Optically active helical microparticles are studied in the forms of thin films, suspensions and powders. From fabricated helical porous thin films, microparticle suspensions are obtained by removing the microparticles (film columns) from their substrates and dispersing them into water. For removing microparticles, four methods are explored and compared: sacrificial NaCl layer, gold (Au) layer, buffered oxide etching, and direct ultrasonic agitation. The primary film material studied in this work is amorphous silicon (Si). Physical morphology of the microparticles is examined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Methods employed to characterize optical activity of the microparticles include: polarimetry, spectrophotometry, and spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The produced chiral microparticles exhibit optical activity: optical rotation (OR) and circular dichroism (CD - in the form of differential circular transmission (DCT)). Significant findings include: (a) we observe the largest optical rotatory power ever reported in scientific literature, 11◦/μm at 610 nm wavelength for a Si film; (b) for the helical thin films, there is one dominant DCT band in the measured wavelength range; however for microparticle suspensions and powders, there exist two DCT bands: one broad band at long wavelengths, and one narrow band in the short wavelength range; compared to their thin film forms, microparticle suspensions and powders have inverted sign for the broad DCT band. A discrete dipole approximation (DDA) model is employed to calculate optical response (e.g. extinction, scattering, and absorption cross-sections) of the microparticles, so as to enable us to understand the effects of different structural parameters of the microparticles on their optical response. Calculation confirms that optical activity of chiral microparticles is due to coherent light scatterings with the chiral structures of the particles. The inversion in sign of the broad DCT bands of microparticle suspensions and powders is likely due to the averaging effect from random orientation of the helical microparticles, as is indicated both from experimental results and from calculation. / Thesis (Ph.D, Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy) -- Queen's University, 2012-07-06 09:59:20.751

The advert of social media has transformed the way in which tourism businesses operate especially in the marketing of tourism services. One major tourism sector which has been influenced by social media is the accommodation subsector. Hospitality businesses are now compelled to adopt social networks for marketing purposes to keep pace with changes in consumer behaviour. Previous research has indicated that, although social media is a new phenomenon in marketing, hospitality businesses such as accommodation facilities have embraced it for marketing purposes and the usage varies from one country to another. Prior studies have also shown that social networks are now considered a major source of information for tourists and influence their decision making process. Evidence from the literature shows that little work has been done to investigate the effectiveness of social networks in marketing accommodation services in Sub-Saharan Africa. Studies on adoption and usage of social networks in the accommodation sector in South Africa and Zimbabwe are limited. This study was done to address these knowledge gaps identified in literature. The aim of this research was to determine the effectiveness of social networks in the marketing of accommodation services in South Africa and Zimbabwe. To achieve this, two literature chapters provided an in-depth discussion on social media marketing as well as the influence of these networks on tourists‟ decision-making process. For the empirical survey, the study used an electronic questionnaire which was mailed to South African accommodation establishments. The same questionnaire was hand delivered by field workers in Zimbabwe from June 2013 to July 2014. A total of 129 and 134 were completed from South Africa and Zimbabwe respectively. Factor analysis was used to identify the dominant factors influencing usage of social networks and their effectiveness. The dominant factors were further tested using t-test, chi-square test and effect sizes calculation. The results from t-test and effect sizes computation revealed that there was a statistically significant difference in both the usage of social networks and the effectiveness of social networks in the two countries. Chi-square tests results further revealed that accommodation establishments in both countries were not extensively utilising social networks for marketing purposes and social networks were effective marketing tool in the accommodation sector. The major challenges highlighted by most accommodation establishments from both countries were, time constraints, lack knowledge on the use social networks for marketing and lack of commitment to sustain social media marketing efforts. Power cuts were also another challenge for the Zimbabwean accommodation establishments. This study did not only present theoretical contributions to accommodation establishments but practical recommendations were also made. Based on the results, this study made the following invaluable contributions: firstly a social media marketing framework was proposed. This framework contributes to the body of literature that could be used for future references in the field of social media marketing. The framework provides some necessary steps that can be followed when implementing social media marketing not only by accommodation establishments but with other similar businesses. Secondly, the study addresses the gap in literature by providing evidence from a developing country‟s perspective on the usage and effectiveness of social networks an area which has received little attention in hospitality research. Findings of this study can be used as a future reference by other researchers in the field of social media marketing on the African continent. Lastly, the study also shed light on how social networks can be utilised to influence tourists‟ decision-making process. