This thesis explores the “project” in the entrepreneurial context, specifically the project- based view of start-ups. Start-ups are defined as entrepreneurial new ventures which have unstable business models, an open and simple organisational structure and which utilize innovative strategies for their development. The concept of temporary organisation is placed within the entrepreneurial context to define possible scenarios for the project-based view. The study is guided by the following research questions: How does a project-based view unfold in the start-up context? What is the impact of embracing a project-based view for a start-up? There is a limited number of studies elaborating on the link between project management and entrepreneurship. This study aims at contributing to an evolving body of knowledge integrating project management and entrepreneurship by building new theory regarding the application of the project metaphor by start-ups. Based on the existing research linking project management and entrepreneurship through the concept of the temporary organisation, this study explains the process of embracing a project- based view of start-ups as well as its implications on start-ups. These findings will be supported by the development of a visual model and propositions for further research. The study is using grounded theory as a research methodology which is considered to be appropriate given the nascent state of the previous research as well as the underlying research questions. In total eleven unstructured and semi-structured interviews were conducted with start-ups which comply with the synthesized start-up characteristics. The data analysis benefited from using open, axial and finally, selective coding as suggested by the grounded theory approach. Answering the first research question, the study’s findings are reflected in a model which explains how the project-based view unfolds. Overall, the process of a project- based view takes two directions: the external and the internal project-based view. The external project-based view - meaning that the whole start-up is seen as a temporary organisation - starts once the start-up team members decide to commit themselves to the project when the entrepreneurial opportunity is constructed. The start-up is then seen as being temporary due to external pressure and a bounded time period. However, although being temporary, the start-up still aims to transit to a permanent state. The internal project-based view suggests that the start-up’s strategy making process is followed by the strategy realization which is performed either by a sequence or by a multi-project approach, or a combination of both. Regarding the second research question, a project- based view enhances the start-ups’ operational and dynamic capabilities.

The Master and Kim - Artistic Research Projects that concern questions about musical narration. How can a single person with a flute on an empty scene create a daring and entertaining storytelling? A story that moves freely between realism and stylization.And how can the same person, together with the audience, create a forum where the audience can move between being observers and actors?   In four shows, Kim has explored these issues in various ways. Labored with different scenes, audience placement, balance between oral versus musical narrative.All the performances have both the stories and music written by Kim, and performed together with various fellow musicians. During his education, Kim has had both musical and theatrical supervision.The performances have been documented and evaluated by the audience in place, with distributed papers with the call: "Describe Your Experience". And thus the reflection on the project's issues has been compared with the audience's reception.The result of the project has become a number of methods for designing this highly individual storyteller. Which spans music theater to “recorder-stand up”.

L'éclatement est une transformation jouant un rôle important en géométrie, car il permet de résoudre des singularités, de relier des variétés birationnellement équivalentes, et de construire des variétés possédant des propriétés inédites. Ce mémoire présente d'abord l'éclatement tel que développé en géométrie algébrique classique. Nous l'étudierons pour le cas des variétés affines et (quasi-)projectives, en un point, et le long d'un idéal et d'une sous-variété. Nous poursuivrons en étudiant l'extension de cette construction à la catégorie différentiable, sur les corps réels et complexes, en un point et le long d'une sous-variété. Nous conclurons cette section en explorant un exemple de résolution de singularité. Ensuite nous passerons à la catégorie symplectique, où nous ferons la même chose que pour le cas différentiable complexe, en portant une attention particulière à la forme symplectique définie sur la variété. Nous terminerons en étudiant un théorème dû à François Lalonde, où l'éclatement joue un rôle clé dans la démonstration. Ce théorème affirme que toute 4-variété fibrée par des 2-sphères sur une surface de Riemann, et différente du produit cartésien de deux 2-sphères, peut être équipée d'une 2-forme qui lui confère une structure symplectique réglée par des courbes holomorphes par rapport à sa structure presque complexe, et telle que l'aire symplectique de la base est inférieure à la capacité de la variété. La preuve repose sur l'utilisation de l'éclatement symplectique. En effet, en éclatant symplectiquement une boule contenue dans la 4-variété, il est possible d'obtenir une fibration contenant deux sphères d'auto-intersection -1 distinctes: la pré-image du point où est fait l'éclatement complexe usuel, et la transformation propre de la fibre. Ces dernières sont dites exceptionnelles, et donc il est possible de procéder à l'inverse de l'éclatement - la contraction - sur chacune d'elles. En l'accomplissant sur la deuxième, nous