Malnutrition is one of the serious childhood problems that affect children under five (5) years of age, and is common in developing countries Botswana included. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of mothers of children diagnosed with malnutrition in Botswana, specifically at Sekgoma Memorial Hospital, Serowe. The said hospital is a district hospital which renders services to Serowe community and the surrounding villages, as such; participants in this study were from Serowe and other surrounding villages like Mabou, Tshimoyapula, Mmashoro and Mogorosi. Applied research was used as a type of research because it is associated with the researcher’s motivation to assist in solving a particular problem facing a particular community. Collective case study was used as a research design. The researcher explored the perceptions of mothers regarding child malnutrition; through the use of semi-structured interviews. Twelve (12) mothers of children with malnutrition were interviewed using systematic random sampling method and subsequently data was analysed according to Creswell’s model. Literature study was done and the following aspects were discussed: Child malnutrition in developing countries; child malnutrition in Botswana; description of child malnutrition; causes of child malnutrition; symptoms of child malnutrition; treatment of child malnutrition; prevention of child malnutrition; psychosocial implications of child malnutrition on the patient, family and community and social work intervention (therapy and prevention). Literature was also compared with research findings when analysing data. The study revealed that mothers had limited knowledge on malnutrition as a condition, the signs and symptoms thereof; causes; prevention and treatment of child malnutrition. This lack of knowledge made mothers to have wrong perceptions about child malnutrition. It was revealed that mothers did not perceive malnutrition as a serious problem that can result in admission for treatment in a hospital, they expected a different diagnosis. They perceive malnutrition as a secondary diagnosis. The majority of mothers had a Setswana diagnosis for their children’s condition. Mothers perceived the signs and symptoms of malnutrition as those of Thibamo, Phogwana (fontanel), or Ntsana. They interpret malnutrition as a Setswana ailment that can be treated traditionally. Factors that were identified to be contributing to malnutrition among children at Sekgoma Memorial Hospital in Serowe were found to be; lack of knowledge about malnutrition, wrong perceptions of malnutrition by mothers, illiteracy and unemployment, and cultural factors like taking a child to a traditional healer instead of a medical health facility. The study shows that mothers’ social functioning is disrupted by their children’s illness and hospitalization and thus a need for support from the hospital multi-disciplinary team, especially the social worker who is a trained counselor. The social worker should provide ongoing supportive counseling during the process of the child’s illness. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Social Work and Criminology / Unrestricted

There is a well-documented bidirectional relationship between pain and cognitive dysfunction, especially working memory. Despite this extensive body of research, the pain–working memory relationship is poorly understood. Pain catastrophizing – exaggerated negative cognitive and emotional responses towards pain – may contribute to working memory deficits by occupying finite, shared cognitive resources, but this has yet to be investigated. The present study sought to clarify the role of pain catastrophizing (assessed as both a trait-level disposition and state-level process) in working memory dysfunction. Healthy undergraduate participants were randomized to an ischemic pain or control task, during which they completed verbal and non-verbal working memory tests. They also completed measures of state- and trait-level pain catastrophizing. Mediation analyses indicated that state-level pain catastrophizing mediated the relationships of pain group to both verbal and non-verbal working memory, such that participants in the pain group (vs. the control group) catastrophized more about their pain, which then resulted in worse verbal and non-verbal working memory performance. In moderated mediation analyses, trait-level pain catastrophizing moderated this mediation effect for both verbal and non-verbal working memory. Those participants in the pain group who reported greater tendency to catastrophize about pain in general exhibited greater catastrophizing in-the-moment during the pain task, thereby leading to worse verbal and non-verbal working memory performance. These results provide evidence for pain catastrophizing as a putative mechanism and moderating factor of working memory dysfunction in pain. Future research should replicate these results in chronic pain samples, investigate other potential mechanisms (e.g., sleep), and develop interventions to ameliorate cognitive dysfunction by targeting pain catastrophizing.

