817 research outputs found
Evaluation of incentives for R&D in the pharmaceutical industry with applications for neglected diseases
No full textPhDThis thesis is concerned with the development of incentives for pharmaceutical R&D, specifically for neglected diseases. The following approaches are adopted. The short-term effects of the recent cost-containment reforms on seven financial indicators related to firms‘ R&D in Denmark, Germany, France, Japan, and the US are estimated. The dataset represents a panel data of financial statements of 1306 pharmaceutical firms for the period 1997-2007. National pharmaceutical expenditures, population, availability of credit, patent applications, and regulatory quality have been controlled for. The average treatment effects on the treated are econometrically estimated with before-after comparisons, two difference-in-differences (DiD) and three matching DiD methods. Impacts of liquidity constraints on R&D and investment are estimated with dynamic panel methods. Using frontier modelling, technical production inefficiencies are estimated and tested for independence from the stringency of national regulation.
The major findings of this dissertation are: R&D indicators tend to be persistent despite the regulatory changes; tighter cost-containment regulations appear not to be associated with technical efficiency or R&D intensity of firms; cash flow has a positive effect on pharmaceutical R&D of small and young firms, but not on physical investment. Improved access to clean water appears to be the most important factor in the reduction of the neglected diseases‘ burden; evaluation of R&D schemes for neglected diseases based on 17 criteria indicates insufficient performance of the existing proposals and a number of recommendations to design better incentives are substantiated. Based on this analysis, I have designed a new hybrid public-private partnership model for financing R&D in the form of a prize screening mechanism, which relies on the innovative effort of small firms by reducing entry barriers and moral hazard problems
THE OUTSOURCING DECISION: A STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK
No full textOutsourcing grew rapidly during the 1990s and has now become an accepted dimension of corporate strategy. While outsourcing continues to grow in importance, the nature and focus of outsourcing is evolving. Historically, most outsourcing took place in manufacturing industries, but it is now spreading rapidly within service industries. Whether in manufacturing or services, outsourcing is becoming increasingly cross- national and global. The growth of international outsourcing has accentuated controversy surrounding trade liberalization efforts in developed economies, especially in the United States.outsourcing, trade liberalization, international trade
The Yule - Simon model in its limiting case as a pure migration process
No full textIn this paper the author offers an analytical solution to a problem first raised in 1973, namely, what is the equilibrium distribution of city sizes implied by the Yule - Simon model, when the total population of the urban system in question is stationary? Under the assumption that in-migration and out-migration rates are uncorrelated with city sizes, it is shown that Fisher's log-series distribution is that distribution. Fisher's log-series distribution yields a much less concentrated size distribution than does the Yule distribution, which is the equilibrium distribution associated with a pure growth process. Thus, we might expect a lower level of concentration or city size inequality when the overall urban system is stationary than when it is growing.
Climate change : a response surface study of the effects of CO2 and temperature on the growth of French beans
No full textThe possible impact of global rises in atmospheric CO2 concentration and temperature on the growth and development of French beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) was examined using growth cabinets. Five CO2 concentrations of 350, 450, 550, 650 and 750 vpm and five temperatures of 14·5, 15·5, 16·5, 17·5 and 18·5°C were tested using a fractional factorial design comprising nine treatment combinations of the two factors. Plants were grown under constant irradiance, common atmospheric humidities (vpd 0·5 kPa) and non-limiting supplies of water and mineral nutrients. The plant growth response was modelled by fitting polynomial response function curves to the times to first flower opening, first bean set, 50% maturity and the number and yield of beans. The effects of temperature were large and positive for most of the measured variables, whereas the effects of CO2 were small and negative or non-existent. Increased temperature substantially reduced the time to flowering and the time from bean set to 50% maturity and increased the number and yield of mature beans whereas increased CO2 concentration had little effect on plant growth except that bean yield was very slightly reduced. There was no significant evidence of interaction between the CO2 concentration effects and the temperature effects.
