Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Hand guidance'

La chirurgie laparoscopique minimalement invasive guidée par l'image permet la réduction de la durée des séjours à l'hôpital pour le patient, réduisant ainsi les traumatismes postopératoires et accélérant le temps de guérison. Avec les progrès récents des techniques d'imagerie, les chirurgiens peuvent planifier une chirurgie de manière efficace et en toute confiance en utilisant différentes modalités d'image telles que la tomodensitométrie / IRM, les images échographiques, etc. Les techniques de fusion d'images en temps réel permettent la superposition de différents types d'images pour fournir une vue complète au chirurgien. Un aspect important de la fusion en temps réel est que l'instrument laparoscopique est suivi en temps réel à l'aide de capteurs. Dans cette thèse, nous présentons une analyse détaillée de ces technologies de suivi tout en fournissant une nouvelle configuration de capteurs pour le suivi d'images par laparoscope à ultrasons. Nous présentons une chaîne cinématique pour la configuration des capteurs et nous fournissons une solution pour la réduction du bruit présent dans les données des capteurs en utilisant la technique de moyennage des rotations. Le Hand-Eye calibration (étalonnage main-œil) est également un élément fondamental des systèmes de suivi hybrides. Nous présentons une révision détaillée de cette technique. Nous présentons également une méthode déterministe, robuste et précise pour résoudre le problème d'étalonnage main-œil, même pour de grandes quantités de valeurs aberrantes et des niveaux élevés de bruit de mesure. La méthode proposée est basée sur une reformulation d'un problème de programmation semi-définie à contraintes de rang où la robustesse est renforcée via une approche d'optimisation pondérée de façon itérative
Minimally invasive image-guided laparoscopic surgery allows shorter hospital stays for the patient reducing post-operative trauma and faster healing time. With the recent advances in imaging techniques, surgeons can efficiently and confidently plan a surgery by using different image modalities such as CT/MRI scans, ultrasound images etc. Real-time image fusion techniques can overlay the images from different modalities together to provide a comprehensive view to the surgeon. An important aspect of real-time fusion is that the laparoscopic instrument is tracked in real-time using sensors. In this thesis, we present a detailed analysis of such tracking technologies while providing a novel sensor setup for ultrasound laparoscope image tracking. We present a kinematic chain for the sensor setup and provide a solution for noise reduction in the sensor data using rotation averaging technique. Hand-Eye calibration is also a fundamental part of hybrid tracking systems. We present a detailed review of this technique. We also present a deterministic, robust and accurate method for solving Hand-Eye calibration problem even for large amounts of outliers and high levels of measurement noise. The proposed method is based on a reformulation of a rank-constrained semi-definite programming problem allowing for robustness to be enforced via an iteratively re-weighted optimization approach

This thesis describes the design, development and implementation of a robot mounted active stereo vision system for adaptive robot arm guidance. This provides a very flexible and intelligent system that is able to react to uncertainty in a manufacturing environment. It is capable of tracking and determining the 3D position of an object so that the robot can move towards, and intercept, it. Such a system has particular applications in remotely controlled robot arms, typically working in hostile environments. The stereo vision system is designed on mechatronic principles and is modular, light-weight and uses state-of-the-art dc servo-motor technology. Based on visual information, it controls camera vergence and focus independently while making use of the flexibility of the robot for positioning. Calibration and modelling techniques have been developed to determine the geometry of the stereo vision system so that the 3D position of objects can be estimated from the 2D camera information. 3D position estimates are obtained by stereo triangulation. A method for obtaining a quantitative measure of the confidence of the 3D position estimate is presented which is a useful built-in error checking mechanism to reject false or poor 3D matches. A predictive gaze controller has been incorporated into the stereo head control system. This anticipates the relative 3D motion of the object to alleviate the effect of computational delays and ensures a smooth trajectory. Validation experiments have been undertaken with a Puma 562 industrial robot to show the functional integration of the camera system with the robot controller. The vision system is capable of tracking moving objects and the information this provides is used to update command information to the controller. The vision system has been shown to be in full control of the robot during a tracking and intercept duty cycle.

