Adapting to change in a constantly changing environment is a challenge that organisations face on a daily basis. In order to stay competitive globally, the management of resistance to change becomes crucial. Research done on leadership reveals the very strong effect that leaders have on followers’ behaviours and attitudes and it is emphasized the role leadership plays in the implementation and supporting of change. The purpose of this dissertation is to determine whether a relationship between leadership and resistance to change exist within the higher education sector. The study obtains data of 75 participants within the faculty of engineering. The survey was done by means of a questionnaire. The statistical analyses included frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlations, independent t-tests, Mann-Whitney tests, ANOVAs and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results indicated that employees’ reactions toward change could be influenced by the type of leadership style present in the organisation, therefore it is necessary that the correct leadership style within an organisation cannot be underestimated. It could mean the difference between success and failure. For the purpose of this study, the researcher considered the scales of the Resistance to Change questionnaire sufficiently reliable, but further exploration of the scales and its adaptation to this context may be needed in future to enhance reliability measures. An important insight of this research is that, to be more effective in creating and supporting change within organisations, managers need to learn to recognise and understand resistance within them as well as in others. This research contributes to the already vast content of research on leadership and resistance to change and does so by being focused on studying these constructs under a unique set of circumstances. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Conformational selection is the idea that proteins traverse positions on the conformational space represented by their potential energy landscape, and in particular positions considered as local energy minima. Conformational selection a useful concept in ligand binding studies and in exploring the behavior of protein structures within that energy landscape. Often, research that explores protein function requires the generation of conformational ensembles, or collections of protein conformations from a single structure. We describe a method of conformational ensemble generation that uses joint-constrained rigid-body dynamics (an approach that allows for explicit consideration of rigidity) and the elastic network model (providing structurally derived directional guides for the rigid-body model). We test our model on a selection of unbound proteins and examine the structural validity of the resulting ensembles, as well as the ability of such an approach to generate conformations with structural overlaps close to the ligand-bound versions of the proteins.

An algebraic variety is called rationally connected if two generic points can be connected by a curve isomorphic to the projective line. The output of the minimal model program applied to rationally connected variety is variety admitting Mori fiber spaces over a rationally connected base. In this thesis we study the birational geometry of a particular class of rationally connected Mori fiber spaces: Fano fibrations over the projective line. We construct examples of Fano fibrations with a unique Mori fiber space in their birational classes. We prove that these examples are not birational to varieties of Fano type, thus answering the question of Cascini and Gongyo. That is we prove that the classes of rationally connected varieties and varieties of Fano type are not birationally equivalent. To construct the examples we use the techniques of birational rigidity. A Mori fiber space is called birationally rigid if there is a unique Mori fiber space structure in its birational class. The birational rigidity of smooth varieties admitting a del Pezzo fibration of degrees 1 and 2 is a well studied question. Unfortunately it is not enough to study smooth del Pezzo fibrations as there are fibrations which do not have smooth or even smoothable minimal models. In the case of fibrations of degree 2 we know that there is a minimal model with 2-Gorenstein singularities. These singularities are degenerations of the simplest terminal quotient singularity: singular points of the type 1/2(1,1,1). We give first examples of birationally rigid del Pezzo fibrations with 2-Gorenstein singularities. We then apply this result to study finite subgroups of the Cremona group of rank three. We then study the birational geometry of Fano fibrations from a different side. Using the reduction to characteristic 2 method we prove that double covers of Pn-bundles over Pm branched over a divisor of sufficiently high degree are not stably rational. For a del Pezzo fibration Y→P1 of degree 2 such that X is smooth there is a double cover Y→ X, where X is a P2-bundle over P1. In this case a stronger result holds: a very general Y with Pic(Y)≅Z⊕Z is not stably rational. We discuss the proof of this statement.

abstract: Firms reduce investment when facing downward wage rigidity (DWR), the inability or unwillingness to adjust wages downward. I construct DWR measures and exploit staggered state-level changes in minimum wage laws as an exogenous variation in DWR to document this fact. Following a minimum wage increase, firms reduce their investment rate by 1.17 percentage points. Surprisingly, this labor market friction enhances firm value and production efficiency when firms are subject to other frictions causing overinvestment, consistent with the theory of second best. Finally, I identify increased operating leverage and aggravation of debt overhang as mechanisms by which DWR impedes investment. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2017

