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L’importante augmentation de fluage des plaques de plâtre en milieu humide est un vieux problème dans l’industrie du bâtiment, dont l’origine n’est pas encore établie. Afin d’en comprendre le mécanisme une étude à trois échelles (macro : réponse mécanique, micro : cinétique de dissolution et nano : observation atomique) a été réalisée. Une corrélation forte existe entre le fluage du plâtre en immersion et la cinétique de dissolution du gypse. La concordance de cette corrélation avec une loi de déformation par dissolution sous contrainte, très utilisés en géologie, permet de proposer la dissolution sous contrainte comme un des mécanismes responsables du fluage du plâtre en immersion. L’évolution de la topographie de la surface du cristal de gypse immergé dans une solution aqueuse de gypse est observée par microscopie à force atomique (AFM). La cinétique de migration des marches atomiques est très dépendante de la sous-saturation de la solution, de la force d’appui de la pointe de l’AFM ainsi que des additifs utilisés. L’étude de l’influence de la force d’appui sur les vitesses des marches met en évidence la présence de deux mécanismes complètement différents. A fortes forces (> 15 nN) on observe un mécanisme d’usure de la surface, tandis qu’à faibles forces (< 10 nN) le mécanisme observé semble être la dissolution sous contrainte. L’évolution des vitesses des marches atomiques avec la force appliquée par la pointe est concordante avec une loi connue de dissolution sous contrainte. / The huge enhancement of the creep of plasterboard by humid environments is an old problem in the building industry, but its origin remains unknown. To understand this mechanism a three scales study (macro : mechanical behavior, micro : dissolution kinetics, nano : atomic observation) has been done. There is a strong correlation between wet plaster creep and gypsum dissolution kinetics. The concordance between this correlation and the law of deformation by pressure solution, well-known in geology, permits to propose pressure solution as one of the mechanisms responsible of wet plaster creep. The topological evolution of the cleaved surface of a gypsum single crystal during its dissolution in a flowing under-saturated aqueous solution has been observed with an atomic force microscope. The kinetics of step migration strongly depends on the saturation state of the solution, the force applied by the tip on the surface, as well as the used additives. The study of the influence of the force applied by the tip on the step velocity evidence two different dissolution enhancement regimes. At high forces (> 15 nN) a corrosive wear behavior is observed, while at low forces (< 10 nN) pressure solution is the observed mechanism. The step velocity evolution with the force obeys the known kinetic law of pressure solution.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and analyze the implementation process of KANBAN, a lean technique, into a section of Volvo IT (i.e. BEAT). The KANBAN implementation into BEAT when ‘resistance for change’ and ‘forces for change’ arise is also analyzed. This implementation of KANBAN is equivalent to change taking place in the Volvo IT’s operational process. The thesis follows theories and literature on change management and lean principles in order to support the research investigation. How has KANBAN, with respect to change management, been implemented into an IT organization for its service production? How has KANBAN changed the operational process of the organization?  The research conducted in the thesis is based on qualitative case study. Focused and in-depth interviews, combined with observations, are carried out to obtain the primary data for the case study. The collected primary and secondary data stems from the literature reviewed, which covers the lean principles, KANBAN, and change management. Moreover, the thesis adopts an abductive approach that goes back-and-forth between the theory and the empirical findings in order to develop a model. Due to various factors already existing in the BEAT, minimal resistance to change implementation was found to be present in Volvo IT. This finding indicates that change initiatives found a way to implementation because the predominance of the ‘forces for change’, as compared to, the ‘resistance to change’ is higher in BEAT. The KANBAN implementation into the IT service production is identified to be aligned with Volvo IT’s change implementation objectives. The visualization of the ‘intangible service’ workflow on the Kanban board contributes to identify the source of bottlenecks, which has been removed through effective communication in the BEAT team and better linkages between tasks. The KANBAN effectively deals with change implementation by modifying the way team members work.

Patient safety is one of the top priorities of anesthesia and perioperative care in the operating room. The patient safety is greatly compromised due to administered medication and the actual operating performance in the perioperative care. The risks of anesthesia and the operational performance are many, starting with the fall of the patient, the possible wrong- site, wrong-procedure, wrong-patient errors, adverse reactions to administered medication, difficult airway management or an unexpected perioperative bleeding. Patient harm in hospital care leads not only to increased costs for additional treatment, prolongation of the hospitalization time, but also significantly affects the subsequent quality of life. Most adverse events are preventable, since most of them are caused by susceptible factors, such as incomplete or incorrect information or the lack of communication between the members of the operating team. Due to the increasing number of such adverse events around the world, including those of the most serious, The World Health Organization has created a program called The Save Surgery Saves Lives, whose aim was the identification of key risk areas in ensuring the safety of patients. On the basis of the identified risk areas the Surgical Safety Checklist was introduced in 2008. It is aimed...

