Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 112 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-71).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 2005. / Title from title page screen, viewed September 27, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Michael A. Lorber (chair), Joaquin A. Ruiz-Vila, Temba Bassoppo-Moyo, Adel Al-Bataineh. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 66-70) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.A.) -- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 2006. / Not embargoed. Vita. Bibliography: 69-71.

by Thomas J. Allen and Alan R. Fusfeld. / Leaf number 17 omitted in paging. The research reported in this paper was supported by grants from the Office of Science Information Service, National Science Foundation and the General Electric Foundation. / Bibliography: leaf [40-41].

Dissertation submitted in full compliance with the requirements of the degree of Master of Technology: Dental Technology, Durban University of Technology, 2012. / This study examined the perceptions of South African dental laboratory owners, dental technicians and dentists so as to understand their opinions and experiences regarding the outsourcing of dental prostheses in the industry. The study explored the legislative position of the South African Dental Technicians Council (SADTC). In addition, the study sought the Dental Technicians Association of South Africa (DENTASA) opinion regarding legislation and outsourcing practices in the dental laboratory industry. This is a post-positivist qualitative study conducted in the interpretive paradigm. The study was conducted in Gauteng as this province has the greatest concentration of technicians and dentists. Simple random sampling was used to select participants for individual semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted with three different groups of participants – laboratory owners, technicians and dentists. In addition, a representative of the SADTC and DENTASA, respectively, was interviewed. The data collected from interviews was analysed using thematic content analysis. Findings generated from the study revealed that where dental laboratory services are outsourced, no formal contractual relationship exists between parties. Contracts are verbal. The study concluded that the dental technology industry does not operate within clearly defined legal frameworks when outsourcing. It was established that offshore outsourcing occurs infrequently, therefore having minimal impact on the industry and labour market. Technicians interviewed failed to see the potential negative influence that enhanced outsourcing volumes could have on the labour market. The study established that domestic outsourcing is widely practised and dental laboratories receive significant quantities of imported work. The study briefly considered medical device legislation as the South African dental technician industry is reported to be required to comply with the International Standard of Operation (ISO 13485) which will legislate medical device legislation. Dentists stated, confirming a widely held dental technology industry belief that they did not believe that they were sufficiently qualified to carry out laboratory procedures. The study revealed that technicians regularly consult with patients with the consent of dentists. This is, currently, an illegal practice. Disclosure of who is doing the laboratory work does not always occur. It was established that economic consideration was not a driver when respondents considered outsourcing offshore. Quality was considered a more important factor than price. The study found that that no legislation exists in South Africa that regulates the dental laboratory materials used. Therefore, the possibility of inferior material filtering the South African market is real and the need for a regulatory body is indicated. Technicians felt that there is no need to regulate outsourcing in South Africa. Dentists, on the other hand, were ambivalent. In conclusion, it is postulated that dental technology industry is in a developmental stage and there is a need for the industry to understand itself better. This research showed that the dental technology industry has an inexperienced understanding of business practices. A greater emphasis on producing a well rounded dental technician with the knowledge and understanding of general business concepts and practices which include legislation, regulations and ethics related to the industry is indicated.

The main objective of this study is to develop a new type of machine-component monitoring system which is non-intrusive and non-contact in nature. Moreover, the design of the system to be developed must be robust enough for it to be implemented in an industrial environment. Therefore, this study was initiated to overcome some of the problems that were encountered using the well-established vibration method. For instance, vibration measurement of a machine component is dependent on the quality of contact between an accelerometer with a vibrating surface. Vibration measurement of a machine component is also affected by the vibration of other machine components near the vicinity, in addition to the presence of power-supply-line frequency and its harmonics. On the other hand, the application of a desirable non-intrusive and a non-contact nature of sound pressure measurement method is difficult to carry out if the background sound level is high. This is because sound pressure measurement is dependent on the characteristics of a sound field where a measurement is carried out. For these reasons, air-particle acceleration signals were utilised in the study. Air-particle acceleration is a vector quantity and measurement of vector property can improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the measured signal, even in a noisy environment. A dedicated test rig was constructed to carry out the experiments and to test the hypothesis. Rolling element bearings were used for the experiment because of the many different types of defect that can develop in them, such as inner race, rolling element and outer race defects. Moreover, the dynamic behaviour of bearings are well understood and can be compared with experimental results obtained from the study. Several different methods of analysis were used in the study including statistical, spectral, cepstral and wavelet transform methods. The results from using air-particle acceleration signals were compared with results obtained from utilising sound pressure and vibration signals. These results showed that the performance from using air-particle acceleration signals were superior to the performance from using sound pressure signals. Results from the analysis of air-particle acceleration signals can clearly indicate the presence of a defective component in the test-bearing. This is so even when the overall background noise was 14dB higher than the overall noise level emitted by the test-bearing. Moreover, the sensitivity of the measurement of air-particle acceleration signal to indicate the presence of a defective bearing was similar to the sensitivity when using conventional vibration equipment. Applications of artificial neural networks were also included for automatic identification of defect signals. The multilayer perceptron network was chosen and tested to classify the bearing signals because of the suitability of this type of network to be used for pattern recognition. Finally, a new type of machine-component monitoring system using air-particle acceleration signal was successfully developed and tested in industry.

