Há na literatura um grande número de publicações versando sobre métodos analíticos para a determinação de razões isotópicas através das mais diversas modalidades de espectrometria. Entretanto, praticamente todos esses métodos possuem umarestrição comum em relação à gama de íons moleculares que podem ser utilizados nessas determinações: eles devem ser, ou íons elementares, ou íons cujo único átomo poli-isotópicoé o elemento de interesse. Isto é obtido, ou mediante adestruição das moléculas da amostra, ou complexos tratamentosquímicos para a obtenção de espécies poli-atômicas adequadas.Neste trabalho, foi desenvolvido um método matemático capazde deconvolver o padrão isotopomérico de um íon molecular,isto é, calcular os padrões isotópicos dos átomos que ocompõem dados a sua fórmula elementar e o seu espectro .A principal contribuição de um método desse tipo é a ampliaçãoda variedade de espécies químicas e modalidades de espectrometria aceitáveis para análises isotópicas. O algoritmo desenvolvidofoi caracterizado através da sua aplicação a um grande númerode espectros simulados visando modelar a resposta do métodoquando submetido a algumas imperfeições experimentais típicasde espectrometria e relevantes para análises isotópicas,tais como ruído, discriminação instrumental de massas, nãolinearidade de detecção, falta de resolução e má compensaçãode espectral. Os resultados obtidos permitiram concluirque, ao contrário do que o senso comum às vezes possa sugerir,determinações isotópicas realizadas através de espéciespoli-atômicas podem, muitas vezes, ser mais exatas e precisasque as efetuadas pelas abordagens convencionais. Concluiu-seque, de maneira geral, os resultados tendem a ser tantomelhores quanto maior for o número de instâncias do elementode interesse na fórmula do íon molecular escolhido. Foiestudada experimentalmente a viabilidade de métodos analíticosde equilibração para determinações de razões isotópicashidrogênio/deutério em amostras aquosas utilizando polióiscomo sondas e espectrometria com ionização electrospray.Os polióis testados foram o manitol, o ácido glucônico,a glucosamina e a N-metilglucamina (através do seu complexocom o ácido bórico). Os resultados obtidos mostraram algunsdesvios sistemáticos que sugerem que haja troca parcialde hidrogênios não lábeis dos polióis na fase gasosa, oque impossibilitaria esta aplicação. Sondas aternativasaos polióis são propostas. / Several articles can be found in the literature describing methods forthe determination of isotopic ratios through the various modalities ofmass spectrometry. However, almost all of them have a commonrestriction on the type of molecular ion that can be employed in thesedeterminations: they must be either elemental ions, or polyatomic ionswhose sole polyisotopic element is the one being analysed. This isusually achieved through the destruction of the molecules, or throughcomplex synthetic procedures. In this work, a mathematical methodcapable of deconvolving the isotopomeric pattern of a molecular ion,i.e., calculating the isotopic pattern of its constituent atoms givenits formula and its mass spectrum, has been developed. The maincontribution of such a method to the field is the broadening of therange of acceptable chemical species for isotopic analyses. Thedeveloped algorithm was characterized by applying it to a large numberof simulated spectra with the objective of modelling its response tosome experimental imperfections common to mass spectrometry andrelevant for isotopic analyses, such as noise, instrumental massdiscrimination, detection non-linearity, lack of resolution and badbaseline compensation. The results allowed us to conclude that, inspite of whatever commonsense might suggest, isotopic analysescarried out through the polyatomic approaches can, in many cases, bemore exact and precise than those performed through conventionalapproaches. It could also be concluded that, in general, the largerthe number of instances of the element of interest in the formula ofthe chosen ion, the better the results become. Also as part of theproject, the viability of employing polyols as probes for thehydrogen/deuterium ratio in aquous samples in equilibration methodsand electrospray mass spectrometry has been studied. The studiedpolyols were: manitol, gluconic acid, glucosamine and N-metilglucamine(through its complex with boric acid). The obtained results showedsome systematic errors that suggest that there might be a partialexchange of non-labile hydrogen atoms during the electrosprayphenomenon. Alternative probes are proposed.

