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Well developed innovation processes are becoming an essential component to the continued success of a large number of industries. Such processes build upon the evolutionary steps taken to advance innovation. In light of the need for innovation, companies and engineers must create the most efficient processes for their systems or product development teams. A step toward the creation of such processes, as well as the corresponding teaching of such processes in higher-education, is the development of a baseline of current best practices. This paper considers a contribution to this effort in the form of a study of a specific group of innovation practitioners. The study was created to probe a group of leaders in the engineering design domain using technical, demographic, and short answer questions. Various analysis methods are used to obtain a fundamental view of the answers to the questions but also the demographics of the participant group. Two deductive analysis methods are used, the first a set of hypotheses are explored from participant responses, and second a qualitative technique to understand links in the short answer portion of the study. An additional inductive approach is used, consisting of a correlating approach to compare responses to questions and understand trends across the participants. Results from the analysis emphasize the current perceptions of innovation by the participants and opportunities to refine our search for better innovation practices. / text

Darbe nagrinėjama 2013 m. antros pensijų pakopos reforma Lietuvoje. Apžvelgiami reformos privalumai, trūkumai ir įstatyminė bazė, taip pat pagrindiniai skirtumai su 2003 m. įgyvendinta reforma. Darbo tikslas – įvertinti 2013 m. pensijų kaupimo sistemos reformos patrauklumą, išanalizuoti apklausoje pateiktą informaciją, ištirti priklausomybes ir ryšius tarp sprendimo dalyvauti naujoje reformoje, rizikos veiksnių kaupiant lėšas ,,Sodroje“ ir/arba privačiuose pensijų fonduose nuo apklausoje išvardintų veiksnių. Taip pat nagrinėjamos pensijų sistemos Lietuvoje ir kitose šalyse, išskiriamos problemos ir jų sprendimų būdai, kaupiant lėšas privačiuose pensijų fonduose, nurodomos rizikos formos ir pensijų fondų charakteristikos. Siekiant sužinoti rinkos dalyvių požiūrį į naują reformą, buvo taikomas anketinis apklausos metodas, kurio rezultatai parodė tam tikrų veiksnių priklausomybes ir ryšius. Darbą sudaro 5 dalys: įvadas, pensijų sistemos ir pensijų fondų charakteristika, antrosios pakopos pensijų fondų ir vykdomos pensijų kaupimo sistemos reformos analizė, antrosios pensijų pakopos reformos įvertinimas, išvados ir siūlymai, literatūros sąrašas. Darbo apimtis – 66 p. teksto be priedų, 9 iliustr., 22 lent., 59 bibliografiniai šaltiniai. Atskirai pridedami darbo priedai. / The work analyzes second pillar pension reform in Lithuania in 2013. This work includes an overview of the advantages, disadvantages and legislative basis of the reform, as well as the main differences to the reform of 2003. The aim of the work – is to evaluate pension accumulation reform of 2013 attractiveness, to analyze information of the survey, to explore the dependencies and connections between the decision to participate in the new reform, risk factors for garnering funds in the „Sodra“ and/or in the private pension funds from the factors listed in the survey. Also this work examines pension systems of Lithuania and other countries, analyzes problems and solutions of accumulation of assets in private pension funds, indicates the forms of risk and characteristic of pension fund. Results of a questionnaire survey, witch was used to learn the views of market participants to the new reform, showed the impact of certain dependencies and connections. Structure: introduction, pension scheme and the pension fund characteristics, second pillar pension funds and ongoing pension accumulation system reform analysis, the rating of the second pillar pension reform, conclusions and suggestions, references. Thesis consist of: 63 p. text without attachments, 9 pictures, 22 tables, 59 bibliographic sources. Separately added the work attachments.

