Ill-health has been identified as the cause and consequence of poverty in Uganda. In April, 2009 the ICT4MPOWER project was launched in order to improve health care delivery in the rural communities of Uganda using Information and Communication Technology. One of the aspects considered, was the development of a human resource management system. Studying quality literature, interviewing possible stakeholders and investigating the current healthcare management information system led to the finding of both tactical and strategic functions for the development of human resources. Mock up interfaces was designed to support the needs of the organization. Flowcharts, use cases, and instruction films were made to clarify and to see the process from different end user. We have identified a need for a more strategic approach towards human resource management, but it must begin with establishing the hard foundation.

Fel och misstag relaterade till bristande kommunikation och brister i teamarbete sker inom sjukvården, vilket medför ett hot mot patientsäkerheten, framför allt i akuta situationer där snabba beslut måste tas och där liv står på spel. Forskningen visar att det är den mänskliga faktorn som är en bidragande orsak till dessa fel och misstag. Standardiserade arbetssätt, effektivt teamarbete och tydlig kommunikation i teamet krävs för att säkerställa patientsäkerheten. Syfte med föreliggande studie var att beskriva specialistsjuksköterskans upplevelser av interprofessionell teamträning samt hur det påverkar kommunikation och teamarbetet i det kliniska arbetet. Metoden utgjordes av semistrukturerade intervjuer som genomfördes med åtta specialistsjuksköterskor som genomgått interprofessionell medicinsk simulering. Materialet analyserades med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys med induktiv ansats. Resultatet utmynnade i två teman utifrån studiens tvådelade syfte. Det första temat var upplevelser av simuleringsövningen där följande tre kategorier framkom: lärandemiljö, samverkan i team samt kommunikation. Det andra temat var effekter i det kliniska arbetet där följande tre kategorier framträdde: samverkan i team, kommunikation samt patientsäkerhet. Resultatet visar att specialistsjuksköterskans upplevelser den interprofessionella teamträningen som mycket positiv. Nyttan av att träna och att använda sig av loopkommunikation tillsammans med de andra i teamet belystes. Likaså belystes betydelsen av att ha en tydlig ledare i teamet i det akuta omhändertagande, vilket skapar känslan av delaktighet. Teamledarens uppgift är att skapa en tydlig struktur och ett bra teamarbete runt patienten, vilket ökar patientsäkerheten. Slutsatsen av studien visar att interprofessionell medicinsk simuleringsövning ger en ökad medvetenhet kring vikten av ett välfungerande team med en effektiv kommunikation i det akuta omhändertagandet. Vidare visade det sig att alla specialistsjuksköterskor fått flera verktyg som var användbara i det kliniska arbetet.

Grass-roots conservation efforts, implemented at the local level, have become increasingly popular within the U.S. and abroad. The conservation and natural resource literature has touted these initiatives as more effective when compared to top-down management efforts. As localities are given more responsibility for managing their own natural resources, their ability to do so effectively has become a major concern. I sought to determine the capacity of these community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) groups to contribute to successful ecosystem management in the state of Illinois, with three primary objectives: to determine the primary components of capacity within a CBNRM organization (chapter 2); to identify the relationship between the levels of capacity in a CBNRM organization and the quality of natural resource management planning conducted by the group (chapter 3); and, to evaluate the effects of resource management plans (RMPs) produced by CBNRM groups on the ecological integrity of the prescribed area. This multi-disciplinary project necessitated reliance on the principles of both sociology and ecology, as required by explorations of socio-ecological systems. This dissertation is an attempt to model the success of CBNRM initiatives by examining changes in ecological integrity and attainment of conservation goals. It is my intent that this model can be used by CBNRM groups in Illinois and other contexts to best meet their goals, and by organizations seeking to assist CBNRM groups as an investment guide to determine what type of assistance is most likely to lead to environmental change. I found motivation, leadership, respect, mutual interest/shared values, outreach/education, marketing, communication, planning, funding and equipment/supplies were the most important drivers of CBNRM group capacity. Additionally, my results show that capacity varied significantly among groups with low, moderate and high RMP success, and that group capacity was predictive of the degree of RMP success. Lastly, I found bird indicators increased, especially at the 7-8 year post-RMP mark, providing some evidence of the utility of CBNRM initiatives in affecting positive environmental change.