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The advert of social media has transformed the way in which tourism businesses operate especially in the marketing of tourism services. One major tourism sector which has been influenced by social media is the accommodation subsector. Hospitality businesses are now compelled to adopt social networks for marketing purposes to keep pace with changes in consumer behaviour. Previous research has indicated that, although social media is a new phenomenon in marketing, hospitality businesses such as accommodation facilities have embraced it for marketing purposes and the usage varies from one country to another. Prior studies have also shown that social networks are now considered a major source of information for tourists and influence their decision making process. Evidence from the literature shows that little work has been done to investigate the effectiveness of social networks in marketing accommodation services in Sub-Saharan Africa. Studies on adoption and usage of social networks in the accommodation sector in South Africa and Zimbabwe are limited. This study was done to address these knowledge gaps identified in literature. The aim of this research was to determine the effectiveness of social networks in the marketing of accommodation services in South Africa and Zimbabwe. To achieve this, two literature chapters provided an in-depth discussion on social media marketing as well as the influence of these networks on tourists‟ decision-making process. For the empirical survey, the study used an electronic questionnaire which was mailed to South African accommodation establishments. The same questionnaire was hand delivered by field workers in Zimbabwe from June 2013 to July 2014. A total of 129 and 134 were completed from South Africa and Zimbabwe respectively. Factor analysis was used to identify the dominant factors influencing usage of social networks and their effectiveness. The dominant factors were further tested using t-test, chi-square test and effect sizes calculation. The results from t-test and effect sizes computation revealed that there was a statistically significant difference in both the usage of social networks and the effectiveness of social networks in the two countries. Chi-square tests results further revealed that accommodation establishments in both countries were not extensively utilising social networks for marketing purposes and social networks were effective marketing tool in the accommodation sector. The major challenges highlighted by most accommodation establishments from both countries were, time constraints, lack knowledge on the use social networks for marketing and lack of commitment to sustain social media marketing efforts. Power cuts were also another challenge for the Zimbabwean accommodation establishments. This study did not only present theoretical contributions to accommodation establishments but practical recommendations were also made. Based on the results, this study made the following invaluable contributions: firstly a social media marketing framework was proposed. This framework contributes to the body of literature that could be used for future references in the field of social media marketing. The framework provides some necessary steps that can be followed when implementing social media marketing not only by accommodation establishments but with other similar businesses. Secondly, the study addresses the gap in literature by providing evidence from a developing country‟s perspective on the usage and effectiveness of social networks an area which has received little attention in hospitality research. Findings of this study can be used as a future reference by other researchers in the field of social media marketing on the African continent. Lastly, the study also shed light on how social networks can be utilised to influence tourists‟ decision-making process. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Animation films are daily being screened on television, and offer an available medium with themes easily associated with. The researcher became interested in the possibility of utilising animation films in the play therapy process. A deficiency in relevant literature on the use of animation as medium in the play therapeutic process was identified. The aim of this study was to explore how therapists can use animation as a medium in play therapy and to fully describe it. In order to achieve this goal, qualitative research was employed and a focus group discussion with therapists was carried out. The data collected was analysed and the use of animation in the play therapeutic process was described in-depth. The goal of the study was therefore achieved in that the research provided specific information about where and how animation can effectively be used in the different stages of the play therapeutic process. / Animasiefilms word daagliks op televisie vertoon en is 'n beskikbare medium met temas waarmee die mens maklik assosieer. Die moontlikheid dat hierdie animasiefilms in die spelterapeutiese proses benut kan word, het die navorser ge"interesseer. 'n Leemte in die literatuur oor hoe animasie as 'n medium in die spelterapeutiese proses benut kan word, is as navorsingsprobleem geformuleer. Die doelstelling van hierdie studie was gevolglik om te verken hoe terapeute animasie as medium in spelterapie kan benut ten einde 'n volledige beskrywing hiervan te bied. Om hierdie doelstelling te bereik is 'n kwalitatiewe navorsingstudie uitgevoer en 'n fokusgroeponderhoud met terapeute voltooi. Die ingesamelde data is geanaliseer en die benutting van animasie as medium in die spelterapeutiese proses is in diepte beskryf. Daar is dus in die doel van die studie geslaag deurdat die navorsing spesifieke inligting gebied het oor hoe animasie tydens die verskillende momente van die spelterapeutiese proses effektief benut kan word. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

