Taikomosios grafikos magistro darbe analizuojami skirtingi 15-20 amžiuose gyvenę menininkai, savitai vaizdavę artimųjų portretus. Šiame darbe artimaisiais laikomi ne tik menininkų šeimos nariai, bet ir žmonės, su kuriais autorius turėjo reikšmingų santykių. Portretų vaizdavimas analizuojamas skirtingais lygmenimis. Skyriuje „Portretas kaip atspindys“ tiriamas Albrechto Dürerio, Rembrandto Harmenszoon van Rijno, Luciano Freudo, Salvadoro Dali, Chucko Close‘o artimųjų portetų vaizdavimas. Emilio Nolde, Egono Schiele, Henry Moore‘o, Francis Bacono kūrybos artimųjų portretai analizuojami skyriuje „Emocionalus portretas: Išraiška svarbesnė už estetinę formą“. Neigiamu lygmeniu artimųjų portretai Louise Josephine Bourgeois, Andy Warholo ir Francesco Clemente kūryboje analizuojami skyriuje „Kritiškas santykis su artimaisiais portrete“. Skyriuje „Artimųjų portretai personifikuotuose įvaizdžiuose“ tiriamas Odilono Redono, Arto Spiegelmano ir Williamo Kentridge‘o personifikuotų artimųjų portretų vaizdavimas. Visi analizuoti menininkai rinkosi skirtingai išreikšti artimųjų portetus bei santykį su jais. Artimųjų portretams vaizduoti šie menininkai naudojo įvairiausias grafikos priemones, kurios atitiko laikmečio kūrybos būdus ir principus, tačiau ir skaitmeniniame amžiuje menininkai naudojo tradicines priemones. Realistinė maniera (tikroviškas artimojo atvaizdo perteikimas) iki šiol yra pats dažniausias menininkų raiškos būdas. / Applied Graphics Master degree's theory work analyzes close persons portraits from different artists who lived from XV century to the beginning of XXI century. This work includes not only family members of the artists, but also people with whom the author had a significant relationship. Portraits are analyzed in different levels. In the „Portrait as a reflection“ chapter, portraits of the close people by such artists as Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, Lucian Freud, Salvador Dali, Chuck Close are analyzed. Works of Emil Nolde, Egon Schiele, Henry Moore, Francis Bacon are analyzed in „Emotional portrait: expression is more importaint than aestetic form“ chapter. Negative aspects of Josephine Louise Bourgeois, Andy Warhol and Francesco Clemente close persons portraits are analyzed in „Critical ratio with close person in portrait“ chapter. In chapter „Portraits of close persons in personified images“ works of Odilon Redon, Art Spiegelman and William Kentridge are analyzed. All analyzed artists find different ways to express relation between them and close persons. To depict portraits artists used variety of graphic tools, which correspond to the those days methods of creation. But in the digital age, artists are also using traditional techniques and tools. The realistic style is by far the most common way of expression for artists.

The diagnosis of HIV is a life-changing event that requires people to deal with the disease, as well as cope with HIV stigma. Both people living with HIV or AIDS (PLHA) and their close family members (CFM) are stigmatized, but CFM also stigmatizes PLHA. This interaction affects the relationship between PLHA and their CFM. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a comprehensive community-based HIV stigma reduction intervention on PLHA and their CFM as well as to explore and describe their experiences during and after the intervention. A holistic multiple case study design as well as a qualitative description approach was used. The study was conducted in both an urban and a rural setting. Purposive sampling was used for the PLHA and snowball sampling for the CFM. The case record for the case study consisted of several sources. In-depth-interviews were used to explore their experiences. The data was analysed using open coding and text document analysis. Both groups gained a richer understanding of HIV stigma and coping with it. The relationships enriched by PLHA feeling more supported and CFM realizing how they stigmatized and that they should be more supportive. Leadership was activated through the project. Bringing PLHA and CFM together during an intervention, proved to be affective, Recommendations focus on the inclusion of HIV-related stigma reduction awareness interventions in the curriculum of student nurses and the implementation thereof in the community, through community based nursing. It would be of benefit if the programme could also be offered as a workshop to traditional healers in the community. Nurses in clinics working with PLHA should invite PLHA and CFM to participate in groups to support each other in reducing HIV-related stigma and share problem-solving coping strategies. The researcher believes that the results of the current study have important implications for further research in HIV-related stigma reduction interventions in other countries and demographic groups. It has the potential to be used for long-term monitoring studies of HIV stigma reduction interventions and the change over time. / Thesis (MCur)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

In this dissertation, I study the way couples improvise relationships together. I define improvisation as a kind of performance that leads to an interpretive practice where people develop the meanings of their relationships as they perform. Participating in a performance ethnography, my romantic partner, myself, and three other couples reflect on the way we perform together on stage. Adapting the popular improv performance format “Armando” and utilizing post-performance focus groups, I observe how the couples strive to make meaning together and negotiate a joint-perspective about how they played. Ultimately, I argue that attending to the way a couple improvises their relationship off stage can provide key insights into the communication patterns that allow them to share vulnerable experiences and grow close. In the end, I discuss ways that improv techniques and philosophies have informed and guided my own romantic relationship.