Controversies surrounding issues related to eminent domain remain in the forefront of academic and public debate, largely attributed to the United States Supreme Courtâ s landmark 2005 ruling on the subject. Much of the academic discourse on eminent domain centers on constitutional dimensions of public use and just compensation or procedural components of transaction costs and regulation v. flexibility. Noticeably absent from the scholarly conversation, however, is the study of how public administrators actually involved in the process of eminent domain understand relevant issues. This silence has resulted in significant gaps between the study of the purpose and mechanics of eminent domain. How these public administrators understand eminent domain and where they search for guidance are significant questions that may inform and extend existing research on eminent domain. Particularly important to this research are the ways in which administratorsâ professionalism affects their administrative discretion in the implementation of a legal case, Kelo. Relying on survey and elite interview analysis with public administrators in the state of Connecticut, the birthplace of the Kelo case, this research seeks to answer the following four questions: How do administrators understand eminent domain, where do they turn for guidance, how do they interpret and understand takings law post-Kelo, and how do they understand â publicâ post-Kelo? This study finds support that administrators are generally unaccepting of eminent domain when used under the Kelo conditions, that they favor a notion of public use incorporating some degree of use by the public, and that they are most likely to turn to statutory and constitutional resources for eminent domain guidance. Further, the interviews were particularly useful in developing a four-part typology of administratorsâ understanding of eminent domain.
Ph. D.

This dissertation presents a novel approach to develop a system for real-time tracking of the position and orientation of the human hand in three-dimensional space, using MEMS inertial measurement units (IMUs) and infrared cameras. This research focuses on the study and implementation of an algorithm to correct the gyroscope drift, which is a major problem in orientation tracking using commercial-grade IMUs. An algorithm to improve the orientation estimation is proposed. It consists of: 1.) Prediction of the bias offset error while the sensor is static, 2.) Estimation of a quaternion orientation from the unbiased angular velocity, 3.) Correction of the orientation quaternion utilizing the gravity vector and the magnetic North vector, and 4.) Adaptive quaternion interpolation, which determines the final quaternion estimate based upon the current conditions of the sensor. The results verified that the implementation of the orientation correction algorithm using the gravity vector and the magnetic North vector is able to reduce the amount of drift in orientation tracking and is compatible with position tracking using infrared cameras for real-time human hand motion tracking. Thirty human subjects participated in an experiment to validate the performance of the hand motion tracking system. The statistical analysis shows that the error of position tracking is, on average, 1.7 cm in the x-axis, 1.0 cm in the y-axis, and 3.5 cm in the z-axis. The Kruskal-Wallis tests show that the orientation correction algorithm using gravity vector and magnetic North vector can significantly reduce the errors in orientation tracking in comparison to fixed offset compensation. Statistical analyses show that the orientation correction algorithm using gravity vector and magnetic North vector and the on-board Kalman-based orientation filtering produced orientation errors that were not significantly different in the Euler angles, Phi, Theta and Psi, with the p-values of 0.632, 0.262 and 0.728, respectively. The proposed orientation correction algorithm represents a contribution to the emerging approaches to obtain reliable orientation estimates from MEMS IMUs. The development of a hand motion tracking system using IMUs and infrared cameras in this dissertation enables future improvements in natural human-computer interactions within a 3D virtual environment.

The study’s purpose is to find out how important cultural competence is for the guidance of people with multicultural backgrounds. I also want to illustrate that what is seen as normal in one culture may mean something different in another culture. The study will also in some extent explore culture clashes and its problems in the guidance context. The method used in the study is qualitative and the five respondents were all practicing Muslims. The theoretical point in the study is the constructivist. The thesis shows that the individuals compromise with their religious beliefs in order to meet their daily needs. A conclusion is that cultural competence is necessary, but also that the counselors approach proved to be of significant importance.
Undersökningens syfte var att ta reda på hur viktig kulturell kompetens är i vägledning av personer med multikulturell bakgrund. Jag vill även belysa att vad som ses som normalt i en kultur kan betyda något helt annat i en annan. Undersökningen går även in på kulturkrockar och dess problematik i samband med vägledning. Metoden som använts i undersökningen är kvalitativ, och de fem respondenter som intervjuades var alla praktiserande muslimer. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten i undersökningen är den konstruktivistiska. Undersökningen visar att individerna på olika sätt kompromissar för att få deras vardag att gå ihop med sin religiösa trosuppfattning. En slutsats som drogs är att kulturell kompetens till viss del är nödvändig, dock är det vägledarens förhållningssätt som är avgörande för om det blir ett lyckat möte.

