Playing Nine to Five is a project that aims to raise awareness of the presence of objects in everyday situations. We always surround ourselves with objects, some of them we touch and use everyday, and some of them we barely notice until they stop working. But are we always aware of our relations with them, or have we slightly taken them for granted? While our life quality has moved forward and our living pace has sped up, we tend to lose more of our attentions and sensitivities to things around us. During the design process, I used office space as a canvas to discuss and challenge our daily norms, where objects exist mainly as tools. I looked into our ‘unconscious behavior’ with objects, such as habits or recurring actions. In our everyday lives, these repetitions and rhythmic movements with objects are often being unnoticed or considered as ‘normal’. In this project, I worked with two office objects, a pen and a clock. Respectively, they represent different ways of exploring our present relations with objects. Pen is an object we use and carry with almost everyday. It is personal and close to our body. Clock, on the other hand, is an object that we barley touch, but constantly look at or search for. It shows the information of time. Both proposals are designed to bring attention to what we are using, when, and how, to create space for discussion and reflection. The purpose of this project is to tweak the way we interact with objects and explore our relations with objects through playfulness and curiosity. I see this project as an ongoing exploration and a potential development in the future.

This dissertation investigated the effects of technological mediation on second language (L2) learning, focusing, as a case study, on gains in listening perception of the subtle but important feature of pitch placement in Japanese. Pitch accent can be difficult to perceive for non-native speakers whose first language (L1) does not rely on pitch or tone as a distinctive feature, such as English (Wayland & Li, 2008). Pedagogically, Face-To-Face (FTF) interactions with native or near-native speakers are typically the most effective way to learn L2 sound system features due to social presence, but these interactions are not always possible because of physical distance. Mediation can facilitate these interactions, but it is unclear which type results in more learning gains. The current study compared three mediation types that vary in the information provided to the learner: audio-only (asynchronous), video (audiovisual asynchronous), and videoconferencing (audiovisual synchronous), as well as a fourth condition of videoconferencing which facilitated mutual eye contact. The lack of mutual eye contact in standard videoconferencing (due to the webcam being above the image of an interlocutor's face) can inhibit the perceived social presence (Bondareva, Meesters, & Bouwhuis, 2006). A pretest/posttest/delayed posttest design was used, which measured error rates and reaction times for a same/different discrimination task and a picture recognition task. The participants were English L1 speakers, with no prior study of Japanese. After the pretest, they received training in the form of two short lessons in beginner Japanese vocabulary and sentence building administered by a native speaking tutor, which did not explicitly address pitch placement, but used minimal pairs for this feature as vocabulary items. The lessons were followed by a posttest, and a delayed posttest one week later. The results showed that all four conditions succeeded in improving Japanese pitch placement detection, both immediately after and up to a week after the lessons. While an ANOVA revealed no main effect of mediation type, planned comparison results suggest videoconferencing without eye contact may lead to more gains in pitch placement perception than video. A surprising suggestion by the data was that videoconferencing with eye contact may lead to worse performance than the other mediation types. An exit survey detected the self-determination of the participants, and higher self-determination correlated with worse testing performance within the videoconferencing with eye contact condition. This suggests that the addition of eye contact increased the social presence of that condition to the point that it triggered Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety (FLSA) in the participants. Overall, this study highlights that lessons and tasks administered through mediation can be used to provide native speaker input for features that are important for listening and speaking, and this can effectively help learners attend to and learn these features.