obtenons une variété minimale, et en combinant les informations sur les aires symplectiques de ses classes d'homologies et de celles de la variété originale nous obtenons le résultat. / The blow-up is a transformation which plays an important role in geometry, because it can be used to resolve singularities, relate birationally equivalent varieties, and construct varieties with new properties. This thesis first presents blowing-up as developped in classical algebraic geometry. We will study it in the case of affine and (quasi-)projective varieties, on a point and along an ideal and a subvariety. Then a discussion about its extension to the differential category will be carried out, over the real and complex fields, on a point and along a submanifold. An example of a resolution of singularity will then follow. Subsequently we will discuss blowing-up in the symplectic category, where we will do the same as for complex manifolds, paying careful attention to the symplectic form. To conclude, we will study a theorem by François Lalonde, where the symplectic blow-up plays a major part in proof. This theorem states that any 4-variety fibered by 2-spheres over a Riemann surface, and different than the Cartesian product of two 2-spheres, can be equiped with a 2-form giving it a symplectic structure ruled by curves that are holomorphic with respect to its almost-complex structure, and such that the symplectic area of the base is smaller that the capacity of the variety. In the proof, we blow up a ball in the 4-variety, and obtain a fibration containing two distinct spheres with a self-intersection equal to -1: the pre-image of the point where the usual complex blow-up is done, and the proper transform of the fiber. These two are exceptional, so it is possible to do the inverse operation - the blow down - on each of them. By blowing down the latter, we get a minimal variety, and by combining information about the symplectic area of its homology classes and of those of the original variety, we obtain the result.

A growing body of research is examining effective treatment(s) for individuals with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol dependence (AD). However, treatments for this comorbid population have been inadequately studied in the longer term. This study represents a long-term follow-up assessment of a randomized controlled trial that compared combined therapy (prolonged exposure + naltrexone) with monotherapies (prolonged exposure or naltrexone) for patients with PTSD and AD (see Foa, Yusko, McLean et al., 2013). Attempts were made to contact 120 participants 5-10 years after the original trial to assess the maintenance of treatment gains. Nineteen individuals were located and agreed to participate. A series of mixed ANCOVAs were conducted with PTSD symptom severity and percentage of days drinking and heavy drinking as the dependent variables. Findings revealed that reductions in PTSD symptoms and drinking behaviors generally were maintained 5-10 years after treatment. There was some relapse in heavy drinking days, and combination treatment was most effective for long-term PTSD outcomes. Challenges of conducting follow-up research with this population, implications and limitations of the present findings, and directions for future research are discussed.

Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science / Kimberly W. Kramer / This report offers a parametric study analyzing the vertical reinforcement for slender reinforced concrete walls (tilt-up panels) subject to 90 miles per hour (mph), 110 mph, 130 mph, and 150 mph three-second gust wind speeds. Wall panel heights of 32 feet (ft) and 40 ft are considered for one-story warehouse structures. First, solid tilt-up panels serve as the base design used in the comparison process. Next, square openings of 4 ft, 8 ft, 12 ft, and 16 ft centered in the wall panel, are analyzed. A total of 32 tilt-up panel designs are conducted, establishing the most economical design by the least amount of reinforcement and concrete used. In addition to lateral wind pressures, the gravity loads acting on the load bearing tilt-up panel are dead load, roof live load, and snow load. All loads for this report are determined based on a typical 24 ft by 24 ft bay. The procedure to design the tilt-up panels is the Alternative Design of Slender Walls outlined in the American Concrete Institute standard ACI 318-08 Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete and Commentary Section 14.8 In general, an increase in panel height, lateral wind pressure, and/or panel openings, requires an increase in reinforcement to meet strength and serviceability. Typical vertical reinforcement in tilt-up panels is #4, #5, and #6 size reinforcement bars. A double-mat reinforcement scheme is utilized when the section requires an increase in reinforcement provided by use of a single-layer of reinforcement. A thicker tilt-up panel may be needed to ensure tension-controlled behavior. Panel thicknesses of 7.25 inches (in), 9.25 in, and 11.25 in are considered in design.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Jared R. Anderson / The current study tests a theoretical model exploring the relationship between hooking up and marital quality and whether this relationship is mediated by sexual satisfaction and communication using public-use data from currently married participants in Wave IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health, n = 1,729). Gender proved to significantly moderate the association between the variables in the model, but college education did not. The results indicate that hooking up has a direct negative relationship with marital quality for men that is not mediated by either sexual satisfaction or communication. The results for women revealed no direct relationship between hooking up and marital quality, but an indirect influence via communication.