Cette thèse porte sur les médiums (tâng-ki, « l’enfant de divination »), leurs différentes pratiques et évolution au cours de l’histoire dans la société taiwanaise. L’enjeu est d’étudier ce domaine médiumnique en employant des approches de sociologie historique et anthropologie religieuse mettant en œuvre une démarche comparative de l’image du médium et de celle perçue après une enquête de terrain. Afin de saisir « le vrai visage » du médium. D’un point de vue méthodologique, cette thèse s’appuie sur une démarche qualitative et l’usage des entretiens directs avec les médiums et médiums apprentis. Le corpus se compose de cinq chapitres. Au chapitre I il y a les travaux de recherche sur les médiums à Taïwan d’où l’exemple du professeur Lin Fu-shih. Les évènements après la libération de l’île de Taiwan ont été relatés ainsi qu’une étude sur l’histoire de la religion à Taiwan basée sur les faits historiques marquants. Pour le chapitre II, la thèse s’articule autour des éléments du terrain où il a été présenté le récit de l’enquête que l’auteur lui-même a mené ; il s’agit de la structuration des temples : exemples de temples publics et privés qui se terminent par l’entrée au temple Tshú-nai. Le chapitre III se consacre principalement à l’univers du médium aux quatre terrains enquêtés marqués par des commentaires et interprétation. Au chapitre IV l’intérêt est porté sur la présentation et description du temple Tshú-nai. Au dernier chapitre, il y a les étapes d’initiation des pratiquants de tsáo-lîng-san (se rendre sur la montagne des esprits) et les histoires annexes des médiums apprentis. / This thesis deals with mediums in taiwanese community (tâng-ki, « the child of divination »), their different practices and how they evolved with time. It aims at studying the medium field using some historical social facts and religious anthropology and a comparative approach to the general image of mediums and that obtained through a field survey to let people know the “real face” of a medium. Methodologically, this thesis relies on a qualitative approach and direct questioning of mediums and mediums to be. The corps of this paper is divided into five chapters. Chapter I is about researches on mediums in Taiwan with reference to Professor Lin Fu-shih. It also presents events which happen after the liberation of the Taiwan Island and a study on relevant historical religious facts in Taiwan. Chapter II deals with the results of a survey. The story of this survey lead by the author himself is reported in this chapter. It is mainly about how temples are structured. The study of some public and private temples will lead to the presentation of Tshú-nai temple. Chapter III specifically covers the medium’s universe discovered in the four areas of the survey followed by commentaries and interpretations. In chapter IV, the thesis focuses on the presentation and description of Tshú-nai temple. The last chapter reveals the different steps of the tsáo-lîng-san believers’ initiation (which includes going to the Spirits' Mountains) and a supplementary history of mediums to be.

The establishment of the National Architecture Exhibition and Awards (NAEA) program in 1987, by Chamber of Architects, coincides with the period of dissolving modernist paradigm and rising pluralist influences in Turkey. The program, as a critical medium, is expected to reflect &ldquo / national&rdquo / architectural practice and contribute in the &ldquo / contemporary&rdquo / architectural practice in Turkey. In order to evaluate the consistencies with these objectives, firstly the program identity and then the participations are analyzed. On the other hand, regarding the searches for &ldquo / innovativeness&rdquo / and &ldquo / contemporaneity,&rdquo / parallelism with the international architectural agenda and concerns for geographic differences are analyzed through the awarded projects and the jury reports. In the analysis about the position of the program as well as its indications about Turkish architectural practice, the following results are obtained: Program can be defined as having an insulated and closed character with regard to its structure. Considering the participations, it is seen that it does not reflect the heterogeneous character of its geographical scope and has an elitist profile in awards distribution. Priority given to senior architects in Grand Prizes, the weight of the restoration category and the newly established commemoration program itself point out to a conservative stance. In the thesis, the awarded submissions are analyzed comparatively with Progressive Architecture (PA) Awards program. It is an established program in United States, which perpetuate since 1954 and it is claimed to have both &ldquo / reflective&rdquo / and &ldquo / limit-pushing&rdquo / positions in the architectural platform. In NAEA program, instead of the claims for giving precedence to &ldquo / limit-pushing&rdquo / attempts, a &ldquo / reflective&rdquo / position has been maintained. In the jury reports, the &ldquo / modernist&rdquo / award criteria can be defined as parallel with the agenda of international platform. In recent years, in international platform, instead of domination by styles, conceptual productions and sustainable themes gain prominence. Thus, regarding the submissions of NAEA, these parallelisms have been diminished.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 440-478).

Based on the online consumer preferences questionnaire and research in the area of consumer{\crq}s experience with communication mediums, the objective of this thesis is to propose appropriate changes to the marketing mixture in a chosen business subject. The thesis is divided into three main parts. The first one focuses on the relevant literature and outlines the academic problem of this work. The second one is based on qualitative and quantitative research done in the area. At the end of this thesis, the third part provides the reader with the final concept of the online retail store, followed by the proposed arrangements and changes to the marketing mixture of the enterprise as an outcome of the previous research. While working on the qualitative research used in this work, the analyses of the marketing, communication and retail mixture were gathered and assessed all together using interviews with the online retail store owner. In addition, the quantitative part was aimed to the costumers, their opinions and attitudes to the outlined media used within store. Also the credibility of the communicating channels was taken into account. Some of the factual findings merely confirmed the trend of the contemporary era. As emerged from the questionnaires, the Internet shall be confirmed to be the most popular medium, while the respondents confessed to spend the most time using it and rated it as the most important among other offered ways of communication between them and the retail store. These all relevant fact were used to analyse {--} and to prove or disprove the assumptions on how each media affects consumers and to which level the media is actually utilized. The final part of the thesis is dedicated to the online retail store concept including recommendations on modification of the marketing mixture of the business subject, where the qualitative research took place.