Denna studie har till syfte att undersöka hur lastfördelningen och följaktligen dimen­sionerande tvärkrafter och moment i brobaneplattor av betong skiljer sig åt beroende på val av beräkningsmetod. Jämförelsen sker primärt för tre utvalda hand­beräknings­metoder som jämförts med beräkningar gjorda i ett beräknings­program baserat på finita element­metoder (FEM). I jämförelsen undersöks hur laster sprids i brobaneplattan enligt de olika beräknings­metoderna och vilka resulterande maximala snittkrafter som erhålls. Hur lastfördelningen sker är en komplex fråga och det är därför intressant att se vilka skillnader det blir i resultat utifrån olika beräknings­metoder. Studien skedde på ett utvalt studieobjekt, en åtta meter bred samverkansbro i Njurunda strax söder om Sundsvall. De trafiklaster som beaktats är lastmodell 1 och lastmodell 2 enligt Eurokod (CEN, 2003). De beräknings­metoder som jämförts i den här studien är dels en metod för beräkning av tvärgående konsol­moment där kantbalken bidrar mycket till den lastspridande effekten. En annan metod är för beräkning av tvärkraftsfördelning vilken generellt anses mycket gynnsam, alltså ger små tvärkrafter att dimensionera bron utifrån. Den tredje och sista handberäkningsmetoden som studerats är beräkningar av tvärgående moment i fältmitt, med hjälp av influensytediagram. Influensytediagrammen som dessa studier baseras på är fram­tagna av Adolf Pucher (Pucher, 1977) och kallas ibland för Pucherdiagram. Finita element­modeller (FE-modeller) skapades för jämförelse av resultat från hand­beräkningar. Flera olika FE-modeller skapades med varierande detaljnivå, för att kunna se hur modelleringstekniken påverkar resultatet. I alla FE-modeller har bro­bane­plattan modellerats som skalelement eftersom detta är det vanligaste sättet att modellera en bro med FEM. Skillnaderna mellan de olika FE-modellerna är framför allt hur huvudbalkarna modellerats. Även ytterligare en handberäkningsmetod tillämpades för respektive snittkraft för att ge ytterligare en referens. Referensmetoderna valdes för att vara enklare metoder som baseras på andra randvillkor än de primära handberäkningsmetoderna i den här studien. Resultatet från studien visar att de förenklingar som finns i handberäkningar kan ha signifikant inverkan på resultatet. Ett konstant förhållande mellan handberäkning och FEM, där den ena beräkningsmetoden alltid resulterade i större snittkrafter, kunde inte konstateras rakt igenom studien. För tvärgående konsolmoment gav hand­beräkningen ett större maxmoment samt att en del skillnader kunde avläsas FE-modellerna emellan. Vid beräkning av tvärkraft gav FE-beräkningen ett resultat som var nära på det dubbla av det resultat handberäkningen gav. För Pucherdiagrammen blev resultaten varierade och det fanns ingen tydlig indikation för om handberäkningar ger större eller mindre tvärgående moment än en FE-modell. Studien resulterade bland annat i ökad kunskap om att förenklingar, vid dimen­sionering av en bro med hjälp av handberäkningar, kan ha stor betydelse för resultatet. Då förenklingar vid handberäkning inte går att välja av användaren finns en fördel med FEM. Fördelen med FEM är då att förenklingar styrs av användaren och det går även att studera vilken effekt en viss förenkling ger. En annan slutsats var att betong är ett material som har ett komplext beteende och i metoder som bygger på empiriska studier kan lättare få med olika effekter som finns i en verklig brobaneplatta av betong. / The aim of this thesis is to study different design methods for determing load distribution, and design values for shear force and bending moment in concrete bridge decks. The study was performed based on three design methods for hand calculations, which have been compared to the results from finite element modelling (FEM). The load distribution has a major impact on the design of a bridge and how the results from different design methods will correlate is of a great interest. The evaluation has been performed on one case study, wich is an eight-meter wide composite girder bridge in Njurunda, situated south of Sundsvall in Sweden. The traffic loads applied for this study was load model 1 and load model 2 prescribed in Eurocode (CEN, 2003). One of the design methods investigated is a method used to determine for bending moment for a cantilever slab. A significant impact from the edge beam utilizes by the method to calculate the bending moment. The second method is a design method for shear forces recommended by The Swedish Transport Administration. The third and last design methods for hand calculation is to use influence charts by Pucher (Pucher, 1977). By using the influence chart to calculate the maximum bending moment in