This study examined the perceptions of elementary school counselors regarding their experience in using solution-focused brief counseling for meeting the demanding responsibilities of their job and the particular needs of the students they serve. Specifically, the four research questions addressed the school counselors' perceptions regarding: (1) use and importance of particular solution-focused techniques; (2) effectiveness of solution-focused strategies in addressing specific student issues; (3) training in solution-focused brief counseling; and (4) use of this approach in settings other than the counseling office. The data for this study were collected from elementary school counselors in Virginia who had previously received training in solution-focused brief counseling. This training was provided by their school systems as inservice and was conducted by the same workshop leader in all instances. The school counselors were sent a questionnaire that was developed by the researcher. The survey contained a selection of Likert-style scale questions, yes/no items, rank-order items, and open-ended questions. The final section contained questions designed to obtain demographic information about the respondent and the school and students they served. The researcher conducted a follow-up interview with several school counselors to supplement the survey data. The data analysis was descriptive and relational in nature. The findings of the study indicate that elementary school counselors who have received training in solution-focused brief counseling philosophies and techniques find it important and useful for working with children. The majority of the school counselors indicated that they use all of the solution-focused techniques listed in the survey to at least some degree. Their responses to the survey indicated the perception that this approach is effective with various student issues. The school counselors reported the perception that they have some proficiency with solution focused brief counseling and that they have interest in pursuing more training. The school counselors also indicated that they were able to use solution-focused brief counseling philosophies in school settings other than the counseling office. In summary, school counselors appear to have a relatively positive perception of solution-focused brief counseling as an approach for working with elementary age school students. Recommendations for practice and future research are presented. / Ph. D.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第23527号 / 農博第2474号 / 新制||農||1087(附属図書館) / 学位論文||R3||N5358(農学部図書室) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科地域環境科学専攻 / (主査)教授 藤原 正幸, 教授 中村 公人, 准教授 宇波 耕一 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Three epoxy-coated reinforcing steel (ECR) types removed from job sites, one shipped directly from the coater's plant, three commercial corrosion inhibitors, and one ECR plus a corrosion inhibitor were evaluated as reinforcing steel corrosion protection systems against chloride induced corrosion. The three corrosion inhibitors were calcium nitrite, an aqueous mixture of esters and amines, and a mixture of alcohol and amine. The ECR was tested in two groups, 0% and 1% coating damage. Corrosion protection performance was evaluated by the amount of visually observed blister surface area, for the ECR, and corroded surface area, for the tested corrosion inhibitors. Results of the ECR testing demonstrated that coating debondment and corrosion of ECR is directly related to the amount of damage present in the coating, as well as coating thickness. For the bare steel tested with and without corrosion inhibitors, the results showed that corrosion increases with increasing chloride concentrations. Corrosion inhibition characteristics were demonstrated only by the calcium nitrite corrosion inhibitor. A corrosion protection evaluation test was developed for concrete corrosion inhibitor admixtures. The test solution is a simulated concrete pore water. Corrosion is accelerated by evaluating the temperature to field conditions of 40 C. The test consists of a 7 day pretreatment period followed by a 90 day test period. The corrosive sodium chloride is added to the solution containing the bare or epoxy-coated reinforcing steel specimens after the 7 day pretreatment period. In addition, the solution is periodically saturated with oxygen. / Master of Science

