This written portion of my thesis chronicles my experience as director and producer of Visionary Futures: Science Fiction Theatre for Social Justice Movements, in collaboration with playwrights, activists, actors, designers, and a dramaturg. In this thesis, I explore the process of creating a meaningful thesis project during the Covid-19 pandemic. I discuss the idea of visionary fiction as created by adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha and how to create theatre within that genre. This thesis chronicles the development and production of three new plays of visionary fiction that wrestle with contemporary social issues, all designed for digital performance. I share my process pairing each writer with an activist to create work that envisioned more just worlds while also being responsive to the current moment. I explore the opportunities and challenges of reimagining the generative writing process, making theatre within a digital medium, and being creative during a global pandemic. This thesis also includes the full text of each play and links to the recordings of the digital productions.

This study has sought answers through semi-structured qualitative interviews with MICE companies from a global perspective, about their experience and experience before and during Covid-19 to gain an insight into the effects of pandemics (Rwigema, P. C. 2020). The study has been based on interviews with nineteen respondents who work within MICE companies and to get the global perspective, the answers from 4 Zoom interviewers and 15 who answer the questionnaire, these people are from different countries.  The material collected has been analyzed together with the theoretical frame of reference which is Butler's TALC model to identify a destination's renewal phase where dramatic changes are made on all levels to give the destination new life and PESTEL framework to identify the various aspects the company uses in the process of Covid-19 effects (Rwigema 2020). Furthermore, the empirical material is also strengthened together with previous research on the main thematizations presented in this study.  The results of the study shed light on how MICE companies have been affected by Covid-19 and how they believe that the corona crisis can best be remedied (Roy, A., Suresh, P., & Nirmal, S. S. 2020). The study shows the extent to which MICE companies have been affected by the pandemic and the obstacles they have encountered along the way. The different parts of the result are in line with the theoretical frame of reference described together with the empirical material of the study.  The more in-depth analysis of the material from the interviews also shows that this type of study can provide additional information in aspects that play a major role in future further studies in the subject as this situation is in an ongoing constant change and development phase. In addition, it is important to mention that this study's focus is to place weight in the survey material based on the conditions that the time frame prior to the survey has provided space for. Several aspects are highlighted during the course of the study, which we believe may play a significant role in further research. The final decision-making in delimitations this study has had, therefore, provides additional scope for further research on the subject. (Roy, A., Suresh, P., & Nirmal, S. S. 2020) / Denna studie har sökt svar genom intervjuer med respondenter från MICE företag i olika länder, för att från företagets perspektiv höra om deras upplevelse och erfarenhet innan och under Covid-19 och få en inblick kring pandemins effekter (Rwigema, P. C. 2020). Studien har byggts på strukturerade (mail intervjuer) samt semistrukturerad (inspelade intervjuer via zoom) med en kvalitativ ansats. Sammanlagt har nitton respondenter som arbetar inom MICE företag deltagit i studien, 4 Zoom intervjuer och 15 mail intervjuer. För att få med det globala perspektivet är svaren från respondenterna som deltog i studien från olika länder. Materialet som samlats in har analyserats tillsammans med den teoretiska referensramen som är Butlers TALC modell för att identifiera en destinations förnyelse fas där dramatiska förändringar på alla plan görs för att ge destinationen nytt liv, PESTEL ramverk har använts för att identifiera de olika aspekter som företaget använder sig av i processen av Covid-19 effekter (Rwigema 2020). samt GAP som ett analysverktyg till teorin. Vidare stärks det empiriska materialet även tillsammans med tidigare forskning kring de huvudsakliga tematiseringar som framställts i denna studie.  Studiens resultat belyser hur MICE företag påverkats av Covid-19 och hur de anser att corona krisen bäst kan avhjälpas. Studien visar i vilken utsträckning MICE företagen har påverkats av pandemin och vilka hinder de mött på vägen. Resultatets olika delar går i linje med den teoretiska referensramen tillsammans med studiens empiriska material. Den mer djupgående analysen av materialet från intervjuerna visar även att denna typ av studie kan ge ytterligare information i aspekter som spelar en stor roll i kommande vidare studier i ämnet då denna situation är i en pågående ständig förändring och utvecklingsfas. Därutöver är det viktigt att nämna att denna studie har som fokus att lägga tyngd i undersökningens material utifrån de förutsättningar tidsramen inför undersökningen har gett utrymme för. Flera aspekter uppmärksammas under studiens gång vilket vi anser kan ha en betydande roll i vidare forskning. Det slutliga beslutstagandet i avgränsningar denna studie har, ger därför ytterligare utrymme att forska vidare i ämnet. (Roy, A., Suresh, P., & Nirmal, S. S. 2020)