We report the results of a deep search for an optical counterpart to the gravitational wave (GW) event GW150914, the first trigger from the Advanced LIGO GW detectors. We used the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) to image a 102 deg(2) area, corresponding to 38% of the initial trigger high-probability sky region and to 11% of the revised high-probability region. We observed in the i and z bands at 4-5, 7, and 24 days after the trigger. The median 5 sigma point-source limiting magnitudes of our search images are i = 22.5 and z = 21.8 mag. We processed the images through a difference-imaging pipeline using templates from pre-existing Dark Energy Survey data and publicly available DECam data. Due to missing template observations and other losses, our effective search area subtends 40 deg(2), corresponding to a 12% total probability in the initial map and 3% in the final map. In this area, we search for objects that decline significantly between days 4-5 and day 7, and are undetectable by day 24, finding none to typical magnitude limits of i = 21.5, 21.1, 20.1 for object colors (i - z) = 1, 0, - 1, respectively. Our search demonstrates the feasibility of a dedicated search program with DECam and bodes well for future research in this emerging field.

We report the results of a Dark Energy Camera optical follow-up of the gravitational-wave (GW) event GW151226, discovered by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory detectors. Our observations cover 28.8 deg(2) of the localization region in the i and z bands (containing 3% of the BAYESTAR localization probability), starting 10 hr after the event was announced and spanning four epochs at 2-24 days after the GW detection. We achieve 5 sigma point-source limiting magnitudes of i approximate to 21.7 and z approximate to 21.5, with a scatter of 0.4 mag, in our difference images. Given the two-day delay, we search this area for a rapidly declining optical counterpart with greater than or similar to 3 sigma significance steady decline between the first and final observations. We recover four sources that pass our selection criteria, of which three are cataloged active galactic nuclei. The fourth source is offset by 5.8 arcsec from the center of a galaxy at a distance of 187 Mpc, exhibits a rapid decline by 0.5 mag over 4 days, and has a red color of i - z approximate to 0.3 mag. These properties could satisfy a set of cuts designed to identify kilonovae. However, this source was detected several times, starting 94 days prior to GW151226, in the Pan-STARRS Survey for Transients (dubbed as PS15cdi) and is therefore unrelated to the GW event. Given its long-term behavior, PS15cdi is likely a Type IIP supernova that transitioned out of its plateau phase during our observations, mimicking a kilonova-like behavior. We comment on the implications of this detection for contamination in future optical follow-up observations.

Close relationships fulfil the need of an individual to start and keep close relationships with other people. These are main basic needs of a human being. Partnership, family and friendship are all considered to be close relationships. We can find common elements among them but also there are specific differences. Intimacy is by all means one of the main components of close relationships and this work is focused on it. We mention knowledge which can be found in literature, emphasis is put on foreign sources. This work shows results of prototypical study of the term intimacy, which reveals layman structure of this term and offers, apart from traditional definitions, a different view of the subject, especially the contrasts which are typical for close relationships in partnerships, family relationships and friendships. Key words: Close relationships, intimacy, prototypical approach, prototypic scale