Augmented Reality is a technology where the user sees the environment mixed with a virtual reality containing things such as text, animations, pictures, and videos. Remote guidance is a sub-field of Augmented Reality where guidance is given remotely to identify and solve problems without being there in person. Using hands overlay, the guide can use his or her hand to point and show gestures in real-time. To do this one needs to track the hands and create a video stream that represents them. The video stream of the hands is then overlaid on top of the video from the individual getting help. A solution currently used in the industry is to use image segmentation, which is done by segmenting an image to foreground and background to decide what to include. This requires distinct differences between the pixels that should be included and the ones that should be discarded to work correctly. This thesis instead investigates a model-based approach to hand tracking, where one tracks points of interest on the hands to build a 3D model of them. A model-based solution is based on sensor data, meaning that it would not have the limitations that image segmentation has. A prototype is developed and integrated into the existing solution. The hand modeling is done in a Unity application and then transferred into the existing application. The results show that there is a clear but not too significant overhead, so it can run on a normal computer. The prototype works as a proof of concept and shows the potential of a model-based approach.

Introduction: This work explored the concept of ‘empowerment’ in health care. A concept map of ‘empowerment’ was generated based on theories of linguistic analysis to locate aspects of empowerment in conversational data. The process of empowerment was understood within the theory of transformative learning as ‘perspective change’. A ten phase model of the transformative learning process was used to provide evidence of perspective transformation. The empowerment process was explored through the delivery of the intervention Video Interaction Guidance to 16 hearing families of pre-lingual deaf children. Methods: The parents of the deaf children and the intervention guide engaged in conversations reviewing video clips of the parent and child in interaction. These conversations were processed through a corpus analysis software programme to discern key extracts of the participants’ conversational data. These extracts were to subject to discourse analysis to find evidence of transformative learning. Analysis: Transformative learning was observed in 10 families. Transcript extracts representing the model of transformative learning were variable. Principles of conversation analysis were applied to explore the learning process in interaction. Participant speech was tagged to assess their level of engagement. Outcomes: The corpus analysis-driven tagging process offers an original approach to representing the key content of large sets of interview data but in this work, was limited in showing how the interaction created opportunities for learning. Transformative learning processes were variable and the ten phase model could not be characterised in terms of discourse features alone. The intervention encouraged critical reflection but warrants directed focus to achieve learning. The participants were effective in acting as co-collaborators in the intervention process. Discussion and concluding remarks: Models of empowerment must focus on the process, of the ways in which the guide and the participant create learning opportunities and evidence of this must be multimodal. Patient-centred interventions should be supported by an open, communicative relationship with the health service provider.

