After cellulose, lignin is the second most abundant natural polymer in the world. It has multiple functional groups, providing great potential for polymer production. In this project, we explored the use of this renewable and valuable resource in two different adhesive applications to displace petroleum-based additives, thereby providing a more sustainable and “green” product. In this regard, two types of lignin, water-soluble (Amalin LPH) and non-water-soluble lignin (Amalin HPH) provided by the British Columbia Research Institute (BCRI) were used. In the first case, lignin was added to a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) formulation via in-situ seeded semi-batch emulsion polymerization. It was seen that lignin does not readily take part in the polymerization reaction; rather, its presence results in reaction inhibition. Therefore, Amalin LPH lignin was modified via acrylation to overcome this issue. In another modification approach, maleic anhydride was used to produce maleated Amalin HPH lignin. Both the acrylated and maleated lignins were used in butyl acrylate/methyl methacrylate emulsion copolymerizations to produce PSA films. A series of controlled experiments with different lignin loadings was conducted. Adhesive properties of the PSA films were measured and compared with the corresponding acrylic base case formulation. The incorporation of lignin in the PSA formulation was a “green” solution to conventional PSA production and led to a simultaneous increase in tack and shear strength. Further characterization of the latex films via transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that lignin was successfully incorporated into the polymer particles. It also showed that the use of maleated lignin at a higher concentration led to a core-shell morphology. In the second application, unmodified Amalin LPH lignin was used to create a starch-based adhesive through the Stein-Hall process, a two-step process involving a “carrier” portion and a “slurry” portion. Several formulations with lignin loadings up to 35 wt% distributed in varying ratios in the carrier and slurry portions were prepared. It was shown that the addition of lignin to the starch-based adhesive formulation increases the water-resistance of the adhesive. Therefore, lignin addition is a solution for a common issue in starch-based adhesives, their lack of water-resistance due to the high affinity of starch toward water. Lignin incorporation solely in the slurry portion significantly increased the strength of the glued joints in a paper board adhesive test. The use of lignin as a renewable replacement of petroleum-based components in two different adhesive formulations was demonstrated successfully. This research strongly suggests that lignin can be used as a high value-added property modifier in adhesive applications.

Colorectal cancer is the 3rd leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Early screening provides the best prospects for preventing the morbidity and mortality associated with the disease. Nurses have the duty to promote health and prevent diseases. However, low rates of colorectal cancer screening continue to be reported, especially among African Americans who continue to suffer disproportionately from the disease. There is a need for a culturally-sensitive clinical practice guideline that nurses can use to educate patients appropriately on colorectal cancer. The practice focused question for this project was designed to explore whether a culturally-sensitive clinical practice guideline to increase colorectal cancer screening among African Americans could be developed using best practices. The health belief model informed the background, development, and implementation of this project. Evidence from peer-reviewed nursing literature was synthesized in a literature review matrix and then used to develop a clinical practice guideline to increase colorectal cancer screening. It is anticipated that this guideline will improve nursing practice by equipping nurses with the knowledge and skill to provide culturally-sensitive education on colorectal cancer and screening. Through the patient education and enhanced nursing practice stipulated in the clinical practice guideline, health care providers may work to eliminate disparities in colorectal cancer screening among African Americans.

