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Master of Science / Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering / Steven Warren / Polysomnography is a method to obtain physiological signals from individuals with potential sleep disorders. Such physiological data, when acquired from children with autism spectrum disorders, could allow caregivers and child psychologists to identify sleep disorders and other indicators of nighttime well-being that affect their quality of life and ability to learn. Unfortunately, traditional polysomnography is not well suited for children with autism spectrum disorder because they commonly have an aversion to unfamiliar objects – in this case, the numerous wires and electrodes required to perform a full polysomnograph. Therefore, an innovative, unobtrusive method for gathering relevant physiological data must be designed. This report discusses several methods for obtaining a ballistocardiogram (BCG), which is a representation of the ballistic forces created by the heart during the cardiac cycle. A ballistocardiograph design is implemented using an electromechanical film placed under the center of a bed sheet. While an individual sleeps on the bed, the circuitry attached to the film extract and amplify the BCG data, which are then streamed to a computer through a LabVIEW interface and stored in a text file. These data are analyzed with a MATLAB algorithm which uses autocorrelation and linear predictive coding in the time domain to sharpen the signal. Frequency-domain peaks are then extracted to determine average heart rate every ten seconds. Initial tests involved four participants (student members of the research team) who laid in four positions: on their back, stomach, right side, and left side, yielding 16 unique data sets. Each participant laid in at least one position that allowed for accurate tracking of heart rate, with seven of the 16 signals demonstrating heart rates with less than 2% error when compared to heart rates acquired with a commercial pulse oximeter. The stomach position appeared to offer the lowest total error, while lying on the right side offered the highest total error. Overall, heart rates acquired from this initial set of participants exhibited an average error of approximately 2.5% for all four positions.

Over the past 30 years, the Upper Echelons perspective of strategic management has sought to explain a given organization’s strategies and effectiveness as a reflection of the differences in personality, background, and other characteristics of the senior executives that guides each organization. An important stream of research within this field has linked a firm’s strategy to the grandiose way that executives are often thought to view themselves – namely through examining the narcissism, core self-evaluations (CSE), and hubris of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). In this dissertation, I focus on understanding the strategic impact of CEO humility – a trait that has often been erroneously thought of to represent a poor view of oneself. Consistent with ancient writings and recent research, humility is defined herein as a multi-faceted trait that is the common core of four dimensions: self-awareness, developmental orientation/teachability, appreciation of others' strengths and contributions, and low self-focus. In the first essay, I explore the conceptual relevance and various potential implications of executive humility. Drawing on existing empirical research about the humility construct and general behavioral implications of humility, I argue that executive humility is a critical avenue toward a more rich and nuanced understanding of the delicate interplay and implications of executive self-concept. In essay two, I develop and validate an unobtrusive measure of CEO humility. Ten indicators of humility are suggested and then validated using a self-reported survey administered to a sample of 30 U.S. and Canadian CEOs. Two behaviors were found to be significantly positively related to self-reported humility: CEOs who volunteered some of their time for non-profit organizations and CEO’s who reported that part of their own firm’s success was due to the help of the board of directors. In essay three, I examine the relationship between the level of CEO humility and four firm-level outcomes. Employing a sample of 163 CEOs appointed to S&P 500 firms between 2005-2008, I show that firms led by humble CEOs (measured by the unobtrusive indicators) tend to outperform others in regards to corporate social performance, while at the same time showing that their financial performance is generally no better or worse.

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This paper is a study of the aspects that are important to consider when designing an unobtrusive interaction for wearable devices in the area of extreme sports. The work is based on an analytical study of seemly-unrelated areas with the common facet that they all call for an unobtrusive interaction in their devices. The findings of the analysis conclude that it is necessary a change of direction in the design because it is not possible to design an unobtrusive interaction that relies on active manipulation. Activity theory and affective computing present theoretical principles with the potential to be used as a framework for HCI and solve the mentioned issues. Finally, I design the user interface of a specific case in the areas of mountain biking and skiing to use it as design-oriented research. An essential aspect of this case is the use of expert feedback and video simulations to drive the design process. Another important point is the definition of the situations and variables that will be observed by the system to adapt itself so it is able to continue being unobtrusive and helpful through the changes.