mid-span. Results from different models, created with FEM, were compared to the results from hand ­calculations. The bridge slab was modelled with shell elements, and the girders of the bridge were modelled in four different ways to study the impact of the level of detail in the numerical models. The results in this report show that hand calculation methods are based on significant simplifications of the structure and these may have a major impact on the results. The relation between results from hand calculation methods and results obtained with FEM was not consistent in all cases analysed. While studying the bending moment for a cantilever slab, the main conclusion was that the simplifications in the hand calculation methods resulted in significantly higher moments compared to the FE-calculations. Regarding design for shear forces, the FE analyses resulted in nearly twice as high shear forces compared to the hand calculation methods. While using the influence charts by Pucher the relation between results from hand calculations and results from FEM was not consistent. Conclusions from the study included that the simplifications in hand calcu­lations is hard to change. These simplifications can have a major influence to the results. Some simplifications will make the results more on the safe side. With FEM the user is more free to choose which simplifications that will be made, but it can sometimes be hard to see the effect simplifications have on the results. Concrete is a complex material and design methods based on empirical studies does most likely give a result that reflects the reality better than methods based on mathe­matic theories.

The diploma thesis deals with the design of the supporting structure of a road bridge over a reservoir. Two variants of bridging were processed. The selected variant is a three span continuous beam. It is made of box girder cross section with a variable height. The structure has a total length of 156,8 m and is built using balanced cantilever method. The bridge is designed and assessed according to the limit states for temporary and permanent design situations. Structural analysis, drawing documentation and visualization of the bridge is part of the work.

Short attention spans are a growing phenomenon, impacting users in their daily interactions with technology. While there have been studies in the field of HCI on how to design for directing or maximizing user attention, few have focused on users with short attention spans and their felt experiences. To fill this research gap, this study employed a user-centered design approach involving a pre-study and a workshop concerning web design. A thematic analysis of the data revealed ten themes which, among other things, dealt with web navigation, overwhelming interfaces and distractions. The results showed that attention is an embodied experience and relying solely on quantitative data, such as eye tracking, may not provide a complete understanding of it. Therefore, involving those affected in the design process can assist designers in creating the best possible experience, aligning with the end-users’ own definition of what constitutes a good experience. Additionally, designers should adapt to minimalist design principles to meet the needs of this user group. This paper contributes to research by giving in-depth insights into the felt experiences of short attention spans, and how these experiences may be designed for. / Korta uppmärksamhetspann är ett växande fenomen som påverkar användare i deras dagliga interaktioner med teknologi. Även om det har gjorts studier inom HCI om hur man designar för att rikta eller maximera användares uppmärksamhet, har få fokuserat på användare med korta uppmärksamhetspann och deras erfarenheter. För att bidra med kunskap inom detta område, använde denna studie en användarcentrerad designmetodik som innefattade en förstudie och en workshop om webdesign. En tematisk analys av datan resulterade i tio teman som bland annat handlade om webnavigering, överväldigande gränssnitt och distraktioner. Resultatet visade att uppmärksamhet är en förkroppsligad upplevelse och att enbart förlita sig på kvantitativ data såsom eye-tracking inte nödvändigvis ger en fullständing representation. Involvera de berörda i designprocessen kan därför hjälpa designers att skapa den bästa möjliga upplevelsen, i linje med slutanvändarnas egen definition av vad som utgör en god upplevelse. Dessutom bör designers använda sig av minimalistiska designprinciper för att tillgodose behoven hos denna användargrupp. Denna artikel bidrar till forskningen genom att ge inblickar i de upplevda erfarenheterna av korta uppmärksamhetspann och hur dessa erfarenheter kan designas för.