Abstract : Many individuals that had a stroke have motor impairments such as timing deficits that hinder their ability to complete daily activities like getting dressed. Robotic rehabilitation is an increasingly popular therapeutic avenue in order to improve motor recovery among this population. Yet, most studies have focused on improving the spatial aspect of movement (e.g. reaching), and not the temporal one (e.g. timing). Hence, the main aim of this study was to compare two types of robotic rehabilitation on the immediate improvement of timing accuracy: haptic guidance (HG), which consists of guiding the person to make the correct movement, and thus decreasing his or her movement errors, and error amplification (EA), which consists of increasing the person’s movement errors. The secondary objective consisted of exploring whether the side of the stroke lesion had an effect on timing accuracy following HG and EA training. Thirty-four persons that had a stroke (average age 67 ± 7 years) participated in a single training session of a timing-based task (simulated pinball-like task), where they had to activate a robot at the correct moment to successfully hit targets that were presented a random on a computer screen. Participants were randomly divided into two groups, receiving either HG or EA. During the same session, a baseline phase and a retention phase were given before and after each training, and these phases were compared in order to evaluate and compare the immediate impact of HG and EA on movement timing accuracy. The results showed that HG helped improve the immediate timing accuracy (p=0.03), but not EA (p=0.45). After comparing both trainings, HG was revealed to be superior to EA at improving timing (p=0.04). Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between the side of stroke lesion and the change in timing accuracy following EA (r[subscript pb]=0.7, p=0.001), but not HG (r[subscript pb]=0.18, p=0.24). In other words, a deterioration in timing accuracy was found for participants with a lesion in the left hemisphere that had trained with EA. On the other hand, for the participants having a right-sided stroke lesion, an improvement in timing accuracy was noted following EA. In sum, it seems that HG helps improve the immediate timing accuracy for individuals that had a stroke. Still, the side of the stroke lesion seems to play a part in the participants’ response to training. This remains to be further explored, in addition to the impact of providing more training sessions in order to assess any long-term benefits of HG or EA.
Résumé : À la suite d’un accident vasculaire cérébral (AVC), plusieurs atteintes, comme un déficit de timing, sont notées, et ce, même à la phase chronique d’un AVC, ce qui nuit à l’accomplissement de tâches quotidiennes comme se vêtir. L’entrainement robotisé est un entrainement qui est de plus en plus préconisé dans le but d’améliorer la récupération motrice à la suite d’un AVC. Par contre, la plupart des études ont étudié les effets de l’entrainement robotisé sur l’amélioration de l’aspect spatial du mouvement (ex : la direction du mouvement), et non l’aspect temporel (ex : timing). L’objectif principal de ce projet était donc d’évaluer et de comparer l’impact de deux entrainements robotisés sur l’amélioration immédiate du timing soit : la réduction de l’erreur (RE), qui consiste à guider la personne à faire le mouvement désiré, et l’augmentation de l’erreur (AE), qui nuit au mouvement de la personne. L’objectif secondaire consistait à explorer s’il y avait une relation entre le côté de la lésion cérébrale et le changement dans les erreurs de timing suivant l’entrainement par RE et AE. Trente-quatre personnes atteintes d’un AVC au stade chronique (âge moyen de 67 ± 7 années) ont participé à cette étude, où ils devaient jouer à un jeu simulé de machine à boules. Les participants devaient activer une main robotisée au bon moment pour atteindre des cibles présentées aléatoirement sur un écran d’ordinateur. Les participants recevaient soit RE ou AE. Une ligne de base et une phase de rétention étaient données avant et après chaque entrainement, et elles étaient utilisées pour évaluer et comparer l’effet immédiat de RE et AE sur le timing. Les résultats ont démontré que RE permet d’améliorer les erreurs de timing (p=0,03), mais pas AE (p=0,45). De plus, la comparaison entre les deux entrainements a démontré que RE était supérieur à AE pour améliorer le timing (p=0,04). Par ailleurs, une corrélation significative a été notée entre le côté de la lésion cérébrale et le changement des erreurs de timing suivant AE (r[indice inférieur pb]=0,70; p=0,001), mais pas RE (r[indice inférieur pb]=0,18; p=0,24). En d’autres mots, une détérioration de l’exécution de la tâche de timing a été notée pour les participants ayant leur lésion cérébrale à gauche. Par contre, ceux ayant leur lésion à droite ont bénéficié de l’entrainement par AE. Bref, l’entrainement par RE peut améliorer les erreurs de timing pour les survivants d’AVC au stade chronique. Toutefois, le côté de la lésion cérébrale semble jouer un rôle important dans la réponse à l’entrainement par AE. Ceci demeure à être exploré, ainsi que l’impact d’un entrainement par RE et AE de plus longue durée pour en déterminer leurs effets à long terme.

Le premier volet de ce document est dédié à l'obtention des grandeurs effectives d'un cristal photonique monodimensionnel. La méthode employée consiste à calquer les propriétés en dispersion et en réflexion d'un cristal sur celles d'un milieu homogène anisotrope. Cette nouvelle approche permet d'atteindre les permittivité et perméabilité effectives du cristal sous la forme d'un couple de tenseurs. Leur expression indique un critère nécessaire pour réaliser l'adaptation d'impédance entre un cristal et le milieu ambiant. Celui-ci est alors étendu puis appliqué aux cristaux bidimensionnels.
Le second volet est l'étude du guidage de modes quasi-TEM uniformes dans un guide métallique au moyen de parois structurées. Les structures sont des surfaces hard analysées grâce à la méthode modale tandis que les guides d'ondes associés le sont par une extension de la méthode des sources fictives. Cartes de champs et relations de dispersion révèlent le comportement des surfaces et guides envisagés.

