Дисертації: "Quality of Life Technologies"

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Ratcliffe, Julie. "Valuing the benefits of health care technologies : a case study of liver transplantation." Thesis, Brunel University, 2000. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.311267.

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Nascimento, JosÃ Eranildo Teles do. "Research studies on the influence of new technologies in education and quality of life for adults." Universidade Federal do CearÃ, 2011. http://www.teses.ufc.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=7088.

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nÃo hÃ
Este trabalho investigou a influÃncia das Novas Tecnologias de InformaÃÃo e ComunicaÃÃo na educaÃÃo de adultos, e a forma como essas tecnologias podem contribuir para melhorar a qualidade de vida dessas pessoas. Foram abordados dois tipos de pÃblico. Em primeiro lugar foi analisado o pÃblico alvo dos cursos de licenciatura de QuÃmica e FÃsica na modalidade semipresencial, ofertados pela Universidade Federal do CearÃ. Neste grupo foram encontrados alunos com idades compreendidas entre 25 a 50 anos. O segundo pÃblico Ã formado somente por pessoa na terceira idade, grupo esse que apresenta uma faixa etÃria acima dos sessenta anos. SÃo alunos de turmas do ensino fundamental e mÃdio de uma escola pÃblica no municÃpio de CrateÃs. Esses alunos estÃo trabalhando as tecnologias digitais como uma das disciplinas cursadas no ensino fundamental e mÃdio para assim concluir seus estudos. Os grupos de idosos foram contactados e observado seu desempenho diante das novas tecnologias assim como a importÃncia das mesmas na qualidade de vida dessas pessoas. AlÃm dos dois grupos pesquisados foram observados os participantes do NÃcleo de Longevidade desenvolvido pela Faculdade de Direito da Universidade Federal do CearÃ. As novas tecnologias informacionais para as pessoas da terceira idade que se desenvolvem no cenÃrio da educaÃÃo, sÃo aplicadas com o objetivo de inseri-las na sociedade, utilizando esses recursos midiÃticos como auxÃlio nÃo sÃ na educaÃÃo, mas tambÃm nas vidas diÃrias dos alunos da terceira idade.
This study investigated the influence of New Information Technologies and Communication in adult education, and how these technologies can contribute to improve the quality of their lives. Two different types of audiences were considered. First we analyzed chemistry and physics teacher's training courses in blended mode, offered by the Federal University of CearÃ. This group is composed by students aged 25 to 50 years. The second audience is composed by elderly people from their sixties. They are students from elementary and secondary education at a public school in the city of CrateÃs. These students are working on digital technologies as one of the subjects studied in elementary and secondary education so as to complete their studies. The elderly groups had their performance observed while they were faced to the new technologies. It was also considered the importance of these new technologies in the quality of their lives. In addition to the two groups already mentioned, a group of participants from the Longevity Center, developed by the School of Law of the Federal University of CearÃ, was also observed. The new information technologies for older adults developed on the education scene, are applied in order to insert them into society, using these media resources to aid not only in education but also in the daily lives of students in third age. Key-words:

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Naureen, Shagufta. "Top-down Fabrication Technologies for High Quality III-V Nanostructures." Doctoral thesis, KTH, Halvledarmaterial, HMA, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-117766.

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III-V nanostructures have attracted substantial research effort due to their interesting physical properties and their applications in new generation of ultrafast and high efficiency nanoscale electronic and photonic components. The advances in nanofabrication methods including growth/synthesis have opened up new possibilities of realizing one dimensional (1D) nanostructures as building blocks of future nanoscale devices. For processing of semiconductor nanostructure devices, simplicity, cost effectiveness, and device efficiency are key factors. A number of methods are being pursued to fabricate high quality III-V nanopillar/nanowires, quantum dots and nano disks. Further, high optical quality nanostructures in these materials together with precise control of shapes, sizes and array geometries make them attractive for a wide range of optoelectronic/photonic devices. This thesis work is focused on top-down approaches for fabrication of high optical quality nanostructures in III-V materials. Dense and uniform arrays of nanopillars are fabricated by dry etching using self-assembly of colloidal SiO2 particles for masking. The physico-chemistry of etching and the effect of etch-mask parameters are investigated to control the shape, aspect ratios and spatial coverage of the nanopillar arrays. The optimization of etch parameters and the utilization of erosion of etch masks is evaluated to obtain desired pillar shapes from cylindrical to conical. Using this fabrication method, high quality nanopillar arrays were realized in several InP-based and GaAs-based structures, including quantum wells and multilayer heterostructures. Optical properties of these pillars are investigated using different optical spectroscopic techniques. These nanopillars, single and in arrays, show excellent photoluminescence (PL) at room temperature and the measured PL line-widths are comparable to the as-grown wafer, indicating the high quality of the fabricated nanostructures. The substrate-free InP nanopillars have carrier life times similar to reference epitaxial layers, yet an another indicator of high material quality. InGaAs layer, beneath the pillars is shown to provide several useful functions. It effectively blocks the PL from the InP substrate, serves as a sacrificial layer for generation of free pillars, and as a “detector” in cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements. Diffusion lengths independently determined by time resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) and CL measurements are consistent, and carrier feeding to low bandgap InGaAs layer is evidenced by CL data. Total reflectivity measurements show that nanopillar arrays provide broadband antireflection making them good candidates for photovoltaic applications. A novel post etch, sulfur-oleylamine (S-OA) based chemical process is developed to etch III-V materials with monolayer precision, in an inverse epitaxial manner along with simultaneous surface passivation. The process is applied to push the limits of top-down fabrication and InP-based high optical quality nanowires with aspect ratios more than 50, and nanostructures with new topologies (nanowire meshes and in-plane wires) are demonstrated. The optimized process technique is used to fabricate nanopillars in InP-based multilayers (InP/InGaAsP/InP and InP/InGaAs/InP). Such multilayer nanopillars are not only attractive for broad-band absorption in solar cells, but are also ideal to generate high optical quality nanodisks of these materials. Finally, the utility of a soft stamping technique to transfer free nanopillars/wires and nanodisks onto Si substrate is demonstrated. These nanostructures transferred onto Si with controlled densities, from low to high, could provide a new route for material integration on Si.

QC 20130205

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Forest, Deborah. "The Perceptions of Adults Adjusting to Low Vision and Using General Communications Technologies Including Online Forums." ScholarWorks, 2015. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/541.

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The number of individuals facing vision loss as adults is increasing, and the need for these adults to have access to training and skills to aid in their adjustment process is prevalent. Guided by the tenets of connectivism, this phenomenological study examined current trends in social networking and the possibilities that are available to adults adjusting to low vision by using technology as a means for continued learning, social interaction, and professional connections. The main research question focused on the participants' perception of the adjustment process and their ability to learn and use technology. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews of 10 adults who had low vision and had attended some form of intervention. The experiences were recorded through the use of reflection that included memoing and inductive coding where themes emerged during the field process. NVivo software was utilized to clarify and present details about themes and patterns presented during the interview discussions. These themes detailed the participants' feelings of confidence and self expressed level of skills needed to use technology; the barriers to using technology, such as cost and time; and benefits of staying connected with technology. The findings from this study suggested that the ability to stay connected and to access information outweighed the barriers, although the participants expressed frustration with technological issues. The study contributed to an area of research that supports the benefits of continued training for adults adjusting to low vision. A process of training could be implemented that would involve general technology as well as assistive technology assisting individuals with continued success in their daily lives.

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Ferreira, dos Santos Renata 1990. "Novas tecnologias e seus impactos na qualidade de vida de pessoas com deficiência." [s.n.], 2015. http://repositorio.unicamp.br/jspui/handle/REPOSIP/274677.

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Orientador: Gustavo Luis Gutierrez
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação Física
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Resumo: Em virtude do grande avanço tecnológico, e do crescente debate relacionado à deficiência nos últimos anos, este trabalho busca compreender se as Tecnologias Assistivas exercem algum tipo de influência na qualidade de vida de pessoas com deficiência. Foram realizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas com pessoas com deficiência física/motora, deficiência visual, e deficiência auditiva. Esta pesquisa reflexiva apresenta alguns aspectos relacionados ao histórico, terminologias, e modelos conceituais empregados à deficiência. Além disso, relata de que forma as mudanças sociais contribuíram para a inserção de novas tecnologias, enfatizando a Tecnologia Assistiva. O conteúdo obtido nas entrevistas foi relacionado às obras de autores de referência, e por meio de análise interpretativa, concluímos que as Tecnologias Assistivas geram impactos significantes na qualidade de vida de pessoas com deficiência. Elas são facilitadoras de atividades, promovem autonomia e independência, contribuem positivamente para o estabelecimento e manutenção de relações sociais, e são estimuladoras no processo de reabilitação de pessoas com deficiência
Abstract: Because of the great technological advances, and the growing debate related to disabilities in recent years, this paper seeks to understand whether the Assistive Technologies exert some kind of influence on the quality of life of people with disabilities. We conducted semi-structured interviews with people with physical / motor impairment, visual impairment, and hearing impairment. This reflective study presents some aspects related to the history, terminology and conceptual employees disability models. In addition, reports of how social changes have contributed to the introduction of new technologies, emphasizing the Assistive Technology. The contents obtained in the interviews was related to the works of major authors, and through interpretative analysis, we conclude that the Assistive Technologies generate significant impacts on the quality of life of people with disabilities. They are activities that facilitate, promote autonomy and independence, contribute positively to the establishment and maintenance of social relationships and are stimulating the process of rehabilitation of people with disabilities
Mestrado
Atividade Fisica Adaptada
Mestra em Educação Física

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Estrêla, Walcymar Leonel. "Tratamento Homeopático: buscando estratégias para avaliação de seus resultados e efetividade." Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 2011. http://www.bdtd.uerj.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=2863.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
Face à crescente procura por outras modalidades terapêuticas que abordam o ser humano de forma holística e a introdução das mesmas no SUS, torna-se muito importante a avaliação da efetividade e segurança dessas formas de cuidado. A Homeopatia faz parte deste conjunto de terapêuticas e, para sua avaliação, pode existir a necessidade de se valer de múltiplos instrumentos para abarcar os vários aspectos de uma resposta integral ao tratamento. Este trabalho teve como objetivo identificar e elaborar categorias de análises e instrumentos que permitam avaliar e mensurar a efetividade deste tratamento, bem como testá-los, considerando-se as características desta racionalidade. Foram levantados, na literatura nacional e internacional, trabalhos sobre efetividade do tratamento homeopático, em busca da definição do estado da arte mas também dos principais problemas, limitações e possibilidades dessas avaliações tendo em vista seu resultado integral. Finda esta etapa, a pesquisa destinou-se a elaboração, proposição e testagem de uma metodologia considerada mais adequada a avaliar o tratamento homeopático nesta perspectiva. Um estudo observacional foi realizado em serviço público homeopático no município de Juiz de Fora, com tratamento individualizado, no qual foi utilizada uma estratégia de avaliação composta por três componentes: (1) avaliação de qualidade de vida pelo instrumento SF-36; (2) análises em busca de objetivar e quantificar queixas clínicas e outros atributos de natureza subjetiva (sensação de bem-estar, sono, estado cognitivo e memória, vida sexual, sensação de felicidade) por meio da utilização de uma escala visual analógica (EVA), na mensuração da intensidade e de opções fechadas, a exemplo do SF-36, na estimativa da frequência desses aspectos e (3) entrevistas qualitativas por intermédio de questionário semiestruturado, com a finalidade de abordar questões relacionadas a biopatografia e mudança da atitude vital (como pacientes enfrentam os problemas do cotidiano, fatores deflagradores das queixas, como se sentem e como reagem, além de indagar seus projetos de vida e felicidade). A aplicação do questionário SF-36 apresentou algumas dificuldades de compreensão pelos participantes, talvez devido à baixa escolaridade dos entrevistados, mas mostrou-se útil à pesquisa, embora demonstre limitações na avaliação do aspecto integral do resultado da terapêutica analisada. O acompanhamento das queixas clínicas, sensação de bem-estar, sono e estado cognitivo e memória foram captados e mensurados de forma satisfatória tanto pela EVA (intensidade dos sintomas) quanto pelas respostas fechadas para medir a frequência. Situações como as avaliações da biopatografia e da sexualidade foram insuficientes para serem adequadamente avaliadas pelo pesquisador e o paciente somente. A participação do médico assistente poderia contribuir nestes casos. Questões mais abrangentes na avaliação da mudança na atitude vital, como reação diante de fatores desequilibrantes e projeto de vida e felicidade, necessitam de metodologia qualitativa até que se possa avançar nas pesquisas à espera de soluções futuras. A combinação dessas estratégias em estudos controlados, randomizados, com amostras de magnitude satisfatória, preferencialmente em rede e que explicitem as condições nas quais o atendimento homeopático ocorreu e como se chegou a cada prescrição, podem ter utilidade para a avaliação da efetividade da dimensão integral do tratamento homeopático.
Given the increasing demand for other therapeutic modalities that address the human being holistically and their introduction in the SUS, it is very important to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of these forms of care. Homeopathy is part of this group of therapies, and for its assessment, there may be a need to use multiple instruments to cover the various aspects of a integral response to treatment. This study aimed to identify and establish categories of analysis and tools to evaluate and measure the effectiveness of this treatment, and test them, considering the characteristics of this rationality. We searched in national and international literature works on the effectiveness of homeopathic treatment, trying to define the state of the art but also of the main problems, constraints and possibilities of these assessments in view of its full result. Then the research was aimed at drafting, proposing and testing the most appropriate methodology to assess homeopathic treatment in this perspective. An observational study was conducted in a homeopathic public unit in the city of Juiz de Fora, with individualized treatment, adopting an evaluation strategy that comprised three components: (1) assessment of quality of life using the SF-36; (2) analysis seeking to objectify and quantify clinical complaints and other attributes of subjective nature (feeling of well-being, sleep, memory and cognitive status, sexual life, feelings of happiness) by using a visual analogue scale (VAS) to measure the intensity and closed options, such as the SF-36, to estimate the frequency of these aspects; and (3) qualitative interviews through semi-structured questionnaire, in order to address issues related to Biopathography and changes in vital attitude (such as how patients face everyday problems, trigger factors of complaints, how they feel and react, and ask their projects of life and happiness). The application of the SF-36 showed some difficulties in understanding by the participants, perhaps due to low education level of respondents, but was useful for research, although it shows limitations in evaluating the integral aspect of the outcome of therapy examined. The monitoring of clinical symptoms, sense of well-being, sleep and cognitive status and memory were captured and measured adequately by both the VAS (intensity of symptoms) and by the closed responses to measure the frequency. Situations like the assessments of biopathography and sexuality were insufficient to be properly assessed by the investigator and the patient only. The doctor could help in these cases. Wider issues in assessing the change in vital attitude, as reaction to destabilizing factors and design of life and happiness require qualitative methodology to make progress in the polls waiting for future solutions. The combination of these strategies in randomized controlled trials, with samples of satisfactory magnitude, preferably in the network and which clearly define the conditions under which homeopathic care occurred and how one came to each prescription, can be useful for evaluating the effectiveness of integral homeopathic treatment.

