L'objectif principal était de développer un outil de formulation dédié à l'inertage des déchets par des liants minéraux (laitiers, fondus, portland..) pour un stockage en décharge classée ou pour valorisation sous la forme d'Eco-matériaux. Deux voies de recherches se sont déroulées en parallèle, d'une part la caractérisation multi-échelles du 'composite liant/déchet' pour qualifier l'efficacité de l'inertage,d'autre part, la mesure des propriétés rhéologiques et mécaniques du 'composite liant/déchet' pour mieux cibler son domaine d'emploi. Il est apparu rapidement que pour fonder l'outil de formulation, une description fine du réseau poreux obtenu (diamètre et connectivité des capillaires, distribution de taille et morphologie des pores) associée à une étude des microstructures formées seraient impératives. Pour ce faire des expériences multi-échelles à caractère novateur ont été mises en place (ICP-OES couplée avec de la conductimètrie, cartographie MEB) et appliquées à 8 couples liant/ polluant. Elles ont confirmé une intégration des polluants sous diverses formes microstructurales dans de nouveaux composés Pour mieux prédire les cinétiques de rejet, dans le cadre d'une mise en décharge, les lois classiques de diffusion ont été revisitées sur une période d'étude de [3min-24mois] et les coefficients de diffusion de Fick ont été calculés globalement ou par partie.

The principal aim of the project has been to investigate formulation-solution processes and the extent to which these processes lead to better guidance and understanding of teaching, learning, and assessment in mathematical modelling. The following main activities have been carried out in support of this aim: the development of case studies of the mathematical modelling approaches that may be used in the solution of practical problems; the design of teaching and learning experiments carried out mainly with undergraduates with some knowledge of physics and teachers on an MSc course in mathematical education; the theoretical development of formulation-solution processes by means of a concept matrix and a relationship level graph; the analysis of a selection of students' modelling attempts; an investigation of assessment methods and the implications of the theoretical development of formulation solution processes for these methods. The case studies were based on possible modelling approaches to practical problems which are connected in some way with every-day reality. These studies were used in seventeen experiments with students working in a genuine educational environment under the usual time constraints. Most of the students involved had little or no modelling experience. Results have shown that students have a common set of difficulties, and a set of learning heuristics has been devised in an attempt to overcome these. The theoretical development of formulation-solution processes has identified the following main characteristics in early model development: distribution of features from global (difficult to quantify) to specific (easily quantified) concepts; basic relationships are often generated as solution proceeds; relationships can occur in either general or specific forms; general progress is gauged by relationship 'level'; most variables and constants are generated with relationships; partitioning a problem into sub-problems may be possible initially, but such break-down into distinct parts is often only possible after having seen a pattern of linkages in a relationship level graph. Finally, the implications for assessment methods are examined, and suggestions for further research investigations are made.

RADAR is an excellence self-assessment tool which is commonly used to assess results and approaches in excellence models. It could also be used successfully in assessing the strategy formulation process in Dubai' s government. The Thesis is a qualitative research that deploys a case study approach to understand the role of RADAR techniques and practices, and how these can be used in assessing the Dubai Governement 's strategy formulation process, focusing on the justice and security sectors in general and the Dubai Police Force in particular. The researcher always attempts to answer particular questions about why and how RADAR informs and helps in assessing and controlling the strategy formulation process. The study obtained valid information from semi-structured interviews with 17 senior and middle government, security and Police staff members working in the Dubai Police Force, Civil Defense and Immigration Departments. Generally, the findings indicated that: Firstly, RADAR can be used successfully in these researched organisations and can be seen to be important in security assessment function when taking into consideration the cultural aspects of Dubai which are based on Arab and Islamic cultural values. Secondly, the strategy formulation process in Dubai Governement is affected widely by Islamic and Arab culture. Thirdly, the definition of 'citizen' is very complex as Dubai is a cosmopolitan city. This makes it difficult to cater to the stakeholders' needs in the strategy formulation process due to the diversity of the cultures of the different nationalities. Fourthly, the bureaucratic nature of managers in the public sector makes it difficult to deploy the excellence self-assessment tools as they tend to believe that assessment is merely criticism rather than that it supports continuous improvement. Finally, the leadership of Dubai Governement plays a crucial role in leading the strategic thinking and quality drive in both public and private sectors. The leadership vision is to cater to the cultural needs of the different nationalities living in Dubai and translate them into sound strategies.

