The abstract on the file is incorrect, use the the one in the system as it summerizes the full text. / This attempted to describe factors contributing to sleep deprivation in the a multidisciplinary intensive care unit in KwaZulu-Natal Province. A quantitative, descriptive research design was adopted and structured interviews were conducted with 34 adult patients. Most factors contributing to these patients' sleep deprivation are basic physiological needs. Much can be done to enhance patients' abilities to sleep if noise (from alarms, monitors, televisions, telephones and footsteps) could be controlled, patients' pain would be managed effectively, doctors would visit the patients regularly, doctors and nurses use lay terms when talking to patients. Visible clocks and windows will help patients to maintain time orientation. Friendly, approachable and respectful nurses who introduce themselves to the patients help' to reduce patients' stress levels and improve their abilities to sleep. / Health Sciences / M.A. (Health Studies)

The aim of the study is to determine the nature and utilisation of an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) in a white-collar work environment, and, more specifically, in a South African context. Information about the research topic was obtained from accumulate records of the Standard Bank's Employee Well-being Programme (EWP), structured interviews which were conducted with eleven EWP practitioners and a union representative, and from self-administered questionnaires which were completed by a sample of 153 of the bank's employees. The study includes an in-depth literature review on EAPs in general and issues such as the nature and scope of the bank's EWP, the extent to which the EWP addresses employees' needs, the nature and extent of the marketing of the EWP, and the extent to which the workforce is utilising the programme, were explored and described. The main findings are that the EWP shows evidence of acceptance by employees as well as a degree of utilisation that compares favourably with local and international trends. It also shows an incongruence between marketing and employee orientation and training initiatives and reveals that programme evaluation efforts are insufficient and could be significantly improved. Accordingly, recommendations have been made pertaining to the needs of employees, employee and union involvement, a multi-disciplinary approach to case management, marketing, training and evaluation with regard to the EWP, an EWP database, and a post-treatment follow-up. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Work)

This thesis is a continuation of design automation studies within research projects financed by VINNOVA (the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems) and Knowledge foundation that contributed to the development of producibility assessment system at a global aerospace products supplier, GKN Aerospace Sweden. A case study was carried at the company on Turbine Rear Structure (TRS) component design of a jet engine with the main objective to evaluate weld producibility assessment tools and to demonstrate system’s performance in multi-disciplinary design environment. The context of this thesis is a set-based product design development where several studies, i.e. thermal, structural, aerodynamic etc. are carried concurrently to gather knowledge between their parameter relations. The thesis contributes to the goal of fully integrated producibility assessment in multi-disciplinary studies to support product development process. The problems encountered during the thesis execution involved systematic analysis setup to extract and verify CAD geometry data, assessment of meaningfulness of producibility indicators, development of semi-automated data post-processing module and relating product design to its manufacturing aspects. Commercial and in-house developed software were used extensively to demonstrate the results of the system with the help of continuous company support to mitigate indispensable bottlenecks along the way. The work has led to systematic improvements, determined assessment limitations and most relevant weld producibility aspects. Collected feedback to evaluate prepared demonstrator showed promising results to support product design decisions considering both performance and producibility.

The diploma thesis is dedicated to the way of using and way of functioning of the coordinated rehabilitation and the multi-disciplinary team in the organization Focus in Pelhřimov which works with the people with mental disorders. The thesis is divided in the theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part describes the history and function of the coordinated rehabilitation, mental health care history, psychiatric reform and multi-disciplinary cooperation functioning. There is used the strategy of quality analysis in the research part. It was done by the questionnaire and the technique of half-structured interview. The results coming out of the interview were focused on the functioning of multi-disciplinary team in the institution and the cooperating subjects in the first part. The second part was dedicated to the basic parts of the coordinated rehabilitation provided in the organization in view of the fact that there were other participating professionals and non-formal participants during the care of the person with mental disorder. The aim of the research was to map the sectors of the coordinated rehabilitation used by the individuals with mental disorders in the organization Focus in Pelhřimov. The research team was created with the help of the method of the snow ball and basic criteria was employment of an "communication partner" in the particular organization. Their ability to evaluate their job and take part in the lead interview depended on their experience in Focus. In connection with the thesis aim there was also set the main research question: What parts of the coordinated rehabilitation are used in the organization Focus in Pelhřimov? Partial questions were devolved from that which were connected to the particular parts of the coordinated rehabilitation and the function of the multi-disciplinary team. The first contact and the next cooperation is developed by the seriousness, necessity and wishes of the client. The work with the client with mental disorder is based on the philosophy of recuperation, not recovery. In the relationship and the concentration, the work is done in all sectors of the coordinated rehabilitation. The client has the closest relationship to the key worker who provides the care in the multi-disciplinary team and other professionals in the organization. There is the conclusion from the results that there was an agreement that the coordinated rehabilitation is used in this institution and no other from the basic sectors can be omitted. The results of the diploma thesis can be used as feedback for the organization Focus in the practice where it can be useful for mapping of the sectors of coordinated rehabilitation and making clear the needs of the individuals with mental disorder. Taking into consideration the recommendation to use the feedback of the respondents about information sharing, to prefer common space of the whole team and bigger promotion.