Everyday face-to-face social interaction is increasingly being supplemented by computer- and video-mediated communication. With mediation, however, comes the potential loss of important non-verbal cues. It is therefore important to attempt to maintain the quality of the mediated interaction, such that it retains as many of the aspects of a real-world interaction as possible. Social presence is a measure of how similar a mediated interaction is to face-to-face, the most socially present situation, in terms of perceptions of and behaviour towards an interlocutor. Social presence can be mediated by many factors, one of which is mutual gaze, and social perceptions of an interlocutor are also thought to be related to task performance. For a successful interaction, therefore, an optimum amount of mutual gaze for maximising social presence and task performance is desirable. This research aims to investigate the relationship between mutual gaze, task performance and social presence, in order to discover the ideal conditions under which a successful mediated interaction can occur. Previous gaze research paradigms have involved one conversational partner staring continuously at the other, and the resulting mutual gaze being measured. It is hypothesised that this method may actually suppress mutual gaze, primarily due to social reasons. It is potentially, therefore, not the optimum experimental design for mutual gaze research. The first study in this thesis used eye-tracking to explore this hypothesis and investigate the relationship between mutual gaze and task performance. A suitable paradigm was developed, based on that used in previous research into eye movements and non-verbal communication. Two participants – Instruction Giver (IG) and Instruction Follower (IF) – communicated via avatars in Second Life to solve simple arithmetic tasks. There were two between-participant looking conditions: staring (the IG’s avatar stared continuously at the IF); and notstaring, (IG’s avatar looked at IF and task-relevant objects). Constant staring did, indeed, show evidence of decreasing mutual gaze within the dyad. Mutual gaze was positively correlated with task performance scores, but only in the not-staring condition. When not engaged in mutual gaze, the IF looked more at task-related objects in the not-staring condition than in the staring condition; this suggests that social factors are likely to be driving the gaze aversion in the staring condition. Furthermore, there are no task-related benefits to staring. The second study explored further how much looking by one person at another will maximise both mutual gaze and task performance between the dyad. It also investigated the relationship between mutual gaze, task performance and both manipulated and perceived social presence. Individual participants interacted with a virtual agent within the Second Life paradigm previously used in the human-human study. Participants were either told they were interacting with a computer (i.e. an agent) or another human (an avatar). This provided the between-participants manipulated social presence variable, or agency. The virtual agent was programmed to look at the participant during either 0%, 25%, 50% or 75% of the interaction, providing the within-participants variable looking condition. The majority of effects were found in the 75% looking condition, including the highest mutual gaze uptake and the highest social presence ratings (measured via a questionnaire). Although the questionnaire did not detect any differences in social presence between the agent and avatar condition, participants were significantly faster to complete the tasks in the avatar condition than in the agent condition. This suggests that behavioural measures may be more effective at detecting differences in social presence than questionnaires alone. The results are discussed in relation to different theories of social interaction. Implications and limitations of the findings are considered and suggestions for future work are made.

Background: For nurses in hospitals, the presence of close relatives in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can be an uncertain experience. In 2015, 91 000 deaths occurred in Sweden, many of them in hospitals. Aim: This study aimed to explain nurses' experiences of relatives' presence at cardiopulmonary resuscitation in hospitals. Method: A literature review based on six qualitative and five quantitative articles was performed. Result: Two main themes, to invite and to not invite, constituted the result with four subthemes. The main theme to invite had two subthemes, good occupational experience and self-confidence. The main theme to not invite comprised likewise two subthemes, insecurity about absent guidelines and worry about relatives' reaction. Conclusion: A majority of the nurses believed that relatives should be present at CPR. Nurses believed that relatives easier could accept their relatives' death if they were able to touch their relative, share the last moments in life and say goodbye. Improvement of guidelines and development work is needed to maintain nurses' positive view of relatives' presence at CPR in hospital settings. To strengthen this, national guidelines are also necessary to assist local guidelines.

Playing Nine to Five is a project that aims to raise awareness of the presence of objects in everyday situations. We often surround ourselves with objects. Some of them we touch and use everyday, and some of them we barely notice until they stop working. But are we always aware of our relations with them, or have we slightly taken them for granted? While our life quality has moved forward and our living pace has sped up, we tend to lose more of our attentions and sensitivities to things around us. During the design process, I used office space as a canvas to discuss and challenge our daily norms, where objects exist mainly as tools. I looked into our ‘unconscious behavior’ with objects, such as habits or recurring actions. In our everyday lives, these repetitions and rhythmic movements with objects are often being unnoticed or considered as ‘normal’.  In this project, I worked with two office objects, a pen and a clock. Respectively, they represent different ways of exploring our present relations with objects. Pen is an object we use and carry with almost everyday. It is personal and close to our body. Clock, on the other hand, is an object that we barley touch, but constantly look at or search for. It shows the information of time. Both proposals are designed to bring attention to what we are using, when, and how, to create space for discussion and reflection. The purpose of this project is to tweak the way we interact with objects and explore our relations with objects through playfulness and curiosity. I see this project as an ongoing exploration and a potential development in the future.

The mobility, flexibility, convenience, and ubiquity of mobile data services (MDS) have contributed to their enormous growth and popularity with users. MDS allow users to communicate through mobile texting (mTexting), mobile Instant Messaging (mIM), multimedia messaging services (MMS), and email. A unique feature of MDS that enhances its popularity among its users is the awareness capability, which is revolutionizing the way MDS is being used to communicate today. It allows potential communication partners to socialize through these technologies. This dissertation explored the relationship between user experience, perceived richness, perceived social presence and satisfaction with MDS. A research model for examining the antecedent conditions that influence social presence, richness, social interaction and satisfaction with MDS was developed. Partial least square analysis showed that user experience influenced both social presence and richness. Also supported was the relationship between richness, social presence and satisfaction with MDS. Social presence mediated the relationship between user experience and richness. However, only one dimension of interactivity influenced social presence.

