The purpose of this study was to develop Gestalt guidelines for mine worker fathers living in Oranjemund in order to enhance a dialogical relationship with their children in middle childhood. The researcher made use of the first four stages of the Design and Development model of intervention research. These stages include problem analysis and project planning, information gathering and synthesis, design and the early development of the guidelines. For the purpose of this study, focus groups were conducted with father participants and semi-structured interviews were conduct with children participants. The research study was based on existential dialogue with the focus on four main themes, namely; commitment to dialogue, presence, inclusion and confirmation. Existing literature from Gestalt approach, middle childhood and culture was used together with functional elements of other existing parent child relationship and family programmes or models, to develop the guidelines. / Social Work / M. Diac (Play Therapy)

Signed language interpreting in South Africa has not received much academic attention, despite the profession having undergone major transformation since the advent of democracy. This study aims to create a better understanding of signed language interpreters’ behaviour in one specific setting in South Africa – post-secondary education. During the researcher’s own practice as an educational interpreter at a post-secondary institution, she experienced role conflict and found little information available to assist her in making professional decisions on which direction to take. This provided the impetus to embark on this research. The study begins by outlining the field of liaison interpreting and educational interpreting, and examining the existing literature regarding the interpreter’s role and norms in interpreting. It then goes on to examine authentic interpreted texts, filmed in actual lectures in post-secondary settings. These texts are analysed with reference to interpreter shifts and deviations from the source text, with particular focus on interpreter-generated utterances (additions), borrowing (fingerspelling), omissions (both errors and conscious choice) and various types of collaboration between the interpreter and primary participants. These shifts are examined in more detail to explore whether they indicate any change in the interpreter’s role. Further, interpreters’ own views about their practice, elicited from individual interviews, enable the reader to understand how the interpreters view the role(s) that they fulfil. The research will provide information for interpreter trainers about the roles assumed by SASL interpreters in higher education and provide a platform from which to scaffold future educational interpreter research and training. / Linguistics / M.A. (Linguistics)

Ein großer Anteil des Datenverkehrs in „Internet Service Provider“ (ISP)-Netzen wird heutzutage von „Content Delivery Networks“ (CDNs) verursacht. Betreiber von CDNs verwenden Lastverteilungsmechanismen um die Auslastung ihrer CDN-Infrastruktur zu vergleichmäßigen (Load Balancing). Dies geschieht ohne Abstimmung mit den ISP-Betreibern. Es können daher große Verkehrslastverschiebungen sowohl innerhalb eines ISP-Netzes, als auch auf den Verbindungsleitungen zwischen ISP-Netz und CDNs auftreten. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird untersucht, welche nicht-kooperativen Möglichkeiten ein ISP hat, um Verkehrslastverschiebungen, welche durch Lastverteilungsmechanismen innerhalb eines CDNs verursacht werden, entgegenzuwirken bzw. abzumildern. Die Grundlage für diese Untersuchung bildet die Analyse des Serverauswahlverhaltens des YouTube-CDNs. Hierzu ist ein aktives Messverfahren entwickelt worden, um das räumliche und zeitliche Verhalten der YouTube-Serverauswahl bestimmen zu können. In zwei Messstudien wird die Serverauswahl in deutschen und europäischen ISP-Netzen untersucht. Auf Basis dieser Studien wird ein Verkehrsmodell entwickelt, welches die durch Änderungen der YouTube-Serverauswahl verursachten Verkehrslastverschiebungen abbildet. Das Verkehrsmodell wiederum bildet die Grundlage für die Bestimmung optimaler Routen im ISP-Netz, welche hohe Robustheit gegenüber CDN-bedingte Verkehrslastverschiebungen aufweisen (Alpha-robuste Routingoptimierung). Für die Lösung des robusten Routing-Optimierungsproblems wird ein iteratives Verfahren entwickelt sowie eine kompakte Reformulierung vorgestellt. Die Leistungsfähigkeit des Alpha-robusten Routings wird anhand von drei Beispielnetztopologien untersucht. Das neue Verfahren wird mit alternativen robusten Routingverfahren und einem nicht-robusten Verfahren verglichen. Neben der robusten Routingoptimierung werden in der Arbeit drei weitere Ideen für nicht-kooperative Methoden vorgestellt (BGP-, IP-Präix- und DNS-basierte Methode), um CDN-bedingten Verkehrslastverschiebungen entgegenzuwirken.