Coronapandemin har skapat stora konsekvenser för världens befolkning och i Sverige har restriktioner och rekommendationer införts som begränsat människors liv. Tidigare forskning gällande livskvalitet under pandemin har bedrivits utanför Sverige med kvantitativa mätinstrument. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka upplevd livskvalitet i Sverige under pendemin. Tolv individer, varav sex män och sex kvinnor, mellan 20-52 år med olika sysselsättningar medverkade. Semistrukturerade intervjuer användes vid insamlingen av data och tematisk analys användes vid databearbetningen. Resultatet visade att det sociala livet förändrats, mer tid spenderats i hemmet och att livsstilen blivit mer stillasittande. Det fanns även en större förväntan att kunna leda sig själv i form av att skapa rutiner. Nära relationer och betydelsefulla fritidsaktiviteter ökade livskvaliteten under pandemin medan den begränsade rörligheten i samhället minskade livskvaliteten. Studiens slutsats var att individens förmåga till anpassning avgjorde hur livskvaliteten upplevdes under pandemin. Vidare forskning föreslogs studera livskvaliteten över tid under pandemin.

2020 was the year a pandemic hit the world. Along with that, media was swamped with information about death numbers, epidemiological facts, and an urge to inform people on the current situation. The information campaigns by the Austrian government were no exception. Highlighted in these campaigns were children, especially when it came to the relationship with grandparents or presenting how to keep distance through the display of a baby elephant. A visual analysis of information campaigns was conducted in order to find out how children were presented in these campaigns and to further identify what messages were conveyed in relation to children. Four themes emerged during the research process that gave answers to the research questions posed. The results show that children were shown in relation to their grandparents or their family. Moreover, they were often used to present innocence and in need of protection, but paradoxically also as socially responsible over the health and well-being of the older generation. Often so, they were used mimicking the voice of the initiators of the campaign “Look after yourself, look after me” and even used in relation to distance keeping where a child in a baby elephant costume “taught” adults how to keep distance. Research on children’s representation in media in relation to a pandemic is rather slim and there is an urgent need to gain more knowledge in this area, since this would broaden the awareness of how children are represented and seen by a society the reside within.

The purpose of this study is to find out which leadership styles are effective during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. In this study, the term “effective leadership styles” is used for defining the efficiency level of a leadership style in COVID-19 pandemic. Efficiency level refers to the constructive results which companies could reach due to a specific leadership style. During the pandemic, the main constructive result is the surviving in the market. It has been heavy heartedly witnessed that how dreadful COVID-19 turned out to be. It has affected the whole world. After the great recession that occurred in COVID-19 turned out to be most fatal for whole world economy. It has been seen that difficult for all the businesses to survive. To do so the whole role was of leadership. It was on the leaders whether if they led their company and their followers in right directions or vice versa. It has been seen many well reputed companies have been shedding their costs by downsizing. The proposed study aims to see the role of leadership during this crucial time of COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach — 120 structured questionnaires consisting of 14 statements were distributed to Indian IT companies through online channels such as LinkedIn and WhatsApp. The analysis was performed on the data collected using SPSS. Theoretical Framework — From reviewing the literature about leadership styles, 7 leadership styles have been highlighted as the theoretical basis for our study. The questionnaire has been developed based on the 7 styles. Results – Our study found out that during the pandemic Instruct-style, Transformational, Autocratic, and Strategic leadership styles have high level of effectiveness, and such styles are helping companies to cope with the crisis created by Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile our analysis showed that the Transactional, Laissez-Faire, and Democratic styles are not very effective during the crisis. Thus, our study discovered that during the crisis leaders need to take more autocratic role and give very clear instructions to employees. Study provides useful insights for academicians and marketers to device strategies by understanding the factors that portray how leaders can lead their employees in crucial times like COVID-19.