L'agrégation de classements consiste à établir un consensus entre un ensemble de classements (éléments ordonnés). Bien que ce problème ait de très nombreuses applications (consensus entre les votes d'utilisateurs, consensus entre des résultats ordonnés différemment par divers moteurs de recherche...), calculer un consensus exact est rarement faisable dans les cas d'applications réels (problème NP-difficile). De nombreux algorithmes d'approximation et heuristiques ont donc été conçus. Néanmoins, leurs performances (en temps et en qualité de résultat produit) sont très différentes et dépendent des jeux de données à agréger. Plusieurs études ont cherché à comparer ces algorithmes mais celles-ci n’ont généralement pas considéré le cas (pourtant courant dans les jeux de données réels) des égalités entre éléments dans les classements (éléments classés au même rang). Choisir un algorithme de consensus adéquat vis-à-vis d'un jeu de données est donc un problème particulièrement important à étudier (grand nombre d’applications) et c’est un problème ouvert au sens où aucune des études existantes ne permet d’y répondre. Plus formellement, un consensus de classements est un classement qui minimise le somme des distances entre ce consensus et chacun des classements en entrés. Nous avons considérés (comme une grande partie de l’état-de-art) la distance de Kendall-Tau généralisée, ainsi que des variantes, dans nos études. Plus précisément, cette thèse comporte trois contributions. Premièrement, nous proposons de nouveaux résultats de complexité associés aux cas que l'on rencontre dans les données réelles où les classements peuvent être incomplets et où plusieurs éléments peuvent être classés à égalité. Nous isolons les différents « paramètres » qui peuvent expliquer les variations au niveau des résultats produits par les algorithmes d’agrégation (par exemple, utilisation de la distance de Kendall-Tau généralisée ou de variantes, d’un pré-traitement des jeux de données par unification ou projection). Nous proposons un guide pour caractériser le contexte et le besoin d’un utilisateur afin de le guider dans le choix à la fois d’un pré-traitement de ses données mais aussi de la distance à choisir pour calculer le consensus. Nous proposons finalement une adaptation des algorithmes existants à ce nouveau contexte. Deuxièmement, nous évaluons ces algorithmes sur un ensemble important et varié de jeux de données à la fois réels et synthétiques reproduisant des caractéristiques réelles telles que similarité entre classements, la présence d'égalités, et différents pré-traitements. Cette large évaluation passe par la proposition d’une nouvelle méthode pour générer des données synthétiques avec similarités basée sur une modélisation en chaîne Markovienne. Cette évaluation a permis d'isoler les caractéristiques des jeux de données ayant un impact sur les performances des algorithmes d'agrégation et de concevoir un guide pour caractériser le besoin d'un utilisateur et le conseiller dans le choix de l'algorithme à privilégier. Une plateforme web permettant de reproduire et étendre ces analyses effectuée est disponible (rank-aggregation-with-ties.lri.fr). Enfin, nous démontrons l'intérêt d'utiliser l'approche d'agrégation de classements dans deux cas d'utilisation. Nous proposons un outil reformulant à-la-volé des requêtes textuelles d'utilisateur grâce à des terminologies biomédicales, pour ensuite interroger de bases de données biologiques, et finalement produire un consensus des résultats obtenus pour chaque reformulation (conqur-bio.lri.fr). Nous comparons l'outil à la plateforme de références et montrons une amélioration nette des résultats en qualité. Nous calculons aussi des consensus entre liste de workflows établie par des experts dans le contexte de la similarité entre workflows scientifiques. Nous observons que les consensus calculés sont très en accord avec les utilisateurs dans une large proportion de cas
The rank aggregation problem is to build consensus among a set of rankings (ordered elements). Although this problem has numerous applications (consensus among user votes, consensus between results ordered differently by different search engines ...), computing an optimal consensus is rarely feasible in cases of real applications (problem NP-Hard). Many approximation algorithms and heuristics were therefore designed. However, their performance (time and quality of product loss) are quite different and depend on the datasets to be aggregated. Several studies have compared these algorithms but they have generally not considered the case (yet common in real datasets) that elements can be tied in rankings (elements at the same rank). Choosing a consensus algorithm for a given dataset is therefore a particularly important issue to be studied (many applications) and it is an open problem in the sense that none of the existing studies address it. More formally, a consensus ranking is a ranking that minimizes the sum of the distances between this consensus and the input rankings. Like much of the state-of-art, we have considered in our studies the generalized Kendall-Tau distance, and variants. Specifically, this thesis has three contributions. First, we propose new complexity results associated with cases encountered in the actual data that rankings may be incomplete and where multiple items can be classified equally (ties). We isolate the different "features" that can explain variations in the results produced by the aggregation algorithms (for example, using the generalized distance of Kendall-Tau or variants, pre-processing the datasets with unification or projection). We propose a guide to characterize the context and the need of a user to guide him into the choice of both a pre-treatment of its datasets but also the distance to choose to calculate the consensus. We finally adapt existing algorithms to this new context. Second, we evaluate these algorithms on a large and varied set of datasets both real and synthetic reproducing actual features such as similarity between rankings, the presence of ties and different pre-treatments. This large evaluation comes with the proposal of a new method to generate synthetic data with similarities based on a Markov chain modeling. This evaluation led to the isolation of datasets features that impact the performance of the aggregation algorithms, and to design a guide to characterize the needs of a user and advise him in the choice of the algorithm to be use. A web platform to replicate and extend these analyzes is available (rank-aggregation-with-ties.lri.fr). Finally, we demonstrate the value of using the rankings aggregation approach in two use cases. We provide a tool to reformulating the text user queries through biomedical terminologies, to then query biological databases, and ultimately produce a consensus of results obtained for each reformulation (conqur-bio.lri.fr). We compare the results to the references platform and show a clear improvement in quality results. We also calculate consensus between list of workflows established by experts in the context of similarity between scientific workflows. We note that the computed consensus agree with the expert in a very large majority of cases

