Internal and external effects on cognition: Evidence from memory training in very preterm-born children and cognition in patients with carotid artery stenosis before and after treatment

The present synopsis aims to integrate one study about memory training in very preterm-born children and two studies about cognition in patients with carotid artery stenosis before and after treatments. Preterm-born children are at increased risk of cognitive deficits and behavioural problems compared with peers born at term. This thesis determined whether memory training would improve cognitive functions in school-age very preterm-born children. Memory strategy training produced significant improvements in trained and non-trained cognitive functions; a core working memory training revealed significant effects on short-term memory and working memory tasks. Six months after training, children in both training groups showed better working memory performance than children in the waiting control group. This is evidence that memory training ��� an external influence on cognition ��� induces plastic changes in very preterm-born children. Patients with carotid artery stenosis are known to be at increased risk of cognitive impairment. We showed that patients with symptomatic or asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis were at higher risk for cognitive deficits than expected in a normative sample. This thesis seeks to link cognitive plasticity to internal factors like carotid stenosis. An external factor, which influences blood flow to the brain is the nature of the carotid artery stenosis treatment. Research on the effects of carotid artery stenosis treatment on cognition has produced inconsistent results. We found significant improvement in frontal lobe functions, visual memory and motor speed one year after treatment independent of the treatment type (best medical treatment, carotid artery stenting, carotid artery endarterectomy); providing evidence for ���treatment-induced��� cognitive plasticity. Baseline performance was negatively associated with improvement in various cognitive functions after training in very preterm-born children and after treatment in patients with carotid artery stenosis. The present synopsis aims to integrate these findings into the current and relevant literature, and discuss consequences as well as methodological considerations resulting from the studies constituting the thesis at hand.

Os fatores de risco da rendibilidade das a����es: an��lise e evid��ncia emp��rica em pa��ses da Zona Euro

Tese de Doutoramento em Ci��ncias Empresariais.

Environmental inFluences on the Adoption of Open Innovation: Analysis of Structural, Institutional and Cultural Impacts

The concept of open innovation has recently gained widespread attention, and is particularly relevant now as many firms endeavouring to implement open innovation, face different sets of challenges associated with managing it. Prior research on open innovation has focused on the internal processes dealing with open innovation implementation and the organizational changes, already taking place or yet required in companies order to succeed in the global open innovation market. Despite the intensive research on open innovation, the question of what influences its adoption by companies in different contexts has not received much attention in studies. To fill this gap, this thesis contribute to the discussion on open innovation influencing factors by bringing in the perspective of environmental impacts, i.e. gathering data on possible sources of external influences, classifying them and testing their systemic impact through conceptual system dynamics simulation model. The insights from data collection and conceptualization in modelling are used to answer the question of how the external environment affects the adoption of open innovation. The thesis research is presented through five research papers reflecting the method triangulation based study (conducted at initial stage as case study, later as quantitative analysis and finally as system dynamics simulation). This multitude of methods was used to collect the possible external influence factors and to assess their impact (on positive/negative scale rather than numerical). The results obtained throughout the thesis research bring valuable insights into understanding of open innovation influencing factors inside a firm���s operating environment, point out the balance required in the system for successful open innovation performance and discover the existence of tipping point of open innovation success when driven by market dynamics and structures. The practical implications on how firms and policy-makers can leverage environment for their potential benefits are offered in the conclusions.

University Faculty Members��� Understanding of Their Role: Identity, Power, and Silence

This qualitative study was conducted to explore tenured faculty members��� understandings of their roles as professors. Tenure is an institutional means to enact academic freedom, which allows tenured faculty members to investigate topics of their choosing free from external influence. Academic freedom also enables faculty members to be public intellectuals who shape and critique social policies and make knowledge assertions. In effect, the faculty members are institutionally protected to speak truth to power. Purposeful sampling of 9 participants from 2 universities yielded 3 major themes: professorial identity (shaped by such factors as career stage, university culture, and faculty affiliation), professorial power (powers that participants experienced as well as the ways in which they exercised power), and professorial silencing (as a response to fiscal realities coupled with numerous governance issues). While participants were cognizant of the powers that affected their freedoms, they were less aware of the ways in which their position afforded them powers. Subtle but more potent forms of power were at play for tenured professors, but the participants saw themselves as having to work within institutional and financial constraints that limited their freedom to speak out on controversial issues. Faculty members were, thus, silenced and at times chose to self-silence. The context of the present-day university, governance models, and the financial issues affecting universities and departments worked in concert to silence this critical voice in society.