The aim of this Master Thesis is to present an annotated literary translation of two chapters of the novella Vstrecha from Maxim Osipov's book, Grech zhalovatsya. The first part of this Master Thesis contains a translation of selected chapters from the novella Vstrecha. The second part, a commentary on the translation, includes information about the author and his work, style classification, the role of translation, vocabulary, intertextuality, characterization of translation methods, strategy of solving translation problems and typology of translation shifts.

Ce travail appréhende le corpus des romans utopiques dits classiques (1676-1710), en articulant trois démarches souvent dissociées. La première concerne leur apport idéologique dans le contexte d'une période de crise profonde de la pensée et s'interroge sur la notion problématique de modernité. La seconde s'attache à la constitution spécifique d'un univers fictionnel qui confronte deux mondes, le monde européen et le monde utopique, en recourant à des conceptions contemporaines de la fiction comme « monde possible » et comme « version du monde ». La dernière réfléchit l'inscription paradoxale des romans, entre perpétuation et subversion, dans la tradition philosophique et morale classique, et notamment les formes intertextuelles de cette inscription. Des ces options, découle un choix thématique : l'analyse se penche plus spécifiquement sur la vision anthropologique à l'œuvre dans les textes. Les textes projettent en effet dans un monde alternatif une représentation de l'homme faite de schèmes conceptuels et figuratifs qui sont issus de leur univers culturel et philosophique, mais qui sont agencés, recontextualisés et transformés, de manière à participer de déplacements importants, qui seront consolidés par les Lumières triomphantes du second XVIIIe siècle. / The present work focuses on the corpus of so-called “classical” utopian novels (1676-1710), combining three approaches, which are often used separately. The first method deals with their ideological dimension, within the context of a deep crisis in thought, and questions the problematic notion of modernity. The second method tackles the specific constitution of a fictional world, confronting two worlds – the European world and the utopian world –, by resorting to contemporary notions of fiction as “possible world” and as “version of the world”. The third method reflects on the paradoxical inscription of the novels within the classical philosophical and moral tradition, which it perpetuates or subverts, and focuses notably on the intertextual forms of this inscription. These options result in a thematic choice: the analysis focuses more specifically on the anthropological vision at work in the texts. The texts project, in an alternative world, a representation of man composed of figurative and conceptual patterns, which originate from their cultural and philosophical backgrounds, but which are recontextualized, organized and transformed, so as to partake of important displacements, which will consolidate in the triumphant Enlightenment, in the second half o the 18th century. Although modernity stems from a self-creating movement of rupture, in order to postulate a better world, it remains dependent on the old world it attempts to do away with. Classical utopias provide an exemplary laboratory of modernity, by textually actualizing the operations which embody modernity's dynamics, as well as some of its tensions, notably regarding the use of the notion of nature.