Nature brings lot of possibilities and inspirational ideas in various industries. Many fields of human activity from transportation, energy and electronics derives inspiration from natural structures and systems to be more efficient. The civil engineering and industry of building materials is not an exception. The ongoing joint research project CRC/TRR 280 [1] aimed on looking for a new methodology and approaches in design of light weight and bio inspired structures made of textile reinforced concrete (TRC). Special interest is on shell structures with membrane stresses that brings an extremely favourable span-to-material ratio that in turn means excellent structural performance. The current paper aimed to show the numerical side of the current research project.

Detta examensarbete ger en kostnadsjämförelse mellan stomsystem utfört i stål samt limträ. På uppdrag av Wästbygg AB har en undersökning gjorts om vilket material som är mest lämplig vid uppförande av en hallbyggnad på 15,000 m2. Med utgångspunkt i Stockholmsområdet, jämförs stommarna med spännvidden 45 meter.Det finns många olika sätt att uppföra stomlösningar, med avseende på utformning och material vilket gör valet av stomme svårt. Beroende på vilka krav man har på stommen kan avgränsningar och beslut tas till vilket material eller stomsystem som lämpar sig bäst för stombygget. Med hjälp av litteraturstudier, intervjuer och diskussioner har ett förslag på konstruktionsdelar, material och utformning tagits fram. Utifrån mängden fackverk/takstolar och pelare som krävs för att utföra stomsystemen görs en kostnadsanalys för materialet och dess transport till arbetsplatsen. Resultatet för kostnaden av respektive material har gjorts genom kontakt med leverantör av materialen. Kostnadsanalysen visar en prisskillnad mellan stommarna på ungefär 1650000 kr till stålets fördel.Materialens egenskaper har sedan jämförts med varandra och en poängsammanställning har framställts som visar vilket material som är till fördel för bygget. De egenskaper som väljs till jämförelsen är de egenskaper som författarna tycker är väsentliga för stombygget. / There are different methods of constructing frame systems. The choice of material has an influence on the final outcome of the frame system. This bachelor’s thesis includes a comparison on frame systems constructed in steel and glulam. Due to an assignment from Wästbygg AB an investigation has been made regarding which of the material is more suitable for an industrial building with an area of 15,000 m2. The building is to be constructed in Stockholm, and frame systems with a span of 45 meter will be compared to each other. The sizing and construction analysis for both frame systems in steel and glulam has been calculated according to Eurocode. Amount of construction parts needed to finish the build is compiled in a list, which is then used to make an appreciated cost summary for the construction. The cost of transportation to the site of the building is included in the cost. Results for the cost of the materials have been made with collaboration with the material suppliers. The cost summary shows that frame system in steel is economically better, with a lower cost of 1 650 000 kr less than glulam. Information about the different materials has been collected by litterateurs, web pages and interviews. The information is then compared to each other and a result by different characteristic qualities has been made. These qualities are then graded depended on how the materials match a sort of quality that is required in a frame system. Some qualities are more important than others, so there is a contention that some qualitys are better for frame system than others, for example if the material has solidity rather than being esthetic. Especially when constructing a large building as this. It is concluded that the choice of material depends on the type of building that is to be constructed.

Были получены результаты, которые обосновывают эффективность использования рамных каркасных конструкций из сварных двутавров переменного сечения с гофрированными стенками в строительстве большепролетных промышленных зданий. / Results were obtained that substantiate the effectiveness of the use of frame frame structures made of welded I-beams of variable cross section with corrugated walls in the construction of large-span industrial buildings.

