Cette étude porte sur la poétique du paysage dans les œuvres de J.-M.G. Le Clézio. Elle s’inspire essentiellement de la critique phénoménologique et de la critique thématique, en considérant la relation au paysage comme une expérience perceptive et comme une expérience imaginaire. Le paysage comme expérience terrestre est lié à la perception, à la sensation et à l’émotion des personnages. Il se dévoile par le mouvement dans l’espace et constitue des topoï. Le paysage urbain contraste avec le paysage naturel pour présenter une pensée de la modernité. Le paysage comme construction imaginaire renvoie à la conscience, à la mémoire, à la contemplation et à la rêverie. Il s’associe à la pensée primitive, à la pensée mythique et à la pensée animiste. La description du paysage possède des fonctions diégétiques et sémiotiques et elle participe de manières différentes à la narration. La géographie et l’art pictural influencent la présentation du paysage leclézien. Les signes différents collaborent pour créer une tension entre la fiction et la réalité, entre le lisible et le visible. L’écrivain est toujours à la recherche d’un art total et accompli. Rendant le récit « poétique » et « géopoétique », la figuration du paysage sert à mettre en évidence une harmonie cosmique et un équilibre artistique dans les œuvres lecléziennes. / This study focuses on the poetic of landscape in the works of J.-M.G. Le Clézio. Its theoretical foundation lays on phenomenological critique and thematic criticism, which views the landscape as a perceptual experience and an imaginary experience. Landscape, as an “experience on earth”, demonstrates the perception, sensation and emotion of the characters in his literature. It is revealed by spacial movements and certain topoi. The writer compares the urban landscape with the natural landscape to present a thought of modernity. As an imaginary experience, the landscape is associated with consciousness, memory, contemplation and reverie, which reflect the primitive thought, mythical thought and animistic thought of the writer. The description of landscape bears both diegetic and semiotic functions. It participates the narration in various ways. Futhermore, geographical ideas and pictorial arts also influence the presentation of Le Clézio’s landscape. From subtle signals in his works, we can find a tension between fiction and reality. The writer seeks for an accomplished art, creating a cosmic harmony and an artistic balance through the presentation of landscape.

Multiplicity is a key challenge and opportunity of world politics, yet scholars continue to struggle to do it justice. One way of reducing the challenge multiple times and spaces present us with has been to organise them allochronically, to align spatial difference in temporal sequence. The effect is a story where others are not different, they are just behind. Scholars have criticised this thinking as it appears in “Western thought”. In recent years, suggestions have emerged that Chinese thought may offer an alternative that escapes allochronic thinking, most notably through the foreign policy-driven concept “harmonious world”. Scholars have studied this term with the aim of finding out its true meaning. This thesis asks instead what “harmony” – and more specifically “harmonious world” – does when it is deployed in contemporary China. It traces the concept across several contexts: the policy documents and speeches that launched it as an official term; the academic literatures that asked what a harmonious world might look like; the propaganda at Expo 2010 Shanghai China that aimed to illustrate it; and the online spoofing culture egao that was used to criticise, resist and avoid “harmonisation”.The key claim of this thesis is that “harmonious world”, as articulated in the contexts examined here, has not taken place, is not taking place and will not take place. Ways of thinking about time, space and multiplicity in China’s relation to the world, and particularly “harmonious world”, repeat the allochronising logic recognisable from “Western” discourses, which disallows the openness of the future and reduces the possibilities of harmony and of the political. As an effect of its excessive proliferation harmony disappears as an imagined metaphysical possibility . The harmonious system is not based on co-operation or non co-operation, but works according to what this thesis calls an onco-operative logic: the quasi-suicidal logic of cancer and the (auto)immune. Ultimately, the aim and most important contribution of this thesis is to bring the onco-operative uncertainty of the political back into the harmonious world concept in order to elucidate the negotiation of danger and necessity of multiplicity.

