Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Jeanne Flannery, Florida State University, School of Nursing. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Jan. 12, 2005). Includes bibliographical references.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-04-30Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:51:25Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 brandao_c_me_sjrp.pdf: 2464888 bytes, checksum: 22ba55e346e2ad76af2e1695d3998ff4 (MD5) / Nesta dissertação, além da apresentação de um ensaio teórico sobre a fundamentação da Mecânica Quântica, Computação, Informação Quântica, Criptografia e Entropias Quânticas, serão mostradas, de forma inédita, algumas implementações sobre o efeito da Entropia no Emaranhamento Quântico, importante para processos de transmissão da Informação Quântica, com o uso dos programas Mathematica e Matlab. Primeiramente e apresentado um breve histórico sobre a Computação Quântica e a Informação Quântica, junto com uma perspectiva do futuro. Logo em seguida uma breve introdu cão sobre a Mecânica Quântica, com o estudo de autovetores e autovalores e seus postulados, produtos tensoriais e o micro-universo. Na sequência um texto sucinto com os conceitos fundamentais da Computação Quântica como os bits quânticos, e portas lógicas. Além dos principais algoritmos quânticos. Depois passa-se a estudar a Informa ção Quântica, as operações quânticas, canais de inversão e polarização, para então chegar-se a Entropia, quando e feito um estudo comparativo entre as entropias de Von Neumann e Tsallis. E por fim um pouco de Criptografia Quântica. / In this dissertation, beyond the presentation of a theoretical essay on the basis of the Quantum Mechanics, Computation, Quantum information, Quantum Criptografy and Entropies, it will also be shown, for rst time, some implementations on the e ect of the Entropy tests on Quantum Entanglement for processes of transmission of Quantum Information, through the uses Mathematica and Matlab Programs. First I present a historical brie ng on the Quantum Computation and Quantum Information, together with a perspective of the future. Afterwards it will shown on introduction on the Quantum Mechanics, and its postulates, and the micro-universe. In sequence, a brief text with the fundamental concepts of the Quantum Computation, as the quantum bits, logic gates, and the main quantum algorithms. Later we will start to study Quantum Information, the quantum operations, channels of inversion and polarization. Furthermore we will go to discuss Entropy, where it is made a comparative study of Entropies of Von Neumann and Tsallis. And nally a little of Quantum Criptografy will be worked out.

Orientador: Manoel Ferreira Borges Neto / Banca: Waldir Leite Roque / Banca: José Márcio Machado / Resumo: Nesta dissertação, além da apresentação de um ensaio teórico sobre a fundamentação da Mecânica Quântica, Computação, Informação Quântica, Criptografia e Entropias Quânticas, serão mostradas, de forma inédita, algumas implementações sobre o efeito da Entropia no Emaranhamento Quântico, importante para processos de transmissão da Informação Quântica, com o uso dos programas Mathematica e Matlab. Primeiramente e apresentado um breve histórico sobre a Computação Quântica e a Informação Quântica, junto com uma perspectiva do futuro. Logo em seguida uma breve introdu cão sobre a Mecânica Quântica, com o estudo de autovetores e autovalores e seus postulados, produtos tensoriais e o micro-universo. Na sequência um texto sucinto com os conceitos fundamentais da Computação Quântica como os bits quânticos, e portas lógicas. Além dos principais algoritmos quânticos. Depois passa-se a estudar a Informa ção Quântica, as operações quânticas, canais de inversão e polarização, para então chegar-se a Entropia, quando e feito um estudo comparativo entre as entropias de Von Neumann e Tsallis. E por fim um pouco de Criptografia Quântica. / Abstract: In this dissertation, beyond the presentation of a theoretical essay on the basis of the Quantum Mechanics, Computation, Quantum information, Quantum Criptografy and Entropies, it will also be shown, for rst time, some implementations on the e ect of the Entropy tests on Quantum Entanglement for processes of transmission of Quantum Information, through the uses Mathematica and Matlab Programs. First I present a historical brie ng on the Quantum Computation and Quantum Information, together with a perspective of the future. Afterwards it will shown on introduction on the Quantum Mechanics, and its postulates, and the micro-universe. In sequence, a brief text with the fundamental concepts of the Quantum Computation, as the quantum bits, logic gates, and the main quantum algorithms. Later we will start to study Quantum Information, the quantum operations, channels of inversion and polarization. Furthermore we will go to discuss Entropy, where it is made a comparative study of Entropies of Von Neumann and Tsallis. And nally a little of Quantum Criptografy will be worked out. / Mestre

Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es, den Begriff des Risikos unter den Aspekten seiner Quantifizierung durch robuste Darstellungen zu untersuchen. In einem ersten Teil wird Risiko anhand Kontext-Invarianter Merkmale betrachtet: Diversifizierung und Monotonie. Wir führen die drei Schlüsselkonzepte, Risikoordnung, Risikomaß und Risikoakzeptanzfamilen ein, und studieren deren eins-zu-eins Beziehung. Unser Hauptresultat stellt eine eindeutige duale robuste Darstellung jedes unterhalbstetigen Risikomaßes auf topologischen Vektorräumen her. Wir zeigen auch automatische Stetigkeitsergebnisse und robuste Darstellungen für Risikomaße auf diversen Arten von konvexen Mengen. Diese Herangehensweise lässt bei der Wahl der konvexen Menge viel Spielraum, und erlaubt damit eine Vielfalt von Interpretationen von Risiko: Modellrisiko im Falle von Zufallsvariablen, Verteilungsrisiko im Falle von Lotterien, Abdiskontierungsrisiko im Falle von Konsumströmen... Diverse Beispiele sind dann in diesen verschiedenen Situationen explizit berechnet (Sicherheitsäquivalent, ökonomischer Risikoindex, VaR für Lotterien, "variational preferences"...). Im zweiten Teil, betrachten wir Präferenzordnungen, die möglicherweise zusätzliche Informationen benötigen, um ausgedrückt zu werden. Hierzu führen wir einen axiomatischen Rahmen in Form von bedingten Präferenzordungen ein, die lokal mit der Information kompatibel sind. Dies erlaubt die Konstruktion einer bedingten numerischen Darstellung. Wir erhalten eine bedingte Variante der von Neumann und Morgenstern Darstellung für messbare stochastische Kerne und erweitern dieses Ergebnis zur einer bedingten Version der "variational preferences". Abschließend, klären wir das Zusammenpiel zwischen Modellrisiko und Verteilungsrisiko auf der axiomatischen Ebene. / The goal of this thesis is the conceptual study of risk and its quantification via robust representations. We concentrate in a first part on context invariant features related to this notion: diversification and monotonicity. We introduce and study the general properties of three key concepts, risk order, risk measure and risk acceptance family and their one-to-one relations. Our main result is a uniquely characterized dual robust representation of lower semicontinuous risk orders on topological vector space. We also provide automatic continuity and robust representation results on specific convex sets. This approach allows multiple interpretation of risk depending on the setting: model risk in the case of random variables, distributional risk in the case of lotteries, discounting risk in the case of consumption streams... Various explicit computations in those different settings are then treated (economic index of riskiness, certainty equivalent, VaR on lotteries, variational preferences...). In the second part, we consider preferences which might require additional information in order to be expressed. We provide a mathematical framework for this idea in terms of preorders, called conditional preference orders, which are locally compatible with the available information. This allows us to construct conditional numerical representations of conditional preferences. We obtain a conditional version of the von Neumann and Morgenstern representation for measurable stochastic kernels and extend then to a conditional version of the variational preferences. We finally clarify the interplay between model risk and distributional risk on the axiomatic level.