Les manipulateurs industriels collaboratifs ouvrent une nouvelle ère dans la fabrication flexible, où les robots et les humains sont capables de coexister et de travailler ensemble. Cependant, divers défis persistent pour parvenir à une collaboration complète entre les robots et les humains en milieu industriel. Dans cette thèse, deux défis principaux - la sécurité et la collaboration - sont abordés pour atteindre cet objectif. Concernant la sécurité, la thèse présente une méthode d'évitement des collisions en temps réel qui permet au robot d'ajuster les chemins générés hors ligne pour une tâche industrielle, tout en évitant les collisions avec les humains à proximité. En outre, la thèse a présenté une nouvelle méthode pour effectuer un mouvement d'évitement de collision réactif, en utilisant la méthode de Newton du second ordre qui offre divers avantages par rapport aux méthodes traditionnelles utilisées dans la littérature. Sur la collaboration, la thèse présente un mode de guidage manuel précis comme alternative au mode de guidage actuel pour effectuer des opérations de positionnement précis de l'effecteur terminal du robot d’une manière simple et intuitive. La thèse présente également de nouvelles contributions à la formulation mathématique de la dynamique des robots, y compris un algorithme récursif pour calculer la matrice de masse des robots sériels avec un coût minimal du second ordre et un algorithme récursif pour calculer efficacement les symboles de Christoffel. Tous les algorithmes présentés sont validés soit en simulation, soit dans un scénario réel
Collaborative industrial manipulators are ushering a new era in flexible manufacturing, where robots and humans are allowed to coexist and work side by side. However, various challenges still persist in achieving full human robot collaboration on the factory floor. In this thesis two main challenges - safety and collaboration - for achieving that goal are addressed. On safety, the thesis presents a real-time collision avoidance method which allows the robot to adjust the offline generated paths of the industrial task in real-time for avoiding collisions with humans nearby. In addition, the thesis presented a new method for performing the reactive collision avoidance motion using second order Newton method which offers various advantages over the traditional methods in the literature. On collaboration, the thesis presents the precision hand-guiding as an alternative to the teach-pendant for performing precise positioning operations of the robot’s end-effector in a simple and intuitive manner. The thesis also presents new contributions into the mathematical formulation of robot dynamics, including a recursive algorithm for calculating the mass matrix of serially linked robots with a minimal second order cost, and a recursive algorithm for calculating Christoffel symbols efficiently. All the presented algorithms are validated either in simulation or in a real-world scenario