Otimização estrutural é uma área relativamente nova que vem sendo cada vez mais explorada. Existem muitos métodos clássicos, e outros mais recentes vem surgindo para disputar em eficiência, confiabilidade e rapidez na obtenção de um resultado ótimo. Os algoritmos são classificados em algoritmos determinísticos, que utilizam a informação do gradiente, ou seja, usam os valores das funções e suas derivadas, e os meta-heurísticos, algoritmos de otimização aleatórios que são métodos probabilísticos não baseados em gradiente, ou seja, usam somente a avaliação da função objetivo. São apresentados dois algoritmos meta-heurísticos relativamente recentes: o Harmony Search, baseado na improvisação musical em busca da harmonia perfeita, e o Firefly Algorithm, que é inspirado no comportamento da luz dos vagalumes. Vários exemplos clássicos de treliças 2-D e 3-D considerando otimização paramétrica e de forma, com restrições de tensão, deslocamento, flambagem e frequência natural, são apresentados para demonstrar a eficiência dos métodos. Os resultados são comparados aos de outros autores usando diferentes métodos encontrados na literatura. Os resultados indicam que os algoritmos de otimização estudados neste trabalho são melhores ou tão eficientes quanto os demais. Por fim, os métodos são aplicados à estrutura de um projeto de engenharia adaptado. / Structural optimization is a relatively new area that has been increasingly exploited. There are many classical methods, and newer are emerging to compete on efficiency, reliability and speed in obtaining an optimal result. The algorithms are classified into deterministic algorithms, which use the gradient information, i.e., use the values of the functions and their derivatives, and meta-heuristic algorithms, random optimization methods which are probabilistic methods not based on gradient, i.e., they use only objective function evaluation. Two relatively recent meta-heuristics algorithms are presented, Harmony Search, based on musical improvisation in search of the perfect harmony, and Firefly Algorithm, which is inspired by the behavior of the light of fireflies. Several benchmarks of 2-D and 3-D trusses considering size and shape optimization, with stress, displacement, buckling and natural frequency constraints, are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the methods. The results are compared to the others authors using different methods found in the literature. The results indicate that optimization algorithms studied in this work are better than or as efficient as others. Finally, the methods are applied to the structure of an adapted engineering design.

The study investigated the relative effectiveness of different proportions of time spent on physical and mental practice, in the context of a music performance of a tonal pattern over harmonic progressions of two difficulty levels. Using a sampling without replacement procedure, sixty undergraduate students were assigned to four practice groups partially blocked for musical instrument. The groups included a physical practice group, a mental practice group and two combined mental and physical practice groups in the proportions of (a) 66% physical and 33% mental, and (b) 33% physical and 66% mental. Each subject performed a pretest, a 3 minute practice session, and a posttest on both harmonic progressions. Presentation of the harmonic progressions were counterbalanced to control for practice effects All pre- and posttests were recorded and scored according to number of note errors. An ANCOVA procedure using pretest scores as covariates revealed that: (a) there were no differences between the different practice groups on the measure of note errors, (b) there was a significant difference between the two harmonic progressions on the measure of note errors, such that performance on the easy progression was significantly better than performance on the hard progression, and (c) there was a significant interaction between harmonic difficulty level and the practice groups. Post hoc comparisons between the adjusted means of the practice groups on the two tasks revealed that for the mental and the 33:66 combined practice groups, groups consisting of a higher percentage of mental practice, performance on the easy harmonic progression was significantly better than on the hard harmonic progression. However for the physical and the 66:33 combined practice groups, groups consisting of a higher percentage of physical practice, performance on both harmonic progressions was not significantly different and was as good as the performance of all practice groups on the easy task.

The method of taking into account assessed losses in calculating the taxable income of mining companies is of significant importance following the Armgold/Harmony Freegold case. In this case, the court had to determine the method of calculating a mining company’s taxable income where at least one of its mines incurred a loss and where nonmining income was also derived. What constitutes an assessed loss, and the order in which it should be applied in calculating a mining company’s taxable income, was central to this case. In this study, the different approaches adopted by the parties to the case in order to determine whether there is an assessed loss, and the order in which it should be utilised in calculating taxable income, was analysed and compared to an analysis of the provisions of the Income Tax Act. In terms of this comparison, the judgment was found to be in accordance with the current legislation in the Income Tax Act. There is, however, a lack of updated guidance on matters relating to mining tax as is evident from the different interpretations of the provisions of the Income Tax Act by the parties to the case. Further research is therefore recommended in order to provide updated guidance to mining companies. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / am2014 / Taxation / unrestricted

This diploma thesis deals with a concept of a word and a picture, it compares these two terms, identifies the differences and describes their mutual relationship. It charts those two terms as means of communication and as bearers of meaning. It also describes different ways to combine them in art - it explores presence of a word in paintings in both historical and contemporary art. Didactic part of the thesis is focused on a use of text in art and its meaning. It contains an art project which aims to transfer a text into a picture - to translate a literature into language of art. The project resulted in a series of staged photographic self-portraits representing personal reflection of a topic presented in a literature. Practical part reflects examined relationship of the word and the picture. It refers to the results of the theoretical part and describes author's personal standpoint. Author refers to different ways of connection of the text and fine art and updates them. Author tries to portray a word as a picture which becomes either paradox or harmony.