Health care providers gather and track quality patient indicator scores to monitor patients' safety and outcomes and decrease the number of adverse events. Nursing leaders implemented a Quality Workbook Committee (QWC) within a hospital setting to improve patient outcomes and the facility's reported scores for nurse-sensitive patient indicators. The practice-focused question for this quality improvement evaluation project examined whether the implementation of the QWC improved nurse-sensitive patient indicator scores. Watson's theory of human caring was used to evaluate the gap in practice, and Rosswurm and Larabee's model for evidence-based practice change provided guidance for planning the project. Sources of evidence were 2017 end-of-year organization report cards. The 4 specific areas chosen for evaluation were: patient falls, hospital-acquired pressure ulcers, pain reassessment scores, and medication scanning rates. Results from an analysis of variance showed improvements in 3 of the 4-nurse-sensitive patient indicator scores. Hospital-acquired pressure ulcers decreased by 13 pressure ulcers, pain reassessment rates increased by 18.42%, and medication scanning scores increased by 4.03%. However, patient falls increased by 15, suggesting the need for further evaluation measures. Project findings may help nursing leaders to improve nurse-sensitive patient indicator scores and promote social change by reducing hospital adverse events, length of hospitalization stays, and wasted healthcare resources.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The aim of the study was to develop guidelines for social workers to be spiritually sensitive in their mental health practice. Spirituality in Namibia is an important part of the culture of the individuals that are served by social workers, as well as other caring professionals. For many, spirituality influences how they perceive their world. Spirituality is an important strength for individuals to manage their life challenges and for Namibians living with mental illness, spirituality is a source of comfort and strength during the recovery treatment process. However, the researcher determined that there is scant literature on the conceptualisation and utilisation of spirituality in the Namibian social work context and specifically among social work professionals’ practice with mentally-ill patients. Consequently, case studies were conducted to explore how Namibian social workers understand and utilise spirituality in their mental health practice, with the aim to develop guidelines for the practice. The research process was conducted in two phases. Phase one focussed on informationgathering through a scoping review, as well as two case studies through in-depth individual interviews. After the completion of the first phase of analysis, the data from the scoping review and the interviews were shared with the participants for the development of the guidelines. Phase two comprised two 1-day workshops for the purpose of developing guidelines for practice. The draft guidelines developed in the first 1-day workshop were forwarded for review to African experts in spirituality and social work from the University of the Witwatersrand and the Nelson Mandela University. The research participants for both the in-depth individual interviews and the workshops were social work practitioners who were or had been employed at the two mental health hospitals in Namibia. A purposive, non-probability sampling method was employed to select the participants for the research sample.

This survey research systematically collects Information on the long term effects of Irlen tinted lenses, from a specific diagnosed scotopic sensitive population. The survey used is based on Whiting's survey (1988), with variations and extensions made to increase information attained. Although the main focus of the survey is reading and related academic skills, other areas presenting new directions for further research, have also been included. 306 diagnosed scotopic sensitive Individuals, who had been using prescribed Irlen tinted lenses for a minimum of six months, were surveyed. 82.8 percent of the respondents indicated that they (or their child) had experienced great benefits from wearing Irlen tinted lenses. 70.1 percent Indicated that the greatest benefit had been in the area of reading. Cross-tabulations were made with length of time wearing the lenses, gender, and whether the respondent was filling in the questionnaire for themselves or for their child. The results of this descriptive research support Whiting's (1988), earlier findings. A review of the available literature and the Implications of these findings are discussed.

A significant number of building materials are based on wood. Wood competes with other materials and products for many building applications from structural framing to cladding. Wood appears to be preferable because of its aesthetic and structural properties, its versatility, economic cost and environmental benefits. However, timber wastage within the construction industry is incalculable. Waste occurs at all stages of the timber resource stream: procurement, conversion, installation, use, maintenance, dismantling and eventual disposal. Much of this loss can be avoided through eco-design strategies based on a better understanding of the total resource flows. This thesis addresses the ecological implications associated with the use and over-exploitation of timber in building construction. Applying bio-sensitive design principles and using a life cycle approach, the thesis examines ways of maximising timber resource yield through appropriate materials selection, design strategies and construction techniques to reduce their ecological footprint. Finally, an easy-to-use guide that incorporates economic and aesthetic-value criteria to the analysis is developed. The guide is aimed to offer a flexible decision-support tool that enables designers and other people involved in the construction industry to comprehend in a systematic way, the multiple dimensions interacting when selecting timber-building products. It is thus, intended to explore in practice the implications and trade-offs of state of the art timber products with the ultimate aim of integrating the ecological dimension to the decision-making process.