In this thesis, we address two major problems in Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN), an important sub-field in deep learning. The first problem that we address is the instability in the training process that happens in many real-world problems and the second problem that we address is the lack of a good evaluation metric for the performance of GAN algorithms. To understand and address the first problem, three approaches are developed. Namely, we introduce randomness to the training process; we investigate various normalization methods; most importantly we develop a better parameter initialization strategy to help stabilize training. In the randomness techniques part of the thesis, we developed two randomness approaches, namely the addition of gradient noise and the batch random flipping of the results from the discrimination section of a GAN. In the normalization part of the thesis, we compared the performances of the z-score transform, the min-max normalization, affine transformations and batch normalization. In the most novel and important part of this thesis, we developed techniques to initialize the GAN generator section with parameters that can produce a uniform distribution on the range of the training data. As far as we are aware, this seemingly simple idea has not yet appeared in the extant literature, and the empirical results we obtain on 2-dimensional synthetic data show marked improvement. As to better evaluation metrics, we demonstrate a simple yet effective way to evaluate the effectiveness of the generator using a novel "overlap loss".

In this thesis, we address two major problems in Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN), an important sub-field in deep learning. The first problem that we address is the instability in the training process that happens in many real-world problems and the second problem that we address is the lack of a good evaluation metric for the performance of GAN algorithms. To understand and address the first problem, three approaches are developed. Namely, we introduce randomness to the training process; we investigate various normalization methods; most importantly we develop a better parameter initialization strategy to help stabilize training. In the randomness techniques part of the thesis, we developed two randomness approaches, namely the addition of gradient noise and the batch random flipping of the results from the discrimination section of a GAN. In the normalization part of the thesis, we compared the performances of the z-score transform, the min-max normalization, affine transformations and batch normalization. In the most novel and important part of this thesis, we developed techniques to initialize the GAN generator section with parameters that can produce a uniform distribution on the range of the training data. As far as we are aware, this seemingly simple idea has not yet appeared in the extant literature, and the empirical results we obtain on 2-dimensional synthetic data show marked improvement. As to better evaluation metrics, we demonstrate a simple yet effective way to evaluate the effectiveness of the generator using a novel "overlap loss".

