Implementation of a production Ada project: The GRODY study

The use of the Ada language and design methodologies that encourage full use of its capabilities have a strong impact on all phases of the software development project life cycle. At the National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA/GSFC), the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) conducted an experiment in parallel development of two flight dynamics systems in FORTRAN and Ada. The differences observed during the implementation, unit testing, and integration phases of the two projects are described and the lessons learned during the implementation phase of the Ada development are outlined. Included are recommendations for future Ada development projects

New Zealand Published LIS and ARM Research, 2004 - 2014: A Subject Analysis

Research problem: While subject analyses of research topics have been conducted on Library and Information Science (LIS) and Archives and Records Management (ARM) research internationally, such analyses of New Zealand literature are rare, and those that exist are limited to only a part of the literature. Overall, there is very little written analysing LIS and ARM research in New Zealand, and few prior studies analysing the subject trends of New Zealand LIS and ARM research literature. Methodology: A priori content analysis was conducted of a purposefully selected sample of research literature. Journal articles and conference papers from New Zealand LIS and ARM professional journals and conference proceedings, from the period 2004 to 2014 were selected, and the topics of research were categorized using Zins’ (2007) Classification Scheme of Information Science. These were then analyzed to determine which research topics are currently receiving the most interest at present, which are receiving the least attention at present, and how the topics researched have changed and developed over time. Results: It was found that the research topics of most focus were consistently Information Industry Economics and Management and Information/Learning Society. Conversely, the topics receiving the least attention were Diffusion Studies, which did not receive any research attention, and Methodology, which consistently received very low research attention. There were also several other observable changes in the topics of research focus in the literature, with a decline in the topics of Data Organization and Retrieval, Foundations of Information Science, Social Information Science and User Studies, and an increase in Information Ethics and Law and Information Technology. Implications: This research enables researchers to identify research topics of interest, as well as gaps in New Zealand LIS and ARM research literature. New Zealand researchers will be able to identify new research topics to enrich the current body of knowledge, and identifying topics of high activity can have important implications for strategic planning in research and research policy. Researchers in other countries can also use this study to conduct similar studies to explore research literature trends in their own setting, and add to the existing international LIS body of knowledge

Making gender: technologists and crafters in online makerspaces

The Maker Movement is a rapidly moving development towards non-traditional education through hands-on creation of technological artifacts, indicating tremendous potential for attracting previously marginalized groups underrepresented in science and technology fields. The movement is compellingly situated as the intersection of an expansive array of interdisciplinary efforts and thus equipped to be leveraged by women and girls who are more likely to originate from artistic and creative backgrounds. Women who make are severely underrepresented in all documented embodiments of the maker movement, including maker media, events, and tangible collaborative spaces. This study explores the possibilities of removing barriers to entry into making for women by converging upon the narrow focus of online makerspaces, engaging with the denizens of the space, and scrutinizing the manner in which they participate in the broader maker community. The timeliness of this probe into women’s personal engagement with science and technology making is indicated by the convergence of discussion surrounding the underrepresentation of women in STEM and approaches to increasing accessibility through making as a natural point of entry.M.S

Negotiating the 'grey area between normal social drinking and being a smelly tramp':a qualitative study of people searching for help online to reduce their drinking

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Delivering brief interventions for hazardous and harmful drinking on the Internet may broaden the availability of services and overcome some barriers to accessing help in person. The Down Your Drink (DYD) website, an extended brief intervention, attracted a large number of people looking to reduce their drinking. The aim was to explore the experiences of this e-help seeking population.  METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants in the DYD trial - an online trial of the effectiveness of DYD compared with an information-only website. Interviewees were asked how they came across the DYD website. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed by a multidisciplinary team using detailed thematic analysis.  RESULTS: Eighteen participants were interviewed. Most interviewees perceived their drinking to be a problem, which led them to search the Internet and register for the DYD trial in order to gain access to an intervention to help them reduce their drinking. The type of help required varied from information on the harms of drinking to help with a recognized problem. The privacy of the Internet was perceived as important when searching for help with drinking, as this avoids the stigma and embarrassment associated with help seeking in person. Almost all interviewees perceived a lack of services both online and offline for people wanting to moderate their drinking.  CONCLUSION: There is a perceived gap in services for hazardous and harmful drinkers wanting to reduce their drinking which could be addressed using online interventions