The time to maturity and yield of mature beans was simulated for the 2020s (2010 to 2039) and the 2050s (2040 to 2069) using the fitted polynomial models and four climate change scenarios suggested by the UK Climate Impacts Programme. These simulations showed that, depending upon the assumed scenario, the 2020s yields could rise by 39–84% and time to maturity reduce by between 6 and 15 days whereas the 2050s yields could rise by 51–118% and time to maturity reduce by between 9 and 25 days
Prospects for pheromone monitoring of the pea moth, Cydia nigricana (F.), in vining peas.
No full textOccupational therapy for physical dysfunction /
No full textThe definitive work on occupational therapy for physical dysfunction returns in its Sixth Edition, with distinguished co-editors and clinical, academic, and consumer contributors. This text provides a current and well-rounded view of the field& from theoretical rationale to evaluation, treatment, and follow-up. Through the Occupational Functioning Model, this edition continues to emphasize the conceptual foundation of practice. New features include Evidence Tables summarizing the evidence supporting each intervention and Assessment Tables summarizing the pros and cons of key assessment tools. A brand-new companion DVD contains video clips demonstrating range of motion, manual muscle testing, construction of hand splints, and transferring patients.Catherine A. Trombly Latham's name appears first in earlier ed.Includes bibliographical references and index.Occupational function: definition, process, and history. Conceptual foundations for practice / Catherine A. Trombly Latham. Historical and social foundations for practice / Pamela Roberts, Sharon Kurfuest, and Jaclyn Faglie Low. Planning, guiding, and documenting practice / Mary Vining Radomski -- Assessment of occupational function. Assessing roles and competence / Susan E. Fasoli. Assessing abilites and capacities: range of motion, strength, and endurance / Nancy A. Flinn, Catherine A. Trombly Latham, and Carolyn Robinson Podolski. Assessing abilities and capacities: motor behavior / Virgil Mathiowetz and Julie Bass-Haugen. Assessing abilities and capacities: sensation / Karen Bentzel. Assessing abilities and capacities: vision, visual perception, and praxis / Lee Ann Quintana. Assessing abilities and capacities: cognition / Mary Vining Radomski. Assessing environment: home, community, and workplace access / Patricia Rigby ... [et al.] --^Restoring competence for homemaker and parent roles / Susan E. Fasoli. Restoring competence for the worker roles / Valerie J. Rice and Stephen Luster. Restoring competence in leisure pursuits / Carolyn Hanson. Optimizing personal and social adaptation / Jo M. Solet. Optimizing access to home, community, and work environments / Dory B. Sabata, Shoshana Shamberg, and Michael Williams. Preventing occupational dysfunction secondary to aging / Glenn Goodman and Bette R. Bonder --^Therapeutic mechanisms. Occupation: philosophy and concepts / Catherine A. Trombly Latham. Occupation as therapy: selection, gradation, analysis, and adaptation / Catherine A. Trombly Latham. Learning / Nancy Ann Flinn and Mary Vining Radomski. Therapeutic rapport / Linda Tickle-Degnen -- Therapeutic technologies. Upper extremity orthoses / Lisa D. Deshaies. Construction of hand splints / Nancy Callinan. Wheelchair selection / Brian J. Dudgeon and Jean C. Deitz. High-technology adaptations to compensate for disability / Mary Ellen Buning. Physical agent modalities / Alfred G. Bracciano --^Treatment of occupational function. Optimizing abilities and capacities: range of motion, strength, and endurance / Nancy A. Flinn ... [et al.] Optimizing motor behavior using the occupational therapy task-oriented approach / Julie Bass-Haugen, Virgil Mathiowetz, and Nancy Flinn. Optimizing motor skill using task-related training / Joyce Shapero Sabari. Optimizing motor behavior using the Bobath approach / Kathryn Levit. Optimizing motor behavior using the Brunnstrom movement therapy approach / Catherine A. Trombly Latham. Managing deficit of first-level motor control capacities using Rood and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation techniques / Kathy Longnecker Rust. Optimizing sensory abilities and capacities / Karen Bentzel. Optimizing vision, visual perception, and praxis abilities / Lee Ann Quintana. Optimizing cognitive abilities / Mary Vining Radomski and Elin Schold Davis. Restoring the role of independent person / Anne Birge James. Restoring mobility / Susan Lanier Pierce.