This thesis describes basic principles of IP Multimedia Subsystem, known as the IMS, and shows the possibility for design applications using IMS. Firstly, a generic architecture IMS as layer model divided into four logic layer with definition the interfaces and the main entities is described. The IMS is based on SIP and IP protocols. Then is the architecture of SIP with the main entities explained. Structure of packet, request and response method in the part of SIP is also described. After that, three network services, namely presence services, instant messaging services and push over cellular services are presented. For each services the figuration of their architecture and the basic definition of their main entities are shown. Moreover, the graphical diagrams of SIP signalization are depicted for these services. In the next chapter, the self implementation of services was designed, namely presence services and services for speech transmission with next secondary function as sending email with registration information of user. The project was designed as client - server application in the development studio SDS Ericsson 4.1. The client application was simulated as java application and also as an application for Symbian emulator. The process of client registration was performed with the help of ICP platform. Finally, the diagram of analysis communication client - server is displayed with the captured packets explanation by the help of network analyzer WireShark. The video files, which were specially created for this thesis showing presentations for presence services and sending email. The most important results are summarized in the end of this article.

Die geesteswetenskappe, en spesifiek letterkunde en literatuurstudies, loop toenemend deur onder kritiek oor die relevansie van letterkunde in die 21ste eeu. Die letterkundige Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht reken egter dat die probleem nie is dat fiksie irrelevant geword het nie, maar dat die suiwer hermeneutiese manier waarop letterkunde gelees word, gelei het tot ’n reduksionistiese beskouing van letterkunde. Gumbrecht reken dat dit moontlik is om taal op so ’n wyse aan te wend dat dit die leser weer nader kan bring aan die wêreld waarvan hy grootliks verwyderd voel. Hierdie konsep noem hy die “produksie van teenwoordigheid”, en hy identifiseer sewe wyses waarop taal kan funksioneer om só ’n “teenwoordigheidseffek” te bewerkstellig. Marlene van Niekerk se Die sneeuslaper word in hierdie studie ondersoek deur gebruik te maak van Gumbrecht se konsep van die “teenwoordigheidseffek” van ’n literêre teks. Die “produksie van teenwoordigheid” word egter in ’n spanning teenoor die hermeneutiese aspek, die betekenis of interpretasie, en teenoor die “sosiale betrokkenheid” van letterkunde ondersoek – ’n spanning wat deurgaans in Van Niekerk se oeuvre teenwoordig is. Gumbrecht se voorstel om die “teenwoordigheidseffek” van ’n teks te ondersoek, lei daartoe dat Die sneeuslaper gelees kan word as ’n bydrae tot die breër besinning oor die rol en relevansie van letterkunde, kuns en kunskritiek in ons samelewing, en die manier waarop kunswerke ervaar word. Benewens Gumbrecht se idee van teenwoordigheidsproduksie, sal daar ook aangesluit word by Wolfgang Iser se “werkingsestetika” waarvolgens hy aandui dat literêre tekste “strukture uit die werklikheid” neem en herrangskik om daardie strukture op ’n vars en nuwe wyse in die literêre teks te belig. In die proses word tekortkominge of probleme van hierdie “strukture” uit die buite-tekstuele wêreld duidelik. Met behulp van Iser se teorie, word aangedui hoe Van Niekerk in die vier verskillende verhale die leser dwing om bestaande, hermeneutiese aannames oor die letterkunde en literêre tekste te heroorweeg. Die idee dat tekste betekenis moet inhou, sluiting moet bied of noodwendig sosiopolitieke betrokkenheid moet toon word uitgedaag. In ruil ondersoek Van Niekerk eerder die mate waartoe ’n benadering wat gerig is op die “estetiese ervaring” van literêre tekste, voorafopgestelde idees en aanvaarde strukture kan belig ten einde die leser se persepsies oor daardie strukture te wysig. Daar sal aangedui word hoe Van Niekerk taal aanwend om ook ’n teenwoordigheidseffek te bewerkstellig, en in die proses die leser, soos wat Gumbrecht voorstel, vir ’n oomblik “tot stilstand dwing”. / The role and potential relevance of the humanities, specifically of literature and literary criticism in the 21st century, has been increasingly called into question. Literary theorist Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht suggests that the problem is not that fiction has become irrelevant. Rather it is the exclusively hermeneutic way in which literature is read, that leads to a reductionist view of literature. Gumbrecht argues that it is possible to apply language in such a way that it could again bring the reader closer to the world to which the reader feels increasingly distant. He calls this concept the “production of presence”, and identifies seven ways in which language functions to create a “presence effect”. In this dissertation, Gumbrecht’s concept of the "presence effect" of literature will be applied to analyse Marlene van Niekerk’s Die sneeuslaper. The production of presence is, however, analysed in a tension with the hermeneutic aspect, the meaning or interpreation of literature, and literature that engages with social and political realities – a tension which is often present in Van Niekerk’s oeuvre. Gumbrecht’s theory of the “presence effect” of literature, opens up the possibility to read Die sneeuslaper as a contribution to a broader reflection on the way in which art is experienced, and on the role and relevance of literature, art and art criticism at the start of the 21st centuary. Apart from Gumbrecht’s concept of the production of presence, this study will rely on Wolfgang Iser’s reception theory in which he indicates how literary texts can rearrange structures from the world in order to highlights those structures in a new way. Hence, the deficiencies or problems of those “structures” become clear to the reader. Iser’s theory is used to indicate how the Van Niekerk forces the reader to reconsider existing hermeneutic perceptions on literature and literary texts. These include perceptions that texts should necessarily have meaning, that it should provide closure, or that it should be a socially or politically engaged text. Van Niekerk investigates an approach that is focused on the “aesthetic experience” of a literary text, and how such an approach could highlight preconceived ideas about existing and assumed structures about art and society in order to alter the reader’s perceptions of those structures. This study shows that Van Niekerk applies language in such a way that it leads to a presence effect which, as Gumbrecht suggest, forces the reader to experience a “moment of intensity”. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Unit for Creative Writing / MA / Unrestricted