Requirements for increased operating efficiencies mean that future generations of aero-engines will need to operate at temperatures beyond the capabilities of current nickel-base superalloys. As a result, new alloy compositions for turbine disc applications are being developed. Optimising these alloy compositions requires balancing directly competing requirements. Increased Cr contents are needed to provide environmental resistance and increased concentrations of other refractory metals to improve solid solution strengthening. However, these elements compromise the alloyâs long-term microstructural stability by promoting the formation of topologically close-packed (TCP) phases, which are deleterious to alloy performance. High $\gamma^\prime$ volume fractions, which are needed to provide high-temperature strength, exacerbate the problem by increasing the concentration of these elements in the $\gamma$ phase. Therefore, an understanding of TCP formation and the compositional limits of stability is vital in the design of new alloys. This thesis presents a combination of fundamental studies of TCP phase formation in model alloys and microstructural assessment of the thermal stability of developmental alloy compositions. Knowledge of the effect of individual elements on thermal stability is important to enable the development of optimised alloy compositions. As a result, the first fundamental study investigated the effect of Co content on thermal stability. An unexpected transition in $\sigma$ precipitation behaviour after 500 hours at 800°C was observed between 12 and 16 at.\% Co. It is proposed that this behaviour may be due to the effect of Co on the $\gamma$/$\gamma^\prime$ partitioning behaviour of other elements. Preliminary results from further fundamental studies investigating the effect of the Mo/W ratio and B content on thermal stability are also presented. Decreasing the Mo/W ratio was found to reduce the quantity of $\sigma$ precipitation and promote the precipitation of a W-rich phase. B additions were found to promote the precipitation of the M$_3$B$_2$ phase. Thermodynamic predictions are frequently used to inform alloy design as an alternative to time-consuming and costly experiments. However, the accuracy of solvus temperature predictions for TCP phases has not been thoroughly considered. In this work, it was found that differential scanning calorimetry could be used as a means of measuring $\sigma$ solvus temperature in a series of alloys designed to be sufficiently unstable with respect to $\sigma$ precipitation. Comparison of experimental results with thermodynamic solvus temperature predictions revealed a significant underprediction of the $\sigma$ solvus temperatures for all of the studied alloys. This can inform our use of such predictions during alloy design. The ability to quantify the amount of TCP precipitation that occurs is extremely important when assessing the thermal stability of alloys. A new method was applied to the problem of TCP quantification, involving synchrotron X-ray diffraction of solid aged samples. This was an attempt to avoid some of the problems identified with the commonly used quantification method, which involves electrolytic extraction of minor phases, and assess the accuracy of the results produced by this method. Samples of a currently used commercial alloy, RR1000, were investigated following ageing for up to 5000 hours at 800°C, revealing the evolution of phases at this temperature. The presence of extremely low quantities of minor phases was successfully detected in the solid samples using this method. However, these quantities were too low for this to be a reliable method of quantification for commercial alloys. In parallel with these fundamental and technique-based studies, the thermal stability of a number of candidate alloys, which were developed during the design of a next-generation disc alloy by Rolls-Royce, was assessed. The alloys were characterised following a variety of thermal exposure temperatures and durations, which were determined by industrial needs at the time. Various minor phases were identified depending on the alloy compositions, including the TCP phases, $\sigma$ and $\mu$, as well as MC and M$_{23}$C$_6$ carbides and M$_3$B$_2$ borides.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Covenant Theological Seminary, 2007. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-239).

<p>The purpose of the study was to study various factors which might influence the level</p><p>of satisfaction in close relationships. The theories which have been covered are: The</p><p>triangular theory of love, The Investment model, Bowlby´s and Ainsworth attachment</p><p>theories, The Equity theory, and the reward theory of attraction. The variables which</p><p>were studied were: intimacy, rewards, commitment and equity. The level of perceived</p><p>superiority was also studied, as well as satisfaction level in comparison to duration in</p><p>the current relationship. A multiple regression was employed to find out which one of</p><p>the variables above would associate strongest with satisfaction. A questionnaire was</p><p>used to collect the data and a reliability test was therefore carried out. 72</p><p>participants took part in the study, 44 females and 28 males. The result showed that</p><p>commitment had the strongest association with satisfaction, followed by intimacy.</p><p>The result also showed that there was a negative significant correlation between</p><p>superiority and level of satisfaction. More over the result did not show any</p><p>correlation between duration in the current relationship and satisfaction. Two</p><p>regressions were also performed to see which one of the variables (intimacy, reward,</p><p>commitment and equity) would associate strongest with satisfaction in two conditions.</p><p>The results showed that commitment had the strongest association for the condition</p><p>with the participants who had been in their relationship 1-6 years. Commitment also</p><p>had the strongest association in the other condition followed by intimacy. In this</p><p>condition the participants had been in their relationship for seven years or more. The</p><p>main discussion points have been the current results in comparison to other’s</p><p>research in the area as well as suggestions for future research.</p>

The purpose of the study was to study various factors which might influence the level of satisfaction in close relationships. The theories which have been covered are: The triangular theory of love, The Investment model, Bowlby´s and Ainsworth attachment theories, The Equity theory, and the reward theory of attraction. The variables which were studied were: intimacy, rewards, commitment and equity. The level of perceived superiority was also studied, as well as satisfaction level in comparison to duration in the current relationship. A multiple regression was employed to find out which one of the variables above would associate strongest with satisfaction. A questionnaire was used to collect the data and a reliability test was therefore carried out. 72 participants took part in the study, 44 females and 28 males. The result showed that commitment had the strongest association with satisfaction, followed by intimacy. The result also showed that there was a negative significant correlation between superiority and level of satisfaction. More over the result did not show any correlation between duration in the current relationship and satisfaction. Two regressions were also performed to see which one of the variables (intimacy, reward, commitment and equity) would associate strongest with satisfaction in two conditions. The results showed that commitment had the strongest association for the condition with the participants who had been in their relationship 1-6 years. Commitment also had the strongest association in the other condition followed by intimacy. In this condition the participants had been in their relationship for seven years or more. The main discussion points have been the current results in comparison to other’s research in the area as well as suggestions for future research.