Ce travail de thèse se place dans le contexte du dépôt de couches minces nanocomposites par des procédés à plasma à basse pression assistés par aérosols. Cinq études ont été réalisées dans le but de comprendre les mécanismes fondamentaux propres à ce type de procédé. Dans un premier temps, l’étude de la croissance des couches minces nanocomposites par ellipsométrie spectroscopique in situ a montré que l’apport de matière à l’échantillon se faisait alternativement riche en matériau matrice, puis en nanoparticules. Par la suite, l’étude microscopique de la surface des échantillons et la simulation de l’évaporation des gouttelettes dans le plasma a permis d’identifier l’ébullition « flash » comme étant le mécanisme principal de pulvérisation des aérosols dans le plasma à basse pression. Dans un troisième temps, l’étude de l’interaction aérosol-surface a permis de mettre en évidence l’apparition de l’évaporation « stick-slip » puis de l’effet Leidenfrost sur les surfaces chaudes. Ensuite, des mesures de spectroscopie d’émission optique résolues en temps couplées à un modèle collisionnel-radiatif ont permis d’examiner l’interaction aérosol-plasma suite à l’injection pulsée de liquide dans un plasma d’argon. Ainsi, l’évolution temporelle des propriétés fondamentales du plasma ont été déterminées, mettant en évidence les variations de température électronique et de densité électronique provoquées par l’injection d’aérosol. Enfin, les connaissances tirées des études précédentes ont été mises en application lors de la synthèse de couches minces nanocomposites contenant des nanomatériaux de natures variées, à savoir des clusters moléculaires, des nanoparticules sphériques et des nanotubes de carbone. / This work focuses on the growth of nanocomposite thin films using aerosol-assisted low-pressure plasma processes. Five studies were carried out with the aim of understanding the fundamental mechanisms involved in this specific category of processes. First, a study of nanocomposite thin film growth using in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry showed that the material input to the sample was alternately matrix- and nanoparticles-predominant. Second, so-called "flash" boiling was identified as the main mechanism for droplet formation in the low-pressure plasma, by confronting an evaporation model to the measured droplet size on the samples’ surface. Third, the study of aerosol-surface interaction revealed that hot surfaces lead to "stick-slip" evaporation and Leidenfrost-induced motion on hot surfaces. Then, time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy measurements coupled to a collisional-radiative model were used to look into the aerosol-plasma interaction after the pulsed injection of liquid into a low-pressure argon plasma. The evolution of fundamental plasma properties was determined, bringing to light the variations in electron temperature and electron density caused by aerosol injection. Finally, the insight gained from the previous studies has been applied to grow nanocomposite thin films containing various nanomaterials, namely molecular clusters, spherical nanoparticles, and carbon nanotubes.

This work is focused on visualisation of Schwarzschild, Reissner- Nordström and Kerr black hole. The two-dimensional conformal diagram was constructed. In the case of Kerr black hole, the causal structure was visualized by intersection of chronological future of given point in spacetime with hyper- surfaces of constant value of Boyer-Lindquist coordinate t. Conformal diagram for Kerr black hole was constructed only in the neighbourhood of outer event horizon. Then the causal diagram, which is analogous to conformal diagram for Reissner-Nordström black hole was constructed. In all cases two-dimensional spa- celike hypersurfaces were chosen that were embedded into Euclidean space. The interpretation of time evolution of black hole universe was given to a sequence of such embedded hypersurfaces. In the case of Kerr black hole the embedding of outer ergosphere and outer event horizon were also constructed. 1

[pt] Esta dissertação de mestrado aborda um estudo aprofundado do artigo [2]. No Capítulo 2, são introduzidas as definições e conceitos fundamentais necessários para a análise teórica subsequente. Uma proposição é demonstrada, estabelecendo a existência de uma expansão de Taylor para funções em um determinado espaço, enfatizando o papel do expoente de Escauriaza. O capítulo continua apresentando dois lemas que relacionam subsoluções e supersoluções em termos de viscosidade e propriedades de normas. A primeira versão do lema considera a relação entre a dimensão do espaço e a norma, enquanto a segunda versão utiliza o expoente de Escauriaza para obter resultados mais refinados. Também são apresentados dois resultados que explicam a relação entre diferentes noções de soluções viscosas e sua conexão com os espaços de Sobolev. As propriedades dos operadores de Pucci são discutidas como conclusão deste capítulo. No Capítulo 3, a dissertação estabelece a definição da geometria da fronteira do domínio em questão. Em seguida, um importante lema é demonstrado, estabelecendo a existência de soluções fortes em um determinado espaço, explorando a regularidade das funções envolvidas com base nesse lema. Os conceitos de super-diferenciabilidade e sub-diferenciabilidade são introduzidos, desempenhando um papel crucial na compreensão do comportamento das soluções viscosas e suas relações com derivadas de ordem superior. Um resultado geral que amplia essas definições é apresentado. Duas versões em que a função u é duas vezes super-diferenciável são discutidas, considerando o espaço Ld e posteriormente o espaço Lp , de modo que p menor que d. A dissertação prossegue demonstrando