Earth science observations are crucial for our understanding of the Earth’s climate, water cycle, land, and atmosphere. Signals of Opportunity (SoOp) has recently emerged as an innovative method for producing these observations. SoOp reuses existing satellite communication signals for science measurements. A key factor in the accuracy of SoOp measurements, is the accuracy with which the transmitting satellite’s position can be determined. This thesis developed a distributed network of receivers, which performed time delay of arrival (TDOA) measurements, to solve for the position of a transmitting satellite, using their existing signals. These results were used to characterize the sensitivity of the calculated satellite position, to the TDOA measurement error.

This study investigates the perceptions and observations of teachers regarding the implementation of Game-Based Learning (GBL) for students with special needs, with a focus on ADHD, mainly in the Swedish educational system. Utilizing a qualitative research methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six educators experienced in special education and GBL. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis, guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), to identify key themes related to the benefits, challenges, and attitudes towards GBL. The findings indicate that GBL significantly enhances student engagement and motivation, facilitates easier and more permanent learning, and improves academic performance. However, challenges such as inadequate teacher training, limited resource access, and scepticism among educators were also identified. These results underscore the need for targeted professional development and better resource allocation to maximize the potential of GBL in supporting students with special needs and ADHD. This research contributes to the existing literature by providing valuable insights into the practical implementation of GBL and its impact on students with special needs and ADHD.

No / This paper reports on the evaluation of the Enriched Opportunities Programme in improving well-being, diversity of activity, health, and staff practice in for people with dementia. Participants were 127 residents with a diagnosis of dementia or enduring mental health problems in three specialist nursing homes in the UK. A repeated measures within-subjects design was employed, collecting quantitative and qualitative data at three points over a twelve-month period in each facility with follow-up 7 to 14 months later. Two-way ANOVAs revealed a statistically significant increase in levels of observed well-being and in diversity of activity following the intervention. There was a statistically significant increase in the number of positive staff interventions but no change in the number of negative staff interventions overall. There was a significant reduction in levels of depression. No significant changes in anxiety, health status, hospitalisations, or psychotropic medication usage were observed. The Enriched Opportunities Programme demonstrated a positive impact on the lives of people with dementia in nursing homes already offering a relatively good standard of care, in a short period of time. The refined programme requires further evaluation to establish its portability.

Yes / This article is based on a large-scale European Commission project on international perspectives on positive action measures. The paper presents an analysis of the perceptions of positive action held by respondents from all the countries participating in an international survey, focussing specifically upon differences across equality grounds, sector and organisation type. This paper will also provide examples of positive action being applied in European and non-European countries that participated in the study. The study adopted extensive literate and online survey to obtain data from designers of positive action. Findings are discussed, conclusions drawn and wide-ranging recommendations are made at the European Commission, individual countries and organisational levels.

Yes / Around the world, inequalities exist around boundaries of race, social class, gender, disability, religious beliefs and sexual orientation, often resulting from past and current discriminatory practices. Governments have taken certain measures, including enacting policies such as positive action, to remedy such discrimination. This paper provides a comparative analysis of perceptions of the impact of positive action in seven EU and three non-EU countries. The study adopted participatory methods including consensus workshops, interviews and policy analysis to obtain data from designers of positive action. Findings are discussed, conclusions drawn and wide-ranging recommendations are made at the EC, individual countries and organisational levels.

Yes / Purpose - Within nursing, there appear to be two enduring sets of assumptions: firstly, that woman with children should prioritise the care of children; and secondly, that nursing standards require nurses to put their profession above other priorities. Commitment is linked to full-time working this contrasts sharply with the reality for many women with children who need to work part-time and are not able to change or extend working hours. Design/methodology/approach - This qualitative research involved the use of 32 in-depth interviews with thirty-two female registered nurses with children and without children. They were employed in ‘acute’ nursing where aged between 25 to 60 years old and employed in registered grades ‘D’ to ‘senior nurse manager’. They worked or had worked on a variety of employment conditions, some, but not all, had taken career breaks. The rationale for exclusively selecting women was based on the need to identify and describe organisational, situational, and individual factors related to women and the associations and barriers which affect their careers. Findings - In a female dominated profession, we find the profession resisting attempts to make the profession more accessible to women with young children. The career progression of women with children is inhibited and this is driven in part by a determination to maintain ‘traditional’ employment practices. Originality/value – This paper develops Heilman's argument that the restructuring of employment has lead to work intensification which stokes gender tensions. These findings are relevant across many areas of employment and they are significant in relation to broadening the debate around equal opportunities for women.