The aim of this Master thesis is to analyse the British civil service reforms both in theory and practice. The author picked three areas where the reforms would be scrutinized. By analysing four essential documents that contributed to the reforms of the civil service: The Northcote-Trevelyan report, The Fulton report, Next Steps and Modernising Government, we would be able to evaluate the impact of these changes in the following areas: 1) Human Resources (recruitment, training and the promotion of the civil servants) 2) Administration and Accountability (the aspects of ministerial responsibility, accountability, special advisers) 3) Decentralisation and Fragmentation (impact of the multi-level governance including deconcentration, devolution and EU membership). The first chapter is the necessary introductory part that deals with the basic principles of the British civil service, its history and the challenges it faces today. The second chapter provides analysis and historical background of the four documents that are used in the next section. Finally, the third chapter discusses the three above mentioned problematic areas. By analysing and comparing the documents, we seek to understand the reforms of the British civil service and their impact.

This thesis examines and tests acids and conditions, which make the production of nanoporous ceramic at the thin aluminium layer the most effective and provide the highest quality. This paper describes the production of nanoporous structures with pore size 15-400 nm, depending on the electrolyte. Creating a regular hexagonal structure by electrochemical oxidation is dependent on many parameters that affect the regularity of structure and parameters of the ceramics produced. They were investigated primarily by changes in temperature and input voltage. All results were examined by SEM analysis.

The diploma thesis with the title Problems of beginning teachers. This deals with the issues of beginning teachers during their first years of practice and it also points out the existing forms of support which are available to young teachers in their first years. The theoretical part describes who can be considered a beginning teacher and the preparations of beginning teachers in Czech Republic and abroad. It defines key pedagogical and professional competence problems that new teachers experience at the start of their career. It offers solutions on how to deal with common issues and it also points out the forms of support which is available. The empirical part analyses specific problems which can appear at the start of their careers. Methods used for this analysis consisted of a questionnaire of 70 new teachers and the interview of 2 new teachers from the same primary school. The objective of this method is to find out the problems facing new teachers which appear in the first 3 years of their practice and to see if these issues were the same as the concerns that they had before they started teaching. It also highlights whether new teachers were offered any kind of support, if this support was satisfying and if so in which particular areas. It also finds out the competencies that every teacher...

Beroende klassas som en familjesjukdom som bär med sig negativa konsekvenser för alla inblandade. De anhöriga riskerar även att själva utveckla ett medberoendetillstånd där deras tanke- känslo- och beteendemönster blir självdestruktivt. Inom medberoendelitteraturen råder det dock ingen enighet om hur medberoendet bör förstås eller förklaras och undersökningar av det offentliga anhörigstödet har visat på en hel del brister bland annat genom att inte vara tillräckligt flexibelt och individanpassat. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka hur medberoendetillståndet förklaras och förstås av de anhöriga själva och hur anhörigstödet kan formas för att möta de anhörigas behov. Studien har genomförts genom en mikro-etnografisk metod som bestått dels av observationer i olika självhjälpsgrupper som alla härstammar från Anonyma Alkoholister (AA) och 12-stegsprogrammet, dels av kvalitativa intervjuer med medlemmar från de olika grupperna. Observationerna har genomförts vid totalt 9 olika tillfällen, 8 observationer vid fysiska öppna möten på Al-Anon, AA och ACA och en observation vid ett digitalt zoom-konvent, som hölls av Co-Anon. Intervjuerna var semistrukturerade och med Grounded Theory (GT) som analysmetod använde jag mig av ett teoretiskt målinriktat urval, och efter 9 observationer och 3 intervjuer hade jag nått en teoretisk mättnad. Analysen bestod av kodning i tre steg, enligt GT, och utmynnade i kärnkategorier som hjälpte till att besvara studiens frågeställningar. Resultaten av studien visar att medberoende kan förstås som ett verkligt problem som berör många olika delar av personernas liv där bristen på en känsla för identitet kan ses som kärnproblematiken som de andra delarna härstammar ifrån. Här samlas teman som dysfunktionella relationer, flykt och ärvda mönster. Medberoendet har gett en artificiell känsla av ett jag, som inte varit på riktigt. Medberoendet kan förklaras av de anhörigas dysfunktionella barndom som präglats av negativa känslomässiga konsekvenser, ej tillgodosedda behov och trauman. Stödet via självhjälpsgrupperna berör dels gruppens kultur där viktiga teman är tillhörighet och igenkänning dels handlingsprogram och nya strategier, med teman som personlig inventering och känslohantering. Insikten om medberoendet har varit smärtsam men samtidigt en förutsättning för tillfrisknande och genom gruppen skapas förutsättningar för att hjälpa andra genom att hjälpa sig själva.