Over the last two decades research has shown that the different forms of trace elements in the environment can cause a variety of health concerns as a result of differences in toxicity. The need to establish efficient, effective and reliable speciation methods has become paramount. A basic aim of this work has been to advance speciation measurement capability for key trace elements (mercury, lead and chromium) by devising an integrated analytical approach that links the sample collection, sample preservation and laboratory measurements in an unified manner. An introductory chapter first reviews the occurrence of organometallic compounds in the environment and focuses on the identification of the "environmental compartments" where transformations of such species can take place. Speciation studies also assist in understanding the biogeochemical cycling of trace elements. Moreover, a review of the various methodologies used for trace element speciation measurements including hyphenated techniques and/or a variety of chemical/physical pretreatments in combination with flow injection (FI) is discussed. Chapter 2 describes mercury speciation experiments utilising gas chromatography-microwave induced plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (GC-MIP-AES) and FI. The approach was based on the preconcentration of mercury on sulphydryl cotton and after elution from the microcolumn, separation and quantitation of methyl-, ethyl- and inorganic mercury species. Method development experiments were performed using a derivatisation technique which gave low contamination and allowed rapid analysis of samples. The microcolumn technique was transferred to the field and speciation of mercury in surface waters of the Manchester Ship Canal was undertaken and high methylmercury concentrations (0.052-0.182 ug 1 -1, as Hg) were detected. In so doing the new approach offered the preservation of the natural speciation state of the water sample directly at the sampling site and during the interval between collection and analysis. In chapter 3 lead studies are centred on the development of a rapid speciation scheme for neutral and cationic (organic and inorganic) lead species based on activated alumina microcolumn separation in combination with ICP-MS and FI. The approach permitted rapid assessment of the nature of lead contamination in environmental waters. Speciation of lead in surface waters of the Manchester Ship Canal was also undertaken using the field sampling approach in an attempt to confirm a transmethyllation reaction between organolead and inorganic mercury. A further application for microcolumns, in the context of speciation measurement, is their use as external calibrants and certified reference materials (CRMs) and this is discussed in the penultimate chapter. Key elements were mercury and chromium. After immobilisation of mercury species on SCF microcolumns it was found that recoveries for methyl- and inorganic mercury were quantitative over 4 months in contrast to ethylmercury which was 2 months. Similar studies for chromium species indicated ineffective elution and more vigorous conditions (microwave assisted digestion) for the elution step were used. A final chapter reviews progress and recommendations are given concerning future research and application for microcolumn field sampling in combination with instrumental analytical techniques.

Orientador: Thaís Cristina Rodrigues Tezani / Banca: Daniela Melaré Vieira Barros / Banca: Vera Mariza Regino Caseiro / Resumo: As tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TIC) adentraram os ambientes escolares para serem meios auxiliares ao processo de ensino e aprendizagem. Na maioria das escolas públicas a presença dessas tecnologias, representada pelo computador, aconteceu com a criação dos laboratórios de informática. Estudos já desenvolvidos por inúmeros pesquisadores da área educacional evidenciaram que a criação dos laboratórios de informática não garantiu que esse instrumetno fosse usado como auxiliar na construção do conhecimento pelos alunos devido à desconexão com os conteúdos do currículo. Com o objetivo de articular o uso do laboratório de informática com os conteúdos curriculares de 1º ao 5º ano do Ensino Fundamental, esta pesquisa de abordagem qualitativa com caracterítticas de pequisa-ação, porém, de metodologia experimental e participante propôs uma intervenção para o uso dos computadores como auxiliares ao processo pedagógico, por meio de um curso de formação continuada em serviço desenvolvido com 24 professores de uma escola pública municipal numa cidade de pequeno porte localizada no interior da região centro-oeste do estado de São Paulo. Como produto deste estudo de Mestrado Profissional, elaboramos um livro em formato digital com sugestões para o trabalho com professores no laboratório de informática. Verificamos que apesar do receio inicial na utilização do computador, os professores demonstraram-se interessados e participativos durante a realização das atividades do curso e assim contribuindo para que o laboratório de informática torne-se um local de construção de conhecimentos favorável ao processo de ensino e aprendizagem / Abstract: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) entered school environments to be auxiliary means to the process of teaching and learning. In most public schools, the presence of these technologies, which is represented by computers, happened with the setting of computer labs. Studies previously developed by several researchers of the educational field made it clear that the setting of computer labs did not guarantee that such tools were used to help students in their knowledge construction because of the disconnection with curriculum contents. Aiming at articulating the use of computer labs with the contents of Elementary School 1st to 5th year, this study, which had a qualitative approach with characteristics of an action research and used an experimental and participative methodology, purposed an intervention for the use of computers as helpers to the pedagogical process through a teachers' continuous training during service developed with 24 individuals in a local public school of a small town in the countryside of São Paulo. As an outcome of this study for Professional Master Degree, we elaborated a digital book with suggestions for the work with teachers in computer labs. We verified that, even being insecure about using computers, teachers like such technology and showed themselves interested and participative during the training activities and, thus, contributed for educational computer labs to become knowledge construction places which are favorable to the process of teaching and learning / Mestre

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