The purpose of this research was to explore the fundamental elements that constitute, shape and define the thinking and creative processes embodied in musical style of ten prominent South African jazz pianists. The study was qualitative and underpinned by an exploratory research design. Using a collection of case studies, the study used semi-structured interviews to probe participants’ backgrounds, formative influences, and musical style within a South African context. An analysis of the findings resulted in the emergence of three main themes, namely; Developing a musical identity; Negotiating a personal style; and, Finding the South Africanness in jazz. The first main theme outlined the core influences that shaped the participants’ earliest conceptions of musical style, and thus their developing identities. Family members: modelling their parents’ and siblings’ musical interests, immediate environment, interacting with professional jazz musicians, and the socio-political environment, were found to be highly influential. Other factors included; learning which happened through formal, informal, social and self-directed. Listening and musical preferences were also found to be key to the forming identities of the pianists. The second main theme reflected a progression from an ‘outward’ technical understanding of style to an assimilated ‘inner’ one. The first manifested in the descriptions of noticeable elements in jazz music that have been shaped over time, while the second describes ways in which the pianists’ individual social and cultural experiences inform their musical styles. The third theme highlights participants’ challenge in defining a South African style, resulting in a need to conceptualise a term(s) that would better describe the nature of the music. South African works were found to be at the core of acquiring an understanding of the musical styles of South African jazz pianists. External influences within the South African musical style, and idiosyncratic features based on indigenous musical influences were key to the musical identities of South African jazz pianists. Furthermore, understanding the metanarratives that serve as creative inspirations for these compositions is vital. The study concludes that a South African jazz style represents an amalgam of internal and external musical influences, evolving over time. The incorporation of eclectic musical elements from the indigenous ‘musics’ of the various South African ethnic cultures add an inimitably South African articulation and prosody to the jazz language. The unique histories and narratives of South African jazz pianists have resulted in their distinct approach to the jazz style. / Thesis (DMus)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Music / DMus / Unrestricted

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 subject of the dissertation is a concept for the solution of the graphic and model applications of the travel agency´s visual style. I have concentrated on the main products of the agency such as the travel diary, travel game and pocket lens. I heve elaborated on the model concept of them. In particular I have described the process of the diary ´s creation , from the graphic design to printing and binding. In the appendix I have put the design manual. You can find there all the parts of the corporate identity such as colour definition and measurement of logo, logotype and text. I have also defined the secret area, business card, letter paper, invoice and envelope.

Polish composer Hanna Kulenty (1961- ) is considered a doyen among twenty-first century composers. Her compositions span over 30 years and comprise a wide range of works including solo instrumental works, operas, small and large chamber works, orchestral works and film scores. She experiments and incorporates various post-tonal era elements and devices into her compositions, often creating permanent tension and extreme emotional intensity. This study provides a detailed biography of Kulenty, a brief discussion pertaining to the development of music during the tonal and post-tonal eras and investigates Kulenty's approach to key musical traits (including melody, rhythm and harmony) in the selected string ensemble works in order to determine her musical idiom. Furthermore, this study serves as an essential reference for Kulenty's string quartets and quintet composed between 1984 and 2013. A style transformation pertaining to the selected string ensemble works is discussed. In her early compositions, Kulenty made use of 'polyphony of arches' comprising layers of arches within a large arch structure. Her more recent contributions make use of a single arch moving through different time dimensions, referred to as 'polyphony of time dimensions'. Ultimately, this study serves as a primary foundation for researchers who wish to investigate and discuss any stylistic aspects of the composer's oeuvre. / Mini Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Music / MMus / Unrestricted

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019 / The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of insufficient business planning and good management of SMEs in Gabon have on SMEs’ to survive and grow. Thus, the study examined the relationship between business strategies and SMEs’ organisational sustainability in Libreville (Gabon).The study was a descriptive one which made use of positivist philosophy and adopted quantitative approach. As such a questionnaire which was designed from themes extracted from literature survey was used to gather data from a sample of 30 SMEs. The findings indicated that the lack of business strategy encountered in SMEs in Libreville lead partly to the failure or setbacks of the operation of the organisations. Most common reasons of the failure of SMEs were related to the absence of business plan, the lack of leadership, and lack of appropriate management system. The recommendations are to improve the SMEs in terms of good leadership, importance of business plan, management control system; strategic business management, organisation and employees performance. It further revealed that for the purpose of organisational sustainability, business strategies are regarded as critical aspects to consider for avoiding non-conformances while running businesses. The significance of the study is the framework to identify and optimise business strategies in order to promote successfully SMEs. The study shows the interest of owners of SMEs to set up appropriate business strategies.