Master of Arts in Fine Arts - Fine Arts / A Community Partnership Art Event, resulting from curating and facilitating an educational collaboration was held on the 23 March 2004, ten years into South Africa’s democracy. Through a Masters in Fine Arts coursework entitled “Creating, Curating and Critiquing” offered at the University of Witwatersrand, I attempted to test the boundaries of the Arts and Culture Learning Area and explore alternatives to the current definition of “outreach”. The grade six learners from The Ridge School, an independent boys’ preparatory school and Salvazione Christian School, an assisted government school, were brought together over a period of ten weeks during regular school art lessons. Through the guidance and expertise of various artists, workshops were cocoordinated with the collaborative ideas of the learners coming to the fore. The process and dialogue established between learners, artists and educators was intended to shift my own parameters of teaching primary school art. Focusing on people rather than the final products points to a readiness to view knowledge not as a commodity owned b#31;#31;the expert teacher, but rather as something which can be constructed and developed with the learners. Originally the collaboration was intended as a celebration of the opening of new premises for Salvazione Christian School. The public art happening was held in a tent next to the informal settlement where a large majority of the children from Salvazione Christian School live. 3 Rather than what might be described as a modernist approach to art education, where the focus seems to be on the artist and artwork, the focus was on linking art to social interaction, and it was through the discovery of a form of hybridity that a number of differences between the two communities were challenged and exposed. This resulted in an approach that seems similar to the manner in which the Indian writer, Salman Rushdie writes of hybridity: “Hybridity, impurity, intermingling, the transformation that comes of new and unexpected combinations of human beings, cultures, ideas, politics, movies, songs.” (Coombes, 2000:39) Through this hybridity tensions were created and explored rather than a ‘rainbow’ or melting pot created, where differences are glossed over as in a multicultural approach. The primary research methodology was participant observation in which directly observed data was analyzed and interpreted. Data was gathered from the interactions in the workshops, setting up the exhibition and the art event. As intended, a link between art and ‘outreach’ was established. In order for this link to change into a community partnership, it must be seen as part of a much longer process. The process as a whole did become a different kind of primary school art space, preparing the way for possible positive transformation of the visual arts in the arts and culture learning area at primary school level.

Critical care nurses work in an environment rich in informative interactions. Although there have been post hoc self-report survey studies of nurses' information seeking, there have been no observational studies of the patterns and content of their on-duty information behavior. This study used participant observation and in-context interviews to describe 50 hours of the observable information behavior of a representative sample of critical care nurses in a 20-bed critical care hospital unit. The researcher used open, in vivo, and axial coding to develop a grounded theory model of their consistent pattern of multimedia interactions. The resulting Nurse's Patient-Chart Cycle describes nurses' activities during the shift as centering on a regular alternation with the patient and the patient's chart (various record systems), clearly bounded with nursing "report" interactions at the beginning and the end of the shift. The nurses' demeanor markedly changed between interactions with the chart and interactions with the patient. Other informative interactions were observed with other health care workers and the patient's family, friends and visitors. The nurses' information seeking was centered on the patient. They mostly sought information from people, the patient record and other digital systems. They acted on or passed on most of the information they found. Some information they recorded for their personal use during the shift. The researcher observed the nurses using mostly patient specific information, but they also used some social and logistic information. They occasionally sought knowledge based information. Barriers to information acquisition included illegible handwriting, difficult navigation of online systems, equipment failure, unavailable people, social protocols and mistakes caused by multi-tasking people working with multiple complex systems. No formal use was observed of standardized nursing diagnoses, nursing interventions, or nursing outcomes taxonomies. While the nurses expressed respect for evidence-based practice, there clearly was no time or opportunity for reading research literature (either on paper or online) while on duty. All participants expressed frustration with the amount of redundant data entry required of them. The results of this study have significant implications for the design of clinical information systems and library services for working critical care nurses.

The purpose of this study is to examine the symbolic use in sports and thus discuss the limits of what can be seen as religion and what can be said to be sacred and profane in our time. Data were collected through participant observation during and in connection with the ice hockey games in Löfbergs Arena in Karlstad. Collected data is then analyzed based on Émile Durkheim's theory of the elementary forms of religion. The results indicate that the club badge and club colours of Färjestad BK can be interpreted as totems both before, during and after a ice hockey game. The symbols appear in a number of different contexts, and in some more exposed than others. They share largely the function of the totems in the Australian and North American tribes that Durkheim studied because it bind together and create identification between the fans of Färjestad. Färjestad's symbols are those that to some extent create and maintain sacred and profane, maintain the group and at the same time separates it from others. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka symbolanvändning inom sport och därigenom diskutera gränserna för vad som kan ses som religion och vad som kan sägas vara heligt och profant i samtiden. Data har samlats in via deltagande observationer under och i anslutning till ishockeymatcher i Löfbergs Arena i Karlstad. Insamlad data har sedan analyserats utifrån Émile Durkheims teori om religionens elementära former. Studiens resultat pekar på att Färjestad BK:s klubbmärke och klubbfärger kan tolkas som totems både inför, under och efter en ishockeymatch. Symbolerna uppträder i en rad skilda sammanhang och är i vissa mer exponerade än i andra. De delar till stor del funktion med de totems Durkheim studerade hos australiensiska och nordamerikanska stammar, i den meningen att de binder ihop och skapar identifikation Färjestadfansen emellan. Färjestads symboler är de vilka i viss utsträckning skapar och upprätthåller heligt och profant, upprätthåller gruppen och samtidigt avgränsar den från andra.