Cette thèse porte sur la création d'un système expert d'alignement automatique des signaux chromatographiques répondant à une problématique de dérives et de décalages de signaux rencontrée dans l'inter-comparaison de données en milieu évolutif. Après un état de l'art des différentes méthodes d'alignement qui existent dans la littérature, les performances des méthodes librement disponibles ont été testées sur des jeux de données chromatographiques simulées et réelles. A l'issu de ce travail méthodique, il s'est avéré qu'aucune des méthodes n'apportait pleinement satisfaction en matière de performances définies dans le cahier des charges. Ainsi, une optimisation de la meilleure de ces méthodes d'alignement a été développée afin qu'elle puisse être annexée à un logiciel d'acquisition et de traitement de données chromatographiques. La dernière partie de ce manuscrit traite d'une problématique complémentaire, la conformité des échantillons en terme de contrôle qualité. La similitude des pics est évaluée selon des critères développés et validés par une exploitation manuelle des données. / This thesis focuses on the creation of an expert system for automatic alignment of chromatographic signals in response to a problem of drifts and shifts of signals encountered in the inter-comparison of data in evolving environment. After a state of the art of the different alignment methods that exist in the literature, the performances of freely available methods were tested on sets of simulated and real chromatographic data. At the end of this methodical work, it turned out that none of the methods did not provide fully satisfactory in terms of performance defined in the specification. Thus, an optimization of the best alignment method has been developed so that it can be attached to a software acquisition and processing of chromatographic data. The last part of this thesis deals with a complementary problem, the conformity of the samples in terms of quality control. The similarity of the peaks is evaluated according to criteria developed and validated by manual operation data.

Neste trabalho foram estudados computacionalmente os [2.2]ciclofanos ([2.2]paraciclofano (1), anti-[2.2]metaciclofano (2a), sin-[2.2]metaciclofano (2b) e [2.2]metaparaciclofano (3)), que são os [2n]ciclofanos mais simples, contendo dois anéis fenílicos conectados por duas pontes etilênicas. Os ciclofanos têm apresentado inúmeras aplicações importantes, podendo atuar como auxiliares em sínteses assimétricas e como catalisadores que simulam funções enzimáticas, apresentando seletividade em relação aos substratos. Eles são empregados tanto em químicab supramolecular quanto em áreas biomédicas. Estudos que empregam ressonância de spin eletrônico ou que investigam propriedades ópticas não-lineares dos [2.2]ciclofanos indicam que os mesmos apresentam interações transanulares, que ocorrem através de recobrimento direto entre orbitais pertencentes a anéis diferentes, through-space, ou através de recobrimento entre orbitais dos anéis e das pontes, through-bond. As interações transanulares possuem um papel fundamental na química dos ciclofanos, alterando o comportamento reacional destes compostos e as transições espectroscópicas. Apesar dos métodos de preparação de ciclofanos, desde os mais simples aos mais complexos, serem intensamente investigados, estudos computacionais, que busquem compreender as correlações entre tensão e aromaticidade, estrutura eletrônica e o mecanismo de ocorrência das interações transanulares, são raramente encontrados na literatura. Desse modo, o objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar as interações transanulares, bem como correlacionar as diferenças estruturais, a tensão sobre anéis e pontes, cargas atômicas, aromaticidade e os deslocamentos químicos, não apenas para os isômeros dos [2.2]ciclofanos, mas também seus derivados fluorados (perfluoração de um dos anéis dos [2.2]ciclofanos), bem como avaliar os efeitos de diversos substituintes (CN, Cl, C=O, NH2 e NO2) e da protonação na estrutura eletrônica do isômero [2.2]paraciclofano. As otimizações de geometria de 1, realizadas com diferentes métodos e conjuntos de funções de base, mostraram que os modelos MP2/6-31+G(d,p) e B3PW91/6-31+G(d,p) fornecem os melhores resultados em comparação com os dados de raios-x. Buscas conformacionais mostraram que 2a e 2b são confôrmeros com energias diferentes e que 3 possui dois confôrmeros degenerados. As energias relativas e de tensão das pontes, seguiram a mesma ordem, indicando que a tensão sobre as pontes e a repulsão entre as nuvens ? dos anéis aromáticos são determinantes