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Bonilha, Ana Claudia [UNIFESP]. "Oficinas de estimulação cognitiva via computador e a melhoria na qualidade de vida de idosos de uma coorte populacional assistidos na atenção primária a saúde." Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), 2017. http://repositorio.unifesp.br/11600/41887.

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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)
Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)
Objetivo: Avaliar os impactos da estratégia de estimulação cognitiva, via computador, em idosos com ou sem comprometimento cognitivo leve (CCL), e o impacto em sua qualidade de vida. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo de intervenção controlado e randomizado, alinhado a um estudo de coorte populacional, realizado em um complexo assistencial Hospital Universitário, com caráter qualitativo e quantitativo. A coleta de dados foi realizada antes e após a intervenção. Utilizou-se o instrumento WHOQOL-Bref para mensurar a qualidade de vida e, questões semiestruturadas que geraram categorias de análise. Os dados foram digitalizados em um banco de dados no programa Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) para a realização de análises descritivas. A amostra foi composta por 92 idosos divididos em 38 do grupo intervenção e 54 do grupo controle. Foram realizadas 34 oficinas com duração de 17 semanas. Resultados: A maioria dos idosos eram do sexo feminino (81,5%), com média de 75,5 (±7,3) anos de idade e, 48% estudaram até o 1ºgrau. Os resultados apresentaram um aumento significativo na qualidade de vida dos idosos que participaram do grupo intervenção. A média global do questionário referente ao pós-teste foi de 16,14 (±1,5) para o grupo intervenção, ficando acima da média inicial no pré-teste de 14,63 (±1,5) e, acima da média do grupo controle que pontuou 14,47 (±1,6) no pós-teste. Os resultados apontaram um nível elevado na auto avaliação de sua condição física, mental, nas relações sociais, meio ambiente e qualidade de vida. Através da análise das categorias, os idosos que frequentaram as oficinas ganharam autonomia, confiança, melhora da memória, aumento da rede social e, inclusão a “era digital”, aprendendo a lidar com diferentes tecnologias. Conclusões: O presente estudo demonstrou a eficácia das oficinas de estimulação cognitiva como uma ferramenta de manutenção e melhoria de qualidade de vida dos idosos, pois está diretamente relacionada ao grau de satisfação, autonomia, independência e novos papéis sociais, além de proporcionar um envelhecimento ativo. Outro ganho foi a aprendizagem de novos conteúdos e a inserção social e digital dos participantes.
Objective: To evaluate the impact of the cognitive stimulation strategy, via computer, in the elderly with or without mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and the impact on their quality of life. Methods: This is a randomized controlled intervention study, aligned to a population cohort study, performed in a University Hospital care complex, with a qualitative and quantitative character. Data collection was performed before and after the intervention. The WHOQOL-Bref instrument was used to measure quality of life and semi-structured questions that generated categories of analysis. The data were scanned in a database in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program to perform descriptive analyzes. The sample consisted of 92 elderly individuals divided into 38 from the intervention group and 54 from the control group. There were 34 workshops lasting 17 weeks. Results: The majority of the elderly were female (81.5%), with an average of 75.5 (± 7.3) years of age, and 48% studied to the 1st degree. The results showed a significant increase in the quality of life of the elderly who participated in the intervention group. The overall mean of the post-test questionnaire was 16.14 (± 1.5) for the intervention group, being above the initial pre-test mean of 14.63 (± 1.5) and above average of the control group that scored 14.47 (± 1.6) in the post-test. The results showed a high level of self-evaluation of their physical, mental, social, environmental and quality of life. Through the analysis of the categories, the elderly who attended the workshops gained autonomy, confidence, improved memory, increased social networking, and included the digital age, learning to deal with different technologies. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated the effectiveness of cognitive stimulation workshops as a tool for maintaining and improving the quality of life of the elderly, as it is directly related to the degree of satisfaction, autonomy, independence and new social roles, as well as providing an active aging. Another gain was the learning of new contents and the social and digital inclusion of the participants.
BV UNIFESP: Teses e dissertações

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Romdhane, Samira. "Les nouvelles technologies de l'assistance médicale à la procréation (amp) et la qualité des gamètes et des embryons : évaluation de l'épigénome." Phd thesis, Université Claude Bernard - Lyon I, 2010. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00838798.

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Les techniques d'assistance médicale à la procréation particulièrement l'induction de l'ovulation, la maturation in vitro des ovocytes et la culture embryonnaire prolongée impliquent la manipulation des gamètes ainsi que les embryons à des moments critiques de leur maturation et développement qui sont également des étapes clé du remodelage épigénétique. Par conséquent, elles pourraient interférer avec la reprogrammation épigénétique, en particulier la mise en place de la méthylation des gènes soumis a empreinte au cours de l'ovogenèse, ou son maintien au cours du développement préimplantatoire. Afin d'évaluer ce risque nous avons analysé le profil de méthylation de KvDMR1, qui régule l'expression de KCNQ1OT1, dans des ovocytes humains mûris in vivo ou in vitro, provenant de patientes stimulées ou non. Nos résultats montrent que la mise en place de la méthylation au niveau de KvDMR1 se poursuit au cours de la maturation de l'ovocyte du stade VG au stade MII, in vivo et in vitro et que l'induction ovarienne des patientes génère des ovocytes épigénétiquement immatures. Par ailleurs, l'étude de la méthylation de H19 DMR qui régule l'expression d'Igf2 et H19 dans des embryons d'ICSI, atypiques bloqués en culture prolongée et dans les spermes correspondants met en évidence une hypométhylation de l'allèle paternel et une méthylation de l'allèle maternel dans certains embryons, sans que l'on puisse établir de lien entre les dérégulations de l'empreinte et l'arrêt du développement au stade blastocyste.

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Valantinaitė, Ilona. "Vartojimo kultūros aspektai, siekiant gyvenimo kokybės, bendrojo lavinimo technologijų programose." Master's thesis, Lithuanian Academic Libraries Network (LABT), 2006. http://vddb.library.lt/obj/LT-eLABa-0001:E.02~2006~D_20060607_203936-83102.

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Nowadays a variety of products increases rapidly, marketing is intensified each day, and the amount of information and advertising is still growing. These are the conditions for developing and satsifying consumers’ needs to be able to evaluate and create a certain opinion about the products considering both environmental and ethical aspects. Consumer training is important while enhancing children’s and young people’s ability to act in society nowadays. Consumer training encourages to choose rationally and to use constructively one’s knowledge and skills. Scientific aspects of the quality of life are mainly discussed from the medical point of view. However it could be viewed from the point of physiology, psychology, sociology, etc. As well, there are no researches done on how consumption culture influences the quality of life. Society is overloaded with the amount of information and permanent change, therefore a smart and educated consumer is a necessity today. It is very important to understand how a man himself/herself influences his/her and others’ quality of life. The aim of the research is to disclose aspects of culture of consumption in the technology programmes for general education schools. Three schools (one gymnasium in Vilnius, and one gymnasium as well as one secondary school in Tauragė) were randomly chosen for the quantitative investigation. 544 respondents participated in the research. The results of the research show that the technology programmes for general... [to full text]

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PILLONI, PAOLO. "Persuasive Mobile Systems Design to Help People be Physically Active." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11584/266503.

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This PhD thesis puts forward the results of research activities I have carried out at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Cagliari since March 2011. My work can be placed in the general field of Human-Computer Interaction and, more precisely, in the relative new and trending area of Persuasive Computing. Broadly speaking, a persuasive system is a system designed to change some habits or behaviors of the users by means of persuasion. My research activity sets out to address fundamental questions related to the application of mobile persuasive technologies to real-life problems, including: Are mobile technologies able to persuade people to a more physically active lifestyle? Are currently available systems actually effective? How can user experience design be improved in this class of softwares? How can human to device interaction be improved to favor users during their physical activities? Are these systems really effective over long time periods? The research activity this thesis presents, aimed at answering at previous questions through the study of the effects of mobile persuasive systems designed to foster people to a more active lifestyle. In literature, we can find many examples of prototypal persuasive mobile system. The results they reported are encouraging but, almost always, they are deducted from qualitative studies over short periods of time. This work endeavors to overcome these limitations through the development of a real world complex software platform designed to encourage people to a more active lifestyle. Users interact with the platform mainly through two Android-based applications freely available on the market. Thanks to our platform, our experimentations can rely on a conspicuous base of real users and a huge amount of automatically recorded statistics for potentially unlimited periods of time.

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Soares, Marlene da Silva. "Ambientes digitais virtuais em saúde : alternativa para uma melhor qualidade de vida de crianças hospitalizadas." reponame:Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações da UFRGS, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10183/10308.

