Anledningen till detta är att SAAB AB vill minska kostnaderna och riskerna för obsolescens som finns när testsystem är i drift i flera decennier. Detta har inneburit att marknaden har sonderats efter lämplig hårdvara och mjukvara för tillämpningen. Förutom detta har mjukvara tagits fram i LabVIEW och syntetiska instrument skapats med hjälp av IVI-drivrutiner. Som hårdvara användes PXI-instrument (vågformsgenerator och digitizer) med tillhörande chassi och fiberoptisk länk från National Instruments. De framtagna instrumenten har jämförts med vanliga reella instrument och visat sig fungera väl, men även fördelar och nackdelar belyses samt teori kring hur syntetiska instrument fungerar. Examensarbetet är endast en introduktion i ämnet och kräver ytterligare arbete innan det är praktiskt genomförbart. Förutom detta ges även förslag på lämplig hårdvara och vidareutveckling baserat på hur testsystemen ser ut i dag, och förslag på hur lageruppbyggnaden skulle kunna lösas.

A Laser Music System has been created, that combines a laser and light sensor system with an infrared distance sensing system that detects the position of a user’s hand when it intersects one or more of the individual laser beam. The laser beams, which are made visible by a small amount of smoke in a dark room, provide visual guidance to the user to reduce the difficulty of using a non-contact instrument as well as enhancing an appealing optical effect for the user. The system uses a number of Sharp distance sensors to map the position of the user’s hand to a variable like pitch. The user should move their hand to different heights to achieve a desired pitch. The laser beam should be broken to trigger the desired note.

This research addresses the lack of an existing psychometrically sound Aspergers Syndrome self-screening instrument for adults. Initial instrument development procedures were carried out by creating an item pool using existing Asperger measures. Items were rewritten following common item writing rules suggested by several researchers as reference. Five new domains were created and the items were re-categorized. Expert panel of nine judges specialized in Psychometrics, ASD, School Psychology, and Speech-Language Pathology were asked to rate the relevancy of items to their domains in order to obtain evidence of content validity. These experts were chosen because of their relatedness to Aspergers Syndrome and their expertise in instrument development. First, the quality of the judges ratings were examined to identify any aberrant judges. Ratings were then analyzed using the remaining six judges using three descriptive and three quantitative methods to examine the representativeness and relevancy of each item to their domain. A total of 55 items were identified as satisfactory by the judges. The second part of this study was to compare the content validity analytical methods. It was concluded that the percentage agreement, the content validity index (CVI), and the content validity coefficients (VIK) were the best methods to use in selecting the satisfactory items. This research aims to bring more attention to the importance of psychometric properties in measures for the Autism Spectrum Disorder field. It also hope to shed some light on which content validity analyses would best be used under certain circumstances. Limitations of study and future directions were also discussed.

Sammanfattning Att undersöka en befolknings fysiska aktivitet ger beskrivande data utav dagsläget samt att resultatet fungerar som mätinstrument för hur en framtida intervention ska utformas. Syftet med denna studie var att se om något samband förelåg mellan tre olika undersökningsinstrument för fysisk aktivitet, som används för med barn med övervikt. Metod: Deltagarna mättes, vägdes, skattade sin fysiska aktivitetsnivå (frågeformulär), testade sin fysiska prestationsförmåga (sex minuters gångtest) och deras fysiska aktivitet mättes (accelerometer). Resultat: Åtta flickor, 7-13 år, med ett Body Mass Index (BMI) på 26 ± 3,7 kg/m2deltog. Majoriteten skattade sig vara fysiskt aktiva 30-60 min/dag under vardag och helg, men som grupp var skattningen signifikant lägre på helgen. Deltagarnas fysiska prestationsförmåga var signifikant lägre än det beräknade normalvärde. Barnen utförde i snitt 67 ±24 min/dag aktivitet under vardagarna och signifikant mindre aktivitet (31 ± 29,7min/dag) på helgerna. Ett signifikant samband förelåg mellan undersökningsinstrumenten för utförd fysisk aktivet under vardagarna och prestationsförmågan, där även en formel för hur sambandet kunde kalkyleras framtogs. Slutsats: Trots litet deltagarantal skulle studiens resultat tyda på att 6MGT kan användas inte bara för att bedöma prestationsförmåga utan även för beräknad utförd fysisk aktivitet under vardagarna. / Abstract Investigation physical activity in a population gives descriptive data and the result serves as a measuring instrument for how future interventions ought to be designed. The purpose of this study was to see whether any associations existed between three examination instruments for physical activity that are used with children with overweight. Method: The participants were measured, weighed, estimated their physical activity (questionnaire), testing their physical performance (six-minute walking test) and their physical activity was measured (accelerometer). Results: Eight girls, aged 7-13, body mass index of 26 ± 3.7, participated. The majority of the children estimated to be physically active for 30-60 min/day, during weekdays and weekends, but seen as a group the estimation was significantly lower on the weekend. Their physical performance showed a significantly lower value than the predicted value. The children performed on average for 67 ± 24 min / day during the week and significantly less (31 ± 29.7 min / day) on weekends. A significant association existed between performed physical activity during weekdays and the performance test. A formula for how this relationship could be calculated was designed. Conclusion: Despite low numbers of participants the result of the study could indicate that 6MWT can be used not only for assessing the performance but also to calculate the executed amount of activity during weekdays.