The aim of this bachelor’s thesis is to go through the process of preparing a specific repertoire for the purpose of perfomance at a piano competition during the Covid-19 world pandemic. The goal will be to give an analysis of such process, and understand the differences and requirements it entails in comparison to the preparation for piano competitions under normal circumstances.  I have used a journal to relate the process and write about the overall experience, as well as videos from group lessons and other performances, insights from my professor and peers and my own analysis of this method as material to examine this subject.I aspire to provide aid for other musicians who show interest in this topic and look for both ideas and other pianists’ experience in the process of competing.

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The aim of the diploma paper, how is clear from its name, is concept of competitive strategy for the company. Thesis has a few main parts. In the first part is analysis of present status, that reveals the problem. In the next part there are mentioned theoretical solutions of detected problem. The optimum variation of problem-solving is chosen on grounds of results founded in theoretical part. Last part contains resolutions and results of chosen option. Finally there is evaluation of results.

Title:
 Comparsion of the blood lactate level of an elite judokas during training and competition loads Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the lactate level of an elite judokas during training and competition loads and to identify potential relationships with other entering variabilities. Methods: The chosen method was empirical, ie collecting data from its own research and statistical representation of the data and linked to the context with other studies. Results: It was found that lactate levels during competition load increases dramatically over training load and pulse rate has no statistical significance as an indicator of the accumulation of lactate. Key words:
 Judo, lactate, training, competition.

The institutional relationship between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) is ostensibly predicated on shared values and interests. In the area of European security, this relationship has been observed to be both cooperative and competitive; both ineffectual and progressive. In practice, there are numerous accounts of the competitive gridlock at the bureaucratic level and member state in-fighting that counteracts any tactical progress. This analysis examines the relationship between NATO and the EU and the conditions under which they cooperate effectively, or devolve into open competition. Through the lens of three demanding humanitarian crises, this analysis argues that the keys to effective cooperation are institutional autonomy over security and defense measures, and clear positioning of their role in institutional interactions. The first formative interaction between the EU (WEU) and NATO in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1993-1995, 2004) established that Europe required a security infrastructure separate from the NATO's existing military behemoth. It also crucially revealed that international recognition and legitimacy plays a significant role in the behavior and formation of these institutional identities. Months later, the open rivalry between NATO and the EU...

In this dissertation, I examine how buyers and sellers interact in the Massachusetts funeral market. I utilize theories in economic sociology and ritual studies to explain how these interactions coalesce into a functioning market. To do so, I draw on semi-structured interviews with funeral consumers and funeral directors in Massachusetts. Standard economic theories would predict that funeral consumers weigh the costs and benefits associated with each choice they face before purchasing those products that best maximize their individual utility. Economic sociologists respond by pointing out that economic actors face uncertainty, a state in which they cannot assess the costs and benefits of their many options. Instead, consumers rely on 'social devices' - such as social norms and rules - to guide their behavior; however, they are 'intentionally rational' in that they seek to maximize their utility. Rather than thinking of consumers as rational utility maximizers or as uncertain, intentionally-rational actors, I argue that the majority of funeral consumers' purchases are unreflexive and thus cannot be thought of as choices at all. When consumers do make choices, they do not seek to maximize their utility, but instead purchase goods and services that perform what Viviana Zelizer labels relational work. Such purchases serve to define, maintain, or change social relationships. The ways that consumers approach their purchases shape the ways that sellers compete with one another. Because most consumers return to the same funeral home again and again without considering alternative providers and because consumers are socially required to purchase those goods and services necessary to complete the funeral ritual, sellers cannot draw in new customers by lowering prices or by developing new products. With these avenues closed off, sellers must compete by building social networks in their communities; however, they must work to define their network connections in specific ways. Customers must see their involvement in the community as motivated by a desire to contribute to civic life rather than a desire to generate business. Ultimately, then, sellers also perform relational work, and their relational work serves as the main competitive mechanism in funeral markets.

This study compared the effects of competitive basketball experiences, no basketball experiences, and choral experiences of girls in the Gainesville State Training School upon selected personality factors, behavior, and social status.

This study focuses on ways that the size distribution of individuals influences the types and intensities of competitive interactions within a population of aquatic arthropod predators. Three field experiments and one laboratory experiment were designed to test for feeding interference, interference mortality, and dispersal effects within and between larval size classes of the primarily semivoltine dragonfly Tetragoneuria cynosura in Bays Mountain Lake. One field experiment documented the temporal pattern of colonization of large-mesh cylinders by the small, first-year-class larvae during a 30-day period; the results are consistent with passive (density-independent) colonization. A second field experiment examined the effect of large, second-year-class larvae at densities of 1 or 3 per cylinder (14 or 42 m-2) on colonization by small larvae; this colonization was inhibited at the high density of large larvae. In the laboratory experiment, when larvae of the two size-classes were together in the same aquarium, small larvae moved around less than when by themselves (dispersal inhibition). Thus the inhibition of colonization observed in the field may result from interference mortality, rather than from a flight response to the presence of larger conspecifics. To evaluate this interpretation, the third field experiment measured the in-situ functional response of large larvae to each other and to their small conspecific prey. Results suggest a type 1 (linear) functional response, with feeding inteference among large larvae. Moreover, the interference mortality inflicted by larger larvae on smaller conspecifics was apparently more intense on larger individuals within the small size-class. Taken together, the three field experiments and a statistical power analysis show how colonization and interference interact to determine the local density of small larvae, and why such interference effects are difficult to detect experimentally in the field.

This research investigates the use of build-your-own capture the flag ethical hacking simulations to help learners engage and understand penetration testing methodologies. Students in a senior level ungraduated ethical hacking class were tasked with the development of a capture the flag platform that scored participants' progress while exploiting a vulnerable web site. Remediation of the found vulnerabilities was also demonstrated to illustrate secure coding best practices. This work chronicles the development of one of the CTF platforms and the process used to develop it.

Suppression of canopy tree recruitment beneath rapidly spreading thickets of Rhododendron maximum L. (Ericaceae) in southern Appalachian forests is an issue of major concern because of the potential impacts on forest productivity, hydrology and wildlife habitat. Many studies have investigated the causes of seedling inhibition beneath dense shrub understories, but few have uncovered specific mechanisms leading to seedling decline. In this study, I have examined the influence of the evergreen understory (R. maximum and Kalmia latifolia L.) on tree recruitment processes at multiple stages - seed rain, seed bank, and post-establishment seedling growth and survivorship. Effects of dense shrub cover on seed rain and seed bank density and composition were examined using a paired treatment design in which samples were collected beneath shrub-influenced and open understories. A second experiment investigated the influence of R. maximum and K. latifolia density on the growth and survivorship of Quercus seedlings, resource availability, and the rates / causes of seedling damage. I found that neither seed rain, nor seed bank density or species richness was inhibited by the presence of R. maximum or K. latifolia. Forest seed banks were dominated by sweet birch (Betula lenta L.), and were compositionally disparate from the overstory. Analysis of resource competition between shrubs and seedlings indicated that seedling performance and survivorship was a negative function of R. maximum density. Open-canopy light availability, nitrogen content in the organic horizon (litter and humus), and soil nutrient availability were potential resource-related mechanisms. Further, I found that the rates of insect herbivory on Quercus seedlings were positively correlated with R. maximum density. Kalmia latifolia had little influence on resource availability, seedling performance or herbivory rates, and does not appear to have a suppressive effect on tree seedlings. Overall, this research indicates that resource competition is the primary mechanism by which seedling suppression occurs beneath R. maximum, and that increased herbivory on seedlings may be an additional mechanism that demands further study. / Master of Science