MPH, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2010 / INTRODUCTION Although much focus has been placed towards rapid scale-up of antiretroviral treatment programmes and interventions for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), very little is known about adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and loss to follow-up of pregnant women in antiretroviral treatment programmes in the developing world. In this retrospective cohort analysis, we described the baseline characteristics of adult women who were pregnant at the time of HAART initiation (pregnant at start) as well as women who became pregnant during follow-up after starting HAART (pregnant after) and women who never had a pregnancy (not pregnant) during the study period. We evaluated the association of pregnancy status with adherence and loss to follow-up in these three groups of women. MATERIALS AND METHODS Themba Lethu Clinic is an urban public-sector antiretroviral rollout facility in Johannesburg, South Africa. A retrospective analysis was conducted of all adult women initiating HAART at this clinic between January 2005 and December 2007. Clinical data from these patients was analysed for differences in rates of loss to follow-up, and measured adherence rates based on CD4 cell count response and virologic suppression. Regression models were performed to determine independent predictors of adherence and loss to follow-up and compared between the three groups. Survival analysis, in the form of Kaplan-Meier plots and log-rank tests, was used to compare the time to becoming lost to follow up. RESULTS Between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2007, 5129 women initiated HAART at Themba Lethu Clinic, Johannesburg, South Africa. Of these women, 521 (10.0%) were pregnant at the time of HAART initiation (pregnant at start) and 291 (5.6%) became pregnant during follow-up (pregnant after). Women who were pregnant at start (16.6%) of HAART had less-advanced HIV disease than the not pregnant women and pregnant women after HAART initiation 4608 (89.9%). Overall pregnant women were significantly younger than the not pregnant women and fewer pregnant women had a CD4 <100 cells/mm3 and a WHO stage III of HIV disease. There was no significant difference in the CD4 cell count response and virological suppression between the three groups of women based on pregnancy status at 6 months and 12 months (X2=2.1, p=0.347 and X2=4.4, p=0.111 respectively). However, women pregnant at start were more likely to become lost to follow-up (X2=15.8, P=<.0001) during follow up. In the multivariate Cox logistic regression model, independent predictors of loss to follow-up were pregnancy, baseline CD4 cell count and age at initiation. Being pregnant was significantly associated with being loss to follow-up. CONCLUSIONS Pregnancy is significantly associated with defaulting treatment and becoming lost to follow-up from HAART treatment programmes. Together with being pregnant, young age and a low CD4 at baseline are high risk factors for non adherence and loss to follow-up in this sub-group of the population. Early initiation of HAART with adequate pre-treatment counselling and ongoing adherence support could help improve adherence and retention in care for patients in treatment programmes in resource-limited settings. Interventions to trace patients immediately upon missed appointments would help to reduce the number of patients’ loss to follow-up. Moreover, integration of tuberculosis (TB), antenatal care (ANC) and HIV treatment services may maximize the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing the loss to follow-up rate. The initiation of HAART in pregnancy requires strengthened antenatal and HIV services that target women with advanced stage disease.

O tratamento biológico anaeróbio aparece como uma opção importante para remover a carga orgânica poluidora da vinhaça, e vem despertando interesse entre pesquisadores do mundo todo devido aos sucessos já alcançados, principalmente em trabalhos científicos. O interesse científico aponta para o aprimoramento do processo de degradação desse efluente em taxas elevadas, além de promover a produção de biogás, com potencial para produção de energia. A tecnologia de tratamento anaeróbio mais utilizada para o tratamento da vinhaça é o reator UASB, apresentando resultados satisfatórios inclusive em unidades em escala plena. A interrupção do funcionamento do reator em períodos de entressafra é, indubitavelmente, um problema a ser enfrentado na operação do reator UASB, cujo período de partida é lento. A repartida do sistema é agravada nos reatores de alta taxa, requerendo estratégias adequadas para reduzir o período necessário permitindo mitigar prontamente os efeitos do aporte de vinhaça ao ambiente e recuperar energia a partir dessa matriz. Diante disso, um reator anaeróbio de fluxo ascendente com manta de lodo (UASB) em escala piloto foi utilizado para o estudo da repartida do sistema e do tratamento da vinhaça e do melaço, sendo o último utilizado como fonte de carbono no período relativo à entressafra. O