Há na literatura um grande número de publicações versando sobre métodos analíticos para a determinação de razões isotópicas através das mais diversas modalidades de espectrometria. Entretanto, praticamente todos esses métodos possuem umarestrição comum em relação à gama de íons moleculares que podem ser utilizados nessas determinações: eles devem ser, ou íons elementares, ou íons cujo único átomo poli-isotópicoé o elemento de interesse. Isto é obtido, ou mediante adestruição das moléculas da amostra, ou complexos tratamentosquímicos para a obtenção de espécies poli-atômicas adequadas.Neste trabalho, foi desenvolvido um método matemático capazde deconvolver o padrão isotopomérico de um íon molecular,isto é, calcular os padrões isotópicos dos átomos que ocompõem dados a sua fórmula elementar e o seu espectro .A principal contribuição de um método desse tipo é a ampliaçãoda variedade de espécies químicas e modalidades de espectrometria aceitáveis para análises isotópicas. O algoritmo desenvolvidofoi caracterizado através da sua aplicação a um grande númerode espectros simulados visando modelar a resposta do métodoquando submetido a algumas imperfeições experimentais típicasde espectrometria e relevantes para análises isotópicas,tais como ruído, discriminação instrumental de massas, nãolinearidade de detecção, falta de resolução e má compensaçãode espectral. Os resultados obtidos permitiram concluirque, ao contrário do que o senso comum às vezes possa sugerir,determinações isotópicas realizadas através de espéciespoli-atômicas podem, muitas vezes, ser mais exatas e precisasque as efetuadas pelas abordagens convencionais. Concluiu-seque, de maneira geral, os resultados tendem a ser tantomelhores quanto maior for o número de instâncias do elementode interesse na fórmula do íon molecular escolhido. Foiestudada experimentalmente a viabilidade de métodos analíticosde equilibração para determinações de razões isotópicashidrogênio/deutério em amostras aquosas utilizando polióiscomo sondas e espectrometria com ionização electrospray.Os polióis testados foram o manitol, o ácido glucônico,a glucosamina e a N-metilglucamina (através do seu complexocom o ácido bórico). Os resultados obtidos mostraram algunsdesvios sistemáticos que sugerem que haja troca parcialde hidrogênios não lábeis dos polióis na fase gasosa, oque impossibilitaria esta aplicação. Sondas aternativasaos polióis são propostas. / Several articles can be found in the literature describing methods forthe determination of isotopic ratios through the various modalities ofmass spectrometry. However, almost all of them have a commonrestriction on the type of molecular ion that can be employed in thesedeterminations: they must be either elemental ions, or polyatomic ionswhose sole polyisotopic element is the one being analysed. This isusually achieved through the destruction of the molecules, or throughcomplex synthetic procedures. In this work, a mathematical methodcapable of deconvolving the isotopomeric pattern of a molecular ion,i.e., calculating the isotopic pattern of its constituent atoms givenits formula and its mass spectrum, has been developed. The maincontribution of such a method to the field is the broadening of therange of acceptable chemical species for isotopic analyses. Thedeveloped algorithm was characterized by applying it to a large numberof simulated spectra with the objective of modelling its response tosome experimental imperfections common to mass spectrometry andrelevant for isotopic analyses, such as noise, instrumental massdiscrimination, detection non-linearity, lack of resolution and badbaseline compensation. The results allowed us to conclude that, inspite of whatever commonsense might suggest, isotopic analysescarried out through the polyatomic approaches can, in many cases, bemore exact and precise than those performed through conventionalapproaches. It could also be concluded that, in general, the largerthe number of instances of the element of interest in the formula ofthe chosen ion, the better the results become. Also as part of theproject, the viability of employing polyols as probes for thehydrogen/deuterium ratio in aquous samples in equilibration methodsand electrospray mass spectrometry has been studied. The studiedpolyols were: manitol, gluconic acid, glucosamine and N-metilglucamine(through its complex with boric acid). The obtained results showedsome systematic errors that suggest that there might be a partialexchange of non-labile hydrogen atoms during the electrosprayphenomenon. Alternative probes are proposed.

No description available.

The 1999-2000 restricted-use School and Staffing Survey (SASS) dataset was used to construct hierarchical linear models to determine to what degree administrative support, resources, collegiality, parental support, school atmosphere, credentialing requirements, professional development, classroom and school autonomy, and compensation can predict teacher satisfaction in public, private, and charter schools after controlling for teacher background and school characteristics. Variables were selected in part because it is possible for them to be manipulated by policy. The study also reports on efforts to refine and validate subscales of items chosen based on theory and literature from the SASS to represent teacher satisfaction and predictors of satisfaction. SASS collected a nationally representative complex random sample of public, private, and charter schools with teachers randomly selected from schools. The conceptual framework of this study identifies level of opportunity and amount of power to access and use resources as the most significant aspects of a position as related workplace conditions. Though teaching is often characterized by isolation from adults, results of this study show that relationships with others are important. Key relationships focus on principals of schools for administrative support and leadership, teachers and school staff for cooperative environment and collegiality, parents for parental support, and students in terms of respect and behavior. Teachers also report higher levels of satisfaction when they have adequate resources like time and materials, when they have autonomy in their own classrooms, and when they are satisfied with their class sizes and salary. Principals of schools appear to be in the best position to directly influence teacher job satisfaction, but they need support from their community and school districts.