Background: Regular physical activity (PA) is critical for children’s health and wellbeing. Despite the numerous health benefits, most Canadian children do not meet the Canadian PA guidelines. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and social restrictions added new challenges to meeting the PA guidelines. Mobile health (mHealth) technology can be leveraged to promote PA among children. Combining gamification with mHealth interventions has the potential to further improve program effectiveness. Thus, “Draco” was developed as a virtual pet smartphone app to increase PA in children using self-determination theory as a framework to promote intrinsic motivation for PA. Objective: The primary objective is to evaluate the satisfaction and acceptability of the Draco app after four weeks. Secondary objectives include evaluating the preliminary effectiveness of the Draco app to improve average daily steps, average daily MVPA, perceived autonomy for PA, perceived competence for PA, and perceived relatedness to the app. Methods: 43 Canadian children, aged 8-14 years old, not meeting the Canadian PA guidelines of 60min of MVPA per day were randomly allocated to an intervention or control group. Participants in the control group used a step-tracking app for four weeks. Intervention participants were instructed to use the Draco app. Participants completed a baseline and follow-up questionnaire. PA outcomes were tracked using a Fitbit provided to each participant. Intrinsic PA motivation was assessed using an adapted version of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI). Intrinsic motivation was assessed using the satisfaction subscale. Exit interviews were completed to determine app acceptability. Results: Participants demonstrated high levels of satisfaction and acceptability with the Draco app 2.83 (1.29). Intervention participants increased their average daily steps by 909 (1701). The control group increased their steps by 46 (1507). The Draco app had a small effect on promoting steps, MVPA, relatedness and small effects at increasing autonomy and competence. Conclusion: Participants demonstrated high levels of satisfaction and acceptability with the app. Participants in the intervention group showed greater increases in PA with small effect sizes. Preliminary evidence highlights the importance of tailoring game design to the users. Technical limitations impacted recruitment and user experiences. Additional development time should be taken to stabilize the app and add new game features for a definitive RCT. / Graduate

This study is comprised of two distinct parts, a chromatographic study and a didactic study.Chromatographic studyThe need for higher selectivity in chromatography purification has increased in recent years. Multimodal resins, offering novel selectivity, are a possible solution to this demand. The purpose of this study is to develop new multimodal resins with novel selectivity, using an iterative workflow. Therefore, eleven novel multimodal ligands were screened according to binding behavior using a high-throughput (HT) method. The mapping of binding behaviors was comprised of six proteins and 32 different binding buffers, with various salt concentrations and pH-levels, to allow for a wide, but efficient mapping. The data generated from the screenings were presented using binding capacity and partition coefficient and were evaluated against each other using principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA created a ligand diversity map, which separated ligands in respect to binding behavior. The information supplied by the diversity map can be used for selecting ligands for further research. The results from presenting the data in the form of partition coefficient and binding capacity were comparable, which indicated that the effects of initial protein concentrations were low. However, this study found that there are advantages and disadvantages to using both quantities. It is possible that some of the ligands screened in this study will be used in further research and it is likely that the diversity map will facilitate the development of ligands with novel selectivityDidactic studyWith a rising demand for HT screening as a method to evaluate the binding behaviors of novel ligands, in combination with the UN’s goal for quality education for all, the incentives for developing quality educational materials for HT screenings have increased. A first step towards educational materials is to outline common difficulties, thereby creating guidelines for developing educational materials. In this study, guidelines for the development of learning materials for HT screenings have been produced. The guidelines were based on identification of critical steps for the experimental procedure and utilizing employer experience of learning materials in general. Two methods for data collection was used in the didactic study: observations and interviews. The observations were performed during the training of the screening method. For the interviews, three individual and one focus group interview were held. Thereafter, a thematic analysis was performed on the data to generate themes. The results from the observations and interviews indicated that the critical steps of the learning process were the practical parts. The result of the thematic analysis showed the identification of three themes: Cohesion, Facilitation and Interaction. These themes generated four aspirational guidelines: 1. Identify crucial steps of the practical procedure. 2. Adapt to people with different backgrounds. 3. Maintain coherence throughout the learning process. 4. Utilize strategies for interaction, both human interaction and material interaction.