The aim of the study is to determine the nature and utilisation of an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) in a white-collar work environment, and, more specifically, in a South African context. Information about the research topic was obtained from accumulate records of the Standard Bank's Employee Well-being Programme (EWP), structured interviews which were conducted with eleven EWP practitioners and a union representative, and from self-administered questionnaires which were completed by a sample of 153 of the bank's employees. The study includes an in-depth literature review on EAPs in general and issues such as the nature and scope of the bank's EWP, the extent to which the EWP addresses employees' needs, the nature and extent of the marketing of the EWP, and the extent to which the workforce is utilising the programme, were explored and described. The main findings are that the EWP shows evidence of acceptance by employees as well as a degree of utilisation that compares favourably with local and international trends. It also shows an incongruence between marketing and employee orientation and training initiatives and reveals that programme evaluation efforts are insufficient and could be significantly improved. Accordingly, recommendations have been made pertaining to the needs of employees, employee and union involvement, a multi-disciplinary approach to case management, marketing, training and evaluation with regard to the EWP, an EWP database, and a post-treatment follow-up. / Social Work / M.A. (Social Work)

Nilsson, S. 2007: Skogsgeografi II. Om odlingslämningar i skogsbygd (Forest Geography II. On Remains of Agriculture in Forest Settlement Districts) In this thesis issues on remains of agriculture in the county of Värmland, Sweden are discussed. The aim is to use a holistic approach when examining such remains, which goes beyond their mere morphology. Instead focus is put on their inner and outer geographies: the internal relations between different elements of a single remain, and the external relations between the remain and its local context. Also, it is argued that it’s necessary to approach this kind of remains with an open perspective regarding time. The diorama principle as expressed by Torsten Hägerstrand is used. It focuses more on closeness than on similarity. Four separate studies are enclosed to the thesis as appendix’s I–IV. The thesis ends with an outlook to a concept of relational landscape, derived from this work, with outlines future studies. In Appendix I registered remains of agriculture are examined. In Appendix’s II and III the role of agricultural remains for settlement geography studies are analysed. The role of agricultural remains as bearers of meaning in both history and present, and views and values of antiquarians and researchers as well as the public, is examined in Appendix IV. Hopefully a holistic view will illuminate agricultural remains as research source material and bearers of meaning, including both expert and lay knowledge, history as well as present time and the future. This is desired in order to handle such remains in a fair manner. Stefan Nilsson, Department of Geography and Tourism, Karlstad Uni-versity, SE 651 88 Karlstad, Sweden.

A quantitative, descriptive, explorative design was applied to study the problems that hindered the Primary Health Care (PHC) nurses in rendering quality health care in the health facilities in Limpopo province South Africa. The sample consisted of 53 PHC nurses who completed a pre-tested questionnaire which covered various aspects related to the provision of quality PHC services. The data were analysed by computer using SPSS version 15 soft ware. The findings revealed that most of the problems could be attributed to financial constraints, poor budgeting, and shortage of staff to manage large number of patients, lack of enough support from other professional staff, unreliable referral systems and communication networks. PHC nurses work under difficult conditions and often have to improvise to care for patients, but unless more funds are allocated to rural health care facilities and these problems are addressed, more nurses will work under difficult circumstances. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

The abstract on the file is incorrect, use the the one in the system as it summerizes the full text. / This attempted to describe factors contributing to sleep deprivation in the a multidisciplinary intensive care unit in KwaZulu-Natal Province. A quantitative, descriptive research design was adopted and structured interviews were conducted with 34 adult patients. Most factors contributing to these patients' sleep deprivation are basic physiological needs. Much can be done to enhance patients' abilities to sleep if noise (from alarms, monitors, televisions, telephones and footsteps) could be controlled, patients' pain would be managed effectively, doctors would visit the patients regularly, doctors and nurses use lay terms when talking to patients. Visible clocks and windows will help patients to maintain time orientation. Friendly, approachable and respectful nurses who introduce themselves to the patients help' to reduce patients' stress levels and improve their abilities to sleep. / Health Sciences / M.A. (Health Studies)