Model Development and Validation for Studying Consumer Preferences of Car Owners

Globalization and liberalization, with the entry of many prominent foreign manufacturers, changed the automobile scenario in India, since early 1990���s. Manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Suzuki, Hyundai, Renault, Mitsubishi, Benz, BMW, Volkswagen and Nissan set up their manufacturing units in India in joint venture with their Indian counterpart companies, by making use of the Foreign Direct Investment policy of the Government of India, These manufacturers started capturing the hearts of Indian car customers with their choice of technological and innovative product features, with quality and reliability. With the multiplicity of choices available to the Indian passenger car buyers, it drastically changed the way the car purchase scenario in India and particularly in the State of Kerala. This transformed the automobile scene from a sellers��� market to buyers��� market. Car customers started developing their own personal preferences and purchasing patterns, which were hitherto unknown in the Indian automobile segment. The main purpose of this paper is to come up with the identification of possible parameters and a framework development, that influence the consumer purchase behaviour patterns of passenger car owners in the State of Kerala, so that further research could be done, based on the framework and the identified parameters

Conceptualisation Of Model For Studying Consumer Purchase Behaviour Of Passenger Cars

Automobile Industry in India is influenced by the presence of national and multi-national manufacturers. The presence of many manufacturers and brands in the state provides many choices to the customer. The current market for car manufacturers has been transformed from a monopoly of one or two manufacturers in the seventies to oligopoly of many manufacturers in the current marketing scenario. The main objective of the research paper is to explore and conceptualize various parameters and develop a model, which influence the purchase patterns of passenger cars in the State of Kerala. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to come up with a model, which shall facilitate further study on the consumer purchase behaviour patterns of passenger car owners in the State of Kerala, India. The author intends to undertake further quantitative analysis to verify and validate the model so developed. The main methods used for this paper are secondary research on available material, depth interview of car dealers, car financing agencies and car owners in the city of Cochin, in Kerala State in India. The depth interviews were conducted with the use of prepared questionnaire for car dealers, car customers and car financing agencies. The findings resulted in the identification of the parameters that influence the consumer purchase behaviour of passenger cars and the formulation of the model, which will be the basis for the further research of the author. The paper will be of tremendous value to the existing and new car manufacturers both indigenous and foreign, to formalize and strategies their policies towards an effective marketing strategy, so as to market their models in the State, which is known for its high literacy, consumerism and higher educational penetration

Dominant partial least square factors of consumer purchase behaviour of passenger cars

Globalization and liberalization, with the entry of many prominent foreign manufacturers, changed the automobile scenario in India, since early 1990���s. World Leaders in automobile manufacturing such as Ford, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Suzuki, Hyundai, Renault, Mitsubishi, Benz, BMW, Volkswagen and Nissan set up their manufacturing units in India in joint venture with their Indian counterpart companies, by making use of the Foreign Direct Investment policy of the Government of India, These manufacturers started capturing the hearts of Indian car customers with their choice of technological and innovative product features, with quality and reliability. With the multiplicity of choices available to the Indian passenger car buyers, it drastically changed the way the car purchase scenario in India and particularly in the State of Kerala. This transformed the automobile scene from a sellers��� market to buyers��� market. Car customers started developing their own personal preferences and purchasing patterns, which were hitherto unknown in the Indian automobile segment. The main purpose of this paper is to develop a model with major variables, which influence the consumer purchase behaviour of passenger car owners in the State of Kerala. Though there are innumerable studies conducted in other countries, there are very few thesis and research work conducted to study the consumer behaviour of the passenger car industry in India and specifically in the State of Kerala. The results of the research contribute to the practical knowledge base of the automobile industry, specifically to the passenger car segment. It has also a great contributory value addition to the manufacturers and dealers for customizing their marketing plans in the State

International Organizations: Fostering Democracy ���at Home���: From Silent Players to Salient Players?