The hot gas temperature in gas turbine engines is far above the permissible metal temperatures. Advanced cooling technologies must be applied to cool the blades, so they can withstand the extreme conditions. Film cooling is widely used in modern high temperature and high pressure blades as an active cooling scheme. In this study, the film cooling effectiveness in different regions of gas turbine blades was investigated with various film hole/slot configurations and mainstream flow conditions. The study consisted of four parts: 1) effect of upstream wake on blade surface film cooling, 2) effect of upstream vortex on platform purge flow cooling, 3) influence of hole shape and angle on leading edge film cooling and 4) slot film cooling on trailing edge. Pressure sensitive paint (PSP) technique was used to get the conduction-free film cooling effectiveness distribution. For the blade surface film cooling, the effectiveness from axial shaped holes and compound angle shaped holes were examined. Results showed that the compound angle shaped holes offer better film effectiveness than the axial shaped holes. The upstream stationary wakes have detrimental effect on film effectiveness in certain wake rod phase positions. For platform purge flow cooling, the stator-rotor gap was simulated by a typical labyrinth-like seal. Delta wings were used to generate vortex and modeled the passage vortex generated by the upstream vanes. Results showed that the upstream vortex reduces the film cooling effectiveness on the platform. For the leading edge film cooling, two film cooling designs, each with four film cooling hole configurations, were investigated. Results showed that the shaped holes provide higher film cooling effectiveness than the cylindrical holes at higher average blowing ratios. In the same range of average blowing ratio, the radial angle holes produce better effectiveness than the compound angle holes. The seven-row design results in much higher effectiveness than the three-row design. For the trailing edge slot cooling, the effect of slot lip thickness on film effectiveness under the two mainstream conditions was investigated. Results showed thinner lips offer higher effectiveness. The film effectiveness on the slots reduces when the incoming mainstream boundary layer thickness decreases.

This is the 15th issue of the working paper series Interdisciplinary Studies on Information Structure (ISIS) of the Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB) 632. This online version contains the Questionnaire on Focus Semantics contributed by Agata Renans, Malte Zimmermann and Markus Greif, members of Project D2 investigating information structural phenomena from a typological perspective. The present issue provides a tool for collecting and analyzing natural data with respect to relevant linguistic questions concerning focus types, focus sensitive particles, and the effects of quantificational adverbs and presupposition on focus semantics. This volume is a supplementation to the Reference manual of the Questionnaire on Information Structure, issued by Project D2 in ISIS 4 (2006).

This is the 15th issue of the working paper series Interdisciplinary Studies on Information Structure (ISIS) of the Sonderforschungsbereich (SFB) 632. This online version contains the Questionnaire on Focus Semantics contributed by Agata Renans, Malte Zimmermann and Markus Greif, members of Project D2 investigating information structural phenomena from a typological perspective. The present issue provides a tool for collecting and analyzing natural data with respect to relevant linguistic questions concerning focus types, focus sensitive particles, and the effects of quantificational adverbs and presupposition on focus semantics. This volume is a supplementation to the Reference manual of the Questionnaire on Information Structure, issued by Project D2 in ISIS 4 (2006).