Critical care nurses experience stressful situations in their daily working environments. The question arises for nurses: are there adequate support systems in the critical care environment and what are critical care nurses doing to mantain their own health and well-being. Facilitating conscious awareness among critical care nurses could enhance their resiliency and their hardiness, strengthening their coping capacities in stressful working situations. The contextual framework adopted for this research was the Neuman Systems Model. A qualitative research approach (exploratory, descriptive and contextual) was used to explore and describe the stress experienced by critical care nurses. Focus group interviews were conducted with critical care nurses and individual interviews with nurse managers. The results revealed their perceptions and experiences about the effects of stress in the critical care environment, as well as some of their coping strategies. Raising critical care nurses' levels of conscious awareness about their coping strategies with stressful events in their daily working lives, could enhance their resiliency and hardiness, enabling them to continue working effectively in stressful environments. This could enhance the general well-being of individual critical care nurses, the nursing care rendered to critically ill patients, and save money for the health care services by reducing turnover rates among critical care nurses. / Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

Critical care nurses experience stressful situations in their daily working environments. The question arises for nurses: are there adequate support systems in the critical care environment and what are critical care nurses doing to mantain their own health and well-being. Facilitating conscious awareness among critical care nurses could enhance their resiliency and their hardiness, strengthening their coping capacities in stressful working situations. The contextual framework adopted for this research was the Neuman Systems Model. A qualitative research approach (exploratory, descriptive and contextual) was used to explore and describe the stress experienced by critical care nurses. Focus group interviews were conducted with critical care nurses and individual interviews with nurse managers. The results revealed their perceptions and experiences about the effects of stress in the critical care environment, as well as some of their coping strategies. Raising critical care nurses' levels of conscious awareness about their coping strategies with stressful events in their daily working lives, could enhance their resiliency and hardiness, enabling them to continue working effectively in stressful environments. This could enhance the general well-being of individual critical care nurses, the nursing care rendered to critically ill patients, and save money for the health care services by reducing turnover rates among critical care nurses. / Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

The 50+ generation has become an age group that is aging according to the statistical data and the number of individuals in this age category is rising. The aging process is accompanied by numerous physical, mental and social changes. As a consequence of these processes new and modified needs occur in these individuals, to which the provided care has to be adapted. We have linked this issue with conceptual models in nursing. This is because a conceptual model will help us integrate patient information into coherent and comprehensible blocks. An important goal of conceptual models is to simplify the work of nurses, who can see a patient as a whole thanks to them. We chose two models in relation to this issue, namely Calista Roy's model and Betty Neuman's model. We chose two research goals on the basis of the topic of the thesis. The first one was to map the knowledge of selected conceptual models among nurses. And the second goal was to find out the specifics of the nursing care in the 50+ group with the application of selected conceptual models from the point of view of nurses. We applied both, qualitative and quantitative methods to the research. Within the quantitative research we used a non-standardized questionnaire. In the qualitative part we applied the focus group method. Three hypotheses and one research question were set in relation to the research. We are able to confirm two of the three hypotheses. The statistical results have shown that the knowledge of the open-systems model and the adaptation model corresponds with the education of the respondents. Respondents with tertiary education show better knowledge of these models. On the other hand, no relation in taking the specifics in the satisfaction of the needs into account in the provision of nursing care in the 50+ generation was confirmed. A procedure for collection of the nursing anamnesis in the 50+ generation was created on the basis of the research. On the basis of this procedure we can enable healthcare staff to classify the patient information into logical systems and therefore to obtain a quality and comprehensive view of a patient. After the completion of the qualitative research we evaluated the proposals of our respondents for the theoretical as well as the practical part of the anamnesis collection. These respondents showed knowledge of the models. They most often criticized bad intelligibility or even redundancy of a question. Among benefits they named simplicity, reasonability and quality evaluation of the nursing care.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:26:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 IsaacDBS.pdf: 539336 bytes, checksum: ac9f1f2543159f0c009f0242077b1d5c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-07-25 / In this work, we study and compare two percolation algorithms, one of then elaborated by Elias, and the other one by Newman and Ziff, using theorical tools of algorithms complexity and another algorithm that makes an experimental comparation. This work is divided in three chapters. The first one approaches some necessary definitions and theorems to a more formal mathematical study of percolation. The second presents technics that were used for the estimative calculation of the algorithms complexity, are they: worse case, better case e average case. We use the technique of the worse case to estimate the complexity of both algorithms and thus we can compare them. The last chapter shows several characteristics of each one of the algorithms and through the theoretical estimate of the complexity and the comparison between the execution time of the most important part of each one, we can compare these important algorithms that simulate the percolation. / Nesta disserta??o estudamos e comparamos dois algoritmos de percola??o, um elaborado por Elias e o outro por Newman e Ziff, utilizando ferramentas te?ricas da complexidade de algoritmos e um algoritmo que efetuou uma compara??o experimental. Dividimos este trabalho em tr?s cap?tulos. O primeiro aborda algumas defini??es e teoremas necess?rios a um estudo matem?tico mais formal da percola??o. O segundo apresenta t?cnicas utilizadas para o c?lculo estimativo de complexidade de algoritmos, sejam elas: pior caso, melhor caso e caso m?dio. Utilizamos a t?cnica do pior caso para estimar a complexidade de ambos algoritmos e assim podermos compar?-los. O ?ltimo cap?tulo mostra diversas caracter?sticas de cada um dos algoritmos e atrav?s da estima- tiva te?rica da complexidade e da compara??o entre os tempos de execu??o da parte mais importante de cada um, conseguimos comparar esses importantes algoritmos que simulam a percola??o

