Preparation, performances and reaction mechanism for the synthesis of H2O2 from H2 and O2 based on palladium membranes

Taking a critically informed approach, this innovative text examines emerging approaches to social procurement within the context of New Public Government (NPG), and examines the practices of social procurement across Europe, North America and Australia. Considering both the possibilities and limitations of social procurement, and the types of value it can generate, this book also provides empirically driven insights into the practicalities of 'triple bottom line' procurement, the related challenges of measuring social value and the management of both the strategic and operational dimensions of procurement processes. As such it will be invaluable reading for all those interest in social services, public governance and social enterprise

Role of Simulations in the Thai Graduate Business English Program: Can They Engage and Elicit Learners’ Realistic Use of Specific Language?

This research paper aims at exploring the views of Thai adult learners enrolling in the one-year Graduate Diploma Program in English for Business and Management (EBM), Thammasat University, on the use of business simulations in terms of their realistic nature, level of engagement, and usefulness. In addition to the learners’ views, outcomes of four different simulated meeting tasks conducted by a group of four learners were analyzed to explore how realistic patterns of interaction used in those simulations were. The hypothesis of this study is that if the learners find the simulated tasks engaging and representative of the real-world contexts, they are likely to focus on using specific and work-related language to fulfill the task purposes. In-depth interviews with a total of eight EBM students and audio-recordings of simulated meetings were the main data collection methods of this qualitative study. Discussion of the findings led to the conclusion that simulations strived to elicit the use of language which was similar to the authentic generic patterns found in the real world’ business meetings. It further pointed out that the participants believed simulations were likely to assist them in improving their use of specific language to achieve their real-world business operations

Thai Learners’ Construction of Disability Identity in their Website Project: Transitivity Analysis of Process Types

A critical approach to discourse analysis can provide valuable insight into language as a social semiotic system, the discursive construction of identity and the operations of ideology and power. The purpose of this study is twofold. Firstly, it aims to explore process types constituting the transitivity system of language Thai undergraduates employed to enact the identities of the Baan Nontapum Foundation (BNF) or Home for Children with Disabilities, and disability in their website project. Secondly, the study attempts to further examine how and why those discursive strategies were utilized. Relying on Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis and Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics, a critical analysis of the discourse revealed the participants’ utilization of material processes to be far more frequent than other process types. Additionally, the Actor was found to be the participant function associated with the BNF, whereas the Goal and the Beneficiary were most frequently linked with disabled children. This transitivity analysis of process types and participant roles discloses that the BNF plays the role of an active agent that initiates and offers different forms of assistance to disabled children who do not seem to have any strong agency to voice their needs. In spite of being expected to be able to live independently, children with disabilities are represented as those who solely receive assistance which is assumed to be useful for them by others in the society.Keywords: critical discourse analysis, disability discourse, identity, process types, systemic functional linguistics, transitivity analysis.  การประกอบสร้างอัตลักษณ์ความพิการในโครงงานสร้างเว็บไซต์ของนักศึกษาไทยระดับปริญญาตรี : การวิเคราะห์ประเภทของกระบวนการ (Process Types)บทคัดย่อวาทกรรมวิเคราะห์เชิงวิพากษ์เป็นทฤษฎีอันนำมาซึ่งมุมมองเชิงลึกเกี่ยวกับการศึกษาภาษาในฐานะที่เป็นระบบของสัญลักษณ์เชิงสังคม เป็นเครื่องมือในการประกอบสร้างอัตลักษณ์และดำรงคงไว้ซึ่งอำนาจและอุดมการณ์  งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์หลักสองประการ ได้แก่ (๑) มุ่งเน้นศึกษาประเภทของกระบวนการ หรือ process types ที่เป็นส่วนหนึ่งของภาคแสดงในประโยคที่นักศึกษาไทยระดับปริญญาตรีใช้ในการประกอบสร้างอัตลักษณ์ของบ้านเด็กพิการนนทภูมิและอัตลักษณ์ความพิการในโครงงานสร้างเว็บไซต์ให้แก่หน่วยงานดังกล่าว (๒) วิเคราะห์ว่าเหตุใดและอย่างไรประเภทของกระบวนการ หรือ process types ประเภทนั้นๆจึงได้นำมาใช้ในการประกอบสร้างอัตลักษณ์ดังกล่าว  งานวิจัยนี้ได้ใช้ทฤษฎีวาทกรรมวิเคราะห์เชิงวิพากษ์ของนอร์แมน แฟร์คลัฟ (Norman Fairclough) และทฤษฎีไวยากรณ์ระบบและหน้าที่ของไมเคิล ฮอลลิเดย์ (M.A.K. Halliday) มาใช้เป็นทั้งทฤษฎีและวิธีวิทยา ผลการศึกษาพบว่ากลุ่มประชากรตัวอย่างใช้ material processes มากกว่า process types ประเภทอื่น นอกจากนี้ ยังพบว่า Actor เป็นประเภทของผู้แสดงที่ถูกนำมาใช้แสดงภาพของบ้านเด็กพิการ ในขณะที่ Goal และ Beneficiary เป็นประเภทของผู้แสดงที่กลุ่มประชากรใช้นำเสนอบทบาทของเด็กพิการ  การวิเคราะห์ process types และ บทบาทของผู้แสดงในประโยคสะท้อนให้เห็นว่าหน่วยงานบ้านเด็กพิการถูกนำเสนอในฐานะหน่วยงานที่มีความกระตือรือร้นในการริเริ่มการให้ความช่วยเหลือหลากหลายรูปแบบแก่กลุ่มเด็กพิการ ในขณะที่เด็กพิการได้ถูกนำเสนอในลักษณะที่ไร้ความชัดเจนในความต้องการของตนเอง ถึงแม้ว่าสังคมจะมีความคาดหวังในเชิงบวกต่อเด็กพิการ ว่าเป็นกลุ่มบุคคลที่สามารถจะพัฒนาตนเองและดำรงอยู่ในสังคมได้อย่างอิสระ ภาพตัวแทนของเด็กพิการที่ถูกสร้างขึ้นยังคงสะท้อนแต่เพียงความต้องการความช่วยเหลือของเด็กพิการจากกลุ่มบุคคลอื่นๆ ซึ่งมอบความช่วยเหลือจากมุมที่สังคมเห็นว่าเป็นประโยชน์ ไม่ใช่มาจากมุมมองและความต้องการของตัวเด็กพิการแต่อย่างใดคำสำคัญ  วาทกรรมวิเคราะห์เชิงวิพากษ์  วาทกรรมความพิการ  อัตลักษณ์  ประเภทของกระบวนการ  ไวยากรณ์ระบบและหน้าที่  การวิเคราะห์ transitivity 