a relação entre sub-solução Lp-viscosidade e sub-solução Lp-forte quando u pertence a um espaço específico. Em seguida, é mostrado que os limites uniformes de soluções também são soluções. Por fim, é apresentado o resultado principal da dissertação, demonstrando a unicidade das soluções fortes. / [en] This master s thesis delves into an in-depth study of the article [2]. Chapter2 begins by introducing fundamental definitions and concepts essential forthe subsequent theoretical analysis. A proposition is then demonstrated,establishing the existence of a Taylor expansion for functions in a givenspace, emphasizing the role of the Escauriaza exponent.The chapter proceeds to present two lemmas that relate subsolutions andsupersolutions in terms of viscosity and properties of norms. The firstversion of the lemma considers the relationship between the dimension ofspace and the norm, while the second version uses the Escauriaza exponentto obtain more refined results. Two results are shown to explain that explainthe relationship between different notions of viscous solutions and theirconnection with Sobolev spaces.The properties of the Pucci operators are discussed at the conclusion of thischapter. Chapter 3 begins by establishing the definition of the boundarygeometry of the domain in question. An important lemma is demonstrated,which establishes the existence of strong solutions in a given space andexplores the regularity of the functions involved based on this lemma.The concepts of superdifferentiability and subdifferentiability areintroduced, playing a crucial role in understanding the behavior of viscoussolutions and their relationships with higher order derivatives. A generalresult that extends these definitions is presented. The dissertation discussestwo versions wherein the function u is twice super-differentiable, consideringthe space Ld and later the space Lp, so that p less than d.The dissertation goes on to demonstrate the relationship between Lp-viscosity sub-solution and Lp-strong sub-solution when u belongs to aspecific space. Next, it is shown that the uniform limits of solutions arealso solutions. Finally, the main result of the dissertation is presented,demonstrating the uniqueness of strong solutions.

It is a well-known fact that drugs can exist in different solid-state forms. These solid-state forms can be either crystalline or amorphous. Furthermore, significant differences are identified between the different solid-state forms of the same drug. Physico-chemical properties that are affected by the solid-state include: melting point, solubility, dissolution rate, stability, compressibility, processability, to name but a few. During the last two decades a significant amount of attention was directed towards the amorphous solid-state forms of drugs. The amorphous form is the direct opposite of the crystalline solid-state. While crystalline forms are constituted by unit cells arranged in a repetitive and structured nature, amorphous forms do not have a long-range order. This lack of order leads to an increase in the Gibbs free energy of such compounds which in turn leads to increased dissolution and solubility. The advantage of improved aqueous solubility and dissolution is a sought after characteristic within the pharmaceutical industry. Improved solubility ultimately could lead to improved bioavailability of a drug. In this study the amorphous nature and stability of amorphous azithromycin was studied. Although previous studies reported that amorphous azithromycin can be easily prepared, there is not a significant amount of data available on the stability of the amorphous form. Furthermore, the effect of milling, mixing, compression, handling and storage on the amorphous form was also investigated. This study showed that amorphous azithromycin remains stable during milling, mixing and compression. A compatibility study on azithromycin when mixed with tableting excipients showed some incompatibilities and this was helpful information to assist with the choice of excipients to be included in the tablet formulation. During the formulation study it became evident that good formulation strategies can greatly improve the flow properties of a drug. The stability of amorphous azithromycin was also studied. During this phase of the study an atypical stability indicating method was used in order to determine and demonstrate the stability of amorphous azithromycin. Dissolution studies were used to illustrate the stability of amorphous azithromycin due to the fact that dissolution is the only method that indicates the phenomena of solution-mediated phase transformation of an amorphous form to a stable crystalline form. During the stability study of six months at 40°C ± 75% RH no recrystallisation of the amorphous form to the crystalline form occurred. It was concluded that amorphous azithromycin will remain stable during processing steps, product formulation and manufacturing as well as during storage for a period of six months at elevated temperature and humidity. / MSc (Pharmaceutics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