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Este estudo configura-se como uma investigação qualitativa, descritiva através de “Estudo de Caso” integrado ao leque de pesquisas em desenvolvimento pelo NIEE, (Núcleo de Informática na Educação Especial) Faculdade de Educação da UFRGS (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul), sob a coordenação da Professora Dra. Lucila Maria Costi Santarosa. Utilizando ambientes digitais virtuais, buscou-se oportunizar uma melhor qualidade de vida para crianças hospitalizadas e identificar que mudanças ocorreram nas dimensões sócio-afetivas. O universo envolvido na pesquisa foi constituído de 12 crianças da oncologia na faixa etária de 07 à 15 anos, sendo 03 sexo feminino e 09 sexo masculino, todas em tratamento quimioterápico pelo Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), no Hospital da Criança Santo Antonio, no Complexo Hospitalar da Santa Casa de Misericórdia, de Porto Alegre RS, Brasil. O objetivo geral desse estudo consistiu em desenvolver e acompanhar o processo de interação/colaboração virtual de crianças hospitalizadas, utilizando as tecnologias de informação e comunicação (TICs), procurando identificar aspectos sócio afetivos desencadeados neste percurso, em busca de melhor qualidade de vida. O referencial teórico foi embasado na teoria de Vygotsky que de acordo com sua fundamentação, a aprendizagem cria a Zona de Desenvolvimento Proximal (ZDP) despertando os processos evolutivos internos que se desenvolvem quando a criança interage com os outros. Através da mediação procurou-se frestas onde se pudesse constatar quais mudanças ocorreram nas crianças hospitalizadas quando mediadas por agentes computacionais. Constatou-se que a dinâmica utilizando os ambientes digitais poderá impedir ou minimizar a criação de hiato no desenvolvimento dessas crianças, devido a sua exclusão compulsória do ambiente escolarizado, permitindo sua inclusão num novo cenário, onde as aprendizagens ocorrem de maneira lúdica e descontraída. A debilidade física foi freqüente e tendeu a crescer no decorrer das interações,entretanto, mesmo no contexto desfavorável, identificamos aspectos positivos como: a tendência decrescente da desmotivação e a motivação em índices satisfatórios, além do bom humor, da auto-estima da aparência, da auto-estima do conhecimento, e da iniciativa, identificados durante todo o processo da pesquisa. Os resultados obtidos nos sugerem que os ambientes digitais são um poderoso meio para potencializar melhor qualidade de vida, diminuindo o isolamento, o estresse, a apatia, a timidez a baixa autoestima, a intolerância, a raiva, a tristeza, entre outros aspectos sócio afetivos, podendo - levar a constituição de pequenas comunidades de aprendizagem, propiciando interação das crianças hospitalizadas com crianças e outros atores do mundo externo.
The present study is a qualitative investigation, descriptive when integrating case studies to the myriad of researches carried on by the NIEE (Special Education Informatic Center), Faculty of Education, UFRGS (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul), under the coordination of Dr.Lucila Maria Costi Santarosa. This research aimed to enhance the quality of life of hospitalized children by using digital virtual environments and further identifying the changes that would occur within their social-affective sphere. The universe involved in this research consisted of 12 children, ages ranging from 7 to 15 years old, being 3 of them females and the other 9, males. All of these children were doing quimiotherapy covered by the public health care system (SUS) and were interned at the Oncology Unity of St Anthony Child Hospital, at the Santa Casa de Misericórdia Hospital Complex, in Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. The broad objective of this study was to develop and track the process of virtual interaction/cooperation of hospitalized children through the usage of information and communication technologies (TICs) and further identify the social-affective aspects that were triggered along the course with the aim to enhance their quality of life. Vygotsky's theory was the technical reference employed in this research. It basically states that the learning process creates a Proximal Developing Zone (ZDP), awakening inner evolutive processes that are to be improved when the child interacts with others. We searched, through mediation, signs that would indicate which changes have occurred within children's behaviour and emotions when mediated by computational agents. We verified that the dynamics using digital environments may prevent or minimize the appearance of a gap in the development of these children because of their compulsory exclusion from the schooling environment. Digital environments allow their inclusion in a new scenario where learning processes occur in a ludic and informal way.Physical frailty was a constant factor and tended to increase along the interactions. However, even with such an adverse context, we identified, along the research course, positive aspects such as: the reduction of motivational losses, inner motivation in satisfatory rates, enhancement of good mood, self esteem, esteem for their appearance, esteem for their knowledge and initiative. These above mentioned results suggest us that digital environments are a powerful means to enhance quality of life, banishing isolation, stress, apathy, shyness, low self esteem, intolerance, anger, sadness amid other social-affective aspects. Such environments may lead to the constitution of small learning communities, granting hospitalized children a stronger interaction with other children and actors from the external world.

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Venna, Elin, and Carolina Lundin. "Anpassning av gammalt till äldre." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för byggteknik (BY), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-79137.

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Människor lever längre och den äldre generationen är också generellt mer aktiva än tidigare. Det medför att behovet av anpassade bostäder som klarar dessa krav också ökar. Ett exempel på ett sådant boende är trygghetsboende. Det finns regler och krav för hur ett trygghetsboende ska utformas. Det innebär dock inte att boendet automatiskt uppnår syftet det är menat för, alltså ett boende som kan öka livskvaliteten, skapa gemenskap, kännas tryggt och där äldre kan trivas. Syftet med arbetet är att skapa ett trygghetsboende som bidrar till ökad livskvalité och som upplevs trivsamt och tryggt. Målet är att identifiera vilka faktorer som bidrar till detta för att sedan exemplifiera dem i ett gestaltningsförslag. En kvalitativ metod i form av fallstudie med intervjuer genomfördes för att kunna uppnå mål och syfte. Centralt läge och tillgängligt utformad inom- och utomhusmiljö var faktorer som bidrog till trivsel och trygghet medan självständighet, god hälsa, social samvaro och närhet till vänner och familj höjde livskvalitén. Faktorer som bidrar till ökad livskvalité och till vad som är trivsamt och tryggt är väldigt subjektivt. Alla människor är olika och ett tryggt boende kan innebära många skilda ting. Faktorerna som framträdde i resultatet stämmer dock väl överens med vetenskapliga studier som gjorts inom området. Det gör att arbetets resultat kan tillämpas som stöd vid nybyggnation eller ombyggnation av en befintlig byggnad till ett trygghetsboende.
People live longer and the older generation is also generally more active than before. This also increases the need for custom housing that meets these demands. An example of such accommodation is secure housing (trygghetsboende). There are rules and requirements for the design of a secure housing, but it does not automatically mean that the accommodation reaches the purpose it is intended for, an accommodation that can enhance the quality of life, contribute to togetherness, feel safe and an accommodation to enjoy. The purpose of this study is to create a secure housing that contributes to an increased quality of life and is experienced pleasantly and safely. The goal is to identify which factors that contribute to this, and then exemplify it in a design proposal. A qualitative method in the form of a case study with interviews was conducted to answer the goal and purpose behind this study. Central location and accessible designed indoor environment and outdoor environment were factors that contributed to well-being and security while independence, good health, social cohesion and proximity to friends and family raised the quality of life. Factors that contribute to increased quality of life and to what is comfortable and safe are very subjective. All people are different and safe living can mean many different things. However, the factors that emerged in the results are consistent with scientific studies made in the area. This means that the results of this work can be used as support for new construction or conversion to a secure housing.

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Tharachai, Phongthon. "Bridge life extension technologies." 京都大学 (Kyoto University), 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/148538.

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Hardy, Jean-Pierre. "La naissance du confort, ou, La mutation de la vie quotidienne dans la vallée du Saint-Laurent, 1790-1835." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape17/PQDD_0008/NQ32637.pdf.

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Berdot-Talmier, Laurence. "Usages des Technologies Numériques de l’Information et de la Communication, selon une approche écosystémique : adaptation socio-affective, satisfaction de vie et qualité des relations amicales auprès de 508 enfants âgés de 9 à 12 ans." Thesis, Toulouse 2, 2017. http://www.theses.fr/2017TOU20061.

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L’objectif de cette étude est d’analyser l’adaptation socio-affective et la satisfaction de vie des enfants âgés de 9 à 12 ans en lien avec les différents usages des Technologies Numériques de l’Information et de la Communication, tout en prenant en compte la qualité des relations amicales dans les contextes hors-ligne, en ligne et en mode mixte. À partir de l’approche écosystémique (Bronfenbrenner, 2005), le modèle opérationnel « P.P.C.T.» (Bronfenbrenner, 1996) a permis de procéder à l’analyse spécifique de l’impact des caractéristiques individuelles, contextuelles et temporelles sur le développement socio-affectif des enfants. Notre échantillon se compose de 508 enfants âgés de 9 à 12 ans, soit 248 garçons et 260 filles. Ils sont 87% à utiliser les TNIC à des fins communicationnelles. Le développement socio-affectif a été appréhendé à travers le Strenghts and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ ; Goodman, 1997) et la version française de la Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS ; Huebner, 1994 ; Fenouillet & al., 2015). Les enfants, tout comme les parents, ont répondu à divers questionnaires, tels que le Network of Relationships Social Provision Version (NRI-SPV ; Furman & al., 1985) et des échelles que nous avons adaptées. Nos principaux résultats indiquent que quelle que soit l’utilisation des TNIC, la majorité des enfants présente une adaptation socio-affective satisfaisante ainsi qu’une satisfaction de vie harmonieuse. Toutefois, à l’intérieur des différentes plateformes utilisées, sur les Réseaux SocioNuméiques, nous retrouvons un effet significatif du genre, les garçons présentant plus de troubles aussi bien intériorisés qu’extériorisés que les filles. Il en est de même sur les troubles extériorisés lorsque les garçons communiquent sur les jeux en réseau. Le support social au travers de l’ami hors-ligne et/ou mixte est un facteur de protection tout comme le fait de partager un lien d’amitié sur le RSN avec des membres de la famille. À l’inverse, le support social de l’ami en ligne et un lien d’amitié sur le RSN avec des inconnus ou des célébrités sera un facteur de risque. De plus, le bien-être des enfants sera impacté lorsqu’ils utilisent les TNIC dans une pièce isolée. Cette recherche, à caractère exploratoire, du fait des rares travaux francophones dans ce domaine est néanmoins prometteuse et encourage à proposer des pistes de recherche ainsi que des pistes d’intervention. Dans un souci de prévention, il est nécessaire d’accompagner les enfants à risque de développer des troubles psychologiques afin de pouvoir réduire ou, mieux, éviter les impacts négatifs qui sont associés à ces usages
The purpose of this study is to analyze the social emotional adjustment and the life satisfaction level of children between 9 to 12 years old related to their use of Digital Information and Communication Technologies (DICT) taking into account the quality of their friendships in different contexts: online, offline and in a mixed mode. Following the ecological model (Bronfenbrenner, 1996), the PPCT operational model (Process, Person, Context, Time) allowed to specifically analyze the impact of individual, contextual and temporal characteristics on children's social emotional adjustment. Our sample consists of 508 children (248 boys and 260 girls). A vast majority of them (87%) use DICT for communication purposes. Social emotional adjustment is measured with the Strenghts and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997) and with the French version of the Multidimensional Student’s Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS; Huebner, 1994; Fenouillet & al., 2015). Children, as well as their parents responded to several other measures like the Network of Relationships Social Provision Version (NRI-SPV; Furman & al., 1985) and other adapted scales. Our main results show that, whatever the use of DICT, the majority of children show a satisfactory level of social and emotional adjustment as well a good life satisfaction. However, relating to the use of DICT, we found a significant difference between boys and girls. That is, compared to girls, boys show more externalized and internalized symptoms than girls. The situation is the same with online videogames: boys show more externalized symptoms than girls. Social support offered by offline friends or mixed friends (online and offline) represents a protecting factor. This is also true for online friendships with family members. Conversely, exclusively online friendships with strangers or with celebrities is a risk factor for social emotional adjustment. The well-being of children is negatively affected by connecting online in an isolated space. Lastly, because there are only a few francophone studies in this field, this exploratory study is promising in terms of research and intervention projects in the future. In a prevention perspective, it is necessary to support at risk children in order to prevent the psychological problems that can be related to the use of DICT

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Petrenko, О., О. Myronov, and K. Kugai. "New technologies in our life." Thesis, КНУТД, 2016. https://er.knutd.edu.ua/handle/123456789/5026.

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Pereira, Max D’Angelo. "Qualidade de vida dos profissionais de TI e as condições de trabalho." Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, 2017. https://tede2.pucsp.br/handle/handle/20048.

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This study examines the relationship between working conditions and the quality of life of working professionals in information technology. A questionnaire was applied with socio-demographic questions about work conditions and the WHOQOL-Bref-instrument, of the World Health Organization, in a sample of 170 professionals distributed by Brazil. With a majority of men (81%), married (64%), with a good academic background (45%), working in a large company (57%) and holding technical positions (66%). An internal reliability analysis was applied, obtaining 0.89 for Cronbach's Alpha. Student's t-tests, ANOVA and Linear Regression were used to confirm the hypotheses. It was confirmed that IT professionals have a good evaluation of the quality of life, highlighting the physical domain with the highest score. On the other hand, it is concluded that the domain of social relations needs to be improved. It is also concluded that work time, flexibility and work environment are the working conditions that have the greatest influence on the quality of life of IT professionals. Another answer brought by the research is the demystification in relation to the salary and contract type, which did not significantly affect the quality of life of these professionals
Este estudo analisa a relação entre as condições de trabalho e a qualidade de vida de profissionais atuantes em tecnologia da informação. Foi aplicado um questionário com perguntas sociodemográficas, sobre condições do trabalho e o instrumento WHOQOL - Bref, da Organização Mundial da Saúde, em uma amostra de 170 profissionais distribuídos pelo Brasil. Com maioria de homens (81%), casados (64%), com boa formação acadêmica (45%), trabalhando em empresa de grande porte (57%) e ocupando cargos técnicos (66%). Aplicou-se uma análise de confiabilidade interna, obtendo 0,89 para o Alfa de Cronbach. Utilizou-se dos testes T de Student, ANOVA e Regressão Linear para confirmação das hipóteses de pesquisa. Confirmou-se que os profissionais de TI estão com boa avaliação quanto à qualidade de vida, destacando-se o domínio físico com maior pontuação. Por outro lado, conclui-se que o domínio das relações sociais precisa ser melhorado. Conclui-se também que a jornada diária, a flexibilidade e o ambiente de trabalho são as condições de trabalho que possuem maior influência na qualidade de vida dos profissionais de TI. Outra resposta trazida pela pesquisa é a desmistificação em relação à remuneração e modo de contratação, que não afetaram significativamente a qualidade de vida destes profissionais

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Medzo-M'engone, Joseph. "Usage des TIC, qualité de vie, bien-être et santé psychologique au travail : une étude réalisée au Ministère de l'Economie Numérique, de la Communication et de la Poste du Gabon." Thesis, Lyon, 2016. http://www.theses.fr/2016LYSE2067/document.

