O medo ou a ansiedade são emoções frequentemente presentes nos pacientes que nos procuram na clínica odontológica para tratamento odontológico. Estes pacientes são denominados pacientes odontofóbicos. O objetivo deste estudo é avaliar o efeito ansiolítico do Maleato de midazolam e/ou Óxido Nitroso usado para promover sedação consciente nestes pacientes para se observar posteriormente a percepção dos usuários . Foram colhidas suas narrativas descrevendo qual a contribuição do sedativo usado no alívio da ansiedade. O presente estudo foi realizado como pesquisa de campo pautada na técnica da representação social ou discurso do sujeito coletivo proposto por Lefevre et al. (2000). Foram entrevistados de 10 pacientes diagnosticados como odontofóbicos, suas respostas catalogadas e transformadas em resultados qualitativos. De todos os sujeitos da pesquisa, todos aprovaram a utilização de ansiolíticos durantes procedimentos cirúrgicos. Sendo assim, dentro desta amostra, concluímos que a sedação consciente por meio de sedativos é uma excelente forma de se controlar a ansiedade frente ao tratamento odontológico / Fear and anxiety are emotions often present in patients who come to us in the dental clinic for treatment. These patients suffer of dental anxiety. The objective of this study is to evaluate the anxiolytic effects of midazolam maleate and / or Nitrous Oxide used to promote conscious sedation in these patients. We collected the narratives describing the contribution of the sedative used to relieve their anxiety. This study was conducted as a field research based in the technique of representing social or collective subject discourse proposed by Lefevre et al. (2000). We interviewed 10 patients with a dental fear background, their narratives processed in qualitative results. After the surgery all patients described that the procedures were softer than usual, and by this results we can conclude that the use of sedatives in oral surgery should be encouraged.

A característica de superfície representa um fator importante na previsibilidade do comportamento dos materiais cerâmicos quanto ao desgaste. A rugosidade superficial de duas cerâmicas (Duceram Plus e Duceragold) foi avaliada através de dois métodos - análise quantitativa e qualitativa - após diferentes tratamentos. Foram confeccionados 36 corpos de prova de prova para a análise ao rugosímetro, e 24 corpos de prova para a análise ao MEV. Os resultados destas análises demonstraram o comportamento distinto entre os diferentes tratamentos. A análise com o rugosímetro demonstrou que a ação dos polidores EDENTA foi a mais efetiva para devolver lisura à superfície após a realização de desgaste com instrumento abrasivo diamantado rotatório. Todas as técnicas de polimento acarretaram em valores de rugosidade menores que os observados nos espécimes que foram submetidos apenas os “glaze". Entre as cerâmicas avaliadas, a Duceragold apresentou valores médios de rugosidade inferiores aos observados na porcelana Duceram Plus na maioria dos tratamentos pesquisados. Pela análise ao MEV não foi possível distinguir diferenças entre as cerâmicas ou entre os corpos de prova polidos ou submetidos apenas ao “glaze". / The surface characteristic of ceramic material is an important factor to predict its wear behavior. The surface roughness of two ceramics (Duceram Plus e Duceragold) was evaluated trough qualitative and quantitative methods after different treatments. 36 specimens were fabricated for the analysis utilizing a surface profiling instrument, and 24 for the SEM analysis. The results determined different behavior between the two ceramics evaluated due the treatment executed. The analysis utilizing a surface profiling instrument showed that the treatment using the EDENTA polishers was the most effective technique to provide the smoothest surface after trimming. All polishing techniques resulted in better surface properties when compared to the treatment glaze. The Duceragold ceramic presented lower roughness values in most treatments executed when compared to Duceram Plus. The perception trough the SEM analysis of significant differences between treatments or between the two ceramics was not achievable.