A study of nursing care designed to assist hospitalized children and their parents in their separation.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Nigerian Teachers Perception on the Use of ‘SMS Communication on Students’ Conventional Writings

The newly invented short message service (SMS) communication occasioned by the emergence of mobile telephones is a new phenomenon in communication. This form of communication oftentimes disregards the basic rules of English grammar especially among youths and this has raised a major worry for the society in recent times. This concern is that SMS communication is gradually taking over written communication and indirectly jeopardizing students’ usage of the Standard English language in their academic writings. Within this context therefore, this paper investigates Nigerian teachers’ perception of the pervasiveness of the SMS language among students and how this form of communication is jeopardizing students’ formal academic writings. A survey was carried out among the teachers in the six zonal headquarters of Post Primary School Service Commission (PPSSC) in Anambra State, Nigeria. A sample of 400 teachers was randomly selected. Two schools were randomly sampled from each zone making twelve schools, and about 33 teachers were sampled from each school. Findings show that teachers are aware students use SMS communication because they observe that it filters into their academic writings, particularly in written examinations. The study also identified that the form of SMS language commonly used among students is replacing words with alphabets such as ‘U’ in place of ‘You’. Based on the findings, the study concludes that SMS language in communication is very detrimental to the students’ academic writings and recommends that students who use the SMS language in their written examination should be strictly penalized. Keywords: Short Message Service; SMS communication; Teachers’ Perception; Text messaging; academic writings, Nigeria

Development and Validation of an Empathy Questionnaire measuring Cognitive and Affective Traits

The current study seeks to develop and validate a quantitative measure of empathy. Definitions of empathy vary (Stern, 2021, Brett, 2023), but for the purpose of this study, we defined empathy as the ability to perceive and sympathize with the thoughts, emotions, and feelings of another person. Higher levels of empathy are linked with supportive social behavior, and lower levels of stress in college students (Stern, 2021). Previous empathy scales, such as the Perth Empathy Scale (Brett et al., 2023), have divided empathy into cognitive and affective abilities. Our scale will use this structure, while further specifying the cognitive and affective abilities that pertain to empathy. In this study, we are developing 5 subscales that pertain to empathy, which include acceptance, communication, perspective-taking, compassion, and sensitivity. We hypothesize that each subscale of our scale will demonstrate strong psychometric properties, including internal consistency and inter-item correlation. We also hypothesize that our scale will be significantly associated with high levels of perspective-taking and sensitivity, specifically scored using the Perspective Taking Scale (Cohen, 1988) and the Sensitivity Scale (You, et. al. 2021). Lastly, we hypothesize that our empathy scale will significantly predict stress in emerging adults. Results and implications are forthcoming