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L’usage des technologies dans les organisations publiques des pays africains tels que le Gabon, traduit le désir d’innover dans le travail pour améliorer la qualité des services destinés aux usagers et pour rendre aussi plus efficace les processus de travail. La littérature fait état d’un certain nombre d’apports, mais aussi de nombreux revers que ces innovations technologiques peuvent avoir tant sur le plan organisationnel que socio-professionnel des entreprises occidentales. L’impact de ces mutations technologiques dans l’Administration publique au Gabon n’a pas encore été étudié du point de vue de la psychologie du travail et des organisations. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’appréhender l’impact des technologies sur les facteurs de qualité vie au travail (QVT) ; et sur le bien-être et la santé psychologique dans un grand établissement ministériel. Dans cette perspective, deux études (mixant des approches qualitatives d’analyse et de compréhension de l’activité et quantitatives de mesure de la QVT et du bien-être) sont réalisées : avant et après l’informatisation du Ministère sur une population de 91 cadres fonctionnaires. La première étude (T1) met en lumière la situation socioprofessionnelle et psychosociale des cadres fonctionnaires avant l’implémentation des technologies. À ce titre, les entretiens semi-directifs révèlent que les cadres fonctionnaires exercent les activités selon la nature leurs fonctions. Les observations montrent que les conditions d’organisation du travail apparaissent particulièrement rigides et hiérarchisées. La présence et la prégnance de la « culture clanique » déterminent également les modalités de collaboration et d’échange au travail ; cela se caractérise notamment par des relations de travail de type communautaire où l’appartenance ethnique et/ou régionale joue un rôle prépondérant. Par ailleurs, les analyses sur la QVT indiquent que les cadres fonctionnaires présentent un niveau de bien-être psychologique relativement faible, mais perçoivent néanmoins positivement leurs différentes situations de travail. La seconde étude (T2) présente la situation socioprofessionnelle et psychosociale des cadres fonctionnaires six mois après l’implémentation des technologies. Nos analyses montrent que l’arrivée des technologies a engendré de profondes réorganisations sur le travail, réclamant des réajustements d’ordres socioprofessionnels, collectifs (collaboration et coordination plus importantes), organisationnels (marges de manœuvre et initiatives accrues) et personnels (efficacité, réactivité et rapidité dans l’exercice des tâches administratives). Les observations soulignent que les cadres fonctionnaires, confrontés à plusieurs contradictions révélées par l’analyse de leur système d’activité, mettent en place de nouvelles modalités d’action plus souples et flexibles. Les études statistiques indiquent que les technologies influencent plutôt positivement leur bien-être psychologique. Les dispositifs affectent aussi positivement la latitude décisionnelle des cadres fonctionnaires, mais engendrent paradoxalement une demande psychologique relativement élevée. Pour autant, les cadres fonctionnaires perçoivent positivement leurs situations de travail en contexte technologique. La culture nationale (clanique) qui perdure avec l’arrivée des outils, semble jouer un rôle médiateur, voire modérateur dans l’usage et les impacts des TIC sur le bien-être psychologique et la santé au travail des cadres fonctionnaires. En définitive, ces travaux de thèse apportent les clés de réflexion et d’analyse sur les liens entre la digitalisation de l’activité administrative et les concepts QVT, de bien-être et de santé dans les organisations publiques des pays en voie de développement africains tels que le Gabon
The use of technology in public organizations in some African countries such as Gabon reflects a desire to improve quality of service for users and to make work processes more effective. Literature presents evidences that technological innovations in Western companies bring some advantages on both organizational and socio-professional levels, but also numerous negative impacts. The impact of technological change on occupational and organizational psychology in Public Administration in Gabon has not been studied yet. This thesis seeks to understand the impact of technologies on the Work-Related Quality of Life (WRQoL) factors and on psychological health and well-being in a larger governmental department. In this perspective, two studies (involving a mix of qualitative approaches with analysis and comprehension of their occupations, and of quantitative approaches with the measurement of the QWL and well-being), based on 91 senior civil servants, have been conducted, before and after the Ministry was computerised.The first study (T1) highlights the senior civil servants’ socio-professional and psychosocial conditions prior to the implementation of new technologies. As such, semi-structured interviews show that senior civil servants do their jobs depending on the nature of their positions. Findings reveal particularly inflexible and hierarchical organisational conditions. The presence and the pregnance of the «clannish culture » also determine working arrangements and communicating, which is mainly characterized by community-based working relationships and where ethnicity and regional belonging play a major role. Furthermore, QWL survey data show a relatively low level of psychological well-being in senior civil servants even though they feel positively about their various work situations.The second study (T2) describes senior civil servants’ socio-professional and psychosocial status six months following the implementation of new technologies. Our analyses show that the introduction of new technologies has led to big changes in work organisation, such as restructuring on the socio-professional, collective (a better collaboration and coordination), organizational (enhanced flexibility and initiatives) and personal (efficiency, reactivity and rapidity in carrying out administrative tasks) levels. Findings underline that senior civil servants set up new, more flexible plans of action when facing the inconsistencies revealed by the study. Statistical studies show that new technologies have a fairly positive impact on their psychological well-being. Devices also positively affect senior civil servants’ flexibility in decision-making, but paradoxically lead to a relatively high psychological demand. Yet, senior civil servants see their working conditions as positive in the technological context. The national (clannish) culture, which persists even after the introduction of technological tools, seems to play a mediating and even moderating role in the use and the impacts of ICT (Information and Communications Technologies) on senior civil servants’ psychological well-being and occupational health.To conclude, this thesis work provides key elements of reflection and analysis on the links between digitization of administrative activity and the concepts of QWL, well-being and health in public organizations of African developing countries such as Gabon

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Blecken, Godecke-Tobias. "Biofiltration technologies for stormwater quality treatment." Doctoral thesis, Luleå tekniska universitet, Arkitektur och vatten, 2010. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-18090.

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Due to high runoff volumes and peak flows, and significant contamination with (inter alia) sediment, metals, nutrients, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and salt, urban stormwater is a major cause of degradation of urban water ways. Since current urban drainage systems, which heavily rely on piped sewer networks, may not be sustainable, attempts are being made to develop and refine sustainable urban drainage solutions, notably in Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) and Low Impact Development (LID) concepts. Promising systems recommended for application in both WSUD and LID are stormwater biofilters (also known as bioretention systems or rain gardens) using vegetated filter media. Besides their capacity to attenuate flows and minimise runoff volumes, stormwater biofilters have proven efficacy for enhancing effluent water quality. Furthermore, they can be aesthetically pleasingly integrated even in dense urban environments. However, there are still gaps in our knowledge of the variability of biofilters' pollutant removal performance, and the factors that affect their performance.In the studies this thesis is based upon, the effects of various ambient factors, stormwater characteristics and modifications of filter design on the removal of metals, nutrients and total suspended solids (TSS) in biofilters, and pollutant pathways through them, have been investigated. For these purposes, standard biofilters and variants equipped with a submerged zone, a carbon source and different filter materials were exposed to varying temperatures and dry periods, dosed with stormwater and snowmelt, and the inflow and outflow concentrations of the pollutants were measured.Although removal percentages were consistently high (>70%), demonstrating that biofilters can reliably treat stormwater, the results show that metal outflow concentrations may vary widely depending on the biofilter design and the ambient conditions. Prolonged drying especially impaired their removal efficiency, but variations in temperature and filter media variations had little effect on metal removal rates. The adverse effects of drying could be mitigated by using a submerged zone, and thus providing a more constant moisture regime in the filters between storm events. Combined with embedded organic matter, the submerged zone especially significantly enhances Cu removal, helping to meet outflow target concentrations. Similarly, installing a mulch layer on top of the filter provides additional sorption capacity, hence metals do not ingress far into the filter and are mainly trapped on/in the top layer by sorption processes and/or mechanical trapping associated with TSS. This leads to significant metal accumulation, which facilitates biofilter maintenance since scraping off the top layer removes high proportions of previously accumulated metals, thus delaying the need to replace the whole filter media. However, removal of accumulated pollutants from the filter media is crucial for successful long-term performance of the filters to ensure that no pollutant breakthrough occurs.Nitrogen removal was found to be more variable than metal removal, and to be adversely affected by temperature increases, leading to high nitrogen leaching in warm temperatures. Phosphorus removal rates were consistently high, since most phosphorus was particle-bound and thus trapped together with TSS. However, in initial stages phosphorus was washed out from the filter media, indicating that filter media that do not have high levels of labile phosphorus should be used to avoid high effluent concentrations. Given that most outflow concentrations were far lower than those in the stormwater, biofilters are appropriate stormwater treatment systems. Dependent on the ambient conditions, the target pollutants and the sensitivity of the recipient, adaptation of the filter design is recommended. Further work is required to investigate the winter performance and improve the reliability of nitrogen removal, which is highly variable.
Dagvatten är en viktig orsak till ekologiska försämringar av urbana vattendrag p.g.a. stora avrinningsvolymer, och höga flöden samt en tillförsel av diverse föroreningar, t.ex. sediment, tungmetaller, näringsämnen, polycykliska aromatiska kolväten och salt. Dagvattenhanteringen har länge varit fokuserad enbart på att leda bort vattnet i rörledningar utan att hänsyn har tagits till retention av stora flöden eller till vattenkvalitén. På grund av dessa problem har utvecklingen av uthålliga dagvattensystem blivit allt viktigare och koncept som Lokalt Omhändertagande av Dagvatten (LOD), Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) och Low Impact Development (LID) har utvecklats. En uthållig lösning inom dessa koncept är dagvattenbiofiltrering.Dagvattenbiofilter är infiltrationsbäddar med växter där dagvattnet infiltrerar och renas av växterna och filtermaterialet. De har en god förmåga att fördröja stora flöden samt att reducera föroreningar i dagvattnet innan det släpps ut till recipienten. Dessutom är det en estetisk och naturnära teknik som mycket väl kan integreras arkitektoniskt i både nya och befintliga stadsmiljöer. Dock saknas det fortfarande mycket kunskap om de processer som styr reningsförmågan samt hur de påverkas av varierande omgivningsförhållanden. I denna avhandling har därför effekterna av olika omgivningsfaktorer, dagvattenegenskaper och design av biofilter på reningen av metaller, näringsämnen och sediment undersökts. För att undersöka detta har biofilter, som delvis försetts med olika filtermaterial eller en vattenmättad zon, till dels kombinerad med en kolkälla, och utsatts för olika temperaturer och torra perioder. Biofiltren har bevattnats med dagvatten eller smältvatten. Prover har tagits på ingående och utgående vatten och föroreningskoncentrationerna har analyserats. Trots att reduktionsförmågan av metaller var hög (>70%), vilket bekräftar att biofiltren har förmågan att effektivt rena dagvattnet, visar resultaten att de utgående metallkoncentrationerna kan variera mycket beroende på utformningen av biofilter och varierande omgivningsfaktorer. Torra perioder som är längre än 3 till 4 veckor minskar metallavskiljningen i biofilter, medan växlande temperaturer och olika filtermaterial hade mindre betydelse för metallreningen. Dock kan en vattenmättad zon i filtermaterialet minimera (Cu och Zn) eller till och med avlägsna (Pb) den negativa effekten av torka med avseende på reningsförmågan. I kombination med en kolkälla kan en vattenmättad zon öka reningseffekten för framför allt Cu (som inte är lika bra i standardutförande av biofilter) på grund av en ökad komplexbildning och partikulärt organiskt material. Sediment, metaller och partikelbundna dagvattenföroreningar hålls tillbaka redan i det översta filterlagret vilket leder till en hög metallackumulation. Detta underlättar filterunderhållet: genom att skrapa och ersätta bara det översta jordlagret kan en hög andel ackumulerade föroreningar tas bort från filtret. Således kan utbyte av det hela filtermaterialet fördröjas.Kvävereningen var inte lika effektiv som metallreningen. I varma temperaturer (20°C) har kväveutlakning i stället for reduktion observerats. Fosforreningen var dock hög eftersom fosfor var mestadels partikelbunden och blev därför filtrerat tillsammans med sedimentet i det översta filterlagret. I början av biofilterdriften har dock fosforurlakning från filtermaterialet observerats vilket tyder på att det inte ska innehåller höga halter av fosfor för att undvika utlakning från filtret. Eftersom de flesta föroreningskoncentrationer i det utgående vattnet var betydligt lägre än i dagvattnet är biofilter en uthållig och tillförlitlig teknik för dagvattenrening. Beroende på olika omgivningsfaktorer samt de ekologiska förhållandena i recipienten rekommenderas dock anpassning av filterdesignen. Framtida forskning behövs för att undersöka biofiltrens reningsförmåga under vinterförhållanden och för att förbättra den varierande kvävereningen.
Godkänd; 2010; 20100812 (godble); DISPUTATION Ämnesområde: VA-teknik/Sanitary Engineering Opponent: Professor Jean-Luc Bertrand-Krajewski, INSA de Lyon, Frankrike Ordförande: Professor Maria Wiklander, Luleå tekniska universitet Tid: Fredag den 8 oktober 2010, kl 10.00 Plats: F1031, Luleå tekniska universitet

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20

Vong, Man Ieng. "Quality of work life and life satisfaction." Thesis, University of Macau, 2006. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b1641454.