Radical changes during the past century not only effected the broad global society, but also church life. Dwindeling numbers of membership and lesser church attendance show that worldwide secularization has put the church in a tight position. On the other hand, there is currently renewed interest in spiritual life. This tendency gives Christianity and the church as such the opportunity to come forward with new and creative ways to convey the message of the gospel. One of the focus points should be to rediscover and renew the worship service, as it is still the main function of the church. Post modern ways of life and thinking should together with the eternal Word of God be the prime factors of rethinking worship. With mainly these arguments in mind, this study attempts to develop a design by which creative and effective worship services can be planned. Because the Bible as Gods Word is central in reformed theological thinking as well as in the whole spectrum of such church life, that will be the basis. As far as the worship service is concerned, the text for the sermon is held to be not only the focus point but actually the source from which all the liturgical elements develop. The study starts off with an overview of current tendencies. Chapter 2 deals with the research work being an empirical survey as well as a literature study. Results of the empirical survey is dealt with throughout the study. Chapter 3 discusses the whole issue of the presence of God in the church service. After an overview of this phenomenon in different eras of church history, it concludes with the outcome that God’s presence is firstly a historical fact and secondly a means of communication during a certain event. This can be experienced because the worshiper is a person with a certain human makup who lives in a particular time and space. In Chapter 4 the issue of the hermeneutical process comes into view. It deals with the Word in context and feels in the end at home in the presence of the textual communicative approach of a person such as Paul Ricoeur. The tendencies of the post modern time is also discussed. Chapter 5 focuses on liturgy itself and leads to the point where liturgy is actually the merging of Gods message with the message of the congregation. The final chapter develops the liturgical model which we can call the liturgical design where the text for the sermon is the viewpoint. / Dissertation (MA(Teologie))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Background: To efficiently capture evaluation and management (E&M) and procedural billing in our surgical intensive care unit (SICU), we have developed an electronic billing system that links to the electronic medical record (EMR). In this system, only notes electronically signed and coded by an attending generate billing charges. We hypothesized that capture of missed billing during nighttime and weekends might be sufficient to subsidize 24/7 in-house attending coverage. Methods: A retrospective chart EMR review was performed of the EMRs for all SICU patients during a 2-month period. Note type, date, time, attending signature, and coding were analyzed. Notes without attending signature, diagnosis, or current procedural terminology (CPT) code were considered incomplete and identified as "missed billing." Results: Four hundred and forty-three patients had 465 admissions generating 2,896 notes. Overall, 76% of notes were signed and coded by an attending and billed. Incomplete (not billed) notes represented an overall missed billing opportunity of $159,138 for the 2-month time period (∼$954,000 annually). Unbilled E&M encounters during weekdays totaled $54,758, whereas unbilled E&M and procedures from weeknights and weekends totaled $88,408 ($44,566 and $43,842, respectively). Missed billing after-hours thus represents ∼$530K annually, extrapolating to ∼$220K in collections from our payer mix. Surprisingly, missed E&M and procedural billing during weekdays totaled $70,730 (∼$425K billing, ∼$170K collections annually), and typically represented patients seen, but transferred from the SICU before attending documentation was completed. Conclusions: Capture of nighttime and weekend ICU collections alone may be insufficient to add faculty or incentivize in-house coverage, but could certainly complement other in-house derived revenues to such ends. In addition, missed daytime billing in busy modern ICUs can be substantial, and use of an EMR to identify missed billing opportunities can help create solutions to recover these revenues.