Purpose: This study is formed in order to evaluate what limitations there are in the early construction development process. The study is conducted at a Swedish construction company. To define the work, three research questions have been asked:   <ol type="1">How does the early planning affect the future development of apartment projects How does the collaboration between different actors work in the early development of housing projects? How are resources utilized during early development? Methodology: The study has been completed using a qualitative approach in order to investigate the limitations. Semi structured interviews have been the main data source, combined with observations and internal documentation. The study has been conducted in a Swedish construction company's department within their in-house apartment projects. Findings: This report indicated that the municipality places demands on contractors, which may lead to limitations in flexibility for further development. It also indicated that the resources in the first stage are limited and the relationship between the contractor and real estate agency are weak.

Stomatal conductance and mesophyll conductance for CO2 transport are two key components of diffusive limitations of photosynthesis, since they restrict CO2 flux from the leaf surface to the sub-stomatal cavity and from there to the sites of carboxylation. This thesis summarizes our findings in the field of nature of mesophyll conductance to CO2 transport and its regulation per se and in respect to stomatal conductance.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-16T14:49:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1553028 bytes, checksum: d576015886f0d544b4c3df75d7c7e356 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-12-06 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / This study aims to analyze digital limitations based on the consumer vulnerability theory, especially in adolescent consumers, in order to verify the level of vulnerability originated from digital limitations that are typical of this transition period in their lives. For that purpose, the consumer vulnerability model and the tridimensional digital limitations model were investigated, focusing on elaborating a conceptual model for this research and for substantiating the relationship between digital limitations and vulnerability. As a qualitative research, the methodological procedures used were interviews and observational videography as a complementary technique. In this means, the combination of the speeches about technology consumption and vulnerability experiences were combined with the observed consumption situations captured in this research. Fifteen adolescents were interviewed, amongst them, five college students, five public school students, and five from private schools, for analyzing possible divergences on technology use, through content analysis. From the samples, nine individuals were accompanied when accessing and using information technology. Interview and dialogue transcriptions were basis for the following dimensions, with the support of the research conceptual model: vulnerability, cognitive-informational limitation, behavioral limitation, accessibility limitation and teenagers. Results indicate that vulnerability experiences occur when the adolescents are more fragile, thus for their lack of experience in consuming. Besides, digital limitations, along with social influence are key factors in aggravating vulnerability in the virtual context. By all means, the adolescents from the sample presented response strategies for these situations such as adaptation and conformation. / O presente estudo possui o objetivo de analisar as limitações digitais à luz da teoria da vulnerabilidade do consumidor, em especial do consumidor adolescente no intuito de verificar a vulnerabilidade oriunda das limitações digitais nesse período de transição dos indivíduos. Para isto, foram estudados os modelos de vulnerabilidade do consumidor e o modelo tridimensional de limitações digitais tendo como foco a elaboração do modelo conceitual desta pesquisa e a fundamentação da relação entre limitações digitais e a vulnerabilidade. Por ser uma pesquisa qualitativa, nos procedimentos metodológicos utilizou-se as entrevistas individuais, como técnica principal e videografia observacional, de maneira complementar. Assim, a combinação dos discursos sobre o consumo relativo às tecnologias e as experiências de vulnerabilidade, com as observações das situações de consumo vivenciadas foram captadas. Foram entrevistados quinze adolescentes, entre estes, cinco universitários, cinco estudantes de escola pública e cinco de escolas particulares, a fim de averiguar possíveis diferenças no uso das tecnologias por meio da análise do conteúdo. Destes, nove foram acompanhados no acesso e uso das tecnologias de informação. As transcrições das entrevistas e diálogos dos adolescentes foram bases para as seguintes dimensões, com apoio no modelo conceitual da pesquisa: vulnerabilidade, limitação cognitivo-informacional, limitação comportamental, limitação de acesso e adolescentes. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que experiências de vulnerabilidade ocorrem na medida em que os adolescentes são mais frágeis, até mesmo pela falta de experiência como consumidor. Além disso, as limitações digitais, juntamente com a influência social são fatores determinantes no agravamento da situação de vulnerabilidade no contexto virtual. De todo modo, os adolescentes apresentaram estratégias de respostas a estas situações como adaptação e conformação.