The international dimension of democratisation is a major concern in the study of contemporary political systems. The analysis of domestic political transformations in which International Organisations (IOs) may be salient actors compromises the traditional inward-looking approach of comparative politics that holds democracy to be a domestic affair par excellence. Nevertheless, the maturity of any process of democratisation relies upon the establishment and sustainability of institutions that genuinely reflect the interests and socio-political identity of the citizens of that polity. The role of external influence, whether progressive or abrupt, is clearly limited in constructing and sustaining this process. However, the relevance of international variables in influencing the renaissance or enhancement of democracy has not been overlooked by either scholars or politicians over the past fifteen years. As a number of political systems went through what became known as the third wave of democratization, the role of IOs in breaking down undemocratic strongholds and in neutralising possible reversals began to gain momentum. Contending approaches and controversial case studies alike appear to elicit very different conclusions concerning the legitimacy and the effectiveness of international actors in this field. This analysis addresses the rationale underpinning the deployment of multilateral external actors as agents of democratisation. Drawing on an integrative theoretical approach and a comparative case study involving the democratisation agendas of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations (UN) in Latin America (LA), contrasting international models of deployment are assessed. It is argued that IOs��� democratisation strategies are based on institutional roadmaps leading towards the attainment of targets which vary according to three key ��guidelines���: how democracy is conceptualised, what cooperative strategies are used, and what frameworks for democratisation are adopted.-----La dimensi��n internacional de la democratizaci��n representa un fen��meno importante de los sistemas pol��ticos contempor��neos. El hecho de que la transformaci��n pol��tica interna sea incluida bajo el t��tulo de organizaciones internacionales (OI) indica un rompimiento con el enfoque tradicional de observaci��n interna de la pol��tica comparativa, si se parte de la suposici��n de que la ���democracia��� es un asunto interno por excelencia. Hay procesos complejos que limitan la viabilidad de la fortuna democr��tica en la pol��tica interior, los cuales dependen de las estructuras representativas del poder que fluye de la legitimidad nacional y la identidad pol��tica. No obstante, los est��mulos internacionales que sostienen a los sistemas nacionales de gobierno, estructurados alrededor de la construcci��n y la consolidaci��n de la democracia, est��n en el centro de la pol��tica comparativa contempor��nea. Cuando varios sistemas pol��ticos atravesaban la tercera ola de democratizaci��n, las OI asumieron r��pidamente una posici��n significativa como agentes que neutralizaban los miedos a la inversi��n de pol��ticas, rompiendo lazos con formas antidemocr��ticas de gobierno y eliminando las normas informales de los juegos democr��ticos. Las din��micas mencionadas dan fundamento para abordar el debate sobre los modelos externos de apoyo. Mediante un enfoque te��rico integrador y un estudio comparativo de casos de las agendas de democratizaci��n de la Organizaci��n de Estados Americanos y las Naciones Unidas dirigidas a la problem��tica democr��tica latinoamericana, se aclaran modelos internacionales ���ocultos��� de despliegue. Se argumenta que las estrategias de las OI para democratizar se fundamentan en que los planes de desarrollo institucionales para la democratizaci��n lleguen a los objetivos democr��ticos a trav��s de tres ���gu��as��� multilaterales: conceptualizaci��n de la democracia, estrategias de cooperaci��n y marcos de referencia especiales para la democratizaci��n.

Rights, citizenship and access to the countryside

This paper presents a reading of current UK Government policy on recreational access to the countryside of England, in terms of its citizenship and rights agenda. Given the continuity of traditional forms of land tenure and occupation, it is argued that the policy is less of recognition of the changing needs of a tranisitory society than it is a revisionist menifesto for resisting external influence and change. This is particularly so in terms of recreation, where the underlying organisation of the physical environment has been appropriated to reproduce a reflection of the social order which increasingly descriminates between culturally legitimate and illegitimate uses of rural space.