碩士
國立臺灣師範大學
教育心理與輔導學系
104
The purpose of this research is mainly an evaluation program for college student volunteers participating Hand-in-Hand Guidance Project for children's home. Using CIPP evaluation mode to analysis in four categories which includes, Context, Input, Process and the Product. On the other hand, the way of research covers: Focusing Group Interview, Semistructure Interview and Document Analysis Method. After the research, primary needs of mental company of children in children’s home include: (1) Having someone to listen to then. (2) Security. (3) Trust relationship. (4) Discussing and deal with adaption problem. (5) Caring and company with a steady relationship. The expectations of children’s home include: (1) The role of company with children. (2) Positive model. (3) Helping to understand and evaluate children’s situation. (4) Caring ignored children. On the other side, the findings of Process and Product evaluation in CIPP evaluation mode show that college student volunteers use listening, empathy, caring, understanding, compliment, and mild response as the ways, to bring children relax, happiness, looking forward to meeting and not to closing the relationship, and building healing and steady helping relationship. In summary, this project fulfills children’s needs, and relieves the pressure of the manpower of a children’s home, helping socialworkers to understand children’s life situations and needs, and acting positive role and guide children to deal with problems in positive ways. However, we are facing several challenges, such as: (1) The balance between information flow and confidentiality principle. (2) The complex of information tract. (3) Unstable administration, fund and cooperation of children’s home. (4) Lack of information to pair. (5) Influences by college student volunteers’ planning on time, schoolwork and participate in associations. (6) The Influences by equipment and other workers in children’ home. Generally speaking, positive evaluations were given by study participants to the help to children and children’s home, and to enhance volunteer’s professional experience. Largely due to the great effort, it is strongly recommended that this project should be continualy processed. Finally, the researcher concludes suggestions provided by study participants, which include: (1) The program’s operation system should be more integrated. (2) To keep the communication smooth on system collaboration. (3) To increase courses about helping handicapped children. (4) To build security and trust workspace in children’ home. (5) Volunteers’s caring and company with the children is more important than problem solving or possible change.

In computer-assisted surgery, a computer display provides 3D guidance of tools during surgery. However, current guidance displays have a number of drawbacks. This thesis considers the advantages of a prototype guidance system for drilling tasks. We attached a small LCD screen and video camera to a surgical drill. The screen's point of view was controlled by moving the drill. A user study showed that the tool-mounted LCD screen can provide significantly better positional and angular accuracy than the conventional display. The study also showed that a video camera might not be useful for guidance.
Thesis (Master, Computing) -- Queen's University, 2007-09-18 00:31:10.965

Thesis (M.Tech.: Chiropractic)-Dept. of Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, 2006 116 leaves
The aim was to evaluate the prevalence of hand and wrist pain, as well as the relationships between occupational overuse syndromes in the hands and wrists of chiropractors in South Africa as a result of their daily use of manual therapy techniques while at work. There are very few statistics available that disclose the nature and incidence of work related injuries. However those statistics that do exist suggest that hands on patient activities place physical therapists at greater risk of injury in comparison to other health care workers (Lunne et al., 2000). A study conducted by Bork et al.(1996) determined the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal injuries sustained by physical therapists. Hand pain (29.6%) and back pain (45%) where the leading cause of pain in physical therapists (Bork et al., 1996.) Chiropractic and physiotherapy are both health care professions that specialize in the treatment of disorders pertaining to the neuro-musculo-skeletal system (Hunter, 2004). Physical therapists use manual therapy techniques as part of their daily working activities, so it can be assumed that chiropractors too will have a high prevalence of hand and wrist pain as they utilize similar therapeutic techniques to physical therapists. Cromie et al.(2000) evaluated the prevalence, severity, risks, and responses of disorders in physical therapists. He identified 4 categories of major risk factors commonly associated with workers musculo-skeletal disorders in physical therapists 1. Risk factors related to specific activities. 2. Postural risk factors. 3. Risk factors with regard to work load issues 4. Risk factors in regard of work capacity and health of the participant (Cromie et al., 2000). Physical risk factors found to be associated with neck, shoulder, or hand and wrist disorders in cross sectional studies are heavy lifting, monotonous work, static work postures, vibrations and repetitive jobs, and a high work pace (Alfredsson et al., 1999). Other factors that have been associated with musculoskeletal pain are higher age and female gender (de Zwart et al., 2001; Wahlstedt et al., 2001; Feveile et al., 2002).