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21

Bøe, Lisbeth Jeanette. "Life cycle assessment of novel CCS technologies." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for energi- og prosessteknikk, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-22885.

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CO2 emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels are the largest sources of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is one of the better options to mitigate these emissions and thereby limit global warming even while continuing the use of fossil fuels for power generation. As CCS increases the energy consumption of the power plant itself, there will be an increased use of fuel and therefore also increased environmental impacts connected to this. To calculate these impacts it is important to include the entire supply chain and life cycle of the power plant.This thesis involves a tiered hybrid life cycle assessment of natural gas- and coal power plants with chilled ammonia process (CAP) and sorption enhanced water-gas shift (SEWGS) capture technologies. These novel capture technologies are two of the least studied when it comes to environmental assessments. The results from this assessment are compared to two of the more studied capture technologies, post-combustion capture by monoethanolamine (MEA) and oxyfuel combustion capture.Both the CAP capture alternative and the SEWGS alternative have been shown to decrease the global warming potential (GWP) in a natural gas plant by 70%. For the coal-fired power plants, the CAP technology managed a decrease in GWP of 77% while the SEWGS technology showed a decrease of 77.5%. This decrease comes at a cost of other impact categories where for example the freshwater ecotoxicity potential (FETP) has an increase of 87-88% for both the CAP and SEWGS capture technologies in NGCC plants. This impact category has an increase of 25 and 22% for the CAP and SEWGS technologies in the coal-fired power plants.Compared to post-combustion capture by MEA and oxyfuel combustion capture, the results were clear on MEA being the least preferable option in an environmental perspective for both coal- and natural gas-fired power plants. Oxyfuel combustion capture, on the other hand, was shown to be the most preferable option.

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22

Wolf, Dorothee Christine. "Modelling image quality for automotive display technologies." Thesis, Abertay University, 2014. https://rke.abertay.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/2aa4f499-8e94-4db4-91d0-f06bbdf87f07.

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The aim of this thesis is to link perceived image quality to physical display parameters. This is done in the context of automotive displays. Specialities of automotive display applications like high ambient lighting conditions and the necessity to access information quickly are explained. A summary of readability models relevant to automotive applications is given and the difference between readability and perceived image quality is explained. The methodology chosen to investigate perceived image quality is the Image-Quality-Circle framework by Engeldrum (2000). Engeldrum states that observers form their image quality rating by weighting the visual attributes they perceive. Visual algorithms, which can be investigated via psychometric scaling, link visual attributes to the underlying physical image parameters which are typically measure by physical instruments. The visual attributes investigated in this thesis are perceived contrast, brightness, blackness and colourfulness. Perceived contrast, brightness and blackness are derived from display luminance via the DICOM just noticeable difference (JND) scale. Colourfulness is scaled based colour gamut in the CIE1931 chromaticity diagram. It was shown that image quality rating rises with growing perceived contrast; the limiting factors are glare and perceived blackness. In colourfulness scaling a linear relationship between colour gamut and colourfulness rating was demonstrated. Higher colourfulness can compensate lower brightness in perceived image quality.

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23

Shepherd, Trevor J. "DNA Purification Process Optimization at Life Technologies Corporation." DigitalCommons@CalPoly, 2013. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1016.

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This project focused on optimizing the plasmid DNA purification process at Life Technologies. These plasmids are designed to code for specialized proteins used by research universities, national laboratories, or research companies. Once cultivated and harvested, the plasmids must be analyzed for quality and quantity. The project is divided into improving three aspects of the process: 1) plasmid identification, 2) plasmid purity evaluation, and 3) process yield. Plasmid identification is now simpler, more robust and has zero ambiguity. Plasmid purity evaluation is now measured with computer software, which reduces user error and eliminates subjectivity. Using the nascent metrics provided by the improved identification and purity evaluation techniques, process yield was analyzed and improved. The hypotheses on yield improvement and the information gleaned from their resulting experiments provide a foundation for further process improvement.

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24

Thorgrimsen, Lene Marie Harkjaer. "Quality of life in dementia." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.405573.

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25

Cremeens, Joanne. "Quality of life in childhood." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2004. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/14680/.

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The aim of this thesis was to develop a child self-report quality of life (QOL) measure for children below eight years. Two questions were central to the development of our instrument. First, can children below eight years self-report on their thoughts, feelings, and lives? Second, if so what are the best ways to gain self-reports from children? In answering these questions, we produced a set of guidelines that can be applied by researchers developing self-report measures for children. Studies 1 and 2 report the initial validation of our child self-report QOL measure (the teddy bear QOL measure, TedQL.l & 2). In Study 1, children's TedQL.l scores were positively correlated to their scores on an established measure (the PedsQLTM4.0). In Study 2, the response scale used to complete TedQL.2 items impacted on the psychometric properties of our measure. Study 3 reported further development of the content of our measure, using interview data from children about their lives. Based on the results of Study 3, a new version of our measure was developed (due to deletion, alteration, and addition of items). Study 4 established the most appropriate response scale for the TedQL.4, by comparing the psychometric properties of children's responses to TedQL.3 items across three response scales. Study 4 showed that children used concrete examples of specific situations to answer the TedQL.3 items, which may explain why young children's self reports are less stable over time compared to older children. The analysis in Study 4 revealed eight items that could be removed from the TedQL.3. Study 5 reported further validation of the child and parent versions of the TedQL.4. Both children's and parent's TedQLA scores were correlated to their PedsQLTM4.0 scores. No relations between child and parent rated child QOL were found for the PedsQLTM4.0 scores, however children's and parent's TedQL.4 scores were correlated across some of their scores. This thesis has shown the importance of gaining self-reports from children themselves, , and highlighted the best methods to use for such instruments. The applications of our TedQL measure have been discussed in the concluding section.

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26

Hoe, Juanita. "Quality of Life in dementia." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2006. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1446449/.

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Background: Quality of Life (QoL) is now an important outcome for people with dementia but the nature of the illness means that there may be difficulty in measuring it. Aims: This thesis, using an established dementia specific outcome measure, the QOL-AD, aims to assess the validity of measuring QoL in severe dementia and to investigate determinants both of QoL and of change in QoL in dementia. Method: In the first study, 224 people with Alzheimer's disease living in community and institutional settings and their caregivers were interviewed. In the second study, 238 people with dementia living in residential homes and staff were interviewed with a follow up assessment at 20 weeks.;Results: People with a MMSE scores of < 12 and 3 could provide valid and reliable ratings of their own QoL and mood, functional ability and psychosocial factors were associated with QoL in this group. Secondly, the person with dementia's self-ratings of QoL were independently predicted by current mood, cholinesterase inhibitor treatment and living environment, whereas family caregiver ratings of the person with dementia's QoL were predicted by mood and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Similarly, in residential homes, mood was the strongest predictor of self-rated QoL but staff ratings of resident's QoL were predicted by levels of dependency. Lastly, cognition, mood function and behaviour were investigated as putative factors influencing change in QoL over 20 weeks. Change in QoL was predicted by changes in mood and cognition. Conclusion: People with severe dementia (MMSE > 2) can comment on their QoL. People with dementia's perception of QoL differs from their caregiver's perception of it. Many people with dementia experience a decline in QoL and this may be linked to deterioration in mood or cognitive function. This suggests that psychological and pharmacological interventions aimed at improving mood or cognition may also benefit QoL.

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27

Moller, Valerie, and Benjamin J. Roberts. "South Africa, quality of life." Springer Netherlands, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67255.

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publisher version
The aim of this encyclopedia is to provide a comprehensive reference work on scientific and other scholarly research on the quality of life, including health-related quality of life research or also called patient-reported outcomes research. Since the 1960s two overlapping but fairly distinct research communities and traditions have developed concerning ideas about the quality of life, individually and collectively, one with a fairly narrow focus on health-related issues and one with a quite broad focus. In many ways, the central issues of these fields have roots extending to the observations and speculations of ancient philosophers, creating a continuous exploration by diverse explorers in diverse historic and cultural circumstances over several centuries of the qualities of human existence. What we have not had so far is a single, multidimensional reference work connecting the most salient and important contributions to the relevant fields. Entries are organized alphabetically and cover basic concepts, relatively well established facts, lawlike and causal relations, theories, methods, standardized tests, biographic entries on significant figures, organizational profiles, indicators and indexes of qualities of individuals and of communities of diverse sizes, including rural areas, towns, cities, counties, provinces, states, regions, countries and groups of countries.

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28

Cardona, Laura A. "Conceptualizing Quality of College Life." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2014. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc699982/.

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The objectives of this study were to mathematically model the quality of college life (QCL) concept and to study the associations between attachment style, emotion regulation abilities, psychological needs fulfillment and QCL via structural equation modeling. Data was collected from 507 undergraduate students (men = 178, women = 329; age M = 21.78 years, SD = 4.37). This data was used to provide evidence for the validity of the College Adjustment Scales (CAS) as a measure of quality of college life. The CAS demonstrated good convergent validity with the World Health Organization Quality of Life measure (WHOQOL), Subjective Well-being and Psychological Well-being Scales. Results: Students who were insecurely attached were as likely to feel adequate in their academic and professional endeavors as securely attached students. However, insecurely attached students had lower QCL levels, lower fulfillment of psychological needs and more emotion regulation difficulties than securely attached students. The results also indicated that Anxious Attachment and Avoidant Attachment were positively and strongly associated. Nonetheless, Anxious Attachment and Avoidant Attachment affected QCL through different mechanism. Emotion regulation mediated the path between Anxious Attachment and QCL while the fulfillment of psychological needs mediated the path between Avoidant Attachment and QCL. The fulfillment of psychological needs also mediated the path between emotion regulation and QCL. The described pattern of results was found for three separate models representing 1) the student’s attachment with their romantic partner, 2) best friend and 3) mother. Additionally, the study’s findings suggest a change in primary attachment figure during the college years. Emotion regulation, the fulfillment of psychological needs and QCL were all affected more strongly by the student’s attachment style with their romantic partner and best friend compared to their attachment style with their parents.

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29

Herman, Patricia Marie. "Unraveling Overall Quality of Life." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/196043.