^Treatment to promote occupational function for selected diagnostic categories. Stroke / Anne M. Woodson. Traumatic brain injury / Mary Vining Radomski. Neurodegenerative diseases / Susan J. Forwell, Lois F. Copperman, and Lucinda Hugos. Orthopaedic conditions / Colleen Maher and Jane Bear-Lehman. Hand impairments / Cynthia Cooper. Spinal cord injury / Michal S. Atkins. Rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and fibromyalgia / Y. Lynn Yasuda. Burn injuries / Monica A. Pessina and Amy C. Orroth. Amputations and prosthetics / Kathy Stubblefield and Anne Armstrong. Cardiac and pulmonary diseases / Nancy Huntley. Dysphagia / Wendy Avery. Human immunodeficiency virus / Karin J. Opacich. Oncology / Margarette L. Shelton, Joanna B. Lipoma, and E. Stuart Oertli.The definitive work on occupational therapy for physical dysfunction returns in its Sixth Edition, with distinguished co-editors and clinical, academic, and consumer contributors. This text provides a current and well-rounded view of the field& from theoretical rationale to evaluation, treatment, and follow-up. Through the Occupational Functioning Model, this edition continues to emphasize the conceptual foundation of practice. New features include Evidence Tables summarizing the evidence supporting each intervention and Assessment Tables summarizing the pros and cons of key assessment tools. A brand-new companion DVD contains video clips demonstrating range of motion, manual muscle testing, construction of hand splints, and transferring patients
Robust Designs For Binary Data: Applications Of Simulated Annealing
No full textWhen the aim of an experiment is the estimation of a Generalised Linear Model (GLM), standard designsfrom linear model theory may prove inadequate. This paper describes a flexible approach for findingdesigns for experiments to estimate GLMs through the use of D-optimality and a simulated annealingalgorithm. A variety of uncertainties in the model can be incorporated into the design search, includingthe form of the linear predictor, through use of a robust design selection criterion and a postulatedmodel space. New methods appropriate for screening experiments and the incorporation of correlationsbetween possible model parameters are described through examples. An updating formula for Doptimalityunder a GLM is presented which improves the computational efficiency of the search
Sedimentology, sandstone provenance and palaeodrainage on the eastern Rockall Basin margin : evidence from the Pb isotopic composition of detrital K-feldspar
No full textThe Rockall Basin, west of Ireland, is a frontier area for hydrocarbon exploration but currently the age and location of sand fairways through the basin are poorly known. A recently developed provenance approach based on in-situ Pb isotopic analysis of single K-feldspar grains by laser ablation multi-collector inductively-coupled mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICPMS) offers advantages over other provenance techniques, particularly when applied to regional palaeodrainage issues. K-feldspar is a relatively common, usually first-cycle framework mineral in sandstones and its origin is typically linked to that of the quartz grains in arkosic and sub-arkosic rocks. Consequently, in contrast to other techniques, the Pb-in-K-feldspar tool characterises a significant proportion of the framework grains. New Pb isotopic data from K-feldspars in putative Permo-Triassic and Middle Jurassic sandstones in Well 12/2-1z (the Dooish gas condensate discovery) on the eastern margin of the Irish Rockall Basin are reported. These data suggest that three isotopically distinct basement sources supplied the bulk of the K-feldspar in the reservoir sandstones and that the relative contribution of these sources varied through time. Archaean and early Proterozoic rocks (including elements of the Lewisian Complex and its offshore equivalents), to the immediate east, north-east and north of the eastern Rockall Margin, are the likely sources. More distal sourcelands to the north-west cannot be ruled out but there was no significant input from southern sources, such as the Irish Massif. These data, together with previously published regional Pb isotopic data, highlight the important role played by old, near and far-field Archaean – Proterozoic basement highs in contributing sediment to NE Atlantic margin basins. The Irish Massif appears to have acted as a significant, but inert, drainage divide from the Permo-Triassic to the Late Jurassic and hence younger, Avalonian and Variscan, sand sources appear to have been less important on the Irish Atlantic Margin.Science Foundation IrelandGriffiths Geoscience Awar
COSMOLOGY AND SOCIETY: HOUSEHOLD RITUAL AMONG THE TERMINAL CLASSIC MAYA PEOPLE OF YAXHA (ca. A.D. 850-950), GUATEMALA
No full textThis study of domestic ritual and symbolism centers on the ancient Maya kingdom of Yaxha in northeastern Guatemala, during the last part of the Classic period (A.D. 850-950/1000). Classic Maya high-culture functioned within a dynastic cosmology that framed royalty’s power. The central question in this dissertation is ‘how did the non-royal population participate and interact with this dynastic cosmology?’