ความพึงพอใจของนักศึกษาที่มีต่อการให้บริการด้านกิจการนักศึกษาของคณะครุศาสตร์อุตสาหกรรม มหาวิทยาลัยเทคโนโลยีพระจอมเกล้าพระนครเหนือ

This research aims : 1) to study the students’ satisfaction toward Division of Student Affairs services Student Affairs service, Faculty of Technical Education, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok. The division was divided into 5 sections that included the orientation for new students, ethics training and group relations for new students, student affair service, student guidance and counseling service and scholarship service. And 2) to compare of students’ satisfaction on Division of Student Affairs services were carried out. The subjects used in this study were 291 of undergraduate students who studied in 2nd semester in the year 2011. The tool used was a five-level rating scale questionnaire. The data obtained was analyzed by using frequency distribution, percentage, mean, standard deviation, one way Anova analysis and pair differences test using Scheffe method. The statistical significance level of .05 was determined using the SPSS program. The results revealed that 1) the student satisfaction on the Student Affairs services; Faculty of Technical Education is generally high.  The most satisfaction is the ethics training and group relations for new students while the less satisfaction is scholarship services. 2) The comparison of student satisfaction on the services provided by the Student Affairs was conducted in each department. In general, it was found that the student satisfaction exhibited different statistical significance level of .05. Using Scheffe method, one pair difference was found between Department of Computer Education and Department of Teacher Training in Mechanical Engineering. The students from the former had satisfaction higher than that of the latter

Multi-instrumental characterization of porous media: the role of the Spilling Drop Test

Spilling Drop Test (SDT) is a non-destructive method able to characterize water absorption and diffusion on the surface of building materials through the visualization by passive thermography of the spread of a water drop. This method was used in this research to study the surface characteristics as roughness and open porosity of geo-materials considering different methods of statistical treatment of the wet spreading area. The information acquired by SDT was compared with two standardized methods: the saturation test and the capillary absorption test. In order to test the proposed methods a set of ancient roman plaster and modern mocks-up where analysed

Systematising EAP Materials Development: Design, Evaluation and Revision in a Thai Undergraduate Reading Course