This thesis deals with the development, processing and characterization of position sensitive detectors and, in addition, to the development of compact and cost effective spectrometers. Position sensitive detectors are used to measure, with great accuracy and speed, the position of a light spot incident on the surface. Their main use is for triangulation, displacement and vibration measurements. A type of position sensitive detector based on the MOS principle and using optically transparent indium tin oxide as a gate contact has been developed. This type of detector utilizes the MOS principle where an induced channel forms beneath the gate oxide in the surface of the Silicon substrate. One and two dimensional detectors have both been fabricated and characterized. The first measurements showed that the linearity did not fulfil expectations and it was suspected that stress induced by the gate contact could be the reason for the seemingly high nonlinearity. Further investigations into both the p-n junction and the MOS type position sensitive detectors lead to the conclusion that the indium tin oxide gate is responsible for inducing a substantial stress in the surface of the detector, thus giving rise to increased position nonlinearity. The heat treatment step which was conducted was determined to be critical as either a too short or too long heat treatment resulted in stress in the gate and channel leading to position nonlinearity. If a correctly timed heat treatment is performed then the detector’s linearity is in parity with the best commercial position sensitive detectors. In addition, the development of very small, compact and cost effective spectrometers has been performed with the aim of constructing devices for use in the process industry. The development of a wedge shaped array of Fabry-Perot interferometers that can be mounted directly on top of a detector makes it possible to construct a very compact spectrometer using the minimum amount of optics. This wedge interferometer has been evaluated by means of array pixel detectors and position sensitive detectors for both the infrared and the visible wavelength ranges. When used with a position sensitive detector it is necessary to use a slit to record the intensity of the interferogram for many points over the detector, equivalent to pixels on an array detector. Usually the use of moving parts in a spectrometer will impose the use of high precision scanning mechanisms and calibration. By using a position sensitive detector for the interferogram readout both the position and the intensity are known for every measurement point and thus the demands placed on the scanning system are minimized. / Denna avhandling behandlar utveckling, processning och karakterisering av positionskänsliga detektorer och även utveckling av kompakta, kostnadseffektiva spektrometrar. Positionskänsliga detektorer används för att mäta positionen av en infallande ljuspunkt på ytan med hög noggrannhet och hastighet. Det huvudsakliga användningsområdet är triangulering, förskjutnings och vibrationsmätningar. En typ av positionskänslig detektor baserad på MOS principen och som använder optiskt transparent indium-tenn-oxid som ”gate” kontakt har utvecklats och karakteriserats. Denna typ av detektor utnyttjar MOS principen där en inducerad kanal bildas under ”gate” oxiden i ytan på kiselsubstratet. Både en endimensionell och en tvådimensionell detektor har tillverkats och karakteriserats. De första mätningarna visade på att linjäriteten inte var den förväntade och det misstänktes att stress inducerad av ”gate” kontakten kunde vara orsaken till den tillsynes för höga ickelinjäriteten. Ytterligare undersökning på både p-n och MOS positionskänsliga detektorer ledde till slutsatsen att indium-tenn-oxid ”gate” kontakten är ansvarig för att orsaka en väsentlig stress i ytan på detektorn och därigenom orsaka ökad olinjäritet i positionsbestämningen. Värmebehandlingssteget som utförs fastställdes vara kritiskt där en för kort eller för lång värmebehandling resulterar i stress i ”gate” kontakten och kanalen som leder till olinjäritet. Om en korrekt värmebehandling utförs så är de tillverkade detektorernas linjäritet i paritet med de bästa kommersiella positionskänsliga detektorerna. Utveckling av väldigt små, kompakta och kostnadseffektiva spektrometrar har också utförts med målet att konstruera enheter för användning i process industrin. Utvecklingen av en kilformad ”array” av Fabry-Perot interferometrar som kan monteras direkt på en detektor gör det möjligt att konstruera en väldigt kompakt spektrometer med minimalt med optik. Denna kilformade interferometer har utvärderats med arraydetektorer, både för det infraröda och det synliga våglängdsområdet, och också med positionskänsliga detektorer. När den används med en positionskänslig detektor så är det nödvändigt att använda en springa att begränsa ljuset med för att registrera intensiteten av interferrogrammet i många punkter över detektorn, vilket är likvärdigt med pixlar på en arraydetektor. Vanligtvis gör användandet av rörliga delar i en spektrometer att mekanismer med hög precision och kalibrering måste användas. Genom att använda en positionskänslig detektor för att läsa ut interferrogrammet så kommer både positionen såväl som ljusintensiteten att vara känd i varje mätpunkt och därför minimeras kravet på förflyttningsmekanismen.