Degree Thesis Research Articles

Citation Content Analysis of Master Degree Theses in Library and Information Technology for Improved Research

Citation Content Analysis of Master Degree Theses in Library and Information Technology for Improved Research

GORDON LYALL PAVER (1913–1988) AND 42ND GEOLOGICAL SECTION, SOUTH AFRICAN ENGINEER CORPS: MILITARY GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS IN WORLD WAR II SUPPORTING BRITISH ARMY OPERATIONS: PART 1, THE EAST AFRICAN CAMPAIGN 1940–1941

ABSTRACT 42nd Geological Section of the South African Engineer Corps was a unique unit that supported British armed forces during World War II. It was co-founded and led for most of the war by Gordon Lyall Paver (1913–1988), one of the few ‘British’ officers serving specifically as geologists during the war to achieve the rank of major. Born in South Africa at Johannesburg and in his early years educated there at St. John's College, from 1926 Paver was educated in England, at Charterhouse School until admitted in 1931 to Pembroke College in the University of Cambridge, where he studied chemistry, geology and mineralogy. He graduated in 1934 and returned to South Africa, being appointed to the Geological Survey of South Africa as one of its first geophysicists and contributing to magnetometric and gravimetric surveys in the Transvaal region, expertise used in 1938 to 1940 to draft his thesis for a PhD degree (awarded in 1942). Although married in 1939 and briefly employed as a consultant geophysicist, in August 1940 Paver was one of the first three geoscientists to be mobilized as officers to found 42nd Geological Section, at Zonderwater near Pretoria in South Africa. After only a month's military training, at the end of September the Section and its vehicles deployed by rail and sea to a base near Nairobi in Kenya for operational service in East Africa, with ‘Acting Captain’ Paver as its Second-in-Command. Detachments from the Section were widely deployed in Kenya and later in Italian and British Somaliland (present-day Somalia) and also in Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia) for surveys by means primarily of electrical earth resistivity but also vertical force magnetometer. These guided drilling of wells by another unit of the South African Engineer Corps to abstract potable groundwater— thereby facilitating troop concentrations and forward movements in arid or semi-arid regions during the ‘British’ Army's East African Campaign. Members of the Section also compiled geological maps of Kenya at scales of 1:1,000,000 and 1:2,000,000 and pioneered a military geological unit created within the East African Engineers that supported British forces in the region from 1941 to 1945. The Campaign drew to a victorious close during 1941 and, from the end of August, the Section was re-deployed northwards to a base near Cairo in Egypt. It continued to serve within the British Army's Middle East Command but with leadership now by Paver, promoted ‘Acting Major’ from 31 August and in December ‘mentioned in despatches’ for his earlier distinguished service in East Africa.

TEACHING DISCOMFORT AND TEACHERS OF ENGLISH: TRAINING AND PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES

Teaching discomfort is one of the problems among the themes that permeate studies on Education in Brazil at the moment. This is because the teacher is intrinsically linked to the devaluation, helplessness and neglect of the profession. We focus on English language teachers and their particularities, such as initial education, continuing education and day-to-day practices. This study, which comes from a master's degree dissertation, aims to analyze the working conditions, complaints and deficits of basic training that are present in the pedagogical practices of subjects-teachers of English from the public and private network of the State of São Paulo and, interpret, from semi-structured oral interviews, some teaching malaise and its consequences in the physical, mental health of these subjects and in their daily pedagogical practices. Our analyzes are made in the light of the Discourse Analysis of the French Pecheuxtian Matrix, based on the contributions of founding researchers like Michel Pêcheux and Eni Orlandi, of Freudo-Lacanian psychoanalysis, having as main scholar present in this work Sigmund Freud, of the sciences of Education, with authors who research about the teaching malaise and the identity of the subject-teacher, like Rinaldo Voltolini and Selma Garrido Pimenta, the subject's socio-historicity and its conditions of production.

Research on Quality Management of Graduate Degree Theses in Military Academy

Quality is the lifeline of graduate education, and the quality of graduate dissertation is the most direct reflection of the quality of graduate training. In this paper, the dissertation of the graduate students of the military academy is the research object. The points of this paper includes the quality of running a school, discipline construction and other aspects of dissertation quality management, the "management, guidance, learning" three perspectives to strengthen the basic framework of dissertation quality management, the thesis data collection, proposal, mid-term inspection, review and other processes, respectively clear specific measures, In order to guarantee and improve the quality of graduate dissertations and effectively improve the quality of graduate training.