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) typically consist of a significant number of inexpensive sensor nodes, each of which is powered by a battery or another finite energy source that is difficult to replace because of the environment they are in or the cost of doing so. The applications of WSNs include military surveillance, disaster management, target tracking and monitoring environmental conditions. In order to increase the lifespan of WSNs, energy-efficient sensing and communication approaches for sensor nodes are essential. Recently, there has been an increase in interest in using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as portable data collectors for ground sensor nodes in WSN. Several approaches to solving effective communication between sensor nodes and the fusion center have been investigated in this thesis. Because processing, sensing range, transmission bandwidth, and energy consumption are always limited, it is beneficial not to use all the information provided at each sensor node in order to prolong its life span and reduce communication costs. In order to address this problem, first, efficient measurement quantization techniques are proposed using a single fusion center and multiple sensors. The dynamic bit distribution is done among all the sensors and within the measurement elements. The problem is then expanded to include multiple fusion centers, and a novel algorithm is proposed to associate sensors to fusion centers. The bandwidth distribution for targets which are being monitored by several sensors is addressed. Additionally, how to use the situation in which the sensors are in the coverage radius of multiple fusion centers in order to share the targets between them is discussed. Finally, performance bounded data collection algorithms are proposed where the necessary accuracy for each target is specified. In order to determine the minimum number of data collectors needed and their initial placement, an algorithm is proposed. When there are fewer fixed data collectors than there are regions to collect the data from, a coverage path planning method is developed. Since the optimal solution requires an enormous computational requirement and not realistic for real-time online implementation, approximate algorithms are proposed for multi-objective integer optimization problems. In order to assess each suggested algorithm's effectiveness, many simulated scenarios are used together with baselines and simple existing methods. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>Please contact the author with any questions. A compressed tar.b2z file is attached with the groundwater model input files.</p> / <p>Wadi El Naturn, located in the Western Desert in northern Egypt, has been subject to significant groundwater degradation since the 1990s, attributed primarily to agricultural development. Information required to diagnose the drivers of groundwater degradation and assess management options in dryland environments like Wadi El Natrun is however, frequently sparse. This research presents an approach for modeling the impacts of dryland environmental change on groundwater in the context of sparse data. A focus is placed on understanding the potential impacts of conservation strategies in the context of climate change. Water use, hydrostratigraphic and groundwater flow data were collected from literature, monitoring records, satellite imagery and a survey of local landholders. MODFLOW-NWT was used to model the multi-layer aquifer system, and algorithms were developed in R to create realizations of groundwater recharge, and well-pumping at a monthly time-step from 1957 to 2011. The model was deemed to be reasonably capable of capturing the cumulative impact of environmental change over this historical period. A risk assessment approach was then used to assess the impact of climate change and conservation-focused management scenarios on groundwater locally over a 50-year future planning horizon. The optimization of irrigation systems and increased cultivation of drought/salt tolerant crops have the potential to significantly reduce the risk of groundwater depletion compared to an across-the-board 20% water use reduction scenario. The influence of groundwater pumping also outweighed that of climate change, and the most vulnerable water users/ecosystem were found to be the most exposed to groundwater degradation.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Sustainable development is the modern rhetoric to guide environmental or natural resources management. There are many ways to do this and one concern the wider utilization of economic instruments, such as taxes or levies. Although such levies are becoming common in Australia and worldwide, the role of the taxes or levies is still limited. In many cases, these taxes/levies -although environmentally related- have a fiscal rather than a purely environmental motive, for example, the Natural Resources Management (NRM) Levy in South Australia. In South Australia, under the NRM Act 2004, all property owners are required to pay the NRM levy. Local governments collect the levy and distribute it to the relevant NRM board. The NRM boards have selected to calculate the levy on the basis of property value or simply applied a flat rate. The percentage of property value or the amount of the flat rate can vary amongst local government areas. How a tax or levy is designed should be determined by its ultimate purpose. Taxes or levies for fiscal and/or redistributive reasons should be designed in a way securing stable inflow of revenues, such as, levying on the values of property. However, this approach is often in sharp contrast with the goal of environmental taxes or levies which aim to change resource consumption behaviour. This study evaluates the NRM levy policy in South Australia using one NRM region and focussing on the urban community. The justification of this research is that few analyses of the effectiveness of environmental taxes or levies have ever been carried out, although the implementation of these measures has increased significantly during the last decades. There are fewer studies analysing the impacts of the tax or levy base method. This is the first study on this NRM levy policy from the perspective of the urban community who actually pay it. This study employed the Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen & Fishbein 1980) to examine the relationships between community attitudes to the levy policy and water consumption behaviour. Data was collected through a web-based survey with 770 respondents who answered 59 questions. The key findings show that governments are perceived to have the main responsibility for water resources management by respondents. However, there is huge information void towards the NRM levy policy. Community has few complaints about the levy level but strongly prefers to have a levy calculated on the volume of water consumed. Respondents also indicated that they would use less water if the levy were calculated on the volume of water consumed. The study makes contributions to relevant theory and policy analysis. Theoretically, the results show that the theory of reasoned action has limited strength in explaining the present research context. Practically, the study provides recommendations for policymakers and practitioners in South Australia, other Australian States, and internationally. The clear implications of the results suggest that if a tax or levy aims to change water consumption behaviour then it should be based on the volume of water consumed not on property value.

