GOVERNING BOARD OF THE PENSION FUND

CERN Document Server

2001-01-01

The Governing Board met on 4 September in its first session since the summer break. On this occasion, the Board invited the two actuaries entrusted with the three-yearly actuarial review of the Fund, MP Actuaires SA (Geneva) and AON Consulting (Brussels), to present their results. Although the two studies were conducted independently and simultaneously, the Governing Board noted that the underlying methodology was remarkably similar in both cases. Both actuaries adopted a stochastic approach, both performed analyses based on the closed-fund method and on the open-fund method, and both made an evaluation of the risks for the appreciation of the Fund's financial position. This methodology produced consistent results which, while not always identical, are superimposable in terms of their order of magnitude. Under the closed-fund method, which involves assessing the Fund's financial situation as if it were closed on the date of calculation without any new members being admitted, both actuaries conclude that the s...

The Search for Security Technology Funding.

Science.gov (United States)

Fickes, Michael

2003-01-01

Explains that although it is difficult to find money to pay for school security technology, there are places to look. For example, the Department of Education has a list serve that summarizes various funding opportunities. There is also a Federal Register list serve and a site put out by the Department of Justice. A sidebar presents three…

78 FR 66251 - Electronic Fund Transfers(Regulation E)

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-05

... Electronic Fund Transfers (Regulation E) AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. ACTION: Notice of... subpart B of Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and published this list on...-rule-amendment-to-regulation-e/ . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bureau published its remittance rule...

7 CFR 4285.58 - How to apply for cooperative agreement funds.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

...) Publication List(s). A chronological list of all publications in refereed journals during the past five years... practicable each fiscal year in which funds are appropriated for the program. (b) The annual program... project. Authors should be listed in the same order as they appear on each paper cited, along with the...

Positive lists of cosmetic ingredients: Analytical methodology for regulatory and safety controls - A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lores, Marta; Llompart, Maria; Alvarez-Rivera, Gerardo; Guerra, Eugenia; Vila, Marlene; Celeiro, Maria; Lamas, J Pablo; Garcia-Jares, Carmen

2016-04-07

Cosmetic products placed on the market and their ingredients, must be safe under reasonable conditions of use, in accordance to the current legislation. Therefore, regulated and allowed chemical substances must meet the regulatory criteria to be used as ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products, and adequate analytical methodology is needed to evaluate the degree of compliance. This article reviews the most recent methods (2005-2015) used for the extraction and the analytical determination of the ingredients included in the positive lists of the European Regulation of Cosmetic Products (EC 1223/2009): comprising colorants, preservatives and UV filters. It summarizes the analytical properties of the most relevant analytical methods along with the possibilities of fulfilment of the current regulatory issues. The cosmetic legislation is frequently being updated; consequently, the analytical methodology must be constantly revised and improved to meet safety requirements. The article highlights the most important advances in analytical methodology for cosmetics control, both in relation to the sample pretreatment and extraction and the different instrumental approaches developed to solve this challenge. Cosmetics are complex samples, and most of them require a sample pretreatment before analysis. In the last times, the research conducted covering this aspect, tended to the use of green extraction and microextraction techniques. Analytical methods were generally based on liquid chromatography with UV detection, and gas and liquid chromatographic techniques hyphenated with single or tandem mass spectrometry; but some interesting proposals based on electrophoresis have also been reported, together with some electroanalytical approaches. Regarding the number of ingredients considered for analytical control, single analyte methods have been proposed, although the most useful ones in the real life cosmetic analysis are the multianalyte approaches. Copyright © 2016

Time on wait lists for coronary bypass surgery in British Columbia, Canada, 1991 – 2000

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hayden Robert

2005-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In British Columbia, Canada, all necessary medical services are funded publicly. Concerned with growing wait lists in the mid-1990s, the provincial government started providing extra funding for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG operations annually. Although aimed at improving access, it is not known whether supplementary funding changed the time that patients spent on wait lists for CABG. We sought to determine whether the period of registration on wait lists had an effect on time to isolated CABG and whether the period effect was similar across priority groups. Methods Using records from a population-based registry, we studied the wait-list time before and after supplementary funding became available. We compared the number of weeks from registration to surgery for equal proportions of patients in synthetic cohorts defined by five registration periods in the 1990s. Results Overall, 9,231 patients spent a total of 137,126 person-weeks on the wait lists. The time to surgery increased by the middle of the decade, and decreased toward the end of the decade. Relative to the 1991–92 registration period, the conditional weekly probabilities of undergoing surgery were 30% lower among patients registered on the wait lists in 1995–96, hazard ratio (HR = 0.70 (0.65–0.76, and 23% lower in 1997–98 patients, HR = 0.77 (0.71–0.83, while there were no differences with 1999–2000 patients, HR = 0.94 (0.88–1.02, after adjusting for priority group at registration, comorbidity, age and sex. We found that the effect of registration period was different across priority groups. Conclusion Our results provide evidence that time to CABG shortened after supplementary funding was provided on an annual basis to tertiary care hospitals within a single publicly funded health system. One plausible explanation is that these hospitals had capacity to increase the number of operations. At the same time, the effect was not uniform across

Mutual Fund Performances of Polish Domestic Equity Fund Managers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ömer faruk tan

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the article: The main purpose of the paper is empirically evaluating selectivity skills and market timing ability of Polish fund managers during the period from January 2009 to November 2014. After the global financial crisis of 2008, in this period of quantitative easing (QE, thanks to an increase in the money supply, a capital flow from developed countries to developing countries was observed. In this study, we try to analyse that although the financial market in Poland made an incredible progress, whether fund managers show better or worse performance than the market. Methodology/Methods: In order to evaluate fund manager performances, Jensen alpha (1968 is computed, which depicts selectivity skills of fund managers. For determining market timing ability of fund managers, Treynor & Mazuy (1966 regression analysis and Henriksson & Merton (1981 regression analysis are applied. Fund performances are evaluated using Warsaw Stock Exchange Index as the benchmark index. Scientific aim: In this study, we have tried to evaluate selectivity skills and market timing ability of Polish fund managers. A total of 14 equity fund managers’ performances are analysed. The study can be guiding especially for investors who are interested in Polish equity fund performances in a period where emerging stock markets outperformed with quantitative easing. Findings: Jensen (1968 alphas indicate that over this period fund managers did not have selective ability, as none of the 14 funds had statistically significant positive alphas. Furthermore, Treynor & Mazuy (1966 and Henriksson & Merton (1981 regression analysis indicate that over the same period fund managers did not also have market timing ability, as again none of the 14 funds had statistically significant positive coefficients. Conclusions: In this work, we can detect that in the era of quantitative easing, although the financial market in Poland made an incredible progress, the fund returns were

Does Independent Schools Funding Make a Mockery of the Public Schools Funding Formula? BCTF Research Report. RR2015-01 rev2

Science.gov (United States)

White, Margaret; Kuehn, Larry

2015-01-01

This report describes the methodology used by the Ministry of Education to calculate per Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) student funding for independent schools and discusses the underlying inequities when the public school funding formula is applied to funding for private schools. Vancouver school district is provided as a case example to work through…

Can listed property shares be a surrogate for direct property investment behaviour?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Douw Boshoff

2012-03-01

Full Text Available The listed property sector in South Africa has grown to a size which could be considered to be a good representation of the income producing property market in general. Stock market listed property investment funds offer the opportunity to compare indirect property investment to direct property investment, which could bridge the gap between irrational investment behaviour and intrinsic asset values. This study investigates the relationship between listed property share prices and the property values in listed property funds. The share prices are correlated with various factors, such as the accounting ratios of the companies, the financial statements of the companies and general economic variables. The outcome of the study is an explanation of the behaviour of listed property shares, and its relationship to the direct property market and the general economy. This would assist in the explanation of market behaviour and provides the opportunity to more accurately predict portfolio asset values, which might be used in the valuation of individual real estate assets.

75 FR 42177 - Federated Enhanced Treasury Income Fund, et al.; Notice of Application

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-20

... means return of capital for financial accounting purposes and not for tax accounting purposes. 9..., Federated Premier Intermediate Municipal Income Fund, Federated Premier Municipal Income Fund (collectively... shares of the Current Funds are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The Premier Intermediate Municipal...

Coca-Cola - a model of transparency in research partnerships? A network analysis of Coca-Cola's research funding (2008-2016).

Science.gov (United States)

Serôdio, Paulo M; McKee, Martin; Stuckler, David

2018-06-01

To (i) evaluate the extent to which Coca-Cola's 'Transparency Lists' of 218 researchers that it funds are comprehensive; (ii) map all scientific research acknowledging funding from Coca-Cola; (iii) identify those institutions, authors and research topics funded by Coca-Cola; and (iv) use Coca-Cola's disclosure to gauge whether its funded researchers acknowledge the source of funding. Using Web of Science Core Collection database, we retrieved all studies declaring receipt of direct funding from the Coca-Cola brand, published between 2008 and 2016. Using conservative eligibility criteria, we iteratively removed studies and recreated Coca-Cola's transparency lists using our data. We used network analysis and structural topic modelling to assess the structure, organization and thematic focus of Coca-Cola's research enterprise, and string matching to evaluate the completeness of Coca-Cola's transparency lists. Three hundred and eighty-nine articles, published in 169 different journals, and authored by 907 researchers, cite funding from The Coca-Cola Company. Of these, Coca-Cola acknowledges funding forty-two authors (Coca-Cola Company appears to have failed to declare a comprehensive list of its research activities. Further, several funded authors appear to have failed to declare receipt of funding. Most of Coca-Cola's research support is directed towards physical activity and disregards the role of diet in obesity. Despite initiatives for greater transparency of research funding, the full scale of Coca-Cola's involvement is still not known.

49 CFR 350.319 - What are permissible uses of High Priority Activity Funds?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Activity Funds? 350.319 Section 350.319 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation... permissible uses of High Priority Activity Funds? (a) The FMCSA may generally use these funds to support, enrich, or evaluate State CMV safety programs and to accomplish the five objectives listed below: (1...

Board diversity and self-regulation in Dutch pension funds

OpenAIRE

Shi, Lin; Swinkels, Laurens; Lecq, Fieke

2016-01-01

markdownabstractPurpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the change in pension fund board diversity after self-regulation was introduced, and investigate which pension fund characteristics influence compliance with self-regulation. In addition, the authors analyze whether compliance might be achieved by tokenism. Design/methodology/approach - The authors hand-collect pension fund and pension fund board data of the largest (by assets) 200 pension funds in the Netherlands. The authors ...

Ranking mutual funds using Sortino method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khosro Faghani Makrani

2014-04-01

Full Text Available One of the primary concerns on most business activities is to determine an efficient method for ranking mutual funds. This paper performs an empirical investigation to rank 42 mutual funds listed on Tehran Stock Exchange using Sortino method over the period 2011-2012. The results of survey have been compared with market return and the results have confirmed that there were some positive and meaningful relationships between Sortino return and market return. In addition, there were some positive and meaningful relationship between two Sortino methods.

The STAPL pList

KAUST Repository

Tanase, Gabriel

2010-01-01

We present the design and implementation of the stapl pList, a parallel container that has the properties of a sequential list, but allows for scalable concurrent access when used in a parallel program. The Standard Template Adaptive Parallel Library (stapl) is a parallel programming library that extends C++ with support for parallelism. stapl provides a collection of distributed data structures (pContainers) and parallel algorithms (pAlgorithms) and a generic methodology for extending them to provide customized functionality. stapl pContainers are thread-safe, concurrent objects, providing appropriate interfaces (e.g., views) that can be used by generic pAlgorithms. The pList provides stl equivalent methods, such as insert, erase, and splice, additional methods such as split, and efficient asynchronous (non-blocking) variants of some methods for improved parallel performance. We evaluate the performance of the stapl pList on an IBM Power 5 cluster and on a CRAY XT4 massively parallel processing system. Although lists are generally not considered good data structures for parallel processing, we show that pList methods and pAlgorithms (p-generate and p-partial-sum) operating on pLists provide good scalability on more than 103 processors and that pList compares favorably with other dynamic data structures such as the pVector. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.

A Dictionary of Basic Pashto Frequency List I, Project Description and Samples, and Frequency List II.

Science.gov (United States)

Heston, Wilma

The three-volume set of materials describes and presents the results to date of a federally-funded project to develop Pashto-English and English-Pashto dictionaries. The goal was to produce a list of 12,000 basic Pashto words for English-speaking users. Words were selected based on frequency in various kinds of oral and written materials, and were…

MUTUAL FUND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS PRE AND POST FINANCIAL CRISIS OF 2008

OpenAIRE

Asadov, Elvin; Dinger, Tim

2017-01-01

Using a sample of 955 mutual funds, free of survivorship bias, we analyse the performance of diversified equity mutual funds in the United States of America that invest solely in stocks listed on the U.S. stock exchanges before and after the financial crisis of 2008. We categorize all mutual funds into their respective strategy including value, growth, and blend in order to see any relationship with respect to their strategic focus.We find that mutual funds were not able to provide a positive...

77 FR 9655 - Mobility Fund Phase I Auction Updated List of Potentially Eligible Census Blocks

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-17

... FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION [AU Docket No. 12-25; DA 12-187] Mobility Fund Phase I Auction.... DATES: Pursuant to the Auction 901 (Mobility Fund Phase I) Comment Public Notice, 77 FR 7152, February... 9, 2012. ADDRESSES: Pursuant to the Auction 901 (Mobility Fund Phase I) Comment Public Notice, 77 FR...

Why be red listed? Threatened Myriapoda species in Brazil with implications for their conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Karam-Gemael, Manoela; Izzo, Thiago Junqueira; Chagas, Amazonas

2018-01-01

The biodiversity crisis we live in, marked by high extinction rates, requires well-planned conservation efforts. To overcome this issue, red lists of threatened species are recognized as the main objective approach for evaluating the conservation status of species and therefore guiding conservation priorities. This work focuses on the Myriapoda (Chilopoda and Diplopoda) species listed in the Brazilian red list of fauna to enable discussion of the practical implications of red lists for conservation. Almost all myriapods assessed are endemic to Brazil (99 %) and 73 % are known from subterranean habitats only. Despite of 33 % being recorded from protected areas (PAs), downgrading, degazettement or downsizing of PAs and intense and unregulated ecotourism represent great threats. The PAs network in Brazil tends to fail in conserving myriapod species. The number of data deficient species (42 %) states the need of investing in ecological and taxonomic studies about the group, in order to fill in important knowledge gaps in species assessments nationally and globally. In this work we show that there is a lack of communication between national and global agencies concerning red lists, which results in a significant loss for science and for conservation. Despite investing in national and state red lists, individual countries must take the final step of submitting its data to IUCN global database, as significant international funding is available for IUCN red listed species conservation. Being one of the most diverse countries in the world, and facing the biggest cuts ever on national science funding, losing these important funding opportunities is a huge loss for Brazilian biodiversity conservation and for science. This study raises awareness on subterranean habitats conservation, due to its high endemism and fragility. Since the first edition of the Brazilian Red List in 1968, centipedes are now included for the first time, and millipedes for the second time. The presence

Teachers’ organisational behaviour in public and private funded schools

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Honingh, M.E.; Oort, F.J.

2009-01-01

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to compare teachers' organisational behaviour in publicly- and privately-funded schools in the Dutch Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. Design/methodology/approach - A percentage of all middle managers in publicly and privately funded schools (72

Analysis of Factors Affecting Growth of Pension Mutual Funds in Turkey

OpenAIRE

Ersin Acikgoz; Hasan Uygurturk; Turhan Korkmaz

2015-01-01

In this study, the level of relationship between the real growth rate of the stock pension mutual funds that have been involved in the individual pension system and the variables such as the number of fund participants, the real fund returns, fund operating expenses and share of fund assets to the total assets of the funds are analyzed with panel data methodology. The results have reported that apart from the fund operating expenses, the selected independent variables are statistically signif...

SF Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund: Projects and Accomplishments

Science.gov (United States)

San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund (SFBWQIF) projects listed here are part of an EPA competitive grant program to improve SF Bay water quality focused on restoring impaired waters and enhancing aquatic resources.

THEORETICAL-METHODOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF INTERNATIONAL LISTING OF STOCKS FOR INVESTORS AND EMITENTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Mazur

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In the conditions of globalization of the economic environment, the integration processes of the international capital markets are intensifying, which envisages the possibility of placing securities in foreign markets. This gives some benefits to national investors and issuers. These benefits include: scaling up the attraction of investors' financial resources; strengthening of the business reputation and issuer's credit rating; Successful placement of shares in the international market contributes to the increase of profits. International listing of shares increases the prestige and image of the issuer. The main motivation of most companies entering the foreign capital markets is only financial - they plan to increase their capital in the markets of highly developed countries and increase the liquidity of their shares. International listing provides new markets for more active securities that do not require detailed reporting and have significant liquidity. In some cases, the introduction of international listing increases the value of the company's shares. As a rule, this happens more often in the US, when the market value of shares is higher than that existing on the issuer's market. Moreover, the fact of an increase in the number of investors who buys company shares increases the liquidity of shares, narrowing the spread. That is, the main motive for stock quotes abroad is to increase the value of its capital and liquidity of shares, which will eventually give an opportunity to attract additional capital. All this contributes to the growth of the number of national companies that market their shares on foreign stock exchanges. Investigated double listingof shares of companies; discloses the conditions under which the international listing of shares of companies becomes one of the most appropriate ways of financing business; the influence of international listing of companies' shares on the liquidity of shares in the domestic market, increase

Listing of awardee names: Active awards as of October 5, 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-10-05

This is a listing of awarded active contracts for all US DOE facilities and projects. The information contained in the list includes the awardee name and division responsible for the work, BIN, completion date, a one line description of the work, the vendor ID, city, state, congressional district, the value of the contract and the amount of funds expended to date.

Non-communicable diseases: mapping research funding organisations, funding mechanisms and research practices in Italy and Germany.

Science.gov (United States)

Stephani, Victor; Sommariva, Silvia; Spranger, Anne; Ciani, Oriana

2017-10-02

Evidence shows that territorial borders continue to have an impact on research collaboration in Europe. Knowledge of national research structural contexts is therefore crucial to the promotion of Europe-wide policies for research funding. Nevertheless, studies assessing and comparing research systems remain scarce. This paper aims to further the knowledge on national research landscapes in Europe, focusing on non-communicable disease (NCD) research in Italy and Germany. To capture the architecture of country-specific research funding systems, a three-fold strategy was adopted. First, a literature review was conducted to determine a list of key public, voluntary/private non-profit and commercial research funding organisations (RFOs). Second, an electronic survey was administered qualifying RFOs. Finally, survey results were integrated with semi-structured interviews with key opinion leaders in NCD research. Three major dimensions of interest were investigated - funding mechanisms, funding patterns and expectations regarding outputs. The number of RFOs in Italy is four times larger than that in Germany and the Italian research system has more project funding instruments than the German system. Regarding the funding patterns towards NCD areas, in both countries, respiratory disease research resulted as the lowest funded, whereas cancer research was the target of most funding streams. The most reported expected outputs of funded research activity were scholarly publication of articles and reports. This cross-country comparison on the Italian and German research funding structures revealed substantial differences between the two systems. The current system is prone to duplicated research efforts, popular funding for some diseases and intransparency of research results. Future research will require addressing the need for better coordination of research funding efforts, even more so if European research efforts are to play a greater role.

2015 Revolving Loan Fund Supplemental Awards for Brownfields and Land Revitalization in New England

Science.gov (United States)

Communities in CT, ME, MA and VT will receive additional grants of $4.3 million in revolving loan fund (RLF) supplemental funding to carry out cleanup and redevelopment projects at contaminated Brownfields properties. See a list of recipients for 2015.

Waiting Lists for Radiation Therapy: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Singer Peter A

2001-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Why waiting lists arise and how to address them remains unclear, and an improved understanding of these waiting list "dynamics" could lead to better management. The purpose of this study is to understand how the current shortage in radiation therapy in Ontario developed; the implications of prolonged waits; who is held accountable for managing such delays; and short, intermediate, and long-term solutions. Methods A case study of the radiation therapy shortage in 1998-99 at Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Relevant documents were collected; semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with ten administrators, health care workers, and patients were conducted, audio-taped and transcribed; and relevant meetings were observed. Results The radiation therapy shortage arose from a complex interplay of factors including: rising cancer incidence rates; broadening indications for radiation therapy; human resources management issues; government funding decisions; and responsiveness to previous planning recommendations. Implications of delays include poorer cancer control rates; patient suffering; and strained doctor-patient relationships. An incompatible relationship exists between moral responsibility, borne by government, and legal liability, borne by physicians. Short-term solutions include re-referral to centers with available resources; long-term solutions include training and recruiting health care workers, improving workload standards, increasing compensation, and making changes to the funding formula. Conclusion Human resource planning plays a critical role in the causes and solutions of waiting lists. Waiting lists have harsh implications for patients. Accountability relationships require realignment.

CURRENT STUDY ON THE FUNDING SOURCES COVERAGE OF CURRENT ASSETS TO COMPANIES LISTED ON THE BUCHAREST STOCK EXCHANGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teodor HADA

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents issues about the coverage with financing sources of current assets for 64 companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The aim of the study is to see how to calculate indicators specific to current assets and the general framework offered as whole analysis of the financing sources of current assets. The introduction of the paper presents the objective, the research methodology and the novelties brought by this study. Further on, this study shows the various views of the authors about the concept of "current assets", financing sources of current assets, the calculation of net working capital, setting the limits of the normal working capital and determining the speed of rotation. After that was done, based on the theory, a case study was performed, for companies covered in this study. Conclusions focused on determining the final data about what was detailed in the previous paragraphs.

25 CFR 1200.13 - How does a tribe apply to withdraw funds?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... contain the items listed below. (a) Proof that the tribe has notified its members of its intent to remove... proof that the tribe has notified its members of intent to transfer the funds. The resolution must... governing body has the legal authority to withdraw funds from trust status and that the withdrawal does not...

Teachers' Organisational Behaviour in Public and Private Funded Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Honingh, M. E.; Oort, F. J.

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare teachers' organisational behaviour in publicly- and privately-funded schools in the Dutch Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. Design/methodology/approach: A percentage of all middle managers in publicly and privately funded schools (72 per cent and 43 per cent respectively) distributed…

The Child Day Care Recycling Fund Experiment: The Waiting List Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowen, Gary L.; And Others

The Recycling Fund Concept was conceptualized as a special allocation of money for the purpose of expanding child care services for preschool children of low-income parents who were or had been recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. In 1985, North Carolina's Child Care Resources Incorporated…

Using existing case-mix methods to fund trauma cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Monakova, Julia; Blais, Irene; Botz, Charles; Chechulin, Yuriy; Picciano, Gino; Basinski, Antoni

2010-01-01

Policymakers frequently face the need to increase funding in isolated and frequently heterogeneous (clinically and in terms of resource consumption) patient subpopulations. This article presents a methodologic solution for testing the appropriateness of using existing grouping and weighting methodologies for funding subsets of patients in the scenario where a case-mix approach is preferable to a flat-rate based payment system. Using as an example the subpopulation of trauma cases of Ontario lead trauma hospitals, the statistical techniques of linear and nonlinear regression models, regression trees, and spline models were applied to examine the fit of the existing case-mix groups and reference weights for the trauma cases. The analyses demonstrated that for funding Ontario trauma cases, the existing case-mix systems can form the basis for rational and equitable hospital funding, decreasing the need to develop a different grouper for this subset of patients. This study confirmed that Injury Severity Score is a poor predictor of costs for trauma patients. Although our analysis used the Canadian case-mix classification system and cost weights, the demonstrated concept of using existing case-mix systems to develop funding rates for specific subsets of patient populations may be applicable internationally.

Evaluating Selection and Timing Ability of a Mutual Fund

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duguleană L.

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the methodology and a case study to evaluate the performance of a mutual fund by taking a look at the timing and selection abilities of a portfolio manager. Separating the timing and selection abilities of the fund manager is taken into consideration by two major models. The data about the mutual fund chosen for study is the German blue chip fund “DWS Deutsche Aktien Typ O”, which includes most of the DAX 30 companies. The data consists of 117 monthly observations of the fund returns from January 1999 to September 2008. We used EViews to analyse the data.

Funding source and the quality of reports of chronic wounds trials: 2004 to 2011.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodgson, Robert; Allen, Richard; Broderick, Ellen; Bland, J Martin; Dumville, Jo C; Ashby, Rebecca; Bell-Syer, Sally; Foxlee, Ruth; Hall, Jill; Lamb, Karen; Madden, Mary; O'Meara, Susan; Stubbs, Nikki; Cullum, Nicky

2014-01-14

Critical commentaries suggest that wound care randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are often poorly reported with many methodological flaws. Furthermore, interventions in chronic wounds, rather than being drugs, are often medical devices for which there are no requirements for RCTs to bring products to market. RCTs in wounds trials therefore potentially represent a form of marketing. This study presents a methodological overview of chronic wound trials published between 2004 and 2011 and investigates the influence of industry funding on methodological quality. A systematic search for RCTs for the treatment of chronic wounds published in the English language between 2004 and 2011 (inclusive) in the Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Register of Trials was carried out.Data were extracted on aspects of trial design, conduct and quality including sample size, duration of follow-up, specification of a primary outcome, use of surrogate outcomes, and risks of bias. In addition, the prevalence of industry funding was assessed and its influence on the above aspects of trial design, conduct and quality was assessed. A total of 167 RCTs met our inclusion criteria. We found chronic wound trials often have short durations of follow-up (median 12 weeks), small sample sizes (median 63), fail to define a primary outcome in 41% of cases, and those that do define a primary outcome, use surrogate measures of healing in 40% of cases. Only 40% of trials used appropriate methods of randomisation, 25% concealed allocation and 34% blinded outcome assessors. Of the included trials, 41% were wholly or partially funded by industry, 33% declared non-commercial funding and 26% did not report a funding source. Industry funding was not statistically significantly associated with any measure of methodological quality, though this analysis was probably underpowered. This overview confirms concerns raised about the methodological quality of RCTs in wound care and illustrates that greater efforts must

77 FR 52131 - FY 2012 Discretionary Funding Opportunity: Paul S. Sarbanes Transit in Parks Program

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-28

... funding a project must consist of one or more of the eligible activities listed above, meet the definition...; and iv. Partnering, funding from other sources, innovative financing. Proposed planning projects will.... ACTION: Notice of Availability: Solicitation of Project Proposals SUMMARY: The Federal Transit...

Exclusion-list methodology for weatherization program in the Pacific Northwest

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nero, A.V.; Turiel, I.; Fisk, W.J.; Cirman, J.R.; Traynor, C.W.

1982-05-01

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) weatherization program includes measures that have the effect of reducing the ventilation rate in the structures in question, thereby not only saving energy but also increasing the potential for increased concentrations of indoor-generated airborne pollutants. In order to avoid having a significant impact on the health of occupants, certain classes of homes were excluded on the basis of house characteristics that may serve as indicators of higher-than-average sources of indoor pollutants. The purpose of this document is to examine the list of excluded classes of homes and to delineate an approach for modifying that list in order to increase the number of houses for which infiltration-reducing measures are offered. The nature of the weatherization program, particularly with respect to infiltration reduction, what is known about the sources and concentrations of indoor pollutants, as well as their health effects are surveyed. Techniques for controlling levels of indoor pollutants, whether by source control or by ventilation and air cleaning, are reviewed. The main considerations relevant to changes in the exclusion list and for formulating the elements that ought to be available in conjunction with such alterations are identified. It is concluded that the two major exclusion classes, that for radon has the greatest potential for reformulation in the near future to permit offering of infiltration-reducing measures to a significantly larger number of homes than at present; a comparable basis for changing the wood-stove exclusion does not yet exist. It also appears feasible to offer infiltration-reducing measures, in some cases, even if an unvented combustion appliance or urea-formaldehyde (UF) foam insulation is present: for gas stoves, if provision of a ventilation hood is deemed adequate, and for UF foam insulation, if monitoring demonstrates low formaldehyde levels

Exclusion-list methodology for weatherization program in the Pacific Northwest

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nero, A.V.; Turiel, I.; Fisk, W.J.; Cirman, J.R.; Traynor, C.W.

1982-05-01

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) weatherization program includes measures that have the effect of reducing the ventilation rate in the structures in question, thereby not only saving energy but also increasing the potential for increased concentrations of indoor-generated airborne pollutants. In order to avoid having a significant impact on the health of occupants, certain classes of homes were excluded on the basis of house characteristics that may serve as indicators of higher-than-average sources of indoor pollutants. The purpose of this document is to examine the list of excluded classes of homes and to delineate an approach for modifying that list in order to increase the number of houses for which infiltration-reducing measures are offered. The nature of the weatherization program, particularly with respect to infiltration reduction, what is known about the sources and concentrations of indoor pollutants, as well as their health effects are surveyed. Techniques for controlling levels of indoor pollutants, whether by source control or by ventilation and air cleaning, are reviewed. The main considerations relevant to changes in the exclusion list and for formulating the elements that ought to be available in conjunction with such alterations are identified. It is concluded that the two major exclusion classes, that for radon has the greatest potential for reformulation in the near future to permit offering of infiltration-reducing measures to a significantly larger number of homes than at present; a comparable basis for changing the wood-stove exclusion does not yet exist. It also appears feasible to offer infiltration-reducing measures, in some cases, even if an unvented combustion appliance or urea-formaldehyde (UF) foam insulation is present: for gas stoves, if provision of a ventilation hood is deemed adequate, and for UF foam insulation, if monitoring demonstrates low formaldehyde levels.

Improved inference in the evaluation of mutual fund performance using panel bootstrap methods

OpenAIRE

Blake, David; Caulfield, Tristan; Ioannidis, Christos; Tonks, I P

2014-01-01

Two new methodologies are introduced to improve inference in the evaluation of mutual fund performance against benchmarks. First, the benchmark models are estimated using panel methods with both fund and time effects. Second, the non-normality of individual mutual fund returns is accounted for by using panel bootstrap methods. We also augment the standard benchmark factors with fund-specific characteristics, such as fund size. Using a dataset of UK equity mutual fund returns, we find that fun...

Information asymmetry, mutual funds and earnings management: Evidence from China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunhao Dai

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates how information asymmetry and mutual fund ownership affect listed companies’ earnings management. We show that (1 reducing information asymmetry improves firms’ earnings management behavior; (2 relative to short-term mutual funds, long-term mutual funds promote earnings quality by adopting a monitoring role; and (3 by dividing firms into high/low information asymmetry groups, we find that the information environment significantly increases the effect of long-term mutual funds on firms’ earnings management. In this paper, we provide new evidence for the role that institutional investors play in a typical emerging capital market. Our results have clear policy implications: to increase earnings quality, it is essential to improve information transparency and develop long-term institutional investors.

Building on IUCN regional red lists to produce lists of species of conservation priority: a model with Irish bees.

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzpatrick, Una; Murray, Tomás E; Paxton, Robert J; Brown, Mark J F

2007-10-01

A World Conservation Union (IUCN) regional red list is an objective assessment of regional extinction risk and is not the same as a list of conservation priority species. Recent research reveals the widespread, but incorrect, assumption that IUCN Red List categories represent a hierarchical list of priorities for conservation action. We developed a simple eight-step priority-setting process and applied it to the conservation of bees in Ireland. Our model is based on the national red list but also considers the global significance of the national population; the conservation status at global, continental, and regional levels; key biological, economic, and societal factors; and is compatible with existing conservation agreements and legislation. Throughout Ireland, almost one-third of the bee fauna is threatened (30 of 100 species), but our methodology resulted in a reduced list of only 17 priority species. We did not use the priority species list to broadly categorize species to the conservation action required; instead, we indicated the individual action required for all threatened, near-threatened, and data-deficient species on the national red list based on the IUCN's conservation-actions template file. Priority species lists will strongly influence prioritization of conservation actions at national levels, but action should not be exclusive to listed species. In addition, all species on this list will not necessarily require immediate action. Our method is transparent, reproducible, and readily applicable to other taxa and regions.

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT OF UCITS INVESTMENT FUNDS IN CROATIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marko Curkovic

2017-03-01

Full Text Available UCITS investment funds represent an important investment opportunity for retail, as well for institutional investors in the European Union. The aim of this paper is to analyse the performance of the UCITS investment funds in Croatia and to detect relatively homogeneous groups among the UCITS funds based on its performance. The analysis includes 55 UCITS, in the period from the beginning of 2011 until the end of 2014, and it is conducted on daily data of share prices, available from Bloomberg terminal. Analysis is performed separately within the groups of different investment fund by investment strategy. The research methodology is based on the calculation of various indicators of absolute and relative risk-adjusted performance and riskiness of the funds. In general, based on analysis of performance measures, it can be concluded that funds with higher values of net assets were more successful compared to the funds with below-average asset values. Also, funds with below-average values of net assets were more volatile. At the same time, funds run by foreign own management companies were more successful by the absolute performance measures, compared to funds run by management companies with domestic ownership. On the other hand, those funds were more volatile, as well.

40 CFR Appendix I to Subpart S of... - Vehicle Procurement Methodology

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... I to Subpart S of Part 86—Vehicle Procurement Methodology I. Test Sampling: The master owner list... randomized master owner list. The manufacturer or their representative shall perform the following steps: (a... order of their appearance on a randomized master owner list until the required number of vehicles are...

The Purposefulness and Effectiveness of Supporting Entrepreneurship with Public Funds – EU Funds for the Development of Self-Employment and Startups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dominika Wojtowicz

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The paper discusses issues associated with using funds that support the development of entrepreneurship – the purpose of the paper is to answer questions regarding the purposefulness and effectiveness of financial instruments from EU funds aimed at the development of emerging businesses (startups. Methodology: The paper analyzes previously conducted research studies in the fi eld of the discussed topic, it systematizes and describes the fi nancial instruments from EU funds supporting self- employment and startups in their early stages of activity. It also provides an overview of evaluation reports concerning these instruments. The paper also contains a case study: an analysis of the effectiveness of a selected project supporting the development of entrepreneurship (co-fi nanced from EU funds, in which the method of evaluating the net effect of the support in the short term has been used. Findings: An analysis of previously conducted research studies has shown that properly designed State aid targeted at those starting up their own business is sensible, as it provides them with seed capital and it helps them survive the most diffi cult period of the so-called “startup”. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies to confirm the positive impact of business support interventions carried out using EU funds. The methodology of evaluating the net effect used by the Author in the conducted study has made it possible to identify the actual size of the – positive – impact of the selected project on the growth of self-employment. Limitations: The study revealed some limitations – the method and time of the study allow to capture the phenomenon on a micro-scale, in the short term. The institutions that are involved in the process of allocating funds should develop a comprehensive methodology that implements the idea of evaluating the net effect, allowing to assess the effectiveness of the support at regional and national level

Exploring factors affecting shareholders’ funds within the conflict of interest posed by the executives of the company

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Xiang

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the relationship between several factors and the shareholders’ funds within the conflict of interest posed by the executives of the company in 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Management decision on corporate performance may affect shareholders’ funds under manager-shareholders conflict arising from asymmetric information. We found a significant relationship between provisions and shareholders’ funds. Furthermore, we also found financial distres...

Swiss Federal energy research - project list 2006/2007; Projektliste der Energieforschung des Bundes 2006/2007

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2009-03-15

This comprehensive report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) lists and classifies the 1,025 energy-relevant research projects carried out in the years 2006 and 2007. Those projects are listed that were supported and/or financed with Swiss or European public funding. Details of the contributions made by private enterprises are noted and discussed. It is also noted that the Swiss Federal Office of Energy operates a data bank with a systematic collection of around 9,200 publications on research projects. Statistics on the classification of the projects are presented, as are details of funding for the years 1990 to 2007. The sources of financing and the distribution of the means over the various areas of research are looked at. The number of persons active in the research work is discussed. A comparison is made with the research programs of other countries. The list of projects is split into four categories - efficient use of energy, renewable energy resources, nuclear energy, energy economic basics as well as technology transfer and co-ordination. Finally a comprehensive list of all research projects for the years 2006 and 2007 is presented in tabular form. A list of those responsible for the various areas of research completes the report.

Analysis of National Public Research Funding (PREF) - Handbook for Data Collection and indicators production

OpenAIRE

LEPORI BENEDETTO

2017-01-01

This document presents the basic definition and methodology for the PREF data collection. It covers basic definitions of funding streams and funding instruments, the thematic classifications, characterization of research funding organizations and umbrella public research organizations. It also provides guidelines concerning the data structure, data collection process, data flagging and collection and management of metadata.

75 FR 54530 - Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations: Administrative Funding Allocations

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-08

... could this description be more helpful in making the rule easier to understand? II. Procedural Matters... rational basis for allocating funds to the Regional Offices. FDPIR State agencies expressed concern that... participants served by each State agency. The decision to pilot a new funding methodology in fiscal year 2008...

78 FR 47677 - DOE Activities and Methodology for Assessing Compliance With Building Energy Codes

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-06

... methodology report, however, for convenience the key points of the methodology are listed below with the... fundamentally different sampling plans and research methodologies? Are there ways to encourage owners and...

76 FR 19752 - List of Institutions of Higher Education Ineligible for Federal Funds

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-08

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary List of Institutions of Higher Education Ineligible... to identify institutions of higher education that are ineligible for contracts and grants by reason.... The institutions of higher education so identified are: Vermont Law School, South Royalton, Vermont...

THE STUDY OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE: METHODOLOGY FOR QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION AND ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

To Thu Trang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the concept: methodof evaluation organizational culture, qualitative and quantitative assessment methodology and lists the basic methodologyfor assessing organizational culture. Fullydescribe professor Denison’s methodology for assessing organizational culture.

Library Services Funding Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Lorig, Jonathan A.

2004-01-01

collect as much of the relevant data as possible. Hopefully this dataset will permit the research units at the GRC, and library administration as well, to make informed decisions about future library funding. Prior to the creation of the actual dataset, I established a comprehensive list of the library s print and online journal subscriptions. This list will be useful outside the context of the cost analysis project, as an addition to the library website. The cost analysis dataset s primary fields are: journal name, vendor, publisher, ISSN (International Standard Serial Number, to uniquely identify the titles), stand-alone price, and indication as to the presence of the journal in current GRC Technical Library consortium membership subscriptions. The dataset will hopefully facilitate comparisons between the stand-alone journal prices and the cost of shared journal subscriptions for groups of titles.

Sources of funding for Nobel Prize-winning work: public or private?

Science.gov (United States)

Tatsioni, Athina; Vavva, Effie; Ioannidis, John P A

2010-05-01

Funding is important for scientists' work and may contribute to exceptional research outcomes. We analyzed the funding sources reported in the landmark scientific papers of Nobel Prize winners. Between 2000 and 2008, 70 Nobel laureates won recognition in medicine, physics, and chemistry. Sixty five (70%) of the 93 selected papers related to the Nobel-awarded work reported some funding source including U.S. government sources in 53 (82%), non-U.S. government sources in 19 (29%), and nongovernment sources in 33 (51%). A substantial portion of this exceptional work was unfunded. We contacted Nobel laureates whose landmark papers reported no funding. Thirteen Nobel laureates responded and offered their insights about the funding process and difficulties inherent in funding. Overall, very diverse sources amounting to a total of 64 different listed sponsors supported Nobel-related work. A few public institutions, in particular the U.S. National Institutes of Health (with n=26 funded papers) and the National Science Foundation (with n=17 papers), stood out for their successful record for funding exceptional research. However, Nobel-level work arose even from completely unfunded research, especially when institutions offered a protected environment for dedicated scientists.

75 FR 48953 - List of Institutions of Higher Education Ineligible for Federal Funds

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-12

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary List of Institutions of Higher Education Ineligible... published to identify institutions of higher education that are ineligible for contracts and grants by... part 216. The institutions of higher education so identified are the Vermont Law School, South Royalton...

75 FR 6359 - List of Institutions of Higher Education Ineligible for Federal Funds

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-09

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Office of the Secretary List of Institutions of Higher Education Ineligible... published to identify institutions of higher education that are ineligible for contracts and grants by... part 216. The institutions of higher education so identified are: Vermont Law School, South Royalton...

ARGICULTURAL LAND PROTECTION FUND AND FOREST FUND AS ECOLOGICAL FUNDS

OpenAIRE

Bartosz Bartniczak

2009-01-01

Funds for environmental protection and water management, Agricultural Land Protection Fund and Forest Fund make up the Polish system of special fund in environment protection. The main aim of this article is to analyze the activity of two latest funds. The article tries to answer the question whether that funds could be considered as ecological funds. The author described incomes and outlays of that funds and showed which reform should be done in Polish special funds system.

The lessons of the crisis on pension funds portfolio management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan CONSTANTINESCU

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Portfolio management in crisis conditions showed that major turbulence come from within the financial system. In such a context, a first answer to the investors (and pension funds make no exception manifests itself through the growth of liquidity preferences. Recent studies have shown that monetary political shocks have a considerable effect over the dynamic and composition of the capital flows, with influences that reach the structure on categories of assets of the pension funds’ portfolio. For example, due to an interesting profile of the risk-profit ratio, listed private equity (LPE funds are more and more attractive for the institutional investors, among which are the pension funds administrators. Last but not least, the existence of an insuring system of the participants’ contributions and/or benefits to the pension funds is extremely useful, considering that it is able to harmonize a large variety of interests.

The 10 largest public and philanthropic funders of health research in the world: what they fund and how they distribute their funds.

Science.gov (United States)

Viergever, Roderik F; Hendriks, Thom C C

2016-02-18

 globally, what they fund and how they decide on what gets funded, and for improving the evidence base for various funding models. Data on organizations' funding patterns and funding distribution mechanisms are often not available, and when they are, they are reported using different classification systems. To start increasing transparency in health research funding, we have established www.healthresearchfunders.org that lists health research funding organizations worldwide and their health research expenditures.

Funding issues for Victorian hospitals: the risk-adjusted vision beyond casemix funding.

Science.gov (United States)

Antioch, K; Walsh, M

2000-01-01

This paper discusses casemix funding issues in Victoria impacting on teaching hospitals. For casemix payments to be acceptable, the average price and cost weights must be set at an appropriate standard. The average price is based on a normative, policy basis rather than benchmarking. The 'averaging principle' inherent in cost weights has resulted in some AN-DRG weights being too low for teaching hospitals that are key State-wide providers of high complexity services such as neurosurgery and trauma. Casemix data have been analysed using international risk adjustment methodologies to successfully negotiate with the Victorian State Government for specified grants for several high complexity AN-DRGs. A risk-adjusted capitation funding model has also been developed for cystic fibrosis patients treated by The Alfred, called an Australian Health Maintenance Organisation (AHMO). This will facilitate the development of similar models by both the Victorian and Federal governments.

Firm Value and Cross Listings: The Impact of Stock Market Prestige

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicola Cetorelli

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the valuation impact of a firm’s decision to cross list on a more (or less prestigious stock exchange relative to its own domestic market. We use a network analysis methodology to derive broad market-based measures of prestige for 45 country or regional stock exchange destinations between 1990 and 2006. We find that firms cross listing in a more prestigious market enjoy significant valuation gains over the five-year period following the listing. In contrast, firms cross listing in less prestigious markets experience a significant valuation discount over this post-listing period. The reputation of the cross-border listing destinations is therefore a useful signal of firm value going forward. Our findings are consistent with the view that cross listing in a prestigious market enhances firm visibility, strengthens corporate governance, and lowers informational frictions and capital costs.

76 FR 24082 - Notice With Respect to List of Countries Denying Fair Market Opportunities for Government-Funded...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-29

..., suppliers, or bidders in foreign government-funded airport construction projects. DATES: Effective Date... to U.S. products, suppliers, or bidders in connection with airport construction projects of $500,000... Fair Market Opportunities for Government-Funded Airport Construction Projects AGENCY: Office of the...

77 FR 23791 - Notice With Respect to List of Countries Denying Fair Market Opportunities for Government-Funded...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-20

..., suppliers, or bidders in foreign government-funded airport construction projects. DATES: Effective Date... to U.S. products, suppliers, or bidders in connection with airport construction projects of $500,000... Fair Market Opportunities for Government-Funded Airport Construction Projects AGENCY: Office of the...

PERFORMANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF MUTUAL FUNDS: EVIDENCE FROM THE PORTUGUESE MARKET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Júlio Lobão

2015-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we aim to study the relation between fund performance and fund attributes in the Portuguese market. The sample includes 124 equity funds, bond funds and money market funds that traded in the 2004-2011 period. A comprehensive set of fund-specific characteristics, never used before in conjunction in the literature, was considered. The methodology which was adopted had two distinct phases. Firstly, we compared the returns of each category of funds with the appropriate reference markets. Secondly, the fund performance, measured by the Jensen’s alpha, was used in a multi-factor model with panel data in which the independent variables were the fund attributes. The results show that Portuguese funds were, in general, not able to beat the benchmarks which is consistent with the existence of efficient financial markets. Only the fixed income mutual funds performed well. Moreover, it is possible to conclude that, for each category of mutual funds, their characteristics are useful to the investor in the moment of choosing the best funds. For example, in the case of funds that invest in Portuguese stocks, the best performance occurs among older and larger funds, funds with higher costs, funds with good past performance and funds whose trading activity is low.

Association between firm characteristics and corporate voluntary disclosure: Evidence from Turkish listed companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Uyar

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This paper empirically investigates the factors that impact voluntary information disclosure level of Turkish manufacturing companies listed in the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology of the study is content analysis of annual reports of the corporations listed on the ISE for the year 2010. Findings: The findings provide evidence of a positive association between voluntary information disclosure level and the variables such as firm size, auditing firm size, proportion of independent directors on the board, institutional/corporate ownership, and corporate governance. However, leverage and ownership diffusion were found to have negative significant association with the extent of voluntary disclosure. The remaining variables, namely, profitability, listing age, and board size were found to be insignificant. Research limitations/implications: Since this study was conducted solely on listed manufacturing companies, the results may not be generalizable to non-listed and non-manufacturing industries. The study has some implications for firms, auditors, investors, and regulators. All these parties play an important role in improving the transparency and disclosure practices of corporations. Originality/value: We extend previous research on the determinants of voluntary information disclosure in the emerging market context.

A bank-fund projection framework with CGE features

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Henning Tarp; Tarp, Finn

2006-01-01

In this paper, we present a SAM-based methodology for integrating standard CGE features with a macroeconomic World Bank–International Monetary Fund (IMF) modelling framework. The resulting macro–micro framework is based on optimising agents, but it retains key features from the macroeconomic model...

Semi-nonparametric VaR forecasts for hedge funds during the recent crisis

Science.gov (United States)

Del Brio, Esther B.; Mora-Valencia, Andrés; Perote, Javier

2014-05-01

The need to provide accurate value-at-risk (VaR) forecasting measures has triggered an important literature in econophysics. Although these accurate VaR models and methodologies are particularly demanded for hedge fund managers, there exist few articles specifically devoted to implement new techniques in hedge fund returns VaR forecasting. This article advances in these issues by comparing the performance of risk measures based on parametric distributions (the normal, Student’s t and skewed-t), semi-nonparametric (SNP) methodologies based on Gram-Charlier (GC) series and the extreme value theory (EVT) approach. Our results show that normal-, Student’s t- and Skewed t- based methodologies fail to forecast hedge fund VaR, whilst SNP and EVT approaches accurately success on it. We extend these results to the multivariate framework by providing an explicit formula for the GC copula and its density that encompasses the Gaussian copula and accounts for non-linear dependences. We show that the VaR obtained by the meta GC accurately captures portfolio risk and outperforms regulatory VaR estimates obtained through the meta Gaussian and Student’s t distributions.

40 CFR 35.915-1 - Reserves related to the project priority list.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... aside for each reserve with the final project priority list. (a) Reserve for State management assistance... extent as the last allotment. (b) Reserve for innovative and alternative technology project grant... on projects for which facilities plans were initiated before fiscal year 1979. These funds shall be...

THE SDSS-III APOGEE SPECTRAL LINE LIST FOR H-BAND SPECTROSCOPY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shetrone, M. [University of Texas at Austin, McDonald Observatory (United States); Bizyaev, D.; Chojnowski, D. [Apache Point Observatory and New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM, 88349-0059 (United States); Lawler, J. E. [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Prieto, C. Allende; Zamora, O.; García-Hernández, D. A.; Souto, D. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Calle Vía Lactea s/n, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Johnson, J. A. [Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Smith, V. V. [National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States); Cunha, K. [Observatório Nacional, Rua General Jose Cristino, 77, 20921-400 São Cristóvão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Holtzman, J. [Department of Astronomy, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003 (United States); Pérez, A. E. García; Sobeck, J.; Majewski, S. [Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400325, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4325 (United States); Mészáros, Sz. [ELTE Gothard Astrophysical Observatory, H-9704 Szombathely, Szent Imre herceg st. 112 (Hungary); Koesterke, L. [The University of Texas at Austin, Texas Advanced Computing Center (United States); Zasowski, G. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)

2015-12-15

We present the H-band spectral line lists adopted by the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE). The APOGEE line lists comprise astrophysical, theoretical, and laboratory sources from the literature, as well as newly evaluated astrophysical oscillator strengths and damping parameters. We discuss the construction of the APOGEE line list, which is one of the critical inputs for the APOGEE Stellar Parameters and Chemical Abundances Pipeline, and present three different versions that have been used at various stages of the project. The methodology for the newly calculated astrophysical line lists is reviewed. The largest of these three line lists contains 134,457 molecular and atomic transitions. In addition to the format adopted to store the data, the line lists are available in MOOG, Synspec, and Turbospectrum formats. The limitations of the line lists along with guidance for its use on different spectral types are discussed. We also present a list of H-band spectral features that are either poorly represented or completely missing in our line list. This list is based on the average of a large number of spectral fit residuals for APOGEE observations spanning a wide range of stellar parameters.

A Computer-Aided Bibliometrics System for Journal Citation Analysis and Departmental Core Journal Ranking List Generation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yih-Chearng Shiue

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Due to the tremendous increase and variation in serial publications, faculties in department of university are finding it difficult to generate and update their departmental core journal list regularly and accurately, and libraries are finding it difficult to maintain their current serial collection for different departments. Therefore, the evaluation of a departmental core journal list is an important task for departmental faculties and librarians. A departmental core journal list not only helps departments understand research performances of faculties and students, but also helps librarians make decisions about which journals to retain and which to cancel. In this study, a Computer-Aided Bibliometrics System was implemented and two methodologies (JCDF and LibJF were proposed in order to generate a departmental core journal ranking list and make the journal citation analysis. Six departments were taken as examples, with MIS as the major one. One journal citation pattern was found and the ratio of Turning point-to-No. journal was always around 0.07 among the 10 journals and 6 departments. After comparing with four methodologies via overlapping rate and standard deviation distances, the two proposed methodologies were shown to be better than questionnaire and library subscription method.

78 FR 58589 - Final Listing of Audit and Other Reports Issued by SIGIR on Reconstruction Spending in Iraq

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-24

... 12-017 Final Forensic Audit Report of Iraq Reconstruction Funds 7/13/ 2012 12-016 Interim Review of.../2011 11-006 Forensic Audit Methodologies Used To Collect and Analyze Electronic Disbursement of Iraq Reconstruction Funds 10/28/2010 11-005 Iraq Reconstruction Funds: Forensic Audits Identifying Fraud, Waste, and...

Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education Fiscal Year 1983 Awards.

Science.gov (United States)

Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (ED), Washington, DC.

Information on fiscal year 1983-1984 awards made through the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education is provided. A list of recipients of new and continuation comprehensive program awards and final year dissemination awards is presented, along with new Mina Shaughnessy Scholars. For each new and continuation recipient, a statement of…

Overseas listing location and capital structure

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Peixin Li; Baolian Wang

2014-01-01

Purpose-A significant number of Chinese companies are listed overseas.The authors aim to examine whether overseas locations affect their financing decision,specifically their capital structure choice.Design/methodology/approach-Most of the Chinese overseas listed companies are listed in the USA and Hong Kong.As the institutional quality of the USA is better than Hong Kong,the authors,therefore,choose to build the hypotheses from the “law and finance” literature.Specifically,the authors argue that the better institutional environment of the USA can mitigate the information asymmetry problem and the agency problem of financing via equity.Consequently,firms listed in the USA will rely more on equity and have lower leverage ratio.The difference in leverage ratio of US listed and Hong Kong listed companies should be larger when the marginal benefit of better information environment is larger.Findings-Referring to various data sources,the authors construct a comprehensive list of overseas listed companies in the USA and Hong Kong.The authors collect the accounting and stock performance information from Datastream/Worldscope and the equity offering data from Global New Issue database.The empirical findings provide strong support of the hypotheses:the leverage is 15 percent lower for US listed companies than the Hong Kong listed companies;the results are stronger when the firms face more severe information asymmetry problem;the stock price reacts less negatively for seasoned equity offering in the USA than in Hong Kong.Practical implications-Most of the Chinese companies decided to be listed overseas because they cannot be listed in the Mainland Chinese stock exchanges.One of the most important motivation is to access to external capital to support firm growth.As the main channel of external financing in the overseas markets is equity since debt is still mainly domestically based,one implication of this paper is that Chinese companies can gain better access to external

Analysis of Production Funds Efficiency in the Country’s Crane Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edita Valėnaitė

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The article deals with methodological aspects of the production funds analysis. In this work the study of literature which examines the basic and transferable funds is presented. Much attention is paid to the analysis of basic production funds in the crane sector. Analysis of the basic production funds in the country’s crane sector is presented. Special attention is paid to the structure of the cranes park and crane utilization efficiency. In the analysis of basic production funds, the factors that impede the efficiency of production funds were established as follows: the greatest negative impact on basic production funds efficiency of businesses was in small tower crane fleet; a small range of tower cranes in the park is reducing the technical possibilities of the lease. Basing on the analysis and observation of tower cranes installation and dismantling, the poor supply of the parts for the work place, lack of competence and motivation of the support staff have been ascertained. After elimination of these factors it is possible to raise the efficiency of the main production funds.Article in Lithuanian

A Standard Bank-Fund Projection Framework with CGE Features

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Henning Tarp; Tarp, Finn

2006-01-01

In this paper, we present a SAM-based methodology for integrating standard CGE features with a macroeconomic World Bank–International Monetary Fund (IMF) modelling framework. The resulting macro–micro framework is based on optimising agents, but it retains key features from the macroeconomic model...

ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDITURES OF SOCIAL SECURITY FUNDS IN UKRAINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nataliia Ivanchuk

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Along with the expenditures for social protection, social security funds finance administrative direction, which should correspond to the amount of functions performed by a particular fund. The purpose of the paper is to determine ways to reduce administrative expenditures of state social security funds in the conditions of reforming Ukrainian economy. For this purpose, the authors investigate distribution of the expenditures between social security funds, analyse dynamics and structure of assignments for fund administration, and suggest possible ways to rationalize maintenance cost for these institutions. Methodology. Administrative expenditures are an integral part of the cost of social security funds and include particular items of expenses in the budget of these institutions. Applying a systematic approach to calculating the administrative costs of social security funds of Ukraine the authors have taken into account the expenditures related to funding management, support for information systems, and organization of work with insured people. Results of the survey showed that in 2007–2016 Pension Fund of Ukraine incurred the largest part of social expenditures (more than 90% compared with other social insurance funds (less than 10%. At the same time, the administrative expenses were divided approximately into two halves between Pension Fund and other social security funds. In 2015, the government launched a reform of social insurance funds that aimed to reduce funds to three institutions but a decrease in the total amount of administrative expenditures has not been achieved yet. In addition, Pension Fund of Ukraine was least burdened with administrative expenses, while other social security funds with a relatively small share of social expenditures were burdened with administrative expenditures much more. Practical implications. Research showed that nowadays the existence of several social security funds in Ukraine is economically

Development of a reference biospheres methodology for radioactive waste disposal. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dorp, F van [NAGRA (Switzerland); and others

1996-09-01

The BIOMOVS II Working Group on Reference Biospheres has focused on the definition and testing of a methodology for developing models to analyse radionuclide behaviour in the biosphere and associated radiological exposure pathways(a Reference Biospheres Methodology). The Working Group limited the scope to the assessment of the long-term implications of solid radioactive waste disposal. Nevertheless, it is considered that many of the basic principles would be equally applicable to other areas of biosphere assessment. The recommended methodology has been chosen to be relevant to different types of radioactive waste and disposal concepts. It includes the justification, arguments and documentation for all the steps in the recommended methodology. The previous experience of members of the Reference Biospheres Working Group was that the underlying premises of a biosphere assessment have often been taken for granted at the early stages of model development, and can therefore fail to be recognized later on when questions of model sufficiency arise, for example, because of changing regulatory requirements. The intention has been to define a generic approach for the formation of an 'audit trail' and hence provide demonstration that a biosphere model is fit for its intended purpose. The starting point for the methodology has three. The Assessment Context sets out what the assessment has to achieve, eg. in terms of assessment purpose and related regulatory criteria, as well as information about the repository system and types of release from the geosphere. The Basic System Description includes the fundamental premises about future climate conditions and human behaviour which, to a significant degree, are beyond prediction. The International FEP List is a generically relevant list of Features, Events and Processes potentially important for biosphere model development. The International FEP List includes FEPs to do with the assessment context. The context examined in detail by

Development of a reference biospheres methodology for radioactive waste disposal. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dorp, F. van [NAGRA (Switzerland)] [and others

1996-09-01

The BIOMOVS II Working Group on Reference Biospheres has focused on the definition and testing of a methodology for developing models to analyse radionuclide behaviour in the biosphere and associated radiological exposure pathways(a Reference Biospheres Methodology). The Working Group limited the scope to the assessment of the long-term implications of solid radioactive waste disposal. Nevertheless, it is considered that many of the basic principles would be equally applicable to other areas of biosphere assessment. The recommended methodology has been chosen to be relevant to different types of radioactive waste and disposal concepts. It includes the justification, arguments and documentation for all the steps in the recommended methodology. The previous experience of members of the Reference Biospheres Working Group was that the underlying premises of a biosphere assessment have often been taken for granted at the early stages of model development, and can therefore fail to be recognized later on when questions of model sufficiency arise, for example, because of changing regulatory requirements. The intention has been to define a generic approach for the formation of an 'audit trail' and hence provide demonstration that a biosphere model is fit for its intended purpose. The starting point for the methodology has three. The Assessment Context sets out what the assessment has to achieve, eg. in terms of assessment purpose and related regulatory criteria, as well as information about the repository system and types of release from the geosphere. The Basic System Description includes the fundamental premises about future climate conditions and human behaviour which, to a significant degree, are beyond prediction. The International FEP List is a generically relevant list of Features, Events and Processes potentially important for biosphere model development. The International FEP List includes FEPs to do with the assessment context. The context examined in

The Profile of a Polish Mutual Fund Manager

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dariusz Filip

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Aim/purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify the characteristics that are typical of mutual fund managers. Design/methodology/approach - The study concentrates on a set of socio-demographic data, such as: age, gender, education, experience, and professional qualifications of 336 portfolio managers. The applied research strategy relies on an analysis concerning a set of statistical metrics describing the population under examination. Findings - The average Polish fund manager is a 37-year-old man, a holder of a stock-broker or investment adviser license. He obtained the authorization from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF a few years after graduating from the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH. He has 11 years' experience in financial markets and 7 years' experience in the mutual fund industry. Research implications/limitations - The identification of managerial characteristics for the purpose of creating a profile of a Polish mutual fund manager will provide an important basis for further surveys and analyses aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of mutual funds. Originality/value/contribution - There are no investigations within the discussed area in Polish studies. Therefore, the identification of the characteristics that are typical of mutual fund managers will make a contribution to the finance literature.(original abstract

Startup on Third Phase of Ford-China R&D Fund

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2002-01-01

<正> According to Ford Auto (China) Co., Ltd., the third phase project of Ford-China Research and Development Fund, jointly established by China National Natural Science Foundation of China and American Ford Motor Co. was initiated on Jan.21 2002 in Sino-Germany Center in Beijing. The name list of the financed projects was published at the same time (See the table).

An Analysis of the Mutual Fund Industry: Mutual Fund Investors, Mutual Fund Managers and Mutual Fund Companies

OpenAIRE

Fang, Jieyan

2012-01-01

In this dissertation I investigate the mutual fund industry, especially the three most important participants within this industry: mutual fund investors, mutual fund companies and mutual fund managers. The main research questions of this dissertation are: 1. Does rapid trading exist among German equity mutual fund investors? What are the determinants of rapid trading? Does rapid trading have a negative impact on mutual fund performance? 2. Do mutual fund investors, as a whole, have...

A dynamic systems engineering methodology research study. Phase 2: Evaluating methodologies, tools, and techniques for applicability to NASA's systems projects

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Arthur S.; Gill, Tepper L.; Maclin, Arlene P.

1989-01-01

A study of NASA's Systems Management Policy (SMP) concluded that the primary methodology being used by the Mission Operations and Data Systems Directorate and its subordinate, the Networks Division, is very effective. Still some unmet needs were identified. This study involved evaluating methodologies, tools, and techniques with the potential for resolving the previously identified deficiencies. Six preselected methodologies being used by other organizations with similar development problems were studied. The study revealed a wide range of significant differences in structure. Each system had some strengths but none will satisfy all of the needs of the Networks Division. Areas for improvement of the methodology being used by the Networks Division are listed with recommendations for specific action.

Automatic detection of omissions in medication lists.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasan, Sharique; Duncan, George T; Neill, Daniel B; Padman, Rema

2011-01-01

Evidence suggests that the medication lists of patients are often incomplete and could negatively affect patient outcomes. In this article, the authors propose the application of collaborative filtering methods to the medication reconciliation task. Given a current medication list for a patient, the authors employ collaborative filtering approaches to predict drugs the patient could be taking but are missing from their observed list. The collaborative filtering approach presented in this paper emerges from the insight that an omission in a medication list is analogous to an item a consumer might purchase from a product list. Online retailers use collaborative filtering to recommend relevant products using retrospective purchase data. In this article, the authors argue that patient information in electronic medical records, combined with artificial intelligence methods, can enhance medication reconciliation. The authors formulate the detection of omissions in medication lists as a collaborative filtering problem. Detection of omissions is accomplished using several machine-learning approaches. The effectiveness of these approaches is evaluated using medication data from three long-term care centers. The authors also propose several decision-theoretic extensions to the methodology for incorporating medical knowledge into recommendations. Results show that collaborative filtering identifies the missing drug in the top-10 list about 40-50% of the time and the therapeutic class of the missing drug 50%-65% of the time at the three clinics in this study. Results suggest that collaborative filtering can be a valuable tool for reconciling medication lists, complementing currently recommended process-driven approaches. However, a one-size-fits-all approach is not optimal, and consideration should be given to context (eg, types of patients and drug regimens) and consequence (eg, the impact of omission on outcomes).

Development of a reference biospheres methodology for radioactive waste disposal. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dorp, F. van

1996-09-01

The BIOMOVS II Working Group on Reference Biospheres has focused on the definition and testing of a methodology for developing models to analyse radionuclide behaviour in the biosphere and associated radiological exposure pathways (a Reference Biospheres Methodology). The Working Group limited the scope to the assessment of the long-term implications of solid radioactive waste disposal. Nevertheless, it is considered that many of the basic principles would be equally applicable to other areas of biosphere assessment. The recommended methodology has been chosen to be relevant to different types of radioactive waste and disposal concepts. It includes the justification, arguments and documentation for all the steps in the recommended methodology. The previous experience of members of the Reference Biospheres Working Group was that the underlying premises of a biosphere assessment have often been taken for granted at the early stages of model development, and can therefore fail to be recognized later on when questions of model sufficiency arise, for example, because of changing regulatory requirements. The intention has been to define a generic approach for the formation of an 'audit trail' and hence provide demonstration that a biosphere model is fit for its intended purpose. The starting point for the methodology has three. The Assessment Context sets out what the assessment has to achieve, eg. in terms of assessment purpose and related regulatory criteria, as well as information about the repository system and types of release from the geosphere. The Basic System Description includes the fundamental premises about future climate conditions and human behaviour which, to a significant degree, are beyond prediction. The International FEP List is a generically relevant list of Features, Events and Processes potentially important for biosphere model development. The International FEP List includes FEPs to do with the assessment context. The context examined in detail by

Pension fund

CERN Multimedia

Staff Association

2014-01-01

Letter sent on Monday 8 December 2014 to the delegates of the Member States to CERN Council An item on the agenda of the CERN Council of Thursday 11 December concerned the CERN Pension Fund, namely a discussion of a document that proposes how to respond to the many questions concerning pensions that had been submitted by thirteen Member State delegations. That document lists all these questions and proposes, as a first step, to consider the legal feasibility and the actuarial cost to transform our current defined-benefit pension scheme into a defined-contribution scheme. Once again, several delegates show their determination to worsen our pension conditions. The Staff Association’s Pension Commission, in a special meeting on Thursday, 4 December, has decided to send an open letter to the delegates of the CERN Council. In this letter (shown below) the Staff Association and CERN-ESO Pensions’ Association express their opposition to these intentions. We underline, once more, that the 2010...

Red list assessment of European habitat types. A feasibility study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rodwell, J.S.; Janssen, J.A.M.; Gubbay, S.; Schaminee, J.H.J.

2013-01-01

This report presents an achievable methodology for the Red List assessment of European habitats in terrestrial, freshwater and marine realms, outlines a process that will deliver such evaluations and gives an indication of resources needed. It shows how the EUNIS habitat classification can be

Research of Factors Affecting Pension Funds Efficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Virgilijus Sakalauskas

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Currently Lithuania has an old-age pension system of three pillars.Unfortunately, when making an investment decision, too few factors are used that affect strategy effectiveness. It is necessary to develop tools to better assess the risks and more accurately simulate the potential long-term investment scenarios.The article deals with the investment strategy to the second and third pillar pension funds in order to maximize investment returns and reduce risks. A smart software tool allows you to simulate an accrual depending on the rate of return, the accumulation period, the level of contributions, the fund’s profitability and other factors.The study shows that using the Social Insurance Fund contributions, personal contributions and the state provided additives can accumulate significantly greater amounts of money than collecting only the second pillar pension funds contributions. For implementation of the proposed methodology it is necessary to ensure a minimum level of personal pension scheme members fundraising to the third pillar pension funds. On the other hand, the study revealed that in some cases investment to private pension funds can be useless.Private pension funds have become popular between unprofessional investors who don’t have sufficient knowledge. Research shows that financial institutions do not always provide the optimal proposals. Advanced software tools can help make better investment decisions. Commercial tools usually show potential profits of investment, but not always pay sufficient attention to potential risks. This article analyzes both good and bad investment scenarios.

Research of Factors Affecting Pension Funds Efficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius Liutvinavičius

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Currently Lithuania has an old-age pension system of three pillars. Unfortunately, when making an investment decision, too few factors are used that affect strategy effectiveness. It is necessary to develop tools to better assess the risks and more accurately simulate the potential long-term investment scenarios. The article deals with the investment strategy to the second and third pillar pension funds in order to maximize investment returns and reduce risks. A smart software tool allows you to simulate an accrual depending on the rate of return, the accumulation period, the level of contributions, the fund’s profitability and other factors. The study shows that using the Social Insurance Fund contributions, personal contributions and the state provided additives can accumulate significantly greater amounts of money than collecting only the second pillar pension funds contributions. For implementation of the proposed methodology it is necessary to ensure a minimum level of personal pension scheme members fundraising to the third pillar pension funds. On the other hand, the study revealed that in some cases investment to private pension funds can be useless. Private pension funds have become popular between unprofessional investors who don’t have sufficient knowledge. Research shows that financial institutions do not always provide the optimal proposals. Advanced software tools can help make better investment decisions. Commercial tools usually show potential profits of investment, but not always pay sufficient  attention to potential risks. This article analyzes both good and bad investment scenarios.

21 CFR 20.105 - Testing and research conducted by or with funds provided by the Food and Drug Administration.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Testing and research conducted by or with funds... Categories of Records § 20.105 Testing and research conducted by or with funds provided by the Food and Drug Administration. (a) Any list that may be prepared by the Food and Drug Administration of testing and research...

Basic Project Management Methodologies for Survey Researchers.

Science.gov (United States)

Beach, Robert H.

To be effective, project management requires a heavy dependence on the document, list, and computational capability of a computerized environment. Now that microcomputers are readily available, only the rediscovery of classic project management methodology is required for improved resource allocation in small research projects. This paper provides…

76 FR 50188 - Notice of Proposed Methodology for the Delaware River and Bay Integrated List Water Quality...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-12

... Integrated List Water Quality Assessment AGENCY: Delaware River Basin Commission. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY... Integrated List Water Quality Assessment is available for review and comment. DATES: Comments must be... should have the phrase ``Water Quality Assessment 2012'' in the subject line and should include the name...

EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE PROBABILITY OF DEFAULT IN CASE OF ROMANIAN COMPANIES LISTED ON STOCK EXCHANGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marton Noemi, Racz Timea Erzsebet

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The importance of estimation of a firm's probability of default increased significantly during the economic and financial crisis for financial institutions, which can be explained by the fact that the share of nonperforming loans increased in this period. The probability of default can be estimated with structural models, which have on base the methodology developed by Merton (1974, methodology used by Moody's Corporation (known as KMV Merton model. The aim of this study is to estimate the probability of default of companies listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange using this methodology. This approach was widely used in the literature by many researchers (i.e., Kealhofer and Kurbat (2000, Crosbie and Bohn (2002, Duffie and Wang (2004, Bharath and Shumway (2004, 2008. In Romania this methodology was empirically tested by Codirlaşu (2007, who estimated using Merton's methodology the probability of default of companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, respectively by Bobircă et al. (2008, where the probabilities of default were estimated in case of 42 companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange for 2000-2008 time period. In this paper we used Merton's model, which assumes that a company defaults if the value of its assets is less than the promised dept repayment at time T. The process of estimating the probability of default starts from the following firm specific variables: the market value of the firm's assets, the share prices, the value of the liabilities and the risk-free rate. The analyzed period is 2003-2010, containing the economic and financial crisis period, too. Analyzing the financial statements of the companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, we determined the input parameters of the model and calculated the quarterly probabilities of default of each analyzed company. According to our results the probabilities of default have a reduced value in the majority of the cases.

QTL list - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive [Life Science Database Archive metadata

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available List Contact us PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods ...Policy | Contact Us QTL list - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive ...

A PERFORMANCE COMPARISON OF HEDGE FUNDS, HEDGED MUTUAL FUNDS AND HEDGE FUND ETFS

OpenAIRE

Shenyan Gu; Tina Zhang

2015-01-01

Hedged mutual funds and hedge fund ETFs are new entrants to the market thatallow individual investors to invest in funds using hedge fund strategies.   In this paper, we study the performance of these two funds relative to the traditional hedge funds to see if the three asset classes are comparable investments. We use four performance measurement models, including CAPM, Fama French three factor model, Carhart four factor model and Fung and Hsieh eight factor model, to test the fund...

Marker list - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive [Life Science Database Archive metadata

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available List Contact us PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods ...Database Site Policy | Contact Us Marker list - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive ...

Transparent Guideline Methodology Needed

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lidal, Ingeborg; Norén, Camilla; Mäkelä, Marjukka

2013-01-01

As part of learning at the Nordic Workshop of Evidence-based Medicine, we have read with interest the practice guidelines for central venous access, published in your Journal in 2012.1 We appraised the quality of this guideline using the checklist developed by The Evidence-Based Medicine Working ...... are based on best currently available evidence. Our concerns are in two main categories: the rigor of development, including methodology of searching, evaluating, and combining the evidence; and editorial independence, including funding and possible conflicts of interest....... Group.2 Similar criteria for guideline quality have been suggested elsewhere.3 Our conclusion was that this much needed guideline is currently unclear about several aspects of the methodology used in developing the recommendations. This means potential users cannot be certain that the recommendations...

Examining the Relationship between Free Recall and Immediate Serial Recall: The Role of List Length, Strategy Use, and Test Expectancy

Science.gov (United States)

Grenfell-Essam, Rachel; Ward, Geoff

2012-01-01

Recent findings suggest that the immediate free recall (IFR) of short lists is similar to immediate serial recall (ISR). These findings were obtained using a methodology in which participants did not know the list length in advance of each list, and this uncertainty may have encouraged participants to adopt atypical recall strategies. Therefore,…

NASA Parts Selection List (NPSL) WWW Site http://nepp.nasa.gov/npsl

Science.gov (United States)

Brusse, Jay

2000-01-01

The NASA Parts Selection List (NPSL) is an on-line resource for electronic parts selection tailored for use by spaceflight projects. The NPSL provides a list of commonly used electronic parts that have a history of satisfactory use in spaceflight applications. The objective of this www site is to provide NASA projects, contractors, university experimenters, et al with an easy to use resource that provides a baseline of electronic parts from which designers are encouraged to select. The NPSL is an ongoing resource produced by Code 562 in support of the NASA HQ funded NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging (NEPP) Program. The NPSL is produced as an electronic format deliverable made available via the referenced www site administered by Code 562. The NPSL does not provide information pertaining to patented or proprietary information. All of the information contained in the NPSL is available through various other public domain resources such as US Military procurement specifications for electronic parts, NASA GSFC's Preferred Parts List (PPL-21), and NASA's Standard Parts List (MIL-STD975).

Economic Justification of Minimisation of Immobilisation Funds Invested Into Engineering Enterprise Materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boyko Valentyna V.

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The article improves the mechanism of minimisation of immobilisation funds invested into enterprise materials. Optimisation of this mechanism is achieved through reduction of the difference between fixed (or advanced and actual funds, invested into materials, with consideration of their differentiation and integration in the course of the enterprise operation cycle. The article justifies the necessity of study of immobilisation funds, invested into materials, for their possible minimisation. It offers methods of calculation of ratios of influence of minimisation of funds, invested into materials, upon alteration of the level of their immobilisation and absolute disengagement. It assesses the possibility of use of the proposed ratios both in relative and absolute indicators of immobilisation funds, invested into materials. It shows calculation of the matrix of minimisation of immobilisation funds, invested into materials, and its practical application at engineering enterprises. It underlines that the proposed methodology of calculation of the above said ratios and matrix of minimisation of immobilisation funds, invested into materials, allows determination of possible disengagement of the engaged money funds by an engineering enterprise depending on specific technical and economic conditions.

Methods for handling uncertainty within pharmaceutical funding decisions

Science.gov (United States)

Stevenson, Matt; Tappenden, Paul; Squires, Hazel

2014-01-01

This article provides a position statement regarding decision making under uncertainty within the economic evaluation of pharmaceuticals, with a particular focus upon the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence context within England and Wales. This area is of importance as funding agencies have a finite budget from which to purchase a selection of competing health care interventions. The objective function generally used is that of maximising societal health with an explicit acknowledgement that there will be opportunity costs associated with purchasing a particular intervention. Three components of uncertainty are discussed within a pharmaceutical funding perspective: methodological uncertainty, parameter uncertainty and structural uncertainty, alongside a discussion of challenges that are particularly pertinent to health economic evaluation. The discipline has focused primarily on handling methodological and parameter uncertainty and a clear reference case has been developed for consistency across evaluations. However, uncertainties still remain. Less attention has been given to methods for handling structural uncertainty. The lack of adequate methods to explicitly incorporate this aspect of model development may result in the true uncertainty surrounding health care investment decisions being underestimated. Research in this area is ongoing as we review.

THE METHODOLOGY OF TESTING THE CAUSALITY BETWEEN THE ROMANIAN MUTUAL FUNDS MARKET AND THE ECONOMY’S DYNAMICS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioana RADU

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The paper tests and evaluates the causality between the dynamics of the Romanian mutual fund market and the economy. Using the Granger causality test, a regression analysis has been developed on quarterly data during 2004Q3 – 2012Q2 for the Romanian economy. Based on this relationship, we can emphasize that the controversial debate upon the economic growth and the mutual fund market has became a complex research subject. Therefore, due to its complexity, the timeliness and the continuous growth of the investment funds area, this paper complements the existing literature by identifying the causal linkage between the mutual fund market and the economy. The paper is organized as it follows. First part presents the main premises that have emphasized our research. Second part presents a brief literature review and extracts the studies that appreciate best the relationship between the analyzed variables. Next section is set on defining the potential correlation between the analyzed variables. Then, section 4 tests the causality by using the R facility. The last part concludes.

77 FR 71743 - List of Rules To Be Reviewed Pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-04

... complexity of the rule; The extent to which the rule overlaps, duplicates or conflicts with other federal... 19251 (Mar. 30, 1981). List of Rules To Be Reviewed Title: Role of Independent Directors of Investment... solely of independent directors that oversees the fund's accounting and auditing processes; (ii) adopts...

Global fund financing to the 34 malaria-eliminating countries under the new funding model 2014-2017: an analysis of national allocations and regional grants.

Science.gov (United States)

Zelman, Brittany; Melgar, Melissa; Larson, Erika; Phillips, Allison; Shretta, Rima

2016-02-25

implementation. If the GFATM is able to nuance its allocation methodology to mitigate drastic funding declines for malaria investments in low transmission countries, the GFATM can ensure previous investments are not lost. By aligning with WHO's Global Technical Strategy for Malaria and investing in both high- and low-endemic countries, the Global Fund can tip the scale on a global health threat and contribute toward the goal of eventual malaria eradication.

Review on Suitability of Available LCIA Methodologies for Assessing Environmental Impact of the Food Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pegah Amani

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Production, processing, distribution, and consumption of a wide variety of products in the food sector have different ranges of environmental impacts. Methodologies used in environmental impact assessment differ in which set of impact categories is covered and which models are used to assess them. In the food sector, life cycle assessment results are mostly presented without any clear distinction of the principles applied to selecting the relevant methodology. In this paper, the most relevant life cycle impact assessment methodologies are determined from the list of recommended methodologies published recently in the international reference life cycle data system (ILCD handbook. The range of the relevant impacts covered is considered as the main indicator decisive in selecting a methodology. The selection of the relevant set of impact categories is performed through an overview of more than 50 recent LCA case studies of different products in the sector. The result of the research is a short list of three LCIA methodologies recommended to be used for environmental impact assessment of products in the food sector.

Decolonising Research and Teaching Methodologies: A "Ninth Moment" Symphony of Artist-Educator-Researcher Voices

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Janice K.; Batorowicz, Beata; Ladislas Derr, Robert; Peters, Sarah

2015-01-01

In an era of globalisation, positivist research methodologies and voices are privileged and funded over those of qualitative researchers. This has led to narrowing beliefs about what constitutes knowledge, and about the ways in which knowledge is constructed and evaluated, impacting upon the conduct, funding and reporting of arts research, and…

Registered plant list - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive [Life Science Database Archive metadata

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available List Contact us PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods ...the Plant DB link list in simple search page) Genome analysis methods Presence or... absence of Genome analysis methods information in this DB (link to the Genome analysis methods information ...base Site Policy | Contact Us Registered plant list - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive ...

CRAYFISH AND ITS CULTURE IN UKRAINE. THEMATIC REFERENCES LIST

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Hrytsyniak

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose. To compile a thematic references list on the problems of biology, physiology, pathology and crayfish breeding in Ukraine. Methodology. As the search base for the realization of the purpose was the scientific library stock of the Institute of Fisheries NAAS. The methods that have been preferred were both integrated and selective. Findings. We prepared a thematic reference list of the main scientific works, such as collections of scientific papers, proceedings of international scientific conferences, articles and candidate’s thesis abstracts on the biology of crustaceans and their cultivation in Ukraine, including the literature sources since 1958. The bibliography contains 37 publications of the Institute of Fisheries NAAS scientific library stock, in alphabetical order, and described according to DSTU GOST 7.1:2006 «System of standards on information, librarianship and publishing. Bibliographic entry. Bibliographic description. General requirements and rules». Practical value. The list may be helpful for experts, scientists, students, who are interested in problems of crayfish biology and culture.

Innovative funding solution for special projects: Crowd funding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sentot Imam Wahjono

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to examine the influence of crowd funding knowledge, applica-tion, platform, and project initiator toward successful crowd funding. This study conducted by quantitative approach, data have been collected with web-based ques-tionnaires via Kickstarter.com direct message and e-mail to 200 successful crowd funding project initiators as a sample and as much 152 sets questionnaire returned by a complete answer and should be analyzed further. Deployment and data collection take 3 month from October to December 2013. This study found evidence that crowd funding knowledge, crowd funding application, crowd funding platform, and project initiator has positive and significant relationship toward the success of crowd funding. The implication from this research is crowd funding can be a source of capital to finance the projects, not just rely on traditional sources of financing just like banking and capital markets. Crowd funding can be innovative funding solution.

Performance measurement of the gas tax and public transit funds : final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

Federal funding for the gas tax fund and public transit fund are provided through Infrastructure Canada for municipal infrastructure across Canada in a broad range of municipal service projects. In order to identify appropriate outcomes that would meet reporting requirements for the gas tax fund and public transit fund, this report outlined a performance measurement approach that would allow for the reporting of projects under both funds and provide a structured methodology for multiple year analysis of benefits. The report discussed the performance measures process review and outcomes approach logic model. It also provided an outline of information sourcing strategies including an overview of the project types and expenditures; information sourcing strategy; typical municipal information sources by project type; performance measurement framework assumptions and limitations; and modeling of outcomes from outputs. Conclusions and recommendations were also offered. It was concluded that based on a comprehensive review of ancillary benefits and outcomes of various historic funding programs, there are 3 foundational outcomes that should be considered to assess all initial program outcomes. These include cleaner air, cleaner water and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. tabs., figs

Technical report on LWR design decision methodology. Phase I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-03-01

Energy Incorporated (EI) was selected by Sandia Laboratories to develop and test on LWR design decision methodology. Contract Number 42-4229 provided funding for Phase I of this work. This technical report on LWR design decision methodology documents the activities performed under that contract. Phase I was a short-term effort to thoroughly review the curret LWR design decision process to assure complete understanding of current practices and to establish a well defined interface for development of initial quantitative design guidelines

IMPACT OF ROMANIAN HIGHER EDUCATION FUNDING POLICY ON UNIVERSITY EFFICIENCY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CRETAN Georgiana Camelia

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The issues of higher education funding policy and university operating efficiency are hot points on the actual public agenda worldwide as the pressures exercised upon the public resources increased, especially in the aftermath of the last economic crisis. Concerned with the improvement of the funding mechanism through which government allocates the public funds in order to meet the national core objectives within the area of higher education, the policy makers adjusted the funding policy by diversifying the criteria used in distributing the funds to public universities. Thus, the aim of this research is to underline both the impact and the consequences the public funding patterns of higher education have on the relative efficiency of public funded higher education institutions, across time. Moreover, the research conducted aims to determine whether the changes occurred within the Romanian public funding methodology of higher education institutions improved the relative efficiency scores of public funded universities, before and after the economic crisis of 2008. Thus, on one hand we have underlined the changes brought to the Romanian public funding mechanism of higher education during the years of 2007, 2009 and 2010 compared to the year of 2006, using the content analysis, and on the other hand we assessed and compared the relative efficiency scores of each selected public funded university using a multiple input - multiple output linear programming model, by employing the Data Envelopment Analysis technique. The findings of the research undertaken emphasized that a more performance oriented funding mechanism improves the efficiency scores of public universities. The results of the research undertaken could be used either by the policy makers within the area of higher education or by the administrative management of public universities in order to correlate the funding with the results obtained and/or the objectives assumed by both the

NEW REGULATION OF PRIVATE EQUITY AND VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDS AND OPEN QUESTIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suzana Audić Vuletić

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This article provides an analysis of the new regulation of private equity and venture capital funds which are in Croatian law regulated by Alternative Investment Funds Act and ordinances. These funds can offer their units only via private offering to primarily professional, i.e. qualifying investors. They invest mostly in shares and units of companies, including both companies in early (start-ups and in later stage of business. For the companies in which they invest, these funds are very signifi cant as they can provide capital for even small entrepreneurs which could not obtain fi nancing from traditional sources (e. g. banks. This article analyzes investment transactions between private equity (further in text: PE and venture capital (further in text: VC funds and the company in which they invest (portfolio company. PE and VC funds represent a new segment in the Croatian capital market which is still developing and whose potential is yet to be fully recognized. PE and VC funds are not regulated on the EU level. However, managers of AIFs, including PE and VC funds are under certain conditions. Authors shall analyze these legal sources, both on the EU and on the domestic level, with emphasis on the regulation of managers of AIFs when they acquire controlling stake in non-listed companies and issuers, which is of special interest to PE and VC funds due to their investment techniques. In that light, authors question if there is a mechanism which ensures that PE and VC funds act as a socially responsible shareholders/unitholders in portfolio companies (public accountability of the managers of AIFs. If so, authors argue the existence of possible confl ict of interest, as it is not clear in whose interest should managers of PE and VC funds act: in the interest of their investors or in the interest of the portfolio company.

Multi-asset class mutual funds: Can they time the market? Evidence from the US, UK and Canada

OpenAIRE

Clare, A.; O'Sullivan, N.; Sherman, M.; Thomas, S.

2016-01-01

The importance of asset allocation decisions in wealth management is well established. However, given its importance it is perhaps surprising that so little attention has been paid to the question of whether professional fund managers are skilful at timing market movement across asset classes over time. The timing literature has tended to concentrate on the timing skill of single asset class funds. Using data on US, UK and Canadian multi-asset class funds, we apply two alternative methodologi...

Features of successful bids for funding of applied health research: a cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Sheila; Davidson, Peter; Stanton, Louise; Cawdeary, Victoria

2014-09-22

The literature suggests that research funding decisions may be influenced by criteria such as gender or institution of the principal investigator (PI). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between characteristics of funding applications and success when considered by a research funding board. We selected a retrospective cohort of 296 outline applications for primary research (mainly pragmatic clinical trials) submitted to the commissioning board of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme between January 1st 2006 and December 31st 2009. We selected proposals submitted to the commissioned NIHR HTA work stream as they addressed issues which the programme already deemed to be important, hence the priority of the research question was not considered as one of the selection criteria for success or failure. Main outcome measures were success or failure at short-listing and in obtaining research funding. The characteristics of applications associated with success at shortlisting and funding were multi-disciplinarity of the team (OR 19.94 [5.13, 77.50], P research applications most strongly associated with success were related to the range of expertise in the team and the completion of a pilot or feasibility study.

Reporting of sources of funding in systematic reviews in periodontology and implant dentistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Faggion, C M; Atieh, M; Zanicotti, D G

2014-02-01

Industry-supported clinical trials may present better outcomes than those supported by other sources. The aim of this paper was to assess whether systematic reviews (SRs) published in periodontology and implant dentistry report and discuss the influence of funding sources on study results. Two reviewers conducted a comprehensive search in PubMed and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews independently and in duplicate to identify SRs published up to 11 November 2012. Speciality dental journals and the reference lists of included SRs were also scrutinised. Information on the reporting and discussion of funding sources of primary studies included in the SRs was extracted independently and in duplicate. Any disagreement regarding SR selection or data extraction was discussed until consensus was achieved. Of 146 SRs included in the assessment, only 45 (31%) reported the funding sources of primary studies. Fourteen (10%) SRs discussed the potential influence of funding sources on study results, that is, sponsorship bias. Funding sources are inadequately reported and discussed in SRs in periodontology and implant dentistry. Assessment, reporting, and critical appraisal of potential sponsorship bias of meta-analytic estimates are paramount to provide proper guidance for clinical treatments.

Three-dimensional RAMA fluence methodology benchmarking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, S. P.; Carter, R. G.; Watkins, K. E.; Jones, D. B.