This study was designed to understand the meaning of the lived experiences of incarcerated male juveniles who had committed drug-related crimes and to suggest guidelines for their rehabilitation with specific reference to their health care needs. In order to achieve these objectives, the researcher used Parse’s (1998) Theory of Human Becoming as a theoretical framework for the study and Parse’s (1998, 2005) phenomenological-hermeneutic research method. This study was restricted to three juvenile correctional centres in the Gauteng province, Republic of South Africa (RSA). A sample of 15 male juveniles (5 at each of the three juvenile correctional centres) was used for the purpose of individual dialogical engagements with the participants. Focus group interview sessions were held with two groups (5 members per group) at two identified juvenile correctional centres. A qualitative content analysis according to methods recommended by Graneheim and Lundman (2004) was performed on the data that was collected from the individual dialogical-engagements and the focus group interviews. The researcher attempted to elucidate the meanings that the participants attached to their experiences of incarceration as narrated by them and analysed the data according to Parse’s (1998; 2005) phenomenological-hermeneutic method comprising of extraction-synthesis and heuristic interpretation. The findings of this research confirm that problems of drug abuse and criminal activity represent a multifaceted, complex and often intractable phenomenon. The research also confirmed that the participants suffer from a variety of emotional and psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, fear, guilt, remorse, regret and a craving for the drugs that they had abused before their incarceration. It appears that the participants find it extremely difficult to deal effectively with these disorders on their own and that they are generally averse to asking for professional help and assistance. Interventions to alleviate these problems are crucial for the success of the current rehabilitation programmes being pursued in the correctional centres where the participants are accommodated. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

The purpose of the study was to develop best practice guidelines to prevent permanent hearing loss associated with the management of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) through raised awareness and monitoring. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and MDR-TB are global public health problems requiring urgent scale-up of treatment services. Irreversible sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is one of the adverse drug reactions of the current World Health Organization (WHO) recommended MDR-TB chemotherapy fuelling another public health problem, that disabling hearing loss, which is the second highest contributor of Years Lived with Disability (YLD) according to the World Health Report (2003). Expansion of MDR-TB treatment threatens to increase incidence of SNHL unless there is urgent implementation of intervention towards preservation of hearing for patients on treatment. This empirical study determined and documented the incidence of SNHL in HIV positive and HIV negative patients on MDR-TB treatment, the risk factors for SNHL, from the time treatment initiation to SNHL. Based on the findings, developed and improved the understanding of best practice guidelines for monitoring and prevention of MDR-TB treatment-related SNHL. The empirical study recruited a cohort of 173 patients with normal hearing status, after diagnosis with MDR-TB and enrolled on MDR-TB therapy over thirteen month period. Patients in the cohort received monthly hearing sensitivity testing during the intensive MDR-TB therapy when injectable aminoglycoside antibiotics are part of the treatment regimen. The three study endpoints included completion of the eight-month intensive treatment phase without developing hearing loss, development incident hearing loss or loss to follow up. Data was analysed using STATA statistical software and summarised using frequencies, means, proportions, and rates. The study documented incidence of SNHL, time to hearing loss and risk factors for hearing loss. Recommendations to prevent and monitor hearing loss are made based on the the study findings. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)