para a estabilidade dos [2.2]ciclofanos. As reações isodésmicas indicaram que os anéis comportam-se como absorvedores de tensão. NICS e HOMA mostraram que apesar das perdas de planaridade dos anéis a aromaticidade é mantida. O método NBO confirmou que todos os [2.2]ciclofanos apresentam interações through-bond, mas apenas 2a e 2b apresentaram interações through-space significantes. A análise AIM mostrou que as interações transanulares observadas são do tipo camada fechada (iônica ou ligação de hidrogênio) e que estabilizam os [2.2]ciclofanos. Para os derivados fluorados as principais alterações geométricas observadas foram para os diedros das pontes. As reações isodésmicas revelaram que as tensões das pontes e as energias relativas são afetadas pela fluoração. Além disso, os anéis dos isômeros fluorados absorvem mais tensão que os anéis dos isômeros não fluorados. NICS e HOMA mostraram que a substituição por flúor aumenta a aromaticidade dos [2.2]ciclofanos. A análise NBO indicou que a perfluoração aumentou o número e a intensidade das interações through-space, mas as mesmas ficaram restritas principalmente aos derivados fluorados de 2a e 2b. A mesma análise evidenciou que há uma conjugação dos pares de elétrons dos átomos de flúor com o sistema ?. Por outro lado, a análise AIM sugeriu que a substituição não aumenta o número de interações through-space, mas confirmou a conjugação dos pares de elétrons dos átomos de flúor. Os demais substituintes empregados afetam os parâmetros geométricos do [2.2]paraciclofano (1) de maneira diferenciada. A análise particionada das reações isodésmicas mostrou que as tensões nos anéis e nas pontes dependem não apenas do substituinte empregado, mas também da posição da substituição. NICS e HOMA indicaram que a aromaticidade no anel não-substituído dos derivados substituídos é maior que em 1. A análise NBO revelou que a substituição e a protonação aumentam a ocorrência de interações transanulares through-space. O método AIM indicou a presença de interações transanulares apenas para o derivado substituído com NH2 e CN e para a espécie protonada. No entanto, tais interações apresentaram características de interações de camada fechada. com pequenas estabilizações. As cargas atômicas e os deslocamentos químicos confirmaram as mudanças na densidade eletrônica, observadas através do método AIM. / In this work, the [2.2]cyclophanes ([2.2]paracyclophane (1), anti-[2.2]metacyclophane (2a), syn-[2.2]metacyclophane (2b) e [2.2]metaparacyclophane (3)), which are the simplest [2n] cyclophanes that contain two phenyl rings connected by two ethanediyl linkages, were studied computationally. Cyclophanes have presented several important applications, such as auxiliary in asymmetric synthesis, catalysts that simulate enzymatic functions, presenting selectivity in relation to the substrates. They are employed either in supramolecular chemistry or in biomedical areas. Studies that apply electron spin resonance or that investigate the non-linear optical properties of [2.2]cyclophanes, indicate that these compounds present transannular interactions, which occur through direct overlap of orbitals lying in different rings, throughspace, or through overlap between orbitals from rings and bridges, through-bond. The transannular interactions have a fundamental role in cyclophane chemistry, changing the reactional behavior of these compounds, and the spectroscopic transitions. Despite the fact that the well known methods of preparation, from the simplest to the most complex cyclophanes, have been studied intensively, computational studies that intent to comprehend the correlations between tension and aromaticity, electronic structure, and the mechanism of the transannular interactions are rarely found in the literature. Therefore, the aim of this work was not only to study the transannular interactions, correlating the structural differences, tension in rings and bridges, atomic charges, aromaticity, and chemical shifts of the [2.2]cyclophanes isomers but also to extent a similar treatment to the fluorinated derivatives. In addition, the effects of substituents such as (CN, Cl, C=O, NH2, and NO2) and the protonation on the electronic structure of [2.2]paracyclophane were also evaluated. The geometry optimizations of 1, carried out by using different methods and basis set, showed that the models MP2/6-31+G(d,p) and B3PW91/6-31+G(d,p) provide the best results in comparison with the x-ray data. Conformational searches showed that 2a and 2b are the conformers that present the same energy and the isomer 3 has two degenerated conformers. The strain energies