2004-01-01

This paper describes the benchmarking of the RAMA Fluence Methodology software, that has been performed in accordance with U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Regulatory Guide 1.190. The RAMA Fluence Methodology has been developed by TransWare Enterprises Inc. through funding provided by the Electric Power Research Inst., Inc. (EPRI) and the Boiling Water Reactor Vessel and Internals Project (BWRVIP). The purpose of the software is to provide an accurate method for calculating neutron fluence in BWR pressure vessels and internal components. The Methodology incorporates a three-dimensional deterministic transport solution with flexible arbitrary geometry representation of reactor system components, previously available only with Monte Carlo solution techniques. Benchmarking was performed on measurements obtained from three standard benchmark problems which include the Pool Criticality Assembly (PCA), VENUS-3, and H. B. Robinson Unit 2 benchmarks, and on flux wire measurements obtained from two BWR nuclear plants. The calculated to measured (C/M) ratios range from 0.93 to 1.04 demonstrating the accuracy of the RAMA Fluence Methodology in predicting neutron flux, fluence, and dosimetry activation. (authors)

Analyzing False Memories in Children with Associative Lists Specific for Their Age

Science.gov (United States)

Carneiro, Paula; Albuquerque, Pedro; Fernandez, Angel; Esteves, Francisco

2007-01-01

Two experiments attempted to resolve previous contradictory findings concerning developmental trends in false memories within the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) paradigm by using an improved methodology--constructing age-appropriate associative lists. The research also extended the DRM paradigm to preschoolers. Experiment 1 (N = 320) included…

A proposed quantitative credit-rating methodology for South African provincial departments

OpenAIRE

Erika Fourie; Tanja Verster; Gary Wayne van Vuuren

2016-01-01

The development of subnational credit-rating methodologies affords benefits for subnationals, the sovereign and its citizens. Trusted credit ratings facilitate access to financial markets and above-average ratings allow for the negotiation of better collateral and guarantee agreements, as well as for funding of, for example, infrastructure projects at superior (lower) interest rates. This paper develops the quantitative section of a credit-rating methodology for South African subnationals. Th...

Social Costs of the Inefficient Management of the EU Funds for Bulgaria

OpenAIRE

Nozharov, Shteryo

2016-01-01

The study identifies and defines the social costs of the inefficient management of EU funds for Bulgaria. It is analyzed the last due programme period (2007-2015) and its prolongation. As methodology of the research the V4 BM model of Al-Debei and Avison (2010) which has not been used for analysis of EU funds management for cohesion policy in the public sector, is applied. In this way its potential for application in this field is tested. The concept of the study could be successfully used fo...

CONSIDERATIONS OVER THE METHODOLOGY OF FINANCIAL ANALYSIS AND ITS LINKAGE WITH BANKABILITY OF EUROPEAN FUNDED INVESTMENT PROJECTS

OpenAIRE

TRENCA Ioan; PETRIA Nicolae; DROJ Laurentiu

2012-01-01

European funding is considered to be one of the hot topics in Romania and all over Eastern Europe since its novelty and its expected capacity to improve the life of the newly integrated European citizens. The linkages between the European Financial Support Programmes, the private financing performed by the banking sector and the private companies which are intending to use the structural funds to finance their investments is obvious. The present paper analyzed these linkages, creates a case s...

The strategy of ethic investment of the Norwegian petroleum fund and arms companies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paulin, Cedric

2006-01-01

The author comments the background of the consecutive disengagements of the Norwegian Government Petroleum Fund from several companies belonging to the arms sector, a disengagement which complies with the opinion of various actors in favour of a socially responsible investment, and of NGOs and associations opposed to the armament sector. After having recalled the global definition of this fund which was created in 1990, and of its investment policy, the author analyses the framework within which these disengagements occur, comments how these different spheres (the fund and the other above mentioned actors) finally met. He also wanders whether this ethics actually concern arms company or is in fact related to a problem proper to investment funds in general. The author notably indicates the various arms companies from which the Petroleum Fund withdrew its investments. The author also outlines some remaining ambiguities of the strategy of ethic investment of the former Norwegian Petroleum Fund, and shows that its methodology of ethic and socially responsible investment applied to the arms sector is in fact not yet precisely defined

Methodology for economic evaluation of software development projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Witte, D.M.

1990-01-01

Many oil and gas exploration and production companies develop computer software in-house or with contract programmers to support their exploration activities. Software development projects compete for funding with exploration and development projects, though most companies lack valid comparison measures for the two types of projects. This paper presents a methodology of pro form a cash flow analysis for software development proposals intended for internal use. This methodology, based on estimates of development and support costs, exploration benefits, and probability of successful development and implementation, can be used to compare proposed software development projects directly with competing exploration proposals

Identifying e-cigarette vape stores: description of an online search methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Annice E; Loomis, Brett; Rhodes, Bryan; Eggers, Matthew E; Liedtke, Christopher; Porter, Lauren

2016-04-01

Although the overall impact of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) on public health is unclear, awareness, use, and marketing of the products have increased markedly in recent years. Identifying the increasing number of 'vape stores' that specialise in selling ENDS can be challenging given the lack of regulatory policies and licensing. This study assesses the utility of online search methods in identifying ENDS vape stores. We conducted online searches in Google Maps, Yelp, and YellowPages to identify listings of ENDS vape stores in Florida, and used a crowdsourcing platform to call and verify stores that primarily sold ENDS to consumers. We compared store listings generated from the online search and crowdsourcing methodology to list licensed tobacco and ENDS retailers from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The combined results from all three online sources yielded a total of 403 ENDS vape stores. Nearly 32.5% of these stores were on the state tobacco licensure list, while 67.5% were not. Accuracy of online results was highest for Yelp (77.6%), followed by YellowPages (77.1%) and Google (53.0%). Using the online search methodology we identified more ENDS vape stores than were on the state tobacco licensure list. This approach may be a promising strategy to identify and track the growth of ENDS vape stores over time, especially in states without a systematic licensing requirement for such stores. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

The use of economic indicators from the Global Reporting Initiative by Spanish listed companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María José García

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR in companies is widely accepted within today’s business community. However, the intangibility of this concept and the dispersion of related standards and regulations has created a context characterized by lack of homogeneity in the publishing of CSR results. The present study aims to determine the extent to which Global Reporting Initiative (GRI indicators are used by Spanish listed companies. Design/methodology/approach: An empirical analysis has been performed to asses and evaluate the 2011 CSR reports published by the companies listed on the IBEX-35, the Spanish stock exchange index which includes the most important listed companies. The analysis is centered exclusively on the economic indicators established by the GRI. The methodology used to interpret the results is based on the procedures of multivariate analysis, namely principal components analysis, correlation matrix, and hierarchical clustering. Findings: The results of the study show that although the GRI tool is used extensively within the IBEX-35, the level of performance regarding the parameters established by the GRI varies depending on the studied company and indicator. Research limitations: This study focuses on the biggest Spanish listed companies; thus, the conclusions may differ in other geographic locations, as well as for smaller businesses. Practical implications: This line of research helps to know more about the social reporting policies of big Spanish listed companies. Social implications: The evidence provided by this study helps to know more about the Corporate Social Responsibility policies and sustainability reports and declarations of social and environmental values governing their organizations. Originality/value: This study is the first using principal component analysis in Spanish listed companies focusing in the economic indicators of the GRI.

Project W-320, 241-C-106 waste retrieval spare parts list

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hays, W.H.

1998-01-01

Spare parts for equipment installed in the tank dome space or pump or valve pits should not be inventoried onsite due to the extensive, time-consuming work package planning, personnel/equipment mobilization, and funding requirements that are prerequisites to any repair or replacement. These issues provide adequate time to procure parts from offsite sources. All parts listed in this inventory can either be stocked in the DynCorp Tri-Cities Services, Inc., 2101-M Warehouse, or are available from the vendor/manufacturer

Project W-320, 241-C-106 waste retrieval spare parts list

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hays, W.H.

1998-03-23

Spare parts for equipment installed in the tank dome space or pump or valve pits should not be inventoried onsite due to the extensive, time-consuming work package planning, personnel/equipment mobilization, and funding requirements that are prerequisites to any repair or replacement. These issues provide adequate time to procure parts from offsite sources. All parts listed in this inventory can either be stocked in the DynCorp Tri-Cities Services, Inc., 2101-M Warehouse, or are available from the vendor/manufacturer.

The effects of Global Fund financing on health governance in Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez, Eduardo J; Atun, Rifat

2012-07-16

The impact of donors, such as national government (bi-lateral), private sector, and individual financial (philanthropic) contributions, on domestic health policies of developing nations has been the subject of scholarly discourse. Little is known, however, about the impact of global financial initiatives, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, on policies and health governance of countries receiving funding from such initiatives. This study employs a qualitative methodological design based on a single case study: Brazil. Analysis at national, inter-governmental and community levels is based on in-depth interviews with the Global Fund and the Brazilian Ministry of Health and civil societal activists. Primary research is complemented with information from printed media, reports, journal articles, and books, which were used to deepen our analysis while providing supporting evidence. Our analysis suggests that in Brazil, Global Fund financing has helped to positively transform health governance at three tiers of analysis: the national-level, inter-governmental-level, and community-level. At the national-level, Global Fund financing has helped to increased political attention and commitment to relatively neglected diseases, such as tuberculosis, while harmonizing intra-bureaucratic relationships; at the inter-governmental-level, Global Fund financing has motivated the National Tuberculosis Programme to strengthen its ties with state and municipal health departments, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs); while at the community-level, the Global Fund's financing of civil societal institutions has encouraged the emergence of new civic movements, participation, and the creation of new municipal participatory institutions designed to monitor the disbursement of funds for Global Fund grants. Global Fund financing can help deepen health governance at multiple levels. Future work will need to explore how the financing of civil society by the

Public funding of pharmaceuticals in The Netherlands: investigating the effect of evidence, process and context on CVZ decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Cerri, Karin H; Knapp, Martin; Fernandez, Jose-Luis

2014-09-01

The College Voor Zorgverzekeringen (CVZ) provides guidance to the Dutch healthcare system on funding and use of new pharmaceutical technologies. This study examined the impact of evidence, process and context factors on CVZ decisions in 2004-2009. A data set of CVZ decisions pertaining to pharmaceutical technologies was created, including 29 variables extracted from published information. A three-category outcome variable was used, defined as the decision to 'recommend', 'restrict' or 'not recommend' a technology. Technologies included in list 1A/1B or on the expensive drug list were considered recommended; those included in list 2 or for which patient co-payment is required were considered restricted; technologies not included on any reimbursement list were classified as 'not recommended'. Using multinomial logistic regression, the relative contribution of explanatory variables on CVZ decisions was assessed. In all, 244 technology appraisals (256 technologies) were analysed, with 51%, of technologies recommended, 33% restricted and 16% not recommended by CVZ for funding. The multinomial model showed significant associations (p ≤ 0.10) between CVZ outcome and several variables, including: (1) use of an active comparator and demonstration of statistical superiority of the primary endpoint in clinical trials, (2) pharmaceutical budget impact associated with introduction of the technology, (3) therapeutic indication and (4) prevalence of the target population. Results confirm the value of a comprehensive and multivariate approach to understanding CVZ decision-making.

Methodological variation in economic evaluations conducted in low- and middle-income countries: information for reference case development.

Science.gov (United States)

Santatiwongchai, Benjarin; Chantarastapornchit, Varit; Wilkinson, Thomas; Thiboonboon, Kittiphong; Rattanavipapong, Waranya; Walker, Damian G; Chalkidou, Kalipso; Teerawattananon, Yot

2015-01-01

Information generated from economic evaluation is increasingly being used to inform health resource allocation decisions globally, including in low- and middle- income countries. However, a crucial consideration for users of the information at a policy level, e.g. funding agencies, is whether the studies are comparable, provide sufficient detail to inform policy decision making, and incorporate inputs from data sources that are reliable and relevant to the context. This review was conducted to inform a methodological standardisation workstream at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and assesses BMGF-funded cost-per-DALY economic evaluations in four programme areas (malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and vaccines) in terms of variation in methodology, use of evidence, and quality of reporting. The findings suggest that there is room for improvement in the three areas of assessment, and support the case for the introduction of a standardised methodology or reference case by the BMGF. The findings are also instructive for all institutions that fund economic evaluations in LMICs and who have a desire to improve the ability of economic evaluations to inform resource allocation decisions.

The Impact of Debt Policy on Financial Performance of Romanian Listed Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicoleta BARBUTA-MISU

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of listed companies’ indebtedness on their financial performance. Theoretical research was relied on the specialty literature concerning the analysis of the capital structure and financial structure of the company based on calculation of the financial structure ratio and financial leverage. This paper focuses on the analysis of debt policy impact on companies’ financial performance using the financial leverage method. The financial leverage method reflects the influence of debt policy on company’s return on equity, as well as the ways it engages loans to finance operating assets so it can get higher return on equity. The main aim of this paper is to investigate and analyze the determinants of leverage effect and financial structure of companies that are operating in Romanian food industry, namely manufacturing of dairy products. The conclusion that emerges in this study is the importance of choosing and establishing funding sources by an enterprise, according to funding costs, in order to obtain the optimal combination between external financing resources and internal funding.

EVALUATION OF TRAINING AND‐METHODOLOGICAL SUPPORT OF UNIVERSITY COURSES (in Russian

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalia BELKINA

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Quality of teaching at a Higher Education Institution certainly depends on the integrity and quality of its training and methodological support. However, in order to improve this quality it is necessary to have a sound methodology for evaluation of such support. This article contains a list of recommended university teaching course materials, criteria of their separate components evaluation and an approach to calculating the quality levels of separate components and teaching course materials as a whole.

Safety class methodology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donner, E.B.; Low, J.M.; Lux, C.R.

1992-01-01

DOE Order 6430.1A, General Design Criteria (GDC), requires that DOE facilities be evaluated with respect to ''safety class items.'' Although the GDC defines safety class items, it does not provide a methodology for selecting safety class items. The methodology described in this paper was developed to assure that Safety Class Items at the Savannah River Site (SRS) are selected in a consistent and technically defensible manner. Safety class items are those in the highest of four categories determined to be of special importance to nuclear safety and, merit appropriately higher-quality design, fabrication, and industrial test standards and codes. The identification of safety class items is approached using a cascading strategy that begins at the 'safety function' level (i.e., a cooling function, ventilation function, etc.) and proceeds down to the system, component, or structure level. Thus, the items that are required to support a safety function are SCls. The basic steps in this procedure apply to the determination of SCls for both new project activities, and for operating facilities. The GDC lists six characteristics of SCls to be considered as a starting point for safety item classification. They are as follows: 1. Those items whose failure would produce exposure consequences that would exceed the guidelines in Section 1300-1.4, ''Guidance on Limiting Exposure of the Public,'' at the site boundary or nearest point of public access 2. Those items required to maintain operating parameters within the safety limits specified in the Operational Safety Requirements during normal operations and anticipated operational occurrences. 3. Those items required for nuclear criticality safety. 4. Those items required to monitor the release of radioactive material to the environment during and after a Design Basis Accident. Those items required to achieve, and maintain the facility in a safe shutdown condition 6. Those items that control Safety Class Item listed above

Listings.

Science.gov (United States)

1994-12-07

Nursing Standard regrets that it is no longer able to take listings over the telephone because of unprecedented demand. Readers are reminded that the listings section is for the use of charitable and professional organisations, unions and health authorities to publicise forthcoming events. Listings should contain all relevant details and be posted or faxed to Susan Blood-worth, Nursing Standard, Viking House, 17-19 Peterborough Road, Harrotc. Middlesex HA 1 2AX. Fax: 081-423 3867.

Measuring the Quality of Publications : New Methodology and Case Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kleijnen, J.P.C.; van Groenendaal, W.J.H.

2000-01-01

n practice, it is important to evaluate the quality of research, in order to make decisions on tenure, funding, and so on. This article develops a methodology using citations to measure the quality of journals, proceedings, and book publishers. (Citations are also used by the Science and Social

[Methodological quality and reporting quality evaluation of randomized controlled trials published in China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica].

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Dan-Dan; Xie, Yan-Ming; Liao, Xing; Zhi, Ying-Jie; Jiang, Jun-Jie; Chen, Wei

2018-02-01

To evaluate the methodological quality and reporting quality of randomized controlled trials(RCTs) published in China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica, we searched CNKI and China Journal of Chinese Materia webpage to collect RCTs since the establishment of the magazine. The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool was used to evaluate the methodological quality of RCTs. The CONSORT 2010 list was adopted as reporting quality evaluating tool. Finally, 184 RCTs were included and evaluated methodologically, of which 97 RCTs were evaluated with reporting quality. For the methodological evaluating, 62 trials(33.70%) reported the random sequence generation; 9(4.89%) trials reported the allocation concealment; 25(13.59%) trials adopted the method of blinding; 30(16.30%) trials reported the number of patients withdrawing, dropping out and those lost to follow-up;2 trials （1.09%） reported trial registration and none of the trial reported the trial protocol; only 8(4.35%) trials reported the sample size estimation in details. For reporting quality appraising, 3 reporting items of 25 items were evaluated with high-quality,including: abstract, participants qualified criteria, and statistical methods; 4 reporting items with medium-quality, including purpose, intervention, random sequence method, and data collection of sites and locations; 9 items with low-quality reporting items including title, backgrounds, random sequence types, allocation concealment, blindness, recruitment of subjects, baseline data, harms, and funding;the rest of items were of extremely low quality(the compliance rate of reporting item<10%). On the whole, the methodological and reporting quality of RCTs published in the magazine are generally low. Further improvement in both methodological and reporting quality for RCTs of traditional Chinese medicine are warranted. It is recommended that the international standards and procedures for RCT design should be strictly followed to conduct high-quality trials

Determinants of capital structure: An empirical study on Vietnamese listed firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Le Trung Thanh

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to explore the capital structure of listed Vietnamese companies in an updated context of financial development (the recent situation of domestic equity and debt capital market. By applying Random Effect model for panel data, we analyze 05 firm-specific and 01 country-specific determinants of capital structure based on the data set of 228 firms listed on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange during the period 2010 – 2014. The results indicated that The Pecking Order theory better explains the financing behaviors of Vietnamese listed firms. Accordingly, although in recent years, Vietnam’s equity market and corporate debt capital market have evolved considerably, the capital structure of Vietnamese companies are still dominated by the use of short-term financing sources. High-growth firms or large-sized firms still rely heavily on external debt rather than equity issuance while State-owned enterprises (SOE are reported to have positive association with the use of long-term financing sources. This study proposed some recommendations to the policymakers in two dimensions: improving the efficiency and role of capital markets to mitigate the reliance on short-term funds and ensuring that bank finance is allocated on a commercial basis.

Review of BPA funded sturgeon, resident fish and wildlife projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-12-01

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) held a public meeting on November 19--21, 1991, for the purpose of review, coordination, and consultation of the BPA-funded projects for sturgeon, resident fish, and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin (Basin). The comments received after the meeting were favorable and the participants agreed that the meeting was stimulating and productive. The information exchanged should lead to better coordination with other projects throughout the Basin. This document list the projects by title, the project leaders and BPA's project officers, and an abstract of each leader's presentation

Curated Collection for Educators: Five Key Papers about the Flipped Classroom Methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Andrew; Boysen-Osborn, Megan; Cooney, Robert; Mitzman, Jennifer; Misra, Asit; Williams, Jennifer; Dulani, Tina; Gottlieb, Michael

2017-10-25

The flipped classroom (FC) pedagogy is becoming increasingly popular in medical education due to its appeal to the millennial learner and potential benefits in knowledge acquisition. Despite its popularity and effectiveness, the FC educational method is not without challenges. In this article, we identify and summarize several key papers relevant to medical educators interested in exploring the FC teaching methodology. The authors identified an extensive list of papers relevant to FC pedagogy via online discussions within the Academic Life in Emergency Medicine (ALiEM) Faculty Incubator. This list was augmented by an open call on Twitter (utilizing the #meded, #FOAMed, and #flippedclassroom hashtags) yielding a list of 33 papers. We then conducted a three-round modified Delphi process within the authorship group, which included both junior and senior clinician educators, to identify the most impactful papers for educators interested in FC pedagogy. The three-round modified Delphi process ranked all of the selected papers and selected the five most highly-rated papers for inclusion. The authorship group reviewed and summarized these papers with specific consideration given to their value to junior faculty educators and faculty developers interested in the flipped classroom approach. The list of papers featured in this article serves as a key reading list for junior clinician educators and faculty developers interested in the flipped classroom technique. The associated commentaries contextualize the importance of these papers for medical educators aiming to optimize their understanding and implementation of the flipped classroom methodology in their teaching and through faculty development.

Data-driven methodology illustrating mechanisms underlying word list recall: applications to clinical research.

Science.gov (United States)

Longenecker, Julia; Kohn, Philip; Liu, Stanley; Zoltick, Brad; Weinberger, Daniel R; Elvevåg, Brita

2010-09-01

Word list learning tasks such as the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT; Delis, Kramer, Kaplan, & Ober, 1987) are widely used to investigate recall strategies. Participants who recall the most words generally employ semantic techniques, whereas those with poor recall (e.g., patients with schizophrenia) rely on serial techniques. However, these conclusions are based on formulas that assume that categories reflect semantic associations, bind strategy to overall performance, and neglect strategy changes over 5 trials. Therefore, we derived novel measures-independent of recall performance-to compute strategies across trials and identify whether diagnosis predicts recall strategy. Participants were included on the basis of performance on the CVLT (i.e., total words recalled over 5 trials). The 50 highest and 50 lowest performers among healthy volunteers (n = 100) and patients with schizophrenia (n = 100) were selected. Novel measures of recall and transition probability were calculated and analyzed by permutation tests. Recall patterns and strategies of patients resembled those of controls with similar performance levels: Regardless of diagnosis, low performers were more likely to recall the first 2 and last 4 items from the list; high performers increased engagement of semantically based transitions across the 5 trials, whereas low performers did not. Cognitive strategy must be considered independent of overall performance before attributing poor performance to degraded learning processes. Our results demonstrate the importance of departing from global scoring techniques, especially when working with clinical populations such as patients with schizophrenia for whom episodic memory deficits are a hallmark feature. Copyright 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

How new subscribers use cancer-related online mailing lists.

Science.gov (United States)

Rimer, Barbara K; Lyons, Elizabeth J; Ribisl, Kurt M; Bowling, J Michael; Golin, Carol E; Forlenza, Michael J; Meier, Andrea

2005-07-01

Online cancer-related support is an under-studied resource that may serve an important function in the information seeking, care, and support of cancer patients and their families. With over 9.8 million cancer survivors (defined as anyone living with cancer) in the United States alone and the number growing worldwide, it is important to understand how they seek and use online resources to obtain the information they need, when they need it, and in a form and manner appropriate to them. These are stated cancer communication goals of the US National Cancer Institute. Our purposes are to (1) present background information about online mailing lists and electronic support groups, (2) describe the rationale and methodology for the Health eCommunities (HeC) study, and (3) present preliminary baseline data on new subscribers to cancer-related mailing lists. In particular, we describe subscribers' use of mailing lists, their reasons for using them, and their reactions to participating shortly after joining the lists. From April to August 2004, we invited all new subscribers to 10 Association of Cancer Online Resources mailing lists to complete Web-based surveys. We analyzed baseline data from the respondents to examine their perceptions about cancer-related mailing lists and to describe how cancer patients and survivors used these lists in the period shortly after joining them. Cumulative email invitations were sent to 1368 new mailing list subscribers; 293 Web surveys were completed within the allotted time frame (21.4% response rate). Most respondents were over age 50 (n = 203, 72%), white (n = 286, 98%), college graduates (n = 161, 55%), and had health insurance (n = 283, 97%). About 41% (n = 116) of new subscribers reported spending 1 to 3 hours per day reading and responding to list messages. They used the mailing lists for several reasons. Among the most frequently reported, 62% (n = 179) strongly agreed they used mailing lists to obtain information on how to deal

A proposed quantitative credit-rating methodology for South African provincial departments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erika Fourie

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The development of subnational credit-rating methodologies affords benefits for subnationals, the sovereign and its citizens. Trusted credit ratings facilitate access to financial markets and above-average ratings allow for the negotiation of better collateral and guarantee agreements, as well as for funding of, for example, infrastructure projects at superior (lower interest rates. This paper develops the quantitative section of a credit-rating methodology for South African subnationals. The unique characteristics of South African data, their assembly, and the selection of dependent and independent variables for the linear-regression model chosen, are discussed. The methodology is then applied to the provincial Department of Health using linear regression modelling.

License - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive [Life Science Database Archive metadata

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available List Contact us PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods ...t list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods © Satoshi ... Policy | Contact Us License - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive ...

DisLexList

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2013-01-01

DisLexList is a simple analysis script for the generation of lists of lexemes in discourses, and may be used as a tool in discourse analysis (critical and otherwise). DisLexList is, in its current state, able to generate simple word lists and lexeme list based on output from VISL's flat structure...

Are Sunshine Private Funds More Beneficial than Publicly Offered Funds to the Fund Managers in Their Investment Performance?

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

YAN Wu; XIONG Hang

2016-01-01

From the perspective of the comparison between the investment performances of the fund managers before and after investment transfer from publicly offered funds to sunshine private funds,we can better explore the influences of the two institutional environments on the investment performances of the fund managers.This paper conducts a comparative analysis of the fund managers,investment performances before and after their investment transfer with the help of a number of fund performance evaluation models.The results show that the overall investment ability of the fund managers have been improved significantly when they transfer from publicly offered funds to sunshine private funds.If decomposing the overall investment ability into time-choosing and stock-picking abilities,the improvement of the fund managers' overall investment ability is mainly reflected in the significant improvement of their time-choosing ability after the transfer,while their stock-picking ability would then decrease a little.At the same time,by studying the personal characteristics of the fund managers,it is found that those who had investment research experience can obtain better investment performances.

Rating mutual funds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bechmann, Ken L.; Rangvid, Jesper

2007-01-01

We develop a new rating of mutual funds: the atpRating. The atpRating assigns crowns to each individual mutual fund based upon the costs an investor pays when investing in the fund in relation to what it would cost to invest in the fund's peers. Within each investment category, the rating assigns...... the return of a fund in a certain year generally contains only little information about the future return that the fund will generate. Finally, we have information on the investments in different mutual funds made by a small subgroup of investors known to have been exposed to both the atp...... five crowns to funds with the lowest costs and one crown to funds with the highest costs. We investigate the ability of the atpRating to predict the future performance of a fund. We find that an investor who has invested in the funds with the lowest costs within an investment category would have...

Does Organizational Learning Lead to Higher Firm Performance? An Investigation of Chinese Listing Companies

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Wencang; Hu, Huajing; Shi, Xuli

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for studying organizational learning, firm innovation and firm financial performance. Design/methodology/approach: This paper examines the effects of organizational learning on innovation and performance among 287 listed Chinese companies. Findings: The results indicate a positive…

Preliminary safety analysis methodology for the SMART

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bae, Kyoo Hwan; Chung, Y. J.; Kim, H. C.; Sim, S. K.; Lee, W. J.; Chung, B. D.; Song, J. H. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea)

2000-03-01

This technical report was prepared for a preliminary safety analysis methodology of the 330MWt SMART (System-integrated Modular Advanced ReacTor) which has been developed by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) since July 1996. This preliminary safety analysis methodology has been used to identify an envelope for the safety of the SMART conceptual design. As the SMART design evolves, further validated final safety analysis methodology will be developed. Current licensing safety analysis methodology of the Westinghouse and KSNPP PWRs operating and under development in Korea as well as the Russian licensing safety analysis methodology for the integral reactors have been reviewed and compared to develop the preliminary SMART safety analysis methodology. SMART design characteristics and safety systems have been reviewed against licensing practices of the PWRs operating or KNGR (Korean Next Generation Reactor) under construction in Korea. Detailed safety analysis methodology has been developed for the potential SMART limiting events of main steam line break, main feedwater pipe break, loss of reactor coolant flow, CEA withdrawal, primary to secondary pipe break and the small break loss of coolant accident. SMART preliminary safety analysis methodology will be further developed and validated in parallel with the safety analysis codes as the SMART design further evolves. Validated safety analysis methodology will be submitted to MOST as a Topical Report for a review of the SMART licensing safety analysis methodology. Thus, it is recommended for the nuclear regulatory authority to establish regulatory guides and criteria for the integral reactor. 22 refs., 18 figs., 16 tabs. (Author)

Synthesis of methodology development and case studies

OpenAIRE

Roetter, R.P.; Keulen, van, H.; Laar, van, H.H.

2000-01-01

The .Systems Research Network for Ecoregional Land Use Planning in Support of Natural Resource Management in Tropical Asia (SysNet). was financed under the Ecoregional Fund, administered by the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR). The objective of the project was to develop and evaluate methodologies and tools for land use analysis, and apply them at the subnational scale to support agricultural and environmental policy formulation. In the framework of this projec...

List randomization for soliciting experience of intimate partner violence: Application to the evaluation of Zambia's unconditional child grant program.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterman, Amber; Palermo, Tia M; Handa, Sudhanshu; Seidenfeld, David

2018-03-01

Social scientists have increasingly invested in understanding how to improve data quality and measurement of sensitive topics in household surveys. We utilize the technique of list randomization to collect measures of physical intimate partner violence in an experimental impact evaluation of the Government of Zambia's Child Grant Program. The Child Grant Program is an unconditional cash transfer, which targeted female caregivers of children under the age of 5 in rural areas to receive the equivalent of US $24 as a bimonthly stipend. The implementation results show that the list randomization methodology functioned as planned, with approximately 15% of the sample identifying 12-month prevalence of physical intimate partner violence. According to this measure, after 4 years, the program had no measurable effect on partner violence. List randomization is a promising approach to incorporate sensitive measures into multitopic evaluations; however, more research is needed to improve upon methodology for application to measurement of violence. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Sanitation of cultural monuments - Energy conervation. Energetic improvement of buildings listed as monuments; Kulturdenkmale sanieren - Energie sparen. Energetische Verbesserung denkmalgeschuetzter Gebaeude

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2010-08-15

The contribution under consideration reports on an energetic improvement of buildings listed as monuments. Substantial aspects are designated which absolutely have to be considered in the energetic sanitation. Depending upon plant (solar thermal power or photovoltaics), dimensions and other design (cell type, colour, reflection) solutions can be found which only insignificantly impair the appearance of the architectural monument. Partners for buildings listed as monument are monument protection authorities. The contribution under consideration also presents an overview of public funding programs.

Societal Preferences for Funding Orphan Drugs in the United Kingdom: An Application of Person Trade-Off and Discrete Choice Experiment Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Bourke, Siobhan M; Plumpton, Catrin O; Hughes, Dyfrig A

2018-05-01

It is unclear whether UK National Health Service (NHS) policies for orphan drugs, which permit funding of non-cost-effective treatments, reflect societal preferences. We conducted person trade-off (PTO) and discrete choice experiment (DCE) among 3950 adults selected to be representative of the UK general population. Experimental design was informed by surveys of patients affected by rare diseases, their caregivers, health care staff, and policymakers. Societal preferences were estimated in relation to treating a common disease, increases in waiting lists, or filling of vacant NHS posts. Results of the DCE were applied to recently licensed orphan drugs. On the basis of equal cost, the majority of respondents to the PTO (54%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 50-59) chose to allocate funds equally between patients treated for rare diseases and those treated for common diseases, with 32% (95% CI 28-36) favoring treating rare diseases over treating common diseases (14%; 95% CI 11-17), which this reduced to 23% (95% CI 20-27) when rare disease treatments were 10 times more expensive. When framed differently, more respondents prioritized not increasing waiting list size (43%; 95% CI 39-48) than to treat rare disease patients (34%; 95% CI 30-38). The DCE indicated a greater preference for treating a common disease over a rare disease. Respondents agreed with five of 12 positive appraisal recommendations for orphan drugs, even if their list price was higher, but preferred the NHS not to fund the remainder. The general public does not value rarity as a sufficient reason to justify special consideration for additional NHS funding of orphan drugs. This has implications regarding the appropriateness of operating higher thresholds of cost-effectiveness. Copyright © 2018 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Methodology for locale-scale monitoring for the PROTHEGO project: the Choirokoitia case study

Science.gov (United States)

Themistocleous, Kyriacos; Agapiou, Athos; Cuca, Branka; Danezis, Chris; Cigna, Francesca; Margottini, Claudio; Spizzichino, Daniele

2016-10-01

PROTHEGO (PROTection of European Cultural HEritage from GeO-hazards) is a collaborative research project funded in the framework of the Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage and Global Change (JPICH) - Heritage Plus in 2015-2018 (www.prothego.eu). PROTHEGO aims to make an innovative contribution towards the analysis of geohazards in areas of cultural heritage, and uses novel space technology based on radar interferometry (InSAR) to retrieve information on ground stability and motion in the 400+ UNESCO's World Heritage List monuments and sites of Europe. InSAR can be used to measure micro-movements to identify geo-hazards. In order to verify the InSAR image data, field and close range measurements are necessary. This paper presents the methodology for local-scale monitoring of the Choirokoitia study site in Cyprus, inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and part of the demonstration sites of PROTHEGO. Various field and remote sensing methods will be exploited for the local-scale monitoring, static GNSS, total station, leveling, laser scanning and UAV and compared with the Persistent Scatterer Interferometry results. The in-situ measurements will be taken systematically in order to document any changes and geo-hazards that affect standing archaeological remains. In addition, ground truth from in-situ visits will provide feedback related to the classification results of urban expansion and land use change maps. Available archival and current optical satellite images will be used to calibrate and identify the level of risk at the Cyprus case study site. The ground based geotechnical monitoring will be compared and validated with InSAR data to evaluate cultural heritage sites deformation trend and to understand its behaviour over the last two decades.

Economics and environment wrap-up panel : energy management revolving fund

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

This Power Point presentation provided the historical overview of the energy management program of the City of Edmonton, Alberta. The energy crisis of the early 1980s prompted the City to initiate an energy management plan, and a one million dollar revolving fund was created in 1995, later increased to five million dollars in 1999, to support the initiative. The operating funds were used for small projects, while capital funding limited use with other capital improvements. At times, third party/private financing was used. The revolving fund approach was selected for a number of reasons: (1) it was self-liquidating, (2) had a lesser impact on the budget and tax levy, (3) reduced competition for capital, (4) the money was obtained at competitive rates from the Alberta Municipal Finance Corporation, (5) reduced operating costs, (6) saved energy and non-renewable resources, and (7) it proved flexible. The process was explained, from the potential project proposal to its approval. The criteria used to evaluate the proposals were listed and discussed. A total of 37 projects have been initiated to date, with a value of 3.2 million dollars. The projected utility cost savings are about 900,000 dollars annually, and the total projected carbon dioxide emissions avoided are 8,300 tonnes annually. Accelerating the implementation might be required in light of the recent increase in energy costs. There are difficulties encountered in finding energy consultants and skilled trades people. The scope of the projects is limited by the standard five year payback. The Revolving Fund is one component of the Environmental Strategic Plan of the City of Edmonton. figs

Goals and Methodology for a Surgery Residency Program: A Committee Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Knecht, Charles D.; And Others

1979-01-01

Written goals of a small animal residency program established by Purdue University are identified and an elaborate list of methodology for goals is provided. Tables include: summary of required activities of residents, checklist of residency progress, and comparable effort for surgery residency and masters program. (Author/MLW)

Methodological variation in economic evaluations conducted in low- and middle-income countries: information for reference case development.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjarin Santatiwongchai

Full Text Available Information generated from economic evaluation is increasingly being used to inform health resource allocation decisions globally, including in low- and middle- income countries. However, a crucial consideration for users of the information at a policy level, e.g. funding agencies, is whether the studies are comparable, provide sufficient detail to inform policy decision making, and incorporate inputs from data sources that are reliable and relevant to the context. This review was conducted to inform a methodological standardisation workstream at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF and assesses BMGF-funded cost-per-DALY economic evaluations in four programme areas (malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and vaccines in terms of variation in methodology, use of evidence, and quality of reporting. The findings suggest that there is room for improvement in the three areas of assessment, and support the case for the introduction of a standardised methodology or reference case by the BMGF. The findings are also instructive for all institutions that fund economic evaluations in LMICs and who have a desire to improve the ability of economic evaluations to inform resource allocation decisions.

Rating Mutual Funds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bechmann, Ken L.; Rangvid, Jesper

We develop a new rating of mutual funds: the atpRating. The atpRating assigns crowns to each individual mutual fund based upon the costs an investor pays when investing in the fund in relation to what it would cost to invest in the fund’s peers. Within each investment category, the rating assigns......, whereas the return of a fund in a certain year generally contains only little information about the future return that the fund will generate. Finally, we have information on the investments in different mutual funds made by a small subgroup of investors known to have been exposed to both the atp...... five crowns to funds with the lowest costs and one crown to funds with the highest costs. We investigate the ability of the atpRating to predict the future performance of a fund. We find that an investor who has invested in the funds with the lowest costs within an investment category would have...

MABEL at IPAC: managing address books and email lists at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center

Science.gov (United States)

Crane, Megan; Brinkworth, Carolyn; Gelino, Dawn; O'Leary, Ellen

2012-09-01

The Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), located on the campus of the California Institute of Technology, is NASA's multi-mission data center for infrared astrophysics. Some of IPAC's services include administering data analysis funding awards to the astronomical community, organizing conferences and workshops, and soliciting and selecting fellowship and observing proposals. As most of these services are repeated annually or biannually, it becomes necessary to maintain multiple lists of email contacts associated with each service. MABEL is a PHP/MySQL web database application designed to facilitate this process. It serves as an address book containing up-to-date contact information for thousands of recipients. Recipients may be assigned to any number of email lists categorized by IPAC project and team. Lists may be public (viewable by all project members) or private (viewable only by team members). MABEL can also be used to send HTML or plain-text emails to multiple lists at once and prevents duplicate emails to a single recipient. This work was performed at the California Institute of Technology under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

SITE-94. Scenario development FEP audit list preparation: methodology and presentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stenhouse, M.; Chapman, N.; Sumerling, T.

1993-04-01

This report concerns a study which is part of the SKI performance assessment project SITE-94. SITE-94 is a performance assessment of a hypothetical repository at a real site. The main objective of the project is to determine how site specific data should be assimilated into the performance assessment process and to evaluate how uncertainties inherent in site characterization will influence performance assessment results. Other important elements of SITE-94 are the development of a practical and defensible methodology for defining, constructing and analyzing scenarios, the development of approaches for treatment of uncertainties , evaluation of canister integrity, and the development and application of an appropriate quality assurance plan for performance assessments

The Composition of Cigarette Smoke: Problems with Lists of Tumorigens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodgman A

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Since the mid-1960s, various investigators, agencies, and institutions have disseminated lists of cigarette mainstream smoke (MSS components reported to be tumorigenic on the basis of laboratory bioassays conducted under conditions significantly different from those encountered by the smoker during exposure to the components in the cigarette MSS aerosol. Since 1990, numerous lists of cigarette MSS components, defined as significant tumorigens, have been compiled by American Health Foundation personnel, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA, Fowles and Bates, and R.J. Reynolds R&D personnel. The purpose of most of the reports was to define human risk assessment and to dissuade smokers from smoking. Various investigators and agencies have frequently cited the earlier and/or the more recent lists of tumorigenic entities. The recent compilations, involving nearly 80 MSS components, suffer from serious deficiencies including: a Use of per cigarette delivery ranges for specified components which often include analytical data from cigarettes manufactured in the 1950s and 1960s which are not comparable to lower-'tar’ yield cigarettes manufactured since the mid-1970s. b Absence of standard analytical procedures for most of the listed components. c Methodological considerations regarding bioassays used to determine tumorigenicity of the listed MSS components. d Difficulty in extrapolating in vivo bioassay data obtained by non-inhalation modes of administration of a single compound to the human smoking situation involving inhalation of a complex aerosol containing that compound. e Inhalation data inadequacies regarding the tumorigenicity of many of the components. f Several tobacco smoke components are listed despite the fact their presence has not been confirmed, their MSS level has not been defined, or their MSS level is no longer relevant. g Insufficient consideration of inhibitors of tumorigenesis and mutagenesis found in MSS. h

Level of evidence, sponsorship, conflict of interest policy and commercial impact of PubMed-listed clinical urolithiasis-related trials in 2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Schoenthaler, Martin; Miernik, Arkadiusz; Wilhelm, Konrad; Schlager, Daniel; Schoeb, Dominik Stefan; Adams, Fabian; Dahm, Philipp; Hein, Simon

2016-05-01

To evaluate published trials on urolithiasis regarding level of evidence, type of sponsorship and declared conflicts of interest (COIs), and to elucidate a potential commercial impact. We performed a systematic PubMed(®) literature search using a predefined Boolean search term to identify PubMed-listed clinical research studies on urolithiasis in 2014 (fourth quarter). All authors screened the results for eligibility criteria and two independent reviewers evaluated and performed data extraction of predefined endpoints, including level of evidence, declaration of COI and sponsorship/funding (as indicated in the published print version), and commercial impact. A total of 110 clinical trials in urolithiasis listed in PubMed met the inclusion criteria. Levels of evidence 1, 2, 3 and 4 were found in 15%, 14%, 21% and 51% of trials, respectively. A COI was indicated in a total of 90% of publications, 93% of which declared no existing conflict of interest. Sponsorship was indicated in 36% of publications, 55% of which stated public funding, 33% institutional funding, 10% industrial funding and 2% both public and industrial funding. A total of 11% of the published trials were rated as having a high commercial impact. The present study provides evidence of increasing levels of evidence for published clinical trials on urolithiasis in 2014 (as compared with earlier data). Ninety percent of publications indicated conflicts of interest, whereas sponsoring of studies was declared only by one-third. A considerable number of trials involved issues of high commercial impact. Recently established legal programmes and voluntary acts on self-reporting of financial relationships will enhance transparency in the future; however, increased public funding will be needed to further promote the quality of trials on urolithiasis. © 2015 The Authors BJU International © 2015 BJU International Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

76 FR 33923 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding on a Petition To List Abronia...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-09

... regulations to temporarily list a species are not judicially reviewable. See Fund for Animals v. Hogan, 428 F... particular factor to evaluate whether the species may respond to the factor in a way that causes actual.... The threat is significant if it drives or contributes to the risk of extinction of the species such...

Guidelines for reporting evaluations based on observational methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Portell, Mariona; Anguera, M Teresa; Chacón-Moscoso, Salvador; Sanduvete-Chaves, Susana

2015-01-01

Observational methodology is one of the most suitable research designs for evaluating fidelity of implementation, especially in complex interventions. However, the conduct and reporting of observational studies is hampered by the absence of specific guidelines, such as those that exist for other evaluation designs. This lack of specific guidance poses a threat to the quality and transparency of these studies and also constitutes a considerable publication hurdle. The aim of this study thus was to draw up a set of proposed guidelines for reporting evaluations based on observational methodology. The guidelines were developed by triangulating three sources of information: observational studies performed in different fields by experts in observational methodology, reporting guidelines for general studies and studies with similar designs to observational studies, and proposals from experts in observational methodology at scientific meetings. We produced a list of guidelines grouped into three domains: intervention and expected outcomes, methods, and results. The result is a useful, carefully crafted set of simple guidelines for conducting and reporting observational studies in the field of program evaluation.

Random matrix theory and fund of funds portfolio optimisation

Science.gov (United States)

Conlon, T.; Ruskin, H. J.; Crane, M.

2007-08-01

The proprietary nature of Hedge Fund investing means that it is common practise for managers to release minimal information about their returns. The construction of a fund of hedge funds portfolio requires a correlation matrix which often has to be estimated using a relatively small sample of monthly returns data which induces noise. In this paper, random matrix theory (RMT) is applied to a cross-correlation matrix C, constructed using hedge fund returns data. The analysis reveals a number of eigenvalues that deviate from the spectrum suggested by RMT. The components of the deviating eigenvectors are found to correspond to distinct groups of strategies that are applied by hedge fund managers. The inverse participation ratio is used to quantify the number of components that participate in each eigenvector. Finally, the correlation matrix is cleaned by separating the noisy part from the non-noisy part of C. This technique is found to greatly reduce the difference between the predicted and realised risk of a portfolio, leading to an improved risk profile for a fund of hedge funds.

Methodological Principles of Assessing the Volume of Investment Influx from Non-State Pension Funds into the Economy of Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dmitro Leonov

2004-11-01

Full Text Available This article addresses the processes of forming investment resources from nonstate pension funds under current conditions in Ukraine and the laws and regula tions that define the principles of the formation of in vestment institutions. Based on factors that in the near est future will affect the decisionmaking process by which different kinds of investors make payments to non state pension funds, we develop a procedure for assessing the volume of investment influx from nonstate pension funds into the economy and propose a procedure for long and shortterm prognosis of the volume of investment in flux from nonstate pension funds into the Ukrainian economy.

Funding opportunities for investigators in the early stages of career development.