The journey towards healing and transformation in Africa is a continual process, which calls all sectors of society to continually commit towards creating avenues of healing. Rituals have been identified and introduced as a guiding framework for the study as they are widely accepted as a strategy to provide healing and transformation. The study assumes that these rituals can be used as vehicles to tell our stories in order to recreate a community of hope. As such the study has attempted to establish this relationship and assess if these rituals of atonement can be used creatively by the church to bring healing and transformation. In order to elucidate the inherent similarities between biblical and African concepts of atonement the study used theological and exegetical tools to analyse these concepts. The study established that the rituals of the Day of Atonement described in Leviticus 16 have certain similarities with some African rituals of atonement and reconciliation. The Leviticus rituals of atonement provide deep ethical and theological foundations that can positively inform the work of reconciliation in our social, economic, religious and political scene in Africa. The study then concludes that a constructive use of the Bible and the concept of atonement in the Old Testament will benefit Africa in its endeavour to bring about reconciliation. However, in the background lies the assumption that the relationship between Africa and the Bible is not an innocent one. It is then recommended that our approach towards the Bible embraces and treats with sensitivity the fact that the same Bible has been used previously in Africa to shape ideologies like apartheid and liberation ideologies and as well as demonising some of the traditional African cultures and religious expressions. Nevertheless, both the biblical and African views of life indicate that the primary goal of rituals is a community of peace, friendship, purity and creative harmony. In view of the resemblances between the Day of Atonement rituals and the African rituals that have been explored we can safely use the Bible in order to contribute to the continual work of reconciliation in Southern Africa. / Dissertation (MA (Biblical and Religious Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Biblical and Religious Studies / Unrestricted

Title: Taoism and health: selected aspects Objectives: The first objective of this thesis is to present and interpret Taoist way of thinking with a special emphasis on its teachings regarding health. The second objective is to presents selected aspects of this 'spiritual philosophy' and its health benefits (nutrition, fasting, breathing and physical exercises and others) and tests them against currently available scientific studies. The prolonged goal would be to point out methods which complement the techniques and processes of western health care systems. The third objective examines the legislative situation in the Czech elementary education system regarding the health education topic and beneficial effect of Taoist methods to use. Methods: This master thesis is purely theoretical, focusing on the analysis of primary and secondary source material with continuous and subsequent synthesis. These methods have been complemented with compilation and comparative methods. Results: Based on the available source material, the Taoist way of thinking has been presented including his approach to health. Furthermore, traditional Taoist health promoting practices which were also an inspiration for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) were being discussed. Based on scientific articles and studies, benefits and...

This thesis is about playing duo with double bass and voice and how I as a double bass player should play to make the music as interesting as possible but also to make the singer the most comfortable. As a bass player, I don’t have the luxury of playing several intricate chords in the same extent as for example a piano player and learning to be clear and precise in my playing is a skill that takes many years to master.  The methods I’ve chosen to explore this is composing short examples of songs for voice and double bass where I first play around with harmony and different bass notes on specific chords to make the harmonic progression clearer. I’ve also composed a short example where I play the same bassline in three different octaves. The purpose of this was to explore which of these registers was the most comfortable and what feeling the different registers gave.  In the next part of the project, I analyze my results and write music inspired by my findings to be performed at my exam concert which took place the 21st of February in Nathan Milsteinsalen at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. The band consisted of six singers and double bass.   Concludingly, I state that the results are varied. The results for the harmonic experiment had individual aspects amongst the singers and could not specify a general rule of thumb. As for the register experiment, I found that the two lower registers we’re the most comfortable although the highest gave an interesting feeling. / <p>Devil May Care (Bob Dorough), The Way You Look Tonight (Jerome Kern &amp; Dorothy Fields), Weathered (August Eriksson), The Lovers (August Eriksson), Clouds (August Eriksson), Se Mig (August Eriksson).</p><p></p><p>Medverkande:</p><p>August Eriksson - kontrabas</p><p>Emma Jansson - sång</p><p>Emmalisa Hallander - sång</p><p>Amanda Sandorov - sång</p><p>Selma Pinton - sång</p><p>Ella Cronberg - sång</p><p>Jenny Hedman - sång</p><p></p><p>bifogade ljudbilagor är:</p><p>- examenskonserten</p><p>- utdrag ur "Se Mig"</p>

An exploration of harmony in architecture, design, and sustainable community development. / Master of Architecture