Internationalized regimes: a second dimension of regime hybridity

Traditional approaches have conceptualized political regimes almost exclusively with reference to domestic-level political factors. However, many current and historical political regimes have entailed a major role for international actors, and in some cases the external influence has been so great that regimes have become internationalized. This article explores the concept of internationalized regimes and argues that they should be seen as a distinct form of hybrid regime type that demonstrates a distinct dimension of hybridity. Until now, regime hybridity has been conceived of along a single dimension of domestic politics: the level of competitiveness. Yet, some regimes are characterised by a different type of hybridity, in which domestic and international authority are found together within a single political system. The article explores the dynamics of internationalized regimes within three settings, those of international occupation, international administration and informal empire.

O processo decis��rio para obten����o de materiais de emprego militar no Ex��rcito Brasileiro

Este trabalho tem como objetivo descrever como os fatores racionais, organizacionais e pol��ticos influenciam o processo decis��rio no Ex��rcito Brasileiro para a obten����o de Materiais de Emprego Militar (MEM). Utilizou-se a abordagem proposta no trabalho de Allison para an��lise das decis��es durante a crise dos m��sseis de Cuba em 1962. Os fatores racionais utilizados foram: c��lculo, maximiza����o de valor, impessoalidade, escolha racional e racionalidade limitada. Os fatores organizacionais foram: padr��es e processos organizacionais, segmenta����o do problema, coordena����o e controle centralizados, flexibilidade limitada, previsibilidade e cultura organizacional. Os fatores pol��ticos utilizados foram: conflito, poder, negocia����o, conting��ncias, coopta����o, interesses e influ��ncia externa. Os resultados permitiram constatar que o processo decis��rio, mesmo ocorrendo em uma organiza����o baseada em pressupostos racionais, sofre influ��ncia de fatores organizacionais e pol��ticos.

Problemas ambientais e rela����es de trabalho no Porto de Bel��m: perspectivas para um projeto de educa����o ambiental