Animation films are daily being screened on television, and offer an available medium with themes easily associated with. The researcher became interested in the possibility of utilising animation films in the play therapy process. A deficiency in relevant literature on the use of animation as medium in the play therapeutic process was identified. The aim of this study was to explore how therapists can use animation as a medium in play therapy and to fully describe it. In order to achieve this goal, qualitative research was employed and a focus group discussion with therapists was carried out. The data collected was analysed and the use of animation in the play therapeutic process was described in-depth. The goal of the study was therefore achieved in that the research provided specific information about where and how animation can effectively be used in the different stages of the play therapeutic process. / Animasiefilms word daagliks op televisie vertoon en is 'n beskikbare medium met temas waarmee die mens maklik assosieer. Die moontlikheid dat hierdie animasiefilms in die spelterapeutiese proses benut kan word, het die navorser ge"interesseer. 'n Leemte in die literatuur oor hoe animasie as 'n medium in die spelterapeutiese proses benut kan word, is as navorsingsprobleem geformuleer. Die doelstelling van hierdie studie was gevolglik om te verken hoe terapeute animasie as medium in spelterapie kan benut ten einde 'n volledige beskrywing hiervan te bied. Om hierdie doelstelling te bereik is 'n kwalitatiewe navorsingstudie uitgevoer en 'n fokusgroeponderhoud met terapeute voltooi. Die ingesamelde data is geanaliseer en die benutting van animasie as medium in die spelterapeutiese proses is in diepte beskryf. Daar is dus in die doel van die studie geslaag deurdat die navorsing spesifieke inligting gebied het oor hoe animasie tydens die verskillende momente van die spelterapeutiese proses effektief benut kan word. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

There is a growing need for corporate employees to be able to manage their stress levels and use stress to their own, and to the organisation’s, advantage. Various literature references show that the damage to the workplace and to the worker costs millions of rands annually. Organisations are loosing money because of employees who are not able to manage their stress levels. Employees often experience stress because of an excessive workload, a high expected work pace, difficult work schedules, role conflict, uncertainty regarding career security, poor interpersonal relationships and unpleasant working conditions and many more. This stress manifests in conflict, depression, absenteeism, headaches, hypertension, alcoholism, drug abuse and more which as a result, impacts the organisation’s profitability due to decrease in productivity. In this thesis, research was done regarding the use of play therapy mediums in a stress management programme with corporate employees. The following research question was formulated: Will the use of play therapy mediums in a stress management programme for corporate employees, have a positive effect on their stress levels? The purpose of this stress management programme was to create greater awareness amongst corporate employees regarding the effects of stress on their lives and to indicate to them how they can go about managing stress to their advantage. The aim of the research was to use play therapy mediums in a stress management programme to enable corporate employees to become aware of, and to manage their stress levels. Play therapy mediums were therefore used to aid the de-stressing of the corporate employees and to facilitate greater awareness regarding the effects of stress on their lives. The researcher applied the Gestalt Theory as theoretical framework for this study. This theory supports the notion of awareness as a tool that can be used by a person to be in control of his/her life. The Gestalt Theory as a theoretical framework emphasises the fact that healthy behaviour occurs once people reach a point where they can regulate the emotional state that they are in. The literature research has shown that when this comes about, people experience a feeling of unity and integration in their lives. It is also concerned with the total existence of a human being. The people are addressed as whole and integrated beings, who strive to gain balance in an ever-changing environment. The Gestalt Theory is holistic and can form the theoretical framework for work with any type of individual and has been used effectively with individuals, groups and in teaching. Research was done within the corporate environment. The researcher developed a stress management programme which was presented to corporate employees. The aim was to establish whether the programme would have an effect on their stress levels and whether play therapy mediums can be used successfully with corporate employees during a training programme to reduce their stress levels and to improve their awareness of the causes of stress in their lives and their reactions to stressors in their environment. This stress management programme served as an intervention because it could enhance the functioning of the corporate employees with regard to their stress levels and also their general functioning within the organisation and in their personal lives. Pre- and post-test results were compared to evaluate the effect of the programme. Play therapy is traditionally used with children but relevant literature and the researcher’s own experience from the research has shown remarkable results in the use of play therapy mediums with adults. The literature as well as the empirical study showed that play itself has a number of therapeutic elements that produce behaviour change. Furthermore play also offers opportunities to re-live past stressful events and the emotions associated with them in a safe and therapeutic environment. The research findings indicated that stress levels improved after the stress management programme was presented to the corporate employees. From the research findings the researcher developed a model as a guideline for a stress management programme using play therapy mediums in the corporate environment. / Thesis (DPhil (Social Work))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Social Work / unrestricted