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Whether the stated goal of a program is to improve health, reduce crime, or to increase standard of living, the ultimate goal of social programs is to improve overall quality of life. An adequate measure of this outcome would help determine whether achievement of these more specific goals (e.g., health, education) really leads to improvements in overall life quality, and would allow trade-offs to be made in terms of funding across programs. However, an understanding of the determinants of life quality (i.e., the mechanism by which a program did or did not have its intended effect) is also essential to program evaluation and the design of future programs.This study constitutes the analysis of an existing dataset of individual traits, life circumstances, satisfaction with a list of 30 life domains, and overall quality of life for 193 healthy elders to test a hypothesized model of the determinants of life quality. As expected, domain satisfaction appears to be a function of life circumstances. Individuals' traits (e.g., age, sex, personality) modify this relationship, but neither they, nor respondents' reports of domain importance, appear to have any direct effect on quality of life. Instead, domain satisfactions alone are the most proximal determinants of overall quality of life. It also appears that individuals respond differently in terms of overall quality of life to reductions in satisfaction with certain domains than to increases. These findings should be evaluated further as they could affect the design of future successful programs. Because individuals' traits and individuals' ratings of domain importance seem to have no effect on the relationship between domain satisfaction and overall quality of life, it may not be essential to measure these in future studies. Finally, although the data on life domains available to this study were sufficient to generate these results, the first step in the development of adequate measures of overall quality of life and of domain satisfactions will be the construction of a comprehensive, fully-representative list of the life domains that comprise life as a whole.

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30

Meuleners, Lynn. "Quality of life for adolescents." Thesis, Curtin University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/2589.

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Assessments of quality of life (QOL) for adolescents have received relatively little attention in the literature. Although there is no consensus on the definition of adolescent QOL and what aspects should be measured, it is generally accepted that QOL is a multidimensional construct. Issues related to adolescent QOL bear special considerations since experiences of adolescents are substantially different from those of adults. The aim of this study is to provide a better understanding of adolescent QOL by assessing the impact of determinants of QOL over a six-month period. The study will also evaluate the measurement properties of the latent factors underlying adolescent OL based on a second-order confirmatory factor analysis. A recursive structural equation model is then proposed to determine the direction and magnitude of the interdependent effects among the latent factors. The Quality of Life Profile Adolescent Version (QOLPAV), a generic 54-item questionnaire was utilised. It was administered to 251 adolescents without a chronic condition and 112 adolescents with a chronic condition at baseline and the cohort of 204 adolescent without a chronic condition and 96 adolescents with a chronic condition a six months. Stratified sampling was used to recruit the adolescents from high schools in the Perth metropolitan area. Subjects were aged 10 to 19. A non-categorical approach was utilised to recruit adolescents with a chronic condition. To account for the hierarchical effects of the adolescents nested within schools multilevel modelling was undertaken to explore the potential determinants of adolescent QOL perceived in his/her life and the opportunities available were found to be significant predictors for adolescent QOL. However, as expected, health was rated poorer, with more sick days reported by chronically ill adolescents.The results of the second-order confirmatory factor analysis suggested that adolescent QOL may be measured by five underlying constructs namely social, environment, psychological, physical health, and opportunities for growth and development. interdependent relations among these constructs identified the environment factor as primary, exerting both direct and indirect effects on the other four factors. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) also revealed no difference between chronically ill and healthy adolescents in their perceptions of the five constructs. Multilevel longitudinal analysis was performed to explore and quantify the variations in QOL over the six-month period. Although a large proportion of the variation can be accounted for by the covariates perceptions of physical health, age, control and opportunities, 38% of the variability in QOL scores was actually due to time. Similar to the baseline results, there was again no significant difference in the overall QOL scores between chronic and non-chronic adolescents at six months. Health was again rated poorer, with more sick days reported by chronically ill adolescents. The majority of both groups reported a positive QOL. Only 1% of the adolescents (non-chronic) reported a problematic QOL at baseline, which increased to 2.5% (non-chronic) at six months. There was also no significant change between the baseline QOL scores and those at six months. However, the social, physical health and opportunities for growth and development composite factor scores showed a decrease for both groups over the six months. The findings indicated that adolescents with a chronic condition do not view themselves different from their healthy counterparts in terms of QOL. The study enhanced our understanding of the effects of the broader determinants of adolescent health through a QOL perspective.The perceptions that teachers, parents and health professionals have on the relative importance of different aspects of QOL for the adolescent with a chronic illness were separately explored using a three round Delphi study. The first round questionnaire identified the level of importance each of the three panels attached to sixteen aspects relating to QOL. Panelists were also encouraged to provide additional comments on why they felt a particular item was important to the chronically ill adolescent's QOL. In round two, panelists were asked to prioritise the items in order of importance whereas round three attempted to achieve consensus within each of the panels. Differences between and within each of the panels in the prioritisation of item importance in round one and round two were evident. However, consensus was achieved in round three for the prioritisation of very important items by the panel of teachers. Items identified by by all three panels as extremely important included the adolescent's attitude, and friendships with the same age group. Themes to emerge from the qualitative responses to the open-ended questions included the adolescent "not Wanting to be different" and the importance of a "positive attitude". The majority of the three panels also perceived the QOL for the adolescent with a chronic illness to be worse than their healthy counterparts.Panelists were also encouraged to provide additional comments on why they felt a particular item was important to the chronically ill adolescent's QOL. In round two, panelists were asked to prioritise the items in order of importance whereas round three attempted to achieve consensus within each of the panels. Differences between and within each of the panels in the prioritisation of item importance in round one and round two were evident. However, consensus was achieved in round three for the prioritisation of very important items by the panel of teachers. Items identified by by all three panels as extremely important included the adolescent's attitude, and friendships with the same age group. Themes to emerge from the qualitative responses to the open-ended questions included the adolescent "not Wanting to be different" and the importance of a "positive attitude". The majority of the three panels also perceived the QOL for the adolescent with a chronic illness to be worse than their healthy counterparts.

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31

Meuleners, Lynn. "Quality of life for adolescents." Curtin University of Technology, School of Public Health, 2001. http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=12589.

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Assessments of quality of life (QOL) for adolescents have received relatively little attention in the literature. Although there is no consensus on the definition of adolescent QOL and what aspects should be measured, it is generally accepted that QOL is a multidimensional construct. Issues related to adolescent QOL bear special considerations since experiences of adolescents are substantially different from those of adults. The aim of this study is to provide a better understanding of adolescent QOL by assessing the impact of determinants of QOL over a six-month period. The study will also evaluate the measurement properties of the latent factors underlying adolescent OL based on a second-order confirmatory factor analysis. A recursive structural equation model is then proposed to determine the direction and magnitude of the interdependent effects among the latent factors. The Quality of Life Profile Adolescent Version (QOLPAV), a generic 54-item questionnaire was utilised. It was administered to 251 adolescents without a chronic condition and 112 adolescents with a chronic condition at baseline and the cohort of 204 adolescent without a chronic condition and 96 adolescents with a chronic condition a six months. Stratified sampling was used to recruit the adolescents from high schools in the Perth metropolitan area. Subjects were aged 10 to 19. A non-categorical approach was utilised to recruit adolescents with a chronic condition. To account for the hierarchical effects of the adolescents nested within schools multilevel modelling was undertaken to explore the potential determinants of adolescent QOL perceived in his/her life and the opportunities available were found to be significant predictors for adolescent QOL. However, as expected, health was rated poorer, with more sick days reported by chronically ill adolescents.
The results of the second-order confirmatory factor analysis suggested that adolescent QOL may be measured by five underlying constructs namely social, environment, psychological, physical health, and opportunities for growth and development. interdependent relations among these constructs identified the environment factor as primary, exerting both direct and indirect effects on the other four factors. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) also revealed no difference between chronically ill and healthy adolescents in their perceptions of the five constructs. Multilevel longitudinal analysis was performed to explore and quantify the variations in QOL over the six-month period. Although a large proportion of the variation can be accounted for by the covariates perceptions of physical health, age, control and opportunities, 38% of the variability in QOL scores was actually due to time. Similar to the baseline results, there was again no significant difference in the overall QOL scores between chronic and non-chronic adolescents at six months. Health was again rated poorer, with more sick days reported by chronically ill adolescents. The majority of both groups reported a positive QOL. Only 1% of the adolescents (non-chronic) reported a problematic QOL at baseline, which increased to 2.5% (non-chronic) at six months. There was also no significant change between the baseline QOL scores and those at six months. However, the social, physical health and opportunities for growth and development composite factor scores showed a decrease for both groups over the six months. The findings indicated that adolescents with a chronic condition do not view themselves different from their healthy counterparts in terms of QOL. The study enhanced our understanding of the effects of the broader determinants of adolescent health through a QOL perspective.
The perceptions that teachers, parents and health professionals have on the relative importance of different aspects of QOL for the adolescent with a chronic illness were separately explored using a three round Delphi study. The first round questionnaire identified the level of importance each of the three panels attached to sixteen aspects relating to QOL. Panelists were also encouraged to provide additional comments on why they felt a particular item was important to the chronically ill adolescent's QOL. In round two, panelists were asked to prioritise the items in order of importance whereas round three attempted to achieve consensus within each of the panels. Differences between and within each of the panels in the prioritisation of item importance in round one and round two were evident. However, consensus was achieved in round three for the prioritisation of very important items by the panel of teachers. Items identified by by all three panels as extremely important included the adolescent's attitude, and friendships with the same age group. Themes to emerge from the qualitative responses to the open-ended questions included the adolescent "not Wanting to be different" and the importance of a "positive attitude". The majority of the three panels also perceived the QOL for the adolescent with a chronic illness to be worse than their healthy counterparts.
Panelists were also encouraged to provide additional comments on why they felt a particular item was important to the chronically ill adolescent's QOL. In round two, panelists were asked to prioritise the items in order of importance whereas round three attempted to achieve consensus within each of the panels. Differences between and within each of the panels in the prioritisation of item importance in round one and round two were evident. However, consensus was achieved in round three for the prioritisation of very important items by the panel of teachers. Items identified by by all three panels as extremely important included the adolescent's attitude, and friendships with the same age group. Themes to emerge from the qualitative responses to the open-ended questions included the adolescent "not Wanting to be different" and the importance of a "positive attitude". The majority of the three panels also perceived the QOL for the adolescent with a chronic illness to be worse than their healthy counterparts.

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Vinaixa, Crevillent Maria. "Improving ms-sensor technologies for food quality assessment." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/8462.