This diploma thesis deals with Karel Schulz's novel Kámen a Bolest. In particular, it analyses its language, stylistic devices and scene composition. It also focuses on portrayal of characters and their life in Schulz's textual world. The conclusion suggests an overall interpretation of the signification of this novel, thus offerings a deeper insight into the work. It elucidates its peculiar emotional appeal and narrative strategy with which the author has created his fictional world. The methodology of this thesis is based on Přemysl Blažíček's literary-scientific and interpretative approach.

Corporate healthcare education has changed drastically in the last few decades with few rules for compliance or standardization. A large healthcare company in the Southeastern United States was experiencing inequitable training due to differing teaching styles and instructor skill levels. Guided by Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how corporate healthcare instructors' credentials and experiences affect their perceived self-efficacy and teaching style. Interviews were conducted with 11 purposefully selected corporate healthcare instructors from a physician education team; collected data were then coded and themed. Findings revealed 3 major themes: (a) credentials enhanced the ability to teach, (b) experiences guided each corporate healthcare instructor to their current path, and (c) both teaching styles and perceived self-efficacy were highly dependent on experiences and credentials. Perceived self-efficacy levels increased in tandem with years of experience. A professional development plan was developed to encourage a standardized teaching style for corporate healthcare instructors. Large healthcare corporations may utilize this study to influence future hiring choices by identifying positive traits for new corporate healthcare instructors, identifying instructor needs for professional development, increasing reliability in training for learners, and providing positive social change through better healthcare delivered as a result of better employee training.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of four learning styles (accommodator, assimilator, converger, and diverger) and two different presentation methods (traditional and computer-based) on knowledge acquisition in a university classroom.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Hydrocephalus is a neurological disorder characterised by the pathological accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) within the brain ventricles. Surgical interventions, including shunt placement, remain the gold standard treatment option for this life-threatening condition, despite these often requiring further revision surgeries. Unfortunately, there is currently no effective, pharmaceutical therapeutic agent available for the treatment of hydrocephalus. CSF is primarily produced by the choroid plexus (CP), a specialized, branched structure found in the ventricles of the brain. The CP comprises a high resistance epithelial monolayer surrounding a fenestrated capillary network, forming the blood-CSF barrier (BCSFB). The choroid plexus epithelium (CPe) critically modulates CSF production by regulating ion and water transport from the blood into the intraventricular space. This process is thought to be controlled by a host of intracellular mediators, as well as transporter proteins present on either the apical or basolateral membrane of the CPe. Though many of these proteins have been identified in the native tissue, exactly how they interact and modulate signal cascades to mediate CSF secretion remains less clear. Transient potential receptor vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) is a non-selective cation channel that can be activated by a range of stimuli and is expressed in the CP. TRPV4 has been implicated in the regulation of CSF production through stimulating ion flux across the CPe. In a continuous CP cell line, activation of TRPV4, through the addition of a TRPV4 specific agonist GSK1016790A, stimulated a change in net transepithelial ion flux and increase in conductance. In order to develop a pharmaceutical therapeutic for the treatment of hydrocephalus, we must first understand the mechanism of CSF secretion in health and disease. Therefore, a representative in vitro model is critical to elucidate the signaling pathways orchestrating CSF production in the CP. This research aims to characterize an in vitro culture model that can be utilized to study both the BCSFB and CSF production, to investigate and identify additional transporters, ion channels and intracellular mediators involved in TRPV4-mediated signaling in the CPe, primarily through a technique called Ussing-style electrophysiology which considers electrogenic ion flux across a monolayer. These studies implicated several potential modulators, specifically phospholipase C (PLC), phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase C (PKC), intermediate conductance K+ channel (IK), transmembrane member 16A (TMEM16A), cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and protein kinase A (PKA), in TRPV4-mediated ion flux.

The purpose of this study is to find out how the cultural dimensions effects on management style. In more detailed way this research would like to reveal the differences between the Chinese and Swedish management style based on the Swedish employee viewpoint. Hofstede work-related cultural dimensions and Denison model of organizational culture to high-tech multicultural company has been applied. It is concluded that obvious differences exist between Chinese and Swedish management style and culture has influence on management style. However, since the results are limited in the scope of study cannot be generalized but worth to investigate and validate in future research.