Nephropathic cystinosis is a rare autosomal recessive disease characterised by raised lysosomal levels of cystine in the cells of almost all organs. It is treated by regular oral and topical administration of the aminothiol, cysteamine(Cystagon™), which possesses an offensive taste and smell. The oral form frequently causes emesis,and should be administered every six hours to be maximally effective. The topical eye drop treatment requires hourly application to be most effective.In an attempt to reduce this frequency and improve the treatment, the preparation and evaluation of three alternative cysteamine containing formulations (suppositories, long-acting ophthalmic gels and an inhaler) was undertaken. The physiochemical properties, stability and release profiles of the active (cysteamine or phe conjugate) from the formulations were evaluated. The suppositories released cysteamine over a 20-40 minute period with a T75= 10-13minutes. They were most stable at 4°C. The analysis of the ophthalmic gels demonstrated that a weak gel network was formed at low shear stress, the bioadhesion of the gel was increased with inclusion of a cysteamine derivative (e.g.mean force of 0.067N compared to 0.107N with compound included) and eight-hour, first order release from the gel was observed. There was significant adhesion observed between the ophthalmic gels and bovine corneal tissue. The pulmonary microspheres were spherical and within the optimum size range for deep lung delivery (1-5μm). However, Andersen Cascade Impactor analysis revealed poor deep lung penetration. In conclusion, these results demonstrated that more development work was required to produce a useful pulmonary formulation of cysteamine, however, formulation of an ocular applicable gel or suppository was readily achievable. The suppository preparations may be particularly beneficial for the treatment of infants, whilst the ophthalmic gel preparations could be developed for daily or overnight use. With respect to pulmonary delivery, microspheres in the optimum size range were produced. However, deep lung targeting was prevented by static agglomeration, which requires further investigation.

Clients rarely present with prototypical presentations for which an “off the shelf” cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) approach can be used, and the most frequently cited rationale for case conceptualisation is matching clients’ unique presentations and therapy goals with available theory and research. In this, it is argued that case conceptualisation guides therapy by ensuring that individual cognitive and behavioural processes are targeted, thereby maximising therapy efficacy. Therefore, therapists who are competent in case conceptualisation should achieve better outcomes. However, little is known about the relationship between competency in case conceptualisation and general CBT competence, or how competency in case conceptualisation is linked to therapy outcome. Forty audiotapes selected from an ongoing study (CoBalT: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as an adjunct to Pharmacotherapy for Treatment Resistant Depression in Primary Care: a randomised controlled trial) were rated for competency in case conceptualisation and competence in CBT using the Collaborative Case Conceptualisation – Rating Scale (CCC-RS) and Cognitive Therapy Scale – Revised (CTS-R) respectively. The assessment of competence was carried out by independent groups of researchers with expertise in these assessments, blind to treatment outcome. Therapy outcome was measured using The Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II). The results showed that 1) competence in case conceptualisation shared a strong and positive relationship with general CBT competence and, 2) that competence (in case conceptualisation and general CBT competence) was associated with better treatment outcome for depression. The results highlight competence in case conceptualisation as an important facet of therapist CBT competence, and indicate that investing in the training and selection of therapists competent in case conceptualisation as well as CBT competence has the potential to enhance treatment outcomes.

The gauge-invariant formulation of quantum mechanics is compared to the conventional approach for the case of a one-dimensional charged harmonic oscillator in an electromagnetic field in the electric dipole approximation. The probability of finding the oscillator in the ground state or excited states as a function of time is calculated, and the two approaches give different results. On the basis of gauge invariance, the gauge-invariant formulation of quantum mechanics gives the correct probability, while the conventional approach is incorrect for this problem. Therefore, expansion coefficients or a wave function cannot always be interpreted as probability amplitudes. For a physical interpretation as probability amplitudes the expansion coefficients must be gauge invariant.