Science.gov (United States)

Sumandea, C Amelia; Balke, C William

2009-03-10

Many sources of advice and guidance are available to the early career investigator. Generally, mentors serve as the primary source of information, although program and review officers are the most underutilized resources. This article organizes these opportunities to enable early career investigators to plot a rational trajectory for career success. A list of the major agencies that provide grant support for early career investigators is included. In addition, funding opportunities are organized on the basis of the stage in career development pathway and the type of terminal degree.

NIH Funding within Otolaryngology: 2005-2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Lennon, Christen J; Hunter, Jacob B; Mistry, Akshitkumar M; Espahbodi, Mana; Deasey, Matthew; Niesner, K J; Labadie, Robert F

2017-11-01

Objective Analyze grants awarded between 2005 and 2014 to otolaryngology departments that appear in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) RePORTER database, summarize characteristics of grant recipients associated with otolaryngology departments as listed in the RePORTER between 2005 and 2014, and identify trends in otolaryngology NIH funding between 2005 and 2014 by topic. Study Design Case series. Setting NIH database inquiry. Subjects Grant recipients. Methods The RePORTER was queried for all grants awarded to otolaryngology departments between 2005 and 2014. All grants classified as new, renewal, or revision were included while duplicates were excluded. Results In total, 475 grants to 51 institutions were categorized by topic and subtopic. Internet searches were conducted for characteristics of 352 principal investigators. Sixty-seven percent of awardees had a PhD, 22% had an MD, and 11% had an MD/PhD. Sex ratios varied by degrees held. Although 31% of all grant recipients were women, this ratio was not seen when recipients were classified by degree type, with 78% of women holding a PhD compared with 55% of men ( P = .0013). Of the award types, 39% were R01s, 15% were R21s, and 10% were R03s. The top 3 represented topics were otology/neurotology (52%), audiology (25%), and head and neck surgery (14%). The mean annual award amount, after adjusting for inflation to 2014 dollars, was $226,495.76, with 72.8% awarded by the National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders. Twenty percent of awardees received multiple grants. Conclusion NIH funding in otolaryngology tends to be awarded to those with PhDs studying the hearing sciences, with 1 in 5 having multiple awards. As in other areas of NIH funding, women are underrepresented overall.

Health research funding in Mexico: the need for a long-term agenda.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduardo Martínez-Martínez

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The legal framework and funding mechanisms of the national health research system were recently reformed in Mexico. A study of the resource allocation for health research is still missing. We identified the health research areas funded by the National Council on Science and Technology (CONACYT and examined whether research funding has been aligned to national health problems. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We collected the information to create a database of research grant projects supported through the three main Sectoral Funds managed by CONACYT between 2003 and 2010. The health-related projects were identified and classified according to their methodological approach and research objective. A correlation analysis was carried out to evaluate the association between disease-specific funding and two indicators of disease burden. From 2003 to 2010, research grant funding increased by 32% at a compound annual growth rate of 3.5%. By research objective, the budget fluctuated annually resulting in modest increments or even decrements during the period under analysis. The basic science category received the largest share of funding (29% while the less funded category was violence and accidents (1.4%. The number of deaths (ρ = 0.51; P<0.001 and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs; ρ = 0.33; P = 0.004 were weakly correlated with the funding for health research. Considering the two indicators, poisonings and infectious and parasitic diseases were among the most overfunded conditions. In contrast, congenital anomalies, road traffic accidents, cerebrovascular disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were the most underfunded conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Although the health research funding has grown since the creation of CONACYT sectoral funds, the financial effort is still low in comparison to other Latin American countries with similar development. Furthermore, the great diversity of the funded topics compromises the efficacy of the

The effects of Global Fund financing on health governance in Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Objectives The impact of donors, such as national government (bi-lateral), private sector, and individual financial (philanthropic) contributions, on domestic health policies of developing nations has been the subject of scholarly discourse. Little is known, however, about the impact of global financial initiatives, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, on policies and health governance of countries receiving funding from such initiatives. Methods This study employs a qualitative methodological design based on a single case study: Brazil. Analysis at national, inter-governmental and community levels is based on in-depth interviews with the Global Fund and the Brazilian Ministry of Health and civil societal activists. Primary research is complemented with information from printed media, reports, journal articles, and books, which were used to deepen our analysis while providing supporting evidence. Results Our analysis suggests that in Brazil, Global Fund financing has helped to positively transform health governance at three tiers of analysis: the national-level, inter-governmental-level, and community-level. At the national-level, Global Fund financing has helped to increased political attention and commitment to relatively neglected diseases, such as tuberculosis, while harmonizing intra-bureaucratic relationships; at the inter-governmental-level, Global Fund financing has motivated the National Tuberculosis Programme to strengthen its ties with state and municipal health departments, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs); while at the community-level, the Global Fund’s financing of civil societal institutions has encouraged the emergence of new civic movements, participation, and the creation of new municipal participatory institutions designed to monitor the disbursement of funds for Global Fund grants. Conclusions Global Fund financing can help deepen health governance at multiple levels. Future work will need to explore how

The effects of Global Fund financing on health governance in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gómez Eduardo J

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objectives The impact of donors, such as national government (bi-lateral, private sector, and individual financial (philanthropic contributions, on domestic health policies of developing nations has been the subject of scholarly discourse. Little is known, however, about the impact of global financial initiatives, such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, on policies and health governance of countries receiving funding from such initiatives. Methods This study employs a qualitative methodological design based on a single case study: Brazil. Analysis at national, inter-governmental and community levels is based on in-depth interviews with the Global Fund and the Brazilian Ministry of Health and civil societal activists. Primary research is complemented with information from printed media, reports, journal articles, and books, which were used to deepen our analysis while providing supporting evidence. Results Our analysis suggests that in Brazil, Global Fund financing has helped to positively transform health governance at three tiers of analysis: the national-level, inter-governmental-level, and community-level. At the national-level, Global Fund financing has helped to increased political attention and commitment to relatively neglected diseases, such as tuberculosis, while harmonizing intra-bureaucratic relationships; at the inter-governmental-level, Global Fund financing has motivated the National Tuberculosis Programme to strengthen its ties with state and municipal health departments, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs; while at the community-level, the Global Fund’s financing of civil societal institutions has encouraged the emergence of new civic movements, participation, and the creation of new municipal participatory institutions designed to monitor the disbursement of funds for Global Fund grants. Conclusions Global Fund financing can help deepen health governance at multiple levels. Future work

Information Retrieval during Free Listing Is Biased by Memory: Evidence from Medicinal Plants.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Carvalho Pires de Sousa

Full Text Available Free listing is a methodological tool that is widely used in various scientific disciplines. A typical assumption of this approach is that individual lists reflect a subset of total knowledge and that the first items listed are the most culturally important. However, little is known about how cognitive processes influence free lists. In this study, we assess how recent memory of use, autonoetic and anoetic memory, and long-term associative memory can affect the composition and order of items in free lists and evaluate whether free lists indicate the most important items. Based on a model of local knowledge about medicinal plants and their therapeutic targets, which was collected via individual semi-structured interviews, we classify each item recorded in free lists according to the last time that the item was used by the informant (recently or long ago, the type of relevant memory (autonoetic or anoetic memory and the existing associations between therapeutic targets (similar or random. We find that individuals have a tendency to recall information about medicinal plants used during the preceding year and that the recalled plants were also the most important plants during this period. However, we find no trend in the recall of plants from long-term associative memory, although this phenomenon is well established in studies on cognitive psychology. We suggest that such evidence should be considered in studies that use lists of medicinal plants because this temporal cognitive limit on the retrieval of knowledge affects data interpretation.

Risk assessment methodology for Hanford high-level waste tanks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bott, T.F.; Mac Farlane, D.R.; Stack, D.W.; Kindinger, J.

1992-01-01

A methodology is presented for applying Probabilistic Safety Assessment techniques to quantification of the health risks posed by the high-level waste (HLW) underground tanks at the Department of Energy's Hanford reservation. This methodology includes hazard screening development of a list of potential accident initiators, systems fault trees development and quantification, definition of source terms for various release categories, and estimation of health consequences from the releases. Both airborne and liquid pathway releases to the environment, arising from aerosol and spill/leak releases from the tanks, are included in the release categories. The proposed methodology is intended to be applied to a representative subset of the total of 177 tanks, thereby providing a baseline risk profile for the HLW tank farm that can be used for setting clean-up/remediation priorities. Some preliminary results are presented for Tank 101-SY

Opportunities and challenges for collaborative funding with industry

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, J. F.

2014-12-01

The discovery and extraction of natural resources represents major challenges on both technical and socio-political fronts. Societal demand for commodities continues to increase as population, infrastructure, energy demands and standards of living increase. In parallel, society expects more efficient, cleaner and more sustainable practices. There are therefore multiple incentives for industry to invest in research and innovation to meet these fundamental goals. Natural resource companies fund research internally and externally but the focus, approach and level of funding varies considerably among sectors, companies and disciplines. The wide variety of philosophies creates difficulties for those who seek to work with industry. Most funding arrangement are built through extensive engagement, opportunities to leverage funds particularly in higher risk or less well defined areas (e.g., geoscience), and the attraction of meeting potential new high quality employees. Barriers to funding include unrealistic perceptions of confidentiality issues in industry, bureaucracy and unrealistic IP constraints in academia, and onerous overhead charges by universities that vastly exceed those charged by consulting and contract researchers. Academics and students can benefit immensely from productive research arrangements with industry, but understanding realistic expectations on both sides is critical. Although funding from industry may introduce constraints, some companies are willing to take a virtual hands-off approach in support of quality science. Selecting the appropriate researchers and methodology is important; it takes time for students to become effective and some problems are simply not suited to graduate research, or even academia. Some Governments play an enormous role in facilitating collaborative research with industry while others struggle to differentiate programs that encourage investment from those that unfairly subsidize industry. The traditional Government role

Offshore Investment Funds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shang-Jin Wei

1999-12-01

Full Text Available Offshore investment funds are alleged to have engaged in trading behavior that is different from their onshore counterparts because they may be subject to less supervision and regulation. In particular, they may trade more intensely. They could also pursue more aggressively certain trading strategies such as positive feedback trading or herding that could contribute to a greater volatility in the market. Using a unique data set, this chapter compares the trading behavior in the Korean stock market between offshore investment funds with their onshore counterparts registered in the US and UK. There are a number of interesting findings. First, there is indeed evidence suggesting that the offshore funds trade more intensely than their onshore counterparts. Second, however, there is no evidence that the offshore funds engage in positive feedback trading. In contrast, there is strong evidence that the funds from the U.S. and U.K. do. Third, while offshore funds do herd, they do so far less than onshore funds in the U.S. or UK. Fourth, offshore funds hold less glamour stocks (e.g. stocks with high P/E in their portfolio than funds in the U.S. or U.K. do. Moreover, flight to glamour stocks during the in-crisis period is less evident in the case of offshore funds. In sum, offshore funds are no especially worrisome monsters.

An assessment of the effects of casemix funding on hospital utilisation: a Northern Territory perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, J; Lee, A; Vemuri, S R; Beaver, C

2000-01-01

This article is concerned with the methodological issues of assessing the effects of casemix funding on hospital utilisation. Time-series analysis and intervention analysis are proposed to ascertain the effects. It was found there had been a decline in average length of stay and number of bed-days, an increase in weighted separations for teaching and non-teaching hospitals, and no apparent increase of costliness in terms of a comprehensive casemix index. No evidence of decline in quality of care can be established in terms of readmission rates. The long-term effects of casemix funding, and specific issues in terms of the funding model used, patients and cost shifting between hospital services and community health services, remain to be studied.

Download - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive [Life Science Database Archive metadata

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available List Contact us PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods ...t_db_link_en.zip (36.3 KB) - 6 Genome analysis methods pgdbj_dna_marker_linkage_map_genome_analysis_methods_... of This Database Site Policy | Contact Us Download - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive ...

KT Fund: Five years of funding for impact

CERN Multimedia

CERN Bulletin

2015-01-01

Cryogenic safety, ion beam therapy, event management for communities, emergency lighting… this year’s applications for funding through the Knowledge Transfer Fund demonstrate the breadth of possible applications of CERN technology beyond high-energy physics.     The use of high index glass spherical targets as retroreflectors for a 3D interferometer is the subject of one of the 2015 KT Fund Projects.   Following the 2015 selection committee held in January, the KT Fund has funded a total of seven new projects that aim to further develop CERN technologies to a level where they can be transferred and subsequently make a positive impact on society. “CERN’s ambitious scientific programme requires state-of-the-art technologies that are not always directly reusable by society because they were not designed with this purpose in mind,” explains David Mazur, Section Leader of the IP Dissemination Section. “Since 2011, the KT...

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2009-01-01

In line with the decisions concerning the new governance of the Pension Fund taken by the Council in June and September 2007, amendments to Section 2 "Structure and Functions" of the Rules of the Fund (Article I 2.08 – Composition of the Investment Committee and Article I 2.08b – Chairman of the Investment Committee) entered into force on 1st January 2009. These articles replace the provisions of the existing Regulations of the Investment Committee of the Pension Fund relating to the composition and chairman of the Investment Committee. Amendment No. 27 (PDF document) may be downloaded directly from the Pension Fund website: http://pensions.web.cern.ch/Pensions/statuts___rules.htm or obtained from the Administration of the Fund (Tel. 022 7672742, mailto:Barbara.Bordjah@cern.ch).

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2008-01-01

The Pension Fund Governing Board (PFGB) held two meetings over the summer, the first on 9 June and the second on 1st September. The agendas of the two meetings had several items in common, including progress reports on the work of the four working groups. Group 1, which is responsible for the revision of Chapter I, Section 2 of the Rules of the Fund, has made good progress but will need more time to complete its terms of reference in view of the number and complexity of the articles to be amended. In parallel, the Group has approved a code of conduct for the Pension Fund, which is based, in particular, on the new charter introduced for Swiss pension funds by the Swiss Association of Provident Institutions (ASIP) and the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) code of ethics applicable to members of pension fund bodies. The PFGB took note that the Group had also been working on the rules relating to the status of the personnel of the Fund and the composition of the Investment Committee. The work of Group 2, responsi...

Pension fund

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

At its June 2006 meeting, the Finance Committee approved the following amendment to Article 6a of the Regulations for elections to the Governing Board of the Pension Fund, which will enter into force on 1.7.2006: Current text New text ... 6a. The Administrator of the Fund shall be responsible for holding the elections and for issuing all relevant information. ... ... 6a. The Administrator of the Fund shall be responsible for holding the elections by electronic voting or, if this method cannot be used, following the procedure outlined in Articles 6i., 6j. and 6k. below. He shall issue to the members of the Pension Fund all relevant information concerning the elections. The deadlines mentioned in paragraphs 6i. and 6j. below shall apply mutatis mutandis to electronic voting. ... The amendment will allow the Pension Fund to use an electronic voting procedure for the election of elected members to the Governing Board of the Fund. It will be included in a complete new edition of the Rules and Regulatio...

Fund management plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-05-01

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, P.L. 97-425 (the Act), provides for establishment of two separate special funds in the US Treasury, the Interim Storage Fund and the Nuclear Waste Fund (the Funds). The Interim Storage Fund (Sec. 136) is the financing mechanism for the provision of federal interim storage capacity, not to exceed 1900 metric tons, for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from civilian reactors. Basically, interim storage of SNF is the responsibility of the owners and generators of nuclear wastes. Storage at government facilities will be provided only if the utilities do not have adequate storage capacity. The Nuclear Waste Fund (Sec. 302) is the statutory financing approach for the Department's radioactive waste disposal program. P.L. 97-425 directs utilities to pay a mandatory fee to cover DOE's expected costs for nuclear waste disposal. The Funds are administered by the Department of Energy. This Plan identifies how DOE will implement and manage the Nuclear Waste and Interim Storage Funds

National Certification Methodology for the Nuclear Weapons Stockpile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goodwin, B T; Juzaitis, R J

2006-01-01

Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Laboratories have developed a common framework and key elements of a national certification methodology called Quantification of Margins and Uncertainties (QMU). A spectrum from senior managers to weapons designers has been engaged in this activity at the two laboratories for on the order of a year to codify this methodology in an overarching and integrated paper. Following is the certification paper that has evolved. In the process of writing this paper, an important outcome has been the realization that a joint Livermore/Los Alamos workshop on QMU, focusing on clearly identifying and quantifying differences between approaches between the two labs plus developing an even stronger technical foundation on methodology, will be valuable. Later in FY03, such a joint laboratory workshop will be held. One of the outcomes of this workshop will be a new version of this certification paper. A comprehensive approach to certification must include specification of problem scope, development of system baseline models, formulation of standards of performance assessment, and effective procedures for peer review and documentation. This document concentrates on the assessment and peer review aspects of the problem. In addressing these points, a central role is played by a 'watch list' for weapons derived from credible failure modes and performance gate analyses. The watch list must reflect our best assessment of factors that are critical to weapons performance. High fidelity experiments and calculations as well as full exploitation of archival test data are essential to this process. Peer review, advisory groups and red teams play an important role in confirming the validity of the watch list. The framework for certification developed by the Laboratories has many basic features in common, but some significant differences in the detailed technical implementation of the overall methodology remain. Joint certification workshops held in June

Effect of internal controls on credit risk among listed Spanish banks

OpenAIRE

Akwaa-Sekyi, Ellis Kofi; Moreno Gené, Jordi

2016-01-01

Purpose: The paper examines the effectiveness of internal control systems, explores the exposure of Spanish banks to the dangers of default as a result of internal control systems and establishes a relationship between internal controls and credit risk. Design/Methodology/Approach: Quantitative research approach is used to test hypotheses on the relationship between internal controls and credit risk among listed banks in Spain. Data from Bankscope and company websites from 2004-2013 were used...

Database Description - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive [Life Science Database Archive metadata

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available List Contact us PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods ... QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods Alternative name - DOI 10.18908/lsdba.nbdc01194-01-000 Cr...ers and QTLs are curated manually from the published literature. The marker information includes marker sequences, genotyping methods... Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive ...

Restricting access to publications from funded research: ethical issues and solutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Manikandan, S; Vani, N Isai

2010-01-01

India is becoming one of the hubs of clinical research. Commensurate with these advances, the government funding for biomedical research in thrust areas is also increasing. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Science and Technology (DST) are some of the government organizations which provide financial support for various research projects. The results of the funded research projects are published in various international journals. Most of these journals have an access to paid subscribers only. Hence it is unethical to use the research grants from government (people's money) and not allow the scientific community free access to the results of the study. To tackle such issues, these agencies should sign the Berlin declaration and create open access repositories. A public access policy should be formulated and listed in JULIET. The funding bodies in India should also join Pubmed Central (PMC) to form PMC India so that every investigator who has received grants would submit the full text of the paper published from his study and these can be made freely accessible to everyone. Universities and research institutions should also develop institutional open access repositories. The public access policy has definitive advantages and should be implemented.

Restricting access to publications from funded research: Ethical issues and solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manikandan S

2010-01-01

Full Text Available India is becoming one of the hubs of clinical research. Commensurate with these advances, the government funding for biomedical research in thrust areas is also increasing. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR, Department of Biotechnology (DBT, Department of Science and Technology (DST are some of the government organizations which provide financial support for various research projects. The results of the funded research projects are published in various international journals. Most of these journals have an access to paid subscribers only. Hence it is unethical to use the research grants from government (people′s money and not allow the scientific community free access to the results of the study. To tackle such issues, these agencies should sign the Berlin declaration and create open access repositories. A public access policy should be formulated and listed in JULIET. The funding bodies in India should also join Pubmed Central (PMC to form PMC India so that every investigator who has received grants would submit the full text of the paper published from his study and these can be made freely accessible to everyone. Universities and research institutions should also develop institutional open access repositories. The public access policy has definitive advantages and should be implemented.

The timing of drug funding announcements relative to elections: a case study involving dementia medications.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sudeep S Gill

Full Text Available Following initial regulatory approval of prescription drugs, many factors may influence insurers and health systems when they decide whether to add these drugs to their formularies. The role of political pressures on drug funding announcements has received relatively little attention, and elections represent an especially powerful form of political pressure. We examined the temporal relationship between decisions to add one class of drugs to publicly funded formularies in Canada's ten provinces and elections in these jurisdictions.Dates of provincial formulary listings for cholinesterase inhibitors, which are drugs used to treat Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, were compared to the dates of provincial elections. Medical journal articles, media reports, and proceedings from provincial legislatures were reviewed to assemble information on the chronology of events. We tested whether there was a statistically significant increase in the probability of drug funding announcements within the 60-day intervals preceding provincial elections.Decisions to fund the cholinesterase inhibitors were made over a nine-year span from 1999 to 2007 in the ten provinces. In four of ten provinces, the drugs were added to formularies in a time period closely preceding a provincial election (P = 0.032; funding announcements in these provinces were made between 2 and 47 days prior to elections. Statements made in provincial legislatures highlight the key role of political pressures in these funding announcements.Impending elections appeared to affect the timing of drug funding announcements in this case study. Despite an established structure for evidence-based decision-making, drug funding remains a complex process open to influence from many sources. Awareness of such influences is critical to maintain effective drug policy and public health decision-making.

The timing of drug funding announcements relative to elections: a case study involving dementia medications.

Science.gov (United States)

Gill, Sudeep S; Gupta, Neeraj; Bell, Chaim M; Rochon, Paula A; Austin, Peter C; Laupacis, Andreas

2013-01-01

Following initial regulatory approval of prescription drugs, many factors may influence insurers and health systems when they decide whether to add these drugs to their formularies. The role of political pressures on drug funding announcements has received relatively little attention, and elections represent an especially powerful form of political pressure. We examined the temporal relationship between decisions to add one class of drugs to publicly funded formularies in Canada's ten provinces and elections in these jurisdictions. Dates of provincial formulary listings for cholinesterase inhibitors, which are drugs used to treat Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, were compared to the dates of provincial elections. Medical journal articles, media reports, and proceedings from provincial legislatures were reviewed to assemble information on the chronology of events. We tested whether there was a statistically significant increase in the probability of drug funding announcements within the 60-day intervals preceding provincial elections. Decisions to fund the cholinesterase inhibitors were made over a nine-year span from 1999 to 2007 in the ten provinces. In four of ten provinces, the drugs were added to formularies in a time period closely preceding a provincial election (P = 0.032); funding announcements in these provinces were made between 2 and 47 days prior to elections. Statements made in provincial legislatures highlight the key role of political pressures in these funding announcements. Impending elections appeared to affect the timing of drug funding announcements in this case study. Despite an established structure for evidence-based decision-making, drug funding remains a complex process open to influence from many sources. Awareness of such influences is critical to maintain effective drug policy and public health decision-making.

Danish mutual fund performance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Michael

2013-01-01

This article provides the first independent performance analysis of Danish mutual funds. We analyse selectivity and market timing abilities for 71 mutual funds that have been in operation from 2001 to 2010. The results show great fund performance diversity. Half the funds have performed neutrally......, whereas 42% of the funds have shown significantly negative performance and only 7% of the funds have over-performed their benchmark. Furthermore, 14% of the funds analysed possess market timing abilities, but for 8 out of 10 funds, their market timing ability has been unsuccessful....

Governance of pension funds: interlocking and compensation of Australian superannuation fund boards

OpenAIRE

Ooi, Elizabeth Meishan

2017-01-01

This thesis documents the incidence and determinants of board interlocking (where directors simultaneously sit on multiple boards) in pension funds and examines its effect on fund performance. It also investigates the determinants of pension fund director compensation. The motivation to examine these issues stems from the distinctive interlocking and compensation practices in pension funds. Data on a sample of 249 Australian pension funds from 2004 to 2011 is collected from fund documents ...

Return Persistence and Fund Flows in the Worst Performing Mutual Funds

OpenAIRE

Jonathan B. Berk; Ian Tonks

2007-01-01

We document that the observed persistence amongst the worst performing actively managed mutual funds is attributable to funds that have performed poorly both in the current and prior year. We demonstrate that this persistence results from an unwillingness of investors in these funds to respond to bad performance by withdrawing their capital. In contrast, funds that only performed poorly in the current year have a significantly larger (out)flow of funds/return sensitivity and consequently show...

The role of Dr. W. Kretkowski Fund in shaping the Kraków mathematical centre (in Polish

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danuta Ciesielska

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of the article is to present the role of the Dr. Władysław Kretkowski Fund in the development of mathematics in Kraków. Kretkowski graduated in mathematics from Sorbonne (1867 and he received his PhD from the Jagiellonian University (1882. He was a private docent at the Polytechnic and University of Lvov. Kretkowski donated his huge fortune to mathematicians in Kraków. From 1911 to 1920 the Kretkowski Fund sponsored very modern mathematical lectures and seminars at the Jagiellonian University. Kretkowski also donated his extensive library for the use of the mathematical seminar in Kraków. This paper lists the lectures financed from the Kretkowski Fund as well as the research fellows of the Fund (with the time and place of studies. This is followed by a presentation of the state of the Kretkowski Library, now the property of the Institute of Mathematics of the Jagiellonian University. The article provides also a brief biography of Władysław Kretkowski (1840–1910.

Plant DB link - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive [Life Science Database Archive metadata

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available List Contact us PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods ...e Site Policy | Contact Us Plant DB link - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive ...

34 CFR 674.17 - Federal interest in allocated funds-transfer of Fund.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Federal interest in that Fund: (1) A capital distribution of the liquid assets of the Fund according to... 34 Education 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Federal interest in allocated funds-transfer of Fund... Provisions § 674.17 Federal interest in allocated funds—transfer of Fund. (a) If an institution responsible...

From Knowledge to Firm Performance: An Empirical analysis of Intellectual Capital Impact in Polish and Dutch Listed Firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koen Verduijn

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Empirical results about the direct relation of knowledge leading to financial performance at a firm is dispersed. This study aims to examine the impact intellectual capital (IC has on firm performance in Polish and Dutch listed firms.Methodology: Quantitative data is collected based on audited annual reports from the top 20 companies listed at the Warsaw Stock Exchange and Amsterdam Stock Exchange between 2007 and 2011. IC is measured using the VAIC methodology with its individual elements of HCE, SCE, and CEE. Direct relations between ICE, HCE, and SCE and five measures of firm performance are statistically analysed.Results: The results suggest that there is a direct positive relationship between ICE and firm performance of Polish and Dutch listed firms, particularly with ROA, ROE, EP, and to a lesser extent with ATO. Firms listed in Poland provide a stronger positive ICE relation to ROA and ROE where firms listed in the Netherlands provide a stronger positive ICE relation to EP. Regarding individual elements, HCE relates highly positive to ROA, ROE, and EP where SCE finds only partial negative relation with ATO.Implications: Nurturing IC and in particular HC confirms the importance of firm knowledge and employees with right training and other support. Additionally, further clarification regarding SC is required.Originality: This paper presents the first study of the IC relationship with firm performance in Poland as well in the Netherlands. Additionally, the comparison between firms of both countries establishes a novelty in IC research.

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

As announced in the Bulletin during the summer, the Pension Fund has published a complete new version of the Fund's Rules and Regulations incorporating all amendments up to 1 November 2006, following the decisions of the CERN Council. This new version of the Rules and Regulations can be downloaded in A4 format (pdf document) directly from the Pension Fund's website (http://pensions.web.cern.ch/Pensions/statuts___rules.htm for the Rules and http://pensions.web.cern.ch/Pensions/règlements___regulations.htm for the Regulations) or obtained from the Fund Administration (Tel. 022 767 27 42, Building 5, 1-030, or by e-mail Sophia.Revol@cern.ch).

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2009-01-01

In line with the decisions taken by the Council in June and September 2007 concerning the new governance of the Pension Fund, amendments to Section 2 «Structure and Functions» of the Rules of the Fund entered into force on 1st January 2009 (Article I 2.08 – Composition of the Investment Committee and Article I 2.08bis – Chairman of the Investment Committee). Amendment n°27 may be downloaded (PDF document) directly from the Pension Fund website: http://pensions.web.cern.ch/Pensions/statuts___rules.htm or obtained from the Administration of the Fund (Tel. 022 767 2742, mailto:Barbara.Bordjah@cern.ch).

Deliverable 4.1 Homogeneous LCA methodology agreed by NEPTUNE and INNOWATECH

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Henrik Fred; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Wenzel, Henrik

2007-01-01

In order to do a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a waste water treatment technique, a system to handle the mapped inventory data and a life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) method/model is needed. Besides NEPTUNE, another EU-funded project has the same methodology need namely INNOWATECH (contract No....... 036882) running in parallel with NEPTUNE but focusing on industrial waste water. With the aim of facilitating cooperation between the two projects a common LCA methodology framework has been worked out and is described in the following. This methodology work has been done as a joint effort between...... NEPTUNE WP4 and INNOWATECH WP4 represented by the WP4 lead partner IVL. The aim of the co-operation is to establish common methodologies and/or LCA models and/or tools in order to achieve a homogenous approach in INNOWATECH and NEPTUNE. Further, the aim is to facilitate possibilities of data exchange...

ADVERTISING ON FACEBOOK: THE EFFECT ON FUND FLOWS OF FUND FAMILY

OpenAIRE

Kang, Jiaqi

2017-01-01

Using data for the top 100 US mutual fund families for the period between Jan 2009 to Jun 2016, this paper studies the relationship between mutual fund families’ advertising on Facebook and their fund flow. In particular, I examine whether advertising via social media helps mutual funds to attract new fund flow. I also include the number of followers to proxy for visibility and past returns to control for performance. In line with previous research, I find that large part of the variation in ...

Respiratory motion correction for PET oncology applications using affine transformation of list mode data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lamare, F; Cresson, T; Savean, J; Rest, C Cheze Le; Reader, A J; Visvikis, D

2007-01-01

Respiratory motion is a source of artefacts and reduced image quality in PET. Proposed methodology for correction of respiratory effects involves the use of gated frames, which are however of low signal-to-noise ratio. Therefore a method accounting for respiratory motion effects without affecting the statistical quality of the reconstructed images is necessary. We have implemented an affine transformation of list mode data for the correction of respiratory motion over the thorax. The study was performed using datasets of the NCAT phantom at different points throughout the respiratory cycle. List mode data based PET simulated frames were produced by combining the NCAT datasets with a Monte Carlo simulation. Transformation parameters accounting for respiratory motion were estimated according to an affine registration and were subsequently applied on the original list mode data. The corrected and uncorrected list mode datasets were subsequently reconstructed using the one-pass list mode EM (OPL-EM) algorithm. Comparison of corrected and uncorrected respiratory motion average frames suggests that an affine transformation in the list mode data prior to reconstruction can produce significant improvements in accounting for respiratory motion artefacts in the lungs and heart. However, the application of a common set of transformation parameters across the imaging field of view does not significantly correct the respiratory effects on organs such as the stomach, liver or spleen

Plea for stellarator funding raps tokamaks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blake, M.

1992-01-01

The funding crunch in magnetic confinement fusion development has moved the editor of a largely technical publication to speak out on a policy issue. James A. Rome, who edits Stellarator News from the Fusion Energy Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, wrote an editorial that appeared on the front page of the May 1992 issue. It was titled open-quotes The US Stellarator Program: A Time for Renewal,close quotes and while it focused chiefly on that subject (and lamented the lack of funding for the operation of the existing ATF stellarator at Oak Ridge), it also cited some of the problems inherent in the mainline MCF approach--the tokamak--and stated that if the money can be found for further tokamak design upgrades, it should also be found for stellarators. Rome wrote, open-quotes There is growing recognition in the US, and elsewhere, that the conventional tokamak does not extrapolate to a commercially competitive energy source except with very high field coils ( 1000 MWe).close quotes He pointed up open-quotes the difficulty of simultaneously satisfying conflicting tokamak requirements for efficient current drive, high bootstrap-current fraction, complete avoidance of disruptions, adequate beta limits, and edge-plasma properties compatible with improved (H-mode) confinement and acceptable erosion of divertor plates.close quotes He then called for support for the stellarator as open-quotes the only concept that has performance comparable to that achieved in tokamaks without the plasma-current-related limitations listed above.close quotes

Self-perception of ethical behaviour: the case of listed Spanish companies

OpenAIRE

García López, Maria José; Amat, Oriol; Rocafort, Alfredo

2016-01-01

Purpose: This article aims to research into the perception that companies have of their ethical behavior. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was conducted in June 2014 among the listed companies that comprise the IBEX35 index of Spanish stock exchanges. For the statistical analysis, contingency tables (double entry) were drawn up as well and several statistical tests (Cramer’s V, Pearson’s x2, Kendall’s correlation coefficient; and Goodman and Kruskal’s Gamma). Findings: The resul...

Study of possibility using LANL PSA-methodology for accident probability RBMK researches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrin, S.V.; Yuferev, V.Y.; Zlobin, A.M.

1995-01-01

The reactor facility probabilistic safety analysis methodologies are considered which are used at U.S. LANL and RF NIKIET. The methodologies are compared in order to reveal their similarity and differences, determine possibilities of using the LANL technique for RBMK type reactor safety analysis. It is found that at the PSA-1 level the methodologies practically do not differ. At LANL the PHA, HAZOP hazards analysis methods are used for more complete specification of the accounted initial event list which can be also useful at performance of PSA for RBMK. Exchange of information regarding the methodology of detection of dependent faults and consideration of human factor impact on reactor safety is reasonable. It is accepted as useful to make a comparative study result analysis for test problems or PSA fragments using various computer programs employed at NIKIET and LANL

Funding Science with Science: Cryptocurrency and Independent Academic Research Funding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward Lehner

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Scientific funding within the academy is an often complicated affair involving disparate and competing interests. Private universities, for instance, are vastly outpacing public institutions in garnering large, prestigious, science-related grants and external research investment. Inequities also extend to the types of research funded, with government, corporate, and even military interests privileging certain types of inquiry. This article proposes an innovative type of science research fund using cryptocurrencies, a fast-growing asset class. Although not a total funding solution, staking coins, specifically, can be strategically invested in to yield compound interest. These coins use masternode technologies to collateralize the network and speed transaction pace and may pay dividends to masternode holders, allowing institutions that purchase these types of central hubs to potentially engage in a lucrative form of dividend reinvestment. Using cryptocurrencies as a new funding stream may garner large amounts of capital and creation of nonprofit institutes to support the future of funding scientific research within educational institutions.

Programming list processes. SLIP: symmetric list processor - applications; Le traitement de listes en programmation. SLIP: langage de listes symetrique - applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Broudin, Y [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires de Saclay, 91 - Gif-sur-Yvette (France)

1966-06-01

Modern aspects of programming languages are essentially turned towards list processing. The ordinary methods of sequential treatment become inadequate and we must substitute list processes for them, where the cells of a group have no neighbourhood connection, but where the address of one cell is contained in the preceding one. These methods are required in 'time sharing' solving problems. They also allow us to treat new problems and to solve others in the shortest time. Many examples are presented after an abstract of the most usual list languages and a detailed study of one of them : SLIP. Among these examples one should note: locating of words in a dictionary or in a card index, treatment of non numerical symbols, formal derivation. The problems are treated in Fortran II on an IBM 7094 machine. The subroutines which make up the language are presented in an appendix. (author) [French] La programmation moderne ne se satisfait plus des methodes classiques de traitement sequentiel ni des tableaux a positions de memoire contigues. Elle tend a generaliser les methodes de listes ou les cellules d'un groupe n'ont pas de relation de voisinage, mais sont enchainees en listes, l'une donnant l'adresse machine de l'autre. Ces methodes sont indispensables en 'partage de temps' et dans les traitements en 'temps reel'. De plus, elles permettent de traiter des problemes nouveaux et d'optimiser le temps de traitement de nombreux autres. De nombreux exemples sont traites, apres un resume des langages les plus utilises et une etude plus precise d'un langage de listes: SLIP. Parmi les exemples traites signalons la recherche lexicographique, le traitement de symboles alphanumeriques, la derivation formelle. Probleme traite en Fortran II sur IBM 7094. Les sous-programmes constitutifs du langage sont fournis en annexe. (auteur)

25 CFR 170.925 - Is ERFO funding supplemental to IRR Program funding?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... RESERVATION ROADS PROGRAM Miscellaneous Provisions Emergency Relief § 170.925 Is ERFO funding supplemental to... construction and maintenance funds for FHWA-approved repairs. If IRR construction or maintenance funds are used... used to reimburse the construction or maintenance funds expended. ...

Retrofitting Listed Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Torben Valdbjørn

2011-01-01

The paper presents a case study where the energy demand for a listed building constructed in 1900 is reduced. Many older buildings are listed and have restrictions that include the entire building or that include only its exterior. For the building presented, only its exterior facade is listed. T...

Funding ATLAS 2012 key indicators for publicly funded research in Germany

CERN Document Server

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

2013-01-01

The Funding ATLAS is a reporting system (previously referred to as the Funding Ranking) employed by the German Research Foundation (DFG) to provide information in the form of indicators of key developments in publicly funded research in Germany every three years. This English version of the Funding ATLAS 2012 presents selected findings from the more comprehensive German edition. At the core of the report are indicators that provide information on which subject areas have received funding at higher education and other research institutions in the period 2008-2010. This report also includes, as a supplement not found in the German edition, the decisions on the Excellence Initiative, which were taken shortly after the German edition of the Funding ATLAS 2012 was published. The report also addresses the subject of internationality by presenting selected indicators that show how attractive Germany's research institutions are for visiting scientists. In summary, the DFG Funding ATLAS furnishes reliable indicators o...

Fund management plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-08-01

This revision of the Fund Management Plan updates the original plan published in May 1983. It is derived from and supplements the Mission Plan of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. A major purpose in preparing this Plan is to inform the public about management of the Nuclear Waste Fund and the Interim Storage Fund. The purpose of the Interim Storage Fund is to finance the provision of the Federal interim storage capacity of up to 1900 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel. The Nuclear Waste Fund is a separate account for all revenues and expenditures related to the geological disposal and monitored retrieval storage of civilian radioactive waste

The impact of National Institutes of Health funding on U.S. cardiovascular disease research.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radmila Lyubarova

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Intense interest surrounds the recent expansion of US National Institutes of Health (NIH budgets as part of economic stimulus legislation. However, the relationship between NIH funding and cardiovascular disease research is poorly understood, making the likely impact of this policy change unclear. METHODS: The National Library of Medicine's PubMed database was searched for articles published from 1996 to 2006, originating from U.S. institutions, and containing the phrases "cardiolog," "cardiovascular," or "cardiac," in the first author's department. Research methodology, journal of publication, journal impact factor, and receipt of NIH funding were recorded. Differences in means and trends were tested with t-tests and linear regression, respectively, with P < or = 0.05 for significance. RESULTS: Of 117,643 world cardiovascular articles, 36,684 (31.2% originated from the U.S., of which 10,293 (28.1% received NIH funding. The NIH funded 40.1% of U.S. basic science articles, 20.3% of overall clinical trials, 18.1% of randomized-controlled, and 12.2% of multicenter clinical trials. NIH-funded and total articles grew significantly (65 articles/year, P < 0.001 and 218 articles/year, P < 0.001, respectively. The proportion of articles receiving NIH funding was stable, but grew significantly for basic science and clinical trials (0.87%/year, P < 0.001 and 0.67%/year, P = 0.029, respectively. NIH-funded articles had greater journal impact factors than non NIH-funded articles (5.76 vs. 3.71, P < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: NIH influence on U.S. cardiovascular research expanded in the past decade, during the period of NIH budget doubling. A substantial fraction of research is now directly funded and thus likely sensitive to budget fluctuations, particularly in basic science research. NIH funding predicts greater journal impact.

Update History of This Database - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive [Life Science Database Archive metadata

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available List Contact us PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods ...B link & Genome analysis methods English archive site is opened. 2012/08/08 PGDBj... Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods is opened. About This...ate History of This Database - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive ...

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2008-01-01

The PFGB held two meetings over the summer, the first on 9 June and the second on 1st September. The agendas of the two meetings had several items in common, including progress reports on the work of the four working groups. Group 1, which is responsible for the revision of Chapter I, Section 2 of the Rules of the Fund, has made good progress but will need more time to complete its terms of reference in view of the number and complexity of the articles to be amended. In parallel, the Group has approved a code of conduct for the Pension Fund, which is based, in particular, on the new charter introduced for Swiss pension funds by the Swiss Association of Provident Institutions (ASIP) and the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) code of ethics applicable to members of pension fund bodies. The PFGB took note that the Group had also been working on the rules relating to the status of the personnel of the Fund and the composition of the Investment Committee. The work of Group 2, resp...

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

All members and beneficiaries of the Pension Fund are invited to attend the Annual General Asssembly to be held in the CERN Auditorium on Wednesday 8 October 2003 at 14.30 hrs The Agenda comprises: 1. Opening RemarksJ. Bezemer 2. Annual Report 2002: Presentation and results Copies of the Report are available from divisional secretariats. C. Cuénoud 3. Overview of the present situation with regard to pension funds C. Cuénoud 4. Performance of the Fund since the year 2000 and aspects of the ongoing asset/liability modelling exercise G. Maurin 5. Questions from members and beneficiariesPersons wishing to ask questions are encouraged to submit them, where possible, in writing in advance, addressed to Mr C. Cuénoud, Administrator of the Fund. 6. Conclusions J. Bezemer As usual, participants are invited to drinks after the assembly. NB The minutes of the 2002 General Assembly are available from the Administration of the Fund tel.(+4122)767 27 42; e-mail Sophia.Revol@cern.ch)

Career listings.

Science.gov (United States)

1994-01-12

Nursing Standard regrets that it is no longer able to take listings over the telephone because of unprecedented demand. Readers are reminded that the listings section is for the use of charitable and professional organisations, unions and health authorities to publicise forthcoming events.

Obtaining large-scale funding for empowerment-oriented qualitative research: a report from personal experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Padgett, Deborah K; Henwood, Benjamin F

2009-06-01

Obtaining funding for qualitative research remains a challenge despite greater openness to methodological pluralism. Such hurdles are presumably compounded when the proposed study employs empowerment theory, rendering it susceptible to charges of elevating ideology over rigor. This article draws on the authors' experience in securing large-scale funding for an empowerment-oriented qualitative study of homeless mentally ill adults. Lessons learned include the importance of weaving empowerment theory into the proposal's "argument," and infusing empowerment values into study protocols while simultaneously paying close attention to rigorous and transparent methods. Additional benefits accrue from having prior relationships with study sites and being willing to revise and resubmit proposals whenever possible. Though representing a fraction of all externally funded projects in the United States, qualitative research has tremendous untapped potential for success in this competitive arena-success that need not entail surrendering a commitment to empowerment values.

Shifting investments strategy from equity funds to money market funds – the case of Romanian open - end fund market during the financial crisis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radu, I.

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Mutual funds are one of the key suppliers of liquidity in Romanian capital market. This paper uses quarterly data on Romanian open-end funds starting with 2006 until 2010. We find that significant negative flows (outflows were registered beginning with the end of 2007 (equity funds, during 2008 (equity funds, balanced funds, other funds and bond funds in the last 2 quarters of the year and from 2009 to 2010 (in the case of money market funds. There is evidence that the changing market conditions attract differently the incoming flows in these mutual funds. This is the reason why such perturbations affect investors’ confidence for these investment vehicles and impose the reorientation of the investment funds and of their investors to other alternatives in order to preserve their capital.

Pension funds' herding

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Broeders, D.; Chen, D.; Minderhoud, P.; Schudel, W.

2016-01-01

This paper uses unique and detailed transaction data to analyse herding behavior among pension funds. We distinguish between weak, semi strong and strong herding behaviour. Weak herding occurs if pension funds have similar rebalancing strategies. Semi strong herding arises when pension funds react

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2007-01-01

The Rules and Regulations of the Pension Fund have been updated, following Council's decision of December 2006 concerning the adjustment of pensions, fixed amounts and allowances by 1.16% with effect from 1.1.2007 (Annex B, page 31). The updated version can be downloaded directly from the Pension Fund's website (http://pensions.web.cern.ch/Pensions/statuts___rules.htm or obtained from the Fund Administration (Tel. 022 767 27 42, Building 5, 1-030, or by e-mail Sophia.Revol@cern.ch).

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2007-01-01

The Rules and Regulations of the Pension Fund have been updated, following Council's decision of December 2006 concerning the adjustment of pensions, fixed amounts and allowances by 1.16% with effect from 1.1.2007 (Annex B, page 31). The updated version can be downloaded directly from the Pension Fund's website (http://pensions.web.cern.ch/Pensions/statuts___rules.htm) or obtained from the Fund Administration (Tel. 022 767 27 42, Building 5, 1-030), or by e-mail (Sophia.Revol@cern.ch).