Na atual economia de mercado, mostra-se cada vez mais relevante a estruturação equilibrada do sistema de patentes, em razão das controvérsias geradas em torno do pêndulo: estímulo à inovação e desenvolvimento técnico-científico de um lado, e ônus sociais, de outro. Isso porque, o direito de exclusividade sobre a invenção - que envolve o desenvolvimento técnico com base em conhecimentos pré-existentes - gera custos sociais, uma vez que a sociedade, como um todo, fica impedida de usufruir dos avanços tecnológicos durante um período de tempo (prazo da patente), bem como fica submetida aos preços e à forma de exploração econômica ditada pelo titular. O sistema de patentes precisa ser minuciosamente equacionado de maneira a lidar com os benefícios do titular da patente e da sociedade. Nesse contexto, surge a importância de dois institutos jurídicos: a exclusão ao patenteamento (ou proibição do patenteamento de determinadas matérias) e a exceção ao exercício do direito de exclusividade do titular da patente (ou limitação do direito de patente). O presente estudo tem por objetivo analisar, no Direito Comparado (tratados internacionais, tratados regionais e legislações estrangeiras), os institutos das exclusões e das exceções ao direito de patente diante, principalmente, dos novos desenvolvimentos em áreas como engenharia genética, biologia molecular e informática, a fim de verificar se há uma harmonização internacional; se há diferença em posições adotadas de acordo com o nível de desenvolvimento do país; e a regulamentação dessas hipóteses no Brasil. Ao final, pôde-se verificar, com base na análise de Direito Comparado, como os países estrangeiros lidam com as novas invenções, as diferentes posições adotadas na legislação ou na contrução jurisprudencial, o que torna qualquer intenção de harmonização um caminho ainda longe de ser alcançado; e o posicionamento adotado no Brasil e eventual proposta de interpretação. / The market economy today has evidenced the increasing importance of a structured and balanced patent system in view of the controversy that has arisen, creating a pendulum that swings between the stimulus for technological-scientific innovation and development on the one end, and the resulting social burden on the other. This is because the right to exclusivity of an invention which involves technological development based on preexisting knowledge - generates social costs since the society at large is impeded from enjoying technological advances during a certain period of time (the patent term), and moreover is submitted to prices and methods of economic exploitation determined by the patent holder. The patent system must be thoroughly restructured to deal with the patent holders benefits versus the demands of society. Within this context, the importance of two legal principles emerges: patenting exclusions (or prohibited patenting of certain items) and exceptions and limitations on the exercise of the right to exclusivity granted the patent holder (or limitation of the patent right). The purpose of this study is to analyze from the standpoint of Comparative Law (international treaties, regional treaties and foreign legislation) the principles of exclusions and exceptions and limitations on patent rights, mainly considering the new developments in areas such as genetic engineering, molecular biology and information technology to confirm whether there is international harmonization; whether there is a difference in the stands adopted according to the level of development in the country and regulation of these events in Brazil. Finally, based on Comparative Law it can be seen how foreign counties deal with new inventions, the different stands adopted in their laws or in construction of case law, all of which make any intention for attaining harmonization a long path to be tread; and to conclude the stand adopted in Brazil with proposals for interpretation.