No / As the workforce in the British National Health Service (NHS) has become more diverse, several researchers have reported that experiences of overseas nurses have been largely negative. This paper explores Black African nurses' experiences of equal opportunities, racism, and discrimination in four NHS trusts in northeastern England. Thirty nurses from sub-Saharan countries working in four NHS trusts were interviewed between 2006 and 2008 using semistructured interviews and focus group discussions to gain an insight into their experiences in the NHS. This study suggests that Black African nurses experienced discrimination and racism from White colleagues and other overseas nurses, managers, and patients and their relatives as well as lack of opportunities in their workplaces. Managers seemed to treat British and other overseas nurses more favorably than Black African nurses. Although much progress has been made in valuing and embracing diversity in the NHS, this article highlights areas in which more work is required.

Students only learn what they get the opportunity to learn. This means, for example, that students do not develop their reasoning- and problem solving competence unless teaching especially focuses on developing these competencies. Despite the fact that it has for the last 20 years been pointed out the need for a reform-oriented mathematics education, research still shows that in Sweden, as well as internationally, an over-emphasis are placed on rote learning and procedures, at the cost of promoting conceptual understanding. Mathematical understanding can be separated into procedural and conceptual understanding, where conceptual understanding can be connected to a reform oriented mathematics education. By developing a reasoning competence conceptual understanding can also be developed. This thesis, which deals with students’ opportunities to learn to reason mathematically, includes three studies (with data from Swedish upper secondary school, year ten and mathematics textbooks from twelve countries). These opportunities have been studied based on a textbook analysis and by studying students' work with textbook tasks during normal classroom work. Students’ opportunities to learn to reason mathematically have also been studied by examining the relationship between students' reasoning and their beliefs. An analytical framework (Lithner, 2008) has been used to categorise and analyse reasoning used in solving tasks and required to solve tasks. Results support previous research in that teaching and mathematics textbooks are not necessarily in harmony with reform-oriented mathematics teaching. And that students indicated beliefs of insecurity, personal- and subject expectations as well as intrinsic- and extrinsic motivation connects to not using mathematical reasoning when solving non-routine tasks. Most commonly students used other strategies than mathematical reasoning when solving textbook tasks. One common way to solve tasks was to be guided, in particular by another student. The results also showed that the students primarily worked with the simpler tasks in the textbook. These simpler tasks required mathematical reasoning more rarely than the more difficult tasks. The results also showed a negative relationship between a belief of insecurity and the use of mathematical reasoning. Furthermore, the results show that the distributions of tasks that require mathematical reasoning are relatively similar in the examined textbooks across five continents. Based on the results it is argued for a teaching based on sociomathematical norms that leads to an inquiry based teaching and textbooks that are more in harmony with a reform-oriented mathematics education. / Elever kan bara lära sig de det de får möjlighet att lära sig. Detta innebär till exempel att elever inte utvecklar sin resonemangs- och problemlösningsförmåga i någon större utsträckning om inte deras undervisning fokuserar på just dessa förmågor. Forskning, nationellt och internationellt visar att det finns en överbetoning på utantillinlärning och på procedurer. Detta verkar ske på bekostnad av en konceptuell förståelse, trots att det under 20 års tid pekats på behovet av en reforminriktad matematikundervisning. Matematisk förståelse kan delas in i procedurell- och konceptuell förståelse där en konceptuell förståelse kan kopplas till en reforminriktad matematikundervisning. Genom att utveckla förmågan att resonera matematiskt utvecklas också den konceptuella förståelsen. Denna avhandling, som inbegriper tre studier (med empiri från gymnasiet år ett och matematikläroböcker från tolv länder) behandlar elevers möjlighet att lära sig att resonera matematiskt. Dessa möjligheter har studerats utifrån att undersöka vilka möjligheter läroboken ger att lära sig matematiska resonemang, dels via en läroboksanalys och dels genom att studera elevers arbete med läroboksuppgifter i klassrumsmiljö. Elevers möjligheter att lära sig att resonera matematiskt har också studerats genom att undersöka relationen mellan elevers matematiska resonemang och deras uppfattningar om matematik. Ett analytiskt ramverk (Lithner, 2008) har används för att kategorisera och analysera resonemang som använts för att lösa uppgifter och som behövs för att lösa en uppgift. Resultaten från studierna har givit stöd åt tidigare forskning vad gäller att undervisning och läroböckerna inte nödvändigtvis harmonierar med en reforminriktad matematikundervisning. Och att elever har uppfattningar om matematik som bygger på osäkerhet, förväntan på ämnet och sin egen förmåga samt motivation och att dessa uppfattningar delvis kan kopplas till att eleverna inte använder matematiska resonemang för att försöka lösa icke-rutinuppgifter. Det vanligaste sättet att lösa läroboksuppgifter var att välja andra strategier än att använda sig av matematiska resonemang. Ett vanligt sätt att lösa uppgifter var att låta sig guidas, av främst en annan elev. Eleverna arbetade framförallt med de enklare uppgifterna i läroböckerna. Bland dessa enklare uppgifter var det mer sällsynt med uppgifter som krävde matematiska resonemang för att lösas relativt de svårare uppgifterna. Resultaten visade även att det fanns en negativ relation mellan en uppfattning av osäkerhet hos elever och ett användande av matematiska resonemang. Resultaten visade vidare att fördelningen av uppgifter som krävde matematiska resonemang var relativt lika i alla undersökta läroböcker från fem världsdelar. Utifrån resultaten argumenteras för en förändrad undervisning mot en undersökande undervisning och läroböcker som är mer i harmoni med en reforminriktad matematikundervisning.