Nursing interventions in childhood obesity

Introduction: obesity is a chronic disease characterized by a high percentage of fat in the human body, caused mainly by endogenous (genetic), biological and exogenous causes (life habits), representing a serious public health problem. Objective: to know the nursing interventions in childhood obesity. Methods: a systemic review of scientific articles was carried out using the PICO strategy. The search was carried out according to PRISMA parameters where initially 40 articles were obtained, of which 18 were included under inclusion criteria such as: Original studies, clinical trials, systematic reviews and meta-analysis, free access, English and Spanish languages and that have been published. between the years 2019 and 2023; while, the exclusion criteria were: degree thesis and documents that did not meet the inclusion criteria. The databases were: ELSEVIER, MEDLINE, Redalyc, SCIELO, Latindex, Dialnet, Latin REV, Scopus using descriptors in health sciences (DECS) from Bireme and the Medical Subject Headings (MESH) from the National Library of Medicine in English, such as: (interventions) AND (childhood obesity AND (Nursing). Results: nursing interventions focused mainly on improving eating behaviors and reducing sedentary lifestyle. Those related to the family were more successful, because, by training adults the quality of life of the child is improved. Conclusions: The training of nursing staff is essential for the management and care of childhood obesity

Metrology and Feature Analysis of Topic Selection for Master’s Degree Thesis in Engineering Management

Metrology and Feature Analysis of Topic Selection for Master’s Degree Thesis in Engineering Management

Publication Rate of Papers Extracted From the Medical Residency and Master’s Degree Theses of Guilan University of Medical Sciences From 2008 to 2018

Background: research theses can have a significant impact on the development of applied sciences, especially when their results are presented to the public. There are few studies about publishing papers based on residency and master’s theses. Objective: to determine publishing papers based on residency and master’s theses in Guilan University of Medical Sciences (GUMS) during 2008-2018. Methods: this descriptive cross-sectional study retrieved information on residency and master’s theses from 2008 to 2018. Then searched international and national medical databases according to the title of theses, keywords, and the names of supervisors, consultants, and students. Results: 449 (58. %) papers were published from 774 theses. 41.2%, 11.8%, 0.44% and, 46.56% were indexed in type one, two, three and, other types of scientific indexes respectively. 98.66% of papers were original articles. 383 (85.3%) of theses did not have statisticians’ consultants. And the maximum median time from defending theses to the publication of a paper was two years. Conclusion: publication of papers increased at GUMS compared to the past, and more than fifty percent were indexed in scientific indexes types one and two. However, associated factors with the publishing papers process should be surveyed.

Local Grammar Approach to Investigating Advanced Chinese EFL Learners’ Development of Communicative Competence in Academic Writing: The Case of ‘Exemplification’

Abstract This study belongs to a larger project which aims to systematically explore advanced Chinese EFL learners’ developmental pattern of communicative competence in academic context, with the current investigation zooming in on their performance of exemplification in academic writing. It draws on insights from local grammar research, as local grammars have been shown to be able to reliably quantify the lexicogrammatical realisations of a given communicative or discourse act. Using L1 Chinese English-major students’ MA and PhD degree dissertations as the data, the investigation shows that, although their overall use of exemplification remained steady from MA to PhD levels of study, there are significant differences with regard to their preference of exemplifying strategies as well as their lexicogrammatical choices they used to realise exemplification. The study not only has implications for academic writing research, assessment and pedagogy, but also offers a useful methodological approach to longitudinal investigation into EFL learners’ development of communicative competence in academic context.