Increased availability of natural gas has boosted research and development efforts to further increase gas turbine performance. Performance has been increased remarkably and unit cost reduced due to achievements gained in improving thermodynamic cycles and cooling technologies. However, increased complexity in power industry regulations and fluctuations in fuel price have indicated that all the aforementioned improvements in gas turbine performance could not cope with the increased competition in the gas turbine industrial market. Innovation within the aero-derivative concept has enabled further significant improvement in the performance of industrial gas turbines. It allows a more beneficial approach than developing new designs of industrial gas turbines owing to reduced designing time and cost. Objectives in this project focus on developing a methodology of design and assessing aeroderivative gas turbine engines derived from a 130-seat aircraft engine. Developed methodology includes techno-economic and environmental assessment, conducted through further developments of models based on Techno-economic and Environmental Risk Assessment (TERA) philosophy, to be applied in further industrial applications. Tools used in this investigation include a significant literature research on the development of aero-derivative gas turbine technologies, including thermodynamic cycles and its land-based applications. Turbomatch is a homebased code developed in Cranfield University, used in calculating design point and predicting off-design performance of parent aero-engine and the aeroderivative engines developed. Excel and FORTRAN code are also used in calculating engine’s design parameters, and creating a model of life estimation Creep. Moreover, FORTRAN code is used for building emission and economic models for power generation and combined heat and power applications. Finally, MATLAP code is used in creating a small model for generating performance TXT files, and running marine integrated models platform. All models needed to develop the methodology have been created, and calculations of an engine’s performance and assessment were conducted based on this developed methodology. Sensible results are generated from the investigated methodology and they show acceptable designs of aero-derivative engines on different thermodynamic cycles. Based on the acceptable level of technology and material thermal barriers, all design and off-design performance limitations of new developed aero-derivative engines have been determined for a wide range of ambient conditions. Techno-economic and environmental assessment performed through implementing the developed aero-derivative engines on power generation and marine applications under different operating scenarios. Results of operating the engines on power generation and marine applications have been investigated and compared. It is observed that engines respond differently when operating under different environmental profiles, depending on the number of units engaged and their thermodynamic cycle as well as mechanical configurations. Also, the selected specific gas turbine engine can be the best economical choice for operating on determined scenario, while it cannot be when operating in different scenarios. Assessment of developed engines on the investigated application shows how the lowest specific cost (small engine size) can constitute important criteria in engine selection.

Context. In recent years there has been observed a significant shift from plan-driven development towards agile, which is considered as a vast improvement to processes. However, it has also been spotted that agile methodologies are hardly ever applied in their pure form. Moreover, hybrid processes as combinations of plan-driven and agile practices emerge. In addition, agile adoption has been reported to result in both: benefits and limitations. Objectives. In this study the following matters are investigated: 1) the commonness of plan driven and agile practices usage, 2) common practices combinations, 3) patterns for agile adoption over time, 4) hybrid development models and 5) the actual effects of agile adoption in terms of benefits and limitations as perceived by practitioners. Methods. The thesis presents an empirical investigation of software development organizations. The objectives are achieved through a targeted survey based on existing evidence and a multidimensional data analysis. The mean for obtaining data is a web-based questionnaire with an interactive board with practices and time indication sliders (to capture applied development models and practices adoption strategies) and hierarchical cumulative voting (to measure the relative significance of benefits and limitations). The data analysis is supported by hierarchical cluster analysis and an extended hierarchical voting analysis framework (EHV-F). Results. In total, 45 practitioners have been successfully surveyed. The commonness of 7 plan-driven and 14 agile practices usage was investigated. The relative significance of agile adoption benefits (32 factors in 10 categories) and limitations (23 factors in 7 categories) was measured with respect to global view (all respondents and perspectives), different agile adoption strategies as well as distinguished development models. Conclusions. It is concluded that agile practices dominate over plan-driven, however, hybrid approaches, being combinations of plan-driven and agile practices, are frequently applied. It is also concluded that some practices are commonly used together since they facilitate each other (e.g. continuous integration with testing which facilitate short iterations and releases). Some agile practices are still unsuccessfully applied and eventually abandoned (e.g. pair programming), what should be further investigated by researchers. Incremental agile adoption strategy was found to be the most beneficial approach. It is also concluded that agile adoption leads first of all to improved quality of working life, increased knowledge transfer and improved verification and validation processes. On the other hand, agile adoption is very demanding since it requires high professional skills from development teams as well as managers. Hence, more resources should be devoted to training on agile for all the parties involved in development. Agile is still commonly considered to be poorly scalable. Moreover, the quality of design with agile methods is not considered as a benefit at all. These areas should be further investigated by researchers.