The continued investigation into the experiences of individuals with schizophrenia who participate in biomedical research trials is necessary in order to understand participants’ perspectives, motivations, attitudes, values, and beliefs. As important stakeholders in the clinical research process, participant feedback is significant and can help shed light on, not only their experiences, but also deepen understandings when it comes to clinical trial participants’ perceptions of informed consent and personal autonomy. Conducting ethical research demands the exploration of these issues and specifically targeting this vulnerable group helped to address a gap in the literature. This study was conducted for InSite Clinical Research and gathered data in the form of in-depth semi-structured interviews and a short survey instrument with 20 low-income adults diagnosed with schizophrenia that participate in clinical research trials. Findings indicate overall positive research experiences, with motivations aligning with previous research when it comes to trial participation including: altruism, personal benefit, access to medications, financial incentives, and psychosocial treatment. Learning about their illness and themselves, autonomy, and debriefing were also particularly important within this group. Unique to this sample were findings of friendship. Trust in the research staff was identified as a major underlying value and shaping factor impacting informed consent decisions. These conclusions have implications for recruitment and informed consent practices at InSite Clinical Research.

The final disposal location for used nuclear fuel in the U.S. remains unresolved. A major complication in resolving this issue has historically been the lack of public acceptance. This motivates the creation of a decision making model for selecting a nuclear fuel cycle in the U.S. that incorporates the preferences of the public. A model based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was created, tested, and shown to be problematic in incorporating public opinion into decision objectives. A new model based on Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) has been created. This model contains the fundamental objectives for both technical and non-technical factors in both the short and long term for the decision. Additionally, the relevant subject matter experts involved in a nuclear fuel cycle selection are evaluated based on the public's perception of their qualifications, and environmental scientists are found to be considered equally as qualified as nuclear engineers and scientists.

Abstrakt_anglicky _Diplomova_prace_Ptackova_Renata The diploma thesis "Pošta pro Tebe - reality TV and social motivation of participants" focus on the use of social television. It describes in detail the reality TV genre, its brief history of broadcasting, focusing on the motivational elements of the program participants Pošta pro Tebe. It investigates the impact and effect of media and mediated relationship to the contents of a reality. It analysis the audience base, explores reasons for visiting the TV studio spectators, why people looking for this TV show and why they watch it by questionnaires, interviews. It's looking for the credibility of the program and asking whether the audience would become program participants. Further, the work captures the audience ratings and popularity in each year of its broadcast. Finally, describes the creation of the show and behind the scenes. The diploma thesis is divided into 4 chapters: Theoretical introduction thesis (clarifying the concepts that are crucial for the work related), Ratings (analyzing rating charts of the first channel of Czech Television and the demographic composition of the audience), Behind the Scenes program (described shooting of, the role of interested participants, technical background of the show), Audience (defines who is the audience and...

This study investigated the factorial validity, stability, and social, behavioral and emotional correlates of several different roles that students can play in the context of bullying. Data were collected from students at two time points across two school years, April and May of 2006 (n=284) and again in November and December of 2006 (n=185). A confirmatory factor analysis provided evidence for the validity of 4 participant roles (i.e. bully, reinforcer, assistant, and defender). However, further analysis revealed that there was a strong degree of intercorrelation between the three bully factors (i.e., bully, reinforcer, and assistant). Analyses found that participant roles are fairly stable across school years and that the greater the percentage of same raters across the time points, the greater the stability. All of the bullying roles (i.e., bully, reinforcer, and assistant) were significantly related to callous unemotional traits, emotional dysregulation, positive expectations for aggression, conduct problems, reactive relational aggression, proactive relational aggression, reactive overt aggression, and proactive overt aggression, but these relationships were stronger in boys. It was also found that the defender role was associated with less aggression and more prosocial behavior. These associations were stronger in girls. Finally, a linear regression analysis of the interaction between participant roles and victimization revealed that at T1, the association between bullying roles and aggression was moderated by victimization. Specifically, the association was stronger in those low on victimization. At T2, the association between defending and lower aggression and greater prosocial behavior was stronger in those low in victimization.