The Process of Providing Integrated Design Solution for Child’s Psychological Reluctance by Multiplication of Matrices

Having problems with child's healthy nutrition has significant physical and psychological effects, both in childhood and throughout life. In this study, which results from master degree thesis of Industrial Design, in order to clarify the methodology of industrial design in designing interactions as well as psychological infra-structure of interaction with the child, it has been intended to develop concepts of trends in the field of child design elements and the child’s desire by addressing independent variables determined from the phenomenon. Since emphasis was placed on the psychological dimension of mentioned problem, in this study, the interactions of influential variables in child acceptance of healthy nutrition were examined by means of Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) technique. Then, after recognizing the psychological ergonomic factors, a suitable methodology for child design was presented. In the problem identification phase, independent variables of problem of not being feed 3 to 6 years old children by healthy nutrition (assumed there is sufficient and easy access to resources) were shown. In order to identify the variables related to the problem, in-depth study of keyword-related fields was conducted among previous scientific sources, standards and researches. Also, in order to qualitatively evaluate the phenomenon as a human social experience, valid questionnaires of children’s eating habits and behavior were reviewed and the questions were rewritten under the supervision of industrial design and child psychology experts. Then they were distributed in the form of an open questionnaire with interview support to parents and the answers related to each variable were categorized separately. Then, in order to investigate the extent and manner of effect of dependent and independent variables in creation of the problem, placement of variables in graph space with the matrix vector multiplying act was used. Finally, in order to perform Meaning Driven Design as possible as comprehensive and integrated solution, related parameters in each phase were placed into matrix, and the final trend was defined as an overview diagram. The results of this study showed that the main reason for lack of acceptance of healthy nutrition is in any way, not complying with sensory parameters of aesthetics and psychological ergonomics of child. Also, this issue can be re-studied from the perspective of user experience after studying and determining the integrated design method of those parameters along with training nutritional behavior in the form of controlled feeding process.

The Tractors and Agricultural Machinery journal increases the level of publications

Based on the results of re-registration and based on the results of 2022, the Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia included the journal Tractors and Agricultural Machinery in the list of peer-reviewed scientific publications in which the main scientific results of dissertations for the scientific degree of Candidate of Sciences, for the scientific degree of Doctor of Science should be published (information message ref. No. 02-1198 dated 12/06/2022).
 And according to the coefficient of scientific significance, our journal is classified in category K1 (that is, in the top 25% of the total list of 2587 peer-reviewed scientific publications).
 Tractors and Agricultural Machinery simultaneously expanded the list of scientific specialties in the branches of science in which academic degrees are awarded: six new specialties were added to the previous four.

Doctoral Contribution to Nursing Science in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Document Review.

Nursing science is at serious risk of extinction. The lack of funding for research, absence of healthcare policies underpinned by nursing science, and general lack of understanding of nursing metaparadigms all contribute to the stunted growth in nursing science. Doctoral research is a platform for the development and refinement of nursing science. The purpose of this qualitative retrospective document review was to describe the doctoral contribution to nursing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Electronic dissertations for doctoral degrees in nursing within a 5-year period from universities in SSA were included. The extracted data comprising the purpose of the studies, the models used in the studies, and the studies' contributions to nursing science were analyzed against a knowledge contribution framework. In total, 166 documents were included, mostly from South African universities, with a predominant focus on developing models, frameworks, and strategies within nursing practice. Only 17% of the studies applied grand nursing theories or models, with the rest of the studies applying theories from other disciplines. The contribution to nursing science from the doctoral studies was poor. The low uptake of nursing models in doctoral research in SSA may significantly contribute to the lack of refinement of nursing science within SSA. Structured approaches focused on integrating the nursing metaparadigms, theories, and models and fundamental underpins for doctoral education in Africa are essential to influencing the refinement of nursing science.

ПЕРСПЕКТИВНИЙ РОЗВИТОК ТЕРИТОРІЇ САНАТОРІЮ «КУЯЛЬНИК»

The article examines the historical prerequisites for the formation of the territory of the "Kuialnyk" sanatorium and the development of its space over time. The general characteristic features of the site were identified, and the strengths and weaknesses of the site, prospects, and opportunities for its development were analyzed. The problems of the territory around the Kuialnytskyi estuary attract the attention of the public and encourage the creation of conceptual searches for solutions for the organization of the resort area. A detailed review of the infrastructure showed that the functional structure is a comprehensive framework for meeting the needs of the user. However, the condition of many structures and buildings makes them unsuitable for use. This underlines the necessity of implementation of restoration and reconstruction actions. Transport connections are such that form connections with the city and surrounding settlements, but at the same time do not sink deep into the site. Pedestrian routes are branched only on separate fragments of the territory but allow connecting parts of the territory at different heights. One of the problems is the separation of the embankment from the main part of the site by a road. The existing green framework of the territory of the Kuialnyk resort can be described as extensive greening with the predominance of steppe plants. Its further development with the help of new plantations is desirable. Access to water is one of the key aspects of the site. The compositional structure of the site is generally harmonious, formed by a hierarchy of main and secondary elements. The accent-dominant composition of objects on the site forms a scenario of interaction between man and the environment. The research considers a sketch proposal for the design of the environment of the rehabilitation center on the site of the existing "Kuialnyk" sanatorium, which was developed as part of the master's degree thesis project. The thesis project presented for consideration in the article considers the further development of the Kuialnyk sanatorium area through the prism of expanding the existing material and technical base and preserving important monuments on its territory.