Background: Heart failure is a chronic disease that increases among the population, despite progress in research. Living with heart failure can cause suffering and impaired health due to physical limitations in daily life. Research indicates that patients experience of living with heart failure is paid too little attention in relation to the medical treatment itself. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe patients' experiences of living with heart failure. Method: This study is based on a method to contribute to evidence-based nursing with ground in analysis of qualitative research. Eleven qualitative articles were analyzed using Fribergsfive step model. Results: Through the analysis three main themes and eight sub-themes were developed. The main themes were: The daily life changes, To be involved in your own care and Listen to your heart. Conclusion: To be diagnosed with heart failure means a life change. Therefore, it is important that the nurse is aware of the physical, and psychological effects of the disease.

Delirium är ett allvarligt psykiskt syndrom som är vanligt förekommande hos äldre patienter. Förändrad uppfattning av tid och rum, hallucinationer, störningar i medvetandegrad, känsloliv samt minne är några symptom en deliriös person kan uppleva. Utöver obehaget dessa symptom orsakar hos en person kan delirium på sikt utgöra en risk utveckling av bland annat permanent kognitiv nedsättning, och i värsta fall kan syndromet leda till döden. Syftet med studien var att sammanställa kunskaper kring sjuksköterskors identifiering av delirium hos äldre personer. Tre forskningsfrågor skapades för att kunna besvara syftet: Vilka riskfaktorer beskrivs för att utveckla delirium? Vilka skattningsinstrument kan användas för att identifiera delirium? Vilka hinder och förutsättningar finns det för att identifiera delirium? Studien har genomförts som en integrerad litteraturöversikt. Sökning efter litteratur genomfördes i två databaser och kompletterades med manuell sökning, detta resulterade i sexton artiklar vilka analyserades och detta resulterade i tre grupper samt fem undergrupper. Grupperna består av frågeställningarna och undergrupper består av: RADAR; CAM; DOSS; Nu-Desc; Comprehensive nursing assessment. Fynden i studien visade på att riskfaktorerna för att utveckla delirium är många, och att hög ålder är den största riskfaktorn. Bedömningsinstrument finns i ett antal olika former och kan vara till stor hjälp för sjuksköterskor när det gäller identifiering av delirium. Hindren och utmaningarna är många, ett stort hinder är deliriums förmåga att maskera sig som andra sjukdomar såsom demens. Slutligen finns det förutsättningar för att delirium ska kunna identifieras, en av de viktigaste förutsättningarna är tillräckliga resurser i form av personal och tid, för att sjuksköterskor ska kunna få spendera tid med patienterna och på så vis lättare kunna identifiera förändringar som kan tyda på delirium. Sjuksköterskor är i behov av de verktyg som krävs för att kunna förbättra identifikationen och ge de äldre patienterna möjlighet till ökat välbefinnande och en god hälsa.