Prefabricering av väggelement är en byggmetod under stark framväxt i byggandet av småhus de senaste decennierna. Kostnadseffektiviteten nämns ofta som ett skäl till att prefabricering av småhus har en sådan stor framväxt. Samtidigt har miljö- och klimatfrågan växt och då byggsektorn står för en stor del av Sveriges koldioxidutsläpp krävs det att byggsektorn ställer om till ett allt med hållbart byggande. Detta examensarbete har undersökt denna kostnadseffektivitet och hur och om en går att kombinera med ett hållbart byggande och sedan jämfört detta med platsbyggda väggar i trä. Underlag har tagits fram i samarbete med Skidstahus som producerar prefabricerade väggelement i fabriksmiljö och underlag från Derome Hus AB/ VarbergsHus vad berör småhus i lösvirke. En kostnadsjämförelse av de två byggmetoderna visar att de prefabricerade väggelement som Skidstahus framställer är mer kostnadseffektiva och det beror till stor del på att arbetstiden effektiviseras. Till viss del visar examensarbetet att materialanvändningen även resurs effektiviseras vid Skidstahus produktion och resulterar i mindre spill som därmed gynnar ett hållbart byggande. Andra viktiga aspekter för hållbarhet och livslängd såsom fukt och lufttäthet visar att prefabricerade väggar har utmaningar då skarvar och anslutningar måste vara väl utförda. Samtidigt innebär arbetet i fabriksmiljö att risken för fuktproblem minskar då det ger ett skydd för klimat och väder. Detta är medför även att byggarbetarna får en god och vältempererad arbetsmiljö. Däremot finns frågetecken kring hur byggande med prefabricerade väggelement påverkar miljön i form av transporter i förhållandet till platsbyggda väggar av lösvirke, då transporter till och från fabrik krävs. Utöver detta påverkar byggmetoden hur gestaltning och arkitektur utförs då ett platsbyggt hus i trä enklare går att utföra med valfri gestaltning. Analyserna visar sammanfattningsvis att användandet av prefabricerade väggelement i trä reducerar byggkostnader samtidigt som det kan bidra till ett hållbart byggande. Det krävs dock ytterligare studier för att jämföra den beräknade livslängden på prefabricerade väggar och platsbyggda. / Prefabrication of wood wall elements in construction of villas and terraced houses is a building method undergoing growth in recent decades. Cost efficiency is often cited as a reason why prefabrication has undergone such a large growth. At the same time, the issue of environmental impact and climate change has grown. As the construction sector accounts for a large part of Sweden's carbon dioxide emissions, the construction sector needs to become more sustainable. This thesis has examined this cost-effectiveness and if it is possible to combine with environmental sustainability. To examine this more thoroughly a comparison is made with in site-built timber-framed constructed walls. The thesis has been conducted in collaboration with Skidstahus, which produces prefabricated wall elements in a factory environment, especially for data collection. Information and data have also been collected from Varbergshus / Derome producing houses in site-built timber-framed building. A cost comparison of the building methods shows that the prefabricated wall elements manufactured by Skidstahus are more cost-effective, which can be linked to work efficiency. To some extent, the thesis also shows that material use can be optimized at Skidstahus production and therefore results in less waste, which thus reduces environmental impact. Other important factors for durability and accounted life span is the building method’s ability to handle migration of moisture and airtightness. The thesis shows that prefabricated walls have challenges, as joints and connections must be well designed. At the same time, factory production allows an environment which can reduce risk of migration of moisture as it provides protection for climate and weather impact. Another aspect is that it provides a good and well-tempered work environment for the construction worker. On the other hand, it is questionable whether the use of prefabricated wall elements affects the environment as it may increase the need of transportation in relation to on site-built timber-framed walls, as transport to and from the factory is required. In addition, the prefabricated method could influence how design and architecture is carried out while a wood house made from stick timber is more easily modified. In summary, the analysis show that the use of prefabricated wood wall elements reduces building costs while at the same time it can contribute to environmental sustainability. However, further studies are required to compare the estimated life span of the two compared building methods.