Orientador: José Antonio Matthiesen / Banca: Renato Bertolino Júnior / Banca: Carlito Calil Júnior / Resumo: No Brasil, é comum o uso de estruturas treliçadas de madeira na construção de coberturas nas edificações e, que, na maioria das vezes, são feitas de forma artesanal ou empírica. Para que haja uma otimização na produção dessas estruturas, através da industrialização, é conveniente o conhecimento e o domínio dos sistemas construtivos disponíveis. A utilização dos conectores metálicos, de chapa com dentes estampados (CDE) nas ligações dos elementos estruturais das treliças, é considerada, pela literatura, uma boa opção de sistema construtivo em escala industrial. Neste trabalho foram determinadas a resistência e a rigidez das ligações por conector CDE, em peças estruturais de madeira, para as classes de resistência: C20; C30 e C40, através dos modos básicos de ruptura das peças ligadas, que são: arrancamento dos dentes na peça de madeira; cisalhamento e tração da chapa. Também foi verificada a influência da variação na umidade das peças de madeira, ao serem prensadas pelo conector CDE, na resistência e rigidez da ligação, visando com isso, contribuir com a Revisão da Norma Brasileira (NBR-7190/97). / Abstract: The usage of wood trusses is common in the construction of roofs in Brazil, the most of the times are built in way craft or empiric. Obtaining an optimization in the production of these structures, through the industrialization, it is convenient the knowledge and the domain of the available constructive systems. The usage of the metallic connectors, as the metal connectors plates (MCP) in the connections of the structural elements of the truss is considered, for the literature, a nice option of constructive system in industrial scale. In this work, the resistance and the rigidity of the connections for connector MCP, in structural pieces of wood, for the resistance classes C20; C30 and C40, were certained through the basic manners of rupture of the linked pieces are: pull-out of the teeth in the wood piece; cut and traction of the connector. The influence of the variation in the humidity of the wood pieces as they are pressed by the connector MCP, in the resistance and the rigidity of the connections was verified as well, seeking with that, to contribute with Brazilian Code (NBR-7190/97) Revision. / Mestre

abstract: The structure of glass has been the subject of many studies, however some details remained to be resolved. With the advancement of microscopic imaging techniques and the successful synthesis of two-dimensional materials, images of two-dimensional glasses (bilayers of silica) are now available, confirming that this glass structure closely follows the continuous random network model. These images provide complete in-plane structural information such as ring correlations, and intermediate range order and with computer refinement contain indirect information such as angular distributions, and tilting. This dissertation reports the first work that integrates the actual atomic coordinates obtained from such images with structural refinement to enhance the extracted information from the experimental data. The correlations in the ring structure of silica bilayers are studied and it is shown that short-range and intermediate-range order exist in such networks. Special boundary conditions for finite experimental samples are designed so atoms in the bulk sense they are part of an infinite network. It is shown that bilayers consist of two identical layers separated by a symmetry plane and the tilted tetrahedra, two examples of added value through the structural refinement. Finally, the low-temperature properties of glasses in two dimensions are studied. This dissertation presents a new approach to find possible two-level systems in silica bilayers employing the tools of rigidity theory in isostatic systems. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Physics 2018

abstract: Zeolites are a class of microporous materials that are immensely useful as molecular sieves and catalysts. While there exist millions of hypothetical zeolite topologies, only 206 have been recognized to exist in nature, and the question remains: What distinguishes known zeolite topologies from their hypothetical counterparts? It has been found that all 206 of the known zeolites can be represented as networks of rigid perfect tetrahedra that hinge freely at the connected corners. The range of configurations over which the corresponding geometric constraints can be met has been termed the "flexibility window". Only a small percentage of hypothetical types exhibit a flexibility window, and it is thus proposed that this simple geometric property, the existence of a flexibility window, provides a reliable benchmark for distinguishing potentially realizable hypothetical structures from their infeasible counterparts. As a first approximation of the behavior of real zeolite materials, the flexibility window provides additional useful insights into structure and composition. In this thesis, various methods for locating and exploring the flexibility window are discussed. Also examined is the assumption that the tetrahedral corners are force-free. This is a reasonable approximation in silicates for Si-O-Si angles above ~135°. However, the approximation is poor for germanates, where Ge-O-Ge angles are constrained to the range ~120°-145°. Lastly, a class of interesting low-density hypothetical zeolites is evaluated based on the feasibility criteria introduced. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Physics 2013