Ensuring Sustainable Academic Development of L2 Postgraduate Students and MA Programs: Challenges and Support in Thesis Writing for L2 Chinese Postgraduate Students

This study, based on Activity Theory, investigated the challenges and support for L2 Chinese postgraduate students in their master’s degree (MA) thesis writing. The five participants, currently PhD candidates in applied linguistics, shared their experiences of MA thesis writing. The data include multiple drafts of theses and semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis reveals that these participants went through four kinds of challenges: (1) selecting the research topic and theoretical basis; (2) meeting the high requirements of MA theses, using new research tools, and overcoming linguistic barriers; (3) writing the literature review; and (4) writing the discussion. The findings reveal the challenges were caused by four levels of inner contradictions in activity systems. The main support was provided by their supervisors, whose tailored help was more effective than the related courses they took. More sources of support came from their fellow students, the assessment panels of the research proposal, and the thesis defense. The analysis illustrated how these participants managed to receive support by interacting with the academic community. This study is expected to shed light on postgraduate education in general and the sustainable development of individual students and MA programs. Its implications may not only benefit Chinese L2 postgraduate students and their supervisors but also those in similar EFL contexts.

토픽 모델링과 언어 네트워크 분석에 기반한 한국어 발음 연구 동향 분석

Objectives This study aims to analyze Korean language education pronunciation research trends using topic modeling and language network analysis and suggest future research tasks and development directions. Methods Using Netminer 4.5 as a tool, 424 dissertations and 517 academic journal papers in the field of pronunciation in Korean language education were analyzed focusing on the title. Results This study aims to analyze Korean language education pronunciation research trends using topic modeling and language network analysis and suggest future research tasks and development directions. As a result of the analysis, the first research on degree papers began in 1989 and academic journal in 1962, and a total of 719 studies were conducted, including 76.4% from 2008 to 2022. By period, research increased rapidly in the 2008-2012 period compared to the 2003-2007 period. In terms of frequency, degree papers were studied in the order of ‘learning’, ‘education’, ‘Chinese’, and ‘plan’, and in academic journal, ‘learning’, ‘education’, ‘Chinese’, and ‘analysis’. Looking at the pair of words in which two words appear at the same time, both the degree thesis and the academic journal showed the highest connection strength between the words “Chinese-learning”. Conclusions First, research is needed targeting learners of various nationalities. Second, there should be a study to analyze the difference by learner's mastery. Third, various perceptual experiments should be conducted. Fourth, more research is needed on pronunciation of the syllable-final liquid ‘ㄹ’ and syllable-final nasals.

EAP reading ability development during the process of generating research questions: A CDST perspective

Employing the complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) perspective, this case study reports on how three Chinese graduate students majoring in psychology developed their English for Academic Purposes (EAP) reading ability and to what factors they attributed the development in the process for generating research questions for their degree theses. Their EAP reading ability development was investigated by analyzing their reading performance on fourteen journal articles during one semester on a weekly basis from a CDST perspective. Four dimensions of EAP reading ability were investigated and were examined by 14 reading tests, two synthesis writings, and two presentation tasks. The factors that they attributed to were explored by weekly semi-structured interviews. The results revealed that, i) the reading comprehension ability of the three students showed different non-linear development patterns and finally reached a high level; ii) ability to analyse how research questions were proposed developed slower but finally reached a satisfactory level; iii) the synthesis ability developed even slower; and iv) critique ability only developed at a preliminary level. Major influential factors included students' disciplinary knowledge, vocabulary, and the supervisor's guidance. This study may shed light on EAP reading instruction and degree thesis writing.