This research aims to investigate the behaviour of glass fibre reinforced polymer bars (GFRP) reinforced continuous concrete deep beams. For this purpose, experimental, analytical and numerical studies were conducted. Nine continuous concrete deep beams reinforced with GFRP bars and one specimen reinforced with steel bars were experimentally tested to failure. The investigated parameters included shear span-to-overall depth ratio (𝑎/ℎ), size effect and web reinforcement ratio. Two 𝑎/ℎ ratios of 1.0 and 1.7 and three section heights of 300 mm, 600 mm and 800 mm as well as two web reinforcement ratios of 0% and 0.4% were used. The longitudinal reinforcement, compressive strength and beam width were kept constant at 1.2%, ≈55 MPa and 175 mm, respectively. The web reinforcement ratio achieved the minimum requirements of the CSA S806-12. The experimental results highlighted that the web reinforcement ratio improved the load capacities by about 10% and 18% for specimens having 𝑎/ℎ ratios of 1.0 and 1.7, respectively. For specimens with web reinforcement, the increase of 𝑎/ℎ ratio from 1.0 to 1.7 led to reductions in the load carrying capacity by about 33% and 29% for beams with overall depths of 300 mm and 600 mm, respectively. Additionally, a considerable reduction occurred in the shear strength due to the increase of the section depth from 300 mm to 600 mm. The experimental results confirmed the impacts of web reinforcement and size effect that were not considered by the strut-and-tie method (STM) of the only code provision, the Canadian S806-12, that addressed such elements. In this study, the STM was illustrated and simplified to be adopted for GFRP RC continuous deep beams, and then, the experimental results obtained from this study were employed to assess the performance of the effectiveness factors suggested by the STMs of the American (ACI 318-2014), European (EC2-04) and Canadian (S806-12) codes as well as those factors recommended by the previous studies to predict the load capacities. It was found that these methods were unable to reflect the influences of member size and/or web reinforcement reasonably, the impact of which has been confirmed by the current experimental investigation. Therefore, a new effectiveness factor was recommended to be used with the STM. Additionally, an upper bound analysis was developed to predict the load capacities of the tested specimens considering a reduced bond strength of GFRP bars after assessing the old version recommended for steel RC continuous deep beams. A good agreement between the predicted results and the measured ones was obtained with the mean and coefficient of variation values for experimental/calculated results of 1.02 and 5.9%, respectively, for the STM and 1.03 and 8.6%, respectively, for the upper-bound analysis. A 2D finite element analysis using ABAQUS/Explicit approach was carried out to introduce a model able to estimate the response of GFRP RC continuous deep beams. Based on the experimental results extracted from the pullout tests, the interface between the longitudinal reinforcement and concrete surface was modelled using a cohesive element (COH2D4) tool available in ABAQUS. Furthermore, a perfect bond between the longitudinal reinforcement and surrounding concrete was also modelled to evaluate the validity of this assumption introduced by many previous FE studies. To achieve a reasonable agreement with the test results, a sensitivity analysis was implemented to select the proper mesh size and concrete model variables. The suitability and capability of the developed FE model were demonstrated by comparing its predictions with the test results of beams tested experimentally. Model validation showed a reasonable agreement with the experiments in terms of the failure mode, total failure load and the load-deflection responses. The perfect bond model has overestimated the predicted results in terms of stiffness behaviour and failure load, while the cohesive element model was more suitable to reflect the behaviour of those specimens. The validated FE model was then employed to implement a parametric study for the key parameters that govern the behaviour of beams tested and to achieve an in depth understanding of such elements. The parametric study showed that the higher the 𝑎/ℎ ratio the more pronounced the effect of web and the longitudinal reinforcements and the lower the effect of concrete compressive strength; and vice versa when 𝑎/ℎ ratio reduces.