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / Apresentamos vÃrios resultados de existÃncia, unicidade, rigidez e bifurcaÃÃo para o problema da prescriÃÃo de diversas estruturas geomÃtricas em variedades Riemannianas, entre os quais incluem-se: i) deformaÃÃo e rigidez para estruturas 2k-Einstein em variedades com (2k − 2)-curvatura seccional constante; ii) deformaÃÃo conforme de mÃtricas no contexto do problema de Yamabe para curvaturas de Gauss-Bonnet; iii) unicidade, bifurcaÃÃo e rigidez local no Ãmbito do problema de Yamabe para as funÃÃes simÃtricas dos autovalores do tensor de Schouten. / We present several results of existence, uniqueness, rigidity and bifurcation for the problem of prescribing various geometric structures on Riemannian manifolds, among which include: i) deformation and rigidity for 2k-Einstein structures on manifolds with constant (2k − 2)-sectional curvature; ii) conformal deformation of metrics in the context of the Yamabe Problem for Gauss-Bonnet curvatures; iii) uniqueness, bifurcation and local rigidity in scope of the Yamabe Problem for symmetric functions of eigenvalues of the Schouten tensor.

As vigas compostas pregadas possuem vasta aplicação como material estrutural, desde vigas para instalações residenciais e industriais até longarinas de pontes de pequenos vãos, apresentando como principais vantagens o baixo custo e a facilidade de execução, não exigindo mão-de-obra qualificada. Este trabalho tem como objetivo o estudo teórico e experimental de vigas de madeira com seção composta I formadas por peças de madeira serrada e solidarizadas por pregos. São apresentados os critérios das normas EUROCODE 5, DIN1052 e NBR 7190, bem como a teoria a respeito do assunto. É avaliado o procedimento de cálculo da NBR 7190, em comparação com o EUROCODE 5, sendo realizada verificação experimental dos critérios destas normas, por meio de ensaios de flexão em protótipos de vigas compostas em escala natural. Os resultados obtidos demonstram que o modelo do EUROCODE 5 é o mais indicado para estimar a rigidez efetiva, tensões normais e de cisalhamento como também a força nos conectores / The built-up I beams are widely employed as structural elements, from residential and industrial facilities, to girders for bridges of small span. The fact that they do not demand skilled workmanship, the low cost and easiness of construction are their main advantages. This research aims at the theoretical and experimental analysis of built-up I beams, made of sawn elements nailed jointed. The EUROCODE 5, DIN 1052 and NBR 7190 criteria as well as the basic theory are presented. The design procedure adopted by NBR 7190 is compared to the EUROCODE 5 one. Experimental evaluation of these criteria is made subjecting built-up beam prototype to bending tests. The results should that the EUROCODE criteria is the most recommended for estimate the effective rigidity, normal and shear stresses as well as the load on a fastener

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-05-12T14:30:07Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Willian Isao Tokura - 2016.pdf: 1022753 bytes, checksum: 1aa3e744e52e76a8f391551c03a33554 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-05-12T14:33:30Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Willian Isao Tokura - 2016.pdf: 1022753 bytes, checksum: 1aa3e744e52e76a8f391551c03a33554 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-12T14:33:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Willian Isao Tokura - 2016.pdf: 1022753 bytes, checksum: 1aa3e744e52e76a8f391551c03a33554 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-08 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / In thiswork,wepresentresultsaboutmetricrigiditytheoremsandtopologicalrigidity theorems forclosedhypersurfacesimmersedin Hn+1, Rn+1 and Sn+1. Theseresultswere obtained byQiaolingWangandChangyuXiaandpublishedinTheQuarterlyJournal of Mathematics(2005),ProceedingsoftheEdinburghMathematicalSociety(2006)and CzechoslovakMathematicalJournal(2007). / Neste trabalho,apresentamosresultadossobreteoremasderigidezmétricaetopológica para hipersuperfíciesfechadasimersasem Hn+1, Rn+1 e Sn+1. Taisresultadosforam obtidos porQiaolingWangeChangyuXiaepublicadosnoTheQuarterlyJournal of Mathematics(2005),ProceedingsoftheEdinburghMathematicalSociety(2006)e CzechoslovakMathematicalJournal(2007).