Retail Shopping Lists

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Marcus

2012-01-01

categories. An association between the frequency of a brand's appearance on lists and the amount of money spent on advertising the brand could not be found. A strong link between brands, prices and store names is revealed. Price in the majority of cases refers to brands rather than to product categories......The paper addresses consumers' shopping lists. The current study is based on a survey of 871 lists collected at retail grocery stores. Most items on shopping lists appear on the product category level rather than the brand level. The importance of the brand level varies considerably across product...

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

2005-01-01

Amendment No 21 to the Rules and Regulations of the Pension Fund has just been published and can be obtained from Department/Unit secretariats or, in the case of pensioners, directly from the Administration of the Fund (tel. 767-91 94/27 38), bldg 5, 1-030. This Amendment, which entered into force on 17.03.2005, concerns Article I 2.05 (Composition of the Governing Board) and Article I 2.06 (Chairman and Vice-Chairmen of the Governing Board) of the Rules of the Pension Fund.

Net Stable Funding Ratio: Impact on Funding Value Adjustment

OpenAIRE

Siadat, Medya; Hammarlid, Ola

2017-01-01

In this paper we investigate the relationship between Funding Value Adjustment (FVA) and Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR). FVA is defined in a consistent way with NSFR such that the new framework of FVA monitors the costs due to keeping NSFR at an acceptable level, as well. In addition, the problem of choosing the optimal funding strategy is formulated as a shortest path problem where the proposed FVA framework is applied in the optimization process. The solution provides us with the optimal f...

Natural resource trust funds : a comparison of Alberta and Alaska resource funds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Warrack, A.A.; Keddie, R.R. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada)

2002-09-01

Alberta and Alaska both have an economy based largely on natural resources. The cyclical nature of their economies poses a challenge to stability and sustained prosperity. During the oil crisis of 1973-1974, Alberta and Alaska began receiving oil and gas royalties. The idea of an endowment-type fund began taking shape. This fund would assist in the gradual transition from dependence on non-renewable resources to the responsible management of these resources. Both the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund and the Alaska Permanent Fund were created in 1976. The governments of both jurisdictions set aside revenues from natural resource royalties to provide economic stability. Both jurisdictions followed different policies in terms of management, structure, governance, and objectives. In this paper, the authors compared both funds, examining the policy options which had an impact on their growth and successes. The results showed that in Alaska, monies are paid directly to eligible persons, while allocation decisions in Alberta have been made by the government. The government manages the fund in Alberta, while in Alaska, the fund is managed by a separate entity. The Alaskan fund continues to grow, while the the size of the Alberta fund has remained unchanged for a number of years and is not growing. 21 refs., 5 figs.

Equilibrium between resources and expenditure of health sector of Social Security Fund: a case study of Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azadeh Ahmadi Dashtian

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In Iran, Social Security is the most important institution of social insurance fund, currently insuring more than a half of country population, and it has a significant role in fulfilling short-term and long-term commitments. Therefore investigation of the balance of resources and expenditure of health sector of the fund can be a scientific process of the funding the future and can pave the way to provide necessary revisions in this sector. Analyzing equilibrium between resources and expenditure of health sector of Social Security Fund in the past years, the present study offers recommendations for improving it in terms of parametric and structural dimensions. The methodology includes documentary library methods and statistical part is descriptive using Excel. Findings indicated that, regarding the present lack of balance of resources and expenditure of health sector, keeping on with the present conditions can lead to many crises. As a result, to escape from the present conditions of the funds where lack of balance of resources and expenditure exists, carrying out parametric and management-structural revisions seems necessary.

Economic evaluations of occupational health interventions from a corporate perspective - A systematic review of methodological quality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Uegaki, K.; Bruijne, M.C. de; Lambeek, L.; Anema, J.R.; Beek, A.J. van der; Mechelen, W. van; Tulder, M.W. van

2010-01-01

Objective: Using a standardized quality criteria list, we appraised the methodological quality of economic evaluations of occupational safety and health (OSH) interventions conducted from a corporate perspective. Methods: The primary literature search was conducted in Medline and Embase.

Destination brands and website evaluation: a research methodology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J Fernández-Cavia

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction:The World Wide Web has become the primary instrument used by tourists in order to search for information. As a result, tourism websites pertaining to destinations need to be appealing and must convey their brand image in an appropriate, effective manner. However, there is no methodology in place to assess the quality and communicative effectiveness of destination websites that is scientifically sound and universally accepted. The development of such a methodology is one of the tasks we have proposed within the framework of the research project: “New strategies for advertising and promoting Spanish tourism brands online” (CSO2008-02627, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Method: The project team have developed an interdisciplinary, all-embracing analysis template combining certain automated analyses with other qualitative and quantitative ones. The template comprises a total of 12 subject areas and 154 indicators prepared on the basis of contributions from prominent experts in each of the fields of work. This article sets out the analysis methodology drawn up and possible applications are given. Results: The primary aim of the project is to provide an assessment methodology that would make it possible to optimise destination brand websites, thus providing a tool to support the work of public tourism destination managers.

Culture, Materiality, Memory: Collective Ownership and Action In Romanian Mutual Funds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Narcis TULBURE

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the tensions between collectivist and corporatist forms of ownership for Romanian mutual funds. Drawing on my research among retail investors of funds that ended up in bankruptcy throughout the postsocialist period, I document the material practices and graphic artefacts they deploy in litigation as ways to make claims and produce evidence regarding their ongoing financial involvement and the rights to compensations. I focus specifically on the files documenting their personal histories (providing moral reasons for pursuing “speculative” investments as well as those materializing the memory of their involvement with the capital market. I conclude that material practices are constitutive of vernacular forms of financial and legal knowledge. Furthermore, they engender specific types of property that serve as premises for the defense of investor rights and as grounds for emerging forms of collective action. Methodologically, the conclusion of the paper is that qualitative methods constitute alternative approaches and a valuable complement of quantitate research methods for the behaviors of mutual fund investors illustrating some of the cultural components giving specific dynamics to the popular participation to the capital market that can be subsequently quantified.

Hanford Site performance summary: EM funded programs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edwards, C.

1995-09-01

Hanford performance at fiscal year end reflects a three percent unfavorable schedule variance ($46.3 million*) which was an improvement over August 1995 ($46.3 million for September versus $65.9 million for August) and is below established reporting thresholds (greater than 3 percent). The majority of the behind schedule condition (53 percent) is attributed to EM-40 (Office of Environmental Restoration [ER]) and is a result of late receipt of funds, procurement delays, and US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) work planned but not accomplished. Other primary contributors to the behind schedule condition are associated with tank farm upgrades, high-level waste disposal and work for others (support to the US Department of Energy-Headquarters [DOE-HQ]). The remaining behind schedule condition is distributed throughout the remaining Hanford programs and do not share common causes. A breakdown of individuals listed on page 8

Predictive power of Brazilian equity fund performance using R2 as a measure of selectivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelo dos Santos Guzella

2017-03-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT This paper aimed to investigate the impact of levels of selectivity on the performance of equity funds using a methodology applied for the first time ever (as far as we know in the Brazilian market. As an indicator of the activity level of a fund, we proposed the coefficient of determination (R2 of the regression of its returns over market returns. In total, 867 funds were analyzed in the period between November 2004 and October 2014. The hypothesis tested is that more selective funds perform better to compensate for their higher operating costs. This hypothesis was confirmed in the Brazilian market. Dynamic equally-weighted portfolios of funds were simulated, according to their past R2 and alphas, with monthly rebalancing and 12-month moving windows. The portfolio of the most selective funds had a Sharpe ratio of 0.0494, on a monthly basis, while the portfolio of the least selective funds had a Sharpe ratio of -0.0314. Performance was also higher in evaluations involving excess returns, Jensen’s alpha, and accumulated returns, as well as when compared to randomly selected portfolios. Moreover, past performance (as measured by Jensen’s alpha was also a predictor of future performance. Particularly, the portfolio composed by funds with a higher past alpha and lower past R2 presented a Sharpe ratio of 0.1483 and a Jensen’s alpha of 0.87% (significant at 1%, while the one composed of funds with a lower past alpha and lower activity level presented a Sharpe ratio of -0.0673 and an alpha of -0.32% (also significant at 1%.

Funding Systems for Higher Education and Their Impacts on Institutional Strategies and Academia: A Comparative Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Frolich, Nicoline; Kalpazidou Schmidt, Evanthia; Rosa, Maria J.

2010-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss how funding systems influence higher education institutions and their strategies and core tasks. Design/methodology/approach: Taking the results of a comparative study between Denmark, Norway and Portugal as a point of departure, the paper identifies and analyses the main features of these state…

Do firm characteristics influence mutual fund performance? An empirical study for European mutual funds

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, F.C.J.M.; Wingens, L.

2013-01-01

This study investigates the influence of fund management firm characteristics on mutual fund performance. Using a sample of European domiciled open-end equity funds for the period 1998-2008, this study finds that the funds of private companies have performed better than the funds of public

A methodology for enhancing implementation science proposals: comparison of face-to-face versus virtual workshops.

Science.gov (United States)

Marriott, Brigid R; Rodriguez, Allison L; Landes, Sara J; Lewis, Cara C; Comtois, Katherine A

2016-05-06

With the current funding climate and need for advancements in implementation science, there is a growing demand for grantsmanship workshops to increase the quality and rigor of proposals. A group-based implementation science-focused grantsmanship workshop, the Implementation Development Workshop (IDW), is one methodology to address this need. This manuscript provides an overview of the IDW structure, format, and findings regarding its utility. The IDW methodology allows researchers to vet projects in the proposal stage in a structured format with a facilitator and two types of expert participants: presenters and attendees. The presenter uses a one-page handout and verbal presentation to present their proposal and questions. The facilitator elicits feedback from attendees using a format designed to maximize the number of unique points made. After each IDW, participants completed an anonymous survey assessing perceptions of the IDW. Presenters completed a funding survey measuring grant submission and funding success. Qualitative interviews were conducted with a subset of participants who participated in both delivery formats. Mixed method analyses were performed to evaluate the effectiveness and acceptability of the IDW and compare the delivery formats. Of those who participated in an IDW (N = 72), 40 participated in face-to-face only, 16 in virtual only, and 16 in both formats. Thirty-eight (face-to-face n = 12, 35 % response rate; virtual n = 26, 66.7 % response rate) responded to the surveys and seven (15.3 % response rate), who had attended both formats, completed an interview. Of 36 total presenters, 17 (face-to-face n = 12, 42.9 % response rate; virtual n = 5, 62.9 % response rate) responded to the funding survey. Mixed method analyses indicated that the IDW was effective for collaboration and growth, effective for enhancing success in obtaining grants, and acceptable. A third (35.3 %) of presenters ultimately received funding for their proposal, and more than

Assessing the Impact of the Funding Environment on Researchers' Risk Aversion: The Use of Citation Statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Zoller, Frank A.; Zimmerling, Eric; Boutellier, Roman

2014-01-01

The funding environment has a profound impact on researchers' behavior. In particular, it influences their freedom and readiness to conduct research ventures with highly uncertain outcomes. In this conceptual paper, we propose a concise new methodology to evaluate researchers' risk aversion based on citation statistics. The derived…

PENSION FUND - ELECTIONS

CERN Multimedia

2000-01-01

This candidature has been duly registered and is hereby presented in accordance with paragraph 6.h of the Regulations for Elections to the Governing Board of the Pension Fund.   Candidate: Name: RANJARD First Name: Florence Having been a member of the Governing Board of the Pension Fund since 1983 as Guy Maurin’s alternate, I am standing for a further 3-year term of office. Over the past few years work has concentrated essentially on following items: Monitoring of the work of the fund managers and their performances. The three-yearly study of the Fund’s actuarial situation. The pension guarantees ­ second phase. The Fund is approaching its maturity: the level of benefits exceeds contributions. In this context it has to strike a suitable balance between management of the risk from a dynamic investment policy, while by a prudent policy avoiding any significant loss of its capital. These will be my concerns within the Governing Board of the Pension Fund if you give me your support.

Funding innovation

CERN Multimedia

Marina Giampietro

2012-01-01

For the first time, six knowledge and technology transfer activities are set to benefit from a dedicated fund made available by the Knowledge Transfer group. This initiative cements CERN’s commitment to sharing its technological knowledge and expertise with society.   GEM detectors for flame detection and early earthquake prediction, radio-frequency absorbers for energy recovery, and exotic radioisotopes for medical applications are among the projects funded by the recently introduced KT Fund. “CERN’s scientific programme generates a considerable amount of intellectual property, a natural driver for innovation,” explains Giovanni Anelli, Head of the Knowledge Transfer Group. “Very often, though, financial support is needed to bring the newly-born technologies a step further and make them ready for transfer to other research institutes or to companies.” This is where the KT fund comes into play. It provides vital support in the early sta...

Assessment methodology applicable to safe decommissioning of Romanian VVR-S research reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baniu, O.; Vladescu, G.; Vidican, D.; Penescu, M.

2002-01-01

The paper contains the results of research activity performed by CITON specialists regarding the assessment methodology intended to be applied to safe decommissioning of the research reactors, developed taking into account specific conditions of the Romanian VVR-S Research Reactor. The Romanian VVR-S Research Reactor is an old reactor (1957) and its Decommissioning Plan is under study. The main topics of paper are as follows: Safety approach of nuclear facilities decommissioning. Applicable safety principles; Main steps of the proposed assessment methodology; Generic content of Decommissioning Plan. Main decommissioning activities. Discussion about the proposed Decommissioning Plan for Romanian Research Reactor; Safety risks which may occur during decommissioning activities. Normal decommissioning operations. Fault conditions. Internal and external hazards; Typical development of a scenario. Features, Events and Processes List. Exposure pathways. Calculation methodology. (author)

FINANCING POLICIES OF CROATIAN PUBLICLY LISTED FIRMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihaela Grubisic Seba

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Croatia is a typical bank-based transition economy whose capital market has been primarily used for secondary trading purposes since its re-establishment in 1990s. Except for a couple of exceptions, public offers of shares and corporate bonds have been rather rate. Private offerings of shares and short-term debt have been more frequent. However, due to secondary debt market illiquidity, the debt issues are signed up and either held until maturity or renewal, or they are traded exclusively between the institutional investors.This paper provides evidence from the field on financing preferences of Croatian public companies regarding seasoned equity and corporate debt issuance. It questiones why public offerings of corporate securities in non-financial sector after initial, mostly mandatory shares’ listing have been rare and whether making decisions on securities’ offers depend on other financial instruments’ sufficiency, costs of issunace or previous experience of companies in collecting funds in the capital market.

Financial Crisis: A New Measure for Risk of Pension Fund Portfolios.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marinella Cadoni

Full Text Available It has been argued that pension funds should have limitations on their asset allocation, based on the risk profile of the different financial instruments available on the financial markets. This issue proves to be highly relevant at times of market crisis, when a regulation establishing limits to risk taking for pension funds could prevent defaults. In this paper we present a framework for evaluating the risk level of a single financial instrument or a portfolio. By assuming that the log asset returns can be described by a multifractional Brownian motion, we evaluate the risk using the time dependent Hurst parameter H(t which models volatility. To provide a measure of the risk, we model the Hurst parameter with a random variable with mixture of beta distribution. We prove the efficacy of the methodology by implementing it on different risk level financial instruments and portfolios.

Financial Crisis: A New Measure for Risk of Pension Fund Portfolios.

Science.gov (United States)

Cadoni, Marinella; Melis, Roberta; Trudda, Alessandro

2015-01-01

It has been argued that pension funds should have limitations on their asset allocation, based on the risk profile of the different financial instruments available on the financial markets. This issue proves to be highly relevant at times of market crisis, when a regulation establishing limits to risk taking for pension funds could prevent defaults. In this paper we present a framework for evaluating the risk level of a single financial instrument or a portfolio. By assuming that the log asset returns can be described by a multifractional Brownian motion, we evaluate the risk using the time dependent Hurst parameter H(t) which models volatility. To provide a measure of the risk, we model the Hurst parameter with a random variable with mixture of beta distribution. We prove the efficacy of the methodology by implementing it on different risk level financial instruments and portfolios.

Methodology for ranking restoration options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hedemann Jensen, Per

1999-04-01

The work described in this report has been performed as a part of the RESTRAT Project FI4P-CT95-0021a (PL 950128) co-funded by the Nuclear Fission Safety Programme of the European Commission. The RESTRAT project has the overall objective of developing generic methodologies for ranking restoration techniques as a function of contamination and site characteristics. The project includes analyses of existing remediation methodologies and contaminated sites, and is structured in the following steps: characterisation of relevant contaminated sites; identification and characterisation of relevant restoration techniques; assessment of the radiological impact; development and application of a selection methodology for restoration options; formulation of generic conclusions and development of a manual. The project is intended to apply to situations in which sites with nuclear installations have been contaminated with radioactive materials as a result of the operation of these installations. The areas considered for remedial measures include contaminated land areas, rivers and sediments in rivers, lakes, and sea areas. Five contaminated European sites have been studied. Various remedial measures have been envisaged with respect to the optimisation of the protection of the populations being exposed to the radionuclides at the sites. Cost-benefit analysis and multi-attribute utility analysis have been applied for optimisation. Health, economic and social attributes have been included and weighting factors for the different attributes have been determined by the use of scaling constants. (au)

Pension funds investments in hedge funds-a necessary regulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Gaftoniuc

2010-12-01

Full Text Available When it comes to investment strategies, generally, pension funds have proved to be conservative investors with a long term approach on investments and constant preoccupation for asset diversification as well as tendencies to secure their portfolios through investments in established financial products. Nevertheless, within this constant preoccupation for portfolio diversification as well as gain of notable profits, private pension funds have invested to a certain degree also in less cautious products respectively have conducted less stable investments. The financial turbulences that hit the US towards the end of 2007 and spread globally to become one of the most severe financial crisis witnessed, haven’t left pension funds immune to this phenomenon. Although, as previously stated, the special feature of pension funds is based on long term investments, which confers a certain degree of natural protection, there can not be the talk of absolute immunity either.

The Impact of Hedge Fund Activism on Target Firm Performance, Executive Compensation and Executive Wealth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Carrothers

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the relationship between hedge fund activism and target firm performance, executive compensation, and executive wealth. It introduces a theoretical framework that describes the activism process as a sequence of discrete decisions. The methodology uses regression analysis on a matched sample based on firm size, industry, and market-to-book ratio. All regressions control for industry and year fixed effects. Schedule 13D Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC filings are the source for the statistical sample of hedge fund target firms. I supplement that data with target firm financial, operating, and share price information from the CRSP-COMPUSTAT merged database. Activist hedge funds target undervalued or underperforming firms with high profitability and cash flows. They do not avoid firms with powerful CEOs. Leverage, executive compensation, pay for performance and CEO turnover increase at target firms after the arrival of the activist hedge fund. Target firm executives’ wealth is more sensitive to changes in share price after hedge fund activism events suggesting that the executive team experiences changes to their compensation structure that provides incentive to take action to improve returns to shareholders. The top executives reap rewards for increasing firm value but not for increased risk taking.

Risk management methodology for RBMN project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borssatto, Maria F.B.; Tello, Cledola C.O.; Uemura, George

2013-01-01

RBMN Project has been developed to design, construct and commission a national repository to dispose the low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes from the operation of nuclear power plants and other industries that use radioactive sources and materials. Risk is a characteristic of all projects. The risks arise from uncertainties due to assumptions associated with the project and the environment in which it is executed. Risk management is the method by which these uncertainties are systematically monitored to ensure that the objectives of the project will be achieved. Considering the peculiarities of the Project, that is, comprehensive scope, multidisciplinary team, apparently polemic due to the unknowing of the subject by the stake holders, especially the community, it is being developed a specific methodology for risk management of this Project. This methodology will be critical for future generations who will be responsible for the final stages of the repository. It will provide greater guarantee to the processes already implemented and will maintain a specific list of risks and solutions for this Project, ensuring safety and security of the repository throughout its life cycle that is the planned to last at least three hundred years. This paper presents the tools and processes already defined, management actions aimed at developing a culture of proactive risk in order to minimize threats to this Project and promote actions that bring opportunities to its success. The methodology is based on solid research on the subject, considering methodologies already established and globally recognized as best practices for project management. (author)

Review of PRA methodology for LMFBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, J. E.

1999-02-01

Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) has been widely used as a tool to evaluate the safety of NPPs (Nuclear Power Plants), which are in the design stage as well as in operation. Recently, PRA becomes one of the licensing requirements for many existing and new NPPs. KALIMER is a Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) being developed by KAERI. Since the design concept of KALIMER is similar to that of the PRISM plant developed by GE, it would be appropriate to review the PRA methodology of PRISM as the first step of KALIMER PRA. Hence, in this report summarizes the PRA methodology of PRISM plant, and the required works for the PSA of KALIMER based on the reviewed results. The PRA technology of PRISM plant consists of following five major tasks: (1) development of initiating event list, (2) development of system event tree, (3) development of core response event tree, (4) development of containment response event tree, and (5) consequences and risk estimation. The estimated individual and societal risk measures show that the risk from a PRISM module is substantially less than the NRC goal. Each task is compared to the PRA methodology of Light Water Reactor (LWR)/Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR). In the report, each task of PRISM PRA methodology is reviewed and compared to the corresponding part of LWR/PHWR PSA performed in Korea. The parts that are not modeled appropriately in PRISM PRA are identified, and the recommendations for KALIMER PRA are stated. (author). 14 refs., 9 tabs., 4 figs

Adaptation to hydrological extremes through insurance: a financial fund simulation model under changing scenarios

Science.gov (United States)

Guzman, Diego; Mohor, Guilherme; Câmara, Clarissa; Mendiondo, Eduardo

2017-04-01

Researches from around the world relate global environmental changes with the increase of vulnerability to extreme events, such as heavy and scarce precipitations - floods and droughts. Hydrological disasters have caused increasing losses in recent years. Thus, risk transfer mechanisms, such as insurance, are being implemented to mitigate impacts, finance the recovery of the affected population, and promote the reduction of hydrological risks. However, among the main problems in implementing these strategies, there are: First, the partial knowledge of natural and anthropogenic climate change in terms of intensity and frequency; Second, the efficient risk reduction policies require accurate risk assessment, with careful consideration of costs; Third, the uncertainty associated with numerical models and input data used. The objective of this document is to introduce and discuss the feasibility of the application of Hydrological Risk Transfer Models (HRTMs) as a strategy of adaptation to global climate change. The article shows the development of a methodology for the collective and multi-sectoral vulnerability management, facing the hydrological risk in the long term, under an insurance funds simulator. The methodology estimates the optimized premium as a function of willingness to pay (WTP) and the potential direct loss derived from hydrological risk. The proposed methodology structures the watershed insurance scheme in three analysis modules. First, the hazard module, which characterizes the hydrologic threat from the recorded series input or modelled series under IPCC / RCM's generated scenarios. Second, the vulnerability module calculates the potential economic loss for each sector1 evaluated as a function of the return period "TR". Finally, the finance module determines the value of the optimal aggregate premium by evaluating equiprobable scenarios of water vulnerability; taking into account variables such as the maximum limit of coverage, deductible

INVESTMENT FUNDS IN ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

COPIL CRINA ANGELA

2013-07-01

Full Text Available I chose this topic because my goal was to capture in detail all aspects of the evolution of investment funds under the influence of factors leading to globalization of the banking financial market. Main motivation was that I proposed to present in an original manner the concept of investment in mutual funds by the thoroughness of the following points: the different types of investment funds from Romania, the advantages, the risks and the specific costs of the investment in mutual funds and the effects of the financial crisis on the industry of the investment funds on the national level. The financial crisis and the risk of infecting the global economy affected the taste of risk of the investors and their request for the investment fund, determining the orientation of the investors to the funds with a lower risk – the diversified funds, the funds of bonds and the monetary funds. I considered important the theoretical approach of the concept of investments in investment funds because they are a barometer of the macro economical stability, in case the economical increase is positive on the macro economical level the investments in investments funds are increasing too. In Romania the market of the mutual funds is at an incipient level, but with potential and perspectives of development. Due to the bankruptcy of FNI in the beginning of the years 2000 and due to the absence of a clear legislation regarding the calculation of the unitary value of the net asset and the control of the activity developed by the investment funds, the development of the industry of the investment funds had to fight against the crisis of credibility generated by these events. The convergence of the Romanian economy to the European standards will attract also a modification of the structure of the financial investments of the individuals, by an increase of the investments in funds. In the world the investment funds are preferred by the investors for their advantages

Modeling of budgetary funding influence on socio-demographic processes of a region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksandra Vladimirovna Vasil'eva

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a method of modeling socio-demographic processes in a region based on the minimax approach. In this method, the simulated socio-demographic processes reflect the performance of a population fertility age model, reproductive systems and the structure of mortality, as management impact tools of fiscal spending on socially significant budget items (health, physical culture and sport, social policy, education, environmental protection are considered. Testing methodology on the examples of the Russian Federation subjects included in the Ural Federal District is presented. Peculiarities of influence of funding of each socially important item on the social and demographic processes in the regions of the Ural Federal District are shown. Priorities of distribution of funds based on the level of budgetary provision in the region to ensure optimization of socio-demographic development of the region are shaped.

Are fund of hedge fund returns asymmetric?

OpenAIRE

Lynch, Margaret; Hutson, Elaine; Stevenson, Max

2004-01-01

We examine the return distributions of 332 funds of hedge funds and associated indices. Over half of the sample is significantly skewed according to the skewness statistic, and these are split 50/50 positive and negative. However, we argue that the skewness statistic can lead to erroneous inferences regarding the nature of the return distribution, because the test statistic is based on the normal distribution. Using a series of tests that make minimal assumptions about the shape of the ...

The influences on women who choose publicly-funded home birth in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Catling, Christine; Dahlen, Hannah; Homer, Caroline S E

2014-07-01

to explore the influences on women who chose a publicly-funded home birth in one Australian state. a constructivist grounded theory methodology was used. a publicly-funded home birth service located within a tertiary referral hospital in the southern suburbs of Sydney, Australia. data were collected though semi-structured interviews of 17 women who chose to have a publicly-funded home birth. six main categories emerged from the data. These were feeling independent, strong and confident, doing it my way, protection from hospital related activities, having a safety net, selective listening and telling, and engaging support. The core category was having faith in normal. This linked all the categories and was an overriding attitude towards themselves as women and the process of childbirth. The basic social process was validating the decision to have a home birth. women reported similar influences to other studies when choosing home birth. However, the women in this study were reassured by the publicly-funded system׳s 'safety net' and apparent seamless links with the hospital system. The flexibility of the service to permit women to change their minds to give birth in hospital, and essentially choose their birthplace at any time during pregnancy or labour was also appreciated. women that choose a publicly-funded home birth service describe strong influences that led them to home birth within this model of care. Service managers and health professionals need to acknowledge the importance of place of birth choice for women. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gas tax fund and public transit fund outcomes report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

Federal gas tax and public transit agreements were signed in 2005 by the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and the City of Toronto in order to address long-term community sustainability and invest in municipal infrastructure. The agreement committed to providing $1.9 billion to Ontario municipalities over a 5-year period. An additional $2.4 billion has been provided for a further 4-year period from 2010 to 2014. The funds are used by communities to invest in capacity building or environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure projects. This report identified the intermediate and ultimate outcomes of the federal gas tax fund and public transit fund as of December 2008. Outcomes were presented in the categories of community energy systems, public transit, water and wastewater, solid waste, and roads and bridges. Funding highlights and economic spin-offs for the projects were also presented, as well as summaries of ancillary social outcomes. 6 tabs., 4 figs.

A case on vendor selection methodology: An integrated approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikhil C. Shil

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Vendor selection methodology is a highly researched area in supply chain management l terature and a very significant decision taken by supply chain managers due to technological advances in the manufacturing process. Such research has two basic dimensions: one is related to the identification of variables affecting the performance of the vendors and the other deals with the methodology to be applied. Most of the research conducted in this area deal with the upfront selection of vendors. However, it is very common to have a list of dedicated vendors due to the development of sophisticated production technologies like just in time (JIT, a lean or agile manufacturing process where continuous flow of materials is a requirement. This paper addresses the issue of selecting the optimal vendor from the internal database of a company. Factor analysis, analytical hierarchy process and regression analysis is used in an integrated way to supplement the vendor selection process. The methodology presented here is simply a proposal where every possible room for adjustment is available.

ELECTIONS PENSION FUND

CERN Multimedia

2001-01-01

ORGANISATION EUROPEENNE POUR LA RECHERCHE NUCLEAIRE CERN EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH CAISSE DE PENSIONS / PENSION FUND Caisse de Pensions - ELECTIONS - Pension Fund This candidature has been duly registered and is hereby presented in accordance with paragraph 6.h of the Regulations for Elections to the Governing Board of the Pension Fund. Candidate : Name : CHIAVERI First Name : Enrico I have been a CERN staff member since 1973 and have always been interested in our working conditions. As a member of the Executive Committee of the Staff Association I participated from 1980 to 1984 in the Working Group on Pensions mandated by the CERN Council. This commitment led to my becoming a member of the Governing Board of the Pension Fund in 1983, since when I have taken an active part in various commissions and working groups (Real Estate Asset Management Committee, Working Group on Actuarial Matters etc.); in so doing I have gained a thorough knowledge of different areas of the Pension Fund. Since ...

ELECTIONS - Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

CERN - EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH PENSION FUND ELECTIONS - Pension Fund This candidature has been duly registered and is hereby presented in accordance with paragraph 6.h of the Regulations for Elections to the Governing Board of the Pension Fund. Candidate: First name: Michel Name: Goossens The CERN/ESO Pension Fund represents, for most staff, the sole source of income when they retire. The health of our Pension Fund is thus of the utmost importance to ensure the payment of pensions up to the death of the last beneficiary. The 2003 actuarial review showed a large deficit and several corrective measures have already been taken. The next months will see the results of the 2006 actuarial review. We hope they will show that the measures taken last year are going in the right direction. However, we must remain proactive since further measures will no doubt be necessary. New and imaginative proposals must be prepared and discussed in the widest possible forum, by regular direct contact with staf...

ELECTIONS - Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

CERN - EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH PENSION FUND ELECTIONS - Pension Fund This candidature has been duly registered and is hereby presented in accordance with paragraph 6.h of the Regulations for Elections to the Governing Board of the Pension Fund. Candidate: First name: Michel Name: Goossens The CERN/ESO Pension Fund represents, for most staff, the sole source of income when they retire. The health of our Pension Fund is thus of the utmost importance to ensure the payment of pensions up to the death of the last beneficiary. The 2003 actuarial review showed a large deficit and several corrective measures have already been taken. The next months will see the results of the 2006 actuarial review. We hope they will show that the measures taken last year are going in the right direction. However, we must remain proactive since further measures will no doubt be necessary. New and imaginative proposals must be prepared and discussed in the widest possible forum, by regular direct contact with staff...

ELECTIONS - Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

CERN - EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH PENSION FUND ELECTIONS - Pension Fund This candidature has been duly registered and is hereby presented in accordance with paragraph 6.h of the Regulations for Elections to the Governing Board of the Pension Fund. Candidate: First name: Michel Name: Goossens The CERN/ESO Pension Fund represents, for most staff, the sole source of income when they retire. The health of our Pension Fund is thus of the utmost importance to ensure the payment of pensions up to the death of the last beneficiary. The 2003 actuarial review showed a large deficit and several corrective measures have already been taken. The next months will see the results of the 2006 actuarial review. We hope they will show that the measures taken last year are going in the right direction. However, we must remain proactive since further measures will no doubt be necessary. New and imaginative proposals must be prepared and discussed in the widest possible forum, by regular direct contact ...

Analysis of the mutual funds and pension funds in Spain: evolution and performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mercedes Alda García

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Mutual funds and pension funds are the most important investment products in Spain. Nonetheless, it should not be confused with each other, or take them as equivalent; since the latter have also the characteristic of a long-term savings product, in order to obtain additional funds for retirement. These differences may influence the investor when deciding on one of these instruments, but also the manager, developing different management strategies.Therefore, on this paper we examine the main magnitudes of both markets in Spain. Moreover, we analyze the performance of two Spanish fund samples (one with global equity mutual funds and another with global equity pension funds with the purpose of showing if their performance is efficient, and if there are differences on their management.

A Fund of Wisdom

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seabrooke, Leonard; Broome, André

2006-01-01

The International Monetary Fund spends most of its time monitoring its member states' economic performance and advising on institutional change. While much of the literature sees the Fund as a policy enforcer in "emerging market" and "frontier" economies, little attention has been paid to exploring...... for change on the basis of like-characteristics among economies. Many Western states, particularly small open economies, consider the Fund's advice as important not only for technical know-how, but because Fund assessments are significant to international and domestic political audiences. This article traces...... the Fund's advice on taxation and monetary reform to two coordinated market economies, Denmark and Sweden, and two liberal market economies, Australia and New Zealand from 1975 to 2004. It maps how the Fund advocated "policy revolutions" and "policy recombinations" during this period, advice that coincided...

PROJECT ABANDONMENT, CORRUPTION AND RECOVERY OF UNSPENT BUDGETED PUBLIC FUNDS IN NIGERIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard INGWE

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Large amounts of unspent funds budgeted for implementing development projects have been recovered from Nigeria’s public officials since President Yar Adua directed in 2007 that responsible Nigerian Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs must refund such funds at the end of every fiscal year. While unspent funds recovery represents some progress in the “war on corruption” entrenched by previous governments in the 1980s, the current policy limited by concentrating narrowly on recovery of financial resources thereby excluding accounting for other project resources (human skills application, time management or optimization among others that are usually applied to project implementation but lost through public officers’ failure and/or delays to implement planned projects. This article examines the magnitude of unspent funds recently recovered by the government from its various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs. The general objective of this article is to contribute towards improving the development project management culture in Nigeria. The specific objectives are: To highlight the magnitude of unspent funds in Nigeria’s MDAs; and to show some adverse consequences of failing (or delaying to spend funds allocated in the budget forimplementing projects in economic sectors and on the pursuit of development objectives. Survey and description methods were used. Data on the refund of unspent funds was obtained from secondary sources (records of MDAs and analysed using qualitative and simple quantitative techniques. Results show that a high rate of projects delay and /or abandonment was discovered shortly after the inauguration of President Yar’ Adua and his administration in May 2007. Although some project funds have been recovered, other project resources (time wasted, human skills/hours and development benefits that would have accrued from completion of the planned and financed projects have not been recovered but lost. The fact

South African pension fund conversions: Dealing with environmental change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. T. George

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse South African pension fund conversions from defined benefit to defined contribution structures and to develop a model for dealing with environmental change. Design/Methodology/Approach: Qualitative research methodology was used. Industry experts were interviewed to obtain a macro view of the phenomenon and specific manifestations of the phenomenon were also considered in case studies.Feedback from semi-structured interviews was categorised into several emergent themes. Within-case and cross-case analyses were conducted. Findings: Results indicated that an environmental shock exerted a substantial influence on the course of events. Under these: • Various factors combined to drive organisational evolution (i.e. adaptation to the environment. • Adaptation speed was inappropriate and exceeded that which was required for sufficient thought. • Uncertainty and vacuum circumstances arose leading to consequences that require redress. • The relative power of the stakeholders changed and influenced the strategic outcome. • An imbalance in stakeholder interests arose and ethical factors became consequential. • Business acted to restore certainty for itself. Implications: This paper provides insight into organisational behaviour during periods of environmental shock. Environmental shock can be defined as "a condition that arises where business or societal rules are inadequate, or do not exist, to deal with unfolding events". An environmental shock has greater magnitude than a competitive shock, and can include several competitive shocks. Originality/Value: Analysis of pension fund conversions revealed organisational behaviour during periods of environmental shock and the emerging model can be applied in other instances of environmental shock, such as broad-based black economic empowerment (B-B BEE, land redistribution, sanctions and constitutional development.

Targeted Funding for Educationally Disadvantaged Students: A Regression Discontinuity Estimate of the Impact on High School Student Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, Gary T.; Fortner, C. Kevin; Thompson, Charles L.

2010-01-01

Evaluating the impacts of public school funding on student achievement has been an important objective for informing education policymaking but fraught with data and methodological limitations. Findings from prior research have been mixed at best, leaving policymakers with little advice about the benefits of allocating public resources to schools…

Programming list processes. SLIP: symmetric list processor - applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broudin, Y.

1966-06-01

Modern aspects of programming languages are essentially turned towards list processing. The ordinary methods of sequential treatment become inadequate and we must substitute list processes for them, where the cells of a group have no neighbourhood connection, but where the address of one cell is contained in the preceding one. These methods are required in 'time sharing' solving problems. They also allow us to treat new problems and to solve others in the shortest time. Many examples are presented after an abstract of the most usual list languages and a detailed study of one of them : SLIP. Among these examples one should note: locating of words in a dictionary or in a card index, treatment of non numerical symbols, formal derivation. The problems are treated in Fortran II on an IBM 7094 machine. The subroutines which make up the language are presented in an appendix. (author) [fr

The development of funding policies for hospices: is casemix-based funding an option?

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, H; MacLeod, R; Hicks, E; Carter, J

1999-06-25

The 1993 health reforms, with their emphasis on the purchasing of defined amounts or units of service, have led to the implementation of casemix-based funding for the acute medical and surgical services of the public hospitals. Despite growing interest in New Zealand in casemix-based funding for non-acute services such as palliative care, the nature of this service and the characteristics of its patient population pose particular difficulties for the development and implementation of casemix. This paper examines the feasibility of implementing casemix-based funding for hospice/palliative care services and discusses the development of casemix classification systems for palliative care. Problems associated with implementing casemix-based funding are considered including: the dual funding of hospices, the multi-agency nature of palliative care service provision and the need for the Health Funding Authority to identify and specify the hospice services it is willing to fund. While it is concluded that these problems will impede the introduction of casemix-based funding of hospice care, they highlight important issues that the hospice movement must address if it is to ensure its future within the new health environment.

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF OWN FUNDS IN THE BANKING SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tesu Ramona

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The present article has as a reserch field theoretical, methodological and practical aspects of the own funds, taking into account the line-up attempts of the romanian banking system to the requirements of the European Union, materialised in the Basel Agreement. The objectives of the research theme, presented in this paper, are mainly oriented towards own funds. We also proposed the following secondary objectives: presenting the concept approaches concerning own funds, emphasysing the tipology of own funds and pointing out their purpose in the banking activity; presenting and analyse the evolution of the own funds in Romania, for a period of 8 years (2004-2011. Even though the actual stage of the research in this field is advanced, in the romanian and foreign literature which dedicate a lot of theoretical and empiric studies concerning own funds. In our study we will use a theoretical and a practical research. The theoretical research describes the laws, reglementations and rules of application in the banking field in our country. In the practical part we will use as a research method the quality-comparative analyse by presenting details regarding bank back-ups. Despite the global financial crisis, the Romanian banking system can be considered as stable as a whole, with levels of capitalization, solvency and liquidity in accordance with consistent with prudential requirements. Tier 1, defined as the core of their sources of credit institutions through the permanent criteria, payment flexibility and capacity to absorb losses continued to overwhelmingly support a total equity. Appropriate quality of own funds is on their structure. The most important component frame our capital plus capital frame attached. The second component in terms is still represented by legal reserves. An important challenge for banks was to maintain a level of own funds accordance, in the conditions witch they were eroded by the current period losses. Tier 2 support rate of

List of realizations of French and Quebec towns; Repertoires de realisations de villes francaises et quebecoises

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-07-01

The aims of this list is to offer to the local governments information on realizations concerning the energy efficiency, in order to allow the identification of operators and technical solutions and methodologies, in relation with the sites where they are implemented. It increases also the knowledge on experiments and allows the comparative evaluation between French and Quebec realizations. (A.L.B.)

PENSION FUND

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

The Governing Board of the Pension Fund held its 104th and 105th meetings on 8th November and 4th December 2001, respectively. The agenda of the 8th November meeting was devoted to a single item, namely the outcome of the Finance Committee's meeting the previous day. The Governing Board noted with satisfaction that both its proposed amendments to the Rules and Regulations of the Fund - allowing, in particular, the award of a deferred retirement pension after five years of service - and its proposal for the adjustment of pensions on 1.1.2002 had been approved for recommendation to the Council in December. At its meeting on 4th December, the Governing Board dealt mainly with the items examined at the latest meeting of the Investment Committee. The Committee's chairman, G. Maurin, stated that the 2001 return on the Fund's overall investments was likely to be between -2% and -3%. He also noted that a new study of the Fund's cash flows (incomings and outgoings) had been performed. He underlined that, while the flo...

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

Following the approval by the CERN Council, at its Session in March 2006, of the amendments to Administrative Circular No. 14 (Protection of the members of the personnel against the financial consequences of illness, accident and disability) and the resulting amendments to the Rules and Regulations of the Pension Fund, which entered into force on 1st July 2006, the Administration of the Fund has decided to publish a complete new edition of the Rules and Regulations incorporating all amendments up to 1st July 2006. Members of the Fund will be informed once the new edition of the Rules and Regulations is available from Departmental secretariats.In the meantime, the amendments to the text of the Pension Fund Rules and Regulations, which entered into force on 1st July 2006, are presented below (Previous text/Amended text): Chapter II - Section 1: Contributions and benefits Article II 1.04 - Reference Salary - Part-time Work OLD TEXT: The reference salary of a member with a contract for part-time work shall b...

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

Following the approval by the CERN Council, at its Session in March 2006, of the amendments to Administrative Circular No. 14 (Protection of the members of the personnel against the financial consequences of illness, accident and disability) and the resulting amendments to the Rules and Regulations of the Pension Fund, which entered into force on 1st July 2006, the Administration of the Fund has decided to publish a complete new edition of the Rules and Regulations incorporating all amendments up to 1st July 2006. Members of the Fund will be informed once the new edition of the Rules and Regulations is available from Departmental secretariats. In the meantime, the amendments to the text of the Pension Fund Rules and Regulations, which entered into force on 1st July 2006, are presented below (Previous text/Amended text) : Chapter II - Section 1: Contributions and benefits Article II 1.04 - Reference Salary - Part-time Work OLD TEXT: the reference salary of a member with a contract for part-time work shall be e...

Oil spill sorbents: Testing protocol and certification listing program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooper, D.; Gausemel, I.

1993-01-01

Environment Canada's Emergencies Engineering Division is spearheading a program in conjunction with the Canadian General Standards Board that would see the development of a certification and listing program in addition to a national standard for the testing of sorbent materials. Funding for this program is provided by Environment Canada (EC), Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC), US Coast Guard (USCG), and US Minerals Management Service (MMS). The test methods are based upon those defined by the American Society for Testing and Materials and previous test methods developed by Environment Canada for our series of reports entitled Selection Criteria and Laboratory Evaluation of Oil Spill Sorbents. This series, which was started in 1975, encompasses a number of commercially available oil spill sorbents tested with different petroleum products and hydrocarbon solvents. The testing program will categorize the sorbents according to their operating characteristics. The main categories are oil spills on water, oil spills on land, and industrial use. The characteristics to be evaluated with the new test protocols include initial and maximum sorption capacities, water pickup, buoyancy, reuse potential, retention profile, disintegration (material integrity), and ease of application and retrieval. In the near future are plans to incorporate changes to the test that would involve increasing the list of test liquids to encompass spills in an industrial setting, in addition to testing sorbent booms and addressing the disposal problem

Raising energy efficiency and cutting greenhouse gas emissions : an analysis of publicly funded petroleum research

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-11-01

From the preface: This brochure is based on an analysis study that ascertained that since 2004 the Research Council's PETROMAKS and DEMO 2000 programmes have allocated funding to more than 80 projects carried out by the research community and private industry relating to climate challenges. Once these projects have been concluded, they will have received a total of over half a billion kroner in public funding. There is no doubt that many of the measures recommended by these projects will have positive impacts on the environment. Many of these research findings can contribute to making processes more energy efficient or to directly reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. The brochure presents a selection of these projects. A complete list of projects under the PETROMAKS and DEMO 2000 programmes which address raising energy efficiency may be found at the end of the brochure.(eb)

Building Trust in a Guarantee Fund in a Challenging Institutional Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciano Quinto Lanz

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Difficult access to credit is a major obstacle to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs survival, especially in emerging countries, affecting their competitiveness. Lack of guarantees is a main reason why banks do not lend to MSMEs. Guarantee schemes provide partial credit guarantees, but often fail to win trust of banks and enterprises. This study analyzes the process of building trust between the Fundo Garantidor para Investimentos (Investment Guarantee Fund, FGI, created in 2009, and banks in Brazil. This trust was hampered by the failure of public guarantee funds created in the 1990’s. This created a challenging institutional environment to the new fund. The methodology employed was a case study, based on a qualitative approach with document analysis, semi-structured interviews and descriptive statistics. The analysis used models for building and repairing trust in inter-organizational relations and international benchmark for governance and effectiveness of guarantee schemes. The analysis showed that the FGI used other emerging countries and developed countries experience to construct adequate governance and succeeded in establishing trust with the banks. The results show that by 2017, 26 banks contract more than 32,000 operations worth 1.9 billion dollars, with additionalities comparable to the international benchmark.