The corona pandemic has led to many different changes in society, where many companies have had to adapt and readjust to teleworking. This has resulted in different challenges within the working life, for both employers and employees. One of these challenges is how to manage work motivation among the employees. The purpose with this study is therefore to increase awareness of which factors that are important for work motivation among the employees during a forced telework. Furthermore, the aim of this study is to increase awareness of what conditions the employer creates for the work motivation and how the conditions have become valuable for the work motivation among the employees. Previous research about work motivation includes a discussion between intrinsic and extrinsic sources of motivation. Furthermore, it also presents different perspectives of work motivation, both through an individual and organizational. The previous research in the field of teleworking shows that combining teleworking with office work is the most preferable way, since there are several advantages and disadvantages with teleworking. This study is based on qualitative interviews with employees and management within a construction and maintenance company. The result of the study shows that the most important motivational factors for work motivation among employees are related to intrinsic work motivation. These factors are the work itself, responsibility, confirmation and accomplishment. The result also shows that the management of the company has created favorable conditions for the work motivation during the teleworking period. Lastly, the result shows how the conditions that the company has created have become valuable for the work motivation during the readjustment to teleworking. The adjustments that the management have made have created the right conditions for the employees. Because of these adjustments, the employees have been able to perform their working tasks without further issues. Thus the created conditions by the company has contributed to maintaining the work motivation among the employees. / Coronapandemin har tvingat samhället till olika förändringar, däribland att många företag behövt ställa om till distansarbete. Det har resulterat i olika utmaningar inom arbetslivet, både för arbetsgivare och arbetstagare. En av dessa utmaningar är arbetet med de anställdas arbetsmotivation. Syftet med denna studie är därför att ge en ökad förståelse för vilka faktorer som är viktiga för arbetstagares arbetsmotivation vid ett påtvingat distansarbete. Vidare ämnas studien ge en ökad förståelse för vilka förutsättningar arbetsgivaren skapar för arbetsmotivationen, samt hur dessa förutsättningar fått betydelse för de anställdas arbetsmotivation. Tidigare forskning om arbetsmotivation diskuterar kring inre- och yttre motivationskällor samt arbetsmotivation ur ett individuellt och organisationellt perspektiv. Den tidigare forskningen inom ämnet distansarbete visar att kombinationen av distans- och kontorsarbete är att föredra, då det finns både för- och nackdelar med att arbeta hemifrån. Denna studie baseras på kvalitativa intervjuer med anställda och ledning inom ett bygg- och förvaltningsföretag. Studiens resultat visar att de viktigaste motivationsfaktorerna för de anställdas arbetsmotivation är relaterade till en inre motivation. Dessa faktorer är själva arbetet, ansvar, prestation samt bekräftelse. Resultatet visar även att företagets ledning har skapat förutsättningar för medarbetarna som är gynnsamma för arbetsmotivationen under det påtvingade distansarbetet. Slutligen framkommer det att de förutsättningar som företagets ledning har skapat har haft betydelse för medarbetarnas arbetsmotivation under omställningen från kontorsarbete till distansarbete. De anställda har genom dessa åtgärder kunnat utföra sina arbetsuppgifter utan större problem. Således har Företagets skapade förutsättningar bidragit till att bibehålla arbetsmotivationen hos de anställda.

The purpose of the study is to explore in what ways leadership qualities such as delegation in the Fintech sector is different to that of traditional financial sector in times of crisis. The study is conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The findings of this study may theoretically add to the discussion topic for further research on leadership and delegation in times of crisis. From a practical perspective the findings can give leaders insight on what a select group of entrepreneurs in the Fintech sector perceive as important leadership qualities and delegation in times of crisis. A qualitative study was conducted featuring semi-structured interviews with nine leaders in the Fintech sector. An abductive research method has been used, moving back and forth between theory and research and from the empirical evidence identify the common themes of the most important in leadership qualities. The analyses of the empirical evidence showed that there are a few points that support both theory and practice in this specific crisis being, leaders in crisis need to be authentic, trusting, and transparent and have the ability to communicate it to the stakeholders. Although the leadership qualities in crisis varied, there were a few common themes; the importance of trust and qualities such as the ability to take decisions, give clear direction and communication are all in line with theory. What specifically stands out in the Fintech sector, making it different from that of more traditional industries, is that the leadership includes an increased willingness and ability to delegate. Delegation in times of crisis is important as it empowers the team which could further add to a positive resolve of the situation. One of the prerequisites to be able to delegate is the team being experts in their specific area, the other was their mindset and attitude. Fintech leaders also have the notion that leadership in crisis should be the same as is in times of non-crisis and it is imperative to continue to be delegating. The difference compared to more traditional industries can be contributed to entrepreneurial mindset of leaders in the Fintech sector being used to uncertainty and day to adversity of business survival, always ready to adapt their business model. An area for further research could be to do a wider scope and how the crisis affects other sectors.