Materials design and evaluation have been regarded as inseparable processes for a systematic approach to materials development. But much less attention has been paid to the role and process of revision. This study reports a two-cycle approach to reading materials development for Thai undergraduate students: a first cycle of needs analysis, initial design, implementation and evaluation; and a second cycle of revision, implementation and re-evaluation. The two cycles involved both learners and teachers in providing feedback on the materials post-use, in order to enhance learners’ involvement and motivation and maximise their learning opportunities. The materials integrated the learners’ specific needs, (i.e. poor L2 reading behaviours) within a theoretical framework of cognitive/metacognitive strategy instruction and collaborative work that informed the selection of reading strategies, reading texts and pedagogical tasks. In the first cycle, six units of material were implemented with reading classes in Thailand for a period of six weeks. Evaluation involved students’ tasks-in-process, end-of-unit and use-of-Thai-or-English questionnaires, teacher’s questionnaires, learning journals, interviews and classroom observations. In addition to users’ positive comments on the usefulness of strategies, collaborative work, text topic and a variety of learning tasks, analysis of the findings indicated linguistic difficulties, insufficient amount of time and support from the teacher, difficulties in expressing ideas in English and uncertainty about reading purposes and task procedures. This led to two versions of materials revision—text simplification (TS) and procedural modification (PM). In the second cycle, the materials, revised in response to the first-cycle users’ feedback, were re-implemented and re-evaluated through the same procedures, with the addition of pre-and post-tests, by four groups of Thai students taught by two different teachers. Analysis of the learners’ perceptions showed that the second-cycle materials had met their learning needs, in reference to their comments about reading improvements and the usefulness of reading strategies, and that collaborative work helped increase their awareness of strategy use, text understanding and motivation. Classroom variables, particularly teachers’ scaffolding, played a significant role in enhancing learners’ motivation in terms of their perceptions of text difficulty, text understanding, and text and task enjoyment, as well as positively affecting their task performance. There was no significant difference between the students’ perceptions of the TS and PM materials, except that the TS groups had significantly more perceived text understanding, as they found language use in the texts significantly more accessible. In terms of progress, all TS and PM groups made improvements in their post-test, with Group 1 (PM) and Group 4 (TS) gaining significantly higher means in the post-test. These two cycles of implementation and evaluation offer clear evidence that the reading materials featuring explicit strategy training and collaborative work could raise the Thai students’ awareness of reading strategy use, enhance their reading performance and increase the level of task enjoyment. The present study also suggests the benefits of integrating text simplification and the use of L1 in the reading materials and instruction, as these two measures could build up the students’ motivation as well as level of text understanding. Additionally, to increase motivation and involvement, it is worthwhile focusing on the selection of interesting and challenging text topics, on the design of a task response format which does not require grammatical knowledge and on producing materials with colourful illustrations. Teachers’ careful scaffolding and the clarity of task purposes and procedures were shown to be important variables affecting the classroom atmosphere and the students’ level of task achievement, and thus, need to be taken into consideration when planning guidance for teachers involved in teaching reading course such as that investigated in this study

Mucopexy-Recto Anal Lifting (MuRAL) in managing obstructed defecation syndrome associated with prolapsed hemorrhoids and rectocele : preliminary results

Purpose: Treatment of rectocele associated with prolapsed hemorrhoids is a debated topic. Transanal stapling achieved good midterm results in patients with symptoms of obstructed defecation, nevertheless a number of severe complications have been reported. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a new endorectal manual technique in patients with obstructed defecation due to the combination of muco-hemorrhoidal prolapse and rectocele. Methods: Patients enrolled after preoperative obstructed defecation syndrome (ODS) score, defecography and anoscopy were submitted to the novel Mucopexy-Recto Anal Lifting (MuRAL) combined with a modified Block procedure, and followed up by independent observers with digital exploration 3 weeks postoperatively, and digital exploration plus anoscopy at 3, 6, and 12 months. Operative time, hospital stay, numerating rating scale (NRS), ODS, satisfaction scores, and recurrence rate were recorded. Results: Mean operative time was 35.7 minutes. Fifty-six patients completed 1-year follow-up: 7.1% had acute urinary retention, NRS score was < 3 from the third postoperative day, mean time of daily activity resumption was 12 days, none had persistent fecal urgency, 82% declared excellent/good satisfaction score, significant improvement of 6- and 12-month ODS score, no recurrence of rectocele, and 7.1% recurrence of prolapsed hemorrhoids were observed. Conclusion: MuRAL associated with modified Block technique gave no severe complications and resulted in a safe and effective approach to symptomatic rectocele associated with muco-rectal prolapse. Further randomized studies, larger series, and longer follow-up are needed. [Ann Surg Treat Res 2020;98(5):277-282

CSF Leaks after Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery: A Single Institution Experience

Objective: To review our experience with endoscopic endonasal skull base reconstruction. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of a single-institution endoscopic endonasal patient database from 2014-2019. The CSF leaks were graded based on defect size from 0 (no leak) to 2. The reconstruction method was documented for all patients. Results: There were in total 341 endoscopic endonasal operations for performed parasellar pathology. The pathology was: pituitary adenomas (85%), craniopharyngioma (1.1%), meningioma (2.9%), malignant tumors (0.5%) and other (9.9%). The total postoperative CSF leaks rates were 8.7%, and meningitis rates were 4.4%. The vast majority of CSF leaks were in the first 2 years of endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery. The flaps that were used: nasoseptal flap, middle turbinate flap (vascularized), free mucosal graft, fat graft and fat plug and the combination of these matherials. Conclusion: Reconstruction of skull base defects is of uttermost importance in the prevention of meningitis. There is a slow learning curve in achieving the surgical skills for endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery. The nasoseptal flap is the “work-horse” for anterior skull base reconstruction