Magister Educationis - MEd / This study investigates the factors that conditioned the establishment of, and responses to, a centrally coordinated, institution wide change initiative aimed at promoting equity in the academic workplace in an historically white South African university. It is examined by presenting two kinds of analyses, firstly, an institutional analysis that explores the environmental and managerial conditionalities that influenced the reception, interpretation and responses to the national policy framework. Secondly, a bottom-up analysis that explores the distinctive disciplinary contexts that conditioned the responses of the participants. The study reveals that top-down approaches to managing change have limited capacity to influence the nature and pace of change on the ground, despite the best intentions of institutional managers. The study illustrates that the distinctive disciplinary context conditioned the responses to, and outcomes of the change initiative. In this study, the authority of the academic project powerfully trumps the legitimacy and credibility of the institutional transformation initiative.

This thesis examines different facets of feminine artistry in Virginia Woolf's novels with the purpose of defining her conception of women artists and the role sacrifice plays in it. The project follows characters in "Mrs. Dalloway," "To the Lighthouse," and "Between the Acts" as they attempt to create art despite society's restrictions; it studies the suffering these women experience under regimented institutions and arbitrary gender roles. From Woolf’s earlier texts to her last, she embraces the uncertainty of identity, even as she portrays the artist’s sacrifice in the early-to-mid twentieth century, specifically as the creative female identity fights to adapt to male-dominated spaces. Through a close-reading approach coupled with biographical and historical research, this thesis concludes that although the narratives of Woolf's novels demand the woman artist sacrifice for the sake of pursuing creation, Woolf praises the attempt and considers it a crueler fate to live with unfulfilled potential.

This thesis explores the representation of Victorian masculinity in the Boy's Own Paper. While the Boy's Own Paper (1879-1967) is widely recognised as being one of the most successful juvenile periodicals of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries there remains very little critical analysis on the publication’s literature. This thesis aims to contribute to the advancement of the study of nineteenth-century juvenile periodicals by providing the first in-depth textual study of the Boy's Own Paper. Focusing on the Boy's Own Paper during George Andrew Hutchison’s editorship (1879-1913), this project brings together masculinities studies and current research on nineteenth-century periodicals. By examining the reoccurring themes of masculinity in the Boy's Own Paper, this study reveals how the Boy's Own Paper struggled to balance Christian beliefs, changing social demands, and growing imperial objectives. Each chapter delivers a close reading of selected texts ranging from illustrated fictional stories written by leading authors of the day, such as G. A. Henty and Talbot Baines Reed, to letters sent to the editor by Christian missionaries living overseas. The first chapter outlines the editorial practices of Hutchison and addresses the publication’s implied readership. Chapter 2 examines physical masculinity as explored through the paper’s representation of the schoolboy and the athlete as national hero-figures. The relationship between masculinity, self-help, and philanthropy is studied in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 analyses how the racial stereotypes featured within the Boy's Own Paper perpetuated the ideologies of British masculine superiority. Finally, Chapter 5 broadens the study of gender by addressing the participation and representation of female contributors and characters. I conclude by considering the future of Boy's Own Paper research and the implications of periodicals studies in the digital age. In doing so, this study offers a holistic and up-to-date reading of the Boy's Own Paper.

The thesis deals with the phenomenon of retail chains´ private labels and their specifics. The aim is to determine which retailers occupy the leading position on the private brand food market and through qualitative research eventually define whether there is a difference in the quality of comparable private brands that are currently being offered by the retail chains. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with the definition of the brand concept, its functions and specifics and on the general concept of private brand market. I also characterize the retail market in the Czech Republic and its own brands among the retail chains.

This thesis deals with the business plan. Intended business plan is to open a soup bar in a small French mountain town Chamonix Mont-Blanc. This business plan will serve primarily for internal purposes to identify the feasibility of the business idea. The thesis is divided into theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part first describes the typology of enterprises in France, then focuses on French tax system and social and health security system. The theoretical part also includes theory for processing the buiness plan, which is then applied in the practical part. The practical part deals with the specific business plan of the soup bar Le Nouveau Papillon. Important components of this business plan is a description of the business idea, analysis of the business environment and competition, financial plan and financial analysis, evaluating the effectiveness of investment and SWOT analysis.