Financial Literacy and Mutual Fund Investments : Who Buys Actively Managed Funds?

OpenAIRE

Müller, Sebastian; Weber, Martin

2008-01-01

Previous research indicates that lacking financial sophistication among private investors might be important in explaining the strong growth in active management over the past. Based on questionnaire data with more than 3,000 mutual fund customers, we therefore construct an objective financial literacy score and analyze the relationship between financial literacy and mutual fund investment behavior. While sophisticated investors are indeed more aware of passive, low cost fund alternatives lik...

CRNL library serials list

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alburger, T.P.

1982-04-01

A list of 1900 serial publications (periodicals, society transactions and proceedings, annuals and directories, indexes, newspapers, etc.) is presented with volumes and years held by the Main Library. This library is the largest in AECL as well as one of the largest scientific and technical libraries in North America, and functions as a Canadian resource for nuclear information. A main alphabetical list is followed by broad subject field lists representing research interests, and lists of abstract and index serials, general bibliographic serials, conference indexes, press releases, English translations, and original language journals

Expectations for methodology and translation of animal research: a survey of health care workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Joffe, Ari R; Bara, Meredith; Anton, Natalie; Nobis, Nathan

2015-05-07

Health care workers (HCW) often perform, promote, and advocate use of public funds for animal research (AR); therefore, an awareness of the empirical costs and benefits of animal research is an important issue for HCW. We aim to determine what health-care-workers consider should be acceptable standards of AR methodology and translation rate to humans. After development and validation, an e-mail survey was sent to all pediatricians and pediatric intensive care unit nurses and respiratory-therapists (RTs) affiliated with a Canadian University. We presented questions about demographics, methodology of AR, and expectations from AR. Responses of pediatricians and nurses/RTs were compared using Chi-square, with P methodological quality, most respondents expect that: AR is done to high quality; costs and difficulty are not acceptable justifications for low quality; findings should be reproducible between laboratories and strains of the same species; and guidelines for AR funded with public money should be consistent with these expectations. Asked about benefits of AR, most thought that there are sometimes/often large benefits to humans from AR, and disagreed that "AR rarely produces benefit to humans." Asked about expectations of translation to humans (of toxicity, carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, and treatment findings), most: expect translation >40% of the time; thought that misleading AR results should occur methodological quality of, and the translation rate to humans of findings from AR. These expectations are higher than the empirical data show having been achieved. Unless these areas of AR significantly improve, HCW support of AR may be tenuous.

Acronym master list

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-06-01

This document is a master list of acronyms and other abbreviations that are used by or could be useful to, the personnel at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Many specialized and well-known abbreviations are not included in this list.

THERP and HEART integrated methodology for human error assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Castiglia, Francesco; Giardina, Mariarosa; Tomarchio, Elio

2015-11-01

THERP and HEART integrated methodology is proposed to investigate accident scenarios that involve operator errors during high-dose-rate (HDR) treatments. The new approach has been modified on the basis of fuzzy set concept with the aim of prioritizing an exhaustive list of erroneous tasks that can lead to patient radiological overexposures. The results allow for the identification of human errors that are necessary to achieve a better understanding of health hazards in the radiotherapy treatment process, so that it can be properly monitored and appropriately managed.

Methodology for Selecting Best Management Practices Integrating Multiple Stakeholders and Criteria. Part 1: Methodology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mauricio Carvallo Aceves

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The implementation of stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs could help re-establish the natural hydrological cycle of watersheds after urbanization, with each BMP presenting a different performance across a range of criteria (flood prevention, pollutant removal, etc.. Additionally, conflicting views from the relevant stakeholders may arise, resulting in a complex selection process. This paper proposes a methodology for BMP selection based on the application of multi-criteria decision aid (MCDA methods, integrating multiple stakeholder priorities and BMP combinations. First, in the problem definition, the MCDA methods, relevant criteria and design guidelines are selected. Next, information from the preliminary analysis of the watershed is used to obtain a list of relevant BMPs. The third step comprises the watershed modeling and analysis of the BMP alternatives to obtain performance values across purely objective criteria. Afterwards, a stakeholder analysis based on survey applications is carried out to obtain social performance values and criteria priorities. Then, the MCDA methods are applied to obtain the final BMP rankings. The last step considers the sensitivity analysis and rank comparisons in order to draw the final conclusions and recommendations. Future improvements to the methodology could explore inclusion of multiple objective analysis, and alternative means for obtaining social performance values.

The World's Approach toward Publishing in Springer and Elsevier's APC-Funded Open Access Journals

Science.gov (United States)

Sotudeh, Hajar; Ghasempour, Zahra

2018-01-01

Purpose: The present study explored tendencies of the world's countries--at individual and scientific development levels--toward publishing in APC-funded open access journals. Design/Methodology/Approach: Using a bibliometric method, it studied OA and NOA articles issued in Springer and Elsevier's APC journals? during 2007-2011. The data were…

Funding begets biodiversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahrends, Antje; Burgess, Neil David; Gereau, Roy E.

2011-01-01

Aim Effective conservation of biodiversity relies on an unbiased knowledge of its distribution. Conservation priority assessments are typically based on the levels of species richness, endemism and threat. Areas identified as important receive the majority of conservation investments, often...... facilitating further research that results in more species discoveries. Here, we test whether there is circularity between funding and perceived biodiversity, which may reinforce the conservation status of areas already perceived to be important while other areas with less initial funding may remain overlooked......, and variances decomposed in partial regressions. Cross-correlations are used to assess whether perceived biodiversity drives funding or vice versa. Results Funding explained 65% of variation in perceived biodiversity patterns – six times more variation than accounted for by 34 candidate environmental factors...

[The Japanese Health Care System: An Analysis of the Funding and Reimbursement System].

Science.gov (United States)

Rump, Alexis; Schöffski, Oliver

2017-08-10

Objective The modern Japanese health care system was established during the Meiji period (1868-1912) using the example of Germany. In this paper, the funding and remuneration of health services and products in Japan are described. The focus lies on the mechanisms used to implement health policy goals and to control costs. Method Selective literature search. Results All permanent residents in Japan are enrolled in one of more than 3,000 compulsory health funds. Employees and public servants are covered through company or government-related health insurance schemes. Independent workers, the unemployed and the pensioners are usually assigned to health insurance plans managed by local city governments. The elderly over 75 years are insured through special health funds managed at the prefectural level. To correct the fiscal disparities among the health insurance programs, a risk adjustment is realized by compensatory financial transfers between the funds and substantial subsidies from the central and local governments. The statutory benefits package that is identical for all insurance plans is regulated in a single comprehensive schedule. All the covered health services and products are listed with the fees and compensations, and the conditions for the service providers to be remunerated are also stated. This fee and compensation schedule is regularly revised every 2 years under the leadership of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The revisions are intended to contain health expenditures and to set incentives for the achievement of health policy goals. Conclusion The funding of the Japanese health care system and the risk adjustment mechanisms among health funds are well established and show a rather static character. The short- and mid-term development of the system is mainly controlled on the side of the expenditures through the unique and comprehensive fee and compensation schedule. The regular revisions of this schedule permit to react at relatively short

Regulating hedge funds.

OpenAIRE

Daníelsson, J.; Zigrand, JP.

2007-01-01

Due to the ever-increasing amounts under management and their unregulated and opaque nature, hedge funds have emerged as a key concern for policymakers. While until now, hedge funds have been left essentially unregulated, we are seeing increasing calls for regulation for both microprudential and macroprudential reasons. In our view, most calls for the regulation of hedge funds are based on a misperception of the effectiveness of financial regulations, perhaps coupled with a lack of understand...

Open access publishing in the biomedical sciences: could funding agencies accelerate the inevitable changes?

Science.gov (United States)

Glover, Steven William; Webb, Anne; Gleghorn, Colette

2006-09-01

Open access is making a noticeable impact on access to information. In 2005, many major research funders, including the Wellcome Trust, National Institutes for Health (NIH), and the Research Councils UK (RCUK), set out their position in a number of statements. Of particular note was the stipulation that authors receiving grants must deposit their final manuscript in an open access forum within 6-12 months of publication. The paper will look at the open access position statements issued by some of the major funding bodies in the biomedical sciences. The paper will also look at the models used by publishers to provide open or delayed access, such as Oxford Open from Oxford University Press, HighWire Press' delayed access policy, BioMed Central, and Public Library of Science (PLoS). There are now over 1.2 million articles in PubMed that are freely accessible via publishers' websites.(1) Could funding agencies accelerate the move to open access? The list of funding agencies supporting open access is growing. The National Institutes for Health and the Wellcome Trust have been joined by many of the world's major funders in biomedical research whose goal it is to make their research findings available with no barriers.

Mutual Fund Flight-to-Liquidity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rzeznik, Aleksandra

This paper examines the liquidity choices of mutual funds during times of market uncertainty. I find that when markets are uncertain, mutual funds actively increase the liquidity of their portfolio – often referred to as a ‘flight-to-liquidity.’ In aggregate, mutual fund behaviour has implications...... for the market; the market driven flight-toliquidity places upward pressure on the liquidity premium. I examine the underlying mechanisms driving fund behaviour. I show that market volatility is associated with lower fund performance and withdrawals, which causes funds to adjust the composition...... of their portfolio towards more liquid assets in order to meet potential redemptions. This causal chain is consistent with Vayanos (2004), who argues that fund managers are investors with time-varying liquidity preferences due to threat of withdrawal. Aggregated over funds, the effect is substantial: a one standard...

Mutual Fund Flight-to-Liquidity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rzeznik, Aleksandra

This paper examines the liquidity choices of mutual funds during times of market uncertainty. I find that when markets are uncertain, mutual funds actively increase the liquidity of their portfolio { often referred to as a `flight-to-liquidity.' In aggregate, mutual fund behaviour has implications...... for the market; the market driven flight-toliquidity places upward pressure on the liquidity premium. I examine the underlying mechanisms driving fund behaviour. I show that market volatility is associated with lower fund performance and withdrawals, which causes funds to adjust the composition...... of their portfolio towards more liquid assets in order to meet potential redemptions. This causal chain is consistent with Vayanos (2004), who argues that fund managers are investors with time-varying liquidity preferences due to threat of withdrawal. Aggregated over funds, the effect is substantial: a one standard...

Importance of the fund management company in the performance of socially responsible mutual funds

OpenAIRE

Belghitar, Yacine; Clark, Ephraim; Deshmukh, Nitin

2017-01-01

We compare the performance of a sample of U.K.-based socially responsible investment (SRI) funds with similar conventional funds using a matched-pair analysis based on size, age, investment universe, and fund management company (FMC). We find that both the SRI and conventional funds outperform the market index about 50% of the time, even after fees. Subsample tests show that the SRI funds in our sample perform better in the pre- and postfinancial crisis periods but underperform during the fin...

Nuclear Waste Fund management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosselli, R.

1984-01-01

The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA) established two separate special bank accounts: the Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF) was established to finance all of the Federal Government activities associated with the disposal of High-Level Waste (HLW) or Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF). The Interim Storage Fund (ISF) is the financial mechanism for the provision of Federal Interim Storage capacity, not to exceed 1900 metric tons of SNF at civilian power reactors. The management of these funds is discussed. Since the two funds are identical in features and the ISF has not yet been activated, the author's remarks are confined to the Nuclear Waste Fund. Three points discussed include legislative features, current status, and planned activities

The use of economic evaluation for guiding the pharmaceutical reimbursement list in Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Teerawattananon, Yot; Tritasavit, Nattha; Suchonwanich, Netnapis; Kingkaew, Pritaporn

2014-01-01

Medicines expenditure consumes a significant proportion of public health expenditure in Thailand, where Universal Health Coverage has been in place since 2002. The National List of Essential Medicines has been successfully used as a pharmaceutical benefits package for all public health plans. All patients are eligible for all medicines included in the list free of charge by law. Health economic evaluation has been employed as a tool for the development of this list, including price negotiation of medicines before inclusion, especially of high-cost medicines or medicines with high budget implications. This paper illustrates the current process, mechanisms, and impact and informs of seven success factors that have contributed to the successful use of health economic evaluation in Thailand. These include strong political commitment, development of individual and institutional capacity, participation of all relevant stakeholders, establishment of standard methodological and process guidelines, consideration of several elements in the decision-making process, using evidence as a starting point rather than a deciding factor, and strong enforcement. The lessons learned from this study are likely to be applicable to other settings committed to evidence-based decision making. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

KLIMAT 'Best practice' methodology; KLIMAT 'Best practice' metodikk

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Svanes, Erik; Moeller, Hanne

2012-07-01

This report summarizes the main lessons learned from the research The climate challenge of food products in a holistic environmental and life cycle perspective, abbreviated KLIMAT. This was a research project in the period 2009-2012, conducted by Oestfoldforskning with the assistance of researchers from UMB, SIK (Sweden), MTT (Finland) and Aalborg University (Denmark). The project was funded by the Norwegian Research Council and its partners BAMA, Coop Norway, Norway Group, Nortura and Tine. The main objective of the project was to develop a uniform and scientifically based methodology to quantify the carbon footprint of food products to allow a fair comparison of food crops climate performance. This report summarizes a number of recommendations with regard to methodological choices in the implementation of greenhouse trace analysis of foodstuffs. The recommendations are divided into system boundaries, functional unit, allocation, and data quality and data variability. During the project period, a number of national and international initiatives have been launched to develop the calculation methodology. Therefore the objective of creating a standardized methodology was adjusted to prepare input to the methodology in the form of articles and reports.(Author)

A semi-automated methodology for finding lipid-related GO terms.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Mengyuan; Low, Hong Sang; Wenk, Markus R; Wong, Limsoon

2014-01-01

Although semantic similarity in Gene Ontology (GO) and other approaches may be used to find similar GO terms, there is yet a method to systematically find a class of GO terms sharing a common property with high accuracy (e.g., involving human curation). We have developed a methodology to address this issue and applied it to identify lipid-related GO terms, owing to the important and varied roles of lipids in many biological processes. Our methodology finds lipid-related GO terms in a semi-automated manner, requiring only moderate manual curation. We first obtain a list of lipid-related gold-standard GO terms by keyword search and manual curation. Then, based on the hypothesis that co-annotated GO terms share similar properties, we develop a machine learning method that expands the list of lipid-related terms from the gold standard. Those terms predicted most likely to be lipid related are examined by a human curator following specific curation rules to confirm the class labels. The structure of GO is also exploited to help reduce the curation effort. The prediction and curation cycle is repeated until no further lipid-related term is found. Our approach has covered a high proportion, if not all, of lipid-related terms with relatively high efficiency. http://compbio.ddns.comp.nus.edu.sg/∼lipidgo. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship Methodology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Celik, Sine; Joore, Peter; Christodoulou, Panayiotis

or regional “co-creation platform for sustainable solutions” to promote structural innovation. In this manual, the Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship Methodology will be described. The organisational guidelines mainly take point of departure in how Aalborg University (AAU) in Denmark has organised......The objective of the InnoLabs project is to facilitate cross-sectoral, multidisciplinary solutions to complex social problems in various European settings. InnoLabs are university-driven physical and/or organizational spaces that function as student innovation laboratories and operate as a local...... this in daily practice. In line with the objectives of the Innolabs project (output 05), partners in the Innolabs project have reflected, evaluated and concluded the project experiences, which are described in this report. The InnoLabs project was developed for the 2014 call of Erasmus+ funds KA2- Cooperation...

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2008-01-01

The 2007 Annual Report and Accounts of the Pension Fund which was approved by Council at its session of 20 June 2008, is now available from the Departmental secretariats. Pension beneficiaries who wish to obtain this document should contact Emilie Clerc (Tel. + 41 22 767 87 98), building 5-5/017. It is also available on the Pension fund site: http://pensions.web.cern.ch/Pensions/

An Empirical Study of Mutual Fund Performance and Its Relation with Fund Size

OpenAIRE

Lu, Daofen

2007-01-01

The increasing popularity of mutual fund investment is a remarkable phenomenon of recent decades. Mutual funds have been among the largest investors and played an important role in the financial market worldwide. The evaluation of mutual fund performance has been achieving a great deal of academic interest since the 1960s. This study employed a time-series data to examine the performance of sixty actively-managed equity growth funds of the United States during the period of July, 2002 to June...

The Christmas list

CERN Multimedia

James Gillies

2010-01-01

List making seems to be among mankind’s favourite activities, particularly as the old year draws to a close and the new one begins. It seems that we all want to know what the top 100 annoying pop songs are, who are the world’s most embarrassing people and what everyone’s been watching on TV. The transition from 2009 to 2010 was no different, but some of the latest batch of lists have a few surprising entries. According to the Global Language Monitor, ‘twitter’ was the top word of 2009. No surprises there, but ‘hadron’ came in at number 8 on the list. ‘King of pop’ was top phrase, according to the same source, but ‘god particle’ came in at number 10. And while ‘Barack Obama’ was the name of the year, ‘Large Hadron Collider’ came in at number four. The Global Language Monitor was not the only organization whose lists included particle physics references. &ls...

Performance-Based Funding Brief

Science.gov (United States)

Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board, 2011

2011-01-01

A number of states have made progress in implementing performance-based funding (PFB) and accountability. This policy brief summarizes main features of performance-based funding systems in three states: Tennessee, Ohio, and Indiana. The brief also identifies key issues that states considering performance-based funding must address, as well as…

Report: Implementation Plan With Cost Sharing Methodology Needed for Region 8 Senior Environmental Employee Work on Lead Risk Reduction

Science.gov (United States)

Report #13-P-0430, September 24, 2013. The two Region 8 program offices that jointly implement the Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program do not have methodology or agreement for sharing SEE funding, which has led to confusion.

24 CFR 214.311 - Funding.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... Internet or other electronic media. (b) Local funding sources. HUD recommends that approved agencies seek and secure funding from funding sources that may include local and state governments, private... 24 Housing and Urban Development 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Funding. 214.311 Section 214.311...

FLUCTUATION IN PENSION FUND ASSETS PRIVATELY MANAGED UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF CERTAIN FACTORS. STATISTICAL STUDY IN ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dracea Raluca

2011-07-01

Full Text Available On international level, the economic and financial crisis has determined a diminution of the asset value of compulsory pension funds, reflecting a reallocation of funds towards alternative or low-risk investments. The present paper indicates how the net asset value of privately managed pension funds in Romania may be affected or not by certain influence factors in direct correlation with different asset allocation strategies of pension funds. In this way, on literature review there are many studies which have analyzed the fluctuation of pension funds assets and a better reallocation of their investment in order to improve their efficiency. The experience of the value fluctuation of privately administered pension fund net assets is highly important, firstly beacause of its effects on the increase and the decrease of invested values for the insured persons’ accounts, under the circumstances of constantly maintaining their contributions and, implicitly, the results achieved through these investments. The research methodology consists in testing of five variables: currency exchange rate, credit interest rate, bank deposit interest rate, reference interest rate and value of the stock exchange market index (BET-C index, by means of the multiple linear regression method. The conclusion is that only two of these factors, namely, the currency exchange rate and the reference interest rate, influence net asset value of privately managed pension funds, the second pillar, one in direct and the other in indirect correlation. In order to neutralize the effects generated by the diminution of the net asset value of privately managed pension funds, considering a short time horizon, we shall elaborate a dynamic mix of their investments able to adapt to the fluctuations of the influence factors. Thus, new opportunities will be generated in order to achieve the efficiency of pension funds and to prevent the diminution of the value of insured individuals�

Hedge Fund Contagion and Liquidity

OpenAIRE

Nicole M. Boyson; Christof W. Stahel; Rene M. Stulz

2008-01-01

Using hedge fund indices representing eight different styles, we find strong evidence of contagion within the hedge fund sector: controlling for a number of risk factors, the average probability that a hedge fund style index has extreme poor performance (lower 10% tail) increases from 2% to 21% as the number of other hedge fund style indices with extreme poor performance increases from zero to seven. We investigate how changes in funding and asset liquidity intensify this contagion, and find ...

Understaning the "funding effect"

Science.gov (United States)

Oreskes, N.

2016-12-01

There is a long history of industry funding of scientific and engineering research in the USA. Much of this work has been of high quality. Research demonstrates, however, that corporate funding can represent a threat to scientific independence and integrity. Studies show that sponsors' interests can affect research results, particularly when sponsors have a strong interest in a particular research outcome. The effects may occur through the impact of subconscious bias on sampling, study design, data interpretation, and/or reporting of results. Corporate funding can also skew research toward investigating certain questions at the expense of others, downplaying the significance of adverse findings, and/or failing to report adverse results. Gifts can affect behavior, even when they are unrelated to research activities. These impacts that are so substantial that they have a name: "the funding effect."[i] Evidence shows that scientists who strive to be objective and fair-minded may nonetheless fall prey to the funding effect. In many cases, the challenges of corporate gifts and funding can be addressed through education and improved self-awareness, agreements that protect researchers' freedom to publish without sponsor approval, sensible disclosure policies, and reasonable sanctions for failures of disclosure. However, in some cases, it may be appropriate for researchers and scientific societies to decline funding.

Assessing species saturation: conceptual and methodological challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Olivares, Ingrid; Karger, Dirk N; Kessler, Michael

2018-05-07

Is there a maximum number of species that can coexist? Intuitively, we assume an upper limit to the number of species in a given assemblage, or that a lineage can produce, but defining and testing this limit has proven problematic. Herein, we first outline seven general challenges of studies on species saturation, most of which are independent of the actual method used to assess saturation. Among these are the challenge of defining saturation conceptually and operationally, the importance of setting an appropriate referential system, and the need to discriminate among patterns, processes and mechanisms. Second, we list and discuss the methodological approaches that have been used to study species saturation. These approaches vary in time and spatial scales, and in the variables and assumptions needed to assess saturation. We argue that assessing species saturation is possible, but that many studies conducted to date have conceptual and methodological flaws that prevent us from currently attaining a good idea of the occurrence of species saturation. © 2018 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Economic impact of the European Funds in Extremadura during the period 2007-2013

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julián Ramajo Hernández

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Although the evaluation of European Union regional policy is necessary to improve the effectiveness of the operational programmes, it is not usual to find studies comparing the efficiency of two programming periods for the case of a particular region. This could be explained by the fact that, at regional level, the study of the efficiency of the European funds during two different programming periods faces many different problems; for example, it entails the consideration of both adequate and homogeneous data, and similar methodology. The goal of this paper is twofold. The first goal is to estimate the economic impact of the European Union structural and cohesion funds received by Extremadura, a Spanish convergence objective NUTS II region, during the programming period 2007-2013. To this end, it is provided a multipliers analysis based on a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM of Extremadura for the year 2000. Secondly, the paper will compare the returns obtained in terms of output and employment by the European funds received in Extremadura during the periods 2000-2006 and 2007-2013. Our results allow quantifying the effects of the EU regional policy, showing and comparing the efficiency for these two programming periods.

A model to compare a defined benefit pension fund with a defined contribution provident fund

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.M. Nevin

2003-12-01

Full Text Available During 1994 universities and certain other institutions were given the option of setting up private retirement funds as an alternative to the AIPF. Because of the underfundedness of the AIPF only a substantially reduced Actuarial Reserve Value could be transferred to the new fund on behalf of each member. Employees at these institutions had to make the difficult decision of whether to remain a member of the AIPF or to join a new fund. Several institutions created defined contribution funds as an alternative to the AIPF. In such funds the member carries the investment risk and most institutions felt the need to provide some form of top-up of the Transfer Value. A simple mathematical model is formulated to aid in the comparison of expected retirement benefits under the AIPF and a private fund and to investigate the management problem of distributing additional top-up funds in a fair manner amongst the various age groups within the fund.

Survey of Postdoctorates at FFRDCs: Final Report [Federally Funded Research and Development Centers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mulrow, Jeri

2010-06-30

The 2009 FFRDC survey collected the total number of postdocs employed by FFRDCs in the United States—categorized by source of support, citizenship, sex, and field of research—as of October 1, 2009. The universe for the 2009 GSS-FFRDC survey was the Master Government List of Federally Funded Research and Development Centers. The 2009 survey also contacted the NIH’s Intramural Research Program because it employs the largest number of postdocs in the federal government. The FFRDC survey collected data via a web instrument. Topics included the type of support the postdocs received (federal and nonfederal), their sex, citizenship, race/ethnicity, and field of research.

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

2004-01-01

Amendment No 20 to the Rules and Regulations of the Pension Fund has just been published and can be obtained from Department/Unit secretariats or, in the case of pensioners, directly from the Administration of the Fund (tel. 767-91 94/27 38), bldg 5, 1-030. This Amendment, which entered into force on 1.1.2004, concerns the fixed sums and allowances adjusted at same date (Annex B).

Is mindfulness research methodology improving over time? A systematic review.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon B Goldberg

Full Text Available Despite an exponential growth in research on mindfulness-based interventions, the body of scientific evidence supporting these treatments has been criticized for being of poor methodological quality.The current systematic review examined the extent to which mindfulness research demonstrated increased rigor over the past 16 years regarding six methodological features that have been highlighted as areas for improvement. These feature included using active control conditions, larger sample sizes, longer follow-up assessment, treatment fidelity assessment, and reporting of instructor training and intent-to-treat (ITT analyses.We searched PubMed, PsychInfo, Scopus, and Web of Science in addition to a publically available repository of mindfulness studies.Randomized clinical trials of mindfulness-based interventions for samples with a clinical disorder or elevated symptoms of a clinical disorder listed on the American Psychological Association's list of disorders with recognized evidence-based treatment.Independent raters screened 9,067 titles and abstracts, with 303 full text reviews. Of these, 171 were included, representing 142 non-overlapping samples.Across the 142 studies published between 2000 and 2016, there was no evidence for increases in any study quality indicator, although changes were generally in the direction of improved quality. When restricting the sample to those conducted in Europe and North America (continents with the longest history of scientific research in this area, an increase in reporting of ITT analyses was found. When excluding an early, high-quality study, improvements were seen in sample size, treatment fidelity assessment, and reporting of ITT analyses.Taken together, the findings suggest modest adoption of the recommendations for methodological improvement voiced repeatedly in the literature. Possible explanations for this and implications for interpreting this body of research and conducting future studies are

Identification of liabilities and long-term management of the fund in Hungary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Czoch, Ildiko

2003-01-01

submittals prepared by the Public Agency for Radioactive Waste Management and approved by the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority and by the Hungarian Energy Office. The payments of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant should be taken into account when determining the price of electric energy. The institutes disposing radioactive waste in the Radioactive Waste Treatment and Disposal Facility are also liable to contribute to the Fund according to a price list contained in a Ministerial Decree. For nuclear installations financed from the central budget (research reactor and training reactor), the sources required to cover the payment into the Fund are provided by the central budget, when they arise. The rate of payments into the Fund shall be specified in a way to provide appropriate sources for all costs of radioactive waste and spent fuel management and the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. These sources provide also coverage for the public control and information activities, as well as for the operational expenses of the existing repository. In order to ensure that the Fund maintains its value, the Government contributes to the Fund with a sum, calculated on the average assets of the Fund in the previous year using the average base interest rate of the central bank in the previous year. This practice was interrupted for 2001-2002, but now it is restored again as of 2003. By the end of 2002 there was 32.7 Mrd HUF in the Central Nuclear Financial Fund

Course Resource Lists.

Science.gov (United States)

England, Robert G.

The Mountain-Plains Course Resource List is presented by job title for 26 curriculum areas. For each area the printed materials, audiovisual aids, and equipment needed for the course are listed. The 26 curriculum areas are: mathematics skills, communication skills, office education, lodging services, food services, marketing and distribution,…

Self-perception of ethical behaviour: The case of listed Spanish companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria José García López

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This article aims to research into the perception that companies have of their ethical behavior. Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was conducted in June 2014 among the listed companies that comprise the IBEX35 index of Spanish stock exchanges. For the statistical analysis, contingency tables (double entry were drawn up as well and several statistical tests (Cramer’s V, Pearson’s x2, Kendall’s correlation coefficient; and Goodman and Kruskal’s Gamma. Findings: The results show the self-perception that listed Spanish companies have of their ethical behaviour, with the observation that, generally, they have a greater perception than the reality of the study actually shows. Research limitations: Main limitations are that the sample size is small, although it includes the largest listed companies in the country. Respondents were essentially the Corporate Social Responsibility managers, so they may not be familiar with some of the subjects on which they were questioned, as we are dealing with large companies where responsibilities may be very compartmentalised. Practical implications: This line of research helps to know more about the self perception of big Spanish listed companies about their ethical behavior. Social implications: The evidence provided by this study helps to know more about aspects than can be improved in connection the ethical behavior in companies. Recent scandals make the topic very relevant from a social point of view. Originality/value: In recent years there has been much talk about the ethics of organisations and studies on the subject are plentiful. However, there has been scarcely any research into the perception that companies themselves have of their ethical behaviour.

Funding strategies for wilderness management

Science.gov (United States)

Carolyn Alkire

2000-01-01

Funding wilderness protection will continue to be a challenge for public land managers. With continuing competition for federal funds and balanced budget goals, other sources of funds may be necessary to supplement annual federal appropriations. This paper identifies and evaluates five potential funding strategies and provides examples of each that are currently in use...

A methodology to measure the degre of managerial innovation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mustafa Batuhan Ayhan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The main objective of this study is to introduce the concept of managerial innovation and to propose a quantitative methodology to measure the degree of managerial innovation capability by analyzing the evolution of the techniques used for management functions.Design/methodology/approach: The methodology mainly focuses on the different techniques used for each management functions namely; Planning, Organizing, Leading, Controlling and Coordinating. These functions are studied and the different techniques used for them are listed. Since the techniques used for these management functions evolve in time due to technological and social changes, a methodology is required to measure the degree of managerial innovation capability. This competency is measured through an analysis performed to point out which techniques used for each of these functions.Findings: To check the validity and applicability of this methodology, it is implemented to a manufacturing company. Depending on the results of the implementation, enhancements are suggested to the company for each function to survive in the changing managerial conditionsResearch limitations/implications: The primary limitation of this study is the implementation area. Although the study is implemented in just a single manufacturing company, it is welcomed to apply the same methodology to measure the managerial innovation capabilities of other manufacturing companies. Moreover, the model is ready to be adapted to different sectors although it is mainly prepared for manufacturing sector.Originality/value: Although innovation management is widely studied, managerial innovation is a new concept and introduced to measure the capability to challenge the changes occur in managerial functions. As a brief this methodology aims to be a pioneer in the field of managerial innovation regarding the evolution of management functions. Therefore it is expected to lead more studies to inspect the progress of

Funding Mechanisms, Cost Drivers, and the Distribution of Education Funds in Alberta: A Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Neu, Dean; Taylor, Alison

2000-01-01

Critical analysis of historical financial data of the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) examined the impact of Alberta's 1994 funding changes on the CBE and the distribution of Alberta's education funding. Findings illustrate how funding mechanisms are used to govern from a distance and how seemingly neutral accounting/funding techniques function…

Sources of funding for community schemes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-11-01

There is an increasing level of interest amongst community groups in the UK to become involved in the development of renewable energy schemes. Often however these community groups have only limited funds of their own, so any additional funds that can be identified to help fund their renewable energy scheme can be very useful. There are a range of funding sources available that provide grants or loans for which community groups are eligible to apply. Few of these funding sources are targeted towards renewable energy specifically, nevertheless the funds may be applicable to renewable energy schemes under appropriate circumstances. To date, however, few of these funds have been accessed by community groups for renewable energy initiatives. One of the reasons for this low take-up of funds on offer could be that the funding sources may be difficult and time-consuming to identify, especially where the energy component of the fund is not readily apparent. This directory draws together details about many of the principal funding sources available in the UK that may consider providing funds to community groups wanting to develop a renewable energy scheme. (author)

Resource selection for an interdisciplinary field: a methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacoby, Beth E; Murray, Jane; Alterman, Ina; Welbourne, Penny

2002-10-01

The Health Sciences and Human Services Library of the University of Maryland developed and implemented a methodology to evaluate print and digital resources for social work. Although this methodology was devised for the interdisciplinary field of social work, the authors believe it may lend itself to resource selection in other interdisciplinary fields. The methodology was developed in response to the results of two separate surveys conducted in late 1999, which indicated improvement was needed in the library's graduate-level social work collections. Library liaisons evaluated the print collection by identifying forty-five locally relevant Library of Congress subject headings and then using these subjects or synonymous terms to compare the library's titles to collections of peer institutions, publisher catalogs, and Amazon.com. The collection also was compared to social work association bibliographies, ISI Journal Citation Reports, and major social work citation databases. An approval plan for social work books was set up to assist in identifying newly published titles. The library acquired new print and digital social work resources as a result of the evaluation, thus improving both print and digital collections for its social work constituents. Visibility of digital resources was increased by cataloging individual titles in aggregated electronic journal packages and listing each title on the library Web page.

Risk analytics for hedge funds

Science.gov (United States)

Pareek, Ankur

2005-05-01

The rapid growth of the hedge fund industry presents significant business opportunity for the institutional investors particularly in the form of portfolio diversification. To facilitate this, there is a need to develop a new set of risk analytics for investments consisting of hedge funds, with the ultimate aim to create transparency in risk measurement without compromising the proprietary investment strategies of hedge funds. As well documented in the literature, use of dynamic options like strategies by most of the hedge funds make their returns highly non-normal with fat tails and high kurtosis, thus rendering Value at Risk (VaR) and other mean-variance analysis methods unsuitable for hedge fund risk quantification. This paper looks at some unique concerns for hedge fund risk management and will particularly concentrate on two approaches from physical world to model the non-linearities and dynamic correlations in hedge fund portfolio returns: Self Organizing Criticality (SOC) and Random Matrix Theory (RMT).Random Matrix Theory analyzes correlation matrix between different hedge fund styles and filters random noise from genuine correlations arising from interactions within the system. As seen in the results of portfolio risk analysis, it leads to a better portfolio risk forecastability and thus to optimum allocation of resources to different hedge fund styles. The results also prove the efficacy of self-organized criticality and implied portfolio correlation as a tool for risk management and style selection for portfolios of hedge funds, being particularly effective during non-linear market crashes.

Securing decommissioning funds. Why organization matters?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tchapga, F.

2005-01-01

Full text: Securing decommissioning funds requires that the financial resources set aside for the purpose of decommissioning be managed prudently. Decommissioning of nuclear power plant is prescribed by National Atomic Laws or by other nuclear legislation. It is a mandatory operation. The operators of nuclear power plants set money aside for that purpose. This is known as 'Decommissioning reserve fund'. Decommissioning implies costs very distant in time. Thus, it is obvious, from an economic point of view, that the funds set aside should be managed. As decommissioning is mandatory, the funds accumulated should be secured. In others words, they should be available when needed. Availability of funds is influenced by endogenous and exogenous factors. Endogenous factors are a matter of design of the reserve funds. They include the management of the funds, its monitoring and control... Availability of funds is influenced by these factors, depending on the rules to which the behaviour of the manager of the funds is subjected. In contrast, exogenous factors deal with the energy context. These factors are mainly the electricity sector organisation and/or the overall economic situation. They are decisive factors of the economic performance of the reserve fund for a given design. Therefore, the requirement of availability of funds, when needed, is a matter of compatibility between the design of the decommissioning funds and the electricity context. Put differently, reserve fund's design need to be consistent with the electricity context's features in respect of the availability of funds. Current reserve funds were designed in a context of monopoly regime. In this context, availability of decommissioning funds was not questionable. At least, as far as the design of the reserve funds is concerned. This is because nuclear generator didn't confront any competition pressure. Electricity prices were set trough rate base mechanism, and all the business risks were borne by the

25 CFR 47.11 - Can these funds be used as matching funds for other Federal programs?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... EDUCATION UNIFORM DIRECT FUNDING AND SUPPORT FOR BUREAU-OPERATED SCHOOLS § 47.11 Can these funds be used as matching funds for other Federal programs? A Bureau-operated school may use funds that it receives under...

Public Funding of Political Parties

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ortuno-Ortin, Ignacio; Schultz, Christian

This paper concerns public funding of parties. Parteis receive public funds depending on their vote share. Funds finance electoral campaigns. Two cases are investigated. In the first, some voters are policy motivated and some are ?impressionable? ? their vote depends directly on campaign...... expenditures. In the second, campaigning is informative and all voters are policy motivated. Public funds increase policy convergence in both cases. The effect is larger, the more funding depends on vote shares. When campaigns are informative, there may be multiple euqilibria. Intuitively, a large party can...

Optimal distribution of science funding

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Ding-wei

2018-07-01

We propose a new model to investigate the theoretical implications of a novel funding system. We introduce new parameters to model the accumulated advantage. We assume that all scientists are equal and follow the same regulations. The model presents three distinct regimes. In regime (I), the fluidity of funding is significant. The funding distribution is continuous. The concentration of funding is effectively suppressed. In both regimes (II) and (III), a small group of scientists emerges as a circle of elites. Large funding is acquired by a small number of scientists.

Funding Infectious Disease Research: A Systematic Analysis of UK Research Investments by Funders 1997–2010

Science.gov (United States)

Fitchett, Joseph R.; Head, Michael G.; Cooke, Mary K.; Wurie, Fatima B.; Atun, Rifat

2014-01-01

Background Research investments are essential to address the burden of disease, however allocation of limited resources is poorly documented. We systematically reviewed the investments awarded by funding organisations to UK institutions and their global partners for infectious disease research. Methodology/Principal Findings Public and philanthropic investments for the period 1997 to 2010 were included. We categorised studies by infectious disease, cross-cutting theme, and by research and development value chain, reflecting the type of science. We identified 6165 funded studies, with a total research investment of UK £2.6 billion. Public organisations provided £1.4 billion (54.0%) of investments compared with £1.1 billion (42.4%) by philanthropic organisations. Global health studies represented an investment of £928 million (35.7%). The Wellcome Trust was the leading investor with £688 million (26.5%), closely followed by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) with £673 million (25.9%). Funding over time was volatile, ranging from ∼£40 million to ∼£160 million per year for philanthropic organisations and ∼£30 million to ∼£230 million for public funders. Conclusions/Significance Infectious disease research funding requires global coordination and strategic long-term vision. Our analysis demonstrates the diversity and inconsistent patterns in investment, with volatility in annual funding amounts and limited investment for product development and clinical trials. PMID:25162631

The effect of management team characteristics on performance and style extremity of mutual fund portfolios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liu Qiong

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Along with mutual funds’ scale and quantity expanding for our country, it is common for fund management companies hiring new managers or the original fund managers mobilizing from one to another. The high liquidity of fund managers makes different managers regroup to manage the funds that belong to the same fund management company in each fund year. The characteristics of these different management team will influence the fund performance, and also affect the earnings of the fund management company and portfolio investors. The purpose of this paper is as follows. First, evaluating the effect of management team characteristics on portfolio characteristics: risk, performance, and extremity. Second, testing the hypothesis that the ranking of mid-year performance have effect on investment style extremity and research what relationship exists between this phenomenon and management team characteristics in depth.Design/methodology/approach: On the analysis of the relationships between the management team characteristics and portfolio characteristics, a series of OLS regressions is run where the time series regression model (the factor model and cross-sectional regression are included based on using the STATA, EVIEWS and MATLAB. The validity and practicability of the model will be verified in the paper. All of the above are aimed at achieving portfolio optimization and realizing the maximization of the interests of fund management companies and investors.Findings: The main findings are as follows. Teams with more doctors or MBA (CPA and CFA hold more risky portfolios, while teams with long team tenure hold less. More members and large gender diversity have negative effect on performance, and the opposite is age diversity. Teams with more members and long tenure tend to hold less extreme style decisions, but age diversity is related to more. Besides, tournament hypothesis does exist in China investment funds industry especially when the

24 CFR 1000.122 - May NAHASDA grant funds be used as matching funds to obtain and leverage funding, including any...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... considered an affordable housing activity? 1000.122 Section 1000.122 Housing and Urban Development... Housing Activities § 1000.122 May NAHASDA grant funds be used as matching funds to obtain and leverage...

Truebounded, Overbounded, or Underbounded? Scientists’ Personal Publication Lists versus Lists Generated through Bibliographic Information Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Isabelle Dorsch

2018-02-01

Full Text Available A truebounded publication list of a scientific author consists of exactly all publications that meet two criteria: (1 they are formally published (e.g., journal article or proceeding paper; (2 they have scientific, scholarly, or academic content. A publication list is overbounded if it includes documents which do not meet the two criteria (such as novels; a publication list is underbounded if it is incomplete. Are authors’ personal publication lists, found on their personal sites on the Internet or in institutional repositories, truebounded, overbounded, or underbounded? And are the respective publication lists generated through bibliographic information services truebounded, overbounded, or underbounded? As case studies, publications of nine International Society of Scientometrics and Informetrics (ISSI Committee members (published between 2007 and 2016 were collected to create preferably complete personal publication lists according to the two criteria. We connect the “relative visibility of an author” with the concepts of truebounded, overbounded, and underbounded publication lists. The authors’ relative visibility values were determined for the information services Web of Science (WoS, Scopus, and Google Scholar and compared to the relative visibility of the authors’ personal publication lists. All results of the bibliographic information services are underbounded. Relative visibility is highest in Google Scholar, followed by Scopus and WoS.

Potentially inappropriate medication in the elderly in Germany: an economic appraisal of the PRISCUS list.

Science.gov (United States)

Pohl-Dernick, Katharina; Meier, Florian; Maas, Renke; Schöffski, Oliver; Emmert, Martin

2016-04-01

Several lists of potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) for elderly patients have been developed worldwide in recent years. Those lists intend to reduce prescriptions of drugs that carry an unnecessarily high risk of adverse drug events in elderly patients. In 2010, an expert panel published the PRISCUS list for the German drug market. This study calculates the amount of drug reimbursement for PIM in Germany and potential cost effects from the perspective of statutory health insurance when these are replaced by the substitutes recommended by the PRISCUS list. Register-based data for the 30 top-selling drugs on the PRISCUS list in 2009 for patients greater than or equal to 65 years of age were provided by the Scientific Institute of the German Local Health Care Fund. We calculated the percentage of sales and defined daily doses for patients greater than or equal to 65 years of age compared with the total statutory health insurance population. Reimbursement costs for the recommended substitutions were estimated by considering different scenarios. In 2009, drug reimbursement for the 30 top-selling PIM prescribed to patients greater than or equal to 65 years of age were calculated to be €305.7 million. Prescribing the recommended substitution medication instead of PIM would lead to an increased total reimbursement cost for the German health care system ranging between from €325.9 million to €810.0 million. The results show that the substitution of PIM by medication deemed to be more appropriate for the elderly comes along with additional costs. Consequently, there is no short-term incentive for doing so from a payer perspective. Future studies have to consider the long-term effects and other sectors.

Methodology briefing students in the safety on physical education in the gym

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. N. Mukhamediarov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose : to determine the effective components of the methodology of coaching students on safety on physical education in the gym. Material : in the experiment involved 90 students aged 17-18 years. Results : the method of forming responsible attitude to the basics of safety during physical training in the gym. Developed special funds: lectures, seminars, analysis of articles, diagnostic interviews, questionnaires, analysis of log data of attendance, log injuries. The criteria of formation responsible attitude to physical training. The results of the implementation methodology. Conclusions : proposed method recommend to instruct students on safety. Use the means of forming a responsible attitude to safety during physical training in the gym that will help reduce injuries and improve quality of the physical training at the university.