No description available.

This comparative study examines how the issue of domestic violence is covered and framed in the media during the Covid-19 pandemic 2020. The study compares the potential differences and similarities in the media coverage between the two neighbouring countries Sweden and Denmark. By combining a quantitative content analysis with a qualitative framing analysis the study critically examines the attributes of how domestic violence is covered and framed in the media articles during the Covid-19 pandemic 2020. In both countries the media was quick to cover this issue and has done so quite thoroughly, but even though both countries have similar political views on domestic violence and gender equality, they differed in how they framed the topic. By using the framing theory and the theory of intersectionality to analyse the material the study shows that both countries tended to frame the issue of domestic violence as a social issue that was part of a bigger structural problem. But the study also shows that some of the danish articles had tendencies to present the issue through the perspective of the ​perpetrator and sympathize with the reasons behind the violence. The swedish articles, on the other hand, did not take this perspective. Furthermore the study shows an exclusion of black and coloured people in their choice of pictures and the authors also tend to be white female journalists. ​This study is important because it highlights the media's role in framing the social issue of domestic violence during the Covid-19 pandemic, and framing in the media plays a big part in shaping society's perception about social issues.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic has dramatically altered patterns of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa during the last two decades. In the absence of HIV vaccine, microbicides may offer viable option for protection against HIV infection. Microbicides are products that are applied topically inside the vagina or rectum that act to impede transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Small human chemokines such as RANTES (regulated upon activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted) are currently been investigated as microbicides candidates. A number of N-terminally modified RANTES analogues such as 5P12 and 6P4 with a much higher antiviral potency have been developed and they have strong potential for use as microbicides. Since plants offer an alternative option for cost effective production of protein therapeutics, we evaluated the feasibility of expressing 5P12 and 6P4 in Nicotiana benthamiana species. 5P12 is considered the most promising candidate for use in the microbicide pipeline because it inhibits HIV infection through cellular receptor antagonism. Hence its feasibility of expression was also evaluated in Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato). The two analogues were transiently expressed in the selected plant species via agrobacterium-mediated transfection. For expression in N. benthamiana, two different vectors (pTRA and MagnICON) were used to deliver the two analogues for transient expression. About 6-8 weeks-old N. benthamiana plants were agroinfiltrated via needle injection and vacuum infiltration methods and targeted to four subcellular compartments viz: apoplast, chloroplast, cytosol and endoplasmic reticulum (ER). The agroinfiltrated leaves were replanted, grown in a tissue culture laboratory and harvested after different periods. For expression in L. esculentum, the MagnICON constructs were used to deliver the 5P12 gene into four different developmental stages of tomato fruits viz: mature green (MG), breaker (B), pink (P) and ripe (R) via needle injection. The agroinjected tomato fruits were incubated in a dark cupboard and harvested after different periods. xiii Proteins were extracted from the harvested material and evaluated for 5P12 and 6P4 expression. ELISA results showed expression of 5P12 and 6P4 in N. benthamiana leaves which was detectable at 3-9 days post infiltration (dpi). Similar results were obtained for 5P12 and 6P4, consequently only results for 5P12 are reported. The vacuum infiltrated leaves of both pTRA and MagnICON constructs led to higher yields than the needle injected leaves. The highest yields were obtained with the MagnICON constructs. The highest 5P12 expression level of 603 μg/kg fresh weight leaf tissues (~0.024% TSP) was obtained in the apoplast at 9 dpi. The pTRA constructs had the highest expression levels of 0.63μg/kg FW in the cytosol at 3 dpi. 5P12 was also detectable at 3-9 dpi in L. esculentum, based on ELISA results. The highest 5P12 expression of 23.56 μg/kg FW and pH 4.75 tissues was obtained at the MG stage in the apoplast at 9 dpi. Western blot analysis confirmed the size of plantmade 5P12. Moreover, the plant extracts had anti-viral activity and were not toxic to TZM-bl cells. Our results show that the RANTES can be made in both N. benthamiana and L. esculentum and that the levels are not different from other systems reported previously. Furthermore, this is the first report that a chemokine has been expressed in plants. The quantities expressed were low making the commercial development of a microbicide from these species impractical. However, production of bulky leaf material may enhance the quantities. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2013 / Paraclinical Sciences / unrestricted