It is a well-known fact that drugs can exist in different solid-state forms. These solid-state forms can be either crystalline or amorphous. Furthermore, significant differences are identified between the different solid-state forms of the same drug. Physico-chemical properties that are affected by the solid-state include: melting point, solubility, dissolution rate, stability, compressibility, processability, to name but a few. During the last two decades a significant amount of attention was directed towards the amorphous solid-state forms of drugs. The amorphous form is the direct opposite of the crystalline solid-state. While crystalline forms are constituted by unit cells arranged in a repetitive and structured nature, amorphous forms do not have a long-range order. This lack of order leads to an increase in the Gibbs free energy of such compounds which in turn leads to increased dissolution and solubility. The advantage of improved aqueous solubility and dissolution is a sought after characteristic within the pharmaceutical industry. Improved solubility ultimately could lead to improved bioavailability of a drug. In this study the amorphous nature and stability of amorphous azithromycin was studied. Although previous studies reported that amorphous azithromycin can be easily prepared, there is not a significant amount of data available on the stability of the amorphous form. Furthermore, the effect of milling, mixing, compression, handling and storage on the amorphous form was also investigated. This study showed that amorphous azithromycin remains stable during milling, mixing and compression. A compatibility study on azithromycin when mixed with tableting excipients showed some incompatibilities and this was helpful information to assist with the choice of excipients to be included in the tablet formulation. During the formulation study it became evident that good formulation strategies can greatly improve the flow properties of a drug. The stability of amorphous azithromycin was also studied. During this phase of the study an atypical stability indicating method was used in order to determine and demonstrate the stability of amorphous azithromycin. Dissolution studies were used to illustrate the stability of amorphous azithromycin due to the fact that dissolution is the only method that indicates the phenomena of solution-mediated phase transformation of an amorphous form to a stable crystalline form. During the stability study of six months at 40°C ± 75% RH no recrystallisation of the amorphous form to the crystalline form occurred. It was concluded that amorphous azithromycin will remain stable during processing steps, product formulation and manufacturing as well as during storage for a period of six months at elevated temperature and humidity. / MSc (Pharmaceutics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Physics / Christopher M. Sorensen / Nano-size materials are new materials in an intermediate state between the bulk and atomic or molecular states. Nanoparticles in colloidal solution and their assemblies have the great attention of researchers to investigate the novel fundamental properties and numerous applications. In this dissertation, we investigated the solubility phase transition behavior of gold nanoparticles in colloidal solution. We used the nearly monodisperse gold nanoparticles synthesized by either the inverse micelle or the solvated metal atom dispersion methods followed by digestive ripening. The gold nanoparticles were ligated with alkyl chains, which were dodecanethiol, decanethiol, or octanethiol for individual samples. They dispersed in toluene or t-butyl toluene like large molecules at room temperature. In analogy to molecular solutions, the colloidal solution had thermally reversible phase transitions between a dissolved phase of dispersed single nanoparticles and dispersed-aggregation co-existing phase. A more polar solvent, 2-butanone, was added to the colloidal solution for changing the solubility of gold nanoparticles and adjusting the phase transition temperatures to accessible temperatures. Superclusters formed by the nanoparticles when the colloidal solutions were quenched from a one-phase regime at high temperature to a two-phase regime at low temperature. Solubility phase diagrams were obtained for gold nanoparticles with different ligands in the mixtures of different ratios of 2-butanone and toluene or t-butyl toluene. The explanation from classical ideal solution theory gave the fusion enthalpy of superclusters. Temperature quenches from the one-phase to the two-phase regime yielded superclusters of the nanoparticle solid phase with sizes that depended on the quench depth. Classical nucleation theory was used to describe these sizes using a relative small value of the surface tension for the nanoparticle solid phase. This value is consistent with molecule size scaling of the surface tension. In total these results show that the solubility behavior of nanoparticles in colloidal solution is similar to the behavior in molecular solutions.