The effort of this research was focused on the assessment of the implementation process of the Hands off our Children parental guidance programme by social workers in the Western Cape during 2005. This could be seen as an evaluation of the programme in order to adjust it for future implementation. The objective of this research was to explore the application, experience and implementation of the programme by social workers in the Western Cape. The universe in this study was all social workers that did the training in the HOOC parental guidance programme in the Western Cape. In this study the population was social workers that implemented the HOOC parental guidance programme training in the work place. Participants were selected until saturation of data was reached. The method used in selecting the participants was non-probability sampling. With-in non-probability sampling purposive sampling was used. Conclusions and recommendations on the programme were made in order to empower the Department of Community safety to implement a more effective and streamline project in the future.
Social Work
M.Diac. (Play Therapy)

China is getting more and more attention from the world due to its recent rapid development. However, for most people in the West, China is still something of a mystery. In order to enable English readers to know more about the modern society of China from an authentic perspective, the work 看见Kanjian (What Was Seen) has been chosen to be translated partially into English. It is the Chinese bestseller from 2013, a memoir written by the famous Chinese TV interviewer, Chai Jing, which has sold more than three million copies in China. The topics it deals with are real stories from the interviews she conducted, not just major events that have occurred in China, but also events from the lives of ordinary people. Many difficulties were encountered in the process of the translation, such as textual cohesion and coherence, sentence structure and vocabulary, as well as major cultural issues. How are these problems actually resolved? What translation strategies should be used to realise the translator’s translation objective? The Skopos theory will act as the main guide in this case study and the author will give a detailed analysis of translation examples using the Skopos theory.
Apesar de a China estar a receber cada vez mais atenção do mundo devido ao seu rápido desenvolvimento recente, continua a representar um mistério para a maioria das pessoas no Ocidente. De modo a permitir que um público maior saiba mais sobre a sociedade moderna da China de uma perspetiva autêntica, o livro 看见Kanjian (O Que Foi Visto) foi escolhido para ser traduzido parcialmete para o inglês. Kanjian é um livro de memórias escrito pela conhecida repórter chinesa Chai Jing. Foi o livro mais vendido na China em 2013, com mais de três milhões de cópias vendidas. Os tópicos com os quais lida são histórias reais de entrevistas feitas pela repórter - não só grandes eventos que ocorreram na China, como também eventos das vidas de pessoas comuns. Foram encontradas várias dificuldades no processo de tradução: a coesão e a coerência textual, a estrutura das frases e o vocabulário e também questões culturais. Como se resolvem estes problemas? Que estratégias deve o tradutor utilizar para atingir o objetivo da tradução? A Teoria de Skopos funcionará como o principal guia neste estudo de caso e o autor fará uma análise detalhada dos exemplos de tradução usando esta teoria.

This study examined which methods are most effective in training parents to use positive guidance techniques, a lecture-base only parent training series or a lecture-based plus hands-on parent training series. Maternal characteristics of depression, stress level, and attitudes towards positive guidance were explored as possible moderators. A two way repeated measures ANOVA indicated that the cognitive understanding of the use of positive guidance over time of the participants in the control versus treatment groups did not significantly differ. However, a t-test showed that both groups improved in their cognitive understanding of positive guidance over time. A second two way repeated measures ANOVA confirmed that the behavioral use of positive guidance over time of the participants in the control versus treatment groups significantly differed. Further investigation revealed that, while the two groups did not differ in their behavioral use of positive guidance before the program, the treatment group improved over time whereas the control group did not. Depression, stress level, and attitudes towards positive guidance did not moderate the effects of being in the control versus treatment group on participants' behavioral use of positive guidance. The results indicate that all participants gained a better understanding of effective parenting techniques, but a hands-on component in parent training programs may be necessary for parents to incorporate these strategies into their parenting behaviors.
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