Ultimamente as empresas têm buscado entender e aprimorar a confiabilidade de seus produtos para atender a crescente exigência dos clientes quanto à qualidade. Desta forma, as empresas também visam aumentar seus lucros, reduzir gastos com garantia e transmitir uma boa imagem de sua marca. Como contribuição a este tema, a presente dissertação apresenta um estudo de confiabilidade de um produto, baseado em recursos de baixo custo disponíveis nas empresas, os quais consistem os dados de garantia e a análise qualitativa dos especialistas. O objetivo do estudo representa desenvolver um método para modelar a vida útil de sistemas e componentes, e apresentar esta através da aplicação em um estudo de caso de certo equipamento agrícola. Para fundamentar a elaboração do método, o trabalho apresenta uma revisão bibliográfica sobre confiabilidade e análise qualitativa. O estudo explora o comportamento dos dados de garantia da empresa, a metodologia Delphi para obtenção da opinião dos especialistas, e a multiplicação de duas funções Weibull para consolidação dos resultados. Como principais resultados são apresentados: a curva de confiabilidade do sistema; o comportamento de falha dos componentes; e avaliação sobre o funcionamento do método. / Lately, companies have been urged to understand and improve their product reliability in order to meet the increasing costumer demand for quality. In doing so, the companies also aims at increasing its profits, reducing warranty claims’, and transmitting a good image of its brand. As a contribution to this subject, this dissertation presents a product reliability study based on low cost resources available in the companies, such as warranty data and experts’ qualitative analysis. The aim of this study is to develop a method to model the life cycle of systems and components, and demonstrate this method through a case study of agricultural equipment. This study presents a bibliographical review on reliability and qualitative analysis as well as other relevant subjects to support the method development. The study explores the company warranty data behavior, the Delphi methodology to obtain the experts’ opinions, and the multiplication of two Weibull distributions for the outcome consolidation. The main results presented are: the system reliability curve; the components failure analysis; and a method evaluation.

Participating in and experiencing a counseling growth group is a process that is required in all CACREP-accredited counseling programs. Existent literature suggests that multiple variables may impact participants’ learning in growth groups, and call into question the effectiveness of such groups. Overall, the majority of the research (Barnette, 1989; Hogg & Deffenbacher, 1988; Yalom & Leszcz, 2005) implies that growth groups have the potential to produce meaningful and positive outcomes; however, there are gaps in the literature that do not address the direct experiences of individuals in growth group (Berman & Zimpfer, 1980; Goodrich, 2008). This article presents research that utilized phenomenological methodology to explore the experiences of 13 counseling maters’ students who participated in a growth group as part of their degree requirements. Data were collected through individual interviews and focus groups. Eight themes emerged from the analysis in regard to group process and setting. Awareness gained by participants relevant to the perceived purpose of the group, as well as qualities of effective groupleadership, was also examined.

No description available.

The career development trajectory of undocumented Latino youth can present unique challenges for school counselors. Undocumented Latino youth have few career choices due to holding different values from the majority culture, realistic fears of deportation, restrictions in obtaining lawful employment, and having an unconventional pathway to citizenship. The school counseling profession has been tasked with working with undocumented Latino students on issues of career development, despite these obstacles. The purpose of this qualitative dissertation was to build a stronger understanding of the unique experiences school counselors encounter when career counseling undocumented Latino students. Results from this research generated a theory into how school counselors work on issues of career development with this marginalized population. Results also offered a perspective in which school counselors can be trained on realistic and empowering methods that foster career development in undocumented Latino youth.

This mixed methods case study examined the effect of reduced fear of negative evaluation and self focus on behaviors related to shyness in a church environment. A sample of 239 members, regular attenders, and visitors completed a survey, consisting of the Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation-Straightforward (BFNE-S) Scale; two checklists measuring perceived acceptance and levels of comfort in situations known to be difficult for shy people; and extended response questions regarding thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in six church situations. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed the BFNE-S (General and Context-specific) had acceptable fit compared with previous studies, and descriptive statistics were similar to those of previous studies. Lower self-reported levels of fear of negative evaluation and higher levels of perceived comfort, but not acceptance, in the church setting were found to be statistically significant, although the effect size was negligible. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed no statistically significant difference for gender or race for individuals in the church setting compared to the non church setting. A multiple regression failed to reveal a statistically significant relationship between depth and breadth of involvement in church activities and reduced fear of negative evaluation. The Clark-Wells (1995) model of social phobia explained 62% of self-reported behaviors, thoughts, and feelings of individuals with high levels of shyness when in social situations in the church setting. A statistically significant difference was found between focus of attention and quality of thought scores for individuals with minimal to low levels of shyness and high levels of shyness. To explore further the validity of scores obtained with the BFNE-S, it would be useful to conduct a study in different environments and seek to understand individuals in those environments with high and low fear of negative evaluation. Future research regarding the church setting should utilize a sample with fewer long-term members and regular attenders. Additionally, future studies could probe how religious beliefs help people cope with difficult situations, in particular shyness.