Magister Educationis - MEd / This study investigates the factors that conditioned the establishment of, and responses to, a centrally coordinated, institution wide change initiative aimed at promoting equity in the academic workplace in an historically white South African university. It is examined by presenting two kinds of analyses, firstly, an institutional analysis that explores the environmental and managerial conditionalities that influenced the reception, interpretation and responses to the national policy framework. Secondly, a bottom-up analysis that explores the distinctive disciplinary contexts that conditioned the responses of the participants. The study reveals that top-down approaches to managing change have limited capacity to influence the nature and pace of change on the ground, despite the best intentions of institutional managers. The study illustrates that the distinctive disciplinary context conditioned the responses to, and outcomes of the change initiative. In this study, the authority of the academic project powerfully trumps the legitimacy and credibility of the institutional transformation initiative.

BACKGROUND: Quantitative evidence of direct links between dietary intake during pregnancy and maternal and infant outcomes in the preterm population is lacking in the literature. However, studies are starting to investigate relationships between them, and data shows that many of the adverse effects of poor maternal diet are linked to inflammatory response and dysbiosis of the microbiome in both the mother and her offspring. OBJECTIVE: Our objective with this study was to analyze the relationships between sociodemographic factors, maternal diet, pH of breast milk, and infant inflammation. We aimed to assess the dietary pattern of our population of mothers who delivered preterm in comparison to other populations, as well as explore the possibility of using pH of mother’s own milk in future research. METHODS: We reviewed the Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) of participants to gather clinical and demographic characteristics (infants n = 53; mothers n = 45). Maternal participants also completed the Dietary Screener Questionnaire (DSQ). Spearman’s rank correlation and raw unadjusted linear regression analyses were used to investigate relationships between maternal diet and characteristics, mother’s own milk pH, and infant urinary intestinal fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP). Kruskal Wallis analysis was used to analyze between group differences of maternal comorbidities. RESULTS: None of our maternal participants met the guidelines for dietary recommendations by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for pregnant women. This follows the trend in national data for women who are pregnant. The greatest number of women met the recommendation for fiber intake (n = 12). Maternal intake of fiber and whole grains was negatively correlated with pH of mother’s own milk (p <0.5). We did not find any significant correlations between maternal characteristics and maternal diet or pH of mother’s own milk. However, meeting the guidelines for added sugars differed by race (p = 0.03). We found no statistically significant correlations between urinary I-FABP and pH of mother’s own milk or maternal dietary intake. Urinary I-FABP values differed by infant sex (p = 0.03) and infant feeding status (> 50% formula or donor milk vs. < 50% formula or donor milk, p = 0.03). Analysis by groups showed statistically significant differences (p = 0.04). Preeclamptic participants had a higher intake of whole grains (0.97 oz) than women without preeclampsia (0.69 oz). Mothers with gestational diabetes had a lower intake of sugar (14.4 tsp) compared to women without diabetes (17.9 tsp) (p = 0.01). We found no other statistically significant results between groups for maternal diet, milk pH, or urinary I-FABP. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that additional research on mother’s own milk pH may be warranted, and that continued education on the importance of a healthy diet and its benefits during pregnancy is needed. Areas of planned future research include fat intake calculations and inflammatory measures of the maternal dietary data.

This thesis deals with the financing of the reconstruction of a family house. A proposal for a possible reconstruction will be made. Based on this proposal, a budget will be drawn from which the amount of funding needed will be developed. The aim of this work is to introduce possible options for financing the reconstruction of a family house and to determine the optimal solution.

This diploma thesis called Multi-source financing of investment realization in municipality presents a comparison of various sources in financing of investment realization in the municipality, which I have selected. The municipality has realized the building insulation and installation of a heating pump in primary school. I compare financing by the own resources, loan from Komerční banka (the bank) and by grants. I analyze the various sources in financing of investment projects in the public sector in the theoretical part of this diploma thesis. Next I define what the municipality means and how they make a budget. The other two sections contain how to get a grant and how tendering procedure works.

The master thesis is focused on issue of financing fixed assets. The theoretical part contains characteristics and the segmentation of fixed assets. Core of thesis is created with clarifying the nature of means of financing long-term assets, its valuation and detrition. In the analytical part, there is introduced and described selected commercial establishment and its financial situation. Analytical part also compares the offers of loans and financial leasing currently offered by financial institutions. In the conclusion, there is evaluated the most appropriate form of financing, which could company chose use to purchase long-terms assets.