BAMBOLBI. Creación de Branding y promoción de camisetas gráficas

[CA] Bambolbi és una marca de camisetes gràfiques per a crear consciència sobre el problema actual de la reducció de la població de abelles. Resumint, aquest projecte està basat en un desenvolupament de branding destinat a realitzar treballs de il·lustració per a la seua adaptació posterior a camisetes i a prints. Aquest projecte es separarà en dos apartats. El primer apartat de investigación es centrarà en estudiar el context en el qual es desenvolupa el disseny de marca i branding amb els seus respectius productes de merchandising. Explorarem el target, el posisionament, la competència, el seu análisis DAFO i altres coses més. Mentrestant, l’eix central del segon apartat serà el disseny i la creació del branding. Tot això engloba la creació d’un nom, el disseny d’un logo, packaging i la il·lustració per a la seua posterior adaptació a camisetes i prints per a la promoció amb treballs de merchandising, divulgació i venta. La fase del naming és el primer pas que realitzaré per a la cració d’un nom, on m’incline per Bambolbi com nom escollit. Tot això ens porta al desenvolupament del logo amb la cración de la tipografia junt a un imagotipus. Desprès, en la fase de merchandising y promoció, realitzaré un treball pràctic de disseny i d’il·lustracios per a les camisetes y dissenys d’il·lustracios per el packaging[ES] Bambolbi es una marca de camisetas gráficas para crear conciencia acerca del problema actual del declive en la población de abejas. A grandes rasgos, este proyecto está basado en un desarrollo de branding destinado a hacer trabajos de ilustración para su posterior adaptación a camisetas y prints. Este proyecto se separará en dos bloques. El primer bloque de investigación se centrará en estudiar el contexto en el cual se va a desarrollar el diseño de marca y branding con sus respectivos productos de merchandising. Se explorará su target, su posicionamiento, la competencia, su análisis DAFO entre otras cosas. Mientras tanto, el eje central de la vertiente de creación será el diseño del branding. Todo esto engloba la creación de un nombre, el diseño del logotipo, packaging y la ilustración para su posterior adaptación a camisetas y prints destinados a promocionar trabajos propios de merchandising, divulgación y venta. La fase del naming es el primer paso que voy a realizar para la creación de un nombre, donde me decanto por el nombre Bambolbi como nombre escogido. Todo esto conlleva al desarrollo del logotipo a través de la creación de tipografía junto a un imagotipo. Luego, en la fase de merchandising y promoción, paso a realizar un trabajo práctico de diseño y de ilustraciones para las camisetas y diseño de ilustraciones para el packaging.[EN] Bambolbi is a graphic T-shirt brand made to create awareness surrounding the problema reguarding the current decline in the bee population. As an overview, this project is based off a development of branding targeted towards the creation of ilustrations for the later adaptation to T-shirts and prints. This project is seperated in two main parts. The first section reguarding investigation will pay attention to studying the context un which the development of the design of the brand and the branding will be carried out, materialized into the respective merchandise products. We will explore the target group, the brand positioning, the competidors, SWOT analysis amongst other things. Meanwhile, the central component of the second section will be the actual creation of the branding. All of this includes the creation of a brand name, logo design, packaging and the ilustrations for the later adaptation to mechandise which is planned to be later sold. The naming process is the first step that I will do, going for Bambolbi as my chosen name. All of this leads us to a development of a logo through the creation of a new typography alongside the Bambolbi icon. Later on in the merchandise and promtion phase, I will concentrate on creating a practical design project of illustrations for the T-shirts and design of illustrations for the packaging.Godfrey, AEL. (2020). BAMBOLBI. Creación de Branding y promoción de camisetas gráficas. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/150170TFG

Lithuania : the rebirth of a nation, 1991-1994

The thesis Lithuania: the Rebirth of a Nation, 1991-1994 examines the first years of the rebirth and regeneration of Lithuania in the face of the legacy of the Soviet Occupation. It studies the essential components of rebirth: the creation of domestic, foreign and security policies and the revitalising of the economy as Lithuania broke away from the USSR. The Soviet Occupation grafted the mentality of homo sovieticus onto the Lithuanian people and its effect is charted when observing the processes surrounding Lithuania's rejuvenation. An additional chapter examines the evolution of homo sovieticus itself, studying bureaucratic societies, such as the Habsburg Empire and the USSR. The chapter also shows the manifestation of homo sovieticus in works of literature, art, music and humour and explores the concept of 'internal exile'. The thesis commences with a condensed history of Lithuania, as this history has created the distinct national identity which sustained the Lithuanian people during the decades of occupation. After the chapter on the evolution of homo sovieticus, its legacy is studied in a survey of Lithuania's domestic politics between 1991-1994. This chapter, however, extends until 1996 to demonstrate the changing political fortunes during the first post-Soviet years. Interlinking chapters on foreign and security policy appraise Lithuania's attempts to rejoin the international community and acquire an effective security guarantee. The influence of the presence of homo sovieticus is again noted both here and in the final chapter, devoted to Lithuania's transition to a market economy. The thesis concludes that while enormous strides were taken between 1991-1994 to return Lithuania to her pre-Occupation status, the damage caused by fifty years of the Soviet Occupation had created unforeseen obstacles which led to complications in the process of rebirth, many of which will be unsurmountable in the immediate future