of the bridges followed the same tendency as the relative energies, indicating that the tension on the bridges and the repulsions between the ? clouds of the aromatic rings are the key factors that determine the [2.2]cyclophane stabilities. The isodesmic reactions indicated that the rings are absorbents of tension. NICS and HOMA showed that the aromaticity of the rings is preserved despite the changes on the planarity. The NBO method confirmed that all [2.2]cyclophanes present through-bond interactions, but only 2a and 2b exhibit noteworthy through-space interactions. The AIM analysis pointed out that the transannular interactions behave as closed shell interactions (ionic or hydrogen bond), stabilizing the [2.2]cyclophanes. The main geometric changes, observed to the fluorinated derivatives, were those related with the dihedral angle of bridges. The isodesmic reactions pointed out that the tensions of bridges and the relative energies are affected by the fluorination. In addition, the fluorinated rings absorb more tension than the non-fluorinated rings. NICS and HOMA showed that the substitution by fluorine increases the aromaticity of the [2.2]cyclophanes. The NBO analysis indicated that the number of through-space interactions increase with the fluorination, but it is restrict to the derivatives of 2a and 2b. In addition, the same analysis pointed out a conjugation of the fluorine lone pairs with the ? system. On the other hand, the AIM analysis suggested that the substitution do not increase the number of through-space interactions, but confirmed the conjugation of the fluorine lone pairs. The other substituents can affect the geometric parameter of 1 noticeably. The partitioned analysis of isodesmic reactions showed that the tensions in bridges and rings not only depend on the substituents employed but also on the position of substitution. NICS and HOMA pointed out that the aromaticity is bigger in the non-substituted rings of [2.2]paracyclophane derivatives than in 1. The NBO analysis showed that the substitution and protonation increase the number of through-space interactions. AIM method indicated the transannular interactions occur only to the derivate substituted by NH2 and CN, and to the protonated specie. However, these interactions presented features of closed shell interactions with small stabilizations. The atomic charges and the chemical shifts confirmed the changes of the electronic density, observed through the AIM method.

In this thesis, quantum-mechanical calculations within density-functional theory on metallic systems are presented. The overarching goal has been to investigate effects of disorder. In particular, one of the properties investigated is the bindingenergy shifts for core electrons in binary alloys using different theoretical methods. These methods are compared with each other and with experimental results. One such method, the so-called Slater-Janak transition state method relies on the assumption that the single-particle eigenvalues within density-functional theory are linear functions of their respective occupation number. This assumption is investigated and it is found that while the eigenvalues to a first approximation show linear behavior, there are also nonlinearities which can influence the core-level binding energy shifts. Another area of investigation has been iron based alloys at pressures corresponding to those in the Earth’s inner core. This has been done for the hexagonal close packed and face entered cubic structures. The effects of alloying iron with magnesium and nickel on the equation of state as well on the elastic properties have been investigated. The calculations have shown that the hexagonal close packed structure in FeNi is more isotropic than the face-centered cubic structure, and that adding Mg to Fe has a large impact on the elastic properties. Finally, the effects of disorder due to thermal motion of the atoms have been investigated through ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations. Within the limits of this method and the setup, it is found that the face-centered cubic structure of molybdenum can be dynamically stabilized at high temperature, leading to a metastable structure, on the average. The dynamical stabilization of face-centered cubic molybdenum also rendered it possible to accurately calculate the lattice stability relative to the body-centered cubic phase. Inclusion of temperature effects for the lattice stability using ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations resolves the disagreement between ab-initio calculations and thermochemical methods.