Thesis (M.Com. (Accountancy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Accountancy, 2015 / Many studies considering the effects CEOs‟ characteristics have on the companies they run have been carried out in America. This study considers if organisational outcomes and strategic choices are partially predicted by managerial background characteristics as put forward by Hambrick and Mason (1984). It attempts to determine if the personality traits of CEOs of JSE listed companies (which result in them being classified as a narcissist) have an impact on the financial performance on the company for which they work. As identified by Chatterjee and Hambrick (2007), prior research has explored how executive‟s characteristics are manifested in organisational outcomes, however very little research addresses the narcissistic aspect of CEOs personalities. This study explored whether a relationship exists between CEO narcissism and strategic dynamism in a nonprobability, convenience sample.. A 5-item narcissism index was used as a proxy for narcissism and financial leverage, overhead efficiency and plant and equipment newness, were used to measure strategic dynamism. Multiple regression was used to analyse the data by applying CEO narcissism as the independent variable, strategic dynamism as the dependents variable whilst including control variables, including the CEO tenure, the age of the CEO, the age of the company, and indicator variable for the presence of a COO, the phase of the economy during which the CEO served his tenure and an indicator variable for which industry the company is operating in. The results of this study revealed that there is a viii correlation between the level of narcissism, captured using unobtrusive measures, of a JSE listed company‟s CEO and the level of strategic dynamism of that company. The results of the regression models suggest that whilst there is no observable relationship between narcissism and strategic dynamism, there is a relationship between narcissism and two of the components of strategic dynamism, financial leverage and plant and equipment newness. This research contributes further to the study of the effect of narcissistic CEO‟s on the companies for which they work and suggests that the personality traits of CEOs should be considered by company boards and shareholders when deciding to elect a person as CEO as well as by investors when deciding which companies to invest in.

Les capacités physiques et cognitives diminuent considérablement à cause du vieillissement. Les problèmes de santé liées au vieillissement présentent une grande charge pour la santé publique. Aujourd’hui, les services gériatriques ne sont pas suffisants pour détecter les problèmes de santé dans les premiers stades de leur évolution, dans le but d’améliorer l’évaluation et l’intervention médicale des personnes âgées. Traduire ces besoins gériatriques à travers les services existants est essentiel pour améliorer leur impact. Dans le cadre de ma thèse, je propose une approche technologique qui utilise des technologies non-intrusives pour analyser le comportement des personnes âgés sur de longues périodes et détecter des possibilités d’évolution de maladies physiques ou cognitives. Des références gériatriques internationales me permettent d’identifier des indicateurs de changement de comportement qui peuvent être suivis à travers de technologies non-intrusives sans interférer avec le comportement naturel des personnes âgées. J’analyse ces indicateurs en considérant plusieurs dimensions spatio-temporelles, et utilisant des techniques de détection de changement qui différencient les changements transitoires et continus dans le comportement suivi. Je valide mon approche proposée à travers un déploiement réel de 3 ans dans une maison de retraite et des maisons individuelles.Je propose une méthodologie de détection précoce et non-intrusive des possibilités de changement dans l’état de santé. Des entretiens personnels avec les personnes âgées, les membres de la famille, les médecins gériatres et les infirmières de la maison de retraite me permettent d’identifier leurs besoins gériatriques. Les parties prenantes de mes services proposés ont besoin d’une information fiable à propos des changements possibles dans l’état de santé le plus tôt possible, sans suivre les personnes d’une manière intrusive. Afin de traduire ces besoins gériatriques, je propose une approche technologique qui utilise des technologies non-intrusives pour suivre les personnes âgées pendant des semaines et des mois, et identifier des changements possible dans leur comportement fortement liés à des problèmes physiques ou cognitifs.Mon service web ChangeTracker implémente ma méthodologie. ChangeTracker analyse le comportement des personnes âgées en ligne et détecte des changements possibles chaque jour. Je développe des algorithmes qui convertissent les données de capteurs brutes en données inférées en relation avec l’état de santé de la personne suivie. Des techniques de détection de changement (par ex., des techniques statistiques, probabilistes et d’apprentissage) distinguent les changements temporaires et continus dans le comportement de la personne.Une validation réelle de mon approche a lieu dans 3 villes françaises Montpellier, Lattes et Occagnes. Les résultats expérimentaux de 25 participants validement ma détection précoce et non-intrusive des changements de santé. Les 25 participants vivent seuls à domicile ou dans une maison de retraite. Dans mon cas d’étude, j’installe des capteurs de mouvement dans chaque chambre de la maison et des capteurs de contact sur chaque porte principale. Ces capteurs collectent mes données de suivi pendant 3 ans. Mes algorithmes analysent ces données, calculent des indicateurs gériatriques significatifs, et détectent des changements possibles en corrélation avec l’état de santé. / Aging process is associated with serious decline in physical and cognitive abilities. Aging-related health problems present growing burden on public health and economy. Nowadays, existing geriatric services have limitations in terms of early detecting possible health changes toward better adaptation of medical assessment and intervention for elderly people. Bridging the gap between these geriatric needs and existing services is a major enabler to improve their impact. In this thesis, proposed technological approach employs unobtrusiveInternet of Things (IoT) technologies for long-term behavior monitoring and early detection of possible changes. Proposed methodology identifies geriatric indicators that can be monitored via unobtrusive IoT technologies, and are associated with physical and cognitive problems. This thesis develops data processing algorithms that convert raw sensor data into geriatric indicators. These geriatric indicators are analyzed on a daily basis, in order to early detect possible changes. This thesis evaluates and adapts further statistical, probabilistic and machine-learning techniques for long-term change detection. Adapting these techniques discards transient deviations, and retains permanent changes in monitored behavior. Real 3-year deployments in nursing home and individual houses validate proposed approach. Medical clinic geriatrician and nursing home team validate medical relevance of detected changes.