reator UASB foi operado durante 335 dias. Na Fase I utilizou-se a vinhaça como afluente, na Fase II o melaço de cana-de-açúcar e na Fase III novamente a vinhaça. Após período de interrupção de 30 dias, o período de repartida do sistema em estudo foi de 69 dias. Logo no início da repartida do reator, a eficiência de remoção de DQO foi superior a 80%, alcançando eficiência de 89,95 % em apenas oito dias de operação. O reator UASB apresentou valor médio de eficiência de remoção de DQO para as Fases I (vinhaça), II (melaço) e III (vinhaça) de 84 ± 3,35%; 82 ± 5,12% e 80 ± 9,22%, para cargas aplicadas de 5 a 34 kgDQO.m-3.d-1, 33 kgDQO.m-3.d-1 e 5 a 19 kgDQO.m-3.d-1, respectivamente. Em relação à produção de metano, de todo o período operacional, a Fase I referente à repartida do reator utilizando vinhaça como substrato após um mês sem alimentação foi a que apresentou a maior produção média no período, 7,93 LCH4. (L.d) -1, devido aos maiores valores de carga orgânica volumétrica (COV) aplicadas (5 a 34 kgDQO.m-3.d-1). A Fase II referente ao período de entressafra utilizando o melaço, foi de 7,28 LCH4. (L.d) -1 devido ao acúmulo de ácidos voláteis totais. A Fase III com retorno da safra utilizando a vinhaça, foi de 1,23 LCH4. (L.d) -1 devido aos menores valores de carga aplicada ao reator (5 a 8,5 kgDQO.m-3.d-1). As análises microbiológicas mostraram elevada diversidade microbiana e permitiu observar que com a utilização do melaço ocorreu alteração da população de microrganismos presente no reator, que apresentaram longo período de adaptação quando submetidos novamente à vinhaça, na última fase de operação. De forma geral, os resultados apontam que a tecnologia UASB é adequada no tratamento de vinhaça e melaço de alta carga orgânica e na geração de biogás. A substituição por melaço permitiu obter produção de biogás semelhante ao uso da vinhaça, entretanto dificultou a repartida, quando substituído pela vinhaça novamente (Fase III). / Biological anaerobic treatment systems are a promising approach for the removal of organic loading content of vinasse. Previous studies have demonstrated the optimization of the vinasse degradation process at high rates, promoting the biogas production with potential for energy use. Upflow anaerobic with sludge blanket (UASB) is the most applied anaerobic technology for the treatment of vinasse. Such reactor configuration presents satisfactory results even in full-scale units. The interruption of reactor operation during the off-season is undoubtedly an operational problem to be faced, whose restarting period is slow. The system restarting is intensified in high-rate reactors, requiring adequate strategies to reduce the time needed to mitigate the environmental effects of vinasse supply and to recover energy from that matrix. Therefore, a pilot-scale UASB was used to investigate the system restart and the treatment of vinasse and molasses. Sugarcane molasses was used as the carbon source during the off-season period. The system was operated during 335 days. The operational procedure consisted of three phases, in which different streams were used as carbon source: vinasse (Phases I), sugarcane molasses (Phases II) and vinasse (Phases III). After an interruption period of 30 days, the restarting period was 69 days. At the beginning of the restarting period, the average COD removal efficiency was higher than 80%, reaching COD removal efficiencies of 89.95% in only eight days of operation. The average COD removal efficiencies for Phases I (vinasse), II (molasses) and III (vinasse) were 84 ± 3.35%; 82 ± 5,12% and 80 ± 9,22%, respectively. Those removal efficiencies were achieved with organic loading rate 5 to 34 kgCOD.m-3.d-1 , 33 kgCOD.m-3.d-1 and 5 to 19 kgCOD.m-3.d-1, respectively. Regarding methane (CH4) production, Phase I (vinasse as substrate after one month without feeding) presented the highest average CH4 production (7.93 LCH4. (L.d) -1), due to the higher values of OLR (5 to 34 kgCOD.m-3.d-1). The CH4 production during Phase II (off-season using molasses as substrate) was 7.28 LCH4. (L.d) -1, due to the accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFA). In Phase III, in which vinasse was applied again as substrate the CH4 production was 1.23 LCH4.(L.d)-1, due to the lower values of organic loading rate to the reactor (5 to 8.5 kgCOD.m-3.d-1). Microbiological analyses showed high microbial diversity in biomass developed at UASB reactor. Moreover, it was possible to observe that with molasses used as carbon source probably promotes changes in the microorganisms population, After period with molasses feeding, such microbiota presented a long adaptation period when resubmitted to vinasse, as the main carbon source in the feeding. In general, the results indicate that the UASB configuration was adequate for the vinasse and molasses treatment at high organic loading rate, resulting in high biogas production. In which the feeding with sugarcane molasses resulted in a biogas production similar to that obtained by vinasse feeding, but it made it difficult to divide when replaced by vinasse (Phase III).