Sustainable development is the modern rhetoric to guide environmental or natural resources management. There are many ways to do this and one concern the wider utilization of economic instruments, such as taxes or levies. Although such levies are becoming common in Australia and worldwide, the role of the taxes or levies is still limited. In many cases, these taxes/levies -although environmentally related- have a fiscal rather than a purely environmental motive, for example, the Natural Resources Management (NRM) Levy in South Australia. In South Australia, under the NRM Act 2004, all property owners are required to pay the NRM levy. Local governments collect the levy and distribute it to the relevant NRM board. The NRM boards have selected to calculate the levy on the basis of property value or simply applied a flat rate. The percentage of property value or the amount of the flat rate can vary amongst local government areas. How a tax or levy is designed should be determined by its ultimate purpose. Taxes or levies for fiscal and/or redistributive reasons should be designed in a way securing stable inflow of revenues, such as, levying on the values of property. However, this approach is often in sharp contrast with the goal of environmental taxes or levies which aim to change resource consumption behaviour. This study evaluates the NRM levy policy in South Australia using one NRM region and focussing on the urban community. The justification of this research is that few analyses of the effectiveness of environmental taxes or levies have ever been carried out, although the implementation of these measures has increased significantly during the last decades. There are fewer studies analysing the impacts of the tax or levy base method. This is the first study on this NRM levy policy from the perspective of the urban community who actually pay it. This study employed the Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen & Fishbein 1980) to examine the relationships between community attitudes to the levy policy and water consumption behaviour. Data was collected through a web-based survey with 770 respondents who answered 59 questions. The key findings show that governments are perceived to have the main responsibility for water resources management by respondents. However, there is huge information void towards the NRM levy policy. Community has few complaints about the levy level but strongly prefers to have a levy calculated on the volume of water consumed. Respondents also indicated that they would use less water if the levy were calculated on the volume of water consumed. The study makes contributions to relevant theory and policy analysis. Theoretically, the results show that the theory of reasoned action has limited strength in explaining the present research context. Practically, the study provides recommendations for policymakers and practitioners in South Australia, other Australian States, and internationally. The clear implications of the results suggest that if a tax or levy aims to change water consumption behaviour then it should be based on the volume of water consumed not on property value.

No description available.

Master of Science / Civil Engineering / David R. Steward / With an increasing population, municipalities in the United States are struggling to secure safe, reliable water sources for future water demands. Alternative water sources are being considered to improve the overall water management picture. Wastewater reuse, reusing wastewater effluent for beneficial purposes, is an alternative water source that is gaining popularity in the United States. In this study a theoretical framework was developed to enable a region to quickly assess the feasibility of reusing wastewater for irrigation needs. Three criteria were established for the framework; they are, regulations and guidelines for reuse, adequate flow ratio, and cost benefit analysis. As a region moves through the framework and criteria a list of feasible wastewater facilities and end users are established. A model was developed for the cost benefit analysis based on regional input. As regulatory frameworks and economic factors evolve over time the model can be updated to assess how these changes will affect water reuse in a region. The model will provide a useful tool for a region to integrate wastewater reuse into the water resource management process. The Lower Arkansas River Basin (LARK) was highlighted by the Kansas Water Office as a region that should investigate the role of reuse in water conservation. Results from this report indicate 963 million gallons per year (MG/yr) of wastewater effluent could feasibly be used to irrigate 9 hole and 18 hole golf courses in the region. The results determined that any 18 hole golf course within a 15.9 mile radius of a wastewater treatment facility in the LARK could payback the capital costs for wastewater reuse within 10 years. This information is a useful tool for the region to start the discussion for implementing wastewater reuse in the region. The results from this report indicate wastewater reuse for golf course irrigation is economically feasible in the LARK. Establishing a safe reliable water source for the future is paramount to the future of Kansas. Future research is needed to determine how the wastewater diversion affects the environmental balance of the permitted discharge location.

Published Article / Employees working in municipalities and especially those who have to support other municipal employees (such as human resource management personnel), are constantly working in difficult working circumstances which may have a negative effect on their levels of job satisfaction. The effect of gender and ethnicity on the job satisfaction of human resource management employees working in a municipality has not yet been demonstrated. This information could help to improve the working circumstances of employees working in the municipality. Results indicated that employees are dissatisfied about the following job satisfaction components: company policies and practices, remuneration, promotion, security, acknowledgement for good performances, status, supervisor skills, working conditions, equipment and facilities. White employees in particular are found to be less satisfied in terms of the way their bosses handled personnel matters, on variety and on independent functioning in their job context. In the light of the above-mentioned, a few recommendations were made.