The integration of services and products into solutions can open up new business opportunities for firms. This thesis concerns how firms can provide solutions that are perceived as high quality. Solutions are often provided over several years, which implies a changed customer relationship compared to product provisions. Since the solution aims to support the customer’s activities, firms face new challenges when introducing solutions. One challenge is to integrate all components and activities of the solution, and simultaneously support the customer’s activities. In addition, the firm must ensure that the solution and all of its parts are of high quality. Most of the existing research on quality is related to the management of a firm’s internal activities and the interaction during exchange. Within the research on quality, customer orientation means that a firm should manage the relevant product or service to meet customer requirements. When this is achieved, the product or service is of high quality. Since solutions are seen as services and products that are integrated as an outcome, as well as a customer relational process that aims to support the customer’s activities, firms have little to learn from previous research about the quality of solutions. The aim of this thesis is to increase knowledge about how to manage solution quality. The thesis combines insights from research on quality with research on solutions and servitization. Three research questions are answered. The first question concerns the content of solution quality; the second deals with how firms can, with support from interventions, meet the new challenges that arise from solution provision; and the third question concerns how customers can be involved to achieve solution quality. The research questions are answered through five papers based on literature studies and empirical data. The papers contribute to an increased knowledge of solution quality and how firms can work to achieve it. The results of the thesis suggest that solution quality is built on seven quality dimensions: reliability, communicability, internal consistency, empathy, approachability, tangibility, and adaptability. In addition, knowledge of processes and customer relationships are two prerequisites for the concept. These dimensions and prerequisites are supported by interventions that can provide a change. However, it has become evident that whatever intervention is used must be related to the dimensions that are supposed to be improved. Furthermore, customer involvement is argued to be an intervention to support the prerequisites for solution quality, especially during the solution  development. The results of this thesis extend the research on quality by increasing the knowledge of the solution quality concept and by changing the view of customers and their involvement during solution development. / Den här avhandlingen berör hur företag kan möjliggöra så att produkter och  tjänster, integrerade i så kallade helhetslösningar, kan levereras med hög kvalitet. Helhetslösningar levereras ofta över en längre tid vilket medför en förändrad kundrelation till skillnad mot när endast en produkt levereras. Helhetslösningar syftar till att stödja kunden i dess aktiviteter. Det medför att företagen möter nya utmaningar. En utmaning är att få den komplexa helhetslösningen, bestående av olika komponenter och aktiviteter, att passa ihop och samtidigt bidra till att stötta kundens aktiviteter. Dessutom behöver företagen säkerställa att helhetslösningen och alla dess delar har hög kvalitet. Tidigare forskning inom kvalitetsutveckling berör företags interna processer och aktiviteter. När man inom kvalitetsutveckling talar om kundorientering innebär det att företaget med interna medel ska arbeta för att möjliggöra så produkten eller tjänsten möter kundens specifikationer. När detta är uppnått har produkten eller tjänsten hög kvalitet. Företagen har här inga riktlinjer att följa när de ska leverera helhetslösningar som ska anpassas efter kundens aktiviteter och när en så tydlig kundrelation ska utvecklas. Det finns med andra ord ingen vägledning för vad som är kvalitet eller hur man möjliggör hög kvalitet på helhetslösningar. Den här avhandlingen visar vad som ingår i begreppet kvalitet när det gäller helhetslösningar (lösningskvalitet) samt hur företag kan möjliggöra det. Tre olika frågor har huvudsakligen behandlats. Den första frågan besvarar vad lösningskvalitet innehåller. Den andra berör hur företag med hjälp av åtgärder kan bidra till en förändring inom företaget för att möta de nya utmaningar som uppstår med att leverera helhetslösningar. Den tredje frågan berör på vilket sätt kunden kan involveras för att uppnå lösningskvalitet. För att besvara frågorna har ett antal studier baserade på empiriskt material genomförts, och fem artiklar har författats under forskningsprocessen. Artiklarna bidrar till att öka förståelsen för lösningskvalitet och hur företag kan arbeta för att uppnå det. Avhandlingens resultat visar att lösningskvalitet består av sju olika dimensioner: tillförlitlighet, kommunicerbarhet, intern överensstämmelse, empati, nåbarhet, påtaglighet, och anpassningsbarhet. Dessutom är kunskap om processer och kundrelationer två förutsättningar för att uppnå lösningskvalitet. Dimensionerna betraktas som riktmärken för lösningskvalitet som företag kan arbeta mot. Dimensionerna och förutsättningarna stöttas i sin tur av åtgärder som används för att bidra till den interna förändringen inom företaget. Resultaten visar dock att använda åtgärder inte alltid leder till en förändring. Endast noga utvalda åtgärder som relaterar till en specifik dimension möjliggör en förändring. Exempel på en möjlig åtgärd är kundinvolvering. Speciellt vid utveckling av helhetslösningar, betraktas kundinvolvering som en möjlig åtgärd för att stötta förutsättningarna till lösningskvalitet. Resultaten i den här avhandlingen bidrar huvudsakligen till en ökad kunskap om vad kvalitet är när det gäller helhetslösningar. Ytterligare ett bidrag är att föreslå kundens förändrade roll under utveckling och vid leverans av helhetslösningar för att uppnå lösningskvalitet.