How often does the operating list follow the planned order? An analysis of elective maxillofacial operating lists.

Science.gov (United States)

Islam, Shofiq; Taylor, Christopher J; Ahmed, Siddiq; Ormiston, Ian W; Hayter, Jonathan P

2015-12-01

The authors explored consistency of the observed running order in operating sequence compared with prior scheduled listing. We analysed potential variables felt to be predictive in the chances of a patient having their procedure as previously scheduled. Data were retrospectively collected for a consecutive group of patients who underwent elective maxillofacial procedures over a four week period. The consistency of scheduled and observed running order was documented. We considered four independent variables (original list position, day of week, morning or afternoon list, seniority of surgeon) and analysed their relationship to the probability of a patient undergoing their operation as per listing. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine significant associations between predictor variables with an altered list order. Data were available for 35 lists (n = 133). 49% of lists were found to run according to prior given order, the remainder subject to some alteration. Logistic regression analysis showed a statistically significant association between original scheduled position and day of week, with list position consistency. Patients listed first were twelve times more likely to have their operation as listed compared to those placed fourth (OR 12.7, 95% CI 3.7-43, p lists at the start of a week were subject to less alteration (p lists showed some alteration to the previously printed order. It appears that being first on an elective list offers the greatest guarantee that a patient will have their operation as per prior schedule. It may be reasonable for clinicians to be mindful of potential operating list alterations when preparing their patients for elective surgery. Copyright © 2014 Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (Scottish charity number SC005317) and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

INDEXING AND INDEX FUNDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

HAKAN SARITAŞ

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Proponents of the efficient market hypothesis believe that active portfolio management is largely wasted effort and unlikely to justify the expenses incurred. Therefore, they advocate a passive investment strategy that makes no attempt to outsmart the market. One common strategy for passive management is indexing where a fund is designed to replicate the performance of a broad-based index of stocks and bonds. Traditionally, indexing was used by institutional investors, but today, the use of index funds proliferated among individual investors. Over the years, both international and domestic index funds have disproportionately outperformed the market more than the actively managed funds have.

The risk-adjusted vision beyond casemix (DRG) funding in Australia. International lessons in high complexity and capitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Antioch, Kathryn M; Walsh, Michael K

2004-06-01

Hospitals throughout the world using funding based on diagnosis-related groups (DRG) have incurred substantial budgetary deficits, despite high efficiency. We identify the limitations of DRG funding that lack risk (severity) adjustment for State-wide referral services. Methods to risk adjust DRGs are instructive. The average price in casemix funding in the Australian State of Victoria is policy based, not benchmarked. Average cost weights are too low for high-complexity DRGs relating to State-wide referral services such as heart and lung transplantation and trauma. Risk-adjusted specified grants (RASG) are required for five high-complexity respiratory, cardiology and stroke DRGs incurring annual deficits of $3.6 million due to high casemix complexity and government under-funding despite high efficiency. Five stepwise linear regressions for each DRG excluded non-significant variables and assessed heteroskedasticity and multicollinearlity. Cost per patient was the dependent variable. Significant independent variables were age, length-of-stay outliers, number of disease types, diagnoses, procedures and emergency status. Diagnosis and procedure severity markers were identified. The methodology and the work of the State-wide Risk Adjustment Working Group can facilitate risk adjustment of DRGs State-wide and for Treasury negotiations for expenditure growth. The Alfred Hospital previously negotiated RASG of $14 million over 5 years for three trauma and chronic DRGs. Some chronic diseases require risk-adjusted capitation funding models for Australian Health Maintenance Organizations as an alternative to casemix funding. The use of Diagnostic Cost Groups can facilitate State and Federal government reform via new population-based risk adjusted funding models that measure health need.

12 CFR 615.5010 - Funding Corporation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Funding Corporation. 615.5010 Section 615.5010... POLICIES AND OPERATIONS, AND FUNDING OPERATIONS Funding § 615.5010 Funding Corporation. (a) The Funding Corporation shall issue, market, and handle the obligations of the banks issued under section 4.2(b) through...

EU-funded initiatives for real world evidence: descriptive analysis of their characteristics and relevance for regulatory decision-making.

Science.gov (United States)

Plueschke, Kelly; McGettigan, Patricia; Pacurariu, Alexandra; Kurz, Xavier; Cave, Alison

2018-06-14

A review of European Union (EU)-funded initiatives linked to 'Real World Evidence' (RWE) was performed to determine whether their outputs could be used for the generation of real-world data able to support the European Medicines Agency (EMA)'s regulatory decision-making on medicines. The initiatives were identified from publicly available websites. Their topics were categorised into five areas: 'Data source', 'Methodology', 'Governance model', 'Analytical model' and 'Infrastructure'. To assess their immediate relevance for medicines evaluation, their therapeutic areas were compared with the products recommended for EU approval in 2016 and those included in the EMA pharmaceutical business pipeline. Of 171 originally identified EU-funded initiatives, 65 were selected based on their primary and secondary objectives (35 'Data source' initiatives, 15 'Methodology', 10 'Governance model', 17 'Analytical model' and 25 'Infrastructure'). These 65 initiatives received over 734 million Euros of public funding. At the time of evaluation, the published outputs of the 40 completed initiatives did not always match their original objectives. Overall, public information was limited, data access was not explicit and their sustainability was unclear. The topics matched 8 of 14 therapeutic areas of the products recommended for approval in 2016 and 8 of 15 therapeutic areas in the 2017-2019 pharmaceutical business pipeline. Haematology, gastroenterology or cardiovascular systems were poorly represented. This landscape of EU-funded initiatives linked to RWE which started before 31 December 2016 highlighted that the immediate utilisation of their outputs to support regulatory decision-making is limited, often due to insufficient available information and to discrepancies between outputs and objectives. Furthermore, the restricted sustainability of the initiatives impacts on their downstream utility. Multiple projects focussing on the same therapeutic areas increase the likelihood of

Lists of semi-dwarf cereal stocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-01-01

The lists are prepared in relation to the Co-ordinated Research Programme. At the first Research Co-ordination Meeting on evaluation of cereal semi-dwarf mutants for cross breeding, March 1981, programme participants were requested to list semi-dwarf mutants available at their institutes including also non-induced semi-dwarf stocks being used in cross-breeding programme for short stature. List-I is prepared from such lists provided by programme participants. Further it was requested to name breeders and institutes providing characteristics of the listed semi-dwarf stocks. List-II gives that information. In the List-I: Parents of semi-dwarf stocks derived from cross breeding, are shown in brackets. In column ''Culm length'', figures are in cm and those of parent cultivars are shown in brackets

Patient organizations' funding from pharmaceutical companies: is disclosure clear, complete and accessible to the public? An Italian survey.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cinzia Colombo

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Many patients' and consumers' organizations accept drug industry funding to support their activities. As drug companies and patient groups move closer, disclosure become essential for transparency, and the internet could be a useful means of making sponsorship information accessible to the public. This survey aims to assess the transparency of a large group of Italian patient and consumer groups and a group of pharmaceutical companies, focusing on their websites. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Patient and consumer groups were selected from those stated to be sponsored by a group of pharmaceutical companies on their websites. The websites were examined using two forms with principal (name of drug companies providing funds, amount of funding and secondary indicators of transparency (section where sponsors are disclosed, update of sponsorship. Principal indicators were applied independently by two reviewers to the patient and consumer groups' websites. Discordances were solved by discussion. One hundred fifty-seven Italian patient and consumer groups and 17 drug companies were considered. Thirteen drug companies (76% named at least one group funded, on their Italian websites. Of these, four (31% indicated the activities sponsored and two (15% the amount of funding. Of the 157 patient and consumer groups, 46 (29% named at least one pharmaceutical company as providing funds. Three (6% reported the amount of funding, 25 (54% the activities funded, none the proportion of income derived from drug companies. Among the groups naming pharmaceutical company sponsors, 15 (33% declared them in a dedicated section, five (11% on the home page, the others in the financial report or other sections. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Disclosure of funds is scarce on Italian patient and consumer groups' websites. The levels of transparency need to be improved. Disclosure of patient and consumer groups provided with funds is frequent on Italian pharmaceutical

List manipulation in Turbo Prolog

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.Cotelea

1995-06-01

Full Text Available The present paper is concerned with list processing in Turbo Prolog language. It doesn't claim to be an exhaustive description of operations which can be performed upon lists. Nevertheless adduced programs are most representative, more or less known to specialists in logic programming domain. By means of examples are explained the list manipulation techniques, use of recursion, declarative comparison of predicates, analysis and fixation of acceptable prototypes and some problems of predicates' inconsistency. Index terms. Prolog, list, recursion.

Risk Management Framework for Hedge Funds: Role of Funding and Redemption Options on Leverage

OpenAIRE

Dai, John; Sundaresan, Suresh

2009-01-01

We develop a model of hedge fund returns, which reflect the contractual relationships between a hedge fund, its investors and its prime brokers. These relationships are modelled as short option positions held by the hedge fund, wherein the “funding option” reflects the short option position with prime brokers and the “redemption option” reflects the short option position with the investors. Given an alpha producing human capital, the hedge fund’s ability to deploy leverage to magnify its alph...

Capital structure in LNG infrastructures and gas pipelines projects: Empirical evidences and methodological issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pierru, Axel; Roussanaly, Simon; Sabathier, Jérôme

2013-01-01

This paper provides new empirical insights on the capital structure of project-financed LNG infrastructures and gas pipeline projects, by using data relating to projects whose financial close occurred between June 2004 and March 2011. Most results are consistent with the basic view of risk-averse funds suppliers. Especially, the projects located in risky countries and larger projects tend to exhibit lower debt ratios and less-concentrated equity ownerships. In addition, regasification projects appear to have a more diluted equity ownership. Methodological issues raised by the financing of these projects are also examined from a capital-budgeting perspective. In particular, the equity residual method, usually used by industrial practitioners to value these projects, should be adjusted. - Highlights: • This paper provides new empirical insights on the capital structure of project-financed LNG and gas pipeline infrastructures. • Most of our results are consistent with the basic view of risk-averse funds suppliers. • Projects located in risky countries exhibit lower debt ratios and less-concentrated equity ownerships. • Larger projects and regasification projects also have less concentrated equity ownerships. • From a capital-budgeting viewpoint, we examine methodological issues raised by the financing of these projects

Activity Fund Accounting.

Science.gov (United States)

Cool, David W.

1983-01-01

Addresses the need of school districts in many states to decide on an appropriate mingling of centralization and decentralization in the operation of activity funds. Argues for analysis of activity fund operation through a breakdown into such major components as policy, the accounting system, and reporting and auditing. (JBM)

Genome analysis methods - PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods | LSDB Archive [Life Science Database Archive metadata

Lifescience Database Archive (English)

Full Text Available List Contact us PGDBj Registered plant list, Marker list, QTL list, Plant DB link & Genome analysis methods Genome analysis... methods Data detail Data name Genome analysis methods DOI 10.18908/lsdba.nbdc01194-01-005 De...scription of data contents The current status and related information of the genomic analysis about each org...anism (March, 2014). In the case of organisms carried out genomic analysis, the d...e File name: pgdbj_dna_marker_linkage_map_genome_analysis_methods_en.zip File URL: ftp://ftp.biosciencedbc.j

Advanced piloted aircraft flight control system design methodology. Volume 1: Knowledge base

Science.gov (United States)

Mcruer, Duane T.; Myers, Thomas T.

1988-01-01

The development of a comprehensive and electric methodology for conceptual and preliminary design of flight control systems is presented and illustrated. The methodology is focused on the design stages starting with the layout of system requirements and ending when some viable competing system architectures (feedback control structures) are defined. The approach is centered on the human pilot and the aircraft as both the sources of, and the keys to the solution of, many flight control problems. The methodology relies heavily on computational procedures which are highly interactive with the design engineer. To maximize effectiveness, these techniques, as selected and modified to be used together in the methodology, form a cadre of computational tools specifically tailored for integrated flight control system preliminary design purposes. While theory and associated computational means are an important aspect of the design methodology, the lore, knowledge and experience elements, which guide and govern applications are critical features. This material is presented as summary tables, outlines, recipes, empirical data, lists, etc., which encapsulate a great deal of expert knowledge. Much of this is presented in topical knowledge summaries which are attached as Supplements. The composite of the supplements and the main body elements constitutes a first cut at a a Mark 1 Knowledge Base for manned-aircraft flight control.

NIH Common Fund - Disruptive Proteomics Technologies - Challenges and Opportunities | Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research

Science.gov (United States)

This Request for Information (RFI) is directed toward determining how best to accelerate research in disruptive proteomics technologies. The Disruptive Proteomics Technologies (DPT) Working Group of the NIH Common Fund wishes to identify gaps and opportunities in current technologies and methodologies related to proteome-wide measurements.  For the purposes of this RFI, “disruptive” is defined as very rapid, very significant gains, similar to the "disruptive" technology development that occurred in DNA sequencing technology.

Western Michigan University: Quasi-Revolving Fund. Green Revolving Funds in Action: Case Study Series

Science.gov (United States)

Billingsley, Christina

2011-01-01

Western Michigan University has designed an innovative "Quasi-Revolving Fund" model that demonstrates the institution's full commitment to incorporating sustainability into campus operations. The Quasi-Revolving Fund recaptures money from cost-savings, similar to a typical green revolving fund, but it also sources capital from the…

Title III List of Lists -- Data Tool

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This list was prepared to help firms handling chemicals determine whether they need to submit reports under sections 302, 304, or 313 of the Emergency Planning and...

Financing Decisions of Companies Listed in the Different Segments of Corporate Governance of BM&FBovespa According to Pecking Order Theory

OpenAIRE

Tani, Bruna Bagalhi; Albanez, Tatiana

2016-01-01

Among the various theories about capital structure is Pecking Order theory, which establishes a hierarchy of preferences for sources of funding due to the existence of information asymmetry. In this paper, we seek to verify if this theory applies to the financing decisions of Brazilian companies that are listed in the different segments of corporate governance of BMF&Bovespa, analyzing whether, in the 2010-2014 period, a higher level of corporate governance implies lower adherence to this...

Financing Decisions of Companies Listed in the Different Segments of Corporate Governance of BM&FBovespa According to Pecking Order Theory

OpenAIRE

Tani, Bruna Bagalhi; Albanez, Tatiana

2016-01-01

Among the various theories about capital structure is Pecking Order theory, which establishes a hierarchy of preferences for sources of funding due to the existence of information asymmetry. In this paper, we seek to verify if this theory applies to the financing decisions of Brazilian companies that are listed in the different segments of corporate governance of BMF&Bovespa, analyzing whether, in the 2010-2014 period, a higher level of corporate governance implies lower adherence to this the...

NREL Funding Reductions

Science.gov (United States)

Energy Laboratory (NREL) announced today that it will further reduce its work force as a result of million. Recent indications, however, are that NREL's funding will be lowered by an additional $27 million employees. NREL Director Charles F. Gay said the additional funding cuts are a result of lower than expected

Managerial multitasking in the mutual fund industry

OpenAIRE

Agarwal, Vikas; Ma, Linlin; Mullally, Kevin

2015-01-01

We examine the determinants and consequences of mutual fund managers simultaneously managing multiple funds. Well-performing managers multitask by taking over poorly performing funds or launching new funds. Subsequent to multitasking, funds run by managers prior to multitasking (i.e., incumbent funds) experience performance deterioration while the performance of the acquired funds improves. Multitasking increases the assets of fund companies but results in a wealth transfer from shareholders ...

25 CFR 170.614 - Can a tribe receive funds before BIA publishes the notice of funding availability?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Can a tribe receive funds before BIA publishes the notice... Contracts and Agreements Under Isdeaa § 170.614 Can a tribe receive funds before BIA publishes the notice of funding availability? A tribe can receive funds before BIA publishes the notice of funding availability...

Abstract analysis method facilitates filtering low-methodological quality and high-bias risk systematic reviews on psoriasis interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-García, Francisco; Ruano, Juan; Aguilar-Luque, Macarena; Alcalde-Mellado, Patricia; Gay-Mimbrera, Jesús; Hernández-Romero, José Luis; Sanz-Cabanillas, Juan Luis; Maestre-López, Beatriz; González-Padilla, Marcelino; Carmona-Fernández, Pedro J; García-Nieto, Antonio Vélez; Isla-Tejera, Beatriz

2017-12-29

Article summaries' information and structure may influence researchers/clinicians' decisions to conduct deeper full-text analyses. Specifically, abstracts of systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MA) should provide structured summaries for quick assessment. This study explored a method for determining the methodological quality and bias risk of full-text reviews using abstract information alone. Systematic literature searches for SRs and/or MA about psoriasis were undertaken on MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane database. For each review, quality, abstract-reporting completeness, full-text methodological quality, and bias risk were evaluated using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses for abstracts (PRISMA-A), Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR), and ROBIS tools, respectively. Article-, author-, and journal-derived metadata were systematically extracted from eligible studies using a piloted template, and explanatory variables concerning abstract-reporting quality were assessed using univariate and multivariate-regression models. Two classification models concerning SRs' methodological quality and bias risk were developed based on per-item and total PRISMA-A scores and decision-tree algorithms. This work was supported, in part, by project ICI1400136 (JR). No funding was received from any pharmaceutical company. This study analysed 139 SRs on psoriasis interventions. On average, they featured 56.7% of PRISMA-A items. The mean total PRISMA-A score was significantly higher for high-methodological-quality SRs than for moderate- and low-methodological-quality reviews. SRs with low-bias risk showed higher total PRISMA-A values than reviews with high-bias risk. In the final model, only 'authors per review > 6' (OR: 1.098; 95%CI: 1.012-1.194), 'academic source of funding' (OR: 3.630; 95%CI: 1.788-7.542), and 'PRISMA-endorsed journal' (OR: 4.370; 95%CI: 1.785-10.98) predicted PRISMA-A variability. Reviews with a

Determining Factors for Delisting of Companies Listed on BM&FBOVESPA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia Maria Bortolon

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Traditionally, the capital market has attracted the interest of scholars and researchers, motivated to understand the process of going public and trading securities of companies on a stock exchange. In this research context, an aspect had been neglected, something which indi cates a gap in the body of knowledge about the capital market and corporate governance: delisting of companies. We aim to identify the determining factors for delisting companies from the Commodity & Futures Exchange BOVESPA (BM&FBOVESPA. Methodologically, this research has related a set of variables collected from secondary data available on the database of the Securities Commission of Brazil (CVM, BM&FBOVESPA, and Economatica. By analyzing 227 listing cancellations, between 2001 and 2012, the results indicate that de listing of companies from BM&FBOVESPA is determined by the following factors: (i greater concentration of ownership and control; (ii lower free float; (iii lower liquidity of shares; (iv greater availability of cash; and (v larger size. The fact that the controlling shareholder is a public or private company determines significant differences in the decision to delist. While in the first case cash availability is the most important factor, in the second liquidity is the main determining factor for delisting. From the academic viewpoint, this research extends the studies on delisting, still incipient in the Brazilian capital market context. For the capital market, identifying the characteristics of companies prone to cancel listing may prevent investors concerned about inherent risks at the time of acquiring shares by the controlling group interested in delisting.

Fair fund distribution for a municipal incinerator using GIS-based fuzzy analytic hierarchy process.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Ni-Bin; Chang, Ying-Hsi; Chen, Ho-Wen

2009-01-01

Burning municipal solid waste (MSW) can generate energy and reduce the waste volume, which delivers benefits to society through resources conservation. But current practices by society are not sustainable because the associated environmental impacts of waste incineration on urbanized regions have been a long-standing concern in local communities. Public reluctance with regard to accepting the incinerators as typical utilities often results in an intensive debate concerning how much welfare is lost for those residents living in the vicinity of those incinerators. As the measure of welfare change with respect to environmental quality constraints nearby these incinerators remains critical, new arguments related to how to allocate the fair fund among affected communities became a focal point in environmental management. Given the fact that most County fair fund rules allow a great deal of flexibility for redistribution, little is known about what type of methodology may be a good fit to determine the distribution of such a fair fund under uncertainty. This paper purports to demonstrate a system-based approach that helps any fair fund distribution, which is made with respect to residents' possible claim for fair damages due to the installation of a new incinerator. Holding a case study using integrated geographic information system (GIS) and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) for finding out the most appropriate distribution strategy between two neighboring towns in Taipei County, Taiwan demonstrates the application potential. Participants in determining the use of a fair fund also follow a highly democratic procedure where all stakeholders involved eventually express a high level of satisfaction with the results facilitating the final decision making process. It ensures that plans for the distribution of such a fair fund were carefully thought out and justified with a multi-faceted nature that covers political, socio-economic, technical, environmental, public

Funding Public Higher Education in Colorado: How Has the College Opportunity Funding Model Impacted Educational Funding and Performance?

Science.gov (United States)

Middlemist, George Edward

2017-01-01

During the 2004 legislative session, the Colorado General Assembly enacted Senate Bill 189 (SB189), which established the first system of college vouchers in the United States. The supporters of SB189 hoped that the voucher system, called the College Opportunity Fund (COF), would: 1) stabilize the flow of state funding to higher education; 2)…

Development of a Tailored Methodology and Forensic Toolkit for Industrial Control Systems Incident Response

Science.gov (United States)

2014-06-01

for industrial control systems ,” in Proceedings of the VDE Kongress, 2004. [15] K. Stouffer et al., “Special publication 800-82: Guide to industrial...TAILORED METHODOLOGY AND FORENSIC TOOLKIT FOR INDUSTRIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS INCIDENT RESPONSE by Nicholas B. Carr June 2014 Thesis Co...CONTROL SYSTEMS INCIDENT RESPONSE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6. AUTHOR(S) Nicholas B. Carr 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

2004-01-01

The Governing Board of the Pension Fund held its one-hundred-and-twenty-second meeting on 3 February 2004. Opening the meeting, the Chairman, J. Bezemer, welcomed W. Zapf's alternate T. Lagrange, A. Naudi's alternate P. Geeraert, and M. Goossens' alternate M. Vitasse, who were attending the Governing Board for the first time. The Governing Board heard a report from its Chairman on the meeting of the CERN Council on 19 December 2003, at which, under Pension Fund matters, the Council had approved a pensions adjustment of 0.7%. The Governing Board then heard a report on the main elements of the Investment Committee's meeting on 3 December 2003. During a presentation, Expert Timing System (Madrid) and the Compagnie de Trésorerie Benjamin de Rothschild (Geneva) had proposed a bond portfolio investment following the same quantitative investment principles as the equities portfolio they already managed for the Fund. After some deliberation, the Investment Committee had decided, on that basis, to award t...

National List of Beaches

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — EPA has published a list of coastal recreation waters adjacent to beaches (or similar points of access) used by the public in the U.S. The list, required by the...

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF TURKISH TYPE A MUTUAL FUNDS AND PENSION STOCK FUNDS BY USING TOPSIS METHOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nesrin ALPTEKIN

2009-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper, it is evaluated performance of Turkish Type A mutual funds and pension stock funds by using TOPSIS method which is a multicriteria decision making approach. Both of these funds compose of stocks in their portfolios, so it can be enabled to compare each other. Generally, mutual or pension funds are evaluated according to their risk and return. At this point, it is used traditional performance measurement techniques of funds like Sharpe ratio, Sortino ratio, Treynor index and Jensen’s alpha. TOPSIS method takes into consideration all of these fund performance measurement techniques and provides more reasonable performance measurement.

Funding Decommissioning - UK Experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacKerron, Gordon

2006-01-01

'Funding' started with CEGB and SSEB (state-owned electric utilities) in 1976 using the internal un-segregated fund route (i.e unfunded). This continued until privatisation of electricity industry (excluding nuclear) in 1990. Assets bought with the internal un-segregated fund were mostly transferred into non-nuclear private utilities. New state-owned Nuclear Electric (England and Wales) was given a 'Fossil Fuel Levy', a consumer charge of 10% on retail bills, amounting to c. BP 1 bn. annually. This allowed Nuclear Electric to trade legally (A reserve of BP 2.5 bn. was available from Government if company ran out of money). By 1996 the newer nuclear stations (AGRS plus PWR) were privatised as British Energy. British Energy started an external segregated fund, the Nuclear Decommissioning Fund, with a starting endowment of c. BP 225 m. - and BE made annual contributions of British Pound 16 m. into the Fund. Assumptions were that BE had 70 to accumulate cash and could get a 3.5% average annual real return. Older stations (Magnox) were left in private sector and went to BNFL in 1997. Magnox inherited the surplus cash in BE - mostly unspent Fossil Fuel Levy receipts - of c. BP 2.6 bn. Government gave an 'Undertaking' to pay BP 3.8 bn. (escalating at 4.5% real annually) for Magnox liabilities, should Magnox Electric run out of cash. BNFL inherited the BP 2.6 bn. and by 2000 had a 'Nuclear Liabilities Investment Portfolio' of c. BP 4 bn. This was a quasi-segregated internal fund for liabilities in general. [Note: overall UK nuclear liabilities in civilian sector were running at c. BP 48 bn. by now]. BE started profitable and paid BP 100 m. annually in dividends to private investors for several years. BE ran into severe financial problems after 2001 and Government organised restructuring aid, now approved by European Commission. Terms include: - BE now to contribute BP 20 m. a year into an expanded Nuclear Liabilities Fund; - A bond issue of BP 275 m. to go to Fund; - 65

Application and licensing requirements of the Framatome ANP RLBLOCA methodology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, R.P.; Dunn, B.M.

2004-01-01

fission product barrier. 4. A structure, system, or component which operating experience or probabilistic risk assessment has shown to be significant to public health and safety. The application of safety analysis methodologies has evolved to become the primary elements in support of a plant's licensing basis. In general, the licensing basis of every plant regulated by the NRC is the evolution of each plant's individual communication with the NRC. A utility's use of a safety analysis methodology may have unique elements to provide the desired licensing basis support; hence, a generic safety analysis methodology must maintain a certain amount of flexibility in anticipation of such plant-specific needs. The second component related to plant-specific RLBLOCA analyses stems from the NRC's generic review of the methodology. A key component of this review was focused on quantifying the methodology's broader range-of-applicability. The broader range-of-applicability includes the quantification of the range-of-applicability of individual models and correlations in terms of limits on parameters considered important in specific models. The broader range-of-applicability also includes qualitative limits based on unquantifiable uncertainties associated with the extension of both test facility and computer code numerical methods to the full-scale nuclear power plant of interest. These uncertainties include those associated with test facility scale effects, computer code nodalization capabilities, and code model compensating errors. The NRC's review culminated with the release of a Safety Evaluation Report (SER) documenting the NRC's conclusions about the suitability of FANP's RLBLOCA methodology. The contents of the SER include discussions on the NRC's approach to the review, review activities, acceptance rationale for key constituents of the methodology, and an itemized list of additional requirements and restrictions. This list, also referred to as the SER restrictions, reconfirms

The Dual Promise of Green Jobs: A Qualitative Study of Federally Funded Energy Training Programmes in the USA

Science.gov (United States)

Scully-Russ, Ellen

2013-01-01

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to review the policy literature on green jobs and green jobs training in the USA and to present findings of a qualitative study on the start-up of two Energy Training Partnerships (ETP) funded by the US Department of Labour to train workers for green jobs. Design/methodology/approach: The paper includes a review…

List-mode-based reconstruction for respiratory motion correction in PET using non-rigid body transformations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lamare, F; Carbayo, M J Ledesma; Cresson, T; Kontaxakis, G; Santos, A; Rest, C Cheze Le; Reader, A J; Visvikis, D

2007-01-01

Respiratory motion in emission tomography leads to reduced image quality. Developed correction methodology has been concentrating on the use of respiratory synchronized acquisitions leading to gated frames. Such frames, however, are of low signal-to-noise ratio as a result of containing reduced statistics. In this work, we describe the implementation of an elastic transformation within a list-mode-based reconstruction for the correction of respiratory motion over the thorax, allowing the use of all data available throughout a respiratory motion average acquisition. The developed algorithm was evaluated using datasets of the NCAT phantom generated at different points throughout the respiratory cycle. List-mode-data-based PET-simulated frames were subsequently produced by combining the NCAT datasets with Monte Carlo simulation. A non-rigid registration algorithm based on B-spline basis functions was employed to derive transformation parameters accounting for the respiratory motion using the NCAT dynamic CT images. The displacement matrices derived were subsequently applied during the image reconstruction of the original emission list mode data. Two different implementations for the incorporation of the elastic transformations within the one-pass list mode EM (OPL-EM) algorithm were developed and evaluated. The corrected images were compared with those produced using an affine transformation of list mode data prior to reconstruction, as well as with uncorrected respiratory motion average images. Results demonstrate that although both correction techniques considered lead to significant improvements in accounting for respiratory motion artefacts in the lung fields, the elastic-transformation-based correction leads to a more uniform improvement across the lungs for different lesion sizes and locations

Investible benchmarks & hedge fund liquidity

OpenAIRE

Freed, Marc S; McMillan, Ben

2011-01-01

A lack of commonly accepted benchmarks for hedge fund performance has permitted hedge fund managers to attribute to skill returns that may actually accrue from market risk factors and illiquidity. Recent innovations in hedge fund replication permits us to estimate the extent of this misattribution. Using an option-based model, we find evidence that the value of liquidity options that investors implicitly grant managers when they invest may account for part or even all hedge fund returns. C...

List identifies threatened ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Showstack, Randy

2012-09-01

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced on 9 September that it will develop a new Red List of Ecosystems that will identify which ecosystems are vulnerable or endangered. The list, which is modeled on the group's Red List of Threatened Species™, could help to guide conservation activities and influence policy processes such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, according to the group. “We will assess the status of marine, terrestrial, freshwater, and subterranean ecosystems at local, regional, and global levels,” stated Jon Paul Rodriguez, leader of IUCN's Ecosystems Red List Thematic Group. “The assessment can then form the basis for concerted implementation action so that we can manage them sustainably if their risk of collapse is low or restore them if they are threatened and then monitor their recovery.”

Methodology for interpretation of fissile mass flow measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

March-Leuba, J.; Mattingly, J.K.; Mullens, J.A.

1997-01-01

This paper describes a non-intrusive measurement technique to monitor the mass flow rate of fissile material in gaseous or liquid streams. This fissile mass flow monitoring system determines the fissile mass flow rate by relying on two independent measurements: (1) a time delay along a given length of pipe, which is inversely proportional to the fissile material flow velocity, and (2) an amplitude measurement, which is proportional to the fissile concentration (e.g., grams of 235 U per length of pipe). The development of this flow monitor was first funded by DOE/NE in September 95, and initial experimental demonstration by ORNL was described in the 37th INMM meeting held in July 1996. This methodology was chosen by DOE/NE for implementation in November 1996; it has been implemented in hardware/software and is ready for installation. This paper describes the methodology used to interpret the data measured by the fissile mass flow monitoring system and the models used to simulate the transport of fission fragments from the source location to the detectors

The STAPL pList

KAUST Repository

Tanase, Gabriel; Xu, Xiabing; Buss, Antal; Harshvardhan,; Papadopoulos, Ioannis; Pearce, Olga; Smith, Timmie; Thomas, Nathan; Bianco, Mauro; Amato, Nancy M.; Rauchwerger, Lawrence

2010-01-01

We present the design and implementation of the stapl pList, a parallel container that has the properties of a sequential list, but allows for scalable concurrent access when used in a parallel program. The Standard Template Adaptive Parallel

Mutual aid fund commission

CERN Multimedia

Staff Association

2011-01-01

The composition of the Board of the Mutual Aid Fund for 2011 is as follows: President: Pascal Droux Vice-president: Connie Potter Treasurer: Louis Pereira Deputy treasurer: Barbara Brugger Secretary: Sonia Casenove Deputy secretary: Isabelle Mardirossian Members: Christopher David Thomas   Jean-Claude Vialis (GAC member)   Marie-Luce Falipou   Gunilla Santiard (Jean-Claude Vialis’s alternate) The role of the Fund is to provide financial help to members of personnel and beneficiaries of the Pension Fund who are in need of exceptional financial assistance. All requests are treated in the strictest confidence. Should you wish to apply for aid from the Fund, kindly contact any member of the Board as given above or Social Services, tel.74479 – 73867.

Funding Ohio Community Colleges: An Analysis of the Performance Funding Model

Science.gov (United States)

Krueger, Cynthia A.

2013-01-01

This study examined Ohio's community college performance funding model that is based on seven student success metrics. A percentage of the regular state subsidy is withheld from institutions; funding is earned back based on the three-year average of success points achieved in comparison to other community colleges in the state. Analysis of…

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY FOR THE NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brenchley, D. L.; Soldat, J. K.; McNeese, J. A.; Watson, E. C.

1977-07-01

This report describes the methodology for determining where environmental control technology is required for the nuclear fuel cycle. The methodology addresses routine emission of chemical and radioactive effluents, and applies to mining, milling, conversion, enrichment, fuel fabrication, reactors (LWR and BWR) and fuel reprocessing. Chemical and radioactive effluents are evaluated independently. Radioactive effluents are evaluated on the basis of maximum exposed individual dose and population dose calculations for a 1-year emission period and a 50-year commitment. Sources of radionuclides for each facility are then listed according to their relative contribution to the total calculated dose. Effluent, ambient and toxicology standards are used to evaluate the effect of chemical effluents. First, each chemical and source configuration is determined. Sources are tagged if they exceed existirrg standards. The combined effect of all chemicals is assessed for each facility. If the additive effects are unacceptable, then additional control technology is recommended. Finally, sources and their chemicals at each facility are ranked according to their relative contribution to the ambient pollution level. This ranking identifies those sources most in need of environmental control.

Bitter Sweetness For Fund Managers

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

2007-01-01

An influx of small investors eager to earn money puts heavy pressure on fund managers Fund managers control millions in capital and call the shots in the stock market. They can make a fortune from a single judgment. The debut of fund management operation

CERN Pension Fund move

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2007-01-01

The CERN Pension Fund has moved to new offices on the 5th floor of Building 5. The Benefits Service of the Fund is now located in Offices 5-5-017 - 5-5-021 - 5-5-023. We remind you that the office hours are: Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday from 10 am to 12 am and from 3 pm to 5 pm. The Fund would like to take this opportunity to warmly thank all the persons involved in the relocation.

Public and nonprofit funding for research on mental disorders in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Chevreul, Karine; McDaid, David; Farmer, Carrie M; Prigent, Amélie; Park, A-La; Leboyer, Marion; Kupfer, David J; Durand-Zaleski, Isabelle

2012-07-01

To document the investments made in research on mental disorders by both government and nonprofit nongovernmental organizations in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. An exhaustive survey was conducted of primary sources of public and nonprofit organization funding for mental health research for the year 2007 in France and the United Kingdom and for fiscal year 2007-2008 in the United States, augmented with an examination of relevant Web sites and publications. In France, all universities and research institutions were identified using the Public Finance Act. In the United Kingdom, we scrutinized Web sites and hand searched annual reports and grant lists for the public sector and nonprofit charitable medical research awarding bodies. In the United States, we included the following sources: the National Institutes of Health, other administrative entities within the Department of Health and Human Services (eg, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the Department of Education, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, and the National Science Foundation and, for nonprofit funding, The Foundation Center. We included research on all mental disorders and substance-related disorders using the same keywords. We excluded research on mental retardation and dementia and on the promotion of mental well-being. We used the same algorithm in each country to obtain data for only mental health funding in situations in which funding had a broader scope. France spent $27.6 million (2%) of its health research budget on mental disorders, the United Kingdom spent $172.6 million (7%), and the United States spent $5.2 billion (16%). Nongovernmental funding ranged from 1% of total funding for mental health research in France and the United States to 14% in the United Kingdom. Funding for research on mental disorders accounts for low proportions of research budgets compared with funding levels for research on other major health problems, whereas

Testing effects in mixed- versus pure-list designs.

Science.gov (United States)

Rowland, Christopher A; Littrell-Baez, Megan K; Sensenig, Amanda E; DeLosh, Edward L

2014-08-01

In the present study, we investigated the role of list composition in the testing effect. Across three experiments, participants learned items through study and initial testing or study and restudy. List composition was manipulated, such that tested and restudied items appeared either intermixed in the same lists (mixed lists) or in separate lists (pure lists). In Experiment 1, half of the participants received mixed lists and half received pure lists. In Experiment 2, all participants were given both mixed and pure lists. Experiment 3 followed Erlebacher's (Psychological Bulletin, 84, 212-219, 1977) method, such that mixed lists, pure tested lists, and pure restudied lists were given to independent groups. Across all three experiments, the final recall results revealed significant testing effects for both mixed and pure lists, with no reliable difference in the magnitude of the testing advantage across list designs. This finding suggests that the testing effect is not subject to a key boundary condition-list design-that impacts other memory phenomena, including the generation effect.

Which health technologies should be funded? A prioritization framework based explicitly on value for money

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Golan Ofra

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Deciding which health technologies to fund involves confronting some of the most difficult choices in medicine. As for other countries, the Israeli health system is faced each year with having to make these difficult decisions. The Public National Advisory Committee, known as ‘the Basket Committee’, selects new technologies for the basic list of health care that all Israelis are entitled to access, known as the ‘health basket’. We introduce a framework for health technology prioritization based explicitly on value for money that enables the main variables considered by decision-makers to be explicitly included. Although the framework’s exposition is in terms of the Basket Committee selecting new technologies for Israel’s health basket, we believe that the framework would also work well for other countries. Methods Our proposed prioritization framework involves comparing four main variables for each technology: 1. Incremental benefits, including ‘equity benefits’, to Israel’s population; 2. Incremental total cost to Israel’s health system; 3. Quality of evidence; and 4. Any additional ‘X-factors’ not elsewhere included, such as strategic or legal factors, etc. Applying methodology from multi-criteria decision analysis, the multiple dimensions comprising the first variable are aggregated via a points system. Results The four variables are combined for each technology and compared across the technologies in the ‘Value for Money (VfM Chart’. The VfM Chart can be used to identify technologies that are good value for money, and, given a budget constraint, to select technologies that should be funded. This is demonstrated using 18 illustrative technologies. Conclusions The VfM Chart is an intuitively appealing decision-support tool for helping decision-makers to focus on the inherent tradeoffs involved in health technology prioritization. Such deliberations can be performed in a systematic and transparent

28 CFR 23.30 - Funding guidelines.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Funding guidelines. 23.30 Section 23.30 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE CRIMINAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMS OPERATING POLICIES § 23.30 Funding guidelines. The following funding guidelines shall apply to all Crime Control Act funded...

Decommissioning funding: ethics, implementation, uncertainties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

This status report on Decommissioning Funding: Ethics, Implementation, Uncertainties also draws on the experience of the NEA Working Party on Decommissioning and Dismantling (WPDD). The report offers, in a concise form, an overview of relevant considerations on decommissioning funding mechanisms with regard to ethics, implementation and uncertainties. Underlying ethical principles found in international agreements are identified, and factors influencing the accumulation and management of funds for decommissioning nuclear facilities are discussed together with the main sources of uncertainties of funding systems. (authors)

Open-end Investment Funds in Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bojan Morić Milovanović

2006-03-01

Full Text Available This work discusses investment funds in Croatia, with a particular emphasis on openend investment funds. After a short review of the development of the funds, the perception of the funds is analysed, as are the trends in total assets and in average yields. The degree of concentration of open-end investment funds is shown with statistical measures of concentration (the Gini Coefficient, the Lorenz Curve and concentration ratios. All these indicators show that the concentration is moderate to strong. The greatest yields are given by the equity funds, but these are also the most risky.

An Empirical Study on the Determinants of Management’s De cision for Reporting Long Term Non - Financial Assets at Fair Value in Companies Listed on Borsa Istanbul Equity Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hikmet Ulusan

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This study is to examine the determinants of management’s fair value choice decision for reporting long term non-financial assets in companies listed on “Borsa Istanbul Equity Market” whose financial statements have to be prepared under International Accounting Standards / Inte rnational Financial Reporting Standards and thus Turkey Accounting Standards / Turkey Financial Reporting Standards. In this study, Watts and Zimmerman’s Positive Accounting Theory methodology is adopted, and Mann -Whitney U test and logistic regression analysis have been used to analyze data. As a result of analysis, it has been identified that companies reporting property, plant and equipment at revalued amount are funded by more debtand to besmaller companies than companies reporting those assets at amortized historical cost. However, the results indicate that debt contracting, political cost and information asymmetry factors are not the determinants of management’s decision for reporting long term non-financial assets at fair value. The company size explains the management’s decision for reporting property, plant and equipment at revalued amount,but contrary to what is predicted, the evaluation method is chosen by small companies

12 CFR 619.9185 - Funding Corporation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Funding Corporation. 619.9185 Section 619.9185 Banks and Banking FARM CREDIT ADMINISTRATION FARM CREDIT SYSTEM DEFINITIONS § 619.9185 Funding Corporation. The term Funding Corporation refers to the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation...

RECONSTRUCTION OF PENSION FUND PERFORMANCE MODEL AS AN EFFORT TO WORTHY PENSION FUND GOVERNANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Apriyanto Gaguk

2017-08-01

Full Text Available This study aims to reconstruct the performance assessment model on Pension Fund by modifying Baldrige Assessment method that is adjusted to the conditions in Dana Pensiun A (Pension Fund A in order to realize Good Pension Fund Governance. This study design uses case study analysis. The research sites were conducted in Dana Pensiun A. The informants in the study included the employer, supervisory board, pension fund management, active and passive pension fund participant as well as financial services authority elements as the regulator. The result of this research is a construction of a comprehensive and profound retirement performance assessment model with attention to aspects of growth and fair distribution. The model includes the parameters of leadership, strategic planning, stakeholders focus, measurement, analysis, and knowledge management, workforce focus, standard operational procedure focus, result, just and fair distribution of wealth and power.

75 FR 81979 - Proposed Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for Social Innovation Fund 2011 Awards; Request for...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-29

... Social Innovation Fund 2011 Awards; Request for Feedback AGENCY: Corporation for National and Community... of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for Social Innovation Fund Awards. SUMMARY: The Corporation for... the 2011 Social Innovation Fund competition. This release will initiate a public input period that...

Development of an Improved Methodology to Assess Potential Unconventional Gas Resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salazar, Jesus; McVay, Duane A.; Lee, W. John

2010-01-01

Considering the important role played today by unconventional gas resources in North America and their enormous potential for the future around the world, it is vital to both policy makers and industry that the volumes of these resources and the impact of technology on these resources be assessed. To provide for optimal decision making regarding energy policy, research funding, and resource development, it is necessary to reliably quantify the uncertainty in these resource assessments. Since the 1970s, studies to assess potential unconventional gas resources have been conducted by various private and governmental agencies, the most rigorous of which was by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS employed a cell-based, probabilistic methodology which used analytical equations to calculate distributions of the resources assessed. USGS assessments have generally produced distributions for potential unconventional gas resources that, in our judgment, are unrealistically narrow for what are essentially undiscovered, untested resources. In this article, we present an improved methodology to assess potential unconventional gas resources. Our methodology is a stochastic approach that includes Monte Carlo simulation and correlation between input variables. Application of the improved methodology to the Uinta-Piceance province of Utah and Colorado with USGS data validates the means and standard deviations of resource distributions produced by the USGS methodology, but reveals that these distributions are not right skewed, as expected for a natural resource. Our investigation indicates that the unrealistic shape and width of the gas resource distributions are caused by the use of narrow triangular input parameter distributions. The stochastic methodology proposed here is more versatile and robust than the USGS analytic methodology. Adoption of the methodology, along with a careful examination and revision of input distributions, should allow a more realistic

Trading with the waiting-list: the justice of Living Donor List Exchange

NARCIS (Netherlands)

den Hartogh, G.