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Text in Afrikaans / In hierdie studie word die rol van interpersoonlike komrnunikasie in die funksionering van die algemene inligtingsdiens van die Unisa Biblioteek aan die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika ondersoek. 'n Kwantitatiewe meetinstrument word ontwikkel om gebruikertevredenheid met die hoofkomponente van die algemene inligtingsdiens, naamlik die inligtingsassistent, die inligting wat deur die klient ontvang word en die fisiese omgewing waarin die diens gelewer word, te evalueer. Daar word bevind dat 'n beduidende assosiasie bestaan tussen gebruikertevredenheid met die inligtingsassistent en gebruikertevredenheid met die inligting wat ontvang word. 'n Verkorte vrae lys word ontwerp en aanbevee 1 as 'n meetinstrument waarmee die bestuur gebruikertevredenheid met die algemene inligtingsdiens op 'n gereelde grondslag kan meet. / This study investigates the role of interpersonal communication in the functioning of the general information service provided by the Unisa Library at the University of South Africa. A quantitative measuring instrument is developed to evaluate user satisfaction with the main components of the general information service, that is the information assistant, the information received by the client and the physical surroundings in which the service is provided. It is found that a significant association exists between user satisfaction with the information assistant and user satisfaction with the information received. A shortened questionnaire is designed and recommended as a measuring instrument with which management can on a regular basis measure user satisfaction with the general information service. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)

Text in Afrikaans / In hierdie studie word die rol van interpersoonlike komrnunikasie in die funksionering van die algemene inligtingsdiens van die Unisa Biblioteek aan die Universiteit van Suid-Afrika ondersoek. 'n Kwantitatiewe meetinstrument word ontwikkel om gebruikertevredenheid met die hoofkomponente van die algemene inligtingsdiens, naamlik die inligtingsassistent, die inligting wat deur die klient ontvang word en die fisiese omgewing waarin die diens gelewer word, te evalueer. Daar word bevind dat 'n beduidende assosiasie bestaan tussen gebruikertevredenheid met die inligtingsassistent en gebruikertevredenheid met die inligting wat ontvang word. 'n Verkorte vrae lys word ontwerp en aanbevee 1 as 'n meetinstrument waarmee die bestuur gebruikertevredenheid met die algemene inligtingsdiens op 'n gereelde grondslag kan meet. / This study investigates the role of interpersonal communication in the functioning of the general information service provided by the Unisa Library at the University of South Africa. A quantitative measuring instrument is developed to evaluate user satisfaction with the main components of the general information service, that is the information assistant, the information received by the client and the physical surroundings in which the service is provided. It is found that a significant association exists between user satisfaction with the information assistant and user satisfaction with the information received. A shortened questionnaire is designed and recommended as a measuring instrument with which management can on a regular basis measure user satisfaction with the general information service. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)