Multi-Technique Approach by Traditional and Innovative Methodologies to Support the Restoration of a Wall Painting from the 16th Century at Palazzo Gallo in Bagnaia, Viterbo, Central Italy

This paper summarizes the main results of the study, diagnostics, and restorations conducted and applied to a 16th century wall painting (a portion of the frieze and the Riario coat of arm) in Palazzo Gallo (Bagnaia, Viterbo district—central Italy) recently concluded, which was also the subject of a master’s degree thesis in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage at the University of Tuscia, Viterbo. Innovative imaging techniques were used for the first time on a wall painting on-site: hypercolorimetric multispectral imaging (HMI) and pulse-compression thermography (PuCT), combined with more traditional analysis such as X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and cross-section investigation. HMI allowed for mapping the conservation status before and after the removal of the scialbo layer that covered the original paintings. It also allowed different areas of the painting to be compared and for verifying the effectiveness of the cleaning. PuCT enabled the detection of cracks and discontinuities in the ground layers and to evaluate the depth of such anomalies, giving valuable support in the consolidation step. Moreover, passive thermography was used to monitor the penetration level of a hydraulic mortar in real time, a technique that was greatly helpful for verifying the successful fill and consolidation of voids beneath the pictorial layer. Overall, the multi-technique approach reported here was of considerable assistance for restoration of the mentioned artwork, the result of which has also been documented.

Treatment of Acid Hydrolysis of a 1900 Large-Scale Composite Artwork by the Artist Roberto Sebastian Matta: Comparison between Traditional and Innovative Deacidifying Methodologies

This work was carried out for a master’s degree thesis concerning the conservation of a contemporary artwork made by the surrealist artist Roberto Sebastian Matta. The artwork is a large (one central panel 180.3 × 405.1 cm; two side panels 179.1 × 150.6 cm) triptych created in 1974 with pastels on tracing paper adhered onto canvas as a secondary support. After thoroughly studying the execution technique and conservation status of the artwork, several issues arose, including a strong acid hydrolysis of both the paper and canvas supports. We focused our intervention on deacidification treatments by comparing either traditional substances, such as calcium propionate in an alcoholic solution, or more innovative methods, such as a nanostructured calcium hydroxide in isopropyl alcoholic solution. Acid hydrolysis degradation was the most difficult issue to address because of the size of the artwork and for the different sensitivities to aqueous methods of the materials used to make the artwork. For the first time to our knowledge, we used an innovative deacidification method consisting of nanostructured calcium hydroxide particles. This intervention would allow the homogeneous atomization of the deacidifying agent in alcoholic solvents to be safe and effective for the work as a whole.

Ramadan fasting and type 1 diabetes: a scoping review protocol

IntroductionRamadan fasting is globally observed and a great majority of the residents of Islamic countries and elsewhere fast during Ramadan all across the world every year. Many patients with type...

Hidden Information in a Thesis Evaluation Rubric: A Civil Engineering case study

The objective of this article is to analyze the information provided by the rubric for evaluating a thesis for a Civil Engineering degree. For this, it selected forty-one thesis reports from 2018-2022 on the Civil Engineering career at the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (Ecuador). Surprisingly, the hidden information in the rubric was a bias from the thesis committee and the student's sex. The academic tool also showed limitations in its evaluation criteria, so it must be restructured or recreated. Administrative situations must be modified because is affecting the principle of the rubric. The procedure used can serve as a reference to evaluate other rubrics in similar areas of knowledge. This study shows the biases that can occur in the thesis evaluation tools and are still in use today.

On the Possibility of Dissertation for Candidate of Science Degree Submission in the Form of a Report Prepared Based on the Published Works

The paper deals with the possibility of presenting a candidate of science degree dissertation in the form of a scientific report prepared based on a set of works previously published by the applicant in the relevant field of science, which are of great importance for science, engineering and technology. The author considers the experience of regulating this format in relation to a doctoral dissertation, including organizations exercising the right to independently award academic degrees. The main characteristics of this format are studied, including the requirement that a wide range of specialists know the results of research and development. The possible risks and consequences of introducing the format of a candidate degree dissertation in the form of a scientific report, associated with the refusal to formalize the materials of a scientific research in accordance with the uniform rules for preparing a dissertation manuscript, are assessed. Possible changes in the normative legal acts on the publication activity of the applicant for a scientific degree, on the requirements for the structure of a scientific report are analyzed.