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Food industry is demanding for fast screening methodologies in order to guaranty food quality and safety. These methodologies should allow high throughput with sufficient accuracy and reproducibility. In this context, MS-Sensor is a challenging approach since it allows simultaneous determination of compounds in food matrices and complex mixtures with a high sample throughput. The basic working principle of MS-Sensor systems is based on the introduction of volatile components extracted from the headspace of a sample into the ionization chamber of a mass spectrometer. The mass spectra resulting from the ionization and fragmentation of this extract constitute a very complex ionization pattern that can be seen as a 'fingerprint' which is characteristic of the matrix being analyzed. These ionisation patterns are then processed by pattern recognition engines to perform tasks such as classification, recognition and, to a limited extent, quantification.This thesis is devoted to study the possibilities and capabilities of MS-Sensor approach to its application in several food quality related problems such as the determination rancidity levels in crisps; the detection of fungal spoilage in bakery products, the monitoring of sardines freshness under cold storage; the classification of virgin olive oils according its organoleptic properties and the discrimination of two Iberian ham qualities according pig's feeding. In each one of these applications it has been demonstrated the feasibility of using a MS-Sensor to solve the food quality problem under study. It has been widely demonstrated that the MS-Sensor profile can be considered as a useful fingerprint technique for characterization of the targeted quality property and, as in certain cases, even for quantification of several parameters correlated with this problem.Despite that feasibility of MS-Sensor has been widely demonstrated for the applications under study, this approach stills suffer from some weakness or drawbacks that may influence performance of MS-Sensor. Main drawbacks are the inherent high dimensionality of data response matrices and the low selectivity of m/z fragments pseudosensors used as variables in these matrices.These two drawbacks could be responsible for the lack of reproducibility showed by MS-Sensor systems in certain applications mentioned above. In order to success in the development of such applications it was necessary to figure out different strategies for overcoming this high dimensionality and the low selectivity. In order to handle the low selectivity of m/z fragments several new methodologies based on the use of multi-way algorithms has been implemented for the first time in the framework of this thesis. Besides, new variable selection algorithms has been developed and implemented in order to avoid high dimensionality modelling. It has been demonstrated that use of the developed algorithms leads to a simpler and more parsimonious models and consequently to a better performance and more reproducible results.In addition, several issues related to use of MS-Sensor in food analysis has been studied: the use of different headspace sampling techniques; the comparison of MS-Sensor systems performance against classical MOS based 'electronic noses'; the application of new algorithms for pre-processing MS-Sensor signals; the correlation of MS-Sensor response and the well-established methods to assess the quality property under study, etc.MS-Sensor is a powerful device set-up, capable of producing large amounts of highly selective information. Optimal use of this device implies both, a correct use of analytical techniques (sample handling and instrumental) and a rational use of subsequent data analysis. That can be only attained if analytical people in charge of experimental set-up work side by side with data analysis and software developers. This thesis aims to bring nearer this close collaboration.
La indústria alimentària exigeix el desenvolupament de mètodes analítics que puguin donar resposta immediata i que al mateix temps puguin garantir la qualitat i la seguretat dels productes de forma acurada i reproduïble. En aquests context, els mètodes que utilitzen un sistema MS-Sensor poden ser uns bons candidats ja que permeten fer l'anàlisi de volàtils de matrius complexes d'una manera ràpida i també permeten processar moltes mostres en poc temps. El funcionament d'un MS-Sensor es basa en la introducció dels compostos volàtils que s'extreuen de l'espai de cap d'una mostra en la font d'ionització d'un espectròmetre de masses sense prèvia separació cromatogràfica i sense necessitat d'una preparació de mostra prèvia. L'espectre de masses resultat de la ionització i fragmentació de tots els compostos volàtils presents en l'extracte es pot considerar com una empremta digital característica de la matriu que s'està analitzant. Els espectres de masses generats es processen a posteriori amb un sistema de reconeixement de patrons per tal de realitzar tasques associades a aquests sistemes com son la classificació i el reconeixement de noves mostres i dins de certs límits la quantificació d'aquestes.Aquesta tesi està dedicada a l'estudi de les capacitats i possibilitats d'aquests sistema a donar resposta a tot un seguit d'aplicacions relacionades amb l'anàlisi de la qualitat de diferents tipus d'aliments com son: la determinació del grau d'enranciment de patates fregides; la detecció del creixement fúngic en productes de brioxería industrial; la monitorització del grau de frescor de sardines guardades en fred; la classificació de diversos olis d'oliva en base a les seves propietats organolèptiques i la classificació del pernil ibèric en base a la seva qualitat determinada per l'alimentació del porc. Per cada una d'aquests aplicacions s'ha demostrat l'aplicabilitat i la fiabilitat del sistema MS-Sensor a l'hora de resoldre les diferents qüestions plantejades sobre qualitat alimentària. S'ha demostrat àmpliament que el perfil de volàtils que s'obté amb un MS-Sensor pot cosiderar-se com una empremta digital vàlida i molt útil en la caracterització del problema que es vol resoldre i fins i tot en alguns casos, s'ha demostrat que aquesta mateixa empremta es pot correlacionar amb el paràmetres d'anàlisi clàssics que s'usen més habitualment per tal de resoldre aquests problema o que inclús aquests sistema es pot fer servir per predir-los.Encara que la viabilitat del sistema MS-Sensor en les aplicacions plantejades ha estat demostrada àmpliament en el decurs d'aquesta tesis, aquests sistema té petits inconvenients o punts febles que resten per resoldre. Aquests inconvenients poden afectar de manera directa els resultants que se n'obtenen. Els principals punts febles del MS-Sensor son d'elevada dimensionalitat de les matrius de resposta que s'obtenen que és inherent al propi sistema i la baixa selectivitat del fragments m/z considerats com a variables en aquestes matrius.Aquests dos inconvenients poden ser els responsables de la falta de reproductibilitat que s'ha obtingut en algunes aplicacions. Per tal d'obtenir bons resultats en alguna d'aquestes aplicacions es van haver de plantejar noves estratègies que poguessin salvar les dificultat derivades de la baixa selectivitat de les variables i de la seva elevada dimensionalitat. Per primera vegada i dins del marc d'aquesta tesis s'ha plantejat l'ús d'algoritmes multi-way i la inclusió del temps de retenció com a variable que pugui reportar informació addicional en el processat de les respostes del MS-Sensor. A la vegada, s'ha desenvolupat i implementat nous algoritmes per a la selecció de variables per tal d'evitar en la mesura del possible l'elevada dimensionalitat en les matrius de resposta. S'ha demostrat que l'ús d'aquests nous algoritmes permet obtenir models més simples i robustos i per tant podem aconseguir un millor funcionament del sistema i resultats més reproduïbles.A més a més s'han estudiat diferents aspectes relacionats amb la utilització d'un sistema MS-Sensor per a l'anàlisi d'aliments com son: l'ús de diferents tècniques de mostreig d'espai de cap, la comparació del sistema MS-Sensor amb sistemes clàssics d'olfacte electrònic, l'aplicació i desenvolupament d'algoritmes de pre-processament dels espectres generats, la correlació de les respostes obtingudes amb un sistema MS-Sensor amb mètodes d'anàlisi d'aliments tradicionals, etc.El MS-Sensor es un dispositiu molt potent, capaç de produir una elevada quantitat de dades. L'ús òptim d'aquests sistema es composa d'una banda d'un ús correcte dels aspectes instrumentals com son el propi sistema en si i les tècniques de mostreig i per altra banda d'un ús racional de les tècniques d'anàlisi de dades. Això només s'aconsegueix si els analítics que treballen amb el set-up de l'experiment treballen colze a colze i en estreta col·laboració amb la gent encarregada de fer l'anàlisi de dades. Aquesta tesi, pretén fer més estret l'espai entre aquests dues disciplines i dóna les eines per ajuntat i promoure aquesta col·laboració.

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Ramsenthaler, Christina. "Quality of life in multiple myeloma : longitudinal trajectories and monitoring symptoms and quality of life to improve quality of care." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2017. https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/quality-of-life-in-multiple-myeloma(e7e699b2-f030-4818-b6d1-96f995fb119e).html.

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Background: Multiple myeloma is an increasingly common disease, but there is little evidence about the change in symptoms and problems in more advanced stages. Aim: To describe the health-related quality of life (QOL) trajectories in multiple myeloma, and to evaluate the longitudinal validity of the Myeloma Patient Outcome Scale (MyPOS), a questionnaire to monitor QOL and palliative care concerns. Methods: A national, multi-centre, observational study comprising (1) a cross-sectional analysis merging data from two studies, and (2) a longitudinal study, recruiting patients at various stages of the disease. Demographic and clinical data was collected alongside QOL measures. Analysis: (i) prevalence of symptoms and independently associated factors with poor quality of life, (ii) latent growth mixture analysis of quality of life trajectories, (iii) longitudinal validity and reliability via Rasch analysis, Generalizability theory and responsiveness to change. Results: (i) Cross-sectional study: 557 patients reported a mean of 7.2 symptoms with the most common symptoms, pain, fatigue and breathlessness, being present in 61-78% of patients. General symptom level, pain, anxiety and depression, physical decline, age and phase of illness had significant independent associations with high palliative care concerns. (ii) Longitudinal study: Four classes of individual QOL trajectories were identified (n=224): declining HRQOL over 8 months, stable moderate to good QOL, improving QOL, and fluctuating poor QOL. Logistic regression analysis revealed general symptom level (OR = 1.28), pain (OR=1.03) and presence of clinically relevant anxiety or depression (OR=1.19) to be predictors for a declining or poor QOL trajectory. (iii) The MyPOS demonstrated good to excellent test-retest reliability. Rasch analysis identified limitations of suboptimal scale-to-sample targeting, resulting in floor effects. Responsiveness analysis yielded an MID of +2.5 for improvement and -4.5 for deterioration. Conclusions: People with myeloma have four main trajectories of QOL which can be predicted by symptoms and psychological concerns. These could be tested as triggers for additional palliative support. The MyPOS is a valid and reliable outcome measure to monitor these indicators in routine clinical practice.

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Nworie, Grace A. "Systems integration and analysis of advanced life support technologies." [College Station, Tex. : Texas A&M University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1756.

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Gebremariam, Merhawi Tewolde. "Predicting the life cycle of technologies from patent data." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Statistik och maskininlärning, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-154866.

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Analysis of patent documents is one way to learn about trends in the evolutionof technologies. In this thesis, we propose a mixture of life cycle Poisson modelfor predicting the life cycle of technologies from patent count data. The aim is topredict the life cycle of technologies and determine the stage of the technology inthe development S-curve. The model is constructed from historical data on patentpublications of technologies and also from experts’ belief of life cycle of technologies. The methods used to estimate the model are based on Bayesian methods, inparticular we use a combination of Gibbs sampling and slice sampling to simulatefrom the posterior distribution of the model parameters. We apply the model on adataset of 123 technologies from the electricity sector. As a preliminary exploratorystep clustering analysis is also applied on the dataset. Finally we evaluate the modelhow it performs to predict the trend of life cycle of technologies based on differentbase years. Results reveal that the model is capable of predicting the life cycleof technologies based on its different stages. However, the predictions of expectedbehavior become more accurate when more data is used to construct the prediction.

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Mansurov, Behzod, and Richard Rosengren. "SELF-SERVICE TECHNOLOGIES : INVESTIGATION ON HOW SELF-SERVICE TECHNOLOGIES INFLUENCE THE CONSUMER’S PERCEPTION OF QUALITY." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för ekonomi, samhälle och teknik, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-36041.

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37

Bowman, Marjorie June. "Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/34448.

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Objective: To explore quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis. Concept Analysis: A concept analysis of quality of life in multiple sclerosis was conducted using Rodgers’ evolutionary concept analysis method. Eighty-three studies were reviewed. Study Proposal for Secondary Analysis: The proposal was for a secondary analysis using a quantitative, longitudinal, repeated measures design to determine if stem cell transplant has an impact on the quality of life of multiple sclerosis patients with aggressive disease. Summary of Findings: A concept analysis provided valuable insight into the use and understanding of the concept of quality of life in the multiple sclerosis literature. The subjective and multidimensional attributes of quality of life in multiple sclerosis were similar to findings in previous concept analyses of quality of life in general and in other diseases. The other attributes of the concept being measureable, modifiable and predictable revealed the uniqueness of quality of life in multiple sclerosis and provided a foundation for the development of future research. The results of the secondary analysis will provide new knowledge of a novel treatment for multiple sclerosis and its impact on quality of life. This advancement of knowledge in nursing and across health care disciplines will aid in the delivery of collaborative and comprehensive patient-centred care to ultimately improve the lives of multiple sclerosis patients.

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38

Sin, Pui-yee. "Quality of life in atrial fibrillation /." View the Table of Contents & Abstract, 2006. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record/B36222562.

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39

Rapley, Mark Timothy John. "Quality of life : a critical approach." Thesis, Lancaster University, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.337125.

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40

Sin, Pui-yee, and 冼佩儀. "Quality of life in atrial fibrillation." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2006. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B45012878.

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41

Chambers, Alison. "Quality of life in intestinal failure." Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London, 2011. http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/2336.

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Aims/objectives: The objectives of this research were to investigate and compare aspects of Quality of Life (QoL) in adult patients who require HPN, in adult patients who have pseudo-obstruction, and in carers of, and children on, HPN. Methods: Demographic data, clinical parameters and current symptoms were collected and analysed. Generic QoL questionnaires were applied to the above groups. Results: HPN patients have significantly lower QoL than the rest of the UK population, report increased levels of bodily pain, anxiety and depression, a reduction in physical functioning, social functioning, general health, vitality and satisfactory levels of mental health and emotional functioning. Aspects of QoL improve over the first 6 months on HPN. Pseudo-obstruction has a negative impact on all aspects of QoL when compared to a normal population. A previous intestinal resection and opiate use had a negative impact on aspects of QoL. Carers of a child on HPN seek more social support and use more positive reappraisal coping strategies, more planful problem solving and less distancing than the controls and a higher level of psychiatric disorder is also seen. Children on HPN have a poorer functional status than those not on HPN, and there is a correlation between level of child dysfunction and parental general health. Families caring for a child on HPN function within normal and healthy parameters. Conclusions: Our studies indicate that the loss of intestinal function does have a negative impact on aspects of QoL but patients make adjustments to meet everyday requirements, even if it produces limitations with which these persons have to live by.

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42

Wilson, Adrian Michael. "Reliability testing in quality of life." Thesis, Imperial College London, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/47715.

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43

Holmes, H. Susan. "Quality of life : nutrition and cancer." Thesis, University of Surrey, 1989. http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/847526/.