Lyčių lygybė reiškia, kad abi lytys turi būti vienodai matomos, turi turėti vienodus įgaliojimus, ir teises, taip pat ir galimybes vienodai dalyvauti visose gyvenimo srityse. Pastaraisiais dešimtmečiais nemažai pasiekta šioje srityje, tačiau praktika rodo, kad nelygybė vis dar egzistuoja ir primena, kad tobulėti vis dar yra kur. Todėl šiame darbe nagrinėjamas lyčių lygių galimybių politikos įgyvendinimas Lietuvoje ir Suomijoje. Suomija pasirinkta kaip palyginamasis atvejis pasirinkta dėl kelių priežasčių. Pirma, Suomija yra viena Baltijos regiono šalių. Antra, Suomija, kaip ir Lietuva, yra viena iš šiandieninių ES šalių. Trečia, Suomija – tai šalis, kurios pasiekimai lyčių lygybės įgyvendinimo srityje 2008 m. pripažinti geriausiais tarp ES narių. Darbo objektas - lyčių lygių galimybių politikos įgyvendinimas Darbo tikslas – atskleisti Suomijos ir Lietuvos lyčių lygių galimybių politikos įgyvendinimo ypatumus. Darbo uždaviniai: • Aptarti lyčių lygių galimybių politikos įgyvendinimo aspektus Lietuvoje • Analizuoti lyčių lygių galimybių politikos įgyvendinimą Suomijoje • Ištirti Lietuvos ir Suomijos lyčių lygių galimybių politikos įgyvendinimo panašumus ir skirtumus Darbe buvo naudoti šie tyrimo metodai: 1. Mokslinės literatūros apžvalga. 2. Teisės aktų analizė. 3. Statistinių duomenų analizė. 4. Lyginamasis ir atvejo tyrimo metodas. Taigi Suomijos, kaip vienos iš efektyviausiai įgyvendinančių lyčių politiką, lyginimas su Lietuva, padėjo atrasti skirtumų ir panašumų, kuriuos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Gender equality means that both sexes should be equally visible, must have the same powers and rights, as well as opportunities to participate equally in all spheres of life. In recent decades, significant progress in this area, but practice shows that inequality still exists and points out that the improvement is still everywhere. Therefore, this work deals with gender equality policy implementation in Lithuania and Finland. Finland has chosen as a comparable case for the few reasons. First, Finland is one of the state of the Baltic region. Secondly, Finland, as well as Lithuania, is one of the EU member states. Third, Finland is a country whose achievements in the field of gender equality in 2008 are recognized as the best among the EU's members. Object - Gender equality policy implementation The aim - to reveal the Finnish and Lithuanian gender equality policy features. Objectives: • To discuss the gender aspects of policy implementation in Lithuania • Analyze the gender equality policy in Finland • Investigate the Lithuanian and Finnish gender equality policy on the similarities and differences The following methods was used at the paperwork: 1. The scientific literature review. 2. Legislative Analysis 3. Statistical analysis of data. 4. And comparative case study method. Finland Therefore, as one of the most implementing gender policy in comparison with Lithuania, helped discover the differences and similarities and assessed to achieve better results in terms of gender... [to full text]