2010-01-01

In a Living Donor List Exchange program, the donor makes his kidney available for allocation to patients on the postmortal waiting-list and receives in exchange a postmortal kidney, usually an O-kidney, to be given to the recipient he favours. The program can be a solution for a candidate donor who

Funding in Spain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santiago, Juan Luis

2006-01-01

Decommissioning strategies currently considered are: Immediate dismantling (for all LWR), Deferred dismantling (only for Vandellos-I). Dismantling is assumed to commence 3 years after shutdown. End point: Release the site for industrial uses without radiological restrictions. Considerations for Planning and Funding: 40 years of lifetime for the nuclear power plants currently in operation (7.6 GWe installed). Decommissioning of NPPs: Vandellos I (Partial dismantling (Level 2) in 2003, Total dismantling (Level 3) after a 30 years period); Rest of NPPs: Total dismantling (Level 3), as regards calculation and planning 3 years after final reactor shutdown. Distribution of Responsibilities: Decommissioning is planned to start about 3 years after plant shutdown. During this period the Utility is still responsible for the plant and should remove the spent fuel and condition all the operational wastes, prior to the transfer of responsibility to Enresa. After transfer, Enresa is fully responsible for decommissioning. Decommissioning Funding and Management Rules: The cost of the decommissioning of nuclear installations are financed by the producers of such wastes. The financing of these responsibilities is by way of a Fund set up for this purpose. The costs are calculated by Enresa by means of an annual study, which reviews the status of the techniques and assesses the associated costs, this study being submitted in the General Radioactive Waste Plan to the Ministry of Economy for its approval. The Fund, managed by Enresa, is raised by a charge on the electricity price. The accumulated fund is administrated by Enresa under the supervision of the competent governmental authorities. Rules are established by a Fund Control Committee reporting to the Ministry of Economy. Financing via electricity Billing: The costs of activities arising as a result of radioactive waste management are to be financed by the producers. For NPPs, Establishment of a percentage quota on electricity

HEDGE FUND MANAGERIAL INCENTIVES AND PERFORMANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nor Hadaliza ABD RAHMAN

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The growth of the hedge fund industry over the decades has brought an interesting form of performance contract between the portfolio managers and their investors. The contractual relation has given an impact to the performance of the hedge fund industry, which benefited both fund managers and investors. Furthermore, it has created more investors and fund managers to participate in this high risk and high return investment. Currently, many issues on fee structures and performancebased incentives have been discussed. Do these issues affect the performance of the hedge fund in the market? This paper will investigate the issues in Australian market. It will empirically analyze the hedge fund performance in relation to the market performance and whether managerial incentives and discretions associated with better fund performance.

CERN Pension Fund move

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2007-01-01

The CERN Pension Fund has moved to new offices at the 5th floor of Building 5. The Benefits Service of the Fund will henceforth receive you in the offices: 5-5-017 - 5-5-021 - 5-5-023. We remind you that the office hours are: Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday from 10 am to 12 am and from 3 pm to 5 pm. The Fund would like to take this opportunity to warmly thank all the persons involved in the Removal.

33 CFR 135.9 - Fund address.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND COMPENSATION OFFSHORE OIL POLLUTION COMPENSATION FUND General § 135.9 Fund address. The address to which correspondence relating to the Coast Guard's administration of the Fund... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Fund address. 135.9 Section 135.9...

Decommissioning Funding: Ethics, Implementation, Uncertainties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

This status report on decommissioning funding: ethics, implementation, uncertainties is based on a review of recent literature and materials presented at NEA meetings in 2003 and 2004, and particularly at a topical session organised in November 2004 on funding issues associated with the decommissioning of nuclear power facilities. The report also draws on the experience of the NEA Working Party on Decommissioning and Dismantling (WPDD). This report offers, in a concise form, an overview of relevant considerations on decommissioning funding mechanisms with regard to ethics, implementation and uncertainties. Underlying ethical principles found in international agreements are identified, and factors influencing the accumulation and management of funds for decommissioning nuclear facilities are discussed together with the main sources of uncertainties of funding systems

Methodology For Evaluation Of Regulatory Effectiveness In Physical Protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Izmaylov, Alexander; Valente, John; Griggs, James R.; Rexroth, Paul; Piskarev, Alexander; Babkin, Vladimir; Sokolov, Egor; Melton, Ronald B.; Cunningham, Mitchel E.; Baker, Kathryn A.; Brothers, Alan J.

2005-01-01

Material protection, control, and accounting (MPC and A) regulatory documents play an important role in securing and protecting nuclear material by regulating a variety of activities at different hierarchical levels. The development, implementation, and practical application of these regulatory documents requires a significant investment of financial and material resources. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the effectiveness of the regulatory development process and the extent to which regulations improve the effectiveness of MPC and A at nuclear sites. The joint Russian and U.S. Regulatory Development Project has a goal of evaluating the effectiveness of regulatory documents developed for MPC and A. As part of this joint Project, a methodology for evaluating effectiveness has been developed. This methodology was developed around physical protection objectives. The developed methodology specifies physical protection objectives to be accomplished through the implementation of a regulatory system based on the physical protection goals at the nuclear sites. It includes approaches to assessing regulatory effectiveness, the hierarchical structure of physical protection objectives to be accomplished through implementing regulations, a 'mapping' of the physical protection objectives to the regulatory framework, a list of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of physical protection regulations and effectiveness indicators, as well as means and methods for gathering information and implementation of this evaluation.

Stakeholder analysis methodologies resource book

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Babiuch, W.M.; Farhar, B.C.

1994-03-01

Stakeholder analysis allows analysts to identify how parties might be affected by government projects. This process involves identifying the likely impacts of a proposed action and stakeholder groups affected by that action. Additionally, the process involves assessing how these groups might be affected and suggesting measures to mitigate any adverse effects. Evidence suggests that the efficiency and effectiveness of government actions can be increased and adverse social impacts mitigated when officials understand how a proposed action might affect stakeholders. This report discusses how to conduct useful stakeholder analyses for government officials making decisions on energy-efficiency and renewable-energy technologies and their commercialization. It discusses methodological issues that may affect the validity and reliability of findings, including sampling, generalizability, validity, ``uncooperative`` stakeholder groups, using social indicators, and the effect of government regulations. The Appendix contains resource directories and a list of specialists in stakeholder analysis and involvement.

Research priorities in health economics and funding for palliative care: views of an international think tank.

Science.gov (United States)

Harding, Richard; Gomes, Barbara; Foley, Kathleen M; Higginson, Irene J

2009-07-01

At the conclusion of the November 2007 meeting, the assembled international expert group identified the research agenda. The adoption of this agenda would take forward health economic research in palliative care, and generate the necessary data for improved funding decision making, and resource allocation. Recommendations for study included international comparative research into the components of care and settings, evaluative studies, methodologic development and strategies to initiate studies, and make better use of data.

Active Aging and Elderly's Quality of Life: Comparing the Impact on Literature of Projects Funded by the European Union and USA.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirilov, I; Atzeni, M; Perra, A; Moro, D; Carta, M G

2018-01-01

The objective of this research is to verify whether European projects on Active Aging (AA) and Elderly Quality of Life (Qol) funded by the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) produce an impact on literature similar to projects funded by the National Health Institute (NHI) of the United States on international literature using well-known bibliometric indicators. This effort may be useful in developing standardized and replicable procedures. Fifteen randomly selected projects on AA and Elderly Qol concluded in August 2017 and funded by FP7 were compared to similar projects funded by the US NHI with reference to papers published (Scopus and Scholar), papers published in Q1 journals, and the number of citations of the papers linked to the projects. In all the indicators considered, the European projects showed no difference with the US NHI projects. The EU-funded AA and Qol Elderly projects have an impact on scientific literature comparable to projects funded in the United States by the NHI Agency.Our results are consistent with the data on general medical research, which indicates that, European research remains at a high level of competitiveness.In this experimental study, our methodology appeared to be convincing and reliable and it could be applied to the extent of the impact of more extensive research areas.Our research did not evaluate the relationship between funding required by research and scientific productivity.

 Transparency and quality of financial disclosures. The case of Romanian listed companies*

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadia Albu

2014-09-01

Full Text Available  This paper addresses the transparency and the quality of financial disclosures of listed entities in the case of an emerging economy (i.e. Romania, in order to shed some light on the particular local context of the country and its impact on accounting practices. We analyze the entire population of non-financial entities listed in the first tier of the Bucharest Stock Exchange for the 2012 financial year. We are limited in our research by the size of the sample, which depends, however, on the small size of the Romanian stock market. In order to compensate for the small size of the sample, we assess 50 items related to disclosure, synthesized in two scores, i.e. transparency and quality. Also, we identify some factors associated with disclosure by investigating the correlation with several firm-related factors. Our results reveal a medium level of transparency and quality of Romanian listed companies, with significant variations between firms and between the sub-scores. The most important factors correlated with disclosure are company size and the presence of institutional investors. The results confirm to some extent most of the basic assumptions of the agency theory and also prove the importance of a new variable for emerging econo-mies, specifically the presence of institutional investors *This work was cofinanced from the European Social Fund through Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013, project number POSDRU/159/1.5/S./134197 a Performance and excellence in doctoral and postdoctoral research in Romanian economics science domaina.

The development of a checklist to enhance methodological quality in intervention programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salvador Chacón-Moscoso

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The methodological quality of primary studies is an important issue when performing meta-analyses or systematic reviews. Nevertheless, there are no clear criteria for how methodological quality should be analyzed. Controversies emerge when considering the various theoretical and empirical definitions, especially in relation to three interrelated problems: the lack of representativeness, utility, and feasibility. In this article, we (a systematize and summarize the available literature about methodological quality in primary studies; (b propose a specific, parsimonious, 12-item checklist to empirically define the methodological quality of primary studies based on a content validity study; and (c present an inter-coder reliability study for the resulting 12 items. This paper provides a precise and rigorous description of the development of this checklist, highlighting the clearly specified criteria for the inclusion of items and a substantial inter-coder agreement in the different items. Rather than simply proposing another checklist, however, it then argues that the list constitutes an assessment tool with respect to the representativeness, utility, and feasibility of the most frequent methodological quality items in the literature, one that provides practitioners and researchers with clear criteria for choosing items that may be adequate to their needs. We propose individual methodological features as indicators of quality, arguing that these need to be taken into account when designing, implementing, or evaluating an intervention program. This enhances methodological quality of intervention programs and fosters the cumulative knowledge based on meta-analyses of these interventions. Future development of the checklist is discussed.

Mandatory and Voluntary Disclosures of Serbian Listed Companies - Achieved Level and Some Recommendation for Improving their Relevance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ksenija Denčić-Mihajlov

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose – This paper investigates mandatory and voluntary disclosure practices of non-financial listed companies on the Belgrade Stock Exchange. The results help in determining the level of transparency of Serbian s listed companies and in formulating recommendations for improving the quality and relevance of disclosed information. Design/methodology/approach – We focus on modeling both mandatory and voluntary disclosure indices for financial and non-financial information in order to evaluate the level of disclosure of 63 Serbian companies for reporting period 2012. Findings – We found the low level of both mandatory and voluntary disclosures. Concerning mandatary disclosure, the information that is least frequently disclosed by the sample companies are those related to the material content of the financial statements (information on changes in accounting estimates and corrections of fundamental errors in the previous period, as well as related companies. Serbian companies usually disclose information that contributes to their greater visibility. Similar to the mandatory disclosure, usually published voluntary information are mostly "neutral" from the point of impact on the values reported in the financial statements, which do not contribute to a better understanding of the financial position, profitability and cash flows of the company. Research limitations/implications – There is a limitation concerning the sample size (which is generally intrinsic to Serbian capital market size and the sample structure (research is limited to listed non-financial companies. The study covers the annual reports for 2012 which in Serbia coincides with a crisis period. The same research methodology could be applied on a larger and comprehensive database (non-listed companies and include period after 2012, which will allow the analysis of evolution of disclosure practices by companies within new accounting framework. Originality/value – The authors give

[Types of medical registries - definitions, methodological aspects and quality of the scientific work with registries].

Science.gov (United States)

Mathis-Edenhofer, Stefan; Piso, Brigitte

2011-12-01

This work presents a comprehensive list of registry definitions including broader and narrower definitions. Compared to each other different methodological issues can be identified. Some of these issues are common for all registry types; some can be assigned more easily to a specific registry type. Instruments for evaluating the quality of registers reflect many of the mentioned aspects. Generally, and especially at registers with a descriptive or exploratory research dimension it is important to consider their intended purpose and in about it was achieved. This includes, for instance, whether the purpose and the methodology are coordinated. From the start of registration an initiator should be - based on the purpose - aware of the methodological dimension of the registry. This helps to apply the correct type of the registry, the appropriate guidance and, ultimately, the arguments for the effort (cost-benefit ratio).

PENSION FUND

CERN Multimedia

Administration of the Fund

2001-01-01

The Administration of the Fund has just signed a contract with the 'La Suisse' insurance company, making life insurance available to persons leaving CERN under very similar conditions to those offered to the members of the CERN personnel. From now on, persons retiring from the Organization will be able to take out this new insurance at the moment of retirement, provided that they have been members of CERN's collective life insurance scheme for the last five years of service. Exceptionally, until the end of 2001, 'La Suisse' has agreed to allow persons who are already retired to take out this insurance, subject to their state of health (health questionnaire to be completed) and with a maximum insured amount set at 150,000 CHF. We therefore invite any retired persons interested in this insurance to consult the detailed terms and conditions, either on the Pension Fund's Web site (http://pensions.web.cern.ch/pensions) or by writing to the Administration of the Fund. For those wishing to apply, the documents to be...

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

The Governing Board of the Pension Fund held its hundred and seventeenth meeting on 3 June 2003. On that occasion, it examined the recommendations made by the External Auditors in their report on their audit of the 2002 annual accounts and the replies by the Pension Fund's Administration. The Governing Board was gratified by the small number of remarks by the External Auditors. It also confirmed its agreement to the procedure followed by the Administration of the Pension Fund in the handling of transfer values. Under other items on the agenda, the Board once again examined ESO's request relating to the terms and conditions of membership by its staff members. In this regard, the Board wishes to receive from ESO a definitive request (following the necessary consultation procedures with the representatives of the personnel and discussions within ESO's governing bodies) so that the working group can continue its work on a clear basis and so that the Governing Board is in a position to take up a position in the m...

Paradigmatic List Constructions. Patterns and Functions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentina Benigni

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with listing as a useful conceptual tool for categorization and offers an overview of the different types of lists in Russian, highlighting both universal and language-specific characteristics of this kind of construction. The data-driven approach adopted in this study allows you to identify the main criteria according to which lists can be classified (exhaustiveness of the enumeration, conjunction, types of constituents, compositionality, and so on. Particular attention is paid to paradigmatic lists, i.e. lists whose items are in a paradigmatic relationship with each other as either synonyms, co-hyponyms or co-meronyms. The features of this family of lists are dealt with in the framework of Construction Grammar, which accounts for both similarities in structure and meaning and differences in pragmatic and communicative functions.

Asset Allocation of Mutual Fund Investors

OpenAIRE

Dengpan Luo

2003-01-01

This paper studies mutual fund investors' asset allocation decisions using monthly flow data of U.S mutual fund industry from 1984 to 1998. We find that mutual fund investors change their asset allocations between stocks and bonds in reaction to business conditions tracked by changes in expected stock market returns. They tend to allocate less into stock funds during the trough of a business cycle when expected stock market returns are higher and to allocate more into stock funds during the p...

36 CFR 330.7 - Funding.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... § 330.7 Funding. (a) Section 330.3(c) sets forth the maximum authorized funds for law enforcement contracting in FY 1978 and FY 1979. The Division funding levels for FY 1978 are based on information as... Parks, Forests, and Public Property CORPS OF ENGINEERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY REGULATION OF LAW...

The Funding of Virtual Universities

Science.gov (United States)

Poulin, Russell; Michelau, Demaree K.

2009-01-01

This article reviews categorization models and the outcomes of a virtual university funding survey. Although categorization of types of funding mechanisms is a necessary analytical tool, it often hides the many and varied political decisions that created them. In commenting on the implications of the type of funding model, political forces behind…

Funding emergency care: Australian style.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Anthony; Crilly, Julia; Williams, Ged; Wylie, Kate; Toloo, Ghasem Sam; Burke, John; FitzGerald, Gerry

2014-08-01

The ongoing challenge for ED leaders is to remain abreast of system-wide changes that impact on the day-to-day management of their departments. Changes to the funding model creates another layer of complexity and this introductory paper serves as the beginning of a discussion about the way in which EDs are funded and how this can and will impact on business decisions, models of care and resource allocation within Australian EDs. Furthermore it is evident that any funding model today will mature and change with time, and moves are afoot to refine and contextualise ED funding over the medium term. This perspective seeks to provide a basis of understanding for our current and future funding arrangements in Australian EDs. © 2014 Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and Australasian Society for Emergency Medicine.

76 FR 39645 - Exemptions for Advisers to Venture Capital Funds, Private Fund Advisers With Less Than $150...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-06

... Exemptions for Advisers to Venture Capital Funds, Private Fund Advisers With Less Than $150 Million in Assets... Investment Advisers Registration Act of 2010--the new rules define ``venture capital fund'' and provide an... Venture Capital Strategy 8. Is a Private Fund 9. Application to Non-U.S. Advisers 10. Grandfathering...

Performance Evaluation of Investment (Mutual Funds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Povilas Vyšniauskas

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The efficiency of an investment fund is one of the main components in evaluating the performance of the fund. This study seeks for introducing and comparing risk and performance evaluation ratios. The paper is aimed at testing the worked out ratios and at distinguishing between the best ones for the purpose of evaluating the performance of Lithuanian mutual funds. Scientific studies show that a standard deviation, alpha, beta, Sharpe and Treynor ratios are mostly employed for identifying the performance of mutual funds that are also compared with their benchmark index to establish if these funds are outperformed and if is it worth paying management fees to investment banks for managing mutual funds. Historical data were selected for the period from 2012-01-02 to 2013-10-15 analysing the prices of monthly funds. The paper points out the areas of a practical application of the proposed model for investment fund valuation, which may not only provide valuable outcomes for practitioners but also may inspire further research on this article.

The funding black hole

CERN Multimedia

2008-01-01

Two physics students at the University of Bristol have organised a petition against the recently-announced funding cut of 80 million by the body that funds physics research in the UK, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

Fanconi Anemia Research Fund

Science.gov (United States)

... Support Publications Fundraising News What is the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund? Fanconi anemia is an inherited disease that can lead to ... population. Lynn and Dave Frohnmayer started the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund, in 1989 to find effective treatments ...

The evolution analysis of listed companies co-holding non-listed financial companies based on two-mode heterogeneous networks

Science.gov (United States)

An, Pengli; Li, Huajiao; Zhou, Jinsheng; Chen, Fan

2017-10-01

Complex network theory is a widely used tool in the empirical research of financial markets. Two-mode and multi-mode networks are new trends and represent new directions in that they can more accurately simulate relationships between entities. In this paper, we use data for Chinese listed companies holding non-listed financial companies over a ten-year period to construct two networks: a two-mode primitive network in which listed companies and non-listed financial companies are considered actors and events, respectively, and a one-mode network that is constructed based on the decreasing-mode method in which listed companies are considered nodes. We analyze the evolution of the listed company co-holding network from several perspectives, including that of the whole network, of information control ability, of implicit relationships, of community division and of small-world characteristics. The results of the analysis indicate that (1) China's developing stock market affects the share-holding condition of listed companies holding non-listed financial companies; (2) the information control ability of co-holding networks is focused on a few listed companies and the implicit relationship of investment preference between listed companies is determined by the co-holding behavior; (3) the community division of the co-holding network is increasingly obvious, as determined by the investment preferences among listed companies; and (4) the small-world characteristics of the co-holding network are increasingly obvious, resulting in reduced communication costs. In this paper, we conduct an evolution analysis and develop an understanding of the factors that influence the listed companies co-holding network. This study will help illuminate research on evolution analysis.

ACQUISITIONS LIST, MAY 1966.

Science.gov (United States)

Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA. Graduate School of Education.

THIS ACQUISITIONS LIST IS A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MATERIAL ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF EDUCATION. OVER 300 UNANNOTATED REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED FOR DOCUMENTS DATING MAINLY FROM 1960 TO 1966. BOOKS, JOURNALS, REPORT MATERIALS, AND UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS ARE LISTED UNDER THE FOLLOWING HEADINGS--(1) ACHIEVEMENT, (2) ADOLESCENCE, (3) CHILD DEVELOPMENT, (4)…

Pension Fund

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

Amendment No 19 to the Rules and Regulations of the Pension Fund has just been published and can be obtained from Divisional secretariats or, in the case of pensioners, directly from the Administration of the Fund (tel. 767-91 94/27 38), bldg 5, 1-030. This Amendment, which entered into force on 1.1.2003, concerns 1) the fixed sums and allowances adjusted at same date (Annex B) and 2) the articles which have been amended, in accordance with the Finance Committee's decision, regarding voting rules of the Governing Board and the role and composition of the Investment Committee.

ASPECTS CONCERNING THE DETERMINATION OF BANKRUPTCY RISK BY SOLVENCY AND LIQUIDITY RATIOS IN THE COMPANIES LISTED ON THE BUCHAREST STOCK EXCHANGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teodor Hada

2014-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents issues related to determining the bankruptcy risk for 64 companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.The purpose of this paper is to determine the percentage of companies falling within the normal range. In the introduction, we set the goal, the research methodology, and the novelty value of this work. Hereinafter, we presented different views of risk concepts, bankruptcy, solvency and liquidity. After that, based on theoretical presentations, a case study was conducted to determine the solvency and liquidity ratios. In the end, on the basis of the above considerations, the conclusions were established and some proposals were listed.

7 CFR 247.25 - Allowable uses of administrative funds and other funds.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... subgrantees must comply with part 3019 of this title. State and local agencies may use procurement procedures... authority regarding the settlement of all contractual and administrative issues arising out of procurements... administrative funds provided to State and local agencies? Administrative funds may be used for costs that are...

Risk methodology for geologic disposal of radioactive waste: interim report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, J.E.; Dillon, R.T.; Tierney, M.S.; Davis, H.T.; McGrath, P.E.; Pearson, F.J. Jr.; Shaw, H.R.; Helton, J.C.; Donath, F.A.

1978-10-01

The Fuel Cycle Risk Analysis Division of Sandia Laboratories is funded by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to develop a methodology for assessment of the long-term risks from radioactive waste disposal in deep, geologic media. The first phase of this work, which is documented in this report, involves the following: (1) development of analytical models to represent the processes by which radioactive waste might leave the waste repository, enter the surface environment and eventually reach humans and (2) definition of a hypothetical ''reference system'' to provide a realistic setting for exercise of the models in a risk or safety assessment. The second phase of this work, which will be documented in a later report, will involve use of the analytical models in a demonstration risk or safety assessment of the reference system. The analytical methods and data developed in this study are expected to form the basis for a portion of the NRC repository licensing methodology

Title III List of Lists -- Raw Data Set

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This list was prepared to help firms handling chemicals determine whether they need to submit reports under sections 302, 304, or 313 of the Emergency Planning and...

Feasability study for waterway infrastructure: International overview and methodological recommendations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos Fontes Pereira, L. dos; Brandão, R.; Yamashita, Y.; Guilherme de Aragão, J.J.

2016-07-01

The context in which the waterway transportation is in Brazil makes clear the development need of specific methodologies for the sector planning. This paper aims to compare the methods of analysis of technical, economic and environmental viability, adopted in Europe, United States and Brazil, listing the best practices and possible improvements of the method adopted in Brazil. The analysis of the documents was based on comparative method, seeking the common elements from its attributes. Each document was analysed in terms of: its structure; type of impacts; required indicators on each impact analysis; reference values for classification of indicators; and the form of integrated analysis of different impacts. The study suggests the inclusion of certain changes in the methodology of calculation and in its combination of tools and parameters used in the measurement of fiscal impacts on the comparative analysis of standard models usually adopted in the United States, Europe and the World Bank. (Author)

The Performance-based Funding Scheme of Universities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juha KETTUNEN

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to analyse the effectiveness of the performance-based funding scheme of the Finnish universities that was adopted at the beginning of 2013. The political decision-makers expect that the funding scheme will create incentives for the universities to improve performance, but these funding schemes have largely failed in many other countries, primarily because public funding is only a small share of the total funding of universities. This study is interesting because Finnish universities have no tuition fees, unlike in many other countries, and the state allocates funding based on the objectives achieved. The empirical evidence of the graduation rates indicates that graduation rates increased when a new scheme was adopted, especially among male students, who have more room for improvement than female students. The new performance-based funding scheme allocates the funding according to the output-based indicators and limits the scope of strategic planning and the autonomy of the university. The performance-based funding scheme is transformed to the strategy map of the balanced scorecard. The new funding scheme steers universities in many respects but leaves the research and teaching skills to the discretion of the universities. The new scheme has also diminished the importance of the performance agreements between the university and the Ministry. The scheme increases the incentives for universities to improve the processes and structures in order to attain as much public funding as possible. It is optimal for the central administration of the university to allocate resources to faculties and other organisational units following the criteria of the performance-based funding scheme. The new funding scheme has made the universities compete with each other, because the total funding to the universities is allocated to each university according to the funding scheme. There is a tendency that the funding schemes are occasionally

7 CFR 771.12 - Funding applications.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... availability of funds. However, when multiple applications are received on the same date and available funds... determines to be most critical for the accomplishment of program objectives, will be funded first. ...

Airborne Lidar Surface Topography (LIST) Simulator

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Anthony W.; Krainak, Michael A.; Harding, David J.; Abshire, James B.; Sun, Xiaoli; Cavanaugh, John; Valett, Susan; Ramos-Izquierdo, Luis; Winkert, Tom; Plants, Michael;

ELECTIONS PENSION FUND CANDIDATE NR 5

CERN Multimedia

2001-01-01

ORGANISATION EUROPEENNE POUR LA RECHERCHE NUCLEAIRE CERN EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH CAISSE DE PENSIONS / PENSION FUND Caisse de Pensions - ELECTIONS - Pension Fund This candidature has been duly registered and is hereby presented in accordance with paragraph 6.h of the Regulations for Elections to the Governing Board of the Pension Fund. Candidate :  Name : Sonnemann  First Name : Florian Since my arrival at CERN in 1997 I have worked in the accelerator and administrative sectors. I have recently been elected as member of the Staff Council and of the Executive Committee of the Staff Association in which I am actively following matters concerning the Pension Fund. My candidature for the Governing Board of the CERN Pension Fund is mainly motivated to add my part in ensuring a solid financial situation of the Pension Fund. The Pension Fund is our only social security system. I wish to play a role in ensuring that the pensions will remain a secure revenue for all staff membe...

ELECTIONS PENSION FUND 5th candidate

CERN Multimedia

2001-01-01

ORGANISATION EUROPEENNE POUR LA RECHERCHE NUCLEAIRE CERN EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH CAISSE DE PENSIONS / PENSION FUND Caisse de Pensions - ELECTIONS - Pension Fund This candidature has been duly registered and is hereby presented in accordance with paragraph 6.h of the Regulations for Elections to the Governing Board of the Pension Fund. Candidate :  Name : Sonnemann  First Name : Florian Since my arrival at CERN in 1997 I have worked in the accelerator and administrative sectors. I have recently been elected as member of the Staff Council and of the Executive Committee of the Staff Association in which I am actively following matters concerning the Pension Fund. My candidature for the Governing Board of the CERN Pension Fund is mainly motivated to add my part in ensuring a solid financial situation of the Pension Fund. The Pension Fund is our only social security system. I wish to play a role in ensuring that the pensions will remain a secure revenue for all staff membe...

Creative partnerships for funding nursing research.

Science.gov (United States)

McCann, Judith J; Hills, Elizabeth Blanchard; Zauszniewski, Jaclene A; Smith, Carol E; Farran, Carol J; Wilkie, Diana J

2011-02-01

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) program are two federal funding mechanisms that some nurses in academic positions have used to support research and development of innovative nursing products or services. Both the SBIR and STTR mechanisms are excellent sources of funding for nurse researchers who want to capitalize on relationships with small businesses or obtain seed money to fund high-risk projects with potential to attract new venture capital. This article provides an overview of National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded SBIR and STTR programs and summarizes similarities and differences between the programs. The article also describes unique features of NIH SBIR and STTR funding mechanisms that differentiate them from other R-series funding mechanisms, reviews evaluation criteria for SBIR and STTR projects, and discusses critical partners and resources for proposal development. Finally, the article describes characteristics of successful partnerships and provides examples of SBIR/STTR-funded projects.

31 CFR 596.310 - Terrorism List Government.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Terrorism List Government. 596.310... OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY TERRORISM LIST GOVERNMENTS SANCTIONS REGULATIONS General Definitions § 596.310 Terrorism List Government. The term Terrorism List Government...

Establishing a green lights revolving fund

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-07-01

The report details the experiences of the City of Houston in establishing a Green Lights Revolving Fund. It provides examples of key documents and guidelines which can be used in other jurisdictions to establish an internal revolving fund to provide continuing monies through recapture of cost savings for an ongoing program of energy improvements in governmental facilities. It provides guidelines on how to establish a continuing source of funds for governmental facility energy improvements. The report provides background information on the ongoing energy improvement programs in the City of Houston, including its participation in the Environmental Protection Agency`s Green Lights Program. It reviews the steps required to establish a Green Lights Revolving Fund, including the administrative, legal, budgetary, accounting, interdepartmental, mayoral, and governing body approvals and actions needed to create a self-sustaining revolving fund devoted to energy improvements. The report also describes two funding sources in addition to the grant seed funds which were used to increase the initial funds available in the Green Lights Revolving Fund. It provides sample documents for modification and use in other jurisdictions that want to use similar funding sources. It reports the initial project submission and selection procedure and criteria, and provides a transferable project application kit based on the criteria specified. It also details a sample repayment memorandum of understanding between departments, which can be used in other governments. Other transferable products provided in the report are sample energy audit summaries which were conducted by qualified, independent staff to determine the accuracy of the departmental project costs and savings payback calculations.

75 FR 55541 - NOAA Regional Ocean Partnership Funding Program-FY2011 Funding Competition

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-13

...-01] RIN 0648-ZC20 NOAA Regional Ocean Partnership Funding Program--FY2011 Funding Competition AGENCY: National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce...-profit organizations (requirements described in full announcement) that NOAA is soliciting proposals for...

NOAA Weather Radio - Station Listing

Science.gov (United States)

Non-Zero All Hazards Logo Emergency Alert Description Event Codes Fact Sheet FAQ Organization Search COVERAGE County Coverage Listings State Coverage Listings NWR Station Search Maps SAME SAME Coding Using

Comparison of methodologic quality and study/report characteristics between quantitative clinical nursing and nursing education research articles.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Barbara St Pierre; Nicholas, Jennifer; Kurrus, Jeffrey E

2013-01-01

To compare the methodologic quality and study/report characteristics between quantitative clinical nursing and nursing education research articles. The methodologic quality of quantitative nursing education research needs to advance to a higher level. Clinical research can provide guidance for nursing education to reach this level. One hundred quantitative clinical research articles from-high impact journals published in 2007 and 37 education research articles from high impact journals published in 2006 to 2007 were chosen for analysis. Clinical articles had significantly higher quality scores than education articles in three domains: number of institutions studied, type of data, and outcomes. The findings indicate three ways in which nursing education researchers can strengthen the methodologic quality of their quantitative research. With this approach, greater funding may be secured for advancing the science of nursing education.

Funding oil and gas ventures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Billingsley, L.T.

1992-01-01

This paper is addressed to geologists who must raise external funds for prospect acquisition, exploratory and development drilling, or to a limited extent, production acquisition. In the ranks of independent geologists, external funding is what separates a dreamer with a good idea from a successful oil and gas producer who gets ideas evaluated on a regular basis. The quantity of external funding usually dictates the level of drilling activity for independent geologists and small companies. Companies or individuals with high levels of internal cash flow set budgets to determine their drilling activity. The purpose of this paper is to provide an independent geologist with an overview of raising external funding. The scope is purposely general. The real motivation behind this paper is not to provide a cookbook for selling prospects. Instead, the author hopes to stimulate geologists to become students of salesmanship and thereby increase the effectiveness of their fund

76 FR 43988 - Procurement List; Additions

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-22

... this work, based on applicable experience. Finally, the purpose of the JWOD Act and the responsibility... COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR SEVERELY DISABLED Procurement List; Additions... Procurement List. SUMMARY: This action adds products and services to the Procurement List that will be...

Implementing the global plan to stop TB, 2011-2015--optimizing allocations and the Global Fund's contribution: a scenario projections study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eline L Korenromp

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The Global Plan to Stop TB estimates funding required in low- and middle-income countries to achieve TB control targets set by the Stop TB Partnership within the context of the Millennium Development Goals. We estimate the contribution and impact of Global Fund investments under various scenarios of allocations across interventions and regions. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using Global Plan assumptions on expected cases and mortality, we estimate treatment costs and mortality impact for diagnosis and treatment for drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB, including antiretroviral treatment (ART during DOTS for HIV-co-infected patients, for four country groups, overall and for the Global Fund investments. In 2015, China and India account for 24% of funding need, Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA for 33%, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA for 20%, and other low- and middle-income countries for 24%. Scale-up of MDR-TB treatment, especially in EECA, drives an increasing global TB funding need--an essential investment to contain the mortality burden associated with MDR-TB and future disease costs. Funding needs rise fastest in SSA, reflecting increasing coverage need of improved TB/HIV management, which saves most lives per dollar spent in the short term. The Global Fund is expected to finance 8-12% of Global Plan implementation costs annually. Lives saved through Global Fund TB support within the available funding envelope could increase 37% if allocations shifted from current regional demand patterns to a prioritized scale-up of improved TB/HIV treatment and secondly DOTS, both mainly in Africa--with EECA region, which has disproportionately high per-patient costs, funded from alternative resources. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings, alongside country funding gaps, domestic funding and implementation capacity and equity considerations, should inform strategies and policies for international donors, national governments and

Development of concepts for a national climate protection fund for the renaturation of moors; Entwicklung von Konzepten fuer einen nationalen Klimaschutzfonds zur Renaturierung von Mooren

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wolters, Stephan; Taenzler, Dennis; Theiler, Lena [adelphi, Berlin (Germany); Droesler, Matthias [Hochschule Weihenstephan-Triesdorf, Freising (Germany)

2013-04-15

Despite the importance of peatlands for climate mitigation, there is only very limited experience regarding the systematic integration of peatland conservation and restoration and climate mitigation. This study aims to analyse if and to what extent voluntary emission certificates in the framework of a German national peatland fund could foster such an approach. For this purpose, the paper is structured as follows: Chapter 1 introduces the legal framework of climate mitigation policies and presents the specific characteristics of peatland conservation and restoration. The most important differences to related forest conservation and afforestation measures are discussed. Chapter 2 analyses in detail eight selected funds for peatland and forest conservation and restoration which already exist or are currently planned. The analysis is structured along the following elements: project type, standards, methodology and certifiers, target groups and buyers, financing, and institutional set-up. Based on the previous analysis, chapter 3 discusses the conceptual design options for a prospective national fund for peatland restoration. Finally, chapter 4 makes recommendations regarding the relevant design options. For the German context, it is paramount to include existing initiatives on the Laender level and to address needs for coordination (such as a standardized methodology) on a national level. Regarding financing, the most adequate approach appears to be a combination of both private and public funding in order to overcome entry barriers of a model that links peatland conservation and restoration on the one side and climate mitigation on the other.

77 FR 16030 - FY2012 Supplemental Funding for Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grantees

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-19

... loan fund to enhance remediation and provide funds on a continuing basis; and (IV) Such other similar... be started and completed expeditiously (i.e. ``shovel-ready'' projects) and will lead to...

ANALYSIS OF THE INDICATORS SPECIFIC TO ENTITIES LISTED ON THE CAPITAL MARKET AND THEIR ROLE IN QUANTIFYING COMPANY PERFORMANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Daniela BONDOC

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The paper aims at presenting certain indicators specific to entities listed on the capital market and their analysis based on the financial statements of C.N.T.E.E. Transelectrica S.A., listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange: growth stock exchange indices (market capitalization, earnings per share, price to book ratio, price to sales ratio, price earnings ratio, cash EPS and dividend stock exchange ratios (dividend per share, dividend yield, and dividend payout ratio. The research methodology involved studying the financial statements of the entity for the 2009-2013 period. The case study method was used to study the evolution of the stock exchange indices and opinions were formulated concerning the performance reflected by the analysed indices.

77 FR 64567 - Product List Change

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-22

... Delivery service from the competitive product list due to low customer demand.\\2\\ It states that there are... POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. MC2013-3; Order No. 1503] Product List Change AGENCY... product list. This notice provides public notice of the Postal Service's filing, invites public comment...

Financial auditing at enterprises for control of projects realized with credit fund-raising

Science.gov (United States)

Lukmanova, Inessa

2017-10-01

The article analyzes methods of conducting financial audit under the construction control of projects implemented with raising credit funds in modern conditions. This work aims to improve the methodological toolkit of construction control when lending projects of the construction of transport infrastructure. The paper considers correlations of various procedures of construction control, financial audit and organizational and technical factors affecting investment and construction projects. The authors presented the logical scheme of the process of lending to legal entities and developed an algorithm of the procedure for conducting a financial audit, allowing to make possible adjustments and the right decision.

Funding models for outreach ophthalmology services.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Angus W; Mulholland, Will; Taylor, Hugh R

2011-01-01

This paper aims to describe funding models used and compare the effects of funding models for remuneration on clinical activity and cost-effectiveness in outreach eye services in Australia. Cross-sectional case study based in remote outreach ophthalmology services in Australia. Key stake-holders from eye services in nine outreach regions participated in the study. Semistructured interviews were conducted to perform a qualitative assessment of outreach eye services' funding mechanisms. Records of clinical activity were used to statistically compare funding models. Workforce availability (supply of ophthalmologists), costs of services, clinical activity (surgery and clinic consultation rates) and waiting times. The supply of ophthalmologists (full-time equivalence) to all remote regions was below the national average (up to 19 times lower). Cataract surgery rates were also below national averages (up to 10 times lower). Fee-for-service funding significantly increased clinical activity. There were also trends to shorter waiting times and lower costs per attendance. For outreach ophthalmology services, the funding model used for clinician reimbursement may influence the efficiency and costs of the services. Fee-for-service funding models, safety-net funding options or differential funding/incentives need further exploration to ensure isolated disadvantaged areas prone to poor patient attendance are not neglected. In order for outreach eye health services to be sustainable, remuneration rates need to be comparable to those for urban practice. © 2011 The Authors. Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology © 2011 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists.

78 FR 17939 - Announcement of Funding Awards; Capital Fund Safety and Security Grants; Fiscal Year 2012

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-25

...; Capital Fund Safety and Security Grants; Fiscal Year 2012 AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for... availability of the Safety and Security funds with PIH Notice 2012-38 (Notice), which was issued September 7... Fund Safety and Security grant program. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions concerning the...

78 FR 56728 - Announcement of Funding Awards; Capital Fund Safety and Security Grants; Fiscal Year 2013

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-13

...; Capital Fund Safety and Security Grants; Fiscal Year 2013 AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for... availability of the Safety and Security funds with PIH Notice 2013-10 (Notice), which was issued May 3, 2013... Fund Safety and Security grant program. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions concerning the...

77 FR 23492 - Announcement of Funding Awards; Capital Fund Safety and Security Grants; Fiscal Year 2011

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-19

...; Capital Fund Safety and Security Grants; Fiscal Year 2011 AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for... notified of the availability of the Safety and Security funds with PIH Notice 2011-56 (Notice), which was... award recipients under the Capital Fund Safety and Security grant program. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION...

Are international fund flows pro- or counter-cyclical?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Li, Suxiao; de Haan, Jakob; Scholtens, Bert; Yang, Haizhen

2015-01-01

We investigate whether international fund flows are pro-or counter-cyclical by employing a concordance index. International fund flows are investments in bond and equity markets by institutional investors, such as mutual funds, exchange traded funds, closed-end funds and hedge funds. We find that

Fund allocation within Australian dental care: an innovative approach to output based funding.

Science.gov (United States)

Tennant, M; Carrello, C; Kruger, E

2005-12-01

Over the last 15 years in Australia the process of funding government health care has changed significantly. The development of dental funding models that transparently meet both the service delivery needs for data at the treatment level and policy makers' need for health condition data is critical to the continued integration of dentistry into the wider health system. This paper presents a model of fund allocation that provides a communication construct that addresses the needs of both policy makers and service providers. In this model, dental treatments (dental item numbers) have been grouped into eight broad dental health conditions. Within each dental health condition, a weighted average price is determined using the Department of Veterans Affairs' (DVA) fee schedule as the benchmark, adjusted for the mix of care. The model also adjusts for the efficiency differences between sectors providing government funded dental care. In summary, the price to be applied to a dental health condition category is determined by the weighted average DVA price adjusted by the sector efficiency. This model allows governments and dental service providers to develop funding agreements that both quantify and justify the treatment to be provided. Such a process facilitates the continued integration of dental care into the wider health system.

Global Fund investments in human resources for health: innovation and missed opportunities for health systems strengthening.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowser, Diana; Sparkes, Susan Powers; Mitchell, Andrew; Bossert, Thomas J; Bärnighausen, Till; Gedik, Gulin; Atun, Rifat

2014-12-01

Since the early 2000s, there have been large increases in donor financing of human resources for health (HRH), yet few studies have examined their effects on health systems. To determine the scope and impact of investments in HRH by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), the largest investor in HRH outside national governments. We used mixed research methodology to analyse budget allocations and expenditures for HRH, including training, for 138 countries receiving money from the Global Fund during funding rounds 1-7. From these aggregate figures, we then identified 27 countries with the largest funding for human resources and training and examined all HRH-related performance indicators tracked in Global Fund grant reports. We used the results of these quantitative analyses to select six countries with substantial funding and varied characteristics-representing different regions and income levels for further in-depth study: Bangladesh (South and West Asia, low income), Ethiopia (Eastern Africa, low income), Honduras (Latin America, lower-middle income), Indonesia (South and West Asia, lower-middle income), Malawi (Southern Africa, low income) and Ukraine (Eastern Europe and Central Asia, upper-middle income). We used qualitative methods to gather information in each of the six countries through 159 interviews with key informants from 83 organizations. Using comparative case-study analysis, we examined Global Fund's interactions with other donors, as well as its HRH support and co-ordination within national health systems. Around US$1.4 billion (23% of total US$5.1 billion) of grant funding was allocated to HRH by the 138 Global Fund recipient countries. In funding rounds 1-7, the six countries we studied in detail were awarded a total of 47 grants amounting to US$1.2 billion and HRH budgets of US$276 million, of which approximately half were invested in disease-focused in-service and short-term training activities. Countries employed

Social costs of the inefficient management of the EU funds for Bulgaria, Kiel und Hamburg: ZBW – Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft

OpenAIRE

Nozharov, Shteryo

2016-01-01

Abstract: The study identifies and defines the social costs of the inefficient management of EU funds for Bulgaria. It is analyzed the last due programme period (2007-2015) and its prolongation. As methodology of the research the V4 BM model of Al-Debei and Avison (2010) which has not been used for analysis of EU funds management for cohesion policy in the public sector, is applied. In this way its potential for application in this field is tested. The concept of the study could be successful...

78 FR 37525 - Procurement List; Deletions

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-21

.... Contracting Activity: Dept of the Air Force, FA7014 AFDW A7KI, Andrews AFB, MD. Service Type/Location: Laundry... Procurement List. SUMMARY: This action deletes products and services from the Procurement List that were... products and services listed below are no longer suitable for procurement by the Federal Government under...

77 FR 26795 - Product List Changes

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-07

... the United States Postal Service to Transfer Parcel Post to the Competitive Product List, April 26... Service request to remove Parcel Post from the market dominant product list and to add a nearly identical ``Parcel Post'' to the competitive product list. Alaska Bypass Service would remain on the market dominant...

1968 Listing of Swimming Pool Equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

National Sanitation Foundation, Ann Arbor, MI. Testing Lab.

An up-to-date listing of swimming pool equipment including--(1) companies authorized to display the National Sanitation Foundation seal of approval, (2) equipment listed as meeting NSF swimming pool equipment standards relating to diatomite type filters, (3) equipment listed as meeting NSF swimming pool equipment standard relating to sand type…

Fund managers’ contracts and short-termism

OpenAIRE

Casamatta, Catherine; Pouget, Sébastien

2009-01-01

This paper considers the problem faced by long-term investors who have to delegate the management of their money to professional fund managers. Investors can earn profits if fund managers collect long-term information. We investigate to what extent the delegation of fund management prevents long-term information acquisition, inducing short-termism. We also study the design of long-term fund managers' compensation contracts. Absent moral hazard, short-termism arises only because of the cost...