Cette thèse étudie la question des incitations dynamiques des agents économiques à frauder. Le premier chapitre introduit un modèle dynamique de fraude fiscale afin d’étudier l’impact de l’audit rétroactif sur le respect des obligations fiscales des agents économiques.Il permet de montrer qu’un accroissement de la période de prescription entraîne une diminution de la fraude fiscale et de déterminer le montant des recettes fiscales attendues par l’autorité fiscale pour différentes politiques d’audit. On établit que les audits rétroactifs génèrent des recettes fiscales espérées supérieures à celles des audits statiques. Le deuxième chapitre propose une approche théorique et expérimentale des incitations dynamiques des agents économiques à frauder. Les résultats expérimentaux confirment les prédictions théoriques : un accroissement de la période de prescription implique une augmentation des déclarations de revenus des agents. Le dernier chapitre introduit une deuxième étude expérimentale en laboratoire, dans le but de comparer l’efficience des deux politiques d’audit fiscal : l’audit rétroactif et l’audit statique (restreint à la période courante). Le principal résultat suggère que les politiques d’audit rétroactif sont plus efficaces pour réduire la fraude fiscale que les politiques d’audit statique fondées sur des fréquences d’audit élevées. / This thesis studies taxpayers' dynamic incentives to evade taxes. The first chapter introduces a dynamic model of tax evasion. We prove that higher limitation periods increase tax compliance. We also determine the expected tax revenues generated by retroactive and static auditing policies, with respect to the levels of tax rates and expected discounted penalties. We obtain that retroactive auditing generates higher expected tax revenues than static auditing. The second chapter provides theoretical and experimental evidence about subjects' incentives to evade taxes, with respect to a retroactive inspection policy. Our experimental results confirm theoretical predictions, i.e. higher limitation periods increase agents' compliance. The third chapter introduces a second laboratory experiment, in order to compare the efficiency of two main audit schemes: retroactive versus static auditing. We find that retroactive auditing policies are more efficient in enhancing tax compliance, than policies of static auditing accompanied by high audit rates.

Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / Stroke is the third leading cause of death and disability worldwide. The Uitenhage Provincial Hospital admits many stroke patients. To date, no in-depth study has been conducted on stroke patients admitted to the Hospital. This study identified the profile of stroke patients admitted to the Uitenhage Provincial Hospital and explored the challenges that these patients experienced post stroke. A concurrent mixed model design was used to collect the data. Firstly retrospective data was obtained by means of a quantitative data gathering instrument designed by the researcher. The information obtained, included data relating to demographic characteristics, reported risk factors relating to stroke, stroke onset-admission interval and length of hospital stay, as well as information relating to the process of physiotherapy. Secondly quantitative prospective information was collected by means of the Barthel Index, the Modified Rankin Scale and the Facilitators And Barriers Survey. The sample for the quantitative phase was drawn from medical records of 168 stroke patients admitted to the Uitenhage Provincial Hospital from the 1 of January 2008 up to and including the 31 of December 2009. For the second prospective quantitative part of the study, participants were selected conveniently from the admitted patients. In the qualitative phase, nine participants taken of the sampled participants were selected. The Microsoft Excel 2007 Package and the SPSS 18 for social sciences were used to analyse the quantitative data. Means, standard deviations, frequencies and percentages were calculated for descriptive purposes and the Chi-square test was used to test for associations between variables. Qualitative analysis began with the transcription of voice recordings and the translation of relevant Afrikaans transcription into English. Emerging categories were identified within the pre-determined themes. Permission and ethical clearance was obtained from the Higher Degrees Committee and the Senate Research and Grants and Study Leave Committee of the University of the Western Cape and permission to conduct this study was also obtained from the Medical Superintendent of the Uitenhage Provincial Hospital. Altogether 461 patients had been admitted with stroke during the relevant period, but only 168 could be included in the retrospective quantitative study. The mean age of the participants was 61,54 years; 59% were females and 41% males. The majority of the participants (86,9%) were admitted on the same day of stroke onset, and the mean length of hospital stay was 7,38 days. Hypertension was the most common reported risk factor, at 79%. Only 165 of the participants received physiotherapy while hospitalised, with the mean total physiotherapy sessions being 2,56 sessions. In 90% of the cases, physiotherapy sessions were discontinued due to the patient being discharged from the Hospital. The mean Barthel Index score was 81,46 and the family care domain of the Modified Rankin Scale was the most affected. Participants experienced participation restrictions and activity limitations due to stairs, gravel surfaces and kerb cuts. During the qualitative interviews participants reported activity limitations related to walking and activities of daily living. The participants also experienced participation restrictions, which included dependency on others, decreased social support and an array of emotions experienced post stroke. The current study’s findings suggest that the discharge of patients from the hospital post stroke should follow a mulitidisciplinary approach. Rehabilitation professionals should play an active role in the discharge process in providing patient and caregiver education.