According to the Reserve Bank of Australia (2006) the increased supply of Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS), with a range of subordination, has broadened the investor base in real estate debt markets and reduced the commercial property sector’s dependence on bank financing The CMBS market has been one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing sectors in the capital markets, for a market which was virtually nonexistent prior to 1990. The global CMBS market issuance which stood at AU$5.1 billion (US$4 billion) in 1990 had grown to AU$380 billion (US$299 billion) by the end of 2006. In Australia, a total of over 60 CMBSs with nearly 180 tranches totalling over AU$17.4 billion had been issued to December 2006 from when they were first introduced in 1999. To date few studies have been done on Australian CMBSs outside the credit rating agency circles. These studies are predominantly practitioner focused (Jones Lang LaSalle 2001; Richardson 2003; Roche 2000, 2002). O’Sullivan (1998) and Simonovski (2003) are the only academic studies on CMBSs. As such, this thesis examines issues relating to the development of Australian CMBSs and quantitatively and qualitatively analyses the structuring of Australian CMBSs. In assessing the growth of the Australian CMBS market, an interpretive historical approach (Baumgarter & Hensley 2005) is adopted to provide a cogent review and explanation of features of international and Australian CMBSs. This helps to understand the changing nature of the market and provides better understanding of the present and suggests possible future directions. The Australian CMBS market is matured in comparison with the larger US and EU CMBS markets as seen by the diversity of asset classes backing the issues and transaction types, tightening spreads, and record issuance volumes. / High property market transparency (Jones Lang LaSalle 2006b) and predominance of Listed Property Trusts (LPT) as CMBS issuers (Standard & Poor’s 2005b), who legally have to report their activities and underlying collateral performance to regulatory regimes such as Australian Stock Exchange (ASX)/Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and their equity partners, have contributed to the success of the Australian CMBS market. Furthermore, the positive commercial real estate market outlook should support future CMBS issuance, with LPTs continuing their dominance as issuers. In investigating property risk assessment in Australian CMBSs, all the CMBSs issued over a six year period of 2000 to 2005 were obtained from Standard and Poor’s presale reports as found in their Ratings Direct database to identify and review how property risk factors were addressed in all issues and within specific property asset classes following the delineation of property risk by Adair and Hutchinson (2005). Adequate assessment of property risk and its reporting is critical to the success of CMBS issues. The proposed framework shows that assessing and reporting property risk in Australian CMBSs, which are primarily backed by direct property assets, under the headings of investment quality risk, covenant strength risk, and depreciation and obsolescence risk can easily be done. The proposed framework should prove useful to rating agencies, bond issuers and institutional investors. Rating agencies can adopt a more systematic and consistent approach towards reporting of assessed property risk in CMBSs. Issuers and institutional investors can examine the perceived consistency and appropriateness of the rating assigned to a CMBS issue by providing inferences concerning property risk assessment. / The ultimate goal of structuring CMBS transactions is to obtain a high credit rating as this has an impact on the yield obtainable and the success of the issue. The credit rating process involves highly subjective assessment of both qualitative and quantitative factors of a particular company as well as pertinent industry level or market level variables (Huang et al. 2004), with the final rating assigned by a credit committee via voting (Kwon et al. 1997). As such, credit rating agencies state that researchers cannot replicate their ratings quantitatively since their ratings reflect each agency’s opinion about an issue’s potential default risk and relies heavily on a committee’s analysis of the issuer’s ability and willingness to repay its debt. However, researchers have replicated bond ratings on the premise that financial ratios contain a large amount of information about a company’s credit risk. In this study, quantitative analysis of determinants of CMBS credit ratings issued by Standard and Poor’s from 2000 – 2006 using ANNs and OR and qualitative analysis of factors considered necessary to obtain a high credit rating and pricing issues necessary for the success of an issue through mail surveys of arrangers and issuers are undertaken. Of the quantitative variables propagated by credit rating agencies as being important to CMBS rating, only loan-to-value ratio (LTV) is found to be statistically significant, with the other variables being statistically insignificant using OR. This leads to the conclusion that statistical approaches used in corporate bond rating studies have limited replication capabilities in CMBS rating and that the endogeneity arguments raise significant questions about LTV and debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) as convenient, short-cut measures of CMBS default risk. / However, ANNs do offer promising predictive results and can be used to facilitate implementation of survey-based CMBS rating systems. This should contribute to making the CMBS rating methodology become more explicit which is advantageous in that both CMBS investors and issuers are provided with greater information and faith in the investment. ANN results show that 62.0% of CMBS rating is attributable to LTV (38.2%) and DSCR (23.6%); supporting earlier studies which have listed the two as being the most important variables in CMBS rating. The other variables’ contributions are: CMBS issue size (10.1%), CMBS tenure (6.7%), geographical diversity (13.5%) and property diversity (7.9%) respectively. The methodology used to obtain these results is validated when applied to predict LPT bond ratings. Both OR and ANN produce provide robust alternatives to rating LPT bonds, with no significant differences in results between the full models of the two methods. Qualitative analysis of surveys on arrangers and issuers provides insights into structuring issues they consider necessary to obtain a high credit rating and pricing issues necessary for the success of an issue. Rating of issues was found to be the main reason why investors invest in CMBSs and provision of funds at attractive rates as the main motivation behind CMBS issuance. Furthermore, asset quality was found to be the most important factor necessary to obtain a high credit rating supporting the view by Henderson and ING Barings (1997) that assets backing securitisation are its fundamental credit strength. / In addition, analyses of the surveys reveal the following: • The choice of which debt funding option to use depends on market conditions. • Credit tranching, over-collateralisation and cross-collateralisation are the main forms of credit enhancement in use. • On average, the AAA note tranche needs to be above AU$100 million and have 60 - 85% subordination for the CMBS issue to be economically viable. • Structuring costs range between 0.1% – 1% of issue size and structuring duration ranges from 4 – 9 months. • Preferred refinancing options are further capital market issues and bank debt. • Pricing CMBSs is greatly influenced by factors in the broader capital markets. For instance, the market had literary shut down as a result of the “credit crunch” caused by the meltdown in the US sub-prime mortgage market. These findings can be useful to issuers as a guide on the cost of going to the bond market to raise capital, which can be useful in comparing with other sources of funds. The findings of this thesis address crucial research priorities of the property industry as CMBSs are seen as a major commercial real estate debt instrument. By looking at how property risk can be assessed and reported in a more systematic way, and investigating quantitative and qualitative factors considered in structuring CMBSs, investor confidence can be increased through the increased body of knowledge. Several published refereed journal articles in Appendix C further validate the stature and significance of this thesis. It is evident that the property research in this thesis can lead aid in the revitalisation of the Australian CMBS market after the “shut down” caused by the melt-down in the US sub-prime mortgage market and can also be used to set up property-backed CMBSs in emerging countries where the CMBS market is immature or non-existent.