Invasive exotic species threaten biodiversity and ecosystem functions globally, creating need for and encumbering ecological restoration. When restoring exotic plant-dominated ecosystems, reinvasion pressure is the rate of new exotic recruitment following mature exotic removal. It can vary broadly among similarly invaded habitats and is crucial to restoration outcomes and costs, but is difficult to predict and poorly understood. Initial results from the experimental restoration of a wetland dominated by Triadica sebifera led us to develop the ‘outgrow the stress’ hypothesis. It holds: (1) Variation in reinvasion pressure is driven by differences in propagule abundance and spatiotemporal availability of realized recruitment windows, which are defined by abiotic conditions and biotic interactions. (2) Differences in reinvasion pressure become masked by exotic dominance when increases in niche breadth during development enable exotic persistence across sites where recruitment windows range from frequent to episodic. We validated this hypothesis. First, we used greenhouse and field experiments to quantify Triadica’s moisture niche early in development. By two months post-germination, seedling tolerances broadened to include conditions unsuitable for germination. This clearly demonstrated a rapid ontogenetic niche expansion, which could decouple mature Triadica density and average reinvasion pressure. Second, we used a greenhouse mesocosm experiment to quantify how recruitment window duration, competition and fertility impacted population-level Triadica establishment in stressful environments. As ‘outgrow the stress’ predicts, longer windows increased Triadica success and multi-factor interactions were common, with competition and fertility effects varying among environmental contexts. Third, we substantiated predictions of ‘outgrow the stress’ regarding propagule availability and soil moisture by manipulating these in a multi-site field experiment spanning eleven experimental restorations of Triadica-dominated habitats along a moisture gradient. Triadica reinvasion pressure varied broadly among sites but correlated with moisture and fertility. Propagule availability drove reinvasion in favorable environments, but availability of suitable conditions trumped propagules in extreme environments. Competition reduced Triadica performance and sometimes survival. Triadica prevalence reduced native plant prevalence. Six restorations require minimal Triadica management for success. This work advances our understanding and enables better predictions of reinvasion pressure and invasions in general. Accurate predictions enhance restoration efficiency by informing site selection and optimal management strategies.

1. ŽODYNAS, SIMBOLIAI IR SANTRUMPOS Alopecia – alopecija, plaukų iškritimas, jų netekimas, slinkimas, plikimas, plikumas, plikis Alopecia areata – lizdinis, židininis plaukuotosios galvos dalies ar kitų kūno vietų (blakstienų, antakių, gaktos, pažastų ir kt.) plaukų iškritimas, plikimas Alopecia barbae – vyrų barzdos ir ūsų plikimas Alopecia diffusa – difuzinis, išsklaidytas plikimas Alopecia totalis – visų galvos plaukų netekimas, plikumas, plikis Alopecia universalis – visiškas ar dalinis galvos plaukų netekimas, lydimas dalinio ar visiško kitų kūno vietų plaukų iškritimo; plikumas, plikis Anti–TPO – antitiroidiniai mikrosominiai antikūniai Ca – kalcis Ca2+ – dvivalentis kalcis Cd – kadmis Cr – chromas Cu – varis ENG – eritrocitų nusėdimo greitis FT4 – laisvas tiroksinas Hg – gyvsidabris KMU – Kauno medicinos universitetas Me – mikroelementas Mg – magnis Mn – manganas P – fosforas Pb – švinas PSO – Pasaulinė sveikatos apsaugos organizacija PTH – parathormonas SD – standartinė paklaida TSH – tirostimuliuojantis hormonas Zn – cinkas 2. ĮŽANGA Alopecija yra nepiktybinis, uždegiminis, autoimuninis ir labai neprognozuojamas žmonių ir gyvūnų plaukų slinkimas ir plikimas. Manoma, kad iki 2 proc. visos žmonijos populiacijos gali bent kartą gyvenime nuplikti ar slinkti plaukai (Barahamani ir kt. 2002, Sahn 1995). Galimas galvos, antakių, blakstienų, barzdos ar kitų plaukuotų kūno vietų plaukų slinkimas ar plikimas. Šia liga gali sirgti įvairaus amžiaus abiejų lyčių visų... [to full text]