Diatoms have been proven to be reliable indicators of water quality in many countries of the world particularly Europe. The potential use of diatoms as indicators of water quality in South Africa was tested in the studies in this document. This study evaluates the potential use of diatom based indices by testing it against a macroinvertebrate index (SASS 5) and evaluating the variation in the index scores of the two indices due to changes in chemical water quality and habitat. It was concluded that the diatom monitoring system performs well as bioindicator of water quality. It was also concluded that it should be used as a complementary system to the much used SASS 5 invertebrate index. This conclusion was made due to the fact that diatoms react more directly to changes in water quality than macroinvertebrates (SASS 5), and macroinvertebrates react more readily to changes in habitat than diatoms. A further part of the study was to assess whether aut-ecological or diversity based diatom indices performed best in South African conditions. This study found that the ecological indices were more sensitive to changes in water quality than the diversity indices. The diatom based indices that performed best as water quality indicators were the specific pollution sensitivity index (SPI) and the biological diatom index (BDI). A standard method for the sampling, preparation and enumeration for diatoms to be used for index score generation is also suggested to ensure the comparability of diatom based index data to facilitate use of such bio monitoring data for management purposes. The main focus of the study was to eliminate some of the obstacles for the use of diatoms as bio indicators of water quality in South Africa. It is believe that this aim has been accomplished in the study. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Environmental Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Diatoms have been proven to be reliable indicators of water quality in many countries of the world particularly Europe. The potential use of diatoms as indicators of water quality in South Africa was tested in the studies in this document. This study evaluates the potential use of diatom based indices by testing it against a macroinvertebrate index (SASS 5) and evaluating the variation in the index scores of the two indices due to changes in chemical water quality and habitat. It was concluded that the diatom monitoring system performs well as bioindicator of water quality. It was also concluded that it should be used as a complementary system to the much used SASS 5 invertebrate index. This conclusion was made due to the fact that diatoms react more directly to changes in water quality than macroinvertebrates (SASS 5), and macroinvertebrates react more readily to changes in habitat than diatoms. A further part of the study was to assess whether aut-ecological or diversity based diatom indices performed best in South African conditions. This study found that the ecological indices were more sensitive to changes in water quality than the diversity indices. The diatom based indices that performed best as water quality indicators were the specific pollution sensitivity index (SPI) and the biological diatom index (BDI). A standard method for the sampling, preparation and enumeration for diatoms to be used for index score generation is also suggested to ensure the comparability of diatom based index data to facilitate use of such bio monitoring data for management purposes. The main focus of the study was to eliminate some of the obstacles for the use of diatoms as bio indicators of water quality in South Africa. It is believe that this aim has been accomplished in the study. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Environmental Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Attributions are explanations that individuals give to describe or account for their perception of an event or outcome. The complex nature of sport settings has provided a challenging context for researchers to understand the impact of causal attributions. The purpose of this research was to develop Skills and Techniques for Attribution Retraining (STAR), particularly for application to the athletic domain. Study 1 was conducted to evaluate attributions for perceived success and failure outcomes of multi-event athletes in a field setting. This study contributed to sport attribution literature in that minimal research has previously examined athletes’ causal explanations in sport utilising globality and intentionality dimensions. Also, prior research in sport has not yet explored the stability of attributions across different events for the same athlete. Five decathletes and one heptathlete (18–62 years old) completed the Revised Sport Attributional Style Scale (R-SASS; Hanrahan & Gross, 2000) following each event and for the overall competition at the Queensland Multi-Event Championship. Performance ratings and scores on internality, globality, stability, intentionality, and personal and external controllability dimensions were examined. Analyses revealed that multi-event athletes tended to make different explanations across events. Dimensional scores for each event did not necessarily reflect participants’ overall perceptions of the competition. However, similar categories of attributions tended to relate to specific dimensions for individual athletes (e.g., “motivation” – indicated three times by a participant – was associated with more global and personally controllable attributions). Performance ratings were significantly correlated with greater stability, globality, and intentionality. Study 2 was an exploratory study that was conducted to examine athletes’ causal attributions. The qualitative approach for this study was unique, as previous researchers have typically utilised questionnaires to assess athletes’ explanations for success and failure. Interviews were conducted with ten elite triathletes (five males, five females; aged 18-30 years). Following inductive content analyses, results indicated that the athletes provided more explanations for success than failure and fewer external factors for success. However, in contrast to existing learned helplessness (LH), self-efficacy, and attributional models of attribution retraining (AR), athletes did not cite ability as a reason for success. While the majority of participants described negative effects of attributions for unsuccessful situations, analyses revealed a variety of factors led to the same type of effect. For example, ‘cramps/stitch’, ‘haven’t done the hard work’, and ‘over-training’ attributions all led to the effect ‘convincing self of having a bad race’. A minority of athletes stated that explanations following an unsuccessful situation led to positive effects. The purpose of Study 3 was to compare across current AR models (as cited above: Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale, 1978; Bandura, 1986; Weiner, 1986). In particular, the study was conducted to test the effectiveness of AR where students were given persuasive feedback that was designed to either enhance or decrease performance. Participants were undergraduate, introductory psychology students (N = 61). Students were given two sets of three puzzle cube tasks, and were asked to construct puzzle cube pieces to match each of six shapes provided. Some tasks were impossible and were included to assess persistence. Following the initial set of tasks, students received AR intervention. Participants completed the R-SASS following both sets of tasks. Performance measures included students’ ratings of perceived performance, time to complete possible puzzle cube tasks, and time spent on impossible tasks. Findings revealed a slight trend toward the ability of AR models to change students’ attributions. Overall, no AR model was found to significantly impact changes in attributions or performance more than another model. Participants’ open-ended explanations for success and failure suggested that individuals were affected by the intervention to varying degrees. Relationships were found between performance and attributions, particularly with respect to internality, stability, and globality. Implications of this research are that competitors may benefit from AR to learn adaptive ways to explain performance, as long as the intervention is designed to complement their needs and attributional tendencies. Also, athletes may be able to develop skills to translate causal explanations for unsuccessful experiences into positive outcomes. Suggestions for future research include testing the utility of skills and techniques for AR in a meaningful environment and over a number of sessions. Specifically, following assessment of athletes’ causal attributions, interventions would be based on existing AR models and ideally occur both on and off the field throughout the competitive season.