Workplace incidents result in significant human and financial costs. Despite these costs, it is estimated that less than 1% of organisational research focuses on issues concerning occupational health and safety (Barling & Zacharatos, 2000; Reason, 1990). Safety research has begun however to focus increasing attention on understanding the role that the wider organisational context, and in particular the role that safety climate, plays in influencing safety (Barling, Kelloway, & Iverson, 2003; Clarke, 2006a; Cox & Cheyne, 2000; Parker, Axtell, & Turner, 2001; Zohar, 2000). Safety climate refers to safety related policies, procedures and practices that signal the concern for safety (Griffin & Neal, 2000). The aim of the current program of research was to further understanding of the structure, antecedents and cross-level effects of safety climate. Specifically, this research aimed to better understand how organisational factors, and more specifically culture, influence safety climate and safety incidents. This knowledge is important as it assists organisations to purposively engineer stronger climates for safety and in doing so assists them to reduce the number of workplace incidents and accidents. The current program of research consists of three field-based studies. An overview of each study is provided below: Overview Study 1 Study 1 aimed to identify the safety climate schema for a sample of individuals working within the rail industry and explore whether safety climate schemas differ across individuals with and without leadership responsibilities. A proportional number of upper managers (n = 6), supervisors (n = 7) and workers (n = 12) were purposively sampled and interviewed. Interview data was analysed using Leximancer – an advanced computer assisted data mining tool. Results identified 10 emergent themes underlying a safety climate schema – many of these themes aligned closely with common safety climate factors in the academic literature. Results also showed differences between the safety factors that were dominant in the safety climate schemas of upper managers, supervisors and workers: upper managers were more closely associated with themes relating to ‘culture,’ and ‘people’; supervisors were more closely associated with themes relating to ‘corporate values,’ ‘management practices,’ and ‘safety communication’; whereas workers were more closely associated with themes relating to ‘procedures,’ and ‘safety training’. Results are discussed in relation to safety climate theory and in relation to how managers can use this knowledge to better communicate to the specific safety needs of different sub-groups. Overview Study 2 Study 2 aimed to better understand how perceived cultural profiles are related to safety. The Competing Values Framework adopted in this study proposes that four cultural types exist in unison in any organisation. Depending on the demands that are placed on the organisation, each type will be more or less dominant and each organisation will have a specific ‘cultural profile’ reflecting the strengths of each type. A cross-section of individuals (N = 368) working in high risk industries were sampled to identify the relationship between perceived cultural profiles and (1) psychological safety climate and (2) individual safety incidents. Modal Profile Analysis (MPA) identified four commonly perceived cultural profiles across the sample. A one-way MANOVA indicated that individuals who perceived their organisation had a strong human relations profile, or a dual focused human relations-rational goal profile, reported higher safety climate perceptions and fewer safety incidents. Comparably, individuals who perceived their organisation had a strong internal process profile, or a dual focused internal process-rational goal profile, reported lower safety climate perceptions and more safety incidents. These findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical contribution to the safety climate literature, and in relation to the practical importance that culture plays in influencing safety. Overview Study 3 Study 3 aimed to better understand how the culture of an organisation influences safety, and to explore the levels of analysis that are involved in this relationship. Specifically, this study examined the role that an internal process culture played in influencing safety climate; and in turn the mediating role that two sources of safety climate – business-unit safety climate and perceived supervisory safety climate – played in explaining the relationship between culture and individual-level outcomes (incidents, satisfaction and turnover intentions). Results showed that business-unit culture was related to business-unit safety climate; and that business-unit safety climate and perceived supervisory safety climate mediated the relationship between business-unit culture and incidents, satisfaction and turnover intentions. This research adds to the safety climate literature by providing evidence for the multi-level nature of the relationship between culture, safety climate and outcomes.