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Description of the cellular and systemic consequences of cancer and its treatment shows that biochemical and nutritional changes may affect both nutritional status (NS) and quality of life (QL); techniques of measuring both parameters are considered. A new technique of QL measurement is described and found valid, reliable and feasible for clinical use; it is shown to be sensitive to changes in the patient's condition, to have discriminative ability and to yield meaningful results. Tiredness, identified as the symptom causing most distress, appears to result primarily from discomfort arising from physical symptoms; changes in mobility, appearance and mood also caused distress. The activities of daily living most affected were recreation, sleeping patterns and eating behaviour. Investigation of the relationships between food intake, NS and QL showed that food consumption in cancer patients is generally inadequate and closely linked to QL, although no clear cause and effect relationship was demonstrated. Similarly, although NS clearly depends on food intake, no relationship was found between NS and QL, perhaps because no current method of nutritional assessment is satisfactory in this population. However, marked differences in the pattern of weight change were observed between male and female patients. Attempts to improve food intake using nutritional supplements found that the products tested were organoleptically unacceptable to both normal and cancer-bearing subjects. Recipes, incorporating the products, were developed in attempts to improve acceptability but it was not possible to try these in a patient population. Overall the studies revealed that many of the changes accompanying cancer may significantly affect QL causing tiredness, changes in mood, appearance and the ability to eat and affecting normal patterns of activity. Although there are indications that QL and NS are inter-related this was not confirmed. Suggestions are made for future research.

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44

Reardon, Louise. "Quality of life and transport policy." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2014. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/6581/.

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45

Chatel, Daniel Mark 1957. "Quality of life following heart transplantation." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/277155.

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With improved survival following cardiac transplantation, attention has focused upon the quality of that survival and some of the variables that may impact quality of life. The present study objectively measured subjective aspects of quality of life in order to discover its pre- and postoperative predictors. Results indicate that immunosuppression following heart transplantation creates a significant number of complications and symptoms for the recipient and is significantly related to elevated levels of psychological distress, particularly depression and anxiety, and decreased self-esteem. These findings emphasize the importance of careful symptom evaluation and targeting of distressed patients for psychological intervention in clinical settings and underscore the importance of continued medical research to improve immunosuppression therapy. Descriptive statistics reveal a rather mixed picture of postoperative quality of life which may result from the difficult clinical reality in which heart transplant patients often trade one set of preoperative cardiac symptoms for another set of postoperative symptoms related to immunosuppression therapy.

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46

Jones, Judith Ann. "Oral health and quality of life." Thesis, Boston University, 2002. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/37813.

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Thesis(D.Sc.D.)--Boston University, Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine, 2002.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-166).
Purpose: To describe the testing of oral health outcomes measures. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of clinical and self-reported oral health in two samples of veterans: 538 users of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) outpatient medical clinics (VHS) and 278 veterans from VA’s Dental Longitudinal Study (DLS). Clinical data incIuded number of teeth, tooth mobility, periodontal treatment need, an index of root caries, coronaI caries, oral mucosal status and denture stability and retention. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was measured by the Veterans SF-36. Oral-specific heaith-related quaIity of life (OQOL) measures included the single item seIf-report of oral health (OH1), the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP), the Geriatric (General) Oral Health Assessment Instrument (GOHAI), the D-E-N-T-A-L, a screening measure of need for care and the Oral Health Quality of Life (OHQOL) measure. Results: Self-reported oral problems are significant burdens on the health and function of users of VA outpatient care. Self-reported oral health, as measured by the GOHAI, is associated with the general well-being of users of VA care. VA patients have worse clinical and self-reported oral health than community dwelling men of similar age. Clinically determined need for dental care was universai in the VHS and present in two-thirds of the DLS. The OH1 and the DENTAL are useful in identifying who needs dental care in the combined population. Criterion and construct validity of self-reported measures of oraI heaIth (OH1, OHIP, GOHAI) are supported by their associations with selected sociodemographic, behavioral and dental conditions in users of VA care. Validity is further supported by the association with recency of dental care and reason for last visit in the VHS. Conclusions: VA outpatients have significant oral health needs as measured by self-report and clinical measures. Users of VA care have worse oral health than the general population. The OH1 and the DENTAL can help identify veterans who are in need of dental care. Longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate the impact of oral health care on general health and well-being and to estimate the resources needed to meet the needs of veterans eligible for care in VA.

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Khan, Mohammad Yusuf. "Strategies and Technologies for Improving Air Quality Around Ports." Thesis, University of California, Riverside, 2013. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3559938.

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Increased activity at ports is an indication of economic development and growth; however, it also puts public health, regional air quality and global climate at risk because the exhaust from the marine diesel engines is not subjected to the stringent regulations as on-road engines. This dissertation characterizes the effectiveness of strategies and technologies to mitigate criteria pollutants and the long-lived greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO₂) from marine diesel engines. The dissertation also provides insight into the current state-of-art of gaseous and particulate matter portable emission measurement system (PEMS). Results from a project show how to determine the measurement allowance for PEMS in order to provide accurate measurements for the development of emission inventories and subsequently, air pollution mitigating regulations.

In-use gaseous emissions from the two main engines were measured at sea for the first time in order to evaluate the performance of a Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) compliant PEMS against instruments meeting the simplified measurement method (SMM) complaint with International Maritime Organization (IMO).

For the first time, emissions were measured from a modern container vessel with newest engine technologies. The vessel was operated on marine gas oil, a cleaner fuel, in regulated waters and on heavy fuel oil in unregulated waters. Impact of cleaner fuel and newest technologies on the engine was assessed. A simple equation was developed to estimate time required to completely switch fuels which can be used by vessel owners to comply with regional/international fuel regulations.

Vessel speed reduction (VSR), which is a worldwide acceptable strategy for ocean-going vessels (OGVs), was evaluated. The study showed that putting a speed limit on a container OGVs as they sail near ports and coastlines could cut emissions of air pollutants by up to 70%. This study also found that by reducing the vessel speed by a mere 3-6 knots from cruise speed will result in significant reductions of criteria pollutants and carbon dioxide.

Towards the goal of reducing emissions and dependency on fossil fuels, this dissertation explores benefits of consuming hydrotreated algae biofuel in small marine diesel engines for the first time. Significant particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) benefits were reported with slight improve in fuel economy when fuel was switched from ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) to 50:50 blend of ULSD and algae fuels.

The dissertation investigates the benefits associated with the hybridization of the tugboat. A conventional tugboat was retrofitted with one auxiliary engine, shaft generators, addition of lithium polymer batteries and an energy management system. Up to 30% reduction in NO_x, PM_2.5 and CO₂ was found. The energy management system in the hybrid tugboat allows the use of the auxiliary engine for propulsion as opposed to the only main engines during transit mode, thus leading to the significant reductions.

Another section of this dissertation provides an evaluation of latest PM-PEMS under different environmental and in-use conditions and features performance, accuracy and precision of PM-PEMS compared to the gravimetric reference method. The research from this study shows current PM-PEMS typically underreport the PM emissions compared to the reference method, with the exception of PEMS with photo-acoustic technology which incorporated a gravimetric filter. All PM-PEMS under evaluation performed poorly when encountered with sulfate laden PM during diesel particulate filter (DPF) regeneration.

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48

Magoha, Paul W. "Incident-response monitoring technologies for aircraft-cabin air quality." Diss., Kansas State University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/14187.

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Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Steven J. Eckels
Byron W. Jones
Poor air quality in commercial aircraft cabins can be caused by volatile organophosphorus (OP) compounds emitted from the jet engine bleed air system during smoke/fume incidents. Tri-cresyl phosphate (TCP), a common anti-wear additive in turbine engine oils, is an important component in today’s global aircraft operations. However, exposure to TCP increases risks of certain adverse health effects. This research analyzed used aircraft cabin air filters for jet engine oil contaminants and designed a jet engine bleed air simulator (BAS) to replicate smoke/fume incidents caused by pyrolysis of jet engine oil. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) with X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and neutron activation analysis (NAA) were used for elemental analysis of filters, and gas chromatography interfaced with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to analyze used filters to determine TCP isomers. The filter analysis study involved 110 used and 74 incident filters. Clean air filter samples exposed to different bleed air conditions simulating cabin air contamination incidents were also analyzed by FESEM/EDS, NAA, and GC/MS. Experiments were conducted on a BAS at various bleed air conditions typical of an operating jet engine so that the effects of temperature and pressure variations on jet engine oil aerosol formation could be determined. The GC/MS analysis of both used and incident filters characterized tri-m-cresyl phosphate (TmCP) and tri-p-cresyl phosphate (TpCP) by a base peak of an m/z = 368, with corresponding retention times of 21.9 and 23.4 minutes. The hydrocarbons in jet oil were characterized in the filters by a base peak pattern of an m/z = 85, 113. Using retention times and hydrocarbon thermal conductivity peak (TCP) pattern obtained from jet engine oil standards, five out of 110 used filters tested had oil markers. Meanwhile 22 out of 74 incident filters tested positive for oil fingerprints. Probit analysis of jet engine oil aerosols obtained from BAS tests by optical particle counter (OPC) revealed lognormal distributions with the mean (range) of geometric mass mean diameter (GMMD) = 0.41 (0.39, 0.45) [mu]m and geometric standard deviation (GSD), [sigma][subscript]g = 1.92 (1.87, 1.98). FESEM/EDS and NAA techniques found a wide range of elements on filters, and further investigations of used filters are recommended using these techniques. The protocols for air and filter sampling and GC/MS analysis used in this study will increase the options available for detecting jet engine oil on cabin air filters. Such criteria could support policy development for compliance with cabin air quality standards during incidents.

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49

Brooks, Robert School of Community Medicine UNSW. "Health related quality of life of intensive care patients: Development of the Sydney quality of life questionnaire." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Community Medicine, 1998. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/17465.

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This thesis has three main research aims. First the development of a questionnaire to measure HRQOL of ICU patients. Second, to examine a model of HRQOL proposed to assist with the development of the questionnaire. Third, to examine the HRQOL outcomes of patient after hospital discharge. The proposed model is based on a review of conceptual issues related to Quality of Life (QOL), Health Status and HRQOL. After a content analysis of a broad range of definitions of QOL, Health Status and HRQOL, QOL was defined as a dynamic attitude, continually being modified by experience. It is a function of the cognitive and affective appraisals of the discrepancies between domain specific perceptions and expectations. HRQOL was defined as an individuals cognitive and affective response to, or the QOL associated with, their health status. Health status was seen to consist of two health dimensions, physical and psychological health, with each dimension being composed of a number of component measures assessed subjectively. The developed questionnaire, the Sydney Quality of Life (SQOL) had good construct validity, based on substantial correspondence between qualitative and quantitative data, and internal consistency data (factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha). It had good concurrent validity in relation to the Sickness Impact Profile. The second order factor analysis of the SQOL suggested that health status may consist of three dimensions, physical health, positive mental health and negative mental health. The HRQOL model when formally examined, using Structural Equation Modelling (using LISREL), was not supported. However, exploratory modelling supported the separation of mental health into positive and negative components. The structure of HRQOL was different for patients than for the community from which they came. Patients QOL was determined largely by positive mental and physical health, whereas community members QOL was largely determined by negative mental health. Sixty three percent of patients at 12 months after discharge had significantly worse physical and functional health, lower satisfaction with their lives, lower positive affect and poorer QOL. Overall, mental health adapts rapidly to the impact of serious physical ill health and hospitalisation. Implications for clinical practice are examined.

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50

Watters, Sarah. "The measurement of quality-adjusted life years : investigations into trade-offs between longevity and quality of life." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2016. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3528/.

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In health care, decision makers are faced with increasing innovation and demand for services accompanied by escalating costs. As a result, governments and institutions have sought to promote health care value (i.e. better outcomes per moneys spent). A summary measure of health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) to help decide how to allocate available resources is thus highly desirable. In no other area of public policy has a measure similar to the widely-used quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) been developed. The QALY is therefore unique in both its ambitions and in the political, philosophical and measurement challenges it faces. This thesis set out to examine health state valuation using the time-trade off (TTO), a tool used to measure HRQoL, in the context of a behavioural economic framework. Observed violations of procedural and descriptive invariance, cornerstones of decision theory (on which the TTO is based), have been witnessed in health state valuation and elsewhere. Behavioural economics offers a framework by which such inconsistencies can potentially be better understood. Although behavioural economics has gained traction in other areas of decision research, its application to health state valuation has been limited. Drawing on the decision-making literature and health-specific considerations, the empirical studies in this thesis: provide insight into why previous studies of the TTO have yielded inconsistent findings, showcase violations of internal consistency due to behavioural economic phenomena, and identify issues relevant to the choice of TTO ‘version’ (i.e. how values should be elicited). Implications of the research in terms of stated preference methods and their role in policy are discussed. A strict focus on the TTO was intended, as it is the tool most widely implemented in health state preference elicitation, both in research contexts and clinical studies that seek to demonstrate cost-effectiveness. However, importantly, the empirical findings and discussion in this thesis are relevant not only to researchers of health state valuation but to policy makers in health and other areas of social policy which seek input for their decisions through stated preference exercises.

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