Jag undersöker konceptet återanvändning av kod i samarbete med webbyrån Whitespace. Genom praktik på plats i Malmö ska jag arbeta med ett utvecklingsverktyg kallat Spacecraft som de inom byrån själva utvecklat. Konceptet bygger på en komponentbaserad arbetsmetod där det i Spacecraft som utvecklingsmiljö är möjligt att strukturera sin kod baserat på komponenter med dess tillhörande HTML, JavaScript, CSS, konfiguration, bilder etc. Metoden ska göra komponenter enklare att flytta och återanvända, tanken är att detta bland annat ska bidra till en både mer effektiv- och kvalitetssäkrad produktion. Främst kommer mitt arbetet att fokusera på distribution och arkitektur för komponenter samt anpassning av funktionalitet i Spacecraft.

This thesis deals with design and implementation of mobile application for iOS and Android operating systems using tools for mobile application development. Ionic 4 was chosen for implementation, which is a set of tools that can be used to develop software, using Angular, HTML and SASS.

The goal of this project was to develop specific functionality for a platform where health providers and schools can get in touch with each other. The programming languages used during the project were JavaScript, PHP and sass. PHP was used for the back-end development and JavaScript was used for the front-end development. The framework Vue js was use for front-end development and the CMS-system SilverStripe was partially used to make the platform more editable. The report describes, in detail, how the following functionality for the platform was created: how Bootstrap was replaced with JavaScript to create a focus border around a search field, how test-data was added to be able to easily test the platform before production, how the way data is extracted from the database was changed from SilverStripe to Vue, how filtering and sorting options was added to allow users to easily find the desired information, and how the test tool Wave was used to make the platform more user-friendly and accessible for as many people as possible, regardless of circumstances. / Målet med projektet var att utveckla specifik funktionalitet fö r en plattform dä r vå rdgivare och skolor kan komma i kontakt med varandra. De programmeringssprå k som användes under projektet var JavaScript, PHP och sass, PHP användes fö r back-end utvecklingen och JavaScript fö r front-end utvecklingen. Ramverket Vue js användes fö r frontend-utvecklingen och CMSsystemet SilverStripe användes till viss del fö r att gö ra plattformen redigerbar. Rapporten beskriver hur följande funktionalitet för plattformen skapats i detalj: Hur BootStrap har ersatts med JavaScript fö r att skapa en fokusram runt sö kfält, hur testdata adderats fö r att enkelt kunna testa webbplatsen innan produktion, hur sä ttet som data läses ut på ändrats från SilverStripe till Vue, hur filtrerings- och sorteringsmöjligheter lagts till fö r att användare enkelt ska kunna hitta den information som sö kes och hur testverktyget Wave har använts för att göra webbplatsen mer användarvänlig och tillgänglig för så många som möjligt oavsett förutsättningar.