The theoretical part of this diploma work is focused on the polymeric nanoparticles, their properties and advantages connected with them. There are introduced also particular types of organic and inorganic nanoparticles and methods of their preparation. The great attention was directed on biodegradable polymers in particular to poly lactic-co-glycolic acid, which was used in experimental part as carrier for base of terbinafine branched to tripentaerythritol. PLGA is the most suitable copolymer for practice because of good explored its physical, chemical and biological properties, methods of preparation and factors affecting degradation. The aim of this work was to find suitable emulsifier with suitable concentration for preparation of nanoparticles containing the base of terbinafine, suitable solvent for terpolymer and optimal concentration of emulsion to reach the highest yield of terbinafine without any exceptional loss. How it was mentioned, as carrier was used terpolymer of poly lactic-co-glycolic acid with tripentaerythritol. As technique of preparation of nanoparticles was used emulsification by evaporating of organic solvent (solvent evaporation method). During the experimental work we found out some of conclusions, it goes to reduce of polydispersity with increasing concentration of...

Charles University in Prague Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Pharmaceutical Technology Candidate: Karolína Valíková Supervisor: doc. RNDr. Milan Dittrich, CSc. Diploma thesis title: Formulation and study of the antimicrobial agent A literary overview of selected characteristics of silver nanoparticles is presented in the diploma thesis. Size measurement methods are described, while considerable attention is paid to photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS), which was used in the experimental part of this diploma thesis. Various methods of silver nanoparticle synthesis are outlined. Later part of the text is focused on the application of silver nanoparticles in areas concerning human health - mainly for the purposes of medicine, disinfection and as components of cosmetic products. Possible toxic effects of silver nanoparticles on human organism are also discussed. The focus of the thesis is in the experimental part. Stability of microparticles in suspensions used for product formulation was studied, as well as the PCS instrument's capability to distinguish the size distribution of particles in aqueous medium in highly polydisperse systems and in highly diluted systems. It was proven that microparticles have a spontaneous ability to form flocks, nonionic surfactants in 0.1%...

Charles Univerzity in Prague Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Pharmaceutical Technology Candidate: Veronika Müllnerová Consultant: Doc. RNDr. Milan Dittrich, CSc. Title of thesis: Impact of molecular weight and the grade of branching of aliphatic oligoesters on their hydrolytic degradation Theoretical part of the thesis deals with behavior, properties and applications of biodegradable polyesters, mainly copolymers of lactic and glycolic acid (PLGA). This part concerns degradation, erosion and release mechanism. Furthermore, it describes properties that influence the drug release kinetics from systems based on PLGA. The final section of theoretical part is focused on the in situ forming implants, whose carrier of active substance is biodegradable polyester. The experimental part analyzes the influence of different pH of the medium within physiologically common boundaries and also the influence of ionic force on the degree of swelling and polymer erosion. These degradation parameters have been studied on three potential polyester carriers of active substances - PLGA, M3 (terpolymer of lactic and glycolic acid with mannit) and T3 (terpolymer of lactic and glycolic acid with tripentaerythritol). Polymer bodies were kept in temperature of 37řC inside phosphate-citrate buffers with...

The following thesis analyses the form and importance of extreme case formulations based on more than 10 research interviews. Extreme case formulations, i.e. formulations comprising expressions such as "nothing", "everything" or "noone", which present a phenomenon or a circumstance according to its minimal or maximal properties, can constitute a complication in the analysis of research interviews. This thesis expand the existing hypothesis of extreme case formulations by adding new findings, for example the bipolarity of extreme case formulations. In the analysed data, these do often occur together with different clasifiers, which either weaken (softeners) or strengthen (intensifiers) their extreme force. At the same time the following thesis broadens the research of extreme case formulations of interdisciplinary approach, which uses the findings from psychology and rhetoric. The conducted research is furthermore completed with the acoustic analysis of semantically extreme formulations, whose results show that extreme case formulations often tend to be acoustically emphasized. Keywords: extreme case formulation, conversation analysis, discourse analysis, interview, Czech