Esta pesquisa mostra o olhar que trabalhadores e passageiros da Companhia das Docas do Par�� ��� Porto de Bel��m t��m do cotidiano do porto em rela����o aos problemas ambientais. Nossa motiva����o para o desenvolvimento deste estudo pautou-se na identifica����o de qual a situa����o ambiental na ��rea portu��ria das Docas de Bel��m e se as a����es de Educa����o Ambiental desenvolvidas em seu interior contribuem para a constru����o de melhorias socioambientais? Para a realiza����o da pesquisa utilizamos como forma de an��lise a abordagem qualitativa, na qual buscamos priorizar n��o apenas a quantidade de dados referentes ao objeto de estudo, mas principalmente compreender o fen��meno em foco. No estudo desenvolvemos as seguintes etapas: a) levantamos dados sobre o entorno, destacando a ocupa����o urbana na ��rea de influ��ncia do Porto; b) elaboramos um diagn��stico ambiental, por interm��dio da vis��o de trabalhadores e usu��rios do Porto de Bel��m, visando suas expectativas quanto ao ambiente; c) Buscamos compreender o desenvolvimento de a����es relacionadas �� preserva����o ambiental, necess��rias ao processo de educa����o para a sustentabilidade, desenvolvidas no Porto de Bel��m. Neste sentido, inicialmente realizamos uma ampla revis��o da literatura sobre a tem��tica, conjuntamente com a pesquisa documental, onde analisamos textos escritos por pesquisadores na ��rea de meio ambiente, e da educa����o Ambiental, como: Loureiro (2004, 2009), Lima (2007), Silva (2009), Teisserenc (2010), Tapia (2005), Campanhola (2000), Gadotti (2008), Becker (2008), Antunes (2002). Assim como documentos oficiais relacionados ao meio ambiente e a outras iniciativas voltadas a A����es de Preserva����o e de Portos como: Constitui����o da Republica Federativa (1988); Decreto Lei 9.795 que disp��e sobre a educa����o ambiental, institui a Pol��tica Nacional de Educa����o Ambiental; Decreto Lei 8.630 que disp��e sobre o regime jur��dico da explora����o dos portos organizados e das instala����es portu��rias; Lei n�� 8.630, de 25/02/1993 (antiga Lei dos Portos). A partir da constru����o do texto ampliamos nosso conhecimento, o que nos deu suporte te��rico para iniciarmos a pesquisa emp��rica. Nesta etapa fizemos um levantamento da ��rea edificada em parte da orla de Bel��m para identificar o percentual de ocupa����o urbana na faixa exclusiva selecionada, ��s proximidades do l��cus da pesquisa, o levantamento realizado visou identificar alguma prov��vel influ��ncia externa na ��rea de movimenta����o de navios, o que foi descartado, pois o percentual de ocupa����o urbana (45,0830 %) encontrado foi considerado dentro dos padr��es aceit��veis. Na segunda etapa do estudo foi feita a coleta de dados junto ��s pessoas que vivenciam o cotidiano da ��rea portu��ria como: trabalhadores e usu��rios, objetivando obter informa����es sobre sua vis��o e opini��o sobre o foco da pesquisa, utilizamos primeiramente a entrevista semiestruturada, objetivando esclarecer sobre as reais condi����es atuais do meio ambiente de trabalho, vivido cotidianamente por seus atores, nas quest��es profissionais, sociais e ambientais na ��rea do Porto de Bel��m e, para que tiv��ssemos um diagn��stico do momento em que se encontra a ambientaliza����o do Porto, realizamos entrevistas com sujeitos que trabalham diariamente naquele ambiente portu��rio. Culminando o estudo, utilizamos question��rios, os quais foram aplicados a 80 (oitenta) sujeitos trabalhadores e 149 (cento e quarenta e nove) aos usu��rios/passageiros. O resultado da pesquisa revelou como principais problemas apontados, tanto pelos usu��rios como pelos trabalhadores os impactos ambientais causados pelas atividades portu��rias como a emiss��o de res��duos s��lidos, l��quidos, derrame de produtos perigosos e os riscos de contamina����o do rio. Assim como lixo em excesso e sua coleta indevida, que tem ocasionado frequentes entupimentos dos esgotos. Assim como a inexist��ncia de continuidade do trabalho de limpeza e manuten����o com a pr��tica necess��ria da dragagem retirada de entulhos do rio e do canal das docas. Constatamos tamb��m, que existe a inten����o pela gest��o da CDP em realizar o trabalho de utiliza����o correta de sistemas de carga e descarga, armazenagem, pesagem, acomoda����o e movimenta����o de cargas no porto, bem como realizar de forma correta controle de mat��rias que chegam e que saem, e que �� percept��vel a eficiente vigil��ncia da movimenta����o na ��rea de embarque e desembarque de passageiros, o fazem com que o Porto de Bel��m permane��a dentro dos padr��es estabelecidos na Constitui����o, o processo de gest��o portu��ria ocorre regularmente obedecendo a um sistema de atividades previamente determinadas e que se encontram de acordo com a Lei dos Portos. O grande ganho que se observa no estudo e esclarecimento das quest��es investigadas �� a apresenta����o do conceito que os atores envolvidos t��m da realidade ambiental existente.

Performance Analysis of MODIS 500-m Spatial Resolution Products for Estimating Chlorophyll-a Concentrations in Oligo-to Meso-Trophic Waters Case Study: Itumbiara Reservoir, Brazil

Funda����o de Amparo �� Pesquisa do Estado de S��o Paulo (FAPESP)

Alternating offer games and private rulings of the Australian Tax Office

The concept of submitting oneself to a voluntary negotiation is by no means new to big business. Formal bargaining has been quite successful over the years in providing the venue for agents to explore a more logical and mathematical approach to bargaining. However in more recent times external influences have been applied to agents who provide better deals for favored executives. This external influence has displayed itself in taxtion negotiations to the extent that tax office agents have been dismissed for irresponsible conduct. We explore this specific type of negotiation using an alternating offer bargaining game to model the particular influences, which create unfair rulings in negotiations. By the constraints of this systematic mathematical approach to negotiation, we will explore the advantages of a more formal game theoretic approach. In this presentation we will also elaborate on finding Nash Equilibrium in alternating offer games.

Ferramenta computacional para medi����o de deslocamentos em ensaios de carga atrav��s de t��cnicas de processamento de imagem

Disserta����o de Mestrado para a obten����o de grau de Mestre em Engenharia Eletrot��cnica Ramo de Automa����o e Eletr��nica Industrial