Exploring some possible ways in which ancient Yaxhaeans participated and interacted with the local dynastic cosmology, I have hypothesized three possible behaviors derived from ethnographic studies: active engagement, resistance, and passive compliance. A comparative study of ritual practices and symbolism in ten residences of different social ranks provides the grounds for the discussion. This sample of residences includes the royal palace, a noble palace, two high-end commoner residences, and six low-end commoner residences. While the data from the eight commoner residences was obtained through original research, the information from the royal and noble palaces was recovered from previous research and salvage archaeology projects at Yaxha. The same ritual and symbolic aspects were investigated: symbolism in architectural layouts, ritual feasting, funerary rituals, dedication and termination rituals, and ritual paraphernalia.
I have concluded that while nobles and high-end commoners were actively engaged with the ruling dynastic cosmology, low-end commoners were more reluctant. A certain degree of disconnection in the ritual practices of the higher and lower ranks has been detected, suggesting that low-end commoners might have been more passively compliant than actively engaged with the ruling cosmology. No evidence for overt resistance has been found. Although passive compliance is not a behavior usually associated with social change, ethnographic observations suggest that as a form of passive resistance, it might be a symptom of social unrest
Constraints on volcanism, igneous intrusion and stretching on the Rockall-Faroe continental margin
No full textThe northern North Atlantic margins are classic examples of ‘volcanic’ rifted continental margins, where breakup was accompanied by massive volcanism. We discuss strategies used to obtain good intra- and sub-basalt seismic penetration so as to map the structure and the extruded and intruded igneous volume. We recorded deep penetration reflection data using a 12 000 m long single sensor (Q-)streamer and wide-angle seismic profiles with 85 4-component ocean bottom seismometers, along two transects across the Faroe and Hatton Bank continental margins in the NE Atlantic. Tomographic inversion of both compressional (P) and shear (S) wave crustal velocities are crucial in improving the reflection image and in constraining the nature of the sub-basalt lithology and the volume of extruded and intruded melt. Beneath the basalts, which reach 5 km thickness, is a low-velocity zone with P- and S-wave velocities characteristic of sedimentary rocks intruded by basalt sills. The underlying stretched continental basement contains abundant intrusive igneous sills on the rifted margin. Near the Faroe Islands, for every 1 km along-strike, 340–420 km3 of basalt was extruded, while 560–780 km3 was intruded into the continent–ocean transition (COT). Lower-crustal intrusions are focussed mainly into a narrow zone less than 50 km wide on the COT, whereas extruded basalts flow >100 km from the rift. Melt on the COT is intruded into the lower crust as sills which cross-cut the stretched and tilted continental fabric, rather than as ‘underplate’ of 100% melt, as has often been assumed previously. Our igneous thickness and velocity observations are consistent with the dominant control on the melt production being rifting above mantle with a temperature elevated above normal. The mantle temperature anomaly was up to 150°C above normal at the time of continental breakup, decreasing by c. 70–80°C over the first 10 Ma of seafloor spreading
- …