<p>This paper examines pupils’ conception of the Swedish schools constitutive values expressed in the Swedish curriculum. The main question was, at to what extent the schools constitutive values have influenced the pupils conception of their own values. That question problematizes the relation between values, constructed and carried by central administration, and their interpretation at local level by pupils. The study was conducted with qualitative analysis which included qualitative interviews with seven pupils in the last year of the Swedish school system. Phenomenology, hermeneutics, and phenomenographics have influenced the study. The qualitative interviews were abstracted into categories, related to this papers theoretical framework. The categories were taken from a taxonomy that breaks up the constitutive values into smaller pieces. The categories are presented here: <em>questions about conception of life, moral education, values education, civics education and citizenship education</em>. As well as categories the taxonomy shows a variable that goes from private to public and <em>questions about conception of life,</em> is the most private area and <em>citizenship education</em> is the most public. What each category resulted in was that pupils´ conception of the schools constitutive values could relate to the theoretical framework. Although many of the informants’ quotations pointed out standpoints that were related to the theoretical framework, some weren’t. Those included mostly the categories of public questions, such as <em>civic education</em> and <em>citizenship education</em>. In question of the pupils conception of moral education and values education the quotations showed that schools tend to focus on a rule based philosophy when fostering the pupils in to good moral and values. Also, pupils tend to focus on private good and see the schools constitutive values as a way to gain private good. This papers result brings up questions about; if the schools constitutive values are not well understood by pupils or if the constitutive values only are to be understood as private good. It also shows that the values constructed at a central level have a long way to travel to be acknowledged by the pupils. And along that travel several actors, such as teachers, interpret the constitutive values.</p>