Syften: Syftet med studiet är dels att redogöra för huvudorsaken som har gett upphov till uppkomsten av snabblånebranschen. Dels att framställa väsentliga faktorer som har föranlett att branschen kan stanna kvar på snabblånemarknaden. Metod: Med avseende på studiets två frågeställningar har vi använt oss dels av kvalitativ ansats för att kunna beskriva noggrant anledningen till uppkomsten av snabblånebranschen via en tolkning av en del intervjufrågor. Dels tillämpades en kvantitativ ansats för att komma till viktiga faktorer som resulterat i att företagen inom denna bransch stannat kvar på kreditmarknaden. Teoretisk referensram: Studiens teoretiska referensram utgörs av vetenskapliga artiklar och  böcker som handlat om informationens asymmetriska påverkan, finansiella gap och  entreprenöriska möjligheter. Vidare har relevant material från Finansinspektionen,  Kronofogden och Konsumentverket använts som grund till den kvalitativa undersökningen  för det empiriska studien. Empiriska studier: Den empiriska studien utförts på åtta av branschens fyrtiofyra företag snabblåneföretag, som tillhör branschorganisationen S.K.E.F. Slutsats: Till följd av asymmetrisk information mellan parter (kreditgivare & kredittagare) avstår stora och traditionella kreditinstitutioner från att förmedla krediter till vissa kredittagare som har låg kredittrovärdighet. Därigenom skapas en marknad som utmärks av obalans mellan utbud av kapital och efterfrågan på kapital vilket leder till uppkomsten av ett finansiellt gap. Entreprenörer upptäcker affärsmöjligheter genom att skapa nya tjänster som efterfrågas av marknaden. På så vis fyller snabblåneföretagen det finansiella gapet på kreditmarknaden som inte fylls av andra kreditinstitutioner. Studiens resultat visar att snabblåneföretag erhåller låga vinster. Men om företagen motverkar kreditrisker genom regelrätta och noggranna kreditbedömningar leder detta troligtvis till högre vinst. / Purposes: The purpose of the study is partly to account for the main reason that has given rise to the emergence of instant loans industry. Secondly to produce significant factors have led the sector to remain on the instant lending market.  Methods: With respect to the study's two issues, we have used both a qualitative approach to describe accurately the reason for the emergence of instant lending industry through the interpretation of some interview questions. We have partly applied a qualitative approach to understand the important factors that constitute the fact that the sector manage to remain in the credit market. Theoretical framework: The study's theoretical framework is made up of scientific articles and books that dealt with media information’s asymmetric impact, financial gaps and entrepreneur opportunities. Furthermore, the relevant material from the Financial Supervisory Authority, The Swedish Enforcement Authority and Swedish Consumer Agency has been used in order to obtain a qualitative survey of the empirical study.   Empirical studies: Our empirical study consists of eight out of the industry's forty-four instant loan companies that belong to the trade organization S.K.E.F. Conclusion: As a result of asymmetric information between the parties refrain large and traditional credit institutions from providing loans to borrowers by low of credibility. A market characterized by imbalance between supply of capital and demand for capital lead to an emergence of a financial gap within the market. Entrepreneurs find business opportunities by creating new services demanded by the market. Thus fills the instant loans companies the financial gap on the credit market that is not filled by other credit institutions. The result of this study concludes that firms obtain low profits. But if companies counteracts credit risk this will likely lead to a higher profit by making regular and thorough credit checks on the borrower.