La conception du coeur d’un réacteur nucléaire est fortement multidisciplinaire (neutronique, thermo-hydraulique, thermomécanique du combustible, physique du cycle, etc.). Le problème est aussi de type multi-objectif (plusieurs performances) à grand nombre de dimensions (plusieurs dizaines de paramètres de conception).Les codes de calculs déterministes utilisés traditionnellement pour la caractérisation des coeurs demandant d’importantes ressources informatiques, l’approche de conception classique rend difficile l’exploration et l’optimisation de nouveaux concepts innovants. Afin de pallier ces difficultés, une nouvelle méthodologie a été développée lors de ces travaux de thèse. Ces travaux sont basés sur la mise en oeuvre et la validation de schémas de calculs neutronique et thermo-hydraulique pour disposer d’un outil de caractérisation d’un coeur de réacteur à neutrons rapides à caloporteur sodium tant du point de vue des performances neutroniques que de son comportement en transitoires accidentels.La méthodologie mise en oeuvre s’appuie sur la construction de modèles de substitution (ou métamodèles) aptes à remplacer la chaîne de calcul neutronique et thermo-hydraulique. Des méthodes mathématiques avancées pour la planification d’expériences, la construction et la validation des métamodèles permettent de remplacer cette chaîne de calcul par des modèles de régression au pouvoir de prédiction élevé.La méthode est appliquée à un concept innovant de coeur à Faible coefficient de Vidange sur un très large domaine d’étude, et à son comportement lors de transitoires thermo-hydrauliques non protégés pouvant amener à des situations incidentelles, voire accidentelles. Des analyses globales de sensibilité permettent d’identifier les paramètres de conception influents sur la conception du coeur et son comportement en transitoire. Des optimisations multicritères conduisent à des nouvelles configurations dont les performances sont parfois significativement améliorées. La validation des résultats produits au cours de ces travaux de thèse démontre la pertinence de la méthode au stade de la préconception d’un coeur de réacteur à neutrons rapides refroidi au sodium. / Nuclear reactor core design is a highly multidisciplinary task where neutronics, thermal-hydraulics, fuel thermo-mechanics and fuel cycle are involved. The problem is moreover multi-objective (several performances) and highly dimensional (several tens of design parameters).As the reference deterministic calculation codes for core characterization require important computing resources, the classical design method is not well suited to investigate and optimize new innovative core concepts. To cope with these difficulties, a new methodology has been developed in this thesis. Our work is based on the development and validation of simplified neutronics and thermal-hydraulics calculation schemes allowing the full characterization of Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor core regarding both neutronics performances and behavior during thermal hydraulic dimensioning transients.The developed methodology uses surrogate models (or metamodels) able to replace the neutronics and thermal-hydraulics calculation chain. Advanced mathematical methods for the design of experiment, building and validation of metamodels allows substituting this calculation chain by regression models with high prediction capabilities.The methodology is applied on a very large design space to a challenging core called CFV (French acronym for low void effect core) with a large gain on the sodium void effect. Global sensitivity analysis leads to identify the significant design parameters on the core design and its behavior during unprotected transient which can lead to severe accidents. Multi-objective optimizations lead to alternative core configurations with significantly improved performances. Validation results demonstrate the relevance of the methodology at the predesign stage of a Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor core.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The primary intent of this study was to seek solutions to the practical problems experienced by practitioners in their management of child abuse cases. A fundamental problem regarding the current management of child abuse is that there is no guarantee that a child entering the child protective system will be dealt with in terms of a set procedure and/or protected against further abuse. To address this problem in the Western Cape, the Intervention Research (IR) methodology (Rothman & Thomas, 1994) was used to develop a Protocol for the Multi- Disciplinary Management of Child Abuse and Neglect. The protocol was designed for agencies that intervene in instances of child abuse. It establishes criteria and procedures for interdisciplinary co-ordination and effective case management, delineates the professional roles and responsibilities and provides step-by-step intervention procedures. The Intervention Research Design and Development methodology provided a useful framework to apply social science research methods to child protective practice and policy reform. IR focuses on the design of practice guidelines for intervention and policy reform. It can be conducted in a diversity of practice settings and therefore enhances collaborative efforts and inter-agency exchange among practitioners and among practitioners and universities. The study evolved through six phases involving inter-as well as intra-disciplinary activities. These activities were guided by systematic and deliberate research procedures, techniques and instruments. The research phases included: problem analysis; information gathering and synthesis; the development and design of the protocol; testing the protocol through a process of workshops and finally, the launch and dissemination of the protocol. A core element of the study was the active participation and collaboration of a broad range of key stakeholders, including: victims of child abuse, their families, service providers, and policy makers. The methods and instruments used were therefore designed to enhance participation and included interviews, workshops and observation of court processes. The bottom-up approach and collaborative design enhanced the level of contextual relevance, ownership and the commitment of stakeholders. As a demonstration of this commitment, the protocol has been endorsed by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health and Social Services of the Western Cape. The Department of Social Services has committed financial support to the project and is pilot testing it in three districts. The study cautions that protocols alone cannot eradicate and solve all the problems in the child protective field and asserts that there is an urgent and critical need to develop and to implement a National Strategy on Child Abuse. Such a National strategy should include legislation that supports and enforces all aspects of a national policy on child abuse. At minimum, national policy should ensure consistent political will and leadership. This means that broad statements about the obligations of politicians and state officials is not enough. These should be followed by specific accountability and measuring mechanisms for enforcement. State policy should also provide guidelines for standardized and appropriate working conditions, recruitment and training of staff. Furthermore, it should provide for a broad array of effective and accessible services to all children and families and the co-ordination of such services. Finally, legislation should include specific obligations regarding the appropriation of adequate and flexible funding to see that commitments made to children are realised.